Chapter 1 - Tailing a Cat

Uzumaki Himawari, daughter of of the 7th Hokage; Uzumaki Naruto and his wife Uzumaki Hinata, was following a cat. It was skinny, even for a cat, and had cream-colored fur with chocolate-brown markings on its ears, paws and tail. It looked just like a dozen or so other cats Himawari had seen around the city, but this one was different. Himawari wasn't sure what exactly made it different, but it was different. That's why she was following it.

Since she was the Hokage's daughter, people in the street recognized her and called out greetings, but HImawari just bobbed her head politely at them without taking her eyes off the cat. She followed it across busy roads and through narrow alleys. When it cut across people's backyards she hopped up onto their fences and followed. She was nimble enough that even the narrow top of a chain-link fence was more than enough of a path for her to dash along and easily keep pace with the cat.

Every now and then the cat would pause and look back over its shoulder at her. When that happened, Himawari would stop in her tracks and crouch down a little. Did the cat know she was following it? She tried not to meet the cat's eyes while it looked at her. But she couldn't help but keep looking at it, trying to figure out what about it was so darn interesting that she was spending her whole afternoon following it.

Then, after the cat paused and looked at her again a few minutes later, it happened. The cat stared at her for a few seconds, then turned and broke out into a run.

Well. Now it was a chase. Himawari had a big smile on her face as she also took off dashing. Trying to slip away from Uzumaki Himawari? Good luck with that, kitty-san. She had been chasing her older brother Boruto around since she knew how to walk, and he was about a million times harder to follow than a cat.

As the cat slipped around an alley corner, Himawari concentrated her chakra and activated her Byakugan. The funny thing was she could never activate it if she was just sitting around practicing. But when she was upset or excited, the Byakugan would activate easily and naturally... sometimes without her even wanting it to. Her mom would probably tell her it wasn't good to use their secret family technique just to follow a cat, but now that it had turned into a chase Himawari couldn't contain herself. She was going to catch that kitty!

She ran straight up walls, flipped over onto rooftops, swung around poles to boost her speed, and even pushed a little extra chakra out through her feet so she could jump super far.

Then something happened that made Himawari pause and almost fall off of the fence she was running on. The cat, who she was watching with her Byakugan, crouched down and... vanished! Himawari opened her eyes wide with surprise. She searched with her Byakugan-boosted sight and... found it! The cat had made a single jump that carried it from the middle of an alley to the top of the building across the street!

Himawari was a good student, and she liked to read. Thinking of what she knew about math and animals, she knew for a fact there wasn't any animal alive that could jump that far. So it wasn't just her imagination, there was something strange about this cat!

Focusing a bunch of chakra into her sandaled feet, Himawari crouched. Then, she jumped and pushed the chakra out through her feet in a burst at the same time. The concrete ground of the alley she jumped from cracked and dented where she pushed off, and she flew. She moved so fast it would have looked like she had suddenly vanished to anyone watching. In an instant she was on top of the building across the street, right on the cat's tail.

The cat looked surprised when she suddenly showed up on the rooftop behind it. It took a few steps backward, then it did something surprising again: it clicked it's tongue! Just like a person would, when they're upset. Himawari hesitated for a second. She had never heard an animal make such a human sound.

In that second of hesitation, the cat turned and vanished again. Following it with her Byakugan, Himawari saw it disappear and reappear three more times, putting it several city blocks away. She immediately used chakra boosts to follow it, but as soon as she set foot on the rooftop the cat was waiting on it started running again, vanishing after crouching.

Something was bothering Himawari. Well, yes, she was chasing a cat that was obviously using some special power to move like no cat possibly could and she had heard it click it's tongue like a person, but there was something else . Something i mportant. But Himawari couldn't figure it out...

The cat changed the direction of its escape, and started heading for the edge of town. Himawari frowned, feeling worried. Running around inside the town was fine, but her parents always told her to not actually leave the town. The Shinobi Wars were over, so it should be safe, but Himawari still felt unsure. If the cat ran off into the wilds outside the city, she might just have to give up on this whole chase...

But then, as soon as it landed in a big open field outside the city, the cat stopped. It even sat down, as if it was waiting for Himawari to catch up.

Himawari landed in front of the cat, a big smile on her face. It had been a fun chase, but now it was over! She would give the cat some pets and then head home. It was a strange cat that could jump far like a ninja and made human noises, but she didn't want to bother it anymore.

"Is the chase over, kitty-san?" she asked playfully, walking forward with her hand stretched out, hoping the cat would let her pet it.

"Yes, it's over," the cat agreed, a dangerous smile suddenly appearing on its face and shining in its eyes.

Of all the surprises Himawari had seen during the chase, the sound of the cat speaking with a human man's voice was by far the most surprising. Her eyes went wide and she took a step back.

The cat ran toward her and jumped, leaping as if to land in her arms. Its smile didn't look so dangerous anymore, instead it just looked like a normal kitty that wanted to get some petting. Maybe the voice had been Himawari's imagination? Her surprise and hesitation melted away as she saw the happy cat jumping into her arms, and she reached out to catch it...

Then, at the last possible second, the cat pushed off her arms and went right for her face, swinging its paw in a wide arc, almost quicker than Himawari's eyes could follow.

"Niky-kyuu Noroi no Jutsu!"

(Paw-Pad Curse Jutsu)

Normally, the pads on cat's paws were soft and plushy, but when this cat's paw struck Himawari's cheek it felt like someone with a very small fist had punched her very hard. The blow almost knocked her off her feet, and her nose burned like it was going to start bleeding. She wasn't a crybaby, but the pain and surprise from the sudden attack made her eyes water and she had to clench her teeth hard to keep tears from slipping out.

The cat landed on her arms and boosted off, turning two backflips in the air before landing on two legs ! It dusted itself off with its front paws and smirked up at Himawari.

"Sorry, kitten of the human ninjas, but it's far too early for your kind to know about us. Tell your loved ones good-bye, because the Cat Clan is going to bury this secret along with you ."

Then the cat made a big gesture with one of its front paws, moving it just like a human hand. A big cloud of dust from the ground swirled up, surrounding Himawari and the cat. Himawari had to close her eyes and cover them to keep the dust from getting in, and by the time she opened them again the cat was gone. Even using the Byakugan, she couldn't see where it went.

With eyes still a little teary, Himawari rubbed at her cheek. It still stung where the cat hit her. Had it really said the name of a jutsu just then?

Suddenly, strange thing Himawari had been trying to figure out about the cat clicked into place. It had been doing super jumps and had even used a jutsu, but she hadn't seen any chakra ! That was impossible! Her Byakugan let her see right through people, and she could always see the flow of their chakra through their bodies, especially when they were using it. She should have been able to see chakra pouring out of the cat when it jumped and used its technique.

Even animals had chakra and used it for ninjutsu. She had seen ninneko and ninken (ninja cats and dogs) that worked together with ninja, and they used chakra just like anyone else. So, then this cat wasn't a ninneko at all? Something else?

Himawari decided to go ask her mom about it, but first she wanted to check out her face. Her mom would throw a fit if she came home with a big bruise on her cheek, no matter what the explanation was.

After jumping back into the city, Himawari found a nice reflective window on a building and looked at herself. She saw her own pale blue eyes widen as she looked at what was on her cheek: a black paw-mark. It was on her right cheek where the cat hit her, covering up part of the whisker-marks on her cheek that she had inherited from her dad.

She tried to scrub the mark off with the hem of her sleeve, but it was no good. It was like a tattoo. Goosebumps started popping up on her arms and she felt a shiver run up and down her spine.

Niku-kyuu Noroi no Jutsu

The Paw-Pad Curse? The cat had cursed her?
Scared to even look at the mark anymore, Himawari turned and ran for home.