”Mission Details”:

Sayuri had been wandering for hours outside the gates of Konohagakure no Sato. She had in the pocket of her azure blue coat a stack of photographs an inch thick of a very adorable cat by the name of Princess. She was fluffy and white and had one green eye and one blue which Sayuri found delightful as they matched her own. Sadly though the lovely creature had escaped the day before from her owner’s home and not returned. When Sayuri had stopped to see if there were any missions available and they had told her of the missing cat she’d taken to it immediately and rushed to the older woman’s home to find out what she could. The woman was overcome with heartbreak at the loss of dearest ‘Princess’ and wail inconsolably as Sayuri tried to comfort her. The woman produced photograph after photograph, some in frames, for Sayuri to bring with her on her search, as well as some of Princess’ favourite cat toys and treats. And after a short negotiation of practical items Sayuri left with a stack of pictures and a single toy; a tiny bell tied inside a soft piece of colourful fabric which she tucked into her pocket.

Sayuri had asked everyone she had come across if they had seen the fluffy white cat, and it had been hit or miss. To her surprise some people had recognized the cat from some time ago, apparently this cat was quite the escape artist and regularly enjoyed venturing out into the streets alone without her owner’s knowledge. Not terribly surprising for an animal she supposed, she didn’t like being trapped inside a house, so why would anyone else? Eventually by asking various neighbours and guards and passersby she discovered that the cat had made it’s way outside the Village walls. “Well that’s just great, now Princess, you couldn’t have just hid behind a food stall or somewhere easier for me to get at you?” This was going to be a bit harder than anticipated, but the food stall notion gave her an idea and she went up to one and purchased some scraps of meat, perhaps luring the escapee out with food would work. Grumbling good naturedly she passed through the main gate and out in the direction she had been pointed by anyone who had any knowledge of Princess.

Taking the tiny bell toy out of her pocket she walked along through the trees occasionally jingling the toy while calling out in a sing-song voice “Princess, here kitty!” It felt silly to call to the cat like that, but the owner had insisted that Princess responded well  to it, so she complied. After several hours of wandering she finally made out the sound of a very distressed sounding cat somewhere in the bushes ahead of her. Pocketing the soft cat toy she moved quickly towards the spot where she heard the cat yowling, ignoring the scratches of thorns and brambles on the exposed parts of her legs as she pushed her way through the underbrush. As she finally poked her now very disheveled self through into a tiny clearing she looked down at what was thankfully the missing Princess herself, but not at all how Sayuri was expecting to find her. The poor creature was lying in a bed of moss and leaves yowling and mewling pathetically, with a decent amount of blood lying about. She was immediately concerned for the cat’s well being, thinking that perhaps it had been attacked or fallen and crawled here, but as she started to examine Princess for signs of her injuries she spotted the source of the softer mewling noise that she had been attributing to the larger cat. Princess wasn’t injured, at least not in the sense that anyone or anything had attacked her, she was having kittens.

“Oh you darling thing, no wonder you’re crying! And no wonder you ran away to be out here, it’s hard to be in pain in front of people who love you.”

Sayuri sat and gently stroked Princess’ fur while humming and keeping an eye on the sun, it was starting to set, but she still had bit of time before dark. She had done this before for other animals while she was growing up. Sat with them while they laboured to bring forth life into the world, she wished that there was more that she could do for them, but time and experience had taught her otherwise. A calm presence more often than not was all that was required to make the process more bearable for the distraught animal, and that she had no trouble providing in a serene environment like this. The warm weather had done wonders for the foliage and the leaves on the trees and bushes about her were emerald and jade green, some of the lower plants dotted with bright pink and yellow flowers. Some of the thorns that she had pushed her way through were actually blackberry bushes she noticed, and since she had been out here for sometime without anything to eat she reached over and grabbed a few and popped them in her mouth. After a time Princess quieted and turned to groom her new babies, of which there were six in total. Three that were pure white like here and three that were mottled orange and white. “Well aren’t you all just the most precious things I’ve probably ever seen. We’d best get you home before your owner cries a brand new hot springs in the middle of Konoha.”

Sayuri would take off her coat and remembering the meat she had purchased laid it out for Princess while she gathered some moss and made a makeshift nest inside it. Placing the coat on the ground she carefully transferred the kittens onto the coat nest, speaking soothingly to Princess, and then guiding the mother cat into the nest with the kittens. Picking the bundle up gently and hugging it to her chest she rose and pushed her way through the brambles, making her way back to Konoha and through the Village gates just before the sun set. She arrived at the woman’s house with a squirming and purring bundle of cats and a very happy if confused owner greeted her.

“Oh my dear! Thank you so much! My Princess came back to me, and she picked up some strays along the way, that is just so like her, she’s very compassionate you know!”

Sayuri just smiled and shook her head handing over Princess and her ‘strays’, the cat toy and the large stack of photographs, and taking back her coat. At least the kittens would be well loved, and she doubted that they would want for anything.

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