Her sense of smell had only greatened with age and experience, and she scented things she had never scented before.
Like the rain puddles and the metallic scent of the swords.
And the sadness rolling of this ninja in waves. It wasn't a pleasant smell by any means, and that more than anything else made her nose wrinkle up. She had smelled sadness before, in her mother. When her siblings died she had smelled and it had made her want to whine and cry. Even now, whines threatened to escape with the sad familiarity of the smell.
A whine rose from her throat.
The ninja's head snapped towards her, and she backed away quickly, ears pressed to her head.
A sharp grey eye pinned her to the alley floor but when he saw her, it clouded over like a rainy day. His alert posture slumped back down and the weapons in his hand slipped back into his pants.
She didn't like rainy days.
Ninja were supposed to be strong, all powerful and perfect. But this one wasn't. It gave her hope, because she wasn't perfect either. Ears perked up and she took one, then another firm step forward.
The eye followed her.
"Sorry, dog. I don't have anything." He rasped.
She continued her careful approach towards him. In order to appear more friendly she had started panting and wagging her tail. The sadness was replaced by confusion. Better.
"What?" He asked. His bleary gaze focused like sunlight breaking through clouds.
She walked forward, gaining confidence with his question and barked. She kneeled, then bounded to the side playfully. The spark of amusement she saw in his eye encouraged her further. He stuck out his hand in curiosity and looked like he was going to pet her, but instead she backed up and started licking his fingers.
They twitched for a second before becoming lax, his eyes lifting in the corners. His expression brightened from what she could see and his hands stopped their trembling to pet her head. She knew how he felt. Being sad was a part of being happy-the loss of her friend, her mother and siblings had taught her this. What had he lost?
"You have developed chakra pathways." He murmured to himself "Are you one of the Inuzaka's?"
She yipped.
His eye turned up further and she was delighted to realize he was smiling in his own special way. The sadness was still there, but the delight was sweet on her nose. She rubbed her head against his hand and a laugh at her eagerness further drove away the sourness.
He straightened his back hand slipping from her head down her back through the short golden fur.
"Better get you back."
He led them out of the alley and towards the marketplace, and she was tall enough where he could pet her without having to bend.
"Hey look, it's that dog that saved a caravan!" Someone shouted.
She felt the ninja look at her in interest as one of the men from the marketplace walked up to hear.
"What do you mean?" The ninja asked. The man launched into a retelling of the story, and by this time others had gathered around, including some from the caravan, giving him first-hand accounts. She felt his curious gaze and preened under it.
He petted her head slowly and carefully.
"Does anyone else know anything about her?"
"No. I don't think so."
Kakashi bought them meat on a stick and she happily ate her's up. She thought it was interesting how he hid his face, and couldn't help but glance up to watch when he lowered it to eat.
For a human, he was very handsome and she wondered for a second why he didn't go with the mask off. Then shrugged it off and decided it didn't matter. Then she felt him glance down at her curious eyes, maybe even suspicious watching her walk down the street. Was he surprised by the stories he heard about her? Good! Maybe he would realize she could be a ninja dog now!
She barked and chased the bugs in the air, running circles around the lazy walking man, who laughed.
"Maa, slow down." He called, sounding relaxed. She picked only a faint undertone of anxiety. It was good he was better now! Who ever these Inuzaka were, she hoped they could be friends. Already she had spotted some funny dogs jumping all over the place.
Things were looking up!
Hey guys! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter too! I plan to wrap this up in three to four more chapters or so, so this is going to end soon. But don't worry, I have other Naruto fanfics! Objectivity and Miko! Go check them out!