Hiruko, once again on the rooftops looking for the cat, was traveling toward his and Tsunade's agreed meeting place; it had been about 30 min.
While he ran, Hiruko couldn't help but think about his actions.
'Sigh, I understood the risk, and having a heart isn't bad.' Hiruko thought, he didn't regret saving the boy, nor did he think it was wrong; it's just he realized for the first time he wasn't as uncaring as he thought.
First it was Ken, then Duy, and now that kid. He didn't have to save them, and at first he hid it behind the fact it was his job to help the characters that didn't get the chance to realize their potential. Or not wanting to deal with the outcome that came from their death.
But that kid wasn't a named character or even a background one,, and leaving him to die wouldn't have impacted him in any way, so he knew this excuse wasn't true. The truth was he wanted to save them.
But he didn't know why a person like him that lived that kind of life in the past would want to.
Sighing and putting his thoughts away as he arrived at the meeting spot, Hiruko saw the figures of his three teammates.
Landing, Hiruko was immediately met with Tsunade's remarks.
"You're late, Hiruko. Where were you?" She said, irritated and ready to punch him, but as she took a closer look, she could see Hiruko's slightly pale face and the tiredness in his face.
"He found out," Hiruko simply said. Hearing this, Tsunade's eyes went wide.
"Um, what are you guys talking about?" Jiraiya asked, puzzled, while Orochimaru stood beside him, simply observing.
"What are we going to do, Hiruko?" Tsunade asked, slightly worried, remembering her mom's talk with the both of them. She thought, completely ignoring Jiraiya.
But Hiruko simply shook his head lightly. "It's fine; let Mom handle it. Plus, with her here, it'll probably stay in the village, meaning no risk." Hiruko said reassuringly.
He knew Tsunade; after their talk with Yuri, he was worried that if people found out, he'd be kidnapped and experimented on.
"Anyways, what did you guys find? I found the cat for a bit but ended up losing it," Hiruko said, changing the subject, turning to face the whole group.
Tsunade, still worried, could only hope her grandmother could handle it and decided to focus on the mission.
"We saw it about three minutes ago traveling north, but we decided it would be better to wait for you than follow." Orochimaru said in his usual hoarse voice.
"Okay then, let's get going and see if we can find it. We'll stick together this time since the aim is teamwork. Tsunade and Jiraiya will focus on cutting off its exits while I and Orochimaru catch it," Hiruko said, making a plan.
After checking to make sure everyone agreed on it, they moved out to begin the search.
—
A little brown cat sat on a building licking its paws without a care in the world.
Suddenly the cat looked up as if sensing something, and in its sight was the figure of a young boy with white hair and red lines that extended down from his eyes.
"Hey little kitty, Jiraiya the great has come to take you home," Jiraiya said with a bright smile as he descended from the sky.
The cat, seeing this, hopped out of the way and took off running as Jiraiya landed just as it was about to jump to the next rooftop; a small Earth Wall just tall enough so the cat couldn't jump over blocked its escape.
The cat stopped just before it rushed into the wall and immediately turned left, ready to go from that side. But again, before it could, another small Earth Wall stopped its escape.
Now feeling the pressure, the cat immediately turned right, rushing to get away, but Hiruko stood in the way. The cat, not caring, pounced at Hiruko so it could make its escape.
But just as it was about to scratch him, a small Earth Bullet flying through the air dug itself into its stomach. The power was held back just enough to knock the cat out.
The group coming in to surround the cat all had a small smile of pride on their face.
"Good job, kids," a voice behind them said. The kids turned around to see their sensei holding a small box.
Hiruzen lingered his eyes on Hiruko for a brief moment, though stopping when he saw Tsunade's slight glare.
He looked at the kids sincerely. "I know it would have been really easy to catch the cat using certain methods, but I applaud you guys for being able to work as a team. And to congratulate a successful first mission, I think you guys deserve these."
Hiruzen said, throwing four forehead protectors that held the symbols of the leaf.
Each child looking at them felt a small sense of accomplishment and pride looking at these headbands; even Orochimaru cracked a small smile.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru each put the protector on their foreheads with a smile.
Hiruko, on the other hand, looking at the protector, thought,
'Yeah, I'm not putting that on my head,' as he instead put the protector around his neck.
Hiruzen, seeing this, could only sigh, 'This kid is always trying to be different,' though on his face he wore a small smile.
Though he didn't like the fact that Hiruko's ability was hidden from him, the Hokage, he still loved seeing his students excited like this, Hiruko included.
After a few moments, Hiruzen cleared his throat.
"Now I'm glad you're all happy, but in three days we'll be taking on a C-rank mission. Until then, you'll take smaller missions and continue building up your teamwork," Hiruzen said with a smile.
Jiraiya, hearing this, was pumped as if he couldn't lose; he even tried to put his arm around Tsunade's shoulder only to be met with a Chakra Enhanced Punch to the stomach.
Hiruko, however, had a bad feeling about this mission. 'I think tonight I'll install the system rewards I've been putting off for a while.' Hiruko thought.
"Good, now you guys are dismissed; I have an important meeting." Hiruzen said, taking one last glance at Hiruko, that it didn't take rocket science to tell that he was going to talk to Mito.
As Hiruko and Tsunade were preparing to leave home, they were stopped by Jiraiya.
"Hey guys, let's go get something to eat as a team; I'll pay." Jiraiya said he was desperate to feel closer to the team; today it felt magical, like all four had been working together for a long time.
"I'm not intre—" Orochimaru was about to say, but when Hiruko said, "Sure, why not," he immediately changed his tune, following the group.
—
As the group of four sat in Ichiraku Ramen eating their bowls, Jiraiya was shouting excitedly about their battle.
"We were so cool, Tsunade immediately erecting two Earth Walls and boxing in the cat, Orochimaru defeating it with an Earth Bullet to the stomach, and last but not least, the amazing Jiraiya, the reason all of that could happen in the first place," Jiraiya said, completely neglecting Hiruko's role in the battle.
To him this battle felt almost magical, like he and the others were connected, able to carry out that plan with the teamwork and efficiency of comrades that have known each other for decades.
Hiruko, taking a break from his Banshu ramen, leaned in to Tsunade's ear, whispering, "He knows we just caught a cat, right?"
Tsunade, hearing this mixed with Jiraiya's obnoxious actions, couldn't help but punch him in the stomach. "Shut up and eat, you idiot," she said, irritated.
Jiraiya doubled over and couldn't help but smile. They all felt closer somehow, and he liked it.
Hiruko, watching Jiraiya double over, couldn't help but chuckle, and neither could Orochimaru, who did the same, cracking a light smirk.
Hearing someone else enjoying this scene as much as he did, Hiruko looked over and locked eyes with Orochimaru, who quickly looked away; an emotionless face was shown outwardly, but inside he was a mess.
Hiruko, seeing this, decided to strike up a group conversation.
"What do you guys think our mission in three days will be?" Hiruko asked.
Jiraiya, taking on a perverted smile, said, "Hopefully it'll be to another village. I hear the Sand Village has so many beauties."
This comment ended up earning Jiraiya another punch from Tsunade. "You idiot," she said.
Jiraiya, feeling a little irritated since this punch was a pretty undeserved shot since he was only appreating appreciateing another villages beauty , shot back, "You're just mad you don't measure up to their beauty nor their chest," he said, glancing down at Tsunade's chest, or more like the lack thereof.
Tsunade, hearing this, her face darkening and her teeth gnashing. Grabbed Jiraiya by the collar, dragging him outside. If she did all the things she wanted to do to Jiraiya inside Ichiraku, she'd have to pay for a lot of property damage.
Jiraiya, seeing he messed up, started pleading to his comrades to save him. "Please, Hiruko, I'm begging here!! Orochimaru, I'm sorry for that one time I blamed taking girls' underwear on you, so please help me." Jiraiya yelled, his voice getting fainter as he was pulled into the darkness of the night by Tsunade.
________________________________________
S: Just to resay said in the earlier chapter, the mission rewards are based off of difficulty and the prestigious of the person or thing it's connected to and are decently Random. Hiruko did not get a reward for this mission because catching the cat is not hard nor dose the cat have any prestige and he just was unlucky and ain't get one.