Naruto: The Birth Of Fenrir and his Keeper

Keitaro had many doubts about continuing on after listening to his father speak. He always figured there was some bad blood between him and the clan,  afterall he'd never seen the man wearing the clan symbol a day in his life, but he hadn't thought it was this bad. 

'The fact that I never saw moms ninken before could only mean it was taken away as soon as she had passed on.  That would definitely explain dad’s hostility towards the clan. He'd just lost the love of his life and was grappling with the reality of now being a single father left to raise two small children in a world where all it takes is a stray shuriken to end someone’s life all on his own and one of the few things he had to remember his wife by is taken away by the clan under claims of 'helping' him. I'd be willing to bet my life that they haven't once done anything to 'help' when it cames to raising us either.

Though whether that's because they haven't offered or because dad refused said assistance is up for debate.'

He glanced toward his older brother who seemed lost in thought and decided not to say anything. As a bystander the chances of him having to deal with anything unpleasant today was slim but not impossible, yet for his brother it was all but confirmed that he wasn't going to have that good of a time today at all. 

The three of them quickly made there way through the village and stopped at the entrance to the Inuzuka clan entrance. Surprisingly a single guards man was laying lazily off to one side and to his side was a rather large grey ninken. He opened his eyes when they approached and they flashed with recognition for a second before he relaxed and turned away.

"Go ahead, the elders are waiting for you."

He completely ignored the trio after saying his bit and closed his eyes once more.

Without saying anything Kuma continued  on through the gate with his two sons in tow. Yet the scene on the other side of the fence was simply too shocking.

Keitaro's eyes practically fell out of his head when he saw and heard the scene unfolding before him. It was as if they had crossed into a different world as sounds of barking, growling, howling, and the occasional whine were sounding out all around him. He was practically surrounded by dogs of all shapes, colours and sizes. Some were running around chasing other dogs, some were laying around seemingly chatting with each other and others yet were laying around sun bathing on the side of the road.

'My god! I knew it was supposed to be a clan that specialized in ninken but this is a bit ridiculous right?!'

Keitaro simply couldn't comprehend why there were so many dogs running rampant through the place. 

'There has to be some sort of silencing seal or barrier round the clan compound or else no one would be able to handle all this noise in the village. Hell I'm wondering if anyone can manage to sleep at all in this place. I'm a dog person myself but this is a bit much.'

"Welcome to the Inuzuka clan compound boys, also known as the dog house by clan members and non clan members alike."

Kuma smiled at the shocked faces of his two boys before walking ahead once more.

"Before you ask, no this isn't how the rest of the clan is. Believe it or not most of those dogs that you see aren't actually apart of the clan. Most of them aren't even ninken. A lot of them are stray dogs that just ended up here since there’re practically guaranteed to find food and shelter here. 

They show up get food and shelter and then they leave to go roam around the village anytime they want. Of course some of the ninken of the clan do hang out around here as well, but still, most of them are strays that the clan are more than happy to provide for."

Keitaro could feel the bitterness in his fathers voice but decided not to comment.

"Anyway the real heart of the clan is actually much deeper into the forest area but today we're going to be heading to the breeding zone. Your moms ninken just gave birth to her first litter of pups it's your right to have the first pick of the litter. That’s also why your being allowed to have one so soon. Regardless you still have time so if none of the pups click with you then its better to wait till a later date than to force a bond now."

"Yes dad I understand." Kentaro kept playing with his fingers his nervousness on full display yet his eyes where blazing in eagerness.

It didn't take them long to find themself in a much quieter area, the number of dogs had decreased greatly but they did start to see a lot more clansmen running around.

Soon they came across the first kennel and Keitaro was surprised at how well kept it looked. In the back of his mind he still expected to see a bunch of small enclosed spaces where the hounds were forced to breed yet what he saw instead was the exact opposite.

A large wooden structure that might have passed as a small shed was placed in the corner of a large fenced in area. There was a lot of grass and even a small tree next to the kennel under which a moderately sized ninken could be seen feeding her pups. Her partner sat off to the side watching on from a comfortable distance while also keeping an eye on anyone who came too close to the enclosure. 

It was a heart warming scene that brought a smile to all those who were lucky enough to stumble across it and only seemed to embolden the two boys excitement about today. 

They passed a few other kennels as they went deeper into the breeding zone until they came across an enclosure without any kennels inside but several pairs of ninken were laying around the enclosure. Each pair had several small pups around them yapping and bitting at each other as they rolled around in the grass.

In front of the enclosure was a group of parents standing to one side. Some of them had ninken with them while others seemed to be watching the ninken in the enclosure. Right in front of the enclosures gate however was another smaller group with children and several notable figures amongst them.

Three old men and two women were flanked on either side by several older children. The first older gentlemen stood ramrod straight, his wrinkled face stern, and his eyes unforgiving. He had a full head of hair with multiple streaks of grey littered throughout. He held a smoking pipe in his hand that he occasional took a drag from before blowing out several rings of smoke. 

The guy next to him was a interesting contrast as he had slouched shoulders a bent back and was resting against a walking stick. he had a warm grandfatherly smile plastered on his face as he chatted with the kids yet it didn't seem to quite reach his eyes. They were occasionally glanced around and even though he looked like a frail old man if there was one thing that Keitaro knew from anime, never understimate an old guy with a cane. He wasn't as wrinkled as the first, but was still pretty old with several liver spots displayed on his exposed hands. 

The last man was perched on the back of a wizened ninken while sitting in the lotus position. The ninken under him lay on the ground with the children poking and rubbing at it. He was the only one without any hair on his head and he seemed to be asleep. Yet Keitaro couldn't shake the feeling that he was staring at him and was very aware of everything happening around him.

Of the two women, the older looking of the two was seated in a wooden wheel chair hitched to a ninken currently seated to her side. She had long curved nails and wore large spectacles that obscured most of his face. She seemed to be slightly impatient as she was rhythmically clicking her nails on the arm rest of her chair with a displeased frown on full display.

Finally the last lady was surprisingly young. Out of all the figures present it was as if she drew in all of your attention whether you wanted to look at her or not. She had a wild look about her which was amplified by her current attire. Unlike the others who wore long elegant light blue robes, she was sporting some tight fitted  long pants that reach a little while past her knees. The rest of her legs where banded and she had on a pair of shinobi sandals with exposed toes and heel. She also wore a matching long sleeved top with a ninja vest over it all. Her medium length spiky brown hair looked wild and unkept, yet on her it seemed to only enhance her wild aura even further.

She was standing slightly to left of the others and was flanked by a vicious looking ninken. He looked more like a wolf than anything else and even had an eye patch over one of his eyes. That and his missing ear was enough to show that he'd been through a good set of battles. None of the children seemed inclined to get too near too him and he didn't seem to mind it to much either. 

The one thing that all of them had in common however was the unique markings on their face. Two red fangs running from right under the eye along the check and ending in points on either side of their mouths. A feature that not all clan members seemed to have as some of the adults among the parents didn’t have them at all.

It didn't take a genius to know that these people were the elders.

"Glad to see you finally managed to arrive, one would think you would have been early for such an important matter. Especially when you were the one that decided that your son was ready for this, but then again everyone is different." The old smoker was the first to speak once the three of them arrived and it seemed the others also had a few choice words for them as well.

"Honestly, you young’uns really do need to learn to respect the time of the elderly. It's not like we have that much of it left to waste you know?!"

"At least the boys are wearing the correct apparel, I half expected them not to even know what their own clan symbol was."

"They may ne wearing the right symbl but whether they know the importance of the symbol they wear, especially since they haven't been here before is the real question that needs answering."

"Now now, no need to ruin such a wonderful occasion over such minor issues, I'm sure this won’t happen in the future, because then it would truly be a form of blatant disrespect."

"Hmm? what's all the ruckus about? Oh you've finally arrived, a pity I was truly enjoying that dream just now. Regardless lets get things underway no?" The elder sitting on his ninken was the last one to speak and he seemed to command the respect of the others as they didn't speak anymore after he'd 'woken' up.

He turned towards the younger female and waved her along.

"If you would Tsume."

She didn't seem too pleased at being rushed along and treated in such a manner but stepped forward and spoke all the same.

"Alright listen up kiddies, Todays is the day that you all might be meeting your future ninken partners. All of you will be able to move forward on your shinobi paths as proud members of the Inuzuka clan and I hope that all of you will be a source of pride for the clan.

Today there are several litters here and I'm sure your parents have already advised you on what to look for when choosing your partner but I will still remind you all to think long and hard about what type of shinobi you wish to be in the future. Different hounds have different strengths and different weaknesses. So your choice of ninken will play a big part in what type of shinobi you can become in the future."

This news surprised Kentaro and Keitaro who glanced at their father in confusion. 

'What does she mean different ninken give different advantages? I thought all ninken were all pretty much the same. If anything they have varying sizes but they all seem to have wolfish traits. From what I can see the only real difference between the clan ninken would be their fur colour? Does that play a role in their strength? Doubtful since if that was the case then everyone would have the same colour ninken. Why settle for a weaker ninken when you knew there was a stronger one available. 

I bet the other kids know exactly what she's talking about. Dad really might have screwed bro over by not letting us interact with the clan at all until today. I'm not picking a ninken today so I'll have more than enough time to do proper research but big bro doesn't have that luxury. 

Plus with the pitiful small amount of information dad gave us about actually choosing a ninken I wouldn't be surprised if there is a specific procedure we need to follow that only clan members know. This just keeps getting better and better. '

Keitaro could only keep his complaints in his heart and continue to listen to the woman's speech. She continued on about the history of the clan and a bunch of other unimportant things to the point that Keitaro was afraid that he'd fall asleep where he stood. Thankfully she began to wrap it up once one of the elders cleared his throat in frustration.

"Never the less, regardless of what choice you make today as long as you treat your partner with respect then both of you are bound to grow strong together. Just like me and my partner here. Right boy? "

Tsume turned towards her bored ninken who rose his head and glanced at the kids before opening his mouth

"Right" 

Shocked gasps ran thought the group of kids at the sight of a talking ninken and that included both Kentaro and Keitaro. 

'It’s times like this that I wish Fen had been reborn with me. I would do anything to be able to talk with him again.'  

Keitaro felt a pang of guilt at the fact that he'd moved on so easily without Fenrir but comforted himself with the thoughts that fen wouldn't have wanted him to wallow in self pity when he had a second chance to live a better life.

'Still it would have been nice to have him here.'

***

Tsume looked around at the small group of children who were now looking at her with star struck eyes and couldn't help but sigh in her heart. For the last few years she had been using the fact that Kuromaru had been able to speak to encourage the kids to train to the best of their capabilities and yet she knew that it hadn't been of any use. 

The clan was on the decline and she had been the last one in recent years to train and bond with her ninken deeply enough to help him gain the ability to talk. 

Year after year when the kids reached the age of ten they would chose their ninken and take part in the clans unique ritual to bind them together and yet not many of them were able to go past the first level of the ritual. She herself had barely managed to get to the third level at that age and she had been seen as a genius amongst geniuses amongst the clan members back then and yet there was still a level higher that no one had been able to reach in decades. All those that had tried had ended up dead or worse.

She mentally slapped herself to regain her focus. Today wasn't about any of that. Today was just supposed to be a day where the kids met and chose their ninken for the first time. Most of these kids weren't be too eye catching but still, maybe they might catch a particularly talented one today. 

Honestly she just wanted to hurry up and get back to her baby Kiba. She wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that the boy was already crawling all over the house leaving one mess after another in his wake or that the only one who seemed capable of calming him down was her Husband. Nine months of carrying him around and several hours of labour all for the boy to prefer his father.

She was brought once more out of her thoughts as the children started filing into the enclosure. She eyed the boy Kentaro at the front of the line and couldn't help but shake her head. The boy was big for his age already matching the other older kids even in height and stature, and even though he was young she could tell that he had a firm foundation.

From the way he walked to the way he seemed to subconsciously position himself in a way that allowed for a quick retreat from the enclosure. Even the surprisingly large amount of chakra that he had were all signs of solid training. Yet he didn't have that wild air around him that was characteristic of the Inuzuka clan.

The boy could have been so much more had he received training when he was younger. Her blood was flowing through his veins afterall and given what her potential was like, the boy was bound to have been something special. Maybe he could have already have started practicing the clans techniques and been the rising star of his generation.

Yet here he was, a diamond in the rough filled with so much potential that was being wasted because of a petty grudge. He shouldn't have been here today, he had another four years to prepare himself and yet his father had pushed things through simply because he felt that his son needed to follow in a tradition that hadn't held much importance to the clan in years.

She glanced at the boys father who stood to the side while holding the hand of his second son, watching everything that happened with clouded eyes. It would be a lie if she said she wasn't sorry for the way things had gone with him and the clan, but at the same time there wasn't much that she could have done to remedy the situation. The elders had made the decision that day while she was off on a mission and by the time she'd returned everything was already over.

Not only had they taken away his wife's ninken. They'd also raided the house they had lived in on the clan property. Claiming they had to recover all the scrolls and technique of the clan now that his wife had passed away before the clans secrets where accidently leaked. In reality it was only years later that she found out they had been hoping to find the unique scrolls passed down in his wife's family to study them, but either way they hadn't found them and only managed to recover the clans techniques. 

Still the decision had been a sound one at the time that would have benefitted the clan so she wasn't too bothered by it. The clan would have given him monetary support and even offered to give his children the best education they had to offer, but he had thrown it all away because of his pride. All the good it did him since he still ended up bringing the boys right back to the clan in the end.

She turned towards the children and cleared her throat to get their attention

"Alright kids you all have an hour to interact with the pups before you have to make your decision. Don't be too rough with the pups and even if you chose one of them, if they don't chose you then its not meant to be and you'll have to move on. Do not try to force a bond where there is none am I clear?"

The many nodding heads brought a smile to her face and she let the kids go to play with the pups. Under the supervision of the elders and the mother and father of the pups of course. 

She glanced once more towards Kuma and the boy next to him. Her eyebrow rose in surprise at the longing look on the boys face and felt a pang of guilt for the boy. They brought him out here and he couldn't even play with the pups and had to watch from the sidelines. Not to mention with the way his father acts towards the clan he was bound to end up wasting away for years without access to the clan and its ninken training capabilities. 

After a second of indecision she sighed before walking up to the boy. She ignored the hostile glance she received from his father and kneeled till she and boy could see eye to eye. 

"Do you want to play with the pups as well? even if you aren't old enough to pick one you can still play with them along with the others alright?"

She watched as excitement flashed through the boys eyes and heard as his heart sped up. Yet she was surprised when the boy turned towards his father for permission. Once his father nodded the boy turned towards the gate and ran inside heading straight to his brothers side before the two of them started playing with the pups. 

She laughed to herself before standing to her feet once more. She stood next to Kuma but kept her eyes on the two boys. Seeing how they naturally seemed to blend with the hounds was a welcomed surprise which only made her annoyance at their father grow. She decided to give him piece of advice for old times sake. Whether he headed it would be up to him but her conscious would be clear.

Turning to face the man she was surprised at the sadness she saw in his eyes as he watched his two sons and could only shake her head.

"I know what the clan has done to you wasn't right but its also not something that can be changed. Whether you will ever forgive the clan or not is completely up to you. However it would be an injustice to those two boys if they lost out because of you. The choice is yours. Your house within the clan is still there and is waiting for you if you decide to come back.”

Tsume started to walk away leaving a final line behind.

“Just make sure you won’t regret what ever decision you make later on down the line.”