Naruto: The Birth Of Fenrir and his Keeper

Keitaro was in heaven. or at least the closest thing to it.

Laying on the ground with puppies crawling all over him as they licked his face and nibbled at his fingers was a truly blissful experience. If only he could lay here all day, then he wouldn't have any complaints what so ever.

Sadly this wasn't to be, as his brother kept poking at him. He sat up and glanced around at the other kids who were walking around and looking at the pups as if they were examining vegetables in a market. He watched on in disbelief as one of the kids actually picked up one of the pups and actually pried its mouth open to inspect it. 

Keitaro rolled his eyes at the absurdity happening around him and decided to get to the meat of the matter. 

"So what do you think we're supposed to do when picking a ninken pup big bro?"

Kentaro placed his hand on his chin and thought for a while before replying.

"Honestly I'm not sure. I thought I'd watch the other kids as they interacted with the pups and just copied them but there doesn't seem to be anything unique that they're doing?"

Keitaro nodded sagely at his brothers comment and glanced once more at one of the kids who was now inspecting a pups ears.

"If anything Nii-san I guess you just see which pup you like the most? From what that lady was saying at the start the pup has to pick you as well, what ever that means. So I guess you just need to get the pups to like you."

'Though even if I say that none of the other kids seem to be trying too hard to be likable. If anything its like what ever they have to do comes after the hour given. In which case Big bro is just going to end up embarrassing himself in front of everyone.'

He glanced around once more but this time instead of looking at the children messing around in the enclosure, he focused on the group of parents who had also entered at some point but were staying off to the side. From time to time they would glance in his and his brothers direction and a look of disdain would flash across their face before they looked towards their own children smiling snidely.

Whether his brother had noticed their glances or not Keitaro wasn't sure; but what he was sure of was that should his brother mess up at all in choosing his ninken, it wouldn't be long until they were both the laughing stock of the clan. 

'Even if our father is on bad terms with the clan they should at the very least have told us about actually claiming a ninken. I've half a mind to go ask one of the elder what Ken's supposed to do. I might be able to get away with it since I'm so young that they might just pass it off as curiosity...but the fact that dad told both of us to be careful makes me slightly worried. Worst case scenario Ken doesn't get his ninken and has to wait till he's ten to actually get it. As long as he doesn’t accidentally injure any of the dogs they shouldn’t be able to cause any problems for us.'

Keitaro gently placed the pups that had crawled into his lap unto the ground before heading towards a tree in the corner. He left his brother to play with the pups and instead decided to interact with the one ninken that was of interest to him.

He walked over to one of the largest female ninken who was laying against a tree in the shade. She had a grey coat that covered her back and tail, yet her feet and belly where cover in pristine white fur. Her dark brown eyes help a spark of intelligence that couldn’t be hidden, yet she seemed content to simply sit back lazily under the shade of the tree and watch the proceedings in silence.

He and his brother where the only ones to interact with her litter and he had already confirm with his brother that she had been his mother ninken.

He walked up to her and stopped once she raised her head and locked eyes with him. They stared at each other until she rose from the ground and circled Keitaro inspecting him from head to toe. Once she was done she licked his face and nudged him toward the tree where she then curled up around him. 

Throughout the entire experience Keitaro didn't say or do anything except follow her lead. For what ever reason he felt a warmth from this ninken that he hadn't felt in years. The warmth of his mother. Whether it was because this ninken was a mother herself or because she had been his own mothers ninken, Keitro wasn't sure but either way he smiled as the familiar warmth filled him. 

"Oh? Well that's a surprise. She isn't usually so friendly with other people. I wonder if its because you're her companions child or if there's something special about you."

Keitaro turned towards the voice to see one of the three stooges from earlier standing not too far away. It was the bald guy who was still ridding on his ninken’s back, his eyes were open now and were curiously looking over Keitaro and his mothers ninken.

Keitaro was surprised that one of the elders had even bothered to pay attention to him. He glanced around and saw that the other elders were with the other children but would occasionally glance over at the two of them. He wasn't sure what to do so he simply kept quiet trying to look like an innocent child insure of if he should say anything to the old geezer before him.

The female ninken didn't have any qualms about him though and she raised her head and growled at the approaching old man who stopped immediately while chuckling to himself. 

"Still so willy even after all these years this one. Still its good that you're able to get her approval. It'll make it easier for you later down the line."

Leaving behind that cryptic line the old mans ninken turned around and wadded off towards another group of children. As she watched him leave the female ninken huffed and growled before settling down once more.

"Yeah I think he was being pretty noisy to."

Keitaro shook his head before freezing. He turned towards the female ninken he was resting against in surprise and was met with calm eyes staring back at him.

"I can understand you?" 

His question was met with a huff before the ninken settled down against the tree once more. Keitaro sat there his mind in chaos at the sudden realization that he could understand the dog. Why could he understand her so clearly? Was this just the norm for Inuzuka clansmen?

'Honestly it would make sense for members of a clan that relies on dogs to be able to communicate with them. I guess it's because this is technically the first time I've genuinely interacted with a ninken. It'd make training and working together much easier so I guess it makes sense. Either way it shouldn't matter all that much. There's a pretty simple way to check it.'

With his new found ability to communicate he chatted with the ninken for a while before calling his brother over to see if he too could understand the ninken.

Kentaro eyed his brother strangely before replying.

"Of course I can? I did grow up with her before mom passed so it would be weirder if I couldn't. Some ninken are harder to understand than others but I can at least get a general understanding of what they're saying or want. It works on regular dogs to a certain extent too. Did you never notice before?"

"No I didn't. Though I never really tried too speak with them before either."

"That makes sense. Of course you're not going to be able to understand the pups since its be the same as trying to talk to a baby. which is why most of the other kids aren't really trying to."

Keitaro nodded his head at his brother conjecture. Yet the more he thought about it all the stranger he felt. Was it really supposed to be this easy to talk with and understand ninken, much less ninken that weren't your partners? He wasn't sure but something told him it wasn't supposed to be that easy but since he couldn't exactly just ask around he decided to shelve the topic for now.

He smiled to himself at how many things he wasn't able to understand about his own life and froze when he came to a shocking discovery. He turned toward his brother and with a strange tone asked the question that just popped into his mind.

"Well since you can talk to the ninken why not just ask her what you're supposed to do when picking a ninken? If anyone would be able to tell you wouldn't it be a ninken?"

Kentaro who had been tickling one of the pups in his hand froze when he heard his brothers question before his cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. he didn't even look at his brother before turning and asking the ninken for guidance. 

Keitaro could only watch on while trying his best not to laugh at his brother too much. 

It didn't take long for them both to understand the way to decide on a proper ninken and it caused both of their moods to drop drastically.

The way was both simple and complicated at the same time. The shinobi would have to share his chakra with his chosen ninken. The lower the resistance to the chakra the better the fit between the two. Of course the ninken would have to agree to being chosen by the shinobi and that would occur when the ninken also exchanging chakra with said shinobi. 

While simple in theory the difficulty came in the fact that the pups were still quite young and wouldn't be able to truly utilize their chakra. The chakra exchange was in reality a subconscious reflex that would only occur when the pup was truly compatible with the shinobi in question.

This explained why they had to chose a ninken when they were still pups instead of when they were older. As pups, they simply couldn't influence the result and would show the most unbiased results possible.

It was also easier to fill a young ninken’s chakra circulatory system with chakra when they were younger, yet even then they had to be careful.

Pump to much chakra into the pup and they wouldn't be able to handle it and it'd simply escape its body, pump to little and there wouldn't be enough chakra to complete the cycle. You needed to pump a controlled amount of chakra into the pup in order to spark a bond and if you couldn't, then you wouldn't find your ninken partner.

'Dad really screwed us over!  Wouldn't this require some pretty decent chakra manipulation? I doubt if Kentaro has practised his chakra manipulation to the required level!'

Keitaro couldn't believe just how much went into picking a ninken and how little his dad seemed to know.

'Transferring chakra from one person to another would always result in some of the chakra being lost in transmission. Which means that you'd also need to have a decent amount of chakra in order to even attempt this in the first place. 

That would also explain why all the other kids here are so much older. By the age of ten even if barely, they should all be able to handle this level of chakra manipulation pretty well and have the required amount of chakra especially since they've been trained by the clan.

I knew it was weird that we were the youngest children here but I didn't think it was this much of a blunder. 

I bet dad pushed through all the road blocks placed in his path to ensure that Keitaro got to chose his pup from the first litter of moms ninken regardless of how much of a problem it was because he either didn’t know or though that it wouldn't be that big of a problem to simply chose a ninken pup, but this is a really big problem.'

Keitaro’s thoughts where jumbled and he was worried that Kentaro might end up harming one of the pups by accident which would not go over well with elders watching the proceedings. Once more he glanced at the female ninken who he'd been laying against and recalled the words of the bald elder earlier.

'He said that getting in her good graces would be beneficial later on down the line. we still have a good while before Bro needs to choose his ninken and he should be able to see which pups he's compatible with in under five minutes...which means that he could use moms ninken to practice the chakra exchanging part!'

Keitaro’s eyes sparkled as he came to that wonderful conclusion. Of course whether his brother would be able to pickup and utilize a technique like that so quickly was unknown, but at least they had a chance.

Still Keitaro squinted his eyes as he looked towards the bald elder who was backing him in the distance.

'Why would he mention anything to me at all. On the surface what he said might not seem like much but chances are it would have taken me much longer to figure out a way to help out with Kentaro's selection. 

The biggest red flag of this entire thing is that he's been speaking and leaving the hints for me, the three year old kid who has absolutely no reason to even fully understand what’s happening here today instead of speaking with Kentaro. I'll need to be careful of that old man in the future. I guess you really can't drop your guard around any old people when it comes to supernatural worlds what so ever.'

Keitaro didn't waste anymore time talking to himself and quickly clued in Kentaro on what he needed to do. 

Now equipped with a plan of action Kentaro quickly went through all the pups and surprisingly only found a single pup that didn't reject his chakra. Whether this was the ideal fit or not neither of the two boys was sure since they didn't have a second pup to compare with but it would have to do for now. 

The pup in question seemed to be the largest one of the litter and had a jet black coat that covered him from head to toe. the only speck of colour on it's fur was single white spot on its forehead which only served to elevate its appearance even further.

With pup in hand the boys huddled around their mother’s ninken once more and while Kentaro placed his palm on the dogs forehead to practice Keitaro kept the pup busy and happy by playing and tickling it. The happier the pup the better the chances of it agreeing to the bond.

'I wonder what would happen if mom’s ninken doesn't have a litter of pups when its my turn to claim a ninken of my own. Will I have to wait until she has another litter? It seems pretty impractical to be honest. I really hope there aren't any problems when its my turn to take a crack at this.'

The boys didn't have to wait long for as an hour passed quickly. The elders rounded up all the children who each held a pup in their hands as they made preparations to if they children and their chosen ninken where truly a pair. The rest of the pups where rounded up by their parents and as if they could tell how serious the upcoming events where they quieted down.

Finally once everything was prepared and the Elder with a smoking pipe stepped forward, his pipe held off to the side and his other hand held behind his back.

"Alright everyone. Now that you all have chosen your ninken it's time to see whether they are willing to accept you in return. I'm sure all of you know exactly what is expected of you as members of the Inuzuka clan, so I won't bore you any further with useless details. All of you should be able to handle yourselves so when you're called out please step to the front of everyone and attempt to bond with your ninken."

All of the children nodded their heads and the elder called out the first child to come to the front. One of the girls stepped forward and she help a pup with a light brown coat with a white under belly. She walked to the clearing made for them and sat in lotus position and placed the pup on the ground in front of her.

She closed her eyes to focus and placed her palm onto the head of the pup who likewise stopped wiggling around. Both she and pup continued to sit there silently while the elders and some of the other adults kept their eyes trained on them in case anything went wrong. 

Keitaro wasn't too impressed as he figured there should have been some glowing hands at the very least but he sat still and watched none the less. Finally after waiting for five minutes the girl smiled and opened her eyes. The pup in front of her also opened its eyes and slowly trotted over and worked its way into her lap before being picked up by the girl. The adults on the sideline all smiled and clapped while shouting their support for her. 

To her credit the girl didn't seem to be to affected by the praise being heaped upon her as she cradled the pup in her hand and slowly made her way back into the group. Yet Keitaro could see the confident smile plastered all over he face once she was backing the elders.

With her as an example the list of children was quickly called out and one by one they all sat and connected with their pups. The amount of time they took varied but none of them took less than five minutes to form a bond. 

Keitaro had been wondering what a failed bond would looked like as none of the children seemed to struggle and he didn't have to wait long to have his wish granted.

The second too last child was called forward and the boy swaggered up and sat down. He too like all the other closed his eyes and concentrated as both him and the pup stilled. They sat there for several minutes yet as time continued on looks of worry flashed across the faces of several adults watching on.

Finally the pup was the first to move and surprisingly unlike the other pups that went towards their chosen shinobi this pup distanced itself instead. The boy opened his eyes in confusion and could only watch as the pup kept distancing itself form him. 

Keitaro looked at the adults who had been clapping earlier and sneered at the looks od disappointment that were plastered all across their faces.

'It's just as I thought. In a clan where your ninken is meant to be your lifelong partner failing to form a bond with the first ninken that you've chosen is a pretty big taboo.

Even though they said it would be okay I have a feeling that even if he succeeds the second time around he'll still end up getting the cold shoulder from the other clan members for a while. I can only imagine what happens if you fail the second time as well.'

Keitaro looked over at his brother who had been much more quiet the normal. and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

'If all the other kids had passed, then he wouldn't have been as stressed but the kid right ahead of him just had to go and fail and so miserably at that. I mean the ninken is still trying to get away even now. 

If he doesn't get a grip he's much more likely to mess up. Time to work my younger brother magic.'

Keitaro tugged on his brothers arm and made sure to put on his most radiant smile.

"I know you can do it big brother. Go show them how its done."

***

Immediately after hearing his brothers words Kentaro's shaking eyes calmed and his paled cheeks regained their colour once more. Even his racing heart clamed itself as he came to grips with himself. 

He thanked his brother in heart and when his name was eventually called out he stepped forward with confidence.

He didn't pay attention to the other children who were snickering in the background getting ready to watch a good show, nor did he pay attention to the looks of displeasure on the faces on the adult. He didn't even glance in the direction of his father who was most likely worried about him.

The only thing on his mind was the ninken held in his hand. 

He sat in the lotus position and held the pup up to eye level. They looked into each others eyes before Kentaro smiled and the pup licked at his fingers. 

"Lets show them how its done alright boy."

With his preparations completed he closed his eyes and concentrated on the flow of chakra within his body. He hadn't told anyone but he wasn't as lost and hopeless as he should have been.

He wasn't sure why but ever since the day he and his brother had both been to the hospital he'd noticed a drastic increase in his chakra control and chakra amount.

In fact it was to the point that he was afraid at how quickly he was advancing when it came to his chakra but in the end his teacher at the academy had always said that more chakra was a good thing so he didn't bother to much about it. He wasn't a sensor so he couldn't really tell how big his reserves were compared to others, but he hoped he had enough to do what he needed to do next.

He pushed the chakra out of his body and into to his palm before guiding it into the body of his ninken. He'd practised with his mother’s ninken and even though things were bound to be slightly different it should still be okay.

Yet things quickly took a strange turn when the pup seemed almost like an endless abyss that kept absorbing his chakra without restraint. He hesitated about whether he should increase the amount of chakra he sent to the pup but decided to trust his gut. Slowly he increased the amount of chakra and the pup swallowed it all in turn. 

Time passed quickly and just as the five minute mark was about to pass Kentaro felt it the completion of the cycle and the return of chakra from his pup.

He smiled and opened his eyes and met the eyes of his ninken  looking back at him. He held out his hand and his ninken quickly wriggled into his lap and sat up licking his hand as he held it dearly to his chest.

He looked up at those around and was surprised when a sparse applause and a few congratulations where thrown his way. He looked towards the only person that really mattered to him, his brother, and saw that he had a bright smile on his face and was giving his double thumbs up.

No matter what anyone else might have to say, he at least thought that today had been a great day.