297. The Legendary Whisker

Beep…

"Ayaka here! I am at point C. Over!"

Beep…

"Yakumo here! I am at point B. Over!"

Beep…

"Hanabi here! I am at point A. Over!"

"Okay, Squad three!"

Hm?!

"The target has moved. Follow it! Out!"

Beep…

Izuna ends the radio conversation.

Whoosh…

A small agile shadow quickly dashes through the forest.

"Quick! Catch it."

Ayaka, Hanabi, and Yakumo dashes towards it.

"Yakumo! It's running towards you."

Ayaka informs Yakumo on the comms.

Whoosh… Haaah…

Yakumo dives into the shadow to catch her.

Swoosh…

The shadow performs a somersault in mid-air.

AH!

Bam…

Yakumo face plants on the ground. Dirt smudges on her face.

Fwoosh…

The cat jumps on top of her hairs.

Meow… MEOWWW…

It scratches its claws on Yakumo's head and face and makes a mess of her hairs.

MEOW…

The cat stands on its hind legs and swaggers away.

"Damn you! Just you wait! I will mess you up once I catch you." Yakumo grits her teeth in anger.

Whoosh…

The cat dashes away.

Yakumo takes out a painting from her bag. She quickly strokes with her brush to cast a genjutsu.

Beep…

"Yakumo! You aren't allowed to harm the target. She is the pet cat of Madam Shijimi. Besides, this cat is the bread and butter of countless genins in the village. Over!"

Izuna warns her.

"Fine!" Yakumo grumbles and stores her painting.

Beep…

The comms chortle again.

"Yakumo-chan! You are so slow. We missed the trail of the cat again." Ayaka complains.

"Let's reunite for now. We will start our search again after lunch."

Beep…

Izuna ends the conversation and walks out of his hideout.

Ayaka, Hanabi, and Yakumo walk out of their hiding spot. All of their faces are roughed up with dirt-smudged over their faces and hairs.

There are many scratch marks on their face and arms.

"Aw! My beautiful face."

Ayaka takes out a mirror from her pocket. She inspects the scratch marks on her face.

"Sensei! How is this a C-Rank mission? It's even harder than an A-Rank mission." Hanabi complains.

"I am exhausted!" Yakumo slumps on the ground.

"…"

Izuna silently stares at their antics.

Tok… tok…

Mei walks out of the forest with a basket in her hands.

"Alright, everyone. It's lunchtime!" She waves the basket at them.

"YEAH! Mei Nee-san!"

Ayaka hurriedly dashes towards Mei. Mei takes out a towel from the basket and wipes Ayaka's face.

"My cute little sweetie must be tired!"

She lays down the basket and turns towards Hanabi and Yakumo.

"Come join us! I have enough for you all!"

She takes out a bunch of sandwiches from the basket.

"I have a chicken sandwich, egg sandwich, fish sandwich, vegetable sandwiches, and some fruits and cream."

She lays down the lunch on a cloth.

Gulp…

Hanabi and Yakumo gulp their saliva. Hanabi quickly dashes towards her.

"I am quite hungry." She picks up a sandwich and munches on it.

"I am not feeling hungry." Yakumo turns away.

Growl…

Her stomach grumbles in hunger. Yakumo's face turns red in embarrassment.

"Now! Now! Yakumo-chan! It's not good to stay hungry before a mission. Come and eat your fill." Mei waves her hand.

Gulp…

Yakumo gulps her saliva as the enticing fragrance of sandwiches enters her nose.

"Then don't mind if I do!" She quickly sprints towards them and sits beside Ayaka and Hanabi.

Chomp… chomp…

The girls quickly munch one sandwich after another.

Whoosh…

Izuna flickers out of the forest.

"Leave some for me too!"

He walks towards Mei and opens his mouth.

Aah…

Mei tilts her head in confusion.

"Feed me!" He points towards his mouth.

"How shameless!" Mei snorts but feeds him nonetheless.

Ayaka cutely munches on her sandwich and stares at Izuna.

"Izuna Onii-chan is such a man child. Even as an adult he needs to be fed by others."

AH!

Izuna's expression freezes. He slowly turns towards Ayaka with a smile.

"Ayaka-chan, who told you that term?"

Hmm…

"It was Shisui's Nii-san. He was the one who called you with such a name." Ayaka happily sells out Shisui.

"SHISUI?!" Izuna's expression turns ugly.

Pfft…

Mei bursts out in laughter.

"Now that I think about it. It makes sense." She nods her head.

"Not you too!" Izuna grumbles.

He picks up a sandwich and stuffs it in his mouth.

'For some reason, this sandwich doesn't taste as good as before!'

Mei picks up a sandwich and takes a bite of it. She turns to Ayaka and curiously asks her.

"So, what's your current mission?"

Ayaka turns to Izuna for confirmation. Izuna nods his head.

"It's the Holy Mission!" she remarks.

"Holy Mission?" Doubts appear in Mei's mind.

"What kind of mission is that?" She asks in surprise.

"It is one of the sacred missions of Konoha and every genin has to perform it once or multiple times in their lifetime.

You won't be a true shinobi unless you complete this mission!" Izuna proudly declares.

"Really?!" Mei has a skeptical look on her face. She turns to Ayaka for answers.

Ayaka takes out the poster and passes it to Mei.

Mei glances at the poster and notices the cat.

"It's a cat! So, it's a cat hunt mission!"

"NO! This thing isn't a cat. It's the 'legendary whisker' of Konoha!" Ayaka shakes her head in trepidation.

"It's more agile than a ninja hound, cleverer than a fox, and it has more endurance than a horse!" Ayaka recounts the chase of the past few hours.

Ahem…

"Let me tell you the story of the immortal cat, the 'legendary whisker', and how this mission came to be known as the 'Holy Mission' of Konoha!" Izuna clears his throat and recounts his experience to the group.

Fifteen Minutes later,

"Haah… that hit the spot."

Ayaka pats her stomach and cleans her teeth with a toothpick.

"Hah… I am full." Hanabi rests against her.

Burp…

Yakumo burps and lies down on the grass.

"…"

Izuna silently stares at the trio.

'Are we on a picnic? We sure are not! Then why does it feel like one?'

Cough… cough…

Izuna coughs slightly to get their attention.

"Your mission isn't over yet. That cat won't return on its own."

"Sensei! We are exhausted after the previous chase. We will continue the hunt once we regain our peak condition!" Hanabi waves her hand.

'This girl! She is becoming a shadow of Ayaka. Even her actions are affected by her.' Izuna has an ugly expression on her face.

"See, I told you! It's the effect of your bad company on these kids." Yin Kurama opens its eyes and yawns.

Izuna glares at him.

Yin Kurama flashes his teeth and sniggers.

Izuna has a stern expression on his face as he turns to the girls.

"If you fail this mission, then the first-ever mission of Team three will be recorded as a failure and it will forever be a stain in your shinobi career."

"What?!"

The girls quickly stand up.

"Hanabi, Ayaka! Let's catch that cat before evening!" Yakumo takes the lead.

"OK!"

--------------

Later in the evening,

Inside the Hokage Office,

Hanabi has a brown cat with a red ribbon on its right ear sleeping in her arms.

"You found her!" Tsunade raises an eyebrow.

"These girls were lucky. They found it sleeping on top of a tree." Izuna shakes his head.

Bang…

The gate of the Hokage Office is slammed open. A corpulent woman with dark brown hair walks inside the Hokage Office.

"My Tora-chan?! My darling!"

Meeoww…

The cat's eyes open wide as it is startled by the voice.

"Tora-chan?! Give me a hug and a Kissy!"

The corpulent woman parts her lips opens and walks towards Hanabi.

MEEEOWW…

The cat's hairs stand up in fear. It freaks out at Madam Shijimi's appearance.

The cat jumps down from Hanabi's embrace and dashes towards the door to flee from the woman.

Excitement appears in Madam Shijimi's eyes as she stands near the door.

"Look how excited my Tora-chan is?! Looks like she missed me too!"

Before the cat could resist, she scoops her up and embraces in her hug.

MEEEEEOOOWW…

The cat chokes from the deadly embrace of Madam Shijimi. It wildly flails its arms in a struggle.

"Oh! Tora-chan wants a kiss!"

Smooch…

She kisses the cat and drenches her entire face in saliva.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama!"

Madam Shijimi takes out a stack of Ryo from her purse and passes it to Shizune.

Shizune counts the money.

"Madam Shijimi! It's twice the amount of the mission."

"It's alright! You can keep the change. Ahaha…"

Madam Shijimi folds a fan in front of her face and chuckles.

"Besides, my husband makes a lot of money! Ahaha…"

"Well!"

Tsunade has a conflicted expression on her face.

"If you say so!"

Madam Shijimi grabs the half-dead cat and walks out of the Hokage Office.

Pfft… Haha…

Ayaka and the group burst out in laughter as they snigger at the pathetic condition of the cat.

"Serves it right for its mischievousness!"