The Silent Fox
Chapter 5 – Tiger Form
Crow looked fondly upon the exhausted form of Fox lying at the foot of a tree a few feet away. The kid was struggling with controlling his chakra, especially with the absurd amount that he seemed to have, and that was resulting in quite a painful process all around. Even if Fox did manage a few steps, he'd quickly be blasted off the tree by overloading his chakra. Still, Crow knew that the boy would see twice the results from mastering it as anyone else would. Getting that massive chakra reserve under control would galvanise the speed of his improvement.
After Fox's slightly unfortunate first try at the shunshin the previous day, Crow had insisted he be the one to start Fox's training in tree climbing. He'd be the first to admit that he had taken a shine to the boy, and wanted to spend more time with him, but he also wanted to give Dog a break. The man had been with Fox non-stop since he'd rescued him from the street, and it was obvious that Dog was still feeling incredibly guilty about not looking after Fox sooner. He deserved to get some alone time to clear his head.
Crow walked over to the boy now, who was still lying on the ground after his last attempt. Peering over his head from above, he saw teary eyes staring back at him. Crow reached down and pulled the fox mask away from the boy's face, apparently he was far too agitated, and was no longer controlling any chakra to keep it in place. As the mask came away, Crow now saw Fox's full face, scrunched up angrily, an undeniably cute pout forming along with his frustration.
"Just take a moment to calm down Fox. It'll be harder if you're too upset to concentrate." Crow said softly. Fox pushed himself up to a sitting position, and turned himself to face the older boy.
'It's too hard. I even did better with the shunshin, I got really fast straight away.'.
Crow took a knee, meeting the Fox's eye level. "Nothing worth doing is easy Fox." he said, ruffling the boy's hair, "Once you learn this, you'll get better with the shunshin too. Also," Crow now leaned in conspiratorially, and continued at a whisper, "You'll be able to climb the walls to get at the ration bars that Dog keeps in the cupboard.".
Fox's eyes lit up at this. It was strange, but the boy had taken a liking to the bitter and tasteless ration bars that Dog had lived off of for so long, and nobody was sure quite why. Tiger was of the opinion that he just liked having something to chew on to keep him occupied, as he noticed that the boy seemed to get anxious around people if there was nothing to keep him busy, and guarding the Hokage's office often descended into silent tedium. Dog, however, was determined to get the boy to eat as many different flavours as possible, and had gone out of his way to get a variety of different foods. For what it was worth, the boy seemed almost completely indifferent to flavour, with the exception of tomatoes, which he refused to eat, or even talk about, after trying a single bite on one occasion.
Fox stood up and closed his eyes. After a few moments, the tension in his shoulders released a little, and he took a cautious step onto the trunk of the tree. Then another, and another. Crow watched on with a smile, as Fox quickly walked above head height. Then, without warning, the bark of the tree began to buckle beneath Fox's feet. Fox was launched unceremoniously backwards by the blowback of his overcharged chakra. Crow stepped forwards and caught him deftly before he hit the ground.
"Good start Fox, we'll continue another day.".
TSF-TSF-TSF
Dog, Tiger, and Owl gathered together as Crow once again ushered Fox out of the Hokage's office at the end of their shift. "You know," remarked Tiger, "This is the most like a normal person I think I've ever seen Crow. I think someone has kidnapped our robot and replaced him with a human impostor.".
Owl chuckled wryly. "I think he's just glad that Fox doesn't throw tantrums. Even Mikoto-sama is beginning to lose patience with Sasuke's mood swings, Fox must be a dream to train by comparison."
Dog smiled behind his mask. He wouldn't say it was nice to have time alone with his thoughts, but having time to think for a while was proving useful. "You should consider teaching Fox something too Tiger, make him truly part of the team.".
Unexpectedly, Tiger grunted in dissatisfaction at this. "I'm not sure that's really for the best Dog. It's been quiet for now, but eventually something will happen. Eventually Fox will be put in harms way, and so will the rest of us by his being a liability. It's not fair to keep an untrained kid in the midst of an elite ANBU squad, not to us, and not to him.". Tiger's words seemed harsh, but they were delivered coolly. Dog was completely caught off guard by the unexpected rebuttal.
There were a few moments of awkward silence, before Owl spoke up. "Then you had better start training him soon Captain." Then he shunshined away with a small laugh.
TSF-TSF-TSF
Tiger watched the boy sitting quietly across from him in the rafters of the Hokage's office. He still had mixed feelings about the whole situation, but felt he'd rather missed his chance to protest in the begginning, having been too surprised to really think of the consequences, and now he couldn't bring himself to break the status quo. It really did feel like his heart and mind were at war. The boy was a hero, even if he didn't know it, and he was the son of one as well. Tiger had joined ANBU a year before the Yondaime's inauguration, and had seen all that the man had done for the village in the short time he'd been in charge. The Hokage seemed to have already fallen victim to his emotions, but the man was getting old and sentimental, and Tiger couldn't really say he blamed him for his indulgence. Dog was even worse, he'd never been the most stable, even before he joined ANBU, and now he was clinging to his Sensei's son like his life depended on it. Owl and Crow were too young to really see the danger, he thought. Sure, they were both experienced ANBU, but neither had seen enough war to have been made wary of the danger, and neither had experienced the fallout when the violence that they usually only saw out on missions was brought close to home. Tiger knew he needed to be the one to do something. He had to. But he couldn't bring himself to.
Tiger refocussed on Fox, who was now watching Owl with rapt attention, who, as Tiger could tell from the exchange of hand signs between the two, was teaching the kid some basic mathematics. They had all managed to overlook, initially, Fox's lack of proper education about pretty much anything. Luckily, the boy was sharp as a tack, and seemed to have picked up a lot on his own, but now Owl was going out of his way to teach Fox some basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. Seeing them together at times like this was what was really giving Tiger pause about putting a stop to the whole thing, since, in some ways, Fox really was good for the team. ANBU saw a lot of awful things in their careers, but interacting with Fox seemed to be healing those wounds. Sure Owl didn't seem to have changed much, it was just that now he actually had someone who would listen to his incessant attempts to talk while on the job. But Dog and Crow had really changed. Dog had changed from a glum recluse who was always late, to a relatively cheerful and reliable squad member; and Crow had come out of his shell, often-times abandoning his robotic ways in favour of spending some time training Fox. He'd even been known to crack a sarcastic joke here and there.
Tiger supposed that maybe he was being stubborn. It had been many years now since the last Great Shinobi War, and the Sandaime was so committed to peace that even Kumogakure's kidnapping attempt of the Hyuuga heiress some years before had been resolved peacefully. Perhaps Owl was right, and he should train the boy. It reminded him of what many of the older ANBU referred to as Sakumo's dilemma, named for the disgraced Hatake Sakumo. The whole question was, when forced to choose between saving the mission, and saving the team, which should you choose. The shinobi rules and the village elders would tell you that the mission is of the highest importance, and your team is expendable. The Sandaime would say that Konoha is not just a village, it is the people within it, but would refuse to say anything more concrete than his vague hints accompanied by a small smile. Tiger, and some of his close friends, had a different opinion, however. What was the point of claiming to be an elite Jonin if you didn't have the skill to attempt both? The White Fang may have failed at one of them in the end, but in Tiger's opinion, he was a hero who had acted prudently and competently.
That, he supposed, had made his decision for him. Abandon Fox, leaving him all alone? Abandon protocol by keeping an untrained kid in his ANBU team? He'd do neither, he'd train the kid to be competent, and then there wouldn't be any conflict of interests. The only question now was what to teach the boy. Tiger himself was a kenjutsu specialist, but for a child that size and that young, there wouldn't be much value in learning to use a katana just yet, since any skills he gained would be rendered less and less effective as he grew, and his size relative the sword changed drastically. He thought for a moment, but then smiled. He had just the thing.
Tiger signed towards Owl to get his attention, who, despite his efforts with Fox, was still vigilant, and caught his Captain's gesture immediately. 'Swap with me Owl, I want to talk to Fox.' he signed. With a small nod of affirmation from Owl, the two quickly shunshined, switching places at rapid speed. "Okay Fox, tell me how your training is going." Tiger said. It had been another two weeks since Owl had suggested he start training Fox too, and he was interested to see what progress had been made. 'I'm getting better at tree climbing', the boy signed back, 'I can get almost half way up the tree every time, and Crow says when I have it down I can try the shunshin again.'.
Tiger frowned a little at that. That was actually pretty slow progress. Then again, he was comparing it to the average genin, most of whom would be much older than him, and all would have far less chakra to worry about. Well at least his idea wouldn't require any chakra control. "Okay Fox, would you like to learn my Taijutsu style?".
The boy looked confused at that. 'What's Taijutsu?' he signed. Tiger sighed, "Taijutsu is the ninja art of close combat. If I teach you, you'll be able to fight enemies better. It'll help you become a hero." He said the last in a light tone, a smile growing behind his mask as he saw the boy sit up a little straighter as he said it. "For now Fox, I want you to take a nap. I'll start teaching you later after Crow is finished with you for the day." The boy nodded and made to lie down. Tiger froze for a moment in surprise, as Fox rested his head against Tiger's thigh, but quickly got over it. He let out a small chuckle, and let his hand rest on the boy's shoulder.
TSF-TSF-TSF
It was already past 7pm when Crow decided that Fox had done enough tree climbing for the day. Tiger had sat by the side and watched carefully as Fox had tried over and over to stay stuck to the tree, and honestly, he was impressed. Not with the kid's control, since that still wasn't great, but with his perseverance. He'd walked up the trunk of that tree countless times, only to be blown back again and again, and each time, the boy had dusted himself off and started over.
Now, as Crow left with a small nod of acknowledgement, Tiger walked over to the small boy, who sat panting at the base of the tree, staring up at what had become his nemesis. "Come on Fox, let's get started.". To his credit, the boy rose and turned to his new mentor without hesitation. He was obviously a little tired, but even at 6, he was already showing an important quality for a shinobi, being able to push on through pain and exhaustion. "My Taijutsu is called the Tiger Form, and its very versatile. There are striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, and I'll teach you to fight both with your hands and your feet, although its in the hands that this style really bares its claws. Put your hand like this.", Tiger held his hand out in an open palm, but then bent his fingers and thumb in so that they looked almost like claws, "When we strike, we do so with our palms, but then we can grab on with our claws and take a firm hold. If you were bigger, you could probably grapple, but for now you're small, and so I'll teach you to throw people instead. You can their own weight against them.". Fox was listening with rapt attention now as Tiger, forgoing his usual signing, was instead demonstrating by grasping the wrist of his other arm in his clawed hand.
Fox grinned and copied the hand shape, and Tiger began to show him how he should be moving and striking.
It was another two weeks before they had their first spar. Tiger was, of course, taking it very easily, but he was slowly pushing the boy's limits. He didn't make use of his usual style, but was instead throwing out a few close fisted punches, and the occasional kick, which Fox had gotten quite deft at dodging and deflecting, although with his small size he wasn't able to really block properly even against Tiger's casual attempts. Fox shot back up from having ducked Tiger's kick, and he saw a small grin on the boy's face, the kid was getting cocky. Time to knock him down a peg or two. Tiger shot forward with a fist at a slightly higher speed this time, and the boy looked like he was frozen in place. At the last second, Tiger felt a small pulse as Fox shot so much chakra to his legs that there was a visible blue aura around his feet. He shot to the side, dodging the punch by a hair's breadth, and Tiger was so surprised that Fox even managed to snag a hold of his wrist with a clawed hand. He felt the boy tug at him in an attempt to throw him over, but there wasn't nearly enough strength behind it to do so successfully. Still, whether by luck or skill, the boy's form was impeccable. There wouldn't be any harm in humouring him with a little positive reinforcement. Tiger allowed himself to be thrown from his feet, and landed on his back, looking back up at the smiling Fox. There was no doubt about it, Tiger was definitely proud.
A/N: Honestly listening to lofi girl and typing away at 2 am is a whole mood and I'm down for it any time. So some more inspirational credit to give to another story here. "The Mouse of Konoha" by obsidian dreamer. All in all a pleasant little fic to read, one of those ones that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. The whole Sakumo's Dilemma thing comes from this story I believe, I had a quick rescan but couldn't find the exact passage, but the general gist of it is that when in a situation where you have to choose between your team and the mission, a Jonin should attempt to do both to the best of their ability. A very uplifting take I think, and just the inspiration needed to bring Tiger truly into the fold.
Also with regards to the Tiger Form Taijutsu, i've based it off of a style of kung-fu with the same name. I'll not get bogged down in details of a bunch of stuff for it, since i'm not any kind of expert in it anyway, but I thought it was kind of a cool concept and it gave me some ideas that I can't wait to write about :)
One thing I realised is that I should probably amend what I said in the preface regarding Naruto's age. Relative to the rookie 9, he's still younger, but with the amount of things connected to Naruto's birth, it's probably easier to think of it as the rest of them being older rather than him younger if that makes sense. I'm sure it'll become more apparent as to what I mean once we reach that point in the story.