Here's chapter four, I hope you enjoy. Also thank you so much for all the attention the last three chapters got ^^
"Michael, be careful!" Ashlen shouted from her seat on the wooden, adirondack chair. The seven year old boy simply laughed and continued to jump on the trampoline as Peanut, the youngest dog, ran underneath it.
It was Sunday afternoon, a full twenty-nine hours since Ashlen discovered who and what her new kittens really were. With the condition that Ashlen keep their secret, Pein made everyone, even Hidan, agree that they wouldn't harm her or Michael. In addition Pein also allowed the teenage girl to carry out her threat if anyone tried to harm her or the young boy. The Akatsuki leader was confident in his members in that wouldn't happen though. Even Hidan seemed to understand he was no match for the girl's wrath while in the body of a kitten. However, that didn't mean he wouldn't swear and threaten her.
Last night had been pretty interesting for everyone. The Akatsuki had met the Parker family's two Maltese dogs while Ashlen had taken Michael out for lunch. The oldest dog, the mother of Peanut, had made the mistake of trying to sniff Kakuzu's butt. The Takigakure ninja didn't like the idea of that and, when the two Parker kids got home, Mandy had a bad scratch on her nose. With Pein's permission, Ashlen had placed Kakuzu in a plastic dog carrier, which acted out as a prison, until she got the cut on the dog's nose taken care of.
When it came for bed, the Akatsuki split off into three groups. Half of the Akatsuki stayed in Ashlen's room, as Pein wanted to keep an eye on her. Pein and Konan shared a pillow the girl threw down for them, Deidara slept on the end of Ashlen's bed, Tobi slept on the computer chair and Sasori, who was bored, simple slept to pass the time more quickly. Hidan, Kakuzu and Zetsu all slept else where; Zetsu rather being alone and both Hidan and Kakuzu not wanting to be around Ashlen. As for Itachi and Kisame, they were more or less forced to sleep with Michael in his room. Luckily the child had gotten on their good side so Ashlen didn't have to worry about the two Akatsuki members hurting her brother.
The wake up call was also pretty interesting. Tobi had been the first one in the house to wake up and with a need to pee. Even though Ashlen kept her private bathroom opened for just that reason Tobi didn't go to the bathroom. Instead, using what chakra he had in his cat body, the orange face kitten jumped on Ashlen's bed to wake Deidara. Needless to say, Deidara was not too happy about being waken up by a hyper active ninja cat who had to use the bathroom. In the end the blond kitten pushed Tobi off the bed with a angry hiss which ended up waking Ashlen. It was at that time the ninja cats realized that their host was no where near a morning person. That, in turn, went on to reveal that neither was Pein as Tobi went screaming into the bathroom to avoid both an annoyed Deidara and teenage girl.
Now it was one in the afternoon. After making a cereal breakfast for Michael and herself, while she gave the Akatsuki some left over ham her parents had in the fridge, everyone went to spend the day outside. Being one of the last warm days of fall, Michael had tried to convince Ashlen to set up the pool but settled for the trampoline instead. Tobi had joined Michael for the first few minutes before thinking it would be funner to join the dogs underneath it. All the other Akatsuki members had scattered around the yard, either watching the young child play, talking to one another or doing their own thing. Ashlen, on the other hand, simply sat in her adirondack chair and colored in her Harry Potter coloring book.
"What an idiot, hm." Deidara grunted as he watched Tobi play with the two dogs, sitting on one of the adirondack arms. Sasori, who was sitting on the other arm, watched Ashlen color in her coloring book instead and didn't even bother to look up.
"Just let the fool have his fun, brat. If you wish hard enough, perhaps he will get hit hard enough that he'll pass out for the rest of the day." The puppet master said dully as Ashlen started to color the frame around the picture. Deidara rolled his one visible eye before lazily gazing down to watch Ashlen color as well.
"One can only do so much wishing, Danna, un." The kitten sighed as he studied the girl's coloring skills. In his opinion she wasn't bad but he'd like it a lot more if she'd destroy the colored page afterwords.
"Ashlen, are you home? Hello?"
A female voice in the distant caught everyone's attention. The Akatsuki members looked in the direction of the voice, which came from the front of the house. The dogs were the first to react by running around the corner of the house, barking happily. Towards the happy laughter that followed, Michael jumped off the trampoline and followed after the dogs. Realizing who had come to visit, Ashlen closed her coloring book, picked up her pencil crayon case off her lap and stood up. Placing the book and case back on the chair, the teenager walked towards the corner of the house before stopping as she saw Pein looking up at her.
"You can relax, my friend doesn't know about you guys. She watches the series but she doesn't know about the Akatsuki yet nor will I tell her, like I agreed to yesterday." Ashlen told the Akatsuki leader, who gave a nod of approval. With that nod, Ashlen nodded back before picking up her speed to go great her friend.
~Normal P.O.V~
"Hey Lisa, what's up?" I asked as I found my friend petting Peanut. Lisa, a fifteen year old girl with short, red hair and blue eyes, looked up from petting the dog to smile at me.
"Actually, I came over wondering if I could spend the night. My dad has double shifts at the club and my mom is still away on business." Lisa asked sheepishly. I shrugged, finding no problem with letting Lisa stay the night.
Lisa Burbank was actually the girl that lived across the street from me. Her mother is a dress designer and was away for some kind of convention. Her father, however, was a bouncer at the local club, which was kind of funny because Ben was actually a very kind, loveable man. Every now and than, since my family moved out here, we let Lisa stay with us until her parents come home. Lisa is a very kind and friendly girl but, despite only being a year younger than me, has this fear of being alone. I don't know the reason behind this though, since Lisa had never told me.
Lisa was also one of my only friends that was new to Naruto. She like the series but, as far as I knew, she had far less free time that anyone else had. Even though both of her parents make a lot of money at their jobs, Lisa got a part time job at an anime store. The last episode Lisa watched, that I know of, was of Naruto's fight with Gaara. Speaking of Gaara, he was Lisa's favorite character so far. Her reason was he needed love and she wanted to be the one to give it to him.
"No, it wont be a problem. I'm guessing you'll want a ride to school tomorrow?" I asked as we began to venture back to the backyard. Lisa nodded as Michael chased the dogs to the backyard.
"That would be nice, but I can take the bus if you can't drive me." Lisa told me with a kind smile. I nodded as we turned the corner into the backyard.
"No, I can drive you. I already have to drive Michael and we go to the same school so it's no trouble." I assured as I lead the way to the patio. Michael had run back to the trampoline whereTobi was now jumping on it.
I knew a lot of the Akatsuki, just not everything. I wasn't one of those fans that read the Nartuo character wiki pages from top to bottom. So, unlike "true" Naruto fans, I didn't know height, weight, eye color, age, favorite food and more by heart. I also didn't know Zetsu, Kakuzu, Hidan or Tobi's back stories. Well, I didn't know Zetus's or Kakuzu's. I knew who Tobi really was and I knew why Hidan left his village but that was all I knew about those two. I guess I could only hope and pray that Madara didn't question me when and if he and the others returned to normal.
Nearing the adirondack chair I left my book on I frowned as I saw Deidara had somehow got the book open and was looking through the colored pages. Knowing his opinion on art I couldn't help but think he might do something to destroy my colorings. However, right now, it just looked like he was looking through colored pages. Deidara was also meowing something to Sasori, who still sat on the adirondack arm. Because I was not allowed to bring Marvin outside, I had no idea what they were talking about but it most likely had to do with my coloring and, most likely, the true meaning behind art.
~Third Person P.O.V~
"Such nice colors, un. Think of how they'd look in tiny, little pieces." Deidara said as he glanced over one of Ashlen's older, finished, works. Sasori rolled his eyes as he turned his gaze away from the coloring to stare at his partner.
"Don't even think about it, brat. I doubt the girl would appreciate her hard work being destroyed. Besides, she clearly believes art is eternal. This coloring alone has to be a year old." Sasori said in an almost smug toned voice, pointing out the discoloring of an uncolored part. Deidara rolled his eyes as he narrowed them towards the puppet master.
"This girl is seriously in need of art lessons then, for art is fleeting, un." He said seriously, with a cocky grin on his face. Sasori looked away from the coloring book to make eye contact with Deidara.
"Eternal, brat."
"Fleeting, Danna, yeah!"
"Yeah, Michael told me your parents left for a few months. However, he didn't tell me they finally caved in and allowed you to get a few cats." Lisa cooed, braking up the artist's fight as she picked Deidara from the chair. He meowed in surprise, which caused Ashlen to chuckle and Sasori to ghost smile.
"Actually, they didn't." Ashlen admitted and, after picking up the coloring book, sat back down. Taking Deidara with her, Lisa sat in the twin adirondack beside her.
"So, you snuck the kittens in without them noticing then?" Lisa asked, her eyes widening in shock towards her friend. Ashlen shrugged, nodded and gently scratched Sasori's back until she caught him glaring at her.
"I found them two nights ago, under the house. You know I couldn't let my parents find out about them, so I hid them in the basement. Now that they'll be gone for a few months everything will be fine." She answered, giving the red kitten a innocent smile before looking over to her friend. Lisa was rubbing Deidara's shoulders in a massage fashion, which the kitten warmly welcomed.
Being a ninja, life can be very stressful. Being a missing, S-class, ninja could be even more stressful. Now, being a S-class ninja that was turned into a kitten, that went beyond being stressful. It didn't really help that Tobi continued to pester Deidara either, in fact it only made his stress worse. So the Iwagakure ninja warmly welcomed the method that helped release him of some of his stress. So, while Deidara enjoyed his massage, and the two girls talked about strict house rules -brought on by Ashlen mentioning her parents- the rest of the Akatsuki were doing there own thing.
Zetsu, falling into his spy nature, watched everyone from the hole he half hid in. Itachi and Kisame were sitting on top of the play structure, with a good view of everyone. Kakuzu and Hidan were off to far end of the yard, arguing about who knows what. Tobi was still jumping on the trampoline with Michael while Pein and Konan sat on the edge of the patio. The Akatsuki leader and his partner/childhood friend, were discussing ways to break the witch's jutsu.
"Do you remember the exact words the witch used when she cursed us?" Pein asked the purple kitten next to him. Konan looked thoughtful for a moment as she recalled the day she and the others were cursed.
"No, I'm afraid I do not. It was said in some kind of rhyme I didn't recognize." The soul female Akatsuki member announced. Pein sighed but perked up a bit as Konan continued.
"However, I can remember something said in the jutsu. I think it went like Your only hope to turn back is to do what you did not do to me. When the woman asked for help, we all ignored her and Hidan wanted to kill her." Konan announced as she recalled the past. This time it was Pein's turn to look thoughtful before he shook his head in disagreement.
"So, to break this jutsu we have to do something helpful? That is much too easy."The Akatsuki leader said stubbornly. Konan just stared at him with a serious look.
"We'll never know until we try. It's doubtful that doing small things will break this jutsu but we will never know if we never try." Konan tried to convince Pein. The man kitten sighed but didn't get a chance to reply before Michael and Tobi ran past him.
~Normal P.O.V~
"Actually I have..."
"Ashlen, I'm hungry! Can we go out again?"
My answer to Lisa's question about naming the cats was interrupted when Michael whined about being hungry, with Tobi standing behind him. To tell the truth I was actually pretty glad he came when he did. I had two options to tell her and both could lead me to getting into trouble. Option one would be to say no but then she'd insist helping me name them. Option two was to say I named them after Naruto characters. Even though Lisa didn't know what the Akatsuki members looked like, it would still cause suspicion. Not to mention I caught both Sasori and Deidara glancing my way when Lisa asked me the question.
"No, Michael, we aren't going out again. Yet I suppose I can make lunch now." I said as I stood up from the adirondack chair, holding my coloring book to my chest. Lisa followed my example but allowed Deidara to jump to the ground rather than hug him to her own chest.
"Lisa, after we eat, I'll go with you back to your house so you can get the supplies you need to stay the night." I asked as we entered into the kitchen. Lisa smiled at me and she pushed a strain of red hair away from her blue eyes.
"Thank you. You remember I'm allergic to dairy, right?" Lisa asked as she followed me to the fridge. I nodded and placed my coloring book and pencil case on the counter as I opened the fridge.
"Yeah, I remember. Can you get nine plates... wait, never mind. Can you start the deep frier and get a pot out for me?" I asked as I pulled put a package of hot dogs from the fridge. My friend nodded and did as I asked.
I was going to ask Lisa to get the plates but then I remembered she was at least a inch shorter than me. To reach the plates she'd need to stand on a chair. It was much easier that I just get the plates as Lisa helped me get things ready for our own lunch. Uh, speaking of lunch and food, I wonder who has been eating Sasori's food this whole time. I mean he doesn't eat and yet his bowl is always empty; or the two times I gave him food it was. Either he somehow turned organic or my guess is Hidan has been eating it.
Anyways, by the time I finished cutting up the hot dogs for the nine cats that ate, I had to pull out another package. Lisa wasn't too surprised that I was spoiling the kittens but warned me about too much human food being bad for them. That actually got me thinking. Last night Pein had explained that a witch cursed them, which is how they ended up as kittens and in the real world. However, what got me thinking was, were they just given feline bodies or did they have instincts as well? Actually, seeing as how they were able to communicate, I guess it was just their bodies that were changed. It wasn't much of a big deal, just something to think about.
Once I made sure the hot dogs were heated and placed on the ground for the cats, I began to help Lisa to cook our food. With the deep frier ready, I pulled put a bag of crinkle fries and told Lisa to put five hot dogs into the pot of boiling water. Michael would only eat one but Lisa and I would both have two hot dogs. Lunch was made quickly and, in a matter of ten minutes the Akatsuki members had finished eating and Michael, Lisa and I began to eat.
As we ate Lisa actually started up a interesting conversation about Naruto. It seemed that she was finally able to watch a few more episodes and she was finally at the Tsunade ark. The episode where the three Sannin fight to be exact. During the conversation I couldn't help but notice the looks the Akatsuki were giving us. Either it was because Lisa was talking about how creepy Orochimaru was or how perverted Jiraiya was I didn't know. I just more or less focused on the fact that Lisa now knew of the Akatsuki.
If Lisa was at the Tsunade ark, let alone almost ending the ark, that means she must have passed the Itachi and Kisame ark. I wanted to ask my friend what she thought of the two villains but that would alert the real things to the fact I lied about her knowing about them. I didn't lie at all, I had no idea that Lisa had found free time to watch so many episodes. I don't think the the cats would see that as such though and I would have to do a lot of convincing that I didn't lie or betray their secret. So I would wait until Lisa brought them up on her own so, that way, I could act surprised to the fact she now knew about them.
"So, are we going to go get your things?" I asked as I placed the dishes into the sink. Lisa was cleaning her face with paper towel and nodded as she threw it in the trash.
"Yeah, if we can. Then we can name the kittens... if you haven't already named them." She told me with a playful smile. In the corner of my eye I could see the so called cats looking up at me and I wish I had Marvin so I could understand what they wanted to say.
"Actually, yeah, I did name them. Or at least half of them; Michael helped." I lied and forced a smile despite the uncomfortable, questioning, stares the Akatsuki members were giving me. Lisa shrugged before she smiled warmly and began to leave the kitchen.
"I'll met you at the front door!" I called after her, which was returned with a OK. I waited until she was out of hearing range before looking down at the cats.
"OK, look, I'm sorry I lied, but think about this. Do you really want to be given ridiculous pet names or would you rather be addressed by your actual names? I can easily say I named you after Naruto characters and she wont question anything. If she does, I already have a back up plan." I explained quickly to the questioning, cold, stares I was given. I didn't give myself time to watch their reactions as Lisa called out and I rushed out of the kitchen to meet up with her.
"Be nice to the cats, Michael. I'll be back in a few minutes." I shouted from the front door. I heard a soft OK and, pulling on my shoes, left the house to go over to Lisa's.
~Third Person P.O.V/Time Skip~
It was nine at night and everyone was seated around the living room, watching 1,000 Ways to Die. Ashlen, Michael and Lisa all wore two piece pyjamas. Ashlen wore blue pj pants with grey kittens, which she actually made in sowing class in seventh grade. For a shirt she wore a simple grey T-shirt. Lisa wore orange pants with red and yellow poke a dots. For her shirt she wore a white shirt, with red sleeves with a puppy on the shirt. Michael wore his Batman pyjamas.
Michael had already crashed an hour earlier and was now cuddling Itachi in his sleep. Of course the Uchiha was trying to ignore it but a invisible irritation mark continued to throb at the back of his head. If it wasn't for the fact that he hated violence, and harming children was below him, he would have easily pulled away from the sleeping child. Perhaps if it wasn't for the teasing from Kisame, Deidara, Hidan and Tobi, Itachi could have ignored the fact he was being cuddled a lot more.
Thankfully Ashlen noticed Itachi's discomfort and helped him out. Excusing herself from the room, Ashlen left the living room but came back a few minutes later with a stuffed toy dog. Carefully lifting her brother's arm, Ashlen allowed Itachi to pull away before replacing him with the dog. Michael twitched in his sleep but gave the toy a tight squeeze before snuggling into the toy. In gratitude Itachi gave a single nod before going to sit with Kisame.
"Oh dear god!" Lisa nearly yelled and covered her eyes at the next death. Ashlen simply closed her eyes and tried to keep herself from gagging.
The next death on 1,000 Ways to Die wasn't bloody or gory. It was just down right disgusting. In the episode this woman could only get turned on of the guy pukes on her. So, after watching a hot dog eating contest, she waits for the winner in the changing room, where the guy is feeling sick. Anyways, turned on, she tries to make him barf by forcing her fingers down his throat. He ends up puking but it gets in her mouth, along with a chuck of unchewed hot dog. She chokes on it and dies. What was really gross about the episode was they actually showed the barf in great detail. Even some of the Akatsuki members cringed at the episode.
"Tobi wishes he didn't see that." The orange faced kitten shuttered at the television. A few others nodded in agreement.
"That was far worse than that nudest artist that ate her hair." Kisame grunted and continued to watch as the next death played out. This was about the Neo-Nazi that had a man stick a grenade up his butt, only to pull the pin and blow both of them up.
"Maybe you should try something like that, brat." Sasori said with a ghost of a smirk. The blond kitten rolled his eyes but kept his eyes on the T.V screen.
"Maybe I will, Danna. Just be careful about keeping your back turned to me, un." He said with a evil grin. Sasori dropped his thin grin to stare at his partner blankly, not even bothering to tell him that, as a puppet, his butt didn't have the hole for such a bomb.
"Well, those were interesting episodes." Lisa said as she rubbed her eyes. Ashlen nodded as she used the remote to turn off the T.V.
"Yeah. I hope to god I don't dream about the barf thing." She said hopefully and gagged just a little at the thought of it. Lisa shivered in the thought.
"I really wish I hadn't seen that. Anyways, should we take Michael to bed before going to bed ourselves?" The red head asked, staring down at the sleeping child. Said sister of the child nodded.
"Yeah, we have school tomorrow and should be getting to sleep now." Ashlen agreed and walked over to pick Michael up. The boy twitched but didn't wake up as he continued to cuddle the toy.
Without another word both Ashlen and Lisa left the living room. Lisa went into Ashlen room, which Ashlen said she'd share for the night, while Ashlen took Michael to bed. The Akatsuki pretty much took up the same sleeping potions as last time; Kisame and Itachi with Michael, Hidan, Kakuzu and Zetsu in the living room while everyone else slept in Ashlen's room. As soon as Ashlen placed Michael on his bed and left the room, Itachi and Kisame jumped up on the bed and stared at the sleeping child.
"You alright, Itachi?" Kisame asked as he noticed the blank, yet thoughtful, look on his partner's face.
"Hn." Itachi answered as he laid on his stomach, near the boy's legs. Kisame chuckled and laid down closer to the boy's head.
"The kid sure is affectionate, ain't he?" The large blue kitten asked for a grin. When Itachi didn't answer, Kisame took it upon himself to stare up at the child's face.
"It feels weird having someone like you so much after being hated by everyone you meet. This is the first brat that didn't run away in fear from me and he knows who I am. I like this kid but I am not too sure about his hugs." Kisame said with a toothy cat grin. Itachi gave an Hn in acknowledgement that he was listening but still didn't reply.
"Good night, Itachi." The blue, mist ninja, cat said as he curled into a ball and fell asleep. This time Itachi didn't say anything at all as he watched Michael until he feel asleep as well.
Well, this is chapter 4, how did you like it? Please review :D Lisa, Ashlen and Michael are all my OCs
by the way, I made a poll, please give it a look
