Hello everyone! I wanna thank... *checks the name again* XxcandichanxX for liking the first chapter! Yes, I have to agree that Oretzi is kawaii. She's like a combination of a puppy and a kitty cat... Wow, I just imagined her giving me the Puss in Boots look. You know the one, right? The one with the wide eyes that makes you go aww? Yeah, that one. Anyway, disclaimer: I do not own any characters except for the ones you don't recognize. At the moment, that'll be Kazama Oretzi. Onward with the show!
Chapter 2
"Hokage-sama, thank you kindly for taking the time to see us once again," Matron Kin says with a bow. "Have you made your decision?"
The girl looks at the elderly man, her eyes solemnly serious. What eyes to find on a young one not even nine years old. Has her time with the wolves age her beyond her years or is it because she is half wolf that she is like a strange combination of a child and a woman in her later years?
"I have already decided to accept young Kazama into our village," he says, looking directly at the young girl in question. "However, due to a complicated problem I was unable-," he starts before being interrupted.
"To get you accepted into any apartment outside the Inuzuka clan," Tsume says as she walks into the office. The two visitors turn to look at her while the Hokage smiles at her, realizing exactly what she is here for. "Looks like you're stuck with my family, kid."
"You mean it?" the girl asks, just barely managing to hold back her excitement. It was to Sarutobi's amusement that he realized that he was seeing a twinge of movement from under the girl's trench coat. It was apparent that her excitement was determined to come out, one way or another.
"Yep. It'd be my honor to accept you into my family, Oretzi-chan." The girl jumps out of the chair with a cheer and she hugs Tsume. Startled but pleased by her reaction the mother of two ruffles the girl's wild hair, looking at Sarutobi with a smirk. "Looks like I'm responsible for three now," she comments to him.
"Indeed," he chuckles before casually glancing at the matron. At one hand she looks pleased that the child has been accepted into the village and yet at the other she looks worried. About what he doesn't know and has that sinking feeling that there is something else lurking about. "I suppose we best get the adoption papers ready for you to sign," he directs to Tsume.
"So it would," Tsume looks down at the girl. "Do you wish to take my clan's name?"
"Can I?"
"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want you to have it," she tells the girl. She gets a happy squeal and with a wince she takes that as a yes. "Inuzuka Oretzi," she says out loud to try it. Or-eh-tee, not a bad name despite the fact that she has no idea what it means. "Has a ring to it, don't you think so?" she questions the Hokage.
"Certainly does," he agrees, his eyes darting down to the girl currently clinging to Tsume. It was amusing that the eight year old girl was perhaps seven inches shy of the woman's height and yet behaving like she was more than half her height. Tsume will not be pleased that her new found daughter will be taller than her - much like Hana. Oh he will love to see that discovery when Oretzi gets older.
"Kuromaru," Tsume starts when she notices what the Hokage was subtly telling her, "please take Oretzi-chan out to a park or some place."
"Why not the compound?"
"I rather introduce her to the children before they happen upon her," was Tsume's only answer. Kuromaru nods his head before jerking his head to the door, signaling for Oretzi to follow. She quickly releases Tsume and practically skips out of the office with Kuromaru right by her side. "She's certainly energetic," she comments when she sees the exasperated look on her companion's face just before he leaves.
"So, where's that paperwork?" she questions before she notices a tired look on the Hokage's face. "What else is there for me to know?" she asks, taking a seat in front of him, keeping the Matron to her right.
~Kazama~
Kuromaru sits near one of the benches, next to the girl who was looking at him expectantly. He endures the stare for as long as he could before finally sighing. "Why will not you play with the other children?"
"Matron never let me," Oretzi answers. "I can hurt people easily," she explains as if it was a matter of a fact.
"Just how strong are you?" he questions. He gets a halfhearted shrug. He sighs as he drops his head half an inch. "Do you even want to play?"
"Of course!" Oretzi pouts at him. "I'm a puppy, Kuromaru!"
"Somehow I get the impression you would still play even after you grow out of your puppyhood," Kuromaru comments drily, getting a giggle from the girl. He scans the children playing in the park before locating a pink haired girl with green eyes and a blonde girl with blue eyes. "How about you play with them?" he questions, jerking his head in their direction.
Oretzi looks in the direction he indicated before looking at him. "Huh?"
"You know… play?"
"I know how to play!"
Kuromaru looks at her oddly, suddenly remembering that the girl grew up for five years with wolf demons. And apparently the Matron never allowed her to play with the other children before. What if her definition of play is different from others? "Have you ever played with other children?" He gets a firm headshake that indicated no so he sighs. So maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. "I have half the mind to let you play with a litter of puppies," he mutters as he stands.
"There's puppies?" the girl asks as she scrambles to her feet, her eyes eager.
"You know puppies better than you do children," he comments as he leads her past the girls he had pointed out earlier.
"Wow," he hears the pink haired girl say, "she looks like Kiba-kun."
"Do you think she's from the Inuzuka clan?" the blonde asks her friend.
"Maybe?"
He thinks over their conversation as he pauses, his head turning to look at Oretzi. She does look like Kiba, despite her only connection to Hana and Kiba is their father. She could easily pass as Tsume's daughter with their wild hair. He hasn't had a good chance to look at her canines but from what he can see she even has the elongated nails common among the Inuzuka clan members. Her eyes, however, are like Hana, lacking in the slits that can be found in most of the other members. It is like she is a curious blend of Hana and Kiba when it comes to her appearance. "You sure you do not want to play?"
"I want to, Kuromaru, but I'll just hurt them…" Oretzi had followed his gaze to the girls again and jerked her face away when she realizes that they're looking back. Kuromaru couldn't help but be amused that she is shy. So he walks around and butts his head against the girl, forcing her to walk towards the two girls. "Kuromaru, no!" Oretzi protests but with one last push she falls onto her knees in front of the two girls with a vivid blush on her tanned face.
"Hi," the pink haired girl says shyly, waving at the young Oretzi - partially hidden by the blue eyed blonde.
"I'm Yamanaka Ino and this is my friend, Haruno Sakura," the blonde introduces themselves.
"I'm Ka-," Oretzi starts before getting nudged by Kuromaru. She looks at him in confusion.
"Not anymore," he says as a way of explaining when he notices that his one eyed look wasn't coming across properly.
"What?"
He sighs and shakes his head. "Inuzuka," he tells the girl.
"Oh!" Oretzi exclaims as she thumps her fist into her open palm. "Right. I'm Inuzuka Oretzi!" She smiles shyly at the girls, ducking her head as she lace her fingers together in a stubborn effort to keep from instinctively reaching for her tail. Matron Kin had told her to hide her tail but she never said why.
"Oretzi?" Ino mutters, the name coming out as 'Oh-reh-tee', to the girl's horror.
"No," she shakes her head, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. "Or-eh-tee," the girl repeats slowly.
"Or-eh-tee?" Sakura tries this time. She gets a huge wide grin and it is then they get their first glimpse of the girl's elongated canines. Not even Kiba had fangs like hers!
As if sensing their discomfort Oretzi ducks her head down and mumbles an apology, her black boots scuffing the dirt. Ino was the first one to react by pulling the taller girl into a hug. Oretzi, unused to touch in general when she doesn't initiate it, freezes up. Ino pulls away, her hands on the girl's shoulder, and she eyes her for a long moment. "You're going to be like Sakura-chan, ne?" the blonde questions the brunette.
"I don't understand," Oretzi tells her, her head tilted to the side just slightly in a manner that reminds the blonde of a dog.
"Don't worry about it, Oretzi-chan," Ino waves off the question but once again mispronounced the girl's name. She makes to walk back to their game but stopped at the strange whine she heard from the brunette. "Is something wrong Oretzi-chan?"
"My name, you're saying it wrong," the girl pouts in a manner that is strangely like a puppy dog pout.
"Is it really that bad?"
"It has a different meaning when you say it like that."
"Really?" Sakura says in surprise. She couldn't remember ever encountering the name before.
"Yah-huh. It's unique to my pack," Oretzi tells them. "Mama named me as Oretzi, her little savior."
"But if you say it as 'oh-reh-tee'…?"
"It means destroyer," she informs them grimly. Ino's eyes go wide in shock as Sakura turns to her.
"You need to learn how to say it right!" Sakura exclaims loudly and Ino starts practicing, mangling the name even more with every repetition if that was possible.
Nearby sat Kuromaru, amused and concerned by the scene. Amused because the pup has the two girls practicing to pronounce her rather odd and interesting name. Concerned because the pup's mother is a demon, a full blooded one. All demons know that there are meanings behind names so for the child to have such an important name with two different meanings - pronunciations be damned - he knew that something must be up.
He'll have to get Tsume to check what the abilities of the Hokou are. Because if the Hokou could predict the future then they need to dedicate as much time as possible to teach the girl everything she might need to save the world - and hopefully not destroy it.
"Pup," he calls out to the girl, "I believe that your name is currently out of Ino-chan's ability to pronounce." The girl pouts and whines, getting dual coos from the two girls that has her blushing. "Do you have any other name that they can use?"
"Maybe my last name?"
"You don't call friends by their last name!" Ino exclaims loudly with Sakura timidly nodding her head next to the blonde.
"What about my old one?"
"Nope!"
Oretzi stares blankly at the girls before looking at Kuromaru. "I don't have a nickname! Stalks the Night always called me Pup or Oretzi if she's mad at me!"
"Puppy-chan?" Ino tries, considering it as it rolls off her tongue.
"No, not puppy-chan!" Oretzi whines but unfortunately it was too late. Ino had found a name for the wild girl.
"C'mon, puppy-chan! We're playing House."
"House?" Oretzi forgot about the horrible nickname as she wonders closer to the girls, curious. Eventually, after getting the concept explained to her she was labeled as 'father' and Ino was the 'mother'. Sakura, for some reason Oretzi couldn't fathom, was to be their 'daughter'.
By this point Kuromaru was laughing, loudly and Oretzi kept scowling at the wolfish-dog.
~Kazama~
When Tsume finally arrives in search for Kuromaru and Oretzi she happened onto the scene where Ino, Sakura, and Oretzi are still playing house and Kuromaru is supporting a bump on his head. She questions him about that but gets the silent treatment. Unable to get anything out of him she redirects her attention to the children. She watches Oretzi's interaction with Ino and Sakura, amused by the child's shyness when Ino becomes affectionate towards her.
"Oretzi-chan," she calls out to the girl when she notes that the pink haired girl is feigning sleep.
"Okaa-san," Oretzi greets cheerfully, bounding over to her to hug her. Tsume smiles fondly at her, ruffling the wild hair. She wasn't expecting to be called that title any time soon but found that she liked it.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yah-huh. Ino-chan and Sakura-chan are nice," the girl says cheerfully. Tsume was relieved that the girl had fun.
"Maybe we can arrange for another day for you to play."
"Aw, we have to go?" Tsume was given the full puppy dog pout and she nearly gave in. Until she remembered why she couldn't.
"I thought you might want to meet your Aneki and Aniki." She thinks back to the scroll and approximate age and realized that her son is actually younger than Oretzi. "Er, I mean Otouto."
"Aneki and Aniki?"
She didn't catch the flash of confusion at the words. "No, Aneki and Otouto."
The girl looks confusedly at the wild woman. She looks at Ino and Sakura who have wandered closer to them. "Do you know what an aneki, aniki, and otouto is?" she asks them.
Ino giggles into her hands while Sakura smiles at the clueless brunette. "It's not a what, it's a 'who'," Sakura tells her. "They mean big sister, big brother, and little brother."
"Oooh… Like how okaa-san means mother?" she asks the brilliant girl.
"Hai. Like how I called you otou-san and Ino okaa-san," Sakura explains.
"That makes sense," Oretzi mutters.
Kuromaru and Tsume were amused by the conversation and at the same time Tsume couldn't help but wonder just what is her daughter's level of skill with their language?
"Hey, puppy-chan," Ino suddenly says, looking seriously at Oretzi - prompting another whine from the girl. "Can I call you ane-chan?"
"Ane-chan?" It sounded like aneki but without the 'ki' part.
"Same meaning as aneki," Sakura supplies, looking at her friend in confusion.
"Oh… why?" she directs the question at Ino. Tsume, by this point has chosen to just sit herself and watch this interaction play itself out. Out of the corner of her eye she can see Inoichi and Kizashi approaching them and realizes that they are probably intending to pick up their children.
"Because! You're older than us!" Ino says like it is the most obvious thing in the world. "You can be our big sister! Our ane-chan!"
"You promise not to use puppy-chan ever again?" Oretzi asks warily, hoping to never hear that nickname again.
"Aw but I liked using it. I was gonna call you puppy-ane."
"Puppy big sister?" Oretzi and Sakura asks her with incredibility
"It could use some work," Ino admits. They nod their heads in agreement at that. "Please puppy-chan?"
Oretzi shudders at the nickname. "Okay," she sighs, giving in. "But no one else but you two," she points a mock stern finger at them in imitation of Ino's father. Not that she ever met him. Ino had told her to do that when she wants to get a point across while they were playing House. "I don't want anyone else to call me puppy-chan. So call me ane-chan around everyone else." She gives Ino a look, "Please get my name right one day Ino-chan."
"Hai, ane-chan," Ino giggles before hugging the taller girl. Sakura giggles and hugs them both.
Sensing the end of that amusing conversation the three parents step forward to retrieve their kids. "Time to go, Oretzi-chan," Tsume says as she ruffles the girl's hair. "Say goodbye to your sisters."
"Bye Ino-chan, Sakura-chan," she tells them, hugging them both individually and left them with a kiss on the forehead.
"Bye Ane-chan!" they call out in chorus before running away with giggles.
Tsume takes Oretzi's hand and Kuromaru walks on the other side, effectively shielding the girl from the people. Instincts drove them to protect the young. "Did you have fun?" Tsume asks Oretzi.
"Hai! Ino-chan is really fun! But she's really bossy too. She says that all okaa-sans act like that but I think it's just her," she rambles. "But then again Stalks the Night was really strict. She liked her rules and order." She falls silent as she consider this.
"What about Sakura-chan?" Tsume prompts.
"Saku-chan is really shy," Oretzi exclaims as she reaches over to touch Kuromaru's fur, running over along his back. "Ino-chan told me that she was bullied before they became friends." At that information a growl radiates from the trio, the loudest not coming from Kuromaru but from the new addition to their Clan.
Tsume quickly kneels and turns Oretzi to her. She wanted to tell the girl to be careful about how much of her inner beast gets out but instead she gets her first glimpse of the possible doujutsu mentioned in the scroll when she sees the pair of glowing golden eyes. She kneels there, caught in an illusion of slightly younger Sakura crying alone, shunned and bullied because of her large forehead. It became worse when she attempted to hide her forehead behind her bangs until Ino intervened with a red ribbon. Her heart almost broke at the wrenching sobs, the loneliness radiating from the girl.
Until she is bumped by Kuromaru and her eyes finally leaves Oretzi. The scent filling her nose alerts her to the fact that it is her companion and she curls her fingers in his fur. She touches her cheek and it came away wet. Startled she looks at her hand to find that it is wet with tears. "What happened?" she questions softly, confused.
"I'm sorry okaa-san!" Oretzi throws her arms around Tsume's neck. "Matron Kin told me to never look people in the eyes. That I can make them lose their senses!"
Tsume blinks her eyes before looking at the puzzled ninken. "Come, we best get back to the compound. This is not for the public to know," she finally says as she pries the girl from her neck. She offers her hand to Oretzi in show of no hard feelings. However, she made a note to speak with the Hokage regarding the fact that the suspected doujutsu might have something to do with illusions. She didn't need to look at her daughter's eyes to know that they have returned to their dark brown color. The only thing that she can think of that is remotely similar is the Sharingan with its ability to cast extremely strong genjutsu and create a world within the victim's mind - the Tsukuyomi if she recalls it right.
If Oretzi could develop the doujutsu to whichever path it will go into she may prove useful to the Torture Squad or even the Anbu. She was not pleased with that thought. She would rather have Oretzi developing her skills as a possible hunter than joining something like the Torture squad or the Anbu. She has seen what happened to those who spend their lives torturing people for information, getting tortured. All that blood on them damages them in the end, distorts their sense of being.
She looks at the eight year old and somehow could see her nearly twenty years old. Her eyes blank as she stares at her, old blood and death staining the brunette's hands. How is it any worse than being a typical Shinobi? No, she could not direct the girl down to a different path if she ever choses to serve her village under Ibiki's guidance.
"Okaa-san?" the girl's voice snaps Tsume out of her thoughts. "Who are my aneki and otouto?"
"Your aneki is my daughter, Inuzuka Hana. She's four years older than you and your otouto-kun. She has the Haimaru Sankyodai as her companions," Tsume explains.
"Haimaru Sankyodai?"
"They are triplets. The name quite literally translates into The Three Grey Full Circle Brothers," Kuromaru explains.
"Oh…" the girl mutters something that has Tsume and Kuromaru staring at her blankly. "Uh… Stalks the Night told me once that pups that look exactly like one another are good luck."
"… How did you learn our language, Oretzi-chan?" Tsume finally asks, curious.
"Stalks the Night knew some words. I learned what food, water, eat, sleep meant long before I joined the orphanage. She also taught me some manners." Oretzi rubs her neck with a sheepish look. "I keep forgetting them though. Wolves have no need for manners. We are what we are." She tilts her head as she thinks about the pack. "Matron Kin had to put me alone a lot because I keep forgetting my manners." She didn't notice the spike of aggressiveness from Tsume but she did notice Kuromaru's hackles rising. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asks, running a smoothing hand over the black and grey tone dog.
"Do not worry," is his only reply, causing her to frown at him. She could sense his anger but after scratching at the spot behind his ear she drops the subject and looks down at the ground.
Tsume was going to let the pup stay quiet until she recalls that there was two parts to her question. "Your otouto," she starts, catching her newfound daughter's attention once again, "is my son, Inuzuka Kiba. He's actually only a few months younger than you. He has Akamaru has his companion."
The group were silent for the rest of the trip and Oretzi looked up only when Tsume stops. When she sees the Inuzuka clan mark she reaches instinctively for the necklace in her pocket only to realize that she had given it to the Hokage. She frowns briefly before something dangles in front of her.
Her eyes take a second to focus on it but she almost instantly recognizes it as the necklace her father left her. "Looking for this?" Tsume teases her before giving it over. "Sarutobi-sama gave it to me when he realized he still had it."
"Thank you, okaa-san." She smiles as she slips the necklace into her pocket.
"Why do not you wear it?" Kuromaru questions, finally speaks up.
"Matron Kin said I have to earn the right to wear it." Kuromaru bared his fangs briefly in anger at the elderly woman, wishing she was nearby so he can do something to her for her idiocy. She has limited the pup a great deal with the 'do' and 'do not'.
Tsume is right beside him with that line of thinking so she crouches down to look Oretzi in the eye. "You are no longer under Matron Kin's responsibility. Her rules do not apply here." She could see the hesitation in the girl despite her words. "You may wear the pendant," she tells her, "And I wish for you to wear the Inuzuka markings." She gestures to the red fang-like markings on her own face.
"Really?" the excitement in Oretzi's voice could not be hidden and Kuromaru, standing behind her, could see the subtle movement under the trench coat.
"You are part of my clan now, Oretzi-chan. That means you will be raised like you were never born outside our compound," she smiles at her as the girl starts to bounce in place. Kuromaru is amused as the movement under the coat becomes just a bit more pronounced. "Now, let's go and meet your kyoudai," Tsume exclaims as she throws open the doors to the compound.
"Kyoudai?"
"Your older sister and younger brother," Kuromaru explains before he bounds through the doors, leaving Tsume and Oretzi.
"…Okaa-san?"
"Hai?"
"Aneki and Otouto… they'll accept me… won't they?" Tsume looks at her in surprise. She hadn't expected to meet an insecure side of the girl.
"Your aneki will hit your otouto if he misbehaves," she tells the girl, not mentioning that Kiba misbehaves quite a lot. "But they will both accept you. Just give them time if they don't outwardly show it."
"Hai okaa-san." But it didn't change the quiet reservation that the girl has now fallen into. Tsume simply rests a hand at her back, right between the shoulder blades, and gently leads her into the compound.
~Kazama~
Tsume leads Oretzi into the living room, motioning for her to take a seat on one of the couches and wait for her. Oretzi looks around nervously, her eyes wide as she studies her surroundings. The living room is simple but quite comfortable. The space is furnished with a couch, a loveseat, and a recliner - all of which pressed up against the walls. There is a simple coffee table loaded with books. She picks up one of the books and squints at the title. She couldn't read anything it said but she could tell by the dog eared pages and the underlined sentences that it's well read. She puts the book in her lap, flipping through the pages. She found illustrations of dogs and when she looks closely she sees the bones. Several other illustrations showed organs and such. There was also a page on different breeds.
She was so intent on studying the images that she missed the fact that someone walked into the room until she felt someone standing just a bit to her right, from behind. Looking up from the book caused her to realize that there is an older girl standing at the entrance into the room.
Her long dark brown hair, somehow straightened, were trying to escape the cruel confinement of the low ponytail she had wrangled it into. Her dark brown eyes eerily similar to the dark brown eyes her okaa-san has but she doesn't have the same slits as her. She even has the same red fang marking on her cheeks. Oretzi realizes that whoever this person is, she is part of the Inuzuka clan too.
"Who are you?" the older girl questions, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Oretzi's eyes widen in alarm and she scurries away from the couch, her back rigid as she moves away from the girl. Startled the other girl doesn't move from the entrance, having not expected such a reaction from the smaller girl.
"Hana, don't you dare scare her!" they hear Tsume holler from some part of the main house. Oretzi looks towards the sound, past the older girl, before ducking her head, her bangs covering her face.
Hana, the older girl, studies the smaller girl. She had the appearance of an Inuzuka, with her wild brown hair, elongated nails. She didn't see her canines yet but she can already tell that the girl doesn't have the typical slits in her eyes, much like herself. She compares the girl's wild hair to her brother's and nearly had a laugh as she realizes that the girl's hair trumps his. In fact, it was honestly close to the hairstyle her own mother supports - not that it is really a style.
She looks down when she feels someone brush past her legs and sees it is Kuromaru. The black ninken walks over to the girl and hops onto the couch to lay his large head in her lap, nearly dwarfing her legs.
"Hello, Kuromaru," Hana greets the ninken. Once she has his attention she raise an eyebrow at him in silent question of what is going on. He just turns his head away from her and nudge the girl's hand, getting an immediate neck scratch.
"Hana-chan, do you know what okaa-chan wanted us for?" she hears her brother asks, with an accompanying questioning bark from Akamaru.
"No clue, otouto-kun," she tells him, affectionately rubbing Akamaru's head.
"Well, c'mon. She said to go to the living room. Don't know why you're standing outside the room like an idiot," he says as he moves to get pass her. She tries to stop him but the stunned look on his face tells her that she didn't succeed and she steps back to let this play out. "Who are you!" he cries in outrage, causing the girl in the living room to try and scramble back. Hana and Kiba stare at the scared girl, unsure how to take her reaction but Kuromaru gave them a one eyed glare that has them ducking their heads in union.
"Kuromaru!" she whines at the large dog, trying to wiggle her way out from underneath him. Except Kuromaru's heavy weight had quite effectively pinned her down.
"They are your kyoudai, pup," he states calmly.
"But-but," she stutters.
"No buts," he tells her.
"He doesn't want me here, Kuromaru," she whines softly.
"Has he said those words?"
"It was in his tone of voice!"
The two of them begin squabbling over that while Hana and Kiba's mother come up from behind him. She immediately grips them by the back of their necks, causing them to yelp loudly. "What do you think you're doing, scaring your sister!" she demands of them as she marches them into the room and forcing them to sit on the couch opposite of Oretzi and Kuromaru.
~Kazama~
Whoo. Lots of Japanese words flying around here *is wearing a metal strainer for a helmet* I think I translated as I was going but if you need me to clear up any confusion lemme know. Also, I'm not an avid speaker so most of my knowledge comes from the internet. So any mistakes? *points at the websites* Not my fault if they're faulty. Anyway, lemme know what ya'll think!