[Mad Tiger] Chapter 50

Hinata tried to slip past her cousin with me still in her arms, but Neji frowned and blocked the way.

"Why do you have the daimyo’s cat?" His interrogation continued, eyes narrowing. "I am sure that’s him, I can feel his chakra."

Yeah, so much for playing dumb.

"Nii-san…" Hinata hesitated, glancing down at me, uncertainty all over her face.

I huffed, wiggled out of her arms, and landed gracefully on the floor.

"Come on!" I commanded, making a beeline for what was clearly Hinata’s room. Scent memory never fails. "Let’s go!" I called again, turning back to make sure she was following. To emphasize my point, I lifted my paw and did the little "come here" motion I’d seen humans use.

Neji’s expression tightened. Hinata took a small step forward.

"The kitty-chan wants us to follow him," she mumbled, looking very unsure.

I, on the other hand, was fully committed. With a dramatic flick of my tail, I pushed open the shoji door with my paw and strode inside. Almost immediately, I spotted my prize—a brush, just as promised. By the time the Hyuga duo followed me in, I was already giving it a thorough sniff test.

"You… want me to brush you?" Hinata asked hesitantly, throwing an anxious glance at her cousin.

I nodded, then grabbed the brush’s handle between my teeth, hopped onto the bed, and plopped down like I owned the place. Which, let’s be honest, I basically did.

"Where did you get Tora-chan?" Neji demanded, still watching me like I might sprout a second head.

"He belongs to my… friends," Hinata mumbled, dutifully running the brush through my fur. "His name is Namaiki-chan. Why do you think he’s—"

"A few months ago, my team had a mission," Neji cut in impatiently. "We were ordered to capture and return this cat to his owner. He has distinctive markings on his head, and there aren’t many cats as big or as… well-groomed as this one. I recognized him immediately. And Tora-chan has chakra. You do sense it, don’t you?"

"I do," Hinata admitted, still brushing me.

Well, damn. Can’t even be mad—can’t help being this majestic. But the real issue here was: what the hell do we do about Neji?

"Don’t tell my father. Don’t tell anyone," Hinata suddenly blurted out, her voice quiet but urgent.

Ah. She was worried this would cause trouble for Naruto. Smart girl.

I turned my attention to Neji, sizing him up. He looked a little thrown off, still processing. I gave a slow, deliberate nod.

"Yeah, don’t tell," I echoed, just for good measure.

Hinata finished up my brushing, gave me a final once-over, and patted my back. "We should go. The others are probably back by now."

I nodded and hopped off the bed, sauntering toward the door. But first, I made sure to really rub up against Neji’s bare legs on my way out—just to make sure he was properly marked. He didn’t pet me back, probably because his sister was watching, but I saw him flinch just a little.

Also, side note: dude smelled like sweat. Not in a gross way, but in a just-finished-training kind of way. He must’ve been on his way to bathe when he ran into us. Given their team’s unique sensei, I wasn’t surprised.

"I… won’t say anything," he muttered as Hinata stepped past him.

I paused, locked eyes with him, and gave a single, firm nod.

By the time we got back to HQ, the others had already arrived—Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ino, and Naruto, who looked like he was dying. He was waddling, panting, and cradling his stomach, which was bulging out even through his jacket.

"So, what was the damage?" Kiba asked, eyeing our stuffed-to-the-gills blonde with mild horror.

"Something like twelve hundred ryo," Ino replied. "Naruto ate… sixteen—no, seventeen double servings. And Iruka had a couple, too."

Twelve hundred? Damn. That was literally Naruto’s entire monthly stipend. Wonder if Iruka covered it himself or if someone else was footing the bill.

"Seventeen? Damn…" Choji whistled, munching on a chip. "My record’s fifteen."

"So he out-ate you, huh?" Shikamaru smirked, poking Naruto’s overstuffed stomach.

"Hey, be careful," Sasuke snickered. "Might pop him if you press too hard."

"Wh—hic! Not funny!" Naruto wheezed, looking personally offended. "It all—hic!—digests fast! I’ll be hungry again soon!"

That was it. Kiba lost it, doubling over in laughter. The rest of us weren’t much better. Even Hinata, blushing faintly, was giggling into her hands. Absolute comedy with this kid.

"Alright, spill it," Kiba finally said once everyone calmed down. "What’s the deal with Iruka? What did he want?"

"Eh, just asked about life," Shikamaru shrugged. "How Naruto’s handling things on his own, told him to get serious since graduation’s coming up."

"He also mentioned that he’s an orphan too," Sasuke added. "Said he understands how hard it is to be alone. That when you’re on your own, you act out to get attention. Wasn’t lying. I can tell when people lie."

"Maybe he’s just nervous about the graduation exams," Kiba mused, scratching his head. "Iruka’s a decent guy, just yells a lot. But usually for a reason."

"He’s never had a graduating class before," Shikamaru noted, plopping onto the floor. "Maybe he just wants to make sure everyone passes. Figured talking to Naruto one-on-one was better than yelling."

"I actually walked up to them," Ino said, jumping in. "Like I was gonna grab some food too. He got super awkward. After that, they just ate in silence. He paid for my meal too, by the way, and left right after. Just told us to prepare for the exams."

"That’s it?" Choji muttered, sounding unimpressed. I nodded in agreement. Was I overthinking things? Maybe I was just too paranoid. Maybe Iruka really was just a normal teacher with a soft spot for struggling kids.

That was when I caught a scent coming from the outside, from the balcony.

Neji.

Following us, huh? Or was he just keeping an eye on Hinata? Either way, if he wanted to be sneaky, he should’ve picked a better hiding spot.

I padded over to the balcony, my whiskers twitching as I caught a fresh whiff of my own scent mark near the railing.

Well, well, well. Who do we have lurking here?

"So," I called out loudly, padding right up to his hiding spot, "what exactly are you doing?"

For good measure, I also made sure to refresh my scent mark—just to remind him whose turf this was.

"Tsk…" Caught red-handed eavesdropping, Neji pressed a finger to his lips, signaling for silence. I shook my head. Yeah, no. He wasn’t about to shush me.

"Come on!" I ordered.

Hopefully, he remembered that word. With a sigh, Neji got out of his spot and followed me along the parapet, landing smoothly on Sasuke’s balcony after I did.

"Namaiki-chan, you—oh…," Naruto started, stepping outside for some fresh air, only to spot us. He blinked at Neji, arms crossing over his chest. "Uh, and who are you?"

"Relax, brat," I cut in before Neji could respond. "He’s with me."

The commotion drew more attention. Sasuke, Kiba, and Akamaru, his fluffy little sidekick stepped onto the balcony, eyes flicking between Neji and me.

"That’s Hyuga Neji," Kiba said, narrowing his eyes as recognition dawned. "He was last year’s top rookie. And he’s Hinata-chan’s cousin."

"Oh… So you were worried about Hinata?" Naruto scratched his head, looking a little less defensive. "We just kinda… hang out here sometimes."

Neji squinted slightly, probably about to say something unpleasant, but I wasn’t about to let that happen. Last thing I needed was for him to shoot his mouth off and mess up my grand plans. Before he could open his mouth, I jumped onto his shoulder, making him instinctively shift his weight to adjust.

"What’s with Namaiki-chan?" Sasuke asked, one brow quirking up.

"He’s not ‘Namaiki-chan,’" Neji corrected, glancing sideways at me but making no move to shove me off. "I know him as ‘Tora-san.’ He’s the daimyo’s personal cat."

Naruto’s jaw practically hit the floor. "Wait, what?! You’re messing with us, right?"

"I have no reason to lie," Neji responded, sounding almost offended. Though, with me draped over his shoulder, his usual cool arrogance was slightly undercut.

"For a conversation like this, inside would probably be better," Shikamaru’s voice drawled from the doorway.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flicker of movement. A shadow tendril—thin, quick—retreating from Neji back to Shikamaru. Well, well, well. Looks like Nara played it safe and hooked our unexpected guest in his shadow bind while he was distracted. Sneaky.

"Yeah, let’s go," Sasuke said, stepping aside like the official host.

"Come on!" I urged Neji, right into his ear. He let out another sigh, but followed obediently.

Nyahaha! I really am out here collecting genius prodigies like Pokémon.

"H-Huh?! Nii-san?!" Hinata nearly dropped a plate of onigiri when she saw who had walked in. Her whole face flushed a deep red.

I flexed my claws slightly, pressing my paw into Neji’s shoulder as a silent warning. He tilted his head slightly, catching my eye, and let out a quiet smirk.

I could only hope the guys remembered what I’d told them about forgetting something important. And I really hoped that their friends wouldn’t let them down.

Because if I was right—if I was really close to getting them to remember what happened six months ago—then this was about to get very interesting.

And honestly? It was terrifying to think that six whole months had already passed since everything fell apart…