It was a day like most any other day in the village. Jirou awoke having gone to bed right after supper. He had slept through the night and well into the next morning. His body was in need of the recharge from the hard training the day before. He had been really pushing his own limits wanting to not be left so far behind Karasu. He was happy that his friend had gotten to be genin, though a small part of him was also a bit jealous. He wanted to catch up and be able to start going on missions too. He just had to keep working hard and maybe it would not be too long before he had caught up. He knew that he had started after Karasu had. Still his competitive nature didn’t care for being left behind and it pushed him to train harder to bridge the gap between them.
As he washed his face and hands and got dressed for the day, he looked at the sword that he had started training with. It wasn’t his father’s ancestral sword that he remembered admiring when he was little. For the moment though this sword was his to use and train with. He slid the sword slowly from the scabbard admiring the long blade while he held the hilt firmly in his right hand. It felt good in his hand and he smiled as Kashikoi looked at it too, “This will help us both, Kashikoi. It looks like I have a fang of my own just like you have your fangs. Together we will be unstoppable.” Kashikoi yipped in agreement and started bouncing on his paws needing to go outside to relieve himself. Jirou slid the sword back into the scabbard and stood up putting the sheathed sword into the belt that he had fashioned to carry it on his back. Smiling to Kashikoi he added, “Okay, okay. I get the hint. Let’s take you on your walk so you can go water the trees. We can maybe head towards the ramen shop to get a late breakfast too.” It was a plan and maybe it would take his mind off of Karasu being away on her mission. There was nothing he could do except work as hard as he could to try and catch up.
Jirou ran downstairs and waved towards Karasu’s father, Hiro. Hiro waved back seeing the excited pup heading for the door and knowing what it meant. Without waiting Jirou and Kashikoi were out the door and off on their walk. They walked down several of the lanes. Kashikoi took his time to explore any new smells and mark the scents with his own scent. This was his territory and he wanted the other dogs and cats to not forget it. While they were walking an older lady was seen wringing her hands in worry. She was standing in front of what one could guess was her home based on the various potted plants and garden boxes in the windows. Looking most distressed she called over to the boy and his dog. Jirou looked around seeing that he was the only other person there. Other people were further down the street, so he knew that she must be calling him over. He walked across the street to talk to her telling Kashikoi to sit. Kashikoi did as he was told, sniffing and looking at the partially open door behind her. Jirou smiled and said, “Is everything all right, ue-sama?”
The woman still wringing her hands and on the verge of tears says to him, “It is not all right at all. My cat Brando has run off and I cannot find him anywhere. You are a very polite young man. Perhaps you would not mind helping this old woman to find her very naughty cat? He likes to escape and I am afraid that I mistakenly left the door ajar and he has gotten out. Now I can’t find him anywhere. He is a grey striped cat with bright green eyes. Here let me show you a picture of him.” She goes back inside the house and gets the picture of the cat in a delicate silver frame. The cat was held in her arms and looked like he would rather be anywhere else than there having his picture taken.”
Jirou looked with sympathy and understanding. Without hesitation he answered her excitedly, “We will help you. Tracking just happens to be our specialty and Kashikoi here just loves meeting new cats.” That last part was only partly true. Kashikoi loved chasing cats, not meeting them. He would need to make sure Kashikoi stayed focused on the mission set before them. This was an actual mission he just realized and he was excited to get underway. Had he thought about it for a few more moments before replying, he might have realized that tracking and herding this cat might be more difficult than it at first seemed. “My name is Raijin Jirou. Leave it to us. We will get Brando back.” The woman smiled to him gratefully, “Bless you child. Please take this. It is Brando’s sweater and he will be cold without it. If you can have him back before dark I would be most grateful.” She waved to them both. She then turned and started back inside her home to make tea while she waited for them to return.
Jirou was grateful for the sweater since it would likely have Brando’s scent on it. He took a deep inhale of the knitted woolen fibers memorizing the scent that was a mixture of both Brando and the old woman as well. There was enough of the cat’s scent that he could tell the difference and he held it down for Kashikoi to get the scent as well, “Don’t you worry at all, ue-sama? We will have Brando back in time for dinner.”
They were off to track the cat down. Together Jirou and Kashikoi ran down one lane after another searching for the cat. This was really no easy task since Kashikoi had the scent and every time they got even a little bit close, the cat ran off again cutting behind shops and running up and over fences to get away from the barking Kashikoi. Jirou stopped to think, telling Kashikoi to sit while he drank water from his water bottle. Afterwards he held it out and Kashikoi knew to open his mouth. Jirou squeezed the bottle and Kashikoi drank from the water stream that emerged. “We need to think or this cat is just going to keep leading us on a merry chase all day and maybe all night too. Brando likes to escape. We know that. The old lady told us as much. We should try and sneak up on the cat and see if we can catch him by surprise. That means no barking when we get close,” he says, giving Kashikoi a LOOK. Kashikoi tilted his head quizzically, thinking that ‘Chase the Cat’ was really a very fun game indeed. Jirou said firmly, “No Bark. This is important. We are on a mission to reunite the cat with his owner.” Kashkoi yipped and nodded looking around and sniffing the area for the cat’s scent. Jirou sighs standing up to resume the hunt for Brando, “Okay let’s continue.”
The next several hours were spent tracking the cat that had by now been chased from every single shop in the Oak District. They continued looking and knew that the cat was still not too far off. They followed the scent all the way towards the park where the scent abruptly stopped at the base of one or the tree’s. The scent was strongest on the tree, but when they moved away it got fainter. Jirou looked around while Kashikoi made a point of marking the tree, masking the cat’s scent with his own scent. It was when Kashikoi was staring up at the tree that Jirou followed where he was looking to see the cat lying on one of the tree’s branches above them. Oh this was just great. That branch was not a very wide branch and he was not at all sure it could even support his weight. Climbing the tree didn't look like it would be too bad. It was getting the cat off that one narrow branch that might be a problem. Putting his finger to his lips he says to Kashikoi in a whisper, “No Bark. I need to see if I can get that cat down from there.” Kashikoi looks at him and seems to understand sniffing and watching the cat on the branch above them. Did the cat just laugh? The cat was surely mocking the boy and the dog.
Jirou tested each branch as he started to climb up the tree. Slowly he shimmied his way up the trunk pausing as he went from branch to branch. It was a good thing that Jirou never minded climbing trees, because he was getting pushed to his limits trying to inch his way ever closer to the cat. Finally he was on the same branch as the cat and he straddled it close to the trunk testing the strength of the branch before shimmying out on the branch that became ever more narrow the closer to the cat that he got. There he reached a point, the cat mere inches from his grasp. This was the moment that he realized that going further meant that the branch might just break beneath him. He could already feel the branch straining as he struggled to reach the cat. As the branch leaned downwards, Jirou with the help of gravity slid forward along the branch. The cat was going nowhere and seemed to be not at all happy that it had chased a stupid squirrel so high up. Holding his hand out ready to grab the cat in whatever way that he could he called softly, “Its okay Brando. Come on now. Your owner has dinner for you at home.” The cat looked to the boy and moved forward a tiny amount which caused the cat to start to fall off the branch. Jirou saw this and without hesitation or thought for his own safety he leaned forward and caught the cat by its tail pulling the cat up to him. The cat yowled and Jirou managed to get the loudly protesting cat into his arms. He wasn’t about to let go despite the fact that his arms were scratched and bleeding. He also had to get down from the tree without falling from the branch. Still holding tightly onto the cat Jirou started to shimmy backwards along the branch until they reached the trunk. Sitting up, Jirou could see the cat was wearing a collar. Taking a length of string that he had in the pouch on his belt he hooked and knotted it on the collar's metal loop. He then tied the other end around his belt. This would make it easier to hang on the cat as they started the descent downwards should the cat try and jump free. Right at the moment though, the cat seemed content to stay inside his jacket and let the boy do all the work. Jirou climbed down carefully going from branch to branch. He wondered why going down a tree always seemed to take longer than going up a tree. Finally he was within reach of the ground and he dropped down to the ground. Kashikoi jumped up on him, happy to see him and eager to continue the game, ‘Chase the Cat’. Jirou pets him and holds onto the cat telling him, “No Kashikoi. We have to take this troublemaker back to his owner. Besides, it's nearly dark and we have been at this all day.” Kashikoi whimpers disappointed but then leads the way back to the older woman’s house. The cat is nervous hearing the yips from the dog and stays inside the boy’s coat trembling until they finally arrive back at the older woman’s house.
The woman comes outside to greet them excitedly as Jirou unzips his coat showing the very naughty cat to its owner. The woman smiles and says, “Oh Brando have you been out causing a lot of trouble again? You just come right here you naughty, naughty boy. You had your mummy very worried. You just come right inside this moment and go to your room. I made you your favorite dishes.” She takes the very spoiled cat into her arms and starts lavishing the cat with affection, “Thank you very much Jirou and Kashikoi. I will make sure to let the Hokage know how you helped me. You have been a lifesaver. I hope that Brando was not too much trouble for you.”
Jirou bowed politely to her, “It was our pleasure ue-sama. He was really no trouble at all. We are happy that we were happy to help reunite you and Brando. We should head home now since it is getting dark.” It had been quite the day. Jirou and Kashikoi were hungry and tired as they started for home. The woman nodded to them both carrying her beloved Brando back inside and closing the door behind her. Jirou turned to Kashikoi and said tiredly, “Let’s go home, boy.” Together the tired pair walked home glad they had been able to reunite the escape artist and the old woman. It was the end to a very long day.
[WC: 2250]
[MFT]
[Approval]
[OOC: Claiming x2 word count Self-Modded Solo Mission rewards: x1.5 yen. Also claiming x2 self-modded mission rewards from Voting Rewards; total comes to x2.5 rewards]