Heir and a Spare, Part 2

Warnings: violence, humor, bit of KxH fluff

Part 2: Common Decency

Sasuke had arranged for the car to pick him up in the nearest open area. Although they were able to take the roofs most of the way, they were scented
immediately. He had known they would be. Mother cats kept their kittens hidden away a full season if not two. Sakura's was less than a month old. By the time
they were forced back to the ground there was a pack waiting for them. Sasuke had expected that as well. Maybe he should have warned Sakura. Honestly, he
had assumed she would know what to expect from these dogs by now. At least she didn't hesitate to follow him to the ground.

He handed her the kitten as he dropped his bag and slipped his shoes off. "Walk to the car. I'll be there shortly."

Sakura clutched Kitty to her chest, her nostrils flaring against all the canine aggression in the air. She knew the scent of her fear was inciting them, but she
couldn't do anything about that. Sasuke's tail was curling from side to side, inciting the dogs just as badly, only he was doing it on purpose. "Sasuke..."

A vibration started in his chest, strengthening into an audible purr. The nearest dogs jerked as if struck. Sasuke gave a dark smile. He had them now. They
wouldn't even think to go after her until they had taken him down. They were dogs, after all, not hyenas. "We're leaving," he reminded Sakura. For the first
time since meeting her he could fight without having to worry about a revenge pack hunting him down afterward.

Sakura pressed her lips into a thin line. She wanted to tell him to be careful, to be quick about it. She wanted to yell at him for looking like he was about to
enjoy this. She especially wanted to inform him that purring before a fight was twisted and highly inappropriate. She kept her mouth shut and edged along the
wall toward the makeshift alleyway that would lead her to where the car was supposed to be waiting. One of the dogs made as if to lunge at her and she
jumped, squeezing Kitty so tightly she should have cried. Only the fact that Kitty didn't cry, because she wasn't strong enough to muster up the effort to cry,
kept Sakura from giving in to her panic and bolting. She knew better than to run. She walked, slow and steady. She heard the fight start as she stepped under
the tarp that formed the tunnel. A squeal of pain, a thud, snarls, and she flattened her ears to block the sounds out. Halfway through the tunnel two dogs
stepped out of a doorway and blocked her escape. She stood frozen, listening to the growling snarls, for what seemed like an eternity before she realized she
was making those sounds herself. She didn't make out their scents or their faces. All she saw was the squirming female no bigger than her, tied up and held
like a bag of garbage under one of the dogs' arms. For a moment her outrage almost overcame her fear. If not for Kitty, she would gladly have wet her claws
to free that poor girl. Given a choice of one or the other, she had to save her own.

If it hadn't been for Karin, Ichigo suspected he would finally have gotten to see what a dog looked like with his face scratched off. Karin slipped past Renji, put
an arm out in front of him, and backed them back into the doorway they had just stepped out of. The rabid cat continued to snarl and chuff, making noises that
had the hairs on his arms standing up, nevermind his tail. But she moved, slowly edging past them without attacking. He was staring at her puffed and lashing
white tail when his brain registered what his nose had been telling him. Female, mother, and that little bundle in her arms was a kitten, also female. No mother
cat brought her kitten in the open in this neighborhood. His mouth shot open, but Renji got there first.

"Take this," Renji growled, shoving his hogtied sister at Ichigo. "Those fucks are killing her mate."

Ichigo turned to pass Rukia on, and realized the stupidity of that the moment he saw Karin's raised eyebrow. Right. He set her on the ground instead. "Don't
cut her loose," he warned.

"With what?" Karin scoffed, "My teeth?" She rolled her eyes when she found herself talking to air. Ichigo had already darted off to join Renji in what smelled
like a bloody dogfight. She crouched down beside Rukia, squeezing her fingers into the tight leg of her right boot. The little knife was just as sharp as it had
been the first time Rukia had shown it to her. It make quick work of the ropes. She sat on her heels while Rukia rubbed circulation back into her limbs.

"What a dumbass," Rukia spat, after taking the gag out. "If he was going to go through with it, he should have at least taken my boots first. He's such a softie,
the big faker."

"Are you going to run away?" asked Karin.

"Of course not," she muttered. "We're going after that cat. Who knows what could happen to her out here." She knew exactly what could happen, but Karin
didn't and she never wanted her to.

Karin grinned. "I thought you'd say that."

.-.

This was without a doubt the worst neighborhood Iruka had ever been in. Now he understood why the elderly gray tabby who had passed him the orders had
passed him a revolver as well. He had never shot a gun in his life. Tonight might be the last time he could say that. He had barely parked the car on a dingy
but thankfully open bit of street when the dogs began to crawl out of the shadows to eyeball him. The windows were up and his ears were down. They couldn't
know for sure that he was a cat. They certainly made him feel like one, though. He resisted the urge to reach into his pocket and finger the gun. The engine
was running. He could always put the car in reverse and run them over if necessary. That thought had barely settled in his mind when another car pulled in
behind him. He gaped at the rearview mirror, then looked over his shoulder just to be sure. It was definitely another car, as conspicuously expensive as the
one he was driving. A shaggy silver-haired wolf stepped out of the car and the dogs vanished back into the shadows. Iruka took the gun out of his pocket.

Kakashi watched with amusement as all of the curious dogs scurried away. He tended to have that effect on people. It was, in fact, an effect he had cultivated.
He walked the length of the fancy car he had parked behind and rapped lightly on the driver's window. He stared down at the rather large gun in the cat's lap
as he waited. It was a bad neighborhood when a cat couldn't rely on his claws alone. This cat had a nice set. He was awfully brown, though. Dark brown-black
hair pulled into a tight tail, brown eyes, tan skin. Even his suit was a burnt brown. Kakashi had expected Kuchiki to dress his men a little better than that. The
cat eventually rolled the window down a crack. He did not, however, put away the gun. Kakashi smiled behind the black cloth mask he wore over the lower half
of his face.

"Are you here for the same thing I am?" asked Kakashi.

"I doubt it," Iruka said sharply. That sounded far too much like a pick-up line. Normally he would have laughed at the idea of a wolf hitting on him. In this
neighborhood with his car blocked in he wasn't taking any chances. "I'm just running an errand."

"For Kuchiki Byakuya." Kakashi shook his head when the cat tensed. "You're driving one of his cars. It was an easy guess. Besides, I'm running an errand,
too, for Youko Kurama. He mentioned having run across your boss earlier today." The cat looked confused, so he didn't mention where the two had crossed
paths. Kuchiki probably hadn't recognized Kurama, anyway. "I'm here to pick up a cat. You?"

"Two dogs," Iruka admitted. Having glimpsed some of the dogs who lived around here he wasn't looking forward to being trapped in a car with two of them. He
frowned up at the wolf, who didn't smell nearly as dangerous as he had thought he would. Iruka had never actually been this close to one before. Still, "I can't
imagine any cat living around here would be eager to approach you. Do you know why you were chosen for this errand?" Iruka had been chosen simply
because he had stepped in the garage door right as the tabby had entered looking for someone to send out.

Kakashi leaned against the side of the car, giving a slow look at the squalid buildings that were threatening to crumble right into the small clearing they had
parked in. Bad neighborhood, indeed. "I was chosen just in case."

"In case of what?"

"Trouble," Kakashi smiled. "I'm a wolf, if you hadn't noticed."

Of course Iruka had noticed. He huffed under his breath and looked away. Then his eyes widened. He shoved the door open, forgetting all about the wolf, who
stepped away just in time. He forgot about the gun, too, leaving it to clatter at the wolf's feet.

Sakura had frozen just inside the clearing. There were two cars, not one. And there was a man standing guard over them who smelled worse than any dog.
Suddenly it was all too much. She couldn't catch her breath. If she passed out she'd drop Kitty. A brown cat rushed over to her and she held her arms out.
"Sasuke's coming," she gasped. She forced the cat to take Kitty and then dropped to her knees, panting as if she'd been running for hours. "He'll be here
soon…"

Iruka fumbled with the kitten for a second, then he crouched down to curl his free arm around the girl's waist. He got her on her feet and half carried her. "You
need to get in my car." It was a wonder she wasn't dead, running around this dog infested neighborhood with a kitten.

"Sasuke's coming," she repeated.

"You can wait for him in the car," Iruka said quickly. The poor thing sounded like she was hyperventilating. The wolf stepped toward them and she stumbled,
hitching out a broken growl. Iruka glared the man back with a growl of his own. It wasn't until he had given her the kitten back and shut the door on her that he
remembered the gun. The wolf was holding his gun. He blinked. Actually, the wolf was holding his gun by the barrel and offering it to him. He accepted it warily.

"You can't take my cat," Kakashi informed him.

"What?" Iruka forgot all about the gun again. "You came for a female cat? A mother? Youko Kurama sent you for a mother cat?"

"Well, no," Kakashi frowned. That did sound rather unbelievable. "He sent me to pick up a male cat named Sasuke. If she's with him, then she's with me."

Iruka's tail bristled. "If you think that girl is going to get into a car with you, you're mad!" He wouldn't have gotten into a car with the wolf and he was far less
vulnerable than a traumatized teenage mother with kitten in tow. "I won't allow it!"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "I don't recall asking your-"

A sharp voice cut in. "Hey! What do you think you're doing with her?"

Kakashi blinked as two black female dogs stalked over to growl at him. They barely reached his waist and one of them smelled as if she had been rolling in her
own feces. He was quite glad for his mask. He raised an eyebrow at the cat, who was also wrinkling his nose. "Your dogs?"

"I'm here for two males," Iruka blurted. The stinky female swiped a shiny-toed foot at him and he jumped back, bumping into the car. "What are you doing?"

"Saving her," Rukia snapped. "Out of the way. That goes for you, too," she growled at the mask-wearing weirdo. If he was a fox then she owed Renji an
apology. The hairs of his tail were strangely thick and the pointed tip wasn't the slightest bit rakish. "She's with us!"

"That's right!" Karin growled. "You can't have her!"

Kakashi noticed the white mother cat was staring out the window with her mouth an open circle of surprise. He sent a suspicious look at the brown cat. "Do you
think it's a coincidence that we both came here for males, yet all we're getting are females?"

Iruka frowned at the two girls. "Are either of you related to Renji? Or Ichigo?"

"Oh!" Karin blinked. "Are you our ride? They're back there trying to save her mate from the dogpack."

Kakashi took that as his cue. "You watch the girls," he told the cat, "I'll go fetch our boys." For the mother cat's sake he hoped it wasn't already too late. For
his own sake he hoped it was a case of mistaken identity. He was supposed to be here picking up the cat Naruto had chosen as his mate, not a pair of mated
cats and their kitten.

It wasn't difficult to locate the fight. The metallic scent of blood bit right through his mask. Kakashi halted just under the overhang. A glance told him his help
wasn't needed just yet. He relaxed in the shadows, content to watch. Kurama might like an accounting of this. The two dogs Kuchiki Byakuya's driver had come
for were easy to pick out. They were the only ones on their feet not bearing claw marks. The redhaired one had a nasty bite on his left arm, but it featured the
jagged tearing of dog teeth rather than the sharper cut of a cat. The blonde one appeared bruised but whole, and had a heavy punch that Naruto would have
gotten a kick out of. The two dogs were on the edges of the fight, containing it by thrashing and warning off the curious mutts who kept edging out of the
nearby buildings with an eye to get in on the action. Since the dogs were holding their own, Kakashi let his appreciation settle on the cat. Naruto had good
taste. A bit more blood-thirsty than Kakashi would have liked for the young fox, but that was excusable given the circumstances. The cat used his teeth and
claws for quick and lethal damage. He used both sets of claws, which was what Kakashi appreciated so much. Most cats these days would rather lose a fight
than dirty their feet. This cat was blood-spotted and thriving on it. Kakashi would have to warn Kurama about that bloodlust before Naruto egged his new mate
into a fight.

There was no question as to whether or not the cat was already mated. His scent was thick with dangerous temptation. Even the two dogs who had apparently
jumped in to help were being affected by it. It was no wonder they were fighting as far from the cat as the confined space allowed. Kakashi wrinkled his nose
behind his mask, firmly quelling the adrenaline that tried to surge through his system. He was too old to be challenging a little tomcat, especially one who was
fighting to protect a mother and her kitten. He preferred his tail soft and willing these days. The thrill of the fight was rarely worth the aches and drama that so
often followed.

For the first time in years, Renji regretted having made himself one of the big dogs in this town. He was able to warn his own mates from jumping into the fray.
They didn't even know about the kitten. They merely saw dogs fighting a cat and wanted a piece. Some of the other familiar faces who showed up jumped in
precisely because he was trying to warn them from it. This had gone from a simple rescue – the prerogative of a big dog to do the decent thing when he felt
like it – to a territorial dispute. Bad enough to be fighting it out with his rivals when he was supposed to be leaving this lifestyle behind without dragging Ichigo
into the mess. Not to mention the cat. He was trying his damnedest to forget about the cat. He was here to help the bastard, not to jump him. He had a slick tail
already lined up for him as soon as this shit was finished. The cat could at least take his scent down a notch before he pulled in every dog in the area. Renji
vented some of his frustration with a headbutt that had an added benefit of momentarily muting his sense of smell. Definitely an improvement. He dodged a fist
and headbutted another one. Every little bit helped.

Ichigo cursed as another splash of blood caught the back of his neck. Cats were supposed to be fastidious neat-freaks. This one was messy as hell. Ichigo
crumpled his opponent with a fist to the gut and kicked him into the side of the building across from him. The bastard should thank him for that. The last time
he had tossed an opponent behind him the cat had swooped in and finished him off. Ichigo understood the rage, he really did. He had sisters. He could still
remember the horror that had gripped him when he first realized Rukia was a cat. But some of these guys wouldn't have even sniffed at the mother cat, let
alone her kitten. They were answering the challenge of a male cat fighting dogs in dog territory. Ichigo edged closer to Renji. Renji was nearly as bad as the
cat with his famed 'street-cred' encouraging more dogs to jump into this mess.

"This isn't going to end," Ichigo growled, plowing his fist into the snarling face of another newcomer. What were they even fighting for at this point? "We have
to stop that cat!"

"Go for it," Renji laughed. Between the adrenaline and the throbbing, his head felt light and swishy. He was starting to enjoy himself a little too much. "Rukia is
bound to be loose by now. Doubt she took the ropes with her." Even the thought of having to hunt her down didn't take the half-mad grin off his face. Just the
opposite. The thought of Ichigo trying to tie up the crazed cat fighting behind them made his smile wider than ever. "Best of luck to you."

Ichigo glanced back at the cat, only to lurch when another dog jumped in to take advantage of his distraction. He took an unpleasant blow to the head,
staggered, and reeled around to smash the bastard's chin on his knee. He had shrugged off way too many ambushes by his insane father for some street dog
to take him down. He shoved his opponent back and took a furious step toward the next one. Then he halted in his tracks. The dog had frozen, staring wide-
eyed at something behind them. The cat? No. No dog was that afraid of a cat, not even a messily violent cat who went for the jugular more often than not. The
would-be opponent backed away, slipping off into the shadows, as did the others who had been so eager to jump in. Ichigo exchanged a wary look with Renji,
then they both whipped around. The cat was crouched over his latest kill, panting and blood-splattered. He was also motionless, staring at a tall black-
clothed…fox? Ichigo's first thought was fox, but the tail was heavier, wilder, and the man definitely didn't look like a pansy. He sure as hell didn't smell like one.
Ichigo sent another look at Renji and was both relieved and uneasy to see that battle-mad grin had finally vanished.

"Wolf," Renji said in answer to Ichigo's unspoken question. He stepped over a few bodies, approaching close enough to prove he wasn't afraid of him like
those other mutts. He lifted his chin, glaring at the cool stranger. "What business does a wolf have around here?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, amused by that show of bravado. He noted that the red's friend wasn't nearly as confident, though he also appeared more
suspicious than worried. "I believe your ride is here," he told them. "Though it has currently been usurped by a cat and her kitten. Friends of yours, I take it,"
he said to the cat. "If you're Sasuke, then I'm here to pick you up. As much as you might enjoy decimating the local dog population, Naruto is expecting us. He
tends to whine when he's kept waiting. It isn't pleasant."

With a heavy breath, Sasuke rose and went to his discarded bag. He felt shaky and unsatisfied. He had wanted them all. Mostly for Sakura, but also for
himself. For so long he had avoided all confrontations, knowing it would draw danger straight to her. This was his chance and he had wanted them all. Part of
him even wanted the two dogs who had jumped in to help him because they had denied him some of his prey. It had taken all of his restraint to let them be. He
didn't want it to be over. But Naruto was waiting. Sakura and the kitten had already waited long enough. He had promised to follow soon. He had no idea how
long ago he had made that promise. There was no excuse for that, or for his assumption that she would be safe waiting for him at the car. Lucky that Naruto
had thought to send a wolf. But that wolf was here and Sakura was not. He snatched up his bag and stowed his shoes in it. His feet were too filthy to bother
putting them on. Sakura would throw a fit when she saw him. Assuming she was feeling secure enough to complain about his messiness.

Iruka let out a sigh of relief when the wolf returned and the curious dogs scattered again. He was feeling very much like a stranded cat in a dog town. He had
what felt like a huge bruise on his shin, no gun, and no car keys. The filthy little female was responsible for all three. She and her accomplice had mugged him
and left him standing like a fool locked outside of his own car. Well, technically the car belonged to the Kuchiki household, but he was the driver of it tonight.
He sent a reproachful look through the tinted window at the happily chatting females. The cat at least should have had some sympathy for him. He had invited
her to take shelter in his car without a moment's hesitation.

"They locked you out of your own car?" asked Kakashi. He nearly laughed. He couldn't remember ever having seen such a sheepish cat.

Sakura burst out of the car. She rushed to Sasuke, only to stop short at the sight of him. "Sasuke," she grimaced, "you're filthy! Is any of that yours? It had
better not be."

"Did you win?" Karin asked Ichigo. She eyed him doubtfully. "You don't look like you won."

Rukia sidled up to Renji with a scary smile that immediately put him on edge. "Check what I got."

"Where the hell did you get a gun?" Renji demanded, half jealous and half scared shitless. He stiffened, paling when she bounced the large weapon carelessly
in her hand. "Be careful with that! It might go off…"

"I know," Rukia smiled. "It's loaded. We checked."

"I helped her get it open," said Karin. She shrugged when Ichigo shot her a scowl. "He tied her up."

"That was for her own good," said Renji. He didn't think she'd shoot him. Then again, a day ago he hadn't thought she'd ever kick him in the balls with her
steel toed boots, either. So far he was regretting his decision to officially make her a cat.

"You handed me off to Ichigo," Rukia glared at him. "Like a basketball."

"No, no," Karin sighed. "You hand off a football. Basketballs you throw or bounce to pass."

Rukia accepted the correction with grace. "Like a football. And he left me on the ground like garbage." She pointed over at Sakura, who was watching the
exchange with a pursed frown. "Do you know she thought you were kidnapping me? And you were! You're lucky she had her kitten to worry about. She was all
set to scratch your face off. Me, I'll settle for taking off your balls." She cocked the gun and took careful aim.

"Are you insane?" Ichigo yelled. He lunged for her just as she pulled the trigger. Renji gave a little jump at the click. Ichigo was amazed he didn't wet himself.
He was fairly sure he would have. He snatched the gun away from Rukia and was tempted to whack her with it when she and his sister burst into laughter.
"That wasn't funny," he growled. Even the white cat was smiling. He glared at all three. "That wasn't funny at all!"

Sasuke watched as Sakura handed two bullets and a set of keys to the brown cat who had been standing outside the car. She had made friends with dogs.
True, they were female dogs and young ones at that. They were still dogs. She didn't complain when the rancid smelling girl reached out to pet the kitten. And
she didn't cringe or flinch away from the two dogs who had followed him. Some of that was because the dogs had shown no interest in her and were, in fact,
keeping a wary distance from her. He wondered what the rest of it was, whatever it was that had put her at ease. Simple relief, maybe. He watched and waited
for the moment she realized they would be riding with the wolf and not the cat. He wasn't looking forward to it.

.-.

"You're so rude," Karin said, frowning over at Ichigo. "I'm sitting right next to her and it doesn't bother me."

"Good for you," Ichigo muttered from behind his sleeve. Rukia stank so badly his eyes were watering. She had always stunk, her way of masking her true
scent. But he had never been enclosed in a car with her before. "Can you roll a window down?" he called to the driver. He huffed with relief when the cat rolled
both of the back windows down.

"Wimp," Renji mocked. He had long since grown immune to Rukia's stench. He was rather proud of that, in fact. She had gotten so good at stinking that even
those interested in female dogs hadn't sniffed near her.

"I suppose I'll have to wash out an outfit when we get there," Rukia sighed. She was going to feel naked with just her own scent. She had worked hard on her
'perfume', dabbling in everything gross she had come across over the years. It had been difficult finding a scent pungent enough to keep dogs from sniffing,
but not so terrible that her own nose couldn't handle it. Her current scent featured a slimy brown substance she had found floating on a bucket of something
foul. Renji had nearly thrown up when she had brought it home, the big wimp. After sitting out for a few days it had dried into a powdery dust, which she had
rubbed all over her clothes. She thought it went rather well with the last few smells she had soaked her wardrobe in.

"Forget washing it," Renji waved. "You can wear one of my shirts tonight, same as always. There's no way anything of yours will come out clean. Be a shame
to waste all that effort, anyway. Just bag it up and save it. Might come in handy some day."

Rukia gave him a dirty look. It was one thing to sleep in Renji's clothes when it was just the two of them. She didn't like the thought of doing it where some
snooty cats would see and comment. She had lived as a dog way too long to be condescended to by a cat and not retaliate. "I'll borrow something of Karin's,"
she decided. "We probably won't be in the same room with either of you guys, anyway."

"I will be sharing a room with Rukia, won't I?" asked Karin.

"I'm not even sure if we'll be in the same house," Ichigo admitted. "It might be two houses in the same area or something."

"That's how I took it," said Renji. He leaned forward and eyeballed the back of the cat separated from them by a lowered partition. The cat had responded
quickly to Ichigo's request for a window down, so he knew he had to be eavesdropping. "Hey, cat. You know anything about the living arrangements?"

Brown eyes flicked at them in the mirror. "My name is Iruka. I was only asked to pick the two of you up and bring you to the estate. The Kuchiki estate." He
risked another glance and frowned at the dog's blank face. "It's an enclosed estate, consisting of the main house, guest house, guard house, and the garage."
He wouldn't venture to guess which of those buildings would be used to house this lot. That they would be staying at all was curious. What was Kuchiki up to?
He might as well wonder what Youko Kurama was up to.

"Which house does Ishida live in?" asked Ichigo.

"The main house." Of course. That he even had to ask made the situation even more bizarre. Iruka stowed his curiosity and pressed the button to close the
back seats off. He would have done that from the start, but he had worried that the smell might snuff them all out in such an enclosed space. With the windows
down that was no longer a worry. Iruka could still see them through the tinted partition. The red-haired dog looked especially angry. But he couldn't hear
anything. That was for the best. If he were meant to know what was going on with them he would have been told. He couldn't afford to risk his position by
sticking his curious nose in where it didn't belong.

"Fucking cats," Renji grumbled.

"We can look forward to a lot of that where we're going," Ichigo sighed. Even with the prospect of money, this felt more like a step down than a step up.

"He's probably still mad about earlier," said Karin. "He's pretty pathetic, getting taken down by a pair of girls half his size."

"He's a cat," Rukia scoffed. "What do you expect?"

"You're a cat now, too," Renji reminded her. He tensed, but she just gave him a contemptuous look and refrained from kicking. "Did you tell him you're a cat?"

"Of course not." The pathetic cat had thrown an outright hissy fit when Sakura had reluctantly gotten into the other car. All because she was a girl cat. As if the
bloody tomcat at her side wasn't protection enough from a weird-smelling fox. Rukia might be resigned to living as a cat, but she'd be damned if she were
going to be treated like one. "Forget about the cat," she said with a toss of her head. "When do you two get paid?"

"Paid for what?" asked Karin. Her eyes narrowed when Ichigo flushed a telling red. "Are you getting money from these cats?"

"You didn't know?" Rukia asked her in an innocently curious voice. "Not only are they getting paid money, they're getting paid for…" She hesitated, enjoying
the panicked way Ichigo was shaking his head at her. Renji was too shameless to care who knew he was a glorified prostitute now. Ichigo, on the other hand,
was still more puppy than dog. She had a bit of guilt for teasing him, but not enough to stop doing so. She sighed at Karin. "I'll tell you when you're older." She
gave Ichigo a look that warned he owed her one. He would never know that 'when you're older' meant 'once they're asleep' and she planned to keep it that
way. It was a girl thing.

.-.

Sasuke's arm was bleeding by the time they arrived. As expected, Sakura had latched onto him the moment she found out the wolf was their driver. Each time
the man glanced in the rearview mirror to check the traffic behind him, she had dug her claws in a little deeper. After the way she had insisted on spreading
one of their blankets over the seat so he wouldn't dirty it, he could have commented on her willingness to touch him. He didn't say a word. She wasn't
complaining or crying, so he counted himself lucky. Sakura remained firmly attached to his arm as the wolf led them inside and handed them off to a plump
female dog with graying hair and disapproving eyes. The first thing she did was try to take their bags. Sasuke didn't blame Sakura for growling. He was
tempted to do the same.

"We'll carry them," said Sasuke. "Has Naruto arranged a place for me?" They had come in by what he suspected was a back hall. He could smell a kitchen
nearby, which would be his first order of business once Sakura had been detached from his arm.

"Yes. I'm sure you would like to," and she hesitated, her nose wrinkling, "freshen up a bit. Your quarters are ready. If you'll follow me, I'll see you situated
before making arrangements for your…friend."

Sasuke clenched his teeth when Sakura dug quite a bit deeper. For someone who disliked using her claws she certainly kept them sharp. His scowl bounced
right off her pinched and irritated face. He was prepared to explain her presence to Naruto. He refused to explain it to one of Naruto's servants. They passed a
number of other servants as they followed the woman up a flight of stairs and down a series of halls. The servants were mostly female, all dressed in matching
gray-blue uniforms. The cats looked curiously and sympathetically at Sakura before gaping at him and hurrying away. Maybe he should have put his shoes
back on before getting into the car. Although his feet were dry now, he was probably leaving flecks of blood and dirt in his wake. He hadn't considered the
people who would have to clean up after him.

The old dog opened a door and stepped back with a painfully polite smile. "I will send a tray up directly. If there is anything you need, don't hesitate to call."
Then she turned to Sakura and gave a more genuine, if wincing, smile. "We have separate quarters for the cats who work here. Nothing for children as of yet,
but I'm sure we can find something to suit you for the night. Come now, and I'll see you settled in."

"She stays with me," Sasuke said flatly. He entered the room and caught the woman's look of horror when he shut the door. He barely even winced when
Sakura finally wrenched her claws loose. "Don't start."

"You liar," Sakura hissed. "You promised to tell them Kitty isn't yours. She thinks I'm your-"

"Victim?" Sasuke scoffed. "I wonder how many they have hidden away in those separate quarters. You'll never work as a maid again. I'm certainly not letting
you be housed with them."

"You could have told her something. You could have said I was your sister. Your adopted sister," she scowled, when he gave her white tail a pointed look.
"You could have at least said something."

"I didn't hear you saying anything." He dropped his bag on the floor and prowled around the room. It could have been the livingroom of a full sized house.
There were doors on either end, one leading to a bedroom, the other to a bath. Sakura followed him into the bedroom.

"I wasn't even invited here," she complained. "What was I supposed to say to her?"

"There are no locks on these doors," Sasuke scowled. He stalked back across the main room. The bathroom didn't have a lock, either.

Sakura growled under her breath. "Will you stop prowling for a minute and look at me?" She didn't appreciate his exaggerated sigh. "You handled that badly,
Sasuke. Servants have the power to make a guest's life miserable and she's obviously a head servant around here. I'm not just talking about dirty looks,
either. They control the food. They could poison us if they had a mind to."

Rather than address that ridiculous fear, he walked to her and took the kitten and her bag. "You're going to be fine here, Sakura. Accept it." She followed him
into the bedroom, watching as he took a drawer from the dresser and made it into a temporary crib. "That old dog was upset with me, not you. If anything,
she'll probably be nicer to you now." He started to lay the kitten down, then abruptly stood and handed her back to Sakura. "She needs changed."

Sakura scoffed at how quickly he hightailed it to the other room. "A lot of help you are." He was right, though. Her Kitty was rank. "You still smell worse than
she does," she informed him on her way to the bathroom. "I can't believe you took your shoes off. Your feet are disgusting."

Looking down at the faint prints he had left on the tan carpet, he had to concede her point. She would insist on cleaning it up herself, and would complain the
entire time she was doing it. Meanwhile he would get no sympathy if he were to complain about the broken claws on his left foot. He had kicked too high and
nearly lost a few toes to a mutt's teeth. She would insist it was no more than he deserved for being such a heathen as to fight with his shoes off.

A knock at the door announced the arrival of dinner. The tray was borne by a shaggy brown dog in a stiff silver uniform. He looked so awkward and
uncomfortable Sasuke suspected the old woman had forced him to replace the girl who usually did such tasks. He was so amused by how quickly she had
reacted to his supposedly nefarious treatment of Sakura that he didn't mind the way the dog's nostrils flared at the scent of him. He was fairly covered in dog
blood, after all.

Sakura was burping a well stuffed Kitty when there was a hard knock on the door and a grinning blonde boy rushed in. They both froze, staring at each other
with alarm on her part and confusion on his. The frozen tableau was broken by a wet burp and a rusty purr. Sakura blinked burning and slightly resentful eyes.
Kitty hadn't purred in days and now she was too nervous to enjoy it. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Sasuke was standing in the bathroom
doorway, dripping wet and wearing a little white towel around his waist. She promptly forgot all about the fox. She sprang from the couch with an affronted
gasp. "Have a little decency, Sasuke! Neither of us needs to see that!" With Kitty's eyes properly shielded, she hurried to the bedroom and closed the door
behind her.

Sasuke flushed irritably. He had helped her wash the blood from between her legs. He had buried her afterbirth. And she still threw an unholy fit at a flash of
his skin. He would never understand females. "Shut the door," he said to Naruto, who appeared to be choking on all of the things trying to get out of his mouth
at once.

"What happened to you?" Naruto blurted. "Who is she? Was that a baby? Are you bleeding? Why do you smell like dog?"

Sasuke went over and closed the door himself, leaving wet footprints for Sakura to complain about later. "Dogfight. Sakura. Yes, but I'm not the father. Just a
little. Dogfight." He waved the gaping fox at the couch as he padded back toward the bathroom. "Sit down while I get dressed. I'll explain in a minute."

"You don't have to get dressed on my account," Naruto said quickly. He had no idea what was going on, but Sasuke's semi-nudity he had no problem with at
all.

Sasuke smirked at the fox's open appreciation. "I'll explain in a minute," he repeated firmly. There would be time enough later to parade nude around his new
mate. Preferably when there wasn't an insulted cat and her kitten in the next room.

.-.

Byakuya's anger was scorching. It was an emotion he rarely let himself entertain and now was no exception. His lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes flashed,
but he didn't speak until he was able to do so in a controlled voice. That took longer than it should have. The problem was that he had no one in particular to
be angry with. Masquerading a cat as a dog was a practical maneuver. That the cat in question had to be mutilated, possibly permanently, in order to achieve
the desired result was a shame. Yet he completely understood why that was better than the alternative. Having seen what the male cats in Renji's area were
reduced to, he could only imagine how the females lived. No, it wasn't the deception itself that angered him. It was the fact that he had been taken in by it. One
hint of her noxious odor and he had refused to come any closer. He had been fully prepared to tear into the despicable dog for bringing such a creature into
his home. Poverty was no excuse for allowing any living thing to smell as bad as that. Then she had moved her tail, just one edgy slightly hostile flick of the tip
of her fox-like tail and he had realized his mistake. A canine's tail wasn't flexible enough for that sort of motion. In retrospect he should have guessed from her
ears alone. No dog with a tail like hers had such bent ears.

It only took a moment for Renji to recover. He hadn't been afraid or anything. If his new mate had tried to sharpen his claws on his face, he would have just
flipped him over and ravaged him a little. If he had been worried at all it was only because Rukia, and especially Karin, were too young to be seeing that sort of
thing. Not to mention how hard and cold the floor looked. Wouldn't be right to bruise up his mate's knees that badly their first time out. Confidence in place
once more, Renji strode up to the stiff cat as if he hadn't frozen in his tracks the same as the others.

"The stinky one is my sister," he said, with a wryly apologetic smile. "Adopted. I know she looks like a dog and smells like a sewer, but actually-"

"There is no need to explain the deception," Byakuya interrupted coolly. He felt no compulsion to admit he had momentarily been fooled. "I trust the scent is
removable."

"Nothing a quick bath and change of clothes won't fix."

"Good." Byakuya's eyes flicked distastefully over the dog's bloody and rumpled form. "See that you do the same before we meet again."

Renji gaped when the cat turned and swept away with a haughty flick of his tail. He was tempted to chase after him. He was pretty sure he had every right to
chase after him. They were mates and all, or at least they were about to be. Wasn't right for a cat to get away with treating his mate that way. Still, Renji
hesitated long enough to scowl back at Ichigo. "Do we stink?"

Ichigo looked down at his dirty blood-splattered clothes. "Probably," he admitted. He couldn't actually smell himself over Rukia. He was suddenly glad Ishida
wasn't the one who had spotted them coming in the front door.

"I can't smell anything but Rukia," Karin said blandly. "I can't even tell we're in a cat's house."

"I can," Rukia said, wrinkling her nose. "It reeks of oranges and flowers. I think I'm going to be sick."

"Oh, shut up," Renji snapped. "If we stink, it's mostly your fault. If you hadn't made such a fuss about coming we'd of had time to rinse you out some clothes."

Rukia put her hands on her hips, growling back at him. "You'd still smell like a bloody dogfight. I had nothing to do with that. Your forehead looks like a
smashed tomato, by the way."

"What?" Renji slapped his hands over his tender and slightly sticky forehead. It felt flat enough. "It ain't swollen at all."

"No, but it's mushy and red," Karin frowned. "What did you do to it?"

"Headbutts," Rukia told her, rolling her eyes. "It's a guy thing."

"It looks nasty," said Karin.

"Doesn't it?"

Ichigo ran a cautious hand over his own face. He had only butted one head, but he had taken a few hits to the jaw. Nothing felt swollen, certainly not squishy.
Except the back of his hair. There was definitely a squishy sticky mess back there. Some of it might even be his own. A bath and change of clothes didn't
sound like such a bad idea. He looked around the wide open entrance hall, ignoring Renji, who was still arguing with the girls about his mushy red forehead.
There was a little white cat standing at the foot of the left staircase, watching them with condescending amusement. Ichigo scowled. He hadn't expected a
welcoming party, but they could at least be told where to go in this place. He stalked across the hall, determined to intimidate some directions out of the kid. He
was within a few feet of the kid when he realized he wasn't a kid, not really. He was short, but his scent proclaimed him anything but a kid. Ichigo gave a silent
but heartfelt groan. The last thing he wanted to deal with was another antagonistic bit of tail eager for a fight.

"Which one are you?" the little cat asked, with a small smirk.

"Ichigo," he sighed. He should have brought Rukia with him. Her stench could overpower anything. Not that he was at all tempted. The scent was more irritating
than anything. He wondered if maybe that fight had ruined him on openly confrontational cats. He wouldn't mind if it had. He was here to mate with a skittish
prude, after all.

"Hitsugaya," the cat introduced himself. His amused gaze went back to the bickering trio. "Are either of the girls with you?"

"One of them," Ichigo admitted. "But they're hoping to room together."

"Matsumoto can have them, then. Follow me. Ishida's wing is on this side."

Ichigo looked back at Karin and received a distracted wave for his efforts. He followed the little cat up the stairs. He was grateful when the cat's scent tapered
off some. The cat was a looker with his pale blue eyes, fluffy white hair, and surprisingly long-furred tail, but Ichigo couldn't have cared less. No matter what his
nose said, the kid still looked like a kid.

"Most of the servants are off for the night," said Hitsugaya. "Kuchiki suspected you wouldn't look too good when you arrived. The fewer who see you looking
like this, the better." His nose wrinkled when Ichigo stepped up to walk beside him. "Did you lose a fight with a skunk?"

"No," Ichigo muttered. He considered explaining that they had been protecting a mother cat and her kitten from a pack of dogs, but he didn't want to be
accused of making the story up. It was a little too convenient.

The cat gave him a probing look, but didn't ask any more. He jerked his head at a set of double doors as they walked past. "That's Ishida's office. He'll be in
there most of the night if you want to visit after you clean up. Otherwise he'll see you at breakfast. If you get hungry before then, you'll have to find the kitchen
on your own and help yourself. The staff won't be back on till sunrise. This is your suite," he said, stopping at the end of the hall. "There should be enough
room for the girls if they don't like it in Kuchiki's wing. The guest rooms are available, too, if you want them out of the way. Those open onto the gardens.
There aren't any attendants around the lake, so keep them out of it if they can't swim." He folded his arms over his chest and gave Ichigo another of those
smug smiles. "I'd wish you luck, but I really don't see the point. You have my sympathies."

Ichigo scowled as the arrogant brat swept away with a tail flick nearly as annoying as Byakuya's. Cats. He was seriously going to be living in a house full of
cats. And so far Ishida was the most tolerable one he'd met. That did not bode well.

.-.

Kurama might have known Hiei would be comfortable wielding a sword. His confidence was too casually ingrained not to be justified. The cat had vanished
upon arrival at the house. Kurama wasn't surprised by how quickly Hiei had found the weapons he had hidden away the day Naruto had moved into his home.
He did wonder, though, what Hiei meant by coming into his room thus armed. He set aside his brush and turned to face him directly. "What do you intend to do
with that?"

"Ask for it," said Hiei. He closed the door and leaned against it. The fox was sitting in the dark. The moonlight through the open window made his hair shimmer.

"I have better blades." He took great pride in his collections. Curious, that Hiei had chosen such a plain piece.

"You have more expensive blades," Hiei corrected him. Bejeweled and gilded and largely ornamental. "I want this one."

"Then it's yours. Most of the flashier pieces are entailed. I didn't choose those myself." He watched as Hiei slipped the strap of the hilt over the doorknob so
the blade hung at his side. Casually blocking the usual exit. Kurama wondered if he should feel as if he were being seduced in his own bedroom. "Did anything
else catch your eyes?" Hiei's eyes were red glints in the dark room. "You must have noticed I'm rather fond of rubies."

"I prefer the silver," said Hiei. That pale tail swished coyly along the back of the chair Kurama was perched on, catching the light as clearly as his hair. His gaze
lifted to that fine fall of hair, so different from the soft looking red. Kurama's pale eyes were more narrow, but they glinted with amusement. Hiei's lips pulled
into a half smile. "And the gold," he acknowledged.

"You sound like a thief," Kurama smiled knowingly. "Most find my...riches...to be intimidating." He wanted to rise and approach him and see just how
unintimidated he really was. But Hiei had come to him, so he would do his part and be patient. For now.

Hiei had never been one for games. He preferred to do things in the most quick and efficient way. The sooner begun, the sooner done, as a scruffy old dog
had once advised him. Had the fox moved on him, he would have done his part to speed things along and be finished with it. But he had agreed to an
association that would last weeks, months, possibly longer. And Kurama was waiting, leaving it to him to make the moves. That made him uneasy. He couldn't
play the fox's game without understanding the rules. Abandoning his place by the door, he crossed the room to lean against the dressing table instead. With
the fox still seated their eyes were nearly level. Those pale golden eyes watched him like a cat with a string. Fitting, since Hiei had never considered himself
much of a cat.

"Why the red?" Hiei asked, when Kurama made no move to touch him.

"It makes me more approachable," Kurama admitted. "Had I gone in there like this, the dogs would have revolted. I'm often mistaken for a wolf."

"The cats would have wanted you more." He knew all too well how cats mewled after foxes. It wasn't just the dog mingling halls he had haunted over the last
few years.

"Do you?" Kurama watched him closely. He was more comfortable dancing than being as blunt as that. But Hiei had ended their dance with his approach.

"I don't respond to scent."

"I noticed that," Kurama said, with a self-depreciating smile. "It's part of your allure."

Hiei snorted, the quiet huff being the closest he ever got to a laugh. "You wanted me because I didn't want you. Or so you thought." His eyes went back to that
waterfall of moonlight. "I prefer the silver, but I didn't mind the red."

"I would never have guessed. You mask your scent well." It hadn't been until the car ride that Kurama had been sure of what he was smelling. He wanted to
ask about that, just to confirm his suspicions. But not tonight. Kurama watched Hiei watching him. They were set on dancing again, each waiting for the other
to take the lead. As a full-blooded fox, Kurama knew that honor fell to him. He tilted his head with an innocent expression that would have fit much better had
his hair been red and his eyes green. "Did you find your room? It's just down the hall from here."

Hiei scoffed and pushed away from the vanity. "I don't need a room, just a window sill. Yours will do as well as any." He laid claim to the open window, leaving
his tail to curl inside of it. Looking out over the moonlit yard below, he listened closely to the fox behind him. "Let me know if the air bothers you."

Kurama rose and joined him at the window. His estate did look lovely in the moonlight. So did Hiei. "I might get chilly in the night. Will you warm me if I do?"

"Of course."

Willing, but not especially eager. Kurama bent down to bury his nose in Hiei's thick hair. He felt Hiei's calmly curling tail brush against his leg as he breathed
him in. Reserved, calm, with just a tiny hint of restless impatience. Kurama realized he was going to woo him, precisely because he didn't need to. He just
hoped he didn't enjoy it too much. "You really do smell wonderful, you know."

Hiei snorted. "Maybe you really should get your nose checked."

.-.

"It's not that squishy," Renji grumbled to himself as he examined his forehead in the mirror. It would be red for a day or so but it wouldn't swell up or bruise. He
did have to admit that it looked bad, though. Obvious and eye-catching. Really took away from his eyebrows. He sniffed at the thought. He'd just have to let his
hair down. The cat had a thing for his hair, he was sure of it.

"Aren't you done yet?" Rukia hollered through the door.

"No!" If he were done, he'd be out. Obviously. He should have let the cat room the girls in that other wing like she had offered. He hadn't thought about having
to share the bathroom with them. It was the way the cat had eyed Rukia that had made him refuse. He'd been afraid she might snatch her up and smother her
in her enormous cleavage, stinky scent be damned. He had never seen such big breasts on a cat before. He was surprised to find that he liked them. It was a
shame her scent hadn't done anything for him. It might be fun to hook up with a female cat after he finished up here. Some of his mates claimed to like it both
ways. He had always wondered if he were missing out with his attraction for male tail. But that was something to consider later. Tonight he definitely had male
tail on the brain.

"I'm going to kick this door down," Rukia warned him in a far too serious voice.

"Will you buzz off, already? I'm primping here."

"Why bother? You'll still have a bulls-eye on your forehead. Anyway, if you don't hurry up the whole room is going to smell like me."

Renji wrenched the door open and stared in horror at her clothes. "You were supposed to take those off and bag them up!"

"I would have if there were any locks on the doors. There aren't." She slipped past him and shut the door in his face. "But there's a lock on this door. How
convenient."

"Hey!" Renji yelped. "I wasn't done in there! Damn it…"

"That bite looks nasty," Karin commented from the couch. "You should have Ichigo stitch it up for you."

"Like I'd let him stick a needle in me," Renji muttered. He dug a roll of bandages from his bag, standard supplies for a street dog, and wrapped up his arm.

"Don't complain when it gets infected," Karin shrugged, her eyes back on the television. The screen was as wide as she was tall. She still couldn't quite accept
that. The shows were another matter entirely. "If it gets infected you'll have to cut it back open, drain it, and sew it up right."

"What?" Renji grinned, "You been watching your dad work?"

"He does good work. He's just too stupid to work for people who can actually pay him."

"Yeah, he's a good guy." And a stupid one, just as she'd said. If Renji had an actual skill like that, he'd never have stayed in their town. Ichigo's dad had, and
there were a lot of people grateful that he had. Too bad gratitude couldn't pay the bills. He eyed the girl sadly and then glanced past her. His mouth dropped
open. "What the hell are you watching?"

"Sex," Karin frowned. "I think. Rukia thought it might be a sport, but I'm pretty sure it's sex. There aren't any balls, not the kind you play with."

"Fucking hell," Renji cringed. He slapped a hand over her eyes and scrambled to snatch the remote away from her. The volume roared and he didn't have any
free hands to protect her ears from the slapping sounds. "How do you turn this damned thing off?!"

"It's the red button," Karin sighed. "You don't have to turn it off, though. My dad gave me the talk last year. I'm old enough to see sex."

"You are not! And that wasn't sex!" The television went blank. He slumped against the back of the couch with a pained whine. Ichigo was going to mutilate him
for this.

Karin looked back at him skeptically. "If that wasn't sex, what was it?"

"Wrestling," Renji said firmly. "Fox wrestling."

"Then why were they naked?"

"It's a fox thing," he said weakly. "Yeah, crazy foxes, you know? All the guy foxes do that. Like a rite of passage. Yeah."

"Hm," Karin frowned, her eyes going from the blank screen back to him. She thought for a minute and then raised an eyebrow at him. "Do all foxes have such
big penises?"

Renji whimpered.

.-.

PART 3

.-.

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