Konan leapt onto the chair and sat at Pein's side; the pair sat with regal grace, skillfully ignoring the possible unaddressed feelings between them as well as the natural desire to panic. The others formed a clumsy half circle around the chair, partners shifting instinctively to stand by each other. Pein closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the group broke into chaotic conversation, trying to block them out and think. He didn't have answers for the questions he was being bombarded with - just more questions. Particularly ones involving his tiny kitten body, which was clearly modeled after his Path and not his true body; at least he could be thankful for that. He didn't know what could have gone wrong, none of them did, but he was starting to suspect some serious translation errors had been made. In hindsight, he supposed it wasn't one of their greatest plans, but all great evil organizations had their hiccups. He felt a soft tap on his paw and glanced at Konan. He could see the concern in her eyes, gently and silently asking if he was alright. Pein gave a short nod, and turned his attention to the other members.
Though they'd given up on questioning their leader when it became clear he wasn't listening, they were still making an alarming amount of noise. Hidan and Kakuzu were having some sort of stand off, crouched low to the ground with their ears flat and their fur standing on end. They were alternating between an actual argument and flat out hissing at each other. Deidara was screaming at Tobi for biting his tail, but was being mostly ignored while Tobi bounced around. Zetsu was having a very heated argument with himself - White Zetsu seemed to be trying to say things weren't that bad, but Black Zetsu was having none of it. The last three weren't making much noise, and it was even more concerning than the fighting. Sasori was just sitting there, staring at his own paw with an unreadable expression and occasionally shifting uncomfortably. Kisame appeared to be concerned about something serious; he kept whispering to Itachi and nudging at him, only to receive little response.
"That's enough. Pointless bickering won't do you any good." Pein ordered; he paused to make sure everyone stopped to listen, and then continued. "Our first priority is to find out where we are. We will discuss our . . . predicament further once our location is secure."
There was a series of excepting grunts and nods - except for Hidan, who wanted to know just how the fuck they were going to do that. He was promptly shut up by a thump and a few sharp words from Kakuzu, and Deidara spoke up.
"What about the women, hm?"
"They seem harmless enough. Watch them, but don't give them reason to distrust or dislike you. We require shelter in these forms; don't forget that." And with that Pein leapt down and trotted off, head low. He didn't like the feel of things here - the chakra was thin and different somehow, it didn't seem to flow right. No matter how hard he focused, he couldn't gather any of it, either. Konan left after him, heading straight for a very large bookshelf in the living room and making her way to the top of it; she was too deep in thought to explore.
The others shared awkward looks before they separated, most of them wandering off in pairs with the exception of Tobi who bolted out of the room and vanished, and Zetsu, who wandered off down a hallway.
Hidan took off next, with Kakuzu close behind to run damage control. He immediately found something he could reach - in this case, a beat up photo album on the bottom shelf of the bookcase - and knocked it over.
"Hidan." Kakuzu growled in warning, "If you - "
"Yeah, yeah." Hidan said dismissively, batting and swatting at the cover until he managed to pull it open, "I won't fuck up and of your girlfriend's shit, Beau. What the fuck is that thing?"
Kakuzu was tempted to find out if Hidan was still immortal as a cat. Instead he moved closer and frowned at the photo album, just as confused by a lot of the images as Hidan was. Some of them seemed normal, but others included strange technology, odd poses, and odder clothing. Just where the hell were they? Judging by the landscape in most of the photos, he'd have guessed the Land of Fire, but something seemed wrong.
Instead of leaving the kitchen, Itachi chose to inspect it, and hopped onto the counter - only to slide into what seemed to be a coffee can full of coins. Kisame followed, though he landed perfectly. "You alright, Itachi?"
"I'm fine." Itachi said shortly, bothered and a little embarrassed. He'd meant to land next to the can, but his eyesight was blurred, in addition to having to adjust to what the world looked like to a cat. One of the women, Gale he thought, had said his eyes were red, despite the distinct lack of Sharingan in this form. He would just have to assume she was right, because red didn't seem to be a color he could see anymore.
"You mean you're blind." Kisame corrected, padding away from his partner to eye the stove. Itachi glared in his direction before shoving the can upright again and slowly putting the coins back; not having hands was so far the worst part of this. Kisame was undaunted as he pushed the timer button. "This is one fancy oven - I've never without knobs before. And there aren't any burners. Does the flat part just heat up?"
"Hn." Itachi mumbled around a coin. Kisame had a point. The kitchen was full of technology, and while most of it was recognizable, it was all extremely advanced. Granted, Hidden Villages were mostly self sufficient and cut off from a lot of modern technology, but this stuff seemed beyond even big city standards. It was all too smooth and compact, like they'd jumped a few decades into the future. Well, he supposed at this point that was a possibility.
Deidara and Sasori, meanwhile, had failed to even make it to the doorway; they were too occupied being confused. Deidara because Sasori was acting strange, and Sasori because he was alive. Not just a beating heart, but flesh and blood and sensation, and it had been years since he'd felt the warmth of his own body or the chill of the floor beneath his feet - er, paws. It wasn't exactly easy to walk, either - he'd forgotten how different it felt to move a body that wasn't mostly wood. Deidara was circling him with ease, which didn't exactly please him, either.
"Danna, are you okay, hm? You seem kinda off." Deidara reached out with one paw and pushed on Sasori's shoulder.
Sasori leaned away from the touch and, to his absolute horror, flopped over onto his side. There was a moment of silence. Sasori glared. Deidara choked. The teen just didn't have the self control, or the sense of self preservation, to stop himself. He burst out laughing, and Sasori hissed.
"Shut it, brat, or - "
"Or what? Can you even walk, hm?" Deidara was still laughing. Sasori stood up, and made a terrifying feline sound. Deidara stopped laughing abruptly, and bolted.
They made approximately zero progress in finding out where they were, though Hidan and Kakuzu discovered Gale and Alice were childhood friends and took far too many pictures, Kisame figured out how to burn himself with the oven, and Itachi learned how to turn it off. They all ended up in the living room, either lounging on the couch or pawing through the photos, trying to decide where they were supposed to go from here. They heard the faintest sound of footsteps on the stairway, someone rummaging around in the storage closet, and then Alice came strolling in, a broom over her shoulder and a bucket swinging at her side.
"Hello, kittens." She said cheerfully, dropping the bucket and mop to scratch Pein behind the ear. Hidan and Deidara snickered, but he kept his head held high and ignored them. Alice didn't notice and went right back to what she was doing. "I'm going to clean up the mud in here. It's important we're very nice to Gale, because she's going to have to spend a lot of money on you guys today, and spending money makes Gale very grumpy."
The cleaning went by quickly and uneventfully, except for when Tobi latched on to the mop and was nearly dunked in the bucket. Gale had yet to reappear by the time Alice had put away the cleaning supplies, so she started towards her garden room, petting Zetsu - who was sitting on the back of the couch - as she passed.
"Maybe I should make her breakfast too. I better tend to the garden first, though."
Zetsu perked up and then jumped down, trodding after her curiously. Alice noticed and smiled, bending down to scoop him up. "Did you want to see my garden room, little guy?"
"Yes. That's why I'm following you, idiot."
Alice, who only heard meowing, just smiled wider as she walked off with him, conversation trailing down the hall. "You'll love it, I've got the most beautiful babies. And no matter what Gale says, I promise they won't eat you."
There was a little bit of curiosity about what kind of plants Alice was growing that Gale thought could eat them, but not enough that anyone else wanted to risk her being right. They had other things to do, anyway.
"Kakuzu. I want you to stick to Gale. She's clearly rather fond of you." Pein started.
"Yeah, I'll say." Hidan snorted.
"And the rest of us - " Pein continued sharply, before Hidan could start a fight, "Are going to search the upper level of the house. Itachi, Sasori, stay here."
Itachi and Sasori both nodded. Neither would want to admit it, but they probably couldn't have made it up the stairs. Most of the others were a bit reluctant to do more searching, but there wasn't anything else to do anyway, so they all started the climb up the spiral staircase, Deidara complaining about Itachi getting to lay around most of the way. When they reached the top, Kakuzu immediately walked up to the bathroom - it was the only closed door and he could hear Gale humming - and scratched at it, while the others scattered to search the four bedrooms. The door popped open and Kakuzu squeezed in, quickly finding himself a place to sit on the back of the toilet. Gale shut the door behind him and scratched his head, apparently pleased to see him.
"Hey there, Beau."
Kakuzu didn't know whether to be pleased or annoyed with the affection. On one hand, it was demeaning, and on the other, it actually felt very nice. He battled with his instinct to purr until turned her attention back to getting ready for the day, and he spent the next half hour or so watching her straighten her hair and complain about expenses and work and housemates who spend more than they made. He was very sympathetic.
So, I made some teeny tiny adjusts that no one will notice because they were teeny. I actually intend to update this soon! The mood struck me again. I've been thinking of putting another story on this account - one of those high school AUs. Cliche, I know, but that's what this account is for after all.
Quick Reference: Pein is Hades; Konan is Persephone; Itachi is Void; Kisame is Murray; Deidara is Apollo; Sasori is Cardinal; Tobi is Hyperion; Kakuzu is Beau; Hidan is Osiris; Zetsu is Chimera.
***Note: Alice Rosemary Devereux is 26, and works at a nursery called Forever In Bloom. Gale Temperance Curtis is 28, and a teller at Zeller's Bank.
Fun Facts: Pein is based on your typical ginger tabby, though his ears and feet are more reddish. Minus her coloring, Konan looks like a purebred Russian Blue. Itachi is a Bombay. Kisame is based on a Bengal/Russian Blue mix breed. Sasori is just your regular mixed breed house cat - in a lovely shade of red. Deidara is very Maine Coon - esque. Tobi is a Siamese mix, Zetsu doesn't have a particular breed in mind, and Kakuzu is a large dark tabby. Hidan is a white American Curl, his ears do the thing!