Chapter 14: A Glimpse Into The Clan
A few weeks had quickly passed since that eventful day, and nothing major had happened to Keitaro and his family in that time.
One would think that with the discovery of Minato and Kushina, that Keitaro would have had some thoughts towards them, but in reality he kind of forgot about them after a few days. Sure they were important in a way, but they had no relation to him whatsoever. Plus there wasn't much he could do to save them from the tragedy that was bound to occur soon.
If anything, the only good thing that came about from their chanced encounter, was Keitaro thinking about making plans to get out of the village with his family for a little while. Maybe go on a vacation to their father's home village or something, just until the Kyūbi attack had passed.
Anyway, in the weeks that had passed, Keitaro had been more reserved with his enthusiasm in regards to taking part in his brothers training practice with the other kids.
As a result of that decision, he ended up spending most of his alonetime while his brother went to train and his father was out on missions in the park, with the other kids his age.
He still didn't really endeavour to socialize with the other kids all that much, but at least he was able to have some fun with them from time to time, and with nothing else to do he decided to make the most of his time anyway and 'have fun'.
Of course while he played around with the kids, he also made sure not to waste valuable time and turned it into a training session for getting familiar with his chakra.
He had managed to dig out some simple chakra exercises from his older brother that were supposed to help him with getting familiar with his chakra and was planning to take full advantage of them for the time being. The foundation of a shinobi's strength may be their chakra, but another important pillar of strength was one's chakra control.
No matter who they may have been, if there was one thing that made a significant difference between a good shinobi and a great shinobi, then it was the amount of chakra they had at their disposal and more importantly their level of chakra control.
Of course Kentaro had been surprised when he found out that Keitaro could use chakra, but he simply put it down to his younger brother's genius and was more than happy to help with his 'training'.
Of course, even though Keitaro wasn't sure about what training was needed to increase the amount of chakra he had right now, chakra control was definitely something that he could work on.
So he spent most of his time playing tag with the other kids all while trying his best to keep a leaf stuck to the back of his neck. Keeping it on his forehead like his brother had mentioned would have been way too obvious to anyone watching the kids play, and by keeping it on the back of his neck, even if it fell off, it would simply slide into his shirt where he could easily retrieved it on the go.
He had expected it to be a tedious exercise from the way his brother had complained about it, but it wasn't all that challenging for him.
Sure, at first he kept on failing due to his rudimentary chakra control and ended up more often than not, either causing the leaf to tear due to injecting to much chakra, or not managing to cause it to stick to the back of his neck at all due to injecting to little. It also didn't help all that much that he wasn't able to dedicate all of his attention to the leaf exercise while playing.
But after a week or so, he realized that it wasn't too much trouble to keep it stuck to his neck while playing around with the other children, and a week later he'd been able to keep the leaf stuck to his neck without it dropping once even while playing an intense game of tag.
One unexpected benefit of his training, had been that the other children had warmed up to him a lot more now that he wasn't so intense while playing with them. His chakra control practice meant that he wasn't able to put his full concentration on winning all the time and that meant that the other kids had a lot more fun playing with him. This of course resulted in them coming to his house to drag him away to play with them from time to time, much to his brothers surprise and his own chagrin.
Still, one thing he just couldn't really seem to understand, was that even though he hadn't really been training all that much with a focus on chakra volume, he still noticed that his chakra pool had been slowly increasing with time and it came with some added benefits.
His stamina was top notch and even after running around all day he wasn't all that tired. He was already pretty strong for a three year old and yet it seemed he was getting even stronger. He'd accidentally managed to jump and hit his head on his bedroom ceiling one day and had to play it off as him falling out of bed when his dad came running because of all the noise. Speaking of his dad, Keitaro had to admit that he was warming up to the idea of him being his father.
Kuma had come home from his mission late into the night the day the two of them had been to the hospital, and after finding out about everything that had happened, he'd flown into a fit of rage at the fact that his two 'angels' had been hurt. That was also the first time that Keitaro found out that his father was able to use medical-ninjutsu, as he'd immediately given both of them a thorough check up from head to toe.
He'd even decided then and there, to take a few weeks off from taking on missions so that he could spend it looking after the two of them. He even used some of his contributions to buy a few minor scrolls on ninjutsu, so that he could help with Kentaro's ninjutsu training.
He'd shown so much care and consideration for him that Keitaro simply couldn't find it in himself, to be wary of him anymore. Still, it was weird in a way how his dad seemed to always know everything that two of them were up too, even when he appeared to have left them home alone.
More than once, he'd simply appeared in a gust of wind right as they managed to sneak back home after having ran out to have a bowl or two of ramen, and would complain about them not eating healthily. Or he would somehow know the exact number of sweets they'd eaten throughout the day when they hadn't seen him at any point at all. Keitaro was certain that his dad even knew what colour underwear they chose to wear, but refused to entertain such thoughts for long. His dad was simply weird, and nothing would ever change that.
Today though he wasn't going to be heading out to play with the other kids, nor was going to be stuck at home twiddling his thumbs. Today was a very special day and both he and his brother were fidgeting in their seats as they scarfed down their breakfast, so they could leave as soon as possible.
Afterall today was the day that Kentaro would be get his own ninken.
***
"You two do know that even if you rush to eat, the appointment time isn't going to change, right?"
Kuma could only sigh at his two sons antics. He loved them both dearly but they had a tendency to go feral when it came to something that truly interested them both. Their Inuzuka blood really shone through in moments like this.
In all honesty he was quite surprised that Keitaro hadn't asked about getting his own ninken when he brought up the days importance, but then again he really shouldn't have been. While other children might have thrown a tantrum or caused a scene at not being able to have their own ninken at the moment, Keitaro was never the type to behave in such a manner. He had always been mature for his age.
"Even though you're getting your ninken today it doesn't mean that you're suddenly going to get stronger. There's a lot of work that goes into raising a ninken, afterall they aren't some street dog. They are your shinobi partner for life. That's a pretty big deal so don't rush to pick one. Both you and your ninken have to chose each other."
The two boys nodded their heads before diving back down into their plates. Both of them had been eating more and more recently and now with a ninken supposedly joining the family, the food bill was bound to jump up again. Kuma could see himself having to take a few more dangerous missions to keep the finances in check.
With breakfast out of the way they all left home and instead of turning towards the centre of the village like they usually did, they instead turned towards the outer area of the village.
Even though all of the clans had space inside of the village that they owned, the bulk of the clans were actually found near the perimeter of the village where they had more than enough space to conduct their training and any other businesses they had.
As they all walked together Kuma decided it was time to inform his two sons about what to expect.
"Alright boys settle down. I need you two to pay attention to what I'm about to tell you okay. Its important."
The boys scrunched their eyebrows together and put on their serious faces. If it was any other time Kuma would have wanted to take a quick picture with how adorable they looked but he had to focus on the task at hand.
"As I'm sure you're aware we are all apart of the Inuzuka Clan of Konoha. Our clan is known for producing excellent tracker-nin due to our unique clan jutsus as well as extensive usage of ninken. Once a member of our clan receives a ninken they become partners for life and will train extensively in cooperative techniques unique to the clan.
Sometimes a person will have more than one ninken but it depends on their talent and a few other factors that I can't go into detail about. Regardless, today Kentaro, you are going to have the opportunity to receive your own ninken. There is a tradition where the ninken of a child is the descendant of that child's parents ninken and luckily that tradition is being honoured today."
A spark of anger flashed through his eyes but it quickly faded. Kuma glanced at his two sons who seemed deep in thought and couldn't help but hope that none of those old fools in the clan tried any tricks today.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when Kentaro started speaking.
"Dad how is that going to work? I've never seen a ninken at home so how are we continuing the tradition?"
Kuma tilted his head back and decided to come clean to his sons. While he could hide some of the truth, the two of them would have to deal with a lot worse as time went on and the longer they were kept in the dark the more of a disadvantage they would be at.
"The reason I don't have a ninken son is because I'm not really a member of the clan. I joined through my marriage to your mom. When she passed away her ninken was taken away by the clan because I wouldn't have been able to take care of a ninken and two young children on my own. Or at least that's the excuse they gave. In reality they just wanted to use her ninken in their breeding program."
He let his words sink in for a bit before he continued
"Breeders of the clan will usually use older, retired ninken or ninken who've lost their human partners for whatever reason. Remember, I told you boys that ninken aren't like the pet dogs you see some of the villagers with. These hounds are bred and raised to be lethal, loyal weapons in the hands of the clans members. As such, breeders of the clan, who's roll is to supply pups for the clan, need strong ninken to ensure that the future ninken generations are up to scratch. Half of the clans battle power comes from the ninken afterall, so the stronger the ninken the better.
Unfortunately over the years the Inuzuka Clan has been falling behind some of the other clans in strength, and as such, they've taken it upon themselves to strengthen themselves as much as possible, and that includes selectively breeding more powerful and versatile ninken, no matter the cost.
Normally your mothers ninken would have stayed with me and helped with looked after you two as you grew up. Ninken can be very intelligent afterall and they can use chakra to help out around the house. Plus growing up with ninken can help a lot when it comes to bonding with your own. Something that the clan didn't care about when they took your mothers ninken back."
Kuma paused his tirade and knelt between his two sons. He saw the look of confusion on their faces felt his heart clench. He'd wanted to protect them for as long as he could but things just wouldn't work out the way he wanted. Regardless of how he felt about the clan it was his children's birthright and he would never take it away from them.
"I'll be honest with you two, I haven't been on good terms with the clan since your mothers passing and I was fearful of what they might do to you two when I wasn't around. That's why you've hardly ever been to the clan compound and why I prefer for you to interact with the civilian children instead. Being in a clan has its befits but it also has its downsides. I wanted you two to be able to understand the difference between pride in your clan and the arrogance of clan. But I might have just been too afraid of losing you two. I know both of you are going to be great shinobi in the future.
Kentaro you only started at the academy this year and already you're at the top of your class when it comes to physical ability and chakra and that's without any training from the clan whatsoever; and Keitaro you've always been smarter than any other kid your age, I have no doubt that your going to take to the academy like a fish to water. But that's exactly why I'm so afraid for you both. Having talent is a good thing but having too much is a curse.
No matter what happens today, no matter what you might see or hear, promise me that you'll keep your thoughts to yourself and only speak when spoken too. Don't show them the full existent of you capabilities and if they provoke you, then you need to let it go and not respond. They will call you weak but that's okay. let them underestimate you, a good shinobi always keeps his secrets close to his heart alright? I need you to promise to me that you'll do as I've asked. Ok?"
Kuma held eye contact with both boys but especially Kentaro. Today was all about him and he was bound to be targeted, and knowing how close the two brothers were if Kentaro flew off the handle the Keitaro would fly off with him.
"Yes dad." both boys responded but Kuma kept staring at them to ensure they understood the gravity of the situation.
Kuma regretted not taking the time to really hammer it home how dangerous it could be for the two of them. Thanks to him, they might already be considered renegade members of the clan but he still wouldn't change his decision. While Konoha looked peaceful, only those who knew where to look could see the cracks in the facade of peace that not just anyone could see.
The rift between the clan born shinobi and civilian born shinobi was growing bigger each day. Electing Minato as Hokage had settled some of the decent from the civilian side but it was only a matter of time before things boiled over again. Kuma himself being a civilian shinobi, knew how much a shinobi could benefit from being apart of clan, which was why he was willing to swallow his pride. If it could benefit his children, he was willing to go through hell to get it.
"Here I got these made for the two of you. Make sure to put them on properly." Kuma pulled out a scroll from somewhere and release the seal on it. two coats suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke and were quickly handed to the two boys who examined them carefully.
On the back of the coats where two red fang markings along with a smaller red triangle above them. The clan symbol of the Inuzuka clan.