Next chapter here! Haha, this was just one long chapter, but Peacock told me to split it into two, so there you go!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kimimaro or Juugo, but if I did, I would squeeze the life out of them! Especially if they were kitties! D:

Kimimaro's POV:

Master was mad at me. She had to be. She was punishing me for going away. I had only done what I thought I was expected to! Juugo didn't want me here, and Karin wasn't satisfied by my lack of feline traits. I had figured that this was what they had wanted me to do...

When I had opened my eyes for the first time, I was in a cage, and bandages were all over my body. I had pain all over, and I had been too weak to eat, so they put more tubes and wires into me. Once I had figured that I was fine, they did something else. Something that put me to sleep, and when I had woken up, I was disoriented. It wasn't until those drugs/ medications wore off, that I felt sore in two specific places. My paws, where my claws would no longer come out, and my pelvis.

What had they done during that time? Currently, I was laying on the floor, back in Juugo and Karin's home. Not mine. Never mine. My body was still sore, and Karin was always picking me up, hurting me. I couldn't scratch, I had no claws. I couldn't bite, she would hit me again like that time so long ago.

Juugo would still watch me, but he wasn't talking to me. He still hated me, I knew that much. Distrust had grown in me. I had no emotions but self hatred. Why had I survived? I had attacked that big dog in the alley because he had said he'd hurt Juugo. Karin would be sad if Juugo got killed, so I attacked. I had hoped that once I hurt him, his friend would finish me off, but Juugo and that other black dog had interfered.

Why did they interfere? Juugo didn't do it for me. He did it for Karin, he said that Karin wanted me, and back then I had slightly believed him. But now, I knew it was a lie. How could someone who wanted you so much, hurt you so badly? A knocking resounds throughout the apartment, and I don't move as Karin goes to answer it.

She and whoever is at the door talk in low voices, and I hear something coming near me. "Kimimaro?" I don't move. Tayuya comes to the front of me, and sits. "You look terrible." She says lowly, sorrow in her voice. "I know." Is all I say. She nuzzles me, but when I flinch, she backs away, "sorry." I shake my head, "it's ok."

She sits quietly for a moment, before getting up and laying next to me, pulling me close. I flinch again, but once she curls around me, I feel almost, safe. "How do you feel?" She asks, and I feel like pouring my heart out to her, but hold back, saying in a strained voice, "the same way as I look." "Tell me."

And suddenly I can't hold it anymore, it was as if she knew that it wasn't alright, as if she had witnessed everything. "It hurts, it hurts so much!" I whimper, and she pulls me close, "what hurts?" "Everything, my chest, my head, my heart!" I'm crying, and I know I am pathetic, but I cannot stop. "It's ok, Kimimaro. It'll be ok, everything will be ok." She reassures me, and I desperately want to believe her.

The sound of her soft heartbeat in my ear and her warmth are soothing. And for the first time since I was born, I feel relaxed, I feel safe. Even with my own mother, I never felt like this. "Tayuya?" "Yes, Kimimaro?" "Why doesn't anyone want me? What's wrong with me?" She licked my ear, "nothing is wrong with you Kimimaro." I smile slightly, content for the moment, as I fall asleep.

Juugo's POV:

Tayuya is glaring at me, and I couldn't really blame her. I had just witnessed Kimimaro's break down, and I knew it was all my fault. "Why couldn't you just leave him alone?" The white dog growled lowly as to not wake up Kimimaro. "He was terrified, he was weak, and you had to make things hard on him, force him to believe that he had to leave."

I don't respond, and instead look out at the window. "Selfish, that's what you are. I heard what happened from Dosu, and I heard what master and Karin said as well." I was getting irritated, "and what exactly do you know? You weren't there." I turned and glared at her, but she wasn't going to back down easily. "I may not have been there, but what I heard, I can believe is the truth." "And that is?" I hissed.

"That you chased out Kimimaro, forced him to fend for himself for three whole days, and got him involved in a fight, making Karin believe it was all his fault, so she had him neutered and declawed. Now tell me, how fair is that?" My stomach was doing flips, that about summed it up. "What? Nothing to say?" She growled, and I truly found myself speechless. What could I say?

Both Karin and Suigetsu were coming into the livingroom, and when Karin reached towards Kimimaro to pick him up, Tayuya snapped at her hand. "Tayuya, no! Get away" Suigetsu reprimended, but Tayuya wasn't going to comply. She covered Kimimaro more with her body, almost as if she was protecting him. Realization hit me. Kimimaro was like Tayuya's child, almost as if she had adopted him, took him under her paw, both figuratively and literally.

Suigetsu went forward, pulling Tayuya off of Kimimaro, even though she tried to bite him. Karin picked Kimimaro off the floor, and I flinch when I see all the pain shoot through his eyes at being moved. Had he really been ready to leave that pet hospital? The vet had said to let him have a few days of rest, but with Karin constantly picking him up, was that bad for his health?

Suigetsu apoligized to Karin for Tayuya's behavior, before leaving, a barking Tayuya in his arms. I look to Kimimaro, who is struggling and crying in Karin's arms, his jerky movements reading pain. Master moves to the couch, sitting and placing Kimimaro on her lap, petting him down his back, rather roughly, as she turned on the box that humans watched moving pictures, calling it 'televison.' I couldn't stop watching Kimimaro, who tried to get off Karin's lap, but she held him in place, ignoring his cries and attempts at escape. Closing my eyes, I turn away and reopen them to focus outside.

He wasn't eating. Not that he did much before, but now he was avoiding food and water altogether. "Kimimaro, open up." Karin tried to pry open his mouth, which opened easily, but once she put the food pellet on his tongue, he would just leave it there. Not spitting it out or trying to chew and swallow it.

Frustrated, she left Kimimaro laying on the floor in the kitchen in front of the food bowls. "You should eat." I tell him. He doesn't respond. "You'll make her sad if you don't." I try again, in a soft tone. I stay sitting on the counter, watching him, but he doesn't move. He rarely got up, and when he did, it was only to move where Karin wouldn't find him. He didn't look alive, and if it wasn't for his crying when he slept or the rise and fall of his chest when he breathed, I would believe that he was dead.

But maybe Kimimaro really had died. He's lifeless eyes stared at nothing when they were open. What was he thinking about? Master reentered the kitchen, and she picked up Kimimaro from the ground. He hardly flinched now, and I wanted to believe that it was because he was getting better, and not because he had lost all hope.

I follow Karin as she is gathering her things, getting ready to take Kimimaro back to the vet. "We'll be back Juugo." Karin says, but I want to go too. I wind around her feet, meowing, trying to give her a hint. She stares at me, before trying to leave, but I block the door, meowing louder. "Ok, ok, come on." I move aside so she can open the door, and follow her out. While she locked the door, I went down to wait by her car.

Once she had arrived, unlocked, and open the door, I jump onto the dashboard, watching as she placed Kimimaro onto the passenger seat before she went to the driver's seat and started the car. I contemplate whether or not to sit next to him, but I don't want to bother him, so I sit on Karin's lap. As we drive, Karin is playing that noise that humans called music, and it hurts my head.

When we arrived, Kimimaro still hasn't moved a muscle. Karin opens the car door, and I jump out and wait while she grabs the white cat. Once she's ready, we walk into the vet office. Placing Kimimaro on one of the chairs, she goes to the reception desk to speak to the girl there. I sit on the chair next to Kimimaro, and wait for master to return.

Kimimaro is staring at a big reddish dog that sitting across from him. The dog, who looks like an Irish wolfhound, is staring back, but it doesn't look like he or she will attack. That's a relief since it didn't have any leash from stopping it from doing so, and I didn't see its owner near either. The two seem to be having a staring contest, niether blink, and when one of them do move, it's the dog coming towards Kimimaro.

I feel my fur rise, not wanting that dog any nearer, and the dog does pause for a second, staring at me, but then it just comes towards him again. Kimimaro gets up, and sits, surprising me. "So you went home after all." The dog asks Kimimaro, and the white cat nodded, "yes. But not by choice." He looks at me slightly from the corner of his eyes, but doesn't say anything else.

These two knew each other? How? The dog is studying me, "so you're Juugo." I don't respond. The dog huffs in annoyance, "not very nice, are you?" Turning back to Kimimaro, the dog speaks again, "so did you change your mind? Will you live?" Live? What was this dog talking about?

Kimimaro's POV:

Change my mind? I let out a small laugh, "I did. But now it's even worse, Gaara." I tell him, the reddish dog that had first found me when I was out on my own. "And why's that?" I laid back down, saying low enough so Juugo wouldn't be able to hear, "because master doesn't want me anymore. She's punishing me."

Gaara leaned closer, "punishing you how?" Hearing what Karin told her friends, I knew now what had happened to me. And the thought sickened me. Who would do that to anyone? "She neutered and declawed me." Gaara sucks in air, and shakes his head. "I see." That's all he gets to say before Karin is back, shooing him away.

I watch as Gaara goes back to where he had been seated, and feel a longing to talk with him more. It seemed that dogs were more nicer to me than my own species. What was I supposed to do now that I was back in Karin's home? I felt unsure of where I stood in that household, but what I was sure of was that I was uncomfortable. But despite my discomfort, I had decided to just endure it.

Karin is tapping the seat, impatient while she waits for whatever she's waiting for. Beginning to get a headache from the noise, I try to distract myself by looking at my surroundings. This is no doubt the place that I had woken up not too long ago, and I felt anxious at what was to come. Why was I here again? Was something even worse going to happen to me?

I stiffen when someone calls Karin's name, and she rises, picking me and Juugo up and taking us to a door. I don't make any noise as I observe each door we pass. There are open doors, that are empty, and closed ones, which I can only guess aren't empty. I can hear the pad of feet as Juugo follows, and I begin to feel sick. Why did Juugo come? Maybe that meant something bad was going to come, and the jerk wanted to witness it all.

Karin enters one of the empty rooms, and she places me on a table before sitting on a chair to the side. I don't rise from the table, sure that Karin would hit me if I did, and instead press myself hard against it, hoping to merge in order to escape. A stranger enters, and he's wearing all white. He speaks to Karin for a second, and then goes to his desk, gathering things before he comes back to me. "So what seems to be the problem?" He asks Karin, and while doing this, he's moving me around, pressing parts of my body. Possibly checking if I have injuries or something is all I can guess.

"Well, since I've brought him home, he has not eaten or drunk anything." The man nods, and he's looking into my eyes with a wierd object, and I'm beginning to get afraid. "He is indeed a bit malnutritioned. And when you last brought him here, he had a really high fever that was fatal in his condition." He's looking into my mouth now.

"So what are you trying to say? Do I put him on medication?" Karin says, and the man turns to look at her fully, picking me up and petting my head softly. The action is soothing, but the kind gesture makes me nervous. "Unfortunately, I've seen many cases involving runts and these illnesses. The only option you have is to put him down." Karin gasps, and I don't understand what just happened.

"It isn't a hard procedure." The man continues, still stroking my ears, "it is just a slight pinch in his neck, and he won't feel any pain. It'll just be like taking a nap for him, just permanetly." I realize now what he was talking about, and I look to Karin to see what she'll say. She isn't saying yes, but she isn't saying no either. My ears flatten against my head, and I feel even more fearful.

She seriously looks as if she is thinking it over, but it makes my chest hurt that she is considering ending my life. The doctor puts me back down onto the table, and goes to lightly touch Karin's shoulder. "I realize that this is a hard decision, but you'll be doing him a big favor. You'll be putting him out of his misery." The only misery I was dealing with was the thought that she didn't want me, and now was probably going to kill me.

"If it's for the best. Then maybe...Ok, do it." I feel myself go limp onto the table. That answered that question. She really didn't want me. That was it. Maybe it won't be too bad, I am just a bother to her and Juugo after all. The man was speaking with Karin again, but I wasn't listening. What a sad existence I had lived, and nothing to show for it. Was my life really so meaningless? The man is facing me again, and he had one of those needles in his hand.

When had he gotten that? Did it matter? He's petting me gently again, but it isn't reassuring. I try willing my feet to get up and move, to run! But they're not compyling, not that it mattered since the door was closed, trapping me in here. My voice won't even work. Closing my eyes, I wait for it to be over with. I feel the man turn my head slightly to the side, but when his hand on his neck suddenly pulls away, I open my eyes to see why.

Surprise fills me when my sight is met with Juugo, who is standing over me and growling at the man. Karin is suprised too, and the man is holding his hand that is bleeding. Juugo must have scratched him, but why? I look questionably at Juugo, but he isn't facing me. Karin, snapping out of her shock, is up and trying to pick Juugo up, but he scratches at her too! Why was he acting this way? Was he really trying to save my life? But why?

"Juugo, stop it." Karin said lowly, trying to calm him, but Juugo wasn't listening. I've never heard him so angry before, even when he was at the alley that day with those two dogs. "It seems that your cat, Juugo, doesn't want his playmate to go." The man said, and he tried to reach towards me, but Juugo's snarling got more fierce. The man put away the needle in his hand, and only then did Juugo calm slightly down.

"So what do we do?" Karin asked, looking to the man. He began to write something on a piece of paper before handing it to Karin. "This is my personal number. If Kimimaro's problems continue, call me and we will euthanize him. And if it comes to that, leave the other cat at home." Juugo backed up when Karin tried to pick him up, and I can see that she is still shocked at his behavior, but then again, so am I.

"Come on Juugo, we'll take him home with us." Despite her words of reassurance, he wouldn't let her pick him up. Sighing her frustration, she tried to pick me up, and Juugo allowed her to. But when she attempted to pick him up, he jumped off the table and waited for her by the door. She tightens her grip around me, and I know she is irritated at being lead by Juugo.

The man bids up farewell, and I ignore him. My eyes are glued to Juugo, who I can't figure out. The thought that he just saved my life fills me with disbelief and doubt. When we reached the car, Karin placed me in the seat next to hers, and I move as far away from her as I can. Juugo, surprising me even more, sits next to me, not close enough to touch me, but close enough to act almost like a wall between me and Karin.

The thought makes me a little happy, but I'm still unsure to what it all means. Karin must have been confused as well, but I don't look to see what her expression is. I hear her start the car, and begin to drive. The drive is silent, and once we arrive, Juugo moves so Karin to get me out of the car, still not letting her hold him.

She has a look of hurt on her face, but I am emotionless as she takes me inside the house and places me on the floor. She reaches to touch me, but I get up and move away from her hand. Crawling under the couch, I move as far back as I can. My mind was all jumbled. Juugo had saved my life, he had stopped that man, and for that I was thankful, despite how worthless my life had become.

I wasn't really sure what to think of Juugo now, he hated me before, but did saving my life mean that he had gotten used to me? One thing I was certain of, though, was that Karin had allowed that man to take my life. She took away my claws and children, and she had attempted to take my life as well. Karin didn't want me. I was a nuisance to her, but did that give her the right to do those things to me? I knew now that there was no way I was ever going to forgive her.

Juugo's POV:

I admit that I had slightly lost my cool back at the pet hospital. But when Karin had given permission for the vet to kill Kimimaro, I couldn't just sit there and watch it happen. I snapped, protected him, and now Kimimaro was back here. But did he want to? When Karin tried to pet him, he moved away. Was he angry? And if he was, was it at me or Karin?

I wanted to go to him, but he might have needed time to sort out any confusing emotions he had. I jumped to my windowsill and watched the couch for any sign of him coming out. He wasn't going to come out anytime soon, I knew that, but he would eventually. I look to Karin, who is standing at the doorway, not quite sure what to do. She is silent for a few moments before she goes to another part of the house.

I may have hurt her feelings by not letting her touch me, but I had to be sure that I was able to ensure Kimimaro's safety. If she held me, then there was a chance that they'd take Kimimaro and kill him. I couldn't allow that. I felt a sort of duty for Kimimaro suddenly, and I wasn't going to allow anyone to hurt him again. He had been through enough, and it was all my fault.

I was going to take responsibility and protect him. Protect him from everything, even if it was from master. When she gave permission for Kimimaro's death, I didn't know what to think. Disbelief had filled me, and now that was filled with a slight distrust. I could only guess what Kimimaro was feeling. He constantly said master didn't want him, and now I couldn't disagree with him.

He must have felt really lonely, betrayed, and he may have been feeling hatred for both me and Karin. I wouldn't blame him, but I was going to make it up to him. I would be his protector, his shield, and make everything better. Laying down on the sill, I continue to watch the couch, wondering where I should start with making this better.

But first things first, Kimimaro really had to eat. He hadn't eaten on his own since Karin brought him back home, and was always having to be force fed by her. If he didn't eat better, then saving his life was going to be wasted. I hop off the sill and go to the kitchen, and not seeing Karin in sight, I grab Kimimaro's food bowl and drag it along into the living room, dropping some food onto the carpet. Karin wasn't going to be happy about that.

Walking backwards was a bit difficult, but if Kimimaro wasn't going to go to the food, then I'd bring the food to him. I squeeze under the couch, forgetting how small it was, and drag the bowl all the way next to Kimimaro. He looks up at me for a second, but turns away.

"You should eat something. You heard what the vet said. If you continue to act this way, they'll kill you." I warn him, pushing the bowl closer. He doesn't respond. I lay down on the other side of the bowl, waiting to see if he'll eat.

"Why did you stop him?" He finally says. I don't know what to say. He looks at me fully, "please tell me why. You don't even like me." I try to get the words out, to tell him sorry for saying all those things, but I can't. His green eyes are staring into mine, waiting for some kind of response. "Kimimaro. I'm.. I'm sorry." I stutter.

"For what?" His head is turned to the side, as if he really didn't know what I was refering to. "I'm sorry, for everything. For saying that nobody wanted you, for allowing you to get hurt, and for all the things that happened to you in that pet hospital." He is still staring at me with no emotion in his eyes, and I begin to feel slightly uncomfortable. "But you were right. No one wanted me. As for getting hurt, it was my fault for not dying sooner." I can't believe what he is saying, and I try to interject, but he continues.

"If I had died that first day I left your home, if I hadn't spoken to Gaara that day, than I would have died. But he talked me out of it, tried to convince me that life was worth living, so I endured. I did my best to live in the outside world, but..." He stops, as if he is unsure if he should go on. I wait for him to begin talking again, though by the pain in his eyes, I know I should stop him.

"But... I was too weak. I couldn't survive. I was dying in an alley, but I was ok with it. But you saved me from the alley. Then you saved me again. Tell me why! If it's for Karin, then stop! She doesn't care what happens to me!" His eyes are wet with tears, and I feel guilt rising again. This wouldn't have happened if I was just nice to him from the beginning.

I move close to him, and he flinches. Was he afraid of me? I pause in my steps for a second, but move towards him again. "Kimimaro, I didn't save you for Karin. Well I did, the first time. But the second was for you." He is looking at me, but his face portrays nothing. "You've had to endure a lot, and it was my fault." I move closer to him, until I was completely ontop of him, covering his body with my own. His body stiffens, but he doesn't try to move away or push me off. "I'm sorry Kimimaro, I really am. I didn't mean to hurt you. But from now on, I promise to protect you."

"I don't understand." He says, but I don't respond, only pull him closer under me. "Tell me why." He asks again. I move slightly, "because I owe it to you." He's silent for a moment before speaking again, "you don't owe me anything. The fact that you apoligized was enough." "No, it isn't enough. I'll make it up to you, I promise Kimimaro." He goes silent again, but I feel his breathing slow down, a sign that he was beginning to calm down. "...Thank you Juugo." I smile slightly, "don't thank me. I haven't done anything yet, but I will soon."

First of all, just because I used a lot of Sound characters, that doesn't mean they were associated with Orochimaru, or that they were evil. They were, as you saw, pretty chill and kind. Only Orochimaru and Kabuto were technically evil.

Another thing, I had wanted to do a JuuKimi kitty story, but struggled with who to make their owner, and who to make the friend and their pet. It was originally going to be Naruto as the owner, and his friend Sasuke, and Sasuke's pet dog Sakura, but Peacock convinced me to stick with Sound characters.

**Quick note: This is embarrassing, but I got so into typing this story, I cried during three darn scenes! Why Kimimaro! I love you! Haha, I'm pathetic!

OK, that's it for this story, I had a wanting to do this kind of story, and wanted to try move away from SasuNaru stories. I really love Juugo and Kimimaro, and only recently accepted them as a couple type, though this can be seen as friendship than a relationship. Well, that is all for now, Ja Ne!