Chapter 23

— "Any problems?"

— "You, Aburame, leave this disgrace to us, we'll take care of delivering her to our quarter," smirked the guy who was a bit ahead of me in height.

Considering she lives outside the clan? And I don't quite like his smile.

— "Thanks, but no need — I can handle it myself," I politely declined. There's no point in souring relations with the main branch of the Hyuga clan unnecessarily; if they keep insisting, it's their own fault.

— "You didn't understand — we're not offering," spoke up the second guy, "get out of here now."

Idiots. Connecting my shadow with the nearest guy was a matter of a fraction of a second, after which I made a grappling move with my left hand and pulled sharply towards me. Mimicking my movements, the Hyuga grabbed his companion by the neck and head-butted him soundly.

Not wasting time, before the pair could recover and realize what had happened, I pointed at each with a glowing green finger to their foreheads and watched with satisfaction as their bodies slumped to the floor, unconscious.

— "What did you do to them?" unexpectedly nearby, Key asked, holding quite a hefty club with an iron-clad end.

Hmm, the mentor must be quite respected here, judging by the approving murmur among the surrounding shinobi.

— "Just knocked the idiots out," I shrugged with my free shoulder, "they'll wake up with a hell of a headache by morning."

Nodding understandingly, the bartender returned behind the counter, and I stepped over the bodies on the floor, hoisted the mentor onto my second shoulder, and left the bar. Outside, the last colors of the day were fading, so I decided to quickly disperse the sleeping trio and head home. The closest were the Inuzuka quarter, so that's where I headed. Across the rooftops. All that was left was to rejoice in my control over chakra, unaffected even under the influence of alcohol.

— "Stop, who are you and what's your business here?" the gatekeepers appeared next to the clan gates just as I landed from a nearby roof.

— "Delivering bodies home after a drinking session!" I cheerfully reported to the guy and the girl, while the puppy on my head nodded in confirmation.

— "Kuromaru?" the kunoichi was surprised, looking up.

— "It's Tsume-sama!" her partner echoed, eyeing the bodies on my shoulders.

— "Uh, I think I'll call Tsebami-sama," suddenly nervously spoke the Inuzuka.

— "So, you're not taking this body away from me?" I clarified with the guy, noticing the retreating kunoichi.

— "Sorry, but I won't deliver Tsume-sama to her parents in this condition — life is still precious," the guy shrugged and glanced at the clearly amused dog behind him.

— "So what about Tsume-chan?" a woman's voice sounded from beyond the gates, followed by the appearance of the owner herself with a huge black dog by her side.

Surveying the tightly-knit Inuzuka in a simple white dress and barefoot sandals, appearing to be just over thirty and bearing a striking resemblance to my fellow teammate, I assumed she must be her mother. Who, incidentally, looked quite attractive.

— "Yours?" I raised an eyebrow, shifting my right shoulder.

— "Tsume-chan? What's wrong with her?" the woman fretted, but after a couple of sniffs, grimaced. "I see. So you're her sensei?"

At the instantly chilled tone of her voice, chills ran down my spine, but I couldn't help a quiet snort of barely restrained laughter. Suddenly very pale guards swiftly backed away, while the puppy comfortably lounging on my head began to tremble and whimper softly. Even the two healthy dogs tucked their tails and quickly moved aside.

— "And what did you hear that's so amusing, sensei?"

Ignoring the intuition screaming at me, I made a brief dramatic pause for greater effect.

— "Well, only the fact that the sensei is on my other shoulder," I announced and burst into laughter at the amused face of the senior kunoichi.

— "On your other shoulder?" Tsume's mother repeated in astonishment. "So you're not her mentor, but a genin?"

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