Preface: my first reviews! I'm almost a big boy now! And they were nice, that a welcomed bonus.
Chapter 20: Welcome to the Family
"So… I'll just read the report and try to make a mental timeframe of what happened this morning…"
Mom was standing close to my hospital bed. Holding a scroll and a brush in her hands.
"This is child abuse, and I will only speak in the presence of a magistrate."
A bed I was strapped to. Standard procedure after my… Let's just say 'outburst'. And leave it at that.
"After you woke up, the nurse in charge did your physical, like every morning and gave you a letter that was deposed the day before but was missed by the receptionist. Then, she left.
After a few moments, everyone started to hear you shouting something about war and the fire detection system in your room triggered.
A guard from the Genin corps entered your room, saw you burning the letter and used a water jutsu to extinguish the fire. Then you attacked him. Without provocation.
Is it true?"
"That might or might not be true, and I will only speak in the presence of a magistrate."
"Taking that as a 'yes'. Then, having the element of surprise, you somehow managed to overpower not one, but two members of the Genin corps, forcing them to retreat for backup. You were also noted screaming 'YOU KNOW WHAT'S ANOTHER SAFETY HAZARD? MY FOOT IN YOUR ARSE' while trashing them. We will have a little talk about that later, but for now is this correct?"
"I… Errrr… Might or might not have said that… But I'll only speak in the presence of a magistrate…"
"''Yes' again, it is… Then, drew by the noise, the nurses tried to calm you by putting you under a genjutsu. Either forgetting that, since we share our mind with our ninken, we are less sensible to targeted illusions or not knowing that you were already at this stage, it failed. You started targeting them, your hands making the 'release' sign and screamed 'KAI KAI MOTHERFUCKERS'. We'll need to have another conversation about that. But for the moment the important part is how true this statement is."
"I… May or may not have done this… But I'll only speak… In the presence of a magistrate..."
"So, correct again… Finally, the head doctor arrived on the scene and tried to subjugate you. According to this file, you 'moved faster that the eye could see', placed yourself behind him, in a crouching position, and directed your fingers to… His backside… It's also written that you screamed 'HERE COME THE PAIN, BITCH!' at that moment."
"I'll… Do the not-talking right now…"
I tried to wiggle my way down and hide under the blanket.
"They finally managed to wrestle you down and sedate you, then they called me. Because, still according to this, no one wanted to approach you in case you were faking being asleep. And here I am."
"I can't see her… That means she can't see me, right? Her vision is based on movement, so I'll just hide here forever…"
But my hopes were dashed when mom removed the blanket and looked at me with The Glare.
You know? The Glare. The ultimate weapon that all moms had in the world. The one that cows their child into immediate submission. Right above 'no dessert' in the threatening ladder.
So, in retaliation, I used my secret weapon: I looked back at her with eyes that screamed I am a cute and pure child that totally didn't spent ten minutes trashing his surrounding and spew profanities around, I swear.
It… Didn't worked. Damn it, why does it never work when I do it? I trained hard!
"Aaaah…" Mom's tension went down a notch.
"Don't worry, pup, you are not in trouble. No formal complaint was made by the hospital. The nurses told me that mood-swings were a known side effects of the withdrawal of your medication. They assured me you were a model patient during the time you were awake, and this might just be a result of your Inuzuka's inner savagery badly reacting to it. They were less surprised by the fact it happened than by the scale of it.
Also, when I went to the medical division to present a formal apology from the clan to the Genin you trashed, I met Nara Igaku. Konoha's top surgeon, who told me that she 'definitively saw the family resemblance with his grandmother'. She knew my mom, who sent quite a few more experienced shinobi in her care when she was peeved."
Her gaze became less threatening. Oh, she can't have any memories of Amane, right? But then the steel in them came back as her eyes locked with mine.
"But we still need to have a little heart to heart."
...
In nomine Patris, and Filli, and Doggytus Sanctus…
"Where… Did you learn… Those words?"
"I BLAME MOON-MOON!" I did the only logical thing and threw my Friend under the bus.
"WHAT? NO! I'VE NEVER USED, LIKE, HALF OF THOSE WORDS!"
Thank you for being an idiot, Friend.
"Actually, well I did say the 'Kai Kai' part but that's because someone stepped on my tail… BUT IT MEANS 'OUCHIE' AND TOTALLY NOT A WAY FOR ME TO SAY THAT PERSON'S MOTHER IS…. PLEASE DON'T KILL MEEEEEEEEEEE!"
I watched with amusement mom slowly moving toward my Friend.
"Hum… What I meant is that, while Moon-moon was teaching me the Inuzuka arts, I heard people saying those. Especially the 'bitch' one. Those construction workers near our home used it a lot… And I was curious…"
The threatening presence of Tsume Inuzuka didn't abate in the least. But it wasn't directed at us anymore.
Sorry, guys that maybe exists, better you than me.
"Very well. Next point, in the report, you shrugged a targeted genjutsu on yourself. Did you feel anything… Different about you?
"Well, I was… Huh… Not really thinking straight … And angry…"
"That's because, according to the report, you unleashed your inner beast. It's a technique that all Inuzuka share. You overload the mental connection of your ninken and make it a physical one. You physically change and become more feral. Usually, we taught our pup this technique after graduating, due to the risk it represents for other children. But I guess you found it on your own…"
Oh, I had the looking-very-very-mean technique now and didn't noticed. I never really put some thoughts about it. In the manga, Kiba almost never used it after the Chuunin exam. Probably because Kishimoto was not a good writer and forgot about it at some point.
"Next point, the Genin that was tasked to supervise you told me that he saw you with a burning letter in your hands. How did you do that when you had no way to ignite it?"
Oh, right. Errr….
"I… Don't really know? I read the letter, felt angry and wanted it to burn?"
Now that I thought about it, how did I do that?
"I felt… Something swirl within me. I was… I was SO angry after reading the letter and… I wanted it to burn. And then it did…"
The fact that I held a burning object in my hands and not felt any pain was kind of weird, too.
"Kami help me…" Mom took her head in her hands. "He spent four years learning only the physical arts, spent… a long time in a coma, and one week after waking up he invents a new trick… You were right, Mikoto. I thought I understood back then…"
"I… Invented a Jutsu?" I tentatively said.
"Not a Jutsu, a trick. I wanted to teach you that before you were… But no. You didn't create a new Jutsu.
A 'trick' is a way to use your Chakra to do one simple task. Like sticking to a tree, or jumping higher. In your case, you wanted the letter to burn, so your Chakra made it so.
Jutsu creation… Is way harder. You must imagine the process in your head. You must have a mental image, if you wish, of what it should do. Then do calculations about Chakra usage, loss, performance, control…
Tricks are instinctual; you think, therefore you are. You think, therefore you do.
Jutsu requires calculations. Mathematic things we Inuzuka don't really care about."
Heeeeeeeeeeey. I haven't called my clan 'Morons' in a while, now that I think about it.
Fixing that now…
YOU FUCKING MORONS!
Now, back to the show.
"So, you burned the scroll using your Chakra. That's understandable. But know I must ask you this. What was in the letter?"
Ooooh, fuck no.
"Can I… Not tell you? It's kinda personal…"
"No, my pup, I'm sorry but the hospital requested it. No formal complaint was made but I still need you to explain what triggered your… Little accident.
I must ask you this and put it in my report."
Okay, okay, think Shinji, think...
"Don't worry, the nurses told me how you reacted when you recognized who send it to you."
What?
"I promise you that the girl that broke your heart will suffer no consequence. She'll just walk every morning in dog poop the second she'll step outside her house for a week. It was one of the girls that always hung around you before, right?"
Wait… I HAD GIRLS HANGING AROUND ME? I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE!
Noooooononononnononononono, not the time. Think rationally. I can't say the truth to my mother… Or… Can't I? Why would I LIE to mom?
"It was… A letter… From my grandfather."
I chose to say the truth.
"Then you shouldn't say anything anymore." Interrupted Tsume Inuzuka. The Fierce. Her face closing up completely.
"According to our traditions, information about an Alpha must always be shared by the Alpha himself or by his willing successor. Forcing you would be an insult to the clan. I am NOT his successor, I am not an Alpha, but I already failed that rule once, to save you. Not that you could remember it. But if you are not willing to speak then I will NOT betray the clan again for a simple report."
Oh, yeah, the giving-my-old-asshole-of-a-grandfather-files in the past. When she was trying to save me from being suspected as a potential plant.
To save me, she willingly disobeyed her oath.
I was, in her eyes, more important than the clan.
I wondered how many Sires would have done that for their Pup.
Not all of them. In the old Fucker words, sometimes parents don't deserve their children.
I watched my mother. I saw the determination, the hope… I saw the curiosity…
"I… I want to tell you, mom. In this letter he told me his story. The one that you told me before. His 'legacy' as he called it.
How he grew up in Konoha, became the Fierce when he was still at the academy. How he met and fell in love with grandma…"
Tsume Inuzuka, the Fierce, the strongest person I ever saw, smiled.
"How he watched you grew up when he wasn't around to be with you…
How he never really liked dad at first… But accepted your choice."
Mom had a little laugh at that.
"How he saw the world turning into hell, day after day. And finally, in the letter, taught me his Rules.
And then I became… Angry…"
"Don't worry, my pup, it's normal."
"No mom! You don't get it! You must understand! His rules were so… So…. SO WRONG! SO…"
As I was about to say 'stupid', she interrupted me.
"It's only natural for any new generation to surpass the last. You'll get it in time when you will have pups on your own. As I do now."
No! Grandaddy was just a grade-1 idiot!
"But I was so… So… I'm still searching for a word that describe how you drag someone out of hell an put him back here yourself…"
"There are none, my pup. You will have to create that word yourself." Mom said in a loving voice.
If I manage to do it, thanks Edo Tensei, I'll call it 'Pulling a Kiba'. A very official way of describing fucking everything up and FAIL IN THE END.
"Guess I will… So, what now?"
"I came here to take you back home. Initially, before your 'Amane-grade', that's your grandmothers name, outburst. It's been a while since the room you shared with Hana had been half-empty.
But here's the last point. Next week you'll start school again. Due to the age difference, we asked for you to skip some years. You already showed proficiency in our art. But it was declined.
Next week, you'll be at second year at the academy.
We asked if you could skip some but…Our demand was rejected.
The first years at the academy are more about Chakra control, the third ones are mostly about physical training. And they feared your body wasn't already at the level where you could use Chakra. I know they are wrong, but please bear with it.
Also, your teacher won't be Miko-sensei. She retired one year after you… Well, she left the village to live her retirement in Otafuku-gai, a village close to us, to live with her family. In her school report she had only praises for you and hoped you'll wake up to visit her someday."
Translation: Danzo got bored and she went back to the shadows of ROOT. Yeah, I think I'll have a 'visit' from her someday. You know, disguised as a simple social event…
But, for the 'not skipping years' part, I guess it's a valid reason. I'll be surprised if Danzo had no say in the decision though…
After taking my belonging I was finally released from the place I've spent the last four years.
The village hadn't really changed from my memories. A semblance of 'Peace' (read: stalemate) was attained during my coma so there was some building that seems to… Age. It was nice.
At home, I could at least discuss with Hana, who was relieved to see me. She went to my bedside a few times but could never stay for long. And I was drugged as fuck at that time.
We talked about our future. She confessed me that, since she will graduate in a few years, she had no intentions of following our mother's footstep and won't try to join the Jonin corps. She wanted to follow our grandmother's one, join the medical corps, and finally the veterinarian clinic.
I smiled at that. I knew that she would be great at this. It was mentioned a few times in the original timeline, if my memory is correct.
Then, after a few days of rest / training / getting things with Moon-moon, I found myself in front of a classroom, with Moon-moon at my side.
"Kids, please meet your new friends, Inuzuka Shinji-kun and… His ninken." Guess the name was too much…
"Due to family reasons, he couldn't join the academy before. I know you already know each other, from having spent last year together, but please welcome him as you would with each other."
I took the time to notice that I only remarked the use of suffixes when it seemed out of place.
"Shinji-kun, please take a seat here, near Nohara Yamamoto-kun. The kid with the purple clan markings on his cheeks."
My teacher, a man in his early 30s who was neither Mizuki nor Iruka, continued.
Nahosomething Yamaforgottherest. Nope. Never heard of him. Hello, random PNJ number #17.
I looked at the children in front of me and noticed only four that stood out.
Because… Yeah… a good way to describe the arrangement of faces in front of was… 'Anime studio with no budget and an already passed deadline trying to draw a classroom'. Patent pending.
The four student that caught my attention were Rock Lee, not dressed in green spandex yet. Still weird haircut though.
Tenten, looking so small and cute that I wanted to hug her.
Neji, prim and proper like a good Hyuga. I wondered if Hinata's kidnapping already happened, but I couldn't really ask about a kidnapping around. Especially if it hadn't occurred yet.
And finally, with an empty desk near him, a young boy with brown hair and square tattoos on his cheeks. Tattoos I kinda recognized from before… Waiiit a second… What was the name the teacher said… Nohara Yamamoto… Nohara… The name's familiar, actually…?
NOHARA RIN!
He was a relative of the little girl that was the trigger of the fall of Rain…
I walked toward his desk, sadly not close to the radiator, and sat here.
"Errr… Hello? I'm Inuzuka Shinji. Nice to meet you…" I timidly said, I was unsure how to act around a 5 years boy..
"Good to meet you too. I'm Yamamoto. But you can call me Yama, it's shorter." The young boy said with a smile.
"I'll call you Yama-kun then, if you really don't mind." I responded with a light smile. Japanese were weird about nicknames in general.
"Yeah, I know it's a mouthful. I prefer being called that. It's also a pain to write every time, I tell you."
"Did I just broke the fourth wall?"
"Huh?" Yama looked around us. "No? I don't think you did?"
"Sorry, I tend to say weird things sometimes… My ninken, please meet Moon-moon here, has a bad influence on me…"
"No problem, and your dog is really cute."
"Children!" The teacher called us for attention. "Since it's the first day we'll begin with a history lesson about the last Shinobi war. Take your brushes and pay attention."
Okay, Shinji out. I used the boost in senses my Friend gave me and begin to scan my surroundings.
There was something I had to check.
I quickly found it. In the school yard, the first years were listening to a speech from the Hokage. I had the same four years ago. The speech was ending and Iruka started to call the students in his class.
I could have used "wolf-fm" to mentally 'see' the faces in the crowd, but I still needed to pay attention to class, so I simply listened to the call.
"Aburame, Shino."
Heh. Alphabetical order, I guess. Meet your future best friend, lil' bro.
"The battle of the Kamiatze plains began when Konoha's forces were pitted against Cloud…"
That was my teacher starting his lecture. Having to hear two conversations simultaneously was hard, but not undoable.
"Akimichi, Choji."
The lovable chubby kid that will become one of Naruto's strongest allies. If Naruto was indeed here…
"Cloud started the confrontation by sending a sizeable amount of their forces against our own troops."
A few names I didn't recognized (nor memorized) were said and I listened to the lesson, before...
"Haruno, Sakura."
"But then Kumo used the landslide they created to send a covert assassination team…"
Successor of the Godaime, genius of the medical world and an unpleasant child to boot.
"Hyuga, Hinata." Future clan head and wife of the Seventh Hokage, if he's still here and I haven't FUBAR-ed the timeline.
"Kumo forces then starting to withdraw, and our own started chasing them…"
Future team member of my brother. Don't start having a crush on her, young one. You don't even have the ghost of a chance.
"Inuzuka, Kiba."
Hey, welcome to the real world, little brother. I imagine that you have stars in your eyes right now… Doing your first steps and thinking that you'll learn right away how the be a badass… You'll be disappointed and it will be glorious to watch…
A few random named were called. I think the next one I'll recognize will be the lazy-bone Nara, so I continued to listen to my teacher.
"Nara, Shikako."
Fuckin' nailed it! Just like the Christ! WAIT! WHAT?
"But this was a distraction. Whilst our forces chased our enemies…"
"Nara, Shikamaru."
NOOOONONONONONONONO! GO BACK! GO FUCKING BACK! REWIND!
"The assassination team sent by Kumo managed to fight their way inside our defenses…"
More names I didn't recognized where called. I didn't give a shit.
Because… What the fuck?
Nara… Shikako? Deer… girl?
Entering the academy along with Shikamaru? Deer boy?
I knew only member of the main family of the Nara took that kind of name.
"Our Jonin commander, that was here to supervise the battle, was killed…"
Did I fucked-up the timeline so hard that I gave Shikamaru a twin sister?
WHAT THE FUCK?! HOW!
"But still, without his presence, Cloud's army was driven out. We won the battle but had to retreat and lost our presence in the Lightning country..."
"Uzumaki, Naruto."
WHAT THE FUCKING FUCKED FUCK?!
"So, this is a lesson about objectives in war and missions. Sometimes you need to consider the long term and understand that victory on the battlefield is not always the end goal."
"…What the fuck…?" Yup, that was me. Failing, in my state of shock, to silence the thoughts that were overwhelming me.
"SHINJI-KUN! I understand that this lesson might be weird to you, but I will NOT tolerate profanities in my class! See me during recess!"
…Oops…
…And what the fuck?
Author's notes: Aaaaaaand there you have it, ladies and assholes. This is not only the Naruto-verse, but we are also in the fucking HELIOCENTRISM-VERSE! LET US ALL DREAM OF SUNSHINE!
Man… I wanted to say it for so long…
So. For those discovering my work and not understanding the reference, please read 'Dreaming of Sunshine' from Silverqueen. It's a… Fucking masterpiece. It's a lesson about writing that everyone should learn and a required reading, like at school, for all wannabe fanfiction writer that think their Uchiha OC is worth the time of their reader.
And when you will have read it, you'll understand the name of this chapter.
Now… Now, I can have some fun.