I originally wasn't going to start writing until I got home, since I am spending spring break -I am Canadian, our's started Friday- with my grandparents. But inspiration struck and I started. I said if I could get 10 or more I'd start writing in a week. I actually started writing three days ago and posted today. I am not one of those "review or I will quite the story" kind of people. Reviews just inspire me to write more faster, it just might take me a few days to finish a chapter sometimes. Also, I am working on a Naruto world story called The Experiment. OH and for those that didn't bother read the author note this now replaces, I started a deleted scenes story of this story. Ah I also, as you can see, I also made a book cover

By the way, thank you for so many replies to chapter seven :3 chapter was edited


~Third Person P.O.V/Ashlen's bedroom/a little earlier~

Michael had no idea what was going on but he knew his sister was scared. Forcing himself to push all the sleepiness aside, the young child watched in confusion as Ashlen grabbed a bat that was in her closet before shutting him inside. Michael didn't know what was going through his older sister's head but he knew she was frightened. This caused him to become frightened in turn and the fear became worse not knowing what was happening.

From outside the closet Michael could hear his sister leave the room, along with the so called cats. The young child whimpered in fright and hugged the Kisame plushie that was placed inside her closet. Ashlen had moved most of her plushies and poster into her closet after it was evidential that they made the real things feel uncomfortable. The headbands, books and DVDs stayed out in the open though.

Suddenly, the young boy could hear muffled voices from downstairs. It was very difficult to make out any words seeing as the child was, not only on the second floor, shut in a closet. He couldn't even tell if they were male or female voices. For a moment, Michael was wondering if the kittens had become human, just like Ashlen had, but a very loud, and very clear gun shot from downstairs erased those thoughts from his mind. The little boy felt himself pale as his sister's shrill scream of pain sounded throughout the whole house.

"Ashlen!" Michael screamed without thinking. He quickly stood up and began to open the door but it was quickly shut in his face.

"You have to stay in there. You're sister wont be happy if you get yourself hurt when she is trying to protect you." Itachi lectured in a stoic tone as Kisame kicked the door closed with his back legs. The two of them had stayed back do to Ashlen's request to try and keep her brother safe.

"What the hell was that sound; It almost sounded like a explosion. Do you think Deidara regained human form?" Kisame questioned as he sat himself in front of the door. An advantage of still being the biggest in the group was he was unusually strong and could easily stop the kid from leaving the room.

"Whatever it was, I doubt it was Deidara. He's not stupid enough to attack the girl over the attackers downstairs." The Uchiha answered as his cat ears began to twitch. Looking towards the open bedroom door, the two ninja cats looked over in time to see two men enter.

One of the men looked just a little older than Itachi. He had short, brown hair and cold looking grey eyes. He wore black clothing and no gloves. His friend was a at least a couple years older than him. He had blond hair that went down to his shoulders and blue eyes, just as cold as the brown haired man. This man also wore black but no gloves, the typical color most robbers will wear. The blond man also had a twelve a-clock shadow around his face. From their position it was hard guessing the height of the two men but Itachi and Kisame could tell they were no where near as tall as the mist ninja himself.

"So, this is where the scream came from." The brown haired man stated as the two humans looked down at the cats. The blond man nodded and had a mixture of a glare and a evil smile on his face.

"Yeah and look, more ugly cats." The blond laughed as he pulled out his weapon. Never seeing a gun before, Itachi and Kisame were unsure what to do besides glare, as Kisame growled and hissed, at the men.

From inside the closet Michael began to cry in fright. There were strange men in his sister's room and they didn't sound friendly. The child was scared, very scared. What had happened to his sister, who was in behind the door and what were they going to do with the kittens protecting him? Michael could only whimper and cry louder as he hugged onto the Kisame plushie for dear life.

"Out of the way, flee bag." Steven snarled as he pointed his gun at the blue cat. Kisame continued to hiss angrily as John stepped up and kicked Itachi out of the way before the Uchiha could do anything.

"Itachi!" Kisame shouted in surprise. Sure, maybe some of Itachi's opponent had gotten lucky and landed a hit in the past, but nothing like this.

"I'm fine, Kisame." Itachi assured as he stood on all fours and shook his body. "However, this feline body is really starting to get on my nerves." He added, glaring dangerously towards the man that kicked him.

"Fucking freaky cats. Just get that blue pest away from the door and grab the kid already." John, the brown haired man, demanded. A evil smile coated Steven's face as he cocked his gun, ready to fire.

Upon realizing that the men were here solely to hurt Michael, Itachi and Kisame became angry and protective. Kisame had bonded with Michael over the five days he'd been living with him. He was one of the only people to know who he was and not freak out. Or judge him by his appearance for that matter. The kid wasn't annoying like many other children he'd see and Kisame found the kid entertaining to be around.

Itachi didn't exactly like the kid as much as Kisame did but he didn't hate or dislike him either. He admired the fact his big sister was protective and loving. He has seen the girl hesitate earlier that night before she sang to her brother. Obviously she hadn't wanted to sing with them around but pushed down the feeling to comfort her brother. Besides that, Michael kind of reminded him of a younger Sasuke. Although, Itachi considered himself lucky he was born a boy so his brother wouldn't run around the house, waving his sister's bra around, when hyper on sugar. Secretly he found it amusing but, at the same time, having experience himself, pitied Ashlen for having to deal with a hyper, little brother.

Jumping forwards at Steven, who kept his gun pointed at Kisame while he began to open the closet door, the blue ninja aimed a scratch at the man's leg. However, much to everyone's surprise, found himself grabbing the guy's neck instead. With his large, blue hand. For a moment the whole room seemed to freeze. Kisame, caught in surprise of being back to normal, hesitated for less than a second before regaining his composer. Tightening his fingers around Steven's throat, the blue ninja used his other hand to shut the closet door before casting a quick look behind him to see if Itachi had also regained human form.

Itachi had turned back almost as quickly as Kisame did. However, instead of trying to attack with his claws, the Uchiha had used his limited chakra to activate his Sharingan. The brown haired man looked terrified and it temporarily confused the ninja. He'd think the man would be more confused about a cat's eyes changing, maybe even a little scared, but not this scared. However, a second later, Itachi realized he was staring the man right in the eyes. He was unsure of how or why, but the fire user had regained human form.

Both of the ninjas were surprisingly fully clothed. However, both Kisame and Itachi lost their cloaks and weapons, including Kisame's beloved sword. Even Itachi's hair also seemed to lose it's ponytail form and was loosely hanging around his head. Itachi was wearing a blue, V-neck ninja shirt with matching pants and his necklace. Kisame was shirtless but was wearing pants similar to Itachi's.

"Well, Itachi, it seems that the jutsu has finally lifted." Kisame stated with a sharp toothed grin. Itachi made no attempt to reply as he was already placing John through a genjutsu.

"Who the fuck are you guys!" Steven struggled to breath out. Chuckling evilly, Kisame roughly yanked the blond man away from the door and forcibly turned him around to face him.

"Your worse nightmare. You messed with the wrong people." The tall, blue, man snickered evilly. Steven squeaked out in surprise as he struggled to get away but failed miserably.

Releasing John from his genjutsu, Itachi watched the man dropped down dead. It seemed, even without chakra, he could use his Kekkei Genkai on these people. However, either it be the lack of chakra or the man was just weak, he couldn't take the torture. John had died of a heart attack, only him and Itachi knowing what he was forced to see and endure. Looking over towards his partner, the Uchiha looked in time to see Kisame snap the blond man's neck and throw him aside with a grunt. However, not before Steven managed to land a shot into the blue ninja's shoulder.

"Damn, that burns. What kind of cruddy weapon is that?" Kisame complained as he dug two fingers into his wound to pull out what pierced it. Itachi watched as his partner pulled a small, metal thing from the wound and throw it across the floor.

"We should have thought to ask about the weapons used here. Whatever it was, it didn't look as if it made a lot of damage." The Uchiha observed. Kisame only grunted as if disagreeing and placed a hand over his wound.

"Damn thing was hot, whatever it was. If it wasn't for the heat, it wouldn't have hurt." The mist ninja said while pressing against the wound to stop the bleeding. Itachi grunted as he took a second to study Kisame a little more.

"It seems that, while we lost our cloaks and weapons, we were still able to keep most of our clothing." He stated out loud. Kisame gave his own little grunt of agreement as he nodded with a sour look on his face.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprise my Samehada didn't come with me. It just pisses me off that the Konoha probably have our stuff by now." He said bitterly. He was scowling at the thought of his precious sword and everything else related to the Akatsuki being found in the forest.

"Hn, unless the witch took our stuff."

"Can I come out now?" Michael's quiet voice asked from inside the closet. Having temporarily forgotten about the kid, both ninja looked towards the closet door before looking at the dead bodies on the ground.

Even though the bodies didn't look nearly as bad as other people they killed, neither ninja thought the child needed to see two dead bodies laying on the ground. Michael was far too young to see something like that. The kid might have seen them kill people on those DVD things but both ninjas knew there was a difference between T.V entertainment and real life.

"Not until it's safe, squirt." Kisame answered with a small grin at the door. Michael could be heard replying with a small whimper but said nothing else.

"I see you have returned to normal as well. It's about damned time to." Zetsu's voice broke through the small silence. Looking over towards the door way, both ninja saw a shirtless, but pants wearing, Zetsu.

It was rather odd seeing Zetsu without a cloak, or a shirt, but interesting at the same time. The Venus flytrap thing stopped right where his shoulders ended, kind of merging in with them and leaving his arms outside the plant part. The plant thing was open to show the malty colored man's face and shoulders. Like any other ninja, Zetsu was wearing blue ninja pants, but was bare footed, like Kisame and Itachi were.

"Zetsu, what's happening down there?" Itachi questioned. Zetsu moved his yellow eyes towards the Uchiha with a small smile shown on his white half.

"There was about seven men downstairs with strange weapons. The idiotic girl blocked an attacked aimed at us with her foot. She wouldn't have had to do such a thing if you didn't bite that man's finger off. Shut up, that was the both of us. You miss the taste of human flesh just as much as I do." The black side of Zetsu growled out. Towards a small, near by whimper, Zetsu looked towards the closet, his white side raised a green eyebrow.

"Oops, maybe we shouldn't have said that out loud. What's the brat doing in here?" White Zetsu said in a apologetic tone as the Black Zetsu said demandingly. Kisame opened his mouth in order to answer but was never able to get the words out.

More explosion like sounds blasted off from downstairs. They were followed by more screams from Ashlen, which caused Michael to whimper even louder. Without a single word the three ninjas looked at each other before they jumped into action. Kisame told Zetsu to take the two bodies away, which the plant man happily obliged to. He grabbed each man in one hand before disappearing into the floor. Itachi disappeared from the which left Kisame alone with Michael.

~Downstairs/A little earlier~

The six Akatsuki members had no idea what the weapon pointed at them was. It looked nothing like the weapons back home but it should be nothing they couldn't dodge, right? After all, even with limited chakra, they were ninjas and it should be easy to dodge many attacks. It did come as a surprise when the teenager began freaking out and demanded they run, however. If she knew who they were, then Ashlen should have known they could handle protecting themselves. Perhaps she thought they were weak in their currant forms or...

Bang!

A loud explosion blasted off from the weapon, which was aimed at Zetsu's head. However, the girl's foot had somehow gotten into it's path and, seconds after the gun had been fired off, she was screaming in pain. Confusion and surprised filled each of the kitten's faces as Ashlen was dropped by the albino man. Watching the teenager hold her teeth together as if trying to keep herself from crying, the six Akatsuki members could only watch, surprised, as she fell on her back.

Why did she protect them like that? None of them could fully understand. Sure, maybe the Akatsuki trusted Ashlen and Michael to take care of them and keep their secret after five days. However most of them were certain she'd want to get rid at them at one point. After all, the girl knew who they were and the threat they posed. So why didn't Ashlen just allow the men to kill them?

"Stupid bitch." The red headed man that was obviously the leader scolded. This seemed to went ignored by the girl as she instead began inhaling deeply as if trying to ignore the pain.

Being stupid is something the Akatsuki actually agreed with. Anyone who defended the Akatsuki, even in their weakest state, was stupid. However, after witnessing the damage the weapon could do, and the speed it possessed, the ninjas were grateful. There would be no way the Akatsuki could dodge a weapon like that as cats. Maybe as humans, but not as cats. It also showed Pein a sign he had been looking for for the past five days; a sign of loyalty.

Ignoring Michael's feared cry for the most part, Zetsu dropped the finger he had been eating. If it wasn't for Ashlen's interference the cannibal, plant man knew he could have been severely hurt or killed. He could smell the teenager's blood leaking out of the wound and smell her flesh cooking from the inside. It honestly made him hungry but he set aside his hungry to help pull whatever was hurting her out of the wound. That way he didn't have to bother with paying her back for something later.

"Well, well, well. Ain't this a surprise. Steven, John, why don't you check on the little boy? This bitch isn't going anywhere. Look, her own cat is starting to turn against her." The red headed human laughed cruelly as the other two humans ran off. Zetsu decided to ignore the comment as walked over to Ashlen's shaking foot and held it down with his front arms... erm, paws.

"W... what are you doing?" Ashlen stuttered in a shaky tone. She tried to pull her foot away but Zetsu pushed down harder and pushed his small mouth into the open wound.

'Are you sure we can't eat her?' Black Zetsu thought as he felt his sharpened cat teeth grab onto something metal. Ashlen laid back on her back with a cry of pain as White Zetsu replied with a no.

'No, not now at least. This is the least we can do for saving us. Whatever that weapon did, it tore up the inside of her foot. She wont be able to walk for a while.' White Zetsu replied as both sides pulled out a small metal object. He could hear the other Akatsuki members questioning what he was doing as the humans simply laughed at the thought of him eating the girl.

'He shouldn't be laughing.' White Zetsu thought, speaking about the blond man with the missing finger. Black Zetsu agreed but added in something about the half eaten finger.

From inside the living room, the six Akatsuki members could hear the two other men start to freak out. What the three humans in the living room didn't hear, though, was the constant swearing of Hidan. It didn't have to take them three guesses to know what was going on. They also, like Ashlen, could hear a small struggle coming from upstairs but it went ignored for now. Ignoring the three humans, and the fact the red headed man ordered the albino to check on their comrades, Zetsu walked towards Ashlen's head so she could see them better.

"Gurl." Zetsu tried to say girl but it came out as gurl with the bloody, metal thing in his mouth. Turning her head to the side, Ashlen looked at the malty colored cat man and he allowed the metal thing to drop.

"What the hell was that about?" The red headed human demanded angrier. Obviously he had expected Zetsu to try and eat her like her had eaten half of his comrade's finger.

Feeling something strange tingle inside of him, Zetsu rushed away from anyone else, abandoning the half eaten finger. Just as he turned the corner, the plant man felt different, yet familiar. Taking a quick glance at himself, he realized what had happened. Somehow, Zetsu had returned to normal but was shirtless. A small smile soon began to make it's way onto his face as he could then feel two strong chakra signatures from upstairs. Merging into the floor, the humanoid cannibal made his way upstairs and left the others behind.

Back in the hall way, the remaining five ninjas hissed angrily. These human men were getting annoying and they wished they could be normal more than before. The two that remained in the room began shouting angrily, obviously upset that Zetsu didn't eat their host and thinking they had something wrong with them. If only they knew. They could see the two men reading for an attack, which the Akatsuki were ready to counter. If they had to get a few wounds out of it, then so be it.

Before any of them could do a thing to protect themselves, though, Ashlen did it for them. Despite the pain she obviously felt in her foot, the girl stood up and leaped over, blocking any attacks with her body. With more cries of pain, the teenager moved her body away from the Akatsuki to lay on her back. Why this girl was trying so hard to keep them alive when she could get rid of them was beyond them, but it proved that Ashlen was far more a ally than a enemy.

It seems as though everyone had the same thought on the mind. What seems as though could have been planed rather than random, all the Akatsuki attacked at once. Startled, Max and Larry ignored the fainting girl to begin shooting bullets at the attacking cats. Pein, Konan and Sasori were lucky and managed to avoid damage. Tobi and Deidara, however, wasn't that lucky. Tobi got hit in the tail and Deidara got hit in the front, right leg. Ignoring the burn that came with the pain, the two ninjas joined the others in attack and protected the fainting girl.

Seconds later, everyone seemed to freeze for a second's time. No longer was everyone no higher than a ankle, but full size. It had appeared that protecting the girl that more than likely saved their lives was the key to turning back to normal. So, in a sense, Konan was right about the key to undoing the curse. Only Sasori was like Zetsu and appeared with only pants, allowing his puppet body to be revealed. Everyone else was wearing a ninja shirt to match their pants. They lost their cloaks, weapons and Deidara lost his ponytail. Surprisingly, though, the Akatsuki members still had their rings

"What the fuck?!" Max and Larry yelled together. A few more gun shots sounded through the house, which was followed by Hidan's loud swearing.

"You picked the wrong house to break into. It's too bad you wont live long enough to regret it." Pein's calm and serious, yet cold, voice said as he grabbed the weapon from Max's hand before crushing it in his own. The thing, though made of metal, crushed into small pieces as if made out of cardboard.

Gulping fearfully, Max began to take a few steps back. However, to keep any chances of him escaping, as impossible as that was, Konan appeared behind the red headed man. She knew Pein wanted to have this kill so she would stay uninvolved; besides making sure he had no chance at leaving. The Akatsuki leader raised a single hand palm up and, in a matter of seconds, Max found himself pinned to the wall. A quick and painless death was far too good for men like this. So, keeping his hand, palm up and facing Max, the red haired man screamed in agony as his insides twisted, pulled and pushed out of place.

"I see you have all regained normal form as well." Itachi said as he appeared in the hall way. Having killed Max in the most painful way as possible, and not causing any damage to the house, Pein and the others looked over to see the Uchiha.

"You as well." Sasori was the one to say with a quick nod of his head. He and Deidara together dealt with the other man but Sasori finished him off with a poisoned blade.

For a moment, Itachi took a moment to study Sasori. Nobody besides Deidara and Orochimaru had known what Sasori really looked like, not even Pein or Tobi. He had always kept himself hidden inside his Hiruko puppet. If it wasn't for the familiar chakra radiating off of the puppet man, and Itachi was smart enough to figure it out, the Uchiha would questioned who he was. The others, besides Deidara, were thinking around the same thing but were too busy dealing with the dead men and their bleeding host.

"What are we going to do with the girl, un?" Deidara asked as he glanced over at Ashlen. Currently, she was being held by Tobi, who's expression was hidden from the rest of the ninjas by his orange mask.

"Tobi will take her to her room. I think Kakuzu-San has turned back, so maybe he can stitch up her wounds before she bleeds out." He said in the irritatedly high, child like voice. The others stayed still for a moment as two cries of pain came from the living room along with two chakra signatures.

"Yes, do that." Pein ordered and, with a nod of his head, Tobi disappeared. "Deidara, go tell Kakuzu what happened. Get him to stick up your wound as well." He then ordered the young blond. Grunting, Deidara, holding his arm which was bleeding on both sides due to the bullet going right through, walked into the living room.

"Kisame also got one of those wounds on his shoulder. We dealt with the men easily and Zetsu took care of the copses." Itachi reported as Deidara came back with Kakuzu and Hidan following him. Hidan was swearing up a storm as he held a wound on his head.

"Hidan, would you shut up already? You've been bitching for the last ten minutes." Kakuzu growled, a annoyed scowl on his maskless face. Hidan responded with a fuck you before darting his eyes over at Sasori.

"Who the fuck you are?!" He demanded, reading himself for another attack. Sasori stayed calm but looked at Hidan as if he were an idiot.

"I'm Sasori." He answered as calmly as his expression but with a undertone of isn't it obvious or no duh. Hidan narrowed his eyes and looked unconvinced.

"There is no way a fucking brat like you is that ugly shit head!" Hidan yelled. Sasori only stared at Hidan, wondering if he could get away with poisoning the man and get away with it because he was so called immortal.

"You moron," Kakuzu snapped as he punched the back of his partner's head. "His chakra signature is the same. The other body was just a puppy shell." He rolled his odd Christmas eyes before looking over at Pein.

"Oi, fuck you, Kakuzu! That fucking hurt, you fucking shit head" Hidan complained as he rubbed the back of his head. His complaining went ignored by everyone around him.

"You want me to stitch up some wounds, leader-sama?" Kakuzu asked while he ignored Hidan's glaring eyes on him. The ginger haired leader nodded.

"Yes, the girl got wounded protecting us. I think Tobi might be trying to stop the bleeding as much as he can. I'd also like you to stitch any wounds Kisame and Deidara has." He ordered, noting that Deidara was still holding his bleeding arm. Kakuzu grunted but replied with a nod as he then disappeared with Deidara down the hall and up the stairs.

For the next few minutes, the remaining five Akatsuki members worked on cleaning anything that was broken or ruined during their fight. Itachi had returned upstairs not long before Kakuzu to check on his partner and avoid cleaning. At first Hidan seemed reluctant to clean but was forced after a threat of having his head removed for days at a time. Nothing seemed too bad in the living room. The furniture and television seemed alright. The box of stolen things, or things that were attempted to be stolen, seemed fine as well. However, there was some glass on the floor, along with a Jashinist symbol in blood. Hidan was forced to get down on his hands and knees to clean that.

"Can I fucking go back to sleep now? I'm tired as shit." Hidan complained after scrubbing the carpet for ten minutes with little result. It seems as though a genjutsu would have to be placed on the carpet before it could be replaced.

"I'm going to check on the kids, Pein." Konan spoke softly before leaving the room. The Akatsuki leader gave her a gentle nod before moving his eyes onto Hidan.

"I should force you to stay up but, because I am also tired, I will allow it. You will sleep out here until we can agree to new sleeping arrangement's with our hosts." He ordered as he began to leave the rooms. Pein was expecting a reply about killing the kids instead but was slightly surprised to hear the immortal man scoff instead.

"What the fuck ever. I don't understand what the hell we'd have to listen to some shit head kids." He grumbled and laid down on the couch. Pein stared at him for a moment before he and Sasori also left the room.

It was one of the first times Pein had witnessed Hidan not asking to kill someone instead. Either he had been serious about religious thing, where killing Michael and Ashlen would be a waste of time because their souls would go to the wrong god, or he was just tired. Pein decided it was a bit of both. Even though it became evident that Hidan didn't believe in the kids' god, he still had semi respect for religious people. Of course the Jashinest would probably still make attempts to kill the girl at most.

Sighing to himself, Nagato couldn't help but think of how strange his life had gotten in the last two weeks. He got a bad feeling deep inside that things were about to get a lot more strange.


So, what did you think? Some of this is unedited since I got distracted/or missed something. I reread my work and, if I see something needed editing, I will edit it

Things I mentioned in here, like the hyper crazed Michael running around with a bra, will be a deleted scene. I am taking requests on what you'd like to see happen in the deleted scenes