Gin walked toward home, observing the now nearly deserted Uchiha district. Most of the Uchiha's fighting force had been sent to combat the Hidden Mist.
As he arrived at the front door of his house, he had expected to find chaos as usual.
However, upon opening the door, he was surprised to see the place exceptionally clean and tidy—much cleaner than when he had left.
It was quite a shock to him.
The last time, things weren't like this. A certain "cat boss" had plenty of little followers creating havoc.
Gin walked further inside.
A small cat came scampering down the stairs and rubbed against Gin's leg.
"Meow~ You're back."
Gin picked up the little cat, examining it closely.
"Are you sick or something?"
He didn't remember the little cat being so affectionate. This cat was a ninja cat, with a mind similar to that of humans.
And like most Uchiha, it had a prideful, haughty attitude.
It was hard to say whether the cat learned this from the Uchiha, or vice versa.
Upon hearing Gin's sarcastic comment, the little cat immediately got defensive.
"Meow! Human, don't be so clueless. I'm just welcoming you home!"
The little cat revealed its true nature, struggling in Gin's hands, trying to give him a few scratches.
After all it had done, this stupid human remained indifferent.
"Oh, right."
Gin suddenly realized why the little cat was acting like this.
"Our contract seems to have expired, huh?"
The contract between Gin and the little cat was for one year, allowing the cat to stay at his house.
While Gin had been out on missions, the time had run out.
It had already been a while since the contract had ended.
The moment Gin mentioned this, the little cat stopped struggling. It started licking its paw and then made a beckoning gesture toward Gin.
The little cat's adorable attack was unleashed!
"Meow~."
Gin: (￢_￢).
Attack ineffective.
Seeing Gin's expression of disdain, the little cat lowered its paw, a very human-like look of pleading appearing on its face.
"Let's discuss this~ The wild cats outside are so mean."
The little cat put on a pitiful expression, tears welling up as if it had been bullied.
The truth was, life wasn't easy for ninja cats either. Evil cats ran rampant, and the handsome calico tomcat was monopolized by a gang of evil cats. They bullied this weak little white cat constantly.
Living here with food and shelter, it didn't want to go back to being mistreated.
The last group of cats that had come were all poor creatures, also bullied by those evil cats.
Gin shrugged. "But I was planning on letting Shiro stay here."
At the mention of Shiro, the little white snake poked its head out of Gin's collar, its beady eyes staring at the cat with a clueless look.
Shiro quickly crawled up Gin's arm and perched on his shoulder.
"I have a strong bond with Shiro; we get along very well."
Shiro, still a bit dazed, let the cat hug its head.
Gin, holding both small creatures, set them down on the floor.
Squatting down, he looked at the little cat.
"You sure about this?"
"I'm sure!"
The cat nodded with determination.
From today on, Shiro was its sibling—different fathers, different mothers, but still siblings.
"They can get along, then," Gin finally nodded and stood up, heading toward the stairs.
The little cat watched Gin go upstairs, a human-like grin spreading across its face. Shiro tried to follow Gin but was immediately grabbed by the little cat.
Muscles bulging, the little cat held Shiro tightly, preventing it from breaking free.
Only once Gin was out of sight did the cat sigh in relief.
It wiped the imaginary sweat off its forehead, the white fur glistening.
"Finally, it's all good."
It could continue living in the house now.
From now on, it could eat as many cat treats as it wanted, without any evil cats coming to steal them.
Once that pesky Uchiha fell under the mighty paw of the ninja cat, it could reclaim its place as king of the house.
"Hahaha!" The little cat stood up and crossed its arms, laughing loudly.
Shiro nudged it with its head, reminding the cat that it wasn't alone.
The little cat's grin froze as it glared at the clueless snake.
"You dumb snake!!"
A question mark popped up above Shiro's head.
Before Shiro could figure out what was happening, the little cat had already pounced.
"I'm the boss of this house!"
Shiro didn't seem interested in dodging, and soon the cat and snake were locked in a fierce brawl.
Though the little cat was fully grown and a ninja cat to boot, making it a dominant force among weaker summoning animals, Shiro was still young and didn't have Gin's chakra supporting it.
The two were evenly matched in their tussle.
Outside, Gin, perched on a wall, watched the whole scene unfold through the window.
He shook his head in disappointment.
"Shiro still doesn't have the strength to win."
The cat and snake were so evenly matched that no clear victor emerged.
Gin walked back into the house through the second-floor window.
Meanwhile, his thoughts were elsewhere.
"It's time to teach Shiro a jutsu to strengthen its power."
"Maybe some demon best technique?"
"That might be tricky."
With winter's arrival, the entire shinobi world was draped in a blanket of snow.
It also brought a temporary pause to the ongoing war.
The frequency of battles between villages had decreased significantly.
Many forces were even being withdrawn.
Konoha, too, saw a number of its shinobi returning to the village.
They awaited the next set of orders.
Among those returning were Minato and Kushina.
The two young shinobi, fresh from the war, blended into the crowd of returning ninjas, unremarkable among the many.
After all, unless one had particularly distinguished themselves in battle, their achievements remained largely unknown to other shinobi.
Most of those returning were injured or very young.
Though they were back in the village, none of them had smiles on their faces. Only numbness and exhaustion remained.
As the group entered Konoha's gates, the villagers were ready to welcome them.
"They've returned."
"Konoha's heroes."
"I see my son!"
The villagers rushed forward excitedly.
But the excitement quickly faded.
Some found their sons missing arms, others saw daughters who had lost their legs.
Even those children who had returned unscathed showed no reaction to their parents, their faces haunted by fear.
The once-cheerful crowd fell silent.
War, in its essence, was cruel.
Minato and Kushina quietly slipped away from the crowd.
Both were orphans, with no one to greet them.
"Should we go find Gin? He should be back in the village by now," Minato asked Kushina.
"Let's clean up first. We stink," Kushina replied.
She didn't reject the idea but knew that if she met Gin looking like this, he'd tease her to no end.
Their clothes were tattered, caked with dry blood, and full of tears—basically, they looked like beggars.
All their spare clothes had been used up, and these were the most intact ones they had left.
The two of them laughed and chatted as they made their way home.
For the shinobi returning from war, settling back into life would require a lot of effort.
(End of Chapter)
[Sad news everyone, I'll stop uploading this fanfic, sorry to all the readers, and I really hope someone will take from here! If you want to know the full reason visit my Patreon, the announcement is free to read.]