Aburame Shima desperately wanted to shout, "Get away, you evil cat!", but seeing the cat's posture that looked ready to pounce back on him if he pushed the cat away, he didn't dare to say those words aloud.
Although Shima is an Elite Chunin, this cat didn't seem intimidated by his presence. On the contrary, the bugs within Shima seemed worried and afraid, which made Aburame even more cautious.
'Forget it, let's just take a step back, focus on mission, and this calamity will pass.' Shima thought, but Takeshi, the cat, refused to move away.
As Takeshi sat on his shoulder, and his instinctive perception could detect the restlessness and uneasiness coming from the 'mount' underneath.
'Some of it likely comes from the bugs, and some of it comes from Shima himself.' Takeshi thought.
"Hizashi-senpai is searching to the left , how about we go to the right?" Shima commented.
Kakashi, focused on the mission, immediately turned right and summoned his summon beast, Pakkun.
While Pakkun's strength was relatively low, and he consumed minimal chakra, but his exceptional tracking ability and being able to speak clearly like humans made him an invaluable asset.
However, after Pakkun came out, he looked up and saw the Takeshi sitting on the shoulder of the ninja in front of him.
He looked at Kakashi in confusion and asked in a low voice: "Isn't Takeshi-sama here? Why did you summon me here?"
Kakashi felt that his expression becoming stiff, 'This dog is really embarrassing.'
'Takeshi...sama?' Kakashi's lips tightened in anger, and feeling embarrassed by Pakkun's words. 'Well, in previous mission he was acting so brave with his brothers around, where did all that bravery go?'
Pakkun, being timid and clever, immediately sensed that Kakashi was thinking something bad towards him.
Panicking, Pakkun exclaimed, "Of course, it's my honor to help you find someone! I'll find them right away, Woof~!"
After speaking, Pakkun quickly ran forward, with Kakashi following closely behind, his expression hidden behind his mask. Takeshi, observing the scene, almost burst out laughing at the silly dog's antics.
Not only did Pakkun contribute significantly to the mission, but he also inadvertently gained it a lot of points from Kakashi.
Takeshi was about to turn around and mess with Shima when he suddenly detected the faint sound.
The sound only audible to him because of he has cat's ears. Takeshi listened intently for a moment before jumping off Shima's shoulder and following the sound.
Shima was initially thrilled but took a moment to react. "Follow me!" Obito, familiar with Takeshi's habits, was the first to react.
Despite his questionable personality and behaviour, Takeshi was surprisingly reliable in critical situations and never disappointed. Even their Jonin sensei, Minato, is slightly inferior to Takeshi's quick reflexes.
At this point, Takeshi began searching diligently. It didn't take long for Pakkun to detect a unique scent and said, "There is a quite unique scent."
"Meow~ Stupid dog, this is the scent of a puppet," Takeshi said, stopping and turning to face Shima.
Shima, who had just arrived, panicked for no reason when he saw Takeshi staring at him. In the end, Kakashi released a flare into the sky.
Takeshi's eyes filled with contempt as he spoke, "Meow~ Are you the only one who still thinks you're the captain?"
With his current behaviour, it's no wonder he can't leave a mark in canon, unlike Kakashi and Obito, who were more reliable.
Shima didn't know how to respond, so he silently adjusted his glasses frame, not saying anything.
'Keep focusing on mission Shima, just like mother used to say, don't get distracted, and everything will be fine.' Aburame thought.
'Now we just have to wait for Anbu or Jonin to come to battle the enemy.' Thought Takeshi while feeling relatively safer.
But within a minute, a figure appeared with a "whoosh." The sound was barely audible, indicating the person was likely a Jonin-level ninja using Shunshin Jutsu.
Ordinary people wouldn't be able to hear it. Takeshi and the rest were different, though.
He came very quickly, almost as fast as Minato, the Thunder God, who was notoriously late due to various reasons during critical moments.
This aspect made Takeshi feel sad, because he knew how bad things can get because of that lateness.
At that moment, Shima looked at Takeshi as if seeking his opinion.
One person and one cat locked eyes for a few seconds. As Takeshi's expression displaying contempt, Shima took a deep breath and said, "Senpai, we've discovered the scent of the shinobi from Sunagakure Village."
"Understood," Hizashi replied. "Let me borrow this cat."
Before waiting for Takeshi's consent, Hizashi picked him up and swiftly left, leaving Obito in the wind.
Obito left behind, pondered what to do next, since he was originally on a mission with Takeshi. He didn't know what to do now, because alone he is not good at reconnaissance.
"Pakkun, go help Obito. I'll summon the another ninja dog. Then we'll change direction to avoid going in the same direction as Hizashi-senpai and Takeshi," Kakashi instructed.
"Woof! Kakashi, you can't do this to me, I don't..."Before Pakkun could finish protesting, he was thrown towards Obito. He threw Pakkun away like 3 day old garbage.
Kakashi and Shima then headed in the same direction, deviating slightly to avoid repeating their search areas.
Leaving Obito and Pakkun to awkwardly stared at each other.
"You are weak, it's perhaps wiser to hold no grudges against anyone strong, since you lack the strength to retaliate." Obito commented based on his behavior in regards to Takeshi.
"Woof! I am not a weakling!" Pakkun retorted.
Pakkun, being the most intelligent of the eight ninja dogs, had the strongest perception. However, thinking of Takeshi, he suddenly felt sad.
Obito didn't bother protesting and expertly carried the puppy over his shoulder. He had a plan to get rid of the "Dobe", "Loser", "Idiot" and other nicknames stuck to him and acknowledged that it was difficult for Pakkun to surpass Takeshi in some aspects, given the significant difference between their talents and bloodline.
Therefore, Obito thought of couple more things he could have said, after being with Takeshi for so long, Obito had unknowingly become a bit sadistic, but he couldn't bear to cause such emotional damage to Pakkun and didn't say anything more.
Somewhere in the forest,
Takeshi lay on Hizashi's shoulder, his claws eager to stab Hizashi's throat. 'Why does no one ever ask me for my opinions? I didn't want to follow!'
Dealing with Sunagakure's poisonous creations was unpleasant, and he didn't want to fight them if he had the choice.
Hizashi's senses being sharp and he noticed that Takeshi's discontent, said, "Well, little one, please help me this time. when I return and request a combat merit for you."
"I'm just a cat.' Takeshi said weakly. "It doesn't matter anyways, I will still help you... The enemy should be nearby."
"Please go to that direction and continue searching, don't go too further away from me. If you find the scent, let me know.'"
After Hizashi finished speaking, he gently threw Takeshi off using abit of his strength. The force was gentle, so it wouldn't harm the cat, but Takeshi remained unhappy.
"How about this ? I'll invite you to visit my family when we return to the village," Hizashi said. Takeshi's eyes lit up, excited by the prospect of being a guest of one of the richest clans.
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