I want to welcome you, but that can wait. Let's first discuss this," Hae said, standing in front of her house, where Kaida was standing, followed by a large bear and a crowd of children riding it or following it.
"Umm, Aunt, I can explain. This bear… this bear is brother's pet. Yeah," Kaida said.
"That's a lie, Mom! He was the one who picked it up; I had no role in this whatsoever," Shisui said, appearing right next to Kaida as soon as he tried to shift all the blame.
"I was wondering where you were. Welcome back, son," Hae said with a smile that didn't actually look like a smile at all.
"Oh! I… I went to submit my report to the clan head," Shisui said, which was not entirely a lie, but it could have been delayed if Shisui had wanted to. Which he clearly didn't.
"Good. Now, about the bear—what do you want to do with it?" Hae asked.
Sigh.
"Aunt, during my Chunin exam in Kumogakure, we had to spend three days in Lightning Valley. It was there that I found him, and he became my friend. We caught food and stayed together for three days, and I also promised him I'd bring him with me," Kaida admitted honestly.
"So, it's a wild bear. What will happen if it goes on a rampage?"
"Guah," the bear quickly shook its head, denying the possibility.
"As you can see, Aunt, he's very intelligent and also very friendly. He would never do something like that. Plus, he can use chakra, so he's the perfect bodyguard for you when both of us are out of the village," Kaida said, overpromoting the bear while patting its head.
"Wow, so cute," Yomi said, coming out of the house as well.
Kaida instantly felt happy seeing her after more than a month and a half—a really long time. It was the first time they had been separated for this long since he had come to this world. But the first thing she did was mention the bear's cuteness, going toward him to pet it. Kaida would never admit it, but he felt a tinge of jealousy, which both Shisui and Hae noticed.
"Hah, youth. Fine, we can keep it, but you two will be responsible for its hygiene, and I won't be able to cook so much food either," Hae said.
"Don't worry, Aunt, I'll take care of that," Kaida said with a smile.
"Good. Now come inside," Hae said as they started heading in. Kaida then sent the children away with a promise to bring the bear back so they could play afterward.
"Guah!" But a cry from the bear caught their attention.
They turned only to find it stuck in the gates, unable to come through without destroying the fences.
"Great," Hae said. Since the house belonged to Kagami Uchiha and then Shisui Uchiha, both elite Jonin and from the prestigious Uchiha clan, the house was not small by any means. In fact, the backyard was spacious enough for the bear to stay, which was why they'd brought him here. But they hadn't considered the pathway to the backyard, designed for humans, not a three-meter-tall beast.
Seeing the bear stuck in the gate, Hae released an exasperated sigh, realizing what this meant.
"Go and make an entrance in the backyard and bring a big gate for it as well," Hae said, glancing toward the bear.
Hearing this, Kaida was about to go when Hae placed a hand on his shoulder.
"No, not you, Kaida. I was talking to Shisui," Hae said.
"But why me? It's his pet," Shisui protested.
"Because I said so. Do you need any more reason?" Hae asked.
"…No," Shisui replied and was about to head out when Kaida offered, "I can help."
"Sure you will. Let him bring the gate first, then both of you can work on installing it. Meanwhile, I'll finish my cooking," Hae said as she went inside, shaking her head. Shisui went out to bring a large enough gate for the bear to enter, leaving Kaida and Yomi with the bear.
"Hey," Yomi greeted, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
"So, you finally noticed me. I thought you'd forgotten about me after so long," Kaida said, turning his face away.
"Hehehehe."
"What's so funny?" Kaida asked.
"Nothing. You look cute when you try to act angry," Yomi said with another chuckle.
"Well, you look cute all the time. I don't laugh at that," Kaida said, raising a smirk as he saw the redness deepen on Yomi's cheeks.
"What's the name of our new friend?" Yomi asked, trying to change the topic. But Kaida didn't respond.
"?" Yomi looked at him.
"I forgot to ask him," Kaida admitted, scratching his head.
"Then let's ask him now," Yomi suggested.
Kaida nodded, and both of them approached the bear, who was sitting in front of the house. Though not showing much, he was also tired after traveling for so long.
"Hey, buddy, we'll bring you inside soon," Kaida said, to which the bear nodded.
"Did you meet Yomi? She's my girlfriend," Kaida said with a smug expression, causing Yomi to blush and the bear to tilt its head in confusion.
"Umm, you don't know 'girlfriend'? Well… she's my mate," Kaida said, making Yomi's blush intensify, while the bear showed a look of realization.
Smack.
"You didn't have to put it that way," Yomi said, delivering a slap to Kaida's head.
"Hahaha," Kaida just laughed at Yomi's reaction.
"Oh! I almost forgot again. Do you have a name?" Kaida asked.
"Guah." The bear shook its head; there was no such thing as names in the wild.
"Good, then we'll give you one. Wait for a bit; I'd like to discuss it with everyone," Kaida said, to which the bear nodded, not too excited, but Kaida's next question did the trick.
"Are you hungry?"
The bear shook its head vigorously.
"Here." Kaida laughed and took out the last meal he'd saved for this moment.
Both Kaida and Yomi watched as the bear slowly ate its food, savoring each bite.
"So, how was your training?" Kaida asked.
"It went great! Sensei said I'm ready to be promoted to Chunin rank too, but that's not important. Tell me more about your journey."
"Okay, so we left from the village…" Kaida began recounting the journey, sharing almost everything as they waited.
"Oh, you almost won!" Yomi said.
"Are you seriously worried about that? We won 32 million ryo. No way you're thinking winning was better than getting all that money."
"Money is nice, but we're not exactly lacking in it either. Last month, we made 7 million in profit from the bathhouse alone. Those 32 million are impressive, but now money is losing its brilliance for me," Yomi said, indicating Kaida's win was more important to her.
'Well, after a certain point, money really just becomes a number. Sadly, even this much won't be enough for what the future holds for us,' Kaida thought.
"So now you'll have to tell Aunt you actually did betting. Good luck, hehe," Yomi said with a chuckle.
"No, I didn't. It was Brother who did the betting; I was just a participant," Kaida said with a shrug.
"Yeah, yeah," she said.
"If your chatting is done, let's focus on the task at hand," Shisui said, appearing behind Kaida and Yomi.
"Yes, brother."
(A.N: Five chapters of Jonin Tier will be released on Sunday. I'm busy with college during the weekdays, so I'll only have time to work on them then.)