Naruto: Wolf of the Hidden Leaf

I felt a prickling sensation on my skin that night. A sensation that told me of a calamity upon us. As an Inuzuka, I trusted my instinct, it was something that I would never ignore. Umbra growled, saying that he felt it too.

Without taking much time, I quickly got up from my bed and grabbed my pouch full of ninja tools. I knew that they weren't going to be of any help, but still it made me feel better to have some semblance of defense. Even if it was a delusional one.

Before I could even go outside, I heard the roar of a beast. A roar so loud that it seemed as if my eardrums were going to burst apart. I and Umbra quickly got out, and then it hit me.

The smell of blood. The smell of fear. The smell of a predator. The smell of a being that has lived for a thousand years as the apex predator.

My body felt paralyzed as I looked towards the source of this monstrosity.

Kurama remained in his full form with all his glory. His nine tails swinging like the demonic calamity that they truly were. His bloodshot eyes menaced with hatred so deep that it seemed to consume the entire world. His teeth gleamed like the weapon of mass destruction.

In that exact moment, I understood true fear. Fear that penetrated every cell of my body. Fear made me feel helpless like never before.

I finally understood what a demon truly looked like.

My stupor was broken by Umbra nudging me from the side.

'Rei, move! Hurry the hell out of here if you don't want to die!'

Free from the paralyzing fear, I thanked my companion. I clenched my fists so hard that it felt like I would draw blood. With my resolve strengthened, I moved.

I recalled the mental map I'd made from old flashbacks. Piecing together the flashbacks I remembered from the anime, I had a clear idea that there was a shelter where the children stayed during the attack.

My mom was in her clinic. I debated whether I should go to the clinic myself but decided against it. My mother was a Jonin before her retirement. That, along with the fact that she was a medical ninja, increased the chance of her survivability by an enormous margin.

I knew for a fact that she wouldn't go to the front line. And my presence will only hold her back.

A sense of powerlessness started to take over my mind, but I shut it down quickly. I quickly instructed Umbra to guide other children of the Inuzuka compound to move towards the entrance.

Our clan stayed on the outskirts of the village. And the shelter with the wards was deep within the village. If we wanted to go there before Kurama really started his rampage, then we needed to move fast.

Umbra's work was also lessened as people started to gather outside by themselves. Cries of children, panicked voices of adults, and worry of the elders were as clear as the night sky. The smell of fear was so suffocating that my senses blurred for a moment.

An elder, the very one who gave me my name, was trying and failing to restore order within the populace. I quickly went towards the front of the crowd. With a slight bow I greeted the elder.

"Greetings, Elder Kazi."

"No time for greetings, boy. The situation is more dire than ever. Our clan will die tonight if we can't form a correct plan."

"Agreed. Those who are below Jonin level need to take shelter right now. They won't be of any help against that enormous monstrosity. I know of a shelter inside the village. But we need to go there quickly."

"Do you know where the shelter is?"

"Yes, I do know. If you give me the chance, then I can guide our members towards it."

"I won't ask how you know of this shelter, but I've decided to trust you for now." His eyes darted around the crowd as he spoke, "But how do you even begin to calm down this rowdy crowd?"

"Who said anything about calming them down? We just need to shut them up."

I said that as I brought out the five explosion tags that I bought on my fifth birthday. I was prepared if anything.

My hands blurred as I threw the tags towards the front gate of our clan's home. One second passed as an enormous explosion went off.

The sound of a point-blank explosion made everyone's attention centered around the elder and me. My voice rose as I shouted with a bit of infused chakra on my vocal cord.

"Can everyone please shut the fuck up! Do you not see an elder speaking in front of you? Are you not the proud members of the Inuzuka clan? Then what is this fear that I'm smelling? Calm the hell down and listen to the instructions that are being provided!"

My outburst worked as I had intended, as the shouting was replaced with small whispers. Nothing hurts someone's ego like being scolded by a five-year-old.

The elder now took the front.

"Thank you, Rei. Now, everyone! Listen to me very carefully. Rei knows of a shelter inside the village. He'll take you there shortly. Make a formation. Arrange the non-combatants in the center, while the chunins stand guard on the sides. Keep your ninken by your side in case of emergencies."

The elder continued giving his instructions as Umbra joined me from the side.

'Has everyone evacuated?'

'Yes. I checked the homes; nobody is there.'

'Good.'

'We should've gone there by ourselves. Taking this many people while protecting them from flying debris will decrease our chance of survival.' He said in an urgent tone, 'Why do you want to save them so badly? You're not exactly a selfless person.'

'It's the golden rule, Umbra. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. My clan had shown me kindness since the moment I was born. They have given me their support and their love. I might not have enough emotions towards them as they have towards me. But I do have a responsibility. And if I can't even fulfill that, then I can't call myself a man. After all, every human needs a principle to live by.'

Umbra stayed silent for a bit, thinking over what I had said. I would never doubt his intelligence. He was not just a simple wolf; he was a ninken, and he was more than smart enough to understand what I had said. What he decides of it is outside of my control.

In the end he just said, 'Humans are weird.'

Well, that was the end of that discussion. Elder Kazi has already given the instructions, and a formation was made very quickly. I took the lead with Umbra and a senior chunin named Barto and his ninken, a hound that was even taller than me.

As our clan moved through the village, the signs of destruction became clearer than ever. Buildings were broken down; the ground was even cracked in some places. The smell of blood was as strong as ever as we passed through multiple dead bodies.

People were crushed by boulders, impaled by steel, cut by glass, and some of them had multiple of their limbs broken. One child's arm stuck out from beneath a shattered roof beam, fingers still twitching. The sign of death and destruction was horrifying, to say the least. But even then, I persevered. I did not look away.

I did not know if it was due to the continuous exposure to graphic violence in the 21st century or due to the fact that I was so familiar with death itself, but somehow, I was not that bothered with the bodies lying around the street like mannequins discarded by a store owner.

Even though the psychological implications were very bad, I was secretly glad. The life of a ninja is filled with blood and violence. If I had no tolerance of it, then my career would've ended before it could start.

My thoughts were interrupted as a roar even louder than before filled the atmosphere. I knew what it meant. Minato has defeated Obito, and Kurama has let loose.

Protecting the crowd was becoming harder and harder as we closed in on the shelter. The chunins guarding this squad were already tired. Most of them were injured. We needed to reach there quickly.

Shockwaves shook the whole village as a building just in front of me broke down and started to fall towards me. Barto was already busy taking care of an injury on the back.

I could dodge easily using the 'body flicker' technique. But that'll also mean that those behind me will get hurt or worse. And I can't let them die after everything I've done to save their asses.

The shelter was within my sight.

I did not want to use it, but there was only one way to protect them. It required me to do something I really did not want to.

'Umbra, try to make sure that people have difficulty seeing me. Use the technique Kurenai taught me last week.'

Without any complaints, Umbra followed my instructions.

But my mind was elsewhere. Chakra started to gather on the palm of my hand as a sphere started to form. Just as soon as I had enough chakra concentrated on the spot, I jumped towards the falling building.

My chakra control wasn't good enough to keep the sphere contained. But that didn't matter. I didn't need to keep it contained for much time, just a second. A second before the impact.

The incomplete rasengan clashed against the falling building. I did not know what would happen when Rasengan hit the building. I just wanted to minimize the casualties. But what I would never expectef to happen was for the building to burst open on itself and be destroyed from the inside out.

I knew it was a powerful jutsu, but I never expected that I'd reached that level yet. This was my first time actually using it against something. Usually, I just cut off the chakra flow in the jutsu during practice.

I landed on the ground; my palm was bleeding due to the recoil, and it felt as if something had broken inside. I could handle the pain just fine. I was familiar with pain.

But the looks that I was receiving were unnerving to say the least. Umbra might've tried hiding me with a genjutsu, but there was no denying what everyone had seen just now.

A five-year-old blasting open an entire building.

They all looked at me—some with awe, some with fear. None of them knew what I'd just done. But I knew. And soon, so would the rest of Konoha.

In an attempt to divert their attention, I pointed towards the shelter.

"Let's go, everyone. The shelter is right there."