At home that evening, Shin-chan ran into the backyard shouting, "Shiro, I'm here!"
Shiro was crouched in the yard like he'd been concentrating on something. Hearing the voice, he looked up.
Shin-chan tilted his head and stared at him.
"Shiro?"
Shiro took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
The next second, a faint glow appeared around all four of his paws.
Shin-chan's eyes went round, and he rushed over and threw his arms around Shiro.
"Shiro, you did it! You really did it!"
Shiro's eyes nearly rolled back from being squeezed, but his tail wagged furiously.
"Woof!"
Shin-chan let go, dropped into a crouch, and stared at him with shining eyes.
"Quick, do it again. Let me see."
Shiro backed up two steps and put a little strength into all four legs.
That layer of light appeared again, clearer than before, wrapping around his paws.
"Shiro, you're a genius!"
Shiro lifted his head proudly.
"Woof."
Then Shin-chan suddenly remembered something and sprang to his feet.
"Right, right! You can stick chakra to walls!"
He ran to the courtyard wall, scrambled up it in a few quick moves, and planted his feet on it as if they had suction cups.
"See? Like this."
Shiro looked up at him and tilted his head.
Shin-chan jumped back down and ran over to him.
"You try. Focus your chakra in your paws, then walk up the wall."
Shiro looked at the wall, then down at his paws.
He walked over, stretched out a front paw, and placed it gently against the wall.
One step.
Two steps.
Three legs made it up. Only the back leg was still struggling below.
Thump.
Shiro fell over onto his back.
Shin-chan ran over.
"You okay?"
Shiro rolled back up, shook out his fur, and let out a "woof" to show he was fine.
Then he went back to the wall and tried again. This time, he managed to walk a few steady steps on it.
He jumped down, ran back to Shin-chan, and wagged his tail like a propeller.
"Woof woof!"
"That's amazing." Shin-chan grabbed his head and rubbed it all over. "Now you'll be able to come with me to look for pretty big sisters."
"Woof."
At dinner, Shin-chan sat at the table while Misae brought dishes over and Hiroshi sat across from him reading the paper.
"Dad, Mom."
"Hm?" Misae answered without turning around.
"Shiro learned how to refine chakra."
Hiroshi's newspaper shook.
Misae froze with the soup still in her hands.
"Shiro? Our Shiro?"
"Yep."
Misae set the soup down and wiped her hands.
"Shin-chan, don't make things up. How would a dog use chakra?"
"It's true." Shin-chan jumped down from his chair. "Shiro, come show them."
Shiro walked into the middle of the living room and barked once. Then a faint glow appeared around his paws.
"This... this..." Hiroshi pointed at Shiro, speechless.
Shin-chan kept going. "Shiro, climb the wall."
"Woof." Shiro turned and slowly started walking up the wall.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
He steadily walked up the wall to about chest height, looked back at them once, then kept going until he was close to the ceiling, looking down at everyone below.
"Woof."
Hiroshi's newspaper dropped to the floor.
Misae covered her mouth.
The living room fell silent for three seconds.
Then Hiroshi abruptly stood up.
"Th-th-this..."
Misae stood too, pointing at the wall.
"Th-that..."
Shin-chan looked up at Shiro.
"Come down."
Shiro jumped down from the wall, landed cleanly, and ran back to Shin-chan.
The room was silent again.
"Woof woof!" Shiro barked twice, as if asking, Well?
At last Hiroshi came back to himself.
"This... this is really chakra?"
"Of course it is." Shin-chan picked Shiro up. "Shiro's a ninja now too."
Misae stared blankly at the little white dog, and her expression gradually turned complicated.
She remembered how she had once tried refining chakra herself. She'd practiced for days and felt absolutely nothing.
And now this dog...
Misae sighed. "Even the dog can do it."
Hiroshi stood and patted her shoulder.
"It's okay. People and dogs are different."
"That somehow makes it worse," Misae shot back, glaring at him.
From the side, Shin-chan added the finishing blow. "Mom, Shiro's better than you."
"What did you just say?" A cross-shaped vein bulged on Misae's forehead as she spoke one word at a time.
"I said Shiro's better than you." Shin-chan said it as if it were obvious. "He can use chakra, and you can't. So that means he's better."
Misae took a deep breath.
"Nohara Shinnosuke!!!"
"Here."
"You don't get a snack tomorrow!"
"Why?"
"No reason!"
"Alright, alright." Hiroshi was trying not to laugh. "It's a good thing that Shiro can refine chakra. Maybe later on he'll turn out really amazing too."
Shin-chan nodded eagerly. "Exactly. Shiro's super amazing!"
Then he crouched down and looked at Shiro.
"Shiro, you're a ninja now."
"Woof!"
"When you learn ninjutsu too, I'll take you with me to meet pretty big sisters."
The cross on Misae's forehead multiplied from one to three.
"You taught the dog for that?"
"Of course." Shin-chan nodded. "Showing up to flirt with a dog that knows ninjutsu would be super cool."
Hiroshi was shaking with laughter beside them.
Misae took a deep breath, then another, and decided not to engage with her son at all.
Instead, she looked at Shiro, her expression complicated. "Anyway... now that Shiro can use chakra, what are we supposed to do?"
Hiroshi thought about it. "Shin-chan, since Shiro can use chakra now, do you want to bring him to school with you?"
Shin-chan froze.
"To school?"
"Yeah." Hiroshi nodded. "Look at the Inuzuka clan. They go to school one person, one dog. Since Shiro can use chakra, he could train and study together with you too."
Shin-chan's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
Misae cut in from the side. "Wait. If we bring a dog to school, do we have to pay double tuition?"
Hiroshi's mouth twitched. "Probably not. The Inuzuka are one person, one dog too. I've never heard of them paying twice."
"That's good then." Misae let out a sigh of relief.
Shin-chan hugged Shiro and bounced excitedly.
"Shiro, did you hear that? You can go to school with me!"
"Woof woof!"
"From now on, we'll be classmates."
"Woof woof woof!"
Hiroshi looked at the boy and dog and couldn't help smiling.
"Then our house will have three ninja now."
"Right. Three."
From the side, Misae said flatly, "Then what am I?"
Hiroshi and Shin-chan turned to look at her at the same time.
Shin-chan thought about it.
"Mom is... logistics!"
Misae rubbed her forehead. "What is logistics supposed to mean?"
"It means the one who cooks, does laundry, and chases me around trying to hit me!"
Hiroshi burst out laughing, got glared at by Misae, and quickly lowered his head to eat.
Shiro barked once, his tail wagging happily.
Outside the window, the moon had risen.
~~~
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