[Mad Tiger] Chapter 17

"Ah, there you are, Tora-san!" Naruto greeted me like I was his long-lost brother. I jumped up onto his skinny knees.

…Okay, not the best fit—one of my paws was dangling off—but hey, the kid deserved some love. Around him, his friends were sprawled out on the park bench in the Academy’s little playground.

“He looks full,” Shikamaru commented lazily, giving me a glance. “Must’ve found food somewhere.”

“Maybe he’s been sneaking into my house,” Kiba muttered, scratching his messy head. Akamaru narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously.

“Tora-san, you didn’t eat out of my bowl again, did you?” the pup asked politely. I snorted in response.

“So you actually think Tora’s a ninja cat?” Chouji asked, clearly circling back to whatever bizarre conversation I’d just interrupted.

“Well…” Naruto hedged, scratching me behind the ears. “Tora does understand everything.” He started ticking off fingers. “Yesterday, he helped us find Akamaru. Then he made friends with that one-eyed ninja dog—”

“Kuromaru,” Kiba corrected. “That’s Akamaru’s dad.”

“Yeah, Kuromaru,” Naruto agreed. “And then, remember how he totally tricked you guys?”

The boys grumbled but nodded in unison.

“You’re the one who set those traps,” Sasuke pointed out, arms crossed. Classic Uchiha pride—he’d never fully admit Naruto had a point.

Instead of answering, Naruto grabbed my paw and pressed it to show off my claws.

“Whoa!” Kiba exclaimed, while the others made various impressed noises.

“And last night? Tora-san totally shredded that shinobi who shoved me! He jumped on the guy’s back, and then—BAM! Sent him flying into the counter! His whole back was scratched up, and his clothes were wrecked!” Naruto retold the story with so much enthusiasm he was practically bouncing. I had to stop this wild bronco with a light swipe of my claws, snagging his shorts to hold him still. He yelped, then carefully freed the fabric from my grasp.

“And today in class? Did you see how Tora growled at Iruka-sensei when he started yelling at me?” Naruto looked utterly delighted by the memory, as if this was my greatest feat yet.

“Cats don’t like loud noises—or being yelled at,” Sasuke pointed out. “And they hate drunks.”

He smelled like cats, by the way. I still hadn’t decided if I wanted to meet the parents of the kitten whose body I’d… well, borrowed. But on the other hand, I was dying to know what the Uchiha household was like. Mulling it over, I climbed off Naruto’s knees and onto Sasuke’s.

“See? I told you!” For some reason, my relocation sent the boys into a frenzy of excitement.

I gazed up at Sasuke’s serious face. He had a small scratch on his forehead—probably from yesterday’s adventures. His dark eyes stared straight at me, and his spiky hair looked like it was trying to escape his head. Someone get this kid some shampoo. 

Let’s see how little Uchiha handles my feline charm. I placed my paws on his shoulders, rubbed my forehead against his nose (checking first that it wasn’t snotty, of course), and started purring.

Within seconds, five pairs of hands were petting and scratching my back. Huh. It seemed my irresistibility bomb had gone off, and they all wanted in on the action. Not bad!

“Oh my gosh, what a cute kitty!” squealed a chorus of high-pitched voices. “Sasuke-kun, can we pet your kitty?”

I looked toward the source of the squeals. A crowd of girls had gathered around the bench, elbowing each other for position. In the front were a pink-haired one, a blonde who hung out with Shikamaru and Chouji, and the tattletale who’d snitched on me and Naruto to Iruka.

Just in case, I let out a warning hiss. One or two girls? Fine. A swarm? I like my fur intact, thank you. I’d been through enough as a kitten with one overzealous owner tying ridiculous bows on my ears.

“No!” the boys shouted in unison.

“But why?” the tattletale whined. “He’s so cute!”

‘Cute, huh?’ I spread my claws and let out a low growl to show I wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“You’re stressing out our cat,” Kiba said firmly. Akamaru barked in agreement. “And you, Ruri-chan, you ratted out Tora-san and Naruto to Iruka! You don’t get to pet him!” Both Inuzukas stuck their tongues out at the girl in perfect sync.

She made a face right back.

“Ugh, flea bags!”

“It’s all your fault, Ruri-chan!” the other girls hissed. “You shouldn’t have picked a fight with Naruto. Now Sasuke-kun won’t talk to us!”

Pfft! Oh, the drama! They were eleven, and yet every girl seemed to be losing her mind over Uchiha.

“Fifth-years! Back to class, now!” Iruka’s voice boomed from down the path. “Move it!”

“You coming with us, Tora-chan?” Naruto asked me. “You can watch me totally crush Sasuke today!”

His friends burst out laughing. Sasuke stayed silent.

“No way, Tora-chan,” Kiba teased. “You should watch me take down Naruto in a sparring match!”

“Can we just go before Iruka-sensei kills us all?” Shikamaru sighed heavily, clearly not expecting to win anything today.

Eh, might as well indulge the kids.

So I followed the group as they rounded the Academy building and arrived at a cozy little training field surrounded by trees. Targets and dummies were scattered around, and in the center was a patch of dirt, probably where the sparring took place. Grennerys grew everywhere else, which was great because I claimed a prime spot on a sturdy oak like a fabulous creature that I am, already in a good mood, ready to sport a Cheshire grin.

The kids were already bustling around. The girls immediately started making flower crowns to bestow upon the winner of the sparring matches. From their chatter, it was obvious that Sasuke was the undefeated class champ. I also learned the blonde, blue-eyed one was Ino, and the pink-haired one was Sakura. Easy enough to remember. They hung out together but bickered constantly. Still, when that tattletale Ruri or her backup singers picked on them, they’d band together like a tiny squad of vengeance.

Honestly, I didn’t get those girls. My old buddy Sergey used to call them “frenemies,” and yeah, he was spot on. Thinking back, he used to have a crush on a girl like Ino—blonde, blue-eyed, but definitely not eleven. His Natasha was at least a teenager.

Anyway. Got a little off-track there.

Naruto was doing pretty well hitting the targets. I’d figured out his scroll trick by now, something I vaguely remembered from the anime. But even so—what a show! The kid waved his hand over a blank scroll, and boom—a shuriken popped into his hand like magic. Judging by the audience’s collective wow, it was a new move. The kids were losing their minds. Now it made sense where he got all those gadgets for his traps: they were sealed in the scrolls. Fuuinjutsu—what a concept!

After Naruto strutted away from the line like he’d just won the Olympics, everyone else stepped up to throw their shuriken. Old-school style, straight from their pouches. The girls? Total misses, mostly. Except Ino. Not once did she throw into the bushes and one of her throws even landed near the center. She gave Sakura a smug look, then turned to Sasuke with the same victorious grin.

It was fun to watch. Sasuke, of course, didn’t react. He just stood there, all serious, rummaging through his pouch like he was plotting a world takeover. Clearly, the teacher was saving him for the grand finale because he was called up last.

The kid didn’t disappoint. Sasuke sprinted forward, flipped in the air like a pro, and, with a ninja’s speed and precision, nailed the centers of three separate targets with shuriken clenched between his fingers. The throws were grouped so tightly they might as well have been magnets.

Whoa! How cool! My amazement was drowned out by the collective cheers of the kids. Everyone else was equally floored.

Now, sure, adult ninjas can pull off stunts like that. I’d seen Kobo-san do something similar. But from an 11-year-old? That’s next-level.

Even Naruto, despite losing, was bouncing around, congratulating Sasuke. Kid didn’t seem too torn up about it.

Next, they broke into pairs for sparring. I stuck around to watch the action. The kids were good, don’t get me wrong, but nothing like the battles I’d seen back in the day—like when the Twelve Guardians of the Daimyo trained. These kids had the agility and could dodge decently, but their moves felt too rehearsed. Predictable.

I’d seen enough to compare it to sports. Some players have you guessing every second—left, right, where’s the ball going? Others just smack the thing as hard as they can and hope for the best. Naruto was definitely the "smack and charge" type, barreling straight in like a bulldozer. But then, out of nowhere, he surprised me and Kiba with a sneaky leg sweep that sent his friend face-first into the dirt.

Sasuke? Well, he wiped the floor with all his opponents—boys and girls. The funniest part? The girls either surrendered immediately or went full damsel in distress, flopping dramatically toward him as if hoping he’d catch them. Spoiler: he didn’t. The heartthrob just scowled and shoved his hands into his pockets. A few of them ended up eating dirt for their trouble. Truly, the harsh reality of the ninja world in action. Heh-heh-heh!

Then something caught my attention—a rustling behind me.

I turned to see Ino climbing onto my branch. She didn’t say anything, just leaned back against the trunk and stretched her arms out like she was casually relaxing.

Uh-huh. Sure.

And that’s when things went to hell.

In that exact moment, it hit me like a bolt of lightning—what Ino could do in the anime. The girl could possess bodies, transferring her soul into birds, shinobi, or—oh no—cats.

Before I could react, my body moved on its own.

Help! Someone save me! They’ve catnapped me!