[Mad Tiger] Chapter 70

“How are you holding up, Tora-chan?” Hinata scratched behind my ear and curled up beside me on the bed like a sleepy cinnamon roll wrapped around a depressed furball.

“Not great,” I sighed. It came out soft and pitiful. I was really falling apart.

Why couldn’t I have just stayed put in that damned forest? Things might’ve turned out so differently.

“Are you hungry?” Hinata asked. “I bought your favorite canned food.”

I shook my head. Lately, I didn’t even want to look at food. It had been four weeks since that thing in the Forest of Death. Four. Weeks. At first, I’d been hopeful—maybe even expected them to pop back up somehow—but the last three days? Full-blown despair.

I still couldn’t believe it actually happened. They smelled like themselves, sure, but that’s because they were wearing the same clothes. Clothes can be swapped.

And the snakes? Definitely summons from Orochimaru. But what threw me off was that the jounin had killed the snakes, cut them open, and retrieved the bodies.

 I’d seen giant snakes in the Forest before—maybe not that big, but definitely giant. And the way the bodies were quickly sealed away and disposed of? Super shady. Felt like someone didn’t want them examined.

And I always thought when a jinchuuriki died, the bijuu was released. But no—turns out if the host dies fast and unexpectedly, the tailed beast dies with them and only reappears years later like some kind of natural disaster respawn timer.

You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve overheard… My hidey-holes in the Hokage Residence came in real handy.

For two weeks, Konoha was in a complete panic. Everything was being managed by the two Elders—Gramps and Granny—trying to calm things down and keep the politics from exploding. Envoys from the Sand were darting around like caffeinated weasels.

But in the end, every investigation hit a wall. Official word was that it was “an unfortunate accident.”

Konoha gave the Sand some dusty old scroll as a formal apology for Gaara.

Apparently the Elders didn’t really care. They muttered that the Fourth Kazekage had wanted to get rid of the “village weapon” he couldn’t control and was probably relieved it happened.

But when it came to Naruto—the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails—and Sasuke—the Last Uchiha—you bet they were singing a different tune. There’d been plans for those two.

Kakashi’s official guess? The boys (plus Kazekage Jr., who no one knew why he was even in that room) got knocked out cold by debris when the wall collapsed from the snake attack. Swallowed unconscious. Never had a chance to fight or escape. Digestion did the rest.

The Third Hokage? Still missing. Not dead. Missing. No clues, no witnesses, no trail.

Because the exams had so many foreign guests, and someone might spill the news that the Hokage was MIA, they started the process of picking a new one fast.

They named Jiraiya the Fifth, but he declined and said he’d bring back someone “better.”

Honestly, I’d been praying that meant Kushina-san, but nope. Five days ago, Tsunade returned to Konoha. Yesterday, she had her inauguration.

I snuck in to say hi and had a chat with Tonton, but the pig didn’t have much intel. Just babbled about all their sketchy tavern-hopping lately and how Lady Senju kept gambling away their savings and ditching towns before the debts hit. He didn’t even know why they left Konoha in the first place.

The more time passed, the worse my panic got. What if my boys and Kushina-san really were…?

“Hinata! Tora-chan!”

A knock. Neji poked his head into the room, looking way more ruffled than usual.

“Nii-san? What’s going on?” Hinata sat up fast.

“Orders from the Fifth Hokage! I’ve been assigned to lead a mission.”

“To us?” Hinata blinked. I did too.

“Yes. Me, you, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kiba. Our mission is to locate and escort Lady Shijimi’s cat, Tora-san, to the daimyo’s palace in Himachi.”

“…What?” Hinata and I said in unison.

But right in that second—my heart started to pound with hope again!

The mission got classified as C-rank, but we didn’t leave Konoha as just six genin, a dog, and a cat—oh no. We had a babysitter: one ANBU tailing us in secret. And I knew exactly who it was under that mask—Hatake Kakashi himself.

No one escapes my scent tracking.

It wasn’t a super far mission—Himachi’s just about 100 kilometers out, still within the Fire Country—but still. You don’t just send all the heirs to the major clans out on a stroll without backup.

Neji let it slip when we met up with Sakura: the escort job was just a cover.

Apparently, the daimyo wanted to “evaluate” potential clan heads. Rumor had it the Fire Lord was looking to expand his elite personal guard—the Twelve Guardian Ninja—and might offer some of us a contract.

Everyone exchanged glances but didn’t say much.

They looked just like me—scared to hope, but still hoping anyway.

Back when we gathered at Sasuke’s apartment, Shikamaru had tried comforting Ino and Hinata. He even said, “This whole thing smells way too convenient. They shut it down too fast, like they were afraid of starting a war or scandal.”

One of his strongest arguments? Me.

They believed in me a little too much. Maybe because I never gave up waiting.

Maybe they were just like me—clinging to any scrap of a chance.

Patience is the first lesson of a true shinobi.

So yeah, I waited. I waited three and a half weeks, holding on to that little flicker of “maybe.”

They took turns carrying me, though sometimes I jogged alongside Akamaru for a bit. By sunset, we reached the daimyo’s palace.

Neji flashed the mission scroll and showed them Yours Truly. A random court official met us at the gate and led us in.

“Tora-chan!!”

Lady Shijimi came flying into the hallway like a cruise missile of motherly affection.

“My owner!” I launched into her arms like a majestic, furry cannonball—almost knocked Kiba flat.

I almost cried. I definitely purred like a chainsaw. She scratched, she cuddled, she kissed my nose—pure bliss.

But most importantly?

She smelled like Naruto.

Like Sasuke.

Like Gaara.

And Kushina.

Alive.

Okay. Now I’m hungry.

“You’ve gotten so skinny!” she cooed, like she’d read my mind. “My poor baby, my precious tiger-kitty! Tora-chan! I’ve got chicken! Tofu! And smoked eel, just for you!”

Neji was mostly right about the Twelve Guardian Ninja thing.

After I stuffed myself like a Thanksgiving turkey, and everyone else got a solid meal too, we were brought before the daimyo himself.

I did my usual palace routine: climbed into his lap, made myself at home, and wiped my fur all over his royal robes while he chatted with Neji, Shikamaru, and the others.

Turns out they were recruiting three new guardians, ages matching our own.

It’s a real contract—service from three to ten years. He promised to send Hokage-sama a formal invitation letter.

“And in the meantime,” said Lord Minoruhi with a kind smile, “I thought you might enjoy meeting a few of the younger guardian shinobi already in service. See how it all works.”

Naturally, I followed them—straight to the palace’s old gazebo I remembered from when I was just a kitten. This was the same spot I once pounced onto Daishiki’s face… Ah, good times. Feels like a hundred years ago, not just a little over two.

“These are some of our youngest Guardian Shinobi,” the attending official introduced three masked figures who stepped into the gazebo. Their masks were similar to Kakashi’s, they wore Leaf headbands, standard uniforms, and white triangular hip sashes marked with the Fire Country symbol. “I’ll leave you to it—they’ll show you around and answer any questions.”

The official bowed out, leaving us alone.

Akamaru gave a bark at Kiba. Ino and Hinata squealed.

And then… Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara pulled off their masks.

“Guys! Tora-chan!”

The girls launched themselves into hugs. The guys kept it cool, of course.

Me? I’m a cat. I get a pass for going full emotional meltdown mode.

I missed them so much. I’d been waiting! I hadn’t slept right in weeks, eavesdropping under doors, pacing, worrying, barely eating… You monsters!

“Sorry, Tora-chan!” Naruto scratched me behind the ears, peering into my eyes. “Everything just started happening so fast.”

“All right, spill it,” Kiba demanded.

Akamaru barked in agreement. I nodded, and Naruto quickly flashed through a string of hand signs. Green sealing marks crawled over the gazebo walls.

“It’s a soundproof barrier,” he explained, as the group let out a collective “whoa.”

Neji activated his Byakugan, gave the perimeter a once-over, and nodded.

“Not bad at all, Naruto.”

“It all started on the autumn equinox festival, back in September…” Sasuke began.

And then Sasuke laid it all out—the truth about his clan’s massacre and the mass genjutsu that both Akamaru and I had already confirmed.

“We—me, Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji—were best friends since our first year at the Academy. But everyone forgot.”

“Asuma-sensei was part of it?!” Shikamaru blurted out, stunned. “I mean… I remember the whole ‘Guardian Shinobi Rebellion’ thing in September, and it was weird my dad didn’t send a team to investigate. That was kind of off.”

“Asuma, like everyone else, forgot,” Sasuke said. “No one really knew. Everyone got caught in it. The Sarutobi used the Uchiha clan’s ambition, manipulated them… and then erased them. And the evidence. Right now, only three people know the truth. And none of them want to change anything. The world keeps spinning, and this kind of genjutsu? A simple ‘kai’ won’t break it.”

He caught Ino’s intense look and added, “From what I understand, trying to interfere using Yamanaka-style mental techniques could actually end very badly. So—what’s done is done. We’re focused on the now.”

“What happened in the Forest of Death, then?” Neji asked.

“We faked our deaths,” Sasuke said after a pause. “Left behind our clothes and personal items. It was our way of shedding the past and starting over.”

He glanced down. “There are still some things we can’t talk about…”

“What matters is that you’re alive,” Hinata whispered, her cheeks going pink. “We thought you were…”

“Yeah. We’re alive,” Naruto grinned, hugging me tight.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you give a cat a heart attack and then make it all better with cuddles.