Legacy [ Naruto Reader-Insert ]

You sit there, at the edge of his shuriken-print sheets getting licks and cuddles from Hound's, well hounds, as you wait for him to get ready and put some clothes on so he can take you out for 'training'. You're skeptical about what sort of training Hound has in store for you, considering that he didn't expect you to turn up at his place. Akino has his muzzle in the dip between your knees as you scratch at the white strip of fur that starts at the front of his head.

What was that? When Hound touched your arms.

You lower your gaze to your exposed wrists, running your thumb over the blackened ring absentmindedly. Outlining the yellowish edges of the purplish-black, then pressing down with the tip of the pad of the thumb. A dull, aching pain blossoms under your touch.

Urushi snaps at your fingers, a growl coming out from deep in his throat as you jerk your hand back from his sharp fangs. Urushi gives your wrist a rough lick, snapping at your fingers again when you reach towards around your wrist. You settle for threading your fingers through Akino's fur instead, your gloves lay abandoned somewhere behind you.

Hound's eye just glazed over in an almost vacant way. Just for an instant. Before it disappeared.

Pakkun is sitting on the chair by the desk, watching you with his beady little eyes. It seems like he's almost wary of you, while the other dogs seem to have accepted your scent and the feel of your chakra. Brother's scent maybe? They've worked with him before, since Brother and Hound have been around each other for how many years again? Seven? Eight?

You go back to patting Akino as you look around Hound's drab apartment. You didn't manage take a good look before you busted the door down and entered by force. On your right, tons and tons of books and scrolls depicting high rank jutsu, stacked to the brim in a bookshelf that takes up the entire wall. You spot a stack of familiar novels at the corner that's well taken care of, no wrinkles, no creases and most importantly no dust. Only that corner. Only.

The other parts of his mini library looks like it hasn't been touched in aeons. You can see a very light sheen of gray, dusting the shiny outer surfaces of the other books and scrolls.

"I'm guessing he isn't home much?" You say to Pakkun, fingers still on the top of Akino's head. Who looks like he's enjoying the head scratches that you're giving him. It'll make sense, since you've always seen him at the hospital. In the bed beside Brother's. Hound's been there so much that it wouldn't be wrong for you to say that they're cohabitating, for sure. You let out a wry laugh under your breath.

"He-" Pakkun pauses at this, giving the chair a couple of taps with his front paw, then turning a round circle, "You're right. He isn't."

Sure the apartment looks neat at first glance but there's a faint, musty scent that hangs in the apartment and on your skin, your clothes. Stagnant and musty. Almost like he uses it as a safe room instead of a regular home. Smatterings of the barest of furniture, a small closet filled with the the same things. Five pairs of the same shirts that most Jonin or Chunin wear underneath their flak-jacket and at least three other spares that Hound probably rotates between when he's doing laundry.

You can't shake off that heavy feeling in your chest, the one that tells you that this feels somewhat familiar to you. The barest of rooms, only a desk and a bed. Filled with books and texts for various subjects in the Academy. Nothing more, nothing less. Even Naruto's room has more personality than yours. A room with a futon and desk that you go to sleep in.

You don't really consider it yours.

Akino lifts his chin from your knees when you stand up look at the other things he has on display by his windowsill. Taking slow, careful steps in between the narrow space between the shelf and the side of the bed, you approach the windows. An alarm clock, a small plant (a fake) and a small framed picture stands on the little ledge behind his bed.