This sounded simple enough when Takashi got to the scene. He was friends with cats after all. Ninneko clan members couldn't differ from simple house cats all that much, right? They all love yarn, they all love hunting birds and rats, they all love catnip and they all love some rubbing. They all purr. House cats probably know no ninjutsu or taijutsu. And they probably don't have the headband like Ninnekos do. So what really was the purpose for a house cat? To be just a nice decoration? A fur ball?
The old lady snapped the genin out of his daydream:"I know they sent you to help me. You have to help me, please! Oh dear, my lovely Baltiņa isn't feeling safe up there!" she probably recognized boy's forehead protector. The boy could smell the cat. It was sweating hard and it probably didn't have time to clean itself up while sitting on that tree. But it wasn't too high up. 8 meters at maximum. Takashi hadn't even introduced himself to the lady. He was just intrigued to know what kind of cats were housed in Iwagakure. A swift use of his cat's legs and he shot in the air. Losing the speed he had just enough time to safely grab the cat and hold it firmly against his chest. Then he safely landed with Baltiņa in his hands. "Here you are, mam!" But the cat didn't want to let go now. And it probably wasn't just because Takashi was a cat person. He still had some catnip in his pockets. This cat had picked up the scent of it. However, the cat was forcefully taken away by it's owner.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" the lady couldn't stop praising Takashi. If she wasn't way shorter than the boy, she would pat him on the head just like she was patting the cat right now. She probably was very impressed by the professional approach he had used to resolve the problem. And his approach was fast too!
"Yes, the cute boy saved you, yes he did, yes he did," the lady kept showing her affection for the cat. But Takashi was more keen on getting some answers. He was entitled to do it, of course:"So how did it get up there?" This was bugging him the most. Ninnekos easily got up trees. Way higher than this one. And they got down easily as well. So what was wrong with this cat? Why was it able to get up, but not get down?
"Oh my Baltiņa was chased by that mean dog over the street!" she pointed her finger to a homestead across the street accusing its guard dog. Well Takashi wasn't exactly fan of dogs either. Inuzukas always seemed so rough and hyperactive. Ninnekos felt way better than those dogs.
The patting didn't stop even though the cat wanted to clean itself up. Takashi felt the stink. The lady didn't seem to be much bothered about it. Takashi really wanted to ask about the cat's fur color, it's tail length and paws but he didn't want to freak out the lady by revealing his inability. The lady was way too impressed by his mediocre performance anyway. Thus he decided for a more random question:"So what does it eat? I mean what do you give to eat?" Lady wasn't ready to answer something like this immediately. She gave it a careful thought and then said:"Meat mostly," which Takashi suspected to be a lie because the cat wasn't fat or strong, "But Baltiņa loves fish too!" maybe it was mostly fish. Or only fish. Fish weren't the best thing to give a Ninneko on day to day basis either.
"Give it a little bit of this," Takashi put his hand in the pocket of his robe and pulled out something which was lied in his closed hand. He tried to pass the catnip to the lady in a way that the cat wouldn't notice it, but it's nose was already sniffing the air and excitedly waiting for it. That cat was saved from the tree and granted a nice day of relaxation.
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[Exit]
D rank mission: 600/600
Leftover: 123