16 A Hectic Birthday Party (3)

The fight descended into a scene of carnage.

Fireballs, blades of wind, earth spikes, lightning bolts…

Elements were exaggeratedly thrown about the battlefield, synthesized and manipulated by chakra.

It was as if she was watching rookie immortals showcasing their newfound abilities, naively assuming that the one who could create the biggest explosion will be the victor.

Fools! Fight with more elegance!

"You alright, pup?"

Oblivious to Hikari's unvoiced criticism, Tsume and Kuromaru had carried the kids to the backline.

"Mom, we're fine! Shouldn't you go and help them?"

"Those Anbu? Nah, don't feel like it," Tsume waved her hand. "Besides, the fight is already decided."

This was Konohagakure, their home turf. On the other hand, the Iwa ninja were outnumbered and caught in a surprise attack.

The result was already set in stone.

The enemy was aware of this fact, but they persisted until the bitter end, leaving the Konoha ninja no choice but to attack with the intention to kill.

"Kiba! Hikari!"

Wearing the white uniform of a medical ninja, Hana had also arrived with her colleagues. Her face was a bit pale, but color quickly returned to her cheeks when she saw that the kids were safe under her mother's protection.

She roughly pulled Kiba over to get a better look at him.

"Ow, big sis, careful! It hurts!"

"What are these wounds? Why are you so bloodied? Who did this?!"

The usually gentle Hana immediately turned deadly cold, enough to frighten the two medical ninja beside her.

"Whoa, whoa, relax sis, it's not my blood! Also, those punks are already dead!"

"Dead-" Her eyes widened. "Did you- did you fight them? Did you won?"

"Well... not really me, it's her..."

Kiba stole a glance at the girl on his back.

"Ah... are you alright?" Hana gave her a quick look. She didn't seem to be wounded, except for the faint bruise on her neck.

"A bit dizzy..." Hikari murmured.

"Let me take a look."

She placed her hand over the girl's wrist, and then closed her eyes. Bluish-green aura thinly covered her palm as she activated her medical jutsu to read the girl's flow of chakra.

"Chakra depletion... it's dangerously low. You'll have to take a long rest."

Her voice grew stern.

"Never overuse your chakra like this ever again! If you run out of chakra, you'll die! It's not a laughing matter!"

"How can she run out of chakra with This One here? You're worrying for nothing, human," Kokuo retorted within Hikari's mind.

But of course, Hana couldn't know that, so Hikari just nodded quietly in response.

"Alright, you guys go patch 'em up," Tsume clapped loudly, bringing the medical-nin's attention back to the task at hand. They quickly scrambled toward the kids, one medical-nin laying Hikari on a mattress while the other used her chakra to heal Kiba. His wounds were mostly superficial, so he just needed a little boost for his natural regeneration to kick in and take care of the rest.

At the same time, the battle safely concluded when the last assailant was taken down by Konoha's Anbu.

"No village symbol or any distinguishing traits in their attire, huh..." Tsume grunted. Judging from the opponent's proficiency with Earth Release and their stubborn attitude toward their mission, it was easy to single out Iwagakure as the culprit.

Unfortunately, there was no proof. They couldn't get any confession either since every single one of them fought to their death.

Tsume was deep in thought when she caught a whiff of a familiar scent. She instantly grew tense.

Damn it. The troublesome one had arrived!

From the village gate appeared an old man dressed in a red robe, a white haori, and a hat scrawled with the character for 'fire' escorted by a pair of animal-mask-wearing ninja.

His hunched back gave off the feeling of a man past his prime, and yet those pairs of eyes were as clear as day as they swept over the battlefield, taking in the aftermath of the battle.

Before long, his gaze landed on Tsume, and then on Kiba, and finally on the girl who was being tended by a medical-nin.

With a single leap, he crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, appearing right beside Hikari.

"T-Third!" The medical-nin almost dropped to the ground from shock.

"Don't mind me, continue with what you're doing."

He gave the medical-nin an amiable smile. However, his sight never left the girl on the mattress.

Just as he was about to step closer, Tsume suddenly appeared right in front of him, blocking his view.

"Third. As you can see, my son and that girl had been attacked by those people. I believe that we should tighten our patrol."

"Hmm. I agree."

The two spoke in a nonchalant tone, but a strange tension started to brew between them, causing the medical-nin to involuntarily shiver.

They stood like that for a few seconds, neither sides unwilling to back off.

"...That girl, who is she?"

"She's our family member," Tsume replied without any hesitation.

"Strange, I've never seen her before. I thought I already know every Inuzuka in this village!"

"Haha! You're a few years too early to claim that! Let me tell ya, she's the niece of the grandfather of the cousin of the daughter of the brother of my uncle. We usually keep her inside the compound all day, so it's understandable if you don't recognize her!"

"...Huh."

Something... seemed wrong...

He gave one last try to take a peek, but Tsume leaned over as well, deliberately hindering him.

"Third, you said it yourself that the Hokage won't get involved with a clan's inner politics."

"..."

In the end, he let out a tired sigh.

"I'll leave the tracking to you. You guys are the pro, after all."

"Yeah, yeah, just go. Don't burden your old bones any further!"

She could only relax after she was sure that the Third Hokage had really left.

By that time, Hikari had replenished a bit of her chakra with the help of the medical-nin. Her body was still weak, but she had more or less recovered her focus.

From the exchange just now, she could tell that the old man wasn't a simple character. To make things worse, he had taken an interest in her.

"Lady Tsume, I-"

"Not here," Tsume held up her hand. "We'll talk when we get home. You stay here with Kiba and Hana, I got some work to do."

She promptly disappeared with Kuromaru to search whatever clues they could find about the assailants.

---

The crows were already cawing by the time that Tsume had returned. From her expression, it wasn't a bountiful hunt.

"Argh, you know what? Who cares. Let's just go home!"

She was supposed to be off-duty today, goddamnit. Those Iwa bastard, she would surely find the proof of their involvement and drag them to hell!

"Hana, you carry Kiba. I'll take this pup."

"Eh?"

Somehow, she had decided to carry the girl home. As for Akamaru, he was perched on Kuromaru's back, drained of energy just like his partner.

The journey back was filled with silence. Hikari had this suspicion that Tsume had deliberately carried her for a different reason.

As expected, when they reached the Inuzuka's house, she told Hana to go ahead and bring Kiba to the living room, while she would take Hikari to the back to check on her injury.

It really went as she had imagined.

"You got something that you haven't told me yet, punk?"

She set Hikari down on the tatami, and then assumed an interrogative tone straight away.

"..."

Seeing the girl lowering her head, Tsume crouched down to look at her directly in the eyes.

"My son was involved in that dangerous shit. He could've died. And I swear to God if that really happened... I would have torn you apart right then and there."

She let out a threatening growl.

"I have the right to know. So, spill it!"

Even when she was facing the angry beast, the girl remained silent.

Two could play that game. Tsume also didn't back down so easily. She maintained the pressure, not leaving her any chance to escape.

After who knew how much time had passed, the girl murmured,

"Why did you help me...?"

"Huh?"

Tsume raised an eyebrow.

"When that old man was checking on me, you stood there to stop him," she continued. "Why?"

That mysterious old man. If she would take a guess, his authority should eclipse Tsume's by a great deal. And yet, she still decided to shield her from that man's inquisitive gaze.

Why?

"Ah, heck, why indeed..." Tsume scratched her head, the same way that Kiba did when he was embarrassed. "...My son already said it, right? You're one of us now, and we Inuzuka never leave our people behind!"

"..."

Was that sentiment genuine?

That foolish statement, that foolish grin, toward a stranger like her, how could she be so carefree? If this was the cutthroat world of cultivators, this kind of naivety would have gotten her betrayed many times over.

Although...

...She didn't particularly dislike it.

She deliberately stopped her dantian from regulating her chakra, allowing Kokuo's Tailed Beast chakra to course through her body untended. Five glowing horse-tails immediately flared out from her back, swaying with the evening wind.

Tsume was on the verge of screaming before she managed to gather herself.

Hikari snickered, thinking that this mother and son pair truly resembled each other, even down to their reaction.

"Lady Tsume, please hear me out. This time, I'll tell you the truth."