Chapter Text
When Fuyumaru went out with his future brothers in law to get wood for his future house, he did not expect to meet a talking animal, nor did he expect that he would be grateful to have met such a being.
The world they lived in was dangerous. Talking animals meant ninja. Ninja meant death. Death was not ideal. The bossy little red panda that jump scared them was also not ideal.
Fuyumaru was the only one of them who had any experience in a ninja village, or having met any summon at all. So it was no surprise that he was the one who had to talk to angry and fluffy little chakra fueled animal when the little thing spoke to them.
He knew to be polite and treat each animal like they were a person who could break you like a twig. Flashbacks to that Inuzuka guard he had for a week came to mind as the red panda yelled about their tree. He was ready for something fierce, something that would eat him if he said something wrong.
But, he looked into the pandas small shiny eyes and his heart melted. Oh he knew that any animal who spoke was dangerous, more so then any non speaking counterpart, but the little face, the fluffy body, the small soft paws. Well, he couldn’t help but feel his heart melt. Especially when she started to miss him around like his baby sister did when she only knee high. She used to wear a crown of daisies and played pretend she was the queen of elemental nations, passing judgments and demanding sweets for being such a good ruler. His sister was lovely as the spring day she was named after, his precious little sister Haruko.
Her getting married soon, her being all grown up, just made Fuyumaru adore this little red panda more. And to see the creature look pleased to have been called a princess made him want to coo. Some part of him knew that he wasn’t treating the red panda as a dangerous unknown like he should have but when he heard her say magnificent he couldn’t help the flashbacks, the mirage that overlayed his sister’s toddler self over the panda.
And later when after meeting the red panda they avoided being crushed under thousands of pounds of rock, dirt, and trees, Fuyumaru could be absolutely certain he was taking that panda back home with him.
On the way back to their village with their lumber dropped off at the edges, Fuyumaru took time to study the red panda nodding off in his arms. She was very fluffy, soft and clean. She also had scroll strapped to her back, small and parchment colored, with green around the edges. She also had a small white spot on her forehead, in the shape of a star. Otherwise everything about the little panda in his arms was ordinary.
Convincing the villagers to let the little animal stay wouldn’t be the easiest thing in the world, but Fuyumaru prided himself on overcoming challenges. Especially when it concerned living situations. He didn’t like to brag but he could not lie that he was rather proud of himself with how he managed finding houses. And in the case of this village in Tea country, he could say he got land here at a steal.
It helped that his little sister was going to marry the son of one of main founder families. So Fuyumaru getting land cheap was a boon. That and all he had to do was handle gathering the materials on his own. Something he could also do rather easily. Most of their family after all was full of merchants.
Thinking back to what he could offer the village to let the red panda stay, the list was rather short. After all, normal people were squirrelly around ninjas in general. A talking animal was too close to being ninja-ish to not set off alarm bells to the general folk. A larger gift would be needed.
Waving to his future brothers goodnight, Fuyumaru stepped into the small in and sat down across from a woman with sharp green eyes. His sister has been growing into a lovely and shrewd young woman for years now, it was just always a shock to see her as an adult and not as a small child asking to be carried to and fro.
His sweet sister frowned, eyes flickering from the red panda to his face and back again. “Fuyu, you didn’t.” Voice dripping with exasperation and no small amount of skepticism.
“Haru, I promise I can explain everything. I wouldn’t be alive without this beautiful princess.” He defend, holding the red panda closer to his chest and away from his sisters judging gaze.
The red panda was dead to the world, fast asleep and no amount of sound from the people around her was going to wake her up. If she was awake, she would confirm that Fuyumaru did owe his life to her.
Haru looked like she didn’t believe a word he said. “ This is just like the time with that baby bird. Or those three dogs back in Hot Water country. Or when you tried to smuggle those giant rabbits out of Mist because they looked at you.” Haru shook her head. “How many times do we have to tell you that wild animals belong in the wild?”
Fuyumaru gasped and placed a hand over his mouth. “All of those animals needed me.”
“Lies.”
“Haru, if you don’t trust me any other time, trust me this time. This princess saved our lives today. Me, Kyo, Ryu, and Han.” Fuyumaru cradled the red panda, petting her head. “There was a sink hole, without her warnings and leading us out of the range of damage, the boys and me would be lost.”
His sister stayed silent for a moment before sighing. “That’s still a wild animal in your arms Fuyu.”
“No it’s not.” He turned the red panda around a little to show off the scroll on her back. “The princess is a summon.”
The glass tea cup that was in his sister’s hands clattered on the table.
“Haruno Fuyumaru. You stole a summon from the forest.” Her face was stone and everything about her looked as if she wanted to wring his neck and the only thing that was stopping her was the summon in his arms.
“Haruko my sister sweet, I didn’t steal anyone. Princess wanted to come with me all on her own.”
“Lier.”