Naruto: The Birth Of Fenrir and his Keeper

A few weeks had passed since the village had come under attack and in those weeks it had been amazing to watch how quicky the village had bounced back. Even though they were still areas around the village that needed work, for the most part the village had been cleared of all the debris and new structures had already started to be built.

It had been interesting watching as the people had utilized all sorts of minor jutsu and techniques to streamline the process of rebuilding. It had opened Keitaro’s eyes to the way that people, even if they weren’t qualified shinobi, used chakra in their day to day lives.

Chakra wasn’t something reserved solely for combat and could even be used to better the lively hood of the villagers. He had always just assumed that if you could mold chakra that the path a shinobi was a given, but now he saw other ways of making a living without being a shinobi.

He’d have never even bothered to look at things in such a way, but with the state his father was in now, it had been on his mind practically all the time now.

He made his way home after picking up the things from the market that his father had requested of him and thought back to that day on the ward all those weeks ago.

The family of three had spent the last few days together on the ward. The medical personnel had been kind enough to include meals for the two boys when ever Kuma had received his own and they had all slept together on the surprisingly large medical bed.

They had spent most of their time during the first day chatting about what they had experienced during the attack, much to concern of Kuma who wasn’t happy that the two boys had been walking through what was effective fields of death, but after they had exhausted all those topics, Kuma had taught both boys how to play Shogi which they spent most of their time playing.

On that particular day, all three of them where focused on a game when a the trio where interrupted when the door to the room they where in was slid open and a few Iryō-nin walked in. While some them went about checking on Kumas bandages and ensuring that there weren’t any problems with his injuries the lead Iryō-nin spoke to Kuma.

“I’m glad to see that you’re awake. We would have gotten to you sooner but at the moment we’re understaffed and its as if every minute a new patient is brough in and requires immediate medical attention.”

The lady shuffled through some papers as she read the medical chart at the bottom of the bed and once she was certain she was in the right place she grew serious.

“I’m here to tell you that though it may seem that your out of the woods, I’m afraid that you are still in need of another surgery to complete your treatment. You received several puncture wounds to your abdomen that quite frankly should have killed you. You lost so much blood it’s a miracle your still alive much less that your up and functioning so soon after your first surgery.

But…there is some bad news. I’m sorry to say but I’m going to be blunt with you. Quite frankly you’re going to have to retire as a shinobi.”

The room grew silent as the news sunk in. The Iryō-nin merely paused to make sure that Kuma understood what she was saying before continuing.

“While the puncture wounds you sustained were relatively easy to treat, you also practically shattered your right knee and while we did do a surgery to stabilize your leg, its not been healing well. We are going to do our best to give you back some range of motion, but your leg will never be as strong as it used to be.

You’re going to be unable to use your leg for quite some time even after we perform the follow up surgery that we have scheduled and even after that it will take some time to get accustomed to walking much less running again.

Even if you don’t consider the muscle atrophy that you are going to go through during the healing process, you are going to permanently lose some if not all feeling in your lower leg as well. Pair all of that with a general decrease in your legs mobility and I’m afraid you just won’t be able to continue working as a shinobi in the future.

I’m sorry but this is quite frankly the best that we can do for you with the current level of medical ninjutsu we have on hand.”

Keitaro could still recall the look of horror that had been etched unto his fathers face while the medical-nin continued to advise him further even though it was obvious Kuma had still been in shock at the news.

Keitaro sighed to himself and quickly made his way home. Kuma’s injury simply served as another reminder as to how little hope those who were weaker had at living a comfortable life. To stop improving ones strength was the same as letting your life hang in the balance when you lived in a world where mad men could just drop the equivalence of a nuclear war head on you at any time.

Once he reached the house he was confused when he noticed an extra pair of shoes at the door and so he quietly made his way into the house where he was surprised to see Tsume Inuzuka sitting in a chair opposite Kuma, who was currently wheel chair bound.

Both of them looked up when he entered and while he bowed slightly to both of them in greeting he couldn’t help but glance in Tsume’s direction before scampering off to the kitchen. The fact that she was holding a baby in her hand wasn’t lost on him and he was certain that the future Kiba had made an appearance.

He kept his ears peeled to see if he could listen in on their conversation,  truly confused as to why Tsume was visiting them at all. As far as eh could remember no one form the clan had visited them and even Kuma’s old comrades from his three man cell hadn’t made an appearance something that Keitaro had predicted would happen but was still saddened to see.

Keitaro was bound to be disappointed though as he soon realized the Tsume had already gotten up and was simply telling Kuma to take care of himself as she was leaving.

Once she was gone he made his way back into the living room bringing with him a glass of juice for his father.

He could only sigh to himself as he eyed his father as he sat in his chair absentmindedly. The large man had seemingly shrunk in on himself in the last few weeks, losing weight at a startling rate, and while he did eat form time to time he barely ate half of what he used to. His hollowed eyes and general lack of drive only cemented in Keitaro’s mind that Kuma wasn’t adjusting well.

Watching as he seemingly wasted away was torturous for Keitaro but he also knew that no matter how much he tried to push Kuma out of his rut, it wouldn’t matter in the slightest if Kuma himself didn’t want to move past this. So he silently supported his father in any way that he could.

Placing the glass on the table, he was about to leave when his father called out to him. Confused he looked back only to notice a fire in Kuma’s eyes that he had missed before, a fire that he hadn’t seen in weeks.

“Keitaro sit, we have a lot to talk about.”

Following his fathers request Keitaro sat and waited patiently for Kuma to get his thoughts in order. Once he had, Kuma cleared his throat before talking.

“I should first apologize to both you and your brother. I haven’t been myself for a little while and the two of you have been having to pick up the slack in my place….But things are going to change for the better from here on out. I can promise you that.”

Keitaro noticed that Kuma had clenched his fist as he spoke and silently nodded. With the most important thing out of the way Kuma visible relaxed as he continued to speak.

“Tsume was here earlier to talk to me about my current predicament and to help me with what to do moving forward. As you know before I received my injury I had been just been promoted to Jōnin, which was a good thing since I received Jōnin class compensation for retiring due to injury. Of course, while it is a good lump sum of money, it would eventually run out which is why I’ve been speaking with Tsume in regards to becoming a breeder for the clan, My limited medical experience actually works in my favor as not many breeders are able to use practical medical ninjutsu on the hounds.

Its really not a big surprise that anyone who spends enough time to be able to utilize medical ninjutsu to a certain standard will opt to simply become an Iryō-nin, which pays more and has a higher ceiling for promotion than being a simple breeder. That stands for even members of the clan.

Right now the only breeders that can use medical ninjutsu are the retired medical-nin and they aren’t always available as they tend to teach classes at the hospital for the trainees. So while all of that would make becoming a high class breeder specialized in medical ninjutsu an awkward job for most people, for me it couldn’t be better.”

Kuma looked to the side and chuckled and when he continued, his melancholy could be felt.

“Even if I improve further as a medical-nin I won’t have the mobility or stamina needed to hold that position in the clan or at the hospital. Plus with my age and the fact that I’m already retired not many will be willing to invest in me like they would a young shinobi fresh from the academy. Luckly the clan is willing to acknowledge and support my study of medical ninjutsu so that I can become a high class breeder.

In a sad twist of fate I have to rely on the very same clan that I’ve scorned all this time to go further.”

He chuckled at himself before turning to face Keitaro.

“Tsume already organized everything for me and I’ll be able to start working from next week. Of course I won’t be doing anything too strenuous until I’m able to walk again but for now I won’t be cooped up at home like before.

I also managed to get permission from her that would allow me to bring you with me to work.”

Keitaro was about to say something but Kuma raised his hand to placate him. Once he was sure that Keitaro wasn’t going to interrupt him he went on.

“I know that it might seem unfair. The other kids get to roam free most of the time until they start training with the clan or have to attend the academy and you aren’t going to be allowed that luxury moving forward, but this is an opportunity that I need you to grab a hold of.

A lot of the books and scrolls that I will gain access to, along with the training manuals to certain Jutsu won’t be made available to you easily. But by tagging along with you’ll gain access by proxy, meaning you can begin systematic and structured training in medical ninjutsu before you even enter the academy. Particularly the theory aspects of medical ninjutsu which are the most time consuming.

I’ve already told both you and your brother that One of the things I want you both to be trained in is medical ninjutsu. Most shinobi don’t bother with it simply because to them its not important.

They simply rely on basic first aid training when dealing with field wounds and that’s that as far as they are concerned; but I can tell you this, there were countless times where I was able to save my own life and the life of my fellow shinobi simply because I had a rudimentary understanding of medical ninjutsu.

In fact one of the techniques that I was able to develop and have made use of over the years stems from my limited knowledge and training in medical ninjutsu. A technique that will not only expedite your physical training in the future, but can also be used in battle to catch a second wind.

Besides every thing I’ve already mentioned, the real benefits that you will receive are much more tangible. Not only will you gain a better understanding of your own body which will be good for your future Taijutsu practice, but your chakra control will increase immensely while training as a Iryō-nin. There are only positives this and while some of the other members of the clan might be displeased at the fact that I’m essentially twisting the rules for my families benefit, I can use the fact that I’m injured as a shield from them for a while.  

Though it will mean I have to swallow my pride for a bit, I don’t mind if you and your brother can benefit from it.”

Keitaro could only sigh at his father’s insistence. In all honesty it sounded like a pretty good deal and since he had already told his father that he had unlocked his chakra while he had been in the hospital it made sense that he was trying to find ways for him to increase his chakra training.

Kuma had already forbade him from any serious physical training until the age of five. When he had asked why, he was told that while it was possible to begin training form an earlier age it was possible that it could cause the child to have a stunted growth or debilitating injuries. The main reason why the academy accepted children from the age of seven was because by seven most can truly begin with heavy physical training without much worry of debilitating injury.

Even simple chakra training can have devastating effects if not done correctly. Injuring your chakra network while not fatal, could cause you to be bed ridden for days at a time and in the worse case scenario you might even cripple yourself by completely destroying your chakra channels in your limbs. While such an injury wasn’t necessarily life threatening, the only medical-nin known to the village capable to handle such injuries was Lady Tsunade the slug sage of the legendary Sanin. Sadly she hadn’t been seen in years, which meant that a broken chakra network was the same as a permanent injury.

When Keitaro had been told about the dangers of practicing with chakra he had immediately broken out into a cold sweat at the memory of him messing around with it on the play ground while playing with the other kids. The realization that he could very well have caused his arm to implode from the inside out was a harrowing thought, and he was glad to have told his dad about his chakra.

“It’s okay dad I don’t really mind it all that much. Besides, if I’m with you I get to learn some stuff that I could use in the future.” Keitaro didn’t bother trying to refute his fathers words, simply accepting everything in stride as he made plans himself on what he was going to focus on in the near future.

“I really am blessed with amazing kids.” The radiant smile on Kumas face was a startling but welcomed change and Keitaro wondered just how much of his slump had been because he was injured and not because he wouldn’t be able to assist in his and his brothers training as he would have liked.

“Regardless though, I’m not going to be taking you with me every day. I still need you to have days where you get to focus on others things as well. Things may have been looking dire for a while but they should start looking up. Now all we have to do is keep pushing on.”

Kuma sighed and fiddled with his fingers before broaching another topic that had come up during Tsume’s visit.

“Another thing I need to talk to you about is that I’ve agreed for you to start training with the clan once you turn five years old. I was planning to over see your training myself and was planning to let you begin training in your clan techniques once you received your own ninken like your brother did. Sadly that isn’t going to be possible so while I will still help you out from time to time, but your main training is going to be handled by the clan.

Now there are a few techniques that I’m willing to pass on to both you and your brother but both of you are going to have to think long and hard about whether or not you are going to be able to handle learning two different things at once. The Inuzuka Clan have coined their unique combat style called the Imitation Beast Ninja arts. It comprises several techniques based on their ninken and focuses highly on Taijutsu. Though they can utilize elemental jutsu they usually only use it when forced to and will usually fall back on their Taijutsu mastery.

The problem with that is that the Techniques that I have made and practice could possible conflict since they are also based on Taijutsu and Bukijutsu. It will be a lot harder for you to learn my jutsu simply because I can’t demonstrate them for you and can only really try my best to teach them to you. Even then I thin that if you two manage to not only learn both styles but also manage to incorporate them into one style unique to you both then your strength is bound ot soar.

Yet it will require a lot of dedication, time and effort and there is no guarantee that you will be able to merge the two styles in the first place, which means you could end up wasting a lot of time on a technique that is practically useless to you.

That’s not something that can be decided on lightly, so once I speak with your brother when he returns from the academy we will see how things go moving forward.”

Kuma sighed and though he tried his best not to let it show, Keitaro was fully aware of how much it meant for Kuma to effective allow them to reject his own techniques in favor of the clans. Even in the clan, though they used the same base combat styles, individuals families and linages would often times develop and pass down unique techniques and ways to elevate the clans techniques to new heights.

It was practically impossible for parents not to pass on their techniques and knowledge to their children as it was tradition to do so in all shinobi families. Over time these techniques might change and become something new, but at there root was the passed on knowledge of past generations.

Yet Kuma was willing to let his techniques waste away simply for convenience sake. Even though both Keitaro and Kentaro had shown considerable talent so far, there was no guarantee that they’d be able to keep up with the work load of true shinobi training, so it was simply better to lessen their work load as much as possible.

Keitaro noted all of this down in his mind and swore to himself that even if it turned out to be useless for him in the future he was going to make sure his fathers techniques were elevated to the greatest of heights.

He watched as Kuma, now finished talking, turned towards the doorway and rolled himself off to his new room to rest for the evening. They had had to relocate him to the ground floor as his chair wouldn’t allow him to traverse the stairs.

Just before he rolled out of sight though he paused and pointed towards a package that was sitting int the chair that Tsume had been sitting in.

“I remember that you had asked for some scrolls to practice writing with so I asked Tsume to bring some scrolls, ink and brushed for you. I guess calligraphy is another thing I guess you should work on while your training.” And with that he was gone

Keitaro silently watched as his father left. He really wanted to see his father bounce back form the rut he had found himself in and was truly grateful that he found a place among the clan to settle for now. Still that didn’t mean that he was going to simply continue coasting through as he had before.

That sleepless night in the shelter had allowed him to wake up from the happy little bubble he had been content to live in. Even though he had acknowledged that this world was dangerous and that there were going to be times when he might be in danger, he had mistakenly believed that things would have worked themselves out naturally simply because they had done so in the manga.

He had though that as long as he kept his distance from certain troublesome people and avoided getting the attention of certain vile characters, that he’d be able to live a comfortable life while playing around as a shinobi.

He hadn’t been too concerned in all honesty about the dangers that were very much still bound to affect him and his family and had been much too relaxed about all of it. He was ashamed that it had taken his family members, that he genuinely loved and cared for, being placed in danger for him to realize that his thoughts had been much to naïve. Still, it was better late than never.

He picked up the glass of juice that his father had drunk at some point and time and turned towards the kitchen. He was going to need to make a plan on how he was going to get stronger and if that meant he had to cross a few people in the process to do so, then so be it. He grabbed the weighty package form off the chair and made his way up to his room. He had a lot of things that he needed to note down while he still remembered them.