Mission Title: Catch that cat!
Difficulty: D
Location:[/b] -set-
Reward: 20,000 ryo
Objective: It seems that a little noble girl, by the name of Kimi, has lost her oh-so-sweet Mister snugglywugglycuddlypoofy-kins. The long haired cat has been spotted across the village, sighted by multiple people. Her parents have posted a nice reward for bringing the cat back.

One thing. The cat is an escape artist. No matter your rank he will escape from you at least twice, clawing your arms and shoulders up getting away. The second time he escapes he will flee up a rather tall acorn tree, taking pleasure in knocking the acorns off onto your face and head. After a few minutes the cat will realize that he is stuck in the tree, and you'll have to get him back down.

If the feline is harmed in anyway you have failed the mission, and you will not get your pay.
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This mission was going to be so simple, and it has a good price too!

All she had to do was catch some family's cat? Semasu could already taste the doughnuts she was going to buy with the prize- still, the mission seemed almost too easy for such a good price; somewhere inside Semasu- she could feel that this mission was not as simple as it sounded. Soon she found herself at the address written on the paper she had copied down from the mission board, this mission was right in the center of the village and very populated; surely she could find several eye-witnesses to point her in the cat's location. She knocked politely and waited a few moments until a man came to the door, presumably the father; he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway as he studied Semasu.

So... you think you got what it takes to catch that cat, right?

The overall seriousness of the man disturbed Semasu somewhat- he seemed rather... certain that she would fail in catching this cat. She just nodded and held his gaze without blinking until he blinked first. After he lost the blinking game, he seemed somewhat impressed by her determination.

Hmm... maybe you do have what it takes. I have a fair warning though... this cat, is unusual- the last two shinobis that tried to catch it, failed. The first one quit after chasing it into a mine field on the south side of the village; the second one... well, I don't really know what happened to him exactly. Never saw nor heard from him again after he went to look for it.

Truly this man was serious when he explained the situation to Semasu; but those were just ill-prepared Genin's, right? Regardless, she was confident that she could catch this cat... one way or another. The man interrupted her thoughts again.

Well, I can see you still want this job and I appreciate it; I would have just felt bad if I sent you off without telling you what happened to the others. Anyways, I have a condition to the reward. The cat cannot be harmed, the reward will be forfeit if it is.

Semasu could understand the logic of the stipulation, the request was quite reasonable... he was after all, sending shinobi to catch a cat- some of those shinobi with PTSD might go a little overboard... at times. She waited and began to take notes in her little book as the man explained the physical appearance of the cat and what it liked and disliked. When she felt she had enough information, she thanked him and took off, ready to ask people if they had seen it.

It only took her around half an hour to find the current general location of the cat, there were several trees in this area- close to the forest. She walked around and studied the footprints of those who traversed here recently. Fortunately very few people had walked around here since the last rains, she easily found a set of cat footprints. Following them she came to a small bush and jus underneath was this cat- laying leisurely beneath the shade against the sunlight. It was a long-haired brown cat with large whiskers, the look on the cat's face was that of a peaceful & relaxing nature... or was it an evil grin?... Semasu was not too certain all of a sudden once the cat had noticed her approach.

Hey kitty, what's your name? I'm here to take you back to your family

The cat had been quite content to the spot and hadn't paid much attention to her when she spoke; it had even allowed her to pick it up and pet it. It loved the attention, but at the mention of returning to its family- the cat no longer wanted to be caught. The thought of being hugged to death by the family's little girl and be given baths in cold water terrified to creature- semasu had been caught off-guard by the cat; she had not expected any kind of violent reaction from this lazy cat who had let her approach so easily.

The cat growled very loudly and scratched her forearm, the most readily reachable spot, out of reaction, Semasu dropped the cat. As soon as the four-legged critter's feet touched the ground, it took off at a bolt; all the while growling. The brown fur ball kept running as Semasu picked herself up and took after the cat. She chased it around a small clump of bushes, aware that if she kept chasing the cat- it would just run away even more... but what could she do besides chase it?

The she got an idea, she reached into a brown paperbag at her side and stopped chasing the cat abruptly- so much that even the cat stopped and looked back at her. Semasu kneeled down to the ground and held out her last doughnut, chocolate doughnut with strawberry filling- this cat didn't deserve it, but it was her best shot at catching it. The wind blew favorably in the cat's direction and it smelled the doughnut. Its mouth began to water and it inched forward slowly, ever watchful of the pursuer.

The cat took a small nibble and then backed away quickly, but Semasu had made no attempt to grab it; having tasted the doughnut, the cat could no longer refuse the urge for the doughnut. it inched forwards again and licked the doughnut until it was confident that it could eat the doughnut without worrying. As soon as the cat dropped its guard though, Semasu grabbed it and help it close- the cat, more upset that it lost the doughnut than being caught, hissed and scratched at Semasu again. She held stronger this time, but the cat dug its claws in and climbed over her shoulders and out of her grasp.

Semasu grimaced in pain as the cat leapt away and climbed a tall tree. As it climbed the branches, lose acorns fell and bounced off Semasu's head; she shielded her face and cursed silently to herself...she was going to get that cat. the cat stopped on a high branch and looked down at her, gleefully aware that it was "safe" from her. Its tail wagged happily and it purred to itself; its purr suddenly stopped though in unison with its tail- when it realized that it could not get down from its perch.

Semasu crossed her arms and waited patiently and enjoyed the moment as the cat suddenly looked terrified. After a moment of resigning its pride, the cat looked down helplessly and began to meow pitifully. Now was the critical moment, it was time for her to save the cat and earn its trust... or t least break its spirit. She focused and summoned her chakra to her feet, she took a step onto the tree and began to walk up it casually, acting as if it were natural. The cat- mortified at her apparent ability and had waited for the cat to show weakness.. finally accepted its fate, it knew it would not escape this shinobi. It lay as flat against the branch as it could to make sure it didn't fall and waited for Semasu to approach.

Semasu approached slowly and wrapped her arm around the cat, this time t did not fight back. She walked down the tree and made her way back to the family's house. The family was quite happy to see their cat again, the cat though- seemed to be dreading the reunion and produced a meek meow at seeing the little girl with beaming eyes at the sight of her loved companion... Semasu was certain that she would see this same mission again on the mission board.

I'm impressed, glad to see our cat is brought back safely. here, please take this letter to the hel-Center to collect the mission reward.

Semasu thanked him and looked pitifully at the cat, the cat was looking at her with hope; but knew it wouldn't be so. Semasu was certain she would see this cat again.
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1,359 words