Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.
Before the redemption
Chapter four: Memories of the doghouse
(KONOHAGAKURE, OVER TEN YEARS AGO, WINTER)
The three bullies (1) were not having a very good day. First, they figured that they could mess with that freaky Hyuga girl like they did the previous day. There was a chance that blonde loser may try to stop them; oh well, for fun for the bullies. Anywho, as they had expected, the three bullies found the freaky Hyuga girl, and also as they had expected, that blonde loser stepped in to try to stop them.
…What the three bullies hadn't expected what that, unlike the previous day, the blonde loser actually had two friends with him this time as back up; some lazy black-haired kid and some fat brown-haired kid. The three boys managed to chase off the three bullies, as bullies do not like even odds. Why else would a trio of bullies decide to pick on a girl who was all alone?
With the fun that they were going to have messing with that freaky Hyuga girl spoiled, along with some bruises on all three bullies and a slight scrape on the left knee of one of the bullies, the three bullies were in a foul mood. As they fumed, they came across a lone girl; she had pink hair, green eyes, and looked somewhat insecure. The three bullies thought that they had found a new victim in this pink-haired girl, but right as they started messing with her, some raven-haired boy with the Uchiha clan crest on the back of his jacket came in, beat them all up, and chased them all off. (2)
With further bruising, the three bullies were in an even fouler mood than before. "Aww man," said the first bully in a tone of complaint; this one wore a jacket that was roughly orange in color. "How come other kids won't let us have our fun?" the first bully went on, "We were only playing around with those girls!"
"I know, man," said the second bully, who wore a green jacket, "The other kids really need to learn how to lighten up. We weren't doing any sort of harm!"
"Maybe one of us should act as a sort of look out," suggested the third bully, who wore a yellow jacket and a green beanie. Breathing in some winter air, the third bully exhaled his breath, breathing out a cloud of smoke like a dragon breathing fire. "Man, it sure is cold," the third bully remarked casually, "I'd hate to be a poor kid in winter! Any jackets they have would probably be threadbare!"
"That's assuming they even have a jacket," the first bully remarked, making his two companions laugh cruelly at the expense of poor kids everywhere. As the three bullies continued to walk, they saw a lone kid approaching from the opposite direction. It was a boy, with scruffy brown hair and red, triangle-shaped marking on his face, one on each side. The kid wore a baggy and threadbare light-gray hoodie, baggy cargo shorts with large pockets on the sides of the legs, and a pair of shinobi sandals. The three bullies could just tell by looking at this boy that he was one of the previously mentioned poor kids that they were raging on.
"You're in my way, assholes," the poor kid snarled in an annoyed tone, his brow furrowing somewhat; this poor kid looked and sounded far more aggressive than the last two alone kids that the trio of bullies had come across. "I'm serious," the poor kid continued as his mood began to sour, "Move it or lose it."
"Oh?" the third bully said in an amused tone, "And what will you do if we don't?" The taunting that their companion was throwing at this poor kid made the first two bullies chuckle. The poor kid didn't say anything; he only arched an eyebrow.
…
A few minutes later, the three bullies were laying on the ground, all of them having been thoroughly beaten by the poor kid. The three bullies could tell from how badly they were beaten that, even if they were in perfect condition before the poor kid handed all of their butts to them on silver platters, the poor kid still would have handed all of their butts to them on silver platters anyway. The poor kid must have been from a shinobi family or something; maybe he was even from a shinobi clan.
To further rub in the humiliation of the three bullies, the poor kid, after he had beaten all of them, decided to check all of their pockets, taking all of the combined money the three bullies had; the poor kid also took the second bully's special decoder ring. Standing over his beaten opponents, the poor kid looked at his right hand, in which he held all of the money he took. The three bullies had a combined 1024 ryo on hand between the three of them.
"This is barely enough to get a halfway decent meal for a family of three," the poor kid thought bitterly as he shoved his gains into the front right pocket of his baggy cargo shorts. Looking down at his beaten opponents, the poor kid snarled, "You all had better not screw with me again. You got that, assholes?!"
"Do you know how many box tops I had to save up and mail in to get that decoder ring?" the second bully said lamely as he seemed to be on the verge of crying.
"Enough to save me the trouble of doing it myself, that's for sure!" the poor kid laughed as he turned to walk away. Although the mood of the three bullies had gone from an all-time low in terms of being foul to an all-time low in terms of being sad, the poor kid never felt better in his life. Thanks to some of the Taijitsu he picked up from watching his older sister practice, the poor kid was able to beat the snot out of three regular citizen children; those three clearly weren't from shinobi families, that's for sure!
Besides, the poor kid was never in any real danger anyway; he could have very easily scared the three kids he just beat up by pulling out the kunai he had swiped from his older sister's ninja weapons pouch when she left it laying on her dresser. The mere sight of a ninja weapon would have scared any kid from a regular citizen family into doing whatever the poor kid demanded of them. Luckily for the poor kid, he had no need to go that far; halfway decent Taijitsu was enough to earn him a little over one-thousand ryo, along with a nifty decoder ring.
…
Naruto Uzumaki was in a very good mood. Thanks to some help from two boys, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi, that he had befriended, Naruto was able to teach those three bullies a lesson they will never forget! Now they'll leave this shy and kind-of weird but ultimately very kind girl alone. "Hey, are you okay?" the young blonde boy asked the shy girl that he, Shikamaru and Choji stood up against some bullies for.
"I'm fine, thank you," the shy girl replied, "Thank you again for making those mean boys stop."
"Well hey, what they were doing wasn't right," Choji remarked as he pulled out a snack-sized bag of chips and opened it.
"We should let some adults know about those jerks," Shikamaru suggested, "And not the kind of adults who will just brush what we tell them off as 'kids being kids', but I mean actual adults who will actually do something about those bullies and get actual results."
"Maybe we should tell your mother that those bullies were picking on you," Choji suggested to Shikamaru, "That'll get results."
"No, that will get those bullies killed," Shikamaru replied, "We want them to behave themselves from here on out, not get put six feet under." (3)
"Y-your mother really w-wouldn't kill someone, would s-s-she?" the shy girl asked Shikamaru in a stammer, clearly looking scared.
"Nah, Shikamaru's mom really isn't that scary," Choji remarked in Shikamaru's place, "It's just a joke."
"That's what you think," Shikamaru muttered to himself dryly.
"Well anywho, we chased those bullies off and taught them the lesson they needed!" Naruto said, "This calls for a party! Who's with me?"
"That does s-sound like a n-nice idea," the shy girl stammered mildly, "I've always wanted to EEEEEP!" The shy girl stopped midsentence and ran quickly to hind behind a nearby tree. Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji all looked around, expecting those three bullies to be coming back for revenge. But Naruto and his friends didn't see the three bullies.
They just saw a lone kid walking by.
Judging by his baggy and threadbare hoodie, the lone kid was from a financially struggling family. Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji all noticed that the lone kid was scowling somewhat, and that made the three boys want to give the lone kid as much of a wide berth. A few seconds after the lone kid had walked clear past Naruto and his friends, the shy girl peeked out from behind the tree that she was using for her cover.
"Is…is he gone?" the shy girl asked, clearly rattled.
"Yeah, he's gone," Naruto replied as he turned to face the shy girl, "Why do you ask? Has he been picking on you as well?"
Shaking her head gently in the negative, the shy girl said, "Oh no, in fact I've never even met that boy."
"Then why are you scared of him?" Shikamaru asked.
Looking down at the ground, the shy girl explained, "Those red markings on his face…that boy belongs to the Inuzuka clan. The elders of my clan tell me that the Inuzuka clan aren't all that fond of our clan, and as such the elders tell me that I should keep my distance from the Inuzuka clan. My clan's elders wouldn't go into detail, though."
"Oh!" Choji exclaimed as he wore an expression of realization, "Now I recognize that kid!"
Turning to face his best friend, Shikamaru said, "You've seen him before, Choji?"
Nodding in the affirmative, Choji said, "I saw that kid, his older sister, their mom and their mom's dog one time when I was helping my grandaunt with a yard sale she was running. While the boy's mom spent five or so minutes trying to haggle down the price of an electronic singing fish that she wanted to buy from my grandaunt's yard sale, I got to talk to the boy. He told me that his name was Kiba."
"Kiba, huh?" Naruto remarked, giving the notion of the Inuzuka boy some thought. After a few minutes, Naruto shook his head somewhat briskly. "Nah, forget him," Naruto said, "He seems like the kind of guy who would pick on others given half a chance." Turning to face the shy girl, Naruto said, "If that Kiba kid ever gives you any trouble, let me know, alright? I'll knock his block of for you."
Normally, the shy girl would be hesitant to accept such a promise, as she was not fond of violence. But the shy girl, her views on the Inuzuka clan heavily painted by the elders of her clan, would accept any offer if it meant that any and all Inuzuka clan members were kept as far away from her as possible. "J-just be careful, o-okay?" the shy girl stammered, "I'd hate f-for you to g-get hurt."
Grinning confidently, Naruto jerked a thumb at his chest as he said, "Are you kidding? You're talking to the future Hokage here! There's no way I'd lose to a punk like that Kiba kid!" Shikamaru and Choji both laughed at Naruto's boast, but it was laughter of a good-natured variety that showed that they weren't mocking their friend's dreams. The shy girl, for her part, just smiled kindly.
(A SHORT WHILE LATER, LEAF VILLAGE NINJA ACADEMY)
It was sometime during recess one day over at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy when Kiba Inuzuka was walking through one of the hallways. Kiba wasn't alone in his walking, either; walking alongside the young Inuzuka boy was a Ninkin puppy, Akamaru, that Kiba had recently gotten. After some scolding from his mother about playing with Akamaru too much, Kiba put some effort into training. Akamaru had gotten the hang of some basic Ninkin skills, along with mastering the art of not going to the bathroom inside of the house, so Kiba's mom got off his back, even encouraging Kiba to take a bit of a break.
But this is getting off subject. The reason why Kiba and his dog were not outside playing with the rest of the kids was because Kiba was just not feeling up to it. For reasons that escape Kiba, he could no longer get free lunch at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy; this had started on Monday the previous week, and now it was Thursday of this week.
"I thought that Ma took care of the thing that let me eat here," Kiba thought as he and his dog walked through the hallway, "Do I no longer qualify, or something?" It was then that Kiba walked by the door leading into his classroom. Stopping on the side of the hallway opposite of his classroom's door, Kiba had a desperate thought.
"…Everyone is outside, Iruka-sensei included," Kiba thought as he considered a plan of action, "And I did teach Akamaru how to act as a look-out."
Kiba snuck into the empty classroom. A quick glance at the windows showed that all of the blinds were closed; this meant that there was no chance that someone would randomly look through one of the classroom windows and see what Kiba was up to. "Good, I won't get caught," Kiba thought as he stepped foot into the empty classroom. Turning to regard his Ninkin puppy, Kiba said, "If you hear anyone approach, let me know, alright?"
Nodding in the affirmative, Akamaru gave an affirmative-sounding hum. With his loyal Ninkin puppy understanding his instructions, Kiba began looking around. He figured that at least one of the unguarded backpacks in the classroom had to have at least one snack that he could swipe; the thought of having to steal from one of his classmates made Kiba slightly disgusted with himself, not to mention set a mild degree of fear into his heart that he'd be caught.
But desperate situations made for desperate kids.
The first backpack that Kiba came across was a mostly cream-colored backpack, with a lavender-colored flap over the top and lavender-colored side pockets. The insignia of a ninja clan was affixed directly onto the center of the top flap of the backpack. "Hey, this is the Hyuga clan insignia," Kiba thought as he found the backpack, "Aunt Pirate says that the Hyuga clan has taken a lot from the Inuzuka clan, and that's why we're suffering." Opening the backpack, Kiba thought, "Maybe I should take something from them, just to even the score a little WOAH!"
Kiba was surprised by what he had found when he opened the top flap of the Hyuga backpack; there were a number of individually wrapped melon breads, along with some individually wrapped jumbo cinnamon rolls. There was also a one-liter bottle of Root Beer. Checking the Hyuga backpack further, Kiba found a wallet; opening the wallet, Kiba found 2200 ryo.
"This is more than double what I got from beating up those three assholes last year during Winter," the Inuzuka boy thought in amazement. Acting quickly, Kiba took the 2200 ryo, shoved it into his right front pocket, then placed the wallet back into the backpack. Bringing his own backpack over, Kiba then removed all of the snacks and the bottle of soda, placing the entire spread into his own backpack.
Figuring that he had scored well enough, Kiba decided to not push his luck. With his backpack slung over his right shoulder, Kiba picked up Akamaru and exited the classroom; to Kiba's great relief, there weren't any other people in the academy building. The Inuzuka boy found a good place to be alone, where no one could possibly run into him by chance; there, Kiba sat Akamaru back down on the ground, sat on the ground himself as he took off his backpack, and unzipped it. As he removed one of the melon breads that he swiped, Kiba said to Akamaru, "You ready to eat, Akamaru?"
…
Later that day, Kiba and Akamaru were walking through another hallway of the Leaf Village Ninja Academy. Kiba had eaten all of the snacks that he swiped, while occasionally tearing of a chunk or two for Akamaru until the Ninkin puppy indicated that he was satisfied (i.e. full). Kiba had also consumed all of the Root Beer. Additionally, with the money he had obtained, Kiba, his older sister and their mom would actually be able to get some dinner tonight.
Kiba would tell them that he got the money by winning some bets at the academy today; although Hana would not approve of the idea of her little brother gambling while at school, she would believe the story. As for Kiba and Hana's mom, not only would she believe the story, but show great approval as well; Tsume Inuzuka had somewhat lower morals than her daughter. (4) Plus, money meant food, so who was Tsume to complain?
As Kiba and Akamaru walked by a classroom, they heard the familiar voice of the daughter of one of Kiba's mom's friends saying, "What do you have to say for yourself, Choji?"
"Hey, that's the daughter of Ma's friend Mr. Yamanaka," Kiba thought as, out of curiosity, he walked over and peered through a crack in the doorway. He saw the aforementioned daughter of Mr. Yamanaka, along with the niece of Kiba's mom's friend Mr. Fisher, confront that fat kid, that lazy kid, and that blonde kid that was in their class. Iruka-sensei was standing as a neutral party in the confrontation. "Hey, those three boys look kind of familiar to me," Kiba thought as he continued to watch and listen in private.
"For the last time Ino, Choji didn't steal anything," the lazy kid said to Mr. Yamanaka's daughter in an annoyed tone, "What the heck makes you think that it was him anyway?"
"Because it was a bunch of snacks that was stolen," the niece of Mr. Fisher said.
"What kind of snacks were even stolen, Sakura-chan?" the blonde boy said to Mr. Fisher's niece.
"Some melon breads and a few big cinnamon rolls," Mr. Fisher's niece, identified as Sakura, replied, "Plus a bottle of Root Beer. Also, all of her money was stolen as well."
"One, Choji is a chip guy, not a sweets guy," the lazy boy began as he listed off things on his fingers, "Two, he likes Cola, not Root Beer. Three, why in the heck would he steal any money?"
"Because he's a jerk, Shikamaru," Mr. Yamanaka's daughter, identified as Ino, remarked angrily to the lazy boy, "Jerks always do mean things."
Sighing, Iruka said, "Girls, as nice as it is that you're looking out for a friend, there's no way Choji could have stolen anything. He was helping me all day with carrying some boxes between the faculty office and the storage room on the top floor of the academy. Naruto and Shikamaru were also helping me all day, so neither of them could have been the thief, either."
"What I would like to know is what she was doing with all of those snacks in the first place," the lazy boy, identified as Shikamaru, remarked.
Sighing, Ino said, "As much as this baffles me, she was intending to share it all with Naruto during lunch."
A confused look on his face, the blonde boy, who had to be Naruto by process of elimination, remarked, "Me? Why would she want to share those snacks with me? No one had ever wanted to do something like that for me before."
"She's really thankful for all of the times you stood up for her," Sakura replied, "As much as this annoys me to admit, you're actually a rather decent person, Naruto."
"Now Sakura, what have I told you about not being so dismissive of your other classmates?" Iruka said in a tone of mild scolding.
As Sakura was about to object, a random voice said through one of the classroom windows, "Hey, I have an idea about who the thieves might be."
Iruka and the students all turned to face the direction the voice called out from, and as such they saw Sasuke Uchiha looking through an open window. Seeing the object of their affection talking to them, Sakura and Ino were immediately drawn to the Uchiha boy. "You know who the thief is, Sasuke-kun?" Ino said in a smitten tone.
"Wait, I think he actually said thieves," Shikamaru remarked.
Nodding in the affirmative, Sasuke said, "You all know those three boys? You know, the ones who like to find girls who are alone and pick on them. I think they're the thieves, or at the very least have something to do with this whole mess."
Sighing in a resigned tone, Iruka said, "As much as I hate to admit it, I know those three boys, and a stunt like this seems to be right up their ally. I'll have to talk to their respective parents about this. In the meanwhile, school is out for the day, so your respective parents should be coming by to pick you all up. You all should go outside the front of the academy and wait for them."
At that moment, Kiba got up from crouching down at the door and backed up a few steps, not wanting to be caught having eavesdropped on the talk inside. Thanks to Uchiha putting the blame on a trio of bullies that anyone would suspect of anything, Kiba would end up getting away with having stolen from one of his classmates. Additionally, Kiba now had a trio of fall guys to pin blame on.
Kiba and Akamaru were already gone by the time Iruka opened the classroom door and led the three boys and two girls out of the classroom.
(SEVERAL WEEKS LATER)
Kiba Inuzuka sat on a bench outside of the principal's office, with Akamaru sitting on the floor at his feet. On the end of the bench opposite of where Kiba sat was Sasuke Uchiha; during recess, Kiba and Sasuke got into a fight. The fight was ultimately broken up by Iruka-sensei, and both boys had gotten into trouble. But before Iruka-sensei came by, Kiba actually had the upper hand; halfway through the fight, Akamaru came running up and started nipping at Sasuke's outer ankles rather hard, distracting Sasuke and thus giving the Inuzuka boy an opening to tackle the Uchiha boy to the ground to give his face a good few hits.
"…Your dog sucks," Sasuke muttered to the Inuzuka boy.
"Your big sister sucks," Kiba spat back.
"Itachi-niisan is a boy," Sasuke growled.
"Not with hair like that, she ain't," Kiba taunted, with Akamaru giving a few yips in a tone that showed that whatever his owner had just said, he agreed with it wholeheartedly.
"You want me to break your nose some more?" Sasuke threatened.
"You want Akamaru should have some ankle soup for dinner?" Kiba threatened back.
"Children, please," a voice familiar to Kiba called out; looking up, Kiba saw Gaku Inuzuka, a member of the clan that Kiba and his family belonged to, come walking up. "Hey, mister Gaku!" Kiba greeted as he got up off of the bench, running over to the man that Kiba saw as a father of sorts. Gaku wasn't actually Kiba's dad, but for all Kiba cared, Gaku might as well be. Gaku does work with Kiba's mom, Kiba's aunt and most of the other women in the Inuzuka clan, after all.
"Little man, what the hell am I going to tell your ma?" Gaku asked in a stern yet sympathetically concerned tone, "Getting into fights at school. I mean, seriously!"
"Hey, Uchiha started it by saying I smell funny," Kiba said in an accusing tone as he pointed to Sasuke.
"Well maybe if you bathed or showered more, you wouldn't smell so funny," Sasuke remarked dryly.
"I'll have you know that I shower every day, Uchiha!" Kiba snapped.
"Then do it twice a day, because you still smell funny," Sasuke replied.
"My clan and I work with Ninkin regularly, asshole!" Kiba snapped, "Smelling funny comes with the territory!"
"He does have a point, young man," Gaku remarked to Sasuke, "Working with animals gets messy from time to time."
"Hmph, whatever," Sasuke remarked as he turned his head to face away from the Inuzuka clan members; Kiba, for his part, stuck his tongue out at the Uchiha boy.
…
As Gaku led Kiba and Akamaru back to the Inuzuka clan compound, they were met up by Kiba's Aunt Pirate. "I heard that my nephew here got into some trouble at school today," Pirate remarked to Gaku, "Is that true?"
"Either he picked a fight with Fugaku's son, or Fugaku's son picked a fight with him," Gaku replied, "I didn't get really clear details on what went down."
"Really?" Pirate remarked, sounding mildly impressed, "He got into a scuffle with an Uchiha?"
"Akamaru and I almost had that Sasuke turd beat, but then Iruka-sensei came in and broke things up," Kiba stated.
"Ha!" Pirate laughed, "Kiba, your ma will probably praise you for screwing with an Uchiha when she and Kuromaru gets back! Hell, I myself would have given you bonus points if it was a Hyuga that you screwed with, but I guess you can't get everything."
Sighing in a mildly annoyed, knowing tone, Gaku said, "Pirate, how many times do I have to tell you and most of the other women of our clan? The Hyuga are good people."
"It's their fault the free lunch program, along with a few other things, got cut over at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy, you know," Pirate remarked, "They pull the funding that they were providing the academy, and before you know it, Kiba goes without lunch!"
"I'm sure they have their reasons," Gaku said firmly, "So just stop it with blaming the Hyuga clan for all of our clan's problems, alright?"
Shrugging, Pirate said, "You're sounding just like that sister of mine, Gaku. When will you wake up and smell the coffee?" Turning around, Pirate continued, "Well anywho, I've got places to go, people to see. I'll see you and the rest of the clan when I get back." Leaping up into the air, Pirate jumped from rooftop to rooftop until she was out of sight. When Pirate was gone, Kiba turned to look up at Gaku.
"Is what Aunt Pirate saying about the Hyuga clan true, mister Gaku?" Kiba asked, a look of concern on his face.
"Your aunt is just upset that the Inuzuka clan owes the Hyuga clan a lot, and that it's caused some mild degree of strain for us," Gaku replied with a kind and gentle face. Kneeling down so that he was eyelevel with Kiba, Gaku continued, "Although you should normally listen to what your aunt tells you, you can go ahead and disregard what she says about the Hyuga clan. The Hyuga are actually good people, Kiba. You can take my word for it."
"Well of course I'll take your word for it, mister Gaku," Kiba replied, "Because it's your word."
"Ah ha! Your ma was right when she says you're a good kid, Kiba," Gaku laughed as he patted Kiba on the shoulder. Feeling that he wasn't being given his share of attention, Akamaru trotted up to the kneeling Gaku and tried to jump up to lick his face. Chuckling a bit more, Gaku reached down and ruffled the top of the Inuzuka Ninkin puppy's head, drawing some happy yipping and tail-wagging out of Akamaru as a result.
The next day at the Leaf Village Ninja Academy, Kiba and Akamaru were walking through one of the hallways when they were approached by Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji. "Hey, we heard that you actually beat Sasuke in a fight," Choji said to the Inuzuka boy, "Is that true?"
"You mean that turd who mocked me for working with dogs? Hells yeah Akamaru and I kicked his ass," Kiba replied confidently. Akamaru yipped a few times in a tone that seemingly agreed with what his owner was saying, wagging his tail the whole while.
"Wow, that's pretty neat," Shikamaru said in an impressed-sounding tone, "Your name's Kiba, right?"
"Yeah," the Inuzuka boy replied, "Why do you ask?"
"The boys and I were wondering if you'd be interested in hanging with us," Choji explained, "I brought some snacks, so we were all going to have a little bit of fun."
"Wait, are you guys sure bringing Kiba is a good idea?" Naruto asked in a mildly concerned tone, "I mean, Hinata's afraid of him, remember?"
"True, she's afraid of him," Shikamaru replied, "But she's more afraid of Sasuke, who Kiba beat up. All we have to do is inform her about what Kiba did, and I bet she'll ease up around the guy. Plus, girls are suckers for cute furry animals like Kiba's dog." Akamaru gave a yip in response to hearing his name mentioned.
When Kiba got home from the academy that day, he was surprised to see his Aunt Pirate sitting on the sofa with his mom Tsume. Kuromaru, who is Tsume's loyal Ninkin, was laying on the floor at Tsume's feet. "Yo Kiba!" Tsume greeted in a happy tone, "Pirate tells me you beat one of those Uchiha turds in a fight yesterday! Way to go, son! Mama's proud!"
"Tsume, shouldn't you be discouraging your son from picking fights at school?" Kuromaru asked.
"Ehh, if it's someone other than Uchiha," Tsume replied with a shrug, "But if Kiba knocks Uchiha's block off, then who am I to scold him?" Turning her attention back to her son, Tsume continued, "But anywho, how was your day at school, Kiba?"
"I made some new friends," Kiba replied, "A blonde kid, a black-haired kid, and a fat kid. This Hyuga girl was also hanging with them, but I don't think I can count her yet because she seemed kind of scared of me, but she did relax a bit when the blonde kid mentioned I beat Sasuke."
"Uhh, yeah sweetie," Pirate began, "If I were you, I'd leave that Hyuga girl off your friends list. It's not worth it to associate with her kind."
"Forget what your aunt says, son," Tsume said, "Making friends with that Hyuga girl might actually be a good thing. Be as un-scary towards her as possible, alright?"
"…Mister Gaku already told me something similar about the Hyuga, and I told him that I'd take his word for it," Kiba remarked after a few seconds of considering what his mom and aunt were telling him.
"HA! In yo face!" Tsume exclaimed, pointing dramatically in her younger twin sister's face.
"…Whatever," Pirate replied in a huff, turning away from facing her sister.
(A FEW YEARS LATER)
Pirate Inuzuka was walking through a hallway in the Hokage office building. Pirate's nephew Kiba had recently graduated from the Leaf Village Ninja Academy, and was now an official shinobi of Konohagakure, albeit only a genin. As Kiba is one of the (very) few male shinobi left in the Inuzuka clan, Pirate was looking onto asking a few favors of the Third Hokage, mostly to ensure Kiba's safety. Tsume had already done the same, and had come back saying that Kiba's status of being a male Inuzuka shinobi, which is extremely rare, had earned him some degree of consideration from the office of the Hokage. However, Pirate figured that if a sweet, loving and concerned aunt did a little bit of vouching for her nephew, the wheels might get a little bit more grease.
As she walked by a door that was open just a crack, Pirate heard the voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage, speak up from within the room. "Might I ask what the purpose of these recommendations are, Homura?" Hiruzen asked as he was apparently speaking to Homura Mitokado, one of his advisors. Just a bit curious, Pirate hid on the one side of the door against the wall, so that she could carefully listen in.
Inside of the room, Hiruzen was talking to his two advisors, the aforementioned Homura and Koharu Utatane. There was a chart on the wall upon which the names of the group of genin that have been come to known as the 'rookie nine' were written.
"As I am certain you can guess, the elders of the Hyuga clan are quite interested in the layouts of the new genin teams," Homura explained, "I don't think I have to tell you why the Hyuga clan elders have taken such an interest."
"The daughter of their clan's leader is one of the aforementioned genin, I know," Hiruzen remarked with a nod of understanding, "But this does not answer my question, Homura. Why do you and Koharu both have issue with the team layouts I've planned out?"
"You have Uzumaki, Uchiha and Haruno on one team," Koharu began, "Hyuga, Aburame and Inuzuka on another team, and the traditional team of Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi on the third and final team." From where she hid outside of the door, Pirate had to resist the urge to hiss in a tone of disgust; her precious little nephew was going to be forced to be all buddy-buddy with one of those bastards from the Hyuga? This had to be a joke.
Back in the meeting room, the Hokage continued the talk with his advisors. "Now normally," Koharu continued, "No one would have any issue with these team layouts. In fact, I myself like the idea of putting Uzumaki and Uchiha on the same team, as when Uchiha eventually unlocks his Sharingan, it will be of great use in keeping the Kyubi in check."
Taking out a vanilla-colored folder, Koharu laid it on the table surface in front of her, opened it, and pulled out a sheet of paper. "When the Hyuga clan elders had asked for the layouts ahead of time, I told them what you had planned," Koharu said, "They were nothing short of outraged that you were even considering putting their clan leader's daughter on the same team as Inuzuka, and as such they want things changed."
"Keep in mind, Hiruzen, that the Hyuga clan's Byakugan is an invaluable asset to Konoha, so keeping the Hyuga clan happy is in our best interest," Homura pointed out.
"There is no doubt about the significance of the Hyuga clan to Konoha's strength," Hiruzen replied as he leaned back in his chair and sighed somewhat, "But the main reason I have issue with your recommendations is that it puts the children of Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi all on different teams. You know as well as I do that those three clans always work together."
"That is true, Hiruzen," Koharu remarked in a tone of acknowledgement, "But we cannot abide by the Hyuga clan's request and make all of the new genin teams as balanced as possible without putting Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi all on different teams. Besides, this is a great chance to see what would happen if a new generation of Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi were all put onto different teams. You yourself had admitted that you wanted to see what it would be like."
Sighing, Hiruzen said, "Very well, you got me there, Koharu. What are the recommendations you made again, Homura?"
"I suggest that we put Uzumaki, Akimichi and Hyuga on one team," Homura began, "Uchiha, Aburame and Nara on another team, and Yamanaka, Haruno and Inuzuka on the third and final team."
"…" Regarding Homura with a curious look, Hiruzen said, "You want to put Harold's niece, Inoichi's daughter and Tsume's son all on the same team?"
"The trio of Fisher, Yamanaka and Inuzuka has, despite all logic, gotten very good results," Homura remarked, "Inoichi is just as effective with Harold and Tsume as he is with Choza and Shikaku, if not more so."
"We figure that if we can get a new generation of those three and have their impressionable minds molded by a responsible authority figure like your son Asuma," Koharu added, "Then we'll not only have another Fisher-Yamanaka-Inuzuka trio, but one who is more effective, more intelligent, less reckless, and less prone to drinking heavily than their predecessors."
"Ah yes, Asuma is available to serve as a jonin instructor," Hiruzen remarked. Chuckling to himself, Hiruzen remarked in an amused tone, "Although I do feel kind of guilty about the idea of forcing my son to put up with two preteen girls. Can't we give Asuma the trio of Uchiha, Aburame and Nara instead and let Kurenai deal with Yamanaka, Haruno and Inuzuka?"
"We believe that Kurenai is best to handle the team of Uzumaki, Akimichi and Hyuga," Koharu remarked, "Particularly when it comes to Hyuga. A kind, motherly authority figure like Kurenai might be just the role-model a shy and insecure girl such as Hyuga needs to blossom."
"This will leave Uchiha, Aburame and Nara with Kakashi," Homura stated.
"Yes, yes, I see," Hiruzen remarked, "Very well. I shall consent to your recommendations for the team layouts for the new genin." Picking up his pipe, Hiruzen took a quick drag from it before saying, "Who wants to bet on how long it will take before Kakashi fails those boys?" (5) From where she hid outside of the door, Pirate could hear the Hokage's advisors give some hoots of amused laughter. A smile forming on her own lips, Pirate turned around and walked away, deciding on waiting to add her desires for additional consideration for her nephew later.
Lord Third had just done the ultimate in consideration for Kiba, after all.
…
That evening, the parents of most of the new genin were all at the bar (only Hiashi Hyuga and Shibi Aburame were missing), celebrating the achievement of their respective kids. All of the parents here were shinobi themselves, save for Kizashi Haruno. Although Kizashi's brother-in-law Harold, who is a ninja, decided to drag him along. "Come on, man," Harold said as he and Inoichi sat at a booth with Kizashi, "Why aren't you more excited? Little Cherry Bug is an official ninja now!"
"I bet he's probably worried that Sakura will be put on a team with some mean kids who will pick on her," Inoichi remarked, "Not to mention the fact that, as a ninja, Sakura will eventually be expected to do some rather dangerous things." Picking up a bottle of beer, the Yamanaka patriarch slid it over to his best friend's brother-in-law. "Don't worry, man," Inoichi said to Kizashi, "Sakura and her friends are only just genin, so the most they'll get to do is help some elderly citizens with chores or, oh I don't know, track down some rich woman's cat." (6)
"Oh, bonus points if the rich woman is fat," Harold said before taking a swig from his mug of Pape Konoha's Brand Lager. As Inoichi nodded in agreement, Harold turned to regard Kizashi. "But either way, Inoichi has a point, dude," Harold said, "Sakura's team won't be given anything even remotely dangerous until she's at the very least a chunnin. There's no need to sweat it."
Looking down at his beer in consideration, Kizashi said, "I hope you're right, Harold."
"I am most certainly right, my good brother-in-law," Harold replied, "And if I am wrong, then may Konoha get betrayed and attacked by one of its allies." (7)
As Harold, Inoichi and Kizashi talked, they were surprised to see Pirate enter the bar. "Yo, Tsume's sis!" Harold called out, "Over here, dude!" Seeing the closest friends of her twin sister, Pirate decided to walk over and sit down, sliding into the seat next to Kizashi.
"Hello, boys," Pirate remarked, "I don't suppose you all are in just as good of a mood as I am, are you?"
"Well my precious little princess is now an official ninja, so yeah, I'm in a good mood," Inoichi replied. Taking a swig from his mug, Inoichi asked, "Why are you in a good mood?"
"Well boys," Pirate replied slyly, "I may or may not have heard the team layouts for the newly graduated genin."
"Oh ho! Are you serious?" Harold said as he and Inoichi leaned in somewhat closer, "Well come on, dude, spill the beans!"
"Alright, but keep in mind that you didn't hear this from me," Pirate began. After Inoichi and Harold (along with Kizashi for some reason) nodded obediently, the Inuzuka woman continued, "This may strike you all as amusing, but Harold's niece and Inoichi's daughter are going to be on the same team, along with my nephew." Kizashi seemed okay with what was said; the looks of the two jonin, however, although not looking disappointed, were still confused.
"…Seriously?" Harold replied in a less excitable tone that what is normal for a man such as himself, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I like the idea of little Cherry Bug on the same team as Inoichi's daughter and Tsume's son. But shouldn't Inoichi's daughter be on the same team as Choza's son and Shikaku's son?"
"Yes, I agree," Inoichi remarked as he and his best friend turned to face each other, "As cool as it is to have Tsume's son, your niece and my precious little princess all together on the same team, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to stick to tradition and insist that Ino, Shikamaru and Choji all be on the same team."
"Well of course they're all going to be on the same team, dumbass," a gruff voice called out, getting Pirate and the men she was sitting with to look to the side and see Shikaku and Choza standing there. It had been Shikaku who had spoken. "What the hell makes you think that they won't be?" the Nara patriarch asked.
"Well there's rumor going around that Ino will be on a team with Sakura and Kiba instead of Shikamaru and Choji," Inoichi explained.
"No, no, a thousand times hell no!" Shikaku remarked immediately, "It's bad enough Konoha already has ONE trio of reckless idiots that sets more fear into people's hearts than Orochimaru! We don't need another!"
"As much as I'd like to punch you in the face for suggesting that my daughter is an idiot, we've got more important business to take care of!" Inoichi said as he stood up, "Come on, Shikaku and Choza! We've got generations of tradition between our three clans to protect! To the Hokage office building!" Inoichi then ran out of the bar, with Shikaku and Choza giving chase.
The following morning, as Kiba was telling Tsume, Hana and Pirate about how the team layouts went, Pirate thought, "I should have kept my mouth shut." Due to her indulging the truth at the bar the previous night, Inoichi, alongside his fellow Ino-Shika-Cho trio members, went right over to the Hokage office building to raise a big stink about Ino, Shikamaru and Choji not being on the same team together. Because to that, the Third Hokage's original ideas for team layouts had to be implemented.
"Now Kiba," Tsume began, "As you are now on a team, you have to treat your teammates with respect. Treat them as you would treat Akamaru."
"Does that mean I should take Shino for walks, and smack Hinata on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper if she pees on the carpet?" Kiba asked, a mildly confused look on his face.
Tsume instantly started laughing uproariously, smacking her knee (Tsume, Pirate and Hana were all seated at the dining table, Kiba was standing) as Kuromaru sounded like a machine gun that was firing rapidly due to how quickly and repeatedly he had to snort back laughter. Hana herself let out a good number of giggles. Even Pirate smirked, but that was only because she was imagining one of those Hyuga bastards being smacked in the nose with a rolled-up newspaper repeatedly.
"No, no, no," Tsume wheezed as she tried to breathe, "That's not what I was talking about, son." Sitting up straight, Tsume said as her laughter died down, "You know how your pals Shikamaru and Choji treat each other? Do that."
"Well Shino's pretty cool, what with the whole human bug hive thing he's got going on," Kiba replied, "But I'm going to have to ask Sakura and Ino for advice on how a guy can be friends with a girl if I'm to build some sort of friendship up with Hinata."
"It's a waste of time, kiddo," Pirate remarked dryly, "I wouldn't bother with that girl if I were you."
"Pirate, with all due respect, the girl is Kiba's teammate," Kuromaru remarked, "Not yours."
"And I'm happy for that!" Pirate said, "I'd rather kill myself than be forced to work with one of those bastard Hyuga!"
"Come on, Aunt Pirate," Kiba said, "Hinata isn't a bad person." A look of consideration on his face, Kiba held a hand over his chin as he added, "But if what I heard is true, then Hinata's got a right nasty cousin in the Hyuga clan's cadet branch. Neji, I think her name was?"
"Uhh, Kiba," Kuromaru began, "Tsume and I met Neji before. He's a boy."
"That hair and that face says Neji is a girl!" Kiba insisted, drawing more laughter from Tsume.
One of the first missions that Kurenai did with her new genin students was to go to the estate of a noble living in the Land of Fire to assist with the matter of investigating possible corruption in the town's local government. With Shino's bugs scouring every corner, Kiba and Akamaru's noses sniffing about for anything foul, and Hinata's eyes literally seeing through everything, the clues were found, the corrupt town politicians were found, and the mission was a success.
The noble, thankful to Kurenai and the genin for their assistance, insisted that they stay for dinner that night. And by dinner, the noble was talking about a grand feast to which all of the towns local upper crust was invited. About thirty minutes after everyone started eating, Kiba had to get up and go to a bathroom. To the concern of one of the upper crust members, she heard the sounds of vomiting coming from the bathroom a few seconds after Kiba went in.
"The food's been poisoned!" the upper crust woman exclaimed in fright, freaking everyone out. Kurenai had to shout over the panicking rich people (Hinata was also panicking) in order to be heard.
"None of the food was poisoned, everybody," Kurenai shouted, "I think Kiba just ate too much."
"Yes, Kurenai-sensei is correct," Shino added as the panicking began to die down, "All of the food is safe."
After everyone sat down, the dining continued, although the Land of Fire noble glared furiously at the upper crust woman who exclaimed that the food was poisoned. "Although something does concern me, Kurenai-sensei," Shino remarked as the conversations continued.
"What is it, Shino?" Kurenai asked, a mildly curious look on her face.
"I've eaten more than Kiba so far," Shino explained, "And yet I don't feel as if I have to throw up."
"Really," Kurenai remarked, a bit of concern in her tone.
"Also, judging by how much he was going at it, I'd say that Kiba has eaten very little in recent events, assuming he's eaten anything at all over that time," Shino remarked, "I think the reason why Kiba threw up, even though he ate less than me, is because he isn't used to eating that much." Turning his head somewhat to regard his jonin instructor better, Shino said with a hint of worry in his tone, "I think this warrants a bit of looking into."
"I think you're right," Kurenai remarked quietly, her gaze shifting down to her glass.
END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER FOUR
Author's Notes:
(1) You know those three boys that were picking on Hinata in that flashback scene in 'The Last'? Yeah, them.
(2) …Yes, it was Sasuke.
(3) Even back then, Shikamaru was afraid of his mom.
(4) …Okay, much lower.
(5) Kakashi had a habit of doing this, remember?
(6) Gee, ya think?
(7) Harold and his friends should really stop saying things that more or less go 'And if I am wrong, then may (insert random event here)'. It will save everyone SO much trouble in the long run.
Well, here's a background story for Kiba to help explain why he's currently acting the way he is. Anyway, the next chapter will see the conclusion of the Chunnin Tournament, which will have only one match; Naruto versus Kiba (and Akamaru).