Serendipity
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Naruto and Hinata were annoying.
The weekend had come faster than usual. That Saturday morning that they had agreed to meet already felt long, or perhaps it just did because this wasn't something Itachi wanted to be doing.
He couldn't help but let his mind momentarily wonder back to Sasuke and how the boy had shyly asked if he'd be seeing him over the weekend. He sadly had to turn him down and that had been so hard to do.
Especially when Sasuke gave him a sad look, saying that he'd miss him.
Itachi blinked when Naruto and Hinata stepped forward. The two of them had a microphone and some vests with them. They eagerly took over the investigation that Itachi had been asked to lead. They made a ridiculous speech on what every officer was expected to do.
They wanted every door knocked, every shelter ransacked, and every restaurant bothered. This would be possible all within reason.
Itachi sighed, and let them have their way, motioning for his men to do as the couple asked. Pain had joined, claiming he was there to supervise Itachi since the man was still in probation. Itachi knew Pain was busy with bigger cases to deal with along with his pregnant wife.
He really didn't need to babysit him, but he had no choice in the matter.
"How are you holding up?" Pain asked.
Itachi shrugged, "I'm alright,"
"Good, because you have to get ready to talk to a shit load of people," Pain smirked, crossing his arms. Itachi shook his head and took a step forward. Now that Naruto was ready to get going, he took the chance to let his men know that they were upheld by protocol and to maintain decorum when approaching establishments and people's homes.
He then dispatched them.
Pain hadn't been wrong.
Besides being annoying, the couple didn't hold back when it came to aggressively approaching random people on the street. Their family was just as brutal about it.
There were doors knocked on, restaurants invaded, shelters scalped all in the search of Ramen. By the time nightfall had come, they had gone through all Konoha and the city after it, and the search had brought about nothing.
Ramen was just gone.
Their cat might as well have vanished into thin air.
Naruto and Hinata were disheartened over it.
Itachi was in the middle of dismissing the tired officers when he heard crying. He glanced back to Hinata who looked distraught. He wanted to tell her that they could keep trying. Not to give up, but remembered how much he hated hearing those words. Thankfully the blond rushed to comfort his wife.
Itachi walked away, leaving them to mourn alone.
"What if he's dead," Hinata whispered once Naruto was in front of her, tears coming to her eyes. Naruto shook his head, wrapping his wife in a warm hug.
"No way," He whispered, and turned his head when he saw Menma coming over to them. His brother looked pissed. It wasn't an uncommon sight. Menma paced back and forth until the couple was giving him concerned looks. The raven huffed and made to grab his brother's arm.
"We need to talk," The raven said, and Naruto hesitated. He wanted to stay with his wife, but the look in Menma's eyes told him that this was urgent. He turned to kiss Hinata and ask her for a minute. When she nodded and let him go, he followed his brother.
"Alright," he said. "What's wrong?"
Menma let out a deep sigh, crossed his arms and started his story. "Well, I was going down this basic neighborhood, when I ran into, you'll never guess who...," he rolled his eyes.
Menma was tired, hungry, and getting angrier by the second.
So many people had been rude to him, telling him that they hadn't seen the cat and slamming the door in his face. Worse was when they didn't even bother to open the door and just yelled at him. They fucking refused to look at the picture but clearly knew that they hadn't seen said dumb cat. It made him feel like they thought he was suspicious, trying to sell them something, or frankly wasn't worth their time.
He'd been so ready to call it quits, but then he knocked on this door. Who greeted him was the man from the tapes. The one that had shifted from a cat to a man, the one who placed Ramen into Hanabi's bags.
"You," he hissed, his heckles raised, and pushed himself inside before the man could close the door on him.
"Uzumaki Menma," The man drawled, baring his fangs.
Menma smirked, "That's right, you know me." Menma chuckled, "I suspected that something was up when I saw you in that video. I bet you know where Ramen is, or better said, who he is,"
"I couldn't fathom whatever you mean," The long white-haired male smirked in return. Almost as if telling him that he had to be wrong.
"Oh, I think you do," Menma narrowed his eyes, "Kaguya's pet cat,"
"Kimimaro,"
The two turned to face Kaguya.
She was looking at them with a passive expression. She walked over, placing herself between them and motioned for Kimimaro to get lost. He wanted to tell her no, that he wanted to stay but knew she wasn't going to allow it. She wasn't looking at him anymore, her eyes set on the Uzumaki in the room.
"What is it that you think you know?" She asked the moment that Kimimaro was out of the room.
Menma ticked, and glowered at her, "He's my son, isn't he. That cat that lived with my brother as his pet for the last five years is my fucking son,"
Kaguya chuckled, "How perceptive of you," She looked angry. Menma didn't know it, but she was mad at Sasuke for so blatantly wanting to get back at his father. Understandably this man had hurt him in more ways than one.
But at what cost.
The boy had marked a target on himself. Menma could want just about anything with him, and she would be damned if she'd let this man hurt Sasuke again.
"Why don't we get to the point, and you tell me where he is," Menma crossed his arms, standing tall. "I'm taking my son home with me,"
"He's not your son," Kaguya let her power flow through her, amplifying her voice. Her hair moved to make her look bigger.
"He's got my DNA..."
"You think that's all a father is!" Kaguya cut him off, not wanting to hear what he would say to justify himself. "You murdered his siblings and his mother. You left him for dead and then have the gal to come and say you're his father because of DNA?" She scoffed, "Where the fuck have you been all this time?"
Menma pursed his lips, not having a response for that. He didn't even think that she would know about what he had done. It was like throwing in his face all the mistakes he had committed.
"It's..." it's not like it was against the law to kill a damn creature. He was well within his rights. "I was..." I was the one who was tricked for fuck's sake. "I..." I am the reason that the potential family I had started is dead. He pursed his lips, not knowing what the right thing was to say.
It all sounded wrong.
"Well!" she demanded. Menma shrugged, looking so much like a child that was being scolded. Kaguya gritted her teeth, hating him for his lack of taking responsibility. "If he hadn't so foolishly wanted to hurt you, you would have never known that he existed."
That kid had caused him so much trouble in the span of a few days. Lost him billions of dollars and spat on the empire he had worked so hard on. It had been devastating, but not as bad as if he had lost his mother or own brothers.
That kid had left him off easy, and probably wanted nothing to do with him and the Uzumaki now.
But there was time to make it right. Menma wanted to do something to make it right.
"Is that the reason that he showed up to Hinata and Naruto? He just wanted to get back at me?" Menma asked, closing his eyes harshly. What a terrible son he had.
"He didn't even know that he had family until he saw your ugly mug. In fact, I thank Hinata and Naruto for saving him from getting his body chopped up and sold at some old pet shelter," She sneered.
"What?" Menma's eyes widened at the news.
"Being who he is isn't easy Menma, he's had to face a lot of discrimination and hurt. He's finding himself out in the world, much like Kurama is doing. I suggest you stay clear out of his way," Kaguya said. "Don't worry, I have adopted him as a son, he's doing well. He doesn't need you."
She wasn't wrong.
He was one of those demons that made life living for Kurama hard. His son didn't deserve that. Especially when he already had taken his mother and siblings away. Imagining all the things that Kurama went through, to think that his son would have faced the same made him feel angrier.
"Hinata and Naruto are looking for him and they won't stop," Menma gritted his teeth, "They adore him. They should know who he is and continue to be his parents," He'd be damned if someone else claimed his kid. Even if he couldn't be his father, he wanted him in the family, with the Uzumaki's where he belonged. "You have no rights to him!"
"That's what you want, not what he wants," Kaguya said.
Menma wanted to tell her off, but she shut him up before he could. She grabbed him by his ear and dragged him out the door.
"If you care, like I am assuming that you do, stay away from him," She the shut the door in his face.
Menma cursed and punched the door, only to cry in pain when it was his knuckles that broke. Fucking reinforced door. Huffing, he decided he wasn't going to let this go, he was going to let Naruto know what was going on.
He will get his son back.
Naruto looked at Menma with wide eyes after listening to his story. Listening to how Menma had suspected it and how it had been confirmed.
The only thing he could think was that they had found Ramen, and Ramen was his nephew. He wanted to laugh, happy at what he had just learned. They just had one problem—what if Ramen didn't want to be part of their family, they might not be able to get him to return.
Wait- no, shaking his head he looked at his brother.
"Why can't you take me to where Kaguya is, and we can talk to her about letting him come with us?" Naruto asked.
"No, she doesn't want to tell me where he is. Weren't you listening. That woman might as well be a kidnapper," Menma hissed.
"So, we can't go to her..."
"No!" Menma roared. "Don't be an idiot, we need to get my son back from her. We must report him as a missing person."
Okay, no direct plan then. This was going to be hard.
"What's his real name?" Naruto asked. All Naruto had to do was talk to him. If they knew his name maybe they could find him themselves and they didn't have to go through so much trouble. Once they located him, he'd do his best to make his nephew come home with them.
"Oh...uh." Menma shrugged, "No idea,"
Naruto's jaw dropped. "How do you not know?"
Menma glared at him.
"Alright, I have to talk to Pain about changing tactics, oh and I have to tell Hinata," Naruto was bouncing with excitement. He had a nephew. He was going to get to meet his nephew and if lucky, adopt him as a son.
"Wait, no," Menma grabbed his bubbly brother, looking him in the eye, "I don't feel comfortable with those Akatsuki pricks knowing about my son like that. I don't trust them like you do." Menma looked at his brother imploringly.
"Pain and the other Akatsuki have a mission statement that they protect those that they can and are inclusive to creatures. I'm sure that if anyone is looking for...uh...Ramen, they are our best and safest bet," Naruto grabbed his brother in return, trying to make him see reason.
Menma scoffed, "Don't call him that, and no. I said no, they can look for him, just don't tell them what he is."
Naruto groaned, "You're making this difficult,"
"Naruto, I'm not going to make any more mistakes here. Look at how Kurama suffered because of who he is, no we keep it a secret." Menma dropped his arms at his side, looking defeated. Naruto looked at his brother for a hard minute before nodding.
"Alright, if that's what you think is best." Naruto agreed.
Menma flashed his brother a real smile, a rare one, "Thank you Naruto,"
Pain found it strange when on Monday morning. just a few days after their fruitless search, Naruto came in calling off the search for his cat, Ramen, and was instead asking them to search for his nephew. Whom he didn't have a name nor picture of him.
No lead, no nothing.
Pain felt exhausted trying to work miracles for this man.
What he did have was his twin brother Menma. They looked the same for the most part, except that Menma had raven hair, messier and with longer bangs.
"He kind of looks like this guy here," Naruto pointed at his brother.
"I made a sketch," Menma brought out a paper where he had drawn what the kid might look like. Pain looked it over.
"We have sketch artist of our own if you'd like to describe him to one of them." Pain offered.
"That would be..." Naruto got cut off.
"No!" Menma glared, "Do your best with what we've given you. Or are you just a scam of a company,"
Pain had to refrain from rubbing his aching temples. "No, this would do just fine."
"Can we get Itachi for this?" Naruto asked. "I like him,"
"Itachi?" Pain tilted his head. "He's more of..."
"Make it Itachi!" Menma slammed his hand down on the table. Pain let out a sigh.
"I'll set up a meeting for you," He concluded. He wasn't sure what these two were playing at, but they were hiding something. Itachi would be able to extract it from them if necessary. So, it was fine by him if they wanted one of his most elite.
Itachi and his friends were crowding the front doors of their work building, chatting with each other and making plans for that night. Itachi kind of wanted to ditch them and get away from them. Not that he didn't want to spend time with his friends, but he just didn't feel like going out.
He imagined instead spending time with Sasuke, maybe having a meal in his car before having to drop him off.
Or they could go somewhere to have a quiet moment.
He didn't really care as long as he got to hold his hand.
He perked up when he saw Sasuke come out of the building with the other trainees. He smiled, thinking of getting the boy's attention, but Sasuke didn't look his way. If anything he hunched his shoulders into himself, keeping his head down like he didn't want to be noticed.
The boy made a motion towards the other trainees and parted ways with them.
Itachi's smile dropped and he watched him go, wondering if everything was alright. They hadn't spoken since Sasuke's random breakdown. It bothered Itachi that he didn't know what it had been about.
Maybe Sasuke just needed space?
Or maybe he had done something and he was now avoiding him.
Earlier that day, Sasuke had received an urgent message from Kaguya. It stated that he shouldn't approach Itachi and that they had to move. He had to get home as soon as possible so he could pack his things.
The moment he entered the apartment, Kaguya had thrown a packed bag at him, filled with only the essentials he'd need. He looked at her for answers but she said nothing other than to follow her.
Glancing at Kimimaro and Juugo, he could tell that something had happened.
But no one was willing to tell him what it was.
His family had started to act weird since the weekend. They whispered and would hush when he came around. It was starting to annoy him. Disbelief painted him when Kaguya told him to not talk or get close to Itachi when he went in for his lesson that day.
And now they were suddenly moving?
By that night they had settled into a fancy hotel with security. She gave him a beanie, telling him to wear it when he was out and about. She begged him to keep himself safe and not let anyone close to him that wasn't related to his schooling or work.
And that it would be best if he continues to avoid Itachi.
She asked him to trust her, if he didn't want to ruin things between himself and the demon.
Chiyo had stayed behind, since one she didn't want to leave her home and two, it was best to see if anyone came snooping around trying to locate Sasuke. If they did, she could warn them about it.
It wasn't until almost the end of the week, when he had classes with Shino and Kiba next that he found out what was going on.
"You're in trouble Sasuke," Shino had said, one of his little bugs hovered around his shoulder, buzzing about all its little secrets. Shino constantly had his bugs spying on those that would be a threat to himself and his friends. He also spied on anyone that Sasuke asked him to, "Menma found out where you were and has told Naruto. The Uzumaki's are looking for you specifically, they just don't have a name or picture of you."
"You should see the funny sketch Menma turned in of you," Kiba laughed, one of Shino's bugs had taken the image and brought it to them. Kiba pulled it out to hand to Sasuke. The small raven gaped.
"Does he really think I look like him?" Sasuke's eye twitched. "What a narcissist,"
"I don't think you get the gravity of things Sasuke," Shino crossed his arms as he let out a heavy breath, "Naruto asked for Itachi to be the lead of this investigation. The man is deadly smart, he'll figure you out,"
Sasuke froze, his heart squeezing tight. This wasn't fair. He never planned on letting Itachi know of Kitty. He was so ready to bury away who Kitty and Ramen were. All of it so he as Sasuke could succeed instead, but it seemed like he wasn't going to be able to erase the other half that was him.
"So, what's the plan now?" Kiba asked.
Sasuke shook his head. This was happening too fast for him.
He barely even had the chance to catch his breath.
"I don't know," he croaked. He really didn't know what he should do next. Life was finally slotting into place for him. He was dating Itachi. They might not be official yet, but they were for sure making a friendship. He had gotten the job, his life was moving forward and yet, it felt like his past was determined to drag him back.
"I have a suggestion, what if you just tell him already?" Kiba crossed his arms, a frown on his face. "Enough is kind of enough already,"
"You know he's not wrong, and now that Itachi knows both of you, I think it will be alright,"
"You guys don't get it, I've lied and hurt him, how can that ever be alright," Sasuke hissed. "He's going to hate me!"
"No, it's how about he is going to hate you if he has to find out by himself who you are!" Kiba roared, trying to put things in perspective for Sasuke. "It's either he's mad at you for a bit or can't never forgive you because he found out from someone other than you!"
Sasuke dropped his head on the table, where they were having lunch and groaned.
Why did this always happen to him?
"Weren't you going to tell him five years ago before his mom took you away from him?" Shino asked.
"True," Sasuke grumbled, he had been so determined then. What had changed now? He owed it to Itachi.
"It's time Sasuke, no running away." Shino said.
Sasuke nodded.
He knew he didn't need to be told.
He knew what he had to do.
"Yeah," he closed his eyes, it just wasn't going to be so easy.
Itachi and the others had been pulled from helping the new trainees, seeing as Pain had no choice, they were needed out in the field. They would still train extra, but for now, they had cases to complete.
Itachi had been surprised when Naruto and Menma insisted that he led the search for their family member. It was confusing, seeing as they had been so adamant about their cat. Itachi wondered what had changed.
Where they no longer interested in finding Ramen?
Listening to both Naruto and Menma gave Itachi a headache, and he found his mind wondering. He didn't remember what they had discussed. Didn't even pay attention to the description of their missing nephew/son. Nor did he care about how Menma refused to divulge any real information, and they didn't even have a name they could go by. There was no real way for them to start their search other than perhaps broadcasting an alert. One that he had to write up with the little information he had, but he had yet to do anything, distracted by more pressing matters.
His thoughts were constantly on the fact that Sasuke was avoiding him.
The boy used to be so eager to hang out with him. Asking him for rides all the time. Now he dodged him and left before he could even say hi to him.
Like he was running away from him.
He missed the boy. He wanted to talk to him so badly. Had he done something wrong?
It had to be his fault.
Had he upset Sasuke?
Was he embarrassed because he cried in front of him?
Or was it that Itachi was the reason that he had cried that day...
Itachi just couldn't figure it out.
He wanted to fix whatever was wrong. He just wanted Sasuke to talk to him again.
Dejectedly, he stepped out of his car and made his way to the house. He felt heavy, bone tired. Like the boost of energy he had gotten since meeting Sasuke had been snuffed out and depleted. With heavy steps he pushed the door open and dropped the folders he was carrying onto the side table.
He threw his keys on the plate of knickknacks and ran a hand through his hair. Maybe he could call him. If he asked, surely Sasuke would tell him...
That's when he heard something.
The pitch-dark living room wasn't alone as it pretended to be. Something in there was moving, like small shadows. He gasped when several eyes snapped open, each a flashing pair the belonged to several cats. One moved closer, away from the darkness. It was a white cat, with beady black eyes and a grin splitting its face.
"Itachi, I presume," The feline sat down, flicking its tail.
Itachi raised a brow at him and turned his head when he heard muffled screaming. He found Suigetsu and some red headed woman tied up on the floor of the living room. The two were wriggling, and looked like they wanted to tell him something.
"What's going on?" Itachi asked, his mind working out that perhaps he was talking to some kind of creature. The thing was that he couldn't recall pissing anyone off for him to be followed home. He had not been in any recent missions.
He also didn't perceive any kind of danger.
From the shadows several other cats came out.
The first cat's definite twin, a light brown one with faded stripes and orange-brown eyes, a chunky dark orange tabby, and a dark brown stripped cat. They circled around Itachi with interest, meowing at him.
"Are you really Mister Itachi?" The light brown asked, revealing that she was female. Itachi had to pause, noting that their mouths didn't move when he heard them speak. These were cats, that he was certain of. Smart.
Telepathy, he thought.
"I am Itachi," He confirmed for them. They went wild then, meowling louder as if celebrating that they had found him. Among their cries he heard that they were hungry, they wanted food. Itachi stomped down his left foot, allowing energy to topple the cats down. "What is going on here, I will not repeat myself again," his tone was firm, and scary. It made the cats sit back, looking up at him.
"Sorry, we were looking for you but they," The first cat pointed his tail to Suigetsu and the woman. "Tried to kick us out and frankly it was rude,"
"Very rude,"
"Super rude,"
The other cats pipped up, expressing their displeasure with Suigetsu's hospitality.
"Ah, we're being rude as well, let me introduce ourselves. We are the leaders, the feared and well known, I am Sakon," The white cat posed, so he was in the center. Itachi blinked, taking a step back as they put on a show.
"Ukon," It's twin introduced, moving to sit next to his posing brother.
"My brother and I run the group of criminals, the Oto number one clowder," he trailed off.
"I am the baddest female of the group, Tayuya!" The light brown cat slid in next to Sakon and Ukon, striking her own pose.
"I'm the muscles, Jirobo!" The tabby joined them.
"I'm the coolest of the cool, Kidomaru," The dark brown stripped cat was the last one to introduce himself.
"Okay, why are you here?" Itachi asked, crossing his arms at the self-proclaimed criminals littering his house.
"We came looking for Sasuke, but we wouldn't mind getting a meal first," Tayuya said, curling her tail and walking closer to Itachi. She was trying to be cute.
"Sasuke?" Itachi echoed.
"That's right, Sasuke said that you cook the best meat in the world!" Jirobo was salivating as he remembered all the meals Sasuke had described to them. The others meowed their agreement. Itachi watched the cats with curiosity now, wondering if Sasuke really talked to these cats about him.
Seeing that the little creatures were distracted and so focused on food, he decided to humor them.
"Alright, we'll talk over a meal. Just untie them please," Itachi moved to the kitchen. The cats all cheered, Sakon commanding that they release the rude ones. Itachi got to work on making a meal while Suigetsu and the woman came to talk to him.
"Itachi the fuck are these cats?"
"I'm not sure but I'll figure it out, you and uh, your friend can leave for a while," Itachi looked at the woman who was shaking. She paused and flashed him a flirty smile.
"I'm Karin," She offered her hand.
Itachi ignored it in favor of washing a pan.
"Rude," She muttered to herself, taking her hand back.
"Don't worry about it, it's just Itachi for you," Suigetsu glanced at the cats that were now scrambling about the table, arguing about where they wanted to sit. It was so weird to be able to understand them. "Guess it's okay, Karin and I were just about to step out anyways," he said.
"Could you tell Kisame to go to you, I need time to figure this out. I'll shoot you a text when everything is cleared," Itachi gave the cats another glance.
"Good idea," Suigetsu muttered. He motioned for Karin to follow him. The two grabbed their things and left, looking back only once to see those horrible cats making a mess of the table.
Looking at the table full of cats reminded Itachi of a time when Kitty would sit at the table, waiting to be fed as well. He'd sit next to the feline and share in the meal. His little companion that was always there for him. His little shadow that would follow him anywhere.
It made his heart ache with longing to be able to share a meal with him again.
And the next second his heart sunk with guilt...
It had been a while since he had last thought about Kitty.
Sasuke had suddenly replaced him in his head, his thoughts.
Itachi pushed his feeling aside and found himself cooking all the things he knew Kitty liked. Chunky meat pieces in sauce. Seared steak cut into easy to chew cubes. Fried rice and fish, making sure that all the bones were gone. Roasted chicken, crab, and more meat. Itachi cooked practically everything that he could find in the fridge and placed it all on the table.
The cats meowed and awed at the presentation. They sat back, each asking for their plate to be filled with everything when he asked what they would like.
They gorged themselves, eating heartily like they had never eaten before. Reminding Itachi of how when he had first met Kitty, he too had eaten the same way. Like he'd been starved all his life.
Itachi took a seat, serving himself from the food he had cooked. Despite it, he couldn't bring himself to take a bite. Something deep inside was bothering him, knotting up his appetite, and he wanted answers now.
"Sakon, you said you're the leader," He started, getting the white cat's attention. Sakon's ears lifted as he nodded his head.
"That's right,"
"And you know Sasuke?" Itachi turned his red eyes to the small creature. Sakon sat back, nodding his head once more. Relaxed and not scared in the least. It was as if he wasn't intimidated by Itachi in the least.
Itachi wasn't used to others being so comfortable around him. Was this somehow Sasuke's doing?
Had something happened to Sasuke?
"We met Sasuke back at the animal shelter in Senju," Sakon licked his lips as he recalled his first meeting with the kitten. "We didn't believe him when he said that his owner would never have left him there to die, but he did do his best to convince us" he chuckled. "We're so glad that he did!"
"That's right, Sasuke defended and spoke highly of Mister Itachi," Tayuya added happily, "He told us all about how you had saved his life and had selflessly cared for him since. He wasn't lying, you are an incredible cook," She winked at him, something so strange for a cat to do.
"So good,"
"He did not lie,"
The others pipped in their own thoughts.
"Sasuke was at an animal shelter?" Itachi asked, perplexed at the information. The animal shelter at Senju, that is where they were trafficking creatures from. That case hadn't been his, but he had heard the details about it.
Itachi felt panicked.
Had Sasuke been in danger before?
Had Kabuto done something to him?
"Yeah, he didn't know why he was there, but he's been determined to get back to you," Sakon said. "The place we were at was a bad one."
"They trafficked creatures all the time," Ukon muttered. "The body parts of creatures have components that when consumed can grant the person or demon special powers,"
"And they experimented on animals," Kidomaru hissed. "Like us, to see if we too would benefit from those so-called special powers"
"We're lucky to be here, thanks to Sasuke we could escape from being euthanized," Jirobo added. "Since we were failed experiments. Our destiny was to be disposed of."
"Experiments?" Itachi felt like he was repeating too many things back at them, but he was shocked at what he was learning. The information being given to him felt like too much and not enough at the same time. "Then...was Kabuto was experimenting on demons?" he asked. His mind grasping at the answers that Kabuto refused to give.
"No," Sakon's tail started to go up and down, the same motion Kitty would get when he was dealing with something he didn't like in particular. "He was experimenting on normal animals, not creatures, nor demons, just normal everyday animals. That is what we are, animals that had the misfortune of being one of his many failed experiments. He was going to kill us." he clarified.
"Kabuto was conducting a method for regular animals to be able to telepathically communicate with humans and demons," Tayuya said, "He figured if we could, we would be a pack of spies for him,"
Itachi recoiled at the thought that animals were being used to create spies. Small and unsuspecting, every day animals...even he didn't register them as dangerous. This is what Kabuto had been hiding and refused to tell them. Selling creatures and their body parts was just one of the many things that he did.
In order to get these regular animals to have any form of power like telepathically communicating, Itachi could only guess the ingenuity behind it. A special little part stolen from creatures and perhaps implanted in regular cats in case they got caught. Or was it something they consumed?
How disturbingly scary.
Still, these cats were able to communicate with him. He didn't see how they were considered a failure.
"You all seem to be able to communicate well with me, why would he consider you all failures?" Itachi asked.
"We lack suggestion," Tayuya sighed.
"We can't effect thoughts or mind control, or whatever," Kidomaru huffed.
"We were just the basis for communication, and when nothing new he did affected us, he was done," Sakon explained, "and seeing as there was nothing more he could do, he decided to start over and get rid of us,"
"I see," Itachi muttered, "But why was Sasuke there?" He asked, how could Sasuke have ended up in such a place. He was a demon...
Silence met him for a while. The cats were all looking at each other, as he asking themselves something.
"Sasuke hasn't told you yet?" Ukon was the first to ask.
"I thought he was coming back to Itachi," Kidomaru tilted his head.
"Yeah, he said that he needed to come back to you because you're not mean enough to take care of yourself," Tayuya chuckled.
Itachi felt like another headache was coming on, he couldn't understand what these cats meant. How could Sasuke ever have told them such things about him? He'd never met Sasuke until just a few weeks ago.
"Why would Sasuke tell you this?" he asked.
"Because he was trying to convince us that he had the best owner in the world, of course," Sakon shook his head, moving in to take another bite of his food.
"Owner?" ah that word, Itachi had glossed over it at first, but it was being thrown in again. He didn't own Sasuke.
"Remember what he said about Mister Itachi?" Jirobo laughed.
"Best belly rubs!"
"He said you'd never hurt him!"
"Oh, you saved him when he was near death."
The other cats threw in a lot of information that was clicking in Itachi's head along with a dose of impossibility.
"He said that you gave him bowls of meat and tomato,"
"The tomato," Tayuya pawed at the meat soaked in tomato sauce and chunks.
"I believe it was your mom that tried to tare you two apart,"
"Mothers," They all laughed. "The enemies of all pets!"
Itachi's eyes were wide, and he'd stopped breathing. The cats kept chattering amongst each other, saying all kinds of sappy things about how much Sasuke loved and adored Itachi. How Sasuke enjoyed every moment he spent with Itachi, His heart felt heavy in his chest as his mind came to the only conclusion that there was.
Kitty...
Was Sasuke his Kitty?
Kitty was the only one he had ever owned and...
"Mister Itachi, are you okay?" Tayuya asked, "You kinda look pale,"
Itachi pressed his hands to his face. He let out a harsh breath before he started to laugh. How fucking hilarious was this situation. And as sudden as his laughter had started, so had the tears.
Fuck, he really was stupid.
How had he not noticed it.
The familiarity, the warmth, the wanting to be around him all the time. The fact that he made him feel relaxed, calm...the same way that Kitty had always been the only one to calm him. The fucking obsession, always on his mind. They were the same.
Damn it, Sasuke.
"Ah, someone get Sasuke,"
"Mister Itachi needs him!"
His silly Kitty.