Naruto: The Birth Of Fenrir and his Keeper

Keitaro watched from the side lines as his brother and the young ninken formed their bond. It was a bitter sweet feeling for him, watching as Kentaro played with his new ninken.

It brought up bitter sweet memories of him and Fen from long ago, but he quickly pushed those thoughts away. He was happy for his older brother and refused to let such an important day be marred by his complicated feelings.

Instead he choose to distract himself by looking around at the other spectators.

It hadn’t taken much for him to notice that the quicker you formed a bond with a ninken the more animated the peanut gallery became. Since Kentaro had been one of the fastest when bonding, then it should have gotten him some brownie points with the clan members and from what he was seeing Keitaro was happy to confirm his theory. 

The other adults were no longer looking on with hostility and disgust, but instead had slight smiles and warm eyes. Some were even clapping and smiling as they watched Kentaro and his over eager pup. All good signs as far Keitaro was concerned since the less problems they had to deal with the better.

Even the elders seemed a lot more tolerant towards Kentaro as none of them had said anything harsh or disrespectful...for now.

Content that everything was going well, Keitaro glanced towards his father who was standing off to the side and noticed that he seemed to be lost in thought. He wasn't looking at the smiling Kentaro and was instead looking off into the clouds with a contemplative look on his face. What he was thinking about Keitaro had no idea, but from how his eyebrows were crinkled it must have been something serious. 

Thankfully no one else seemed to notice his father's state or if they did, they simply weren’t bothered by the brooding man as they were too busy rounding up all the other kids and making sure that everything was in order. Once all the other kids had been corralled, The elder with a pipe came forwards to address the crowd. 

"All right, all right no need to keep making so much noise. I'm sure everyone was thrilled at seeing the younger ones taking such an important step on their shinobi paths but now we need to take all of them back so that they can complete all the procedures and ensure they understand how best to raise their ninken. If you have any questions you can direct them to Tsume who will be more than happy to enlighten anyone who has any concerns."

Once he was finished speaking he didn’t bother with anything more and simply turned away form the crowd. He was quickly followed by the other elders and the group of children with their ninken. They didn't waste much time as they made their way out from amongst the collection of kennels.

Keitaro noticed that they were actually headed deeper into the clan but didn't think much of it. They were most likely going to register the ninken pups on a clan registry or something and it wasn't like he could do anything about it anyway.

No he had much more important fish to fry.

He quickly made his way towards Tsume who was standing off to the side looking bored out of her mind. Not surprising since none of the other people who were watching from the sidelines made an attempt to approach her and had instead started leaving to do whatever it was they needed to do.

Why would they need clarification about anything that happened today when they'd all been through it themselves years ago?

Keitaro wasn't going to let go of such an opportunity though. Who knew when next he'd be able to get his hands on someone who actually knew about the clan? He was going to milk Tsume for all she was worth one way or another and he knew just the way to do it.

Tsume noticed him once he got close to her and Keitaro swore he saw her eyes twitch for a second, though he could have been wrong.

***

Tsume crouched down so that she and the young boy were face to face. She was regretting not leaving immediately once the choosing ceremony had been completed  but it would have been unbecoming of a clan head.

Hopefully the kid wouldn’t take up to much of her time, she needed to get back to her baby boy as soon as possible.

"Do you have questions little man?"

"Yes, I have a few."

Tsume groaned in her head but kept smiling gently. No need to scare off the kid, afterall he was bound to be curious when he didn't know anything.

Once more she felt a ting of annoyance at Kuma for his stubborn pride that prevented his children from excelling, but pushed it aside when she heard his question.

"You said that what ninken you chose determines what type of Shinobi we could become in the future. Why is that?"

Tsume rolled her eyes around for a bit in thought before committing to an answering.

"Well... there are a few reasons why I said that. Even though our ninken look similar they actually have different abilities that make them unique.

Some of them are able to smell chakra allowing them to find someone even if they've used a transformation techniques to disguise themselves and hidden or masked scent. This ability allows them to be amazing trackers even in crowded places where regular scent based tracking methods would fail.

Some have very strong claws and teeth and are able to channel chakra through them, making them excellent at combat and also ensures that they can make the best use of our clans' combat techniques.

Some have such sensitive hearing that they don't even need to use their eyes to navigate the world around them. This comes in handy if they need to explore a cave or an area with low visibility.

Some of our hounds are remarkably sturdy and can take quite a beating before it affects their combat ability, allowing them to excel in countering and deflecting throwing weapons or tanking hits that could otherwise grievously wound a shinobi." 

Tsume sat on the ground and she invited Keitaro to join her as her ninken sat to her opposite side. Once they were all seated and comfortable she continued to explain.

"There are some other cool things that they can do but that’s about it when it comes to their unique and special traits, but it’s only one facet of our ninken.

More importantly though, every ninken differs in their natural affinity for certain physical attributes, and it's these attributes that determine what type of battle style best suits them. Some ninken are built for speed, some for endurance, some for explosiveness, and some aren't built for combat at all, but instead are built for stealth.

That’s why I said that the type of ninken you chose impacts your future. If your ninken is built for speed and has strong claws and teeth then the best style of combat for you might be one where your ninken focuses on speedy hit and run attacks while you keep the enemy occupied. If your ninken is built for endurance then a style where you aim to outlast your opponent might be better. All in all you and your ninken are one unit, two parts of the same whole. The clan has techniques to help you become stronger but only you can develop your bond with and the strength of your ninken."

Tsume watched as the gears in Keitaro head seemed to turn and was slightly surprised that such a young child seemed able to follow along with what she was saying. Even more so when she heard his follow up question.

"Does our choice of ninken determine what jutsu we can learn from the clan?" 

Tsume thought for a second before giving him a slightly cheeky reply.

"Yes . . . and no."

Tsume laughed at the bewildered look on Keitaros’ face, amused at how easy it was to get interesting reactions out of him. She contemplated for a bit whether to disclose some rather important info or not, but decided to leave it for him to discover on his own. It was an open secret of the clan but not many outside of the clan had managed to put the pieces together just yet.

If they had then a lot more clans would have been knocking on their door in order to get their hands on the clans ultimate technique.

Instead she decided to guide his thoughts to better appreciate the fact that he was in a clan. He was still young and it'd help him to truly integrate into the clan if he understood why a clan was so important.

Not to mention if she managed to temp him into being more interested in the clan then it might push his father to let go of the past and come back into the fold.

She took a moment to think about what she wanted to tell him before leaning back against her ninken as she gave him a more concreate answer.

"Technically our clan doesn't have that many unique jutsu. We actually focus more so on Tai-jutsu and as such, most of our clans unique techniques are based around that. We do have a few elemental jutsu in our archives but they aren't as extensive as the ones you might find in the villages’. Of course you can only access the Village archives with permission from the higher ups."

"So why...?" Keitaro caught himself too late as he'd already started mumbling the question that had popped into his head. he glanced at Tsume hoping that she wasn't too offended only to see her smiling down at him. 

"Why bother keeping our own archive if the one in the village is better?" Tsume shook her head at the naivety of the boy but answered him all the same.

"No matter how extensive the jutsu in the village may be, they often times only give a simple explanation of the techniques you want to learn along with the accompanying hand signs. Everything else is completely up to you. All of the training and experimentation that you'll need to do? All of the resources that you'll go through while trying to actually master a jutsu?  It is all on you, you're going to have to deal with it all on your own, but that's were having a clan comes in handy and gives a shinobi an advantage.

Even though our jutsu aren't as extensive, all of our jutsu not only have a more detailed explanation on how to perform said justsu but they also have many notes from previous shinobi that give pointers to future clan members that are simply invaluable.

Tips and tricks, things to look out for while training, areas to improve, ideal training methods. All of these are available to members of the clan from our archives. Saving you time, resources and energy that you would have other wise wasted. Not to mention you'll have access to older shinobi that you can ask for help with your training."

Tsume glanced at Keitaro from the corner of her eye and was pleased to see the stars in his eyes. Knowing that she had him hooked she just needed to real in the line to make sure she got the catch.

"Its not just our jutsu that are better documented, we also have many training methods that have been tested and improved upon over the years by various members of the clan to ensure that our shinobi get the best results when it comes to training. Not to mention the training facilities we have access to that are specialized for techniques used in the clan. We have lots of training facilities for not only our shinobi but out ninken as well. Trust me when I say that if you want to be a great shinobi then you'll have more than enough help form the clan to make that dream a reality. I-"

Tsume was about to continue but was interrupted by Keitaro's stomach growling. Keitaro was appalled and blushed nonstop but Tsume was once more amused at the young boy before her.

"Of course you don't have to worry about that sort of thing for a good few years. Just focus on having fun now and making friends. When it's your turn to pick your own ninken and when its time to start on your training is when you should start worrying about that sort of stuff."

Tsume got up from the ground dusting off herself before turning and holding out her hand for Keitaro to grab hold of, which he tentatively held as he was pulled to his feet. 

"Alright now you should get going it looks like your dad is ready for you. Plus I'm sure you're more than ready for some lunch." Tsume couldn't help chuckling once more at the blushing boy and could only smile at how cute he was.

She waited until he was looking away from her to flicker away and gently landed on the branch of a tree not to far away. With a final look at the boy she and her ninken started heading home. She couldn’t wait to see her babies smiling face, she only hoped he’d grow up to be as cute as Keitaro.

***

Keitaro glanced behind him and saw that except for Kuma, who was still standing looking off to the side, all the other adults had already disappeared. Surprisingly when he looked back towards Tsume she had disappeared as well at some point leaving him alone with his dad. Sighing to himself Keitaro walked over to his fathers side and waited patiently for him to finish his musings for them to head on home. The blushing shy child that was eagerly listening to Tsume was gone, and in his place was the ever thoughtful Keitaro.

While he wasn't able to get that much info, what little he did get was more than enough for him to work with for now. He'd have to think about how best to move forward from here on out; whether to fully commit to the clan or whether to keep his distance. Things might have sounded great for clan shinobi but he wasn't fooled. There is never a free lunch in the world and everything came at a price.

He didn't get to think about much though as his father seemed to finally realize that everyone else had already left, leaving the two of them awkwardly standing alone.

Kuma didn’t say anything and simply held out his hand for Keitaro to hold onto as the started to walk off. From what he could understand Kentaro was going to be spending the next few days at the clan as they thought him the ins and outs of ninken care so they didn’t need to wait for him at all.

While it would have been nice to explore more of the clan and get to know some of the other kids the were bound to be running around somewhere Keitaro kept quiet and simply followed behind his father.

The two of them walked together making their way out of the clan compound and into the village. The guard that had let them in earlier was still there but he didn’t even bother to look their way as they left the compound. Whether there was a need for a guard when they were still technically within the village crossed Keitaro's mind but he chalked it up to Clans just being pretentious.

Keitaro pushed the thoughts of the clan out of his head and focused more on the sights around him. Even though he and his brother would head out to the park or the forest to play form time to time, he still hadn’t really gotten to know the village in which he lived.

He kept his eyes peeled and his mouth closed as he took in everything around him. He looked at he various stores that sold everything from sweets to some incredibly sharp looking ninja tools. It was a ureal experience taking a stroll and window shopping in stores that sold weapons that were made with the intent to kill as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

It just to serve as a reminder that he really and truly had been reborn into a very different world. Still some things seemed to be universal as he quickly noticed a few sketchy people who were definitely pick pockets. He noticed them only because of his tendency to profile people based on a few queues. A habit that he hadn't quite managed to break from his time on the streets. Though such a habit may be more beneficial for him to have moving forward than to not in the shinobi world.

As Keitaro mused to himself he didn't notice that instead of heading home Kuma was leading him down a very different road than normal. Of course Keitaro, completely unaware continued to silently follow behind his father. It was only when Kuma stopped and turned to him that Keitaro realized that he didn't know this area of the village. 

Kuma had led him to a small outdoor garden area. There were all types of blooming flowers and arranged along the pathways in neat rows. Several trees and shrubs that where  grown into archways that covered the pathways through the garden where also in bloom causing lots of flower petals to liter the pathway.

While the sight was magnificent, Keitaro wasn't to pleased at all the scents that bombarded his nose all at once. Still he glanced around and noticed that there where several benches sprinkled around the grass for visitor to sit at. There were several other people already there but Kuma made his way to a secluded area towards one side that no one else seemed to want to occupy before he sat down. 

Keitaro, the ever obedient child made sure to sit quietly next to his dad and waited patiently for something to happen. He didn't have to wait too long though, as Kuma's deep voice soon resounded in his ear.

“This place was the were I took your mom on our fist date. Back then I was still a Genin and with the war that was going I wasn’t sure if the next day was going to be my last. I’d always had a crush on your mother and so I plucked up the courage to ask her out, and she’d said yes.

I was ecstatic and I wanted our fist date to be perfect. I packed a picnic basket and brought her here. There weren’t as many flowers as they are now but it was still beautiful and we had a wonderful time. Even though things weren’t perfect.”

Kuma chuckled sadly and pointed to a tree of to the side.

“I’d chosen that very tree as our lunch spot. What I didn’t know was that there was a wasp nest right above us. At some point her ninken started barking and it must have woke up  the wasp or something. We ended up running all through the garden till we dove into the pond on the opposite side. It was a disaster but your mom said that she’d had fun and couldn’t wait for our next date.

That’s when I knew I’d found the one.

She brought me so much joy and happiness that I didn’t even hesitate to marry into her clan, a pretty controversial decision at the time but one I didn’t regret. As long as we had each other I was content.”

Keitaro watched as his fathers eyes stated to mist over with tears. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to handle this situation. On one hand hearing about his mother was something  he’d wanted for a very long time but watching his fathers slowly crumble wasn’t an experience he’d ever had before. So he kept listening ,while pretending not to see Kuma’s tears.

“When I lost her it felt like my whole world was crumbling around me and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I caught myself wondering if I was going to be able to be a good a father for the two of you.

 Things were so much easier when your mom was still here. She always seemed so confident about motherhood, and her confidence made me confident that she'd help me be the best father I could be, but with her gone it was like my guiding light had left me.

Then the clan just took away all of her stuff and I resented them for it. I didn’t care about rules and protecting secrets, I just felt wronged, slighted and neglected by the people who should have treated me better. Who didn’t even let me grieve before they spat on her grave and desecrated our home.

So I left.

I didn’t want anything to do with them and I was planning to never let you or your brother interact with them either. But I knew that’s not what your mother would have wanted. I kept you away thinking it was better for you both but I realize that I did it more for myself than I did for you two and for that I’m sorry. I robbed you both of so much but I’m going to make it right.

I just wanted to let you know that I’m sorry and I’m going to make it up to you and your brother. That’s a promise that I intend to keep.”

Keitaro looked into his father eyes as the tears dribbled down his cheeks and felt his heart tighten in his chest. He bowed his head, breaking eye contact with Kuma as his mind starting running overtime. Why was he doing this? Why apologize for something that in a way was the right thing to do? Should he trust him? Could he trust him?

Images of his bastard father from before flashed through his mind and overlayed with Kuma’s face. Could he really trust him? Afterall he hadn’t gotten violent with him ever since he’d born, though he hadn’t given him a reason to in the first place. But he was tired of always walking on egg shells around a man who gave his all for him, a man who was always busy on mission so he could provide for him and his brother. A father who worried about them more than anything in the world.

He wanted to believe in him, to truly believe that he finally had a father that cared for him, but he just couldn’t shake the voice in the back of his head telling him to be careful. A voice that he tried and failed to quiet, a voice that promised him that it was only a matter of time before things went terribly wrong. A voice that kept repeating a single question over and over again.

Keitaro could feel his breath catching in his throat but he needed to know that he could trust him, he need assurance that he wasn’t going to get hurt by this decision in the future and even though asking this question might open pandoras box in a way, he’d rather be proven right not to trust Kuma than to keep dancing around the topic.

“Why don’t you hate for killing mom?”

Keitaro felt a weight lift off his shoulder once he’d finally voiced his doubts out loud. He looked up at his father to see several emotions flicker across his eyes as the silence stretched on between them.

A feeling of unease bubbled up in the pit of Keitaro’s stomach but it petered out once Kuma started laughing. Small chuckles at first that evolved into full blown bellows that echoed around them.

Kuma once he’d finished laughing, sat once more on the bench and pulled Keitaro into his lap and hugged him gently.

Keitaro was stunned as a feeling a warmth that he’d come to associate with his mother was once more engulfing him, though this warmth wasn’t just on of acceptance and love but one of safety as well.

Kuma gently patted him on the head as he spoke softly to him.

“When your mom got pregnant with Kentaro we were distraught. The Third great Shinobi War was still ongoing and we weren’t sure what was going to happen. It was the worst possible time to start a family but it was already our reality. We were frantic and uncertain, but once he was born it was like nothing mattered in the world besides him, and things just kept getting better.

The war ended shortly after he was born and both your mother and I were promoted. We had a started a budding family and even though we lost friends and loved ones to the war, we were happy.

When we found out that she was pregnant again we were all thrilled at having another addition to the family. Especially since she wasn’t supposed to be able to have gotten pregnant again.

 She had gotten injured while pregnant with Kentaro and it had never healed properly. So imagine our surprise when we found out you were on the way.

But things just didn’t go well and her second pregnancy was filled with complications. The medical-nin wanted her to terminate the pregnancy since the chances of you surviving were so low but your mom refused. She wanted to bring you into this world no matter what and even as she delt with the pain and agony of the pregnancy she never complained, never regretted bringing you into the world and neither did I.

I may have lost your mom but she gave me two bundles of joy in the forms of you and your brother. That’s why you were named Keitaro. You are blessed and you are a blessing to both me and your mother. I could never blame you for her death and I never will. I love you and your brother and that will never change.

You don’t have to worry about that, and you don’t need to blame yourself for your mothers death. If she was here to hear you I’m willing to bet she’d smack you across the head before making sure you understood just how much she cared about you. The best thing you could do is live your life to the fullest.”

Keitaro’s mind froze as he let his fathers words wash over him. All the fear and guilt that had plagued him since he’d been reborn, al the self loathing that he’d hidden away all seemingly melted away leaving behind a peace that engulfed him.

For the first time in his life he turned too his dad and hugged him tightly. He held onto him and cried quietly as his father gently held him.

Hiding his tears by lowering his head he simply allowed himself to be consoled.

They sat there for a while until Keitaro was ready to go. They left the garden and started walking home, but this time there was no silence. Keitaro and Kuma chatted and laughed with each other as they walked, cutting a prefect picture of a loving father with his son.