Inugami woke up with a start. His whole body was drenched in sweat, and he was having a hard time calming his thundering heart.
"A nightmare?"
It wasn't the first time he had one of those. After he realized that he reincarnated into the Naruto world, he suffered from bad dreams for years, though thankfully they vanished later after he got used to his situation.
Those dreams were usually about one of the super villains of Naruto, like Madara, Pain, Orochimaru or Obito, brutally murdering him after he tried to do something in vain. They all simply crushed him like a bug…
Tonight's dream visitor was Kaguya.
But things were different tonight. Kaguya didn't attack him, nor did she kill him. No, she simply stared at him creepily in a dark space, which was somehow way more fear-inducing for Inugami.
He sighed, and looked at his palm. The silver mark was lit up by the moonlight that shone through his window, giving it a mysterious, otherworldly feel.
First, he awakened a Longinus for some reason, then a weird mark showed up on his body, and now he had concerning dreams.
There was definitely something going on, and Inugami didn't know what. And it was worrying him.
"No…" Jin closed his open palm into a fist.
He had Jin now. There was no reason to despair, he was not helpless anymore. He just had to train hard enough, and he won't have to fear even things like Kaguya in the future.
He will overcome the challenges ahead, and then will leave this world and attain his peaceful life.
That was his goal.
A goal he would reach.
– – –
Currently Inugami was at the dinner table eating breakfast, while disdainfully eyeing Akamaru eating from a bowl near him.
He had many times requested that they would atleast not eat with the the dogs in the same room, but sadly it fell on deaf ears.
That was the problem with living in the Inuzuka compound. Dogs were everywhere. And as someone who hated dogs since he was little, and even died to one, it was quite unpleasant to stay here. To say it mildly.
"Mother, I'm thinking about moving out."
There were various clanking sounds as all the other occupants, which consisted of Tsume, Hana, and Kiba, dropped their tableware. Then Kiba frowned but said nothing, Hana trained her eyes back down her food, and also said nothing. And Tsume…
"What do you mean you want to move out? Are you saying my cooking sucks, brat?!"
"No of course not. That would be the last thing I would complain about."
And it was true. Tsume, despite not looking like it, got the housewife thing down pretty well. A bit too well to be honest, and you could see it the most with her cooking skills. Her food was heavenly. And despite Inugami visiting many fancy restaurants in this and his last life, nothing came close to a homecooked meal by his new mother.
"You know why I want to move out."
"I see, still afraid of them even after getting your own, huh?"
"I'm not afraid, I simply dislike them." The answer was terse and fast. A bit too fast.
"Ha! You can't fool your own mother squirt. But fine, we let it go for now. I'll approve, but only if you get a place to live by your own means. Which will be hard though, as a rookie."
Inugami frowned as his mothers words rang true. The D-class missions which they took the last couple of weeks, thankfully none of them were as… exciting as the first, didn't give him even close the amount he he would need to find a good place to live. He would atleast need to do C-rank missions regularly to move out. But his team would have to prove themselves to get them constantly. Which was hard to do while doing chores…
Inugami's thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell ringing.
Tsume's nose twitched. "Oh? It's Hiashi's youngest. That girl is quite cute… So, when will you mount her?" With that question, Tsume looked expectantly at Inugami. There was sputtering from Kiba, and choking sounds from Hana as the inappropriate question of her mother hit her at a bad time.
"It's too early." Inugami groaned tiredly, but then he paused as he realized that his statement could be taken wrong. Tsume, of course, catched on as well, and so Inugami had to get the door with his mother's roaring laughter accompanying him.
He opened the door annoyed and found a fidgeting Hinata standing there.
"Morning I-Inugami-kun, sensei summoned us to the Hokage tower promptly. We have a new mission."
"Morning to you too, I will be there shortly." Inugami said grumpily, since he could still hear his mother laughter which prompted curious looks from Hinata.
"Don't ask…"
– – –
"Thank you for coming." Hiruzen said, smoking his pipe while looking as wise and kind as ever. Though anyone that knew the man well, could the tell the signs of irritation.
Inugami smirked at that inwardly. He knew the reason that the old man was riled up. The reason was him after all. As an act of revenge for their first mission, Inugami took his vast and treasured porn collection, with the threat that he would burn it if he didn't receive what he wanted. And Inugami knew that he would soon crack.
"Today you will receive your first C-rank mission in the land of claws."
Wait what? Inugami's amusement was mercilessly smothered by a great deal of surprise. A C-rank mission already? Thankfully Iruka wasn't here today, or he would've blow a gasket at them getting one after only two weeks.
"So we can finally stop doing all this menial labor?" Ino asked excitedly, not realizing the strangeness of the situation.
Hiruzen nodded with a smile. "Yes, I assume this mission will be more exciting than plucking weeds. You will track, subdue and jail some prisoners that escaped. None of them are shinobi's of course, but simple small-time criminals. Nonetheless, never lose your caution, or else even a weak opponent could prove lethal. Are we understood?"
"""Yes, Lord Hokage!"""
"Good, now you are all dismissed besides Inugami-kun."
At the Hokage's words, the room soon was empty besides the two. Inugami lost his momentary surprise in favor to smile smugly towards the man.
"So? Do you have the stuff, old man?"
Hiruzen, for a moment, glared deeply at the Inuzuka, but seeing him unmoved, he produced a sealing-scroll from under his desk with a grumble.
"There you have it, brat. But only if you have my belongins with you!"
Inugami smirk brought a smiliar scroll out. With that the exchange went smoothly.
"Do you know how much trouble it would stirr, if someone finds out that I gave you this?"
"Relax, I'm technically part of their clan as well. And if they ask, I will simply say that it was stuff left behind by my father. They'll never know of your involvement."
"You'll better make sure of that!" Suddenly, Hiruzen adopted a serious look. "Be careful on this mission Inugami. While your capabilities should be enough for it, I get this bad feeling from it. Call it the sense of a Hokage."
Hearing that, Inugami got serious as well. It would be foolish to dismiss his words. If the third Hokage told you that something was amiss, then you better listen.
"I will be careful."
But still, it couldn't be as bad as Naruto's first C-rank mission, right? He didn't have that kind of main character luck… right?