Quick A/N: This chapter's shorter than usual and filled with a few time skips- nothing major. Just a few weeks, promise. But I need to write this out so that the next chapter doesn't seem like a huge time skip where a lot of important things were glossed over. They may be kind of glossed over here too, but not as glossed over as they would have been if I had decided to jump straight into the next chapter, rather than make some time for this one.
Please enjoy~
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"Again!"
Between her heavy pants of exertion and her lungs screaming at her about their inability to ingest enough oxygen, it was a miracle Sakura was able to hear Kiba's shout.
Even if she would never admit it aloud, she hated the very sound of her best friend's voice.
Somewhere to her right, she could hear Chouji's own erratic breathing. To her left, she could hear soft pants that were coming from Fū- unlike she and Chouji, she seemed to have large reserves of chakra. Even though they had been training for the past three hours and both she and Choji were sweating buckets and prepared to keel over, the newest member of their pack was only just beginning to get tired.
Her muscles were burning; her whole body was screaming at her to take a break and, most preferably, fall asleep for a full year. That's how long it felt she would need to rest after everything she had been forced to accomplish today... everything she was being told she needed to continue doing, even though she knew they were flirting with dangerous territory now.
The amount of chakra she and Chouji had used up ever since they had started training today was almost everything they held within their bodies. If they continued like this, they would be facing chakra exhaustion. And while she knew little about this compared to Chouji, she knew that this kind of condition wasn't anything to scoff at.
"K-Kiba." she attempted to gasp out, only to have to breathe in harshly when it felt like she was about to choke from lack of oxygen. Her breathing, unfortunately, became more erratic than she cared to admit.
When she made to look at the Inuzuka, she was terrified to notice that there were dark spots beginning to appear in her eyesight. And, of course, this immediately freaked her out. Her already frenzied breathing devolved into something completely undignified and rabid, all the while fear overtook all of her intelligent thoughts.
Was she going to pass out? Had she truly pushed herself too far? Was she going to suffer severe complications due to all of the chakra exhaustion? Were her hands going to be stuck in the final stance they had taken- splayed out with all of her fingers outstretched so she could channel all of her chakra into the ground below her? Was she going to suffer mental damage from the fact that she was going to pass out?
Her body was beginning to feel numb. The pain was slowly disintegrating into nothingness. And that sent Sakura into a deeper panic.
Kiba was far away. Attempting to focus on him made her brain hurt... or was it her head that was pounding? She wasn't sure... So she looked down at her hands and, admittedly, she was relieved to see that her fingers had curled a little- that meant that there was no nerve damage to be found... yet.
Oh no... what if the nerve damage came later?
She heard someone mumble something to her side.
Tears began to burn at her eyes. She couldn't even tell from which side the noise had come from!
Her cold hands were grasped by something warm... when she blinked down, even through the darkness that was consuming her sight, the young girl could see a pair of hands grabbing onto her own. And then she felt the softest touch on her shoulders, gently pushing her towards the ground.
Dumbly, she allowed herself to be sat on the ground. And she allowed the hands around her to continue guiding her into a more comfortable position, until her head was between her knees and- oh, that felt so much better.
Breathing was easier now. In and out- it still wasn't for as long as she knew was normal, but she managed to make her breaths a lot less shorter than they had previously been.
There was something fuzzy and soft pressing into her cheek, just like there was a noticeable weight on her left shoulder now. When something warm and slightly dewy grazed her cheek, she couldn't help but smile softly. Akamaru. He was there with her, trying to calm her down.
It took her a while- she was sure that it may have taken her anywhere from around a few minutes to over an hour- to finally get her breathing back under control. Her racing heart refused to follow suit, though, and she could hear it pounding in the chest that was absolutely aching now. But there was no more darkness in her eyes, anymore.
Slowly, she forced herself to take in a large breath before she dared look up from the ground. Then, with a heavy exhale out, she raised her head to look around her surroundings.
Fū's hands were the ones that had grabbed onto her's. They were still there, after all, and Sakura could now put coherent thoughts together. The young girl was looking at her through narrowed yet worried eyes. But when their eyes met, Fū was able to muster up a proud smile. Further beyond her, somewhat to her right and rather far away from them, Sakura could see Kiba... his back was turned to them.
Now that she had managed to calm down over whatever madness had overtaken her... Sakura couldn't help but feel like a complete failure.
One task. Kiba had told them to complete one jutsu. And she hadn't even been able to do that...
"We'll work on theoretical practice tomorrow. Dismissed."
Sakura felt like she should have told Kiba something. But she could only stare after his retreating form as he walked away from them and out of the Akimichi dojo they had claimed as their own...
Tears stung at her eyes once again, but she forced them back.
She had already failed once.
She wasn't about to fail again by being weak enough to cry.
It didn't matter how badly she was beaten... she would never allow anyone to see her cry.
Living with Kiba wasn't as fun as Chouji had once thought it would be.
Although, the Akimichi understood that such a reality probably had more to do with the fact that Kiba was recovering from what could have been a fatal attack, rather than Kiba being a boring person to be around for a whole day.
But... still... Kiba had changed.
Chouji had always thought that it would be really cool if they all got to live together like an actual pack. Sure, the sleepovers together were fun and there were more than enough times in their lives wherein they had essentially spent a whole day together, like a regular family was supposed to. But it had never been for longer than a day or two. When he had been told that Kiba and Sakura would be staying with them for the next few weeks for their safety, Chouji had hoped that... well... even though things were very messed up... he had hoped...
With a soft sigh, the Akimichi watched Sakura close her eyes. Her face was a harsh visage of anger and disappointment. And knowing her, she was disappointed within herself, not with the harsh training regime Kiba had established for them.
Fū grabbed his attention with a quick 'psst'. With a whisper, she told him, "Make sure she doesn't fall or anything. I'm going to bring you guys some water." as she spoke, she motioned towards the water bottles they had brought into the dojo.
With a nod, Chouji made sure he had a steady grip on Sakura's shoulders before the other went to fetch the water. Sakura's body tensed when Fū's hands left her own, but she soon leaned against Chouji's body. Without much thought, the Akimichi brought one arm around his best friend's back, hoping this would bring her some comfort.
In a way, he could understand why Kiba was pushing them so hard. Kuzu had left them with one simple mission, after all: they had to get better. And after two members of their pack had been ambushed, there was an imminent danger looming over them. They would be idiots if they didn't try to improve their skills so they could fend off those attackers.
But... Kiba's way of training them... it was brutal. It was nothing like the way they had trained before. Kiba didn't really leave any space for joking around or relaxing. He barked out commands and expected nothing but sheer perfection.
It was, in all honesty, scary to see their friend acting this way.
But the thought that scared Chouji the most was one he had noticed only yesterday. The way in which Kiba was training them, it felt like Kiba knew this tactic all too well. He had never been like this before, but Chouji couldn't help but feel that Kiba had experienced this manner of training before... very probably, this was the way that the Inuzuka clan had taught and trained him... very probably, from a very early age.
Kiba had been trained like this before. Someone had taught him how to be like this. And that was terrifying.
Fū ran back to them with their bottles of water and unscrewed Sakura's lid for her. And then she helped the girl drink, keeping the bottle in her hands as she placed the edge of the bottle to her lips.
Now that Fū was with them, Chouji allowed himself to close his eyes and take a moment to breathe.
His whole body was on fire and there was no muscle group currently within him that didn't hurt.
These last few days... they had changed their pack.
It made him feel like crying.
Alpha was following him.
That would have been fine and all, if not for the fact that he wanted to be alone.
The halls of the Akimichi clan head's home were long and tall, probably because the clan needed sturdy homes. But the smells within the guy's house were always nice. Incense was an undertone that was always around, just like the spice of cinnamon and zing of ginger. Freshly washed wood was a common smell during the mornings; just like earthy warmth was common at night, after they set up their fireplace.
This place... it was very different from his house.
With a heavy sigh, Kiba allowed his shoulders to drop. He had made his way towards the back-end of the clan head's house, where Chouji's family kept their large cookbook library safe and far away from any of the dangers of the front of the house. There was also a large door that allowed him an exit from the house and even though he knew he should not be leaving the house, he needed a break.
He had been cooped up for the past week and he had tried his best to forget the fact that he was stuck inside the same house by training his friends and forcing them to get better... but he had failed at that.
Sakura had collapsed today because he was a bastard that didn't know how to read his pack.
For all he knew, she could be in danger right now. And he was such a coward that he was fleeing, rather than staying put to offer whatever help he could give... although, it wasn't like he could offer much help. Chouji was the medic between them and Sakura was the smartest of them all. All he was good for was having a big mouth...
"I just wanna run." he told Alpha, only for the dog to huff at him.
When he turned around, it was to find the scarred stray sitting on his haunches. In a way, Alpha was the most regal of the strays he had managed to contract. He was a serious animal and he had seen more than his fair share of fighting. Maybe that was the reason why he kept such an iron grip over his pack... he knew how harsh the world could be. And he just wanted to keep the world from hurting those he loved.
"I haven't left this place in forever."
Unlike with Akamaru, Kiba couldn't accurately translate what Alpha told him. But he could understand the gist of most everything he said. So he knew that the dog was none too pleased with his aspirations to leave the home where he would be protected.
Kiba frowned at him... but soon sighed.
He brought his right hand up to his face so he could run it over his hair, but stopped short when he noticed that it was trembling. For a moment, all he could do was stare at the shaking appendage, absolutely awestruck by it.
When had he turned into this? When had he become such a coward that he ran away from his family?
When he learned that he was too weak to protect them. That's when.
Alpha grunted and Kiba blinked to force himself to return to reality; escape his thoughts.
The scarred dog growled at him, then moved his head to the side, back to the area he had just run away from. Kiba frowned at him, knowing full well that the dog wanted him to go back to his pack and tell them what was going on with him... but he couldn't.
If he was going to be this pack's alpha, he needed to get a grip on himself. He needed to be stronger. And he needed to learn how to read his pack.
"You're not completely wrong." he relented after a few seconds of silence, but soon began to walk back in the direction he had come from. "But you're not completely right either."
Alpha huffed at him and it brought some relief into Kiba's tensed being to hear the barest hint of amusement within the sound.
First, he was going to apologize to his pack. Then he was going to sit them down and explain precisely why they needed to take their training seriously. And, finally, he would give them all a day off. They had put up with him through the past week without a single complaint. The least he could do was give them a break before they embarked on a less intense training regime.
Even with these goals in mind... Kiba couldn't help but slip into a negative frame of mind.
This way of teaching... it was the way his mother had taught him. The Inuzuka only knew how to give their all. They didn't half ass anything. And that applied even in training.
One of his clan's preferred tactics to expand someone's chakra reserves was to just about drain them completely and force the body to produce more... But he must have messed up. Even with how harsh his mother had trained him, he had never been so close to passing out as Sakura had gotten.
He stopped.
His pack deserved a much better leader than him.
He balled his shaking hand into a tight fist, all the while he ignored the throbbing sensation that was coming from his injured left arm.
In only a few weeks, he'd get his stitches taken out. Then he would finally be able to train alongside his pack. And that's when he would be able to start training to become the leader they deserved.
As soon as she had returned from the simple mission she had been assigned to when her son was attacked by the Konoha assailants, Tsume Inuzuka forced her way into the Hokage's office to demand an explanation as to why her son was currently living with the Akimichi.
From the way the Hokage didn't even blink at her sudden interruption, Kakashi assumed the man had prepared for this very day.
Without wasting a second to ask for Tsume to wait her turn, the Hokage began to explain everything that had happened two weeks ago, on the night Kiba and the newest member of his pack had been attacked. After he had finished with that, he went on to explain how the Akimichi clan had begun to watch over three of the pack's members, all the while Ibiki kept a close eye on the final member.
Kakashi was somewhat bothered by having to sit through this explanation, especially now that he was finally freed of this mission and could go back to being a lazy ninja before he was assigned on another life-or-death mission. But he knew that Tsume wasn't the kind that would accept being dismissed or forced to wait, so this was the best course of action for the Hokage to take to make sure the woman wouldn't riot.
It wasn't all that surprising for Lord Third to be explaining all of this to Tsume, though. Even though he had wanted to maintain this issue between as little people as possible, he and Genma had completed their mission successfully. They had captured the Aburame and Yamanaka traitors that had attacked the young girl from Takigakure. There wasn't an immediate threat of Inuzuka revolt now that the attackers were in custody.
After everything had been explained and the Hokage finished up by telling Tsume that they were currently interviewing the attackers, silence fell over the three of them.
Then Tsume grunted, "What's Hatake doing here?"
"Handing in my final report on tracking the turncoats." he explained with a shrug, "Thought it'd be smart to not waste too much time filling this one out."
"And I appreciate that foresight, Kakashi." the Hokage murmured as he picked up his pipe. "Tsume,"
The woman raised a hand, cutting the older male off. Kakashi scratched softly at his head as he looked at the woman... why wasn't she throwing furniture around?
Instead of looking angry, the woman looked... annoyed.
"You're a real piece of shit sometimes, Lord Third." Kakashi blinked. He wasn't caught off guard by the crassness of her words. He was caught off guard by how bored she sounded. "You think the Inuzuka clan was going to interfere with the search of those bastards just 'cause my runt was attacked? Is that the reason you sent Hana and I off on completely inappropriate missions- because you thought we were going to try something?"
The woman crossed hers arms over her chest and shook her head, then breathed out. "Men, I swear."
"Let's not forget your declaration of vengeance against the children's benefactor." the Hokage was a man of pure courage.
Tsume sneered momentarily, then scratched at her cheek with one finger. Finally, after a few seconds spent in silent contemplation, she shrugged. "Eh, you may have a point. But, still, you were stupid. With my clan helping, you would have caught those bastards last week."
"As I am sure you can understand, we did not need impassioned Inuzuka running around the village, inciting fear."
"Who said they'd be impassioned?"
Once more, Kakashi was surprised by what he was hearing from the Inuzuka clan head.
"Tsume, that's your son." he spoke up, "It's completely natural for your clan to be worried about him."
"Yeah, they'd be worried." with this, Tsume walked over to him and ruffled his hair in that minimizing way she always did whenever she thought he was being childishly naïve. Unfortunately, this happened more often than not when around her. "But they wouldn't be stupid. Kiba's a runt, he's my child and all, but he isn't all that important for the clan's safety. If this had happened to Hana... well, that would be another, much more bloodthirsty story. But Kiba's just... Kiba."
It would have been worrying to witness how easily Fū adopted him as a father figure, if not for the fact that Ibiki completely understood why the girl was so trusting of him. Even within Takigakure, she had managed to live a mostly sheltered life. She hadn't known enemies. Hell, even after the attack on her, she still found it hard to understand that there were dangers in the world she constantly had to be on the lookout for. She preferred to think of every new meeting as a chance to meet a friend, rather than a chance to fight an enemy.
"So... I'm going to be joining the Academy?"
Fū's attackers had been caught. An Aburame and a Yamanaka that refused to confess to their crimes. They were currently thinking up of ways to interrogate them to find out if they had been working alone or were part of something larger.
Ibiki guessed it was something larger. The matching seals on their tongues was a fact that was too out of the ordinary to ignore. And the fact that a Yamanaka and Aburame had been working together... he didn't know why, but it felt off. Those two were teenagers. Barely old enough to be able to drink legally, even. Teenagers that were born and raised within Konoha nowadays... they weren't supposed to be like that.
From what he had gathered, both males barely seemed capable of emoting. Their faces were always devoid of any discernable emotions, all the while they kept their eyes focused straight ahead- they never looked at any of the interrogators sent in to question them. Neither of them had answered a single question up to this point. The only reason he knew the Yamanaka's name was because Inoichi recognized him.
It was... ironic, he was sure, that Fū was attacked by someone that happened to share a name as unique as her's. Although he was still confused as to how Inoichi had managed to know who this child was, even though he didn't know anything about his life other than his incredibly early childhood years.
Fū Yamanaka was not a missing person's. But he was also not a person that his clan would recognize.
He knew Inoichi was keeping something from him. But Ibiki was biding his time, allowing for a few more cards to be laid out before him before he turned to ask his old teacher questions he knew may tear a rift between them.
Still, now that the attackers had been apprehended, the Hokage believed it would be a good idea to have the children to go back to some kind of normalcy within their lives. And Fū was going to be attending the Ninja Academy for the first time in her life, alongside her pack, to both give her a chance at a normal life and make sure she was always safe.
Ibiki's job asked him to be away from home for a long period of time during the day. At least by having Fū attend the Academy, she would always be surrounded by knowledgeable ninja. And now that she would be attending, the Hokage would be injecting a few of his most trusted ANBU operatives into the school, under the guise of teachers.
There was still reason to worry about another attack on the young girl. But Ibiki had done everything he possibly could to teach the girl how to become another person for her sake. And they couldn't allow her to live under a cloud of fear for the rest of her life.
Besides, with the way the pack had been training recently, there was no doubt that they would be able protect her until they were able to reach safety. From what he had heard from the girl, even though Kiba Inuzuka was one incredibly harsh trainer, his tactics had yielded results. Although, he shouldn't have been surprised by this. Not now that he knew about the mysterious children those children had been learning under for the past four years of their lives.
"Yes, Fū. You'll be with your pack."
"And I'll get to meet new people?"
One second, Fū had been standing at the entryway into the apartment's kitchen. The wig on her head was a platinum color that reminded him of warm summer nights and delicious sautéed enokitake. His mother's hair had been a color very similar to it, after all.
In the next, the young girl had crossed the sizeable kitchen and attached herself to his left leg, causing him to hiss at her to be careful over the hot stove. She merely waved him off with a laugh and asked the same question once again.
Ibiki sighed, but nodded as he moved his body in a way that his left side was as far as he could humanly make it be from the stir-fry he was currently cooking for them both. And then... a thought struck him.
A dangerous thought, if he was honest. The kind of thought that might make the Hokage have a reason to strip him of his rank... But a great thought, nonetheless.
Fū's pack was one of the most loyal group of people he had ever met. They weren't just loyal children- at this point, they were some of the most loyal ninja, too. And he had met plenty of ninja in his lifetime.
Maybe...
Ibiki frowned to himself as he shook his head.
A dangerous thought indeed.
His plan was ruined. He couldn't continue with it now. He needed to return to Konoha immediately and...
Kakuzu stopped short in his run.
What would he do once he returned to Konoha?
There was no doubt in his mind that he wouldn't be able to have easy access to the children anymore. Not after the attack on Kiba and Fū. Without a doubt, the village would have doubled their defenses now that they knew someone from Takigakure had managed to sneak in without alerting anyone.
Hell, for all he knew, Konoha now knew who he was. And if the kids had told the governmental officials about his existence, he couldn't even bring himself to get angry at them. He had been foolish enough to leave Fū with the pack... no, he hadn't been foolish. Overconfident. He had believed that he had managed to outsmart everyone around him.
But Hidan had managed to figure out his identity by just sifting through the wreckages of what had once been those children's base of operations...
It... It hurt. That treehouse had meant something to those kids. It was important to them all. And it had gotten destroyed because of his decisions.
Dammit.
The more people you care about, the stronger you have to be to protect them. He knew he was strong enough to protect all of those children he had left behind... but what good was his strength if he was a world away?
"Oi! Fuckface! Why're you slowing down?"
Kakuzu ignored the irritation that continued to follow after him. He wasn't about to answer the bastard, after all. Not now that he knew that the bastard could have stepped in at any moment to help those two kids out but had stayed away to keep his cover.
Coward.
Beside himself, Kakuzu couldn't help but wonder where all of this irrational passion was coming from. This... this wasn't him.
Had those kids truly come to matter so much to him that just knowing they were in danger because of him made him want to destroy anyone that dared look in their direction?
With a heavy sigh, Kakuzu shook his head. Then he forced himself to breathe in heavily; ground himself; begin to think in a more coherent sequence than just angered bursts.
From what Hidan had told him, Kiba had done a good job of protecting his supposed grandniece. Even after he had gotten injured, he had continued to lead her away from her attackers and they had managed to hide within an underwater cave until help had come for them. Given the gap between Kiba's skills and that of their attackers, the boy had done more than just his best to ensure their survival.
Kakuzu was proud of the kid... but he was also disappointed in Fū. She wasn't a run of the mill child. And she knew how powerful she was. Why in the world hadn't she done anything to help Kiba? Why had she just ran?
With a growl, Kakuzu shook his head.
That didn't matter now!
He needed to figure out a way to contact the pack.
Even though his initial plans had been shot, he was sure he could still salvage what he had set out to accomplish all those months ago. He knew that he could do it if he just...
That was it.
"Hidan."
"Oh, so you're talking to me again, heretic? Did you finally decide in which manner you're going to present your head to the organization you betrayed?"
With a scoff, Kakuzu shook his head. No matter how much Hidan insisted on this traitor crap, Kakuzu knew that Hidan believed in the Akatsuki just as much as Kakuzu believed in a god.
"How would you feel about acquiring a town's worth of sacrifices for your fake god?"
"He's not fake, you money hungry bastard!" Hidan's initial answer was annoying, but expected. And then, Kakuzu began to feel himself calm down when he heard the following, "I'd be happy to kill a bunch of people."
He could still salvage this situation.
And all he needed to do was sell Hidan out to Konoha's forces.
Huh... Wasn't life a confusing bitch?
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Hope you enjoyed! Please review!
And do stay safe out there. This pandemic is still very much a threat, even though we're trying to get back to our old normal.