Winter in Konoha had always been short, thanks to the Land of Fire's warmer climate. They were still halfway through the first month of the year, but the snowy days had already passed.

Even so, the sun hadn't regained its full glory just yet. The light of dawn was still too weak, barely able to faintly breach through the darkness left by the night.

In the small room that she had been inhabiting for the past years, a brown-haired girl rose up from her bed. She let out a long yawn as she stretched her limbs.

"It's finally morning..."

She lifted the thin robe she was wearing. Five-branching horse tails sprout out from behind, swaying for a brief moment before she pulled them back in.

Thanks to her continuous training, she was now able to control the tails at will. They no longer popped out unannounced, although she had no choice but to keep them out whenever Kokuo was supplying her with additional chakra.

"This One is amazed. It is praiseworthy for a human to exhibit this exquisite chakra control in such a short time."

A faint light shot out from within her chest before it expanded and materialized into a form resembling a dolphin-faced horse with five horns and the same five-branching tails that the girl had showed before.

The Five-Tails, Kokuo. The monster that was dwelling in the space within her soul.

With the seal gone, it could've broken through the girl's body anytime it wanted, but it had refrained from doing so as it was gradually growing fond of her. The human had also promised that she would train hard until she had enough strength to separate them without any adverse effect, so the beast was willing to wait for a bit longer.

Anyway, she had indeed brought it to a place with lots of trees, so it was content for the moment.

"Control, huh... rather than that, I'd want to advance in rank instead..."

The result of her cultivation thus far was unsatisfactory. It was way too slow.

The root of the problem was on how to gather enough pure energy. Normally, cultivators would pull the abundant, near-limitless qi from the surrounding into their body. There were countless array formulas and medicinal pills to speed up this process tremendously, allowing for easier breakthrough.

However, this world worked differently.

Not only was chakra so hard to refine, its amount was drastically limited by how much her own body could produce in a single day. The only way to increase it was by training her body and mind. Medicinal pills might help a bit, but compared to directly gathering qi, it was laughable at best.

"Are you still not satisfied? If you desire more chakra, This One can lend it to you."

"Thank you, Venerable One, but that's not the issue here."

Another problem was that she could had had a mountain full of chakra, but it would be pointless if she couldn't refine them anyway. At most she could only use them to strengthen her body. As for the mystic arts from the previous life... it was just a pipe dream at this point.

"Well, nevermind that. Let's finish some chores first."

Hopping off the mattress, the girl readied herself for another day in this new, mundane life.

---

There was a small party in the afternoon, but this time it was not for anyone's birthday. It was to celebrate Kiba passing through the graduation exam.

"Hahaha! Thank you! Thank you!"

The person in the spotlight was awfully happy about it, throwing toast here and there. Tsume quickly smacked him on the head.

"Don't get cocky, you moron! This is barely the start!"

"Mom is right, Kiba," Hana smiled at him. "What you have learned so far are merely the basics. From now on, you'll be considered an actual ninja, a Genin. When you're doing missions, you'll be carrying our village's honor, so don't be so reckless anymore."

Kiba didn't seem to agree with the last part.

"But, big sis, Mom is already a Tokubetsu Jonin but she's still reck-"

Before he could finish, another fist landed on his head, planting his face on the table.

"You talk too much!" Tsume growled.

"Hikari, what's wrong? You seems confused," Hana turned to the girl who was staring at the mother-and-son antics with great interest.

"Ah, nothing..." She hesitated for a bit before continuing. "Actually, Big Sister, what's with that Genin and Jonin stuff?"

"What, don't you know?" Kiba chimed in with a smug look on his face. "Let me tell ya, those are the ranks for shinobi. When you've graduated from the academy, you're a Genin. After that, you can become a Chuunin. If you're really good, you'll become a Jonin. Finally, the one above them all, the strongest ninja, is the Hokage!"

"Heee..."

In short, Genin was the lowest rank, Chuunin was the middle one, and Jonin was the highest one just below the supreme commander...

"What about Tokubetsu Jonin? And those porcelain-masked people, the... Anbu?"

"Err... that's..."

Kiba didn't know the answer.

"Hahaha! That's why you shouldn't get cocky, you dumb brat!" Tsume smacked his back, producing a loud thud. "Girl, listen up. Those ranks are more applicable for general-purpose ninja, those guys who can use wider array of jutsu. Meanwhile, Tokubetsu Jonin like me are shinobi who's job consists of one specialized task. In my case, it's tracking with my good boy Kuromaru here!"

"As for the Anbu, they're a special operatives under the Hokage's order. Since they're dealing with extremely sensitive matters, their identities are always concealed. A shinobi could be a Genin in public, but actually an Anbu. Although, usually Anbu are recruited from the ranks of exemplary Jonin. You can't become Anbu if you're not skilled enough," Hana continued.

Hmm, that sounded similar to the secret service employed by emperors in her previous life. Hikari nodded to show that she understood their explanation.

"What about you, Big Sister?"

"I'm still a Chuunin. Although, to be more precise, I'm considered a medical-nin. Perhaps when I'm more experienced, I can also become a Tokubetsu Jonin like Mom."

"I see..."

In that case, compared to these accomplished members of the society...

"You suck, Kiba," Hikari concluded.

"Shut up, you civilian!" The boy roared in response.

Tsume was laughing so hard she had to clutch her stomach because of the pain.

"Alright, alright, enough messing around," she finally said when she had managed to stop. She then turned to Kiba, her expression turned grave. "Brat, never forget this. You'll receive actual missions from now on. It's no longer a game. If you don't take it seriously, you might even die. Absolutely don't go doing things on your own anymore, work together with your team and listen to your commander. Understand?"

"Wait, team?" Kiba raised an eyebrow.

"It's a tradition that rookie Genin will be put in a three-man cell led by a Jonin. I also entered one when I'd just graduated. I stayed with the team until I managed to pass my Chuunin exam," Hana explained.

"Hooo... so, who are my teammates? Teacher Iruka didn't say anything."

"Who knows?" Tsume shrugged. "The academy premade the teams to make sure they're all properly balanced. We'll only be notified after the actual graduation ceremony. Let me tell ya, you better get along with 'em, boy. I don't want to hear any complain from your commander later on, got that?!"

Kiba still couldn't accept it, but he nodded anyway. No point in making his mom angry. Mom's scary when she's angry...

"Speaking of friends..." Tsume suddenly remembered. "Those kids, did they pass?"

Hikari was also interested in that topic, particularly concerning Hinata. She perked up her ears to listen.

"Hinata passed with flying color, as expected," he paused a bit to let that info sank in, and then continued his report. "Choji almost failed the written exam, but for practical skills he's good, so teacher Iruka just let that pass."

He then frowned.

"Shikamaru just baaaaarely passed on every subject. Every. Subject. I've never seen such a flat score before! That lazy bastard, he's doing it on purpose!"

...Well, that did sound like what Nara Shikamaru would do, that epitome of bare necessity...

Hmm? She felt that there was another name missing from the list...

Tsume coughed.

"What about that yellow-haired kid?"

Kiba's lips twitched.

"He... uh... his clone turned into a poopy, mushy mess... at least, that's what I heard when I was eavesdropping the teachers..."

""...""

What kind of description was that?!

Hana and Hikari were dead silent. The latter had never tried to perform that jutsu, but from what she'd seen when Kiba had demonstrated it for her, it was just a basic chakra splitting technique. It shouldn't be that hard, right?

...Right?

"So... the result?" Tsume pressed on.

"...Failed."

Ah... damn.

The atmosphere suddenly turned frigid.

"...Looks like I have to rip him a new one when he comes over..." Tsume murmured with a very suspicious smile.

Kiba shuddered, repeating in his mind that he shouldn't invite Naruto over until his mother forget about this matter...

---

Even though technically it was still winter, the night sky was already so clear. Stars decorated the vast expanse of dark blue while the luminous full moon shared her light to the world below.

Hikari was sitting cross-legged on top of the roof, basking under the moonlight with a cup of steaming-hot tea by her side.

"Peaceful time is the best..." Kokuo mumbled.

"Indeed..."

She took another sip of the tea. Aah, bliss...

This hobby of hers had become a routine in the Inuzuka household, to the point that Tsume didn't even bother to pay attention anymore. There was a small ruckus when they first found out, though, since they had mistaken her for enemy ninja.

God, that was a mess.

After that small hurdle, nothing else could disturb her relaxation time except for one thing.

"Huang'er~"

Speak of the devil!

"Hyaah?!"

Someone had pulled her from behind while nibbling on her left ear at the same time.

This kind of ridiculous action... who else would it be if not that vixen?

"Daji! I told you not to- h-hyaaa~?!?"

"Oh my, Huang'er, that's such a cute sound you're making there~"

"Cut. It. Out!"

Wearing a revealing, seductive outfit, the dark-haired woman didn't concede to her demand. Instead, she moved her lips from the ear down to the girl's neck. Starting with a kiss, Daji grew more aggressive as she began sucking on the girl's skin.

"D-Don't... hyauu..."

Against her wish, Hikari shivered from the sensation.

That respond only prompted Daji to become even bolder. Her hands began to explore the young girl's body, tracing down her curves as she started to push her down-

"Oi, Hikari, is Akamaru with you?"

Kiba suddenly popped up on the roof.

What he'd found was a girl laying down on the tiles with messy clothes. Akamaru was sprawled on top of her chest, looking really exhausted. The cup of tea on the side had been toppled over, while the tray had been thrown a few feet away.

"What... what happened here? Are you alright?"

"...Nothing... here's your dog..."

Hikari handed Akamaru over, her face flushed red. She still couldn't control her breathing.

"You sure you're okay? You look an awful lot like Hinata right now... sure you don't have a fever?"

"I told you. I'm fine!"

She half-yelled the last part, causing Kiba to freeze on the spot.

"O-okay then... huh?"

He was about to get back down when he suddenly noticed something. Hikari didn't fail to catch that.

"Hmm?"

When she glanced at the spot Kiba was staring at, she saw Tsume and two other Inuzuka clan members about to go out through the front gate.

"Going out this late at night... is it an urgent mission?"

"Sssh, I'm trying to find out."

By focusing chakra on his ears, coupled with Inuzuka clan's enhanced hearing, he could barely hear what her mother was talking about with the guards.

"Third Hokage... something got stolen... scroll... huh?!"

The next word had stunned him.

"What? What is it?" Hikari urged, noticing the bewilderment on his face.

"Naruto..." He murmured.

"Naruto?"

"Naruto, he... he'd stolen a hidden scroll from the Third's house!"

Hidden scroll... if she compared it to her previous world, would it be the equivalent of stealing the secret manual of a sect? The punishment for such heresy was, most of the time, death upon capture.

"Isn't that bad?"

"Of course it is! That idiot! Just because he didn't pass the exam doesn't mean he has to do this kind of thing!"

Kiba was greatly agitated. No matter how much he'd looked down on Naruto, that boy was still his friend. After all the time they had spent together, there was no way that he could just turn a blind eye over this matter!

But, what can he do? He was just a little kid, while it seemed that the entire clans residing in Konoha had been mobilized in full force...

"Well..." Hikari mumbled, "How about we get the scroll back from him and return it to that old geezer?"

The kid would be screwed if he got caught by the village's shinobi. If they could get to him first, however, they could hide him while they negotiate his case with the Third Hokage. Perhaps he would be able to show leniency, considering Naruto's young age.

"You- you're saying it as if it's easy..."

Even so, her words did make sense. It seemed to be the best course of action if they wanted to solve this without hurting Naruto. But still... could they really do it?

"..."

His mother said that he shouldn't be reckless, but... but...

In the end, his feeling toward his friend had won over.

"Aargh, I agree! Let's go!"

Kiba was about to leap away when Hikari caught him by the sleeves.

"What?!"

"Come down to my room first."

"Why?! There's no time to lose!"

"I know, but do you want to risk getting involved as accomplices if we got also got caught?"

"...Ugh."

"That's why, come down first."

She flashed him a mischievous grin.

"I got something good for this kind of occasion."