JackSGreyson Says

The first few weeks of my new life was somehow both boring and frightening. I couldn’t see anything, could barely hear anything–all I could do was feel the way others effortlessly moved me about.

For some reason, I was small and so incompetent, that others needed to help me with absolutely everything–moving, eating, cleaning myself–it was pretty embarrassing.

My hearing and sense of smell kicked in soon enough, oddly before my sight did, which made my situation less frightening and boring. But also more bewildering.

My name is Aomi, I used to be a girl who enjoyed manga. Now? I’m the littermate of Akamaru and one of Inuzuka Kiba’s ninken.

I’m a fucking dog.

—

Communication is different when you’re a canine. Yes, there are some vocalizations–barking and whining and, occasionally, if Kuromaru-alpha doesn’t catch us fast enough, howling about the injustice of having to wait for dinner–but a lot of it is body language. A wagging tail is obvious, even non-Inuzuka humans know what that means, but even the tilt of a head or the splay of our legs can mean different things.

That being said, I didn’t fully think through just how well Inuzuka really understand their ninken.

“Danzo-asshole,” I growled, head tucked down from my customary spot in Kiba-brother’s hood–while Akamaru-brother preferred to rest on top of our human partner’s head, I liked the warmth and relative privacy of the hood; like a hammock just for me. “God, that bastard just needs to fuck a cactus and die.”

Akamaru-brother, being a relatively normal ninken puppy, whined and flicked his ears in confusion. Kiba-brother, being a fairly uncouth seven year old boy, snickered at my statement even if he didn’t fully understand everything.

Tsume-alpha, on the other hand?

I yelped, kicking my paws out futilely as a comparatively large hand plucked me from my warm spot by my scruff and shook me in scolding.

“Just where did you learn that kind of language, Aomi?” She asked, teeth bared in a sadistically pleased smile, “Kiba! You’re not being a bad influence on your ninken are you?”

While my human partner and littermate protested such a thing, I whined, turning my head this way and that in conflicting efforts to escape and show submission. Kuromaru-alpha, from his place on the floor, looked up at me distinctly unimpressed.

Eventually, I ceded defeat, tail tucked between my legs and beseeching puppy eyes on full blast.

“Nice try, pup,” Tsume-alpha laughed, before tossing me through the air. Before I could land on my feet, Kuromaru-alpha snapped me up, fangs gentle on my puppy skin. I’d witnessed him bite through a kunai once, and knew what kind of power he could wield–but he was my alpha, and for all that Akamaru-brother and I were annoying and mischievous, he would never seriously hurt us.

Tsume-alpha walked toward her study–a disorganized mess of scrolls and furniture that somehow expertly managed the Inuzuka Clan, Konoha’s Sensory Squad, and the Veterinary Department of the hospital–and we trailed behind her obediently.

Her tattoos and wild features looked out of place sitting at a desk, and yet she looked all the more dangerous for it, “Now then, Aomi, how do you even know councilor Shimura Danzo and just why do you think he needs to die a painful and shameful death?”

—

The best and worst thing to happen to me in this second life–barring the whole having been reborn at all thing–was definitely Juujin Bunshin.

For Akamaru-brother, when he and Kiba-brother used the technique, they became mirror images of each other. But when I used it, I turned into myself. Or, rather, the myself I used to be before I became a dog named Aomi.

“Whoa,” Kiba-brother breathed, face as astonished as I felt.

I pressed my hands–hands, not paws!–to my cheeks, passing it across my face. No muzzle, a dry nose, lips–soft, sparse peach fuzz instead of thick fur.

I ran to the slowly moving stream cutting through Team Eight’s training grounds, my brothers and hunting mates following after me. The water was glassy enough that I could see my face. My human face.

And it really was mine–even with the Inuzuka tattoos which I never had before, it was still recognizably me as I had been.

Human.

“I’m human!” I barked, then paused, “I’m human,” I tried again, but only a whimper escaped from my throat.

“Aomi-sister,” Akamaru-brother whined, crowding close to be picked up the same way he did whenever Hinata-hunting-mate needed cheering up.

“Aomi,” Kiba-brother said, so low and soft that I knew something must be wrong.

“I’m not human,” I cried, letting my brothers wipe away my tears.

—

A/N: Some random excerpts from a Dreaming of Sunshine inspired semi-humorous SI!OC fic in which said SI!OC is not reincarnated as any human but, rather, as a puppy.

I don’t think I’ll pursue this seriously, but the idea was pretty fun to play with so no doubt more snippets will hit me later on.

Anyway, some unnecessary headcanons under the cut!

Aomi was the runt of the litter and probably would have died had it not been for SI!OC’s soul clinging tenaciously to life. She also turns dark blue when she eats a soldier pill in contrast with Akamaru’s red.

Like Shikako of DoS, Aomi is a fair bit more motivated than her twin (not that that’s hard considering Shikamaru is laziness personified and Akamaru is literally a puppy) and works to be able to speak like a human–like Kuromaru and Kakashi’s ninken).

As for Aomi’s name: 青美. Well, I was considering Aomaru, since all of the Inuzuka dogs that are named are “color-maru” but then I decided I wanted a girl’s name. I chose the “mi” suffix instead of the other common girl’s names suffix “ko” because Aoko seemed too human sounding and also since “maru” can mean both round/circle and perfection, “mi” (as in beautiful) kind of fit well. So, Red Perfection and Blue Beauty for a pair of puppies.