Shinobi Isekai!

Barking Up the Wrong Tree

The slamming door set off a round of barking, filling the house with the comforting cacophony of dog and human voices.

"Kiba!" He rushed through the house but wasn't quite fast enough to escape his mother as she grabbed him by the back of the neck. "Careful, you brat! We've got a guest!"

"Huh? Who would wanna come—gah! Hanako-chan!?"

The guest in question raised a hand to cover her unmasked smile. The Inuzuka clan compound was always bustling with life, the people much more open with their emotions than most clan shinobi. Over the years, Hanako had often run away to the Inuzuka kennels whenever pretending to be a child had become too much. Dogs didn't care if you acted your age. Dogs just wanted to be pet and play silly games.

Well, dogs that weren't magical summons from another dimension, anyway.

Maybe that was why none of her summons got along with the Inuzuka ninken. Were they jealous?

"Hey, Kiba-kun," she said happily. "Long time no see."

She watched as he stammered in place, Akamaru happily abandoning him to lounge in her lap. The poor kid suffered from a terrible condition known colloquially as 'the childhood crush'. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't flattering, but he was more than a little overbearing at times.

"Ah, Hanako-chan!" He yelled, tripping over his feet as he scrambled over to where she sat at his kitchen table. "I-I-I didn't know you were coming!"

Like that. Kiba was a competent ninja, she knew that, but all his skills went out the window the moment he noticed her. Kinda like Hinata with Naruto, now that she thought about it. Huh.

His face was as red as his tattoos as he looked at everything but her face, hands tugging roughly at the fur lined hood of his jacket. Behind him, his mother smirked knowingly at them. Ugh.

Hanako felt her lips curling of their own accord and she rushed to school her expression before Kiba noticed. It wasn't his fault all the adults shipped them.

And it wasn't as if they were without reason.

Hanako had long ago resolved to be the best heir clan Hatake had ever seen and bring the clan out of disgrace, to repay Kakashi for his generosity if nothing else. In her mind, that meant reaching rank tokubetsu-jounin or higher, participating in the clan council, and, least appetizing, producing the next generation. As a female heir, she faced the same struggles as Ino and Hinata in finding a husband whose rank wouldn't challenge or overtake her own. Of course, Ino eventually solved that problem by marrying Sai—a man with no clan—and Hinata abdicated her position to her sister, Hanabi. Hanako's situation was much more precarious as there was no future for her to refer to. Kakashi's mother and Tsume's had been cousins, the daughters of sisters—primas hermanas, as Bethany would have called them—and the two clans were ancestral allies with intermarriages predating Konoha's founding. Kiba was a second child, and a son in a matriarchal clan. As much as Hanako hated to admit it, he really was the best choice for her.

Looking at his blushing face, she had a feeling he knew it, too.

Not that she had anything against Kiba. Sure, he was a little loud and rough around the edges, but he was an Inuzuka, and a teenage boy, besides. She could vaguely remember his older self from the anime, so she knew he'd mellow out at least a little, and hanging out with Shino and Hinata had already made some marked improvements in his disposition. Eventually, he'd probably be quite the catch.

Eventually.

Eugh. She felt like a pedophile for even considering it.

"I heard Aoi finally had her puppies," she said with a smile. "I thought I'd stop by and congratulate her before things get busy."