A game of cat and mouse

Mission Details:

Calm, cool, collected, casually as well as completely competent. That was Coco in her tracking skills. From roof to roof she leapt, the sounds of her movements were completely disguised by the rain fall. The sound of her footfalls might have been noticed by a ninja from Amegakure, once used to the sound of ever pouring rain. Her target however was not so blessed. They grew fat and lazy, while allowing their hunting skills to rust. Yes indeed the stray cats of Amegakure where no match for our heroine.



What made the mission all the more strange was that it was a D-rank mission. Yeah, running after cats, was a D-rank mission. Well it wasn't so much the cat, but their master. That was the theory at least. Recently the cats all over the city had gone completely wild. Domestic cats had been escaping their owners in hordes. They were becoming oddly aggressive, and frighteningly capable. Frighteningly capable as in just that morning Coco had actually been in a sword fight with a cat. Just let that sink.

The moment she saw the mission to investigate a possible rouge shinobi hiding out in the slums. She took it, that was the only possible reason. How else could a cat sword fight? Yes there was something fishy going on here, and it wasn't just the cat's food.

At the moment Coco was stealthily following a pack of five feral felines. They trotted through the slums of Amegakure like they owned the place. Which if you took in the population of cats vs humans was pretty likely. She'd been following the group ever since she'd seen them mug a woman earlier in the evening. They were getting bolder, more powerful, vicious even. Not like the fat boring beasts everyone had grown to known.
These cats were killers.

So with all due caution, and sneakiness Coco crept. Crept like only a ninja could. In fact she crept so well not even the keen ears of a cat could pick her out among the rain. The foolish cats lead her right to their lair. An abandoned factory at the far reaches of the city. It was only at this moment that she considered telling someone where she was going. She quickly shook the thought away. Her not coming back would mean that she would have failed. And as we all know, Coco doesn't fail.

Then inside of the factory had been converted into a make shift throne room. A throne of cinderblocks and rebars stood at the center of the abandoned building. A hood shrouded figure sat upon that throne, and before him dozens of cats stood in line. Each cat approached, set an offering of weaponry or gold before the figure's feet, before fleeing back into Amegakure to claim more prizes for their king.

Silently moved among the rafters of the factory. She couldn't quite make out the man's face. She just needed a good look at him and her mission would be complete. She had the location. It was entirely undefended, so no notes were needed on that front. Now she just needed to know who she was up against. Whoever he was need to work on the stealth part of being a ninja. Still Coco had to be cautions. Lack of subtlety didn't mean a lack of power.

"Meow meow meow meow." She whispered taking one final leap into a proper position. "Gotcha." She breathed.
Now from the proper angle Coco could see a rain village headband hanging from the man's neck. A traitor it would seem was amongst. Through the abandoned building swept a powerful gust of wind. Strong enough to knock the man's hood away from his head. Coco almost gasped. Under the hood this man was sporting a white pair of human sized cat ear. Yup someone like that probably wouldn't be too hard for someone to identify.

[TWC 650]

[approved]