A/N- So this is again for Wolfy-Sama (my favorite and only reader) please don't kill me! I know it's late! I think I'm going to do updates every Tuesday and Friday for this story. But I'm not entirely sure yet.

Disclaimer- No unfortunately I don't own the Akatsuki. But damn… If I did… I do own Nat, Lala, and Aspen. If you use their characters let me know and please give me credit at the very least.

They are still undeveloped but mommy (me) loves them very much. And mommy (still me) loves her readers and reviewers too. Don't worry. When I refer to myself as mommy I tend to refer to myself in 3rd person. Even though I'm more than likely younger than the majority of you lot.

And can anyone find the Panic! At the Disco song reference in here?

Chapter 1- Bizarre Misfits

Aspen Claire's POV

I sprawled across the bench in the backroom of the Hot Topic I worked at. I was fucking tired damn it. Thank whoever was watching over me that my shift was O-V-E-R over. Why did I work here again?

Oh. Yeah.

I'm broke and I actually like this store.

"Aspen?" A loud, happy, yet curious voice called into the backroom. "I know you're in here. You're shift is just ending, there's no way you've left already."

"You're not staff, why are you back here?" I finally grace her with a response.

'Her' being one of my two friends, Lana "Lala" Gold. Yeah, I know. Only two friends? This chick must be a fucking loser. Nah. I'm happier with less people to stab me in the back. I'm better off with a few close friends then a bunch of backstabbing bitches. Not that Lala and Natalia "Nat" West weren't bitches every now and then. But then again, so was I.

Lala stood there in all of her beautiful glory. Five feet and seven inches (model height), dirty blonde hair, almost fluorescent green eyes, and a blinding smile. She looked like she belonged in a Summer issue of a Hollister magazine wearing a bikini or something. The only thing I liked at Hollister was their ripped jeans and flannel. But even then I bought those for better prices elsewhere.

Nat walked in like she owned the place, clocked me out, and then dragged me out of the backroom and then out of the store while yelling "Au Revoir" to my boss. Who, by the way, didn't even react to me being kidnapped because it happened so often.

As soon as we exited the store Lala started excitedly blabbering a million miles a minute. "Oh my God, Aspen! They are so cute. Just wait till you see them! You'll fall in love right away. I mean thanks so much for agreeing to take of them. Sure, they are a little odd looking but I love them so much. A few of them are kinda feisty but who cares! They are a-freaking-dorable! Aspen-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I cut her off. It was safe to say that I was currently more confused then I have ever been in my entire life.

"The kittens!" She yelled excitedly.

"What kittens?" I stare at her like she's suddenly grown a second head. Kittens? I'm allergic, shouldn't she know that by this point? I mean she's known me for how long?

Her face fell and I immediately felt terrible.

"Lala… I kind of forgot to ask her…" Nat trailed off nervously.

"Wait. You didn't ask her?" Lala gasped.

For the next 10 minutes on the way back to Nat and Lala's shared apartment they argued. About what, I have no idea. I zoned out.

I unlocked the door to the apartment with the set of keys I had copied after I had stolen Nat's out of her pocket one day for my own purposes and they continued to argue on the elevator up to their floor.

In the middle of their well-furnished living room was a box. A box of kittens.

Fucking Kittens.

Quite possibly the weirdest of the cat species I had ever seen.

"Can you please take care of them Aspen? We can't have pets in the apartment!" Lala started to beg.

"C'mon. You know you want to." Nat smiled innocently.

Bullshit. She didn't forget. She just didn't want to be the one I said no to. She's aware that no way in heaven or hell I would be able to say no to Lala. I could say no to Nat though.

I glared. If looks could kill, Lana "Lala" Gold and Natalia "Nat" West would be DEAD. No question about it.

"Absolutely fucking not." I blatantly refuse. "No."

"But whyyyyy!?" Lala was literally begging.

"You act like they're going to kill you." Nat laughs.

I was glaring at Lala but my eyes moved to Nat and then finally the large box that Nat had moved to pick up.

"They probably will. I absolutely refuse to keep 10 damn kittens in my home. You want them so let them live with you." I snarl. They know I hate cats. Not to mention allergic.

"But the landlord of our apartment doesn't allow more than 1 pet! There are 10!" Lana starts to cry and I wince.

I glare at Nat again when she snickers. She's well aware of the fact that I'm about to give in.

"Oh, won't you please?" Nat asks sarcastically.

"PLEASE!" Lala grabs on to my shoulders.

"Fine, fine. I'll take the devil incarnates." I mutter in defeat.

"HOORAY!" Lana wraps me up in hug and I hug back.

*Laughter*

… Natalia West.

*SMACK* I stop hugging Lala long enough to smack the back of Nat's head for laughing at me.

God damn it all to Hell.

I left their apartment feeling rather defeated. I set the box gently down on the kitchen table. As much as I hate cats, I hated animal cruelty more.

I walked down the hallway and into the bathroom to grab my allergy pills. I'm going to need a lot more these because of those little shits.

I walked back into the kitchen and stared at the box on my kitchen table.

"Well fuck." I muttered out loud.

I cautiously moved towards the box and stared a little more. C'mon Aspen, they're just kittens. They can't kill you!

… OH. Wait. Crap. Allergies, right. Whatever. They can always blame Nat.

I pulled the first kitten I could reach out of the box. It was kinda cute. At first glance it was an black tabby that looked like its face had been dipped in orange paint with black lollipop-like swirls on his face. One ear was orange and the other black. The poor thing had one of its eyes shut like he was winking. Catfight? The other eye was black and I shook my head when I thought I saw it flash red. The cat quickly started to zigzag around the tabletop. Much like a little child running around a park.

"Sugar." I muttered.

The kitten froze and stared at me.

"Sugar. That's your name. I know it's not very masculine but your face reminds me of a lollipop and you remind me of a young child who's had too much sugar." I explained.

I giggled as Sugar made a purring noise of contentment and continued to zigzag across the table.

I. Fucking. Giggled. What the hell? Jashin or Kami or God save my poor soul.

I reached for the next kitten and yelped in pain dropping Satan's spawn on the table next to Sugar.

First I glared at the silver kitten that I just pulled out of the box with violet eyes. He had a grey Jashin amulet hanging around his neck and his fur seemed to be slicked back over his head. Then I glared at the three scratch marks that marred the skin of my right hand.

"I'm allergic to cats motherfucker. If I end up dead, you all end up on the streets because the other two can't keep you in their no pets apartment. That's why you're here." As I glare I hear the other kittens yelping and whining. The silver cat looks proud of himself. That little shit!

"Chill, I just took some allergy pills." I mutter and the whimpering stops. I stand up and move back to the bathroom to clean off the cut and bandage it.

"I should name you Fucker. Or Satan." I tell him as I drop myself on the floor in front of the table, where I had originally been before I got up to clean the cuts. I hear noises of kitten like laughter from his little buddies.

"Jashin instead though, because of your amulet." He gives me a feral grin and moves himself to the far end of the table. As far away from me, Sugar, and the box of kittens on the top left corner of my six feet by five feet table.

I make a grab for the next kitten and silently pray to whoever will listen that this kitten doesn't scratch me.

Out comes a gorgeous navy kitten with a white origami flower tucked behind her ear. She also had a dark spot that could emulate a piercing below her bottom lip. (Do cats have lips?) This must be the sole female feline Lala was referring to. The poor thing, she has to put up with nine males. I can't even handle that many people directly all at once in a personal situation unless at school. Freaking social anxiety.

She sits on her haunches and looks up at me from the table expectantly.

"Tenshi. Angel in Japanese and kanji because it would have to take a saint or an angel to deal with nine freaking males." She nuzzles my right hand, which lies on the table and I smile. I kinda like her. She has amber eyes with a striking calm to them. There isn't much of that in my life and I need some. I let Tenshi jump into my lap and I make a grab for my next new pet.

I quickly realize I'm going to need both hands for him. I stare at the large blue cat with gill like markings on his face and sharp, shark-like teeth filling his mouth. He had these beady, black eyes that followed your every move. Lala wasn't kidding when she said some of these kittens were rather odd.

"Same. It means shark in Japanese. It seems fitting to me." I watch as he traipses awkwardly across the table. Like he wasn't used to walking on four legs.

I stare at him curiously but then shake myself out of it and reach for my next victim, I mean kitten.

I pull out a bright red kitten. Not an orange tabby. I mean Bright Ariana Grande's Victorious character "Cat" (ironic huh) red. Goddamn. I love him anyway. He looks as bored as I always do. He had the kanji for scorpion on his chest and brown eyes that looked as bored as he seemed in general. Or maybe the proper term is nonchalant? Stoic? It's something along those lines.

"Scorpion. Due to the kanji on your chest." It's simple as that.

The next kitten I pull out has to be the weirdest colored … kitten, I have ever seen in my entire 16 (almost 17) years of living. He's split exactly in half. He had white fur on the right side of his body and black on the left. A tuft of green fur rested on top of his head. Yellow eyes and sharp teeth stare back at me.

"Yin-Yang. You seem split and there is conflict in your eyes. BPD maybe?" I decide, telling the kitten. He moves to where Sugar has settled himself and plops down near him as if to keep an eye on him.

The next kitten also requires both of my hands to be pulled out of the box. It's a brown tabby cat that I instantly feel bad for. The large kitten has stitches that seem to be holding the kitten together everywhere. Who the hell does this to their freaking pet!? I hate cats but I don't hate them that much! The hate simply stems from the allergic reactions from certain kittens! (Jashin aka the Satan Fucker as well as many other crabby Kitties I have met in my lifetime) The kitten doesn't seem to like being touched, more than likely from lack of trust. So I immediately set him down on the table for comfort and he sets himself down next to Jashin and plays with my wallet. The pupils of his eyes are a lovely green. But his eyes are oddly striking because the cornea is an angry, bloodshot red. And I don't mean veins. I mean pure red. He looks up at me expectantly holding a few dollar bills in between his paws. I don't worry about him clawing them though because it's almost as if he understands their value.

"I want to name you Stitches but I feel like that might be cruel."

I receive no visible response from the kitten.

"You seem to like money, I'll name you Yen, which is the Japanese currency. I seem to be naming most of you in Japanese." This gets me a reaction and he seems to grin. Which is kind of terrifying.

The next kitten isn't the biggest but he's not small either. He's a ginger tabby with the coolest fucking eyes ever. They're like the fucking Rinnegan that Pein from Naruto Shippuden has. Holy fuck man. He has piercing like markings all over his face also much like Pein.

"Meowwwww!" Sugar yelps and moves away from Jashin. That fucker just jumped on one of my favorite kittens! (Despite the fact that I hadn't even made it through the entire box yet.) The other kittens both inside and outside the box begin to riot. They start yelping and meowing and making pained noises and I don't know how to react.

Before I CAN react though the kitten I had just pulled out of the box loudly makes a noise that sounds almost like a command. Immediately the kittens cease to make noises and move. The kitten begins to reprimand Jashin but I cut him off.

"Leader. Because you clearly have more control over this bunch than I happen to." He nods his head and jumps off the table and next to me. He settles himself close to my leg and close to Tenshi. They all seem to be partnered up.

Sugar and Yin-Yang.

Yen and Jashin.

Tenshi and Leader.

Which leaves Same and Scorpion partner less. For now. I have to more kittens to go. Speaking of which, right before I pull out the next kitten Tenshi climbs out of my lap and next to Leader. They jump back on the table and seem to overlook everyone. Same jumps off the table and rests his head on my leg.

The second to last kitten has been declared my favorite. Maybe the last one? And also asides from Tenshi. My favorite male kitten. There we go. He's a beautiful black kitten with Onyx eyes and he possesses a calm that I never will. His gaze is calculating and he seems to be one of the normal kittens of the bunch. I blink when I see his eyes flash red. It was probably nothing more than a trick of the light. I'm probably just tired. It's almost ten in the evening after all.

"Noir. It means black in French. Plus I like the word." I pick up the kitten and set him in my lap. I begin to pet his fur, much like how I treated Tenshi before she picked Leader over me. Tch.

He gives an inaudible purr. I can only tell because my hand is resting on his head. But I highly doubt that it was heard by any of the others. It's not like they seem to be paying him any mind anyway.

Finally. Last but not least. I'm freaking tired.

He's a honey blonde kitten with shocking blue eyes. He has a tuft of fur over his left eye. And he has a scar on his chest. Fucking Barbie. But I'm not naming him that. I'm mean but I'm not cruel. He scampers to the end of the table to stare out my window. I glance out the window. Some of the other kittens wander over to watch too.

"Don't mind the fireworks, it's July 1st so this Saturday, July 4th, is Independence Day for the United States. Also known as a national holiday. My neighbors are fucking crazy anyway. That will probably go on for another two hours, midnight or not. The kittens all move back to their original places except Scorpion who plops himself down next to the Blondie who is still watching the fireworks.

"Katsu!" I suddenly yell terrifying all of the kittens as they all jump and look around. As if the fireworks were INSIDE my house and not outside in my neighbor's yard.

They all turn wide-eyed to stare at me.

"Blondie's name is Katsu. Because art is a fucking bang, yeah." I explain using one of my favorite English translations of Deidara of the Akatsuki's verbal tick.

"You all are a ragtag team." I comment observing the ten completely odd and completely different kittens.

They all turn to stare at me.

"It's okay… Just like you guys and Nat and Lala, the two girls who found you…" I try to think of a way to elaborate.

"I'm a bizarre misfit too."