Chapter 6

A/N. You didn't think this was all going to be in one perspective did you?

Shizuka P.O.V.

I wonder what they're trying to convey, staring at each other like that. I've been alternating doing paperwork and watching them for about half an hour now and they haven't moved an inch. Should I be worried? Call someone maybe? Oh. He smiled. How nice. He doesn't do that very often, which is something I've been trying to fix for a while now. Three years, actually. From what I've been told, even as a baby he was stoic. Used to freak Yuuna-sama out a lot, worrying if she did something wrong.

Most of the caretakers avoid him after they caught him flipping the bird to one of the other kids when he was about a year old. Considering the kid just pushed him off a log and the expression on his face, it was far from an accident. He shows a badly hidden superior intellect compared to the rest of the children, but he seems average in everything else, so he's not exactly the new Kakashi or anything. That, if anything, is what really started the exclusion more than anything else. Weird, but not in a beneficial way, so useless. To them, anyway.

A genius is what the Inuzuka have been dearly craving for, especially recently. Within the talent-infested Leaf, we've been falling behind a bit in terms of individual strength among our clan. Most of our Jounin are in recon or tracking, and less and less in ambush squads lately, and our stature among the rest of the clans is suffering. The elders aren't exactly happy with the arrangement, so they've been changing up the curriculum in the kennels, making it more militaristic. Funnily enough, that's why I, a retired field ninja, am here in the first place taking care of small children. Usually a caretaker is a lifetime job assigned by the Head after you've been in an internal job for a while, which means most caretakers come from the veterinarian division or the farmers sector. Since most people in those fields came straight from the Academy, they have little to no actual combat experience. The answer? Introduce actual ninja to the system. Which means me.

I and a few others come from the front line of the Second War, the majority too injured to keep up any more. Me? I just got tired. Tired of the animosity, anger, fear, hate, doubt, death. When I heard there was a vacancy, and that I'd be excused, I went immediately. My team already died a year before that, and with my partners' blood at my feet, I considered it a done deal already. I felt a little out of depth, coming here and going through the training and all. Then to my surprise, there was someone out here who was just as uncomfortable, but it wasn't a caretaker. It was one of the kids. Since I saw him curled up on his own at the very edge of the field and away from the others, I knew I had to go to him. He already seemed capable of complex, if clumsy speech and was a little rude to me at the beginning but we got along swimmingly after that. The other caretakers, seeing me talking to him immediately decided that he was going to be my responsibility and so everything related to him individually was then turned to me, the newbie. Had a field job with that at first, and then having to deal with his parents, which are the freaking heads, no less. Well I-

Wait, where was I? Oh yeah, Arata and his ninken. His ninken, by tradition named Shiromaru, is sitting in his lap, staring at him. Arata, who I've never seen so focused on anything before, seems to have blocked out the whole world and has entirely concentrated himself on meeting the stare. It'd be funny, if they hadn't been doing it for so long. I'm starting to get worried.

"Hey, Arata? What are you doing?" His gaze snapped over to me, wide eyed shock communicating that he didn't realize I was there. He must have really lost himself then, considering we're in my room.

"Not much. That's the problem." I gesture to him with the universal motion for 'go on.'

"We're trying to do telepathy, but it's not going all that well. So far, I'm only really getting fragments." I stopped dead. Telepathy? Already? At their ages?!

"You do know that's an advanced skill? Not many can do more than sending out base emotions." This speaks volumes about the kind of partner he has as well. Able to form coherent enough thoughts for telepathy when it's barely two months old.

He frowns at that. "Huh. Makes sense, I guess." He turned to his partner. "Did you know that?" Shiromaru just does the equivalent of a shrug.

At that moment I hear a knock at the door, loud and impatient. I stood up and opened the door, finding an impatient looking chuunin to match. He was giving Arata nasty looks.

"They're here. At the entrance." I nodded at him, and he Body-Flickered out. Bitch.

I looked back at Arata, finding a hint of trepidation in his eyes. "Just go. You can figure out the rest." He grimaced, but went anyway.

Walking side to side through the corridors we were quiet, Arata's partner balanced on top of his head. This is the first time Arata's been nervous about people, and the expression on his face is a bad example of trying to hide those emotions. I almost wanted to laugh.

Once we came close to the entrance hall of the compound we could hear familiar sounding voices along with laughter. They were here alright. Arata almost stopped, but went on anyway, slower now. I rolled my eyes at him.

Opening the large double doors leading to the entrance field we slowly walked in and all conversation dropped. They were sitting at a small terrace at the side, talking to Hisao-sama's younger sister, Rika-sama, who had been doing the Head's duties while he was out. Their ninken were lying at their feet.

They just stared at each other for an uncomfortably long time. That was until, on some unspoken signal, both parents raced out of their seat and tackle-hugged Arata to the ground. Shiromaru let out a loud whimper and ran to my side, hiding behind my legs.

"WhendidyougrowsobigohitmusthavebeensohardandIwasn'thereforyouandIcan't"

"I'msogladyou'reokayandthatIcanhugyoulikethisandIjustwishIcouldhavebeenhereso-"

Arata was stunned. Trying to reboot, he eventually let relief settle in. His eyes softened, and they fell to the mess that was his parents. Dealing with the two of them is a work and a half when they get like this. I hope he's ready for it.

Arata P.O.V.

"Let me see you do a Hunter's Kick!" I got into a ready stance, sharply gazed at the training dummy in front of me, and pushed chakra into my legs. My body leaped about a meter and a half into the sky and I twisted my body so my legs struck where my head was, resulting in two hard kicks to the training dummy's head.

If you hadn't guessed, a Hunter's Kick is basically a more practical version of a Butterfly Kick. I landed on my feet a little awkwardly to sarcastic applause from Shizuka, who was sitting in a lounge chair in the back. I bowed, to add to the act.

My dad looked at me appraisingly, a small glint in his eye. A few dozen yards away mom and Tsume were sparring. Well, when I say that I mean they were launching deadly techniques at each other without actually killing each other. Fun.

"Good job. But don't forget that it's not enough to twist for the kick. You have to follow through with your legs. Try it again."

I got back into a ready stance. My hands in claws placed next to each other about a foot from my chest. My legs bent, left foot in front of the right, and back bent about 30 degrees.

It's been a few weeks since my parents came back and I'm not ashamed to say they've been the best few weeks of my new life. It's nice to have adults besides Shizuka around who don't try their hardest to ignore you. Not only that they've been actively engaged in my life now, taking me out to places inside Konoha and personally training me.

Like now. They've been teaching the basic Inuzuka taijutsu creatively called the Inuzuka Style. It's actually kind of fun. The style relies on quick hit-and-run type tactics throwing everything into power and speed and almost completely ignoring defense. In summary, lots of leaping and clawing. Well, the basics anyway. It branches out into different sub styles, like the Dingo style or the many Wolf styles. Right now I'm working on the Coyote style, which involves the legs a lot more than most of the other styles. It's a bit similar to the way Black Panther fights in Civil War. So yeah, it's pretty cool and with their fairly lax instruction I've been having a blast learning it.

Trying the move again I put chakra back into my legs and jumped, then twisted. This time making sure I actively kicked the dummy. I did, but ended up falling in an undignified heap on the ground. Great. I could hear Shizuka snickering in the background. I'll get her back for it eventually.

My dad sweatdropped, (actually sweatdropped, I could physically see the little droplet going down his face!) and helped me up. "Make sure you follow all the way through. Like most moves in the Inuzuka style you have to have no hesitation to make it work." He said, a small smile on his face.

"Alright. Let me try again." I moved to stand up. Getting ready for another shot, a face full of mom crashing into me. They've been doing this a lot. About five times a day, minimum. Maybe it's a thing of theirs or an Inuzuka thing I don't know. I'm starting to get bruises. "So does Tsume-nee's ass needs some salve now or is she good?" I asked.

She chuckled. "No, it was a draw actually. She's catching up nicely." I made a surprised sound. Both of my parents have been Jounin for a long time after all, and Tsume's just been promoted to Jounin last month.

Tsume walked up. "Never mind that, squirt. How's your training going?" She countered.

"Meh. Dad's been teaching me the Coyote style." I could feel the temperature drop by several degrees. There was a meaningful pause.

Tsume faced dad, harsh scowl on her face. "You've been what?"

Dad adopted a serious face, one I only saw him use at the monthly leaders meeting he took me to once. One who could only be described by one word. Alpha. Unbending and fierce. Tsume's got a long way to go. He spoke, voice exuding gravitas. "I have been teaching him what aligns to his talents, body structure, and personality. In alignment with what we have always done in the Clan, and will continue to do."

Tsume backed off a little and sent a worried glance to me. "And the associations.."

Dad eased up a little. "It doesn't matter. If anything this'll be good for the Clan."

Tsume sighed, then glared at dad again. "Prove it then."

Dad glared right back again. "Shizuka!" Shizuka, who had been silently watching the whole ordeal, jumped up suddenly. "Yes, sir?"

"I want you to spar with Arata." He turned to address me. "To make it a bit more balanced, you're going to be using the Four Legs Technique while using the Coyote style. Now go."

Exchanging looks with Shizuka I detached myself from mom and went over to the field where mom and Tsume were "sparring" earlier. Wisely not mentioning that I've only been learning the Coyote style for two weeks now, we squared up.

After bearing the Seal Of Confrontation Shizuka assumed a peculiar stance. Legs straight with about twenty centimeters of space between them. Claws facing away from each other and arms spread wide to the north and south. A bit like the starting position for the Passing Fang. The Dhole style then. Notable for its use of acrobatics and wide turning motions.

I brought my hands together in The Tiger Seal and silently activated the Four Legs Technique. As I felt the initial high wear off I nodded at Shizuka to start. And that she did.

She raced forward so fast I barely saw her legs move. The Body-Flicker. Real fights are a lot different than what they're portrayed as in the Naruto show. There's a lot less talking and time to think. Just time to do. That means strategizing needs to be done on the fly and in seconds.

Some rules I've been taught.

Never let your guard down at whatever point in the battle until you're absolutely sure all threats have been eliminated.

Think three moves ahead. No ninja in their right mind (not even Naruto) has their opening move be anything but a distraction or misdirection to set up for something else.

Get a feel for your opponent's potential weaknesses while making sure you're not locked into just one attacking pattern.

These and other rules you have to keep in mind and train into you until they become intrinsic and everything you do is a combination of instinct, habit, and strategy. Sort of like an autopilot but not really. The best example I could give would be kunai deflection. You have to train until you don't even think about it anymore and you deflect them on instinct because if you don't you'll suddenly find yourself to be a very wet pin cushion.

Naturally I'm nowhere near that point so when Shizuka practically flew to my position I blanked out for a second. Right up until I had the presence of mind to dodge the spinning kick that came for my face. She's not pulling punches. Or kicks in this case.

I dodged by turning to the left just so and sent a claw to her face, which she dodged by bending backwards into a handstand. The handstand left her legs in the air, close to my face. Wanting absolutely nothing to do with that, I jumped back in a hasty retreat.

Shizuka, now back on her feet, raced towards me again, this time in a turning motion with her left claw coming down diagonally across my face, which I blocked with my right claw. Shizuka is taller and stronger than me, so even disregarding the Four Legs Technique she put me off balance, and the block made my body turn towards the right. Seeing the perfect opportunity I raised my left leg and kicked, targeting her face again. She wasn't having it though, as she turned into my block she changed her center of gravity so it barely clipped her shoulder instead.

Because of Shizuka's height I had to come up into the air for the kick and that made me vulnerable. A fact that Shizuka had no problem capitalizing on, sending a Bicycle Kick to my behind I flew and stumbled for a landing where Shizuka started the fight.

Alright. New plan. The Coyote style relies on me being the one on the offensive, so let's start there. I pushed more chakra through my body, involuntarily letting out a snarl, and leaped for Shizuka. This time I opted for a Tornado Kick, which she turned away from, not accounting for a stray claw coming at her chest. It didn't hit all that well, only getting her clothes, which shredded in the classical scratch pattern. She backed away.

Deciding 'fuck it. Why not?' in my head, I tried a Hunter's Kick once my feet came back on the ground. She dodged that as well. Turning back to her I leapt and made my claws come down in a crossing motion. She blocked it with her own claws and knee'd my chin to knock me away and back again. Ow.

"Alright that's enough!" My dad called out.

I let the Four Legs Technique simmer out. "Woooooooooooooooooooo. Okay I was not ready for that." The massive drain that hit my body afterwards felt like my entire body just decided to be sucked, bent, and and expanded all at the same time. I plopped down on my butt. I probably won't be able to move for the rest of the day. Maybe I shouldn't have increased the chakra output midway through.

Shizuka walked up to me, and aside from her ripped clothes, looked just like she did when she was relaxing on her lounge chair. I glared weakly at her as we made the Seal of Reconciliation. Since I couldn't stand up she lifted me up and carried me instead. Like a toddler.

"You know I'm in the Academy now, right?" She gave me one of her smug smiles. I sighed, giving it up as a lost cause. "You were playing games with me. You could have taken me out at least thrice through the entire spar." Her smile widened. I refrained from the choice words I wanted to say. They likely wouldn't translate over well anyway.

As we made our way back to the rest of my family Tsume looked a little annoyed, and a similarly smug smile to Shizuka's was on my dad's face. Mom looked.. Absent. She was staring at us, but not wholly there.

Dad faced Tsume. "And..?" She made a derisive snort.

"All right, fine. But at least tell him." Dad looked around at the training field. This is one of the smaller ones in the compound and it doesn't have much in the way of equipment either so it isn't used very often. Anyone that was probably there left already, so I don't know why he's bothering to look around now.

"Not here." He walked over to the gates of the training field and gestured for us to follow. I don't really think about it all that often, since I only see maybe three parts of it, but the Inuzuka compound is huge. The only parts I really only see are the kennels, Shizuka's place, and the entrance. I've been to other places a few times like the clinic for Shiromaru, but there's a hell of a lot more in this place than I thought.

We made our way over to what I think is the center of the compound, looking at a rather large traditional Japanese-styled home. Very different from the kennels and the apartments on the outskirts. Is this the so called upstate living? Maybe it's a hierarchy thing. Meh, they'll teach me later.

Walking in, (after dealing with the security seals) we found Shiromaru and my mom's partner, a kind brown haired jackal looking dog named Hanako lounging around together. Okay. Officially confused now. Once they saw us coming in and taking our sandals off Hanako came over to greet us. Shiromaru just yawned in our direction.

"Where are we?" I looked over to my parents for answers. They looked a little sad at my question.

"We're at the Head's home. Our home." Mom said. Oh.

"It's nice." Tsume laughed.

"You've barely seen it yet." I was too tired to deign her with a response so I just stuck my tongue out at her, to which she grinned ferally. What? I'm five! Screw you!

Dad gestured for our little procession to walk further in, since we were kinda just standing around. The rest of the house was just like I thought. Japanese traditional, but with a little more of an unexpected red accent. We don't really have an official color, but maybe it's supposed to represent our red tattoos. Who knows. Once we were nicely seated in the living room with some tea, me in Shizuka's lap for support, mom got started.

"About forty or so years ago, around the creation of the village, there was a man named Tadao. An aloof S-ranked Inuzuka notable for his mastery of the Coyote style and his equally strong red eyed partner." Sounds horribly familiar. I gave them a non-amused glance. They of course ignored it.

"Now this man was sent on a missive to a newly formed Hidden Cloud for treaty negotiations. The village was aware of his strength, so they sent him and his ninken out alone thinking it would seem less aggressive. One thing led to another and negotiations broke down. A fight broke out which involved many Hidden Cloud nin. Outnumbered, they tried to escape, but couldn't. The red eyed ninken died in the fighting to give Tadao time to escape.

Tadao came back, broken and angry. He blamed his partner's death on the village, telling them that only sending them out was foolish and that they should have expected an attack. The village turned a deaf ear on him. For what could they do but acknowledge their mistake and move on? But Tadao wanted more, and the dismissal from the village angered him. He stopped receiving missions and instead went underground, citing that he retired because of an injury he sustained from the escape. In reality he donned a mask and went to the streets of Konoha at night and started killing. All of his victims were spending time with their most precious person when he killed them. Only the one person, so the other could feel the pain of their separation. Then after he was done with the act, he used the blood of his victims and painted the nearest solid surface, forming red piercing eyes. This went on until he was caught by the First Hokage himself when he tried to enter the Senju compound. He was publicly executed."

The silence was smothering. What I could even say to such a story? Mom continued, absentmindedly stroking Hanako.

"The Clan spent a long time recovering from our tarnished reputation. And now they're worried. Seeing the same characteristics in you as they did in him is making them nervous. That Shiromaru has red eyes and now your Coyote style? Well it's not helping your case."

I was quiet for a long time. Well that was until a wave of lethargy hit me and I loudly yawned. Damn. They all snickered a little, and I tried to hide my face in Shizuka's long brown hair. It didn't go very well, and they snickered louder.

Tension slightly broken, they focused their attention back on me again. I could feel my eyes drooping. "Well, it would explain a lot. But honestly, they can talk all they want. I have you guys, so who cares what the others think?" A stronger wave of lethargy hit me and I closed my eyes. "If they…. want to hate me for…. existing….. then that's…. their problem."

Shizuka P.O.V.

He was asleep. Of course the most dramatic thing I've heard him say comes right before he goes to sleep. I'm not even surprised.

"That was certainly interesting. Did you teach him that, Shizuka?" Hisao-sama asked. He dropped his whole Alpha aura, which I'm kinda glad for. It's a little terrifying.

"No. This is all him." Yuuna-sama was both looking at me and Arata, her expression pinched. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and lifted Arata into her hands.

You would think he was made of glass, the way she held him. Tsume-sama abruptly stood up. "Well it's been lovely. But I'm pretty sure Haruo's waiting for me." She waved bye and walked out. Once she got to the door Hisao-sama called out.

"Make sure the scent blockers are on!" Tsume didn't even turn around, just flipped the bird and left. I wonder if it's a family thing.

After the slightly vulgar interruption silence once again came upon us. Then I remembered the paperwork I still had to do. I stood to leave, watching them apprehensively.

"He still doesn't have his markings yet." I said.

"The elders don't need to know. It's not like they acknowledge he exists anyways." Yuuna-sama responded.

"Can't argue with that." And with a small bow, I made my way out. Leaving Arata, for the first time, with his family.

A/N. A little note for the future. I'm sure you've noticed by now I don't indulge in long descriptions much. Or descriptions at all sometimes. Now this is a double edged sword as it declutters the story and avoids the whole "His eyes were like 'insert three more sentences describing eyes here' trope but it also makes it so that theres no image at all of characters. For example, I've had almost no physical description of Arata yet. It's the 6th chapter. So I'mma try and fix that in the future chapters. Like all things, hope it doesn't suck.

Revised 4/23/2020