Chapter 6

Fuck yes, I'm done with training for today! That means I can finally go out and get myself something tasty to eat! Well, after taking a nice, long shower and changing my clothes. Wouldn't wanna go to the BBQ place all covered in dust and sweat, now would I. With that in mind, I enter my bathroom and start taking off my clothes. Then I step in front of my mirror and take in the obvious changes that I've undergone ever since the Hokage got me my own place to live in. It's been, what, about six or seven-ish years since then, and to be honest, I've come a long way. I could still remember just how incredibly thin I used to be. Like, even thinner than those runway models you see during Fashion Week. Now, however, I've managed to fill out pretty nicely. I even have an ever so slightly visible sixpack. I'm still lean though since my fighting style is more speed-oriented. I mean, could you imagine a bulky, muscle-packed guy with a somewhat feminine, cat-like face? Urgh, I just pictured a really buff Inosuke from Demon Slayer with cat ears going "Nya~" at me... I'll never be able to unsee that. Be cursed, mind of mine!

Anyway, I digress. Other than training my body and speed, I've also spent some time trying to figure out what other talents I might have. After all, I didn't meet whoever had decided to reincarnate me here in the world of Naruto and as such, I have none of those fabled cheats that other protagonists tend to receive in my situation. I also have no real knowledge to take advantage of since I've never finished watching the anime. And my memory in regards to such things has never been good, to begin with. I may roughly know which major events would take place eventually, but I wouldn't be able to tell you when exactly or what would happen there. Unlike a few certain people who are so crazy about this anime that they are capable of reciting and performing every single fucking jutsu by heart. Like, why? Just why? Needless to say, I have to actually use my brains to gather information and figure shit out by myself. And since, thanks to my cat-like physique, my Taijutsu capabilities are rather decent, I've been focusing mostly on anything chakra-related. As such, after years of trial and error, I've found out the following:

For one, I'm really good at manipulating my chakra to either enhance myself physically or make myself nearly undetectable by retracting all of my chakra into one spot inside myself and masking its presence so that others wouldn't be able to sense it. Which is just perfect considering my occupation as a Shinobi. Other than that, I'm actually pretty decent at casting Genjutsu. Though, since I've yet to get any access to jutsu scrolls, my repertoire consists of nothing but little sense- and perception-altering jutsu to distract or annoy my opponents. Still, I can use them without any hand signs, so that's neat. Surprisingly, I'm also able to manipulate and control shadows, though I'm not yet particularly good at it. It takes too much chakra and concentration to pull off. Maybe I'll be able to do some cool stuff later on. However, until then I'm stuck with only being able to create shadow spikes to impale my enemies. I can also make shadow chains to bind people with. That's it. This whole thing also begs the question if one of my nonexistent parents was a Nara. The Nara are the clan that could control shadows, right? And if so, then I'd be technically related to the lazy cloud watcher, Shikamaru. That would be kinda weird, not gonna lie. But that's something for future-me to worry about.

Oh, and I also seem to have an affinity for lightning release. Same problem as with the Genjutsu, though. So I've been forced to improvise. My results so far? Pretty meager actually. I'm able to coat my kunai with lightning-infused chakra to speed them up and deal more damage. I can do the same to parts of my body, mainly my arms and legs, though I'm still not able to do so for my entire body. Oh, oh, oh! And I managed to create my own, personal move! I call it Lightning Claws because, well, that's what it is. I gather my lightning chakra in my fingertips around my own claws and elongate them by about four times their original length. These lightning claws are scarily sharp and cauterize any wound they inflict. It hurts like a bitch, I tell you, since idiot that I am, I tried them out on myself. They also shock the target pretty badly. I can imagine them stunning my opponent for a few seconds, which would be enough for me to get one or two more attacks in.

Enough of that though, it's time for BBQ! Yay to meat~!

~•°•~•°•~•°•~•°•~

I like cats, I really do. Even back in my old world, I did. Heck, I had owned three of them back then, and damn, they were the cutest, most lovable a-holes ever. But this particular one makes me want to change my mind. We have been stalking Tora for over an hour now, and yet this slippery feline has been able to avoid getting caught numerous times. I bet Kakashi has picked this particular mission for us just so he could get some free time to read that little book of his. I wonder what's written there, that he's so fixated on it.

„Sasuke here at point B."

"Sakura here at point C!"

"Shizuya, Point D," I whisper into my earpiece.

"Naruto here. I'm at point A!"

"You're slow, Naruto." Kakashi remarks. "Alright, Team 7... Hm? The target has moved! Follow it!"

"It's right over there behind the bushes!" Naruto whispers.

"What's your distance?" Kakashi inquires.

"Roughly ten meters. Can go at any time!" Naruto informs him.

"I'm ready, too!" Sasuke confirms.

"Me as well!" Sakura joins.

I was about to tell them that I, too, am ready, when suddenly a brown blur jumps at me, making me fall to the ground. Then, my assailant decides to rub itself against me and purr. Yes, purr. A cat. A very specific cat with a red ribbon around its ear. Our target, Tora.

I look down at the feline in wonder. After making us chase it all over the village, why would it suddenly willingly jump into my arms? I have always been under the impression that animals were easier to understand than humans. Go figure. Nevertheless, I start petting its fluffy fur. The purring grows louder.

"... Shizuya? Status?" I hear Kakashi's worried voice. I lift my hand to reach for my earpiece, but halfway up Tora clings to my arm and guides it back down onto its belly.

"Listen here, Tora, I do enjoy petting you, but I really need to speak to my team now," I tell the cat. It seems to understand me and lets go of my arm, albeit somewhat begrudgingly. Who would've guessed that cats could be this expressive.

"Target got me," I tell the others, which earns me a collective "Huh?!". Seconds later, my team arrives and looks at me, lying on the ground with a cat sprawled on top of me, purring louder than a vacuum cleaner.

"Err, good job?" Kakashi says somewhat unsure. Yeah, I get it, I also don't know how this happened.

"So the little beast can actually look pretty sweet if it wants to, huh? Let me hold it!" Naruto exclaims and grabs the cat, only for the feline to start hissing and scratching at his face. The blonde curses at the cat before letting it go. The four-legged terror, upon release, instantly jumps back into my embrace. I really can't fathom just what it is that makes this cat like me this much, but it helps complete our mission, so it's fine. Ah, now that I think about it, it could be because I'm part cat myself. Who knows.

The moment we walk into the Hokage's office, Lady Shijimi, the cat's owner, instantly zooms in on the poor thing and almost squeezes it to death. No wonder Tora keeps running away from her, I would too. Sakura seems to share my view, Naruto, however, is brimming with schadenfreude, laughing at the feline's suffering. How about we try squeezing the ever-loving shit out of you, huh?

Kakashi, meanwhile, reported our mission completion to the Hokage. The old man just hums and takes out a scroll.

"Alright, the next mission for Team 7 is... let's see... to babysit the chief counselor's boy-" The Hokage begins to read out the assignment but gets interrupted by Naruto who loudly complains about wanting real missions. I tune him out though; his voice is really annoying.

I'm fine with just standing somewhere off to the side and staring out of the window. Suddenly, the Hokage yells for somebody to come in. Shortly after, the door opens and an old man with a sake bottle in hand, and clearly not as sober as he probably should've been, stands in the doorway leaning against the doorframe. Please don't tell me that that's the guy we're going to have to look after.

"What's this? What's with this bunch of little squirts?" He looks at us displeased and takes a swig from his bottle. "Especially the tiny one with the stupid face. Are you really a ninja?"

"Who's the one with the stupid face..." Naruto laughs before looking at Sakura and Sasuke, both of whom are definitely taller than him. The expression he made the moment realization dawned upon him was priceless. He immediately runs over to me and looks. Yes, you blond idiot, I am also taller than you. If he was not angry before, now he most certainly is.

"I'll kill him!!!" He screams and if Kakashi hadn't held him back, he would've probably lunged at the old man and torn him to shreds. Or gotten his ass handed to him courtesy of a sake bottle. Those things are surprisingly sturdy and can really hurt. Though, if brick meets bottle – who can predict the outcome with certainty.

"Ma~ Ma~ Naruto, you can't kill the person you're supposed to be guarding." Kakashi chides him.

"I'm Tazuna, a veteran bridge builder. You better put your lives on the line to protect me until I reach my country and finish building my bridge, ya hear?!" The drunk old man introduces himself. I gotta say, I don't like his attitude at all. Wasn't this the mission where we would meet the big sword dude, what's his face, Zabuza Mochi or something? Nah, that can't be it. Who would name a mean-looking character like him after Japanese rice cakes? Anyway, if the old man's gonna continue being a dick, I may or may not decide to accidentally overlook the enemy attacking him. Whatcha gonna do 'bout dat? Whelp, too bad. Client dead. Whoopsies. Gotta try harder next time, tehe~. God, that was so cringe. The only thing worse than that would've been me doing the "UwU". But let's not go down that rabbit hole.

Having received our next mission, I return home and start packing my stuff for the next day. I even make a damn list and triple-check everything just to be sure that I haven't forgotten anything. Especially when it comes to weapons, rations, and my first aid kit. Better be safe than sorry. If I remember correctly, both Naruto and Kakashi get hurt during this mission; Naruto curtesy to his own stupidity – I mean, who in their right mind stabs themselves in their hand, for fucks sake – and Kakashi due to blocking a blow from the sword bastard. At least that's what would've happened if the story followed what I had seen in the anime. With me there, however, there may be a possibility of the plot changing. Not that I particularly care since I can't remember much of it anyway, and most shit would still appear to be new to me. But hey, I'm not gonna complain if whatever little knowledge I have actually remains relevant. Let's just hope that there won't be any major changes and leave it at that. Fingers crossed.