Chapter 2 - Black Cat Nightmare
Himawari ran the whole way home. She burst in the front door, and ran right into her mom, Hinata. Hinata was carrying a big load of laundry, so Himawari face-planted into a fresh-smelling blanket. Her mom took a step back, surprised, then peeked around the big laundry to see who had bumped her.
"Oh, Himawari, there you are. Will you help me fold this laundry? Wash your hands first, if you've been playing outside," she said.
"Mom! I followed a cat and it talked and attacked me and I couldn't see its chakra!" Himawari said, trying to get the whole strange incident out in a single sentence. Her mom didn't even paused, but instead put the pile of laundry on a table and started shaking out the sheets.
"Hmm? That sounds like an interesting game," was Hinata's only reaction to Himawari's story. But, Himawari was far too stubborn to let her mom ignore the seriousness of the situation.
"Mom! The cat said I was cursed and it put this paw-mark on me, look!" She tugged on her mom's sleeve and tilted up her head, turning it so her mom could easily see the black paw-print mark.
Hinata stopped folding laundry and put her hand under Himawari's chin, looking closely at the mark. Himawari saw her mom's eyes narrow.
"Himawari, what's this?" she asked.
Himawari let out a little huff of frustration. Hadn't she just told her mom what it was?
"It's a curse mark! A cat gave it to me, even though he wasn't using any chakra. He said it was niku-kyuu noroi no jutsu," she explained, again.
"Paw-Pad Curse, huh," Hinata repeated the name of the jutsu, a big helping of doubt in her voice. She took the hem of her sleeve and tried to rub away the mark. First gently, then much more roughly. Himawari winced and tried to pull away but her mom had a firm hold on her chin. Finally, when she couldn't wipe the mark off, Hinata pulled Himawari's face around so she was looking right into her mom's very upset eyes.
"Young lady, is this permanent marker? I don't know how you got this on here, but you have some explaining to do," she said. Hinata never got really angry with her kids, but she could be stern and even a little terrifying when she wanted to be. Himawari had trouble meeting her mom's angry eyes, but she wasn't going to back down either.
"I told you mom! A cat did it, it's a curse!" she protested.
"Himawari, there's not a single trace of chakra on this. If it was a jutsu I would be able to see that. All I see is a big black mark on your face that I can't get off," Hinata said.
"He didn't use chakra! I don't know how, but the cat was doing everything without using any chakra!" Himawari said, a little desperate now since it was clear Hinata wasn't buying any of it.
"Even the ninneko use chakra, dear, and there's no such thing as jutsu without chakra, unless that cat was a sage," Hinata said, her voice sounding disappointed. "Himawari I'm surprised at you, doing this kind of thing and making up a story isn't like you."
Himawari realized she had lost the conversation. There was no way her mom was going to believe her, and Himawari was losing her patience.
"Mom why won't you listen!" she shouted, and ran past her mom and into her room, slamming the door behind her.
"Well then you can just stay in there until your father gets home," Hinata said, her voice coming from the other side of the door. "We'll see what he has to say about this!"
Himawari dove onto her bed, grabbed one of her big stuffed animals, and curled up around it, burying her face in its soft, plushy fur. She wasn't sure if the cat's curse or her mom not believing her about it was worse.
~Time Passes~
Himawari's dad never ended up coming home that night. As Hokage, Naruto very rarely had time to come home and have dinner with his family. Instead, a few hours after Himawari holed up in her room, she heard a gentle knock on the door.
"Himawari, come out and have some dinner. Let's just forget about this whole thing for a while and have a nice family dinner," Hinata said.
Himawari pulled herself off the bed. Hearing her mom made her feel guilty. Hinata tried so hard to keep their family together and happy without Naruto being there most days. It made Himawari feel horrible doing anything to throw off the harmony of their home.
So, if Hinata was willing to forget the whole thing, so was Himawari. After a few hours of moping and worrying, she was ready for a normal dinner.
In the dining room, Boruto was already sitting and waiting for the eating to start. He looked up when Himawari walked in and gave her a big grin.
"Hey sis, sweet tat!" he said jokingly, reaching over to ruffle her hair when she sat down. At first she thought about telling Boruto the story of what happened with the cat, but then Hinata walked in with the food and said:
"Boruto, we're not talking about that. Let's just eat dinner."
So they ate dinner. Himawari was quiet, so most of the conversation at the table was from Boruto talking about his day. He could probably sense the heavy atmosphere between Himawari and Hinata, so he did his best to yuck it up with some dumb jokes and silly stories from his day. Himawari even managed a real smile when he talked about pranking some old pervert with their dad's old 'sexy no jutsu' technique (though Hinata scolded him for bringing that kind of thing up in front of his sister).
Once dinner was over and Himawari and Boruto had helped Hinata clean up the dishes, the two kids went up to their rooms. On the way, Boruto stopped Himawari and asked:
"Hey sis, what's up with the mark anyway? Is it seriously a tattoo?"
Himawari turned and was about to explain, but then she caught sight of their mom watching with her eyebrows drawn down in a frown. She would probably jump in and tell Himawari to stop making up stories.
"Never mind," Himawari said, and brushed past Boruto to her room. She didn't slam the door this time, but she shut it firmly enough that Boruto would know she would not be happy if he followed her and tried to talk to her again. She wished she could tell him, Boruto was a great brother and he was always helping her out (well not always, they did have bad brother-sister fights now and then).
But, now that a few hours had passed since the incident, it was starting to seem silly in Himawari's mind. A talking cat? A chakra-less jutsu? It had probably just been some kind of genjutsu illusion trick to mess with her mind. Maybe someone who was upset with her father or Boruto had done it to get back at them. She knew enough about ninja stuff to know it was very possible. Someone with powerful genjutsu ability could have thrown an illusion jutsu on her, and then when she was lost in the illusion they could have grabbed her and used a marker to make the paw-mark on her cheek. It made just as much sense as a talking cat. More, even.
So Himawari decided not to worry about it. She snuggled up with a stuffed animal and read manga until it was time for bed.
By bedtime, Himawari's dad hadn't come home, but that was normal. Instead Hinata knocked and then came in. She came over and kissed Himawari on her forehead and tucked her in. Himawari gave her mom a smile, and hoped the whole incident was behind them. She'd talk with her mom the next day and figure out how to get the mark off. At peace after a crazy day, Himawari closed her eyes and fell asleep after her mom flipped off the lights.
~ Time Passes ~
Himawari woke up with a weight on her chest. She screwed up her face in discomfort, and tried to breathe past whatever it was weighing on her.
Then she opened her eyes, and found herself face-to-face with a big black cat with golden eyes. Eyes wide, she whipped her head back and forth, looking around her room. There were more pairs of golden eyes and more dark cat shapes. Her room was full of black cats! At least a dozen of them were sitting, watching her silently.
Feeling the danger in their gazes, Himawari tried to scream for her parents. She opened her mouth, took a deep breath, and then…
"Iki-nusumi no jutsu"
Breath-Stealing Jutsu
The cat on her chest also took a deep breath, and Himawari felt all the breath being sucked out of her lungs. She tried to take another breath and could only wheeze. She couldn't get enough air to call out!
"This is the end, human kitten," the cat on her chest said, and raised one paw, claws gleaming in the moonlight from the window.
Himawari wasn't the type to just lie there and die, though. She rolled, shoving at the cat at the same time. The cat probably thought a human girl wouldn't be able to keep up with its movements, so its dodge was slow. Himawari's open palm caught it in the stomach and threw it against the chair in front of her desk.
There was a moment of silence after the loud thump and clatter of the cat hitting the chair, and then one of the other cats hissed: "Get her!" and the chaos started for real.
"Mayonaka kari no jutsu!"
Midnight Hunt Jutsu
As all the cats jumped for Himawari, who had rolled out of bed and onto her feet, one of them shouted out a jutsu name and suddenly the dark room was darker. Not just dark, pitch black. Himawari couldn't see her own hand in front of her face.
But there was no time to worry about that. She felt the movement of air coming toward her and raised her arms defensively. A cat's paw hit her arm, and just like when the cat had slapped her earlier that day, the tiny paw hit her with the force of a punch, throwing her off her balance.
She didn't bother trying to find her footing again. Instead she used the push from the cat to duck into a roll, and was rewarded with the sound of two cats hitting the floor right where she had been standing. But she couldn't dodge them in the dark forever. Holding up two fingers in front of her eyes, she focused and activated her Byakugan.
Instantly the inside of the room became as clear as day. She saw the cats gathering and diving toward her and took a deep breath. It still came in as a wheeze, so instead of speaking she mouthed the words:
"Lock on."
It was something from Boruto's video games she had picked up. Locking on to enemies. With the Byakugan she could see the movement of each enemy as if they were going in slow motion. Then she just had to move her hands to meet the enemies and let her chakra do the rest. So now she 'locked on' to the jumping cats, and moved her hands and feet to meet them.
The first cat in range got the heel of her palm under its chin and was sent up over her head and behind her. She spun to meet the next, backhanding it hard in the ribs and sending it into the wall. Then she slid back a step, avoiding a swiping claw from a third attacker. With a precise hand she struck the attacking cat's arm, flipping it onto it's back in the air, and then brought her palm down on it's soft, furry tummy. It hit the wood floor of her room so hard it bounced.
Though her blows were chakra-filled and hard, the cats did not seem to be very damaged from them. Himawari wasn't trying to put very much strength or chakra in. Even though they were apparently trying to kill her, she couldn't bring herself to attack kitties with killer intent. It just wasn't in her nature.
But she was going to defend herself, and she spun again to avoid a swipe at her legs, instead giving the attacking cat a heel to the cheek that sent it skittering head-first the foot of her desk.
"We're making too much noise! The other humans will come!" a cat that hadn't attacked yet hissed.
"She keeps hitting us! Can she see through the Midnight Hunt?" another asked.
"Impossible!" one scoffed, but the attacks stopped and none of the cats seemed to be willing to start up another attack.
"Himawari?" Hinata's voice came from outside the door. Followed by Naruto's: "Are you sleepwalking or something in there?"
"They're here! We can't face a whole ninja family!" a cat said. All the cats swarmed for Himawari's window.
One paused, as the rest ran out into the night, and looked back at Himawari with its golden eyes.
"No one can escape the curse, human kitten. If not tonight, soon. The Cat Clan will have you."
Then it was gone. Himawari watched with horror as her bedroom window closed on its own and then locked itself.
And then the breath stealing jutsu faded and she could draw in a deep breath again. She immediately screamed:
"Mama! Papa!"
Immediately the door burst open and Naruto was there. Seeing her big, strong father there to protect her, Himawari felt all her strength melt away. Big tears started flowing down her cheeks and she threw herself into her dad's arms, burying her face in his chest and sobbing in fright.
"Hey, hey, what's the matter?" Naruto asked, looking around to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous in the room. Then he tried to pry Himawari away so he could look down at her, but she just hugged him tighter, shaking her head. Between getting over the breath steeling jutsu and sobbing her eyes out, Himawari couldn't find the breath to speak.
She cried until she fell asleep in her dad's arms from pure exhaustion, and he stayed by her side the rest of the night.
As Naruto watched his little daughter sleep, his eyes were drawn to a black paw-print on her cheek, standing out starkly on her pale skin in the moonlight.