Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.
Harold of Konoha
Chapter eleven: The steward of house Uzumaki (AKA a kind hearted cat lover's right hand cat)
It was late one evening in the village of Konohagakure, approximately a week or so after the most recent chunnin exams had to be canceled mid-way through because powerful ninjas attacked Konoha during the combat portion's second part and damn, why does that sound so familiar?! Anywho, back to the subject at hand; it was evening in Konoha. A car being driven by Hinata Uzumaki was going down the road. In the passenger seat was Hinata's eleven-year-old daughter, Natsu.
"So the people who made our cinnamon rolls that day slipped a powdered drug into my rolls that impeded my ability to perform properly?" Natsu asked as she turned to face her mother, clearly upset.
Sighing, Hinata replied, "I'm afraid so. Let me tell you, we're no longer going to do business with that shop."
"Because they drugged me?" Natsu asked her mother.
"Well, that," the Uzumaki matriarch replied, "But also because your father had the place shut down and all of its employee's arrested. Also, your father and his friends decided to destroy the place, burning it to the ground."
"Whaa?!" Natsu remarked, clearly shocked.
"Your father does not like what happened to you," Hinata explained, "Granted, he and his friends destroying the place WAS a tad excessive. But he was just trying to- WOAH!" Hinata stopped mid-sentence as she slammed on the breaks, having seen someone run out quickly in front of the path of her car. But sadly, it was too late; Hinata hit the person and sent him or her flying. They landed with a sickening 'thwack' on the left (from Hinata's point of view) sidewalk. "Oh God, oh jeez, oh goodness," Hinata said repeatedly as she stopped her car and got out. Within a few minutes, two Konoha police cars and an ambulance had arrived on the scene.
Hinata stood to the side worriedly, afraid that she had accidentally committed vehicular manslaughter. "Well Lady Uzumaki," a Konoha boy in blue said as he walked up to her, "The street cameras confirmed that it was the kid who ran out and got hit by you, not you intentionally seeking to hit the kid."
"I would never do such a thing anyway!" Hinata snapped, tears streaming down her face.
"I understand," replied the boy in blue, "Anywho, I'm sorry to say that the kid has been pronounced dead on the scene."
"Oh goodness, I'm a murderer!" Hinata exclaimed.
"It was the kid's fault for not looking," the boy in blue repeated.
"Does he even have a name?" Hinata asked as she tried (and failed) to calm down.
"Yeah, we checked for that as soon as the medics arrived on scene," said the officer, "His name is Kawaki. Darkish skin. Weird facial tattoo over the one eye. Bizarre hairstyle." Looking in the direction where the ambulance could be seen loading a stretcher with a full body bag on it, the officer said, "At most, I'd put the kid at around the same age as your daughter."
Hinata looked down to the ground with an ashamed look on her face. She completely forgot that her daughter was on hand. And she had been exposed to this whole mess. Hinata started to weep over what she perceived as further loss of Natsu's childhood innocence.
The next day, Harold Fisher, along with his friends Inoichi Yamanaka and Tsume Inuzuka, along with Tsume's ninja dog Kuromaru, were over at the Uzumaki household. With them was Hiashi Hyuga, the biological father of Hinata Uzumaki (nee Hyuga), father-in-law to the sixth (and current) Hokage Naruto Uzumaki, and grandfather of Natsu Uzumaki. The older Hyuga man was dressed in traditional Hyuga clan attire, the same kind of Hyuga robes that he's always worn. He looked practically the same as always, aside from signs of his age starting to show on his face. Still, he looked…above average for a man of his age.
"So…why are we here again?" Tsume asked as she and her group followed the Hyuga clan lord down one of the hallways.
"Yes," replied a feminine voice from behind the group; Hinata Uzumaki was also present and was following the older ninja. However, she did not seem all that happy with their presence; the tone of disappointment in the Uzumaki matriarch's voice cut deep into her father's heart, deeper than he would have liked. And he knew full well that he had it coming. "Yes, I would also like to know why you're all here," Hinata said.
"Can a man not pay his daughter's family a surprise visit?" Hiashi replied, trying to change the subject and hopefully smooth over some feathers.
"Well I'm the only one home, I'm afraid," Hinata told her father, "Naruto is taking care of business over at the Hokage office building, and Natsu is currently on a mission somewhere in the village."
"Oh, I bet she's taking part in exposing a crime syndicate," Harold said, "Or maybe she's going to play a role in assassinating an important village figure who was found guilty of-"
"Natsu, Shibei and Bankai are just helping an elderly woman with stuff like moving furniture and various other chores," Hinata interjected. After receiving questioning looks from Harold, Inoichi and Tsume, Hinata pointed out, "They're just genin. You can't honestly expect them to be given missions Naruto would only hand off to jonin such as Sasuke and the like."
"Well that sucks," the Fisher patriarch remarked in a disappointed tone, "I was counting on some epic tale of kick-ass and awesome proportions."
"Hmm?" Hiashi said as something he saw caught his eye; it was a sign on one of the doors. The sign said 'Natsu's room', and there was a drawing of a kitten in the upper left corner of the sign, and a drawing of a cute little dragon in the bottom right corner of the sign.
"Oh, this is Natsu's room," Hinata explained, "Although given the sign there, you could easily figure that out for yourself."
"Would it be okay to take a quick peek inside?" Hiashi asked.
"Why do you want to look into your granddaughter's room?" Harold asked.
"The only things I know about Natsu is that she likes cinnamon rolls just like her mother, and that she has developed feelings for your grandnephew," Hiashi replied to Harold.
"Yes!" the Fisher patriarch exclaimed as he pumped both fists into the air excitedly, "Me and Inoichi's efforts in getting those two together have finally paid off!"
"…Oh yeah, my daughter told me about that," the Hyuga clan lord remarked dryly as he opened the door to his granddaughter's bedroom.
Natsu's room was perfectly tidy. The bed, which was against the wall in the bottom left corner (From Hiashi's point of view) of the room, was made. The desk, which was in the upper right corner (again from Hiashi's point of view) of the room, was tidy, the items on the surface perfectly organized. Even the shelving unit, opposite of the foot-end of Natsu's bed, was neatly organized, with the bottom three shelves taken up by a few books and a stack of video game cases in the right hand corner of the bottom most shelf. Both the top shelf and the top of the shelving unit held various plushies; they were either cat plushies, dragon plushies, or plushies of either cat Pokémon or dragon-type Pokémon.
Taking a step into the room, the Hyuga clan lord noticed a poster above the head-end of the bed of a basket full of kitties; additionally, the comforter on the bed had images of cute, smiling kitty faces. Looking at the desk, you could find a personal journal laying approximately in the center; the journal had the image of a smiling kitty. Looking into the room, Tsume Inuzuka looked at the various cat-themed décor and, with a look of disgust on her face, sneered, "The hell is wrong with your granddaughter's taste in décor, Hiashi?!"
"Personally, I don't see anything wrong with Natsu's apparent favoring of cats," Hiashi remarked, "Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she even owned an actual cat."
"Natsu doesn't own a cat," Hinata pointed out in a mildly bitter tone. Hinata speaking up, plus the noticeable bitterness in her tone, made the others turn to face her.
"Well thank goodness for that!" Tsume proclaimed with a joyous laugh.
"What do you mean, Hinata?" Hiashi asked, looking mildly worried due to the glare that he was recieving from his first-born daughter.
"Natsu doesn't own a cat," Hinata explained, "No one in the Hyuga clan owns a pet. Not even non-Hyugas that are related to the Hyuga clan via marriage, such as Naruto, or Hanabi's husband Udon, or Neji's wife Tenten."
"Wait, now hold on there," Inoichi said, "What about all of those toads that Lord Sixth owns?"
"Those aren't pets, those are familiars he can summon," Hinata pointed out, "Two totally different things."
"Yes, I've noticed the distinct lack of pets owned by Hyuga clan members," Hiashi remarked thoughtfully as he held a hand to his chin, a gesture often made by those in deep thought.
"Well it's because of a Hyuga clan rule that prohibits any Hyuga clan member, along with non-Hyugas related to Hyugas, from owning any pet," Hinata stated.
"Now what idiot in his right mind would make such a decree?" Hiashi proclaimed.
"YOU," Hinata replied, pointing an accusing finger at her father.
A stunned look appearing across his face, Hiashi said, "Oh. Oh yeah. That was one of my earlier rulings."
"Well what can you do about it?" Harold asked, "It's not like you can repeal that rule you made…how long ago did you make it?"
"Sometime before Hinata was born," Hiashi finally answered after thinking about it for a few seconds. After another few seconds, Hiashi added with a bit of a mischievous smirk, "And who ever said that I couldn't repeal the rule?"
Two days later, there was a pet adoption fair being held in Konohagakure, over in a practice field that was technically part of the Hidden Leaf Village Ninja Academy. It was held as a joint effort between the Inuzuka and Nekozuka clans; this was one of the very rare instances you'd see so many ninjas from both clans work together, since they get along like cats and dogs (literally). The instant the pet adoption fair opened, loads more Konoha citizens than what the Inuzuka and Nekozuka ninjas could have predicted came practically running in; it was to the credit of Hana Inuzuka, the adult daughter of Tsume, that she noticed that most in the crowd were either Hyuga clan members, or non-Hyugas that were married to them.
Over at one area with dogs up for adoption were Neji Hyuga and his wife Tenten. As usual, Neji looked the same as always; when it came to Tenten, on the other hand, she looked very different. Sure, she styled he hair the same way as always, and she wore a Konoha shinobi headband, as always. There were two main differences in her appearance from her mid to late teens; one, she wore light gray sweatpants and a light pink sweater. Two, she had gained A LOT of weight since her teenage years; at a glance, you could tell that she weighed at least three-hundred pounds.
Right now at the dog table, Neji watched as his wife was looking at a young adult Akita dog that was up for adoption. "So you're interested in an Akita?" asked the young Inuzuka kunoichi that was in charge of the table. This kunoichi looked like an early-to-mid-twenties Tsume, except her face more closely resembled that of Hana's.
"Yeah, I've always wanted one," Tenten explained as she stood up, "But I had to put hat plan on hold after I married Neji, since his clan didn't allow pets until late yesterday evening."
"Ah yes," the Inuzuka kunoichi remarked, "I did hear that Lord Hiashi of the Hyuga clan recently repealed the pet-ban for the Hyuga."
"And not five seconds after my uncle repealed that rule," Neji added, "No less than eighty percent of the Hyuga, and their non-Hyuga relatives, decided to get a pet. Luckily for us, you and the Nekozuka decided to host this pet adoption fair."
"And now I can get this little guy right here," Tenten said, ruffling the head of the Akita dog.
After panting for a second, the Akita said, "Hachiko looks forward to large woman taking him home." A few seconds of silence passed before Neji and Tenten both yelled in shock. The Inuzuka kunoichi, however, was nowhere near as surprised (any surprise on her part came from being shocked by Neji's and Tenten's combined freak out).
"That dog just talked!" Neji exclaimed, pointing at the Akita in an accusing manner.
"Well Hachiko WAS bred from Inuzuka clan ninja dogs," the Inuzuka kunoichi explained, as if it were common knowledge.
Looking up to Tenten, Hachiko said, "Hachiko likes large people."
"Really?" Tenten asked, looking mildly embarrassed given that her size was being called into discussion.
"Large people usually have food with them," Hachiko said, "And if Hachiko is nice to them or looks at them pleadingly, large people share food with Hachiko. And Hachiko likes food." The talking Akita finished by wagging his tail.
Looking to his wife, Neji said, "Well at least he's straight forward about his likes."
Over at another table, Hanabi was looking at a large cage that held about four Guinea Pigs. Standing next to her was her husband Udon; aside from his hair color being the same as it's always been, Udon looked a hell of a lot like Uryu from Bleach (that's what everyone tells him). "Now that father's lifted the Hyuga clan's pet ban," Hanabi said to her husband, "We can finally get our son a pet!"
"Don't you think Hogato would like a dog more?" Udon asked.
Turning to face her husband, Hanabi said, "A dog is a HUGE responsibility. We'll get Hogato a Guinea Pig first, then if he can handle it, we'll see."
"I'm pretty sure our son can handle a dog," Udon remarked dryly.
"It will be Hogato's first pet ever," Hanabi insisted, "And we can't go too big the first time around!"
"Our son is seventeen-years-old," Udon stated, "I'm pretty sure that he can handle a dog."
Over in another section of the pet fair, Harold and his friends were following Hinata and Natsu past various stands. "So why are we here again?" Harold asked as he popped open a can of Pape Konoha's Brand Lager.
"As you are aware," Hinata began, "My father lifted the Hyuga clan's pet ban late yesterday evening."
"That explains all of the Hyuga that are here at the pet adoption fair," Inoichi remarked as he popped open his own can of Pape Konoha's brand lager.
"Well with the ability to get pets now, most of my clansmen are going to fulfill their dreams of getting the pet they've always wanted," Hinata said. Patting her daughter on the head, Hinata added, "In fact, my daughter Natsu is planning to get a cat, just like she always wan-"
Hinata was cut off when she and the others heard angry-sounding growling come from nowhere. They looked to Kuromaru, who wasn't making the noise; he jerked his head to point to Tsume, who WAS the one that was growling. "Mrs. Inuzuka, why are you growling?" Hinata asked.
"You're actually letting your kid get one of those hell spawns?!" Tsume exclaimed, "What the frig is wrong with you?!"
"There is nothing wrong with cats!" Hinata insisted in a stern tone.
"They're adorable!" Natsu added.
"Dogs can be adorable too," Tsume pointed out, "Wouldn't you rather have a dog?"
"Dogs can be nice, yes," Natsu replied, "But I'd much rather get a cat." Looking more directly at Tsume and Kuromaru, Natsu said, "Oh, umm, no offence."
"None taken," Kuromaru replied in a kind tone; he was respectful of other people's choices, after all.
"EVERYTHING taken!" Tsume exclaimed.
"Tsume, you're being ridiculous," the Inuzuka ninja dog snapped to his owner.
"God was being ridiculous the day he created cats!" Tsume snapped back.
"The only ridiculous thing that Knuckles the Echidna ever did was make was non-alcoholic beer!" Harold declared.
To Natsu, Tsume said, "Girl, take it from me. Cats are NOT the pet for you. They aren't the pet for anyone!"
"Jeez, ma, give the kid a break!" a scruffy man's voice called out, getting everyone to turn and see Tsume's adult son Kiba walk up. With Kiba was his elderly ninja dog Akamaru. "If Hinata's and Naruto's kid wants a cat, then why tell her no? The Hyuga clan's pet ban WAS lifted, after all," Kiba remarked.
"Kiba, how could you NOT be trying to help me convince the kid to not get a cat?" Tsume asked, looking disappointed and mildly heartbroken, "You should convince her to get a dog, or a non-cat pet at the very least!"
"Ma, some folks like dogs," Kiba replied while shaking his head softly, "And some like cats. Hell, this one cadet branch Hyuga I saw earlier wanted a hawk! The point of this pet adoption fair is to help folks find the pet that THEY want to adopt. And if Hinata's and Naruto's kid wants to adopt a cat, then by all means, respect her choice." To Natsu, Kiba said, "If you want, I can show you to where the cats are."
And so, Kiba and Akamaru led the group to a table run by a Nekozuka clan male chunnin; on either side of the table there was a stack of two cages. Each cage held one cat. "Oh, some Hyuga finally have an interest in cats," said the Nekozuka chunnin running the table, a young mid-twenties man of lean build and dressed in the standard Konoha shinobi uniform, flask jacket and everything.
Laying a hand on Natsu's shoulder, Hinata said to the Nekozuka chunnin, "Yes, my daughter was interested in a cat."
"A dog would have been WAY better," Tsume muttered in an annoyed tone.
Having heard Tsume's muttering, the Nekozuka said with an air of mild unamusement, "You must be Sakaki's mother-in-law."
"Which is no reason to celebrate, that's for sure!" Tsume proclaimed.
"Wow, you must really hate cats," Inoichi remarked, "You hate cats almost as much as I hated Diamond Tiara prior to mid-way through season five."
"I assume then that you have a young granddaughter?" a mysterious male voice called out, sounding somewhat like a British butler.
"Well yes I do but that does not mean I can't watch the show during my own free who the hell was that just now?" Inoichi said, changing his line of dialogue mid-sentence as he and everyone else that was present aside from the Nekozuka chunnin started looking around, trying to find out where the owner of the mysterious voice is.
"Yeah, that would be this guy right here," the Nekozuka chunnin said, pointing to the top cage on the right hand stack (from the group's point of view). Everyone's eyes went to the cage that was pointed out; inside was a young adult male housecat. He had a lean yet healthy body, bright golden eyes and smooth black fur that seemed almost shiny.
"Greetings, good folk," the cat said as he held up his right front paw. Lowering the paw, the cat continued, "My fellow felines and I are eagerly awaiting the chance to go to a good home. Might one of you be interested in taking me home, perchance?"
"Y-y-you're a talking cat!" Natsu exclaimed.
"Indeed," the cat replied, "I once served a Nekozuka clan chunnin-ranked kunoichi, along with two other ninja cats. However, after I… embarrassed my previous owner, she was forced to give up ownership of me, in order to save face."
"The hell did you do, cat?" Harold asked.
"A while ago, my previous owner, her two other ninja cats and I had completed a mission for a Feudal Lord," the cat began to explain, "As my owner and the Feudal Lord talked, I noticed the Feudal Lord's cat, a beautiful female Persian. She was…in the mood, and I myself was…feeling frisky."
"Oh ho! Is this leading to where I think it's leading?" Tsume asked with a mischievous smile.
In an embarrassed manner, the cat said, "The Persian and I… ended up doing the deed."
While the older ninja and Kiba started to laugh, both Hinata and Natsu blushed in an embarrassed manner, with Natsu saying, "Oh my…"
"We were caught in the act," the cat went on, "And the Feudal Lord was outraged that I made a move on his cat. Disgraced, my owner was forced to give me up." After a few seconds of silence, the cat added, "But not before having me fixed." Tsume had to snort back a laugh; Harold, Inoichi, Kuromaru, Kiba and Akamaru, on the other hand, all winced sympathetically. "I can still serve as a ninja cat," the cat finished, "But if you want just a pet, then I can serve the role of domestic companion just as well."
"Can…" Natsu replied, "…Can I pet you?"
"By all means," the cat replied, slowly swishing his tail back and forth. The Nekozuka chunnin running the table opened the cage, and allowed Natsu to reach a hand in so she can pet the cat, gently ruffling the top of his head before stroking his back. "Mmm, yes, this is something that all cats enjoy," the cat said as he happily purred while Natsu stroked his back, causing the Uzumaki/Hyuga girl to giggle.
"Do you have a name?" the young kunoichi asked.
"My previous owner didn't name her other cats and I, but rather she assigned us numbers," the cat explained, "I was number two."
"ALL cats are number twos," Tsume remarked.
Choosing to ignore Bankai's grandmother, Natsu said, "Well you certainly seem nice enough." Turning to face Hinata, Natsu asked as she ruffled the top of the cat's head, "Is it okay if I adopt this one?"
"I see no problem with him," Hinata replied, "And he seems like the perfect gentleman…err, gentlecat."
Turning to face the talking cat, Natsu said, "You hear that, Pantherlily? My mom says I can adopt you!"
"So my name is Pantherlily now, eh?" the talking cat replied in a tone of good humor, "It's certainly nice to have a proper name now."
Near the end of the pet fair, Harold and the gang, plus Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata and Natsu could be seen at the front entry gate leading into the pet fair; Natsu was carrying a small pet-carrying crate, inside of which sat Natsu's new pet (talking) cat. As Natsu asked about getting a book on how to properly care for a pet cat, the group was met up by a Hyuga clan chunnin (from the clan's cadet branch); the Hyuga wore a large leather glove over his left arm, which was held up, as a hawk sat perched on it. "I'll name you Hawky," the Hyuga chunnin said as he gently stroked the hawk's neck, which the bird seemed to enjoy.
"See?" Kiba said to his mother as he gestured to the Hyuga chunnin, "A Hyuga wanted a pet hawk." Now in most parts of the world, people tended to keep dogs on leashes when taking them outside. The Inuzuka clan never believed in keeping a dog bound in such a manner; the third Hokage, in his tenure after having to take over for the fallen Lord Fourth, had to pass a law in Konoha that permitted leash-free dog walking in order to accommodate the Inuzuka. This is why neither Kuromaru or Akamaru were on leashes. This is also why Akamaru jumped up at the Hyuga chunnin, grabbed the hawk in his maw, and proceeded to shake the bird violently until it was dead.
"Hawky, no!" the Hyuga chunnin exclaimed, falling to his knees as he mourned the death of the pet hawk he had for all of about five or so minutes.
Tsume laughed hysterically before saying, "That was frigg'en classic!"
"Akamaru, no! That was not cool, dude!" Kiba exclaimed in a scolding tone.
"Geez, Akamaru's mind must be going in his old age," Kuromaru remarked, "He never would have done something like that a few years ago."
Looking to Kiba, Hinata said, "Kiba, with all due respect, I'm going to have to ask that if you ever come over to my place, don't bring Akamaru with you."
"I understand completely," the Inuzuka jonin replied with a nod. To the Hyuga chunnin, Kiba added "I'm sorry that Akamaru just mauled your new pet hawk to death."
"I only had Hawky for five minutes!" the Hyuga chunnin exclaimed before breaking down and crying.
The next morning over at Hanabi's residence, a seventeen-year-old male jonin who looked practically the same as seventeen-year-old Neji was in a bedroom with two girls around his age. All three teenagers were looking at a large cage that sat on the Hyuga teenager's dresser; inside the cage was a single Guinea Pig; it has light brown fur with a white underside. The Guinea Pig was going back and forth between a little plastic igloo and a water bottle that was secured to the outside of the cage, with a little spurt poking into the cage.
The first teenage girl was slightly thinner than what was technically considered healthy (but not to the point that it was dangerous yet). She had fair skin, wore a light blue thin-strapped tank top that exposed the mid-drift. She wore baggy cargo shorts, shinobi sandals and a Konoha headband around straight yellow-blonde hair.
Looking to the Hyuga teenager, the first girl said, "So Hogato. Your mom…got you a Guinea Pig."
"I didn't even really want a pet, if I'm being honest," Hogato replied, "But I didn't want to disappoint my mother."
"She is kind of cute," said the other girl. This girl was about the same height as the first; however, the second girl was noticeably chubby, but in a way that made her kind of cute. She wore an orange-brown t-shirt, red cargo shorts, shinobi sandals and a Konoha headband around red hair that sort of draped over her right eye.
"Actually, I think it's a he," Hogato replied.
"How do you know?" asked the first girl.
"I…don't, really," Hogato remarked as he realized that no one even checked for the Guinea Pig's gender.
"We should ask your mom if she knows," the second girl suggested.
"Speak of the devil and she shall appear," Hanabi said from the doorway, getting the attention of her son and his friends; Hanabi had just that moment appeared, wearing a baggy t-shirt and pants. She looked like a taller version of herself from back when she was in her early teens.
"Hey mother," Hogato said, "Is the Guinea Pig you got me a boy or a girl?"
"Well what did you name it?" Hanabi asked.
"I haven't named it yet," Hogato explained, "I don't want to give it a name that isn't appropriate to its gender."
"Wait, so its gender isn't determined by its name?" Hanabi replied, a look of mild confusion on her face.
"No," Hogato answered, "Why? Did you think that giving it a girl name would make it a girl, or giving it a boy name would make it a boy?"
"That's how pets work, right?" Hanabi asked.
"Mrs. Hogato's mom, have you ever had a pet before?" asked the first girl.
"No," Hanabi answered, "Up until very recently, the Hyuga clan didn't permit its members to keep pets. In fact, I myself have yet to get a pet of my own."
"Well why not?" asked the second girl.
"Well I've always wanted a pet Guinea Pig," Hanabi explained, "But the aforementioned Hyuga clan pet ban made that impossible until said ban was repealed by my father. But by then, it was too late for me to get one for myself. So I got one for Hogato instead."
"Whoever said that you can't have a pet Guinea Pig?" Hogato asked.
"It's more of a kid's pet than an adult's pet, if you think about it" Hanabi remarked in a mildly sad tone, "A shame, really."
Taking the Guinea Pig out of its cage, Hogato checked its groin area. "…Yeah, it's a boy," Hogato remarked aloud. Still holding the Guinea Pig, Hogato turned to face his mother. "Say mother," Hogato said, "Would you like to take the Guinea Pig off my hands?"
Looking hopeful, Hanabi said, "Really?"
Handing the Guinea Pig to Hanabi, Hogato said, "Pets aren't even really my thing. There's no need to live your dream of owning a Guinea Pig though-"
"WEEEEEEHEEEHEEEHEEE!" Hanabi exclaimed happily, spinning around while holding the Guinea Pig; Hanabi ended up spinning out of Hogato's bedroom doorway like a ballerina.
Walking up to the scene just in time to see his wife spin off with the Guinea Pig was Udon. "Huh," the jonin remarked in a tone suggesting that his beliefs were just validated, "I figured that something like this would be the case."
Over at Neji's residence, Neji was sitting at the dining room table, reading the paper. Sitting across from him was his thirteen-year-old daughter Tenji. Aside from having her hair styled the same as her mother's, Tenji looked pretty much the same as her father, save for the fact that Tenji is a girl. Tenji even had byakugan eyes, and wore a girl-version of Neji's thirteen-year-old outfit. "Where's mom?" Tenji asked before taking a sip from her glass of orange juice.
"She's taking Hachiko for a morning walk," Neji remarked, "Saying something along the lines of making sure he stays fit."
"Maybe taking Hachiko for walks will help mom get in shape as well?" Tenji suggested. After getting a stern look from her father, Tenji said, "Oh come on, dad. You know as well as I do that mom's a little on the heavy side. The exercise will do her good."
"I suppose that you got a point, sweetie," Neji conceded before returning his attention back to his newspaper.
"A darn shame though," Neji thought as he scanned the sports page, "Tenten has a rather fine body as it is."
Over at the Uzumaki residence, Harold, Inoichi, Tsume and Kuromaru walked up to the front door. "So how will we explain to Lord Sixth that we wrecked another ice cream truck?" Harold asked.
"What's all this 'WE' business?!" Kuromaru exclaimed, "That ice cream truck business is all on you three! Dogs aren't even supposed to have ice cream."
"Quiet, you," Tsume snapped as Inoichi knocked on the front door. After Hinata opened the front door, greeted her guests and let them in, she went to the kitchen to procure tea.
As Harold and the gang stood in the hall, they were approached by Pantherlily. "Greetings, good visitors, and welcome to house Uzumaki," Pantherlily greeted. Pointing his right front paw to the living room area, Pantherlily said, "The living room is in that direction, if you all wish to take a seat."
"Wow, a receptionist cat," Harold remarked, "That's pretty frigg'en cool."
"Indeed," replied Pantherlily, "I have taken it upon myself to serve as the steward of house Uzumaki. I may no longer serve as a ninja cat, but that does not mean I can allow myself to go idle!"
"Well I will admit, you got more of a work ethic than most other cats I've seen," Tsume remarked, "The only thing bad about you is that you're a cat."
An expression of dry humor appearing on his face, Pantherlily replied, "Hmm, yes. Lady Hinata DID warn me about an older woman who had a strong dislike of cats. Can I assume that she was speaking of you, then?"
"Damn straight she was talking about me!" Tsume proclaimed, "And 'strong dislike' is putting it mildly!"
"Dogs are traditionally antagonistic to cats," Kuromaru remarked, "And yet even I get along swimmingly with cats."
"Yeah, cats can do some pretty dank things, if all of those videos that I've seen on the internet are to be believed," Harold pointed out.
"At least tolerate the ones belonging to people you associate with?" Inoichi asked the Inuzuka matriarch more than said.
"…Fine," Tsume said, "I won't actively try to do harm to any cats anymore. But that doesn't mean I have to like them!"
"There we go," Kuromaru remarked in a proud tone, "Now that we're making some serious what do you mean anymore?"
END, CHAPTER ELEVEN
Author's Notes:
This chapter was partly inspired by an old fan-made comic I saw on the internet a while back where Hinata mentions that her clan doesn't permit owning a pet. Of course, in the scenario presented in this chapter, Harold and his friends are involved, so things are bound to go…ehh... Oh yeah, before I forget, I decided to feature that Kawaki character in this chapter. I kinda wanted to experiment around with adding canon characters that wouldn't be directly affected by Harold and Tsume using the Well of Time back in chapter one.
Also, I apologize if this chapter took so long to come out; I was occupied with other obligations.