Hana Inuzuka woke up to a soft breeze fluttering against her face. It was so gentle she stayed still, lying in her bed just enjoying the lazy wind.
"Come on Akamaru! Let's help mom pack!" Hana could hear her brother from outside her window. She continued to lay there mulling over the piece of information she just received until she came to a conclusion.
Sitting up quickly, Hana's face brightened as she had just realized what today's exciting adventure would be. She checked her closet for worn clothes that she could easily throw away if stained, but something light for the warm day. She threw on an old T-shirt and a pair of faded cut-off shorts and headed down stairs while pulling up her hair into a slick ponytail.
"Ohayo," Hana padded into the kitchen where Tsume was packing a few bento's into a rather large picnic basket. Kuromaru sat off to the side by a bunch of watermelons.
"Oha-" Kiba came skidding into the kitchen with Akamaru sliding in right behind, bumped into Kiba and caused them to fall onto Kuromaru. He was not amused and sauntered off muttering about irresponsible children.
Hana sweat-dropped at her mother's companion but instantly recovered when she heard Kiba laughing at Akamaru. She looked at her ten year-old brother and smiled before grabbing him and nibbling on his ear only causing him to laugh harder at his sister's actions.
"S-stop! I want to help mom pack!" Kiba struggled against his sister's arms that held him suspended in the air.
Hana giggled and tugged on his ear one more time before letting him go. "So what's up with all the watermelons?" Hana asked as Kiba grabbed the basket and headed off into the backyard with Akamaru trailing behind him.
"Well its summer and we haven't had any clan competitions lately so I decided on starting my own!" Tsume smiled a slightly wicked grin at the idea. "It's called watermelon wrestling and we're going to get down and dirty about it!" Tsume started laughing and Kuromaru walked in with a slightly bored expression on his face.
"No dogs allowed?" Hana asked as she thought of the three Haimaru Brothers.
Her mother stopped laughing to give her daughter that absent stare that made Hana wonder why she asked that question in the first place. "Of course dogs are allowed! Are we not the Inuzuka clan! Anyways help me put these watermelons on a cart and we'll take them out to the field."
Hana relented and called for the Haimaru brothers. They finished in no time and arrived shortly after with the strength of four nindogs pulling the cart.
"Thanks guys," Hana said to her companions as she undid the bits in the brothers' mouths and gave them a thankful hug.
"Alright it's about time you guys showed up! We were wondering if you had chickened out! Too scared to face us again," some man shouted and laughed at Tsume.
Tsume growled and barked back, "Not even in your dreams, Daichi! Prepare to be annihilated!" Tsume's gruff voice seemed to have drowned the poor man who was lucky enough to have forgotten how competitive Tsume could be.
Hana then noticed the pit. How she had missed it before was beyond her imagination. It was big, and it was full of mud. Hana looked at the many Inuzuka's standing around the edge of the pit, some stretching, some talking to members they hadn't seen in a while. She spotted her brother talking to one of their cousins on the other side and smiled.
"Alright! Listen up!" Tsume started and the noise level diminished quickly, no one wanted to get onto Tsume's bad side. "Rules to the game: your age will be your number! When that number is called, fight to get to the watermelon! Then get the watermelon back to your side of the pit! That is how you will get a point! Understood?!"
A round of yes' came from the crowd and Tsume chuckled. "Oh this is going to be fun," she commented to her daughter Hana.
Tsume handed her a watermelon covered in oil before telling her to place it in the middle of the arena. Hana proceeded to the edge of the mud and put a foot in, almost slipped, and proceeded with caution. Other members of the clan were nagging her to go faster and mocked her for being so slow, but Hana knew better than to be agitated by her clan mates. She understood that each and every one of them had the Inuzuka blood in them and by nature they were impatient beings.
After accomplishing her task, Tsume chided her for being so slow but continued instructing her on how to call out numbers. Hana wasn't surprised to be left out of the matches, but she didn't mind. Her training in becoming a medic ninja had prepared her to stay out of fights if she could help it.
'Plus,' she guessed, 'They'll probably end up hurting each other and will need me to take care of any major injuries.'
The sun was just about hitting mid-day when Hana called out the first order of numbers, "15, 23, and 37!"
A roar of Gatsuga's could be heard as many members, both man and dog, used their jujitsu in order to reach the watermelon before their opponents. Many screeches and barks of surprise could be heard when they landed in the mud, slipping and becoming completely drenched in the slippery substance.
Hana just sighed as her clan mates proceeded to fight each other. It was going to be a long day.
"Long but memorable," she thought and sighed with a smile on her lips.