Chapter 9:
It was so nice to bask in the sun like this. It felt so good. Sasuke loved the warm sun on his body. It was so wonderful. He stretched out in the grass, warming himself on the toasty grass.
"Sasuke!" Sakura came running up, brandishing a large fish. "I brought you some lunch! Doesn't it look yummy?"
Sasuke sat up, mouthwatering. "Oh, wow, that's a big fish! Can I really have it?"
"Yup! It's all yours, you cute adorable kitty-cat!"
His jaw dropped. "H- how did you know? D- did Naruto tell you?"
"He didn't have to," she giggled. "I could tell by your cute little ears." She pointed to the top of her own head.
"My… ears...?" Sasuke reached up and felt the top of his head. He could feel a couple of soft velvety pointed cat ears. He gasped. "Ah! My ears! They're… They're...!"
"So cute!" Sakura clapped her hands together gleefully. "I just love them. They're so cute!"
Sasuke then looked down at his hands and saw that they had been transformed into a pair of black paws to match the color of his hair. Before he could get out a good scream, he felt something tap him on the back. He turned around and saw a long black tail sticking out of the back of his pants. This time, he managed to scream. "How could this have happened to me?! How?!"
"But you're so adorable!" Sakura skipped over to him and lifted him off the ground. But when had she ever been that strong? She could never lift him before. And, was it his imagination, or was she a little bigger than he remembered? She hugged him close and rubbed her face against him. "You're so cute!"
His long whiskers twitched. Wait, whiskers? Sure enough, he had three of them sticking out on either side of his face. "No! No! This can't be happening! This can't be real!"
"What's going on here?" Kakashi came out of nowhere and stood next to Sakura.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke reached for him with his paws outstretched. "Please help me!"
His sensei's face broke into a huge smile. "Aw, he looks so cute!"
"Huh?!"
"I mean, you look good as a cat. You're so cute."
"K- Kakashi-sensei?!"
"What? I'm being honest, here. Am I wrong?" He reached into his pocket and, rather than his book, he pulled out a ball of yarn. "Wanna play?"
Sasuke shut his eyes in horror. "This is not happening! This is not happening!"
Naruto appeared next and stared him in the face. "Wow, Sasuke, you changed fast. I had no idea you would become a cat this quickly."
Sasuke was now a full black cat- tail, paws, whiskers and everything. He had even shrunk to the size of one.
Kakashi patted his head. "Aw, he's adorable. I've always wanted a cat."
"Stop it! Please! I'm not a-"
"You are now, Sasuke!" Sakura hugged him tight. "I love you even more! You're coming home with me tonight!"
"No flippin' way!" Naruto snapped. "He's my friend! I'll keep him at my house!"
"But I'm the one who's always wanted a cat. I'll take him." Kakashi beamed at him. "We're going to have lots of fun. I'll treat you good. Take you into a warm loving family. You'll get tuna every night! And nice warm milk and a comfy lap to sleep on... I'll be real good to you, Sasuke."
"No! No! No! NO!"
Suddenly a hand came out and lifted him up from behind. Turning his head, Sasuke saw the face of his older brother.
"Just as weak and pathetic as ever, I see." Itachi held Sasuke an inch from his face. "But I have to say that the look really suits you. I like it."
"Itachi, you son of a-"
"Face it, brother… You'll never get your revenge. You're better off coming home and living with me as my pet. It won't be so bad. I'll even show you how I do my nails. I'll paint your claws the same color so we'll match. And no eating Kisame. I'll feed you well."
"Shut up! Shut UP! SHUT UP!"
The image of them all swirled around him in a dark blur until he found himself staring at a field of grass. He shot up panting and in a cold sweat. He looked wildly around at the trees and grass until he finally saw an orange jacket.
Naruto gave him a surprised look and cocked his head slightly to the side. "Bad dream?"
"Y- yeah…"
"What was it about?"
"Nothing."
"It couldn't be nothing. You kept screaming and whining for several minutes."
"Then why the hell didn't you wake me up?"
He shrugged. "I was bored and had nothing better to do."
"So you watched me freak out during a nightmare?!"
"I don't tell you how to live your life."
"Break it up, guys." Kakashi flashed into view and stood over them. "We have an issue to take care of. Come on, let's find Sakura."
Naruto got to his feet. "What's going on?"
"Well…" Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "It's Gai's squad. Neji's in trouble."
Earlier…
Tenten summoned up a large shuriken and threw it at the ninja. He dodged it. Lee was up next and tried to kick him into a tree. The ninja stepped aside causing Lee to go crashing in the tree himself.
"We need to tag up!" Tenten advised. "We'll never get him if we keep trying to attack him separately like this."
"Right!"
"Ok! Neji, you take left; Lee, go right and I'll cover you guys. Go!"
If only Gai were here to help them. He insisted that he knew a shortcut and would be there shortly. But that was well over a half-hour ago! Where in the world was he? It didn't matter anyway. There were three of them and only one of him. They could do it. This rogue ninja was going down!
Neji got into position and got ready to use his gentle fist. Lee teamed up with him and blocked off the ninja's only exit giving Neji a clear shot. He saw his opening and went for it. "Eight Trigrams, sixty-four…"
The worst possible thing happened at that moment. Neji caught sight of the ninja's sash around his waist. It fluttered with his movements, teasing him. Suddenly, Neji felt like playing. He wanted so much to play with that white sash waving at him in a friendly way. He froze in place, two totally different impulses hitting him at once. Fight or play?
The ninja seized this opportunity to punch him in the gut and sent poor Neji flying backwards.
"Neji!" His teammates screamed his name.
He quickly got to his feet to show them that he was still in one piece. He had to keep his head and focus. He couldn't let himself get so distracted. He had a mission to complete!
Tenten threw a few kunai at the ninja preventing him from escaping and summoned up a large chain. He pulled out a sword. This fight wasn't over yet.
Neji cracked his knuckles and got ready to charge. "Eight Tri…" He got distracted again. This time by a little bird passing by overhead, trying to escape all the noise. Neji watched it with a combination of curiosity and hunger. That bird looked pretty good. He wondered how it would taste.
"Neji!"
He snapped back to himself. "Huh? What?"
Lee was in a chokehold by the ninja and Tenten had her chain wrapped around the foe's legs. "We need your help, Neji! What are you doing over there?!"
This was no time to be thinking about birds! The mission was much more important! What in the world was he thinking?!
Giving himself a mental slap in the face, Neji charged in to help.
After several blows, the two teams broke apart. The rogue ninja had suffered a few scraps and a large gash on his leg, but he was still standing. Lee had been punched in the face multiple times and was still a little lightheaded from the earlier chokehold, but he was managing just fine. Tenten had minimal damage herself, suffering only a couple bruises and a cut to her left cheek. She also had a large cut on her arm from the man's sword but it was nothing to worry about at all. Neji, on the other hand, was in the worst shape out of all of them. He kept getting distracted and as a result, he had several cuts on his arms, stomach and face. His legs were all battered and bruised as well as scrapped. He was a mess. And if that weren't enough, his cat instincts kept forcing him to stop everything and lick his wounds. This caused him to suffer more injuries as a result from not staying on his guard.
I can't take much more of this...! I'm dying out here!
Neji couldn't keep this up anymore. He was getting beat up bad. Real bad.
The ninja saw his chance and swung at Neji's face. But Neji's reflexes were still topnotch. He blocked it. The ninja swung again, and this time Neji fought back, just not in the way he had expected. Instead of using Gentle Fist, he swung at the man's head with his open hand and scratched him across the eyes. It was a rather good move. Not only did he cause him pain, but it also stunned him.
Did I really just… scratch him? Neji was beside himself. In retrospect, I suppose I should have grown out my nails a bit more. I would have done more damage.
When the man removed his hand, Neji got a good look at his injury. He had claw marks going right across his left eye and nose. He had even drawn blood!
"You little brat!" He made a move to choke Neji, but he did it again. He scratched at the man and nailed him across the jaw without even thinking. Maybe cat instincts weren't so bad after all. But just scratching him wasn't going to do very much.
"Hold him still, Neji!" Tenten got out another weapon. Lee stepped up, too.
Before the order could register, the ninja jumped away, drawing blood from his thumb. It was a summoning jutsu. He slammed his hand on the ground and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, the squad was faced with four very large wolves.
Oh, crap.
They were all barking and snarling at them. They shook their grey heads angrily and howled.
Lee held up a fist. "Ha! Do you really think that a couple of wolves will stop us? We will defeat them in no time! Right, guys?"
"That's right! Wolves are nothing compared to a hailstorm of my weapons!" Tenten pulled out a scroll.
The only one unprepared for this was Neji. He stood shaking behind them, his face as white as a sheet. He couldn't take his eyes off the wolves for a second. He was frozen in place, petrified with fear. Why did it have to be wolves?!
One darted forward, bearing its fangs. Neji fell to his knees and ducked in cover. There was no way he could handle this. He was terrified.
Tenten pulled out a long pike from her scroll and jabbed at the first wolf. "Neji, on your feet! What's wrong with you?" He was in no condition to issue his own orders, leaving Tenten to take charge. "Neji get up!"
Slowly, he raised his head and looked up. The wolf was gnawing the end of the pike and tried to scratch at the one holding it. Tenten needed help. Legs still very weak and wobbly, Neji stood up and tried to put his fear aside. His team needed him. He had to help them. He raised his hands, preparing for Gentle Fist.
Meanwhile, Lee was stuck fighting two wolves at once by himself. If only Gai were here to help them. There were four wolves. One was attacking Tenten, two were on top of Lee. Where was the fourth one? Neji got his answer when it jumped him from behind. He yelped and stared into its gold eyes. A wolf never looked so terrifying.
Shuriken flew over his head and into the creature's face. It howled with pain and retreated. Neji stood motionless, panting. He was still very shaken. This wasn't working out. As he turned, he saw the other wolf darting his way. Tenten wrapped a chain around its neck and pulled. "Neji, I've got him! Go!"
It didn't register to him.
"Neji, I'm holding it for you! Attack! Hurry!"
His legs moved on their own. He took one wobbly step back, then another and another after that. His instincts told him to run. He had to make a break for it. He had to get away.
"Neji!"
All he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat and his shallow breaths. He couldn't even hear the sound of her voice anymore. The wolf snarled and snapped at the chain around its neck. Neji shook, unable to control himself.
Run… Run away… Get away… Run… Run… Run!
With a loud bark, the wolf sent Neji into a panic. With a scream of pure terror, Neji turned and bolted.
"Neji!"
"Where are you going?! Neji!"
"Come back!"
"Neji!"
He couldn't hear their voices. His heart was bounding too loud. He ran from the scene, leaving his teammates to fend for themselves.
"Neji has run off," Tsunade told them. "According to the report, he just ran off and left his team. We don't know why, but there are numerous possibilities. Right now, your assignment is to find him and bring him back."
Kakashi and his team agreed.
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