Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto, nor do I make any money from using their likenesses. I do this for purely entertainment purposes only.
blah -thoughts
-blah- kitty speech
Chapter 1: With a Little Help From My Friends
"Ick. I can see its bones." A childish voice was saying, sounding unbearably loud as Sasuke roused.
"Poor little baby!" Another was crying, drops of moisture falling down onto him. "It's dead!"
Actually, Sasuke was not but, as he fully became conscious, part of him wised that he was. Pain, unrelenting wave after wave, hit him, making him twitch helplessly and soundlessly since he could not seem to get enough air to breathe. Head reeling, the young Uchiha tried desperately to figure out what was going on and what had happened to him that he was injured so badly.
"He's still alive!" Yet another child was shouting excitedly. "We need to get him to the vet!"
-What about a doctor?- Sasuke tried to ask, but could only manage a gurgle. -I want to go to the hospital, right now!-
He forced an eye open, gazing up at his rescuers blurrily. He could not name them but the three kids did look familiar if absurdly sized. No way could they be that big- Sasuke was taller than them by two feet normally so there was no possible way from them to actually be the seemingly gigantic proportions they sported now. Something was wrong with his eyesight, Sasuke concluded, shutting his eye again as he began to feel dizzy and sick.
"…And it's really hurt! Boss, you've got to help us!" Someone was saying.
"What makes you think I know anything about cats?" Now that voice Sasuke did recognize and he forced his one obedient eye open again, vaguely relieved at the sight of his blonde teammate. He lost focus for a second, one blue eye filling his vision as a huge Naruto Uzamaki leaned down and peered at him before kneeling on the ground. The blonde removed his coat and spread it flat on the ground in front of the Uchiha as he rattled off instructions to the fidgeting kids, his large tanned hands reaching forward and easing Sasuke onto the jacket.
The brief move caused the young Uchiha to know a new level of agony. He writhed, arching backwards as his hands splayed and clawed at the sky, his mouth working to gulp down air as he tried to swallow back a scream.
"I'm sorry." Naruto was saying, hands gently wrapping Sasuke up in the jacket. "Help's on the way." The Uchiha felt himself being lifted and cradled against the blonde's chest before checking out of consciousness again.
(Scene change. Sorry about this but I can get nothing to work in this miserable editor program)
"Children, I'm afraid there isn't much I can do for it."
Sasuke, feeling an impending sense of doom, did not like the way this conversation was going. He was laying on his side on an exam table, uncomfortable but not in nearly as much pain as he had been. He wasn't sure why exactly, but he wasn't going to question it right now. He could still only open one eye, but at least he could now see defined objects, his vision clearing up nicely from the hazy blur the world had been before. His gaze flicked around, landing on the white gauze hiding sections of his new shape from sight.
He was a cat. The last viable member of Clan Uchiha was now a small, scruffy grey tabby kitten. Oh how the mighty had fallen! Sasuke was convinced that he had won some sort of cosmic lottery and now his pain was entertainment for some higher power. The lunacy of the entire scenario did not escape him.
"But he's looking better now!" One of the kids was saying, and again Sasuke was plagued by the feeling that he should know the kid, that he should know all three children imploring the vet for aid on his behalf.
There was a heavy sigh from above and behind Sasuke. "There's only so much that the medicine I gave him can do. It's a temporary solution at best, Konahamaru, and I think you really need to consider the long term repercussions, here. He's been mauled severely and his wounds show signs of infection. I can't do any more than prolong his suffering."
Sasuke really didn't like where the doctor was going with this. The man was hedging, hinting around the issue without coming right out and saying it. The tactic was usually employed when an adult was about to reveal an awful truth about life to a child but didn't want to seem superior or cruel about it. You led the child logically toward the desired conclusion then made it seem as if the child had come up with the idea all by themselves thus making the choice more acceptable.
It was a way to be a bad person without appearing so; a convenient cop-out as far as Sasuke was concerned.
A gentle hand stroked Sasuke's head. "I think we may have to consider what's best for Kitty. You don't want him to suffer any more do you? You saw how much pain he was in before."
Nope, not liking this one bit. Sasuke decided a tactical retreat was in order and he rolled slowly onto his belly. He bit back a cry of pain, instead sinking his teeth into the veterinarian's hand when the man tried to put him back on his side. The room erupted into pandemonium as the man began yelling, as the kids began yelling, as animals in other parts of the building began adding their own two cents to the cacophony. The young Uchiha held on, working the bite as deep as possible before finally releasing the man. Ignoring all the noise around him, Sasuke instead concentrated on trying to get his legs under him and ultimately getting the hell out of there.
"What is…?" Naruto's voice sounded so close that the blonde had to be near the exam table. Sasuke managed to get his rear legs under him and pushed for all he was worth. It was hard to tell if the blonde had moved with everything else going on but Sasuke held onto blind faith that his teammate remained behind him. The kitten angled himself in that direction, time seeming to slow as he forced himself onward, unresponsive front legs splayed forward and to the side, his ass and tail in the air while he pushed with his two protesting back legs.
Swallowing his pride, Sasuke paused and panted before letting out a long, loud wail.
Please, He prayed as the appendages he had had control over rebelled and gave out. Limbs floppy and useless, feeling desperate, he called out to the blonde who was now his only hope of survival. -Naruto, you idiot, it's me! It's Sasuke and this guy wants to euthanize me! Get me out of here!-
Sasuke bet that Sakura would have figured it out immediately but instead of being able to depend on his highly capable teammate, the Uchiha's life was in the hands of one of the worst ninjas in the Village's history.
He wanted to cry, he really did, as he laid there. I'm doomed! I'm going to die a cat! Thinking the situation hopeless, Sasuke barely registered the fact that he had been lifted off the table until he was lain against someone's shoulder with one hand under his hind legs, another firmly against his back, in a manner similar to how one would support an infant.
-About time, fool!- He buried his nose against the neck of his rescuer He flexed his front paws, feeling his tiny new claws spring out. He hooked those claws into his protector's shirt, making it clear that he did not want to be put down. Sasuke clung, and even while the more rational side told him how appalling- how disgraceful- his behavior was, the Uchiha couldn't make himself let go.
(Scene change)
"Na-Naruto, how are you today?"
Naruto looked up and straightened. He had been leaning against the front of the animal clinic, waiting for Konahamaru and the others to come back with their new cat, studying the ground while he mentally went over his grocery list. He put his hands behind his head and smiled as his former class mate came over.
"Hi Hinata!" The blonde grinned, oblivious to the slight crimson tint spreading across the girl's cheeks. He noticed her outfit, a definite switch from her normal attire of a plain sweat shirt with a hood, black Capri pants, and sandals. The weather wasn't warm enough in Naruto's estimation to warrant a shift to lighter clothing but as long as she was comfortable, what did his opinion matter? The dark blue did look quite good on her, though, managing to stand out without actually overwhelming her naturally pale coloring. The bright golden crane pattern on the lapels and sleeves were eye-catching, creating the illusion that the birds flew on their own as Hinata moved. "Hey, that's a pretty yukata! Is it for the festival?"
The crimson tint became a full blown blush. She nodded, not trusting her voice, and fidgeted with her clothing nervously. They stood in silence for a while, one trying to marshal her courage while the other tried to remember any subject of mutual interest they could discuss. It would have been natural to continue with the upcoming holiday but the subject matter wasn't one most discussed with people outside their family. It was a festival of pain, of soothing survivor's guilt and reconnecting with loved ones long put in the ground.
In short, not a topic of polite conversation.
"Have, have you been training?" Hinata asked, noticing the smudges and scrapes marring his skin. His pants were also looking shabby in places.
Naruto smirked and ducked his head, behaving like she had caught him doing something he shouldn't have been doing. "Yeah, you caught me."
Hinata frowned, pulling a handkerchief from one of her sleeves. "But I thought that we were supposed to use the holiday as a chance for reflection and relaxation."
Then she remembered that her teammates had decided to take advantage of the break to have their own training session tomorrow and felt somewhat hypocritical.
Naruto lowered his arms slowly, his smile fading away as he opened his blue eyes fully and looked at her. Of the two of them, Naruto had expected himself to make that particular social blunder, not Hinata Hyuga.
"I'm, I'm sorry!" She stuttered, mistaking his silence for anger. She fidgeted again, unconsciously twisting the piece of cloth in her hands. "I shouldn't have said that…"
"Hinata, it's okay!" Naruto reassured her, reaching forward and taking her hands in his to stop their nervous motions. "You're right, but you know me: I can't stand sitting still for anything."
She smiled and blushed furiously.
"Besides," Naruto said seriously. "If you concentrate too much on the past, you can't move forward. If you let it, your memories will consume you."
Naruto… Hinata stared at him, feeling her heart swell as she discovered yet another side to her secret crush. She let her grip on the handkerchief relax, noticing that the blonde still held her hands in his. She blushed furiously, embarrassed and extremely pleased all at the same time. But then her little bubble of happiness sprang a leak as she noticed something else as they touched. She frowned and looked over the scrapes on his arms, at the cuts on his hands.
"Naruto," She began, pleased with herself that she had been able to say his name without stuttering. "Are, are you feeling all right?"
He blinked, grin fading into an expression of perplexity. He looked down at their hands, realizing that he was being rude and had effectively invaded the hell out of her personal space. He let go of her abruptly, jumping back and then back-peddling a few steps more to be safe. "Whoa! Sorry!"
The sudden loss of his grip on her, of just that brief small touch, made her feel lonely. She wanted him to touch her again, wanted him to take her hands again so badly that she closed the distance between them. Before she could think otherwise or talk herself out of it, Hinata grabbed his hands, trapping them between hers in a reverse of their prior positions. She held them tightly, part of her feeling slightly greedy and shocked at her behavior, part of her tremendously proud of herself to do something so out of character; Hinata had been working so hard to improve herself and now here was evidence that she was succeeding.
She shook her head in a quick, forceful motion. "No!" She said a bit loudly, making the blonde jump. Perhaps she had done too good a job; her sudden aggressive outburst had put her former classmate on edge but she would not release him. "I mean you feel warm!"
The last came out a bit desperate, a verbal reflection of her own mental pleading that they should continue chatting like this. It felt like she was slipping back into her former shyness, like putting on a set of clothing that no longer fit correctly or felt comfortable.
Dammit Hinata! She berated herself. Find a middle ground!
"Oh," Naruto blinked, and though his cheeks were a bit pink, he stopped trying to pull his hands back. "Yeah. Well… that happens to me this time of year. Allergies, I think." Though he continued to face her, his eyes glanced away.
First to the upper left, then to the lower right.
Some one is hurting him! Hinata did a mental double take at the thought, trying to make sense of it, unsure of how she had leapt to the conclusion but trusting it all the same. She looked at Naruto again, really looked at him, examining the scrapes that marred his skin, the dirt smeared here and there. Taking a tight grip on his wrists, she looked at his hands, specifically studing the swollen and cut up knuckles.
A hot spurt of frustration flooded her as she looked at all the evidence before her. All of these injuries could be from exactly what the blonde attributed them too- none of it screamed of outright abuse. None of it could help prove her theory.
But…what if it wasn't abuse? Everything could be explained away by training except the fever. The day was cool, however, and there wasn't enough sweat on his skin to attribute it to rigorous exercise…
Though she was unwilling to let the abuse theory go completely, Hinata ignored it for now and thought through all the possible explanations. Naruto had a fever but that was it. Allergies usually came with more noticeable symptoms since the allergen threw the sufferer's immune system into overload but Naruto wasn't showing anything else aside from the fever.
So it wasn't allergies but what if it was something more mundane, more common?
"N-Naruto," Hinata began timidly, recapturing his gaze and starring straight into his blue, blue eyes. "Are you sick?"
Come to think of it, Naruto had rarely been sick in all the years she had known him. If fact, Hinata realized with a little mental start, she had never seen Naruto sick. Bruised and scuffed up but not once had he ever sniffled or coughed. The blonde's elevated temperature could simply be explained as natural body heat since some people did run hotter than others.
Except that Hinata knew from personal experience that this did not apply to Naruto and though he could run warmer, his skin had never gotten as hot as it was currently.
He blinked, an expression of wariness suddenly darting across his face before being replaced with surprise. Though he tried to still give off the appearance of being relaxed, there was something in his stance that suggested that he was far from calm, some tension that hadn't been present previously.
But why? She wondered. What had she said to provoke such a reaction? What had she done wrong?! Why was he acting so…cornered?
"I'm, I'm sorry!" She stuttered anxiously, loosening her grip on his hands. She didn't let go, however, just gave him enough space to withdraw if he wanted. "I-I d-didn't mean to p-pry!"
Naruto sighed suddenly, extracting one hand from hers to scratch the back of his head. He shuffled his feet a little, looking down at the ground.
"It's just a cold." He muttered softly, so softly that Hinata almost didn't hear him. The hand she very near clung to gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze. "Nothing to worry about."
He smiled, a bare twitching of lips, and pulled his remaining hand from her grip.
Hinata felt suddenly, unexpectedly, cut adrift. Her hands twitched as she folded them in front of her but she forced them to relax as she tried to think of some subject to talk about that would overcome their sudden awkwardness. She fretted, and began touching her index fingers together when she drew a complete blank. They lapsed into a few minutes in uncomfortable silence.
"I hope things aren't too serious." Naruto remarked, turning toward the doorway they had been conversing in front of. He folded his arms over his chest, lips pursing comically as he frowned, blue eyes slightly narrowed.
Hinata seized onto the obvious logical question without any further thought. "N-Naruto, wh-why are you outside of the vet clinic?"
Naruto scrubbed a hand roughly through his unruly blonde hair. "Well, the kids found this kitten that had been hurt real bad, see, and they asked me for help."
"Kids?" Hinata questioned, eyes widening in surprise. Whose kids? Did Naruto have kids?! She blushed fiercely at the thought.
"Yah," Naruto continued obliviously, still looking toward the doorway. "They look up to me, ya know, so I suppose it isn't a surprise or anything, but I don't know anything about healing that much damage on a human much less a kitten."
Hinata nodded, unsure as to how to reply. "How badly was the kitten hurt?" She asked instead, immediately regretting it when Naruto's expression saddened.
"Pretty badly." He said at length. "I'm going to see-"
From inside the building erupted a torrent of noise the likes of which would have been more appropriate on a battle field and nothing like anything that should have been coming from a veterinarian's office. Naruto charged through the doorway with Hinata right behind him as back up, the two ninjas-in-training on full alert with weapons drawn.
The two had expected a battle and, despite the odd location, they were not disappointed. The kids were trying to restrain a man who had to be the vet and all four of them were yelling bloody murder. With Konahamaru's two side-kicks holding onto his legs and the ring leader himself riding the vet's back. The man was loosing the battle against them which was good since he looked ready to kill the kitten and the kids.
"What the…?" Naruto began, confused. He sheathed his kunai knife, sliding it into its holster with practiced ease. The blonde stood by the end of the exam table and looked behind him at Hinata, the kunoichi staring back at him obviously as baffled as he was.
Sensing movement, the blonde looked down at the table and watched a bundle of fur push itself awkwardly toward him. It struggled desperately, the kitten propelling itself onward only by its rear legs. It fought with everything it had to get as far as it could before its legs collapsed.
It mewled, long and loud, and the sound made Naruto's heart lurch. He reached forward, scooping up the small animal and laying it against his shoulder. The blonde held it like a baby because it seemed natural and continued to do so even after the little feline dug his claws into Naruto's shirt- and skin.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Naruto yelled when things didn't quiet down by themselves.
"He wants to kill the kitten!" Konahamaru shouted. "It bit him and now he wants to kill it!"
The other two kids nodded vigorously in agreement and did not let go of the man's legs.
Naruto glared at the vet and, behind him, Hinata chipped in with her own stern look, too.
"Let him go." The blonde ordered, nodding to himself when the kids did as they were told and hurried over to his side of the room. "We're leaving. Give us some medicine and the bill."
"That animal is in severe pain." The man panted, holding gauze firmly against his right hand, presumably over the bite. "It's kinder to put it down than to make it suffer!"
"Maybe," Naruto shot back, shoulders tensing up in anger. "But this kitten wants to live for how ever long he has left and you have NO right to take that away from it!" Naruto roared into the room. "This little guy is a fighter and he deserves a chance to fight to the bitter end! That's his choice and I'm going to see to it that he's allowed to do so!"
The blonde snorted like an irate bull for emphasis, digging into his pocket one handed for his wallet. He slapped some money on the exam table like a challenge and marched over to the room's medicine cabinet, opening the door with a bit too much force and peering at the bottles. Naruto's ire faltered as he tried to figure out which one to grab, a heavy drop of sweat dripping from his temple.
"This one," Hinata murmured, appearing at his side and pointing discretely at a particular bottle. He nodded in its direction and, blushing, she selected her choice from the cabinet. Naruto grabbed and pocketed a small feeding bottle before shutting the cupboard door.
"We're leaving now!" Naruto announced loudly, for all the world like a flustered mother with an unruly bunch of kids. Konahamaru and his friends ran out the door of the clinic into the street, Hinata and Naruto walking stiffly behind them.
"You are sentencing that thing to an agonizing death!" The vet screamed behind them as they walked down the street. "It probably won't last an hour!"
"Then I'll see to it that it gets that hour!" Naruto yelled back, having stopped to respond and shake a fist in the man's direction.
"Yeah!" Konahamaru chimed in too, mimicking his idol's stance. "Go play God with another animal!"
"Yeah!" The other two agreed.
All three of the kids snorted like Naruto had in the office- or at least managed a reasonable facsimile. Hinata bit her bottom lip, trying to look stern and determined while suppressing the urgent need to laugh at her companions antics. Naruto looked over at her with a similar expression, holding his free hand up, fingers making a victory sign. Blushing and smiling openly, Hinata made the same sign right back at him.
The man continued to stare long after the five had turned and vanished into the crowd that had gathered to watch the spectacle.
More's Moment:
To head off any confusion, let me explain the leap of logic Hinata has while talking to Naruto. Whether you read the manga or watch the anime (or both, like me) when Hinata and Neji are about to do battle, Hinata's eyes do the same thing during the preceding conversation. Neji explains what the eye movements mean so I can't take credit for the interpretation.
Is it just me or does anyone else have a problem working the editing program?! It's driving me crazy and making updates slow!
Happy tales, everyone.
Please review.