Chapter Eleven: Break In
~Ninjas POV ~
"This b*tch is a trip." Hidan commented. After Amaya had left, Bianca had gone to check on the kids briefly before going back downstairs to watch TV while eating Dorito's.
"I can see why she would need to be warned but does she have to look so... Unnecessary?" Kisame asked. "Hell, we could do a better job at watching the kids."
"Which is f*ucking why everyone else is keeping an eye on them." Hidan growled when Bianca threw a ball of blue light at him.
"Shut up! I'm trying to watch TV!" Bianca yelled.
"Watch where you aim b*tch!" Hidan yowled. Bianca threw another ball at him only to miss. "How the f*ck are you even considered a witch? Amaya did a better job at intimidating me."
"The talent must have skipped a generation." Kisame said dryly. He and Hidan ran out when Bianca aimed another ball at them both. Completely missing them and hitting the walls leaving a dark smudge. Hidan and Kisame ran back upstairs where the others were making sure to play with the kids at Hide-and-Seek.
"Hey, Nagato!" Hidan meowed when he and Kisame entered the hallway. Nagato and Itachi were immediately in front of them.
"Report." Nagato ordered.
"That b*tch isn't even worth our time." Hidan responded immediately. "She's too glued to that damn TV and eating Memphis' chips."
"Her aim is terrible. I can see why she's been demoted to nothing but baby-sitting jobs." Kisame added in his two cents.
"Can you sense her power level?" Kakashi asked coming out of the room.
"Yeah. By all rights she should be at Ariel's level, but I don't think she could hit the broadside of a Bijuu."
"This is upsetting." Nagato said. "Thankfully, this mission is Amaya's only one."
"I can see why she wouldn't want to leave the kids alone, especially when the current witch in charge doesn't really care about anything but what pleases her." Kakashi said. "Did you notice anything else?"
"Yeah, she's a lazy-ass b*tch whose only motivation is Amaya's threat." Hidan said sarcastically.
"Just think of it this way, if we'd been found by her, we would have most likely been left to starve." Kisame said politely. Well as politely as he could.
"Alright." Nagato nodded. "We'll stay out of that one's hair and keep an eye on the children."
"I don't even blame them for wanting her gone." Kakashi said cheerfully as Memphis and Keira started to argue. "We should resume our duties and keep them occupied."
"I never thought I'd ever wish to not be a cat right now." Nagato stated.
"Hn."
"Any idea when Amaya will be back?" Hidan asked sounding almost desperate. Nagato and Itachi shook their heads. "F*ck!"
For once I agree with Hidan." Kisame grinned. The five ninja cats walked back into the children's room intent on keeping the children occupied for as long as possible.
"Found you Pinky!" Memphis yelled. Sakura sighed before walking out of her hiding spot (the dirty laundry) and was instantly in Memphis' arms.
"I found Beauty!" Keira called from in between the shoes.
"Aw man!" Memphis whined. "I wanted to find him!"
"Maybe next time alright?" Keira asked.
"It amazes me that these two are so compatible." Sakura meowed as Keira and Memphis put her and Kakuzu on the bed and put a low-level shield over them.
"What do you expect? Their guardian makes sure that they always get along." Kakuzu pointed out. He sighed as Keira looked under the money blanket to find Deidera. "I miss my money."
"What's so great about money?" Sakura asked. She immediately regretted asking when Kakuzu looked at her with a gleam in his eyes.
"Are you serious? And here I thought you one of the smart ones." Sakura didn't have a chance to respond as Kakuzu went into a detailed rant about money and it's finesse.
"Why is he talking about money like it's water?" Sasuke asked when he joined Sakura and Deidera.
"She asked about it, un." Deidera groaned before putting his paws over his ears to try and block out Kakuzu. "The only one who can shut him up about his rants are Hidan and Leader-Sama, yeah."
"I never thought I'd say this but where is Hidan when you need him?" Sakura asked desperately. Sasuke didn't understand what was so wrong with going into something you liked more than anything.
After a few minutes however he was tempted to use his Amaterasu on Kakuzu and just end it.
"Oi! Who the f*ck started this dipsh*t on about his money?" Hidan asked when he'd been found by Memphis. Sakura, Deidera and Sasuke practically hugged him for arriving at that moment. Well, Sasuke didn't but he visibly relaxed. Sakura had no qualms about running to him and shoving him towards Kakuzu.
"Please make him stop!" She pleaded.
"Shut him up before I commit seppuku, un!" Deidera pleaded. Hidan smirked.
"You're all a bunch of pansies!" He said before he plopped himself beside Kakuzu. "Oi! Shut the f*ck up about your money you stitched mother*cker! No one gives two sh*ts about it." Kakuzu growled.
"Easy for you to say. You don't give a damn about anything besides your made-up god you freak."
"JASHIN IS NOT FAKE YOU ASSHOLE!" Hidan yowled. Sakura, Sasuke and Deidera watched the two Immortals continue to argue.
"I never thought I'd be so glad to hear them arguing." Sakura said.
"Me to, un." Deidera grinned.
"Hn." Sasuke added licking his paw. Deidera glared at him.
"Do you have to sound so much like your asshole of a brother, yeah?" Sasuke just looked at him before replying with a,
"Hn." Deidera started growling.
"Easy boys, let's stay calm shall we?" Sakura was wishing for her chakra back so she could punch the males by which she was surrounded. It would help her mild headache.
"Yo!" Kakashi smiled when he was placed in the shield by Keira.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura greeted with happiness.
"Ah I see Hidan and Kakuzu are at it again." Kakashi noted.
"It's better than listening to Kakuzu's rant about money, yeah." Deidera muttered not looking away from Sasuke.
"Why is Deidera glaring at Sasuke?" Kakashi asked Sakura.
"Deidera figured out that Itachi and Sasuke really are related." Sakura answered sounding tired. Kakashi nodded.
"Well, that'll all be resolved soon. Look here comes Sasori." The arrival of his art partner barely made a difference since Sasori was used to ignoring Deidera unless he really had to. (This almost makes the Akatsuki seem as if they're made of Naruto's and Sasuke's doesn't it?)
All at once everyone but the children stiffened as a wave of magic went over them. Panic, anxiety, and fear were the dominate features as the ninja cats twitched. Keira and Memphis were slower to react, but they eventually stopped too as they felt icy fear overcome them and wipe away their happiness.
"K-Kakashi-sensei, what i-is that?" Sakura whimpered. Her cat ears laid flat to her head.
"I'm not sure Sakura." Kakashi stated seriously. On the floor everyone else came out of their hiding places when a scream sounded from downstairs.
"Akatsuki! Get the children to Amaya's room!" Nagato ordered. He'd noticed that while Amaya put a protection spell on the kid's room, only she was able to put it up again. And since they were supposed to be safe, she hadn't done it before she'd left. Amaya's room however had a 24/7 protection shield around it, especially around her closet.
"Team 7, come with me!" Kakashi ordered as he raced to the stairs. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura followed their sensei as the Akatsuki amazingly pushed the children to Amaya's room.
'Thank god Amaya made us her familiars.' Nagato thought as he and Itachi's bodies grew to the size of a small hunting cat. They were able to make the children move much faster than they would have been if they'd still been smaller.
Meanwhile the sound of fighting drew Team 7 to the living room, just as Bianca was thrown through the kitchen counter/window.
"What the f*ck are those things?" Naruto yelled as his fur puffed up making him appear feral. Two shadowy shapes had stalked into their line of sight. They both had reddish hair with big eyes like they were part fish. Their faces were set in a blank look but just looking at it was terrifying enough. Their bodies were thin like a skeleton covered in a black cloak that was ripped slightly with burns at the edges.
Fear shot straight to Team 7's hearts as the figures caught sight of them. They didn't say anything, but one went to where Bianca was getting back up while the other moved to Team 7.
"K-Ka- Ka-" Sakura couldn't speak as fear froze her. She mentally yelled at herself to move but her limbs were locked. She mentally saw her friends dying in the war they'd been fighting in two weeks ago. Except this time all around her, everyone died.
Her teammates weren't any better.
To Naruto it was as if he'd been transported back in time to when he was smaller, and everyone still hated him. Only instead of ignoring him, everyone was outright yelling at him and calling him a monster.
For Sasuke he was seeing the night Itachi massacred their entire family. But instead of Itachi standing over his parents, it was himself.
Kakashi once again saw his teammates and sensei die. He couldn't move to help them and instead, was forced to watch them die all over again while yelling mentally. He didn't want to watch this again. He couldn't see this again. He was afraid and that fear was what kept him frozen.
'Move… It's only fear… Don't let it do this to you Kakashi.' A voice whispered in his head. Kakashi could barely hear it, but that voice was so warm. It was like Minato-sensei was standing beside me. A warmth bloomed inside Kakashi as he saw Minato-sensei smile at him.
'It's okay Kakashi. You're not alone.' Rin and Obito were beside him.
'What's taking you so long Bakashi? You have a mission to do!' Obito yelled. Rin smiled at him, but her eyes displayed urgency.
'Fight Kakashi. It's not your time to die.' He saw Naruto die protecting Sakura. Sakura yelled out as she and Sasuke were blinded by grief and rushed at the monster that was Madara. They were going to die to!
"NOOOO!" Kakashi yelled as his body burned. His muscles tensed as he ran forward and tackled the monster that was making him hallucinate. Unconsciously his body moved while his conscious mind was focused on the simple fact that he was no longer five inches tall. He was human again! His chakra pumped his body full of adrenaline as he whirled and kicked the monster away from his team.
The demon in the kitchen seemed to be drawing a bluish light from Bianca's body as she gasped and choked in its punishing grip. Kakashi was there in a second to kick that demon back. He caught Bianca as she fell, not that she would have noticed if she'd fallen to the tiled floor. Her eyes were filmy, like she was blind.
Kakashi checked to see if she had a pulse. She did.
That small distraction cost Kakashi as the fear that had immobilized him again took hold of him. Both demons hadn't been expecting a cat to turn human, but they were prepared to do anything to reach their objective.
"MEOW!" Three small furry balls of claws and sharp teeth were enough to distract one demon as it wailed a horrible screeching sound, like it was angry. It started to swipe at Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura as they ran around its feet hoping to give Kakashi some time to defeat the other demon.
It wasn't enough as the demon only had to narrow its eyes and the three shinobi froze as the fear doubled. With one kick it sent Sakura's kitten body flying into the wall. Sasuke was thrown into the dining room table and Naruto crashed through the coffee table.
Kakashi hadn't fared any better as the demon had grabbed his neck and turned him towards it. The demon opened its mouth and Kakashi's eyes widened as he felt his chakra leaving him.
The other demon moved to the stairs as his partner had everything under control down here. It didn't get far as two more humans were standing at the top of the stairs. One with red hair and purple eyes and another with black hair and red eyes. Demon #2 suddenly found itself airborne while Demon #1 had, once again, been forced to release his victim.
"Kakashi!" Nagato cried as the Copy ninja fell over, barely breathing.
"Sasuke!" Itachi murmured seeing his brother in cat form lying unconscious in the dining room. Naruto and Sakura hadn't moved either. If it weren't for their slight breathing Itachi and Nagato would have confirmed their only living relatives dead.
"You're going to pay for hurting my brother." Nagato growled. "Shinra Tenshi!" Demon #1 was sent flying through the wall and into another. "Bashin Tenshi!" Demon #1 went flying, right into Nagato's fist.
Itachi had Demon #2 trapped in his Tsukuyomi where Itachi was giving it a very harsh lesson about what happens when you hurt his brother.
Once both demons were on the floor, beaten, Itachi and Nagato were forced to acknowledge that their chakra wasn't as high or as strong as it used to be before they'd died.
"My chakra is fading." Nagato said. Itachi nodded as his knees felt distinctly felt weaker.
"My chakra should have been able to stabilize." Itachi murmured.
"Unless Amaya is using our chakra." Nagato realized. They stopped talking as the demons rose from the floor. They shook their heads and bodies before standing straight, looking right at Itachi and Nagato.
Demon #1 narrowed his eyes and screeched loud enough for Itachi and Nagato to wince. The fear in the room doubled as panic rose in their chests. Demon #2 simply walked by them as they were frozen on the floor.
Nagato was once again, mentally, seeing his best friend die. The loneliness and pain combined with fear and panic, making him shake at the pressure in his head.
Itachi on the other hand, was reliving the worse nightmare anyone could ever dream up. He was once again murdering his entire family. Only this time, he was doing it so slowly and smiling in glee. He liked hearing his family die at his feet.
'No! I didn't like it!' Itachi thought desperately. But he still killed everyone all over again. Only this time, he also killed Sasuke. 'Otouto! Not Sasuke!'
'It's not real Itachi.' A warm voice in his head murmured. 'It's only fear. Don't let it get to you. Fear is nothing.' Warmth bloomed but only for a few seconds before the demon increased his fear.
'Help me.' Itachi pleaded. 'I don't want to see this again.'
"HEY!" A new voice yelled out.
"Are the kids okay?" Kakuzu asked shakily. They could feel the fear and panic in the house intensify as they protected the children in the closet.
"No. They keep calling out for Amaya or their mom." Konan said listening to the whimpers inside the closet. Deidera, Hidan, and Sasori were the only three who were inside. To be used as the last defense in case whatever was in the house managed to get past him, Kisame, Yahiko and Konan.
"What the hell is this thing?" Kisame asked as his bones trembled. The panic and fear were increasing.
"I don't know." Konan murmured. "B-But we've faced a Bijuu and our own personal demons. Whatever this is, it can't be worse than that." The door to Amaya's room creaked as it opened. The four ninjas whipped their heads to see a very terrifying face.
"W-Wh-What?" Yahiko gasped as the demon narrowed his eyes. The last thing any of them heard before they were plunged into their nightmares was a voice yelling from downstairs.