Chapter 8

Have I mentioned cardio sucks? If not, let me say it again.

Cardio can walk through an endless path of hellfire where the flames get hotter the further you walk in in a never ending cycle of evermore increasing pain.

Ugh. I lay face down on the dirt, arms and legs spread like a snow angel.

"Get up. You're far from done." I groaned. It's been a month and a half since Shizuka left, and she still hasn't come back yet. It's honestly getting me worried. In that time I have been learning more clan techniques and other things that would help me for the Hunt. Or trying to anyway. So far we've gone through scent tracking, interspecies communication, basic survival skills, canine transformation, tree hopping, Coyote style, etc.

"I said get up, squirt! I ain't got all day." She kicked my lifeless body. Affectionately of course.

"Ok ok I get it!" I lifted myself up like a caterpillar, slow and weird looking. The look on Tsume's face was worth it.

"If you got energy for that, you can run another lap. Now move it!" I jogged half-heartedly, giving off my best impression of antipathy.

"Alright stop." I beamed, flopping back down to the ground immediately. Since I was five, it wasn't all that far. Tsume crossed her arms, giving her best impression of 'not impressed'.

"I'm gonna be honest with you. At the rate you're going, you're going to fail." My smile fell. "You're pretty good at learning new skills quickly but your end product is average at best. That'd be fine if you were doing the Hunt when you graduate, but someone decided entertaining the taunts of a little girl into a murder forest was a good idea."

I bit my cheek, ignoring her last statement. "Then what do I do about that?" She sat down opposite to me and handed me a small piece of paper. Oooh okay.

"What do you know about chakra natures?" I held up the chakra paper for her and flared some chakra into it. It wrinkled around the point it was touched. Figures.

"Lightning, huh? Good. I'd have no idea what to teach you if you had something lame like water." I gave back the paper to Tsume, who waved it off. The paper stayed wrinkled.

"I thought your chakra nature was hereditary?"

"Usually yeah. Most of the Inuzuka have either lightning or fire ones, though mom inherited a secondary wind one so it's likely you have one as well."

"Do you have it?" She flipped through some hand signs and stuck a hand out. A small burst of wind knocked a wayward training dummy to the ground. I clapped semi-sarcastically. She pushed me in response.

"I ain't gonna teach you that one though. Wind's not very useful for more than offense and learning more than one nature at a time is too time consuming. Though it's not like Lightning on its own won't be hard either way."

"Why's that?" She took out a piece of paper and a pen. It looked very strange in her hands. She started writing zodiac signs with arrows between them.

"It's hard to control. On top of that, there's a steep learning curve. Can you guess why?"

After she finished with the signs she drew a circle with a line through it. "Because… it takes a lot of chakra? Since it can be so powerful." I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that lightning falling from the sky is hotter than the sun. That's a lot of energy and probably not something my five year old body could pull off. Well probably. This is Naruto after all.

"Close. Most lightning techniques are C-rank and up. Meaning there's almost no jutsu you could use to familiarize yourself with the element. This" She shoved the paper she'd been working on into my face. "Is a D-rank jutsu that you're gonna focus on learning. It's basically the only one. After this of course." She took a small rod out of her pack and handed it to me. It had no handle, just an exposed-looking metal part with a small lamp on top of it. The finished paper had the words "Lightning Release: Charge Strike" messily written at the top.

"That's a practice rod. It glows different colors depending on the concentration of energy you put in it. It turns red for physical and green for spiritual. Yellow is perfectly balanced. Have fun." Then she vanished.

I sighed, putting the paper below a rock and grabbing the rod in two hands. I put some chakra into it. It lit up green for a second, then flickered out. Oh, so I have to do this continuously? Fun. Trying again I put in some more chakra only for it to turn purple. The hell does that mean? After it flickered out I tried again, this time I focused on imagery. Electricity. Erratic, fast, destructive. It worked better this time, glowing green for a few seconds and then flickering out again. I looked at the chakra diagram. In the circle it had percentages written in it. The left side had the kanji for spirit and 39% on it while the right had the kanji for body, with 61%. So I need to put in more physical energy then? Grabbing the rod again, I tried focusing on putting in physical energy instead. And it changed nothing. A few more tries led it to be slightly less vibrant but still very much obnoxious stoplight green. Frustrated, I let out a burst of chakra and it promptly turned purple again. This bitch.

"I should haul Tsume back here to explain this." I tried searching for her chakra. Nothing. Not in the compound? Strange. As far as I know she's been staying in the compound to have dad attempt to teach her Clan Head stuff. Keyword Attempt. "Scent it is then."

Tracking her all the way back to a densely forested area on Training ground 67 I saw her with someone else doing… Oh my Kami. She seemed to stop mid… ew and sharply turned her head to the tree I was in.

"FUCK!" She shouted sharply as she spotted me. The guy she was with turned around as well and, like a deer about to be mauled by a three ton chunk of rapidly accelerating metal, stood stock still.

I leapt down to the ground, a quick application of chakra to my feet breaking my fall. In the meantime they seemed to have gotten their act together, rapidly reorganizing their clothes on their bodies.

"Well. Tracking you here by scent wasn't that hard. Although judging by the other more unsavory scents, maybe I should have just stayed away."

"You damn well should have." She snarled, as she approached aggressively. Time to play the baby brother card. I can still get away with that right?

"So mister.." I looked at the guy. Long blonde hair, friendly eyes, if there is such a thing. A strong jawline. Quite handsome by Leaf standards. Well at least Tsume has taste.

"Shin." He said curtly, eyes looking anywhere but at mine.

"What were you doing with Tsume-nee?" I said, trying to make it sound as innocuous as possible.

Tsume stopped her steady walk towards me and clicked her tongue. "You know exactly what we were doing. They cover it explicitly enough in the kennels." Whoops. Yeah I remembered that. It was mostly a strange mix of abstinence and.. pictures. I don't like to think about it.

Shin gave her a strange look. I focused my attention on him. His existence in itself is strange, since I don't remember Tsume ever mentioning having a guy in her life. Then again, I don't think I've ever met anyone she interacts with besides Kuromaru. Deciding to investigate a little more into him, I pushed some chakra into my nose and frowned.

Flowers, office, and.. Chizuru-sensei? A Yamanaka?

"Better question. Why were you doing with Tsume-nee?" I said, crossing my arms.

Shin broke out into a sweat, subconsciously walking backwards. "A Yamanaka. Are you sure that's safe?"

Tsume looked caught out, defensive. Her posture screamed tension, which she should be able to easily hide as a Jounin. "It's not like I'm going to marry him or something. Not something you have to worry about, Arata."

I could swear I saw the briefest flicker of hurt in both of their eyes. Interclan marriage isn't really a thing anymore mainly because of bloodlines. Most of the time a child from two different clans is at worst stillborn and at best incapable of using chakra. Most of those who did try still using it started vomiting blood. For obvious reasons, interclan marriage is banned in Konoha.

I resisted the urge to sigh. "Can you help me with this rod? And what the hell does purple mean anyway?" They smiled, relieved. I don't think they think that this is over but I'll let it drop for now, I guess.

Tsume P.O.V.

"That was close. Way too close." I said, as soon as Arata's chakra signature left the training ground.

"Agreed. Maybe we should try scent masking. Or staying at a hotel, like normal people." Shin said with a smirk.

"No way. There'd be records and mom watches me way too closely already." Honestly the woman needs a hobby. Ever since she's taken that in-village patrol job she's been around too much. Which means she's in my business too much.

We stood in silence for a while. I was debating whether or not to pounce him again when he spoke up.

"The kid's smart. Too smart." I scoffed, getting closer to his side. The gradual approach is a little standard, but somehow he never sees it coming.

"You don't know the half of it. I taught him scent tracking two weeks ago and he's already using it against me from halfway 'cross the village." The kid's learning rate is unnatural. Sometimes I feel like I'll tell him something and he already knows and is just waiting for me to be done explaining it. How he would know when he never goes out the kennels is beyond me. I haven't told him any of that though. His ego would get annoying. Scratch that, more annoying.

"You'll keep him close right?" He said, a tinge of sadness covering his usually even voice.

I took his hand. It wasn't exactly the same but.. "Of course. I'm practically his caretaker at this point." I think mom and dad are starting to get suspicious with the caretakers, considering how often he's simply not at the kennels anymore.

"It only takes one time." I moved again to put my head on his shoulders.

"He'll be different. He's been opening up recently. I've been thinking of taking him somewhere outside the village a bit. Broaden his perspective you know?"

He finally looked to me this time. "And the clan will let you?"

Moving to face him I allowed a smirk, and my favorite kind no less. A predatory one. "I'm the Heir. If we start having problems it'll be them that have to move." He smiled, some of the melancholy leaving his eyes.

Suddenly, I pushed him down, free hand re-removing the clothes he wore. "Now I believe I wasn't finished.."

Arata P.O.V.

Turns out the purple meant I wasn't even using Lightning natured chakra at all! I mean what even! On top of that, Tsume was about as helpful as you could imagine, with mister silky blonde hair next to her. Like some teenage girl the weirdo could barely string two sentences together without looking at him! Wait how old is she again? I never bothered to ask.

Pushing open the gates to the kennels I stepped into a familiar subdued atmosphere. One that wasn't present since the war. Kids that were playing outside were doing so quietly, and out of the way. Adults sat on the patio murmuring conversation to each other, weary faces masking their disdain for the world. The setting sun shined its last vestiges of light over the field, and everyone there made sure to watch it go.

I pocketed the rod and headed over to the adults. A few of them sent surprising looks my way, others looked resigned.

"What happened?" I asked. The adults stayed silent, trading gazes apprehensively, waiting for someone to be brave enough to speak up. Eventually a voice responded from the back, low and calm.

"He, at least, deserves to know." A large black canine in the back said. I recognized him as one of the elders, on account of the greying on the edges of his muzzle that was so recognizable in the meetings. Most of them never made it that far after all.

Another bout of silence, and the next voice rang out. Ume's. "Shizuka is in the hospital, in critical condition. Chances are she'll make it through, although it's not guaranteed."

My thoughts stopped. What could I even hope to think? Ume went on. "It's likely there will be complications, and she may not come out combat ready. In addition, she may have to-"

Nobuyuki interrupted her. "I hardly see a reason to tell him any more than this. We have told him what we needed to, and that should—" My thoughts raced back into action, suddenly overwhelmed with an urge to do.. something.

"Where is she?" A burst of chakra left me, and I could feel my canines growing. The adults sharpened to attention, suspicion marking them. Likely the intent I had thrown in the air. Right know I couldn't care less about what they thought of me though, I needed answers. And I needed them fast.

Ume didn't look at me as she answered. "In the leftmost ward, third floor."

I sped my way out of the compound, Four Legs Technique making up for my lack of Body-Flicker. Dashing through the village I should supposedly still see everything well for the speed I was going, but my mind seemed to want to absorb nothing more than colors and lights, searching for the one combination of blue and white I needed.

As soon as I found it I rushed through the doors, only to have someone catch me by the midriff.

"And what do you think you're doing?" A familiar voice murmured close to my ear. Turning my head I saw that one Uchiha officer I met last time.

I snarled at him. "I have no time for you. Out of the way!" I flipped through hand seals clumsily, transforming myself into my canine form. An Inuzuka's canine form is usually their partners, and taking full advantage of Shiromaru's tinier body I wiggled out of Fugaku's grip and ran the stairs up to the third floor on unfamiliar legs, leaving the surprised shouts of people seeing a random dog running through the halls behind. I frantically searched the left wing, eventually giving up on sight and relying on my nose instead.

There!

I undid the transformation and opened the door to the room. I didn't know what to expect when I saw her. But I certainly didn't expect to see the Hokage standing at the side of the bed, covering my view of her face. Shaking myself off of my hesitance I entered the room and approached the bed. The man next to me seemed to pay me no mind, not even turning, although I could definitely feel his eyes on me.

Seeing Shizuka's face I held my breath. I had no comparison to hold it to, but it was still somehow worse than I thought.

She was unconscious of course, with her hair roughly torn out of her usual braid, and burn marks covering her neck going down and getting worse further down. Several dried up patches of blood littered her hospital bed, even after a supposed cleanup. The absurd amount of devices and seals she was hooked up to told an even worse story, giving horrible readings for everything short of her heartbeat. Her breathing was shallow and uneven, and her few remaining chakra reserves flickered awkwardly. I spent what felt like an eternity just watching her, trying to comprehend this new reality. Shizuka of all people is here, injured. Not mom and dad, not Tsume. Not any field ninja, but Shizuka. I held onto the bed railings tightly, not trusting myself to keep me stable.

"I thought I could trust you to keep at least an Academy student out of the Secure Wards, Fugaku." I turned to the sound of Hiruzen's voice. Standing there at the entrance was Fugaku.. and my dad.

"Well, there were.. complications." He gave a pointed look at dad.

"I would like to know why one of my most trusted caretakers is currently in the hospital, Hokage-sama." He said curtly.

Hiruzen closed his eyes, then opened them again. "Approximately six weeks from today, one Inuzuka Shizuka was sent by personal missive of the Jounin Commander to a Hidden Mist camp on the outskirts of Hirojima island. Some hours before current time, she was found at the edges of the West gate."

"Why would Shikaku send one lone tokujou to disputed territory?" Dad asked.

"Unfortunately, the freedom to disclose such information does not lie with me." He responded.

Dad took a step forwards, officially in the room now. "Then who does it lie with?"

"They are currently unconscious in this very room." Dad didn't have a rebuttal to that.

The Hokage looked to me. "I assume this is your son, Hisao-dono?"

Dad crossed his arms, not happy at the redirect. "Yes, he is."

I gave his gaze back to him. What is he trying to accomplish here? And why is he here in the first place?

"What is your name, child?" He asked, tone slightly warmer than when he talked to my dad.

"Arata. And not to be rude, Hokage-sama, but why are you here?" I'm really grateful that as a child I don't have to deal with all the stupid info wrestling and can just ask.

He smiled. A deliberate action. "Likely for the same reason you are, Arata-kun." And of course because they're ninja, I still get stupid answers.

I turned back to Shizuka, hoping the child excuse again would help me get out of the conversation. I watched her more carefully this time, paying attention to the way her condition seemed to take a toll out of her. Sweat seemed to slowly accumulate on her face from some kind of exertion, as if she was fighting herself somehow. It made me anxious, knowing I could do nothing to stop this from happening. And knowing that in the future, she might not come back at all. Powerless to stop it. Not only her, but everyone around me would eventually be sent to fight and die. And what can I do? Nothing. Nothing but sit here at their hospital bed and hope they don't snuff it while I'm there.

At one point, once the conversation stopped and the Hokage had left, dad came to my side and took me into his arms and away from the bed. I didn't protest, since I could feel several similar chakra bodies coming up to this room. Med-nin probably. I situated myself on his shoulders, and with one last look at Shizuka, left the building.

I didn't want to talk the way back, but since we hadn't Body-Flickered, I assumed he wanted me to.

"..Shizuka will be fine."

"And what proof do you have of that." I didn't try to to make it sound accusatory, but it did end up coming out that way. I shirked a little away from him. He instead just held me closer. "Injuries like that leave a mark, but a certain kind of people always manage to pull through. I believe Shizuka is one of those people."

I thought back to the burn marks, the worst damage being at the heart. Not even mentioning all the other injuries the monitors indicated she had.

"You think so?" I murmured, barely audible to anyone not Inuzuka.

His answer was resolute.

"I know so."

For me, it wasn't enough.

A/N. So by my standards I'm actually early this time! Yeah! Go me! It still needs to be faster though. Digressing, this chapter took a turn and one that the story needed. I hope it'll turn out for the better though. Anywhoozles! I've been meaning to answer to some reviews but most of the time when I finish formatting these chapters I just kind of wanna be done with them and end up forgetting so this time I'm striving to be better. Do note that in order not to inflate the word count I'm going to be keeping these fairly short. If you want longer ones, PM me and I'll send you an essay or whatever.

CAN'T HANDLE THIS VANILLA- Thank you for supporting the story first of all! I love your enthusiasm! On the sweatdrop. I mean, I've been keeping the story pretty light in light (see what I did there?) of the events that actually happen and the part where the parents come back is definitely a shift for Arata in that it opens him up to allow more positivity in life. So yeah.

Some Guy In An Ambulance- You came back! I wouldn't want more than that. Well I do, I would love more criticisms or suggestions but it's more of a want want. Anywaaaay I'm glad you like the worldbuilding and characters so far. As for jounin-sensei.. It's gonna be a bit of a surprise most likely since I don't think it's been done before. But it has too much potential for storytelling so I'm using them.

HPfan7-8- :)

jsrd- ooooh this one. Ok so I think you're looking more for a 'fix-it' story than a more bildungsroman-esque story that this is. The only reason Arata is an SI is because I need his modern day values and perspective more than anything. As for his skillet, I mean he died right before graduating American high school. He doesn't have many skills so he's not going to magically reinvent the gun or something. And the day when "emotional issues" turn "filler" is the day when I quit fiction.

Yifto- I could maybe do some random fact that would flesh out the characters more but don't have a significant impact on the plot I guess. Stuff like their hobbies or something could be cool going off of their favorite color thing you mentioned.

Anyone else I didn't get to, I still appreciate you reviewing! But this is already too long sooo peace?

Revised 4/24/2020

A/N. I'm probably not gonna make a habit anymore of replying to reviews in the story itself. If you want an actual response just PM me. Didn't delete this cause... reasons?