Naruto: The Birth Of Fenrir and his Keeper

Chapter 8 – A Fatal Battle



"Hurry up Oni-San we're going to be late if you don't hurry up." Keitaro pouted at his older brother as he ever so slowly tightened his sandals.

"Don't worry little bro you're not going to be missing out on much." Kentaro stretched, tapping his feet against the ground to make sure his shoes were secured before turning and walking down pathway from their home.

"Where are we meeting up with the others today?" Keitaro quickly fell into step beside his brother not wanting to be left behind.

"Well since we were supposed to spar today we're going to be heading into the forest." Kentaro sighed and glanced at his younger brother from the comer of his eye. He slowed his pace a little when he realized that Keitaro had been walking double time not to be left behind.

"Are you sure you don't want to head to the park instead? There are lots of kids your age there and I'm sure you'll be able to make some friends quickly. Even if you come with me, you aren’t going  to be able to play with me and my friends because you’re too young. Dad hasn’t even begun your training for sensing your chakra much less channeling it. Your going to have to sit back on the side lines again. Isn’t it boring just watching me and the others have fun?” Kentaro stopped and looked into his brothers eyes.

 It had been eating him up a little that his brother hadn’t really been able to have fun and play when he hanging out with him and his friends, yet he also knew that his brother wasn’t fond of the other kids his age. At fist he had been quite happy that his brother wanted to spend so much time together but as time passed he realized how unfair it was for his younger brother.

“I don’t mind at all. I like watching you guys play ninja and do all that crazy stuff with your chakra. The other kids my age are boring. They always want to play tag or hide and seek and I always win anyway. I want to hangout with you guys instead.” Keitaro made sure to pull out his puppy eyes since he really didn’t want to go to the park. He wasn’t lying when he said the other kids were boring to him. He just couldn’t be bothered to deal with those snot covered, teary eyed, drooling idiots. Especially when he could be spending his days watching the older kids using chakra and practicing their jutsu.

He wasn’t an idiot and was well aware that most of the games the kids played could double as training for if they eventually joined the academy in the future but he also didn’t care all that much. He was already faster and stronger and taller than the kids his age, most likely thanks to his dads superior genes, and it was annoying when the other kids shunned him since they all knew he would win if he joined in on their games.

 “Fine but you better not complain if the other guys don’t want to play with you got it.” Kentaro eventually caved in to his younger brothers demands and with shoulders dropped in defeat quickly lead them towards one the many forest entrances around the village.

It didn’t take them long to find the other kids in a small clearing a few minutes after entering the forest and everyone smiled and high-fived each other as everyone had made it on time. Keitaro quickly made his way towards one of the trees and quickly scrambled up unto one of the sturdier branches to make sure he could watch all the older kids without worrying too much. He’d learned the hard way that being too close to children throwing around ninja tools and the occasional jutsu, while being unable to either block or dodge them wasn’t the smartest thing to do. He’d ended up at the hospital with a shuriken sticking out of his arm and covered in blood. His brother had almost had a heart attack but he still thought it had been worth it.

He sat comfortably on the branch letting his legs swing freely as he watched the other kids pair off and challenge each other. Most of them had either enrolled into the academy this year or had already been in the academy for a while and as such, their matches where cool and interesting to watch.

Time passed quickly and it hadn’t taken long before it became clear that a few kids were heads and shoulders above the rest. Not only were they able to over power all their opponents with taijutsu alone, they were also the ones pulling out the occasional jutsu from time to time.

It was surprising since most of the kids training at the academy shouldn’t have been taught any jutsu as of yet. From what his brother had told him the first three years are for building a firm foundation and the last year is focused on recapping and learning actual jutsu approved by the academy.

One boy in particular was especially dazzling as he kept throwing out Jutsu with no concern for his chakra expenditure. It didn’t take long for everyone else to have been defeated by him except for Kentaro.

When it finally came time for the two of them to battle it out all the other kids quickly made way to the surrounding trees. No one wanted to get in the way of the fight, but they also didn’t want to miss any of it either and had to make sure they got the best vantage points that they could.

Now facing each other Kentaro and the boy slowly circled each other before the other boy stopped and taunted Kentaro with a snare across his face.

“Heh Kentaro, I got to admit I was surprised to see you walking around today with your little follower again, aren’t you afraid to let you little brother watch as I beat you into the ground... again?” He laughed raucously with his hand on his waist and his chin pointed towards the sky.

“You haven’t manage to beat me the last few times during class and todays not going to be any different. Then again I guess you needed to bring him so that you’ll have someone to help bring you home right?” He glanced at small boy sitting off to the side, happy to his face scrunched up in displeasure.

“Please, you just got lucky the last few times but not anymore. Today is the day that you’re going to go down!” Kentaro refused to look weak in front of his brother and immediately shouted back at the boy. He rolled his shoulders and glared angrily at his advisory.

“I guess we’ll see just how ‘lucky’ I am after this now won’t we?” The boy spat off to the side before once more focusing on Keitaro.

The two of them sank into silence and none of the other kids were making a sound either. Everyone was sitting waiting in anticipation for the coming fight, the tension in the air was palpable and even Keitaro found himself holding his breath.

Then it started. The two combatants as if they had decided on how to move before the fight both sprang into action at the same time. With a flick of the wrist both boys sent two shuriken at the other. The harsh sound of metal colliding sounded as a pair shuriken collided in mid air before both boys quickly stepped to the side to dodge the incoming unblocked shuriken.

They didn’t look back to see what happen to the dodged shuriken and instead ran right at each other. The other boy had a kunai in hand before anyone noticed that he quickly flung at the incoming Kentaro, but a graceful duck into a roll allowed Kentaro to not only dodge the incoming kunai but to respond in kind with one of his own as he leapt into the air.

 The boy made a hasty sidestep but didn’t manage to avoid it completely and he paid for it with a small scratch on his shoulder that managed to draw blood. He didn’t have time to worry about the new injury though and had no choice but to quickly pull out another kunai and block the airborne Kentaro who made to stab him with a overhead lunge.

The two were evenly matched in strength for a second before Kentaro was flung away. It quickly devolved into a kunai battle as the two boys kept stabbing and slicing at each other. The continuous sounds of clashing metal rung out as the two kept at it for a while before Kentaro quickly switched to a backhanded grip after a quick parry and managed to slam his Kunai into the unsuspecting boys arm.

 He didn’t miss his chance and quickly managed to land a few quick punches and finished it off with a solid kick to the stomach, sending the boy sprawling through the air.

He showed no mercy though and without hesitation made sure to throw two kunai to ensure that the boy was down for the count, only for his opponent to quickly catch himself midflight and leap into the air, effectively dodging the shuriken and catching a breather for himself all at once. They both glared at each other before once more resuming the fight.

It was intense with neither boy backing down no matter what. They kept up their brutal exchange trading injuries with each other till in no time at all both of them where covered in cuts and bruises. Nevertheless it was as it they couldn’t feel the pain as they kept at it, raining fist and kicks on each other each refusing to let the other gain the upper hand.

The other kids who had been on the sidelines watched enthralled as the two combatants wailed on each other. Neither of them had used ninjutsu throughout the entire fight, Kentaro because he didn’t know any and the other boy because Kentaro didn’t give him any chance to weave the necessary hand signs.

Everyone watching knew that the only way for Kentaro to win was for him to put down his opponent before he could unleash his ninjutsu while the Boy just needed one chance to unleash a single potent ninjutsu to flip the game in his favor.

There was a slight lull in the fight where they both backed off to catch their breath. Kentaro kept his eyes on his opponent ready to throw a few shuriken to prevent him from weaving his chakra while the other boys eyes quickly flashed around the clearing.

It wasn’t all that obvious, but Kentaro was at an advantage and he knew it. Every time he interrupted the boys ninjutsu casting it meant that the boy wasted various amounts of chakra depending on how far he was into weaving his hand signs before being disturbed. If things kept going the way they were, even if The boy managed to get a chance to cast his ninjutsu he wouldn’t even have enough chakra to cast it. He could feel his dwindling chakra reserve and knew he only had two more chances before he was out of chakra and by then he was bound to lose.

Suddenly his eyes zeroed onto a figure in the trees. He was crouched on one of the lower hanging branches and there wasn’t anyone else around him, most likely because of how close to the ground it was. The boy smirked to himself, he had found his victory ticket.

He didn’t waste any more time and quickly thought of a plan. Once he had a rough idea of how things were going to play out he didn’t hesitate to enact it.

Four shuriken found their way into his hand and he quickly tossed three in Kentaro’s direction making sure to wait a second before throwing the last one towards the unsuspecting Keitaro. Kentaro quickly threw one of his shuriken at the boy to ensure he couldn’t weave any jutsu while he dodged the incoming shuriken and quickly twisted his upper body to the side before flipping away from the last shuriken aimed at his feet. He quickly zeroed onto his opponent once more and didn’t hesitate to run towards him. Yet the sound a pained hell pulled him out of his concentrated state.

***

Keitaro was fully focused on the fight unfolding before him. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t captivated by the exchange between his brother and the unknown boy because he definitely was. He was straining his eyes barely being able keep up with the two of them as they fought yet he just couldn’t pull his eyes away.

He wasn’t disillusioned into thinking that the two boys fighting where prodigies or that this was a high leveled ninja fight. Chances are if a qualified Genin was passing by and saw this fight they might burst out laughing at the two kids messing around at playing ninja, but to him every action and movement was deliberate and planned. It was like watching a dance as the two boys kept clashing back and forth. He felt his blood boil at the sight before him and though he was excited and proud of his brother for being one of the strongest children here…He was pissed that he couldn’t get in on any of the action.

He was lost in thought at the idea of he himself being there in the clearing throwing around shuriken and tossing out kunai like flowing water, ensnaring his opponent with his amazing Taijutsu and Shurikenjutsu skills. He didn’t even realize when the fight had calmed down for a bit and was even less aware of the danger that was approaching him. So when the shuriken sunk into his chest the abrupt pain ripped a shout of agony from his throat. Confused as to why he had been hit he looked once more at the fight occurring below him through his tear filled face. He watched as his brother stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes were now focused solely on him. He also saw as the Boy opposite his brother took advantage of the distraction to quickly weave hand signs before spitting out a blast of water.

He felt his heart lurch, as he screamed his brothers name. Trying to let him know that he needed to focus on his battle, yet his scream had just left his throat when his brother glanced behind himself and quickly flashed to the side. Allowing the blast of water to carry on in its trajectory, dead set on a collision course with a new target. Him.

An all encompassing fear gripped him as he watch in horror as the spiraling ball of water hurtled toward him. Time seemed to slow as the water ball inched closer and closer. He wasn’t disillusion with the idea of being able to walk it off if that ninjutsu hit him. Unlike everyone else not only was he the youngest here by years, he hadn’t even awakened to chakra yet. He was a regular three and half year old kid about to get hit by a ninjutsu technique and there was nothing he could do about it.

He heard his brother scream his name but there was nothing he could do. He was too far away and none of the other kids were close enough to lend a helping hand. He blamed himself for what was about to happen. If he’d just listened to his brother and gone to the park none of this would have happened.

In a final bid to get away Keitaro did the only thing he could and jumped. He closed his eyes and waited for the impact to hit him and yet nothing came. He opened his eyes only to realize that he’d somehow managed to dodge away from danger.

His still racing heart had barely managed to calm before he once more noticed the boy on the open field weaving hand signs. He watched as the new jutsu slammed into his brothers back before pelting him into a tree. He didn’t hesitate for a second and jumped down to the ground and ran to his brothers crumpled body.

Thankfully, before he got there his brother managed to stumble back to his feet. It was clear that he wasn’t in any shape to continue fighting but at least he wasn’t too injured.

The other kids quickly made their way down from the trees and surrounded Kentaro and Keitaro quickly making sure that neither of the two of them was hurt to badly before they all continued talking about the fight. They all parted when Kentaro’s sparing partner made his presence known though.

“Heh I guess I managed to get lucky again today Kentaro. Unfortunately for you I’m still stronger than you it seems. But at least you have your little brother to lean on when you head on home.” The boy didn't bother to much and kept talking to the other kids about his glorious battle completely ignoring the injured Kentaro.

Kentaro didn’t say anything but his clenches teeth and bawled fist were evidence enough to show how aggrieved he was. He didn’t even say anything and simply turned away and started limping away.

Keitaro watched his older brothers back as he limped away and wasn’t sure what to do. Even if no one said anything it was obvious that his brother could have won if he wasn’t there. The fear that he had buried in his heart started creeping back. Would his brother blame him? Would he start shunning him now? Is this how his brothers hatred for him would start? All sort of thoughts kept bombarding him and he felt the tears building up.

With his head lowered he quickly followed behind his brother and they made their way out of the clearing leaving the other kids behind. The last thing that Keitaro managed to make out was one of the others talking about how clan kids weren’t that big of a deal afterall.

***

She had kept her distance and watched as the two brothers sulked away. She had wanted to comfort Kentaro but she knew he had this ridiculous idea that receiving help was a sign of weakness and he refused to show any weakness whatsoever. Especially in front of his brother. Though he could of said something to the boy who was obviously blaming his brothers defeat on himself. No matter, hopefully everything would work out between the two of them.

She turned towards the boy still bragging about his 'glorious' win and for a moment her disgust at him flashed across her face before it was buried once more. She wasn’t against him trying to one up the clan kids, but the fact that he chose to only  pick fights with the clan kid who was not only a outer member of his own clan but was also in his first year at the academy spoke volumes about his supposed strength.

She sighed to herself and glanced once more at the two branches of the tree that the younger brother had been sitting on throughout the fight, specifically on the two sets of footprints that had been stamped into them when the young boy managed to first dodge the D-Rank ninjutsu and then jump several feet towards his down brother.

None of the other kids seemed bothered at the fact that a three year old child who supposedly hadn’t started training yet had managed to not only dodge a D-Rank jutsu at the last second nor how he had managed to stay attached to the underside of the branch above him when he jumped. Much less how he managed to jump several meters through the air in his rushed attempt to check on his brother.

So since no one else was bothered by those startling details…who was she to bring it to their attention?


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