Enma smiled as his sister held his hand and skipped along the way back to the Uzumaki District.
"You are happy."
"And you are happy." She giggled and jumped up to plant a kiss on his cheek. "You need a bath, Nii-san."
He laughed at her words but did not tell her back that she needed one too.
Karin yelped in surprise when her brother suddenly lifted her in his arms and rushed back to their home.
She stared at his face, and soon her cheeks warmed in a blush.
Resting her head against his chest, she closed her eyes, enjoying being carried like a princess.
They went to see Sasuke first, who was sitting on his porch, brooding over something, but he smiled when he looked at the two of them.
"Passed?"
"Of course. What about you?" Karin asked curiously.
"We passed too. It was a silly test anyway." He sighed. "Sakura's a pain, and Naruto... talks a lot."
The two laughed at his words, and then Enma shook his head.
"Sakura is just silly. Hope she will soon understand what being a Shinobi means, or we will be attending her funeral soon."
Sasuke sighed at his words and nodded his head.
"You know, if you would talk to her..." Karin's words had not even finished when the Uchiha shook his head.
"She will get some silly ideas if I show concern to her. She's crazy already."
The Uzumaki Princess giggled at his words and then said goodbye to him as she took her brother to their Compound.
"Oh, look at you. Go, quickly take a bath. I will set the table." Their mother was leaning against the door, watching Arashi and Hiyori having a spar when she saw them enter, and as soon as the two kids heard her words, they stopped.
"Nii-san!" "Nee-san!"
Enma laughed as he caught his little brother in his arms, and Karin did the same to her little sister, who was laughing heartily at how funny they looked.
The two excitedly asked them how their day was and why they looked so beat up, and their older sister did not tell them much. She just told them enough and kept the details of the real Graduation Test.
After the two took their bath together, as they always did, they joined their family at the chabudai.
"You revealed your Shadow Clones," Kushina commented before they started eating, and Karin then explained to her the excuse they came up with.
"Sorry, Onee-sama." She said sweetly at the end.
"It's fine, and I am glad you did not reveal too much."
"Of course not. It was not a death match." She giggled. "Our Sensei is Mitarashi Anko. I remember she had come here..." She stopped and then smiled a little. "She's strong. Was not taking us seriously, so we managed to win the bell."
"A Shinobi always keeps their secrets and never reveals all their cards. Just like you, she did not want to reveal her true strength."
"We figured," Karin nodded. "She has a lot of Chakra, much higher than the Hokage. Three times, to be precise."
"Yes, and she will soon grow much stronger than she already is," Kushina said mysteriously, and Karin pricked up her ears at those words.
"How?"
"Secret." She smiled at her niece. "Come to see me in the Hall of Sealings after the meal. Both of you."
Enma stopped eating and raised his head in her direction, but then lowered his head again.
Unlike his sister, his Mind's Eye was much more special, and he had picked up the peculiarities of the Seals their Sensei had on the back of her neck.
After Kushina left the table, Karin quickly finished her meal and chased after her, but the Uzumaki Heir stayed with the rest and calmly kept eating, which his mother appreciated a lot.
It was half an hour later when he entered the Hall of Sealings, and Kushina stopped talking to her niece and looked in his direction.
"Nii-san! We are going to sign our Summoning Contract!" Karin excitedly informed him, and Enma could not help but feel excited as well.
His father had told him about Sasayaku Valley, the mystical Land of Tigers, where the worthy from the Uzumaki Clan could sign their contracts.
"No thanks?" Kushina teased him, but he did not answer her.
She sighed and shook her head, then beckoned him to come closer.
There was already a scroll spread out on the stone altar, and Kushina grabbed his left hand and made an incision, shedding his blood.
"Rub your hands together," she told him, and he did what she asked before she guided him to plant his handprints on the scroll. "Now, write your name here."
Karin watched with curiosity as her brother wrote his name under his handprints, and just as it had happened with her earlier, the prints and the sign disappeared before reappearing, this time in pitch-black ink instead of blood.
Kushina smiled and then used her Healing Art to heal Enma's cut.
"All set," she said as she sent the scroll back to Sasayaku Valley. "Now, pay attention. This is how you build your Chakra to use the Summoning Jutsu... and this is how you use your Chakra to perform the Reverse Summoning Jutsu..."
She patiently explained everything to the two and then smiled at them.
"Come, place your hands on my shoulders."
The two siblings did as asked, and the Uzumaki Matriarch then bit her thumb and quickly used the Reverse Summoning Jutsu, taking them both with her to Sasayaku Valley.
Karin gasped in shock when she found herself facing a colossal white tiger, who was perched on an equally massive rock, lazily swinging its thick, long tail.
What was funny was that it had a hat on its head, and it was cutely supporting its chin on both its paws as it slept.
As soon as she giggled, the massive tiger opened its ocean-blue eyes, and those round black irises quickly turned into sharp slits.
"Look who is here. The Fox. She even brought her kits with her." A loud booming voice entered their ears, and it contained a hint of playfulness.
"Byakko-sama." Kushina respectfully bowed to the Tiger Sage, and both Karin and Enma quickly followed suit.
Byakko stared at the siblings, but then his eyes were only focused on Enma.
A heavy silence fell between them, and Kushina remained silent as she waited for the Tiger Sage to give his judgment.
"Worthy, and worthy, but the boy is not allowed to master the Tiger Sage Art. The girl can practise it when the time comes."
Enma and Karin furrowed their brows, but before they could ask any questions, Kushina spoke.
"Thank you, Byakko-sama."
The Tiger Sage nodded his head, and then his large tail approached them at blinding speed before it gently tapped both their heads.
Karin giggled as the fluffy tail touched her, but Enma's face remained indifferent.
The Tiger Sage then tapped his tail on the ground behind them, where two Summoning Seals appeared before puffs of smoke rose.
Karin and Enma were shocked when they saw two small tiger cubs, both of whom were white, but their stripes were different colours.
One of them had greyish stripes, and the other had blueish stripes. However, both of them were adorably cute.
The Uzumaki Princess stepped forward to pick them up, but both jumped back at lightning-fast speed and then their bodies began to enlarge.
When they stopped growing, the tiger with the blueish stripes was around half the size of the Tiger Sage, and the one with the greyish stripes was two-thirds the size of the Tiger Sage.
"Byakko-sama." A feminine voice came from the mouth of the bluish white tiger, and she bowed her head to the Lord of the Valley of Whispers.
"Kyoko, you will be serving Lady Uzumaki Karin from this day onwards."
When Karin heard the Tiger Sage call her a Lady, she smiled brightly, and then excitedly put her fist forward to Kyoko, who intently looked at her.
A good minute later, the tigress drew her right paw forward and shared a fist bump with the little girl.
"You are strong!"
"Of course." She smiled at the words of the little Uzumaki.
"Isao..."
As soon as the Tiger Sage called out the name of the other tiger, a loud and proud roar echoed through the skies.
Enma smiled when he sensed how prideful his summon was.
"I like you," he said, and Isao growled at him before he got awfully close and blew his hot breath on Enma.
"You will be serving Lord Uzumaki Enma from this day onwards." Byakko's calm voice entered their ears, and the tiger pulled back.
"He'd better not be some useless squirt." Isao said pridefully, and the Tiger Sage laughed at his words but did not say anything.
"I don't like you anymore." Enma shook his head and sighed when his sister and aunt started giggling.
"Don't ever summon me to deal with some weaklings," his summon said to him, then disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"Onee-sama, where's your Summoning Partner?" Karin asked Kushina curiously, but it was Kyoko who answered her.
"Mother is resting in her den, Karin-sama."
At her words, the eyes of the Princess brightened, and she quickly nodded her head.
She laughed when the tigress began shrinking until she was a cute little cub, and this time, she allowed her to pick her up in her arms.
"You are beautiful."
Kyoko purred under her ministrations, and the Uzumaki instantly fell in love with her.
"She's not your ninken, Karin." Kushina guessed what her niece was thinking, and watched her pout.
"I know," she said, smiling at the little white cub.
Even though she wanted to explore the Sasayaku Valley, she obediently returned to the Uzumaki Compound with her aunt and brother.
And when she ran out of the Hall, Kushina stopped Enma and made him stay with her.
She pulled him to sit on the altar, and then gently combed his hair with her fingers.
"Are you upset because Byakko-sama refused to teach you the Tiger Sage Art?"
"No..." Enma froze when he felt her plant her lips on his and kiss him, and her sweetness made his heart start racing.
When she finally separated from him, she planted a kiss on his forehead.
"The reason why he refused to teach you the Tiger Sage Art is that you don't need it. It's not suited for you. I am no longer a Tiger Sage either." She gently said to him, and he nodded at her words, feeling much better in his heart. "Want to kiss me?" She mischievously whispered near his ear, and he failed to hold back his blush. "Kiss me then." She demanded.
Enma only held back for a few seconds before he reached forward and captured her lips, and once they started kissing, they kept kissing until their hearts were satisfied...