The next day;
Kudo woke up early in the morning. He had an off day today, so he quickly went into a physical conditioning routine where he increased the gravity seal to 3 times normal gravity, punishing his body.
After 2 hours of intense exercise, a still wobbly Kudo ate breakfast and ran to the Inuzuka clan compound.
The Uchiha clan hadn't moved from their compound therefore were still located in the center of the village. The other intermediate clan was located just outside the residential zones.
"Halt, this is the clan compound of the Inuzuka clan. State your purpose." A man and a ninja hound stopped him as the ninja hound let out threatening growls.
"I'm here to see Kiba. I'm a friend from the academy. Tanehiko Kudo." Kudo introduced himself.
"Wait here." The man went into the compound briefly. "You can come in; however, don't do anything stupid." The chunin warned.
"Understood." Kudo nodded. 'Man, I didn't think the clans were still on guard after what happened with the Uchiha. I guess the terror of your entire bloodline being wiped out will cause anyone to be paranoid.' He thought as he took in the surroundings of the clan. Unlike the Akimichi which focused on restaurants or the Yamanaka that was into herbal medicine. The Inuzuka clan focused on breeding and hunting, so as he walked by, some of the clan members were adorned in pelts, walking beside their ninja hounds while the kids carried their small ninja hounds.
"Kudo! Over here." Kiba shouted, drawing gazes. Kudo quickly walked up to him. "Kiba, it's been a while." Kudo smiled gently.
"Yeah, it has. You are lucky you found cause we are heading off to a mission tomorrow with our sensei." Kiba replied. "Good morning to you too, Akamaru." Kido patted the ninja hound, which was glaring and now let out a happy yelp.
"So, what do you need?" Kiba asked as they took a seat at a dango stall.
"Well, yesterday I acquired a summon, you see, and I need help on how to take care of it. So, I was thinking either you or your mom can help." Kudo gestured at the scroll on his back.
"Oh, really?! Damn, I want to see it, but it's best we ask my mom. Let's go." Kiba grabbed his arm, leading him towards his house.
"Bang!" Slamming the door open, "MOM. I need help over here." He shouted into the house. "KIBA. Wait till I get my hands on you!" Tsume came roaring down the stairs but paused upon seeing Kudo. "Morning, it's been a while." Kudo greeted with a hesitant smile. "So, you have finally decided to come back, brat." Tsume marched towards him, then slapped his back, nearly toppling him over. "It's good to see you. How is your mom? I haven't seen you here in forever." Tsume said as she led them inside.
"She is fine, just busy at the merchant guild. Thanks," Kudo replied, taking a cup of water. 'They really don't take no for an answer.' Kudo thought that when they had been in the academy, they used to visit each other's houses, and Kiba's house was the most problematic because of his mom. She was just too aggressive.
"Anyway, how can I help you?" Tsume asked. "Well, I recently got a summon, you see, and I want to know how to take care of it," Kudo stated, causing Tsume to nod. " Well, you have come to the right place. Let's go out back and see it." Tsume marched them to the backyard of the house.
Standing in a small clearing, Kudo did the summoning jutsu, and Zetsuei appeared. Her green eyes landing on the mother and son duo, she growled at them.
Tsume's eyes blazed with interest. "Well, no wonder you have that pesky smell on ya!" Tsume slapped his back again, causing him to flinch in pain. She took strides towards the black panther. "What is its name?" She asked as she grabbed it, and poor Zetsuei, despite his roars, could only submit. "Her name is Zetsuei."
"Hmm, she is still young, barely two years old. She has quite the potential." Tsume walked to him. "The best place to put her will be the Forest of Death. Keeping her with you all the time will only weaken her. She needs to hunt and test her mantle against other chakra beasts. However, don't worry, chakra beasts in the Forest of Death aren't allowed to kill summons. The Inuzuka guards will look after her." Tsume said while staring at the silent boy.
Kudo thought about it for a few seconds. "Okay, let's do it." He nodded. Zetsuei was only at genin-combat level, and she needed to get stronger so she could help him when he also got stronger.
Kudo walked closer, gently patting her. "Zatsuei, I will take you someplace where you can get stronger, okay, and then we will challenge the world together," Kudo whispered. Zatsuei gently rubbed her head against his. After he had tormented it for hours on end yesterday, it had come to accept him begrudgingly.
With the matter taken care of, he left the Inuzuka clan compound.
Going over to the apartments section of Konoha, Kudo went to Naruto's apartment.
"Bang-bang." He knocked but heard no movement inside, but just as he was about to leave, "I'm coming." Naruto yelled from inside.
"Unlocking the door, "Who is it?" Naruto asked as he yawned, rubbing his stomach.
"It's me. You slacker." Kudo answered with a grin. His hand gently tapped Naruto's shoulder, eliciting a scream from Naruto.
"Keep it down!!" Someone from the floor below shouted.
"So, what have you been up to?" Kudo asked, taking a seat while Naruto rubbed his shoulder, still moping about his now blackened pajama t-shirt.
"Our team just got back from our first C-rank mission, cool, right?" Naruto smiled in glee. "Not cool, Naruto. We-" Kudo smirked while making a 2, "already went on two C-rank missions with our sensei." Kudo burst out laughing.
Naruto deflated like he had the soul sucked out of him. " Not fair. Why have you gone on two missions but I only have 1? That's it, I must pester the old man for more missions." Naruto laughed.