บท 21: The Scent of Change
The intruder incident changed something in me. Not overnight - nothing that dramatic. But sitting in class three months later, watching Iruka demonstrate a basic clone jutsu for the hundredth time, I found myself wondering: what exactly was I afraid of?
I'd faced enemy ninja. Real ones, not training dummies or sparing partners. Sure, I'd mostly just tracked them and called for backup, but still. I'd done something. And the world hadn't ended. The timeline hadn't imploded. I'd just... helped.
Maybe... I could do more, so much more....
[Flashback]
My clone vanished into the night, and everything inside me screamed this was stupid. These weren't Academy students or training dummies. These were enemy ninja, and I was a five-year-old kid with a dog.
But that five-year-old kid could smell their chakra, track their movements, and hear their heartbeats.
The first one was nervous - his heart racing, sweat carrying the acidic tang of fear. The second moved with practiced precision, but his breathing was slightly labored. Injured, maybe? The third... the third was dangerous. His chakra felt like ice water, controlled and deadly.
I signaled to Akamaru, our months of training paying off as we moved silently through the shadows. The plan was simple: delay, distract, survive until help arrived.
Simple. Right.
The nervous one broke off from the group, heading toward the civilian district. Bad move. I pulled out one of my special kunai - the ones I'd been practicing with in secret, laced with my chakra. The throw was perfect, cutting through the night air. It missed him by inches, exactly as planned.
He spun towards the sound, and that's when Akamaru struck. My partner's fangs sank into the ninja's calf, enhanced by our synchronized chakra. The man's scream was cut short as I launched myself from the shadows, claws extended, aiming for his throat.
Not to kill - I wasn't ready for that. But the sight of a feral child dropping from above, eyes glowing with chakra, was enough. He stumbled back, breaking Akamaru's grip, blood spraying across the ground.
The second ninja appeared in a blur of movement. A kick caught me in the ribs, sending me flying. Pain exploded through my chest. Definitely cracked something. But the kick revealed his injury - a half-healed wound in his side, the scent of old blood strong.
"It's just a kid," the nervous one gasped, clutching his bleeding leg.
"A kid who found us," Ice Water replied, materializing from the darkness. "Kill him."
They moved as one, hands flashing through signs. Fire and lightning crackled through the air. Time slowed down.
In that moment, something clicked. I'd been training my whole second life for this. I had the knowledge, the skills, the enhanced senses. What was I afraid of?
My hands formed seals I'd only practiced in secret. Earth Release: Hidden Tunneling. The ground swallowed Akamaru and me just as the jutsu collided overhead, spraying dirt and stone.
I could sense their confusion, their feet moving across the ground above us. Their chakra thrummed through the earth, giving away every position. Perfect.
Akamaru and I burst from the ground behind the injured one. "Fang Over Fang!" The world spun into a blur of motion and violence. We connected solidly - not with killing force, but enough to send him crashing through a market stall.
Blood filled my nose - his, mine, doesn't matter. Everything was instinct now. Duck the lightning bolt. Roll under the fire jutsu. Use their assumptions against them. Who expects actual strategy from a kid?
Ice Water's knee caught my shoulder, joint popping. I twisted with the blow, letting momentum carry me into a sweep at his plant leg. He jumped it easily, but Akamaru was there, jaws snapping at his throat.
"Enough!" A new voice split the night. ANBU. Finally.
What followed was chaos. Elite ninja appearing from nowhere, steel clashing against steel. I watched as Ice Water's emotionless face finally showed something - fear.
I sagged against a wall, adrenaline fading, pain rushing in. Broken ribs. Dislocated shoulder. Cuts and bruises everywhere. But we'd done it. We'd actually held our own against enemy ninja.
Akamaru limped over, fur matted with blood and dirt. I hugged him with my good arm, burying my face in his neck. We were alive.
"That," a masked ANBU said, appearing beside me, "was either the bravest or stupidest thing I've ever seen."
I grinned through bloody teeth. "Why not both?"
[End Flashback]
"Kiba!" Iruka's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Since you seem so fascinated by the clouds, perhaps you'd like to demonstrate the jutsu for the class?"
Fuck sake, just let me wander off man.
A few kids snickered. I stood up, something different stirring in my chest. Not defiance exactly, but... questioning. Why was I pretending this was difficult?
I'd faced real enemies, felt real pain, and come out stronger. So what exactly was I afraid of
My hands formed the seals - muscle memory at this point. But instead of producing the slightly wonky clone I usually made, I let my chakra flow naturally. Three perfect copies appeared, each one detailed down to the last hair on Akamaru's fur.
The snickering stopped.
Iruka blinked. "That's... very good, Kiba. When did you...?"
I shrugged, trying to sort through my own feelings. "Just felt right today."
Back in my seat, I caught Shikamaru watching me, his dark eyes calculating. The Nara heir had been paying more attention to me lately, ever since we'd started playing shogi during lunch breaks. He was still leagues better than me, but sometimes I'd make a move that would make him pause, reassess.
"You're holding back," he'd said once, moving his knight. "Why?"
I'd love a mute button right about now, surely a justu like that exist in this world, right?
Sigh... I dodged the question then. Now, I wasn't so sure of the answer myself.
After class, I found myself wandering the village, Akamaru trotting beside me. My enhanced senses picked up the usual symphony of Konoha life - merchants haggling, children playing, ninja leaping across rooftops. But lately, I'd been noticing subtler things.
Like how Naruto's scent had changed. The sharp tang of loneliness was still there, but muted now, layered with something warmer. Hope, maybe. He'd been doing better in class since we started training together, actually paying attention instead of just pulling pranks for attention.
Or Sasuke - his chakra signature used to feel like a tightly wound spring, ready to snap. Now it was... steadier. Still intense, but less brittle. Yesterday, I'd caught him teaching Naruto the proper way to hold a kunai. Willingly. Without being forced by Iruka.
Small changes. Ripples in the pond, baby.
Nice.
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