22 Immortal Cat ... Not!

Minato's POV

Once again, this morning is filled with paperwork.

Especially that of the genin teams that had recently passed their jonin's tests.

It was easy to allocate appropriate tasks for their first missions.

Well ... all except for one.

He weaved his palms together and steadied his elbows on the desk, staring that the three profiles laid out.

Senju Kanako.

Uchiha Naori.

Hyuga Ko.

The teachers of the academy gave huge praise to both Uchiha Naori and Hyuga Ko. In addition to their scores on the graduation exams and the potential that he witnessed when accessing them, putting them in Team 7 was a given.

The only variable though ...

He stared at the picture of one young Kanako.

The assessment made by her teachers back then were superb, and her scores and potentials were on par - maybe even better, then Uchiha Itachi, who only a year older, took the same test the same time and her. Now, he is part of the Anbu, despite his young age.

But six years would change most people.

Based on the report that Shikaku sent in yesterday, she fared quite well, even above the expectations of the genius and cunning Nara.

However, since the contents of the test Shikaku used required no combat ability ...

"Time will tell," Minato mumbled out.

•

We lined up in front of the Hokage's desk, with sensei beside us.

I bit my lips eagerly, wishing for a good first mission.

Though of course logic tells me that no matter how good a team is, first few missions are never grade C or above.

But one can hope.

"Hmm ..." Minato-nii-sama flipped opened the files in front of him and browsed through them.

"This one ... no. Hn, maybe this ... Aa!" He exclaimed. "It just so happened that today is one of those days."

?

"Here, how about this D-rank misson of finding the Daimyo's wife, Madam Shijimi's cat, Tora?"

?!

'Eh. Eh? EH?!? It's this active even before canon? I mean, judging by age, Tora is supposed to be at least a kitten still?'

"So here's a picture for reference," Minato-nii-sama held out a colored image for us. "Note the bow on the right ear."

'Same ... It's the same?!'

And that's how I left the office dumbfounded.

•

"Sighting of possible target forty meters ahead of location B."

"I'm in location D, coloring is certain to be cat Tora, but head is not visible."

"I am in location A, only ten meters near the target. Should I go in?"

""Go ahead.""

*rustle* *rustle*

!!!

"Gotcha!"

"Nyaaah!"

"Bow on right ear confirmed. Target should be Tora."

"'Kay, kids. Convene back at the entrance."

"""Hai, sensei!"""

I grabbled with the fussy cat as I made my way back to the opening of the forest area. And as I did so, I couldn't help but stare at Tora.

"Hmm ... Looks exactly the same. But it can't be right? Maybe the parent? But even though its an animal, a cat with markings won't look exactly like it's parent. Ne." I poked the cheek of Tora. "You're just an ordinary cat, right?"

"Grruneow!"

I poked Tora a few times more before arriving at the clearing.

"So, is it the correct cat?" Ko called out from behind me.

"Probably."

"Well, it is the correct damn cat", Sensei said.

Naori tilted her head, "Sensei knows it?"

"If you see it many times, you would too. Every single genin team of every year has to catch Tora at least once." He paused for a while. "It's almost a tradition by now, even I faintly remember catching it too ..."

'Eh? Sensei too?! Tora truly existed back then ...!'

Stories started weaving in my head till we arrived back at the Hokage office, for the retrieval of Tora.

"TORA-CHANNNNN~!"

A shrill cry from a woman was heard, and I broke out of my reverie.

Only to look up to see the famed Madam Shijimi walking over with her arms spread out.

I gingerly handed over the poor Tora, who is cringing and attempting to do somersaults to escape my grasps.

Once Tora is in the arms of the Daimyo's wife, it's face is squished against that of Madam Shijimi's and excessively rubbed.

"Oh, Tora dear. Why did you escape again this time?"

'Because of what you are doing now!'

"Your wife just gave birth to a daughter for you, you know!"

'Oh?'

"Come! Let's bring you back home to see Tora the 13th!"

'Oh! So it is Tora, regardless!'

And thus my unconceived theory of an immortal cat went to the dust.

•

"I'm home!"

Kaa-chan looked up from the folder she was reading. "Welcome back. How was your first mission?"

I slumped on the sofa across her, and replied with only one word. "Tora."

"Ah, that cat, huh." Kaa-chan chuckled, "I remember when my team had to catch Tora as well, Jiraiya got peed on."

Wow.

'Seriously, I swear that cat's lineage is way better recorded than most people.'