Cat'O'Nine Tails Chapter 2 I'll be Watching You, a naruto fanfic

I do not own Naruto

A/N-Hello, I was a little surprised to receive such a good response so early in the story, but very happy too. So many favorites and great reviews too wow. This story will definitely be one that is finished, though it may be a longish one. I do have the basic outline written out all the way to the end and it's pretty long. The first chapter was the longest because I wanted to thoroughly set the plot. Most of the following chapters will be 2000-3000 words long as is the norm for me. I feel comfortable with that number. I feel like I make more mistakes in longer chapters and take much longer re-editing them to death. I like shorter updates more often and will put them up sooner if there are reviews. Like I said before in F.K.'s I write for the reviews, not the favorites. They aren't recorded (except by me) and I can't get any feedback from them. The info, good or bad lets me know if you still find the story good, bad, interesting, lame, or cool. I think I kind of have a pretty good imagination. I also bounce ideas off my beta a lot, you would not believe some of the silly shit we come up with, and someday I'll post it (as crack). I've also gotten lots of inspiration from reviewers remarks, so thank you super very much for reviewing anything I write. I write it down to get the story out of my head, but I edit and post it quicker for the reviewers-YOU, my friends, are THE BEST. Yea you! Thanks.

On with the show.

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter Break 2

I'll Be Watching You

0o0o0

Konoha

Hokage's Office 10 am.

0o0o0

"It's begun," Neko-chan told Tsunade, calmly taking a sip of her tea.

"Hai, I could feel it happening too," Tsunade felt the collar at her neck self consciously.

"Be strong child," Neko-chan admonished. "Have a little faith in this old woman's magic," Her ears flicked in irritation at the busty girl's fears.

"Hai, Baa-chan, if anyone can pull this off it's you and Sakura."

"You best worry how you're going to entertain those boys for the next few years and keep them all from killing each other. You know what they say. Idle hands are the devils playground. And you're about to invite the devil to live in your backyard."

Tsunade shivered, "Don't remind me," she opened her desk and removed a bottle of good sake. "I think I've had enough tea for the day, whatta ya say Neko-chan?"

"Don't just sit there doing nothing girl. Start pouring. Didn't I just tell you idle hands are the devils playground?"

0o0o0

Deep in Grass Country

Exact Location unknown

0o0o0

Uchiha Itachi and his partner Hoshigaki Kisame rose early the next morning. After a quick breakfast they prepared to go out to the far fields and spar for the better part of the day.

Kisame opened the door for them to leave and paused at the step.

"Well, hello. Look here Itachi-san, you have a visitor," Kisame laughed.

Itachi saw a shiny white ball, sunning itself on the steps to the front door of the Akatsuki hideout, one of many spread about the five nations.

"Hn," Itachi addressed the feline sitting on the step, "Still around?"

"See here, she brought you gifts," There was a small pile of dead rodents on the step. The small cat looked at Itachi expectantly and purred.

Itachi gazed at the small white cat. It was not that much bigger than the pile of pests it sat next to.

"You know, since we came back here last month the vermin have been out of control," Kisame argued.

"No."

"I think she wants to stay. She's already earning her keep, caught more damn mice in one night then that Tobi has in the two weeks. Okairi kitten," The sharp toothed man welcomed.

"Someone will just lose it and kill her. Forget it."

"Come on," The large blue nin coaxed the reluctant Uchiha. "It's been four weeks and Tobi hasn't been able to get rid of the little bastards yet, and nobody else wants to bother. Last week I found a rat had tried chewing on the bandages of my sword. Samehada killed it, but now the wrapping looks a bit shabby"

"mmmrrwww?" the strong mouser chimed into their argument.

"Hn," The dark eyed man gave in without further argument. "Little one, you won't last long here," Itachi warned.

The crafty female simply lifted her paw towards him and began to clean it with her tongue.

"Let's go," Itachi turned to go out to the training grounds.

Kisame looked at the cat for a second with his eyebrow raised, before setting out after his stoic partner.

"Ya know, I'll be damned if that kitten didn't just thumb her nose at you Itachi," Kisame pointed out, catching up to him in a few long strides.

Itachi ignored him and walked on.

The kitten followed at her own pace, taking time to investigate all manner of interesting bugs. She leaped and played with leaves long dead on the forest floor. When they got too far ahead she would simply race up to them before going back to her games.

0o0o0

It was getting easier to find interest in play. Sakura knew she had to be believable There had not been much time at the Hokage's place with the nin-cats, but she took full advantage of the opportunity now. Leaping after grasshoppers and jumping to snag wood moths out of the air. At one point she found a chipmunk foraging in an old log. She hunched down waiting for it to leave its safety. She imagined it to be one of her targets and she was the lion sent to capture it.

When the chipmunk finally left its safety she pounced, practically flying through the air above it. The poor thing squeaked in terror when she caught it. Feeling bad, she let it go when she felt its pulse racing under her paw on its chest. She had nothing against the little creature, she had only been playing.

Sakura followed her real target and his associate, all the way from their hideout, far out to their impromptu training grounds. They stopped in a huge field near a small copse of trees.

As they stood in the middle of the field warming up, Sakura wisely jogged over to the trees. Climbing a tall one to get a better vantage of the ninja's abilities, she settled herself on a wide branch, and prepared to see the show.

As far as she could tell they hadn't suspected a thing, yet. It was thrilling the amount of information she was getting just by watching them train and interact. Kage's would pay fortunes for this type of intelligence. The ninja had left their telltale cloaks back at the cottage and both wore similar black nin pants. Itachi wore a form fitting, long sleeved, dark grey pullover with buttons at the neck left undone. His long hair tied back low on his neck. The shark-nin wore a long sleeved shirt made of black net. Intimidating or not they were clearly in top form for ninja. Being a doctor, Sakura could appreciate the thousands of hours it took to have such clear definition and muscle tone. They were truly pleasing to the eye.

Kisame finished his warm up and attacked without warning. He came in with an overhead slice that would have busted a head wide open but Itachi simply slid to the left, twisted around fully and threw a pair of kunai at the rapidly passing opponent that were knocked aside by the sword without breaking stride.

Kisame came at Itachi with slices, lunges and full power swings, but the Uchiha gracefully dodged the heavy swings of the shark-nin. Their speed only increased with time, and it was only a matter of time, she thought, before Kisame landed one stroke on the ex-leaf-nin. She believed when that hit came, it would signal the end of the fight. The sword was rumored to suck chakra without even touching; surely the Uchiha had to be feeling the effects by now.

There it came! The first hit of the samehada. The legendary leaf-nin neither faded nor faltered. Jumping back, he swiftly did the hand signs for the kanton jutsu his clan was well known for. Sakura could feel the heat off the giant fireball even from where she sat, a few hundred yards off, as the breeze blew her way. The crackle of the flames was momentarily deafening. The intensity was amazing and Itachi's chakra was giving off a powerful aura, as was the mist nin's.

The demon shark wasted no time in releasing his own set of jutsu, jamming samehada into the ground. His hand seals were a blur to her sharp cat's eyes. He called forth a water clone and with a roar, a wave of exploding water rose, into which his clone promptly disappeared.

Itachi now stood atop the water to fight, swiftly avoiding a water prison before sending another fireball at the water style nin. Steam had begun to rise from the immense mesh of fire and water. Black smoke made Sakura's eyes itch. The shark nin, standing atop the water, exploded into nothing as the real one came up behind Itachi, slicing him with the sword.

Sakura looked up quickly, expecting Itachi to go down, but his clone also exploded into a log and he transported his body to come up behind Kisame, kicking him hard enough to make him roll across the manmade lake. Only coming to a stop when he slammed into a small outcropping of rock there. The impact made the tree she was in tremble and she clung with her claws to keep from slipping.

The back and forth fight was fascinating, with neither one getting the upper hand for more than seconds at a time. Sakura had yet to see a clear wound from either man.

It was mesmerizing in its monotony.

Unfortunately, it was hard to keep her eyes open for long, seeing as she had been up all night catching mice to prove she might be of value to them. After some time their back and forth motions began to lull her towards sleep.

Last night had been busy. Not only had she caught and killed almost a dozen rodents, she had caught almost two dozen more and sent the terrified creatures through cracks and crevices into the criminals' hideout. Hopeful that at least some of them made it in alive. She was new at the mousing game, and may have squished a few beyond recovery. If they didn't let her in today, she would have them begging her to come inside by the end of the week.

Actually, it was quite surprising at first. There was such a large population of the vermin near the residence. Surprising, that is, until she had found the scarcely used storage cellar outside the back, where some idiot had stored grain and other dry products without properly sealing the cellar to keep vermin out. It was like a nasty parasite heaven down there, and the overspill of pests must have crept into the house for better digs.

These were the genius of Akatsuki, the so called new 'dawn.'

Even if you have the most power in the world, your situation will deteriorate and corrupt itself if you don't tend to the details. Kakashi, of all people, was right. To look underneath the underneath was a wise thing to do.

'Kami-sama help us all.'

Idiots are trying to rule the world.

They kept dry goods, that none of them probably even bothered to ever cook with. They stored them poorly and when it became a problem, had they fixed it? No. Most likely, they would eventually just move on, rather than taking the problem in hand. It was no wonder they had an infestation now.

All the better for her plans. She knew how to take care of details. Be it in a lab breaking down the components of a poison, an operating table with her hands in someone's chest piecing them back together, or a house full of vermin, men or mice. She knew how to deal with details.

'Bring it on,' She thought.

Denka-kun told me to find a way to make you love me, and now I have.

0o0o0

Sakura had probably watched the two nin battle for most of two hours. The warmth of the sun, and the gentle breeze stirring the tree ruffled her fur much like the caress she had received from Neko-chan. Eventually, though, her eyes closed of their own volition. The silence when they finished woke her, it was already late into the afternoon.

0o0o0

Itachi had ignored Kisame until they reached the training grounds. The kitten followed them all the way playing foolishly with all manner of nature. When their travel ceased, she found a tree some distance away, climbed high into it and sat, watching them spar. They worked until late into the afternoon, coming back tired and bloody from having worked hard to survive.

The kitten came down its tree and followed them out of the damage grounds, before jumping up onto the tip of Samehada, Kisame's renowned sword.

"You know, kitten," Kisame warned, "Sammy doesn't much care for others to touch him, besides myself."

The kitten simply meowed and stretched herself out, digging her claws in and out playfully on the bandaged edges of the sword.

"Little minx, thumbing your nose at me now, are you?" His deep laugh vibrated through the sword. "Don't be surprised when Samehada gives you a poke for your troubles," He watched the kitten with a respectful smirk as she curled back up and lay her head on her shoulder to nap on the walk home.

"Seems she adopted you now," Itachi said

"Well, if she can get rid of the pests, she's welcome to stay in my room."

They arrived back to the base and strolled into chaos.

Deidara was chasing Tobi around, cursing about some ridiculous thing he did. Kisame and Itachi strode into the kitchen ignoring their antics. Kisame set samehada against the wall and the kitten jumped down onto his shoulder then down to the floor.

0o0o0

"You shithead, Tobi, un! Those mice got into my clay and ate it. Then they blew up all over my room! Thanks to you, there's guts and blood everywhere and it smells! I'm gonna kill you! Come eat some clay, yeah."

0o0o0

Itachi started some tea while Kisame looked in the icebox for something to eat. He pulled out a plate of grilled chicken and some leftover onigiri from the day before. Itachi set the teapot on the table and sat filling cups as Kisame put a couple plates out for them. The kitten sat under Itachi's chair, watching with wide green eyes, as the two crazy ninja in the next room made a lot of noise. She rubbed against Itachi's leg gently when he sat down. The perfect little lady sat on her haunches looking up at him. She meowed and when he looked down she put one snow paw on his leg and tilted her head at him.

"She's hungry," the mist nin told him.

"She could eat the mice," Itachi reminded him

"Selfish," Kisame muttered, putting a little chicken on a small plate, "Here you go kitten." He set the plate on the floor next to the cat and she meowed once before tearing into the food with gusto, almost like she hadn't had a decent meal in days. "Maybe she doesn't like the taste of rodent. I know I wouldn't."

"If you spoil her, she'll never leave."

"Are you so anxious to get rid of her?"

"Hn," Itachi turned back to his tea.

They finished their meal and left the kitchen after cleaning up, each going to their own rooms.

As Itachi walked into his room there was a loud crash behind him and he turned to see the two idiots were still fighting. He didn't notice the flash of white disappearing under his bed before he closed the door.

He showered and when he came back into his room. There she sat, in the middle of his room, quietly cleaning her paws next to the large rat that lay twitching in its death throes on the floor next to her.

0o0o0

Sakura had found something very satisfying about grabbing the furry prey around the neck with her strong, sharp teeth, and quickly snapping their necks.

"Are you gonna eat that?" Itachi asked her. She looked at him and he saw scorn in her expressive eyes, before she jumped onto his bed and lay on his pillow watching him through half lidded verdant orbs.

Ignoring the strange little cat, he removed his robe to dress, not noticing when she quickly turned her head to avert her feline eyes. He did notice however that the motor he had been hearing all afternoon was suddenly silent. The cat was lying still as stone on his pillow.

"Sukoshi?" He walked over and touched her back, the kitten jumped like he had stuck her with a pin.

Was she deaf?

Had she not heard him come over to her?

No, that couldn't be, he had spoken to her yesterday and she had responded immediately. Then again, perhaps a hearing problem was why she had gotten lost and followed him home. Maybe he simply reminded her of her previous master and she refused to lose sight of him.

No matter, she would move on soon enough, if left alone. He lay on his bed and the cat jumped down near the foot of the bed, curling up for the night.

"Tomorrow you find a new bed," He told the ball of fur warming his feet.

She purred loudly at him.

He almost smiled at the bold female, he hadn't shared his bed in years.

He closed his eyes and drifted off.

0o0o0

When Itachi woke the next morning he lay on his side. He discovered he had a new growth of soft white fur curled under his chin and a motor vibrating against his throat. A long supple tail was sweeping lazily against his cheek.

"Ohayo, little one," He greeted her and she poked her head up and rose, rubbing her cheek on his chin.

"Meow."

"You are an odd girl, don't you know I'm a bad guy?" he smirked.

"Meow," she returned softly and placed her paw on his cheek. Then she jumped down off of his bed and walked to the door, looking back at him expectantly.

"Breakfast?" He asked her.

"Mmrrw."

0o0o0

A/N -Troublesome. Man those fight scenes are a bitch for me to write, I really try hard with them. I hope they made sense and were good enough.

Things you probably already know:

Hai-yes

Thumb your nose- This expression refers to the traditional gesture of contempt, that is, placing the thumb under the nose and wiggling the fingers. Here it is akin to-To dismiss someone's words as insignificant.

Okairi kitten-Welcome home kitten.

Ohayo-Morning (Ohayo Goziamusu = Good morning)

Icebox-old fashioned term for a refrigerator.

Sukoshi- meaning-Little one (can also be little bit). It is pronounced sko-sh or sko-shi. This is Itachi's nickname for the cat, and yes, I have him saying it sometimes in Japanese and sometimes in English because I feel like doing it. I haven't decided which I like best yet and I didn't want it to hold up my update so, there it is. If you like one or the other or both you can tell me. BTW, Sakura is not a kitten even though Kisame has nicknamed her that. She is the equivalent of an older teenager for a cat. Not yet fully grown so her petite cat body reflects this, especially as she is a more petite woman. I cannot think of something to give her size correctly, perhaps, curled up she would be about the size of a football, about 10 lbs? She has no given name the Akatsuki know of, -on her collar, so they are just calling her as they like. She will not be considered as a pet to them, at least for now.

Please review.

K&K