A/N: The big sad has left. I repeat. The big sad has left. Thank you for the reviews. Appreciate it.

The Chronicles of the White Fang

Chapter Seven

-Training-

"Too many people today know the price of everything and the value of nothing."

-Ann Landers

Light streamed through his eyelids, turning the darkness into a red hue of veiny, crimson flesh. Sakumo's breaths stuttered and he launched up in a sitting position, eyes wide and chest heaving as he roused from his light sleep. He blinked several times as he observed his surroundings in confusion. He was disconcerted by the unfamiliarity of the room, but the sight of his toy wolf-dog immediately soothed him. he reached forward and pulled it to his lap. His nerves elevated, however, when he saw the reason for his abrupt awakening.

The Nidaime was starring out into the open veranda. The paper screen doors had been pushed aside. The reason for the light currently streaming into his dusty, pitiful room. the Nidaime's arms were crossed as he was starring out into the sunny morning. He turned slightly and raised a silver brow.

"Good. You're awake." The Nidaime gestured to the food on the table where books were stacked messily and scrolls were scattered across the mats. Sakumo had stayed up what felt like all night as he studied vigorously. "We'll eat breakfast before we start with our morning stretches." Sakumo scrambled up, made his futon with haste and joined the Nidaime at the table. He then sat stiffly in front of the large man and gazed at his breakfast that consisted of rice, steamed vegetables and an egg omelette.

The Nidaime sat cross-legged in a lackadaisical manner. One knee was up high and he rested his arm upon it as he casually shoved a piece of the omelette in his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully and swallowed as he watched Sakumo with narrowed, crimson eyes. "What are you waiting for, boy?" He gestured at him with his chopsticks. "Eat."

Sakumo nodded and placed his hands together and slightly bowed his head. "Itadakimasu," he mumbled out with hesitation before he fixed the chopsticks in his small hands. the Nidaime observed him as he put the chopsticks in the proper place and quietly ate his food. They ate in silence. The exact opposite of how Sakumo and his mother would eat. He missed the lively kitchen and the conversations with his mother. Here there was nothing but stale air and lack of love.

He swallowed thickly. "Will Lady Mito join us?"

"Mito-hime is currently in my office, filling in for my position as Hokage to settle civilian affairs, I believe." The Nidaime took a sip of his tea. "I will go through your training regime with you this morning. After that, you will be expected to continue it without supervision."

It made sense that the Nidaime Hokage couldn't start his days like this with Sakumo every morning. He was required to run a village in a time of war. "Okay." Sakumo gave a nod.

"There will be nights where I will not be here. The weekend will be your days of rest with only light reading." Tobirama gazed at Sakumo's plate. "Eat your vegetables," he ordered, voice strict. Sakumo looked up at him with wide eyes ad gave a pout before he stuffed a carrot in his mouth. He didn't like how the steamed vegetable turned to mush in his mouth. "On a side note, you're not allowed to wander into the village without permission." He narrowed his eyes. "No matter what Kagami says. I know that boy will come to visit sooner or later."

Sakumo perked up at the mention of Kagami. "Okay," he agreed.

The Nidaime's gaze was narrowed as he regarded Sakumo, but other than that the rest of their breakfast was eaten in silence. Once finished Sakumo gathered their empty plates without being asked. It was a routine he had with his mother. She'd make the food, he'd wash the dishes. However, the Nidaime stopped him with a quirked brow. "What are you doing?"

Sakumo blinked up at him but he said nothing.

"Leave the plates there. I don't have all day to wait for you. Follow me."

Sakumo put the plates down and followed the Nidaime out into the veranda. He slid on his sandals and stepped out into the dewy grass. "We'll begin our stretches. On my lead," the Nidaime said impatiently.

"Hai." Sakumo ran to him but paused midway. He ran back to the veranda and settled his toy wolf on the wooden board. The Nidaime watched Sakumo as he scrambled back to stand beside him. His eyes were wide as he looked up at him. The Nidaime began the stretches that were incredibly taxing on his small body. Sakumo grunted as he bent backward. His hands hit the dewy grass and his feet stayed planted on the earth. "We'll stay like this for thirty seconds. You will add ten more seconds to these stretches every three days. Do you hear me?"

"Hai," Sakumo stated dutifully. Tears greeted his red-rimmed eyes like a long lost friend, but Sakumo grit his teeth and bore with the pain.

After the stretching came the warm-up part of the regimen. The Nidaime jogged alongside him with his shirt off and trousers on. Sakumo didn't really understand why until they got to their second lap. Sakumo breathed heavily and sweat covered every inch of his body as he ran up the steps. "You need to pace yourself," the Nidaime ordered once they got to the top of the steep hill where an old, abandoned shrine resided. Sakumo bent forward, hands on his knees as his chest heaved and strained for deep breaths. He could hear the Nidaime giving a tsk of disapproval at Sakumo's break.

Sakumo was heaved up until his back was straight. He looked up at the Nidaime with watering eyes. "You won't get any air crouched like that," he chided. "Now hurry up! It's already almost noon and we haven't started on taijutsu yet." The Nidaime shoved him forward with his foot. "One more lap to go. I want you to add a lap every new week! Now go."

"H-Hai," Sakumo grunted out. His small heart was beating wickedly fast in his small ribcage as he ran down the stairs, hoping to finish his last lap with new vigor. The Nidaime waited for him on the veranda, sipping on iced green tea. He passed Sakumo a cup and Sakumo chugged at the cold refreshment until he choked. One good pat from the Nidaime had him jolting forward and gasping. He winced at the pain from the Nidaime's strength.

"Ah. Thank you."

The Nidaime gave another tsk of disapproval. "You must take sips of water. If you chug it you'll only throw it all back up. Take that as a lesson when on a mission."

"Hai."

The Nidaime gazed at him for a moment more before he sighed and pushed off the veranda. "Now we begin taijutsu. I will show you several defensive stances. You will practice these stances until they become muscle memory. You need to know them as if they were essential for every breath you take." He set Sakumo with a strict gaze. "Because they are," he mused. "These basic stances will help you find your own style to incorporate and to help you predict the next movement of your attacker, but that is not something to worry about now." His gaze traveled to the toy wolf sitting on the veranda. "You're too young for taijutsu of that level." They neared two training posts where the Nidaime proceeded to go through the basic stances of taijutsu.

Sakumo watched with an awed look in his eyes as the Nidaime demonstrated the Krag Mai where his body was constantly in motion, defending different angles of his body from any point of attack in a 360 motion. He used the motion of his arms and elbows to defend figurative motions of attack against the post. The Nidaime stated that Sakumo should start in an upward motion to downward motion against the post. "The key is to keep your arms in an oblique angle so that you can stretch them out to defend blows to any vital parts of the body. You will practice with this post first, then you will show me the fruits of your labor."

The Nidaime went through the taijutsu part of the regimine with more meticulous detail. The Krag Mai was from an upward to downward motion was to be repeated fifty times a day before he proceeded with the power angle kick to the ribs or in Sakumo's case, the back of the knee. "The force is in the hips," the Nidaime demonstrated. He lifted his arms up defensively to protect the sides of his scarred face and lifted his leg up at a straight angle. "Keep your planted foot firm, slightly crouched and pointed straight at the opponent, then with a twist of the hip, pivot you planted foot to the angle you triking towards. Hit with the shin of your striking leg. The power of the kick is in the force of your hips. With added chakra, it is effective and leaves the opponent. . . incopacitated." The Nidaime looked to Sakumo. "You will practice this fifty times a day."

The Nidaime went through two more stances before he left it at that. "I won't always be here to correct your stances. My students, perhaps, will come to oversee your training. You may feel free to ask them for correction or advice. After all, I have trained them when they became Genin. They know this training regimin as well as more advanced ones by heart. They'll know what to help you with." The Nidaime looked to the sky. "Lady Mito should be on her way soon. She had offered to bring you lunch everyday. Be sure to express your gratitude."

"Hai." Sakumo gave a bow. The way he bent at the waist was just underneath the Nidaime's shins. The man gaze at Sakumo as he straightened up. "Once your finished with your lunch, you may have an hour nap."

Sakumo blinked up at the imposing man. To say that he expected that would be an understatement. Mother always allowed Sakumo to have a nap at noon, but with the way everything was so different from his old routine, he didn't expect that at least something would be familiar. The Nidaime tilted his head. "Lady Mito suggested this. I don't see the benefits of it. When I was your age, I didn't have the time for," he mulled the word over. "Naps."

Sakumo bit the inside of his cheek. "Kachan said four-year-olds need naps because it helps in my mental development and keeps me from being grouchy which is a benefit for nurturing single parents," Sakumo recited his mother's exact words that she would use when Sakumo would sometimes refuse to take a nap.

Perhaps, it was the sun or the dehydration, but Sakumo could have sworn he heard the Nidaime give a soft chuckle. "Very well," the Nidaime mused. Sakumo blinked several times and shaded his eyes, but the Nidaime's lips were set into a thin line. "I will take my leave now. Good luck, boy."

"H-Hai, Nidaime-" Sakumo blinked and realized that the Nidaime had disappeared. Sakumo tentatively spread his senses out to find that the Nidaime's chakra was nowhere in range. Sakumo's shoulders sagged. He was alone. The reality of the thought weighed heavily on him as he obediently followed the Nidaime's orders. It wasn't long until he heard rummaging in his open room, but he didn't turn to see who it was. With his senses spread out, he instantly acknowledged who the chakra signature belonged to: Lady Mito. He grinned and continued his taijutsu stances with new vigor. Once he was finished, he wiped his sweat off his forehead with his shirt and went running towards the veranda with a hesitant grin.

"Lady Mito!"

The elegant woman was sitting on a cushion she had set outside the veranda. She wore a pink silk kimono with beautiful white embroidery of flowers upon it. Her crimson obi was a stark contrast that matched with her carefully made buns. She had two senbon holding the buns in place with explosive tags that hung on either side of her head. Her pink painted lips curved into a graceful smile as she elegantly pushed her sleeve out of the way to reveal the pale skin of her arm. She tilted her arm down and poured tea into two cups.

"Come Saku-chan, I've prepared tea and lunch."

Sakumo sat upon the cushion and pressed his hands together. He gave a small bow of his head. "Arrigato gozaimatsu," he thanked solemnly before he drank his tea. She shut her eyes and inhaled the steam from her green tea before she took a tentative sip.

"This is really good," Sakumo stated around a mouth full of food. He wolfed everything down, including the steamed vegetables this time. His stomach had been protesting loudly for an hour and so, and he really was grateful that Lady Mito had cooked him lunch. Lady Mito ate her food in peace and sighed. "It's nice to have company when eating. I would usually join Tobi in the office while he's working, but even that has become tiresome." She peered at Sakumo with an amused gaze. "No matter how much I love him." She winked. "Don't let him know I think of him as a boring, old soul."

Sakumo felt the heat rush to his cheeks. "I won't," he said with vehemence.

Lady Mito chuckled. "It's nostalgic." She looked around with a starry gaze. "Being here, I mean." She sighed and drank her tea again.

Sakumo blinked up at her in wonder. "It's very dusty in here," he admitted. "Like a haunted house."

She laughed. "Perhaps, it is." She looked into his room. "You and I should clean during the weekend to make it seem like someone lives here at least. Perhaps, he'll visit regularly then."

Sakumo gave a small nod. Not because he liked cleaning or because he particularly cared whether the Nidaime visits more often, but because Lady Mito had asked him to help. He would do anything to make sure that she stayed liking him. She was the only one who showed him true kindness, a welcoming figure in his dreary life. He didn't ever want to disappoint her. When she left, Sakumo took his hour nap and woke up to find that his nap wasn't exactly an hour. Sakumo looked at the sun setting behind the thicket of forest leaves. "Oh no," he mumbled, sliding the paper screen doors closed and lighting candles in his room so that he can get to work studying.

It didn't last long, however. He stayed slouched over his book on basic seal transgressions and certain basic coding that was involved in seal making. That was how the Nidaime Hokage found him, slumped over his book, and snoring softly. The candle was getting dangerously low, flickering just above the melted wax that was creeping close to an open journal where Sakumo's scrawled notes resided. Crimson eyes observed the boy for a moment before the Nidaime went around the boy and lifted him up from his slouched position. He mumbled in his sleep and hugged his toy wolf close to his chest as the Nidaime laid him on the futon. Dirt was still smudged on his face and the boy smelled like the forest outside mixed with salt and iron. He lifted Sakumo's hand to soothe out the raw knuckles.

With a sigh, he moved away from the boy and extinguished the candle with his forefinger and thumb. Darkness consumed the room as Tobirama opened and closed the paper screen doors. They're out in the training ground right on the other side of the veranda stood his team of six. The infamous Rokunin of the leaf who were personally trained by the Shodaime Hokage and Nidaime Hokage.

"Is the kid asleep?" Kagami whispered in an obnoxiously loud tone.

"Shut it, Kagami," Hiruzen grumbled.

Tobirama sighed and pulled on his sandals before he stepped off the veranda without a word. Danzo gazed up at him with his somber gaze. Eyes fixed on their leader as he whispered, "Tobirama-sensei, is that boy really an official student of yours?"

Kagami grinned. "Sensei," he mocked, his own crimson eyes were filled with mischief as he took in Danzo's pinched expression. "I refuse to allow you to take on another student. I want all your non-existent affection to myself." Tobirama grasped Danzo's shoulder and placed his hand on Kagami's head almost on instinct as they lunged for each other. More likely, Danzo lunged for Kagami, and Kagami spread his arms as if to take any merciless blow of his teammate. Tobirama stopped himself from looking to the sky in exasperation like he did back when he was young himself and his students even younger and more painfully obnoxious.

"Enough," Tobirama pushed Danzo forward. "Danzo will take lead on this mission until we get to the southeastern border of the Land of Fire. I need not tell you to stay vigilant. Our borders have been breached after all."

"Hai, sensei," they chorused. The Nidaime had kept his hand all along on Kagami's head, and he pushed Kagami's head back softly in reprimand. "Kagami. You take the rear." Tobirama observed the Uchiha, who scoffed and placed his own hand over his head and ruffled his hair as if to erase the Nidaime's touch. Tobirama didn't react to his peculiarity, if he did, Kagami would take it as encouragement and be more unstable then usual. With one final glance at the shabby house that he once called home, he followed Danzo into the night sky with the rest of the Rokunin behind him. His thoughts lingered on the boy inside, but soon, even those thoughts were pushed back into his mind as duty and honor took hold.

He will end this war.

No matter what.