Chapter 5

"Tomoe! Masato! Arata! Over here!" Nobuyuki, the disgustingly cheerful head caretaker called out to us.

Sitting over at a distance I watched the main group going through their stretch routine as two heads popped up at the mention of their names. They made eye contact, then walked over to where Nobuyuki was seated on the edge of the field. Over to his right, Shizuka was making faces at me.

'Do I really have to go?'

'Yes, yes you do.'

'But..'

'Go. Just trust me.'

'..Go!'

'Fine!'

With one last scowl in her direction, I solemnly walked over to join the rest. Honestly sometimes I wish she'd just communicate more in words.

"Hey kids! I just got word that you all recently completed your compatibility tests! Are you excited?" His face was consumed by the giant array of teeth he displayed from his mouth which seemed to stretch beyond his face.

The other two seemed a lot less disturbed with the sight than I was. "Yeah!" "I'm gonna become the strongest ever and then I'll become Hokage and then I'll get.." Nobuyuki looked down at them, smile not wavering in the least. "Sure you will."

"Well! Now that you've received your partners, you'll finally be starting on our clan techniques so you'll be training apart from the rest." They burst into even louder cheers, to the delight of Nobuyuki. His canines started looking more and more vampiric. He glanced at me, and the smile lessened a bit, but came back full force at his next words. "Because of that, you're also going to be getting individual training from now on!" He gestured to three caretakers behind him, eagerly waiting for the charade to be over. One of which, I was very glad to note was Shizuka.

I tuned out the rest of his *ahem* disquisition and instead turned my thoughts to a much more relevant and important matter. Like: 'Do fish see water? If they don't, can they see air? This will need serious investigation. Sadly, the internet isn't a thing here. It's probably antithesis to a ninja to have an almost unlimited amount of information able to be accessed by pretty much anyone. But still!'

Eventually the talk concluded and I was brought back into reality when everyone split up and Shizuka gestured for me. We moved to a corner of the field and Shizuka addressed me. "So how much of that did you get?"

"We're going to be working on the clan techniques with a personal instructor."

She stared at me hopefully. "And?"

Silence.

She sighed. "Fine. Let's begin."

"The technique I am about to teach you is dangerous and more difficult than anything you've done so far. You will not even think of attempting it without my direct supervision, because if it goes wrong, you might not be able to go back. There have been cases.. Anyway, the technique is called The Ninja Art of Beast Imitation, or more simply, the Four Legs technique. You've probably heard of it before."

I nodded. I haven't seen Shizuka this serious before. Not even during the war.

"The jutsu requires a balance of sorts. As you know, the Inuzuka believe in two different sides of the mind. The feral and the civilized. The feral is mostly associated with instinct and primal urges. Behavior is orchestrated solely by the need to survive. The civilized is characterized mostly by rational and purposeful thinking. As humans we in society constantly war against our feral sides, but with this technique, you're going to do the exact opposite and give yourself up to it. Well. Not entirely. But just enough room for the changes to be able to be made. The balance is what matters. Once you get it right, and pump massive amounts of chakra through your body, you'll start transforming. Your canines will turn to fangs and your fingers and toenails grow to claws."

Slightly unexpectedly, at the last bit her face took on a slightly feral sneer. It might indicate that use of the technique might affect the mind, seeing as you're messing with your balances and all. I just hope I won't get turned on by the smell of blood when I'm older.

"Along with the physical changes, there also comes a massive boost in speed, strength and reflexes. That can get overwhelming at first, so be careful with that."

So like Spider-man? But wolfy? Alright then.

"Let's start with the basics. Calling onto your feral side. This shouldn't be too hard. Once you've accessed it once it comes a lot easier so you won't have to go through this process every time. Sit."

I nodded.

"Now, I want you to start meditation, but instead of clearing your mind or focusing on your chakra, I want you to delve into your mind. Seek out the parts you actively restrain, and loosen some of its chains."

I sits.

I sits longer.

Nothing.

I open an eye. "Is it supposed to take this long?"

She frowned. "It's not about how long you do it, it's the effort you put in. Try harder."

Closing my eyes, I try again.

Still nothing.

Out in the distance I hear other people shouting and celebrating. Seems like they got it then.

Still nothing.

It must have been a good hour by now.

"Lets.. let's take a break for now, OK?"

I don't know which of us sighed louder.

"Pencils down! Pencils down! Good. Pass your test to the aisles.."

Loud sighs and the shifting of paper reverberated through the classroom. For the past few days, we've been taking test after test, some practical, others written or theory. Having suspicions of what it was for, I avoided taking it too seriously.

After being dismissed for lunch, I sat back down at my usual spot, followed by a talking bokken with legs.

"How do you think you did? Cause some questions tripped me over pretty badly, like question 24 and I had no idea what to do for 43 or 17 and those all had nothing to do with each other so I might have.."

I tuned him out. I've been doing that a lot recently. Him sitting here with me, not actually talking more than ranting at me is now established as routine. To my great enjoyment, naturally. Sometimes I listen in, just to break up the monotony. My life, for all the ninja shenanigans, is rather boring huh?

"I swear those kunai were weighted wrong, then again that might have been my balance but then..Oh."

He usually doesn't stop talking until just before the bell when he remembers his food again. I snapped back to reality, luckily gravity stayed with me. It was Tomoe.

"What are you still doing here?" She asked. Her wild lion's mane she calls hair almost seemed to point to me like senbon. It seems she left her group behind, going by the looks they're sending me. That's either foolish or a bold statement of intent. Or both. Probably both.

"Sitting. Eating. You?" She sneered.

"I mean still in the Academy! You don't belong here."

"According to..?"

"To everyone! You're supposed to be an Inuzuka! But all I see you do is sit around! And I've heard them talking. The rest don't think you belong either."

I've been expecting this for a while, but to hear it from her still hurt.

"And who are 'the rest' supposed to be?"

She lifted her chin and sneered down at me, smug written all over her face.

"The caretakers. Duh. None of them really want you. They just put up with you because they have to."

Incensed, I abruptly stood up, knocking over the remainder of my food and looked her right in the eye. Uncomfortably close to her face, she faltered slightly, but remained resolute in her sneer.

"And what would you know?" I whispered.

"Enough to know." She whispered back, equally viciously.

"Know What?"

Her voice so low I had to use my Inuzuka senses to hear her. "That the reason your parents aren't back yet is because they don't want to deal with you."

Irate, I growled. My fingers coming closer and closer to her throat.

"Is there a problem here?" Suddenly, Chizuru-sensei was right next to us, her glasses obscuring her eyes. Somehow that made her more terrifying.

Tomoe backed off quickly, her gaze following both me and Chizuru-sensei. She sneered once more, and stalked off. Chizuru-sensei faced me. She spoke slowly.

"This is the second time I have absolved your discrepancies. I expect for it not to happen again." Anger rising in me again, I opened up my mouth to respond. As if sensing this, she Body-Flickered back to wherever she came from before any words came out.

Exasperated, I ignored Hayama and my lunch and walked back to the classroom. Trying very hard to keep from stomping.

"..And then she just stalked off! Can you believe that?!"

Back at the compound for dinner, Shizuka and I were sitting next to each other in a corner of the field. My food was abandoned. She gave me a contemplating expression.

"Come with me." She put her food to the side and stood up. Walking off without looking to see if I followed. I did. She took me back inside, through a long number of corridors. We have way too many of these, it's obscene. Eventually we came up to a complex with doors in every hallway, similar to a hotel. Though with a much less friendly atmosphere, giving off more of a Spartan feeling. I mean, fully grey hallways. Guys!

Briskly walking up to one of the doors, she put her hand to it and a seal on the door activated. It lit up for a second, then opened.

The room inside looked more like a dorm room, and thankfully not grey, but more of a faded white. Yes that's a thing. Clothes and scrolls haphazardly thrown around, and an incredibly disorganized bed next to a single chair. She pushed away the chair and gestured for me to sit on the floor.

"Try the meditation again. Don't think about anything but that feeling when she challenged you. But instead of repressing it, let it go. Try it."

Incredulous, I just look at her for a while before sitting down to meditate. Closing my eyes it was easy for me to call back the memory and it was like it happened all over again. I put my hands to the Tiger Seal.

I just don't get it! I don't care if she's barely out of the womb! Saying such a thing to anyone is a horrible thing to do no matter what their status is! I just don't understand how- Wait. Stop. I can't- No. Why should I stop? She tried to undermine me. She's deliberately trying to play power games with me right now. It doesn't matter if she learned how to count just a year ago. If she's trying to play the adult, she'll get burned as one.

Deep inside my chakra system, I felt something snap. Like chains hacked apart with an especially sharp axe. Like the decisive clap of fireworks at the end of a show. Like it unleashed something. It surged, sharp and agitated, ripping through my system.

"Ok! Ok. That's good. Now, focus on that feeling and spread it. All throughout your body. Remember! Balance!"

Complying, I forced the chakra to my will and tried spreading it. I could feel it changing me, could feel my nails lengthening, my eyes and nose sharpening, my thoughts speeding up with a nearly brutal amount of adrenaline rushing through me. Once it settled, the feeling was almost natural. A constant state of battle readiness. At the same time though, I could feel it draining my chakra. And since I'm five, I probably can't sustain this for more than a minute.

"You can open your eyes now." The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Shizuka's face beaming at me. I slowly cancelled the jutsu, watching my claws turn back into fingernails. There's something mesmerizing about being able to see the changes you made to yourself.

"Congratulations. You've successively learned the Four Legs Technique." Achievement get. Just kidding. I smiled at her.

"Now, are you gonna tell me what's really wrong?" My breath caught. Since when was Shizuka perceptive?

"I.. it's fairly obvious I don't exactly follow the crowd here. And so far the only reason why they haven't kicked me out or anything is because I'm the son of the head." She nodded her head, and sat a little closer to my side.

"And it's not like I really care about being one, but to know that the only thing keeping me from being thrown out is my parents love for me... Well, it's hard to see that when they're not actually there. And I can't really blame them for it. Realistically I know I shouldn't think like that, but that doesn't really stop me from worrying. I just feel like I'm in a constant state of limbo. Having difficulty with the Four Legs Technique didn't help much with that." By the time I finished speaking, I was sitting in Shizuka's lap, my back to her and looking down. She took a little time to pick her words.

"You know, your parents send me mail by hawk a lot. Every week, actually. Every single time, they ask about you. How is his education going? Is he sleeping and eating well? Is he liking the Academy? Basic questions. But they ask for very detailed responses. It's obvious they care, even if they don't often show it."

A hopeful twinge surged up in me, but was then quickly and brutally suppressed by doubt. "Then why don't they send me anything?"

She tilted her head, her long hair, which she kept in a ponytail, swept around to gently hit my face. "People are complicated. Your parents especially so. Often times people forget that you're only five, because you act so much more than that. They're worried about how you would respond and more than anything, they're afraid of rejection. Out there in the blood and the fire and the murder there are only very few things you think about. Yourself, what you're fighting, who you're fighting with, and why you're fighting. I think, that their reason as to why is to live long enough to see the next generation grow up. Which, in this case, means you. War is very good at seeding negative emotions in you. Fear being chief among them. They're scared, sweetie. Scared that whatever's holding them up over there will collapse."

I couldn't think of anything to respond to that. So I just stayed quiet and mulled it over, burying myself deeper into Shizuka. "I still don't understand."

"Soon, you will." She said solemnly.

A/N. I know, it's been forever. I'm sorry. I've been very busy recently with exams and graduation and drama and.. blegh. Also, a new HP story will probably be uploaded sooner or later, since I've been into that lately. Don't really expect it to go anywhere, it's mostly just to get the ideas out of my head so I could focus on this story. That's it. Have a good day!

Revised 4/23/2020