Naruto Fan Fiction
SI-OC!
(Title)
"The Weasel and His Cat"
DISCLAIMER: I do not own 'Naruto'!
WARNING! RATED M! For warnings of harsh language.
The mission was a success, Team 2 had located and then captured the targeted ninneko with minor trouble and returned him to his worry-stricken family. When they had reported back to Nekobaa and Minazuki-sensei, Itachi had been relieved on Tenma-kun's behalf when Nekobaa did not suspect anything dubious involving the ninneko's missing whiskers. But now that they had delivered a mission success and while Minazuki-sensei was discussing a payment method with Nekobaa, Itachi's mind became preoccupied with wondering after the whereabouts of Tomomi—he mentally corrected himself. That was not her name. Nekobaa had called her by the name of Hotaru. Itachi would not say it aloud, but he privately thought that Tomomi suited her personality better.
His perceptive eyes were scanning the room for any sign of the Feline's black coat through the herd of other, non-speaking, cats when Nekobaa suddenly spoke up,
"I want to add an extension to the mission! I have a task that only Itachi-chan can fulfill." She announced, drawing the attention of Itachi's previously distracted teammates. They had been playing with some of the more energetic kittens,
"Uh, really?" Minazuki-sensei asked uncertainly, glancing at the Uchiha heir. "Depending on what you have in mind the necessary adjustments will have to be made to the mission request, and—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know all that." the old woman interrupted with a wave of her hand, her eyes landing on Itachi, Minazuki-sensei scowled but quickly cleared his expression, "Don't worry I only need to borrow him for an hour or so at the most. What do you say, Itachi-chan? Won't you spend a little time keeping an old woman company?"
And that is how Itachi found himself sitting in the seiza position at a low table as Nekobaa poured them both a freshly-brewed cup of a particularly aromatic tea. After accepting Nekobaa's request of a mission extension Itachi had followed the cat-lover of a woman into the apartment adjoining the shop, her home, leaving the rest of Team 2 to await his return. Upon entering the small den the Uchiha boy had felt a sense of relief when he spotted the familiar sleek, black coat of To—Hotaru-san. His relief was replaced with mild alarm when he realized that Nekobaa's infant granddaughter was curled beside the sleeping form of Hotaru-san and that the girl's small and vulnerable face was nosing into the ill-tempered cat's fur. Itachi made an aborted move to distance the two before something regretful might occur but was stopped by a wave of Nekobaa's hand.
"Leave them, Itachi-chan. Tamaki-chan has taken a liking to Ho-chan and though she wouldn't say so, the trip here wore her out. I doubt that either of them will be in a very good mood if we wake them now." Nekobaa explained, sliding a steaming cup over to him.
"But, Hotaru-san dislikes—"
"Don't let her sharp tongue fool you, Itachi-chan, she has a soft spot for the little ones."
That was something Itachi did not know. Quietly, he sipped the tea and processed this new information. Nekobaa placed her elbow on the surface of the low table and rested her chin in her hand, observing him. He did not know why, he hoped it did not have to do with the missing whiskers. The silence in the room, save for the soft melting of the other cats, went on for several minutes until the tea had cooled. Then, Nekobaa breached the subject.
"Tell me, Itachi-chan, do you know why Ho-chan is the way she is?" Mutely, he shook his head. "All right then, you know your history? About the Warring-Clans era and how the Shinobi Villages were established?"
"As much as I was allowed access to, there is still a number of Hopi stories and scrolls that have been sealed away by the Elders. I do know how the peace pact between the Senju and Uchiha facilitated the path towards building Konohagakure." Itachi informed the woman dutifully.
"Good, good, then that saves us some time. I'm about to tell you a story that took place long before the the great handshaking between the Uchiha and the Senju, there was a small coastal village that also housed a small compound for the Senju towards the south of what's now known as the Land of Tea. There, lived a man named Senju Hisao and a woman called Kiyoshi."
Nekobaa paused in her story long enough so that she could light her pipe, taking a long inhale of it before continuing in a reminiscing tone. Itachi's tea had long been set aside, his mind too focused on the details of the story, looking for any connection that it might have with the talking Feline he has come to know.
"Hisao was something of a scholar and unlike many of his clansmen of the time, was not a trained shinobi in any manner of the word. This was because he'd been born prematurely, small and weak. Many said it had been a miracle that he'd survived his infancy in the first place. So, smaller, weaker and more prone to illness than the rest of his brothers yet still apart of one of the most influential clans in the countryside, Hisao had been sheltered from the harsh lifestyle of a ninja and became dedicated to learning the written word. It was here, when he was forced to stay within the safety of the compounds walls that he met the clanless Kiyoshi. She was just an insignificant and forgettable soul in the small village. Certainly no one that one would take special notice of... yet, for some unexplained reason, Hisao had seen Kiyoshi. Even when no one else had."
"He had been about thirteen winters old, and she ten, when the sickly boy first met the near-feral girl. He had been studying out amongst the trees and the sounds of nature when a girl half his size had marched through the clearing with a boar slung over her scrawny shoulders. He had stared at her with awe, his scrolls forgotten in his hands. She had ignored his very existence, just as everyone ignored her. This became a routine for them, you see. He had been struck!" Nekobaa laughed suddenly, a smile growing on her wrinkled face. "Don't let anyone ever tell you that love at first sight doesn't exist, Itachi-chan, because that phase had never been truer for poor Hisao. He started showing up to that stretch of the woods at every moment he could steal."
"What of Kiyoshi-san? Did she return the sentiment?" Itachi asked interestedly, unconsciously leaning forward to hear her as clearly as possible.
"She rejected him at every turn, of course!"
Itachi blinked.
"What?"
Nekobaa chuckled at the boy's reaction. "Yeah, that's how Hisao reacted at first, too. See, what Hisao did not know about the wild girl is that for as long as she had lived she had never known love of any kind, not from the parents that she did not know or from the villagers who chose to pretend she was not a child in need of simple human kindness. Everyone but Hisao. It took many, many years and attempts but that damned stubborn boy wore down her walls and stole a place in her heart. Hisao grew into a fine young man and an better scholar and Kiyoshi grew to be a envious beauty—Ho, ho! A real knockout! And with the help of Hisao, she became acknowledged by the villagers and began to learn the ins and outs of barter and trade. Eventually, they confessed their love and promised their lives to one another."
Nekobaa stopped in her story once more but Itachi could not taper his enthusiasm, he spoke calmly but there was a unusual shine to his dark eyes as he did. "And then Hisao-san and Kiyoshi-san married, correct?" He was eager to learn the connection to Tomomi he'd been waiting for. Perhaps they had ended up teaching a certain cat to speak? Itachi had always privately thought that Tomomi was older than she should be simply by the way she speaks and how she holds herself. If perhaps by some as of yet unexplained phenomena, has allowed Tomomi to live this long then it would explain how the Feline seems to know so many things.
Nekobaa exhaled, releasing a cloud of smoke to linger before dissipating into the air.
"No."
Itachi's previous enthusiasm dampened.
"...no?" He repeated.
"No." Nekobaa confirmed. Then, a somber look drew over her face, causing Itachi's brow to furrow slightly in concern. "No, Itachi-chan. They never had gotten the chance to marry because... Hisao died. There has been a harsh winter, one of the worst in decades. Hisao had fallen ill with a terrible fever, and... his heart had given out in the middle of the night."
A silence washed over the room, even the cats roaming the room had quieted with the change in atmosphere.
"What... what happened to Kiyoshi-san?" he asked, his soft voice even smaller.
"Her heart had been broken in a way that she never quite recovered from, a part of her dying alongside her beloved Hisao... but, she did not have time to mourn her lost love because the very next morning, Hisao... his eyes had opened again."
Itachi's breath caught in his throat as his eyes widened.
"Kiyoshi's own heart had stopped in her chest as she looked at her formerly-dead lover and childhood friend, but it was when she looked into his eyes that she knew it was no longer her Hisao... when she looked into his face she did not see the warm brown eyes that she had come to love, instead... they were glowing brightly, green and yellow. Just like fireflies."
Like fireflies? Green and yellow eyes—No. Lime-green eyes, Itachi realized.
Hotaru meant Firefly.
The Weasel and His Cat
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N: Tah-daaaaaah! Just in time before Christmas! Yay! Well...? I bet a lot of you were thinking that Tomomi was Kiyoshi, huh? We're gonna get to hear Tomomi's side of events pretty soon but what are your guys' theories so far? What do you think Tomomi's story is? I hope you guys liked this! Stay warm out there!
I wuv you guys! Happy Holidays! Mwah~
-Nanami