"Please, help us find our baby! He's probably lost and all alone, he's been gone for three days. If anyone can find him, please send word to us, we'll do anything, all we want is for him to come home safely. He was last seen making his way towards the Forest, he liked to play in there, he used to talk about his friends that he saw in there... "

Mission name: Runaway
Mission rank: C
Objective: Find the boy and bring him back to the village.
Location: Hi no Kuni
Reward: 300
Mission description: A 10 year old boy has run away from his parents. The parents have asked for help finding their son and bringing him home. A description of the boy states that he has short black hair; he is wearing blue tunic, and light gray shorts.
Mission details: You must bring him home alive. He will resist you initially because he doesn't know who to trust, but once you've convinced him that you're trying to help he will go with you willingly.

The mission was simple, bring back the kid, ten year old, loving family, everything that a kid could ever want in this world. Why was it that these kids with nothing to want for, were always the ones who reached for the stars in the end? Konohagakure was a perplexing place, and it seemed that it was up to the genin of the village that were left to pick up the slack with dumb missions like this one. However, Sakamoto was always up for a mystery in some form, his curiosity and knowledge of the deep forests of Konoha that seemed to be being concreted as time went by was a boon for this specific mission. The ninja didn't want to admit that they were sending Genin on this mission to look for the boy, but it seemed that the jonin council was in a bit of a row following the attacks in Sunagakure, manpower was less and less able to be spent on this kind of thing. It was a shame, but it seemed that was just how the cookie crumbled on these missions. Not that the response from the Genin was anything other than the annoying, idealistic positive drivel that the feline was used to... yet this seemed to be the cursed world that he had pledge to dive head first into... But he swore if he ever had to endure another friendship speech or heard about the power of love, he would leave decapitated mice throughout the konohagakure barracks for them all to find for weeks in a pseudo-serial killer massacre of petty vengeance. He would make them wonder the depths of just how many mice could possibly be in this city before the week was out...

But for now, the so far unassigned ninja would have to work with a temporary assigned buddy for the mission, it seemed that the forest in general, on an official capacity was too dangerous for Genin to travel alone in... he'd need a partner. Sakamoto was not the kind to deal with people if he didn't have to, but, this was part of his job, so, some interaction with other ninja of the village was necessary, so the feline convinced himself that it would help further his goals. Who knows, this might be the person who could finally give him some answers to the questions he was seeking in this nation of do-gooders to begin with... yet he doubted it very much somehow. The paw print stamped letter to the Jonin in command of the missions registry was informed that Sakamoto would be awaiting his partner at a specific location nearing the mouth of the Konohagakure forest, just at the end of the training grounds. That way, people didn't have to deal with the mind blowing realization that a two and a half foot long, matte black house-cat seemed to be one of the Genin of the village hidden in the leaf, a genin that was likely, from a training perspective, just as good a ninja, if not better, than most of the Genin in the room.

However, as Sakamoto waited at the designated meeting point, he could hear the sounds of training academy students in the background. Sighing internally he briefly ran through all the various preconceptions on what kind of person he would be bound by the hip to while they scoured the forest for a missing 10 year old needle in the organic dystopian haystack. The field of the forest seemed to draw the eye of anyone who dared to stare at it long enough. There were mysteries in that forest, for sure. However, there was one thing that unsettled Sakamoto about this mission, one thing that he could not help but think about more than anything else...

'who were these friends that this kid was supposed to have been talking to and meeting in the forest? And did they have anything to do with the childs disappearance?'

[878]

Now, normally Genin missions were short, to the point, and simple. They generally required little to no combat experience, were relatively easy to complete, and above all else, usually there was little to no risk involved. In her opinion, these also were much better for bonding with new people rather than actually doing anything of worth, though of course, she was there to help the needy in any way she could, which is also what the subject material of most of them was. She met her only two current friends there, Sachi and Yoshi. It was curious to her that both their names ended in a I when she shortened them like this, though she considered it fate, and wished to have them meet in the same room one day. She had no way of knowing if they had met before, so she might as well make her own friend group. For all they know, they could even get in a Squad as well, though she preferred how her life was now rather than anything like that. Regardless, most the missions she has had were poultry compared to what she was given yesterday.

First of all, the subject matter of her mission was much more serious: a ten year old boy, and possibly a group of friends, have gotten themselves lost, most likely somewhere within the dense forests that surround Konoha and envelop the Land of Fire. Secondly, it was strictly required that you need a partner for it. The woods are supposedly dangerous to go alone in at the rank of Genin, so while it made sense, it at least helped reinforce the importance of the mission. Finally, while it seemed like a mission for more experienced ninja, much better at investigation and espionage, it was given to Genin, most likely due to low numbers of capable ninja that have been sanctioned off elsewhere. All of these factors accumulated into Xiang's mind, all coming together to form a single sentence; Take this seriously.

With the sun barely piercing the growth of leaves that hovered above the strong, study trunks and branches of the leaves, Xiang feverishly made her way to the mouth of it, right where the Administration Team told her that her partner would meet her at. The only information they gave her on them was that their name was Sakamoto, and nothing else. It was a nice name to her, though she didn't feel like bringing up that fact to them until their mission was done. She wanted to make friends with this individual, but with this type of mission, she wanted to actually make sure it got done efficiently, that no one got hurt, and that no one goofed. If anything, she was more likely to do so, since she had a somewhat carefree nature most the time, but now was not the time for that. Now was the time to bring respect to her family name, as well as herself.

When she made it there, she slowly looked around, her bright baby blue eyes gazing across the woods, surveying the area around her while searching for her partner. She had been around here before, where she unlocked her Byakugan the first time, so she knew the area a bit better than most. If they needed to, they could make a stop at the training post she had left in it. Hell, the kid might even be hiding out there, which would make the trip to and back much quicker. She highly doubted that, though. There was still the matter of finding her partner, too...all she saw was a black cat.

...Well, to be fair, black cats weren't actually very common around these parts. To top that off, ninken, while not usually feline around Konoha, could be cats. So either her partner was hiding and left their ninken to scout the area, or this cat was so independent that he could act like a Genin all on his lonesome. Whatever the case, she wanted to make a good impression, so she walked over to it, got down a bit closer to their level, and waved at it.

"Um, hello...I don't exactly know what you're doing here, but I have two guesses at least. Your kind aren't very common around here, so I'd have to guess you're a foreinger's ninken...or you're my partner, Sakamoto. Which is it?"

[Current WC: 743/1500]

With the black furred feline abruptly interrupting her greeting and questioning, Xiang had confirmed that her second observation had to be correct; this cat was her mission partner. Purrfect. Not that she had any problems with that, as she was at least certain the Administration wouldn't send a cat unless they were confident in their abilities as a Shinobi. Not only that, but independent, talking animals also weren't extremely uncommon in the world. You just never really heard stories of them being fully fledged Shinobi, since they usually were designated as partners for humans. Regardless of all of that, right now she needn't worry about him in terms of species, just his prowess and whether or not she could get his attitude under reign or not. That was one thing she would not tolerate, as they had a kid, and possible friends, to rescue, they didn't have time to bicker and work without unity. Other than that, she figured it was time to try this again.

"...Yeah. Sorry about that. I usually end up training so much I don't have time to review the basic terms of our culture. Let's start over, alright? I'm Xiang Hyuga. It's a pleasure to meet you, despite that interruption."

Having gotten that out of the way, she simply rested her delicate, firm hands on her hips, staring down into his amber orbs, waiting for a reply from this Genin cat. It seemed he was in deep, internal debate with himself about a topic she couldn't even begin to fathom, so she wanted to be patient and wait. When he did decide to finally answer, she was going to lay out her plans for how she wished to go about this mission, and gather his input to better bolster it.

"Yup, I'm your mission partner if it's about the missing kid. It would also highly benefit us if we worked together as well, I'd appreciate that. As long as you reign in your nippiness. We don't have time for that if we're to get him home safe, especially if there's more to this than originally anticipated. Anyway...I have pretty good eyesight too, and I can obviously see chakra pathways and tenketsu. It could be useful for tracking him down if even your feline senses can't get him sight wise. The tracking would be a good idea too. Otherwise, I don't know how skilled you are in combat, but if you have to, use me as a shield. I'd rather get hit than you due to your physiology. As for how we go about this...I know a few places in this forest already, so we could check those out if we come up with a blank sometime soon. Other than that, we could probably lure him, or whatever might have gotten him, out with food. A hungry child, adult, or monster isn't very keen on seeing it as a trap, after all. What are your suggestions?"

[Current WC: 511 + 743 = 1254/1500]

Sakamoto wasn't used to getting shot back at, and quickly found himself being on the back-foot. He would be ready to retaliate in kind as his fur began to pin backwards and his face twisted into a snarl, standing to face the ninja and ready himself. But no sooner had he done so the comment had been completely dismissed, as if it were nothing. 'She can't talk to me like that!' Sakamoto would think to himself, though, before he had a chance to reply, they would have gotten moving. They had a child to save, so, Sakamoto for the first time in a long time, if not ever, was forced to swallow his pride for a moment and continue moving on regardless of the feelings that had been summed up inside him. 'Who the hell is this woman!? Thinking that she can talk down to me like that... I'll show her, I'll single handedly end this mission and prove that I'm not some house cat that can be out-done by some second rate human ninja...'

Sakamoto was fired up, and soon enough he would bolt through the forest like black lightning looking for any sign of the child. Letting out a meow, he would activate his duplicat technique. In a resonance of shadow, from around him ten copies of himself wearing different colored bandannas would emerge, though they were slower than he was, each of them possessed many of the same skills as the original, and would be indescribable save for their colour variation. The litter of cats would fan out in every direction, hoping to comb the area in search of any sign of life. Broken twigs, footprints matching the gait of a child, scents that seemed out of place for the forest or anything that might have been dropped. To be honest, Sakamoto was worried, there were things in the forest that were dangerous for ninja, yet alone some wayward kid. However he was finding it difficult to talk to his teammate at the moment, although they had stressed the importance of teamwork, the stick that had been stuck in the cogs of this machine had just made that impossible...

The forest of death would rush by as the hounds had been let loose on the kid, until, sure enough there was a loud cry carried along the winds by one of Sakamoto's clones. Sure enough, the group would begin to collapse on the sound, Sakamoto, travelling alongside Xiang would turn sharply, bolting off into the distance not waiting for her to catch up or giving her a chance to do so in the slightest. He would expect her to keep pace or be left behind. Not to mention that, Sakamoto was fast. Faster than almost any other cat, faster than most Genin to a surprising extent. He would weave and leap up and down effortlessly through the low shrub without loosing speed. Occasionally he would take a swipe at a vine or something of the like in his way as if he were wielding a Kunai. Splitting it in two so that it would not interrupt his pace until, moments before they would reach their destination, Sakamoto would take to the high-road.

Leaping to the low hanging branch of a small tree, he'd run along it like a ramp before leaping off to a higher branch and repeating. Bounding one after the other until they came to the small goat-path like trail that cut through the forest. The Duplicat sat there, looking up at Sakamoto with wide eyes and bolstering an almost comical purple and pink polka-dotted neck scarf tied neatly around itself. Its tail flicking back and forth as it expected Sakamoto to arrive in a timely manner, following which one by one the other cats would also appear. through the mud that could be seen in the area, it would seem there was a trail of footprints that led deeper into the forest. Though, from Sakamoto's pearch above, he could tell that something was off about the picture... why was this child going deeper into the forest alone? They mentioned something about friends... were there any other human tracks around here? It was time to expand the search to attempt to find anything more. Leaping down near the clay prints surrounding the mud, Sakamoto wasn't able to get a scent from it, but the dirty prints carried on deeper and at least gave them a trail to follow.

As Xiang would show up, Sakamoto would either pay her no mind, or be willingly ignorant of her presence until now. Turning to her as the tracks had been found and began to move deeper, while his felines couldn't find anything of the like when it came to other human tracks. Sifting through what they found and moving on as Sakamoto would push on deeper. His felines seemed to discount several potentially terrifying possibilities... but such was anger.


[2429 words]
3 D rank jutsu trained

It seemed Xiang had struck a nerve, but at the moment there wasn't really much she could do about it. If he was going to be indignant about all of this, then she'd just have to make sure to keep a close eye on him and take advantage of his skills as a support rather than the leader. Letting him have his time to shine would be better for his pride, and then she could point out the many ways he messed up during their time, especially if he ended up screwing it badly. That being said, from what she could tell, Sakamoto wasn't a bad ninja in terms of his abilities so far. She noted how quickly he moved along the forest floor, full of broken twigs and tattered leaves, yet still silent the whole time, just as expected of a cat. While she herself did not find it as easily as he did, she too could move relatively silent, while moving almost as fast, keeping a close eye on anything she could find and making sure no one was watching them. Since the circumstances of the child's disappearance were unknown, there was no telling if they were being tailed at any time, so she made it her job to spot anything with her sharp, steady eyes. Eventually, she saw the cat duplicate himself by ten, to her surprise, and all in different varying colors too. Though it was actually kind of cute, she kept that to herself, and stuck with the main body, as to act like a guardian angel for him.

Soon enough, something had been found. One of the cats had cried out quite loudly, anyone with that was hard of hearing could have heard it. That was actually kind of a bad sign, considering if a malevolent force was behind this, they just gave away their position. Hopefully, cats were considered natural in the forests compared to a human. While her feline partner was indeed faster than her, she could keep up considerably well, especially with the tactics she used to travel in the first place, jumping off of every step she took rather than just sprinting it, keeping herself from being in one position at all times. Finally they made it to the polka dot kitty, a few human footprints beside him that led deeper into the forest. By now, it was clear to Xiang that whatever this kid was doing, it couldn't have been on their own will. Her guard was up considerably by now, a careful hand resting by the handle of the rapier that bounced on her hip, as she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

With Sakamoto having yet another internal debate with himself, she exhaled and forced her eyelids open, clusters of nerves traversing along the sides of her face as she activated her Byakugan. Now being able to see quite perfectly around herself within a thirty meter radius cone of two hundred seventy-five degrees, she swiftly looked around for any clues that caught her eye, treading lightly to not make anymore prints as to not disturb the scene. There had to be something for her sight that the cat could not see, as even though he had considerable senses, Dojutsu was much more powerful than even that. In the end, this would help them complete their mission as well.

[Current WC: 569 + 1254 = 1823/1500]