Serendipity

Chapter Twenty Five

Sasuke meowed softly in protest as he was woken up that morning by a way too happy Hinata.

He hadn't slept all that well. Nightmares and the heavy feeling of dread pressing into his chest kept him up for most of the night. He didn't actually find a sleepless sleep until it was six in the morning and the sun was rising outside. Finally, his body had gotten exhausted enough, but alas, sleep was not in the cards for him today.

Hinata carried him into the bathroom, where she had all things set up for him to take a shower. His tail flicked back and forth unhappily as he realized this might become and everyday reality. Not even Itachi forced him to bathe every single day.

This was ridiculous.

He hated how Hinata showered him, dried him, and perfumed his fur before tying a ribbon around his neck, as it was becoming the custom. Damned ribbon, he hated it. It would have been fine and all, if then she wouldn't have offered him kitty kibble, of all things. The sight of it was unappetizing and it made him long for all the delicious meals Itachi always personally cooked for him.

Glancing to the side he noted how everyone else was getting something tasty to eat and felt envy in his chest.

Well, it didn't matter.

He would just have to get himself the breakfast he wanted. First he drank down his water, waiting for Naruto to get his breakfast, before jumping onto the table and stealing away a sausage link. Naruto, out of all of them, he had noticed was the least guarded when it came to his food. Everyone else seemed to have an awareness about them, but not the blond. Once he had food in his mouth, Naruto would let his guard down.

Sasuke decided to exploit this and get the food he wanted.

The blond complained very loudly about it, but didn't do anything to stop him. The fact that he didn't made Sasuke more confident about stealing more of his food.

Everyone else just laughed when Ramen came in several more times to steal himself some egg and a pancake that he ended up dragging under the table when he noted that Naruto wasn't going to follow him.

"I'm starting to think that if he did have a previous owner, they fed him table food," Hinata said thoughtfully as she glanced at the untouched kitty kibble. Ramen had made it clear that he didn't like it and wouldn't be touching it. "He might not be used to regular cat food." Her expression was worried. There was no telling how certain foods could affect a cat if he was eating things not meant for him.

"Maybe you should take him to a vet and see if he is healthy?" Kushina asked. "That way you can be certain that his previous owner wasn't abusive or fed him all the wrong things,"

"Oh, he got checked out at the shelter and all his results showed that he was in perfect health." Naruto pouted, shoving what little food he had left to one corner. He was still mourning his food. "If we have to feed him table food can we get him his own. I'm not too keen on sharing with him." he petulantly grumbled making his family laugh again.

"Sure dear, I'll tell the staff to prepare him healthy table foods," Hinata said as she made a mental note to figure out if there was such a thing. She remember reading something about making your own snacks for your pets, so you didn't have to feed them the food sold in big chain stores that could be harmful. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea.

"So what are the plans for today?" Minato asked.

"Hinata and I are going out to meet up with Grandpa Hiruzen. He wants to discuss some of the terms on how I will go about becoming Hokage," Naruto said, looking a bit nervous yet excited about the upcoming meeting.

"I'm so happy that you got chosen Naruto," Kushina smiled at him. "You truly make our family proud!"

"Are you alright Kurama?" Minato called out to his eldest child. Across from them sat Kurama, morose and simply pushing his food around. Although adopted and all, Minato and Kushina never treated Kurama as any less. He was their child no matter what.

"I'm fine," Kurama said, forcing himself to pay attention to what was going on around him. He was terrible at hiding what he was feeling. There was something clearly bothering him. +

"Did Menma say something mean to you again?" Naruto asked with fury in his tone. Although he and Menma were twins, they were nothing alike. They were like polar opposites, set to battle and disagree with each other all the time.

"I haven't seen him since yesterday, but no. He's not something I want to think about at all. I'm just" Kurama shrugged. He didn't want to tell them what was bothering him. He didn't want them to know. "I'm just not in a good mood or whatever," he sighed heavily, wishing that they wouldn't press him for answers.

"Oh, do you want to come with us to the appointment with gramps?" Naruto offered, hoping that it would cheer his brother up.

"Uh, no thanks," Kurama shook his head, then added, "I've got some things to do anyways." Kurama pushed what was left of his half eaten food aside. "Please excuse me," He said.

His family watched him go worriedly.

"Do you guys know what has been bothering Kurama lately?" Naruto asked his parents. They shook their head. They looked at each other wondering how they could get him to speak to one of them.

"I'm sure that he will tell us when he is ready," Minato said when he noticed his family plotting. Knowing how Kurama was, he'd only anger at being pressured to reveal what was wrong with him. It would just explode a simple situation to something more out of their control, and he didn't want that.

"I hate it when you say that, I could just beat the answer right out of him," Kushina flamed making everyone sweat dropped.

"Calm honey," Minato placed a hand on her shoulder, calming her. She threw him one of her signature grins.

The family finished their breakfast and got ready for the day. The couples all had their own thing to do. Minato and Kushina had to go to work and Hinata and Naruto had to attend the meeting with the current Hokage.

Sasuke wasn't sure when they would get back. It was so weird not being told anything- Itachi always told him where he was going and when he should expect him. He sighed, missing his old routine of doing things. Damn it, at this point he was missing school.

He felt strangely frustrated on top of his anger, and fear. He was a bit frazzled, and although he ate a good amount of Naruto's breakfast, he still felt hunger…although he swore he was full. Yawning widely revealed that he was also completely exhausted, bone deep and mentally.

He slowly got to his feet and walked about the living room for a moment, entertaining his own thoughts when he noticed Kurama come into the living room as well. The man was muttering to himself, unhappy about something.

Sasuke's ears flicked and he was able to catch the tail end of a whisper of Kurama telling himself not to feel jealous that Naruto got chosen for Hokage. That he should be happy that Naruto got to be the one. That there was no way he was unhappy about being part creature, that he didn't hate himself or whatever, Sasuke couldn't hear Kurama feeling sorry about himself anymore and decided to go find his new friends.

There was a decision he was going to have to make.

"Are there any news about Sasuke?" Shino whispered to the bugs that had returned to him. It had only been a day since he had sent them, but they were all anxious for answers to Sasuke's whereabouts. Sadly, none of his bugs had found him yet. "Please keep searching, send word as far as possible" He told the little beetle sitting on the tip of his finger.

It fluttered its wings before buzzing away.

"Anything?" Kiba beside him asked, while munching on an apple. They were at school in the middle of lunch. They were at their usual spot, under their tree across the grassy field.

"Nothing yet, which makes me think he is farther away than we think," Shino said with a small sigh leaving his lips.

"Exactly how far do your bugs cover?" Kiba asked.

"The whole entire world, of course, a billion times over" Shino smirked with pride.

Kiba chewed deliberately while giving his friend a disbelieving look.

"Uh-huh," Kiba muttered.

"What about you?" Shino asked, just to change the subject away from his bugs. He was sure that Kiba's method wasn't any much better, although a part of him hoped it might be. This was the fate of one of their friends being in danger over the pride of what was their communication method. "Have you received any news on the grapevine?"

"Not yet," Kiba got a disdain look on his face, "Sadly we have some dogs out there that are unhappy to have to report about a cat, but hey, it's worth a try to those that don't mind. I don't know how effective it will be."

"It sucks that Sasuke had to be taken this way, there has to be a way to know if he is safe or needs help," Shino kicked the dirt, digging up a stubborn rock. "Man how unfair is life. Sasuke didn't even get to tell Itachi who he was, much less how he felt about him."

"Well, Neko-baa, an old coot as she is has Itachi convinced that Sasuke is alright and that he will come back. He just has to do his best to keep his hopes up for it," Kiba threw his apple core across the field, upset. There was so much he wanted to do in order to find Sasuke, and yet it truly felt like there was nothing that they could do.

How frustrating.

"Are her predictions any good?" Shino was hopeful.

Kiba shrugged, "Who knows but she's never lied to anyone that's for sure. BUT it just doesn't sit right with me that an extensive search shouldn't be done. I'm sure Itachi can do one with that organization of his."

Shino stayed silent for a moment before shaking his head. "While that might be true that they specialize in it, their field is set on helping find other beings, not animals like Itachi and the others think Sasuke is. Sasuke is just a cat. An insignificant pet that government funds or the like can't be used for. There is no fund out there that could be used to make such an elaborate search unless it was ran by a private group," Shino shrugged.

If anything, Itachi was doing everything already that anyone could possibly do. From posters, reporting it to any shelter, and social media. Itachi and his friends were doing everything and all they could to find Sasuke.

"Yeah I kinda figured, it just sucks that at the end of the day that is all Sasuke is, some pet," Kiba hissed.

"It would have been convenient for him to have told Itachi, sure, but for some reason things didn't work out that way and here we are." Shino chided, "Let's keep doing our best to find our friend."

"Right," Kiba agreed.

Escaping the Uzumaki house hold was easy, it probably couldn't be consider escaping so much as walking out.

Sasuke had no trouble running outside once the chance came and a servant opened the door. No one seemed to care about him being there, much less looked like they were left to babysit him or something. That in all left Sasuke with the freedom that he needed in order to go to Kimimaro's side of the fence.

It was a wonder that they would allow an animal to go outside when there was a live fence set up. Sasuke briefly wondered why that was a requirement of these homes. It didn't seem that way for the school or any other place he had been too.

Maybe it was because they didn't have a powerful demon like Itachi to protect the area?

That had to be it.

"Oh," Sasuke paused.

Kimimaro was at the bottom of the tree that he had seen him in yesterday, except now he was nuzzling into the thick fluffy fur of a large orange tabby. It was such a weird difference, seeing how small and bony Kimimaro was compared to the giant cat next to him. The giant had an indifferent look on his face compared to his affectionate companion.

Seeing that he hadn't been noticed he cleared his throat to announce that he was about to approach.

"Kimimaro, there's a problem." He said as he got near them.

The orange cat suddenly hissed at him, a warning to keep his distance.

Sasuke hesitated in his next step and sat back. He knew a warning to keep his distance anywhere, and he wasn't here to cause trouble.

"It's okay Juugo, he's cool." Kimimaro assured. The orange cat, Juugo stopped his hissing and laid down. "What happened?" Kimimaro asked, turning his attention to Sasuke.

Sasuke felt like there was a war going on inside of his head and heart. There was no doubt that he wanted to go back home to Itachi and be safe. But then another part of him was so angry and scared all at once towards someone who was supposed to be his parent and yet they were…the worst person to have ever live.

He wanted Menma to suffer how his family had suffered and he wanted to be the one to deal that punishment. Not that he knew how he would do that, but he did know that he wanted to hurt him.

"I just found out that Naruto's twin brother, Uzumaki Menma is my father." Sasuke lowered his head in shame, his ears pressing down as he stated this.

Kimimaro and Juugo's eyes widened.

"What?"

"There's no way," Juugo breathed.

Kimimaro laugh, his short fur fluffing up in delight at the news, "Serves him right, ha! For someone that was so against accepting Kurama as his brother to now have a son who is part creature. That's fucking irony if you ask me." He said with pure amusement. "Come to think of it, who is your mother, Sasuke?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't know." He whispered, "Menma killed her before I could really know her…"

Those words made Kimimaro pause in his laughter and joy towards finding out that Menma had a half demon half creature as a son. He moved closer to Sasuke and with his paw gave three little bops to his head. It was a sobering feeling to see that Sasuke, a small baby in this world, had no idea who his parents truly were.

"Sasuke, I don't know what you know about Menma, but I can tell you all I know about him. After all, I've grown up next door to him," Kimimaro rolled his eyes, "We even had the displeasure of being his classmates at one point,"

"I don't care," Sasuke muttered. "I don't want to know anything about that man,"

"You should care child," Juugo spoke up. "Like it or not, you are related to him. As a demon you might want to know how strong your sire is. It will dictate just how you will grow up and what your inheritance will grant you."

Sasuke flinched at that truth.

No matter how much he detested Menma, he was part of who he was.

"If I could I would tear apart any genetics that he imparted to me and just stab it," Sasuke's claws sunk into the soft ground under him, tearing into the grass. "I would have nothing to do with him!"

Kimimaro and Juugo watched and shook their heads at the silliness dropping from the kittens mouth.

"If that were so, you wouldn't exist. I'm sure there are reasons behind why your mother chose him to be the sire," Kimimaro said. "After all, she was the creature in the relationship. Creatures are even more of a mystery and honestly, there might be no telling what you'll grow into,"

"Because he had what she didn't and that was the fact that he was a pure demon," Sasuke said. "Mom told us that much. The best thing father could have given us was the fact that he was a demon,"

"One of the purest, in fact, they come of a long line of pure demons. Both the Namikaze and the Uzumaki branched from the same root of the Senju. My owner Kaguya praises them, as she too comes from a similar line." Kimimaro looked up towards the large mansion that was their next door neighbors home. "The line is so powerful, you should get to know Kurama, he comes from purely the Uzumaki but his form is larger than other creatures, and so devastating that he is feared."

Sasuke blinked, lifting his head towards Kimimaro.

He had seen and heard Kurama talk. The man sounded sad and mad, but there had been nothing impressive about him at first glance. His golden eyes were of course the thing that stood out the most from him, because unlike other Uzumaki, Kurama's red hair was dull and his skin an ashen pale. But his eyes, they were shimmering gold that would tell anyone that he was something else entirely.

"Kurama's not well liked. When they were kids the others would pick on Kurama and by extension, on Naruto and Menma. They were bullied so badly and no one wanted to be their friends that they felt alienated." Juugo said, "Menma was quick to blame Kurama for it and he decided to attend another school. He made friends and wouldn't even acknowledge his family when in public. He never wanted to be seen with them because he now had a reputation to uphold."

"Naruto was completely different. He was a big troublemaker, getting back at anyone who looked down on Kurama for being who he was. He even terrorized the establishments around here, painting on the walls and you know how snotty people are when things don't look like what they like." Kimimaro added, "But he worked hard and left an impression that forced others to accept and respect Kurama. He made people give him a chance and yeah while not everyone has changed, it is a start."

Sasuke smiled at that.

Naruto sounded so nice, why couldn't he had been his father instead?

Life probably wouldn't be so complicated, but at the same time he decided that it was best that Naruto wasn't his father. He wouldn't have met Itachi otherwise.

"Menma was no slouch either though, he has made a name for himself and runs a business all his own. Sadly, that business is to make products that detect creatures, and has implemented concentration centers that hold them prisoners," Kimimaro shivered in fear. He had heard all the campaigns that Menma's company had made, or how many others so readily sponsored him.

"Is that legal?" Sasuke asked.

"Completely legal," Kimimaro said while Juugo nodded.

Sasuke shook with anger. "Why, why is something like that legal!" he demanded. "How could it be?"

"The law doesn't fully acknowledge creatures as real citizens. Hiruzen and before that Minato had worked hard to pass at least one that if a demon decided to adopt a half creature half human into their family, then it would be their full responsibility to care for them," Kimimaro explained. "It's a bit iffy still, but it has helped those half humans to find a place to call a home and much recently, allowed for an education"

So, that was the reason why Kiba and Shino were able to attend school.

Sasuke thought over what Kimimaro said and then tilted his head. "Is there a difference in the law, when they are half demon and not human in the least."

"They don't exist," Kimimaro mused, tilting his head at Sasuke because it wasn't true.

"…don't exist?" Sasuke whispered with disbelief.

"As far as anyone knows, demons are jealous creatures. They don't allow their offspring to be…like that. In fact, Kurama has a hard time because although many know that he is half creature, it is refused for him to be that. He's forced to always be in his demon form and remain as such," Kimimaro said. "Kurama is a demon, in all sense of it,"

Sasuke scoffed. "I'll do what I want. No one will tell me otherwise. I'm both a creature and a demon and that's it!" He knew how creatures were looked down upon but he felt stubborn. He hated being seen as weak or otherwise. He wanted to prove he was better than any other demon—he was worthy of Itachi.

"That's what makes you so different," Kimimaro got up to circle Sasuke, flicking his tail around his neck. "You're so confident and I have no doubts, smart." He tilted his head and signaled to where the other cats were. Sakon, Ukon, Tayuya, Jirobo, and Kidomaru had been welcomed into Kimimaro's yard, and they all looked like they were enjoying themselves. "They told me all about it,"

"Told you what, I didn't do anything special," Sasuke was confused.

"It isn't what you did, but what you said," Kimimaro took a seat beside him. "You told them of a better life and gave them reason to want to live again. They would have stayed in the hell hole that they came from and would have perished there, in those cages. They wouldn't have known that there was more to life out here."

"All I did was tell them about Itachi," Sasuke flicked his tail with slight annoyance. He didn't understand what Kimimaro was trying to say to him.

"Yep," the white cat ominously said.

"Yup," Juugo agreed with him and started licking his paw.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes on them.

"What you don't understand is that you've found love and a home. You're proof so far that a creature and a demon can have a functional child. On top of that, you found such love and comfort that it gave them the hope that they could do the same," Kimimaro explained.

"That's not entirely a truth. My mom did say that once I was old enough, being a demon and hiding the side of me that is a creature was crucial in order to live a good life," Sasuke said the words as he remembered, the fading flashes of the lessons his mother used to bestow upon him and his siblings. They had just barely opened their ears and eyes when she was already telling them all these things.

"But that isn't your case, huh," Kimimaro said.

Sasuke smiled. "That's only because Itachi exists,"

"Yeah," Kimimaro said, "But I have a Juugo that exists, and by that I mean we can all exist and have a place in this world. If they could just know that we are beings with real feelings, things would be so different."

Sasuke let that sink in for a moment.

There was nothing in the world that he cared for and loved more than Itachi. His fear that he might not be with him outweighed the fear he had towards his father. He was sure that Itachi would understand when he explained to him why he ended up away from him, and why he had to stay away a little bit longer.

"I'll be the one," Sasuke suddenly said, filled with conviction. Hiruzen was wrong. It shouldn't be Naruto that placed Menma in his place, but Sasuke himself who had suffered greatly because of him. "I'll have to train and work hard but I'll teach Menma a lesson and make him pay for what he did to me, my siblings, and especially my mother." but although he was so confident and decided on this, there was something that was still bothering him. "But I don't want to leave Itachi alone just to do all that…"

"I had an idea about that," Kimimaro got to his feet and flicked his tail in the direction of the house. Sasuke blinked but followed him. "I was thinking a letter wouldn't be a good idea. So I was going to ask you if you knew his phone number. I also looked up the Akatsuki agency and found their information online. I was going to ask you to confirm the place before I made the call about the animal shelter, so what do you think?" Kimimaro asked as they reached the front porch.

Sasuke puffed his chest out, "Of course I know everything there is to know about my Itachi," he said proudly. "So we're going to call him? What are we going to say?" he worried.

"Leave those details to me," Kimimaro said as he transformed to his human form. He was a tall white haired man with the same green eyes as his cat form. He covered his body in a long green bathrobe and reached for his cell phone.

Sasuke watched him with curiosity and took the offered bathrobe. He hesitated in transforming, but when Kimimaro motion for them to go inside, Sasuke did so freely, sighing in relief at finally being able to be in his demon form.

"Come, let me introduce you to the mistress and then we can do the phone calls," Kimimaro said with excitement. "Just wait for all the opportunities she can offer you. You'll become so strong Menma's head will be spinning and he will regret not claiming you as his son,"

Sasuke gave a deadpanned look, "I don't care if he does or doesn't, I just want him to pay." He muttered, looking around the spacious mansion that Kimimaro lived in.

Meeting Otsutsuki Kaguya was an experience Sasuke would soon not forget.

Pain was in the middle of a busy workday when he had one of his workers redirect a phone call towards him. There was claim that the person was saying it was an emergency and would only speak to him. It wasn't uncommon for him to get calls throughout the day, so he didn't think anything of it when he answered the phone.

"Akatsuki Agency, Leader Pain speaking," he said as he shuffled through several papers on his desk, trying to find that elusive statement that was supposed to help pay his employees this month. It was crucial that he found it.

Why was his desk always such a mess?

"Hello, I am calling to report an animal shelter that is being used to disguise a black market for the body parts of creatures," The person on the other end of the line said. This gave Pain pause as he stopped searching for the lost papers.

"Where are you calling from?" he asked, instead pulling up a report. Usually these kinds of calls were no big deal, but this one was already sounding different and raising red flags for him.

"Senju," the person- a woman- then gave him the name of the animal shelter and the person running the place.

"Thank you for letting us know about the animal shelter, we will investigate it immediately. Could I please get your name and…" The phone was hung up before he could get the information of the person reporting the illegal place. Much less any information about how they knew and if anyone close to them might be in danger.

The reporting was incomplete and there was no knowing if the call was something that he could pursue. Taking a deep breath he decided to call a meeting and then send some of his workers to go and investigate the place, posing as possible clients for a while. Senju wasn't an easy place to infiltrate because it didn't fall under their jurisdiction. Once they had proof, then they would be able to move in and ask for the proper help.

With that in mind, he turned back to what he was doing before.

Looking for that damned time statement.

Sasuke kicked his feet back and forth while having milk and cookies.

Kimimaro was getting more snacks ready to share with him.

Kaguya had just finished with her phone call to Akatsuki. She had volunteered to make the call for them for no reason other than she truly wanted to help. She already found Sasuke adorable, and was happy to offer to train him.

She was a warrior in her own rights and often taught classes in combat to students. It also helped that she had a big soft spot for cats. She was what you would call a crazy cat lady, but the truth was that the cats she took in also turned out to be creatures. Her biggest secret was that she had raised many cat creature hybrids and she took pride in it.

"Is there anything else you want me to do for you boys?" She asked as she snatched a cookie for herself.

"I think we're good mom," Kimimaro pressed a kiss to her cheek in thanks. She smiled and got to her feet.

"Alright then, I am going to go and prepare some clothes for Sasuke," she said as she went on her way. She had people that made clothes special for her. The fact that she was extending that courtesy to Sasuke meant that she clearly accepted him and if possible might even adopt the little raven kitten. Kimimaro shook his head at his mother but was glad that she hadn't scared Sasuke off when she had cornered him for his measurements.

"She's something else," Sasuke commented, holding his cup of milk close to his lips. It felt like forever since he last had milk.

"Yeah, she's the best," Kimimaro said. "Although, she's kind of considered weird in society," he handed Sasuke more snacks.

"She is?" Sasuke tilted his head in wonder.

Kimimaro nodded his head and then took his seat. "Here, take a look at this," he said, passing his tablet over to Sasuke. Sasuke read over what Kimimaro's plan for Itachi was. "All you have to do is give me Itachi's phone number and we can do any of those, you decide,"

Sasuke hummed.

"RAMEN!"

Kimimaro jumped at the loud scream and glanced over at Sasuke. The boy hadn't flinched or made a conscious move to being called. He mused, finding it interesting.

"Come to think of it, if he didn't know what you were, what did Itachi name you?" Kimimaro asked.

"Kitty," Sasuke chuckled, "Itachi's a dork and can be uncreative when it comes to naming things. He once suggested to one of their clients to name their pet fish, fishy," When Sasuke spoke of Itachi it was always done with pure adoration that even Kimimaro got lost in it. In fact, a part of him wanted to meet this Itachi that Sasuke hyped up so much.

"RAMEN GET YOUR FURRY BUTT HERE!" The voice, which belonged to Naruto boomed and finally caught Sasuke's attention.

"Fuck, they're calling me," Sasuke groaned.

Kimimaro laughed. "Yup, have been for a while,"

"Ah I see, well if you ask me, I like the way Itachi named me better than what Hinata and Naruto named me. I don't fucking even look like I'm ramen or whatever," the raven haired boy rolled his eyes. He stood and waited for Kimimaro to walk him out.

"Have a good day Sasuke," Kimimaro said as he showed Sasuke out of the house.

"Thank you, I'll let you know what we will do later, okay." Sasuke transformed into a cat before he exited the house.

"Of course," Kimimaro waved. "See you!"

Sasuke made sure to sneak back into the Uzumaki garden and came out from between the bushes when Hinata passed by. She blinked down at him and crossed her arms.

"And where have you been?" She asked, as if the kitten would be able to tell her. Sasuke simply meowed and greeted her by rubbing his body over her legs. She giggled and picked him up, pressing a soft kiss into his furry cheek. "Come on Ramen, it's time for dinner."

"Ah, you found him!" Naruto cheered and rushed after his wife and cat.

It was officially a week since Kitty went missing and Itachi was going crazy.

He had taken his few days off and even gone out to search for Kitty during that time. He hadn't found him, but he wasn't giving up hope that he would find him. When he voiced his thoughts about taking a trip outside of Konoha to search in other places, his friends had been against the idea. Instead they asked him to return to work.

Itachi gladly went back and was happy for the distraction. His friends pressed a schedule on him that he had to follow and for the time being, living life like that felt kind of nice. He didn't have to think for himself and there was no room to ruminate about Kitty.

Not even at night when he had those strange nightmares.

But then Pain had to call in a meeting.

Itachi groaned, falling back on his bed as he remembered how he had been sent home and placed under what was essentially, house arrest.

"We have a meeting before dinner," Deidara popped into Itachi's office to announce the news. It was his turn to check on the long raven haired demon and was glad to find him silently working. "Come on, let's go," he waited for Itachi to get up.

Itachi packed up his papers and made his way over. They were almost done for the day. To call a meeting meant that Pain had found an important case that might need attention at that moment. He followed Deidara to the meeting room and took his usual seat.

As he thought, the case was a high alert one that required an immediate intervention. Earlier in the week, a team of two had been sent to apply for jobs at an animal shelter in Senju. What they had found wasn't just a new case, it was one that covered several that had been left unsolved, and they might just have solved them- sadly, those cold cases were dead.

"We have to bring peace of mind to our clients and retrieve all and anybody if possible. The people running this ring are protected under an outside jurisdiction from our own. Unfortunately that means calling the means of an outside party to help us," Pain said.

The door opened at that, and Pain rolled his eyes. The one standing in the doorway trying to make an entrance was Orochimaru, looking completely smug.

"I never knew that there would be a day that you would need my help, of all people, you guys," he gushed in that fake way of his.

"Just because the law isn't in our favor," Pain gritted through his teeth.

"No matter what way you look at it, you need my help" Orochimaru laughed and moved to take a seat. He crossed his legs and gave them all a look that meant that he was in charge here. "I'll be choosing the team I want to lead with mine, so make sure that you follow what my team wants. Not the other way around."

"This sucks," Deidara voiced loudly making several people agree with him.

Pain shot him a glare.

"We have no choice, so who is it that you want to include in your team?" Konan asked.

"That's simple, let's see, you, and you, and of course," he pointed to Kakuzu, and Hidan before turning his eyes to the youngest member in the room. "The little weasel," He licked his lips as he eyed Itachi, like he was a plaything.

Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"No," Pain and Konan both said at the same time.

Orochimaru's face dropped, "You said I could choose my desired team," he argued.

"Itachi is not taking any cases at the moment, I'm sorry that I didn't make that clear, but I will have to ask that you respect that," Pain said in a very diplomatic way.

Orochimaru bristled, but understood that he was not going to get his way on this. He knows how protective Pain can be when he felt that his workers weren't fit for a job. "Fine, then I will take the shark with me," he said.

"Alright, Kakuzu, Hidan, and Kisame, please prepare to go with Orochimaru's crew to Senju," Pain commanded. They nodded and got to their feet, knowing that they would have to go with Orochimaru.

With that the meeting was over and the others stood to talk about what they would be getting for food. Zetsu was already making a list of what he would order for them. No one had expected the late meeting, so they thought they might go out to eat, but now they were thinking about staying in.

Itachi was still seated, upset that he wasn't going to get to go on a mission. Not that he was particularly aching to go on a mission led by the snake demon but anything would be better than sitting down and doing paperwork.

Orochimaru was the last to make his way towards the exit, deliberately moving his way close to Itachi. He looked down at the quiet and still weasel, wondering where all his fire had gone. Itachi looked and was acting strange. Not once had he said a word or tried to antagonize him for making suggestive expressions his way.

"Itachi," he leaned in close, ensuring that his mouth was next to that beautiful ear. "What do you say about joining me for dinner, I won't have to go along with the team, for you, I can make that little ugh…"

Itachi had stood up and punched the snake straight in the face. With it came the sick sound of Orochimaru's nose crunching under Itachi's fist. Itachi didn't know what possessed him, but he didn't stop at that.

He kicked Orochimaru's gut in, grabbed the back of his head to slam his face into the edge of the desk, clearly spilling blood this time. He would have sent a blow to the center of his spine, just to try and see if he could cripple him, but Pain and Konan were there to hold him back.

"Itachi!" they snapped, looking at him with shock.

Itachi dropped his fists and relaxed. He wasn't the type to get close to his enemies or anyone when in a fight. He preferred to do things at a distance and it was rare for him to ever do anything so personally. Not because he couldn't, but because he knew that his strength was something else and he could destroy just about anything he touched. His soft heart often conflicted when he would hurt someone, but hurting Orochimaru…well that had oddly satisfying.

Something inside of him justified it that the man deserved it, but another part of him was wondering why he thought that. There was no way for him to judge Orochimaru based on a feeling that he just had, but that was just how it was.

"Sorry," he muttered to Konan and Pain, but he wasn't sorry for what he had done to the snake demon currently passed out and bleeding on the floor. Orochimaru wasn't going to be getting up and he wasn't going to be able to lead the team now.

"Fuck,"

Because of that Yamato had to lead the team and Orochimaru had gone to the hospital. Itachi had been let known that the snake would live, sadly. As for Itachi's punishment for his actions, well his friends had him on close watch and weren't allowing him to go back to work. Of course, part of it was that Itachi believed it wasn't his fault.

It was all Orochimaru's fault.

If the man hadn't approached him with thinking that he could freely talk to him then he wouldn't have had his teeth knocked out. Itachi just wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone's bullshit.

With thoughts of escaping, Itachi threw himself on his bed face first. He didn't regret hitting Orochimaru, at all, but he knew that if he wanted his friends to give him some leeway he was going to have to repent somehow. Besides that, Itachi was bored out of his mind. He wanted something to do, but mostly, he wanted kitty in his arms soft and purring.

He missed him so much.

The sound of his cell phone going off in his pocket caught his attention and Itachi reached for it. He cleared the screen and saw that it was the same unknown number that had been calling for the past few days.

He rejected the call, wondering why they were calling him so much. They had been the only one to call him in the past few days.

Weird, why would they…

There was no one out there he wanted to talk to anyways.

Sasuke sat still for Hinata as she brushed through his fur.

He suddenly shivered and sneezed a few times, feeling cold from the shower he had just received, but he was good for her. She was a gentle soul that had a lot of love to give. Sasuke couldn't help but think that Hinata would make a good mother once she was able to have a little one of her own, for now he decided he could be that child for her.

Hinata softly hummed before reaching for a black bow today. "Don't lose this one today, okay Ramen" she said, even though she knew the kitten was going to leave it somewhere within the next ten minutes.

For now, he held still and allowed her to gently knot it around his neck. Once it was done she pressed his cheeks together and called him cute.

"Miss Hinata, are you ready for your check up," the live in nurse, Amaru, shyly called to Hinata. She was a personal nurse that had been hired to monitor Hinata after she had faced a terrible miscarriage in her first pregnancy. It had been so bad that she was left weak and bleeding. There was a danger that she would have bled to death, all because her pregnancy had ended in such a strange and unknown way.

Now, Hinata was healing.

From what Sasuke had learned, something inside of Hinata had ruptured. Causing an internal bleed and the baby lost its supply to her- or whatever. It had sounded painful as Hinata had retold the story of her miscarriage, almost as if imparting a secret she'd been trying to hide over to him. Whom she believed was a being that would never be able to talk and repeat the story.

Sasuke had simply turned to her with a soft purr to show that he was thankful to her sharing her story and that he wouldn't break her trust in him.

It had taken a few days before he met Amaru, whom at the time had been taking a few days of rest for herself. Hinata had granted her a vacation and now that she was back, there were things that Sasuke had quickly noticed about her.

She was a kind and sweet girl, although a bit shy.

She was blatantly in love with Naruto, the husband of her client.

If you asked him, he thought it was unprofessional of her.

Hinata knew as well, but she was like Itachi in the aspect that she was soft and nice to others, even when they were a threat. Since Amaru wasn't making a move on Naruto, she was allowed to stay and take care of Hinata. Her skills were also something that saved her from being dismissed. Thankfully, Naruto loved Hinata and was there to protect her and be the one to be mean to others for her.

Sasuke didn't have to worry about her in that regard.

He just was so reminded of Itachi that he wondered if someone was taking care of his idiotic demon. Sasuke hoped that he had imparted at least some of his knowledge on being mean so Itachi could be mean too…

"How is everything?" Hinata softly asked.

Amaru noted down a few things before turning to her with a grin, "Everything is looking good and healthy, like new. You are doing awesome miss Hinata,"

"Thank you," Hinata smiled.

Sasuke watched as both women continued to talk and discuss what new exercises and what foods Hinata could try to speed up getting better. Hinata was looking to get pregnant again, but the tightening of Amaru's hands and the bitter curve of her lips told Sasuke how unhappy she was at the progress Hinata was making—although she didn't want to feel that way.

Being in love with someone was starting to seem complicated and painful. Not for Hinata, but for Amaru who had to ignore her feelings.

For whatever reason, his instincts and curiosity told him to stick close to Hinata whenever Amaru was around. Thankfully, Amaru was only allowed in the house early in the morning and that was it.

After that, Hinata left and had things of her own to do. Sasuke had taken the time to learn the schedule of both his owners, and that was when he went to the house next door, to train. Kaguya owned a large indoor green house that made for a good training ground. She was a tough lady, an incredibly smart one at that and had become his primary teacher to not only combat, but other studies as well.

On the days that she was not able to train him Sasuke would dress himself in the clothes she provided and went out to do necessary chores with Kimimaro and Juugo. He was amazed to learn that they could drive and they offered to teach him.

For now they just went grocery shopping and exploring the neighborhood. The more he saw and learned, the more Sasuke wished that he could share these moments with Itachi.

Soon, they were going to be back together, he was sure.

For now, getting to hear his voice was what was keeping him together and pushing him to become better- the best that he could be.

There was only one thing that was bothering Sasuke, and that was how frustrated and hungry he felt these days. It wasn't like he was being allowed to skip meals, even with the bland new food that Hinata had the staff prepare for him. On top of that stealing Naruto's food was still something he did...so why was he feeling so hungry...

Suigetsu and Kisame had come home with food and several movies that they would watch. It was their turn to look after Itachi through the night, so they decided to include him on their date.

Itachi didn't protest or anything, simply sitting there on the couch. These days he didn't cook, and like in the past, rarely thought about feeding himself. Itachi took the popcorn from Kisame when it was offered and absently chewed on a few pieces.

"You got to get it together man," Suigetsu complained, "What will Kitty think if you just up and died because you forgot to eat or drink some water,"

"I'm a demon, that's not going to happen," Itachi reminded.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Suigetsu groaned, "that's not the point,"

Itachi's phone went off.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" Kisame asked.

"No, it's just a random phone number that keeps calling. I don't know them. They've just been calling a lot though," Itachi said. "A few days now,"

"Dude!" Suigetsu sat up straight, with large eyes, shocked that Itachi had ignored something that was more than likely very important!

Kisame rolled his eyes.

"Itachi answer it, we put your number in some of the posters, for all you know someone might have found kitty, answer it!" Kisame urged.

Itachi's eyes widened.

Why had he not thought about that?

No, why had no one told him!?

He answered the call before it ended and placed the phone to his ear, "Hello," he got out as fast as he could, eager to hear if someone had news of Kitty's whereabouts.

"Hey there, I found your phone number with an ad about free underwear, I was wondering how much you were selling it for?" The person on the other side of the line said.

Itachi blinked, perplexed, "I never placed an ad about underwear, you must have the wrong number," he said, a bit dishearten about how pointless the call was.

"Oh, this is embarrassing. Are you sure." The person on the line said, "I was looking forward to buying your used underwear,"

"Yes, I'm sure. You have the wrong number," Itachi repeated.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry to bother you, sir, good bye," the person hung up quickly to show just how embarrassed they were.

Itachi looked at his phone with slight disappointment before he turned narrowed eyes on Kisame. "What the hell, did you place an ad out with my phone number about underwear," he demanded from his friend.

"What, no, why would I do that." The shark demon asked. Suigetsu chuckled as he realized what the call was about, probably some prank and shook his head. Kisame was curious as to what was going on in his boyfriends head and started to bother him over it.

Itachi looked away from the loving couple.

"Weird," Itachi glanced at his phone oddly, but decided that it was fine. Now if he received another call he was going to answer it. If it meant that it was Kitty, that he might have been found—he couldn't jeopardize not answering the phone!