Naruto: Paws and Whiskers

Getting the strand of red hair had been simple enough.

Truth be told, Kanna probably wouldn't have refused a direct request to visit Konoha, even without the hair. But you couldn't force these things, and Takeshi didn't want her coming against her will.

As his steward at the Ninja Cat Fortress, Kanna throwing a fit would have... serious consequences. Mostly because he had no idea how to coax her out of a bad mood.

"Meow~ Right, I'll pop over and talk to her."

Takeshi used the Flying Thunder God, teleporting to the Ninja Cat Fortress. He went alone, so the chakra cost wasn't too high. His mark was right next to Kanna, and his timing was... impeccable. She was standing on the balcony, sunlight filtering through her loose hair, looking unexpectedly beautiful.

'Tsk. Is this what they call keeping a beauty in a gilded cage?' the black cat mused.

"Takeshi-sama? I'm sorry, I was lost in thought..."

"Thinking about what, meow?"

"It's nothing... I was just thinking about Nekomata-sama. He was summoned away so suddenly." Kanna's voice was laced with worry.

Aside from Takeshi, Nekomata was the strongest fighter at the fortress. 'He came back covered in wounds last time,' she thought. 'Surely nothing terrible has happened again?' Seeing Takeshi, however, eased her fears. His presence meant the chances of a disaster were slim.

"Meow~ Don't worry. That white pig has been adopted by a kind soul."

Her eyes widened in shock. 'Someone adopted him? How is that possible? He's not weak...'

Kanna's first reaction was disbelief. Nekomata was the former King of the Ninja Cats, no ordinary person could make him submit. Then again, the "kind soul" Takeshi mentioned was probably no ordinary person either. The whole thing felt... strange.

'Better not to ask,' she decided.

Kanna understood the unspoken message and didn't press for details. Whatever the case, she could guess the outcome: Nekomata's future was not going to be a bright one.

Just then, Takeshi produced a single strand of hair. It was a fiery, unmistakable red.

"What is this?" Kanna asked, her expression a mixture of caution and something far more complex as she took it from him.

'A strand this long... it couldn't be from that boy, Nagato,' she realized. 'It could only be... Konoha's Red-Hot Habanero. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Kushina.'

A heavy feeling settled in her chest. 'Protected by Konoha, she must be the happiest of all the survivors... right?'

'But her only purpose there is to be a jinchuriki. And Konoha didn't save anyone else... I know they weren't obligated, but as an ally, as one of the villages that benefited from the Uzumaki clan... would it have killed them to save one or two more?' Kanna's resentment toward Konoha ran deep.

"Takeshi-sama, what is this for?" Kanna looked up at him. He hadn't brought this here just to show her, there had to be more to it.

"Meow~ She wants to see you," Takeshi said simply.

"See me?" Kanna's voice was tinged with reluctance and sorrow. "But I don't want to leave here. And I certainly don't want to go to Konoha."

"It's alright, meow. I'm not asking you to go to Konoha, just to meet her. The whole thing can be done in secret, meow. Have you heard of the Reverse Summoning Jutsu?" As he spoke, Takeshi pulled out a summoning scroll.

"You can use Reverse Summoning?" Kanna asked, surprised. The Uzumaki were a prominent clan, after all. Though she'd been too young to learn their most profound sealing jutsu, she'd heard of techniques like Reverse Summoning. There was even a time the clan had considered using spatial ninjutsu to escape...

"Meow!" The black cat nodded.

Hearing that, Kanna understood.

"But..." she began, "why not just use the Flying Thunder God to take me there directly?"

'It would be more convenient,' she thought, 'and it would skip the whole Reverse Summoning step. This seems... redundant.'

"Meow~ Because my chakra's not quite up to it, and you're not meeting right now. I'll find an excuse to get her out of the village, and you two can meet somewhere private." This was mostly to keep Yugito out of it. That girl was sharp, if they met at Kushina's house, she might notice something was off. "Besides, Konoha has its barriers. That anti-intruder sealing network isn't something you can just slip through. Kushina knows that. The Uzumaki did more than just sealing jutsu, they researched barriers, too."

Kanna nodded, understanding. There were so few Uzumaki left in the world. The thought of meeting a clansman, Kushina, without setting foot in Konoha filled her with a nervous anticipation she hadn't felt in a long time.

Takeshi was pleased. Once this was settled, he could have Kanna learn more sealing jutsu, which would only strengthen the Ninja Cat Fortress. And if he wanted to learn any himself, he could go through Kanna instead of Kushina. There was still a bit of a wall between him and her.

"Meow~ Everything else alright around here?" Takeshi padded to the entrance, scanning the area. With Nekomata gone, the fortress was down one of its "kings." He worried some of the dumber cats might try to stir up trouble.

"Rest assured, Takeshi-sama," Kanna said, covering her mouth to hide a small chuckle. "Amakusa and the others are more than capable of replacing Nekomata. They can each lead a contingent of ninja cats. Even with him gone, nothing will go wrong. And I'll be here to help you manage them, of course."

She didn't know the specifics of what had happened to Nekomata, but she could guess it wasn't pleasant. 'Oops, that's a bit disrespectful to Takeshi-sama,' she thought, offering a silent apology in her heart while her smile remained serene.

"Oh, right, meow. I've got two new ninjutsu for you." Takeshi had just exchanged points for Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu and Water Release: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu. They'd cost him over five thousand points, but he'd been grinding hard lately. Even after the purchase, he still had a comfortable twenty thousand left.

Both jutsu were useful, especially the Water Shark Bomb. He could eventually upgrade it to the Great Shark Bomb, a technique that could absorb an enemy's ninjutsu to grow even more powerful. A fearsome jutsu in both power and effect.

'As for Wind Release...' There weren't any good ones available right now. 'Never mind. I'll ignore it for now.' For the average ninja cat, ninjutsu wasn't as important as chakra. Their reserves were limited, so increasing them was the real key.

'So, should I trade for a few packs of special cat food? No, better to try the gacha.' After a moment's thought, he began explaining the feline-adapted versions of Water Shark Bomb and Water Prison to Kanna. She had an excellent memory and grasped the principles after hearing them only twice. As she listened, she was already organizing her thoughts, forming a lesson plan in her mind.

While she did that, the black cat rubbed his paws together and pulled up the gacha roulette. He didn't even bother checking the prize pool. It didn't matter. Good or bad, the top prizes never seemed to have anything to do with him anyway. Takeshi had become quite zen about it. He was only pulling for one simple reason: cat food. He could distribute it as rewards to his four Cat Generals.

From past experience, the gacha was usually profitable, it was just that most of the winnings were useless to him personally. That wasn't the system's fault, of course. Gacha was like this in both of his lives, and some of the games he remembered were infuriatingly stingy. At least his system wasn't that cruel. He'd made his peace with it.

He spent a thousand points, and a list of items popped up. It was mostly junk, scratching posts, specialty treats, things like that. What did surprise him were three packs of special cat food and two packs of ninja cat food.

'Those alone are worth nine hundred points!'

'Worth it,' he thought. 'Let's go again.'

He did three more multi-pulls, barely glancing at the results. But then, something different on the claim list caught his eye.

Fire Release: Searing Migraine. 'Kakuzu's jutsu. B-rank.'

After he claimed it, a stream of data flooded his mind. Takeshi was stunned. 'With my luck, I actually pulled a ninjutsu?' Unbelievable. But then he glanced at the prize pool and felt a pang of disappointment. The top prize had been the Ghost Transformation Technique, a jutsu that let the user's spirit leave their body to attack. 'If only I'd pulled that one...' he lamented.

"Here, you can hold onto this batch of supplies," Takeshi said, passing Kanna the five packs of special cat food and six packs of ninja cat food he'd won. "You decide how to distribute them as rewards." He then looked around and pulled out the pile of assorted dried fish he'd collected from across the shinobi world.

He had no use for this many. They tasted fine, but for him, they were getting boring. It seemed a waste to throw them out, so he might as well give them to Kanna.

"What is all this?"

"Meow~ This is ninja cat food. It restores chakra and stamina. And this is..." Takeshi explained each item. When he was finished, he stood and stretched, preparing to head back to Konoha. He'd said what he needed to say, there was no point in lingering.

"Safe travels, Takeshi-sama." Kanna bowed slightly.

Takeshi gave a wave of his paw and vanished, using the Flying Thunder God to return to Konoha. His destination: Kushina.

"Takeshi, you're back! How did it go?" Kushina asked the moment she sensed his return. She had been pacing anxiously the entire time he was gone.

"She agreed, meow," Takeshi said, popping a military ration pill into his mouth. "But she doesn't want anything to do with Konoha. She wants to meet somewhere outside the village." The back-to-back teleports had drained over half his chakra, he needed to recover.

"Outside the village? That's... Alright. I'll find a way." Kushina thought for a moment, then grit her teeth, her resolve hardening. Whether she had to use a shadow clone or something else, she would find a way out of Konoha.

"Takeshi, thank you so much," Kushina said, wiping tears from her eyes. "If it weren't for you, I never would have known another clan member was still alive. I... I don't know how I can ever repay you."

To someone from a destroyed clan, every survivor was family. At least, that's how Kushina saw it.

"Meow~ It was nothing. And don't worry, she's doing just fine at the Ninja Cat Fortress."

"That's wonderful. I hope I can visit someday," Kushina said, a mix of excitement and envy in her voice. She hadn't left the village in so long, but the restrictions on her did seem to have loosened lately. Maybe she could get permission to go out. She decided she'd ask Minato to look into it when he got home.

Takeshi decided against mentioning Nagato. Kushina was different from Kanna. Kanna was one of his own completely loyal to him, he could tell her everything.

'I wonder how Nagato and Konan are doing,' he thought. Konoha to the Land of Snow was too far for a casual jump, long-distance teleports were too draining. He could send a letter, though. 'As for a reply... the blue cat, Asui, is with them. Kanna knows the summoning jutsu. She can just call Asui back to get a message.'

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