Konoha, Inuzuka compound 19th January Year 78

*snore*

Inugami Inuzuka was sleeping peacefully on his bed. The early morning sun that shone through his window revealed the state of his room. It was a mess. The ground was littered with weights and wooden training swords, and the only desk in the room was swamped with books on chakra control and swordsmanship. The walls were bare with the exception of one huge, special edition, Make-Out Paradise poster depicting the big-breasted, blond heroine of the story, Tsunami Senko.

The poster was signed by the author himself, and it was Inugami’s most prized possession.

Suddenly Inugami’s slumber was disturbed by the loud blaring of the alarm clock that stood on his table, making him squirm under his blanket. For a moment he tried to ignore the evil device, but it was in vain.

Inugami was not a morning person and in his old life he often overslept at the beginning of his school career, because he always unconsciously turned the alarm clock off. Since then he always put his alarm clock on a table he sat up on the other end of the room. If he wanted to put a stop to the dreadful sound it made, he had to fully wake up.

Having kept that habit in his second life as well, he got off his bed with a defeated groan. His footsteps echoed trough the room as he was approaching the clock. Turning it off he stretched his body, blocking the the light rays of the sun and casting a shadow across the room.

Inugami suddenly startled, his heart beating rapidly in his ribcage. He could have sworn that he just saw two red dots, that looked suspiciously like eyes, in his shadow. Though they were gone so fast that Inugami assumed that he must have been still half asleep. Still, there was an inexplicable feeling as he gazed upon them, which gave him quite the scare.

“Ugh, I hate mornings!” Inugami complained as he was calming his body down.

*knock knock*

“Oi brat! Are you awake? You better not sleep in on your important day.” The impatient voice of his mother came from outside the door.

Letting out a sigh, Inugami braced himself for the first conflict of this day. Squaring his shoulder and making sure that he is not showing any weakness, he walked over to the door and opened it. Tsume Inuzuka promptly barged into his room, wearing a white apron with a dog motif on it.

“Damn woman, did you ever hear anything about manners or privacy? Get the hell out of my room, it’s still too early to deal with your bullshit!” Inugami lived with this woman for the last thirteen years, and he is absolutely fed up with her. Don’t get him wrong, his new mother was not bad. In fact despite her strict nature she loved him and the rest of her family deeply. And he respected that, he really did. But still he couldn’t help but clash with her over and over because of one reason. The reason was, you guessed it right, dogs.

“Oh, why don’t you make me, runt?” She grinned wildly at him, a challenging look in her eyes.

Inugami inwardly sighed, ever since he made his disdain for dogs clear, there had been strife between his family and him. In fact, with his two siblings, and the rest of his clan, he was straight up estranged. It made sense, the Inuzuka’s entire fighting capabilities, and thus their livelihoods, depended on their canine partners. They got their ninken at an early age, and were practically inseparable.

And then here we have a boy, one of the matriarch’s son’s mind you, that showed clear hatred for their close friends and way of living. Furthermore, he was a misanthropic person, avoiding having contact with anyone, spending most of his days training alone. It was clear that, he didn’t fit in. He was a pariah. Even his loving, bigger sister couldn’t handle him and end up avoiding him.

Inugami didn’t mind it though. In fact, he was welcoming it.

Having deepened his hatred for the vile mutts after his embarrassing demise at the hand of one, despite saving it, he considerate it a good thing to not have contact with them and people that thought building a clan around them was a good idea. So Inugami was content living in, a mostly dog-free, solitude, even if it was only for the time being.

There was one obstacle to his new lifestyle though, and it was standing in front of him. Contrary to the rest of her clan, Tsume Inuzuka did not leave him alone. In fact ever since he told her that he won’t accept a ninken, she practically hounded him every day. In, what Inugami thought, was an attempt to bully him into obedience, she assaulted him with brutal training alongside her partner, which even he admitted looked cool. Lesser people would have broken like a twig, Kiba does so every time Tsume looks wrongly at him, but out of sheer hatred and spite, Inugami persevered. He didn’t back down and drowned himself in training to hone his body, shinobi skills, and swordsmanship, to keep defying her.

In the end, Tsume’s harassment ended up in him becoming the top of his class. He didn’t not know if he should curse or thank her.

Gazing upon the bane of this quiet and dog free lifestyle, Inugami produced his meanest glare, crossed his arms and spoke in a resolute voice. “I won’t change my decision, give up hag.”

Hearing his declaration, Tsume’s face turned impassive. The sudden tension between them could almost be felt physically.

It was Tsume who broke the silence. “I see…while I don’t like it, I won’t force you. If you truly think that you won’t need a partner out there, then I will accept your decision. Thankfully, you put my worries to rest in the recent years.” She said all this to him in a calm and collected manner.

“Huh?” At that his facial muscles went slack, and he turned completely still.

“You are my son after all and not some weak-willed punk. I knew you would never back down just because someone pressured you a bit. You are stubborn like me.” Now Tsume was giving him an calm smile with a proud gleam in her eyes.

“Now wait a second!” Inugami couldn’t believe what he was hearing. In fact, if he was not smelling her scent on her he would have thought that someone was impersonating her. “What do you mean you won’t force me? Don’t act like you weren’t trying to all this time.”

Tsume tilted her head. “You still don’t get it?”

Inugami gritted his teeth. “Get what?”

Tsume adopted a serious look. “I was making sure that you will survive! Always remember this Inugami, the Inuzuka were never one of the powerful clans, we never had any exceptional ninjas like the Uchiha or Senju. This is why we formed packs with our fellow clansmen and ninken to guarantee our survival. But you brat rejected our biggest strength thoroughly. Naturally, I was worried. An Inuzuka without a dog? You might as well call yourself an civilian!” Tsume barked a laugh at that. “So I either had to make sure that you are strong enough to go on a different path or realize that you need a ninken. Hence all the training.”

“Oh…” Pressing together his lips in a slight grimace, Inugami couldn’t help but swallow. He didn’t know how to feel or answer after hearing how much thought and care Tsume put into his life, even after he tried his best to push her and the rest of his family away.

But Tsume didn’t wait for an answer and pushed on. “ Of course that’s not only reason for the training, hearing about you beating that Uchiha genius in class never fails to make my day. An Inuzuka beating a Uchiha, ha!” Tsume was now laughing boisterously. “When I saw you for the first time. I knew you were going to be special. Thanks for proving me right brat!” At this point Tsume was full on bragging.

However her antics helped to break Inugami out of his flustered state. While he disagreed with her about him being special, nevertheless he couldn’t stop a warm smile from forming on his face. “Thanks…Mom.”

Tsume’s laughter died down abruptly and she was looking at him stunned. Soon however she smiled wildly.” Don’t mention it brat. Now, I have to wake your bum of a brother. Sleeping in on the day of his graduation exam…what does he think he is doing? If he only adopted a bit of your self-discipline …”

With that she stomped to his door, though before she went trough it she stopped to glance back at him. “By the way, as I have told you, I believe that you will, one day, become the strongest member of our clan. Which means you will also gain a strong companion, so I will look forward to the ninken you choose. After all, you can’t call yourself an Inuzuka ninja without a dog. Remember, my senses never lie.” With that she went out of his room.

When Inugami heard that, he gained the same inexplicable feeling from before, when he thought that he saw a pair of red eyes in his shadow. It sent a shiver down his spine.

“Never!” He screamed after her, but the only thing he got from her was fading laughter.