Thanks for sticking with the story! I hope you're enjoying it.
And now, continuing where we last left off...
o.O.o
On the morning of her first day of school, it occurs to her - rather suddenly - that in all of her eight years of life she has yet to see a single other character from the series that's not tied directly to, or is, her family.
The thought nudges at her, uncomfortably, coalescing into a tingling feeling of nervousness that clings to her skin as she goes about getting ready.
She'd never had reason to go with her mother to the Aburame clan compounds - as they are often to do, whether it be to speak of clan-issues or of the newest batch of genin teamed together - and especially not to the Hyuuga compounds, where a tense and strained...understanding, of sorts, is the only thing that binds them together.
(The Inuzuka and Hyuuga clans are hard pressed to get along with each other - the Inuzuka's finding the not-so-secret treatment and practical torture of the branch-family inhumane, while the Hyuuga's think of the Inuzuka's as second-rate animals that have no business among the villages honored clans - and the only reason the two clans bother with the other at all is that their genin are often teamed together to form tracker-units.)
There really is nothing to be scared of, she tries to console herself - going about in trying to brush her hair into some semblance of reasonability, tugging on a shirt crested with her clan's symbol and forcing herself into a pair of tight-fitting shorts sluggishly - because they are, after all, just children.
Like Kiba.
Like her.
(The thought brings her little comfort.)
Just beyond her bedroom door, littered with puppy-claw marks and writing-ink, she can hear the murmuring of her family, soft in the early morning.
It is hard to associate the word 'soft' with the word 'Inuzuka', but she can't think of anything else that fits. Soft in smiles, soft in heart, and soft in the early hours of the day.
She moves to her bed, crawls onto it to open the blinds on her window - carefully avoiding a sleeping Kiba, who snuck under her covers the night before - and takes a moment to look out at the seemingly-endless forest that makes up her backyard. In a previous life, she thinks quietly, she would have been very lucky to ever see such a view, let alone live with it. Just beyond the trees she sees a hint of what she knows to be one of the many packs of wolves that roam the Inuzuka compound run past.
She takes in a breath. Let's it out.
She would make it through the day, if for anything than out of pure stubbornness, and would push past her anxiousness to do what needs to be done.
She's made her decision.
Now she just needs to stay true to it.
Holding that thought tight in her chest, she crawls off the bed, toes clenching at the cold hardwood floor, - stopping briefly to tug the covers more firmly over her snoring brother - and makes her way to the kitchen.
The clans compounds, although large and filled to the brim with family, has a small area sectioned off just for them - the head of the family, Tsume, and her children. Although it's rather pointless, seeing as other Inuzuka's tend to come in whenever they please anyway, she finds that she likes it nonetheless.
The clans quarters weren't normal, in the traditional sense. The Uchiha compound has an entire district sectioned off and lined with rows upon rows of houses, - although that is entirely due to their prestige in the village, as well as the police force - while the Hyuuga's had several buildings filled to the brim with tiny, close-quartered rooms, and a separate, more fleshed out building closed off for the main family. Don't want to get mixed up with the trash of the branch-family, after all.
The Inuzuka compound, however, was made up of one large building split off into several different sections, with large, open-spaced rooms, as well as a few separate areas sectioned off for the kennels, veterinarians office, and research facilities. The Inuzuka children all roomed together, sleeping in large puppy-piles and sharing space - making it much easier to keep track of and protect them, while also teaching solidarity and strengthening the families bond. Their forest-filled backyard more than made up for the lack of buildings, and offered some of the best training fields Konoha had to offer. The Inuzuka were one - and they all shared.
"Hungry, Shippo-chan?" Hana's soft voice interrupts her thoughts and breaks through the silence.
Her sister is already ready for the day, hair pulled back into a ponytail and crisp outfit fitted comfortably.
Shippo nods her head - not up for talking just yet.
Taking her seat, she watches her mother - always quiet, somber, in the mornings - place her plate of grilled fish in front of her, taking the offered bowl of rice from her sister with a nod of thanks, and pours herself some miso soup, careful to avoid spill.
Kuromaru, eye closed and fur moving slowly with his breaths, does not stir underneath the table. In contrast, the Haimaru brothers were noisily eating, puppy-whines and tapping feet accompanying the sound of their chomping.
She can't help but to stretch her arms out, relishing in the popping feeling in her back, and pick a little at her food. Her mother and sister were both good cooks, surprisingly proficient despite their feral looks, but she still missed the food from before.
Sometimes - mainly in the late hours of the night, when dreams brought up loose cravings of before - she could still remember the syrupy sweet taste of pancakes, the sound of sizzling bacon, and the bitterness, followed by sweet cream, of a hot cup of coffee.
"So," Hana says conversationally, voice a low murmur, after Shippo had finished her soup and plucked a piece of toast from the pile on the table, "today's the big day, huh?"
Shippo smiles at her, uneasily, and nods her head in a sharp motion. Hana watches her with calculating eyes, an unreadable expression, their mother busy reading the news.
"Are you nervous?" Hana eventually asks, leaning her hand on her chin, and one of her ninken comes up to paw at her leg in hopes of extra food.
"Yeah," Shippo says, honestly, "but I think it'll be okay because Kiba will be there."
"That's the spirit!" Her sister smiles, cheery and bright, and carefully dumps a chunk of her fish on the floor when she's sure their mother isn't looking.
The pup devours it with a ferocity toeing the edge of wild, and Kuromaru opens one eye to stare at the ninken in blatant disgust.
"So," Hana continues, "I'm not going to be able to walk you two to school after today; I have my own team I need to attend to. Since today is only orientation you don't have to go back to school until next week. You should familiarize yourself with the path to schoon in the meantime..."
Hana stops here, takes a sip of her milk, and leans down to scoop the still whining pup in her arms, "you'll also be doing training with mom and I every morning, starting tomorrow. The clans Jujin Taijutsu fighting style needs to be learned from a young age after all…"
It's at this point, where Hana starts rattling off more information about the days ahead - mostly to herself - that Kiba stumbles out of her room sleepily, hair a mess and yawning widely.
Everything becomes much more loud after that, and Shippo has to quietly amend that although the word soft suits her mother and sister, it definitely doesn't apply to Kiba.
"I'm hungry," he whines, drool from his sleep still sticking to his chin, and she wrinkles her nose as he gropes for food sluggishly, "feed me already…"
Their mother snaps her paper down with a smack, and everyone at the table jumps.
"Is that any way to talk to your mother and sister, who went through the trouble of making you this food?" she growls out, and Shippo watches the way Kiba's expression morphs into fear with interest.
There was something very specifically terrifying about their mother that gave the Inuzuka children deep seated instincts on what not to do to arouse her anger. Kiba, for some reason, didn't seem to get those genetics.
"N-No ma," he says, inching back in his chair a bit, "t-thank you for this meal!"
Tsume stares him down for a long moment, he sweats nervously, before slowly turning her eyes to the clock.
"I need to be to the mission office in a bit," she says, and takes a moment to grin - making them all relax immediately - "so I'll be leaving Kuromaru with you for the day. Try not to get in trouble at school kiddo's, and let me know if anyone bothers you - I'll teach you how to beat them into submission!"
The three siblings nod and wave their mother out the door, Kiba and Hana bickering good-naturedly, and that's how the rest of the morning is spent. None of them say anything about the fact that Tsume only ever left Kuromaru with them when she was having a particularly bad day, or that her eyes had looked especially hollow that morning.
The war, she knows they're all thinking, the war.
It wasn't something Tsume ever talked about in great length. The war that took her genin teammates away.
It makes her stomach feel hollow, to know that something like that still affects her mother. Makes it even worse when she thinks about how this is merely the beginning of the things to come - and that they, her beloved children, will be caught up in the middle of it.
I know things, she wants to say, desperately, terrible things. I am the only one who can prevent this - who can do something to make it different.
But she knows better, and so she doesn't.
(The pit in her stomach only grows.)
She takes a breath in. Let's it out.
"Ah, we should get going," Hana says suddenly, darting around the table to grab each of their backpacks, "or we'll be late."
Kiba looks up from his food at that, mouth stuffed with fish, and makes a series of squawking noises that makes no sense.
"What?" she says, blankly, and he gives her an irritable stare before swallowing.
"We can't be late on the first day of school!" he reiterates, jumping from his chair and taking his brown backpack from Hana before darting off.
She watches him run to the genken and tug on his sandals, stopping momentarily to give them an impatient look, before pushing herself from her chair and taking her own chuunin-green bag with thanks.
"School isn't something kids should be excited about," she mutters under her breath, just barely dodging Hana's ninken when they burst out the door, but can't deny the tiny thread of adrenaline running through her veins.
She wasn't just going to school, after all. She was going to ninja school.
"Kiba-kun, don't run ahead! We need to stick together," Hana shouts, Kuromaru stretching out behind her, "Kiba-kun! Get back over here or so help me-"
Kiba, of course, ignores her, already ambling his way down the dirt pathway and behind a foliage of trees.
Hana makes a sharp whistle, and the Haimaru brothers - nipping at each others heels - turn to her, ears perked, before darting at Kiba and dragging him to the floor in a practiced, effortless motion. Kiba makes a series of growls, attempting to get back to his feet, but can't fight off their onslaught of tugging and nipping and resigns to his fate.
This is hardly the first time this has happened.
"Kiba-kun, I said stay close to me," Hana growls, hands on her hips, and with a sharp motion of her palm her ninken back off.
"Nee-chan you're no fun," Kiba whines, but trudges back to her nonetheless, metaphorical ears down.
Hana doesn't waste a minute, plucking Kiba from the ground and depositing him onto Kuromaru's back - who allows this with all the dignity a wolf-turned-horse can muster - before turning to eye her warily.
Shippo has never had problems running off before, but she is Kiba's twin.
Hana sighs, shakes her head, and Shippo is promptly put on Kuromaru's back as well. She tries not to feel miffed about it.
Kiba, situated behind her, snickers and she elbows him in the gut. He tugs on her hair. Hana gives them a warning look.
And that's how they begin their steady hike down the green mountain, Kiba chattering excitedly behind her as she tries not to dwell on what today could bring. What today means.
Today she'll be probably meeting a lot of...plot-important characters. She should play it safe, perhaps, should stick to the sidelines until she feels more confident about the fate of the universe - and in certain people's ability to protect it.
She wonders, briefly, what her universe is like right now, and feels a pang of heartache.
"Nee-chan," she says, hoping to keep herself away from bad thoughts, "when you were graduating did you know what type of team you would be placed on? Were you nervous?"
It's a simple and innocent question, and Hana turns to her with a smile as she puts her finger on her chin in a mock-thinking pose.
"Well," she says, "my first thought would be that I'd be put into a tracker unit - so an Aburame, Hyuuga, or Uchiha - because of my ninken."
"But?" she prompts, leaning forward to rest her head on Kuromaru's bobbing one, and Kiba's tiny hands latch onto the back of her shirt.
"But, I'm far more qualified as a medic-nin," she laughs, a small nervous thing, "so I honestly had no idea. The Haimaru brothers and I" - who were currently darting in and out of Hana's legs, nipping at each others tails - "were hoping to be put onto a battle-oriented team, for better use of our abilities."
She could easily see her sister going both ways, tracker unit or battle unit, if she thought on it for long enough. Hana had an advantage over a lot of other Inuzuka in that she currently held the most ninken in her care. A shinobi with such abilities like Hana shouldn't be squandered or wasted, and is much the debate among the clan. The last person who had ever been known to have so many ninken at once was one of their ancestors, Inuzuka Ashi, whom had a total of five.
Although it wasn't ever expressed to the younger of them, a lot of pressure was being pushed on Hana because of this - many in the clan believed she would lead them in the way that Ashi did, or that she was a gift that would bring good fortune.
Hana, in all of her 13 years of glory, did not seem to care much for what the clan thought and trained her ninken how she saw fit.
Having so many ninken did have drawbacks, though, and could prove to be deadly if not trained properly.
Teamwork was much harder, for one - having so many personalities and only one trainer could lead to fights or conflicting opinions, which could cause the ninken to become disobedient and cost potential lives in the field. Grooming and bonding was harder too, as each pup wanted the undivided attention of their trainer, and there was only so much time that could be spent on one pup before the others started getting jealous.
"I stressed over it for a long time, but it was all for nothing - I got put in the team I wanted anyway! I'm glad with my teammates and wouldn't trade them for anything. What about you, Shippo-chan?" Hana asks, walking backwards to talk to them more easier, "Today's your first day of school, so do you have a team in mind to train for?"
"No," Shippo laughs, a high-pitched nervous thing, not being entirely truthful.
She has had eight years to debate upon whether or not she would become involved in the upcoming conflict, and, if she did, whose team she would manipulate her way onto to further help it.
The most obvious choice, of course, would be Team 7 - the very center of it all. It would be much easier to force her way onto in comparison to the others, as the layout of the team was already set in stone.
The top boy and girl of the class, and then the deadlast. Simple. Calculated.
But the thought makes her skin crawl.
Uchiha Sasuke will be the cause of much grief in the future, and the idea of being on a team with someone who will become spastic and out of control makes her want to hide away and never come out. She's not sure how to approach the entirety of the situation, because there is no doubt that she can't do anything to prevent the upcoming tragedy.
She feels rotten thinking of it in such a cold manner, because this is no longer a book, but she's not sure how else to do so. Her body is only eight years old - she is only eight years old. It would be different if she was older, had been born earlier, but as it is - no one would listen to a word she had to say. There are no physical actions, measures, she could make, no words to force things into a peaceful resolve, and there is little else she can do besides sit on the sidelines and do damage control.
Perhaps she could head-off his feelings of revenge early - could take away some of his hatred, his pain.
It's all she can hope for.
Uzumaki Naruto, however, is another matter entirely because-
(She can still remember it.
The burning.
The screaming.
The pain.)
She knows, logically, that he is not the...fox, that he is just the container - but knowing and feeling are two different things. The state of the world hangs in the balance, and he is the deciding factor.
This world is centered around him.
The person that he is, that he will become, is a delicate thing. She is nervous, terrified, of messing that up.
She holds no stock in him - does not trust him to bring everything to a favorable resolve, not when her family's life hangs in the midst of it - but cannot deny how powerful he could - would - become.
Despite the eight heavy years she's had to mull things over, despite the time she still has left, she is wary. Cautious.
The idea of messing up, of making things worse, almost puts her off it all entirely.
It would be so simple to sit on the sidelines and watch.
But what then, if she were to give in to her fear completely; play it safe?
What could she possibly do on another team?
She feels her skin crawl, the heady sensation of anxious panic clogging her airways, and she buries her face in black fur.
She feels as if she is drowning in the weight of the future. As if there is no possible way out.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you like this? People like you have no place on this earth."
It was an accident. She hadn't meant what she'd done.
"We're here!" cheery and loud, overly-bright in comparison to the darkness of her eyelids, and she blinks as she looks up at her sister.
"Come one then, you two," Hana murmurs, fond, and before she can blink she's being placed on the smooth ground with a tap to her nose.
She looks up, around, and blinks slowly against the memories her previous life shares of the Academy. It looks almost exactly as she remembers. She can already see the hazy image of Naruto sitting lonesomely on a nearby trees swing, the rather outdated building standing out in sharp contrast with the transparent visage her mind projects. It is an old, paint-chipped building, appearing more run-down in comparison to the homes they passed on the way here.
She doesn't think the Academy has been updated in a long time. Money for such things is hard to come across, she supposes.
"I'll show you where your classes are, but only this once okay?" Hana says, placing her hands on their backs and guiding them forward, towards a set of large doors, "You're going to have to learn the hallways yourself. They're like a maze, for security purposes, but don't feel discouraged! I learned them fairly quick."
Kuromaru stays where he is, sitting, and shakes his head when Hana gives him an inquiring look.
"I'll stay here until classes are finished," he says, voice growly-rough, and Hana nods.
They continue their trek forward.
The Haimaru brothers dart ahead of them, puppy-whines and tapping claws following them, and Shippo is momentarily surprised at the low-lighting the entrance of the Academy provides.
"There aren't any maps or anything like that for this place," Hana continues, gently guiding them through twisting corridors, all poorly lit, "because the risk of them falling into ill hands is too dangerous, but you'll be spending the next four years here so you won't need them."
Shippo can't stop herself from turning her head in an attempt to peer around sharp corners, and spots more than one dead-end with her sharp eyes.
Being an Inuzuka has some benefits. She's sure her old adult body wouldn't stand a chance against her new, younger one.
"Hokage-sama will be holding a small ceremony to welcome all the new students," Hana murmurs, "so be sure to be good and pay attention. Remember that he is our leader who deserves our utmost respect."
"Hokage-sama," Kiba whispers, an awed inflection in his tone, and she can't help but turn to him in inquiry.
He flushes.
"Being Hokage means you're the strongest ninja in the village right?" he says, voice still low, - as if the dimmed lights somehow casts a serene feeling of silence upon them - "I think that's super cool...plus you have to do what Hokage-sama says, no matter what."
Hana chuckles under her breath, and they come to a stop before a large door.
"I have to go to my own team," she says, giving their heads a few fond rubs, "but I'll be waiting outside when you finish today. Have fun and be on your best behaviour!"
And just like that Hana turns on her heel and disappears behind a dark corner, leaving them silent and alone in the hallway. They both stare at each other for a long moment.
"You go first," Kiba says, and she rolls her eyes.
Another long moment of silence ensues.
"Fine," she mutters when he still doesn't budge, and pushes the door open with a creak.
She's almost immediately assaulted by the brightness of the room, and she is blinded momentarily as she blinks rapidly against the harshness of it.
She can hear an excited chattering of children beyond the light, the creaking slide of chairs against wood, and is surprised at how large the room is when it finally comes into focus.
Kiba creeps up behind her, hands clutching the back of her shirt and wrinkling it. They both simply stare at the spectacle of children before them, probably for different reasons.
This is the first time she has ever seen so many gathered into one place outside of her family's compounds, and she feels a bit baffled by it. Filling every niche and crevice of the room, children of all shapes and sizes shout and laugh as they run around, clinging to chairs and desks and each other as they each try to get their own voice heard above everyone else.
Turning her eyes towards the front of the room, she is not surprised to see two exhausted-looking chuunin trying desperately to cajole the children into some form of order.
She wants to pat them on the back for their efforts, but kind of finds their wide-eyed exasperation a little funny.
"This is awesome," Kiba whispers, awe-struck, and she elbows him when he looks as if he's going to make a break for a group of particularly rowdy children in the corner.
"Don't you dare," she hisses, not willing to be left alone in such foreign territory, and he huffs.
She takes her eyes off of him hesitantly - as if when she's not looking he'll say hoohah and run like Hana's ninken do when the words 'bath' and 'time' are uttered - peers around the classroom, and sighs in relief when she spots a few empty chairs towards the back, near the half-wall length windows.
She grabs onto Kiba's hand and drags him with her, which he allows with only a small grumble, and they both curl into the seats that are only slightly too big.
The chairs are hard and uncomfortable, reeking of the distinct scent of chemical cleaner and antibacterial soap, and her nose scrunches up as she hopes the rest of the year - or seven - won't be spent sitting in them.
Next to her, Kiba starts immediately chattering to a child sitting to their left, and she takes a moment to carefully survey the room. She thinks for a moment that she can see bright-blonde bright-orange child, but because of the excessive number of children in the room the fleeting image is quickly lost.
She shifts, uncomfortable, and tries to ignore the anxious beating of her heart, the sweat gathering on her palms.
The shouting in the room begins to slowly escalate, grating in vibrating tremulous tones on her sensitive ears, until one of the chuunin in the front bangs a desk with a loud, clattering noise.
All the children in the room settle, briefly, turning toward what disturbed their raucous fun.
"Settle down," one of them says, bearing the air of someone who is particularly ired, "Hokage-sama has something important to share with you all."
A sudden burst of chatter fills the room and she grimaces at the noisiness of it.
Job done, the shinobi's step back into their own respective corners of the room, looking pitifully relieved. She sees something shuffle out of the corner of her eye, and turns to watch Hokage-sama - Sarutobi - enter the room, puffing on a pipe. The children, who had perked up upon hearing of the Hokage, completely hush.
Next to her, Kiba grips her hand excitedly.
The Hokage looks exactly as she had expected him to.
"Welcome," the Hokage smiles, taking a long moment to look over the room, eyes kind "today is a big step in your lives. A step towards the path that you decide to take, a step towards becoming an adult, and a step towards protecting that which is precious to you."
The hairs on the back of her neck stand on end at his words. A bitter reminder of the choices she has to make; a step in more ways than one.
"Your time here will be hard," he continues, pipe-smoke filling the air, "you will be pushed both mentally and physically to the point of exhaustion to prepare you for the path you will take, and I am warning you now – there will be no shortcuts. If you wish to become a shinobi, and if you wish to protect both your village and your loved ones you will need to be hardworking and willing to sacrifice yourself, spending time on both your mind and your body to hone your abilities. So work hard, fight for what you believe in, and make your village proud."
He smiles down at them, and she curls backward into her seat more.
It was a short speech, a simple one, but it clearly had an effect on the children around her. She glanced around as she heard them start whispering amongst themselves, and next to her Kiba was beaming happily.
"That was so cool," Kiba told her, eyes shining, "Hokage-sama really is something isn't he?"
She nodded and watched the Hokage take his leave. Sarutobi Hiruzen was a good Hokage, a kind one. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his people, which Shippo had a great respect for.
But then she thinks of Danzo, and Itachi. Of the Uchiha Clan and all that would become of them.
Sometimes, she thinks quietly, kindness isn't enough.
o.O.o
After the assembly the children are released to the courtyard, where Shippo promptly beelines for Kuromaru - lounging beneath the shade of a tree, eyes closed - and collapses into his fur. She feels a little shaky, and rubs her face against his fluffy neck. The high energy of the children around her, coupled with her own wariness set for an uneasy anxiousness in the pit of her stomach.
"Shippo!" Kiba shouted somewhere behind her, and she peeked one eye out to look at him, "I found some kids to play Ninja with us!"
Behind him, standing somewhat awkwardly, were Sasuke and Naruto. She resists the urge to whimper.
"I made some paper stars before we left this morning," Kiba beams, and she didn't have the heart to deny his smile anything. She looks at the two behind him.
They are tiny, just that smallest inch shorter than Kiba, and - dare she say it - absolutely adorable. Naruto has this look on his face like he can't quite believe this is happening, and Sasuke has a tiny smile pulling his lips up as he peeks up at her shyly from beneath his lashes.
Oh Kiba, she thinks a little desperately, what have you gotten your poor sister into now.
Steeling herself, she clenches her hands and pushes off of Kuromaru.
"Even so," she says, far calmly then she felt, "playing with just four kids won't be a lot of fun."
Kiba lights up, nodding rapidly, and looks around for more unwitting victims in his game.
"I'll find some other kids," she says, needing a moment of reprieve from her own anxious heart, "why don't you all get to know each other?"
Not waiting for an answer, she turns on her heel and disappears within the crowd of children. She rubs the palms of her hands against her face, letting the coolness of them rest there for a moment, before she takes a deep breath.
She'd been anticipating this moment for years now. When she would finally meet the others, what changes she could accidentally incur. It feels as though the weight of the world is bearing down on her shoulders.
This world is tearing itself apart at the seams and only she knows. She can do nothing but watch events unfold, the cries of thousands swallowing her whole. What right does she, who knows everything and nothing at all, have to interfere?
But…
Naruto had looked so - desperate and hopeful. He has been alone for so long; too long, for someone so young.
They are all children.
"Are-are you okay?" someone says to her, and she blinks her eyes open.
She looks to the side and Hyuuga Hinata is staring right back at her.
"I'm," she says, mouth dry, and clears her throat, "I'm fine."
She isn't fine. She isn't fine at all.
Hinata averts her eyes to the side, face flushed, "O-oh, you looked, um, you looked upset so I was just wondering…"
She trails off, awkwardly, and Shippo has an urge to hug and pat her head.
"Hi-uh, H-hey," she says, cringing at her own awkwardness, "my brother and I were just looking for some more kids to play Ninja with us. Want to join?"
Hinata's eyes widen, her face flushing deeper, and she glances around somewhat nervously. Shippo's heart melts a little.
"Re-Really?" she asks, hopeful and quiet.
Shippo nods, taking Hinata's hand.
"The rest of the kids are just this way," she tells her, pulling the other girl gently along.
"Um, only if it's okay," Hinata says, all quiet and red and clutching back at Shippo's hand with a tightness that belies her shyness.
Shippo smiles, feeling a little more at ease than she had mere moments ago.
"Of course it is."
o.O.o
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