Cat'O'Nine Tails Chapter 10 Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, a naruto fanfic

I do not own Naruto.

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Sakura's Indecision, Hip-Hip-Hooray!

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Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter Break 10-Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

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Proverb-Don't trust the weak appearance of the wolf or the disappearance of the cat: they'll both make a come-back.-author unknown.

Proverb-Kick the cat out, sure enough, she'll come back.-author unknown.

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Akatsuki Base in Grass

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Tobi was acting weird…again.

First, his little 'disappearance' when they were in Konoha searching for the Haruno kunoichi, then Tobi kept rushing them to get back to the base as soon as possible. He had even suggested they not pick up Sasori-danna from Konan.

The orange-masked freak had lost a few more of his marbles, as far as Deidara was concerned. Tobi was obsessed with seeing that cat. Hidan had told them before they left that the cat was dead, but now Deidara knew the bastard had been lying. Personally, he liked the cat and, next time he had Hidan alone, he was gonna blow his stupid ass up for hurting it.

Kisame had related the event of Hidan's 'pyrotechnics.' It was a good thing the idiot had others around to cover for his stupidity. If the fire had reached Deidara's room the entire base would have become a colossal piece of art. Plus it was dry enough in Grass right now that a good sized fire, if left out of control, might burn down a few villages. Then Pein might have made them move back to Rain, and it was miserable there. Or Sand, where it was hot as hell, and everyone knew his face. Besides, both places wreaked havoc with his clay.

"Tobi," Deidara's deep baritone admonished the masked nin outside Itachi's door, "go make some breakfast, yeah. Danna has had a long trip and needs food and rest. Play with the cat later, un."

"Hai, Deidara-senpai!" Tobi skipped off to the kitchen.

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'Oh, I'll play with the kitty later, all right.' Tobi thought angrily, going to the kitchen to make some onigiri. Tobi discovered a few interesting things on his trip to Konoha. Not the least of which was that the old witch, Neko-san, had been through there recently, and he knew for a fact that bitch was a good family friend of Hashirama Senju, Konoha's first Hokage and grandfather to Tsunade, the current Hokage. He also found out the Hokage's favorite green-eyed apprentice was on a mission and that nobody could quite say what that mission involved. The loud-mouthed kyuubi container had come bursting into Konoha blabbing about her being missing which had given Tobi the answers he sought without any effort on his part.

He molded the cooked rice much too hard, smashing it into texture-less lumps of poorly made umeboshi onigiri and wrapping it in nori. He'd find the kitty later, and then he was going to get some answers before he wrung her little neck. Maybe then he'd give the body to Sasori. Or, perhaps, she could be used in negotiations with Konoha when they took over. He was sure she was too loyal to use as a medic, but the kyuubi container might trade his life for hers. Either way, he wanted answers. Even if she couldn't speak human at the moment, he knew some mind-reading jutsu. He'd find out just what Neko-chan had done to him, reverse the curse, and then he was going to pay her a little visit, too. He couldn't have her meddling in his plans any longer. That old bag was gonna die.

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Tobi went grudgingly with Deidara and Sasori after they choked down Tobi's lousy cooking. He had tried to stay at the base, but Deidara told him they needed to prepare for the taking of the biju next week, and Sasori-danna was not yet strong enough to take on the mission.

Sasori sat on the hill while they trained. What it amounted to, though, was Tobi running around screaming 'Senpai!' while Deidara threw bomb after bomb at him in irritation.

"Hn, concentrate, Tobi!" he snapped, "How are we gonna get that biju before Uchiha when you are goofing around all the time, un?"

"But, Senpai!" Tobi whined, "I wanted to play with the kitty today. It's gone and I couldn't find it anywhere!"

"Baka, un! It's probably outside somewhere," he pointed to the west, "Look at those storm clouds, un. I'm sure the cat will be back at the base by nightfall. It wouldn't be dumb enough to want to stay out in the rain, yeah. Now focus, yeah!"

Tobi clapped his hands, "You're right, Senpai!" For a second, there was a ruby-like gleam in his one visible eye as Tobi began to plan.

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English Proverb-In a cat's eyes, all things belong to cats.-Author unknown.

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'You and your stupid, noble causes,' her Inner sneered while they trudged through yet another puddle of slimy mud. Just as Sakura left the village, she had run smack into a ferocious rainstorm.

'Shut up!' Sakura growled, 'You're the one who wanted to stay away from the base in the first place! This was just too far away.'

'Yeah,' she shrilled, 'because you had to climb on to your precious Itachi-sama's shoulders!'

'He's not my precious anything! He's my captive, and I won't leave any of them here! They're mine!'

A strong gust of wind blew, knocking Sakura sideways off her feet and into the puddle she had just skirted. The feline shivered as the ice-cold dash of water pebbled her skin with goose bumps. Scrambling once more to her feet, the cat clambered out of the wet muck.

'So much for always landing on your feet,' Sakura's irritating Inner sighed, 'Well, I wish we had his strong, warm shoulders to ride on right now. Yuck! Now I know why cats hate water so much!'

For once, Sakura completely agreed with her. Just the thought of snuggling up to the Uchiha, Deidara or even Kisame right now sounded a little like heaven.

'Ugh,' she thought. Maybe she already had hypothermia. This squall must be warping her brain. 'If you don't want to be here, why don't you just go away?' Sakura asked.

'Are you kidding?' her Inner protested, 'You need me to stay alert right now. We are in a forest, have no chakra, no weapons and, even without Akatsuki, we are helpless prey here!'

'You think I don't know that? Why do you think we left the village in a storm in the first place? It was either that, or become a moving pincushion for those idiots!'

'Well, we're a couple of miles from the village by now. Let's find some shelter for the rest of the night.'

Sakura found a semi-dry and mostly hollow log just a little further on and crawled as far into it as she could. The first thing she noticed with relief was the wind no longer reached her. She shook herself and immediately began to clean her fur to remove water from it. It was the one chore she never wanted to get used to, but it came in handy now. Being soaked for so long had reduced her body temperature to a dangerous level and, if she couldn't get dry enough to warm up, she might never wake up when she went to sleep. She found two grubs, and managed to choke them down without gagging too much; vowing she'd make Itachi and Hidan eat a few sooner or later. By then, she was too tired to look for more sustenance and was really too disgusted to eat more. She exhaled noisily, and went to sleep.

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Sakura awoke to complete darkness.

Even her superior eye sight failed to give her a clue as to where she was. She sniffed and smelled wet rot all around her. The clammy coldness felt like a grave. 'Where am I?' she wondered, trying to concentrate in the cool darkness. She listened, and heard…nothing.

Wait, not nothing. The small crree of a cricket, the neep of a tree frog, slowly the sounds of the night came to her. She was outside…well, sort of. She was in something that was outside. She thought for a minute, and then remembered the storm. Her medical training kicked in, and she started to check off what injuries she might have that would put her in such a muddled state.

Her skin, no, fur, felt damp. She could smell no blood nor feel any serious injury. Dirty? Yes, but there were no open wounds. Her body was cool but, without chakra or hands, she was unable to measure her temperature properly. She concluded wasn't physically hurt, but she needed to move in order to warm herself up and also find food for energy. She could no longer remain in this spot. She stood and gingerly stretched her legs, working out the cramps from the cold. They burned with faint pins and needles from remaining immobile for so long in the cold. To her left, she could smell a faint whiff of fresh air. So, she started that way and discovered why it was so dark. The place she had chosen for shelter had collapsed in the storm. She shoved her way past a clutch of slick timber and found a hole barely big enough to squeeze her head through.

The late night air was calm and clement. The rain had stopped, but a soft breeze pushed a drop of water off the trees above and plopped it onto her nose, making her grimace at the unpleasant sensation.

She shook her head, and then tried to force the hole wider so she could get the rest of her body out. Her heart fluttered with anxiety for a few minutes while she found herself solidly trapped but, finally, the wood gave way with a deafening crack and she was free.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Sakura started running silently towards her destination. She could see well now by the faint light of the stars through the canopy and the sliver of moon now setting in the west. A few more days would find the new moon raised and, in about four days, the spell's magic would reverse and she would have to bring her captives back to Konoha without being noticed.

But first, she had to see if it was true. Had Sasori somehow survived the battle between them? She had to know. The puppet master had been truly a formidable enemy and she had to know if she failed to kill him.

She hurried toward her goal with new purpose.

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It didn't take long before her sense of purpose began to flag.

There was still standing water in places so she wasn't thirsty, but she was starving.

In the damp early morning hours, the pickins seemed quite slim. The cool wet grass wasn't conducive to grasshopper hunting; it seemed they waited till the sun warmed the meadow. She spotted a few worms but, after the memories of the snap of the grub's skin followed by the pulp she had to choke down after, she decided it would be ok to be hungry a little longer. Crunchy bugs, yes. Soft bugs, not happening.

After the sun rose and dried the sodden earth a bit, the insect world came to life around her. Sakura happily crunched down on the first five grasshoppers she came across, thinking wryly of the chocolate covered ants Ino had once tried to get everyone to eat. Ants were crunchy, too; with chocolate they probably would have been quite tasty. Of course she would never tell Aburame Shino that. He wouldn't eat the ants either. His whole family was quite fond of bugs.

There was another thing that began to wear on her spirit; the length time it was taking her to get across the countryside. The first time, it had been quite challenging as she followed the Akatsuki team to their base. Now she found herself becoming bored and distracted quite easily.

A brightly colored bird flitted through the low brush ten feet to her left, and she immediately found herself veering off course to investigate the diversion.

If that wasn't enough, there were the butterflies everywhere. The warmth of the sun had lured them out to feed on the milkweed and other flora. The fluttering of their wings was captivating to her. The feline in her wanted to stop and play in the warm morning sun.

She heard more than saw the squirrels racing and being silly above her. They chattered at her with regularity, and once she came across one out in the open harvesting nuts. She chased him up into the nearest tree but only followed him a few feet up. She hadn't really tested her climbing skills with her claws, and a bad fall could end her mission.

Her Inner nagged her, and kept her on track for the most part, but she kept remembering the nin cats' words; cats live life on their own time and do as they please.

By noon, she came to a large field of grass and sulked a bit when she thought of just how much further she had left to go. She could barely see the tops of the trees far off in the distance. It was quite warm now, and she wilted when she thought of crossing the fields with no shade.

'Perhaps I should wait until nightfall to cross,' she pondered.

'Right,' he Inner agreed sardonically, 'and you won't stand out one bit in the dark to the predators with your white coat, crossing the grass with no trees to cover you. Let's make odds on whether you'll be eaten by the owls or the foxes first.'

She sniffed, 'Ok, I see your point, but what about hawks or eagles? Don't they hunt during the day?'

'Sure, but at least you can see them coming. How about a compromise? Let's get across quickly, and then take a long nap in the cool shade of the first, nice tree we find.'

Sakura saw the wisdom in that. Checking carefully for predators in the air, she darted out into the pasture. She moved quickly, using all her senses to keep alert and checking around her. She never slowed, yet it still took hours for her small legs to jog the length of the plain. She sighed in relief when the first small bushes began to dot her path.

There was a small rise at the edge of woods. At the bottom of the hill, a small brook bubbled clear and Sakura was so happy that she lapped up the water while standing in it to cool her feet. After she drank her fill, the cat climbed the hill and found a high patch of grass which she promptly trampled into a springy, soft bed. Once she lay down in the sweet, warm grass, she cleaned her paws and closed her eyes in contentment. She couldn't see beyond her bed, so she was confident no one could see her without being close. Hopefully, washing her feet in the stream rinsed her scent enough that nothing would track her trail up here. Ready or not, she was positive she wouldn't make it another foot without a catnap.

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Sakura's nose twitched.

A single, green orb cracked open. She inhaled deeply, not believing at first what she smelled.

Onigiri, umeboshi onigiri.

Her stomach clenched with hunger.

She peeked out between the weeds to see a man sitting on the lip of the hill eating onigiri.

He was an older man, perhaps Kakashi's or Genma's age. He wore dark gray nin pants and a white fitted shirt. His reddish hair blazed in the late afternoon sunlight. There were silver wings starting to gray at his temples. Sakura felt that he might be a ninja, but he wore no hitai-ate, and she felt no immediate threat from his aura.

"Hello there," he said without turning around, "What's a fancy, little thing like you doing way out here? Running away from home?" he snickered at his own joke.

She stepped out of her shaded nest, and into the warm radiance of the setting sun. There was no point in hiding, since he had already spotted her.

'Mraow,' she called shortly. She kept her distance, twitching her tail and checking around to see if they were alone. Sensing no one, she ventured a bit closer, curious as to why this person was out here in the middle of nowhere. This could be one of the as yet unseen Akatsuki she'd heard Kisame speak of, or just some villager travelling through. She needed to be extra cautious. She only had three spells left. Sakura didn't want to let any Akatsuki escape, but she also didn't want to capture any innocent victims.

He took a bite of his onigiri and grimaced, "I don't suppose you're hungry?"

"Mmrow."

He broke off a full half and placed it at the end of his reach, "Help yourself," he invited, "I just can't get used to eating this stuff easily, after so long."

Quick as a flash, she snagged the food and backed off a few feet to watch him while she ate. He nibbled his dinner and stared out at the field.

Sakura gobbled down the rather mushy rice wrapped in seaweed with a pickled plum at its center. No wonder he didn't care for it. If she wasn't starving and facing the prospect of more bugs, she might even turn her nose up at the offering. Someone had overcooked it to the point of turning it into paste. It was a quite salty, too.

Her hunger told her it was superb.

She began purring.

"Does that mean we're friends now?" the man chuckled darkly and finally turned to look her in the eye.

Those pretty fawn-colored eyes. Sakura was sure she'd seen them somewhere before.

But where?

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Things you probably already know:

Umeboshi onigiri-onigiri made with pickled plum.

A/N- Is that? Could it be? Hehe, I guess you'll have to wait and see! Will Sakura make it back? Who knows? Oh yeah, I do! Please take a minute and write me a review. I do so look forward to them and they make me want to write more stories!

Thanks!

K&K