I was instantly and unceremoniously shoved under the bed, Kakashi standing protectively in front of the spot I was at.
A body flew past the doorway, flecks of red drifting in a trail behind it. I cowered down in my hiding place. Takeo's back appeared in the doorway, the sillhouette of another man fighting him visible intermittently as the two struck at each other.
"Bastard!" Takeo spat, a small explosion throwing both men away from each other. I took a deep breath, trying to think of something. The dark haired shinobi had crashed into the bed above me, Kakashi having dodged around him and resettled in a defensive stance; blood dripped down the younger man's leg as it hung over teh edge of the bed, and I forced my eyes away.
"Give me the girl, and there need be no more bloodshed," the attacker hissed, the voice distinctly male through some kind of mouth piece. He wore a dark cloak over his clothes.
"No," Kakashi said simply, flicking his headband away from his eye.
"Then die." The enemy flung two shurikan at Kakashi, which circled around him, binding him with chains of some kind.
"Nice try." The bound figure disappeared in a ouff of smoke, Kakashi himself standing behind the shinobi, a kunai to his neck.
The man hissed, eyes darting around wildly. He disappeard a moment later, seeming to melt into shadow.
"That's new," Kakashi muttered, spinning just in time to catch the enemy's strike on his kunai, deflecting it. He flipped backwards, kicking the man in the jaw as he went. Resettling, he rubbed the back of his neck. "That kind of stings, jerk."
A frustrated sound came from the shinobi, and he melted into shadow again.
"That won't work twice," Kakashi muttered, reaching out and grabbing something invisible to me, flinging the whatever it was to the ground.
The enemy flashed back into the visible spectrum, rolling out of the way of the kunai Kakashi threw at his neck, passing within a few inches of my hiding place.
Thinking fast, I tore open the box of bombs Takeo had gived me and lightly placed one on his neck.
"Kakashi, get down!" I screeched, grabbing his ankle and knocking him to the ground.
"What th-"
BOOM!
I slammed my hands over my ears, rolling away. When I looked up again, I almost fainted.
There was blood everywhere. Kakashi was covered in the stuff, along with everything else. It dripped from the walls and slowly oozed closer to me.
"Yech!" I screeched, moving back, further under the bed.
Good thing I made Pakkun dust under here...
Kakashi groaned, stirring. His hand lifted to his ear.
"Wh-what did you do?" he groaned, slowly getting to his feet.
"Birthday present fromTakeo," I choked out.
He didn't react, merely shook his head experimentally and looked around. He bent to look under the bed at me, a questioning expression in his eyes.
"Blood," I moaned, hiding my face in my hands.
"Can't hear you. Thumbs up if you're okay."
I threw him a thumbs up, then pointed at the blood.
He nodded, then withdrew, the bed creaking as he shook Takeo.
The younger shinobi whimpered, muttering something about his leg, then seemed to snap out of his daze, as he staggered to his feet, leaning heavily on Kakashi as his left leg buckled.
"AKi..." The two of them disappeared into the outer room.
"Oh yeah... Just leave the one who's afraid of blood under the bed in a room full of blood..." I muttered.
Shira suddenly burst through the door, limping on her right side as she trotted over to me.
"You okay?"
"Yes, except for the blood."
"You need to come now. I don't know much about medicine for two-legs and Akina needs help," she said, slipping into the archaic dragon-speech in her haste.
"Okay. You're lucky I took those classes," I grumbled, managing to get out from under the bed with no blood touching me.
I leapt over to the door, just making it, and stepped out.
I turned, and quickly rushed over to her, pushing the men out of my way. I examined her quickly. "What the hell did he do?" I asked myself, my hands glowing green as I fixed the important things, leaving little things alone.
I turned to Takeo, motioning for Kakashi to set him down.
I poked around his leg, pushing back the puke I felt.
Just strawberry juice...
I set his leg back into place, stopping the bleeding.
I then turned to Kakashi, pulling him down to see his ears.
Ew... Blood...
I sighed, knowing I can't do anything about this.
I pulled back giving him an apologetic look.
Several jonin suddenly burst into the room through the window, looking rather upset.
"Great timing, guys," I growled.
"The guy used some kind of knockout gas on us. I don't know how he managed it..." Asuma grumbled, stepping forward. "Are they stable?"
"Well... I'm pretty sure Takeo and Kakashi went deaf from the explosion, and they should all see a medic, but other than tha- OH come on! Yes, I look like a cat. Yes I have fur. Yes I have whiskers, a nose, and claws! Not the issue here!" I exclaimed throwing my hands in the air.
The door opened behind me suddenly.
"Hey guys I brought- ...Wow. I leave you alone for a few hours and you- Oh my God, Aki!" Gerilynn dropped the food she had been carrying and knelt beside her friend.
"...GAH!" I growled. "Why do you all show up just after the nick of time?!?!"
The kunoichi ignored me, her hands glowing silver as she finished repairing Akina's internal wounds. Then she turned to face me.
"...Leave me a memo next time you decide to be attacked. You guys can get to work cleaning up the glass and stuff," she ordered the jonin, who grumbled but did as they were told. "Who else is hurt?"
Kakashi and Takeo stared at her blankly.
"What the hell is wrong eith you two?!" she growled.
"Um... They kinda went deaf..." I mumbled.
"What?!"
"Um... Explosion equals loud noise equals deaf."
She sighed, running a hand through her hair, then grabbed Takeo, who was closer. PLacing her palms on his ears, she muttered something and then turned to Kakashi and beckoned him forward, repeating the process.
"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3. Can you hear me?" she said, watching them shaking their heads in annoyance.
"Yeah, I hear you," Kakashi muttered, scratching at his ears.
"What did you do to us?" Takeo demanded, knuckling his own ears.
"I fixed it. The itch will fade in a few seconds," she stated. "Your welcome.'
I looked down at my hands and felt sick. Blood was all over them. "Ack!" I cried, running to the sink and turning on the water. "It's not strawberry juice anymore..." I mumbled to myself in disgust.
"What did you do to the man?" Asuma called from the bedroom, sounding puzzled.
"I... may or may not have stuck a bomb to his neck..." I trailed, scrubbing furiously at my paw/hands.
"Huh. Nice work," he answered. "But I am not cleaning this up."
"Meh... It's stuck in my fur..." I grumbled to myself.
Gerilynn walked over impatiently, reaching for a pocket again and handing me a small vial.
"Here. Try no to use all- Oh... Nevermind," she muttered as I dumped the whole bottle on my paw/hands and scrubbed the rest of the blood out. "I'll go see what I can do about the bedroom..."
"'Kay," I replied, turning off the faucet and shaking my hand/paws.
I'm not licking them clean...
I tried to locate something non-blood soaked.
Hmmm........ MYSELF!
I wiped my paws on my pants happily, proud that I figured it out.
Asuma emerged from the bedroom as Gerilynn shooed him out.
"I don't know what she's doing, but it seems to be working. Apparently I was in the way," he grumbled. "Can you handle it from here, Kakashi?"
"Yeah. Get back to your posts. And do me a favor and warn me next time," Kakashi grumbled back.
"...Little difficult, being knocked out and all..." Asuma shook his head, jumping out the window with the others.
Kakashi turned back to me, "You holding up?" He gestured to the bedroom.
"Yeah, just don't come near me," I told him, shrugging.
"...Right." He turned to Takeo. "You?"
"I'll be fine. It's Aki I'm worried ab- OW!"
"I told you not to worry about me, idiot," Akina muttered, punching him in the jaw and sitting up.
"..." I watched them from my spot at the sink, amused.
"Easy there. You both need a rest," Kakashi pointed out. "Why don't you let Gerilynn cover us for now? Go home."
"...Right..." Takeo got to his feet, still rubbing his jaw. "Can't believe you did that..."
"You don't know me very well then, you baby," Akina answered, kicking him as he walked out the door ahead of her.
"OW! Stop hurting me!"
"That's what she said!" I called after him, smirking.
"Shut up!" he yelled back, just as the door closed.
"But... I don't wanna..." I mumbled, crossing my arms.
"What is this, exactly?" Gerilynn asked, holding my cat-nip.
"Mine," I told her, darting for it.
She simply held it above my reach.
"Ah, ah, ah. You have to thank me for cleaning your room for you, first," she smirked, backing slowly into the other room.
I hugged her quickly, "Thankyou, now gimme!"
She tossed it at the now-clean bed, watching in amusement as I scampered after it.
"MINE!" I declared, rubbing the tin against my cheek before carefully sprinkling some on the bed and starting to roll around.
"You didn't let her put that on- Oh... Darn..." Kakashi mumbled as he headed for the dresser.
"Whoops," Gerilynn said unapologetically.
I purred loudly, drowning them out as I played in my cat-nip.
Takeo's my new best friend...
A while later, I noticed a clean Kakashi staring down at me in amusement.
"Having fun?"
"Yes." I continued to roll.
"Aren't you dizzy yet?"
"I don't- Whoa..." I mumbled, laying down as everything starting tilting around.
"Told you so," he laughed, sitting down beside me. His headband was still up from his other eye, though it was closed.
"I wa'n't dizzy 'til you said someth'n," I groaned.
"Sorry."
"Uh-huh. Sure you are," I teased, rolling a little more.
"...So?"
"I'm hurt," I whined, placing a hand on my chest dramaticaly.
"...Um. I...love you?" he attempted.
"Gotta do better than that," I told him, smiling.
He pulled his mask away and leaned down to kiss me.
"Sufficient?"
"Yes," I grinned up at him.
"Nothing wrong with over-achieving," he smirked, kissing me again.
"Mm-hm," I hummed, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Ew... Nevermind. There'll be food in the fridge if you want it," Gerilynn said, her voice quickly fading.
I pulled away for a moment, "'Kay." I quickly pressed my lips back to his as he chuckled.
Things continued in a similar pattern until his stomach rumbled loudly, ruining the mood.
I pulled back, laughing at his red face.
"Sorry," he muttered, getting up.
I followed him, still laughing, out to the kitchen.
"You done with the kissy face now?" Gerilynn grumbled around a mouthfull of noodles; two already empty boxes were sitting on the desk beside her.
"For now, and I hope you know that you're buying us more food if we get low soon," I told her, dcking under Kakashi's chest and snatching a soda before retreating.
"I brought this stuff for you. It's takeout," she answered.
"Thank God!" I muttered, sitting down next to her and grabbing a random bento box.
"Hmph." She commenced ignoring me, eating as she read a book laid flat on the desk.
I looked into the box and crinkled my nose, "Is there anything other than fish?"
"There should be some pork in there, you ingrateful little snot," she grumbled, turning a page.
"What are you reading anyway?" I asked as I sat down at the couch.
"A book," she replied.
I rolled my eyes. I started on my food, eating quickly.
"Thought you said you'd already read everything here," I grunted as Kakashi sat beside me.
"New shipment," she mumbled.
"Do you like fish?" I asked Kakashi, giving the slimy, white stuff a disgusted look.
"Love it." He dug around in the pouch at his belt, then frowned. "Where's my book?"
"Gerilynn has it, want mine?" I asked, offering the bento box to him.
"Don't you want it?" He reached over and tugged his book free from the kunoichi.
"No, it's slimy and disgusting," I told him.
"..Okay then." He took the food.
I sipped at my soda, pulling my own book from my pocket.
"I also brought cake," Gerilynn said, frowning and stealing the book back.
"Good." I continued to read, ignoring the little fight they were having over the book.
"It's my book!"
"But I'm reading it!"
I growled, "Gerilynn, give him the book or I'll tell Gia."
"...Here..." She handed it to Kakashi, grumbling to herself.
I turned and put my head in Kakashi's lap, reading at a furious rate.
"Hmph..." Gerilynn rose, disappearing into the other room.
"That's our bedroom, ya know?" I called after her distractedly, bringing my book closer.
"Bathroom," she called beck.
"What are you reading that's so interesting?" Kakashi asked suddenly.
I blushed slightly, turning so that he couldn't see the book. "A book."
"Come on. We just did this," he muttered, grabbing at the book.
I flipped away, "No."
"...Is that one of mine?"
"Ew! No way," I exclaimed.
"Then what the heck is it?" he demanded as Gerilynn sidled back into the room, settling back at the desk with a book.
"A book, duh!" I smirked, shrugging.
"..." He gave me a pleading look.
"Nope, not falling for it," I laughed, keeping my book behind my back.
He sighed heavily.
"I...nevermind." He sat back down, glancing over at Gerilynn and doing a double take. "Wha- Really?"
"Don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled, covertly shifting the book further away from him.
"That's my other copy..." he grumbled. "Just don't get food on it..."
"Why two copies?" I asked, still staying where I was.
"One of them is signed." He flipped a page.
I rolled my eyes, and cautiously sat on the other end of the couch, continuing to read.
"You could sit with me," he said.
I turned and set my feet in his lap, "I'm good."
He sighed.
"Fine..."
"I hate you and your guilt tripping," I mumbled, turning and leaning against his shoulder.
"Thanks." A moment later, my book disappeared from my hands. "A-ha. Got ya!"
"NO!" I shouted, covering his eye and trying to get it back.
He simply opened his sharingan eye.
"A romance novel on two nin, huh?" he teased, glancing down at me.
"I hate you!" I wailed, turning pink and dashing into the bedroom.
"Hey, you've never bothered to read the summary of my book, have you?" he called.
"I don't wanna! I hate your books!" I yelled back, hiding under the bed with a new book.
"They're just R-rated romantic comedies. Why hate them?" he replied, peeking under the bed.
I ignored him, continuing to read and scratching at my fur, which was now shedding, thank god.
"C'mon. I can't reach you," he said, groping around under the bed in an attempt to grab me.
I scootched back further, making his attempts useless.
"...Fine." He withdrew, and I heard him leave the room, closing the door behind him.
I stayed where I was and continued to read my other book, an action book.
The bed creaked as he sat down. Apparently he hadn't left.
I pouted.
Dang it...
I kept scratching at my fur, causing it to shed faster.
He didn't say anything, thought he dropped my pillow and blanket next to the bed.
"Hey!" I whined, slipping halfway out and throwing them back up. Or trying to... He caught me by the wrist and hauled me out from under the bed.
"What's that about curiosity and cats?" he teased, pulling me up onto the bed and hugging me.
"They die. I'm not dead.Someone else is about to be if he keeps... suffocating... me!" I gasped.
He loosened his grip, smiling at me.
"Didn't want you to fall off."
"Yeah, or crawl away," I grumbled, settling down into his lap and reading.
He laughed, but didn't say anything as he started his own book again.
I absently started to hum to myself as I read, leaning more over the book.
He still didn't say anything, simply leaning back against his pillows.
Hm...
I shifted again, sitting in a different way in his lap that I knew would make him uncomfortable.
He shifted slightly, but was otherwise absorbed in his book.
I itched at the fur on my face again, sneezing as it tickled my nose.
He grunted quietly as my weight shifted, then returned to his book.
I blew at the fur, amusing myself.
I made sure to puff up my cheeks, laughing at myself.
His hand lifted to his eye, brushing stray hair away.
Well then.
I turned again, laying across his lap with my book held up against his chest.
Still nothing.
I sighed, got up, and grabbed my bag of books, sifting through until I found the magazine I'd bought.
Cue evil laugh...
I sat back down again, and flipped through it, scanning over the pages and pausing on cute looking guys, most without shirts on.
"Hm?" He glanced down at the magazine. "What are you reading now?"
I didn't respond, smirking as I realized that the next page was all guys without shirts at the beach. "Beach stuff."
"Hm?" He looked more intently at the magazine, then scoffed. "Those are fake tans."
I shrugged, "They still have six-packs."
"...I have a six-pack..."
"But do you have a tan, fake or not? I think not," I replied airily, proceeding with my gazing.
"...Shinobi work best in the dark..."
"I know." I turned the page, almost snorting as it was a poster of a hot shirtless guy with low slung pants.
"..." He snatched the magazine, chucking it across the room.
"Hey! I paid for that!" I whined, making to go get it.
"Your fault, then," he muttered, grabbing me around the waist.
I squirmed, trying to get to my magazine.
"If you really want to look at that, here." He pulled his shirt off, tossing it after the magazine.
I laughed, leaning back into his chest. "Did that really annoy you?"
"A bit. I can only be expected to stare at half-naked young men for so long," he answered, shrugging.
"... But I'm female..."
"But I'm male and I don't like that magazine. Here, read your book," he pressed it into my hands, laughing to himself.
I sighed dramaticaly, but went back to reading it.
"Better." He went back to his own book.
I shook my head. "Meanie."
"Mmkay."
Gerilynn walked in at that moment, eyes bugging slightly as she noticed Kakashi was shirtless.
"There's a magazine in the corner full of this sort of thing, if you want," I told her, gesturing behind me to Kakashi.
"Eh. No, thanks. I don't indulge in such...fantasizing," she huffed, turning away pointedly.
"Ah, but I don't have to," I pointed out. "It's just amusing."
"...Bitch... If he wasn't so damn old..." she mumbled, retreating to the other room.
"I'm not that old!" Kakashi shouted after her, a bit annoyed.
"Too old for me!" she called back.
I laughed at him, "You got called old!"
He grumbled incoherently, picking up his book.
"What was that?" I asked sweetly.
"None of your business...damn harpy child..."
"..." I turned away, crawling back under the bed before he could react. "Ha!" I grabbed the magazine, flipping back to my page.
"I wasn't talking about you. And for the record, that poster is faked. I have sources," he said.
"I know both of thise things, I'm shedding, though, and it's annoying," I replied, shrugging to myself. "Besides, just cause it's fake doesn't mean I can't enjoy it!"
He sighed and fell silent.
After a few more moments of scratching and flipping through pages of fake hot guys, I crawled back out, grinning. "My face is free!" I laughed.
"What?" He was staring at his book, a faintly amused look in his eye as he scanned the pages quickly.
I threw my magazine at him.
His hand snapped up and caught it, tossing it back into the corner as he continued reading, chuckling slightly now.
"Oh. I see how it is, you prefer books over me. See ya later!" I grumped, quickly hiding back under the bed.
"Not true. Books aren't warm. And they give me paper cuts," Kakashi argued.
"Suuure. Wouldn't even look over at me..."
"It was a good part..." he muttered.
"Mmhmm. Right."
"...It was."
"'Kay." I stayed where I was. Of course, that would have worked better if my foot hadn't been sticking out the side.
"I'm sorry. You're better than my books. Happy?" Kakashi said, trying to tug me out from under the bed.
"No." I tried tugging my foot back, only succeeding in pulling myself further out from the bed.
"Please just come out here."
He pulled me the rest of the way out.
"My face is free," I told him, pointing at my face.
"Good." He picked me up again. "Will you stay with me this time?"
"...Probably," I gave him a sly smile. "On one condition."
"Oh?"
"You keep your shirt off."
Kakashi laughed.
"I think I can live with that."
I snuggled back into his chest, resting my eyes.
Another chapter. Not explicitly gory, per say, but... I can only do so much under Saphy's squeamish eyes. Let us know what you think. Comment, vote, enjoy. Thanks. - (Super-Special-Awesome Supreme Overlord of the Earth) Prodigious ^.^
I still hae nothin to say.... Oh well... Comment, vote, REVIEW! ;) Thnx for reading! -S;P