“Dissipation!”

No effect. Again.

Sasuke tried to concentrate his attention. It didn't work out very well, because something was constantly distracting him. After he underwent this inexplicable and, it should be said, completely unexpected transformation, the sensitivity of all his organs seemed to have increased significantly.

When he woke up after the hit, he was literally doused with a stream of sounds, smells and colours, everything became blindingly bright, deafeningly loud and began to stink unbearably. He could not remember such a rich swirl of shades around him since he had allowed the Cursed Seal to pervade his mind. But at that moment he understood what he was doing.

Now Sasuke felt like he was riding a tiger, as some used to say in the old days. No attempt to disperse this seemingly insane phenomenon has so far been successful. Once he even tried to scratch himself to throw off the obsession with pain, but in the end it didn't work either. Sasuke had grown into the cat's skin tightly, as if he had been born in it, and the realization of this confused him completely.

The bottom of the cage was cold. They locked him in a small room that somewhat resembled a hospital ward - it was empty and bright here, and everywhere was this sterile smell that you feel immediately as soon as you cross the threshold of the infirmary.

In the first minutes here, Sasuke almost caught his breath from this smell. Now, thanks to Kami, he got used to it a little, but alongside with that it was not getting easier to waste time in this prison.

The cage was on the floor, and due to this circumstance all he could see was some medical containers and seams between the floor tiles. There was clearly a clock hanging on the wall somewhere. Sasuke had no idea what it looked like, but he knew for sure that the clock was messed up - every time the second hand crawled to a certain point, it began to grind disgustingly. The grinding continued for a while and then faded away. If Sasuke hadn't been in the condition in which he was caught and dragged here, he probably would have barely paid attention to such a trifle. But in the form of a cat, it was inevitable to notice such a thing, which got him wildly angry.

The voices outside the walls, the slamming of doors and the trampling of feet were extremely clearly audible now. Behind the entrance, obviously, the guards were walking around every now and then - fluctuations from their steps, which Sasuke unwillingly caught through the pads of his paws, were accompanied by the same vibration. This vibration did not change in any way, and by its amplitude Sasuke determined only that there were two guards behind the partition door, and both, according to the harmony of movements, were no higher than chunins by rank.

As soon as the shadow of a bird fluttering outside the window flashed in the square of the floor tiles, Sasuke instinctively began to follow it with his eyes. The window, presumably, was latticed, because the spot of its light was crossed by parallel stripes, and was itself also not visible from the location of the cage. Sasuke mentally thought that this was probably even for the best.

The second hand began to hiss again. Sasuke picked up his paws and turned away. More than ever he wanted to turn off all perception abilities. He felt that someone was on the way to this room long before the doors opened, so when the partition door slid aside, he was only surprised that new visitors had not yet gifted him with their visit today.

Two pairs of heels clicked in front of his nose and stopped at some distance from the cage. A cloying fragnance of perfume filled the air, and then an imperious voice cut through it.

“Is he there?”

“Yes, Tsunade-sama. We have put him in a cage…”

“Put the cage on the table. Right now”.

Sasuke caught the sounds of a new batch of footsteps in the corridor. Shinobi boots scurried across the floor, and almost after that everything swayed in front of Sasuke, as if he had been caught in a storm on a fishing boat. Almost hitting his back against the dense barrier of the cage, he prudently spread his paws wider in order to avoid falling down.

When the flurry subsided, a bright light hit him in the eyes and immediately went out. Looking closer, he discerned a youthful face framed by strands of light greenish hair. As far as he could remember and judge, this woman was the current Hokage.

“Uchiha Sasuke…” She thoughtfully touched her chin with her hand. “Is it really him?”

Sasuke looked at her contemptuously through the bars. If he had his techniques with him, she would have no reason to doubt it.

The one with the heels, whom Sasuke had hardly seen before, hurriedly stammered: “That's right, Tsunade-sama. The report of team number seven said that he turned right during the mission. They captured and brought him here exactly as he was”.

Tsunade bent down and moved her head, examining the caged subject from all sides. Sasuke began to get bored with this execution even before the start, so now he only regretted that he could not scratch out the eyes of everyone present through the bars of the cage.

They were standing too far. Otherwise he would certainly have tried it.

“Have you checked the nature of the chakra? Have you ruled out the possibility that this is the jutsu’s influence?”

“Well, Tsunade-sama… It turned out to be not so easy”.

Tsunade straightened up, so that Sasuke stopped seeing her face. A pig jumped down on the table in front of him, came closer with a grunt and, stopping opposite, sniffed.

“What do you mean by "not so easy"?”

“We couldn't connect the analysis devices to Sasuke because... you see, it's very difficult to get close to him”.

“What?!” A fist crashed onto the surface of the table. The pig in front of Sasuke jumped up and timidly backed to the edge, making indistinct sounds. “You are a squad of the best iryonins, there are twenty-five first-class specialists in your department, and none of you managed to put sensors on an ordinary cat?” Tsunade's voice rose on a good couple of tones. Sasuke had heard that she had a short temper. “Are you kidding me, Shizune? Open the cage, immediately!”

“I don't think this is a good idea”, Shizune muttered, picking up the pig in her arms.

“Why?” Tsunade asked with displeasure, folding her hands under her heavy bust.

“The fact is that Sasuke has already escaped three times, and only a squad of special junins could catch him”, Shizune admitted guiltily. Sasuke involuntarily grinned into his whiskers. “It was, to put it mildly... very problematic. I sincerely beg you not to open the cage again. The ninja from the Yamanaka clan will return from the mission only in a few days, the Nara are busy guarding the experimental base in the mountains. If it's between us…” She bent down and, putting her palm to her lips, began to whisper, obviously so that the other doctors would not hear. Anyway, even this extremely quiet whisper seemed to Sasuke with his heightened sensitivity akin to a voice from a loudspeaker. “I couldn't find a current guard’s replacement for tonight... To be perfectly candid, we did not expect at all that the seventh team would manage to successfully fulfill your assignment. Now we have not so many strong shinobi left in the village, so there is almost no one able to catch cats”.

„Shizune, don't mess with my head. Even genin can catch cats. Ask Konohamaru or others…“

„Konohamaru can't keep up with him“.

Tsunade snorted. Then she pointedly moved her eyes towards the cage, which, however, left for Sasuke unseen.

“I see Sasuke has returned to Konoha, but he doesn't really want to stay here…”

Well, of course. In contrast to these buffoons, he had a goal, and he would come to this goal no matter what happened. Even if they turned him into a cockroach.

Shizune laughed awkwardly, but Hokage cut her off with a gesture.

“In that case, what should we do?”

One of the medics dared to come forward.

“We ordered a special medicine made of catnip from the Nara Research Center. It artificially puts one into a stand of unconsciousness”.

Sasuke noticed how Shizune nodded and continued with following:

“Tomorrow at dawn, this medicine will arrive in the village, and then we will inject it intravenously. Sasuke will fall asleep, and we can observe him”.

Were they crazy? Sasuke grinned. He remembered how he sometimes had to attend the experiments that Orochimaru conducted. What he saw and heard at the same time would be enough to make an entire anthology about human suffering. Sasuke, of course, was not filled with sympathy for these pathetic test subjects, but for the rest of his life he bore in his mind that he would never allow any rubbish to be injected under his skin. He was well informed about the consequences.

However, hardly anyone noticed his protest.

“Good”, Tsunade approved. “Until then, I will assign a guard... of one shift and three meals a day. Have you already tried to make contact with him?” She turned to Shizune, who shook her head again in confusion.

“While Sasuke was here, we couldn't get anything similar to human speech from him. He probably understands what we're saying, but for some reason he can't answer”.

Tsunade paused thoughtfully. Then she bent down in front of the cage again. Sasuke wrinkled his nose in disgust; she smelled like a vat of fermented persimmons.

“Can't he really?” Still in thought, Hokage stretched out, not addressing anyone. “Does he really understand?”

Everyone present was respectfully silent - no one decided to answer. Sasuke, of course, did not want it himself, but for some reason he felt the anxiety emanating from them. Well, he couldn't use the techniques he had learned, but this stupid transformation gave him the skill of telepathy. Just great.

Now he only had to wait in irritation until this endless minute of silence would stop.

“We don't know how much of the former Sasuke has been left, since he was transformed”, Tsunade bent down to the cage with the cat again, staring at him intently. Sasuke frowned at the Hokage in the swamp eyes, but could not discern any hint of her true intentions at the bottom of them.

“Now he has become a beast”, Tsunade said after a long thought. “The only one who can understand the beast… is another beast”. Then she decisively banged her palm on her fist and headed for the exit.

“We will definitely figure out how to deal with him. Take care that he does not escape too soon”, came from the door. “I need to work now. Shizune, make sure you will wake me up for lunch”.

“Yes, Tsunade-sama!”

Commotion around him started once more. Clothes rustled, and Sasuke was already preparing for a new wave of earthquake, but, fortunately, no one touched the cage this time. The noise slowly died out, ending with a resounding bang of the partition on the door jamb.

Sasuke was left alone again.

***

The calm did not last long. Less than half an hour later, the partition door slid aside again, and - who would have thought - Naruto Uzumaki appeared on the threshold. Sasuke involuntarily raised his fur, although he had not yet really realized how exactly he did it.

“Yo, Sasuke!” Naruto enthusiastically stomped to the middle of the room and stopped near the table, planting his elbows on it. “How are you doing?”

How should the one who has been turned into a cat and put in a cage be doing, you moron? Sasuke hissed and turned away without any wish to see this green-haired head in front of him.

However, it seemed to him relentlessly that a permeating, but somehow fragrant smell was being exhaled from Naruto, and no matter how hard Sasuke tried, he still could not get rid of this feeling.

“Come on, dattebayo! We're old friends”.

Not at all. Then, next to the hideout, Sasuke was one step from discovering the Fox. He was going to take him under control with sharingan, he would have killed Naruto if this damned transformation hadn't ruined his whole plan.

And this idiot was now standing in front of him and smiling cheekily, as if they were gathered at a meeting of former classmates. Incredibly outrageous. If Sasuke could, he would plug him.

For Naruto, this threat obviously sounded no worse than a cat's chirping.

“That’s fine, Sasuke. Why only must you chirp right away?” he grinned. Sasuke angrily turned to the corner of the cage, and Naruto suddenly changed his tone. “I understand that you are unhappy. We're all unhappy with what you've been through. You've changed so much”. Naruto put his head close to the bars and whispered confidentially: “Sakura after the mission, so that you know, didn’t give me and Sai any rest at all - she was just worried about what would happen to her beloved Sasuke now!..”

Sasuke didn't even bat an eye. He intently continued to study the corner of the cage.

Naruto raised his voice again and spoke so fervently, as if Sasuke could really get into his speeches.

“But the main thing is that now you're home again. We're with you, Sasuke! You can be sure: we will help you to get back to your former appearance. Don't even doubt it”.

Oh Kami. He didn't need anyone's help. And what’s more, he did not need it from someone like them, worthless and helpless weaklings, one of whom for some reason was now sitting in front of him.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Sasuke felt the heat with the pads of his paws and unconsciously turned his head. Oh, how much did he hate…

“You know, Sasuke, we still have one unfinished business left”, Naruto leaned forward and winked at him. Sasuke wrinkled fastidiously. “I want to fight you with equaltude, like back in the Valley of Completion. But this time… I will be sure to win!”

Damn it.

The latticed side of the cage trembled under the hit. Sasuke stuck his paw through the bars and furiously bared his teeth, flattering his ears down. He understood: no matter how hard he would try, he wouldn’t get Naruto anyway, but he couldn't keep the rage that flared up in his chest.

How did this loser have the audacity to say such a thing? To win… Only in another life Naruto can dream of victory.

“Wow, wow, hush, Sasuke, hush!” Naruto recoiled from the table, but Sasuke could barely see a shadow of fright in his blue eyes. Becoming more and more furious by helpless annoyance, he tried to reach him with his claws, hissed and bristled, but Naruto remained as inaccessible as before, and this irritated most of all. Exhausted, Sasuke left his paw in the grid. Then he turned around wearily and leaned his nose against the corner again.

“Still as wayward as before…” Naruto drawled and then cheerfully added: “Well, it’s okay, I knew that you would react this way, so I brought you something”.

Sasuke heard a rustling sound; the seemingly pleasant aroma that came from Uzumaki before seemed to have intensified at times, and this made him turn his head as if by accident.

Naruto, smiling broadly, handed him something in a long wrapper, the printed edge of which smelled appetizing. As Sasuke understood, it was a cat's treat; its advertising was being one time often played on Konoha television.

His mouth instantly filled with saliva. Naruto offered the treat in such a friendly way, so Sasuke, as if enchanted, took a step towards him. He took - and then stopped immediately.

To take some sops from nothingness like this usuratonkachi? Yes, not just sops - although Sasuke was in a new body only for the first day, Naruto, apparently, no longer considered him as a person, since he dared to bring cats’ food to soften him up.

And Sasuke almost fell for it! How could he only let himself stoop to this?..

And he also should not forget Tsunade's words about these strange medicine. What if he tried this dubious-looking thing, and it would turn out to be poisoned? Then it would come out that Naruto's visit was nothing more than an excuse under which they would finally lull him into a false sense of security... No, not for the world. He would rather starve to death right away.

Having frozen in the middle of the cage, Sasuke defiantly sat across it and did not move from his place anymore. Naruto titled his head to the side uncomprehendingly.

“What, don't you want to? Well, maybe you can try it when I'm gone, if it's more convenient for you…”

It would be more convenient for him only if Naruto left and did not return. Or, alternatively, died before his eyes.

“But tomorrow I will definitely drop by again! Tsunade-grandma said that in the morning she would conduct some kind of prognostic contamination…” Diagnostic examination, you stupid. “So we'll see you again!”

Naruto slipped the treat through the bars of the cage and, saluting significantly, disappeared behind the doors. Sasuke had seen his smiling face in nightmares a very long time ago, but now this time seemed to start threatening him again.

So infuriating.

Left alone, Sasuke approached the wrapper. Lowering his head, he sniffed carefully - the packaging smelled only of meat and flavorings, but it was not possible to recognize any signs of chemicals in this ombre.

Anyway, Sasuke didn't want to take the risk. He didn't know yet whether he could rely on his animal instincts. And if he made even the smallest mistake, it would mean only one thing - Konoha would push him under, and he would say goodbye to freedom and plans that he had not managed to realize yet.

Besides... no, he still hadn’t forgotten who he really was. Let the cat food be fed to those to whom it was intended, no matter what this Tsunade had got into her head.

In any case, the only option now was to endure and not to fall for the provocation.

The second hand of the clock, creaking somewhere under the ceiling every minute, was still annoying with its periodic rustling. Listening to it gradually became a torture, so in order not to go crazy ahead of time, Sasuke decided at least to test the strength of the cage.

After approaching the bars of the grid, he tried to bite them gently. Fortunately, he was able not to break his teeth, but the bars didn't give in either - they had surprisingly excellent quality. Sasuke arched his neck and even risked gnawing them in one place. Now the annoying creaking of the faulty second hand in the clock was drowned out by the loud grinding of fangs on iron.

As expected, the idea was a no-win from the very beginning; leaving useless efforts, Sasuke licked his lips in frustration. The nasty taste of iron remained on his tongue.

The hand of the clock continued to creak relentlessly. Sasuke tried to pretend that it did not exist, and for this purpose began angrily measuring the floor of the cage with steps. Exactly at the moment when he was doing this, the partition door moved away again. Sasuke stopped, contemptuously curling his lips. How much longer will he be disturbed?..

This time, Sakura with a tray was standing in front of him. At first Sasuke smelled its unnatural smell, and only then - the sickly sweet perfume of Sakura.

She lowered the tray across from the cage. Now Sasuke saw that there were some round things lying on it, similar to dung beetle’s balls, and something like a drinking bowl.

“Hi, Sasuke-kun… I thought you were tired and thirsty, so I brought you some water…” Sakura hung a drinking bowl on one of the bars from inside the cage.

Sasuke twitched his ear. It itched.

Sakura pointed to the round things.

“And these are... military rations pills made according to my recipe. Naruto doesn't like them very much, but you should try: they will give you strength”.

Sasuke turned away indifferently. Thanks for concern, but he was already a little tired of this charity.

Sakura pulled out a folding chair from behind the medical locker and sat down, carefully straightening her skirt on her knees. Sasuke observed the former teammate with his gaze for a couple of moments; in his updated vision, she looked too unusual: with blue hair and in the vest of the same colour with a white ring of the clan symbol that she always wore, Sakura appeared like a completely different person.

A person in whom, as before, he had absolutely no interest.

There was an awkward silence between them for a while.

“You know, Sasuke”, Sakura suddenly said. “Tsunade-sensei doubts that you can understand us. She thinks you've stopped hearing us and because you're a cat, there's nothing human left in you…” Sasuke did not react, waiting for what else she would say. But Sakura suddenly exclaimed:

“I don't believe it! I don't believe it, you can even laugh at me. Because how could I believe that, looking at those cat's eyes, I see only Sasuke behind them…”

Um. Well, okay. And how about telling him something useful?

“Don't you understand me, Sasuke? You understand what I want to tell you, right? Meow if you understand”.

Sasuke was silent. He's not a snot to meow at someone's behest.

“Sasuke…” Sakura lowered her shoulders in frustration. “But I was hoping so much... of course, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you just don't want to talk to me right now”.

He never wanted to.

Sakura sighed ruefully.

“If you weren't a cat, I would tell you so much… A lot has changed since you left the village. Our team has a new captain now, and almost all of our former classmates have become chunins…”

He saw. So, today there would be nothing more significant to expect from her. And why didn't he meow? Now this stream of consciousness would not stop until the evening.

“...Besides Naruto, he also missed the second exam because of training with Jiraiya-sama…”

Sasuke involuntarily grinned. Well, yes, Naruto as always.

“But I think it will be fine. He'll definitely catch up with the others”.

From this dull chatter, one could be drawn to sleep against his will. Sasuke did not notice his eyes falling together, but Sakura kept talking and telling him something that, as she thought, should have been insanely interesting to him.

“Naruto, he became stronger”, she giggled furtively, but Sasuke was already on his way to the world of dreams. “Although I think that he is still far from you, Sasuke. He's trying very hard to become like you. Don't be too prejudiced towards him. After all, you were friends before…”

Sasuke crossed his paws in front of him and lowered his head on them. It seemed to him that he had a dream in which the voice of a girl with blue hair sounded like a ghostly messenger.

“When you left, I kept remembering that last meeting in the alley. I blamed myself and hated that I didn't have time to stop you. Now that we have seen each other again after so many years, I understand that I never could. You've changed so much, Sasuke. You probably have become so strong now. But, whatever happens…

He's so tired. It was good that at least now he could rest a little.

“No matter how you change outside…”

Sasuke yawned, with pleasure stretching out on the bottom of the cage.

“I know that inside you are still the same as I knew you when we were first assigned to the same team”.

Please, may she just continue. This chatter was so lulling.

“And I will love you, no matter what anyone says. Now I only regret that I didn't say it then, in the alley… Or rather, of course, I tried, but…” Sakura grabbed her elbow and waved her palm, which Sasuke, however, could not even notice anymore. “But, you know, I said it too... fast, too wrong. I mean, I could have used better words.… To confess for real, you know. And in general, it all came out somehow... messy”.

Here she sighed wearily, hanging her head in disappointment. Then she lifted it up again with encouragement and smiled. Sasuke dozed off, wiggling his whiskers in his sleep.

“Oh, never mind. It's all in the past anyway. I'm glad you're with us now, Sasuke-kun”.

There was a knock. Sasuke barely opened his eyes and sleepily lifted his muzzle. Sakura was putting the chair back, and the noise during she was doing it jerked him out of his dreams.

“Okay… It seems that I have completely bored you with these conversations”, Sakura said guiltily in the end. No, Sasuke didn't think so. At least he was able to get some sleep for once. “Rest up, Sasuke-kun. I'll bring you dinner tonight”.

Sasuke stretched and sat down, looking after her. When the door shut with a slam, he wearily looked about. Pills made according to Sakura's recipe and water, in which they could also mix something, did not interest him at all.

Oh, by the way, his cage was moved to the table; however, due to the incessant flow of visitors, he did not even have time to really glance around. But from the new place he could see much more than from the tiled floor.

In addition to medical lockers, Sasuke was able to make out wide latticed windows, as he had expected, and a sink in front of him, the faucet of which - a miracle for a local hospital - did not even leak. There was a mirror over the sink that reflected one corner of his cage.

Sasuke thought about it a little and came closer to this corner to know finally what he had turned into.

What he saw did not amaze him pretty much. An ordinary black cat was sitting in a cage inside the mirror. Pointed ears, short muzzle. The eyes were yellow for some reason. Sasuke stood up, turned sideways to the mirror and waved his tail. The tail was long and thin, with a white end, and thick fur glistened on the sides. Sasuke snorted. No, even though the fur covered him from ears to heels, he still felt uncomfortable without clothes in this guise.

Yeah, he couldn’t really start anything with a body like that. Now it should be only hoped that Sasuke would find a way to regain his former appearance or to use techniques already now. And, preferably, to get out of here before that. Alive.

There was a knock on the door again, and the partition slid aside again, as if he had given permission. Sasuke gritted his teeth. Had he become the pet in the zoo that now everyone came to look at in turn?..

However, as soon as he recognized the newcomer, he discontentedly interrupted the avalanche of quarrelsome thoughts.

Kakashi-sensei was standing in the doorway, leaning on a crutch with one hand. He smelled like a dog. Very strongly.

“Yo, Sasuke”.

Sasuke silently watched as the former teacher hobbled to the middle of the room and stopped in front of the table. He looked shabby: head of platinum hair was wrapped with bandages instead of a forehead protector. Similar bandages were also visible on his chest from under a hospital shirt. Kakashi must have gotten into a lot of trouble during Sasuke’s absence in the village. No wonder there were new faces in team number seven now.

“Sorry, I am a little late”, Kakashi closed his sighted eye histrionically. “I got lost, you know, on the path of life”.

Sasuke squinted. Not because of spite - but because of the unbearable stench around him, due to which his eyes seemed to start watering. It would be really helpful to put a paw on his nose to pinch nostrils. Never before had he noticed that the former teacher smelled of dogs so palpably.

But something about Kakashi remained the same: this unchanging mask on his face and an excuse about being late, which had been getting under his skin for a long time already. Well, maybe one day their former captain would be so late that no one would wait for him anymore.

“Those two have probably already talked your ear off”, drawled Kakashi meanwhile. “To be honest, it surprised me too, when I was informed that our team had taken you back to Konoha. But when I knew you were here, I just couldn't not visit my former student. After all, of all my students, you were the best”.

Very flattering. It's just a pity that Sasuke didn't care further about the former sensei’s opinion.

Now he had others who led him by example.

“I won't talk much. I don't know how to speak beautifully, you know, and I don't know what to say that you haven't heard yet”.

But in vain. Sakura, indeed, had a good time talking, so now Sasuke at least felt himself full of energy.

“You've been with Orochimaru for a long time”, sensei recalled. “He probably taught you a lot?”

In general, yes. Sasuke got more from Orochimaru than from Kakashi. In any case, he learned at least something besides a single technique.

“I just want to remind you that no matter what thoughts he tries to prompt you to, first of all you should think with your own head”.

Sasuke grunted - as much as his mouth would allow. If he could respond now, he would say only one thing.

“You stink”.

Not that he had anything against Kakashi. But Sasuke would never have thought before that the teacher's ninkens smelled so disgusting. Far worse than durian, and for this reason it was simply impossible to be present with him calmly. Even sickness began to creep up to the throat.

“However, you shall understand this yourself. The last time we saw each other… I still couldn't convince you”.

In order to distract and at least delve into sensei’s words a little, Sasuke forced himself to think about a thin wire string that cut unpleasantly into his belly. During that conversation, Kakashi tied him to a tree, and apart from the phantom pain caused by this, for some reason nothing else came up in his memories.

That said quite a lot.

“And one more thing”. Kakashi frowned sternly. “About revenge. I know you're thinking about revenge. And I even understand why. If I were you, I would do exactly the same”. Sasuke listened unconsciously. Who would have known that their former captain had not lost his perceptiveness over the years. He was still seeing beyond the surface when talking to his favorite student. No wonder they understood each other better than those two. “Revenge, it... seems necessary, sure. However, this is still not an option. Along with the joy, revenge also brings consequences. And sometimes these consequences are simply not comparable with it. Sometimes they entail too many problems”.

Sasuke looked away. If revenge entails problems, then inaction entails problems doubly. Isn't that right, Kakashi-sensei? Orochimaru talked about your meeting with him once. You didn't even have the courage to undertake something.

Orochimaru survived, but Kakashi failed the mission. And Sasuke had no reason not to believe the first one.

Since that, the former teacher has lost all authority in his eyes.

Kakashi calmly adjusted the bandages over his left eye. Sasuke purposely did not look in his direction in the hope he would regard this as a sign that it was pointless to continue the conversation and finally leave him with these lectures. And Kakashi, it should be mentioned, understood him correctly.

“Well, that's all”, he said, turning to the door. “Good luck, Sasuke”.

Sasuke barely looked after him. With sensei’s departure, he was finally able to take a deep breath.

The long-awaited silence took over in the room. Sasuke was not bothered til the dinner time, and only in the evening, after receiving the allotted portion, was once again bombarded with prattling from Sakura. Fortunately, it didn't last long. Except for his former companions, Kakashi and Hokage, no one else visited him. They must be the only ones who got the permits.

Anyway, Sasuke didn't touch the food and when one of the medics turned off the light in his room, he focused only on how to escape from this imprisonment.

He couldn't sleep anyway: the rustling outside the window was distracting, and the restless second hand in the faulty clock was still getting on his nerves. And also because of the cat's vision, thanks to which Sasuke saw everything around him as well as during the day, he did not even feel the nightfall.

So far, he was tormented only by intense thirst. Paying to it little attention, Sasuke lay and thought.

He needed to use the chakra. Of all that came to mind, this seemed the most feasible option. After all, did he manage to run along the wall that time? Yes, he fell down, but only because he made a mistake in the proportions. A cat's body didn't require as much energy as a human one. If he tried now, he would be able to form something like a Chakra Scalpel and cut the bars of the cage.

Sasuke stretched out his paw. Focused. Damn fingers, they were too short and too tightly pressed to each other so that the flow of chakra that illuminated the skin formed something even remotely similar to a blade. Sasuke raised his other paw and put them both together. Useless. From the coordinated fluctuations of energy that he always felt in his palms when he was in a human form, now some vague swirls were obtained, and it was impossible to direct them at a certain angle.

Sasuke lowered his paws in frustration. Heck. No, he had to find a way to use the chakra correctly. Ninja cats from Sora-ku coped with it. He wasn't much different from them now.

However, each new attempt did not bring success. In the end, Sasuke was so desperate that he again unsuccessfully tried to gnaw through the bars with his teeth. They, as before, did not submit, but what upset him even more was the weakness of that wretched body, which had absolutely no endurance.

He literally had not done anything, but was already as tired as if he had fought with an entire battalion of shinobi. Five times in a row. Without weapons.

Powerless, Sasuke fell to the floor of the cage. He had heard something about cats being supposed to sleep more than half the day. But how the hell did it bother his existence now.

Mentally cursing the circumstances, Sasuke fell into a deep sleep.

The clock screeched nastily.