14 A Hectic Birthday Party 1 (1/2)
Morning arrived in the Inuzuka household like every other day. The conversation with Daji from last night felt like a dream.
But of course, it was not.
Akamaru was waiting near the dining table, wagging his tail as he saw Hikari walking in.
”...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 the girl, and then rubbed his head on her legs.
”...What is it?”
She crouched down, shielding Akamaru from the others' sight.
Suddenly, a familiar, feminine voice entered her ears.
”It is, indeed, I, my dear Huang'er.”
Khuk-
The one who was moving their mouth, was the dog. While it was a bit rough, he was definitely speaking in their native language.
”Y-you can talk?!? Mppphh-”
Before she could make a ruckus, Akamaru lunged toward her face, knocking her down.
”You guys already so noisy in the morning...”
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.”
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?”
”Uh... but... 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 feeling tired? Let me massage you~”
Lifting her leg, she launched a stomp strong enough to shake the Heaven!
<mei Sect Outer-Style Technique: Grape Crushing>>
Unfortunately, the opponent was also a thousands-years-old cultivator who had witnessed all techniques of the mortal realm. He quickly rolled over to dodge the stomp.
”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. How about you play with them too, Kiba?”
”...Guh.”
What bonding session? Is his sister blind? In Kiba's eyes, it looked more like a forced castration effort...
Nope, not joining, he still like to have his precious Little Fang attached, thank you!
---
After breakfast, Tsume had Hikari and Hana to stay behind while Kiba was allowed to leave with Akamaru. It seemed that she had something important to tell the two.
Come to think of it, it had been a while since Hikari had last seen Tsume. Lately, she had been away from home due to some important missions that required her tracking skill. Surprisingly, she had showed up in the morning without informing anyone.
”You guys, it's July 7th. You know what it means, right?” Tsume said while looking at the two.
July 7th... 7th day of the 7th month...
Oh! She knew the answer!
”Qixi festival?” Hikari replied.
”...”
...Qi... what?
”No. It's Kiba's birthday,” Hana corrected her while still pondering about what ki-shi actually meant.
”Oh...”
So that's why Tsume came home all of the sudden!
”That stupid pup always forget his own birthday every year, so as usual, we'll hold 'im a suprise party!”
Hmm, a birthday party, huh? She hadn't experienced that for thousands of years. 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 that pup and his partner! You're in charge of keeping it that way!”
Ah, so she just had to keep Kiba busy outside.
Alright, not too hard. In emergency, she could just use that Grape Crushing technique to knock him out-
Eh, wait, wouldn't he would fall unconscious for the whole day, then! That kinda defeat the purpose...
”Okay, enough talking! You get his ass out there or I'll kick yours!”
”Eeeh?!”
She was unceremoniously thrown out of the kitchen.
Sigh...
”Got stuck with babysitting that stupid boy, eh?” Kokuo snickered.
”Not you too, Venerable One...”
Agh, fine, she just had to do it, right? Whatever happens, happens!
---
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.
”Hmm, looking good,” she commented, feeling satisfied with what she was seeing.
Her voice caught Kiba's attention, breaking him out of his trance.
”...What? You're disturbing me.”
”Just complimenting you. Never thought that you can withstand meditation.”
With his rambunctious appearance, one would think that he was more suited with 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...”
He 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, as their conversation didn't seem to bother them in the slightest.
...What kind of dog could do that?
”That... you don't feel anything weird about it?”
”Hm? Why?” Kiba raised an eyebrow. ”What's so weird with Akamaru liking to do 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.