The sneaky cat [D-Rank Mission Solo]

It felt like it was about to rain, but no drop of water ever came down. The dark grey clouds were making this day seem a bit grim, and the lack of wind made it feel humid and hot, but it was a good thing for this mission: with no wind, it would be harder for the cat to smell someone approaching before it was too late, or so did the boy hiding in a bush somewhere in the Forest of the Hidden Leaf Village thought. His bland lilac eyes were narrowed as he looked around for a bit, trying to find any trace of the creature. While he did so, however, his mind drifted away to the recent past, less than an hour ago, when he was assigned this simple, yet challenging mission.

At the Hokage's office.

Ren was standing there, blinking his eyes a bit as he felt a bit surprised to be summoned to the Hokage's office himself - and by himself. The Hokage wasn't there, but one of his Jonin advisers were. "Ren Hyuga. The cat of Shirobana-san has gone missing. The last person who saw him said he was heading into the forest. With your doujutsu, this mission should be easy enough for you." he explained, and the boy nodded, unsure on how to feel about his very first official mission. On one hand, he was happy he was assigned a mission, on the other hand the matter didn't seem all that important. Of course he could empathize with the pain of losing a beloved pet, but on the other hand, was it really necessary to assign a shinobi to do such a trivial task? Well, maybe he was still very low tier that they could afford using him to such menial labour, but there was really no point thinking about it, right? "Ren, are you listening?" the man frowned his brow as it became clear the boy was day dreaming.

Getting a more stiff position, the boy quickly nodded. "Yes sir! I was just thinking about the mission already!" and that wasn't a lie. "Good. Well... The cat is black with yellow eyes and he has a red collar with a single bell. This should make your life easier. Then, if you don't have any questions, you may start your mission." and with that, Ren nodded his head and left the office, which leads us back to the present, at the bush.

"I can't see to find him anywhere... But there's a reason why they chose a Hyuga to do this job... Hehe!" he spoke to himself as he cracked a confident smirk. Although proud of his doujutsu, Ren still had a limited mastery over it and it required some hand seals before he could activate it. He was currently at the point where, under tension, he could activate it with only the last hand seal, but under normal circumstances, all of them were still required.

Horse, Tiger with just index fingers, Boar with nearly straightened fingers, Hare, Rat, Dog, Horse, Dog, Hare, Rat, Boar with nearly straightened fingers, and Snake with the right index finger lifted.

As he finished the activation of his doujutsu, the irises appeared inside his eyes, with small veins around it. Around his face and near his eyes, the veins popped and then the world became much bigger and impressive. Ren could see almost 360 degrees and a wealth of details for up to 50 metres. It was overwhelming at first, for most young Hyuga, but at this point Ren was already used to it and developing his bloodline limit. Within a few seconds, he managed to find the cat. He was 36 metres away to the northwest, atop a branch of a tall tree, casually resting while swaying his tail. "Found you, tricky one! Hehehe!" he said with confidence in his tone.

But finding the cat was just the first part of his mission, he needed to actually catch the creature, and cats were known for their sharp reflexes and awareness. Once again, he was glad the wind was almost non-existent today. But he had a good plan in mind and he was pretty sure it would work.

Making sure he was as silent as possible, Ren sneaked around to the tree where the feline was resting and luckily he did so unnoticed. As he got there, he quickly performed the hand seals: Tiger, Boar, Ox and Dog and a pure illusory clone of Ren popped our near him. Immediately after that, the clone ran through the trunk and up to the branch where the cat was located in the traditional Ninja walk. As the clone got to the branch, the cat immediately reacted to him and, bristling all his fur and hissing loudly, he leaped to get away from the grasp of the shinobi. As he did so, the clone vanished completely.

With the cat in midair, Ren seized this perfect opportunity. With the use of the Body Flicker technique, his body appeared right in front of the cat, whose guard was wide open and unable to properly react. Ren caught the cat and then landed on the branch. The cat began to squirm and hiss, but then the boy chuckled and started petting the feline on his head, and this managed to calm him down a little bit and it began to relax on the boy's arms. "There, there! It's okay now! Let's get you back to Shirobona-san, shall we?" he said with a kind and gentle tone as he leaped off the branch and graciously landed on the ground.

Shirohana-san was delighted to see her cat safe and sound and thanked the boy by offering him some green tea mochi, to which he promptly and happily accepted. With the mission accomplished, he headed back to the Hokage's office to report his success with a proud smile on his face. This was only his first official mission, and although it was quite lowkey, he completed it fast and skillfully which boosted his confidence for his own future as a shinobi.

Life was good.