Neji's kitten ch. 8

Chapter 8

Neji paced outside his room uneasily, Hiashi and Hanabi leaning against the wall watching him.

Hanabi was bouncing on her heals excitedly. “Oh Neji-nii-san! Isn’t this exciting? Gingerale had babies!”

“Hn…” Neji mumbled. He continued to pace nervously, until Hinata finally walked out of his room.

She held a small cloth in her hand and was smiling. “W-well, she seems to be fine and the three kittens are healthy…”

Neji smiled, relieved. But then a moment later he frowned. “Wait… three? Weren’t there four?”

Hinata’s face saddened. There was a pause, and then she said, “One… was dead when I came in there.”

She looked down at the cloth and unraveled it a little, revealing a limp lifeless ginger kitten.

Neji sighed and took the bundle from her. “I’ll go burry this one,” he murmured, and walked through the hall and outside.


He decided to burry it outside the Hyuuga compound, far enough away so that it didn’t disrupt the scenery, but close enough to find. He walked back to the Hyuuga compound with a heavy heart.


Hanabi was sitting on his bed, looking at the kittens in fascination when Neji got home. Hiashi was standing over her watching, a tiny hint of fascination in his own eyes.

Neji walked into his room and looked at them both, and they both looked at him. “Alright, Hanabi,” Hiashi said, “It’s time to go.” Hanabi nodded and promptly left the room. Hiashi followed more slowly, and as he passed Neji he gave him a skeptical look.

His spirits dampened further, he sat on the bed next to Gingerale and her kittens. She looked at him and swished her tail in content.

He looked at her and sighed. “You could’ve given me some indication to this!” He gestured to her kittens.

She blinked and purred loudly. One of the kittens tumbled away from her stomach, and she meowed loudly as the kitten gently bumped into Neji’s thigh and came to a stop.

He sighed and gently picked up the ball of fluff in his hands. It raised its head shakily and squealed. He smiled and put it back at its mother’s side. It cured into her stomach and fell asleep. He chuckled and looked at the kittens. The biggest one was dark brown with gray flecks on its back. The next biggest was ginger, though a darker ginger than Gingerale’s spots. The last, and smallest one was the one that had rolled off the pillow, and it was calico.

Neji put his elbow on the bed and rested his head in his palm so that he was eyelevel with Gingerale. “Where was I when this happened?” he asked calmly.

She gave him a mischievous look.

Expecting this, Neji sighed and picked up the biggest kitten. It hissed at him quietly and squirmed, and he put it back. “You can’t come on missions anymore.”

She slashed her tail angrily. “Meow!?” ~Why not!?~

He smirked at her. “Because these little guys can’t be left alone. I’m no midwife, but even I know that.”

Gingerale snorted and rested her head on the pillow, upset.

Neji laughed and leaned against the wall that his bed was against. “Don’t blame me. You’re the one that got yourself pregnant.”

She growled threateningly.

“… Kitty whore…”

She stood up, the kittens rolling off the pillow, and hissed and scratched his shoulder, cutting his sleeve but barely breaking the skin.

He watched the kittens roll away from the pillow and begin to mewl, and then he glared at Gingerale. “What kind of mother are you!?”

She grunted and walked off the pillow and picked up the ginger kitten gently. It immediately stopped mewling, and she carried it back onto the top of the pillow and set it down. Then she went to get the calico one. Neji picked up the last one for her and set it with the others. Gingerale lay back down and they curled back into her as if nothing happened. She looked somewhat displeased, but rested her head on her paws and sighed.

////////

The next day Neji was walking down the market street with a grocery list in hand. He had been sent out to do some basic shopping, but he had not allowed Gingerale to come, and he felt naked without her. He kept reading over the list to try to keep his mind off the unusually cool feeling on his shoulders, but it wasn’t helping much.

“Neji-kun!”

He spun around to see Sakura running up to him. She stopped and smiled at him, looking at his shoulders for the cat that she was accustomed to seeing there. “…Where’s Gingerale?”

Neji shrugged. “She…can’t leave the house.”

Sakura gasped. “Is she sick? I can take a look at her if-”

“No, it’s nothing like that…”

The konoichi’s eyebrows rose. “Well… what is it then?”

He averted her gaze as he replied, “She had kittens…”

Sakura’s face brightened. “How exciting! She squealed.” “How many did she have?”

“Three…”

“Can I have one? When they're old enough, I mean?”

Neji suddenly whipped his head around to look at her. That had never crossed his mind. “Uh…”

Her smile faded. “I understand if you don’t want to give me one…”

He blinked, not really knowing what to say. “W-well… I hadn’t really thought-”  

No, it’s okay,” She interrupted. “Just let me know if one’s available.” With that she smiled and nodded goodbye, before turning around and walking into what Neji guessed was the Yamanaka flower shop.

He continued on his way, the thought racing through his mind. He knew he couldn’t keep them all, but he didn’t want to lose them all…

~Can I have one?~

If they were anything like their mother, it wouldn’t be hard to find them homes; Almost everyone in town liked Gingerale. But he wondered: Could he convince Hiashi to let him keep one?

~Can I have one?~

As he picked up the things on the list, he started to concoct a plan.

~Can I have one?~

~Yes, Sakura. There are two to choose form.~

///////////

A vein bulged out of Neji’s temple in irritation. “I really don’t see what’s so funny.”

Tenten sat in the seat across form him, laughing too hard to breath. They sat in a restaurant, and having finished their meals, were just talking. Neji had invited his teammate to lunch, saying that he had something he wanted to discuss. He had just finished his story, and this was how she was reacting.

“Okay, okay, let me get this strait!” she gasped, trying to catch her breath. “You think… that Gingerale wondered away on one of out missions in the middle of the night, got herself pregnant, and then gave birth on your pillow during our mission!?”

Neji crossed his arms and nodded. “Pretty much.”

She burst out laughing again to the point that she was in tears. “I…I…” she choked out, before laughing even harder.

Neji glared at her. “What’s so funny!?” he yelled over her laughter.

She slowly calmed herself down again. “I…I just cant picture that!” she giggled.

He opened his mouth to retort, but then thought something over and sat back and smirked. “Fine. If you don’t believe me… come see them.”

Tenten immediately stopped giggling and looked strait at him. “You’re kidding, right!?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

Tenten blinked at him and sighed, then stood up. “Alright.”

Neji stood up, too, and he walked out the booth and began to lead her to the Hyuuga compound.


As soon as he pushed the door to his room open Gingerale streaked from her spot with her kittens and ran up to Neji’s feet. She looked at him pitifully and meowed. He scooped her up, and she purred loudly and walked from his arms to Tenten’s shoulders, where she lay down across them. Tenten looked shocked.

Neji chuckled. “She probably wants you to take her home. She hates me locking her in this room.”

Tenten pulled the cat off her shoulders and held her, and in return Gingerale head butted her cheek. Tenten stroked her back, and the cat rested her head on Tenten’s shoulder in content.

Neji watched them, and then walked across the room.  He gathered up the kittens in his hand and walked back to the doorway and put them in Tenten’s face. Her eyebrows rose. “I told you,” the Hyuuga said, the slightest hint of irritation in his voice. “I. Don’t. Lie.”

Tenten sighed defeat and put Gingerale down to look at the kittens. Gingerale quickly climbed onto Neji’s shoulders.

Tenten took the kittens and looked at them. “This is it? This is all she had?” she asked, letting the ginger one suck on her finger.

Neji paused. “Well… there was a fourth, but it died.”

Tenten nodded, pulled her finger out of the kitten’s mouth, and went in and set them on Neji’s bed. “How many do you plan to keep?”

He looked at her, amused. “You say that like you expect me to keep them all!”

Tenten shrugged. “You can be very unpredictable. I never really expected you to keep Gingerale!”

“Hn…” He couldn’t disagree. “Well… I’m not.” He sat down on his bed, and Gingerale hopped off his shoulders and ran out the door and into Hinata’s room, which was right across the hall. Neji watched her go, and then turned back to Tenten. “I was kind of hoping that you’d take one.”

She froze for a moment, and then shook her head. “No, Neji, I can’t…”

He frowned. “Why not?”

“I just won’t be able to take care of it!”

“But you’re the one I trust the most!” he pleaded. “Please?”

She looked at him thoughtfully and sighed. That was quite a compliment, considering Neji. “…Alright. I’ll consider it. Would that make you happy?”

Neji smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Tenten.”

She rolled her eyes at him and smiled slightly. “Whatever…”

Just then Hinata appeared in Neji’s doorway, holding a reluctant Gingerale in her arms. She opened her mouth to say something, but Neji cut her off.

“She can sleep in your room tonight, if you want,” he said.

Hinata looked shocked, but then smiled and nodded, and walked back to her room.

Tenten looked at Neji. He chuckled. “That’s a first… Gingerale’s never slept in anyone’s room but mine!”

Tenten’s eyes widened. “Really!? You’ve had her for almost two years and she’s never slept in anyone else’s room but yours!?”

He smiled shyly and nodded.

One of the kittens squeaked. Tenten offered it a different finger, and it sucked on it happily. “What about these three? Will they be okay without her?”

Neji shrugged. “I think so…”

Tenten shook her head. “I think they need to be fed like, every five hours or something. You have to feed them if Gingerale’s not around.”

Neji moaned. “Nothing in the world will get that cat out of Hinata’s room at this point…”

Tenten looked thoughtful for a moment, and then stood up and pulled her finger out of the kittens’ mouths. “Can I use you computer?”

Neji nodded.

She got up and sat at his computer, and went to Google.com. She typed in ‘hand raising kittens’ and after clicking a few links, she read out loud, “‘In the situation that the mother of a litter of kittens in not available, there are a few simple steps to keep the kittens healthy and growing properly. Number One: A Heat Source…’” she trailed off and started reading to herself silently, then spun around in the chair to face Neji. “Do you have an electric blanket or something like that?”

He nodded.

“Wrap it in a towel and put them on it.”

He got up and left the room, and a minute later he came back with an electric pad wrapped on a towel. He set it on his bed, plugged it in, and set it to medium and put thew kittens on it.

Tenten turned back around in the chair and started to read again, “‘ Number Two: Nutrition. Newborn to ten-week-old kittens need to be fed milk every one to two hours. However, they can NOT survive off cow’s milk. Kittens must be fed special formula, which can be found in pet stores…’ Are you getting this, Neji?”

His mouth hung open. “Every one to two hours!?” he repeated with a moan.

She shrugged. “It could be worse. But did you hear me? About the formula?”

He nodded. “Go ahead… continue. This just keeps getting better and better.”

She giggled and continued, “‘Number Three: Feeding. A healthy kitten should be eating about one fourth its body weight at each feeding. If it is not meeting this standard, then there may be something wrong with the kitten’s digestive tract and it needs to be taken to a vet immediately.

“‘A kitten will usually eat on its own, but sometimes need to be force-fed. Therefore it is best to use a tool that can force liquid into its mouth. A kitten’s mouth is delicate, and therefore the tool that you feed a kitten with needs a soft, smooth opening…” Tenten stopped, then spun around again. “Do you have a mini turkey bester?”

Neji sighed and left the room. A minute later he came back with a turkey bester in hand. He handed it to Tenten.

She took it and looked at it. It had a long narrow tube made of soft flexible plastic that was longer than the actual syringe part of it, and five little plastic balls inside. “This’ll do for now,” she mumbled. She read from the web page for a moment, and then turned back to Neji. “One fourth their weight now is about one of these. This is what you do.” She got up and went over to the bed and picked up the brown kitten and sat it in her lap. Neji walked over to watch. She set the syringe down and held the kitten’s head, then put her fingers on either side of its mouth in the corners and squeezed lightly. Its mouth opened, and she picked up the turkey bester and stuck the soft plastic in its mouth. “That’s all you do. Simple.” She put the kitten down and pulled the tool out of its mouth. “But it says that you can get feeding bottles at the pet store most likely.”

Neji nodded and took the bester from her and looked at it, then cleaned the kitten spit off it with his shirt and looked at her. “Is there anything else?”

Tenten giggled and nodded. “Set your alarm clock to go off every two hours at night… It says that if the alarm doesn’t wake you up, the kittens’ mewling will!”

Neji sighed. “Oh joy. Something else to add to my already exciting schedule,” he said sarcastically. He slipped on his shoes and looked over his shoulder at Tenten. “Common. We gotta go pick up this… formula, or whatever this is.”

Her eyes widened. “What!? We? Why do I have to come!?”

“Because you dragged yourself into this mess the moment you sat at that computer. Now come on!”