I'M BACK! Lol, here's chapter 2 to my story, Setaro. This is from Setaro's perspective. I forgot to say I don't own Naruto last time. (Oops :s) So, me no own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke would never have left! DX There is mention of rape. Just wait and see! Thank you! :3
ON WITH THE STORY!
Revelations and Relations
Setaro looked at the kid with weird duck butt hair. His past six months as a pack member had taught him to hold his tongue about things as rude as that around Honō (Blaze) the leader of the pack. He was a dark ginger wolf with light, honey brown eyes. His left ear was torn from a fight with a rouge pack member months before the tiny pup was born. At first, Setaro had thought Yuki, his human, was the leader. Honō told him she was like a second leader. He looked to her for advice since she was a human and knew more of the world outside the pack's territory than anyone else. She took over the pack for short periods of time whenever the leader was sick, injured, or anything else that would keep him from filling the post.
"Setaro!" The pup jumped and looked over at Tori, a light brown she-wolf with indigo eyes. She was strong and loyal, but disapproved of Yuki and the pup. She blamed Yuki for the pack's troubles and wasn't afraid of voicing her opinion.
"Sorry Tori (Bird), I was thinking." Setaro apologized, licking his white chest fur. "I wish they'd tell us something. I feel like I'm sitting on porcupine quills and pine nettles" (A/N: ha ha, kinda stupid but I'm easily amused :3)
"They will tell us something when they have something to tell."
"Right, sorry, Tori." The brown she-wolf huffed and wandered off to sit with her sister, Kaze (Wind). The pure white she-wolf had been part of the group that had "greeted" Hana six months ago. She had been the only wolf to accept Setaro after Hana left. He liked her. She was kind and motherly. She'd lost her pups to malnourishment and her mate had died not long after Setaro came.
"SETARO!" Three sets of paws were heard before the Shiba Inu pup was tackled to the ground. Honō's three pups squealed and giggled as they tried to uncurl his tail. He smiled and bopped Risu (Squirrel) on the head. Risu was a small, grey pup with short body fur and a bushy tail. His cerulean eyes flashed playfully.
The other two were his sisters Chō (Butterfly) and Kirisame (Drizzle).
Chō was the smallest. She was a dusty grey pup with a mark on her forehead that looked almost like a butterfly. She had dusty blue eyes.
Kirisame was grey with darker streaks. Her eyes were a muddy brown with almost heart shaped pupils. Her canines were a little longer than normal and she had a short tail.
"Setaro, why won't Father play with us?" Risu whined.
"He's busy Risu, just wait a little while." Setaro said. He looked over at the humans and his pack leader as they talked. Yuki looked tense. The boy that she called her brother was leaning on her shoulder. The human with the funny looking dog looked bored and the other boy with the things over his eyes just stood there. The violet haired girl fidgeted a little and looked uncomfortable.
Humans are too easy to read. How can they survive in the outside world like that? Setaro thought. He knew that if a wolf's emotions were easy to ready, then they'd be considered to weak to survive and would be exiled from the pack.
"NO WAY!" Yuki yelled suddenly, jumping up. "I refuse to go back! I respect you, Honō, but that village betrayed me! I was hurt and they did nothing to punish the one that caused my pain." Setaro saw his master visibly tremble. He'd heard about her almost being raped and the village leader doing nothing about it. He wanted to comfort her, but he hadn't been called over and she'd told him to "stay".
"Yuki, please calm down." The ginger wolf said. The girl took a deep breath, but didn't relax. She walked over to Setaro and nodded to him. He stood and padded at her side as she walked into the forest.
"I'm sorry, Yuki, I should have been with you that time." The tiny dog whimpered.
"You weren't even born yet, don't blame yourself. Let's train."
The paired trained until half past noon before they went hunting. As they walked around, Setaro went over all his hunting lessons in his head.
Doe, aim for the throat for a clean kill, be careful of bucks nearby, if one comes out, leave. Fawns, separate from the mother before giving a kill blow to the neck. Buck, never take down alone, have partner distract while getting ready for when back turns to you, jump and give kill blow to neck. Rabbit, hunt in pairs, one startles, other kills. Squirrel, keep from climbing trees, use nuts and seeds as lures. Turkey, watch out for claws, wings, and beak, break neck fast and quietly. Turkey chicks, hunt in groups of at least three, two distract parents, one kills chick. The pup sighed as he went through each prey and hunting protocols. He shook his head and scented the air. He picked up the scent of pheasant and wagged his tail. Pheasant, easiest prey, has poor defense, but sharp ears and eyes, use aerial attack, jump from branch and pin to ground before giving kill blow. Be careful of how you land, if not done properly, you'll end up in Mesu's (Lioness') den with broken bones. He crouched down and quietly crawled to where the pheasant was. He saw a female on a nest, as she moved he saw a shiny creamy brown shell. He licked his lips, knowing how good pheasant eggs tasted. He climbed silently up a small tree to the lowest branch. He balanced on the tips of his claws and waited for the nesting bird to walk under him.
It didn't take long, as he snapped a twig climbing up, and the protective mother stood up. She walked towards the tree looked around.
Setaro jumped from the branch and landed with practiced ease onto the bird. He bit her neck hard and fast, hearing a sickening crunch. He stood up and carefully stretched each of his legs, making sure none of them had been injured in the jump. He shook out his fur, felling his chest squeeze.
Must have hurt a rib. I hope nothing's broken. He picked up the dead bird and lay it the nest over the eggs to keep them warm. He carefully dragged the nest of twigs back to the clearing. He came back to see His pack leader, human, and outside humans in another meeting. This time Mesu was with them.
The sandy brown herbalist saw him limping and dashed over to him. She saw his caught prey and growled at him. She turned her amber glare on to a large creamy brown wolf sitting beside Tori with a half-eaten rabbit in front of him. His leafy green gaze was fixed on the she-wolf.
"Shuppin, (Kindle) come here!" The healer barked. Honō looked up at the sound and saw the young wolf wheezing heavily. The cream colored wolf ran to Mesu and whimpered.
"Yes, Mesu?" He asked shakily.
"Setaro hurt himself catching a pheasant. Have you even taught him the right way to jump from a tree?"
"No, but we did practice falling dodges in the lilac grove."
"What did he hurt?" Yuki asked.
"His front left wrist. Obviously from landing wrong."
"My chest was being pressured before." Setaro said, wanting to know if he should worry about a rib cutting his heart.
"You were just winded, it happens a lot." Mesu said.
"But I was good. The pheasant didn't even notice me until I was on top of her. And I collected a nest of eggs!" The little Shiba Inu wagged his curly tail.
"Bed, now." The older she-wolf nudged him to a den with cozy moss and hay inside. He lay down in a scoop of feathers, fawn pelts, and ferns. He curled up and fell asleep easily. He felt a blanket drape over his small body. He snuggles into the soft human material. It had been in cage when he's arrived the clearing so many months ago. It was black with stars and a moon sewn into it with almost gold colored thread. It was soft and warm. He loved it because it had the scent of his mother on it. He couldn't remember her, but he remembered her scent. Mesu told it was natural for an animal to remember their birth mother's scent, even if it's ages old.
He could pick up the scent with it so close to his nose. It smelled of mint and honey with a small hint of earth. He was told he was born to be a ninja hound, his most have been one too and the scent masked her from those that didn't know her. But the small pup knew since he lived with only knowing him mother's scent until he was weaned onto solid food. After that, he was brought to the human named Hana and she brought him to the pack. He missed his mother, but nothing else. There was nothing else to miss. He only knew his mother's scent before he came here. But he still loved it here more, though he wished he knew where he came from. He just wanted to meet his mother and siblings, tell them he was alright, and go home to the clearing, maybe seeing them once in a while.
Pale dawn light seeped into his nest, a small hole in the rock wall, and a gentle breeze woke him up. He sat up and yawned, let his blanket fall and pool around him. He gently limped out into the clearing and saw Yuki with the other humans sitting in a circle talking.
The must have stayed the night. He thought as he walked over. As he got closer he saw the one that was his master's brother had a small cream colored Shiba Inu with him. She had a black collar and vibrant green eyes. Her curled tail wagged happily as she sat at her master's side. She saw him and ran to him and barked happily.
"Hi! I'm Tabi!" The puppy yipped.
"I'm... Setaro." The bright colored Shiba Inu said slowly. He felt his body shake and heat up unnaturally.
"That's a funny name. Why did your mother give it to you?" That struck a nerve.
"My mother didn't name me! I was separated from her when I could eat solid foods! My master, Yuki, named me! And I like it thank you!"
"No need to get angry, dude." Setaro looked over his should and saw a small white dog with brown ears and closed eyes.
"Hey Akamaru! This is Setaro! Weird name, right?" Tabi smiled and wagged her tail.
"Well, I think Journey is a weird name." Setaro growled.
"Cool it, dude. She's just giving her opinion." The small dog barked.
"Well, around here your opinion could get you killed." Setaro walked to a cleft between the stone wall and large oak tree where Mesu had her nest. It was hidden with ferns and ivy that draped over a hole in the wall, concealing the nest's contents. He crawled under the ivy wall and walked blindly into the dark nest. "Mesu, can you look at my wrist?"
"Sure, just lay down in this nest." The small pup followed the sweet sound of his healer and felt around for the nest. He found a soft, moss and fern covered scoop in the sandy earth and lay down. He felt the she-wolf gently sniffing and prodding his injured wrist. He cringed when she pushed it a certain way and whimpered. "You just need some rest and it'll be fine. It's just sprain. If I'd have checked it last night, it'd have been too swollen to tell what was wrong." The herbalist gently wrapped an ivy vine around his whole left leg tightly so he couldn't even move his toes. "That will keep it from getting worst. Just rest for today. I'll get your blanket." He watched the she-wolf easily slide out into the clearing and heard her going to the leader's nest to tell him what had happened.
I just want to fight in. Tori will never let me live this down. She'll call me a soft hearted house pet or something. Why can't I just fight in? Setaro thought desperately.
It'd been three weeks and Mesu had let Setaro out of her den. Tabi and Akamaru were still there, they constantly annoyed Setaro while he stayed in the she-wolf's den. They wanted to know why he was being held by the pack against his will. He got angry and told them to bother their masters, but they kept coming back. He'd finally asked Mesu to keep them from bothering him because he was getting stressed. She'd kept them out and he was thankful.
He saw the two puppies playing with Honō's pups. He felt annoyed that they were having much more fun with the outsiders then they ever did with him. Kirisame saw him and smiled, calling his name. He didn't answer and just went back to his den with his blanket draped over his back. He heard the small she-pup follow him into the hole in the wall while he lay his blanket down.
"Don't you want to play, Setaro?" She asked worriedly.
"Go play with the outsiders, I'm sure they're much more fun." The small puppy answered broodingly.
"That's stupid, Setaro. We love playing with you."
"Whatever just leave me alone." He curled up on his blanket and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He expected to head Drizzle snort and storm away. To yell at him for being stupid and going to play with her brother and sister. To just walk away.
Instead, he felt her curl up next to him and bury her nose in his long, soft fur. He could scent her. She smelled of earth and lilies, with a small honey and rain under scent. He remembered her mother, Ame (Rain), had the same scent. Looked the same as her daughter, with the same feisty attitude to match. She'd died not long after the three pups were born.
"You don't have to be alone anymore." Was the last thing Setaro heard before he drifted off into his dreams.
So, here's Chapter 2! I'd like to know how to pair the dogs up. There are more members to the pack but here's what I was thinking:
A. Setaro x Tabi
B. Akamaru x Tabi
C. Akamaru x Setaro
D. Tabi x Risu
E. Risu x Setaro
F. Akamaru x Risu
G. Setaro x Kaze
H. Setaro x Chō
I. Setaro x Kirisame
J. Tabi x Kirisame
K. Tabi x Chō
L. Setaro x Mesu
M. Akamaru x Chō
N. Akamaru x Kirisame
Tell me what you think and no flames about the pairing list or I'll just delete the message. These are just suggestions; I may add more as I go on. I personally like most of them, but I want to hear what YOU think since you're the reader. I wanted to give more of a background on Setaro other than a Shiba Inu puppy that was abandoned at the vets. So! RnR! THE FOX IS OUT! *makes a peace sign before disappearing in a cloud of smoke*
Kimimaru: O.O nata chiri kito? (What was that?)
Sasuke: Who knows who cares?