Author's note: This is probably the last time I'll be able to update this before school starts on Monday, but you never know.

Cat Fight

After learning how to control chakra and a few minor jutsu, Cinderpaw decided it was high time she claimed some territory for herself. The first few days went smoothly for her. She would head out to mark a section of the land by the hideout at night and bring back a few dead animals in the morning. She didn't like the fact that Pein and Konan had different partners follow her every night, but nobody wanted to have another incident similar to what happened to Tobi II. It was only after Cinderpaw began venturing closer to the Sand Village that things started getting a little crazy.

The trips started out peaceful enough. The desert was nice and cool at night and there was still plenty of prey. Cinderpaw enjoyed the challenge of having fewer animals to hunt than usual and she wasn't crazy enough to mess with anything too dangerous, so nobody minded her nightly trips there. Cinderpaw had only smelled Sake's scent a few times, but no other cats seemed to live nearby. That changed quickly and the results weren't too good for anyone involved.

Cinderpaw had been stalking her first mouse of the night. Hiding behind a cactus, she watched in anticipation as the rodent tried to find its own food. Once it seemed the mouse wasn't paying any attention, Cinderpaw pounced. She flew through the air with her claws outstretched. Expecting to feel flesh tearing beneath her claws, all she got was a head-on collision with another cat in midair. The squeak of a terrified mouse could be heard as Cinderpaw's prey scrambled out of sight. After puffing herself up, Cinderpaw angrily hissed, "Watch where you're going you stupid furball! It's bad enough you scared away my prey, but you're on my territory too. What the heck is wrong with y- Whoa.

After finally looking at the cat who had collided with her, Cinderpaw's jaw dropped. He certainly wasn't you're average cat. He looked far too muscular to be a housecat, yet he looked too well groomed to be feral. His light brown coat shimmered in the moonlight. His big blue eyes showed not fear, but genuine concern. The fact that he had two large rings around them that appeared to be really unusual birthmarks just made them stand out even more. "Are you alright?" His voice made him sound attractive even when he spoke such a small question. Cinderpaw didn't know if Shukaku was messing with her head since the full moon hadn't been too long ago, but she didn't care. This was one hot cat.

"I'm alright. Who are you anyway?"

The muscular tom purred. "My name is Lightningclaw. Before you ask, I was never one of those feral warrior cats. Sandy bought me for Gaara as a present, so now I'm a ninja cat in training. I only know taijutsu right now and Sandy's cat, Sake, keeps stalking me, but life is good. And who are you?"

Cinderpaw was angry at herself for not noticing the tom earlier, but now she was just too happy to meet him to beat herself up. "I'm Cinderpaw. I belong to Tobi of the Akatsuki. I am a full fledged ninja cat and an evil genius. Not to mention I'm single."

Lightningclaw tried not to be too obvious concerning how much he liked Cinderpaw already. Not only was she a ninja, but she was tough. It felt good to know not all females were as crazy as Sake. "Nice to meet you. I have to go and train for a while, but I could free up my schedule for you tomorrow night. How about we meet up at twilight tomorrow here?"

"It's a date. See you then." The two cats then went their separate ways for the night. Cinderpaw couldn't wait for tomorrow any more than she understood why she was in love. And with the kazekage's pet no less. How could an evil genius such as herself be attracted to anyone anyway?

The two cats started dating frequently within the month that they first met. Sometimes they would hunt together and other times they would train together. But Cinderpaw loved watching the sunset with Lightningclaw the most. It wasn't just because deserts always have the best sunsets either. She loved the way they would sit next to each other on a dune as the sun rose. Sometimes their tails would touch when they got close enough. If the mood was extra romantic, they would even purr and rub each other. The pairs of Akatsuki members who watched them referred to them as Romeo and Juliet when they went to watch them since the relationship seemed destined to fail. All the same, they always watched the pair as if they were part of a romantic movie. It's a wonder the Akatsuki could afford enough tissues with everyone so emotional over the whole affair. It was only a matter of time before the star-crossed lovers would have to split up.

The pair wouldn't realize the horrible truth until the next full moon. Lightningclaw had taken Cinderpaw to one of the Sand Village's alleys to meet some of his friends. They partied until Lightningclaw's friends had to go back to their owners since their owners were just returning from a mission. The couple stayed in the alley as they simply let themselves relax. That is, they were relaxed until an earsplitting yowl shattered the peace, "What are you doing with my boyfriend?" They had been spotted by none other than Sake herself.

Now Cinderpaw was furious. "YOUR boyfriend? He's mine!" She unsheathed her claws, arched her back, and growled at the intruder.

With a screech, Sake jumped and landed on Cinderpaw. As Lightningclaw backed into a wall to avoid the fight, the two females wrestled. They screeched, clawed, and bit each other until the alley was soaked in blood. After pushing themselves apart and healing their wounds, the real fight began. Cinderpaw sent gusts of wind at Sake as well as a few fireballs for good measure while Sake dodged them and countered with a flash of lightning. The two cats kept blasting jutsu at each other for quite some time. Finally, Cinderpaw pinned Sake down after distracting her with some bubbles. Just as it looked as if Cinderpaw had won, Sake inhaled deeply before letting out a mighty yowl. The force of the chakra enhanced sound waves was so powerful that it sent Cinderpaw flying into the wall. Sake then began battering the shocked Cinderpaw. Then all three of the cats in the alley were half scared to death when a very angry sounding ninja screamed, "What's going on here?"

Sandy sure didn't look like she wanted to deal with anything at the moments. Despite looking half asleep in a pair of pajamas, she was giving the cats a death glare that could make even Orochimaru cower. Thankfully for the cats, Sasori and Deidara hadn't been too far away. They had been visiting the local cemetery when they heard the fight and though they hadn't seen any of it, Sandy's appearance sure didn't inspire confidence. Seeing Cinderpaw getting glared at, Sasori decided a sacrifice would have to be made. After praying he would live, Sasori grabbed Deidara using his puppet's tail. Despite the man's terrified protest, threats, and begging, Sasori launched him into Sandy line of sight.

The resulting chases were a mess. Lightningclaw ran to a dark alley a few blocks away, Sandy chased Deidara through the streets, and Sake chased Cinderpaw over a few buildings. Luckily for Cinderpaw, Lightningclaw dragged her into his hiding spot when Sake wasn't looking. After the sounds of a very gay sounding gay being tortured echoed through the village, the sound of a can opener rang out loud and clear. After Sake ran off after the noise, Sandy strolled up to the couple. "It's alright, cats. I won't hurt you."

Both cats suspiciously peeked out of the hole that they had decided to hide in. Then they cautiously stepped out into the open and Cinderpaw warily asked, "You aren't going to punish us?"

Sandy just laughed loud and hard for a few minutes. After catching her breath, she explained, "I would never beat up cats. Besides, I've had to fight off other girls myself, so I know how you feel. You'll find Deidara in a trash can outside the Akatsuki hideout by the way. He's not dead since he must be alive for me to torture him."

Cinderpaw looked relieved. Then a sad thought crept up on her. "I won't be able to meet up with Lightningclaw again will I?"

Sandy sighed and gave her a pitying look. "I'm afraid not. You see, Sake's original boyfriend is currently sealed somewhere and Lightningclaw is as close to him as she can get right now. You can have Lightningclaw if Sake ever finds another boyfriend, but now is not that time. Sorry."

Poor Cinderpaw looked awful. Lightningclaw finally had the courage to speak up though. "Don't worry, Cinderpaw. I'm sure that ranting maniac will find someone else someday." Then he hopped onto Sandy's shoulder and they left.

Sasori helped Cinderpaw cope with her grief, but she still missed Lightningclaw. She was happy that Sandy seemed cool enough to talk to now and again, but it just wasn't the same. Little did anyone besides Deidara suspect how truly insane Sandy could get.

Author's note: Now to get on to the next arc that will last around ten chapters and a little challenge for my reviewers next chapter. I don't usually write anything romance related, so I hope this was still good.