Dog Days: Sound Chronicles

by Hermionechan90

Reincarnation was never easy, not for humans and especially not for a former Inu Youkai that now had to come to terms with his human and more importantly mortal body... and somebody really should have warned Sesshomaru about the headache certain humans could be. How would the timeline continue if Shiroheki had never met Kakashi's ANBU Team? reincarnated!Sesshomaru, papa!Kakashi

1. Chapter 1

So this story is the alternative path if Shiroheki had NOT met the Konoha ANBU team. To make it easier for you I'm putting all the first 37 chapters in the Prologue for convenience sake.

Chapter 1

The last thing Sesshomaru remembered before everything became numb and dark was the horrified and desperate look of his half brother while he tried to staunch the wounds on Sesshomaru's body with his red fire rat robe… in vain though.

Naraku had clearly overestimated his absorption technique when he tried it against the Lord of the West. The Inu Daiyoukai had proven too much for the half breed… unfortunately for Seshomaru this had also cost him more energy than he had intended to use against the abomination… too much to safely regenerate his own wounds afterwards.

It was ironic; just like his father before him Sesshomaru had died of the complications of two back to back fights. Only a day before he had destroyed Naraku, the eldest son of the Inu no Taisho had dealt those overgrown lizards that dared to call themselves dragons a devastating blow to their numbers. They should have known better than to attack his border villages. They would take decades if not centuries to regain their former population; he and the army of the West had reduced the invading one to barely ten percent. At least it would be a long while until the dragons would dare something like this again.

Chapter 2

For a long time after this last memory Sesshomaru was unable to concentrate long enough to understand what was happening around him. He had a vague recollection of warmth and dulled sounds before it was replaced with light, louder sounds and a voice that spoke softly.

When he could finally concentrate on other thoughts than hunger, thirst and discomfort Sesshomaru realized to his horror that he had been reincarnated.

It was a decidedly unpleasant realization.

Because not only meant this that he had died, and in front of his half brother no less. But also that he had left no legitimate heir to his line and the West would consequently fall either into the hands of his unprepared half brother or into chaos while the other Inu Youkai families of note fought against each other for his father's, HIS lands.

The thought had stung.

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At least he knew that both Rin and his lady mother were sufficiently provided for. Jaken would bring the human girl that had been in his care for the last two years to castle in the clouds. Inu Kimi would not be happy about this but Sesshomaru knew is mother well enough to be sure that she would see it as her responsibility to care for his human charge until Rin died.

The former lord of the West also had no worries about attacks against his lady mother. Inu Kimi was a member of the Inu Youkai nobility, which alone would give her a certain amount of protection from the other Inu Youkai clans. But more importantly he would like to see someone try to force his proud and unyielding mother to do ANYTHING she didn't want. His parents' marriage had been a political match between the strongest Inu Youkais of their time. Inu Kimi was quite capable of sending any possible opponent running with their tail tucked in… if she let them live.

Chapter 3

The next deduction the former Inu Youkai made sent him into a horrified stupor, apparently he had been reborn as a human…

As a HUMAN!

… and it was quite embarrassing how long it had taken him to come to that conclusion. In his defense though, he had thought this possibility to be inconceivable. Him, Sesshomaru reborn as a weak human.

He had reasoned the dulled senses and need for sustenance away with the fact that all Inu Youkai pups were in need of this kind of care until there fifteenth birthday, which was the equivalent of three human years as far as Sesshomaru remembered from his species studies in his youth.

His horror only grew when he remembered that humans would need a constant supply of sustenance per day until their death unlike an Inu Youkai whose need for food and sleep continued to decline the older he became. And the life expectancy! Kami-sama these pathetic creatures normally didn't even come in the vicinity of a hundred years!

Was he being punished for something? Had his contempt for them in his younger years and indifference later on led to this? That he now would have to live as one of them, a pathetically short and insignificant life?

Sesshomaru could feel his frustratingly weak and mortal body whimper in distress. His emotions were all over the place, easily overwhelming him and eliciting an outward reaction. Could this humiliation get any worse?

Apparently it could.

The sound had woken the female that took care of him in this new… existence. Sesshomaru wasn't sure if she was a wet nurse or the female that had given birth to his human form… it didn't really matter to him. That he had to rely on someone else like this was degrading to a level the Inu Youkai hadn't thought possible.

The only redeemable part of this situation was that the female at least adequately fulfilled her duties to him, she took care of his needs with all due haste… at least for a human.

Chapter 4

The months until Sesshomaru regained enough control over his limbs to be able to move around on his own were torture. The human body was tired after only a mere few hours and needed rest to function sufficiently. Every attempt at sitting up or god forbid crawling cost him disproportionate amounts of energy and so Sesshomaru slipped into a cycle of dull repetition between resting and getting this body to work. When he wasn't lying awake and trying to get his thoughts and emotions sorted he was working on controlling his disproportionate limbs. It was more than vexing for the former Dai Youkai who was used to his body responding precisely to his wishes and thoughts.

During that time he also finally gained a descent grasp on the language spoken in this strange world and learned what his new name was, Shiroheki.

Which was… adequate.

The former killing perfection could live with a name like the white ruler.

This time period also resolved his question about his relation to the woman that took care of him. She called him her perfect son and precious baby often enough to deduce that apparently she was his birth mother. His sight cleared up some time later and he realized with astonishment that the female that took care of him had long blue white hair, acid green eyes… and she had canines.

With a name like Shiroheki he could assume that he too had received white or at least whitish hair but back to her teeth and youkai like coloring. Was it possible that she had Inu Youkai blood somewhere in her ancestry? Was he Sesshomaru a hanyou descendent? The former Daiyoukai was torn between horror and feeling strangely reassured that he hadn't lost everything of his former existence.

It was… frustrating that his sense of smell was still too underdeveloped to confirm or deny his suspicion. Hopefully it wouldn't stay that way. From his experience with Rin he knew that humans had a dreadful sense of smell. But no matter how closely related she was to a dog demon, if at all… his new mother was clearly mortal. Her ears were rounded and she didn't have any Youkai stripes or other inhuman features that would mark her as a member of the Youkai race… and most importantly the immortal glow to her skin was missing… even Inu Yasha and low level demons possessed that glow to a certain amount.

Though the teeth and also her in the dark shining eyes were a continued mystery for Shiroheki.

Chapter 5

Not long after he had regained his sight Sess… Shiroheki the male reminded himself, there was no sense to clinging to a name he had worn in his past life, the reincarnation realized something else. Or better he realized two things.

Number one, he had never met the male that was responsible for the creation of this body. He wouldn't call the human father, not after having been raised by the honorable Inu no Taisho, Lord of the West and the strongest Inu Dai Youkai that had ever lived but still… weren't human males at least a bit interested when their mate had given birth to a male? So where was he? And why weren't there other humans in his vicinity, from what he knew of the race they normally sought the safety of numbers.

The second realization was connected to the first and was significantly worse for his new existence. With his now barely functioning eyes he took in his surroundings carefully. They were in a room that was well lit but Shiroheki couldn't see a window or translucent paper walls. As far as his eyes picked up they were surrounded by strange stone walls and the light source was a magical crystal in the ceiling. And other than a small room that was adjourned they never left this room…

That led to only one conclusion for the former mighty Daiyoukai… apparently his human mother and Shiroheki himself were some sort of prisoners.

Chapter 6

Shiroheki was once again in shock and felt even worried… this was becoming quite the nuisance. As Sesshomaru he had been used to everything arranging itself to his convenience... well Inu Yasha and Naraku had turned out to be annoying exceptions but that wasn't the point.

His human mother and him were apparently prisoners.

Was that the reason why he had never met his male procreator? Were they held hostage so that he wouldn't do anything against whoever had them? Or was his mother a criminal who had given birth in prison? She didn't look like a criminal but she was human so who knew.

That he was limited to one room was vexing and more than a bit humiliating… at least no one of his former subordinates or worse his half brother could see him now.

Inu Yasha.

Since Shiroheki had been reborn he felt… slightly regretful concerning Inu Yasha.

Half-breed or not, he was now the last heir to his honorable father's legacy and he had not prepared him to take care of said legacy in the event of his death without heirs. Shiroheki felt like he had disappointed the man that had raised him in his last life. Of course there was still Myouga, the flea demon had been one of the advisers of his honorable Otou-sama but Shiroheki knew that Inu Yasha would be much too stubborn to listen to the old demon. So there was no way Inu Yasha would be able to take control of the Western Lands. The territory his father had won with his blood and sweat and defended against all kinds of invaders for the last two thousand years. It truly pained Shiroheki to know that it would now fall into chaos.

Chapter 7

The first time Shiroheki was able to leave their room he was twenty two months old, just barely under two. He was tense and desperately trying to hold onto his ice cold mask. On that morning two humans, different ones than the ones that usually brought their food, had entered their room and taken Shiroheki from his human mother. The woman had pleaded and fought against the clearly stronger males and desperately called his name again and again while he was carried out.

Shiroheki knew better than to lash out, his body was too fragile to take even one hit without dire consequences. The whole situation was so overwhelming for his young body that he was frozen in fear… he couldn't recall when it had been the last time he felt like this as Sesshomaru, if he ever had felt like this.

So Shiroheki watched apprehensively as another female took his young body from the arms of the human man that had carried him and placed him on a strange bed. They weren't rough with him per se… but they also weren't as careful as his human mother was. The woman then started to examine his body and write down her findings on a piece of paper. When Shiroheki realized that she was a healer of a kind he relaxed a bit and listened to her mumblings.

"Subject 212, designation from the mother, Shiroheki… size and weight are in the normal parameters for a twenty two month old… silver white hair, acid green eyes, and canines due to canine blood lines on both sides… hhm… reflexes above average… further testing concerning senses pending…"

While she mumbled to herself Shiroheki took the opportunity to look in the mirror that had been placed across the room.

He didn't actually look so much different than in his last life.

Shiroheki had silvery white hair instead of the pure white that he had had before hand and his eyes were the same as his human mother's, acid green and with thick dark lashes around them. There were no youkai markings and Shiroheki felt unexpectedly disappointed. This was the moment he had to admit that he was now truly human.

The only signs that he wasn't quite on the same level as the peasants in the territory of the West other than his for a human unusual coloring, were those distinct sharp canines and small claws that were slowly starting to grow on his hands. He had tested them only a few days before but they were still too soft to be used as a weapon.

The reincarnation was so caught up in his musings that he didn't notice the woman, the healer returning with a piece of metal in her hand. And so Shiroheki snarled with his hackles raised when she stuck a needle into his arm and drew some of his blood into a thin glass vial.

"No need to be upset Shiroheki-kun, I'm just drawing some of your blood to analyze it… this is for your own good, we can't have you sick after all." The woman said with a patronizing voice.

Shiroheki would have loved nothing else but rip her throat out.

"Well then 212, you are finished here, time to start your physical training. Orochimaru-sama wants to see if the genius of the Hatake clan is actually inheritable."

Orochimaru… Shiroheki knew instantly that the name meant nothing good.

He had always disliked snakes.

Chapter 8

After his first encounter with the medical personnel of the complex Shiroheki's daily routine was changed dramatically. Every morning he was removed from his mother's room and brought into a medium sized training room where he and seven other young humans were trained to fight. He was the youngest with two years of age, though no one was older than five. They mostly practiced katas for a hand to hand combat style but Shiroheki also recognized stretches that would make them more limber as well as the subtle brain washing that was going on.

The former Inu Youkai was actually impressed with the wide range of combat abilities the children were learning here. Of course it was no comparison with the training he had received as an Inu Youkai pup and heir to the West but still, the instructors clearly knew what they were doing.

The training went on for a few hours in the morning before it ended around midday for Shiroheki. At that point he was brought back to his mother, who then checked him over fretfully every time before Shiroheki was put to sleep for an hour or sometimes more. Undignified as it was, the young body he was no inhabiting actually needed the additional sleep to function properly. In the afternoon his human mother finally started to teach him how to read and write. To his everlasting humiliation she was teaching him through a number of children games and songs… and insisted on praising him after every other word. It was… frustrating especially because she didn't seem to understand when he explained to her that the excessive praising wasn't necessary. In short his mother was trying his patience, especially in the first few months.

Chapter 9

These lessons were soon taken over by other teachers when his advanced intellect became known. The subjects were branched out from simply reading and writing into geography lessons and even advanced mathematics and technology. The geography finally gave Shiroheki confirmation that there was absolute no way that he had been reborn in his previous world. It wasn't his favorite subject, but Shiroheki knew that knowledge about the land and climate was important for his plans later in life. From his treatment until now Shiroheki had come to the conclusion that he was not a Lord's son or a similar important hostage. If he ever wanted to rule again like in his previous life, he would have to fight for it and a good education was paramount for any person in a leading position.

The advanced mathematics and technology lessons though… now those were interesting. As Sesshomaru he had only learned the basics about mathematics and accounting before he had concentrated more on his combat education and spent as much time roaming the lands with his father as possible. Here though he had the advantage to be able to further his education exceptionally until his new body had reached an acceptable size to start his combat training in full. The new subjects appealed to him in an intellectual way, they were challenging him like nothing had in his former life and were a welcome distraction in his otherwise dull day to day life.

Chapter 10

During the following two years nothing much changed. He was fetched for morning and afternoon training and received as much education as they could put into his head in the off hours. His teachers were more than satisfied with his process. Shiroheki himself was content for the moment, they had started to teach their group how to handle weapons a few months ago and while there were no swords yet the main instructor clearly stated that they would be taught how to handle them in a few years.

And then their teacher started to explain about chakra.

Shiroheki smiled at that memory. Maybe this life as a human wouldn't be as pathetic as he had feared. The lessons were not unlike the teachings he had received to control his youki and utilize it in attacks. Shiroheki quickly learned to enhance his senses even more with chakra so that he had a semblance of his former youkai abilities back. That had been a very satisfying discovery.

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A few months after the discovery of chakra he was separated from his human mother.

Apparently with four years he was deemed self sufficient enough to receive a room on the other side of the building, closer to the training rooms where the other children, mostly either born in the facility or orphaned lived.

His mother sobbed silently while he packed his books together.

Shiroheki felt… regretful, not because he had to live alone from now on, no he was actually glad for that, no because it hurt his human mother. Shichiyou (Moon) Kaliko had turned out to be a surprisingly good mother. She had taken care of him, protected him as much as she was able to and had never said anything about his cold personality. Shiroheki found it surprisingly easy to accept her as a parent and with that came a certain level of obedience and respect that he had for all his parents.

Shiroheki would only see Kaliko four more times after that before she was 'accidently' killed by one of the guards of the facility.

Shiroheki killed said guard in retaliation a week later.

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With his senses at least temporarily back to demon level it was easy for Shiroheki to listen in on the conversations of the guards and healers.

Within a few days he had pieced together what had happened to his mother. Apparently this facility was something like a crèche of Orochimaru's future guards and or vessels, whatever they meant with the last part.

The mothers had been either sold here or taken from various clans in different countries, they were simply here to give birth to interesting bloodline mixes. Shiroheki himself was one of the biggest successes concerning canine bloodlines. To keep the children under control and brainwash them in favor of Orochimaru they were separated from their mothers before their true long time memory set it, so around the fourth birthday. The females were than impregnated again, experimented on or killed if they had no use anymore.

Kaliko apparently had lost her ability to have more children after Shiroheki's birth.

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Later on when he was asked by his teachers why he had killed the guard if his mother's death had been ruled as an accident, he told them that intentionally or not didn't matter to him. Kaliko had been his and he didn't tolerate people who messed with what was his. According to the gossip around the facility his reaction was explained away by his canine territorial instincts. After all he was known for his cold and calculating behavior, even to his birth mother.

That he wasn't punished for the death of the guard also gave Shiroheki an estimation of how valuable he was in comparison to the other workers in the facility.

Either way, the death of his mother had served as an important lesson to Shiroheki. It was now abundantly clear that as long as he was under Orochimaru's thumb he would never be truly the master over the people underneath him. There would always be someone above him that could interfere with his property, and that was unacceptable for the former Lord of the West.

Chapter 11

Sometime after his sixth birthday when Shiroheki had been well into learning Chunin level abilities according to his sensei, he was called to the main facility in Rice Country to be introduced to his lord and take an exam. Shiroheki hated it, especially when all of the future guards and possible vessels had to fall on one knee in front of the snake abomination watching them with half lidded eyes and a smug smile.

The Snake Sannin was clearly insane, chasing after immortality as a human was folly, there was a reason why humans had been made mortal! And while Shiroheki hated his own mortality he wouldn't search for a way to change that. Kami-sama had decided he would be a human this time around so he would STAY human until the day he reentered the reincarnation circle.

So everything inside Shiroheki resisted when Orochimaru gave them orders. In the end though Shiroheki's rationality won out. There was no way he would be able to fight the older human off if he refused an order, not with this body, not yet anyway. But Shiroheki could wait, patience wasn't his biggest strength but if he had to he could wait until he was strong enough to kill the abomination in front of him.

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The so called exam was a life and death fight of ten or more humans between the age of six and forty. Not all were ninja and most of them were insane, weak from experiments performed on them or couldn't control whatever ability had landed them in Orochimaru's possession.

Shiroheki won. Enough said.

The senseless waste of life disgruntled him, this was not how you showed your power, but Shiroheki was also not willing to be slaughtered and so he killed his opponents as fast as he could. A quick death was all the mercy he could give them.

Chapter 12

Orochimaru's giggle was… Shiroheki wanted to rip out his throat. Around him the limbs and blood of the 13 other participants were coating the arena. Shiroheki wasn't squeamish; he had been a demon in his former life. Death and killing didn't bother him but there was a difference between attacking a superior opponent out of your own stupidity or because you were desperate to get out of another man's sick games.

"Well done, young Shiroheki-kun. Well done!" Orochimaru… cooed in delight.

Shiroheki simple looked coldly at the coordinator of this insanity and didn't say anything.

"I have already been told that you are a quiet and cold child… hhm the results that I have seen are very promising… maybe I should create more of your sort, Hatake's DNA seems to be very promising."

At that Orochimaru put his head to the side and smiled this snake like smile that elicited the urge in Shiroheki to rip out his throat. But wait… what did he say? Use Hatake DNA to create more of me? Is he telling me that he has the ability to create children with the same blood as me? Half siblings? Shiroheki barely suppresses the threatening growl that wanted to escape his throat.

Pack!

His canine instincts were a lot less suppressed in this life than back when he was an Inu Youkai. This damn snake wanted to make young pups of his blood into his fighters, marionettes.

"Hhm, either way… what is your wish… as I said every winner of my …. tournaments gets a wish fulfilled."

Shiroheki looked at the insane human in front of him, he knew better than to wish for freedom that would just have been folly.

"Siblings…" he eventually said, "I want the babies that are created with the Hatake DNA."

"Hoho" Orochimaru laughed amused, "For what?"

"They are mine." Shiroheki stated calmly.

"Ahhh… yes. Your instructors already warned me that you can get territorial… siblings it is that you want? Hhm… well… we will see." Orochimaru hissed amused before he dismissed Shiroheki with a wave of his hand.

One day the snake creature would die. And Shiroheki would make sure that it would be on his claws.

Chapter 13

After meeting Orochimaru and finishing his 'exams' Shiroheki was moved to another facility.

It was another underground one, further north and closer to the sea. The smell of the salty water was clearly discernible for Shiroheki though he estimated that you had to travel another day to finally see the ocean.

The facility had only a skeletal crew, there were barely forty people living inside it, though the place could probably easily contain around a hundred. From the talks between the inhabitants Shiroheki discerned that this base concentrated mostly on canine bloodlines and research on increased senses. There were ten scientists with medical knowledge around, four which Shiroheki instantly couldn't stand.

A week after his arrival one of those four had the brilliant idea of cutting open one of Shiroheki's arms to see how his bloodline was affecting his muscle growth. The idiot only made the mistake of telling him that to his face after securing him with leather strips to the table. Shiroheki snapped those with easy grace before he ripped out the throat of the idiot. He sent the medical assistant that had prepared something in the corner only a passing glance before returning to his room to continue his self study in lightning jutsus. Now that he had passed Orochimaru's initial exam he was apparently dubbed advanced and self sufficient enough to not need further instruction anymore.

The knowledge of what Shiroheki had done to the medic nin spread like a wildfire in the compound. Good was his only thought. Now they knew what kind of fate they could expect if any of them were stupid enough to try something like that again.

Chapter 14

Now that Shiroheki had passed Orochimaru's test he was also sent out on missions.

For the first three months he was accompanied by more experienced Sound shinobi that showed him how they did their work before he was left to his own devices. Shiroheki had to do a minimum of a certain amount of C, B and A rank missions per year so that the costs for basic weapons, the food and lodging at Orochimaru's base were covered. Additional missions meant that he would actually receive the cut of the mission that would have gone to basic upkeep paid out. And he had no desire to find out what would happen if he didn't meet his required minimum on missions.

With the money Shiroheki could finally buy clothes that he actually found acceptable instead of the standard Oto nin uniform he had been forced to wear until now. At the first opportunity he bought several black and grey cargo pants, matching shirts and vests with additional pockets as standard clothes, those were for training and mission in which a certain amount of blending in was required.

For his free time Shiroheki invested into several kimonos and hakamas in white silk and the red detailing that distinguished him as the Lord of the West. Of course he also had made sure that the sign and specific pattern was not part of any other insignia that existed in the Elemental lands, that would have been a vexing otherwise.

The first time he looked into the mirror he felt a strange sense of longing for his old life. With the silver white hair that barely touched the middle of his back and Kimono and Hakama he came close to his former appearance.

Chapter 15

The first time Shiroheki stumbled over the word Demon in one of his history texts he felt his heart clench uncomfortable in his chest. But then his logic took over, if there were demons in this world, why had he never seen any. Low level demons would probably even come for protection to the surprisingly powerful humans in this world.

The further he read the more confused he became. Yes demons could turn into raw energy on occasion but only the most powerful ones and only for a certain amount of time before the body became corporal once more. And then mere humans wouldn't be able to just seal them away like a kunai. Whatever these so called demons were, it was not the same species he had belonged to.

Shiroheki sighed while he sat the book down; he should have known that right from the start when he read through the animals listed off as tailed beasts. There was a tailed monkey and a raccoon but no dog or wolf like creature!

Inconceivable.

Chapter 16

Surprisingly Orochimaru kept his word.

A year after the tournament Shiroheki was presented with a female human baby, barely a few months old. She had the same silvery hair as he had though her eyes were a dark grey color. Apparently her mother had died during childbirth and she had been raised with a bottle until now. For now she was left in the care of a medical assistant, a woman named Etsuko who would feed and change her until she was independent enough to be left in her older brother's care. Shiroheki also received special care packages with baby stuff every month from the crèche.

After some deliberations he named her Shizuka.

Having a younger sibling was… disconcerting and strangely elating at the same time. Shiroheki's cursed his instincts; more than once they had him running anxiously back to the room of the medical assistant to check up on Shizuka after he had been away for more than a few hours.

He had given her that particular name because it meant quiet smell or quiet perfume. It had been her smell after all; the smell of young child, vulnerability and pack that made Shiroheki react so disconcertingly overprotective around her. Not even Rin had elicited such an instant need to protect. His human companion in his previous life was more of a sense of obligation in the beginning before her character and implicit trust in his person had wormed themselves into his regard.

Maybe this would have been the scent Sesshomaru would have smelled if Inu Yasha had been a full Inu Youkai pup instead of a hanyou? From his memories as Sesshomaru he could only remember that the half breed had smelled wrong, wrong, wrong to him and that was why he had sent Izayoi back to her relatives. In later years, especially after Inu Yasha had started his search for the shards of the Shikon no Tama his smell had become… bearable, even close to what Sesshomaru perceived as pack. So similar in fact that the lord of the West had unconsciously began to search him out and check up on him… Also to give him a good trashing now and then, Inu Youkai believed in what humans called tough love.

Shizuka grew exceptionally well according to Etsuko and soon she was testing out her motor skills everywhere she could reach. His sister's caretaker had an adequate amount of fear and respect concerning him and took her responsibilities very seriously even when he had to leave the compound for a mission.

It probably didn't hurt that Shiroheki threw the first and last idiot that had been harassing her against a wall and broke a few bones when he tried to physically intimidate Etsuko. The woman was not pack, would most likely never be but because of her task he acknowledged her as his property.

Shiroheki didn't like it if somebody touched things that belonged to him without permission.

Chapter 17

With Shizuka being taken care of by Etsuko and the rest of the compound sufficiently intimidated to assure his sister's safety Shiroheki's attention turned back on the missions he picked for himself.

His physical size and excellent grasp of genjutsu helped him blend in and remain inconspicuous to paranoid eyes. He actually learned that he had a preference for complicated infiltrations and heists. For those he needed to use his brain just as much as his physical skills and for a former ruler who had been accustomed to solve large amounts of problems in the short time he was actually in his castle this mental stimulation was more than a welcome change after the tedious kill and destroy missions that he had received in the beginning.

Of course Shiroheki was also a formidable frontline fighter and yes he liked the rush of battle but everything inside him strained against being used as a blunt weapon by an insane being like Orochimaru and so he avoided direct combat as much as possible. It would also give him the advantage that the Snake Sannin would not precisely know of what Shiroheki was capable off, an advantage that should be enough to take him out. Shiroheki was of the opinion that a man like Orochimaru didn't deserve an honorable battle to the death.

He would make sure that the Snake Sannin's death would be as undignified as possible.

Chapter 18

While Shizuka continued to grow from an infant to a toddler Shiroheki took a hard look at the people that were living in his den. Sesshomaru never had to concern himself with something like that, the people in the castle of the West had been unconditionally loyal to his father and that loyalty had been transferred to him once he had taken over the reins. And even if someone had dared to actually do something against him, the culprit would be faster dead than he realized that his attack had failed.

Here though it was a different story.

Shiroheki was not on the top of the food chain of Sound. No matter how little the people in his outpost could physically actually do anything against him. It only took one unfavorable report by the wrong person and he would have suddenly the attention of Orochimaru on him again. And now he also had a younger sibling to protect.

Another problem was that Orochimaru liked to exchange medic nins and guards now and then randomly between outposts. The man wasn't stupid not matter how insane he was. Like this the possibility of all the inhabitants in Shiroheki's outpost being loyal to him, and only him was minimal.

So instead the silver haired eight year old took a step back and watched.

He watched and scented and listened and then he separated them into those that could be loyal and those who would stab him in the back at the first opportunity. For the moment he left out their actual usefulness. The problem with this process was that most of the people working in the base were wary/ afraid of him and watched him more like a time bomb than a potential protector.

Now this would have never bothered Sesshomaru because as he stated before, Sesshomaru was powerful enough not to have to care about some miscreants that could potentially stab him in the back.

Shiroheki on the other hand could not afford that. And here it became frustrating for the reincarnation. Normal and powerful people you made loyal with charisma and persuasion. He could remember watching the Inu no Taisho turn bitter competitors into loyal followers.

The problem. Neither Sesshomaru nor Shiroheki had even an ounce of that charisma.

Oh Sesshomaru had tried to emulate his father in his younger years… the results weren't encouraging. In the end he had dismissed the skill set as useful but not important to his own reign.

Shiroheki wasn't so lucky. So while he had sorted out the loyalties of everyone in the outpost within two weeks the problem of making those he deemed as moderately trustful unquestioningly loyal to him stumped him for the next few months.

Until the problem solved itself by accident.

Chapter 19

Shiroheki just so happened to beat a group of guards within an inch of their lives when he caught them harassing and physically assaulting the humans responsible for the cooking and cleaning in the outpost. Those were ninja with barely above civilian skills who had turned out to be useful in kitchen or at other mundane tasks.

It wasn't even because Shiroheki was angered by the bullying. What the shinobi did in their free time didn't concern him but shinobi on duty that hindered others from fulfilling their orders, those he couldn't stand.

Especially not when it meant that there would be a delay at dinner.

Shiroheki had discovered his frankly undignified weakness for food rather early in his new life. As Sesshomaru he had barely eaten anything at all and in his last two hundred years maybe three times. As Shiroheki he needed at least two solid meals a day to keep his body in peak condition. These occurrences were annoying but he was now human and not changeable. What he hadn't expected was how much he actually enjoyed quality food thanks to his enhanced senses. It was nearly obscene what delight he received from certain smells and tastes but he couldn't help himself and soon he also stopped denying himself this comfort.

So with the guards reprimanded he didn't paid the incident anymore attention. But this was the starting point of an attitude adjustment of the whole outpost and the beginning of Shiroheki's accidental spy network. The shinobi on the bottom of the food chain were so pathetically grateful for his protection against the capriciousness of the other ninja that they somehow felt obligated to pass on the important parts of the gossip to him.

Through Etsuko of course, no one quite dared to approach him themselves.

XXXXXXXXX

Not everyone was content with Shiroheki changing the pecking order and the way people were treated. So a month after the eight year old had beaten up those guards he was confronted with six shinobi also of the guard rooster, all either Chunin or low Jounin. Two of them didn't survive the encounter and the other four kept silent from then on. The eldest one of them vanished from the base soon after their encounter, Shiroheki had crippled him for life and a guard with only one hand wasn't really welcome in the rows of Orochimaru's pawns.

Yes I went there! I made Shiroheki a foodie! XD

Chapter 20

When Shizuka was nearly two, a second child with the Hatake genes was handed over to Shiroheki.

The eleven month old boy had been living with his more than reluctant mother until she had become vital for one of Orochimaru's other experiments.

He too had the silver hair of the Hatake clan, and claws like his elder siblings only his eyes were different, he had dark blue nearly black ones. Unlike them though he was nearly underweight when he came to live in Shiroheki's den and had only a specimen number, 278. He was also clearly emotionally neglected if his distrustful and nearly catatonic behavior was any indication.

After getting himself under control Shiroheki promptly named him Hideaki which meant excellence. It was nod at his future because Shiroheki refused to consider that his younger siblings would be anything but outstanding examples of their race.

He then began to painstakingly undo every falsely learned behavior and conditioning that he encountered. Which cost him more nerves and patience than he actually thought he had but true to his nature he remained stubborn in his plight. His half brother would be strong and proud like the rest of their pack.

And if he saw in Hideaki a way to redeem himself for his blunder with Inu Yasha he kept that firmly at the back of his mind.

Chapter 21

Shiroheki was nine years old when he was recalled to the main compound for another 'tournament' as well as further instructions concerning the missions he was to take around his den.

This time around there were close to thirty participants in the ring and there would most likely be a second round if he counted the anxious faces of the people in the cages behind Orochimaru. The fight hadn't even started yet and he could already feel the killing intent of the two hysterically laughing teenagers across from him. Clearly they had already lost their sanity if they ever had any and were looking forward to senseless killing.

Bored of his soon to be opponents Shiroheki let his gaze wander up to the other prisoners. Nothing special caught his eye until the third to last cage. Inside four people were huddled, one in each corner. The youngest of them was probably only a few years older than Shiroheki himself but her age wasn't what he was interested in.

She had red hair, the most intense color that he had ever seen… it made him recall that scroll he read about the Uzumaki clan and their big chakra reservoirs. Focusing his senses even more on the girl he picked up on the light salt water smell that most water user carried, only the water user from Ame smelled different. It could be possible that she was a descendant… hell even if she was not, she could be useful. Children of her age were still educable as Rin had shown, if he got her now she could watch and train his siblings while he was gone. He knew that Etsuko would need to go back to her actual job in a few months to a year when Hideaki was potty trained… god he detested that word. And then he would need another minder for his siblings and there weren't any suitable candidates at the den right now… so maybe if he trained up that girl she could take that of his hands.

With his mind made up what he wanted this time around Shiroheki returned his attention to his opponents just in time to hear Orochimaru's 'begin' and quickly called up his chakra whip to decapitate the idiot that tried to sneak up on him.

Chapter 22

Orochimaru hadn't even asked why he wanted the girl; he simply nodded and waved her out of the fighting ring with the bored words, "Go to your new master."

"Oh and Shiroheki-kun? The head of the crèche tells me that they now have used up the rest of Hatake Kakashi's viable sperm, there will be two or three more children next year coming your way but no more afterwards… I expect to see results of your little… family project in a few years. At the latest when the youngest is six. You and your little pack will then take over the guard of my west compounds… and then well… I have a few bloodlines in mind that would match up well with the Hatake traits."

Was that imbecile suggesting what Shiroheki was thinking he was suggesting? Breeding? Him? As if any mortal being would be good enough for his standards when in his former life there had been only one or two vaguely viable candidates. Ridiculous.

But Shiroheki simply nodded without agreeing to what Orochimaru just implied. So he had six years to get his siblings away from Orochimaru's sphere of influence. Good to know.

The red head that he had won smelled of fear and terror while she followed him out of the main base.

"What is your name?"

"Karin… master?" the last word was more question than answer.

"Say Shiroheki-sama."

"Shiroheki-sama." She instantly repeated, apparently happy with the instructions and relieved about the lack of physical violence.

Shiroheki was satisfied, maybe that one wouldn't be so hard to instruct.

Chapter 23

Karin actually was an Uzumaki.

Though she never had a formal education as one, her grandfather had taught her some basics before he died. She was also a sensor which only made her more valuable to Shiroheki. Instead of a possible babysitter for his younger siblings he dragged her along for his training sessions and started to drill better taijutsu into her, hers was rudimental at best. He noted with satisfaction that she made up for that with an aptitude for water jutsus and genjutsu.

He hadn't decided what exactly she would become in relation to him but with the way she acted like Jaken at times he was considering to make her a vassal… maybe.

XXXXXXXXXXX

With Karin now too living in the outpost and his siblings growing Shiroheki moved from the one bedroom room he had lived in into one of the empty apartments further down. He chose the biggest one that contained five rooms and was adequate for what Shiroheki had in mind.

The largest room of the apartment, which was also the farthest away from the entrance was turned into the bedroom of his younger siblings. Shiroheki had already included the possible three new siblings in his calculation as well as Karin. The room was probably even big enough for three more futons after that. The room adjourning to his siblings' nursery was turned into Shiroheki's own bedroom. This would insure that anyone who wanted to get to the pups would have to walk through Shiroheki's own room. With his senses that should be impossible.

Two of the other empty rooms were turned into an armory and a library/ study for Shiroheki's studies and Karin's tentative seal work. Shiroheki hadn't any plans for the last room but it never hurt to have extra space just in case.

Chapter 24

Not long after Karin had arrived in the outpost Shiroheki decided that it was time for Shizuka to start her training and education. For that he had one of the crèche teachers come to the compound. It cost Shiroheki more than two S-rank missions additionally to the basic upkeep for the Chunin level shinobi but he wouldn't let his younger sister out of his sight. Especially not for her education, who knew what Orochimaru's standard brainwashing program would do to her.

The female toddler turned out to be exceptionally bright, just as Shiroheki had known she would be and Shizuka advanced quickly through the theoretical part of her education. Her physical performance too was above average but nowhere near where Shiroheki had been.

Not that that would have been possible.

The tutor made the mistake of comparing his little sister to Shiroheki once. Just once. The painful bruises and lacerations said sensei received during the impromptu spar after that comment were lesson enough to never ever compare the two of them again.

After all it was a ludicrous notion to compare a toddler, even a genius one with Shiroheki who was the reincarnation of a centuries old Inu Dai Youkai.

Chapter 25

The human self healing abilities and recovery period were pitiful.

Of course Sesshomaru had been aware of that before he had become Shiroheki but to truly experience it and feel how your own body betrays you and just shuts down without your consent was rage inducing to Shiroheki.

With grudging steps he made his way to the medic in the Orochimaru's main compound that was least likely to stab him in the back and had her check him over.

His hands trembled with exhaustion and he could feel the edges of his vision blurring, there had to be a way to keep his body going for longer periods of time.

To his question the low level Jounin medic answered with a trembling in her voice, "Th-there are Shiroheki-sama… but I wouldn't recommend it right now… your b-body is still growing and soldier pills and other stimulants will hurt or even stun its growth."

"There is nothing else?" Shiroheki growled under his breath, he was irritable enough to show the more animalistic tendencies of his heritage.

"I… well nothing instantaneously… if-if you learn how to channel healing chakra you can stave off exhaustion and heal yourself as long as you have enough chakra left…" came the shaky reply from the middle aged woman.

At that Shiroheki hummed, still annoyed but slightly more thoughtful. Maybe he should take a closer look at what Etsuko and her colleagues were doing; those self healing abilities were REALLY pathetic.

Chapter 26

Hideaki, after finally reaching an acceptable weight, started to test his boundaries especially with a new person in close quarters.

Shiroheki kept an eye on the whole situation but didn't feel the need to interfere other than correct his behavior now and then concerning his elder and considerably more submissive sister. Shizuka was both older and stronger than her brother, that she had the patience of a saint didn't change the fact that she was number two in their pack after Shiroheki.

This testing phase was a normal occurrence for Inu Youkai especially during their youth and teenage years. It was how the ranking was clarified and even once they had reached adulthood it could change if younger and stronger members fought for their places in the pack. Sesshomaru himself had risen in the ranks soon after he had been barely out of his childhood years and still centuries away from adulthood. Within four decades he had been the number two in the hierarchy of the West and unchallenged until he had taken his father's place as the number one.

Shizuka was tested during play fighting; her non confrontational behavior clearly irritated and confused Hideaki until he figured out that only because Shizuka did not react to his challenges didn't mean that she wasn't stronger than him. After she bit him in the ear and held him down without any visible effort following a day of not so subtle confrontations and deviances while Shiroheki was out on a mission he accepted her status as the higher ranking member.

Etsuko was tolerated and at worst ignored when the little silver haired boy had a bad day but he clearly didn't consider her even anywhere close to his position. She always accommodated all of Shizuka's and his whims and wants when she took care of them with no inkling of dominance.

Karin on the other hand… well.

The red head clearly wasn't pleased with the constant testing but she also didn't give the toddler a clear reprimand to settle the situation. It took them roughly two months until they had come to a satisfying conclusion for both of them.

The red head was placed in the highest caretaker position, higher than even Etsuko who Hideaki had known as long as Shiroheki. He would follow her suggestions and certain demands for now. But Shiroheki just knew that in a few years when he was stronger and her position in the pack had still not been solidified his younger brother would challenge her anew.

One useful thing that they discovered during the whole process was that Karin had a strange healing talent.

Whenever someone bit her they would instantly heal and regain some of their energy. It was an ability that actually perked Shiroheki's interest but he refrained from telling anyone about it so that someone would study it and test its limits. The silver haired preteen also made it clear to Karin that she had to hide said talent from the other Sound ninja. He wouldn't lose his Jaken replacement just because he was curious.

Chapter 27

With an inaudible sigh Shiroheki let his body sink into the hot water.

You could say what you wanted about this world but the technological advances that had been made here were most amiable, especially the ability to take hot baths whenever Shiroheki wanted.

His new body had the unfortunate downside of producing more sweat and body odor than the silver haired shinobi had thought possible and so it was a relief, not only for his mind but also his nose to take frequent baths after his training sessions and missions.

Stretching his two functional arms over his head, Shiroheki let his head rest against the edge of the bathtub and closed his eyes while his muscles relaxed in the warmth that was surrounding him.

Roughly an hour later he opened them again and reached for his newest discovery. A shampoo that did not only clean his hair of the excess grease and dirt but also left his slowly growing hair nearly tangle free once he had run his comb through it.

Truly these amenities made up for a lot inconveniences in his second life.

Chapter 28

A month after Shiroheki's tenth birthday the last of his siblings arrived.

They were not even a year old with Fuyuharu as the youngest at ten months, Yuuto at eleven months and Shinobu as the oldest at nearly twelve. The boys both already had names that Shiroheki could accept while his youngest sister had been called by her specimen number 346, though thankfully she didn't show any signs of obvious neglect.

All three of them had once again silver hair and dark eyes in various shades of grey and brown.

Etsuko finally moved into the room across their apartment and took care of the youngest three while both Karin and Shiroheki stepped up Shizuka's and now also Hideaki's combat training outside their usual studies.

Karin also took apprenticeship-like lessons and lectures from the other scientists and medical personnel in the compound. She was turning out to be a lot more useful than Jaken had ever been… and less annoying in the sense that she didn't grovel at any given moment and couldn't shut up. Though she DID have those strange phases in which she stared at him with stars in her eyes or blushed for no reason. But he could tolerate that because she worked on increasing her knowledge and abilities in a constant strife to be even more useful to him and to protect his younger siblings. Her persistence in also making Hideaki and Shizuka respect her had finally born fruit, the two younger Kekkei Genkai users looked to her for protection directly after Shiroheki and had submitted in one way or another to her in the last half year. For that it raised her status in Shiroheki's eyes from property to pack.

Pack protected and grew stronger after all.

Chapter 29

Annoyed with himself Shiroheki put another sword down and left the armory of the Sound headquarters. He had been here to search for a sword suitable for his form, now that he had an acceptable size to change from training and short swords to adult sized ones.

None of them had felt right.

He was used to his swords having a personality and power to them. The cold steel he held in his hands was workable but in the end it was just another tool to get a task done.

It frustrated Shiroheki to know that no matter how great the human sword smiths were he would never achieve the euphoria that had filled his body when he and one of his swords had combined their energies against worthy opponents. On days like this he missed his swords and the fights with Inu Yasha with a fervency that had him baffled.

XXXXXXXX

A few days later Shiroheki returned to the armory and picked out a long double edged sword that reminded him of Sesshomaru's Tokijin, it would do for now. Youki abilities or not, Shiroheki had put quite the effort into relearning kenjutsu and he LIKED the art, just because he hadn't found the right sword yet didn't mean that he would let his skills get rusty.

Chapter 30

Shiroheki slowly let the scroll about Earth country sink while he mulled over what he had just learned. The Sandaime Tsuchikage could fly through manipulating gravity and decreasing his own weight.

There had to be a way to learn that.

His Earth techniques weren't the best but that was mostly because the Element hadn't been as interesting as manipulating Lightning or Fire until now. But with there being a possibility of relearning his flying abilities Shiroheki was more than ready to put in some extra hours in the training field.

XXXXXXXX

Manipulating gravity was not going as Shiroheki had hoped. Oh, he had succeeded in increasing and decreasing his weight up to ten kg. The problem was that he just couldn't expand on that weight further. He was stuck. Annoyed he set that training aside until his body was full grown and he got his hands on better Earth Jutsu scrolls.

Preferably those that Orochimaru had in his private library.

Chapter 31

Shiroheki and the Sound Five did NOT get along.

Tayuya was an arrogant, fool mouthed work of a kunoichi with halfway decent genjutsu abilities. The older ninja tried to intimidate Shiroheki once, just once while he was visiting the main headquarters to drop off some mission object. The silver haired shinobi wasn't about to tolerate this blatant show of disrespect or underserved superiority and gave the magenta haired kunoichi an object lesson about annoying her superiors that shut her up for good. From then on she avoided crossing his path when he was visiting and quietly deferred to his judgment during join missions. Unfortunately she did that out of fear instead of logic, she was completely unchangeable in her world views and so entirely useless.

Jirobo was tolerable as long as he kept his mouth shut. He at least had the sense to not directly antagonize Shiroheki whenever they had to be in each other's company and to leave his presence if the reincarnation's mood turned murderous.

Sakon and Ukon were abominations simple as that. They were strong, true. But everything about them rubbed him wrong. Shiroheki took the opportunity to beat some caution and grudging respect into them when he first encountered them and since them they avoided each other as much as possible. Joined missions thankfully hadn't happened until now.

Kidomaru. Spiders, enough said. The dark haired shinobi took one look at Shiroheki's chakra level while he was fighting Sakon and Ukon and never ever showed himself in the reincarnation's vicinity again.

Kimimaro was probably the only one Shiroheki had some respect for. He was the quietest of the Sound Five and a good bit less annoying than his other squad members on missions. Shiroheki would even go as far to say that said shinobi was strong in his own right and dependable in a fight. His only fault was his fanatical devotion to the Snake Sannin or Shiroheki may have even counted him as a peer or at least as a useful acquaintance, instead of as a liability.

Only weeks after the last of his siblings arrived he also witnessed the cursed seal in action for the first time. They were positively drenched in Orochimaru's stench whenever they activated it. Shiroheki's already poor opinion of the Sound Five plummeted even further after that mission. Not only had they let themselves branded like cattle by Orochimaru, no they also relied on someone else concerning power.

That the one that supplied that power was the Snake Sannin was just the icing on the cake.

Chapter 32

His siblings continued to develop and grow at an acceptable pace.

Shiroheki kept most of his attention on the oldest two after him, according to Etsuko they were entering a very important development phase of their life, from now on they would remember conversations held. A phase that Shiroheki would use to impart some of those life lessons that the Inu no Taisho had given him at that age. Many he hadn't understood until he had been long of age but he REMEMBERED what his father had told him at that time.

The youngest three were still puppies, too young to really grasp what was going on but old enough to slowly develop their own personalities. Shiroheki had to admit that he enjoyed having siblings this time around. It was not uncommon for one or more to curl up close to him when he studied another one of his scrolls.

The frequent touching and cuddling up to him had made Shiroheki uncomfortable at the beginning. He was a centuries old Dai Youkai after all, he was much too dignified for such a behavior. His new body though enjoyed the contact, be it because his human side needed the contact or his canine instincts called for more socialization. In the end Shiroheki had given into the demand and now he consciously sought out his younger siblings to curl up with them under the kotatsu or on one of the nap blankets that littered their rooms and this was most enthusiastically corroborated. All of them, even the initially wary Hideaki had come to trust him and seek his presence for reassurance and comfort.

Shiroheki felt satisfaction at the knowledge that he was a good Alpha.

Chapter 33

Karin was barely thirteen to his ten years when she came home from a routine mission, pale and with hollow eyes. Shiroheki took one look at her and then tracked down her temporary teammates.

The men were shaking in fear while they recounted what happened. Their team had come across a group of low level missing nin from various villages that thought it was a great idea to ambush them.

Karin was the youngest and only girl in the group of Sound nin.

So while her other teammates fought off and killed the majority of the attackers two of the missing nin had herded the red haired kunoichi away from the clearing in which the fight was happening. When they had noticed her absence after they were done they had searched for her, knowing that she belonged to Shiroheki and that he would be most displeased if something happened to her.
They found Karin half a mile away in an empty clearing, shaking and with two dead missing nin and her clothing slightly askew and torn.

Shiroheki refrained from saying anything and just turned around to search out the only red head in his pack.

He found her cuddled between Fuyuharu and Yuuto, her back against the wall and her arms wrapped around her knees. His let his senses expand and relaxed minutely, at least she hadn't been raped.

"Karin." Shiroheki said as calmly as he could, keeping his chakra under control, he knew that if he became angry it would only disturb the sensor more.

"Shiroheki-sama." Her voice broke at the end and she looked ashamed down.

Shiroheki could smell the tears building up in her eyes. There was only one way to deal with this emotional state, no matter how uncomfortable it made him. With inaudible steps he came close before he sat down with his back to her, visibly guarding the entrance against all kind of intruders.

Karin bit off half of the sob that was escaping her throat but couldn't suppress all of it. With an inward sigh he reached behind him with a hand and dragged Karin closer to his body until she was curled up slightly left behind him.

The choked sob turned into hiccups and a slowly trickle of tears before she suddenly desperately grabbed for his kimono and buried her face into the white silk. Her whole body was tensed as if she expected him to push her away. When nothing came she relaxed again and as if a dam had broken she started to sob and cry into his side.

Shiroheki just knew that he would have to throw away the kimono afterwards, the silk would be ruined.

It took Karin an hour and all five younger Hatake offspring piling on top and around her to finally calm down and fall into an exhausted sleep. Even then Shiroheki refrained from moving, he had decided that Karin was pack; you didn't leave pack vulnerable, not even if the situation was more than a bit uncomfortable.

The days after that mission Karin was especially clingy, she was never more than ten steps away from Shiroheki if she could help it and sought out physical contact with him, be it a touch on his hands when she handed over scrolls or a quick brush against his shoulder.

Shiroheki… actually didn't mind that much. And Karin WAS pack.

Concerning her trauma the silver haired preteen was glad that Karin spoke with Etsuko about first killings as well as an attack on her person like that. The two shinobi didn't actually do anything, for that she killed them too fast but the intent alone had left mental scars. Shiroheki just was relieved that he hadn't to deal with talking about this, he REALLY wasn't prepared for an emotional conversation with a preteen no matter how more social he had become in the last ten years.

Chapter 34

"You are new." the white or was it silver haired boy stated simply, his cold green eyes shining impassively.

ANBU Hawk just grunted and kept watching the young teenager in front of him, he couldn't be older than 13 at most but still the ANBU was tense, his instincts were screaming at him that the boy was a predator and a very real threat to him.

"Ah." he simply stated as calmly as possible.

Hawk knew that predators could smell and practically feel weakness so he was careful to keep his breath and heartbeat tightly controlled. The longer he stared at the boy the stronger became the niggling feeling that the face shape and shoulders were somewhat familiar but he couldn't tell where he had seen them.

Shiro kept staring at the newest prisoner for some moments before he wandered over to the sheet on the side of the cage, the scientist had thankfully the stupid habit to write down basic information about the prisoner as well for which experiments they were scheduled for to not double cross each other and reverse any effects or kill the person prematurely.

"Hhm, Konoha ANBU. How interesting," Shiro simply stated while his eyes returned to the man in front of him.

"What are you?" the prisoner asked bluntly, his ANBU career had destroyed his tact and he really wanted to know why all of his baser instincts were screaming at him.

"An experiment, just like you will be." Shiro stated simply without any emotion, this was a fact and there was no way to talk it pretty.

The imprisoned shinobi was stunned before his eyes turned calculating but he didn't say anything. Their staring match was interrupted by a scientist that walked down the corridor.

"You don't seem as pathetic as most of the idiots that get caught here, try to last at least a week then we will talk again." Shiro simply stated before he left, he had his siblings to take care of.

XXXXXXXXX

A week later he returned to the corridor to see an exhausted but conscious shinobi lying on the small cot.

"So you survived." Shiro stated calmly while he tested the air.

Shiroheki could smell the blood and the stress from the body in front of him but the human was holding himself together admirably, not many survived the first week in the facility, especially not with that kind of injuries.

"So it seems." the man answered sarcastically while he watched how the boy once more checked the sheet beside his prison.

"They are testing your body for a developing Kekkei Genkai and enhanced senses, you smell like canine, that's probably why you are here and not in the other facilities." Shiroheki deigned to explain after a few moments of silence.

"There are others?" Hawk asked, trying to calculate how much information he could glean of the predator in front of him.

The boy simply raised an eyebrow and seemed to weigh if he should answer to his straight out question.

"Dozens," Shiro stated finally, "And you are in mine… Taichi." Shiro's cold voice called through the room without suffix or an ounce of respect.

"Shiroheki-sama?" the scientist that just entered the prisoner corridor asked fearfully and bustled over.

He was one of the few that actually enjoyed experimenting on people that hadn't had an… unfortunate accident in the last few years. Said scientist was too much of a coward to move against anything Shiro said and this was the only reason why he hadn't been killed yet.

"This one is interesting. Feed him, heal him up a bit and keep him alive." Shiro's voice broke no argument while he turned and walked away.

"Of course Shiroheki-sama." the scientist murmured while his gaze was on the floor and he didn't dare to move until the silver white haired boy had vanished.

The ANBU operative gaped at the scene in front of him, had that child just… It seemed so; he would have to have a close eye on how the other scientists and guards reacted to the white haired boy and then find a way to use it to his advantage, maybe there was a way out of this nightmare.

Chapter 35

"What is he?" Shiroheki asked a few days later when Etsuko analyzed the data that Taichi had collected.

"We are not sure Shiroheki-sama… but it looks like one of his ancestors was part of a clan with a canine Kekkei Genkai and it resurfaced in him, that happens sometimes. In any case he doesn't carry the physical marks of any of the current canine blood lines we have in the databank but that doesn't have to mean anything."

Shiroheki nodded slowly. It had been interesting to learn how genetics worked in this word. Some traits could lay dormant for generations before they reactivated because of this or that trait the other parent passed onto his child.

The ninja that only gave HAWK as his identity was… he felt not unlike the few Shichiyou (Moon) Clan members that he had come across or were now at the outpost. Like distant kin. So it rankled Shiroheki that HAWK was imprisoned in the outpost, not that he would do anything foolish like free the Konoha nin and jeopardize his siblings safety. Orochimaru hated it when test subjects escaped, and let everyone feel it.

Still, Shiroheki couldn't resist. The next day he was back at HAWK's cell.

"Tell me about Konoha."

Chapter 36

The Snake Sannin was getting too dangerous.

Too uncontrollable for Shiroheki's taste, twice this month he had already changed the orders to a long standing experiment because he had become bored with it. And then there were those hushed whispers about an invasion in Konoha, Orochimaru's elite had been whispering about this for months now. Those idiots didn't seem to get that he could hear them if they didn't put up barrier seals, not that Shiroheki particularly cared about an invasion in Konoha. Still, if Orochimaru was playing around with the preposterous idea of invading the oldest and most powerful shinobi village in the Elemental Countries than how long would it take until his curiosity overtook and he had one of his siblings relocated to a main lab?

Shiroheki gritted his teeth while he sped through the trees in direction of his outpost. The silver haired nearly eleven year old was aware that he would have to find a way to relocate his pack sooner than he had hoped. Additionally there were now a lot more people that he considered as his property than only months before, including two women who were now carrying Shichiyou pups.

Shiroheki had learned about them through some unintentional eavesdropping. A feud with another shinobi clan had wiped out most of his mother's clan in a matter of weeks. Shiroheki did not have any real care about that but Orochimaru had felt it prudent to continue the Kekkei Genkai after the obvious success that Shiroheki was. With the rest of the clan gone with one or two exceptions it was Shiroheki's duty to take care of the pups.

It had been easy for the reincarnation to change the transfer papers so that the women would arrive in his own outpost instead of one of the crèches. Orochimaru didn't really care about his bred soldiers until they were of fighting age. It would hopefully give the reincarnation enough time to get them all out of Sound territory to somewhere which would be too high cost to attack for Orochimaru. Shiroheki was under no illusion about the consequences of abscondence, additionally hiding his siblings somewhere and remain undetected was futile. The Snake Sannin had more than the canine bloodline users as trackers and as much as it pained his pride, Shiroheki didn't think that he was strong enough right now to take down a shinobi of Orochimaru's caliber.

No, as much as it frustrated him he would need to seek out one of the bigger hidden villages for protection. It grated on his nerves, especially because he was well aware that he would have to submit in some way or form and accept a lower position in the ranking.

Konoha and Iwa were about the same distance away but if he had to choose he would take Konoha over Iwa any day. Not only was the climate more acceptable but their biological father also called it his home.

Hatake Kakashi was someone Shiroheki had a bit more than passing interest in. The reincarnated Inu Youkai was still on the fence of how to deal with the thought of a second father, a human at that. Though he had come used to his mortality, well he accepted it and all those effects his new body had on his personality, there was something inside him that wanted to stay the hell away from the man that had a claim on his honorable father's position.

But then Shiroheki had also accepted his human mother as his mother, so was it truly that different?

Chapter 37

Shiroheki was annoyed, another unneeded mission which took him further away from his siblings than he wanted. Orochimaru had ordered them to Ishigakure to oversee the construction of a new outpost and offer medical assistance to the newest ninja clan that had joined Sound.

His siblings were still so fragile and this time he couldn't even leave Karin behind, Orochimaru and his orders were becoming a problem more and more often.

Shiroheki had narrowed down the time of the Konoha invasion to sometime in the following months. Orochimaru's elite was put through accelerated training and from all the whispers around the underground halls about building shelters between Konoha and Sound as well as setting up a supply line. This invasion would be ideal time to leave, so maybe it was time to scout for travelling routes and gather up intelligence that could serve as entrance ticket for them. No matter into which village.

The silver haired boy was interrupted in his thoughts when the Jounin from the main hideout, a burly brown haired man in his thirties, started to sprout some Orochimaru's propaganda. Shiroheki hadn't bothered to remember his name; he was weaker than him and actually thought that he had the power to make him obey. On his other side Karin was clearly annoyed but at least she didn't let it show on her face. The red head had quite the explosive temper concerning those outside the pack and while she had started to curb it to conform to Shiroheki's expectations it still broke through now and then.