As expected, Uchiha Ran had gained a younger sister.
The only problem was—
This junior sister's tastes were a little wild.
She was young, cute as a button, and somehow… liked snakes.
Cold. Slippery. Smooth.
Ran genuinely couldn't understand what was appealing about creatures like that.
With that confusion lingering in his heart, he decided that the next day he would go find Uchiha Mikoto and shamelessly freeload a meal at her place.
Then it hit him—
He was actually getting pretty busy.
On one hand, he had to go mooch food at Mikoto's house.
On the other, Yuhi Kurenai kept dragging him out to play.
And on top of that, Orochimaru-sensei's training—plus Anko's—apparently required his participation too.
"It's just one girl and I'm already this busy…"
"If there are more later, I'll really be stretched thin. Should I just start using Shadow Clones?"
Ran strolled leisurely through Konoha's streets, basking in the sunlight and gentle breeze, his mood relaxed.
"Today feels nice. Perfect for eating at Mikoto-neesan's place," he muttered.
"While I'm at it, I can check on Itachi too."
He'd just finished his daily training.
Come to think of it…
Itachi had only been born recently, hadn't he?
Lost in thought, Ran suddenly saw an orange cat dash out from an alley and trot straight toward him.
"Where did this orange cat come from?"
Instinctively, Ran squatted down and extended a hand, gently patting the cat on the head.
"Ohhh, that's nice."
The orange cat seemed delighted, rubbing its big head against his palm and letting out a series of meow meow meows.
"Why does that sound so… clingy?" Ran muttered, subconsciously glancing toward the cat's tail.
"Hm? Female?"
Well then. That explained it.
Ran instantly experienced the joy of petting a cat.
He stroked the soft fur, then casually pulled out a thin rope from behind him.
Why carry a rope everywhere?
Obviously—to cooperate with Orochimaru-sama's Great Snake Binding Technique, of course.
As Ran lightly swung the rope, the orange cat's interest was piqued. It began hopping around, playfully chasing after it.
Before he knew it, quite some time had passed.
Ran gently scooped the orange cat up and smiled.
"Alright, alright. Let's play again tomorrow, okay?"
The cat seemed to understand. It immediately jumped out of his arms.
"So smart?"
Then it bit onto his pant leg.
Ran laughed. "What, you don't want to part with me?"
The cat meowed twice, then turned back and gestured for him to follow.
"Huh? Are you taking me somewhere?"
Curious—and not thinking too much—Ran followed along.
Before long, he realized something strange.
This path…
It led toward Mikoto-neesan's house.
Well—
also a shortcut back to his own home.
"What a coincidence…"
"Hey now," Ran chuckled, "are you trying to come home with me? You even found out where I live."
He squatted down again, reaching out to grab the cat—
But the orange cat darted forward, neatly dodging his hands.
Ran sighed and continued following it.
"Whose cat are you anyway?" he asked as he walked.
"You don't look like a stray."
"Meow—meow—meooow~~~"
The cat ignored him and kept going.
As they got closer to the Uchiha district, there were fewer and fewer people around.
Once the area was completely empty, Ran couldn't restrain himself anymore—
He scooped the orange cat up again.
This time, it didn't resist.
"So," Ran asked while scratching its head,
"where exactly are you taking me?"
"Idiot," a voice suddenly said.
"Can't you recognize this route? Of course we're going to your Mikoto-neesan's house."
......
............
Ran froze.
Wait.
That was definitely not something an orange cat should be saying.
Slowly, he raised his head and scanned the surroundings.
No one. Just him and the cat.
"Don't bother looking around," the cat scoffed.
"You don't seriously not know that the Uchiha have ninja cats, do you?
No way. No way."
"Uh… I mean… I do know," Ran coughed awkwardly.
"It's just my first time actually meeting one. Haha…"
"Hmph. Typical Konoha country bumpkin," the cat said disdainfully—
while simultaneously rubbing its head against Ran's hand.
"That said," it continued smugly,
"your massage technique earlier was excellent.
Pet me a little more, and I'll tell you why I came."
"Oh? There's such a good deal?" Ran's eyes lit up.
Without hesitation, he unleashed the legendary Awei Eighteen-Style Petting Technique.
Hands moving nonstop. Full coverage.
"Meow—! Meow—! You bastard, how dare you take advantage of me!"
"I'm female, you know! So rough!"
"…Mmm. Human."
"Actually… that feels really good. Don't forget the butt."
After a long while, the orange cat finally wriggled free.
"Alright, alright," it said.
"Your Mikoto-neesan said you're back but haven't shown your face once.
So she sent me to drag you over for dinner."
"What a coincidence!" Ran laughed.
"I was just thinking of going!"
Truly—fate.
One man and one cat made their way down the final stretch home.
As it turned out, the orange cat was Mikoto's contracted ninja cat.
Though, calling it a "summon" wasn't quite accurate.
Uchiha ninja cats were rare. Extremely rare.
Not every Uchiha earned their recognition—
their relationship was more about cooperation than ownership.
Ran suddenly realized—
He'd been in the ninja world for so long that he'd completely forgotten the Uchiha had such adorable summoning beasts.
After all, when choosing a summon, there were only a few criteria:
Cool.
Dominant.
Powerful.
And if none of those applied—
Cute was a perfectly valid reason.
Soon, Ran arrived at Mikoto's house.
"Huh? Mikoto-neesan?" he asked when he reached the kitchen.
"She's not here?"
"Meow~ I dunno," the cat replied.
"When I left, she was happily cooking, planning to make you something good."
"Meow~ Maybe she's in the living room. Follow me."
Ran followed the cat around the corner.
"Mikoto-neesan, I'm here. Are you—"
"W-wait—Ran-kun—!"
As he stepped forward—
Cloud-hidden twin peaks, touched by rosy light.
A single glimpse was enough to recognize Mount Lu.
Ran's mind went completely blank.
Only one thought remained:
"This lamp is really big—
No, wait—
This lamp is really white."
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