No tailed beasts, no reincarnations... just the bonds and rivalries shinobi need to keep themselves sane in a time of countless battles.

The warring states period, a time where every shinobi was born to die in battle. Alliances between most clans were as fragile as the ego of a weak leader, and the lifespans of the shinobi were shorter than the length of a kunai. Despite that, every clan out there did anything they could to not just survive, but prosper, even if the ones that hired them made it exceedingly difficult. Everyone today knows of the bitter rivalry of the Uchiha and Senju clans and how it eventually led to the founding of the Hidden Leaf Village, but many other clans of today have been around during that time period as well. After all, the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans have had a history of alliances that goes back 17 generations. But the focus here is not on those three clans, nor is it about the Senju and Uchiha clans.

But is this about the Inuzuka clan? Mostly.


Prologue 1/4: The Last Morning of a United Pack


Just as many clans were, the Inuzuka Clan were mercenaries hired by whichever feudal lord had the money to spend on them, but battles weren't what they were used for in recent years. Whenever someone needed to track down an individual or to scout land for uncontested territory, that's where their usefulness most shined. However, such missions often led to distrust from other daimyo and even other clans, which in turn led to clans being hired to put the Inuzuka down. As a result, the essence of their ways became nomadic, living in camps and tents, always on the move, and spying whenever they were hired to... not that battles never found them.

Deep in the woods, far away from any roads and farther away from any smaller villages, the Inuzuka clan's current camp was settled. People moved about, some cooking, some cutting wood, some training for battle, and some exercising. Everyone there was accompanied by their own ninken, some young and unmarred while others were older and scarred. In one of the smaller tents, one that was small and pyramid-shaped, one of the ninja dogs snored, the sound bouncing off of the tent's flaps.

The black ninken was of an older age, not too old to work but not young by any stretch of the imagination. It was a sleeping myriad of scars, some that were faded burn marks and others that were healed gashes visible on unnatural fur-less patches. Most notably, the ninken's ears were cropped, and along the edges were marks that spoke of a deeper scar that would have been evident if the rest of the ears were still there. Crouched over it was a young man with a hand on the beast and an annoyed look on his own face.

"Wake up!" the boy shouted, pushing on the beast gently.

The beast stopped snoring, but the eyes remained closed. The boy puffed his cheeks out pushed on the ninken again. "It's been five minutes, Aki. If you're going to be the reason I'm late, they're still going to blame me, not you," the boy murmured, "so get up! I know you're not sleeping anymore." But no matter how he probed and pushed and called, Aki didn't open its eyes. The most the boy got in response was the beast rolling over to his opposite side, revealing even more scars of the same variety. "Dammit..."

The young man was no older than 14, wearing a standard shinobi vest and a non-standard red bandana over his forehead, the tied portion of the fabric behind his head and parting his unkempt hair. Next to him was a smaller, gray ninken with a bushier tail than the others in the camp, its body the size of Aki's head and neck together. The boy didn't take his eyes off of the bigger ninken, but he patted the head of the smaller gray dog next to him. "Okay, Zensho, your turn."

The smaller one, Zensho, trotted happily over to the bigger, more intimidating ninken's face without a worry in the world. Unlike the boy's gentleness, the small ninken crouched down, jumped high, and dove down to the larger beast, landing onto the scarred dog's head with a thump-inducing landing... and the tent erupted with the cacophony of shouts, growls, and snarls.

"Dammit, Zensho! Why!?" the boy shouted, narrowly ducking under a gray blur flying past his head. He leaped over a larger, black blur and landed on his hands in a perfect handstand position, watching upside-down as the chase between the two ninken wrought havoc throughout the tent. Aki was faster than one would expect, its scars and size not hampering its movements in the least or perhaps ignored by unbridled fury, but Zensho was faster, its movements fueled by the fear of the massive consequence that followed its own actions. The boy fruitlessly shouted for both of them to stop throughout the chaos, staying in a handstand and on his palms to avoid getting collided with, but then a sharp whistle sounded. Its sound was loud, stopping and silencing all three of them while commanding all of their attention. They all turned to the entrance of the tent, and they all saw an adult standing there, a scar over his forehead and a smile on his face.

"Seriously, Keizen?" the man asked, looking the at the handstanding boy and the massive mess that was made, "Sleeping in is one thing, but messing around? You have some serious balls to be doing that when you're supposed to be talking to Shoku first thing after waking."

The boy smiled sheepishly despite his position. He pushed down while still in a handstand, and then he pushed upwards, propelling himself into the air with a single flip before landing on a knee, Aki and Zensho at his side. "My bad, Gin," Keizen apologized, raising himself onto both feet.

Keizen Inuzuka

The adult, Gin, walked forward and pat Keizen on his shoulder, baring a few teeth in a gentle smile. "That's 'Uncle' Gin, Kei," the man corrected, patting again. "Now get going. Keeping your clan's leader waiting is a quick way to get yourself a bad rep."

"Gin" Inuzuka

Keizen nodded as he quickly began to sift throughout the tent. Despite the mess of torn fabrics left behind by the two ninken, he knew exactly where to pick things up to reveal the stuff he had actually been looking for. In one spot, after he pushed over a torn green scarf, he picked up a sheathed katana that had two red fang markings on it, one on each side of its handle. In a different spot, under a faded jacket, he found the katana's unorthodox leather harness. He scrambled to snap the harness on, wrapping it over the left shoulder of his shirt and over his waist below his vest, and he strapped the sheathed blade onto the band of leather behind his back. After patting the sheathed weapon a few times to make sure it was secured to his back properly, he nodded and began to walk.

"Catch you later, Uncle!" Keizen shouted as he moved towards the open flap of the tent.

His pace was as speedy and urgent as it should be, with Zensho trotting just as quickly from behind. Aki, on the other hand, sat back down, glaring daggers at Keizen's turned back. Teeth weren't bared, but the lack of loyalty from the large dog was evident. From the way it watched Keizen and Zensho leave, its posture determined that it would do everything but follow the teen and his orders, but when its eyes turned to Gin, it noticed Gin returning the gaze with his own glare, one that promised a sense of danger if Aki didn't follow. Aki slowly stood up, cropped ears flattened and eyes apologetic as it moved quickly, leaving the tent and falling in step behind Keizen long before Keizen noticed its absence.

The walk through the camp was a speedy one. Even though the distance between Keizen's own tent and Shoku's wasn't that far, there was a lot of traffic in between. Keizen and the two ninken with him had to weave past others that were better armed and armored than he was, each of them with worried or stern faces that spoke of the unspoken gravity. Scouting missions, bodyguarding missions, caravan escort missions... it didn't matter what mission the shinobi were going to find themselves in; Keizen sighed darkly.

(Some of them won't be coming back, huh,) Keizen thought to himself as he looked, (I wish Gin would let me go on one of those missions. I know numbers are low and all, but...)

His musings were cut off by Zensho's tiny bark. He reached the entrance of the clan leader's large tent and almost stepped inside without knowing, and standing in his way was another ninken. Its size was smaller than Aki's and even Zensho's, and its wrinkles around its head were so abundant that its eyes were forced to be nearly shut at all times. Keizen recognized the ninken immediately, but the beast growled at Keizen's presence. It was the clan leader's own ninja dog.

"Pata, I'm here to see Shoku," Keizen explained, "Outta the way."

Keizen walked to the side of the wrinkly ninja dog, but Pata intercepted him again. Its wrinkly brows rose just enough for the light to reflect off of its once-concealed eyes. The dark brown of each orb invaded upon by the grays of cataract, yet they stared directly at Keizen nonetheless with an unexpected fierceness.

"Seriously, Pata, I'm late enough already," Keizen said, moving to the side of the ninken again, "Move it!"

"Shoku's not in there anymore, buddy," a voice rung out, catching Keizen's attention. When he turned, he saw a different familiar face looking at him with an impish smile. "You took so much time that Shoku decided he was gonna go for a stroll."

"Hiroki-sensei!"

The straight hair tied into a ponytail, the similar katana connected to a sash on the hip, and the red fang marking on each cheek of the man's face brought a joyful spark to Keizen's face, like a kid being brought a present that he always wanted. Hiroki walked over to Keizen and playfully wrapped an arm around the youth's shoulder, which was returned with the youth's arm wrapping around Hiroki's back.

"How've you been since I was gone, kid?" Hiroki asked, putting a fist to Keizen's head and digging it into the young man's scalp. "Slacking off as usual? Or did you actually start taking your training seriously?"

Hiroki Inuzuka

"I've been- ow - I train with Gin five - agh - five times a day," Keizen said as he tried to break free of Hiroki's grip, "I can take on three- Ow! Stop, asshole!"

What was supposed to be a friendly reuniting quickly became a painful one. Keizen struggled against Hiroki's grip, clawing at the older man's sleeves and failing to pry the older man's arm off of the side of his neck. "Getting grabbed out there like this means you're done. Dead," Hiroki said, redoubling his own efforts to keep Keizen still. "Didn't I teach you how to get out of holds like this? C'mon!"

Keizen's face grew red, partially with the amount of energy he's putting into his escape and partially with embarrassment. And then, with a sudden burst of energy, Keizen shoved his elbow into Hiroki's left side, strongly colliding with the adult's ribs and forcing a grunt out of him. Feeling Hiroki's grip over his neck loosen slightly, Keizen then focused all of his strength into the faltering arm over his neck and crouched, twisted his body, and threw Hiroki over his shoulder. Hiroki landed on the ground hard enough to bounce off of it, and when his back touched the ground again, Keizen's fist was inches away from Hiroki's face.

"Attaboy," Hiroki said, swatting the hand out of his wincing, smiling face. "Help me up, huh?"

Keizen smiled, and he opened his closed hand to reach out for Hiroki's, who accepted it and brought himself off of the ground. The sensei dusted off his clothes and rested a hand onto his sheathed katana, crouching somewhat to be eye-level with his student.

"Good to know our clan's youngest shinobi isn't slacking. Good work," Hiroki commented. "Shoku's not going to be back for awhile. Want to show me what else you haven't slacked on and trade some punches?"

The boy's eyes sparkled as they opened wide, a big smile spreading across his face. "Sparring!" Keizen shouted, excitement uncontained.

"Sparring," Hiroki repeated. He tilted his head to the many trees to his left, revealing the slimmest of paths. "There's a clearing next to Shoku's tent we can use. Let's go."

Both Keizen and Hiroki began to walk towards the path, Hiroki's pace slow and relaxed and Keizen's more brisk and ready. As each leaf and branch crunched underfoot, all the young man could think about was the different ways the sparring could go. It had been six months since they had last traded hits, or at least that's how long it had been since Hiroki mercilessly beat up Keizen in a one-sided sparring match before going on a long mission. Though Keizen shows promise as a skilled fighter, the difference in skill between someone who trains often and someone else who trains AND fights every day is stark. (I'm not losing this time,) Keizen thought to himself as he entered the clearing, (Not a damn chance.)


The clearing was a large and open space, each corner a massive and thick tree with dozens of smaller trees and branches in between. A deep breath in brought the smell of the earth to Keizen's nose, a scent he had long-since gotten used to during the clan's nomadic traveling, but this scent felt as calming as it was invigorating. But the calmness stopped when he heard the sound of a blade being drawn. His head swiveled to the direction of the noise, and he saw that his mentor had unsheathed his katana, smiling at his student. Keizen's eyes widened as he saw Hiroki enter a stance that he had clearly been in many times before, one that spoke of a lifetime in battle and an endless wave of blood following it... but Hiroki just as quickly tossed the blade away.

"Caught your attention, didn't I?" Hiroki asked with a knowing smirk, noting the sweat bead trailing down his student's face. "Fists. No blades. No dogs. No ninjutsu whatsoever... save for the Four-Legs. Ready?"

Keizen let out a deep exhale that he didn't know he was holding in, but he nodded and smiled. The boy began to bounce lightly on the balls of his feet, shaking his arms out and slowly backing away with each hop until a small amount of chakra visibly formed around him, and then he suddenly stopped, clasping his hands together in the Tiger hand seal. His pointer fingers and his thumbs pointed to the sky while the hands were together, and once he separated them, he crouched low, and lower, and lower until his hands and legs were both on the ground at the same time. The unnatural stance mimicked that of wolf preparing to pounce, no different than an Inuzuka's loyal ninken in the middle of a fight. The teenager's nails had elongated enough to become claws, the canines of his teeth elongated into fangs, and the pupils of his eyes had became slits.

Hiroki raised a brow. "Really? Straight into the Four-Legs technique?" he asked, rolling his eyes before raising his fists in a standard fighting stance. "Fine. Your move."

Hiroki and Keizen circled each other, Hiroki's movements calm and sure while Keizen's was low and feral. Their eyes were so focused that they didn't notice the ninken coming forward to watch, starting with Pata standing next to a bush. Aki and Zensho moved to the wrinkly ninken's side, and among them was a fourth ninken, an aged-but-youthful dog with white fur and brown ears. The beast kept a closer eye on Keizen while the three others alternated between the adult and the teen. But all four of their eyes were on the two shinobi the moment Keizen jumped high, his arms wide open and his claws pointed at his sensei.

Hiroki's legs effortlessly glided over the grass as he skirted around Keizen's pounce, keeping himself close to the boy without being anywhere near the attack. Keizen landed on his hands, his claws lodged into the ground as if they were shurikens in a log while his legs remained suspended in the air.

"Jumping only makes you vulnerable, you know," Hiroki commented as he dodged, but then he forced his body to lean left to avoid an unexpected kick.

From a handstand, Keizen twisted his arms and torso as he kicked out with his legs, releasing an onslaught of unorthodox spinning kicks. Hiroki smirked as he continued to avoid the swift and unexpected strikes, but once Keizen hit his third rotation, Hiroki grabbed one of the extended legs and push-kicked his student in the stomach. The blow knocked Keizen off balance and sent him tumbling several yards away from Hiroki, but he tumbled himself back into the feral stance of the Four-Legs technique.

"I see Gin taught you to fight like a hooligan. I'll have to beat the shit out of him later for that," Hiroki announced, raising his hands again. "If you're going to fight like a beast, lunge. Don't leap. If I had a shuriken, I'd have thrown it while you were flying. Got it?"

Keizen's eyes narrowed at Hiroki as he took in the advice, snarling as he hid the pain from the strike to his gut. He approached slowly, one hand and one foot stepping at a time before suddenly darting forward with flickering speed. He thrust one of his claws at the older man's head like a punch and narrowly missed from a well-timed dodge to the right. Hiroki threw his fist to the upright Keizen's face to counter, but Keizen was fast enough to bend forward and dodge. Keizen then shoved the extended claw into the ground and performed a one-handed handstand, and he used his momentum of his rotation to land a solid kick that man's jaw. Hiroki stumbled backwards from the impact of the blow, but when he saw Keizen still moving forward, using one leg to land and the other to deliver what could be a devastating axe kick, he raised his left arm and blocked it. It was a solid hit, one that made Keizen think that he had hit solid wood instead of padded flesh, but there was no pain to be shown on Hiroki's face. Hiroki's eyes were sharp with a focus that wasn't there moments ago.

(Cartwheels and claws, just like Gin,) Hiroki thought to himself, (Same weaknesses, less experience, more weaknesses... promising strength behind each hit, at least. Let's push him a bit.)

"...Fine, but how's that defense?" Hiroki asked, pushing the blocked leg away and his free arm suddenly moving in a blur.

Keizen barely had time to react to Hiroki's sudden punch, raising one of his arms to guard over his face and successfully blocking it, but not without feeling the jolt of pain travel up to his shoulder. He backed away to create distance between himself and his sensei, but Hiroki didn't give him the chance, moving forward and throwing a second punch to Keizen's gut. The punch was hard, forcing spittle to eject from the young man's mouth and leaving enough pain to prevent any kind of reaction to yet another punch, this one aimed to his jaw and landing.

The pain exploded across his cheek as he saw the stars began to form in his vision, his legs giving way slightly and his claws becoming nails again. As his head was forced to turn the direction of the punch, time slowed, and he felt as if he could drift away. His eyes closed as his consciousness lapsed, the world around him spinning into an approaching darkness as another fist entered his view...


"Doesn't matter how much pain you're feeling, Kei. As long as you're standing, you're still in the fight. They don't care if you're in too much pain or not, they'll keep swinging until you're down. Maybe you should swing until you're down too, right?"


Those voiceless words entered Keizen's drifting thoughts, stopping the spinning of the world around him and pushing the darkness back. He clenched one of his hands into a fist and forced himself to focus once more. He instinctively raised his open hand in front of face and caught Hiroki's fist before returning that punch with one of his own, but Hiroki was prepared, catching it with his own free hand.

"Good to know your pain tolerance isn't garbage," Hiroki commented with a smirk, keeping his grip on the young man's fist firm, "but there are three different ways I can end this fight now... so let's call this my win."

Keizen's eyes blazed at the bold declaration, his eyes widening and staring at the man with a fury. "Like hell!" he growled, his muscles straining in his arm as he pushed himself to match Hiroki's strength.

Hiroki smirked at the declaration, and then broke the standoff with a fast headbutt. Keizen's vision blurred with tears the moment the experienced shinobi's forehead slammed into his nose, but then that blurred vision spun as he was flipped over the man's shoulder. Hiroki threw Keizen to the ground with a speed that would surely leave anyone injured and breathless the moment they'd hit the ground, but Keizen rolled and broke his fall just narrowly, resuming the feral stance of the Four-Legged technique. No sooner than he rolled was Hiroki approaching fast, not with a run or dash, but on all fours with the Four-Legged stance as well. Keizen lunged forward with a jump, his body spinning rapidly until wind formed around him and surrounded him as a cyclone.

"Passing fang!" Keizen shouted. He moved towards Hiroki at a high speed and in a straight line, his body akin to a drill with a single target in mind.

Four ninken watched with keen interest as Hiroki narrowly dodged Keizen's sudden attack with a leap, jumping over it as if he were rolling over a log on its side and landing on both feet in a crouch, and the sparring session continued. Aki's cropped ears flattened themselves against its head while Zensho barked loudly and excitedly. Pata watched stoically with whatever little eyesight it had left under its wrinkles and its cataract, but its eyes were unflinching as if it had seen these exchanges many times before. The fourth ninken tilted its head to the side curiously, its eyes darting between Keizen and Hiroki whenever one or the other had made a move. Despite Hiroki's words, it looked like the fight between himself and his student would be far from over... but then a sharp whistle sounded in the midst of the spar, commanding both the attention of ninken and shinobi alike. "Hiroki!"

Keizen's controlled approach became an awkward stumble as he forced himself to a halt, and Hiroki's claw stopped mid swing as they both turned to face the one who shouted: Gin. Unlike the gentle demeanor Gin displayed earlier, his face was a scowl that was red with anger, and next to him was an equally-red ninken with a coat of crimson fur. Keizen's Uncle walked forward angrily, and the ninken with him growled with the same negative energy. Gin didn't stop until he was a kunai's distance away from Hiroki, his glare returned with a relaxed and smug grin. Keizen watched both his uncle and his mentor with a worried look, knowing all too well that this could easily break into either a physical or verbal fight depending on who says what.

"You were supposed to report to me the moment you came back." Gin stated, his eyes sharper than daggers.

"What? It's not like I was here for that long," Hiroki retorted.

Gin's left eye twitched. "Yomi said you first showed up to camp two hours ago, avoiding her. Fuuko said that you left five minutes after that without reporting in to anybody. Finally, you *snuck* back into camp at least a twenty minutes ago." Gin's hand reached for the crimson ninken's head and ruffled its fur, petting his companion to bring only the tiniest of relief to his stress. "Atsui caught your scent and immediately came to me because YOU clearly don't know how to."

"Seriously?" Hiroki asked, turning to look to the red ninken, "I thought you'd stay quiet if I gave you some of the best meat strips that village had to offer, Atsui."

And with that sentence, Gin's eyes relaxed and his jaw dropped. But those relaxed eyes became incredulous as they stared at Hiroki's smug ones. "...Did you really just say that you tried to bribe Atsui... after going to a local village without asking for anyone's permission...?" Gin's hand removed itself from the red nindog and reached for the bridge of his own nose. As if that wasn't enough to alleviate any negative emotions swirling through his thoughts, he turned and walked a small distance away from Hiroki, taking in a deep breath before speaking again. "Walk with me. Now."

The three of them, Gin, Hiroki, and Atsui, moved away from the training grounds and into the dense foliage surrounding the camp, and then white ninken with brown ears broke away from the quartet of the onlooking pack, picking up Hiroki's long-forgotten katana with its maw and moving to follow that trio. Keizen lingered behind, watching all of them go with a mix of anxiety and curiosity, but a slight, wet nudge on his hand forced him to look at it. It was the wrinkly ninken, Pata. Pata's eyes, wise with years of experience, gestured towards a figure standing not far from the edge of the shadows. When Keizen turned to look, his heart skipped a beat as he recognized the stoic old man that approached. A man of that age was a rare thing for ordinary people and especially for shinobi, his hair white and his posture straight as an arrow, but the air of authority around him was undeniable. The man's gaze was as sharp as sword on Keizen's hip, and it remained on his face even as he got arm's length in distance to the young man.

"Clan Leader Shoku..." Keizen addressed, his eyes widened as the old man's remained steady.

Pata moved to the clan leader's side as Shoku stood there, studying the gaze of the teenager with a curious look. He turned to Keizen's duo of ninken as they stared back, also silent, but then that silence broke when the old man himself opened his mouth. "You were late, and then you chose to spar with Hiroki instead of wait for my return." Shoku stated, his steely gaze returning to Keizen. "Why."

Shoku Inuzuka, Leader of the Inuzuka Clan

Shoku's tone wasn't that of an angry mentor's or a reprimanding parent's, but it still carried a certain weight that made Keizen's throat as dry as a patch of sand. He swallowed hard and took a step closer to the clan leader. "Well, it's just that... uh..."

The young man stammered, unable to complete any of his thoughts or finish any of his sentences. Keizen's current behavior to Shoku, despite being suddenly timid-looking compared to his earlier, childish behavior, wasn't an unnatural one. To an unaware outsider's eye, Shoku was a frail-looking old man with a shorter height that would make others assume he'd require help for the most menial of tasks. But to the people of the clan, people who have not only seen him defend the clan but also defend himself from ambitious clan members trying to take his place... they saw a cold, powerful shinobi that could kill dozens without a thought.

"No matter. We need to talk." Shoku's voice was as firm as the stare he gave the young man. "Come."

Shoku turned and began to walk away from the clearing, his footsteps as quiet as a veteran shinobi's should be, and his old, wrinkly ninken wordlessly followed. Keizen's mind began to race with the various scenarios or potential conversations that this could lead to, but he knew better than to stay where he was and followed. Zensho barked twice and followed him as happily as usual, and Aki stayed where it was, laying down and fluttering its eyes closed. It put itself into a deep slumber, the grass of the clearing making for a good bed.

To Be Continued


Many years ago, in the middle of the woods and over a slow-moving creek, a different sparring session took place. The early morning sun shined brightly to witness the training between a young adult and a far younger child, the child wearing a bandana over his hair and the adult wearing a green scarf wrapped over his forehead. The child's punches and kicks were slow and predictable, each attempted strike deftly pushed to the side by the adult's hands as the adult stepped backwards. When the child threw one more kick, raising his leg out of the moving water and aiming at the adult's midsection, the adult's hand moved in a blur and struck the boy in the stomach with a force that launched him back. The boy stumbled back from the force of the blow, his feet struggling to find sure footing in the water-concealed rocks beneath him, and then his hands moved to his stomach. His eyes forced themselves shut as he groaned.

"Ow..." he shouted, his mouth open in a grimace and his eyes wincing from the hurt. "Uncle, can we stop?"

The uncle smiled as he backed away slightly, shrugging his shoulders as he looked at his nephew's scowl. "Come on, Kei. It wasn't that bad."

"I mean yeah, but it hurts..."

The boy wasn't kidding. Not an experienced fighter by any means and taking a hit from an adult, its force restrained or not, would most definitely leave a bruise underneath the boy's shirt. Though that bruise was concealed by clothing, there were far more bruises all over him, some on his legs and others over his neck and arms. However, the adult didn't really seem to mind, shoving his hands into the pocket holes in his jacket. "Of course it hurts, but that's how fights work." The adult walked across the shallow water of the creek until he was arm's length away from his nephew, offering a gentle smile that contradicted the force of the blow he dealt moments ago. "But you're still standing. That's the kind of willpower someone needs when they're in a fight to the death, something every shinobi needs. You'll get over it."

Kei's cheeks puffed out as he fought back tears. They were far from happy ones. "But it really REALLY hurts!" Kei insisted. "It's hard to move when it hurts like this..."

"Well duh, but so what?" the uncle asked. "Doesn't matter how much pain you're feeling, Kei. As long as you're standing, you're still in the fight." He turned his back on the young boy and walked a small distance away, and he pulled his hands out of his pockets. He tilted his head to the right until the quiet sound of a 'pop' could be heard over the running water. "They don't care if you're in too much pain or not. They'll keep swinging until you're down. Maybe you should swing until you're down too, right?" His tone was lighter than any strike he landed on Keizen up to his point, calming some of Keizen's nerves as they stood where they were. "So come on. Fight me."

Kei looked down at where his hands were, covering where he was just struck. It definitely hurt, but to his uncle's point, he was still standing. He put those hands down and took a deep breath, focusing on his uncle's back as he raised his hands again. He took a second deep breath, and a third, and a fourth until he willed the pain all over his body to be far from his foremost thought, and he entered a fighting stance again. His feet planted themselves firmly as he positioned himself as comfortably as he could on the rocks beneath the water, and he looked at his back-turned uncle with a hardened gaze and tightened fists.

He roared as mightily as a child could and ran forward, his feet splashing in the water as his right fist darted from his side, but even with his back turned, the uncle's reflexes were sharp. He turned his body and dodged Kei's punch, and his own hand dove under the water as he performed a one-handed cartwheel to circle Kei. He rotated swiftly, one leg splashing into the water and the other crashing into Kei's ear, hitting the nephew with a solid thwack. Kei's vision swam before he could process what just hit him, and before he knew it, his vision swam, and he fell face-first into the creek.

The landing was soft, the water shallow but deep enough to prevent him from hitting his head on the rocks... not too hard, at least. The uncle chuckled lightly as he tugged his now-unconscious nephew by the shirt, lifting him just enough to get his nose and mouth enough out of the water. "Right on the nerve, huh?" he asked, not expecting an answer. "Fighting is one thing, but you don't know how to do sneak attacks worth a damn. One day, Kei..."

As if the boy weighed as light as the scarf over his forehead, the uncle raised Kei out of the creek and slung him over his shoulder. "Come on, Atsui." A light bark sounded throughout the woods, and a tiny red ninken appeared from the bushes, following the two as they walked down a dirt path.