Eye of the Tiger
Warnings: Mild language
Gorudo had never been one to take challengers lightly, so when he was suddenly surrounded by four shinobi in white masks who were focusing their killing intent on him he was incensed. How dare these cretins even attempt to threaten me, he thought enraged, they should be cowering before me. The large tiger flattened his ears back and bared his teeth as he crouched down in preparation to pounce and tear out their throats.
"If you truly intended to threaten a king then I hope you are prepared for the consequences." He growled out, giving the challengers one chance to back down and beg for forgiveness. After seeing that none of them stood back and lowered themselves to the ground the orange tiger let out a bellowing roar and then felt a presence behind him appear from the window, marking the appearance of traveling party.
When Dog arrived carrying Hayami with Shiruba at his side about 30 seconds after Gorudo he mentally facepalmed, not believing the situation that had occurred during his brief absence. The orange feline had wanted to check ahead of time to make sure there were no traps awaiting Hayami and ran off, ignoring Dog's protests. The ANBU captain was unable to go as fast as the feline while carrying the young girl in his arms and so he had hoped nothing too drastic would happen in the few seconds which he wouldn't be present, but of course something had to go wrong. Dog realized he had to do damage control before the situation got even more out of hand.
"Yo, I see you guys met Gorudo-san." The white haired shinobi spoke to his fellow ANBU. Seeing the relaxed stance which their captain was in caused them to momentarily pause, especially after they noted another large white tiger beside their comrade. "He's one the summons of Hayami of the Ryoshi clan." Dog spoke while he gestured to the girl still sleeping in his arm. Then focusing his attention on the large orange cat.
"This is why I told you not to wander off Gorudo. Obviously they aren't going to take a large cat jumping through the window lightly." Dog lightly scolded to the orange tiger while trying not to set off the already enraged tiger more.
"Watch your mouth boy." Gorudo spit out. "How dare you speak to me so commonly? Show respect to your betters." The male tiger was already livid at these mortals attempts to strike terror in him. How dare they believe that they could get away with such a thing, he would have their lives in compensation for their indiscretions.
"I demand their lives in retribution for the insults they have shown towards me." Gorudo roared out, so loudly it seemed to shake the room. Perhaps he would take Dog's too, for the ninja had been eating away at his nerves, only being allowed to live up to this point because of his mistress' wishes.
At that remark the four ANBU that surrounded Gorudo readied themselves to fight, each ANBU either drew kunai or prepared themselves to form hand seals.
"Stand down." Commanded the Sandaime, who had been silent up to this point, observing the situation as unfolded. He had just sent out the fifth ANBU who had appeared into the room to send for the Jounin commander, for Hiruzen felt he would need the man's advice in order to help facilitate the rest of the night in a more smooth manner.
At the command of their Hokage the ANBU instantly froze and backed away from the tiger, kneeling down towards their Hokage. The orange tiger observed the display, paying close attention to the old man who was trying to end his fun.
"I didn't realize that you all humans were a bunch of cowards, I will be sure to rip out your spines so you shall all die the invertebrates you truly are." Gorudo hissed out, his instincts still yelling at him to tear the ANBU to shreds in order to end any future confrontations.
It was at this point that Shikaku Nara strolled into the room, the hostility so thick in the air it was almost tangible. He had just been about to leave his office to head home and catch a few hours of sleep when the Monkey ANBU had appeared before him and told him that his presence was requested in the Hokage's office immediately. The tone which Monkey used made Shikaku wonder what type of urgent situation would have Sarutobi call for him at this, and boy what a situation it was.
He saw Dog holding a small girl who was clutching at a pug in one arm, with a white tiger at his side, and an orange tiger growling at the other ANBU and the Hokage, though the old man didn't seem to worried as he was still sitting in his seat behind his desk. This is going to be troublesome, Shikaku thought to himself.
As Dog was wondering what he could do in order to calm the orange tiger down without it coming to blows he felt the small child in his arms begin to rouse, opening her liquid gold eyes which sleepily scanned over the room before landing on her bondmate.
"Goru-kun," The girl quietly mumbled, gaining the intention of the whole room. She released Pakkun who had been in her arms the whole trip, allowing the pug to soundlessly vanish. She tugged on Dog's vest for him to put her down, and after he did she walked right up to the angered tiger, before stopping directly in front of him, staring him in the eyes, gold meeting gold. She reached one of her hands up to the back of the tiger's neck, and began to rub it.
Shikaku watched the on in interest, after already hypothesizing what events took place in order for this to be occurring. He had to admit that he was a bit impressed with the little girl, who, while barely reaching the shoulders of the tiger, refused to break eye contact. The Nara watched as the previously infuriated tiger bowed his head down to the girl, causing his eyes to open the slightest bit at the power this girl seemed to hold over the summons. Most summoners would have had to forcefully withdraw their contracted summons because if the creature didn't wish to do as they were commanded then they would ignore it.
Then all the pieces clicked in Shikaku's head. He had already known that she was of the Ryoshi clan, for he already knew in advance what Dog's mission was. The Jounin commander had then come to the conclusion that this little girl was the only survivor of the clan, but now he realized just who she was; the young rumored clan heiress who had been able to instinctively summon since she was less than a year old.
"Gorudo, the shinobi were simply doing their job of protecting their leader, much like you protect me." She whispered into her bondmate's ear soothingly, still petting the back of his neck. "You would not fault them for doing what you would do had you been in their place protecting me, right?"
The large tiger lowered his head further in resignation to his mistress knowing that she was right. Then he scanned his mistress over slightly and noticed that she was a bit wobbly from awakening too early, so he laid down beside her, and nudged her with his head. She smiled at him in thanks and leaned gently against his large head. A few moments later Gorudo ended up supporting most of her weight as she could now hardly stand. She wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer at this rate.
Shiruba had also noticed her summoner was struggling with staying conscious, so she walked up till she was beside the young girl and then bowed before her.
"Hayami-sama, we are in a safe place now so please send me back." Shiruba gently pleaded with the girl. "You will have to remain awake a bit longer so you will need to retain all the energy you can."
The golden eyed girl knew that the white tiger was right, but it felt weird to have to send the white feline back to her realm after being by her side for the past 5 months. She reached out to place her hand gently on Shiruba's cheek and stroked her gently while smiling. The female tiger's eyes softened and then she vanished.
Now that Hayami was a bit more awake she made a full observation of the room. She noted seven humans other than herself in the room, consisting of Dog, the four other ANBU, the Hokage and the black haired stranger who had ended up placing himself near the Sandaime in a slightly relaxed stance. Even though she was young and tired she was now the last member of the Ryoshi clan, the last clan heiress, and she had a role to play. Actually she supposed that she's now the clan leader, though could one really be called a clan leader with just one member? Either way she had to dictate her actions in a way which wouldn't bring dishonor to her family name and past members.
"I apologize for the trouble our arrival may have caused," Hayami began while facing the Hokage and the black haired man with spiky hair. "My name is Hayami Ryoshi, and this is my bondmate Gorudo. Shiruba, one of my summons, is the one who just left."
"No trouble at all my dear, but I feel that this might be a long night. Why don't we all sit down and talk this out." The Hokage suggested, and then in a moment an ANBU member with a monkey mask brought in two chairs that were placed in front of the desk which the old man sat behind.
Hayami took the seat in the middle while Gorudo sat himself up on her right side, sitting between her and the spiky haired man who sat down.
"My name is Shikaku Nara, it is nice to meet you Hayami-san, Gorudo-san." The commander introduced himself, receiving a huff from the orange tiger, and a smile from the little girl.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Nara-san, my father had only good things to say about you." Her father had mentioned the Nara clan leader before in passing, complementing the man's intelligence which was rare for her father to do.
Hayami noticed that Dog looked like he wanted to fade away into the night and leave but she couldn't let him do that just yet. She stood up from the chair and walked over till she stood up right in front of the young shinobi and then she grabbed onto one of his big hands with both of hers. The 5 year old then proceeded to 'drag' the ANBU member towards the desk, causing Shikaku to release a low chuckle at the young shinobi's dispense.
"Excuse me, Hokage-sama? Dog-kun can stay right?" The way she asked made it seem like there was no room to debate with her on this matter. With a nod of the Sandaime's head the young girl smiled before calling out to another ANBU member. "Excuse me, Monkey-san?"
Hearing himself being called Monkey was unsure of what he should do as it was not the Hokage who called for him, but as the Sandaime did nothing to stop him he decided it couldn't hurt and appeared from the shadows. He tilted his head to the girl who was holding him captain in what appeared to be a death grip, at least to the white haired shinobi.
"Could you please get Dog-kun a chair please?" Upon hearing her request he nodded his head and reappeared in a moment with another chair, which the young girl thanked him kindly for. Hayami then pulled Dog to the chair and had him sit, after which she sat back in her seat to his right, while Gorudo sent a quick glare over to Dog's direction. She placed her hand lightly on the back of the tiger's neck again as she lightly stroked him.
Hiruzen then signalled for his ANBU besides Dog to leave his office, before signalling to Hayami for her to begin.
As Hayami told of the events which took place, Shikaku couldn't stop his mind from analyzing every aspect of her story, looking for loopholes or anything suspicious that would make him doubt her story. However, he felt that she was being completely honest, and he knew by now to trust his gut in these sorts of situations. But what jutsu would allow a ninja to be able to form that sort of barrier, he pondered to himself. There was no jutsu he knew of which would create that sort of thing, no jutsu… but he knew of a kekkai genkai which could. If it was who Shikaku thought it was then this was a bigger problem than he had originally thought, how troublesome.
"I'm very sorry for what you have been through Hayami-san, especially at such a young age." Hiruzen tried to comfort the girl, who he knew must still be upset despite the brave face she has on. At this he noticed that Hayami narrowed her eyes ever so slightly before she began to speak.
"Having one's entire family being murdered is devastating no matter how old you are." Hayami frowned, the first one marring her otherwise kind looking face. "I'm sure that if any of you had almost everyone you cared about die then you would also feel upset as I am. But life goes on and you have to keep moving, or else you'll never be able to go forward, and what could be more insulting to the dead than that?"
Her words shook the white haired shinobi to his core, causing him to faintly stiffen in his seat. How could someone so young be able to move on so quickly after so little time? It had already been a few years since his sensei passed away, leaving him the only one left from his old team, a fact that dug at the back of his mind constantly.
"Of course, you are right." Hiruzen conceded to the girl before bringing up another matter of importance. "Now that you are in Konoha we are going to have to figure out somewhere for you to stay." The Hokage then looked towards the Jounin commander to hear his input.
This caused Shikaku to immediately begin calculating possible outcomes in his head. Not only was Hayami a Ryoshi who held the clan Doujutsu, but she was also the remaining clan member, and she was the heiress no less. He quickly started going through different ideas of where to place her. The orphanage was quickly crossed out of the list, because once the other ninja clans found out about her they wouldn't rest till one took custody of the child and she was placed under their protection.
He quickly crossed out the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans, knowing that they would only want the girl if they could somehow connect her to their clan permanently. Also, they might not have even offered because if they added another Dojutsu to the clan they may claim it would taint the Byakugan. The Hyuuga clan would have been one of the best fits for the girl though, because they had a strong focus in Taijustu like the Ryoshi and their Byakugan was able to see chakra, similar to the Dobuyona.
Shikaku then quickly took out the Shimura clan, Kurama clan and the Sarutobi clan. He didn't wish for such a talented girl with so much potential to fall into the hands of Danzo, so that meant no to the Shimura clan. The Kurama clan had a few members who were obsessed with increasing their Genjutsu, and the Dobuyona held several natural Genjutsus which the Kurama clan would have definitely wanted to get their hands on. And while there was nothing really wrong with allowing the Sarutobi clan to take custody of the girl, the other clans would suspect favouritism from the Hokage for his own clan.
The Aburame clan probably wouldn't be the best because they were so wary of outsiders because how they had been treated by the public because of the insects which they allow to nest in their chakra systems. The Yamanaka clan would have been fine, however their complex was too much focused into the heart of the town and he felt that Hayami would need room to run around, as he knew that tigers needed large plots of land to feel comfortable, and the girl had already displayed sharing some traits with them, so it was probably for the best. In regards to the Akimichi clan, the Jounin commander couldn't find anything wrong with that placement. In fact, the girl might even be able to advance upon her clan's Taijutsu there.
As for his own clan, he felt it might be one of the best fits. The Nara complex was more than big enough for the girl to feel relaxed in, and he would be able to keep an eye on the girl himself to make sure no one else was taking advantage of her. Plus, she was the same age as his son and she seemed as if she would be capable of keeping up with him on an intellectual level which Shikamaru hasn't been able to find in any of his other playmates.
The last clan that he could think of was the clan which would be the clan to fight for her the most was the Inuzuka clan, who had been long time friends of the Ryoshi. God, he could already imagine the field day Tsume would have if she found out. At that thought the doors slammed open before he could respond after spending the two seconds he did to collect his ideas on the matter. Speak of the devil and she'll arrive, he thought to himself, feeling a headache come on at the arrival of one of the most troublesome women he knew.
"What happened to the Ryoshi clan?!" Tsume Inuzuka shouted as she entered, her large ninken at her side. She had heard someone mention seeing large tigers run through Konoha, and the only ones that the Inuzuka knew of who could possibly have that summons was the Ryoshi. When she scanned the room she saw all familiar faces except the small girl with black eyes and her tiger companion who had positioned himself in front of the girl prepared to protect her.
The Inuzuka clan and the Ryoshi clan have been close for a very long time, starting back to the beginning of Konoha, when the Inuzuka decided to migrate to the Hidden Leaf village because they had heard the Ryoshi were here. Tsume herself had been very close friends with Hiromi Ryoshi, Hayami and Hikaru's mother; the two had even been on the same Genin team, keeping in contact even after Hiromi had left the village until her death.
"Hayami-chan?" Tsume guessed, she looked about the right age to be the clan heiress. She was about to take a step forward before Sarutobi's voice called out.
"Tsume, that's enough." After gaining the older woman's attention he continued. "Who gave you permission to barge into my office during official business?" Hearing him say this caused Tsume to still for a moment before finally understanding what was going on. Her heart felt heavy in her chest, but at least her friend's youngest had arrived. But that meant Hikaru who had played with her daughter when he had visited the village was… She had to stop herself before she choked up.
"Hokage-sama, it's alright. The news was going to get out eventually." Hayami said to the older man before turning her attention on the newest arrival, and took a few steps forward, with Gorudo by her side. "Tsume Inuzuka, right? Hikaru-nii-chan told me about you and Hana, and how you were very good friends with our mother and clan. I am very sorry to have to tell you but the entire Ryoshi clan except for myself have been killed."
Tsume was frozen stiff, having trouble actually hearing what she had suspected. She swallowed harshly, wondering why this young girl had to experience such loss at such an early age.
There was something about a 5 year old apologizing to an adult about the death of their own family that just didn't sit right with Shikaku. She was displaying the type of maturity he would expect from an adult who has learned the realities of life rather than that of a child, A side effect of being forced to grow up much too quickly, he supposed. The only time he saw a glimpse of her being childlike was her interaction with Dog.
"I am so sorry, I-" Tsume didn't know what else to say, she wasn't used to having to console 5 year olds. Her own son was the same age, but all he ever needed was a whack on the head to straighten him out, and somehow the Inuzuka thought that wouldn't be as appropriate in this situation.
"Where is the girl going to be staying?" The older woman asked instead.
"That what we were discussing before you barged in." Shikaku muttered, he knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation.
"Shut it Nara." She growled out before continuing, speaking mainly to Sarutobi. "On behalf on the Inuzuka clan, we would be more than willing to take her in. I believe that this would be the best fit for her. Not only can we help teach her about her bond with animals, but we can help train her in many aspects, as our clans have many similarities. We would also understand her behaviors much better than any other clan. Besides, her mother had been my best friend, and I owe it to her to help take care of her kid, I know she would have done it for me."
While all that was true, that was also part of the problem. By giving the Inuzuka custody of the last member of the Ryoshi clan, it was giving the Inuzuka a huge increase in power, and if the two clans merged later on, the resulting clan would undoubtedly become one of Konoha's strongest clan, maybe even the strongest. With the Dobuyona used with the Inuzuka clan jutsus the result would be almost unbeatable, which is what all the other clans would be against. It was the same reason why the two clans hadn't merged in the past, an almost unspoken rule where they knew the other clans would reign hell upon them if that happened. As the head of the Nara clan even he would be strongly against it, all of the clans would. Even the Aburame who wouldn't have cared much about the child's placement would fight for the girl to be with them rather than the Inuzuka.
"In my opinion the Inuzuka clan wouldn't be the best choice for the child. I think that placing her with either the Akimichi clan or the Nara clan would be a better fit. Perhaps even the Hyuuga." Shikaku suggested instead.
"Hell no! You just want the child under a clan in your stupid little Ino-Shika-Cho where you can keep an eye on the girl. And the Hyuuga would eat the poor girl up!" Tsume shouted, slamming her foot down and causing her ninken Kuromaru to take a step forward as well.
While Shikaku was trying to come up with a solution that would cause the least bloodshed, a voice spoke up like an angel from above.
"None of those suggestions will be needed, for I will be the one to take care of Hayami. We will stay at the old Ryoshi complex that's here." The gruff voice of Gorudo who had been silent until then announced.
"No offense cat," the Inuzuka rang out. "While I know that ninja animals and summons are very capable, I'd be an idiot if I didn't know that by now," Kuromaru gave a slight nod of his head to that. "There are some things which can only be provided for humans by other humans. And having her constantly be surrounded by overgrown cats can be good for her mentality."
"There has been no problem the past five months when it had just been us." The tiger growled out at the woman. "I can teach her anything you humans can and better. She doesn't need help from filth like you."
Before Gorudo could continue, the girl in question had walked over to his side and placed her hand on his neck, calming him.
"I would actually rather stay with Gorudo and the rest of my summons if it wouldn't be too much to ask. I know that you are offering to take me in, which I kindly thank you both for, "She politely nodded to the Nara and Inuzuka clan heads, "however, I could never take advantage of your hospitality that much, it would make me feel much too uncomfortable to know that I would never be able to fully pay you back for it. And while you may think it isn't necessary it would cause me to go against my own good conscience."
The girl really left no room for a reasonable argument, and Hiruzen supposed this would actually be the best outcome. However, there was still the problem with the child needing human interaction.
"The girl still needs to be socialized with others, particularly those of the same age," Hiruzen began. "Shikaku, Tsume, your children have already started the academy, correct?" The two clans leaders nodded their heads in response. "Perfect, then Hayami, would it be alright with you to start going to the Academy after you have been able to settle in, perhaps within the next week or two?"
"That sounds like a good idea." Hayami agreed, though Gorudo was still a little annoyed.
"Great, I will talk to the instructors to let them know that they will be receiving a new student soon." Hiruzen said before continuing on the other issue. "However, it has been many years since the Ryoshi complex has been lived and there were traps put up in order to deter scavengers. I can have the traps taken care of but that means you will have to stay elsewhere tonight."
"You can stay in my home tonight." Shikaku offered, before Tsume could speak up. "The Nara clan complex is the closest to the Ryoshi complex so it'd be a good idea to get used to the area."
"I would appreciate that greatly, thank you very much Nara-san." Hayami thanked the scarred man before speaking to the older woman. "Excuse me, Inuzuka-san, if it would be alright could I come visit you sometime? I have a few question about your ninken among other things."
"Of course! You're always welcome to visit! I'll introduce you to the pups and my boy too! He's about your age, not as smart though." Tsume exclaimed with a grin on her face, the woman seemingly placated with this news, and Kuromaru seemed to give his version of a toothy smile.
"Alright then, let's head out so we can catch some sleep." Shikaku drawled out to the girl as he prepared to leave with her.
Instead of heading right towards the Nar Hayami first turned around and took a few steps before she was directly in front of Dog. Before the masked shinobi could do anything the girl's arms encircled around him in a tight hug.
"Thank you very much Dog-nii-san." The young girl said while her cheek was pressed into Dog's stomach, who looked and felt incredibly awkward and unsure of what to do with his arms until he decided to pat her lightly on her head, remembering that she was still just a 5 year old child.
Then releasing her arms from around the ANBU she thanked the Hokage and then she ran towards Shikaku who had begun to exit from the office with Gorudo on her heels. Before they left the orange tiger sent a slight nod in Dog's direction, which may have seemed unremarkable, but for the large feline it was as close to a thanks as he would ever give.
As Shikaku exited the building with the young girl, moon still illuminating the sky, he felt a tiny hand place itself into his. As he looked down he realized the the black haired girl was looking away from him as she held his hand in a strong grip, looking slightly uncomfortable to be in the unfamiliar village full of strange sights and sounds.
While they were walking he felt the girl startle as they heard a trash can fall over down an alley, causing the child to send a flare of chakra to her eyes, activating the Dobuyona. With her gold glowing eyes she took a glance around, but noticing no hostile chakra signatures she deactivated them. The usage of her chakra had caused her fatigue to increase and she began slowing her pace, with Gorudo right beside her so that the he could help keep her up.
Shikaku knew that the child wasn't going to ask, but feeling her tiny hand clutching his large one he let out a sigh, remembering how young she was despite her attitude, much like his son. Without saying anything the spiky haired man reached down and scooped the child into his arms and continued walking on.
Hayami was about to protest, not wanting to seem weak, but a look from Gorudo made her think better of it. Instead she nestled into the man's arms as she felt her heavy lids lower as she fell asleep in his arms.
Shikaku finally arrived home 4 hours late, only to have his wife greet him at the door with a pissed off look.
Yoshino Nara was not at all happy when her husband arrived late and didn't even send one of his deer summons to notify her like he always did when he knew he'd be late, causing Yoshino's mind to wander to all different possibilities. She was about to yell at him, maybe even give him a good hit to get her anger across until he saw that he was not alone. He was accompanied by a large orange tiger at his side and was holding what looked to be a young girl, about Shikamaru's age.
Shikamaru was still in the living area at 1 am, not because he was waiting for his father who was late and would pass by that room when he got home, of course not. The 5 year old Nara was just too lazy to go to his room to sleep, and for once his mother was arguing with him. However, when he heard the front door open he decided to stroll over there and harass his dad a bit.
"Yo Dad, you're late." Shikamaru said before he found himself face to face with a huge tiger. He blinked once, then twice to see if it was just his mind playing tricks on him, and when it was still there he fell backwards onto his butt in surprise.
"W-w-what the heck!?" The young boy exclaimed in shock as the tiger got even closer to him, seeming to inspect him for any sign of threat. Gorudo had bypassed the woman and gone right for the boy the same age as his mistress, curious what other children of the same age as her are like.
"Quiet Shika, you'll wake her up." Shikaku shushed his son, paying no mind that there was a tiger only inches from Shikamaru's face, though Yoshino kept looking over, wondering if she should be worried though her husband looked pretty relaxed. Then again her husband was always pretty laid back about everything, even things that would have others worked up.
"How can you be so calm when a tiger is about to eat your son?!" Shikamaru shouted back in a whispered tone after noticing a girl who looked about his age in his father's arms, which was weird because he was an only child.
"Tsk, you'll be fine." Shikaku insisted before turning to look at the tiger. "You're not going to eat him right?" At this Gorudo examined the young boy, looking deep in thought before he came to his conclusion.
"Nah, too scrawny, he wouldn't be worth the effort I'd have to go through to eat him." Gorudo stated while staring down at the boy who was feeling incredibly uncomfortable with the situation. "Besides, something about him makes me feel like he'd just leave a bad taste in my mouth."
Upon hearing the tiger's statement Shikaku couldn't help but let out a few deep chuckles, and even his wife smiled. Then he turned his attention to his wife.
"I'll explain everything in the morning, but for now let's all head to bed. It's been a long day for all of us." At that Shikaku walked over to his son before continuing. "Thanks for waiting up for me kid." The older man then gave a ruffle of his son's hair before he continued towards one of the guest bedrooms.
"I wasn't-" A slightly red faced Shikamaru tried to sputter out feeling embarrassed at having been caught, but his father had already walked away, the large tiger that had been staring at him this whole time stalked off after his father and the young girl after giving him one final look.
As Gorudo ambled off after his mistress and her carrier he thought back to the awkward looking boy. Despite looking physically weak the spiky haired child had a look in his eyes that showed he was more intelligent than he let on as he had been constantly analyzing the situation. Perhaps he would be an acceptable acquaintance for his bondmate, and if he ever tried anything the tiger would be sure go back on his prior statement and see if he truly was as bad tasting as he looked. Then again, the boy was only 5, plenty of time to instill upon him that Hayami was not to be touched by lowly commoner like himself.
