Mission:

"Here kitty kitty kitty!" Kiku walked slowly through the gardens, watching for any signs of movement. He had a mission: to find Mr. Snuggums and return him safely. He supposed it wouldn't be too hard. Even he could handle something like this. He heard a rustle from the bushes and went to investigate. "Mr. Snuggums?" A scared bird flew past him. Not to be discouraged, he kept up the search. He'd have that cat soon enough! Kiku knew he wasn't a great ninja, but this was a D-rank mission. All he had to do was find an overweight cat and bring the poor fella home. It couldn't be that hard.

After about an hour of searching, he finally found his target. Mr. Snuggums was crouched in the grass, staring at nearby birds. Or trying to crouch at least. His bowling ball physique made the cat about as stealthy as a house. Though the birds were staying, so either they hadn't noticed or realized how sluggish Mr. Snuggums was. He didn't seem to understand that there was no window stopping him from hunting them for real this time. Kiku approached, scaring the birds away and earning an angry look from the cat. "Here Mr. Snuggums!" He made his best purring sound, trying to call the cat over. It worked, and Mr. Snuggums came over to rub against Kiku's legs. Kiku gently picked up the cat and held him, heading back towards home while the cat rubbed against him and purred. This mission had been easier than expected!

Ten steps later, Mister Snuggums got a lot less snuggly. The large Persian decided that being held was no longer his thing, and immediately began to flail and yowl. The position Kiku had been holding him was good for a comfy kitty, but it also put his face in ideal scratching range. He yelped, dropping the cat and putting a hand to the fresh claw marks. Mister Snuggums made a break for it and started trying to scramble up a tree. Kiku had a lucky break there, the spoiled cat was too tubby to make it to the first branch. Kiku snuck up, as quietly as he could, and grabbed the cat from behind. It flailed wildly and tried to claw him, but his long sleeves protected his arms from the worst of it.

It was a long trek back, carrying a furious kitty, but eventually he made it to his client's home. When he put Mr. Snuggums down, Mrs. Premise was furious. She gave Kiku a long and angry lecture about the proper way to treat her little prince, with Kiku trying to apologize the whole time. She eventually agreed to pay for the mission, but promised to file a complaint with the village. Kiku headed for the payroll office, thoroughly worn out. Maybe he wasn't cut out to be a catcatcher after all. He reminded himself to stop and get patched up before he went home for the night. It would just be too embarrassing if his first scars as a ninja were from a cat.

[Words: 514]

Approved