Mitsuki woke up with a complicated feeling. Thanks to the state of the mind that Itachi's action had put her into the previous day, somehow she had forgotten about the dread of her loneliness. Mitsuki couldn't hold back her chuckle as she recalled,
"Itachi-kun, without realising you has 'saved' me once more," she thought with endearment. It was funny for her that the moment before, she felt like she was about to drown in her own solitude for she wouldn't have anyone that she will be looking forward to going back home to for the week. However with just one turn of event, one action that he did, something that Itachi probably didn't even realize himself, Mitsuki could put aside the sadness within her as Itachi ended up occupying her head completely, even being apart as they were. Whistling cheerfully, Mitsuki then changed her clothes to prepare herself for more exploring that day. After pepping herself up, Mitsuki silently told herself that she shouldn't let herself fall into rut once more. With determination, she decided to exit her room first and think of her game plan later as she goes.
Strolling mindlessly around town, Mitsuki was not sure where to start, again. Feeling that at the current rate, finding work will be an unobtainable goal, Mitsuki decided to focus her effort on finding information instead.
"I guess first, I should brush up about my knowledge about shinobis.. A town like this should have library right?" thought Mitsuki, deciding her first stop.
Itachi had arranged another meeting with his informant once more before it was time for him to move unto the next destination. Waiting inconspicuously on a less frequented tea house, a figure approached and sat on the same bench as his.
"You move around a lot, don't you?" the female informant tried to open a conversation. To her question, Itachi replied with a silent glance.
"Did you manage to find out anything?" He asked briefly, focusing on the matter at hand.
"Hhhh, cold as usual, aren't you? What a waste of your pretty face," the informant smirked as she took out a small piece of paper and passed it on the top of the bench. "The answer is yes, and no," she said briefly, before adding.
"For the state of Konoha, I've obtained some interesting information, some of it involving you as well," the informant hinted, before continuing, "As for the four tail jinchuuriki, I couldn't find anything much about him other than his already known identity and his last sighting location,"
"Noted, thank's for your service," said Itachi concisely, ending her report. Taking the piece of paper, Itachi nodded his goodbye and stood up.
"It'll be better for your organization to lay low for a while," the informant stated, stopping Itachi on his track. "What happened in Konoha and them knowing Akatsuki's goal in result had brought the attention of the five big countries. It might also be why it's so hard to find any information about the Four Tail now. Wonder if I should sell the information of your where-about instead?" the informant chuckled teasingly. Her distasteful joke was then met with Itachi's stern glance as he activated his sharingan.
"Whoa, scary.. Calm down, It was only a joke. Don't worry, you are a good client of mine, I wouldn't want to lose your business," said the informant mischievously. "Say, how about we have a drink together sometime? My treat," she said with a slight flirtatious gesture as she lifted her hand, pretending to sip a glass of sake. Upon her words, Itachi turned his head away and blitzed off without a word.
"Hmm, what a disappointment," said the informant with a mischievous smile.
Mitsuki had just finished flash reading her 2nd set of book. So far, there was not much information about tailed beast and jinchuuriki in exception of some legends that she was not sure about its degree of truth.
"Ugh, maybe I should've met up with the sage back then to talk with him.." she sighed audibly, before returning to her thoughts. "What a hassle, why don't humans keep better record of their history?" Mitsuki thought to herself. Not just regarding shinobi and the tailed beast, among other history book as well, she had noticed discrepancy between what was written and the truth of the event as she remembered. Some are weirdly exaggerated, some are covered up, and some were a blatant lie, likely propaganda of some sort. Not very sure if she can gain more leads from the library due to that, Mitsuki sighed. In the first place, it was likely that the recent development might not have been recorded yet in the history books. She also didn't even know where to begin since she got so little information about the person of interest from Itachi and Kisame. Even so, she found that the information that she had gathered about the creatures known as bijuu to be interesting. At first, she thought of them to be akin of youkai, but it seemed like they were an entirely different being, coming to existence only after the birth of chakra.
"When Itachi-kun talked about nine-tails, I thought it was about Tamamo-no-Mae," Mitsuki chuckled as she thought to herself. She couldn't imagine how anyone would be able to seal the menace inside a person without them being driven crazy by her possessing their body.
Stretching her back, Mitsuki thought to herself once more, "Well, I guess I got a lot of information to catch up to, wonder what should I do about it, tho.."
Yawning, Mitsuki shifted her focus back towards the book in front of her, when suddenly, she noticed a ruckus had broken outside the library, and without warning, a cat jumped in from the library's opened ventilation window.
"THERE SHE IS!" A voice called out as the library door was burst open. A kid, about 12 years old, ran inside the library in rush, forehead protector decorating his head. Behind him, two other kids followed in hurry. Same as the previous boy, they too, wore forehead protectors with same symbol etched unto them.
As the trio ran around the library, seemingly after the cat, the librarian shouted in frustration.
"HEY! THIS IS A LIBRARY!"
Ignoring her shout, the boy who seemed to be the leader of the bunch continued with his pursue without care, leaving devastation on his path as he knocked over some shelves upon his chase attempt.
"Sorry! We'll put it back together later!" the only girl of the party shouted with guilt as the librarian clutched her head in horror uon the ensuing destruction.
"Young shinobis, huh?" Mitsuki thought to herself while watching the events unfold, and idea popped up in her mind as she secretly noted the soul of the cat and the three kids.
"Darn, it went back out!" said the leader of the kids.
"What do we do now, Kon?" the other boy enquired, seemingly out of breath.
"We give chase of course, let's haste!" the leader responded as he quickly dashed out of the library once more.
Seeing the trio leaving the library in rush, the librarian cursed.
"Darn it, shinobi kids.." she muttered loudly.
"Does this happen a lot?" Mitsuki enquired apologetically in sympathy.
"Not a lot, but it happens sometimes around here. After all we are quite close to a shinobi village.." the librarian mumbled as she started to move towards the mess, picking up some books from the floor. "They really should teach the genins to be more mindful.."
Hearing the unfamiliar word, Mitsuki tilted her head, secretly noting the word in her mind. Standing up, Mitsuki spoke once more,
"It's ok, I'll bring them back here and make sure they take responsibility. You should rest and wait."
Mitsuki's word confuses the librarian, as she saw no forehead protector anywhere on Mitsuki's body. How was an ordinary looking girl going to catch up with a bunch of shinobi kids, thought the librarian? Seeing the doubt in her eyes, Mitsuki chuckled and reassured her.
"It's ok, I'll only take a while. In the meantime, can you help me procure some selection of book regarding bijuus?" she said, her confident tone surprised the librarian.
"Sure missy, good luck chasing them," said the librarian as she decided to trust the calmness in Mitsuki's voice.
"Ugh, it's really harder to move in long kimono," Mitsuki complained silently in her head as she landed on top of a building's roof.
"Now then, how to do this most efficiently?" Mitsuki muttered softly with a mischievous grin as she cracked her knuckles gently.
Mitsuki decided to go after the cat first. After all, detouring to talk to the kids about it first seemed like it will be a waste of time, considering their state of panic. Moreover, it seemed like they had lost track of the cat's whereabout.
After locating the cat's where-about, Mitsuki landed gently in front of the cat with a sufficient distance, surprising her enough to stop her in her track, but not too much to prompt immediate retreat. Keeping eye contact with the cat, Mitsuki lowered her body and kneeled, reaching out her hand gently towards the cat while blinking slowly towards the cat's wary figure.
Seeing Mitsuki's gesture, the cat seemed more relaxed, yet still doubtful.
"Hmm, you're not a mountain animal, so I don't know if this will work, but.."
Mitsuki let out a small bit of her divine aura, triggering the blessing that Oyamatsumi had given her. With her thoughts, she tried her best to reach out to the cat's mind.
"It's ok, I won't harm you," Mitsuki thought in her mind as she reached her hand further towards the cat, keeping their eye locked unto each other's. Seemingly understanding her now, the cat approached hesitantly. Gently, Mitsuki lifted the cat into her cradle.
"Hehe, aren't you a cute little tiger?" Mitsuki muttered softly as she gave the cat a gentle scratch on her forehead.
Having noted the movement of the three kids, Mitsuki approached their location calmly from their opposite direction with a gentle stride. As she predicted, the kids crossed path with her and stopped, yelling.
"AAAH!?" the leader shouted, pointing at the cat upon noticing her in Mitsuki's cradle. Upon hearing the loud shout, the cat hissed.
"Don't make such a loud noise, you're scaring her," Mitsuki reprimanded with a slight frown, keeping her voice gentle to ease the cat's nerve while patting the base of her tail.
"Sorry, big sis, we need that cat back for our mission," the leader declared as he approached Mitsuki with a skip in his step, causing the cat to tense up as he approached. Seeing the cat's reaction, Mitsuki quickly signaled the leader to stop his approach while remarking,
"Hmm, I think it's best if you let me hold unto her. Where do you need her to be?" said Mitsuki gently as she gave the cat another reassuring pat.
"We have to return her to the owner," the shinobi girl replied, hesitation in her voice as she address the strange lady. "W..would you not mind following us to the owner's place?"
"Sure, I don't mind, where is it?" Mitsuki replied with a smile as she tried to gain the kids' trust.
"F..Follow us!" said the girl, slightly running while she lead the way.
"Big sis," said the other boy of the party, "Are you a shinobi too?"
Hearing the boy's enquiry, Mitsuki chuckled.
"Hoo, why do you think so?" she replied with a mischievous grin.
"I remember seeing you at the library. It's quite far from where you cross our path not too long after," he answered with hesitation.
"I see, nice observation. You seemed to have a bright future ahead of you," said Mitsuki with a smile without actually answering the question. Seeing the sparkle in the boy's eye, Mitsuki added, "Your name is?"
"I'm.. Momo.." said the boy, slightly pouting, as if embarrassed at his own name.
"Hmmm, Momo* huh.. what a tasty sounding name," Mitsuki giggled upon hearing the name.
"Nonono, shouldn't the correct reaction be that it's a cute name?" the leader interjected the conversation.
"And that's why I hate it!" Momo retorted with annoyance, followed by the girl team-mate's giggle.
"Hahaha, It's fine, isn't it, Momo? Have you three heard of a story called Momotaro?" Mitsuki continued with a gentle smile.
"Koyuki-chaaaan, there you are! I missed you, how can you leave your mama suddenly like that?" The owner of the mansion shrieked as she took the cat from Mitsuki's cradle. The cat meowed wryly towards the owner as she hugged her cat.
"I think it's best that you play more with her, I think she had too much energy, that's why she ran away. Some indoor activities with toy or climbable structure might help," Mitsuki suggested with a worried smile.
"Is that true, Koyuki-chan? Are you bored?" asked the owner towards the cat, smothering her with her own cheeks. In response, the cat meowed softly.
"Then, I guess that's mission completed? We'll report it back to our village!" said the leader named Kon.
"I'll notify them on my side as well," said the owner. "Thanks for your service, youngsters," she smiled happily to the kids once more before waving them goodbye.
"Yooosh, time to go back to our village!" Kon shouted excitedly.
"Our first mission completed! And without our sensei's help too!" the girl named Yuko added.
"Before that, aren't you guys forgetting something?" Mitsuki interrupted with a meaningful, slightly reprimanding smile, surprising the kids.
"Li-bra-ry," Mitsuki hinted, "You guys need to take responsibility, imagine being that poor librarian lady, tch tch…" she said playfully.
"O..oh right," Kon stuttered upon remembering the destruction that he had wrought upon the library.
"Come, follow me, let's take a shortcut," Mitsuki dashed, "You three are full-fledged shinobi right?"
"Eeeeh!? But we are tired!" Momo yelled loudly upon seeing Mitsuki's swift movement.
"Hhhh, Mitsuki nee-chan, you're too fast.." said Kon, catching his breath. Behind him, the teammates did just the same as they sat on the library's floor, exhausted.
"Hahaha.." Mitsuki laughed guiltily. He had gotten so used to travelling with Itachi and Kisame, she forgot how they were levels above common shinobi, moreover young ones. To be honest, she didn't even expect them not being able to climb a wall or walk across water. Considering that, Mitsuki felt more respect towards Kina, who despite being as young as he was, already had better skill than the three youngsters she had just met.
"You're back, missy," said the librarian thankfully. She was almost worried that the lady won't be able to bring the young genins back. "Here are the books that you requested,"
"Thank you, miss!" Mitsuki gladly took the books from the librarian's hand with a smile, before sitting down on her previous spot once more.
As the three young shinobi worked their hardest to restore the library to its former condition, Mitsuki smiled at them wryly while giving her new materials a quick read. To be honest, she was tempted to give them help, but deciding that it would be best for them to take responsibility of their action on their own, Mitsuki decided to sit out of it. In return, she had been keeping a conversation with them to keep their minds out of exhaustion.
Previously, while telling the three of them the story of Momotaro, Mitsuki and the group had introduced themselves to each other. It seemed like the three of them came from a village called Iwagakure, the same one that Itachi and Kisame had noted to be nearby. Apparently, they were newly graduated genins, the lowest rank among shinobi. Their teacher supposedly has to guide them with their mission, but thinking that the mission would be a safe and easy one, he had decided to sit out of it. Thinking of how irresponsible the teacher was, Mitsuki frowned.
"However, it's surprising that something as simple as capturing a cat can be a shinobi mission as well.." Mitsuki remarked.
"Huh, Mitsuki nee-chan, you've never had any F ranked mission before?" asked Yuko in confusion.
"Hmmm, I come from very far, so things might be a little different," said Mitsuki, dodging the question with a lie.
"Well, I guess for rich people, the cost of F rank shinobi mission is just a small change," said Momo with slight bitterness in his voice.
"Hooo," Mitsuki replied briefly, observing the kids' reaction. "Oh well, do you mind telling me a bit more about your village? I'm curious," Mitsuki asked with a smile.
Author's note:
Rival!? D:
Btw those were legit cat handling technique, the slow blinking and gentle approach voice. Cats are quite sensitive so take extra care not to appear to be a threat to them~ How do I know? Author is secretly a cat
(JK I just like taking care of strays near my house, one of them even end up giving birth in my house and raising the babies there heheh)
Extra notes:
(*) Youkai… how to explain hmmm. Do you guys watch inuyasha? Noragami? Play onmyoji? Hahahhaa.. technically they are supernatural being born of various things which gained sentience after getting enough spiritual energy (and age, usually), usually mischievous and likes to play prank on human, some are downright malicious, yet some that is considered as spirit is also believed to be a bringer of goodluck, for example zashiki warashi. Tamamo-no-Mae is a super strong fox demon (nine tailed demon) that is known for her beauty, cunning, and wickedness. In onmyoji game version, it's a male demon disguising as female for revenge of his lost wife and kids, but the normal lore is just that Tamamo is downright cruel, atrocious demon who seduced the Emperor and did.. some crazy stuff... hahaha.. Korean lore also have its equivalent, which is called Gumiho. :3
(*) Momo: It's peach hehehe, Momotaro is a Japanese folklore about a boy who was born from peach, raised by a granpa and granma who found him, and embarked on a journey to rid of the bad Oni (demon) with his animal companion that he met along the way~ Supposedly he's strong and smart!