There were around five or six cats of various blackness in front of Keisuke when he reappeared. Cats are generally given the attribute of good reflexes and speed, but with the shunshin no jutsu the genin could move close enough to grab one before they’d even have a chance to notice him. Before the human was able to blink and make sure he was where he thought he was every animal in the vicinity had somehow gotten up and was either starting to move or had already managed to run a short bit. Keisuke’s first reaction was to chase them, but he didnät have the time, and stopped himself mid-step. None of them had the envelope he was looking for.
He’d repeated this exercise a hundred times during the last minute, every time he spotted a black, or at least semi-black, cat. Time was running out and he could feel it. They had to find the damned cat right now and get that clue if they’d have any chance of finding out where their jounin was waiting… They could just hope that they’d be able to get there in time.
He spotted another cat and semi-instantly transported himself to it. It reacted first and managed to run away before he was able to get a good look, but he was fairly sure it wasn’t carrying the envelope.
his extended use of the shunshin no jutsu, a C-ranked ninjutsu, had taken its toll. He couldn’t keep it up forever, but on the other hand if he didn’t he would probably miss the clue.
He paused in a corner and tried to catch his breath, sweat was literally running his face. He wiped it from his eyes with his sleeve and looked around.
He was by the marketplace, but there was no stalls up this day, the open area looked huge and deserted. A few scraps of paper were left behind, obviously a future mission for one of the new genin teams.
“You there, boy, come here!” the voice was gentle, yet commanding. Keisuke looked around for the speaker and found an old lady sitting outside a restaurant, enjoying the warm weather. Unsure about what to do keisuke went to her, after all you should always respect your elders.
As he approached the lady ordered him to sit down and pointed with her cane at an empty chair beside her. Keisuke sat, but immediately told her that he could not stay and made a move to get up again.
“Nonsense!” The lady said. A waitress carrying a tray came by and placed a clear glass on the table. There was water inside, cold enough to draw water from the air around it to its outside. A lonely cube of ice floated around.
“Drink, go ahead. Boys like you always forget to drink, you looked just about ready to pass out over there.”
He was thirsty, and warm. So warm in fact that he feared that he might melt the ice cube if he touched the glas. His thirst won, both arms shot out and he grabbed the slippery vessel firmly and brought it to his mouth. He didn’t so much drink the water as he poured it down his throat. Around his third gulp he could feel the back of his throat freezing, but he welcomed it. The small hairs on his arms began to stand and he felt the liquid cool him from the inside.
The old lady chuckled lightly at the sight, and met his gaze with much kinder eyes when he finally put the glass back on the table.
“I must pay for it” Keisuke said and reached for his pocket.
“Wouldn’t dream of it. It warms an old womans heart to see young people running around like you do. It helps me remember what it was like…” She closed her eyes and a smile spread across her face.
“I must go” Keisuke tried again and the lady opened her eyes.
“Of course” she said, like she suddenly realised that she was keeping him here.
“Young ninja like you, obviously off on a great adventure and such… Tell an old woman, what are you running around for?”
Keisuke thought about it for a second. It could be a test, you weren’t supposed to reveal anything about your mission to outsiders, but she was just an old lady, what harm could it do?
“I’m looking for a black cat with an envelope in its collar” he said and made a firm gesture that he was about to turn around and leave. The old womans eyes opened up just a bit and he sat up straight. She opened her mouth and drew in air as if to speak and then suddenly jumped.
Her slightly crooked back became as straight as a lank, her eyes wide open in terror. “Gah!” She cried and with both hands she threw something from her lap into the street.
“Little demon!” She cursed after the bundle “clawing ld people like that, you should be…”
the rest of her rant was lost to Keisuke. He had just noticed what the old lady had thrown away. A black cat with a paper envelope stuck in its collar. It looked back at him, meowed once and took off.
“Thanks for the water!” Keisuke yelled at the old lady and started to run after the cat. After following it for just a little while he tried using his shunshin to catch up, but as he did the cat jumped to the side and he missed completely. His shunshin was getting slower, and the sudden energy he’d gained from the cold water had been drained by that one technique. He was fast enough to keep up with the cat without techniques, but couldn’t hope to catch it on his own, especially not if it decided to go someplace where there were a lot of people.
He looked around and noticed where they were heading, and then touched his com-collar.
“Following it from the market to the seven swordsmen’s compound. Need help.”
He terminated the transmission as suddenly as he’d started it and tried to focus on the animal he was chasing. Even if he got help it would be for nothing if he lost sight of it before someone arrived.
