Mission: The Generic Cat Mission (Hayaku, Ochiba)

Age : 30 Posts : 644

Today was the big day. There had not been a bigger day in his life. Not the day he first went to the orphanage. Not the day he joined the Academy. Not the day he graduated. No, this was most definitely the biggest day thus far. Why was that? Because...it was his first mission. Now maybe, in the big scheme of things, this mission wasn’t all that important. But in a small way, it helped his village, and it surely was going to help out this poor woman and her cat. He felt lucky that the mission was catching a cat and not shoveling fecal matter, although he didn’t doubt he wouldn’t be doing that at some point if he didn’t prove he was Chuunin ready soon enough. And today was step one for Ochiba in doing so.

He stood in front of his bathroom mirror, looking himself over. His forehead protector rested square on his forehead, the red cloth covering his brown hair. His black, hooded robe covered the rest of his attire, except for his black gloves and black shoes. This didn’t help with the humid environment he was in, but he would risk uncomfortability to stay camouflaged. His harness, although not visible due to being the same color black and hidden within the robe’s slots specially designed for it, held his two instruments of war firm to his back. Bloodhound and Birdcage, the two friends he held most dear to his heart and trusted the most, were dressed just as he was, except for one thing. Their faces looked like a demon’s fact. Their hoods were covering their red hed so that they wouldn’t frighten the locals.

Ochiba looked down at his right hand, the one holding his own mask. He brought the face side up to his forehead, resting his protector against it. He took a deep breath in, thinking about all the hard work he had put in to get to this point and all the hard work he was going to put in to get where he was going. He opened his brown eyes once again and placed the mask snuggly on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror one last time. His appearance matched, almost perfectly, that of his puppets now. Ochiba hooded himself and left the bathroom with a sharp, focused turn.

As he was walking toward the front door, his adopted father grunted in the way he always does when he wants Ochiba’s attention. His head swiveled so that Ochiba could see him with his right eye. The man sat at the table, feet on the grain and newspaper in hand. Ochiba noticed the fake leg, admiring the craftsmanship of it and wishing that circumstances could be different and that the beautiful piece of machinery could have been applied correctly. ”Good luck.” Ochiba looked at the man’s face. He hadn’t looked away from the newspaper he was reading, which was fitting.

Ochiba faced him completely and gave a bow, not saying anything for he was much too focused. He then turned around and left his humble abode.

With the wind to his back and the streets full of people, Ochiba Hayaku marched quickly through the residential area, careful not to let his face show. He was most certainly not ashamed of what he was wearing. It was a clever tactic if he thought so himself. He just didn’t want to needlessly frighten the citizens of Kiri. He kept his hands slightly back, making sure the limbs of the puppets didn’t swing too much as he made his way through the busy streets.

He approached the house that was the home of the woman that asked for the mission to take place. He knew all the mission details by heart, but he felt it was best to speak with her before taking action in order to better understand any mission details left out in the description and get a better idea of where to search for the cat. His mind entered utter shock as he saw this woman and how she lived. She was a rather obese woman, and although he didn’t judge her for that, he couldn’t help but judge her for the amount of feline companions she had. The porch and front yard were covered in cats, the vast majority of them heavy as well. He took a deep breath and refocused, putting his initial thoughts out of his mind. Fortunately, he didn’t have to make the first move in this conversation, because she ran down the steps towards him. Well, I say ran, but it was more of a hobble.

”Oh dear! You must be the shinobi they sent to find my poor kitty! Blah blah gone for days. Blah blah never gone this long. Blah blah pink nails and bowtie blah blah.” Ochiba tried his best to focus, but she spoke so frantically and quickly that it was almost impossible for him to pick up anything she said. The only thing that was really helpful to him was that she pointed down the road and said something about a “dark alley that she wouldn’t dare traverse in fear of getting her shoes wet with the grime that leaked from the trash cans.” Briefly, he thanked her and marched in the direction she pointed.

Despite this slight delay, he was still ready for action. He knew his mission was to return this cat safely and he was going to settle for nothing less. No matter who or what stood in his way, he was determined to overcome any obstacle This cat would be rescued whether it liked it or not!

Word count: 950

Age : 30 Posts : 644

This must be the alley that the woman was talking about. Ochiba stared upon the dark, dirty alleyway. Grime was everywhere. The trashcans leaked lakes of slime and sludge from grease and wasted food. There was no going around it. If he were to successfully complete this mission, he would have to check all the sports the cat could be before venturing elsewhere. With this in mind, he tried to formulate a plan. He could send one of his puppets out to bang on stuff and try to scare the cat out. Then he thought about that. It might just scare the cat into going to opposite direction. It might also scare the cat into staying where it was and not coming out, making this more difficult. The cat might also be injured, and unable to move, which wouldn’t help at all. Or maybe it was injured and moving quickly away from a loud sound would make it worse. Or maybe it was trapped in one of the trashcans. Oh God, he thought. Having to open one of the trash cans may just be more unbearable than healing the cat’s potential wounds. But, in the interest of completing the job to the best of his abilities, he would at least look in the trash cans, and if there were no other option, he would dig through the trash. First, however, he would look under everything, starting from the back because he would rather risk the cat running out into the wide, open world than running to the back of the alley and him crashing into a nasty trash can in his hurry to chase it.

Before venturing into the abyss, Ochiba undid the harness that held his puppets firm to his back. He left the harness, as well as Bloodhound and Birdcage, on the relatively clean ground. If he did manage to find the cat and it was a runner, he would rely on Birdcage to trap the cat. Actually, now that he undid the harness, it would be easier to put the cat in Birdcage anyway. He walked slowly into the undesirable environment, focused on the task at hand. Slowly, methodically, he observed the nooks and crannies that he could, thinking about where he’d check on the way back through. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of pink. He looked down. Under a dumpster covered in sludge and grime was a pink bow tie, now dirtied by the surroundings it found itself in. Thinking back to the mission details, he remembered that the cat had a pink bow tie that was likely to become displaced. This was definitely something he couldn’t pass up. Carefully, slowly, he squatted to the ground, trying to get a better look at what was under the dumpster. He saw fur and pink nails. Oh thank God, he thought to himself. Even more carefully, he laid out flat, examining the area his body would be beforehand so that he didn’t get any muck on his clothes.

The cat and Ochiba made eye contact. Desperately, the cat began to meow. The fat cat had gotten itself stuck underneath the dumpster, unable to move due to the excess weight. It had been several days, presumably, of being unable to move, eat, and drink. Ochiba’s first thought was that the cat was probably highly dehydrated, and in order to gain the cat’s trust, he should bring it some water. He launched himself to standing and bolted out of the gloom. He passed his puppets on the way out and, telling himself it was okay to leave them because he would only be a minute, went into the shop next door. In exactly one minute and fifteen seconds, Ochiba was out of that shop, this time with a bottle of water. He bolted back to the dumpster, almost passing it in his hurry. Again, carefully, he dropped to the floor. He opened the bottle of water and then realized he had no way to get the water to the cat. He panicked for half a second before realizing the lid itself was perfect for this situation. He poured a small amount of water into the small lid and, as carefully as he had gone to the ground, slid the water to the meowing cat. Momentarily, the meowing stopped as the cat tried to figure out what was going on. The second it realized that water was now in front of it, the cat started lapping it up quickly. When the lid flopped over or when the cat would stop lapping, Ochiba would pull the lid back out and fill it again with water. This happened over and over until half of the water had been consumed. Feeling confident in the cat’s trust in him, he prepared for action. He stood, thinking of a plan.

The thought of lifting the dumpster crossed his mind. He grimaced at his own idea. The dumpster was covered in gunk. He also didn’t know how heavy it was going to be. However, he couldn’t think of any other way, so Ochiba decided to man up and attempt it. He walked over to the side opposite of the way he came in, squatted down, and carefully placed his hands in a relatively clean location. He tried to keep his eyes on the ground around him, looking for movement from the cat if he were to be successful. He tried to lift it with only half of his strength and realized the dumpster was heavier than he realized. He took a deep breath and instantly wish he hadn’t, for the dumpster reeked of dead fish. He cracked his neck and tried again, this time making sure he used all his force and leg power. The dumpster lifted slightly, and the cat bolted out. Godd***it! The cat was running towards his puppets and the way out. Ochiba dropped the dumpster and bolted towards his puppets, hoping he could get in range before the cat got past the point of no return. The cat was extremely fast, and hope was fading fast. Ochiba activated the jutsu, sending chakra strings from his fingers to Birdcage. Ochiba skid to a stop, focusing all of his concentration on the move. He opened Birdcage’s torso trap and stood him up. The cat jumped in fear and ran back towards Ochiba. Knowing that the cat was going to get past him if he didn’t do anything. Bringing Birdcage forward toward him and the fleeing cat was step one of his reaction. Step two was to yell loudly. This too caused the cat to jump, and luckily, Birdcage had moved forward than Ochiba had intended, and the cat landed in the bottom of Birdcage’s trap. Shocked and with surprise written on his face, Ochiba quickly reacted and closed Birdcage’s trap. He stood a moment, unsure of what to do next. When he realized he had caught the cat, he let out a victory cry, fully enjoying the ecstasy of the moment. He began to slowly walk out of the area, using his full concentration to move both him and Birdcage, as well as being careful to not harm the cat. Before he got too far, he remembered to pick up the dirty pink bow.

Carefully, using his actual hand and not just chakra strings, he set Birdcage down. He picked up his harness and ran it through his robe, which had managed to stay mostly clean, surprising. He made a note to wash it, anyway. He attached Bloodhound to the harness. With Birdcage still on chakra strings, Ochiba slowly walked towards the woman’s home feeling very successful in his mission and excited for the next one.

Word count: 1300

Jutsu used:

Spoiler:

[OOC: MISSION COMPLETD!}