Her lips moved as if they had a will of their own, detailing her meeting with Kokuo and their escape from Iwagakure. It was practically the same story that she had told Kiba a long time ago.

Unlike that boy, Tsume was more calm. After the initial shock had dissipated, she listened with a deepening frown.

"Five-Tails... Jinchuuriki... are you telling me that you're housing that creature inside your body?"

As an experienced ninja, Tsume was well-versed in the history of the shinobi world, especially since she had lived through all the three shinobi world wars. The term 'Human Sacrifice' wasn't alien to her.

To put it in simple terms, they were weapons of mass destruction. As long as a nation owned them, they could serve as deterrent from foreign invasion.

If she remembered correctly, the Four-Tails and Five-Tails were supposed to be owned by Iwagakure. She had never witnessed a Tailed Beast with her own eyes, but the people who had barely survived against them in the war had described them and their Jinchuuriki as frightening monsters.

'No wonder that midget of a Kage wanted to have this girl back at all cost... losing one their trump cards is goddamn devastating for their national security.'

Most likely, Iwa would never publicly admit that they'd lost a Tailed Beast. Their only option was to capture her back before the other villages could.

Unfortunately for them, she had wandered to Konoha by her own volition.

Ever since then, she had either cooped herself within the Inuzuka compound, or stayed inside the village wall. Naturally, the Iwa ninja couldn't get to her, as they couldn't send a large force to infiltrate lest they'd trigger another war.

Who knew how long they had stationed scouts near the vicinity of the village just in case they could catch a glimpse of her shadow? It sure had been quite a while, considering that Tsume and the rest of the Inuzuka ninja had been busy tracking down potential intruders for months on end.

That neatly explained their sudden increase of workloads.

Nevertheless, Tsume found it funny that the Iwa ninja had such a bad luck. The girl had went out of the village wall from time to time, yet she had always chosen the times when they had been chased away.

Sadly she couldn't stay lucky forever. Today's incident showed that the dirty little secret had finally caught up with her.

"I think I get it now."

When she heard those words, Hikari immediately stopped talking.

Tsume already knew everything beyond that point, About how Akamaru had accidentally found her at the creek, about how Kiba had carried her back home, as well as the rest of the year that she had spent with this household.

Hikari tightened her fists up as she stared down at the tatami, unable to get herself to look at the woman''s eyes.

Meanwhile, Tsume was scrutinizing her, smiling at her expense. She was amused that the girl would look so scared like a prisoner waiting for judgement.

It seemed that the girl didn't believe that she was already part of the family.

'Maybe it's because she's a Jinchuuriki.'

It was such a cruel fate, to live as a living weapon. It was understandable if they didn't dare to trust people so easily.

She was suddenly reminded of those two brats. They, too, had put invisible barriers around their heart, something that she'd noticed but unable to help with. Especially for that yellow-haired punk that usually played with her son and his other friends...

"..."

Hmm, nah. Compared to that waste of air, this girl is far more sensible.

She suddenly grabbed Hikari's head, and then messed with her hair.

"Why are you looking like that? Get up!"

"Uweeh?"

She was met with Tsume's warm gaze.

"Wipe that frown off your face, we have a party to do! I better see you smiling when you get to the kitchen, or you'll eat my fist, ya hear me?!"

Without waiting for her reply, Tsume walked out of the room, leaving the confused girl to her own device.

---

"One, two, three- Happy Birthday!"

Popping noises rang out in the kitchen, followed by a rain of shiny ribbons.

In the middle of the dining table was a tall three-layered cake with a miniature dog perched on the top, suspiciously looking really similar to Akamaru. When the real one noticed it, he was so excited that he barked over and over again.

"Whoa! I forgot! It's my birthday!"

The star of the show, Kiba, showcased his amazing memory all of the sudden, inciting laughter from Tsume and Hana.

"See? I told you he'd definitely forget!" Tsume hollered.

"Hehe... Let's continue."

Hana turned off the lights, and then lit the candles on the cake. The dim lighting gave off a serene atmosphere.

This kind of birthday party, it was the first for Hikari. In her short mortal life, she couldn't afford to care. But then, when she had finally reached immortality, birthday was kind of useless to think about.

Therefore, today's party had turned into an excitingly novel experience.

"We've got three candles here, so each of you should blow on one and made a wish. Let's start with you, Kiba."

"Alright, big sis!"

The boy leaned over to the candle on the left, and then blew it off.

"You're next, Akamaru!"

He lifted Akamaru up onto the table. The puppy tilted his head, turning toward the middle candle, and then let out a strong bark. Somehow, the resultant wind was strong enough to blow off the flame in one go.

Everyone in the room was dumbfounded, except for Kiba, who was smiling with pride.

"Hahaha! As expected of my partner!"

"..."

That... dogs normally couldn't do that, right? Right?

It seemed that she had to have a long talk with Daji about not showing off too much...

One candle was left. And yet, nobody else seemed to be moving to blow it.

'Hmm? Why are they stopping?'

She turned to the side, thinking that it would be Hana's turn next. Instead, she found that Hana and Tsume were staring at her.

"What are you doing? Blow it," Tsume said a bit impatiently.

Wait, what?

"This- this isn't my birthday!" She exclaimed.

"When is it then?"

"..."

When was it again...

Truth be told, she had long forgotten that little useless detail from her old life. As for this new body, she had no clue at all. Surprisingly, the memories left in this body contained little information about her identity.

"I suspected so," Tsume sighed. "I got this hunch that you're even worse than my son in this regard... so I went ahead with this arrangement. Hey, if you don't have one, just make it out from scratch, right? Besides, this way I can buy one cake for three occasions at once. That saves a lot of money!"

She laughed out loud, while her children and Hikari gave her a judgemental stare.

"Enough rambling. Go blow it off or else we'll stay here until morning!"

"..."

Fine, then...

She leaned closer to the cake, and then blew out the last candle.

"Alright! Now cut the cake!"

Hana handed a knife to Kiba, who proceeded to clumsily broke the cake into uneven pieces with his reckless attempt in slicing.

But who cares, eh? As long as it tasted fine, they would devour it regardless of the look!

"Here, little bro, your present. And this one's for Akamaru."

Hana handed a blue-wrapped box to Kiba, and then a put a smaller, white-wrapped one on the ground. The puppy gave the box a sniff before scratching it open.

As Hikari watched the boy and his partner shredding the wrapping paper into oblivion, a red box was placed on her lap.

"Eh?"

"For you," Hana grinned. "Happy new birthday!"

...

Ah, damn.

She was forced to look away, too embarrassed to admit that her cheeks were starting to grow hot...

"A coat?"

To her relief, Kiba's remark successfully turned everyone's attention back to him.

He was holding a grey coat with dark-colored fur lining the hood and each end of its sleeves. It seemed to be a size bigger than the current him, but it should be fine to wear for a couple more years as he grew up.

"I thought it'd look good on you when I first saw it. It's such a great timing too, since your old hoodie got soaked with blood," Hana said while smiling.

"Thanks, big sis!" He replied with a silly grin.

For Akamaru, he was given a bone-shaped chewing toy, which he immediately perused with great delight.

"Not going to open yours?" Hana turned to Hikari, who was still cradling the red box.

"Ah..."

She turned her gaze toward the kitchen floor, which was covered with pieces of wrapping paper.

"...I think I'll open it later. Don't want to make it a bigger mess than it already is."

Especially since she was the one who had to clean it up later in the morning.

"Thank you for your hard work as always," Hana put her hands together to show her guilt, knowing she was partially at fault for giving the messy duo such thick wrappings...

---

With the party concluded, everyone returned to their room to rest up after the eventful day.

As she walked down the corridor leading to the main room, Tsume suddenly stopped when she felt a presence behind her.

"What's up, kid?"

She turned to see Hikari standing at the other end of the corridor. She was still avoiding her gaze.

"Can I.. really stay here?" She murmured, only loud enough for Tsume to barely hear thanks to her heightened sense as an Inuzuka.

Tsume frowned, shaking her head in frustration.

She took a step forward, approaching the girl. Then she took another step. And another. By the time that she was finally right in front of her, Hikari had tightly closed her eyes, her hands gripping the box so hard the edges were starting to crease.

Tsume's frown grew deeper.

This stupid girl...

Her fingers formed an O-shape with her middle and index finger. And then, she launched a flick toward Hikari's forehead.

"Uwah?!"

"What a stupid question. I already told you that you're our family member now. Do you think I'm a liar? That how you see me, punk?!"

"..."

She wasn't sure how to answer that. Because, the truth was that she hadn't, and didn't, fully trust anyone. Perhaps not even Kiba, with whom she had the most interaction with ever since she'd been reincarnated.

That was the weight of the thousands years of experience bogging down her mind.

That was the way that the Deity-level cultivator, Yao Huang, had chosen in the past.

He was a cultivator without a clan, a stray dog in the world where the strong eats the weak. In order to survive in that chaotic, turbulent era, he had done everything regardless of morality.

Lying, stealing, backstabbing, even committing massacre against the innocents. Anything that could threaten his survival had to be taken down at all cost.

It was bare necessity. With no one to back him up, the first misstep that he made would also turn into his last.

Even when he had joined the ranks of the immortals, he still had to look out for himself. Trusting someone was just a betrayal waiting to happen.

The only thing that Yao Huang trusted wholeheartedly was his own strength. That was how everything had worked out in the past. That was also how everything supposed to be in the present and the future.

And yet...

Here she was, putting her fate at the hand of someone else, just because she was swayed by that person's words.

If that was trust, then it made her feel so helpless. It was suffocating.

Was her experience all for naught? Did her brain go mush when she passed the path of karma?

While she was reiterating her story to Tsume back then, a part of her was yelling non-stop, trying to stop the rampant idiocy.

'Why did you tell her? She'll rat you out for sure!'

She could've just fabricated another story, making some tragic anecdote about Iwa ninja chasing her for some ancient treasure or something. But nope, she just had to blubber out about Kokuo of all things.

If Tsume had even the slightest bit of sensibility, she would just contact her superior and hand over this hot potato to them, earning her good credit while ensuring that her family wouldn't get affected by the whole fiasco.

At least, that was what Hikari would've done. That was what Yao Huang the cultivator would've done.

Perhaps, she had grown addicted to the mundane, but peaceful life in this world, in this family. Before she knew it, they had invaded her heart, breaking through her defenses.

Causing her to drown in this poison called 'trust'.

Toward Tsume's question, she wanted to reply with a nod, saying "yes, I do not trust you".

Instead, she responded with a weak shake of her head.

"Haah..."

Tsume took hold of the girl's chin, forcing Hikari to look directly at her firm gaze.

"Listen carefully. I'm, in the end, a mother. If your identity as a Jinchuuriki is endangering my family, then I'll choose my children over you without hesitation. Do you understand, punk?"

"...Yes..."

The woman's gaze softened as a smirk was painted over her face.

"That's why, let's work hard so that nobody will found out, eh?"

...Huh?

Hikari stared at the woman with dumbfounded expression.

"And that's that! Now, stop overloading your small head with useless stuff, and go to bed! See ya in the morning, kid!"

Eeeeeh?!?

"W-wait up!"

Before she could realize it, her body had reacted by its own, grabbing on the woman's sleeves to stop her from walking away.

"What is it?" Tsume growled.

When she opened her mouth, everything flowed out without control.

"Why? Why are you leaving such an obvious danger just like that? How could you be so naive? Why-"

She choked on her own words, the voice slowly turning into a whisper.

Why? Toward this pathetic, wretched, selfish bastard...

"...Why are you being so nice to me..."

The hands grabbing on the sleeves began to tremble.

Tsume was stunned for a moment. But then, she wrapped those hands on her own, gently pushing them away.

And then, without any warning, she struck a loud clap, shocking the girl until her eyes opened wide.

With a smug grin, Tsume pointed to herself with her thumb.

"Why? What a lame question! I'm Inuzuka Tsume, and I'm the goddamn owner of this house! Whatever I say is absolute! If I tell you to stay, then you stay! You got a problem with that, punk?!"

Hikari shook her head again and again like a broken puppet.

"There! Not so hard, ain't it?" Tsume waved her hand as she walked away. Seemingly remembering something, she turned around midway.

"Also, Kuromaru and the dogs said it's okay for you to stay, since your brushing technique is good. That can be another reason, I guess."

...What?

As she watched Tsume's figure disappearing down the hallway, she had a revelation that in the Inuzuka household, the dogs sat unchallenged at the top of the hierarchy...

"Haah..."

She glanced at the moon hanging above in the night sky. Even though it was a strange world, somehow the moon still looked exactly the same.

"...Lord Kokuo, what do you think?" The girl whispered.

"This One does not trust humans."

The Five-Tailed beast snorted.

"But you... you are fine. That woman as well. This One thinks that it will be alright."

"Is that so..."

Is it fine to give it a try?

Yes. It should be fine.

At the very least, that was the answer that she'd wanted to hear the most.