Before I know it, there are buds growing on the trees, and the soil beneath us turns to mud. Spring is in the air. The entire compound could feel the turn of the season and began to get restless. Even with the forest to our backs, there still wasn't enough room in the compound to really stretch our legs and run. The sun was out, and there were scuffles for the best spots in the sun, not just between the dogs, but between the younger members of the clan as well.
Despite being the clan heir, Kiba did not win most of these fights. He was still somewhat runty, all things considered, although losing to Neji every week or so meant he was quick to rebound. It also meant he never ran out of energy. Were all toddlers like this? I didn't really know. Which, when cramped in the small compound, meant more and more mischief. It just added to the number of scuffles that broke out between Kiba and the other children.
Once the sun set, his parents and sister became the main targets. Usually, they were pretty obvious pranks, ones that two shinobi and a student would be able to avoid. Sometimes He would hide things he thought they would need, to try to keep them from leaving them the next morning. Other times, he would try to hide and jump out at them, attempting to tackle and wrestle them.
These attempts led to shrieks in anger from his sister. His father occasionally played along for a while, until his "defeat" and tearful monologue about how his own flesh and blood would turn on him. His mother usually laughed as she sidestepped his attempts.
"Better luck next time, Gaki." she would say, ruffling his hair. He took it to heart and began following Akira and I, trying to learn from her.
I wasn't sure exactly how he knew we were practicing masking our presence, but he always seemed to know what we were doing and where. Not that I really minded. Akira suggested it was a good thing, it meant our bond was strong. Besides, she insisted, he needed to learn this soon, so that we could work together. So he learned about walking on his toes and keeping his weight low, at all of three years old. He still isn't particularly stealthy, He still manages to step on every single twig and crunchy leaf in the compound. Once he gets bored, he exaggerates his sneaky walk to the point that he fall over. but compared to the average Inuzuka kid his age, he is damn near silent, for a few minutes at least. He also likes to narrate everything he does.
Sometimes he watches me and Akira when we work with ninja wire. Not that we actually let a three year old play with such a thing. You look away for one second and he manages to get in the most ridiculous situations. Eating random berries, dangling out of a tree, poking a hornet's nest. No, we can't really trust him with anything yet. But sometimes I wish he would just grow up faster because these things were damn impossible without thumbs. We, as dogs, are so limited in what we can actually do with the wire. Unfortunately, I remembered so well how to do such things from my previous life.
Most of the time, my memories were kept separate from my current life. There were little flashes where my mind would supply some small piece of trivia, but memories of who I was, or the people around me were, came few and far between. In the back of my head, I was concerned, but with the leaves returning, everything felt so beautiful and alive and I did too. It grounded me in this new reality. So instead of thinking about it, I focused on the damn traps and how to get around my lack of thumbs. And on Kiba, making sure he didn't maim himself on the wire.
One dusk, we return home, and I can hear a fight in the main house. Not every word, but occasionally there was an outburst. While Kiba can hear it too, I can see on his face that he's focused on one thing: His mother's voice. Between her missions and duty as a clan leader, I think we had only seen her for an hour, max within the last three weeks. He didn't even great Kuromaru, who was waiting outside the building. Instead, Kiba ran inside, and I followed, with a weight in my stomach. I needed to watch the boy. If something happened I need to be there for him. Comfort him. It had nothing to do with the fact I was avoiding Kuromaru. So I glanced and nodded in greeting at him, and he reciprocated, before I lept inside and followed Kiba down the hall.
"...ignore a summon?" That's Tsume's voice, indignant.
"Three weeks! THREE WEEKS!" I had never heard Kiba's father raise his voice. It strained and cracked.
"... Jonin… head of clan!"
"... You're a mother!..."
"... Knew this before… Married!"
"... One Damn Meal!"
"...rebuild... ...avoid another war!"
"... last time you saw Hana? ... played with Kiba"
"... You think I want this... ...stuck up Hyuugas and Uchihas ...damn old fogey Danzo?! ...Instead of with my kids?"
"Well you sure don't act like it!"
"What don't you get? I am doing this for them! For us!"
When Kiba entered, his father and mother went silent, but their eyes said it wasn't over yet. Tsume got up and swung Kiba around, laughing, while his father turned away and sipped his tea somberly.
"How's my little warrior?" she grinned, setting him on her hip.
Kiba began to ramble in the way a three year old does. He found some bugs. He fought with Daisuke. He lost. It wasn't fair. Daisuke's dog helped. Warned him. Then Kiba was incomprehensible, even to me for a bit as he pantomimed a punch and squirmed in Tsume's grasp. Gonna win next time. Akamaru walks quiet. So quiet. No noise. Akamaru is better than Daisuke's dog. Akamaru uses ninja wire! He chirped. Tsume looked over at me, not disapprovingly, but with some sort of emotion in her eyes. Kiba kept chattering on about how he was going to be the best ninja in the clan, and even beat Neji some day. Then he ran up against the elephant in the room.
"Teach me how to wrestle! I'm going to win!"
"Kiba, it's bedtime now!"
"Tomorrow! Promise!" she drew in a breath.
"I have to go to work tomorrow…" she said, tiredly.
"You always have to work! It's unfair!" Kiba begins to squirm and pout, and I brace myself.
"I know-" she says, trying to settle him down
"I never even see you ever!" he screeches while worming out of her grasp.
"Please, Kiba…"
"No! No! No! No!" he slaps his hands over his ears and begins to stomp around. She looks over at her husband but he is notedly avoiding eye contact. She frowns and then sighs. Then she looks up and sighs to herself before grabbing kiba and removing his hands.
"Fine, how about this, I'll bring you with me to work tomorrow" she tries, and he gives her a suspicious look.
"Promise?"
"Promise. But you're going to have to behave, and be quiet. You understand?" and she gives him a stern look.
"Yup! I'm going to be the best!" and then he runs off to tell Hana that he gets to go to work tomorrow. Tsume rocks back on her heels and shakes her head.
"You going to babysit for me, pup?" she says, and I startle a bit when I realize she's referring to me. I nod hesitantly.
"Thanks, I'm going to need all the help I can get."