Chapter 4 This is Christmas
"Eh, no f***ing d*** deal" Hidan mewed.
"Heh, I guess it doesn't seem like such a big deal to you guys. Let me explain," Nekki began.
"Her name was Naki Giniki and she was two years older than me and she was my idol. She was an A+ student and a kind, loving person. She was also an Asian American, like me, and had a bright blue eye and a vibrant green eye. Her hair was dark navy and gray. Naki had a love for rescuing abandoned or endangered animals. One day, she traveled to Australia to help increase the number of numbats, an animal in danger of going extinct. While she was helping, she got to stay at a hotel with a pool. Unfortunately, she did not notice a spider slip into the water. It sank to the bottom of the pool and she put her feet down on the ground and got bitten by the spider. Naki was then rushed to the hospital, but it was too late to save her. She died in the hospital before the family could get there to tell her that she's going to be okay. I never got to say good-bye. Her death struck a big blow on the entire family. Ever since then, I have had a terrible fear of spiders and have to take medication for it and have therapy sessions. As you saw earlier, I have uncontrolled violent breakouts and cannot remember of what I did. The only way I know of what happened when I am in panic is when people tell me. Luckily, I do not cause much damage, but I have been sent to an insane asylum. I found it difficult to fit in with others at school and they constantly bullied me by showing pictures of spiders to me. The purposely tried to get me into a frenzy just to get me in trouble. When I started taking medication, they called me a drug addict and reported me to the authority. To heal my pain, I took in stray cats and cared for them. I took my sister's appearance to try and be closer to her even though she was dead. My hair is actually black, but I dyed it. That is why my hair is striped black and navy. My eyes are actually just blue. This eye," Nekki said pointing to his left eye, "is just a contact lens. No one understood my pain, and continued to bully me. Only one person comforted me in my time of sorrow. She is my angel."
The kittens stared at him when he finished talking.
"I think we know more about him Pein-sama," Kakuzu mewed. Pein nodded his head.
"Well, bedtime kittens!" Nekki announced in mock happiness. He threw the covers up and crawled into his bed. The kittens jumped up and lay down next to the Asian American. He gave them all a forlorn smile and closed his eyes. Tears trickled down his face and Tobi licked Nekki's eyes.
"Thank you," Nekki whispered as he continued to cry himself to sleep.
"I guess this took a lot of courage for him to tell us," Sasori mewed.
"I would have never guessed that he had such a tragic past!" Kisame meowed. Itachi nodded in agreement.
"We should get some sleep. Tomorrow is this so-called Christmas," Pein ordered. One by one, the kittens fell asleep.
"It's Christmas!" Nekki shouted at the top of his lungs. He leapt out of bed hitting the ceiling hard with his head in the process since he jumped so high and he cried out in pain. Nekki fell back down on his bed with such momentum that it caused all of the Akatsuki kittens to fly up in the air.
"OH MY JASHIN! THE F***ERS ARE HERE!" Hidan screeched as he flew in the air. He blinked a few times and noticed that it was just a dream and that he was in the air. "What the f***?" he yowled as he landed on his stomach.
"Will you shut up?" Kakuzu mewed.
"What just happened, un?" Deidara asked.
"Tobi was flying!" Tobi cried. He bounced around on the bed with glee. "Do it again! Do it again!"
"No! Don't do it again!" Zetsu cried. He dug his claws into the covers of the bed.
"Good morning guys!" Nekki said cheerily as he rubbed his head. "Sorry for that rude awakening," Nekki apologized as he rubbed a welt that was forming on the crown of his head. He got up and got some clothes out of the dresser and went inside the bathroom. As he closed the door, the Akatsuki kittens were gathering their wits after being bounced in the air.
"What was that all about?" Kisame asked as he stretched his legs.
"Christmas," Itachi answered bluntly.
"Merry Christmas, everybody!" Nekki shouted to the kittens as he threw the bathroom door open. He was wearing a green and red striped shirt and brown sweatpants. They were all staring at him like he was crazy.
"These are the theme colors of Christmas. I have some colors for you too!" Nekki said cheerily. He took out some striped ribbons with the same colors as his shirt and tied bows to all of the kittens. They all sat around in discomfort and looked at each other.
"Hm. I guess we'll see how long you can tolerate them. Oh well, Christmas breakfast!" Nekki yelled. He raced out of his room and down the stairs to the kitchen where he sliced up some green and red bell peppers and poured himself some milk. The Akatsuki kittens struggled to keep up with Nekki's zealous speed and ended up panting by the time they caught up. They found it worth the exhaustion when they found a bowl of warm fish next to a bowl of cold water.
"This fish is still f***ing good," Hidan mewed. He wolfed down a large amount of fish until Nekki noticed how fast he was eating.
"Whoa, slow down," Neko told Hidan. He picked him up and placed him on the counter next to his plate of peppers with him struggling to get free. "You wouldn't want to be sick on such a fantastic day, wouldja?" Nekki asked. Hidan hissed and tried to jump down from the counter.
"No!" Nekki yelled to Hidan forcefully as he pointed his finger at him. He had a stern expression on his face, his eyes practically burning holes in Hidan's fur. Hidan stopped and stared, giving Nekki an equally hard stare. The young adult suddenly burst out laughing and scooped Hidan up with his hands and placing back with the others.
"He's got character, that one," Nekki said to himself. When he was sure that they were finished eating, he picked up the bowls and put them in the sink. He left his glass of milk on the table where he'd been eating and crunched the rest of his pepper slices. Nekki then walked up the stairs and disappeared.
"That was…interesting," Pein mewed. He washed his face with his paw, and then proceeded to lick Konan's face clean.
"Why did he suddenly laugh like it was no big deal?" Kisame asked. Itachi shrugged. He then attempted to climb onto the kitchen counter by digging his claws into the wooden cupboards. When he got up onto the counter, he was out of breath.
"What are you doing, un?" Deidara asked.
"I'm tired of water," Itachi replied. He stood up on his hind legs and placed his front paws on the rim of the glass of milk that was left. Itachi then tried to get closer to the milk in the cup by sliding his front paws down the inside of glass. The milk was almost reachable with his tongue when his paws slipped and Itachi fell face first. Bubbles foamed on the surface of the milk and Itachi's hind legs were flailing, trying to get his head out of the glass. Kakuzu, Hidan, Konan, Pein, Zetsu, Tobi, and Sasori gathered under the counter to watch Itachi's struggles.
"And he was a f***ing mind rapist when he was a f***ing ninja!" Hidan mused. He laughed manically with a shine in his eyes. "Do you think he'll drown?" Hidan asked.
"Nekki will notice at some point," Sasori mewed. He licked his paw and acted like there wasn't anything interesting going on.
"Help me!" Itachi gurgled from inside the glass of milk. He was thrashing his hind legs and back harder than before. Itachi was obviously running out of air. After a few more jerks, the glass tipped over spilling milk and milk bubbles on the countertop. His body shivered for a second then became still.
"Is he dead, un?" Deidara asked as if it wasn't any big deal.
"I don't know. Someone should check or get Nekki," Pein replied.
"Tobi will get Nekki-san!" Tobi mewed. He bounced out of the kitchen, through the living room, and up the stairs to the young adult's room. Tobi meowed loudly and clawed at his room. Nekki opened the door wearing a Santa hat and reindeer antlers and saw the black and brown kitten with the orange patch's urgent, but still happy, expression.
"What's wrong?" Nekki asked. Tobi bounded away down the stairs, through the living room, and to the kitchen. Nekki followed him and saw all of the kittens surrounding the counter. He looked at the counter and saw the black, white, and crimson kitten in a puddle of milk next to the glass that was now on its side.
"Oh I get it now. Your lucky you did that today rather than yesterday. Otherwise Santa Claus would have given you coal," Nekki said, crossing his arms over his chest. He walked over to the counter, the kittens parting as he crossed the floor. Nekki picked up the sodden kitten and felt that he wasn't breathing. He massaged his chest to get the milk out from his lungs. When that didn't work, he firmly patted the kitten's back. He coughed up the milk and some came out of his nose. Nekki laughed and ran some warm water on the kitten, rubbing his fur to get the milk off. He then used the dishtowel to dry the kitten off the best he could and placed him with the other kittens.
"Ha ha ha! You lucky b******!" Hidan laughed. Itachi glared at him with his red eyes. Hidan just laughed.
"Be more careful next time, Itachi," Pein mewed.
"Of course, Pein-sama," Itachi meowed, nodding his head. He licked his damp fur until it was smooth.
"You bad cat," Nekki scolded, pointing his finger at Itachi. He took a sponge and cleaned up the countertop and placed the empty glass in the sink.
"Did you drink some milk despite falling in it and almost drowning?" Kisame asked Itachi.
"Enough," Itachi replied. He shook his pelt, shaking droplets of water everywhere.
"It's time to open presents guys!" Nekki exclaimed. He ran to the decorated tree and brought out all of the presents under it.
"Come here kittens," Nekki called. The Akatsuki kittens all padded into the living room and sat in a horizontal line in front of Nekki. He placed different colored gifts in front of each kitten. They all got the same amount of presents but some of them were different sizes.
"Now you open the presents by unwrapping the paper and untying the ribbon," Nekki instructed. He watched as the kittens ripped the wrapping paper to shreds and pulled the ribbons and unveiled collars of different colors.
"Well, what do you think?" Nekki asked. He fitted the collars around all of the kittens' necks. "It's about time I name all of you," Nekki said.
"You're gonna to be Sensei," Nekki said, stroking the orange and cream kitten. He looked confused for a second, and then relaxed. The young adult put a gold colored tag on Shidousha/Pein's collar, which was gray.
"You're name is gonna to be Aohana," Nekki said, clipping a tag to Konan's purple collar. She purred at the sound of her new name.
"You're name is gonna be Akame because of your eyes," Nekki said, ruffling Itachi's head fur. He clipped a tag to his red collar.
"You're going to be Same," Nekki said. He looked surprised, and then showed his sharp kitten teeth. He clipped Same/Kisame's tag to his navy blue collar.
"You, loud one, are gonna be named Obake. You're lucky I didn't decide to name you 'Urusai'," Nekki said. He saw the gray kitten scowl and he could have sworn that a few of the other kittens were laughing at him. Nekki took his necklace with the pendant off of him and he hissed and scratched the young adult's hands as he removed the pendant.
"Chill, I'm just putting it on your collar," Nekki said, wincing at the scratches dealt to his hand. The scratches were pretty deep and they were bleeding as well. Obake/Hidan narrowed his eyes at Nekki then watched him closely as he clipped the tag onto his black collar. When he had clipped his pendant onto his collar, he licked Nekki's hand where he scratched him. When the blood stopped leaking out of the wound, he walked away.
"Why, thank you Obake," Nekki said. He scratched him under his chin and he purred while the brown and tan tabby snickered.
"Oh, does the little pussy cat like his pretty little necklace?" Kakuzu mewed in a mocking voice.
"F*** off!" Hidan hissed.
"Why did you lick his blood, by the way?" Kakuzu asked.
"I wanted to give his f***ing blood to Jashin since he f***ing defiled his sacred symbol!" Hidan mewed.
"You're Amime. Don't worry, I'll pet you next," Nekki said petting Kakuzu. He looked satisfied with his name and his tag as the Asian American clipped it to his bright green collar.
"You're going to be Deidara," Neko said. All of the kittens had a shocked look on their faces. "What's wrong? His fur looks like it's covered in mud so that's what I naming him." He clipped his tag to his brown collar.
"Well it makes sense, un," Deidara mewed.
"But it's strange how you look like your name," Pein meowed.
"At least you got your f***ing name! What the f*** is up with my name?" Hidan yowled.
"It fits you," Kakuzu mewed.
"F*** you," Hidan hissed.
"If you guys are done with your conversation, I'm naming you Yakedo," Nekki said to Sasori. He clipped his tag to his orange collar. Yakedo/Sasori looked dully at his tag and didn't seem to mind his new name.
"You, little ball of energy, are going to be Kietsu," Nekki said. Tobi bounced around even when Nekki clipped the tag to his rainbow collar.
"And you're going to be Nibaiki," Nekki said. Zetsu's white half looked pretty happy about his new name while the black half showed no emotion. The young adult clipped the tag to his forest green collar.
"Well, that was the first of the gifts. Let's open the next ones," Nekki suggested. The next gifts were individual bowls for the kittens with their new names on them. The last gifts were cat toys. Pretty soon, all of the Akatsuki kittens were playing with their toys.
"Meh heh heh heh! I'll get you, mouse!" Itachi mewed. He waggled his hindquarters before pouncing on a toy mouse.
"Itachi, are you okay?" Kisame asked as his partner batted his toy around the floor. Itachi wasn't listening and just pounced on Kisame's tail.
"Gotcha!" Itachi mewed excitedly. Every time Kisame's tail moved, Itachi's paw would swiftly pin it.
"What's wrong with him, un?" Deidara asked Kisame.
"I don't know," Kisame admitted.
"Sasori's acting the same way,un," Deidara mewed. Kisame turned and saw all of the normally calm Akatsuki were now acting strange.
"It's catnip," Zetsu mewed. "Duh!"
"You guys need to get outside with all of that energy. And look! It snowed last night," Nekki suggested. He picked up all of the kittens in his arms then opened the door. His yard was covered in a white blanket of snow. An approximately one-acre yard was surrounded the small yard. In that one-acre are two maple trees and a vegetable garden. There was also a tool shed in a corner of the yard,
He dumped the ten kittens into the snow then walked back inside the house to put on a jacket and proper snow gear.
"Tobi's cold!" Tobi mewled. He shivered then tried to cuddle with Deidara.
"Back off, un," Deidara hissed. Tobi squealed, then ran off in the snow to Zetsu, who was also shivering.
"OH MY GOD, FROSTING!" Sasori yowled. He jumped into a snowdrift and rolled around in it.
"FROSTING? WHERE?" Itachi mewed excitedly. He bounded after Sasori into the snow and tunneled through it.
"Let's go get some frosting, dear!" Konan mewed to Pein. He didn't get in any catnip despite him being one of the calm ones.
"Let's not," Pein mewed sternly.
"This is just weird," Deidara mewed.
"Really?" Kisame meowed sarcastically.
"I see you're liking the snow. That's good," Nekki said from the doorway. He saw the normally serious kittens rolling around in the snow and he burst out laughing. Nekki then began to roll the snow into spheres.
"What the f*** is he doing?" Hidan asked to no one in particular. The kittens that weren't high on catnip padded through the snow, which was up to their elbows. They had to lift their paws quite high to walk through the snow.
"Hey kittens, I'm making a snowman," Nekki said. He rolled the three spheres of snow on to each other and packed them together. The young adult stared at his handy work then heard a voice calling his name.
"Nekki! Hey Nekki, what the h*** are you doing?" a female voice said.
" 'Sup Yumi. Glad you came. I'm making a snowman," Nekki said. "Hey, kittens. This is my angel, Yumi." He opened the gate in the fence to let Yumi in, but she stayed on the road. Her strawberry blond shoulder length, straight hair that normally points inward towards her neck blew in the winter air. Her full bangs fell slightly over her bright green eyes. Yumi's has olive colored skin blended well with her heavy black eyeliner and a card liege piercing as well as pierced ears. Her business jacket, a black blazer, and her chained necklace with a ruby stone that reaches her chest greatly contrasted the white winterscape.
"Want to help decorate the snowman?" Nekki asked.
"Sure. Here's a hint of what to use; a carrot," Yumi said, leaning over the fence. Nekki looked a little hurt when Yumi said that but quickly recovered by laughing it off. Yumi rolled her eyes and walked into the yard.
"What a pretty girl!" Tobi mewed. He jumped in the snow trying to get closer to Yumi.
"You know you're a kitten, un?" Deidara mewed.
"But Tobi thinks she's pretty," Tobi whined. He mewed at Yumi and she looked down at him.
"You have kittens," Yumi said.
"Yeah. I rescued their mother but she died giving birth to them," Nekki explained. Yumi just looked him strangely and slightly alarmed. "It's true."
"Whatever," Yumi sighed. "What are their names?"
"This one is Sensei," Nekki said indicating Pein. "This one is Aohana," the young man continued indicating Konan. "This one is Obake," Nekki pointing to Hidan. And he continued through the rest of the names. When the Asian American was finished introducing the kittens, Yumi looked at Itachi, who was no longer high on catnip.
"Akame, really?" Yumi asked.
"Cheyah. His name means 'blood-shot eyes'. Just look at his eyes, they're red!" Nekki explained, lifting Itachi up to Yumi's face. She stared into his eyes. He glared at her.
"Is it me or did that cat just glare at me?" Yumi asked backing up as step.
"Probably, these kittens just have human-like personalities," Nekki replied. He put Itachi back down in the snow.
"Okay then…" Yumi said her voice trailing away.
"Wanna come inside?" Nekki offered.
"Eh, why not," Akane said, shrugging. Both humans walked into the house chatting about what had been going on with their lives.
"Come on kitties, time to come inside," Nekki called out the door. The kittens quickly bounded through the snow to the warmth inside the house.
"What's with the paper and ribbons?" Yumi asked.
"Christmas presents," Nekki replied quickly. He then disappeared into the bathroom and brought out a large towel and placed it on the floor and put all of the kittens on the towel. Nekki then began rubbing their fur dry with the towel.
"Oh crud! I forgot to get you a Christmas present! I was so busy with the kittens that I forgot!" Nekki said, with a shocked and obviously embarrassed expression on his face.
"Nah, it's okay," Yumi said waving her hand. But, seriously, thinking of the kittens before his girlfriend? Nekki is just too spacey, Yumi thought.
"Really? 'Cause if you want, I can go to the store and buy you something," Nekki offered.
"Alright, sure!" Yumi replied.
"Can you watch the kittens while I'm gone?" Nekki asked.
"H*** yeah!" Akane said. She punched skyward and then brought her elbow down.
"Glad to see that you're so enthusiastic about it," Nekki said, smiling. He opened the front door, gave them all a warm smile, and left.