50alternates

Title: here kitty, kitty, kitty
Author/Artist: ohwhatsherface
Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke x Haruno Sakura
Fandom: Naruto
Theme: other world, #43 witch
Word Count: 1160
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

…

…

"Why don't you just slip him a Love Potion, if you like him so much?" Shikamaru suggested. Ever the lazy absolute piece of crap, Shikamaru stretched and curled up on my bed. His chocolate-coloured fur was likely going to shed, but who the hell cared? I was so totally ditching this joint! "It'd do my ears rather well…"

"Shut up, Shikamaru," I muttered, folding a shirt and putting it in one of my suitcases. "I'm not allowed to clash with Free Will, remember?"

Shikamaru was something like my familiar. He used to be a man (a rather promiscuous one at that) back in his day, but apparently he fooled around a little with a witch, and when he was trying to ditch her in the middle of the night, enraged, the witch turned him into a cat. According to Shikamaru, she was rather obsessed with him so she tried to keep him with her in that cat form, but he got away eventually.

I'm not too sure how he ended up in my care, but I've had Shikamaru since I was old enough to mutter any sort of incantation.

See, there's this fact about me that I tend to leave out when I meet people.

I'm a witch.

No, seriously, I am, although I'm nothing like Sabrina Spellman, Elphaba or Glinda, Hermione Granger, the Halliwell sisters, or Alex Russo. No way—what goes on television or stage should stay in their respected places. I, Sakura Haruno, am a witch, but not like them. Or maybe I am. Maybe, I'm not too sure.

"Ah, come on, Sakura," Shikamaru continued. "You haven't been doing magic lately, you know. You just have to like… slip it in Sasuke's mouth wash."

Sasuke was my new roommate. By some miraculous chance, he chose me among other applicants to take that spare room in his beautiful apartment. At the moment, he was helping me bring my stuff over with his car.

But yeah.

I nodded to Shikamaru. "Yes, genius, because I like living a normal life, you see."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Sakura, you've got to realize that you're a witch. You will never ever be normal."

"I can try, though," I persisted optimistically. "Especially right now. Sasuke would freak if he found out I was a witch!"

I stopped clearing out my closet and sat down in the bed, picking Shikamaru up so I could lie down. I deposited him over my chest and began to play with his paws. "But I guess to actually try being normal would mean I should stop talking to you, huh?"

Shikamaru frowned (if it was possible for cats to frown). "I take offense to that, you ungrateful brat." He let out a sigh and jumped away from me to curl up into a ball by my feet. "Besides, you wouldn't last an hour without talking to me about your issues. I've been the companion of the world's greatest witches, you know!"

I nodded, not exactly paying attention. "Sure."

"Oi!" Shikamaru made a little hiss sound. "I have, though. I've met plenty of witches—male and female—in my years as a cat. Hashirama, Chiyo, the Sannin Tsunade—although I ran away from her… crazy woman drank too much—your great-great-great-great-great grandmother, Sakura the…" Shikamaru paused, trying to remember… whatever he was trying to remember. "Oh, the second. Did you know you're the fourth?"

Assuming the question was rhetorical I ignored Shikamaru and went back to packing. My shoes were most definitely not going to pack themselves, right?

"And then, last but not least, the Uzumaki twins," he concluded. "Kushina had a thing for the frogs though, so I only served her until she was fifteen and old enough to get a new magical pet on her own. I stuck around with Kumiko though."

"Of course," I replied. "That's how you got passed down to me, moron."

"Actually, I was passed down to you because Kushina declined me," Shikamaru corrected. "See, since your mom didn't directly give me to you, I was supposed to go to your aunt, in the belief that your mom didn't deem you responsible enough yet. Don't worry though, Sakura, she was just waiting until your birthday…"

"Right."

I didn't like using magic. Ever. While my two best friends were witches like me, I just couldn't bring myself to use it after my mother's death. It wasn't like I could, though, anyway. My father was a famous witch (in the Witch Realm, of course) and had no time whatsoever for his bastard daughter born from a one night stand. He sent me to live with Shikamaru in this world when I was sixteen all by myself.

I did use it for little things though. A quick cleaning spell for when Auntie K was going to check up on me, a time-stopping spell for those nights when I procrastinated, a straightening spell for the days my hair was just not working on me…

And let's not forget the multiplication spells. How else would I have enough money for all my shoes?

"You're not going to go all emo on me, are you?"

I looked at Shikamaru over my shoulder. He was doing his cat-frown again and was likely feeling a little guilty for bringing up the topic of my mother. I smiled at him, answering, "No. I'm fine."

"Okay…" Shikamaru leapt off the bed and scratched his back against my ankles. "So what are you going to do about this Sasuke-guy?"

My grin widened. "Well since you asked—"

"Sakura."

I jumped and whipped my head around. Sasuke stood in the doorway of what was going to now be my Former Room, frowning in confusion. There was a heavy looking box in his arms, likely full of my shoes, but he managed to carry the thing effortlessly with those beautiful arms of his. "Were you talking to someone?" he asked, looking around before his gaze settled on Shikamaru.

"Uh… yeah, I was on the phone," I lied lamely.

He continued to stare down Shikamaru as I grabbed the little shit and deposited him in my lap.

"Hn," Sasuke muttered. There was suspicion written all over his face but he didn't say anything. "Well, are you done packing?"

"Yep," I replied with a nod. "Let's start bringing stuff down to your car." I put Shikamaru down so I could start dragging out my suitcase. I walked past Sasuke, who remained in the doorway, likely staring down Shikamaru still.

I was down the hall but I caught the "I'm watching you" from Sasuke a few seconds before I felt Shikamaru brushing by my ankles.

"I think he's suspicious," Shikamaru murmured, careful of Sasuke who was walking behind us.

I rolled my eyes, muttering, "You think?" For the sake of appearances (and to score a stare), I looked over my shoulder and smiled at Sasuke. "Thanks for helping."

"Aa."

Much to my dismay, his gaze remained on Shikamaru.

Dammit.

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