Eye of the Tiger
Warnings: Violence, death and other dark themes (A/N a great way to kickoff the story)
The appearance of a shinobi wearing a porcelain white mask arriving through the window several stories high caused no reaction from the Sandaime Hokage other than releasing a sigh. No matter how often he wished, his ANBU preferred the 'efficiency' found in using his window rather than the common curtsey of using the door much to his disdain. Sometimes Hiruzen Sarutobi believed everyone just came through his window simply to annoy him.
"Hokage-sama." Dog bowed his head towards the Hokage as he stood before him, awaiting to hear his orders from the man who summoned him.
"Dog-san, do you know of the Ryoshi clan?" Hiruzen asked the young man. The Ryoshi clan had been eating away in the back of his mind as time went on. The clan that had always made sure to check in with Konoha every few months hadn't been heard from in almost a year. The Ryoshi clan resided in the southwest of the Land of Fire, near the border of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Waves, acting as a barrier protecting this country from enemy ninja, which was the main reason why one of the most important families from Konoha were allowed to move from the village. If something has happened with the Ryoshi clan, then Hiruzen needed to find out before the other villages find out and strike.
Dog simply nodded his head towards his Hokage. Almost anyone who has ever read a book on the history of the Konoha would be able to tell you the basics about them. The Ryoshi clan are the owners of one of the four great dojutsu, known for their abilities involving summons, and the clan helped to make Konoha what it is today.
"It has been far too long since I have received a message from them and it makes me worried. If something has happened to them then it leaves the country open to attack. Your mission is to head to where the Ryoshi clan lives and investigate what has happened and report back as soon as possible. And depending on the situation I will trust your judgement to do what you think is best. Please make haste with this mission and leave as soon as possible."
With a nod of the ANBU members head letting the Sandaime know that the young man accepted his mission, Dog vanished out of Hiruzen's window. Honestly, Hiruzen thought, sometimes he wonder why he even has a door.
Dog had been running for nearly two days till he arrived to the Ryoshi clan complex, or what remained of it. The entire building had been burned down around what he would guess looked like several months ago according to his sense of smell.
As Dog made a quick mental scan of his surroundings he noticed obvious signs of a struggle that had taken place here but no signs of bodies. He figured it'd be best to have the pack help him search around so he took out a kunai from his pocket and nicked his thumb and proceeded to swipe his bleeding thumb across a scroll while doing the necessary hand signs.
Eight dogs of varying sizes and colors appeared before the young man, all of them taking a quick glance around to get a gist of the situation.
"I think we're a bit late to the party." The deep voice that spoke out first surprisingly belonged to the smallest of them all who was perched atop a huge bulldog's head, pausing for a brief moment to sniff the air before continuing. "I'd say about four or five months late if my nose is correct, which it always is."
"Yo boss, if you're wanting us to track down whoever was here five months ago, that might be a bit out of our capabilities." The tan colored canine added in his input, but feeling that wasn't enough to get across to his summoner he decided to go on. "Five months is like really old. Like, like, so old that it's super old! Like that old man who writes your pervy-" Bonk. A quick whack on the head by the pug was enough to stop the other's rant.
"Shut up Guruko, now you are just giving me a headache from your constant yapping pup." The pug known as Pakkun then looked up towards his summoner, waiting for the situation to be debriefed with the rest of the pack. The quicker he gets this done with the quicker he can get back to what he was doing, laying on his back in front of the fireplace awaiting the bellyrubs which would be bestowed upon him when his summoner returned home. Unlike most summons, the ninken preferred to stay in the home of their summoner when not needed rather than return to their realm. What wasn't there to like, Pakkun thought, a warm place to sleep, free food and belly rubs.
"I need some of you to search the surrounding area and see if you can pick up any scents of survivors if they happened to stay nearby while the rest of you investigate the remains and see if you can pick up any clues on what happened." Dog instructed to his ninken, and without another moment being wasted his canines broke into two groups. The group which would search the surrounding area consisted of Pakkun, who was his best tracker, as well as Bisuke, Akino, Uhei and Guruko, leaving Bull, Shiba, Bisuke and Urushi to investigate the remnants of the Ryoshi Clan complex.
Dog also joined in the search of the surrounding woods. They were only searching about half an hour when he heard Pakkun's gruff voice in his mind.
"You need to come see this. Head northeast and then follow my scent. The rest of the pack are also on their way."
"Enemy?" Dog responded back to the pug in his mind while swiftly making his way towards him.
"Unknown, but I sense three sources of chakra, one human and two not, but while powerful none of them seem as though they would cause you any harm unless instigated. " Pakkun was not known as the leader and brains of the ninken for nothing. While all the ninken had an amazing sense of smell, Pakkun was on a whole other level, being able to smell target from much further away, identify between different scents and tell what type of danger they would pose. The only thing bother him was what were those two other scents… they seemed familiar, almost as if they were…
"The two other unknown scents are summons. One in particular has an unusually high amount of chakra, whoever their summoner is must be exceptionally gifted in regards to chakra reserves for them to be high enough to summon them."
"Do you think they could be a member of the Ryoshi clan?" Pakkun's summoner responded as he arrived to the pug's location and found that the rest of the pack had also just arrived. Up ahead, about several hundred feet Dog could see an entrance to a cave and able to sense three flickers of different chakra signatures.
"That would make sense, though the Ryoshi clan were known to primarily summon one being at a time. I would suggest taking myself and one other with you so as not to seem too intimidating." Taking Pakkun's advice in hand he headed towards the cave while signalling to Pakkun and Bull to follow him and allowed his chakra to flare up a bit so as to let those in the cave aware that he was approaching.
Dog and his two ninken travelled to the entrance at the cave slow enough to show no ill intent, and upon their arrival they found themselves faced with one of the summons, an immense Bengal tiger whose height reached more than a foot over his head, which was no small feat as Dog himself measured at almost 6 feet. As the tiger took a few more footsteps in their direction he could see its muscles rippling under his glossy fur after every movement. Dog felt himself slightly tense up and prepared himself to attack in case things took sour turn.
Dog felt the beast's bright golden eyes scan him over with a predatory look, as if wondering if he would be a good snack or not, until it decided to rest it's gaze upon his ANBU mask before speaking.
"Human," The tiger spoke, sounding male from his tone. "Why do you wear a mask? Is it to hide your fear? If so there is no point because I can smell it on you. When a mere mortal comes into contact with a king it is only a natural reaction." When he finished he gave a toothy grin as if to emphasize his point. Dog never even realized a cat could grin, but then again Pakkun always managed his smug looking smirk, so he supposed it made sense. Must be a summons thing.
"Then go ahead and smell, for I feel no fear in meeting you." The masked ninja replied, causing the tiger to inhale his scent through his nose and then he narrowed his golden eyes.
"Then you are simply a fool with no sense of preservation. It makes no difference, you will go down as easily as all the others who dared to come this far, and then you will be able to join all your kin from Rivers and Waves in the ground… well what remains of you after I have had my fill." The tiger growled out, taking another step forward till there was less than 3 meters between the two. Bull tensed and looked as if he were to step in between the two until Dog told him to stay back with the slightest twitch of his hand.
"I believe there is a misconception which I should fix," Dog replied evenly, continuing as he took of his ANBU mask, leaving just his normal blue mask and his Konoha Hitai-ite. "I was sent from Konoha to check on the Ryoshi clan."
The beast then took in this new information while studying the man's face. "A mask underneath a mask, was one not effective enough? Why do you continue to hide if you are who you say?"
"Ah, I think it makes me look more mysterious don't you think?" The masked man replied with a tilt of his head, before placing the ANBU mask back covering his face. The tiger had to wonder if all human men were this idiotic or if he was just a special case.
Before anything else could be said Kakashi sensed the other two chakra signatures approaching, and heard two sets of footsteps, one the sound of heavy paws and the other tiny feet. The footsteps coming from the human were so small and light that if he didn't know better he would have thought they were from a…
"Ano, did you say you were from Konoha?" A melodic voice came from what appeared to be a 5 year old child, a little girl who was peering out from behind the other summon which was another huge tiger, except this one was white with brilliant blue eyes.
The little girl didn't even come up to the huge beast's chest. She had pale skin and black curly hair, all normal for a young girl except the the pair of large golden cat-like eyes which made the girl seem more intimidating than any 5 year old rightfully should look while still managing to retain the a childlike innocence. She seemed too young and innocent to have enough chakra to summon the two tigers, but thinking back to himself at that age he had no right to judge.
"Hayami, what are you doing?!" The harsh voice of the orange tiger growled out while tilting his face towards her. Glaring at the little girl, Hayami, he continued. "I told you to stay in the back of the cave with Shiruba while I enjoyed my snack."
"Quiet Gorudo, you'll make Hayami-sama upset. I sensed no ill intent from the human so I deemed it was fine." The white tiger, Shiruba spoke, her voice sounding much softer than her male counterpart, while carrying a slight motherly tone while speaking of the young girl.
"If she got upset at such a thing then she wouldn't be my bondmate." Gorudo growled out. "But if you feel the need to watch mistress, then feel free to. Perhaps I'll make a show out of it." As the fiery tiger took another step towards Dog, he felt the need to take control of this situation and decided to directly address the one who seemed to hold the most power of the three in this situation. He knelt down before he spoke.
"Excuse me miss, I was sent by the Hokage to inquire about the Ryoshi clan, would you happen to be able to help me out?" Dog spoke softly to the young girl, not wanting to intimidate her. The girl got a dark look in her eyes for a moment, one that shouldn't belong on a 5 year old, before she stepped forwards from beneath the white tiger and past Gorudo, ignoring his growls. She stopped about a meter away before speaking to Dog.
"The Yellow Flash sent you?" She questioned while looking up excitedly. It was common for children of the Country of Fire to idolize the Fourth Hokage, who was like a superhero in their eyes. Remembering the Fourth, Dog looked down, and before he could speak the white tiger, Shiruba spoke up.
"Hayami-sama, remember it is the Third Hokage who is in power now. The Fourth died during the Kyuubi attack." Shiruba gently reminded the girl. Dog was thankful he was wearing his ANBU mask so that they wouldn't see a flash of pain flitting across his face, though his ninken seemed to understand and Pakkun slightly nudged the back of his leg.
"Ah, gomen." Hayami apologized to Dog while slightly bowing her head. "Are you one of the ANBU of Konoha?" She questioned, to which he simply nodded his head. "My name is Hayami Ryoshi, and these are my summons Shiruba and Gorudo. It's nice to meet you…?"
Before Dog could think of a reply to give her Pakkun stepped forward and decided to take control.
"Pleasure to meet you Hayami-san, my name is Pakkun, and this big guy next to me is referred to as Dog, and the other big guy next to him is Bull." Pakkun spoke as he sat himself right in front of her and raised his paw up. Seeing this Hayami giggled as she knelt in front of Pakkun and shook his paw.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too Pakkun-san." She replied with a cute smile, and Bull not wanting to be left out walked forward to and plopped himself down right in front of her, easily towering over her tiny form and raised a giant paw with a low gruff.
Dog almost face palmed, Bull was nearly three times the girl's size, there's no way the girl won't see him as a threat, but much to his pleasant surprise Hayami simply giggled and shook his one giant paw with two of hers.
"And it is very nice to meet you as well Bull-san." The girl told the enormous canine, who simply gave a grunt of what seemed to be content.
Then in a blink of an eye both tigers seemed to flank the girl's sides, and no longer seeing any hostile nature from the summons, besides a growl of annoyance from Gorudo he stepped forward so that Dog was in line with his ninken.
"Can you tell me where the rest of your clan is?" The young man asked, who received a sad look in reply, until it was replaced with another smile, though sadder this time. Suddenly he felt a tiny hand grab his and he had to stop himself from pulling out a kunai, which he knew would not have been appreciated by the tigers. So he restrained his urge to attack and allowed himself to be 'dragged' back to the remnants of the clan house and then a little farther south until he came across would looked like a little cemetery.
Looking around he saw small stones with what looked to be names scratched onto them, about 30 in total. Taking a deep breath in he had to stop himself from retching at the residing smell of burnt corpses. They kept walking through until they got to three stones which were larger and more ornate, decorated with claws. When the girl who was still holding his hand decided to kneel before them he had no choice but to copy her, also kneeling onto the earth.
"These are the graves I made for them," she spoke, pointing at the three in front of them. "This is Otousan, Ojisan, and Oniisan." He noticed that the grave which she pointed at for her brother seemed to be the most decorative, even having beautiful colored stones around it.
"They were killed 5 months ago." Hayami started, her voice steady and unwavering, in a tone that would use in telling about what groceries they got. It was only the look in her eyes that let Dog know how much this hurt her. "They came in the middle of the night, I don't even know how many of them there were but it shouldn't have mattered, our clan had dealt with enemies of greater numbers and still came out ahead. What we hadn't dealt with before was being our chakra being drained, and our breathe being stolen." At this point Gorudo laid down behind her, engulfing her back in his side while keeping his golden eyes focused on Dog, and Pakkun decided to nestle himself onto the young girl's lap.
(Flashback 5 months ago)
It wasn't till late at night after the moon had already risen that Hayami began to head back to the houses that made up the clan complex with Gorudo after spending the day training together in the main grounds. As she walked back, she noticed what seemed to be a strange barrier form in the sky surrounding the complex.
"Goru-kun, what's that?" The young girl inquired while pointing at the barrier, wondering whether she should be worried, or if perhaps one of her clanmates were practicing a new jutsu.
The large orange tiger observed the sky for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly in concern, not liking how this barrier was making him feel. However, he downplayed his concerns so as not to worry his young summoner.
"I'm unsure mistress, but it feels strange. Let's go find the young master and see if he has a better understanding of the situation." Gorudo told her in a even tone, the feeling of unease starting to grow deeper in his stomach. He sent out a pulse of chakra locating Hikaru's signature and following it, making sure his black haired mistress kept up behind him.
The two ended up approaching what seemed to be one place where the barrier ended, where a group of the Ryoshi clansmen gathered around and appeared to be discussing the barrier. Before Gorudo could stop her Hayami called out for her brother.
"Onii-chan!" The young girl exclaimed while running towards her brother, who was accompanied by his bondmate Shiruba like usual. As he noticed his little sister the look on Hikaru's face grew more distressed, but he didn't let her see it as he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her into his arms.
If one didn't know before hand that the two were sibling then they never would have guessed. While Hayami had curled black hair, pale skin and bright eyes of liquid gold, her brother Hikaru was almost the opposite, sporting pure white straight hair, tan skin and remarkably blue eyes that almost seemed unreal.
"Hayami!" The white haired boy faltered seeing his younger sister, knowing something was amiss and not wanting her out here. A look towards the white tiger confirmed that she shared his sentiments. "What are you doing here? You should be inside." He admonished her while keeping an eye out on the barrier and for any possible threats
A loud voice rang out over the clansmen who were discussing the barrier drawing the sibling's attention as well as their bondmates'. It was their father's youngest brother Jun, a chuunin ninja who retired for a life of chakra research.
"The barrier appears to have been created with wind chakra affinity." Jun Ryoshi announced to his clan, who all quieted down in order to pay attention to him. Everyone in the clan knew that Jun was intelligent, especially when it came to chakra, having studied it for the last 11 years. Many people from the clan came to seek his counsel in regards to chakra, including his elder brother the clan leader who voiced his concerns to Jun about Hayami's chakra.
"I believe that by fortifying our bodies with wind chakra and forcing them to interact that they two wind chakras would negate one another, thus dispelling the barrier." Jun continued. While his chakra affinity was not in wind, he had dabbled with many different elemental chakra types in order to help advance his research by being able to test his own theories.
After speaking, the scholar focused his chakra so that he could coat his arm in wind chakra, which took extreme concentration and would drain his chakra reserves in about 5 minutes. Knowing that time was of the essence he reached towards the barrier and pushed against it, and it caused a hole the size of his fist and the section below it to open up. Jun then forced wind chakra to coat around his body, and forced himself to stand under the barrier. He could hold this for 2 minutes at least.
"See everybody, the two wind chakras nullify one another and-"He froze, and realized a fatal flaw in his calculations. He was already experiencing a numbing migraine and his limbs were starting to shake as his breathing became increasingly labored. Signs of chakra exhaustion and the beginning signs of asphyxiation. That shouldn't be possible, he thought, it hasn't even been a minute. Unless the barrier was-
A gurgled scream was the last sound Hayami ever heard come from her uncle Jun as the barrier collapsed back onto him and seemed to shred him apart, a splash of blood splattering out onto the group. That's when the screaming began.
Hikaru had been too frozen in shock to turn his younger sister away from the scene in time. However, after receiving a nudge on the leg by his bondmate he quickly snapped himself out of it. I don't have time to feel scared right now, he mentally scolded himself, I have to protect Hayami.
Looking at the 5 year old in his arms whose eyes had begun to leak tears Hikaru knew he had to take action quick. He quickly scanned his surroundings, thinking of the best course of action. They needed to get as far away from the hysteria as possible, with everyone trying different jutsus and anything else the could think of to get out. He decided it would be best if they headed to the opposite side of the complex, so he took off at chakra increased speed to the other side, with Shiruba and Gorudo flanking him on either side. As he ran he felt that his chakra reserves were depleting faster than they should have and that the amount of oxygen he took in for every breath was slowly decreasing.
Then everything got worse. The screams of panic that Hayami heard turned into screams of terror and pain. Taking a shallow breath in she was able to tell that enemy ninja had entered through the barrier.
"Nii-chan," She whispered to him, her voice trembling.
"Shh, I know, don't worry." Tightening his grip on his sister he arrived at the opposite side of the complex in the garden where his mother used to spend her time before her death, the two tigers in tow. He sent a wave of chakra in his body to his eyes activating his Dobuyona, making his blue eyes become more slitted and narrowed like a cat. He placed Hiyami down on a stone bench and took up a crouch in front of her, continuously scanning the surroundings. Goruda came up wrapped his body around her, making Hikaru feel slightly more at ease knowing that as long as Gorudo was here he would act as a shield between Hayami and the rest of the world.
"Hikaru, please rest, by keep your eyes activated it will only deplete your chakra faster." Shiruba pleaded with her bondmate, though she knew that he would ignore it. To him his little sister was his world, an angel sent to save him in his darkest time. He loved his sister so much that he would would do anything to save her no matter the consequence, even laying down his life for her which is what Shiruba feared.
Feeling two enemy nin make their way towards them the white haired teen glanced at Shiruba who nodded her head in resignation, the feeling of dread in her gut increasing to a level that made her almost physically sick.
"Dobuyona: Animal Drive!" He shouted as he made a quick series of hand signs, blue eyes becoming red, a rarity which only happened in extreme situations. Shiruba turned into a white glowing sphere which encased itself around Hikaru. When the glowing finally faded away he was in his animal drive form, black stripes adorning his tanned body and white hair, nails lengthened into claws, canines into fangs as well as a set of ears and a tail to match Shiruba's.
In this form he could truly feel the signs of chakra exhaustion coming on, but thanks to using the white tiger's chakra he would be able to manage using chakra for a little longer. His breathing however had gotten worse.
While Hayami noticed her own breathing getting slightly more shallow she still managed to find enough oxygen to not have to gasp for breath. Her brother didn't seem to be faring as well, his tan chest coated in sweat rose more and more with need. She activated her eyes for a moment to get a feel for his chakra and was shocked. While her own chakra was still glowing bright at about three quarters of her normal amount, Hikaru's chakra was dimmer than she'd ever seen before, less than a quarter of his own stores remaining.
Realizing his mistress was about to call out and potentially distract her brother he pushed his tail against her chest, letting her know that her voicing out her concerns would only hurt the other human.
With the arrival of the two enemy ninja Gorudo took up a fearsome stance in front of her which would make anyone with half a brain to think twice before attacking the girl.
"Hehehehe, looks like we got ourselves a bit of fresh meat. I told you we would find some fun ones to play with if we separated from the group."The first man cackled to the other, who besides nodding stayed quiet. The first man's eyes seemed to rack over the two sibling's, pausing briefly at Gorudo before sporting a look of realization after staring at Hayami. "Hehe, well aren't we extra lucky. Seems we got the two baby clan heirs. The girl is the one we are looking for I believe." To which the other man nodded.
"Same hair. No doubt about it, that's her. Your father has been looking for you. He wanted us to tell you that he'll see you soon." The previously silent man said. At that point Hikaru sent out a particularly threatening growling, crouching down and prepared to attack. A sharp smell of copper penetrated the young man's nose, seeming familiar but he was unable to place it. He saw the more talkative man pull out something from behind his back, a large sphere shaped object dangling from something.
"We met your father in the woods, he tried to take us on by himself, in hopes to give this clan a headstart on getting rid of the barrier. But look who actually came out ahead?" The man snickered two them before throwing their father's head to the ground which rolled until it stopped right in front of Hikaru's feet.
Then all the striped boy saw was red as he lunged forward towards the man who threw the head and ripped out his throat and getting it all over his own face in hair, all in the blink of an eye. As he released the now dead body to fall onto the ground Hikaru dropped into a crouch and prepared to attack the other man, but at this point he was nearing the end of the extra chakra he gained from joining with Shiruba and would soon collapse into severe chakra exhaustion if the lack of oxygen didn't do him in first.
"Thank god, that man was starting to get on my nerves." The last man announced before letting out a dark laugh. "Now you get to deal with me, and for some reason I feel that the odds are not in your favor." Then he attacked.
Hayami watched on in horror, tears streaking down her face as her brother and the enemy ninja grapple with one another, with a barrage of kunai and claws. The fight seemed to start slowing down on Hikaru's side, the lack of oxygen and chakra exhaustion finally getting to him, causing the other shinobi to get the advantage.
Hikaru knew he was fighting a losing battle, he had about another minute or two in him max before he was finished. And he would devote those last moments to ensuring that his sister made it to safety, so at least one of them would live on.
"Hayami! While I take care of this I need you to run!" He shouted to the best of his ability, speaking making him lose what precious oxygen he could take in faster.
"But I can help!" She cried out in desperation, not willing to think of what would happen to her brother if she ran.
"Hayami listen! Open your ears and listen!" She did as her brother asked and what she heard then was more terrifying than the screams of her clan. Silence. "They're gone Hayami! Our family, our clan, everyone! That means in about a minute the rest of the enemy is going to be here so please do what I tell you and run! Don't let our deaths be in vain!"
"But the barrier-"
"Just run through it, and I promise you will be fine. Run through it with Goru and keep running! Don't stop till Goru says it's safe! Please!" He shouted back desperately, barely being able to speak while fighting and struggling to catch his breath.
"But onii-chan!"
"Just do what you're told for once! I promise it will be fine and onii-chan doesn't break his promises, you know that." He stopped talking for a quick moment grasping for whatever last bit of air he could before whispering the rest, which she was only barely able to catch with her heightened hearing. "Hayami-chan please go. Know that I love you and will always be looking out for you. You are the most precious thing in my life. I will see you again but not for many many years. I love you."
"I love you too Hikaru-nee-chan!" She choked out through her sobs, sending one last attempt of a smile to her brother. "Until we meet again." Then she made a dash towards the barrier with Gorudo on her heels.
"Till we meet again" Hikaru whispered to himself and released his animal drive as he reached his claws forward through the man's chest at the same time as the enemy ninja sheathed his blade into Hikaru's chest. just in time as a blade pierced through his chest. In his last seconds he glanced back and smiled as he saw that his sister had managed to make it out safely, a single tear rolling down his cheek as he closed his eyes for the last time.
Hayami kept running and running until she looked and realized that she had made it through the barrier and farther. She dropped to her knees and sobbed, screaming for the family she had lost, and for the brother that she would never see again. Her only source of comfort being the large orange tiger who wrapped himself around his mistress, wishing he could bear all of her sorrow for her.
(End of Flashback)
By the end of her story she was blinking her eyes sleepily, and let out a yawn before she curled into Gorudo's back, still clutching Dog's hand with one tiny fist while the other held Pakkun to her chest.
Dog looked a little unsure of what to do, worried that he would wake her if he tried to pull his hand away, but also feeling increasing discomfort from his kneeled down and arched over position. Then as if answering Dog's mental prayers Gorudo voice softly rumbled from her chest.
"Well boy, are we not heading to Konoha? That is your mission right? Or was your mission to leave a little girl in the woods to fight off more enemy ninja while you incompetent fools just continue to ignore this area and go back to lazing about?" The regal tiger spoke as he flicked his tail from side to side, which the masked shinobi realized was a sign of irritation.
So Dog somehow managed to lift the girl and place her in one arm, cradled to his chest, while leaving his other arm free. Pakkun was glad he let the little girl hold onto him during the story because now he was getting a free ride back home, his content at the situation easily recognisable from the gleam in his eye.
Thinking back to the what Hayami said one part of the story didn't seem to add up in Dog's head. She told how the enemy ninja killed her clan, but she didn't mention anything about what had happened to the enemy ninja.
"Hayami-san didn't mention what had happened to the enemy ninja. Are they still a threat?" The ANBU captain inquired of the two tigers, resulting in Gorudo's head tilting slightly down.
"That would be because she doesn't remember." The tiger's voice seemed to take on a darker tone. "All you need to know is that the following night they caught up to us and she snapped, By the end of it there wasn't even enough remains to string up as medals to show off to any who would dare to try and attack again sadly, but that's a story for another time, a story not told by me. However, if you are interested in seeing some of those, if we take a detour a few miles west closer to the border I can show you some of my best work." The male feline lifted his head and seemed to puff up his chest, apparently proud of these 'medals'.
"Ah, I think I'll pass." Dog rubbed the back of his head a bit in discomfort, Gorudo giving an annoyed huff at his response. "Anyways, is there anything you need to get before we venture to Konoha?" He questioned the two tiger summons, effectively changing the topic.
"We always keep everything in our realm for safekeeping in case we need to change locations at a moment's notice, so we are ready whenever you are." Shiruba replied softly before trotting up next to Dog, on the opposite side of bull.
"I don't like you. Just so we are clear." Came the harsh tone of Gorudo, who placed himself somewhat farther ahead of the shinobi. "But as long as you're helping my mistress then I am inclined to make sure that we make haste and that nothing gets in our way. The faster we get to where she is safe, the sooner Shiruba can return to our realm in order to lessen the strain placed upon my mistress by sustaining both of us in this world continuously for as long as she has."
With that Gorudo fell into a speed that a lesser shinobi wouldn't have been able to keep pace with, but Dog managed to easily keep pace while making sure not to shake Hayami too much.
"How long has the young pup been keeping the two of you sustained? The two of you both have enormous chakra stores, so it can't be an easy task having the two of you out and this strong for too long." Pakkun commented. He knew the his summoner could keep him and the pack around for weeks before needing a small break, but that would be if he wasn't using much chakra otherwise. However, when the pack decided to reside at Kakashi's when not 'on duty' they took up no chakra so they could stay as long as they wanted. Besides that it was usually around a week if there were several missions that needed more help than the pack could provide. Then again Kakashi was an 18 year old jounin and ANBU captain who was known as a child prodigy, he really can't be used as reference to what is normal.
"She has managed for 5 months so far, and if it was necessary she could manage for 5 more, but at that point the strain would begin affecting her chakra coils, but even then she would try and keep it up." Gorudo told them as he ran, with a faint sound of pride shining through. "She is a strong for one so young, but then again I would accept nothing less."
"While the Ryoshi clan specialize in utilizing summoning contracts and that makes the toll upon the summoner much less chakra consuming, what she has done is still hard to believe, and my brother is right, it is incredibly impressive for one of her age." Shiruba added in softly while keeping pace beside Dog. "Or I suppose I should say any age, it's been many generations since a Ryoshi has had the same amount of potential as Hayami-sama. But it truly is too great a toll on her. While she is able to sustain us her body has to keep compensating for the constant chakra loss by sleeping. As time has gone on the amount of time she spends awake has slowly decreased, now she is only able to be awake for about 6 hours before needing to fall asleep."
"Kisa doesn't think it's that big of a deal." Gorudo added in from ahead. Before he seemed to catch wind of something and changed paths suddenly. Before the young shinobi could even worry, the white tiger spoke up.
"Don't fret, Gorudo will take care of it pest and return back quickly. Just continue along." She said to Dog, who after giving another glance in the direction the other tiger ran off too he continued on, deciding if Pakkun would be able to sense if the enemy was a threat. "And Kisa says it's not such a big deal because that's about the amount of the time that he is awake for. Stupid lion." She muttered, her tail swishing back and forth.
A few moment later Gorudo returned, they only trace of what had happened being the small splash of blood on his muzzle, making the already huge beast look even more intimidating.
They continued the rest of their trek in silence with Gorudo leading the way, Shiruba and Bull flanking him, while the rest of his ninken trailed after them, except Pakkun. The small pug was just enjoying the ride while making sure to keep his nose clear in case of any threat, but that hadn't been an issue with the orange tiger leading the way.
As they approached the village the two tiger summons paused, causing Dog and his pack to pause as well. Wondering why they stopped when they were so close Dog turned his gaze to focus on the fiery tiger.
"Before we arrive to the village we must change our sizes so as not to terribly frightened the poor little humans too much." Gorudo gruffed out sarcastically. After his explanation both he and Shiruba began to glow a soft white, shrinking until they were considered a more 'appropriate size', which still came up to Dog's midsection, with Shiruba being a few centimeters shorter. "Alright, now we may continue to go meet up with more of you delicious- I mean delightful humans." He said with a smirk, and Dog knew he did that fully on purpose.
At this point Dog decided it would be a good idea to return his summons, because too many animals is just going to draw even more unwanted attention, even though with the two tigers it seemed a bit inevitable, but he still returned all except for Pakkun who was still in the little girl's grip.
When they approached the gates of the village, saying the guards faces were surprised was a bit understated. Genma, who was on guard detail didn't know what to think when he saw the Dog ANBU arrive while holding a small child and flanked by two rather large tigers. However, with one look to the ANBU's posture he decided now wasn't a time to ask questions and simply bowed his head while asking if there was anything he could do for him. With a shake of the ANBU's head he sprinted past the gates and through the city in the dead of night. Genma decided to forget what happened rather than cause a headache wondering what could possible have lead to that situation.
Though it was late at night Hiruzen was still finishing up the last of the day's paperwork, working in his candle lit room, hoping to get some sleep before the sun rose. However, with the arrival of a large tiger leaping through his window he knew that wasn't going to happen.
A/N
I'm still working out the kinks on formatting so apologies if anything looks weird, I'll work on that.