Cat's Tales (Chapter 5 up!)

Notes: This chapter is dedicated to CoffeeCloud for giving me the koala-Shikamaru idea (I would have never thought of it on my own!) and bishihuntress for drawing me fantastically bee-yoo-tiful fanart (which you can find a link to on my profile). Much love to both of you, darlings. Hope you enjoy.

Cat’s Tales

Naruto opened his mouth to meow shrilly in protest as a heavy weight knocked him back into the tub, but managed to do nothing but choke on the warm water he was now submerged in. For a few terrifying moments he was surrounded completely by the very substance he detested, and his mind’s eye flashed him back to the last time that had occurred.

A small, wobbly kitten, not even a few months old, ran along the bank of a large river. Several men with sticks and torches ran behind him, throwing rocks and other sharp objects as they followed. One pebble grazed the kitten's shoulder, causing him to stumble.

He was down for barely a few seconds, but it was plenty of time for the men to catch up to him. Harsh hands grappled for him and the kitten scrunched his eyes in sheer terror, the men’s insults ringing in his ears.

“Filth!”

“Demon!”

“MONSTER!”



And then those hands, those cruel, pitiless hands grasped him by the tail and flung him into the unforgiving abyss of the river that meant to swallow him whole.

Shock blue eyes snapped open and Naruto threw the weight atop him off with a strength he didn’t know he possessed. His clawed foot connected solidly with Sasuke’s chest, and Naruto followed him as he flew back.

They both landed heavily on the cool marble floor, several feet from the tub. Naruto looked down at Sasuke, not realizing the black cat’s bloody red eyes were reflected in his own. At that moment he couldn’t see the boy beneath him as anything but a threat, and he bared his razor sharp canines with a hiss.

Fangs flashed at him in return, and suddenly he was being thrown back, his shoulder connecting painfully with the edge of the cabinet as Sasuke growled into his ear before biting down harshly. Naruto’s claws extended immediately, and he raked them through the dark haired boy’s shirt, splitting it open and exposing long, thin pink lines on his chest that began to bleed.

Sasuke stilled and both kittens stared blankly at the bright red drops of blood that eased down his chest. Then their eyes met, red to red, and the low, hair raising snarl that rose from Sasuke’s bloody chest made Naruto’s ears twitch and flatten instinctively. Pure, primal fear raced through his body at the sound, and despite the fact that every instinct in him screamed to run, Naruto was rooted to the spot. Every thud of his heart reverberated throughout his body – the sensitive flesh of his ears, his lips, his throat…

And then Sasuke brought a hand to his chest and caught a drop of blood on the tip of a claw. Naruto’s eyes, which were slowly descending back to their original blue color, followed the claw as it moved closer, until the bloody tip touched the center of his chest.

His eyes shifted back to Sasuke’s quickly, and a coil of heat spread through him at the hazy quality of the black kitten’s gaze. The claw drew down gently, not applying enough pressure to even scratch the trembling flesh as a thin stroke of Sasuke’s own blood bloomed. A soft, questioning mew attempted to escape from Naruto’s throat as Sasuke leaned forward, but the very breath was stolen from him as a rough tongue laved at his sternum.

A wet line of heat slid from Sasuke’s tongue as he licked up his blood with long, broad strokes. He wasn’t sure what he was doing – his mind refused to contemplate anything beyond the quivering blonde beneath him – but the metallic taste of his blood mixed with the soapy, spicy skin he licked it from intoxicated him.

Naruto’s scent no longer felt like an intruder; rather, it had become a part of him. The knot in his stomach hadn’t unwinded, but tightened to a point where he could do nothing but attempt to ease it. He found that the smell of his own saliva on the blonde accomplished that quite well.

That heavy, secret place between his thighs continued to throb, but Sasuke ignored it for the time being. He laved at the blonde’s chest leisurely, locking his legs on either side of the kitten’s hips to prevent escape. A soft nip at a prominent collar bone caused Naruto to mewl in surprise, and finding he enjoyed hearing that sound, Sasuke did it again. He sucked and tongued the hollow at the base of the blonde’s throat, settling his entire weight on the body below him as all sense and sensibility flew out the window.

Naruto was in a daze. He knew what the proud black cat was doing -- he wasn’t so stupid as to not recognize simple grooming when he saw it, of course -- but what confounded him was how different it felt from when he groomed himself. The hot, rough swipes of Sasuke’s tongue on his throat made his entire body tighten. Breathing became a chore as that wet heat trailed up to his jaw, and Naruto mewed helplessly as his toes curled.

Sasuke’s face was right in front of his now, and their breaths fanned each other’s faces at short intervals. The saliva was rapidly cooling on his skin, and Naruto’s tail bristled and thrashed at the feeling. He felt uncomfortably wet between his legs, and he had the sudden urge to tongue himself clean. He squirmed underneath Sasuke, hips bucking up in an attempt to knock the older cat off of him.

A low growl and sharp nip to his jugular was the only response his struggles earned him. He whined again as Sasuke’s rough tongue moved to licking at his chin, before swiping quickly at his parted lips. Naruto licked his own lips after, and the concentrated taste of the black kitten had him thrashing. He felt damp all the way down to his knees now, and an uncomfortable pressure had accumulated in his abdomen, the way it did when he had to go to the bathroom right away.

That thought suddenly inspired panic in the blonde kitten, and he mewled loudly in embarrassment. When the black cat above him refused to cooperate, he hissed furiously and swiped at him with his paws, keeping his claws retracted in fear of angering him.

Sasuke stilled as the furry blonde appendages pushed at his face and looked at them bemusedly before bending down and proceeding to clean them as meticulously as he would his own. Naruto felt an unwanted purr rock his body at the feeling; the cushiony pads of his fingers were unbearably sensitive, and Sasuke’s coarse, wet tongue only enhanced the sensation.

He attempted to pull his hand away, but Sasuke kept a firm hold on it, dipping his tongue into the slight web between two fingers before running it over the ridged palm. And then he sucked an entire finger into his mouth, fangs grazing the edges just barely as he swirled his tongue over it. Naruto’s cock, swollen and heavy, throbbed with each suck, but the blonde kitten was so frightened at this point due to the sudden change in atmosphere that he could think of nothing but getting away.

Sasuke himself was completely intent on thoroughly washing every inch of the blonde before he endeavored to ease the ache in his belly, so he wasn’t quite expecting it when the paw he was laving tried to claw his eyes out.

He fell back with a hiss, lifting a hand to cover his eye and starting when it came in contact with blood. The blonde kitten took advantage of his distraction and kicked out, catching Sasuke in the solar plexus and knocking him further back so he could wriggle out from under him and make for the door.

A sharp tug and low growl brought his escape attempt to a halt and he mewled shrilly at the pain. Sasuke snarled in response and leapt on him again, bringing his claws down on the kitten’s shoulders to press him face first into the tiled floor.

“Sasuke-teme!” Naruto recovered his voice as his tail was tugged again. “Get off me, bastard!”

Sasuke heard the blonde’s complaint and registered it in his hazy mind, but was beyond verbal responses. He pushed the kitten forward with a rumble, knocking his legs apart and mounting him without a thought to what he was doing. One hand still grasped Naruto’s tail, which he tugged on whenever the blonde bucked up against him.

“Quit it!” Naruto whined, trying to push back despite the ache in his shoulders. “Sasuke! I’ll tell sensei on you!”

He was about to turn his head as far as he could and bite off the bastard’s nose – which was now buried in the soft, scruffy hair at the back of his neck – but the sudden click of the door opening had both kittens looking up in surprise.

They were met with the sight of a koala, rumpled in a way that said he’d just woken from his four hour nap. He stared blearily at the two kittens on the floor of the bathroom, covered in blood, before shaking his head with a slow sigh.

“How troublesome.” was the last thing Naruto heard before Shikamaru slammed the door shut in their face.


--oo—oo—oo—oo—


“Hand me the salt, Shino.” Iruka muttered as he rolled the rice balls delicately in his palm. He disliked cooking onigiri for a reason – the rice balls never came out exactly the way he wanted them to.

His eye twitched in irritation as the one he was currently rolling started looking more and more like a peanut. A soft flutter of wings and a quiet, “Sensei.” had him looking to the side at his unexpected helper.

He took the salt shaker from the moth with a small smile and sprinkled some onto the rice ball in his hand. Usually Chouji was the one that helped him prepare meals (if he didn’t eat most of the ingredients beforehand) but currently the wolverine was too busy pouting over the lack of flour to be of much help, so Iruka had enlisted the young moth instead.

Shino disliked being in cramped spaces such as Iruka’s small kitchen since he couldn’t extend his wings properly, but he had valiantly sacrificed his comfort for the sake of his caretaker’s sanity. He’d seen the commotion that Naruto had created in the afternoon, and knew from the slow tick of the vein in Iruka’s jaw that he was very close to losing it.

The last time Iruka had blown his top (Naruto had been to blame then, too) the play room had been eradicated and all of their toys thrown into the dumpster. Kiba had gotten solitary confinement for the grand total of fifteen minutes, and a squealing Naruto had been chased around the house by a spatula-wielding Iruka. Shino shuddered delicately at the imagery. He had no wish to be on the receiving end of that spatula, so he was more than happy to help the scarred man roll a few rice balls.

Iruka was putting his full concentration into making one, just one perfect rice ball, so he didn’t notice that another pet had entered the kitchen until the insistent tugging of his pant leg made him look down with a huff.

Limpid brown eyes stared up at him, and the clawed hand continued to tug until Iruka had abandoned his cooking attempts and crouched down so that he and the koala were face to face.

“What is it, Shikamaru?” he asked with a frown. “If you want dinner, just be patient… it’s almost done.”

The koala’s ears perked at the sound of dinner, but he shook his head and pointed to the bathroom instead. Dread bloomed inside Iruka, and he looked down at the sleepy pet with horrified eyes.

“Sasuke and Naruto are trying to kill each other again, and I need to use the bathroom.”

Iruka was already at the door of the bathroom by the time Shikamaru had finished his sentence, voiced in the most petulant of manners. He shoved the door open expecting to see blood, gore and entrails, much like earlier with the commotion in the nap room, but this time he wasn’t disappointed.

His eyes were first drawn to the stark contrast of the smear of blood against his pristine marble floor near the cabinet. He followed the trail with his eyes until he came upon the kittens who were no doubt the cause. Naruto noticed him first and greeted him with a yowl shrill enough to make Iruka cover his ears and wince in pain.

“Senseeeiiii!” he wailed, thrashing with renewed energy beneath the black kitten. “Heeeeelp meeeeeee!”

“Oh, for the love of god,” Iruka muttered as he moved forward, fully intending to lift Sasuke off the squirming blonde bundle of trouble. “What did you do now, Naruto?”

But it soon became apparent to him that Naruto was perhaps not the one at fault. He jerked his hand back with a gasp as Sasuke turned and snapped at him, but the real shock came from the color of the black kitten’s eyes.

Eyes that were normally the color of coal had turned a striking red – nothing short of crimson – and seemed to be spinning. Iruka stumbled back until he hit the wall, stunned and unsure of whether this meant Sasuke had gone into some sort of blood lust or what. Naruto’s sharp mewl brought him out of his horrified fascination however, and he snapped back to reality with a painful thud.

He grabbed Sasuke by the scruff quickly and tugged him back, wincing as claws dug into his wrist. This gave Naruto enough leverage to kick and claw his way out from underneath the black kitten, and Iruka loosened his hold on the black cat that was trying his best to make mince meat out of him once Naruto had gotten to a safe distance.

He yanked his wrist from Sasuke’s grip and kicked out when tiny sharp teeth sank into his thigh.

“Sasuke! I’m sorry, are you—are you alright?” he was appalled at first – he had never physically fought with any of his pets – but as soon as Sasuke righted himself, it became apparent that he had no qualms about ripping his caretaker to shreds. He scrambled back out of the bathroom quickly, grabbing Naruto and pulling the door shut just as Sasuke pounced with a bloody snarl.

The sound of claws raking down the door coupled with snarls and growls of a fearsome nature erupted immediately. Iruka shook his head in stunned wonder as he saw that Sasuke was too far gone to even realize that he could open the door; he though he had to claw his way out. The sheer primitiveness of this behavior had Iruka clasping Naruto to his chest and standing on shaky feet.

And then he nearly jumped out of his very skin as the doorbell rang.

Naruto yelped as Iruka’s hold on him tightened exponentially, then relaxed as the slight brown haired man let out a wobbly sigh. Sparing a worried glance at the noises emerging from the bathroom, Iruka walked quickly through the hall and opened the front door, bloody Naruto in hand, just as the bell rang again.

“Hello.” He exhaled shakily and tried to smile, “How can I help you?”

The masked man raised a silvery grey eyebrow at the bloody, fidgeting kitten in his arms and held up two heavy looking plastic bags. “You ordered flour?” (1)

“Oh!” Iruka stepped back with an apologetic bow of his head. “Sorry to keep you waiting, I… there was an emergency.” He gestured sheepishly with his elbow towards the counter when the man held up the bags, unwilling to release Naruto and take them himself.

The man, who Iruka noticed was rather fit for his age, placed the flour on the counter and turned back to him with an interested look in his one exposed eye. “What sort of an emergency?”

Iruka blinked in surprise. He had left the door open as an obvious gesture for the man to take his leave, but he seemed rather comfortable leaning against the counter and eyeing Naruto with curiosity. Feeling suddenly protective, he huddled the blonde kitten closer to his chest and stepped back.

“I haven’t seen you at the store before. Are you new?” He avoided the man’s question and changed the subject rather bluntly, hoping the indiscreet poke into the man’s private life might prompt him to leave. Unfortunately, it seemed to have no such effect.

The one visible eye crinkled slightly as if in a smile. “I just moved here about a week ago. The grocers needed an extra hand and I needed the cash so--“

A sharp squall and the noise of something expensive shattering into a hundred tiny pieces cut the man off. Iruka started towards the bathroom urgently, feeling sick to his stomach at the thought of Sasuke having hurt himself trying to get out.

He opened the door hurriedly and without caution, and was greeted with the sight of Sasuke staring morosely at his bloodied paw, which he had apparently used to smash the mirror behind him. The black kitten looked up as Iruka entered, but made no move to charge towards him, so he ventured closer.

“Sasuke…” he whispered, worry clouding his features. The cat in question looked up and whined low in his throat. His back was arched and his eyes were still a violent red, but his tail was no longer lashing back and forth. He whined again, rumbling deeply, and Iruka realized it was directed at the blonde kitten in his arms. “What is it? What’s wrong with you?”

“Looks like he’s in rut.”

Iruka started at the cheerful voice and turned to find the man he thought he’d left in the kitchen crinkling his eye in his direction. He was just about to berate the man for barging into his home uninvited when what he’d said caught up to him.

“W-What, rut?!” he yelped, “He’s just a kitten!”

“All kittens have to grow up sometime.” The man drawled, lifting his chin at Sasuke, who had yet to stop rumbling. “Looks like some pretty lady’s in heat and he can’t help himself.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Iruka snapped, shifting Naruto in his arms and turning to face the man fully. “None of the girls are in heat, I would have noticed if they were…”

“Well, what about that one?” A long fingered hand waved languidly in Naruto’s direction, who was squirming and attempting to look over Iruka’s shoulder at Sasuke. Iruka gasped in affront and lifted the blonde kitten, presenting him to the man as evidence.

“Naruto is a boy!”

“You sure about that?”

While Iruka sputtered at the man’s self assured tone, he stepped closer and calmly tugged the blonde’s legs apart. Iruka hissed right along with Naruto at this gross invasion of privacy, but the man simply tugged the kitten’s hips up, cupped his balls and cock in one hand, and lifted them to expose the reddened opening underneath. (2)

“Like I said,” he said dryly as both Iruka and Naruto shrieked in tandem and jumped away, “The little kitty’s rolling in heat.”

“That’s impossible.” Iruka said, staring blankly at Naruto who was busy covering his privates with his tail and hissing ferociously. The masked man tsked lowly in his direction before continuing.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of hermaphrodites?”

“H-Her… Her…” Iruka’s voice had thinned to the point of being barely audible.

“Hermaphrodite.” The man repeated, as if hearing the word several times would make it easier to digest. “You know, they have both boy and girl par--“

“I know what hermaphrodites are!” Iruka snapped, locking his disbelief in a box and shoving it into some remote corner of his mind to take out and examine at a later notice.

The man didn’t seem to be affected by his outburst, instead looking contemplatively at Sasuke, who had slumped down to the ground, nursing his bloodied hand with silted eyes. His posture was lax, as if the heat of the rut – if that’s what it truly had been – had worn off and he was left in a state of simple confusion.

“You know…” he murmured, turning his gaze back to Naruto, “they say hermaphrodites are possessed by demons.” Neither Iruka nor the man failed to notice the way Naruto flinched at that word.

“Possessed,” he continued, “so they could bear offspring and solidify the demon’s powers…”

“D-Don’t be silly,” Iruka breathed, shuddering at the sudden chill in the room. “How do you know all of this anyway?” he demanded, though that one word continued to circle his mind and make him curl the blonde kitten closer.

The masked man tilted his head in a way that made Iruka think he was gracing him with an enigmatic smile. He crushed the sudden urge to peel that fabric away and look upon his face as a whole, raising an eyebrow in question instead.

“I used to be a trainer.” Was the vague response, and before Iruka could question him further, their conversation was interrupted by a certain sleepy-eyed pet who came up and scratched at Iruka’s pant leg irritably.

“Iruka-sensei,” the koala growled, “Chouji found the flour and I really need to go to the bathroom.”

Iruka groaned aloud at the thought of Chouji shredding the bag of flour to pieces. He looked frantically from the dazed Sasuke to the bristled Naruto to the lazy one-eyed stare of the delivery man and wondered which matter he should address first. He noticed the man’s eye crinkling in amusement again and made his decision with a helpless shrug.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?"

TBC

(1) Ahh, Kakashi. I know I'm putting off some Kakashi/Iruka vibes, but honestly, I'm not sure about that pairing at all. I've never really grown to like it, mainly because there's no foundation. They've exchanged, what, ten words in the entire anime? But I think I could make it work in this story. Not right away, of course, but I'd appreciate it if you could drop me a line letting me know aye or nay on your part?

(2) Yes, folks, Naruto has a vagina. -watches as half the readers run away screaming- Now, now, it's not all that bad... I know most yaoi fangirls are allergic to that word, (along with breasts and clitoris) so if you'd like you can always think of it as "that extra hole he needs to have in order to make babies", because being an Anatomy/Physiology student, I cannot picture him getting pregnant after taking it up the ass. I just can't!

I was also surprised that so many of you didn't know what hermaphrodite meant, but I live to educate sooo:

her·maph·ro·dite

/hɜrˈmæfrəˌdaɪt/ hur-maf-ruh-dahyt – noun

1. an individual in which reproductive organs of both sexes are present.

A/N: Do I really need to say it? Really? Fine. You guys are scary. In an awesome way, but scary nonetheless. The amount of feedback I've gotten has literally blown me away. Y'all have no idea how grateful I am that you bothered to read my writing and then took the time to comment on it.

I introduced several new characters in this chapter (Kakashi, anyone? Eh, eh?) so I'd love to see what you guys thought of them and their characterizations. I hope the heat thing was explained a bit more too, but of course any questions you have, I'm willing to answer.

And now for the review replies which ALL of you should read because some important questions shall be answered!

Review Replies:

LumiiSol: I wrote this fic in part because all of my favorite Anthro fics hadn't been updated in forever and then, right after I do, both For Your Eyes Only and Kitty, Want Some Candy? are updated! Maybe I inadvertently jumpstarted them into action, eh? Haha. Still, I'm glad you read and liked. :D

spoon: You, my dear readers, are going to be the ruin of my education. My report did eventually get finished (thank god) but now I have another that I've been putting off so I can post this chapter! Y'all better be grateful! Grrr...

littleolmee: Thanks for the well wishes, and for reading! Iruka's occupation and the reason behind so many pets will be explained in the future. And no, it's not just him having too kind a heart... though that does play a part in it. ;)

Uke Incognito: I'm glad you think my story is worth reading. :D I have made an update list as per your request, you can find it on my profile. As for being added to the mailing list, please leave your email in the body of the review! I can't get to it otherwise.(Damn AFF for being so ornery!)

Kang: I'm sorry the physical descriptions didn't please you, eheh. But I'm afraid I can't stop describing, because I'll be pelted with tomatoes from the other readers. Perhaps you could just skip the... hairy parts, shall we say? I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

mimi-chan: Well, it's important to understand that Naruto is not a girl, and no one perceives him as such. Only female cats go into heat, and while Iruka does know what heat means and the signs of it, he doesn't even consider it in Naruto's case because he knows him to be a boy. And yes, animals have natural instincts, but it can be a very confusing time for everyone when the estrus cycles first occurs, and since all of the animals in the story are kittens, they have no experience with this whatsoever. I hope that answered some of your questions, and that you'll continue to read to find out more! :D


And that's that!

Thank you for reading, and if you have the time, please review! It'll make my day, fer reals. :D