The Stray Cat

A Story of Meaningful Humiliations

Author's Note: BloodHeron is aware that she forgot to disclaim rights to all non-original characters before, so she is remedying the situation and disclaiming right now. If the character is familiar in the anime/manga, BloodHeron doesn't own them. Oh, and for the most part, the chapter subheadings have nothing to do with the chapters. This one does, though. Remember Tsunade gambling with Neji and Sasuke last chapter and winning? You know, regarding Neko's skill as a kunoichi? Well, 'Meaningful Humiliation' comes to fruition now, as Tsunade exacts her payment, and it ain't money she's after. And, please tell BloodHeron what you think of Neko. BloodHeron had fun creating her, and still has fun tormenting poor Kiba (but Heron loves Kiba, really, such a fun character). A reviewer named ANBUKaida mentioned that Neko seemed a bit much like a Mary-Sue. Truth be told, Neko is an uncut gem, and BloodHeron will be chipping away at her flaws a little at a time, exposing her inner complexity and imperfection, so if she's still a Mary-Sue when her past is dredged up, BloodHeron apologizes profusely and blames the fact that she's reaching forward blindly. She has only the slightest grasp of exactly what all a Mary Sue is, except to say that it's a someone that's just a little too perfect. That's what Neko wants people to think about her anyway, and remember, she does have some basis in one of BloodHeron's relatives. Anyway, before the author's note becomes altogether too long, which it already is, let us commence with the story. And if anyone has any ideas as to the real crime Neko should be hunted for, as in by her own village, why she really left, do tell. Yeah, Neko's a good enough liar to get past Neji and Tsunade and Kiba. Hello, she's a cat for crying out loud.

"So tell me," Kiba muttered as he helped Neko go looking for somewhere to live. "Where all did you learn to fight so many opponents at the same time, not to mention opponents that are clearly stronger than you are?"

"Up in Hoshi," Neko replied lightly, as if commenting on the weather. "I've only ever fought multiple opponents, the more the merrier."

Something clicked in Kiba's head. Neko had just told him, basically, that she'd spent her whole life training to fight outnumbered and outclassed. That would mean that her one-on-one skills had suffered, if she'd ever developed them. He smirked, wanting to see just how she did on a one-on-one match with, oh, say, Neji, who was itching for a rematch and wanted to restore his pride to its former state of glory. "You know, Neko, since you've been assigned to ANBU, and in my squad no less, you should really try sparring with Captain Hyuga. I'm sure he'd love to get a more in-depth look at your abilities."

Neko read into that that Captain Hyuga would like nothing more than to beat the crap out of her and call it training. Fortunately, she knew of a temporary reprieve from that, though if she did spar with Neji afterwards, he would most likely kill her. "That'll have to wait until tomorrow, I think," she breezed, shrugging. "Tsunade slipped me a note, telling me all about the gamble she made on my abilities against Sasuke and Neji. Apparently she won, and she's having them sing publicly as punishment."

Kiba suddenly tripped over something in his path and fell on his face, sputtering. "W-whoa, you can't be talking about the same guys here, not the Sasuke and Neji I know. They've got too much ego to do that."

"Apparently, they also said, quote, "We'll bet you anything" to Tsunade, and she took anything to mean pride. Everyone is to meet back in the arena today, actually, in about three hours, to hear two prestigious and completely unwilling ANBU captain geniuses sing karaoke. A duet actually," Neko continued, somehow managing a straight face. Kiba found this suspicious, as there was no one he knew could say that with a straight face. Just little details, but Kiba found himself trusting Neko ever less. Not that he'd let her know that intentionally. His attempts at surprise had been noted and thrown in his face before, but that didn't mean that Neko would have to know that Kiba was plotting her assassination should she prove to be a real siren, as in the lure to a trap.

A lawyer, that's what Neko resembled. Her charm, ability to manipulate most everyone, her skill at putting up an argument that could capture the very hearts and minds of the rapt audience, and the ability to lie with just enough of the truth to make it real enough to get past even Neji. Now Kiba really didn't like her. Yes, he was attracted to her. She was a highly attractive female of about his age. No, that did not mean he trusted or even liked her in the slightest. His family had always said that if there were two people you couldn't trust, it was cats and lawyers. Kiba was sure now that he didn't have the whole story, so he'd try to pry it out of her after the public spectacle his captains were being forced to make of themselves.

The arena was crowded, mostly with disbelievers. And who could blame them for not believing? This was Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuga Neji about to humiliate themselves by singing karaoke in front of all of their colleagues, subordinates, and superiors. Not to mention Neji's ex-sensei, who was crying 'manly' tears at his student's 'exhibition of youthful vigor', and at that point everyone stopped listening. The attention was all on the two very unhappy looking men about to sing a duet for a song that wasn't of their choosing. Kiba guessed that both Sasuke and Neji were regretting not betting money on their last gamble, and he was willing to bet his favorite collar that neither captain ever gambled again.

Song lyrics drifted out over the captive audience, supplemented by two rich voices that hovered somewhere between tenor and baritone. Kiba, who had very sensitive ears, could very well appreciate that both captains were very perfectly on key.

These prison gates won't open up for me

On these hands and knees I'm crawling

Oh, I reach for you

Come please, I'm callin'

Interesting song, Kiba mused, actually managing to mentally picture the lyrics matching up to the captains' personal histories. It was a song he heard on the radio all the time, 'Savin' Me', by a band called Nickelback, and he quite enjoyed it, though he'd never thought it applied to the two captains before.

Well I'm terrified of these four walls

These iron bars can't hold my soul in…

Well that was a definite Neji line right there. Wasn't he always preaching about being a caged bird? Kiba was amazed at the connections he'd never made before. He leaned forward in the spectator seat he'd found, intent on seeing the extent of the perfection in this song.

These city walls ain't got no love for me

I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story

And all I see is you

Hurry I'm fallin'

Kiba smirked. It was perfect for Sasuke too. It was true that Konoha really held no love for the Uchiha anymore, with the exception of a handful of people who had never given up hope on the man when he had, some years ago, betrayed Konoha and joined Orochimaru for power. Sasuke was possibly the only person currently in Konoha that Kiba trusted less than Neko.

Show me what it's like

To be the last one standing

And teach me wrong from right

And I'll show you what I can be

Say it for me, say it to me

And I'll leave this life behind me

Say it if it's worth savin' me

Hurry, I'm fallin'

Ha, Neji and Sasuke were always the ones who needed examples to know the general definition of right from wrong when they were genin. During that first chunin exam, Neji had nearly killed Hinata in the preliminaries, simply because he was confused, and hated what was confusing him. Thanks to Naruto, though, Hyuga had had some sense beaten into him, and while he still wasn't nice, he was much more tolerable.

The song finally came to a close, and, to the wild cheers of the audience, Neji and Sasuke marched off the stage, having paid their debt to Tsunade. Kiba could practically hear their teeth grinding from his seat, nearly fifty yards away.

Kiba and Neko left the arena after that as well, the former wondering if there were any missions for an ANBU squad to go on, and the latter wondering if she would get hurt for congratulating the captains on their wonderful singing voices. Both got their answers when they happened across both captains in question back in the ANBU office.

"I…" Kiba started, but Neko cut him off with a friendly compliment to the singing abilities of two people she hadn't known had it in them to sing at all. Neko, in turn, was cut off as two tempers simultaneously snapped and she found herself on the floor, wondering who had hit her where.

"I was wondering if ANBU had any missions," Kiba finished, making sure that he wasn't within striking range of either potential assailant.

"No," Neji replied, his tone cold enough to freeze acid. Kiba wisely shut up after that and let Neji go on about his business without further interruption on his part. Sasuke had already gone, and now Kiba was alone in the corridor with a bleeding Neko.

"Ow," Neko groaned, wobbling to her feet. Her nose was broken and bloodied, and her shoulder felt as if it might have been dislocated. "Yeah, Deji's dice alright. Bastard broke by dose!"

"Don't be silly. Sasuke broke your nose. Neji just closed one of your chakra points. You'll be fine once we go see Hinata at the hospital. She's a medic and can fix your nose up so you don't bleed all over the corridor. You're making a mess," Kiba told her, dragging her along towards the hospital.

The nice lady at the hospital's front desk looked up with concern at the sheer amount of blood Neko was managing to drip all over the place. Alarm was written all over her features as she quickly spouted the phrase, "Exam room 309, Hinata should be doing paperwork."

Sick and injured people were obviously in no condition to be navigating anything complicated, so why the hospital had to be a bloody labyrinth was a mystery. Kiba finally picked up Hinata's scent amidst all the other confusing smells that made him hate hospitals, and that was how he and Neko finally found Exam 309. Akamaru and Tomoru politely waited outside the room as Kiba pushed a very dizzy Neko ahead of him.

"Oh my, what happened?" Hinata demanded, her childhood stutter not in evidence.

"Sasuke and Neji happened," Kiba replied, smirking. "No, your precious cousin's not responsible for all the blood, if that's what you're worried about."

Hinata could talk while she worked, and did just that as she healed Neko's nose. "No, I figured Neji was too much of a clean freak to risk getting blood on his floor. And I'm not surprised they lashed out, after the spectacle Tsunade made of them."

Kiba could remember listening to Hinata's attempts at talking back when they were genin teammates, when she stuttered so bad that no one could understand her. Now that she had no reason to stutter, she was very easily understood. She was always polite, but sometimes that politeness felt like a mask for something rude that she wanted to say, but wouldn't.

Hinata re-opened the chakra point in Neko's shoulder that Neji had closed, and the sensation of dislocation went away. Neko thanked Hinata profusely before she and Kiba said their goodbyes and went on their way.

"Nice woman," Neko remarked as she and Kiba meandered down the street with no particular destination in mind. Neko still needed an apartment of her own, and Kiba figured he knew just the place.

"Oh, Hinata? Yeah, she's possibly the nicest person in Konoha. She was on my team when we were genin, along with a guy named Aburame Shino. I had a crush on her for the longest time, before I realized that first of all, she was too deeply in love with Naruto and I wasn't the man to make her happy, and second of all, Neji was going to kill me if I didn't stop trying to win his cousin's heart."

"You and your captain seem almost like friends now," Neko pointed out, looking around the apartment complex that happened to be along the way.

"We came to one of those mutual, unspoken understandings," Kiba replied. "I stop chasing after Hinata, and Neji stops trying to kill me. So, now, Hinata's just my teammate and very good friend, and Neji, well, we have our moments. Now, here's an apartment you could try for a few months, at least. They accept cats"

Author's Other Note: BloodHeron apologizes for the late update. She is in and out of the doctor's office rather often now, and will only update when she can work around her eye problems, her homework, and her dog trying to nose her hands away from the keyboard. Please remember that BloodHeron would like to know of any improvements she can make. Do you, the reader, want longer chapters? Shorter chapters? More romance and less action? Less romance and more action? Or do you want Heron to just follow the plot bunny where the bunny beckons? Please do tell BloodHeron anything you would like her to throw into this story, and if she can make it fit, she will. BloodHeron also loves her reviewers, even if they're flamers, as long as the flamers are polite. Rude ones will be laughed at, but their suggestions shall also be taken into consideration. And please do tell, what do you think of Neko and Tomoru?

(BTW: Neko means cat, significant to Neko's feline mannerisms, and Tomoru means Burning, significant of the cat's coloration)

Oh, yeah, one more thing...

DISCLAIMER: The song 'Savin' Me' belongs to the band Nickelback. BloodHeron is a harmless fan who is not profiting from this except to have fun applying the song to Masashi Kishimoto's characters.

Eh heh, sorry, Heron forgot that little bit right there, almost. Which would have been bad.

Uh, please review?