14 A Hectic Birthday Party (1)
Another morning arrived in the Inuzuka household.
As usual, Akamaru was waiting for breakfast at the dining table, happily wagging his tail without a care in the world.
"...I still can't believe that it's really you, Daji..."
The puppy panted with his tongue jutting out. He took a few steps forward until he was right before Hikari, and then rubbed his head on her legs.
"What is it?"
She crouched down, shielding Akamaru from the others' sight.
A familiar, feminine voice abruptly entered her ears.
"Good morning, my dear Huang'er."
Hikari instantly froze up.
"You can talk?!? Mppphh-"
Before she could make a ruckus, Akamaru jumped at her face, knocking her down.
"You guys already so noisy in the morning..."
Right at that moment, a lethargic Kiba passed by the two as he took a seat beside Hana.
Woof!
As if nothing had happened, Akamaru barked, pretending that he was just a normal ninja dog.
"...What an actress..." Hikari mumbled.
"Mufufu... why are you so surprised? Lord Kuromaru can speak too."
Kuromaru…
Oh. That eyepatch-wearing dog who sounded like a grumpy war veteran...
"It took me a few days to be able to manipulate a canine's vocal cords to this extent. Not bad, right?"
While it was a bit rough, he was definitely speaking like a human. Not to mention, he was doing it in their native language...
"...Why a female's voice? It's so similar to your real voice too..."
Are you really a male puppy?
When he saw the girl's questioning gaze, the puppy showed a mischievous grin. He leaped to the ground, rolled over to his back, and then proudly showed his everything.
'Look. I got my Little Marumaru with me. How about you~?"
Kek.
Something snapped in Hikari's mind.
"Are you tired? Let me massage you~"
<<Emei Sect Outer-Style Technique: Grape Crushing>>
She stomped at Akamaru with enough strength to shake the Heaven.
Unfortunately, the opponent was also an experienced cultivator who had gone through numerous life-and-death situations. He quickly rolled over to dodge her feet.
"Don't be shy~ come here~"
Woof!
Watching a dog and a young girl running around in a circle, Hana had a warm smile on her face.
"What a great bonding session. Kiba, how about joining them?"
"...Are you kidding me?"
What bonding session? Is his sister blind? In Kiba's eyes, it looked like a forced castration effort...
Nope, not joining. He still wanted to keep his precious Little Fang intact, thank you!
---
After breakfast, Kiba left the house with Akamaru, mumbling something about training. Hikari didn't think much about it and proceeded to help Hana with washing up the dishes as usual.
The next thing that she knew, Tsume had popped up out of nowhere with a serious look on her face.
"Mom?!" Hana exclaimed. "Aren't you in a mission right now?"
"Is that brat gone yet?"
Tsume sharply asked. After seeing them nodding their head, she smiled with satisfaction.
"You guys, it's July 7th. You know what it means, right?" She said while looking at the two.
July 7th... 7th day of the 7th month...
Ah.
"Qixi festival?" Hikari replied.
"..."
...Qi... what?
"No. It's Kiba's birthday," Hana corrected her.
"Oh..."
So that's why Tsume came home all of a sudden!
"That stupid pup always forgets his own birthday every single year. As usual, we'll hold 'im a surprise party!"
A birthday party, huh? It sounds exciting.
"Mom will take care of the food, while I'm in charge of the present," Hana added, giving Hikari a meaningful gaze.
"And me...?"
"You, punk, gotta do the most important part!" Tsume pointed at her. "Starting from now, the house is off-limit for Akamaru and that pup! You're in charge of keeping it that way!"
In short, her job was to keep Kiba busy.
Alright. Not difficult at all. In an emergency, she could just use that Grape Crushing technique to knock him out-
Eh, wait, that didn't sound safe...
"Okay, enough talking! You get his ass out there or I'll kick yours!"
"...What?"
Before she could fully process the entire thing, Tsume had unceremoniously thrown her out of the kitchen.
"..."
"So, we're stuck with babysitting that stupid boy?" Kokuo grumbled.
"...Nothing we can do about it. Let's go, Venerable One."
It was just keeping a kid outside. How hard could it be?
---
After wandering around the Inuzuka compound for a while, she finally found Kiba in the training ground, sitting in the lotus position. He was diligently circulating his chakra while immersing himself in contemplative meditation.
"Looking good," she commented, satisfied with what she had seen.
Her voice caught Kiba's attention, breaking him out of his trance.
"...What? You're disturbing me."
"It's a compliment. I didn't expect that you would be able to withstand meditation."
With his rambunctious appearance, one would think that he was more suited to hot-blooded physical exercise. It turned out that he could do this kind of training too if he put his mind to it.
Maybe she should pay more attention to his training as well.
"Akamaru likes doing it, so..."
Kiba pointed at a rock in the distance.
A white-furred puppy was sitting on top of it with bluish light enveloping his small body. He was concentrating even deeper than Kiba. Their conversation didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.
...What kind of dog could do that?
"That... don't you feel anything weird about it?"
"Hm? Why?" Kiba raised an eyebrow. "What's so weird with Akamaru doing chakra training? It just shows his talent, doesn't it? As expected of my partner!"
He let out a prideful laugh, while Hikari and Kokuo just sneered by the side.
What a refreshingly simple person...
The light surrounding the pup receded in an instant. He lifted his head, turning his attention to Hikari, and then rushed toward her with a single leap.
When she lifted him on her arms, he licked her cheek lovingly.
"It seems that your partner preferred me," she smirked.
"..."
Kiba, who had just finished gloating about how wonderful his partner was, had to taste the bitterness of betrayal for the first time in his life...
"Can it. Why did you come here? You usually just do those weird dances by yourself in the backyard."
Those weren't weird dances! Those were the Twelve Movements and Six Specially Mastered Skills!
No, no, she shouldn't get distracted...
"I'm bored. Let's play outside?"
Kiba harrumphed.
"And why should I play with you? I'd rather-"
"Pleeease~? Lord Kiba, please accompany this humble one~?"
He flinched, unable to resist that pandering gaze.
In the end, his resistance crumbled to dust.
"Kuh... fine! Just because I'm feeling magnanimous today!"
"Thank you~!"
"Hmph! Make sure to keep up!"
As she followed the boy out of the compound, the puppy on her arms leaned closer to her ears and whispered in a seductive voice,
"Hmm~ I've witnessed the revered Venerable Yao acting cute. I think this life is worth it~"
"...Erase that from your brain."
She flicked Akamaru's forehead with a finger.
---
The two kids and one dog spent the entire morning walking aimlessly around the village, prompting friendly greetings from the civilians, especially the people in the marketplace who had once fallen victim to Konoha's twin sandstorm back in the days.
Of course, the two had no idea that they had garnered such an epitaph...
"Where are we going now?" Hikari asked the seemingly distracted Kiba. They had finally circled back to the first place that they had visited, the public park.
"Hmm... I can't find them..." He murmured.
"Who?"
"His friends," Akamaru whispered in her ears. And then, he barked loud enough for Kiba to hear.
"Ooh! Good idea, Akamaru! Let's go!"
He quickly sauntered off toward the residential area.
"...I always wonder how those Inuzuka people could understand dog barking..."
"Magical, aren't they?" Akamaru snickered.
Following the boy led them toward a clan compound similar to the one owned by the Inuzuka, albeit encompassing a larger piece of land. The clan symbol painted on the gate showed three parallel vertical lines connected with two perpendicular diagonal lines.
"This is...?"
"Choji's house," Kiba promptly replied.
Choji… that name seemed familiar.
She had heard him mentioning his friends before, and one of them was called Akimichi Choji.
Then, this must be the entrance to Akimichi clan's compound?
According to the history book she'd borrowed from Hana, it was one of the four noble clans in this village. That should be the reason for such grandeur.
Not long after he had rung the bell, the front gate creaked open, and a... full-bodied woman with black hair and eyes came out.
...Actually, maybe the reason their house was so big was that smaller ones wouldn't fit their size...
"Good morning, Kiba! Are you here to see Choji? My boy is bedridden right now. Shikamaru is inside to check on him."
Hmm? Bedridden?
"What happened to Choji?"
"Oh, nothing too serious!" The woman waved her hand while chuckling. "He had too much spicy ramen at Ichiraku. That new menu, do you know about it? That was an amazing case of explosive diarrhea. Thankfully he's better now. He still feels a bit weak, so I'm in the middle of feeding him some chicken soup..."
""""...""""
Explosive what...?
You know what? Nevermind. No need to answer that. It was better to leave it as an unsolved mystery...
"Bummer. There goes today's fun," Kiba mumbled as they walked back to the park.
"Don't you have that other friend?"
From what she had seen when she was out running errands, Kiba would sometimes play with three other kids. Aside from the extra-sized Akimichi Choji, there was also the lanky ponytail boy, Nara Shikamaru, and the boy with spiky yellow hair.
What was his name again? Narut-
"Nah. Not that guy. I mean, he's cool, but if it's just me and him..." Kiba shook his head. "Nah. Besides, I don't like his brother."
That cocky loner who thought he was the best just because he was praised by the teachers every single day? No, thanks. He was just as bad as that Uchiha kid.
Hikari had this weird smile on her face.
Aah, youth. Filled with rivalries and complicated feelings that adults wouldn't be able to understand...
"Huang'er, you're thinking about something weird again, aren't you?" Akamaru whispered.
"...Erase that grin from your face, it's creepy," Kokuo chimed in.
"..."
Fine, these old coots, they could never understand the romance of youth!
...Hold on, she was also one of them...
"Haaah, this sucks... come on, let's just go home," Kiba suddenly said.
"Eh?"
"What 'eh'? There's nothing interesting to do, it's better to just train instead."
Young master, why were you suddenly so diligent, ah? It was just the middle of the day, be a little lazier!
Aah, he was going away. Wait up! Her mission! Her mission was in jeopardy!
"Let's... let's just go play in the creek, then!"
She forcefully pulled him by the wrist.
"What the heck?! You frigging idiot! Let go!"
Ignoring his protest, she forcefully dragged the poor boy toward the village's main gate.
---
Back in the Inuzuka household, Tsume was currently absorbed in cutting various types of meat for her special recipe. At the dining table, Hana was helping her with decorating the cake for the evening party.
"Say, mom, is it fine for you to ditch your mission?"
"Heh, it'll be fine. What that Hokage gonna do? Fire me? Let's see if he dare!"
Hana chuckled. Classic Tsume.
Then again, another Inuzuka shinobi was taking over her duty for today. Perhaps it would be just fine.
"What were you tracking? It's rare for you to take so long..."
Tsume hand stopped for a moment before resuming to slice through the beef.
"I guess I don't have to tell you, but make sure to keep this a secret. We've sighted some foreign shinobi wandering around the vicinity of the village. They've been doing their best to hide their tracks, which forced us to work extra hard just to gain an insignificant lead. We have a suspicion about the culprit behind them, but no concrete proof so far."
"Foreign shinobi..." Hana frowned. "...Who?"
Tsume sighed.
"Iwagakure, those slippery bastards."
Somehow, she had a feeling that that girl they had been sheltering for the past year was connected with this mess.
