FLASHBACK...
Ma always told me how I was special. How we were a special people...The Inuzukas of the Inuzuka clan. She'd tell me these great stories of my ancestors, these tales that sounded like they could be made into movies; legends of great adventures lived by brave men and their canines, slaughter of the unjust in our village of Konohagakure, bloodsheds in the name of loyalty, all of which done by the bare hands of other Inuzukas before me and their dog-companions. Heck, they wouldn't even use weapons other than kunai and shuriken! Well, why would anyone, when they were armored with sharp claws, fangs elongated for tearing through flesh, teeth strong enough to break through bones, lightning-speed, and of course the magnified sense of smell and hearing we were infamous for to our enemies?
Err-...Maybe-...Maybe if an Inuzuka was missing one of those things that were like, super important, according to my Ma.
"Kiba, quit burying your face in that plate of food, boy!"
A hand came to latch into the roots of my unruly hair at the back of my head, fingers thin and feminine, yet with a strength I could very-well call masculine and comparable to a brute's.
"You're really starting to worry me, kid...You and your sense of smell."
I looked up and saw my Ma as she let go of me. Her features were similar to mine, in many ways. She had slanted eyes with slit-shaped pupils like that of a feline, fangs pronounced enough to gleam behind her lips when she spoke, messy brown hair, though her skin was a pale-color like my older sister's, while mine was a light tan from my father's side of the family. Ma was always frowning like me with those 'angry eyebrows' I had gotten from her too, as people would call them; and right now, things weren't any different. She had yet another reason to glare at me like a protective wolf eyeing her young, naïve pup.
"But Ma..." I knit my brows back at her. "I'm trying to figure where that scent is coming from!"
Ma looked at me with more worry, narrowing her eyes and shaking her head as she leaned in closer.
"...What scent?" She asked, not even bothering to sniff at the air. I figured she didn't have to, being that my Ma could smell probably anything...Except the thing that Iwas smelling, from what I realized.
"How can you not smell it?" I hopped out of my stool, clutching my fists at her. "Ma, it's everywhere! C'mon, you can't smell it?"
And closer Ma's eyebrows came together.
"Kiba..." She actually sniffed for a moment, getting out of her chair to grab her napkin before she kneeled to my level and started roughly wiping my face. "What the hell are you talking about, son? There's nothing out of the ordinary to smell..."
I pulled from Ma as she stuck the napkin up my nostrils, finding myself unable to keep from laughing at the odd sensation.
"Yeah there is!" I pushed away her hand and rubbed my nose hard. "I forgot where I first smelled it, but ever since, it won't leave me alone! It's like it's inside of me or something."
Ma pinched the tip of my nose and pulled it up to duck her head and try to take a look 'inside me', but I growled at her and separated once more from her. Hey, I probably had boogers up there! How embarrassing; even in front of Ma.
"Well, I don't see anything..." She scratched her head, curiously observing me while I held my face in pain and irritation.
I growled at Ma again, angry and shocked that she couldn't smell this thing that was bugging me for the past two weeks. My already-weak patience was wearing out faster and faster. "Grr, I'm serious!"
