"I should've kept my mouth shut! Of all people, why did I have to ask you?"
As Kurama Shimei's words fell, Senju Uka felt three hateful stares land on him.
He wasn't about to back down. He raised his head and glared right back.
Ignoring everyone else's eyes on him, Uka picked up the little dog lying on the desk!
Looking at the little flower dog, which seemed very well-behaved now that he had it by the scruff of its neck-
He put on a fierce expression and asked, "You kept bothering me while I was sleeping. What exactly do you want?"
"Woof! Woof, woof!"
The little flower dog, held by the scruff of its neck, looked at the white-haired boy in front of it and barked a few times.
Then a fawning smile appeared on its doggy face, and its tail wagged like a windmill.
Hearing the commotion, Inuzuka Furin turned around. When she saw the boy and dog playing around in front of her, she narrowed her eyes and smiled without realizing it.
Then she translated softly, "Uka-kun, Brown and White says it's hungry. It wants to eat what's in your backpack!"
"Woof, woof, woof!" The little flower dog named Brown and White heard its owner translating and barked hurriedly.
"It says the food in your bag smells so good, it couldn't help barking at you!"
"Woof, woof!"
"It says..." Inuzuka Furin had been smiling happily, but suddenly paused.
She glanced at the ninja dog, whose tail was wagging merrily, and said, "Brown and White, you're not getting dinner!"
After saying that, Furin turned around and started preparing her own lunch.
She felt like she hadn't raised a ninja dog, but an ungrateful wolf.
At home, it always said her cooking was the best, and every time it complained that there wasn't enough and asked for more!
So why, after smelling the food Uka had brought today, was it saying her cooking was bad?
It hadn't even eaten any yet, and it was already saying that?
Anyway, there was definitely no dinner for it.
As for after that, she'd see how she felt!
Senju Uka looked back and forth between Furin and the ninja dog, curious.
He'd wanted to see how the translation of two barks differed from that of three, but Furin suddenly stopped!
Seeing that she seemed a little angry, Uka couldn't tell what was going on.
So he turned his gaze to Inuzuka Sawa, who had been laughing in the front row the whole time.
He saw Sawa cover his mouth as he laughed!
He also signaled to Uka with his eyes that he couldn't say.
Unable to get an answer, Senju Uka shrugged helplessly, set the dog down, and warned it, "I can give you some, but you're not allowed to snatch any later!"
"Woof, woof!" After getting permission, Brown and White stopped thinking about what its owner had said about dinner.
It would eat the tasty food first and worry about the rest later. It wagged its tail and stared intently at Uka.
He'd warned it because he was afraid it would pounce on the food later. If he wasn't careful and got dog saliva on it, how could he eat?
Uka rolled his eyes at the dog, which was wagging its tail and grinning!
He took the insulated lunchbox out of his backpack, heated it up, and set it on the desk!
He held out a hand to signal Brown and White to back away. After it moved away, he opened the lunchbox and took out a big drumstick for the little dog!
Once it began to wolf it down, Uka started eating his first lunch of the school year, too.
It wasn't that strange that the little dog liked it. Sister Chiharu had simply prepared a very generous meal for him today.
Three dishes and a soup: two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes.
They were all made the way he'd eaten in his previous life, and they smelled much better than boxed meals and fried food.
After happily wolfing down a few bites, Senju Uka was immersed in the satisfaction of being able to eat his fill as soon as he woke up!
"Ah...!"
"Hmm?"
The sudden sound startled Senju Uka. He was just about to ask what had happened when soup splashed all over his face!
"Pfft, hahaha!" Kurama Shimei couldn't help laughing out loud.
"This dog is something else!" Senju Harumi turned to look at the scene behind her and said with a laugh.
Startled by the loud shout from the back row, Inuzuka Furin turned around to check. When she saw what had happened, she hurriedly took a tissue from her bag and handed it to Uka, looking very apologetic. "Uka-kun, I'm so sorry! Here, wipe yourself off!"
Taking the tissue Furin handed him, Senju Uka wiped his face.
Looking at the ninja dog, whose lower body was in the drumstick box while its head was buried in the beef box, wolfing down the food-
He really didn't know what expression to make.
But one thing was certain: if the thing in front of him hadn't been his friend's ninja dog, he'd definitely have to find out what puppy tasted like!
"Uka-kun, I'm sorry. I brought a lot, so why don't you eat some of mine?" Inuzuka Furin picked up the culprit and looked at Uka a little nervously as she spoke.
Seeing the ninja dog dangling in Furin's hand, all four paws still wrapped around a drumstick,
Senju Uka shook his head helplessly and said with a smile, "It's fine. I still have a vegetable dish and soup. I can finish those!"
After being turned down, Inuzuka Furin didn't know what to do.
She kept twisting the hem of her clothes with her left hand, held the ninja dog in her right, and looked at him with wide eyes as she stammered, "B-but... Uka-kun!"
Seeing her black eyes grow moist, Senju Uka hurried to his feet and reassured her, "It's really fine. I have enough left. If I don't, I'll take some from you!"
"But..."
Before Furin could finish, Uka held her by the shoulders and guided her back into her seat, signaling to Harumi to help comfort her.
At the same time, he dumped the two dishes the dog had pounced on into its bowl and smiled at Furin. "Let it eat until it's full. Then you can go back and punish it by not giving it anything good to eat for a few days, okay?"
"Okay!" Inuzuka Furin nodded, answering in a voice that still carried a sob.
She silently pushed her own lunchbox a little closer to him.
Seeing her reaction, Uka smiled and took a few pieces of tempura from his lunchbox.
As he ate, he reassured her, "I'm not blaming you. Eat your lunch. I have enough left!"
"Mm!"
Outside the Senju Clan Compound.
Inside a three-story building not far away.
Shimura Danzō had just gone to the Hokage Building to arrange some other matters. Now he had arrived at this Root hideout!
Looking at the two subordinates who had come to the room, Danzō asked unhurriedly, "What's the situation?"
A young Root shinobi wearing a cat-face mask with a white base and blue markings stepped forward and replied, "Sir, after probing several times, we found that the Senju Clan Compound is heavily guarded. All the entrances and exits they used in the past are now guarded by shinobi!"
"White Sparrow was caught by the Senju when he got too close while probing at the west gate!"
Hearing this, Shimura Danzō furrowed his brows and asked irritably, "Didn't he say he was Anbu?"
"He did, but the Senju still insisted on arresting him. They said they'd take White Sparrow to Anbu for questioning tonight, but he had to be detained for now!" After reporting this, the young man in the cat-face mask hesitated, then added, "This subordinate was afraid of provoking a conflict, so I signaled White Sparrow to stop resisting. I ask that you punish me, sir!"
"It's fine. We can't afford a conflict right now. You did the right thing!" Shimura Danzō waved his hand dismissively.
He wasn't worried about his subordinate getting caught. With the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, the Senju wouldn't get any information out of him.
Besides, White Sparrow had said he was Anbu. The Senju shouldn't act directly against Anbu; they were only detaining him.
As for investigating?
Heh... Root was recorded in the Anbu roster, so there was nothing to worry about!
The other Root shinobi, a middle-aged man wearing a cat-face mask, saw that his companion had finished reporting. He bowed to Danzō and said, "Sir, we've finished checking the entry and exit records for the main gate and the Barrier Team. There was nothing unusual at the main gate, but there's one entry in the Barrier Team's records!"
"Go on!"
"At four in the morning last night, there was a large disturbance in the barrier on the northwest side. About a hundred people entered. They used wartime identification tags, and the Barrier Team wasn't authorized to record the details!"
"A hundred people? Wartime identification tags?"