Kaede was happy to be home, but a knot of anger tightened in her stomach. She knew her son, Megumi, would always find new ways to get into trouble. Using the extra key, she let herself into the house after knocking and receiving no response from him.
She went straight upstairs to his room, only to find a scene of utter chaos. Cracks spiderwebbed across the walls, and the floor looked like a battlefield. What truly weakened her was the sight of Megumi asleep on the floor, using a dead deer as a makeshift pillow.
Knock, knock.
Megumi's eyes fluttered open as a shadow fell across his door. Blinking the sleep away, he saw his mother standing there.
"Morning, Megumi," she said, her smile not reaching her eyes. "I think you have a lot of adventures to share with me, boy."
"Just pray you have a good reason for this," she added, her voice dropping.
"What adventure? You must be thinking too much, Mom," Megumi mumbled, trying to go back to sleep.
Just then, the dead deer, his broken mask, and a knife from his shadow box were all thrown out of his room.
"Mom, it's not what you think!" Megumi was shocked that his system would betray him after their deal.
"You seem to have a lot to say," Kaede replied, observing her son. She noticed there wasn't a single scratch on him.
"I... I was the one who killed the deer from the Nara clan's forest last night," Megumi said, his face cast down in shame.
"Hmm." Kaede knew Megumi had his secrets, but recovering from an injury inflicted by the Fourth Hokage in an instant? That was something she couldn't even imagine.
"Tell me the full story," she demanded, her voice cold. "And don't you dare omit a single detail from me." Her tone sent a shiver down Megumi's spine.
"When you left, you gave me ten thousand ryo. I thought about what I could do with it, so I bought two plates of food from the ramen shop."
"I figured I didn't know how long you'd be on your mission, so I decided to get some meat from the market. It was so expensive, I had no choice but to hunt instead."
"I went to that man you usually get seasoning from to get some ingredients for my roasted meat or soup," Megumi continued, clenching his fist. "Can you believe that man tried to scam me?"
Kaede raised an eyebrow, her eyes wide. "What did you do, Megumi?"
"I didn't really do anything. I just changed the ingredients from a 15-ryo set to a 100-ryo set," Megumi said, holding his hands up in a 'not guilty' pose.
"Okay, continue." Kaede knew her son was playing the victim card.
"Well, I got a new mask for 200 ryo, then went into a forest where I caught two rabbits, but I was caught by some thugs."
"Who were the thugs?" Kaede asked, confused.
"They were the Red Eyes clan."
Megumi ran to his mother, who was still standing by the door. He buried his face in her clothes, shedding crocodile tears.
"Can you believe those freaks threw a paper bomb at me?" Megumi whined, expecting sympathy, but his mother wasn't having it.
"I don't see any injuries on your body," Kaede said flatly.
"Huh?" Megumi was taken aback by her reasoning.
"I escaped by entering my shadow box," he quickly explained.
"So tell me, why did you choose to attack your father's clan?" Kaede had heard enough. "And why is your room in this condition?"
"I didn't attack them; they attacked me! I know we have a lot of deer, and I only killed one out of a hundred," Megumi replied, without a hint of shame.
"Megumi, those deer have been our clan's companions since the clan was founded," Kaede said, a vein pulsing in her forehead.
"So what? Should I keep hunting other clans' animals while the Nara clan's..."
"I'm not guilty. I'm just following the protocol of nature. I hunt not for sport but to eat."
Kaede noticed the change in Megumi's tone.
"I thought the Fourth Hokage injured you. How did you recover so quickly?"
"Oh, I made a binding vow that I'd lose all my abilities for a while to recover from my injuries," Megumi said. He could tell Kaede didn't believe such a healing technique existed. "Don't worry, I'll show you how I was able to do it when my power is fully released."
"Okay, whatever. Now, how do you plan to clean up this mess?" Kaede's attention was back on the deer. She couldn't let Megumi do as he pleased.
"Don't worry, we'll cut it into small pieces and cover it in salt, then we'll let the sun dry it very well."
"We? Who is 'we'?"
"You started this without me, so you should hurry up and let's go to the Hokage's office to meet him," Kaede said.
"Why? Are you selling me out, Mom?" Megumi was on the verge of tears.
"Boom!"
"You stupid boy! Why are you scared to go to the Hokage's building?" Kaede was exhausted by her son's behavior. She rested her chin on her hand. "I don't know what to say anymore."
"Remember, today is the day the Hokage wants to meet you to let you decide who your custodian will be."
"Ohhh," Megumi's mind was now at ease.
"Go take a bath and change your clothes, then join me downstairs," Kaede said as she left his room.