Chapter 28: Time Flies

Time continued marching on and in the blink of an eye two years had already passed. Though these two years couldn't be considered much in the grand scheme of things, they had resulted in many changes occurring both in and around Konoha.

Great strides were made in recovering from the Kyūbi attack and now there were little to no signs of the attack ever having happened in the slightest, as all of the damaged buildings had been rebuilt or repurposed over the years. While many individuals had predicted that the village would have to weather through an era of stagnation while the village focused on recovery, surprisingly, the village had actually experienced an unexpected period of growth.

Instead of investors pulling out of Konoha, many of them were instead more than willing to increase what shares they already had in the village, as many people were quite happy with how quickly they had managed to handle the tragedy that had befallen them, and though there where many shinobi casualties, the number of civilian deaths was quite small. The only real damage to the civilian populace was the destruction of infrastructure, but even that Hiruzen had managed to spin in a positive light.

As the village had expanded over the years, a lot of the infrastructural planning that should have occurred never did, resulting in the haphazard placements of residential and commercial buildings all over the village without much rhyme or reason.

Not to mention that with the various clans of the village claiming certain areas of the village for their own personal usages, the overall flow and efficiency of the villages overall structure was subpar at best.

Though it hadn't been considered as too much of a problem for the village beforehand, there had been much room for improvement with the infrastructure of the village, but since it would have cost quite a sum of funds to fix the problems these issues were left alone, slowly fermenting into larger and more costly problems.

The attack however had given the leaders of the village a chance to correct these mistakes.

The various Elders of the village were able to employ contractors to redesign the layout of the village and to greatly improve it in all aspects. This not only made the village more easily manageable, since most of the building and infrastructure had been audited and recorded, but it also facilitated the stimulation of the economy as many businesses benefited from the influx of workers. 

Even the size of the village had increased to a certain extent, as immigrants from all throughout the land of fire had been allowed entrance and citizenship of the village.

This decision had been a controversial one since many believed that this would have opened Konoha up to infiltration by the spies and shinobi of the other hidden villages who would use such an opportunity to infiltrate in mass, yet the results had spoken for themselves.

While it was true that there was an increase in the number of shinobi who were accepted from outside of the village to join the shinobi leaf force, they usually were required to undergo extensive background checks and stringent monitoring before they could be accepted. Such practices where enforced even more stringently and as there simply was no other way for the village to quickly increase their combat ability.

In the end, by allowing more 'foreigners' to become shinobi of Konoha, the shinobi forces within the village, while still lacking in competent Jōnin level combatants, were able to fill up the lower ranks and maintain a heavy presence in the land of fire and the lands beyond. All while keeping a good image in the eyes of the Dymo of the land of fire, as the village was forced to focused more on bandit removal and other such tasks, thereby increasing the safety of the land of fire and encouraging trade through the land.

During these Two years Keitaro had also changed quite a bit.

***

Keitaro breathed in slowly focusing carefully on his timing before breathing out. He continued his breathing exercises calmly, ensuring to follow the pattern taught to him by his father as best he could.

As time went on he slowly lost himself in the rhythm of his breaths. Slowly and without any conscious thought he allowed himself to drift away into tranquility. Keitaro retained that state of mind for quite some time before his concentration was broken pulling him out of his meditative state when a sudden knock at his bedroom door disturbed him.

"Its time to wake up little bro, and don't forget to wash up."

Kentaro didn't wait for a response before going on his way. The sound of the departing footsteps let Keitaro know that his brother was most likely heading down to get started on breakfast and he would need to get his day started as well.

His concentration shot, Keitaro sighed in frustration before getting up from his bedroom floor. He quickly tidied up his bed before he made his way to the bathroom to get his day started.

This morning routine had already become second nature to him by now and didn't require much thought from him to be completed. Every morning he would wake up an hour or two earlier than he needed to, so that he could put in some extra meditation training before getting ready to head to work with his father.

During these two years he had managed to pry some information from his father about chakra and some safe and reliable ways to train in it.

He had already been told about the importance of physical and spiritual energy and their importance when it came to increasing the total amount of chakra an individual had and so he ensured that he meditated every day religiously to stimulate his spiritual energy.

His chakra had been slowly increasing but it had been doing so much slower than he would have liked. He knew that he needed to start physical training if he wanted to see an increase in his physical energies as well, but he was still being cautious about rushing things and crippling himself in his haste. There were many times where he was tempted to forgo his fathers warnings to do simply exercises but the inconsistencies with his body made him pause.

He had already known that people with chakra seemed to mature physically at faster rate than those without, but his body was growing even faster than most from what he could tell. He had already noticed that Kentaro had been bigger when compared to other kids his age but even then he had simply attributed it to him inheriting Kuma's unnatural large stature, yet he could almost feel his own body growing day by day. That feeling only grew clearer the more he meditated and improved his ability to sense his own chakra.

It was this ever present sense of physical growth that served as a constant reminder that he might ruin his future potential if he was too hasty to begin his training, that stopped him from doing anything physical taxing at the moment. 

Finished getting dressed, Keitaro made his way down to the kitchen where his older brother was already preparing the mornings breakfast. Shiromaru was sitting under the table and from time to time would poke his snout out to lick up the bits of meat that Kentaro purposely dropped for him while Kuma was sitting quietly at the opposite end of the table gently sipping from a cup of tea while reading the newspaper.

Keitaro was pleasantly surprised at the sight of his father since he had recently gotten into the habit of remaining in bed until the absolute last second, often time only getting up once he or his brother had badgered him to get up.

"Dad, why are you up so early?"

Kuma gently placed his cup unto the table before side eyeing Keitaro with a raised eyebrow.

"I told you yesterday that today is when the new batch of pups are supposed to come in for a check up. I have to be at the clinic an hour earlier than I normally would to make sure that everything is in order. Don't you remember?"

Keitaro thought back to the day before and could barely recall such a conversation occurring. He remembered that he was more engrossed in the medical book he'd been reading at the time than he was with the reminder his father was giving him at the time.

He ducked his head and avoided the piercing gaze his father was shooting at him while trying his best to look repentant.

"I must have forgot about that. Did you need me to do anything?"

Kuma grunted unhappily but didn't press the matter farther.

"No, you're not really needed all that much today since we should be fully staffed, but it would be good for you to stick around none the less. You might be able to put that knowledge of yours to good use. You've been hanging around for a while now and you even started reading through some of the more advanced medical scrolls. I just think it would do you good to have some practical experience to go along with the theory." 

A bead of sweat dripped down Keitaro's brow while listening to his father. While he had indeed been reading up on medical theory recently, he had no intentions of being bogged down with the menial tasks that he knew his father was going to throw his way, when he could be doing something else.

"I don't think I'm ready for that just yet dad. I only just started reviewing the medical scrolls that you got for me. I doubt that I'll even be able to understand the medical jargon that you or the other staff will be using. Maybe in a few months I'll be ready."

Keitaro had already resolved that it was going to be impossible to act like a clueless child especially since his father had already come to the conclusion that he was a little prodigy in the making, but while He was fine with the idea of being viewed as more mature and responsible, he also had no intentions of being too much of an anomaly that people started paying undue attention to him.

The conversation came to a halt as Kentaro placed several plates filled with food unto the table and the three began to eat. Small talk ensued between them as they ate breakfast but they didn't waste much time and breakfast was finished quickly.

Once the meal was finished Kuma started listing off several things for Keitaro to get from his room that he would need to bring with him to work today while Kentaro started washing the dishes.

"Are you going to be bringing in Shiromaru today Ken?" Keitaro asked his brother as he joined him at the sink.

"Hmm, I honestly don't think I need to. I always let dad check on him while we're at home so I already know that he's in tip top shape. Besides I already made plans to hang with a few friends today. The classes at the academy are starting to ramp up and I'm helping a few of the others with their training so they can keep up. As the top student of my year it's the least I can do." Kentaro slapped his still soapy hand to his chest and pointed his nose to the air with pride.

Unsurprisingly once Kentaro had access to the training facilities of the clan and active trainers to direct him, his skills and abilities had natural increased. He had already been the top student of his year but the gap between him and the other kids, especially those of civilian background had only widened further. Keitaro had been slightly concerned that it would have gotten to his older brothers head, but instead he had used his new knowledge to help his classmates to the best of his abilities which only served to elevate his position in the class and at the academy even further.

"My teacher at the academy even said that depending on how quickly I cover this years topics I might be able to graduate early, but... I'm not sure whether I should." Kuma hesitated for a bit before voicing his doubts.

"The only reason I've improved so much is because of the training I've been getting in the clan recently and while I have been making a lot of progress with Shiromaru's help of course, I'm not sure if graduating early is a good idea. I spoke to dad about it but he said that the decision was mine to make and that either way he'd support me in my decision." Kuma finished drying the plate that had been in his hand before leaning against the counter.

"Graduating early would be a great start to my shinobi career and might give me opportunities that I wouldn't be given normally, but it also means I'd be placed with a team of complete strangers which has its own problems."

Keitaro nodding his head in understanding. Since Kentaro would be graduating in what could be considered the middle of the school year, unless there were other students who were also graduating early, Kentaro would have to be placed in an already established shinobi team. While this wasn't inherently a bad thing, it could take some time before he was truly acknowledged as a member of the team, and that was in the best case scenario.

It was also possible for him to be placed in a team that had recently experienced casualties in order to fill the number count. Kuma had told them about cases like that and they didn't usually end well since the team members often times who had just lost someone could be hostile to the 'replacement'. 

Not to mention that such teams often times would simply dissolve, with other members simply giving up on the shinobi life or being deemed unfit to continued if they weren't able to get over the loss of their teammate. If that ended up happening it was possible for Kentaro to end up floating around from one team to the next which could look quite bad on his record.

Even if he waited to graduate at the end of the year to avoid something like that happening, he would still be placed with a team of older students who might look down on him for being younger and that could cause problems for team cohesion and teamwork in the future.

Kentaro sighed before pointing another concern of his

"Becoming an active shinobi also means I would have less time for training and while I have learnt a few of the clans jutsu, there are still allot of things that I want to learn. But at the same time the academy isn't really all that challenging anymore. If anything I feel like I'm going to be wasting a year in class that I could be using to get some practical experience. I just don't want to rush and make a decision I'll regret in the future."

Keotaro wasn't sure how to address his brothers concerns so he simply stayed quiet as he watched Kentaro seemingly lose himself in thought. It didn't last long though as Kentaro quickly brushed aside his confusion

"That's enough about my problems, I'll deal with it later. How have you been dealing with dad and work? Have you started your training yet?"

"Not yet. Dad's still hasn't let me start physical training. You know how he is, but he said I should be able to start soon, so maybe we'll be able to train together sometime."

Kentaro patted Keitaro's head with a gentle smile on his face nodded his head sagely.

"I hope so, once dad clears you for training I'll be able to help you out. I'll make sure you're the top of your class at the academy easily. We're going to make that a family tradition."

The two brother continued to mess around until Kuma shouted at them to hurry up so he could head off to work and it didn't take long before everyone was out of the house and on their way. With Kentaro heading off to the forest area and Keitaro and Kuma headed towards the Clans Breeding Facility.

It didn't take them long to arrive at the facility though and while Kuma busied himself with preparing his tools for the day, Kentaro quietly made his way to the side room that he often used as a study room.

It had been two whole years since Keitaro had started following his father to his new job and it had been an interesting experience to say the least. In the past there had often been times when Keitaro had looked down on the people and cultures around him as he saw them as 'primitive'. He may have come from a world without the amazing power of chakra, but they had advanced technology that allowed people to do some pretty amazing things.

Simply things like cars, boats, and planes had revolutionized the transportation industry allowing movement to just about anywhere around the globe, advancements in the field of medicine that would have left the natives of Naruto shell shocked and weapons of destruction so potent that all world powers unanimously agreed never to use them were but some of the advancements humanity had made.

While he was willing to admit that chakra was amazing, he still missed the internet quite a lot. So he was understandably rather shocked once he had entered the breeding facility of the clan, as that one simple trip had opened his eyes to quite a lot.

There may not have been a lot of the technology around that he was accustomed to, but that didn't mean that the technologies that they did have access to were 'primitive' in the slightest.

He had thought that breeders spent their time grooming the Clans hounds and spiking their food and drinks with aphrodisiacs to encourage and ensure that the hounds spent their time pumping out pups as quickly and as often as possible. His mind was still more tuned towards his past life where the term breeder was often associated with the inhuman treatment of dogs and other animals to make as much profit as possible, but the reality of what truly happened in the clan had been a startling surprise.

Even though they were called breeders, a more accurate name for them might have been handlers, caretakers and researchers, and they took their duties seriously.

Both he and his father had had to go through several rounds of security just to enter the true breeding facility and that was with the acknowledgment of the patriarch of the clan.

It was quite evident that the enclosures that they had visited a while ago for the choosing of ninken partners was but the outer area of the facility as they had been led to an underground building on their first day. Once they were there they were given a tour and brought up to date on what was going to be expected of them.

The building was divided into separate division that each focused on different things but were all still focused on Ninken in some way shape or form. Every improvement that was made in the research facility could become an edge for the clan and to some extent, other shinobi as well.

There were three main divisions, the Combat division, the Research Division and the Breeder division.

The Research division was focused on researching everything when it came to the clans ninken. From something as mundane as the ideal diet for the day to day meals of ninken to something as complex as soldier pills, designed specifically for canines who generally had quicker metabolisms than their human partners. This department also did research into things like as combat pills, something unique for the Inuzuka clans ninken designed to induce a berserker state in their ninken which allowed them to experience an explosive rise in all parameters for a short period of time before being forced into a weaken state. Its obvious combat potential alone was reason enough to continue to research and improve on the concept.

The combat division focused solely on improving the combat potential of the ninken of the clan whether through new and innovative jutsu, or through the implementation of ninja tools designed for ninken. Keitaro had seen a few tools himself that looked quite interesting but since he couldn't recall ever seeing them in the manga he had assumed they would have been scrapped for one reason or the other.

The final division and the one were he and his father spent most of their time was the Breeder division. While one aspect of their job was indeed to ensure the impregnation of the hounds and the successful birthing of pups, there was still so much more for them to do.

Keitaro had learned the clan suppled the village with a steady supply of ninja hounds that where utilized in the transportation of information, utilized as summoned beast, and even used as offerings for important associates. While not all of the ninja hounds born into the clan were suitable for combat, they could still be trained as excellent poison testers, guard dogs, and if the clients were willing to pay extra, unsuspecting lie detectors.

All of this had been an eye opening experience for Keitaro who had been quite startled at how deep and extensive the clans connection were. While they kept the best ninken for themselves, he was certain that if they really wanted to, it wouldn't be impossible for the Inuzuka clan to plant undercover spies in the houses of some of the most prominent members of the village in the form of lovable ninja hounds without anyone being the wiser.

In fact he was partially certain that the reason so many dogs came through the clan on a day to day basis was so that the clan could collect information from them, regardless of how minor or insignificant it may be. And this was only one area in the which the clan was focusing on, he could only guess as to how many other ventures the clan was involved in.

If this was the power that one of the 'weaker' clans had, Keitaro wasn't sure he wanted to know what the more prominent clans could possibly do.

Thankfully though he wasn't too invested in the work of the different divisions and was instead focused on his own improvements. His father hadn't been wrong in stating that joining him at work would have been a good opportunity.

Many of the tomes and scrolls that the clan had in terms of basic shinobi knowledge were open to him and a lot of information that would have been of minor importance to others were the truly valuable things to him, as he was sure that they would form the foundation from which he would build his strength.

He had managed to absorb quite a bit on information from mundane things like geography and history, to the more mystical basics of chakra and its different applications.

In a way he saw learning as another form of training as his constant studies also served to stimulate him mentally and increase his spiritual energy further and with time his mental faculties only seems to improve as the amount of time he needed to truly remember and understand everything that he studied slowly decreased, something that he was quite happy about.

From early on in his studies, he had noticed that his ability to memorize and retain information was much, much higher than it had ever been before and while it still took him some time to internalize the new information, he had no problems with pure rote memorization for the most part.

Recently he had started diving into the medical field and while he was still very much a novice in the field, he was sure that medical ninjutsu was going to be the key to constantly improve himself as he grew. He may not have been born with the cheats that the main powerhouses had but he was determined to claw his way to the top.

Every thing would have been perfect if not for a recent development that was slowly eating away at his sanity.