Chapter 12: Contemplations Of A Child

Keitaro kept walking behind his brother as they made their way out of the forest. Neither of them said anything to the other and simply walked on in silence. 

The silence was uncomfortable for Keitaro, but he didn't want to upset his brother anymore than he already might have. 

He sighed to himself and clenched his hands in frustration.

He trusted his brother, that was a fact that he believed with all his being, so there was logically no reason for him to be so afraid of what his brother might do or say to him in retaliation for costing him the match.

Yet while his mind was telling him one thing, his instincts and heart were telling him something completely different. Everything he had experienced in life before told him that's things were bound go downhill from here on out. This was bound to be the catalysts that caused his brother to see for baggage and hinderance that he'd always been.

He thought that he'd long over come these sorts of feelings, but it was clear that he was still marred by the experiences he had experienced before. No matter how many times he told himself that things were going to be fine, there was still a small part of him that was always waiting, watching and expected things to go horribly wrong.

In a bid to rid his mind of the dark spiraling thoughts that threatened to consume his mind, Keitaro decided to think back on the battle itself. 

It didn't take much thought to realize that the last fight had held a higher level of significance to all of the kids. Especially given the final comment that Keitaro had heard when they were leaving. He hadn't thought much about the fact that the older kids were participating in the training exercise at first, but now that he had given it a little more thought, it was indeed kind of odd that they were there in the first place.

They normally wouldn't have wasted their time 'training' with those who were obviously not up to their standard, and given that they would have at least an extra year of training on the others who had joined the academy recently, what benefit would they gain from taking part in the training exercises of the younger trainees?

There was nothing to gain, so why were they so enthusiastic to join in with the training of the first year kids? It only made sense for them to join, if these older kids where civilian trainee's aiming to one up some of the clan raised kids.

It was common knowledge that children raised in the clans who eventually went on to become shinobi, often had solid foundations thanks to the training they would have undergone when they were younger. By the time they enrolled into the shinobi academy, they would have already been taught most of the basics, and would excel in their classes without much hassle.

They would often times over shadow the civilian children, and while it was not the fault of the anyone in particular, this discrepancy in strength always resulting in a rift between the civilian shinobi and the clan raise shinobi as time went on. The idea that clan raise shinobi were better than the civilian shinobi had slowly crept in amongst the populace and now, even the children were affected by that mentality as well.

They weren't just fighting and training as just kids who were fellow students at the shinobi academy, no it was a fight and comparison between civilian-shinobi in training and a clan-shinobi in training. Of course with Kentaro being the only one who was from a clan, it fell on him to 'defend' the prestige of the clans against the civilians.

It didn't matter that Kentaro hadn't received the training and care of the clan over the years. It didn't matter that he hadn't been taught any of the jutsu or the techniques of the clan from which he hailed. Nor did it matter that he was younger than all of the others that he faught with. Simply because his last name was Inuzuka, he was forced into a corner and viewed through the lens of a clan raise shinobi, regardless of his own personal experiences and reality. 

Keitaro couldn't help but sigh at the silly antics, but he also couldn't shake the uncomfortable sensation of wrongness of the entire thing. Even though he had only been born for three years, Keitaro had already noticed the subtle undertones and even overt notes of conflict that were sprinkled within the village.

Clans and their many members held a lot of sway and power within the village. Even if the clan member in question wasn't a shinobi, just the act of wearing a clans crest on their body was more than enough for the other villagers to treat them with a certain level of respect.

Keitaro had once asked why it was that his father never wore the clans symbol nor encouraged them to wear it either once he had come to understand the significance that being apart of a clan held. His fathered had simply smiled and said it wasn't a big deal. A small lie to placate a small child. A lie that he had seen right through. 

The importance of your clan was something that he could still remember played an important role in the strength of a shinobi and their possible future prospects. The different Clans held unique heritages and secret techniques that allowed them to stand out amongst the crowd, and even if everything in his new world didn't exactly follow the story that he had read all those years ago, the significance of ones clan was something that clearly hadn't changed.

His fathers insistence of associating with the clan as little as possible meant that there was some bad blood between him and the clan, and while there didn't seem to be any repercussions of that at the moment, Keitaro was sure that it would come to bite them in the ass sooner rather than later.

He pushed his restless thoughts away and simply kept following behind his older brother as he made his way back to the village. He wasn't able to see his face but his standoffish behavior wasn't a good sign. 

Of course, even if his older brother started hating him because of the lost fight -regardless of how unlikely that might be- it wouldn't matter. He'd already lived a life while scorned by all those around him, and he would simply have to do it again. Maybe he should run off and live in the mountains like a sage or something.

Suddenly he heard his brother groan in pain before crumpling to the floor. He quickly ran up to him and saw his brother was clutching at his side in pain. The older brother that he'd never seen cry before was currently choking back tears.

"Hey, are you okay?!" 

He went to move his brothers shirt only to notice that the skin on his side had started turning blue. He knew the signs of internal bleeding, he'd spent a good few nights in hospitals for it before, and could tell immediately that the injury was particularly serious.

"Ken, you're hurt pretty bad! You need to get to the hospital!"

He didn't waste anymore time and promptly started dragging Kentaro towards the exit of the forest off in the distance. Thankfully the shinobi that was on duty for the day noticed the two of them struggling and came forward to assist them. 

He didn't ask any questions and simply grabbed Kentaro and flickered away into the distance. Before Keitaro could voice his displeasure another shinobi suddenly appeared besides him and grabbed Keitaro causing him to close his mouth in fear of biting off his own tongue, before also flickering off into the distance. 

It didn't take long for the silhouette of the Hospital became clear as there destination.