In this battle—neither great nor small—Kokoro sustained some injuries, and she also received a light scolding. The Third Hokage remarked that as a child once guided by Ye Yuki and one who had already stepped onto the battlefield, how could she be any less capable than Uchiha Itachi?
From then on, Itachi became the standard by which others were measured—"someone else's child."
Truthfully, Kokoro rarely saw the Third Hokage. Other than handing in or receiving missions, their encounters were few and far between.
Before long, Iruka was promoted to Chunin, and the Third Hokage asked him to keep an eye on Kokoro. Though Iruka wasn't a high-ranking shinobi, he took the responsibility seriously, knocking on her door each night to make sure she was safe at home.
When Wen Tsukihai heard this, he wasn't surprised in the least. Later, Kamizuki Izumo quietly told Kokoro that Iruka supervised her every single day.
Soon after, another mission came down. It was ranked D—a fact that left Kokoro feeling a little disappointed. If it had been ranked C, at least she might have escaped Iruka's constant nagging.
When they gathered for the assignment the following day, they discovered that their mission was to catch cats!
Normally, cat-catching missions were commissioned by wealthy households. This time, however, the request came from an elderly woman in the Uchiha clan's ancestral land. Surrounded by her many cats, she conversed with Itachi, and it quickly became clear that the target wasn't just any cat—it was a ninja cat.
Kokoro was stunned. So soon, they were being sent on a mission involving ninja cats?
She wore a conflicted expression, holding a pair of cat ears in her hands, looking rather reluctant. Meanwhile, Tianma was still debating whether he should put his on when he noticed Itachi already wearing his. The sight was unexpectedly adorable.
Even Mizunoe had donned his cat ears, urging them to hurry and head toward the Cat Demon Palace.
Itachi noticed Kokoro's low spirits and deliberately fell into step beside her.
But Kokoro hardly noticed him. Her mind was tangled—what should she do from here? Follow Itachi? He was too fast; she'd never be able to keep up. Then perhaps she should follow Tianma.
Yet even if she saved Tianma, what would it matter? In the end, she'd still die on that future mission. Survival in that moment—that was what mattered.
This mission to the Cat Demon Palace, in contrast, was inconsequential. Itachi would activate his Sharingan here, yes—but only at the cost of his teammates' lives.
"What's troubling you?" A cold voice, edged with the faintest trace of concern, brushed against her ears.
Kokoro looked up, forcing a stiff, awkward smile. Meeting Itachi's deep eyes, her heart skipped before she quickly lowered her head again. "Nothing. Let's just get the mission done."
Behind her, Itachi's brow furrowed. He could tell something weighed heavily on her, and it had begun the moment she heard the details of this task. What was it? Her gaze on him carried a complicated, sorrowful depth—an unapproachable melancholy.
Only after they stepped into the Cat Demon Palace did Kokoro finally ease her guard.
The palace was filled with cats—adorable kittens everywhere, the sort that would make any young girl's heart melt.
"Ahhh, that white kitten—meow, meow, meow! It's so cute!" she squealed.
"Kokoro, that thing is half as tall as you. How can you call it cute?" Tianma scoffed coldly, his voice full of disdain.
No sooner had he spoken than the white cat turned to glare at him. "You're the ugly one!"
They had forgotten—while wearing the cat ears, the cats could understand them!
Within moments, Tianma was being chased mercilessly by the white cat, his clothes torn and his face covered in scratches.
For all his suffering, he showed surprising potential, darting around at a speed faster than Kokoro expected. Soon, another cat inexplicably joined the chase.
Helpless, Kokoro simply followed along behind Itachi and Mizunoe.
The runaway ninja cat they sought was, in fact, the foolish scion of its clan—fleeing because it refused to accept an arranged marriage.
Kokoro couldn't help but think it served it right.
Yet the moment she muttered so, a black cat appeared from nowhere and raked her cheek with its claws. Enraged, she chased it through the palace.
In the end, Mizunoe, his face riddled with scratches, led the group: Tianma, ragged and whiskerless, bristling with resentment; Kokoro, clutching the very black cat that had marked her face with a red scratch; and Itachi, expressionless as if the mission had nothing to do with him at all. Together, they returned to report.
But when the old caretaker saw the ninja cat's broken whiskers, his face soured. The whiskers were its most prized feature!
Still, in the end, they were released without punishment.
Kokoro held onto the black cat, preparing to leave with Mizunoe, when the old man stopped her.
"Little girl, what are you planning to do with that cat?"
Kokoro glared down at the creature in her arms, irritation rising again. "This thing actually dared to scratch me! Do you know how much effort it took to catch it? Don't worry, I won't kill it!"
Her eyes burned with comical bitterness, and the black cat shivered. It opened its mouth as if to speak but turned away instead, unwilling to respond.
The old man blinked in surprise. "You… caught it yourself?"
Kokoro tilted her head. "It's just a cat, isn't it? Not a ninja cat. Is it really that strange to catch one?"
"No, you don't understand. This one is a ninja cat." The old man shook his head in disbelief. "It's the most unusual of them all. It almost never speaks, rarely ever takes missions. If it hadn't survived the Nine-Tails' attack on the village, I might never have known it was a ninja cat at all."
Special? Kokoro frowned. But plenty had survived the Nine-Tails' attack, hadn't they? Surely cats, of all things, weren't so rare. What was there to boast about?
"Since you managed to catch it, you may as well take it with you. Better yet, if you can sign a contract with it, all the better…" The old man's eyes glimmered with something unreadable as he pressed her to keep it. "It has no name. If it agrees, it will offer you a contract scroll."
Kokoro was baffled. This black cat—special? A ninja cat?
She scratched behind its ears, but it only recoiled in annoyance. Nothing about it seemed extraordinary. Why call it a ninja cat?
Leaving with the cat in her arms, she rejoined Mizunoe outside. They had already taken off their cat ears. Mizunoe eyed the black cat curiously. "Where are you taking that thing?"
"This one's mine now." Kokoro lifted it by the scruff, grinning. "At least I won't be lonely anymore. I'll have a cat to play with."
"Heh. Didn't think you'd adopt one during a mission. But Kokoro, black cats are supposed to be unlucky. You sure you want it?" Tianma sneered, tugging on the whiskers of the cat he carried.
The black cat's eyes narrowed. With a sudden swipe, three red claw marks bloomed across Tianma's face.
"—You little—!" Tianma exploded, his hair practically standing on end like a furious cat. He lunged forward, but when he raised his hand, he realized the whiskers he held had wilted uselessly. Grinding his teeth, he spat, "Fine, I'll settle this with you next time!"
"Did you get the whiskers?" Kokoro asked pointedly, pressing the black cat more firmly into her arms.
At the mention, Tianma stiffened. His gaze darted to Itachi, and his cheeks flushed as he muttered, "Well… thanks for now. But don't think this makes you better than me! One day I'll repay it!"
"No need for thanks," Itachi replied evenly. "It was just the mission. I don't seek complications beyond that." He turned his face away, clearly unused to such gratitude.
So Itachi had saved Tianma, after all. That meant Tianma owed him a debt of life.
Kokoro thought quietly to herself: would Tianma return to save Itachi in the future? Could he face an enemy even Itachi could not? Or would it only mean throwing his life away?
Despite her heavy thoughts, she forced a smile. "You two really should just say thank you properly. After all, we're teammates."