In the weeks that follow I see very little of Kuromaru. Mostly, I end up training and working with Akira. The training is different from what Kuromaru and Kenta taught me. We focus much more on trap setting, difficult as it is without thumbs, and survival training. Occasionally we spar, but she beats into me that the goal is always to run away first, hide second, and fight as a last response. Every lesson is a reminder that it will be years before Kiba and I will be full grown, and that until then, running and hiding is our best choice, especially if we plan to spend long missions outside of the village gates. So we practice evasion techniques over strikes, and avoiding trackers over tracking techniques.
During these spars I learn how dangerous Akira is. By the third month she tells me that she's going to stop pulling punches. As soon as she counted down I turned to sprint to the safe zone, as she dubbed it, the shrine's steps. But before I could make it even a quarter way, she appeared on my left and lunged to bite at my back leg. Startled, I jerked my leg back, and stumbled wide, but managed to right myself and keep running, a new achievement for me. I couldn't savor it, unfortunately. I could hear her churning the earth behind me and begged my legs to run faster. She delivered another quick nip to my tail, but before she could really bite down I managed to roll to the ground, pulling her off balance. Once on my back I was able to kick her in the chest. She gasped involuntarily and I scrambled up and sprint.
A month ago I would have felt guilty for delivering a blow for that, but now I know that a hit like that barely phases her. I don't have time to worry about her, only to get away. I can see the treeline appearing, and know that it means I am almost to the halfway mark. Just have to make it to the treeline. Once I do, I can hopefully navigate the roots and brambles better because of my size. Blood is roaring in my ears. Training or not, my adrenaline is pumping. By the time my front paws touch down in the leaf litter I can barely breath. I huff and try to find a place to hide while I catch my breath.
I never even hear her approach her time. She rams me from the side and I am knocked left, nails digging into the slimy leaves. I try a feint and run in the other direction, but she doesn't fall for it. She does grin at me, but when being hunted, that small gesture becomes much more terrifying. Instead she lunges for me and I try to pivot and she takes that chance to dive for my stomach. Panicked I lash out, and when I connect to her I push off. It's her turn to be knocked back, but not nearly as far as I was. I'm not nearly close to recovering. My lungs are burning and my legs feel like lead. They can't find traction on this wet ground. It's not long before she's behind me, but this time she slides next to me. Her face is curled up into a look of concentration now, no grin. and I can feel her chakra crackle to life on her skin before I am launched into the undergrowth. Straight into Kenta. We both go flying, and I can see his shock.
Before I can even right myself she trots in. She glares at him for a second and then turns to me and begins lecturing me on pacing myself and learning to fight in different terrains. She notes that I need more work in sharp turns and agility. The lecture continued as if he wasn't even here, and I got more and more nervous as the awkward tension thickened. But I snap out of it when she breaks out into a smaller smile.
"You've really improved. You got away from me a few times, managed to get a couple good hits in. The hit to my stomach? Perfect."
I involuntarily smile at that. Praise was always a weakness of mine. But then Kenta clears his throat. "Akamaru, I was wondering if I could have a moment with you?" he asks. Akira and I whirl around to face each other, but her face is unreadable, scrutinizing my own face. I nod and then turn to him, waiting.
"Alone" he emphasizes. I look back at Akira, but her expression hasn't changed. So I swallow and nod hesitantly. He looks relieved before turning and walking a little ways away. I follow, looking back at Akira. Her face is stony. Not angry persay, but not happy about this either.
"Look, Akamaru. I know Kuromaru might seem too harsh for you, but I need you to understand." I take a deep breath in, stilling myself for another lecture. He looks sad though, as he continues. "Kohona isn't that old, and our clan was hardly one of the first to join. So it's not yet normal to us. Some of the elders still remember a time before we lived here. In our clan, it's still assumed that the only ones you can rely on are family and your partner…" He looks wistful at this. Before looking up at me. I furrow my brows but don't say anything else.
"Look, sometimes there are a couple people that sort of… prove that they have the same loyalty, and we start to consider them family, but for us, to say that we should risk our lives for absolute strangers, when we don't know if they will return the favor, is… strange. We were at war with some of these clans not too long ago. Buried our dead and swore vengeance against their grandparents." he continues softly, but with an edge on his voice. He's not looking at me anymore, but past my shoulder somewhere.
"Look, I'm not saying that what you want is wrong, per-say, but that it's going to be hard going, and there's no knowing if it will even mean anything in the end." I wince, thinking of how Neji's father still died. I was reincarnated as a dog. A dog of all things! And no matter how much Akira praised me, and told me to focus on training, I couldn't help but wonder sometimes if I could really even change anything.
"But most of all, Akamaru, I want you to remember, that we're your family, back against the wall you can count on us - all of us."
Sometimes I can sense that Kenta is lurking in the background, but I don't comment on it, neither do he. Mostly, we avoid each other, and the tension that comes with it. Everyone else in the village is celebrating, in their own way. No reason for us to sour their mood. Or at least those who are celebrating. There are just as many mourners, stuck in disbelief as soldiers return home, their loved ones absent. Of course, there is a great deal of grief hovering over the Hyuuga compound as well.
I only pick up snippets of it when the Hyuuga branch members bring Neji over. They do not do it regularly, and I sometimes hear them complain of how hard it is to sneak him out of the compound and away from the main family's watchful eyes. But I understand why they bring him. Whenever Neji arrives he most of his time following Yuki around, or obsessively practicing his Katas. He doesn't talk to any members of the clan, not even Yuki, but the second a Hyuuga comes to pick him up, he tries to run. Not exactly a good plan in a clan full of trackers, when being chased by people with magical eyes, but what can I say, he's all of four, and he doesn't want to go home.
Unfortunately, his standoffish behaviour isn't helping him make friends. Most of the Inuzuka children avoid him. He has a reputation for ignoring them or trying to hit them. While he's only four, and hasn't perfected the gentle fist, it is enough to send more than one Inuzuka scrambling for cover.
In fact, the only Inuzuka child who hasn't completely shunned him is Kiba. With Kuromaru's words weighing heavy on my mind, I've been trying to focus more on Kiba. After all, I have four more years until my next big goal, the Uchiha massacre. With so many variables still in the air, it doesn't make sense to plan already. At least according to Akira. So I make sure to spend time with the little tyke. He's… rambunctious, more so than I expected. He also has a knack for escaping, which Akira encourages, and a burning desire to fight anyone and everyone larger than him, which we are trying to discourage. But it's not really a bad thing I guess. For a short time, I get to play, and focus on the light hearted things in life. While also preventing Kiba from maiming himself.
My biggest failure in that is how much he seems to admire Neji. Neji of course, responds to pretty much any friendly gesture by trying to punch someone, clan head surrounded by guard dogs or not. But the more Kiba gets knocked down, the more he follows Neji, Every strike makes Kiba's eyes shine. Every time he's thrown in the dirt he bounces up twice as fast, shouting something unintelligible, even to me and chases after him. I'm not sure if I should let this continue or not, but for now, I figure it's fine. Once Neji starts to have a little more power behind his punch, I might step in, but for now, I try to see it as good training.
When Kiba finally exhausts himself, I lead him back home and curl up beside him while he chatters to his father about his day. Tsume and Hana come back later, around dinner, to eat, and for a while, it's a warm and happy family. But then, once Kiba and Hana are in bed, Tsume is called away for meetings. Rebuilding the village, hunting down deserters and traitors. Sometimes I hear her stagger into the house in the dead of night, but mostly, the entire house seems to sleep through it. It's a reminder that while the war is over, they can never rest. I'm not sure how much of this Kiba understands, as his parents seem to try very hard to keep the village outside the compound walls.
As I understand it, that's not particularly difficult. The Inuzuka rarely have guests. It seems Neji is an exception, but most people do not bother with our clan. We aren't one of the noble clans, and are generally considered one of the more unpopular ones. She sneers as she recounts the rumors surrounding our clan: we don't bath, we have fleas, we don't know how to use chopsticks, we are too loud, too prideful… and so on. Which is fine with her and most of the clan, it seems. Many of them are distrustful of outsiders. They scorn the house and branch system of the Hyuuga, and the rigid societal standards of many of the clans, including the Uchiha. Besides which, she adds, they never say what they actually mean, it's always tricks and lies. There's probably a story there, but I don't push it.
And so time passes with me learning from Akira, and playing with Kiba.