Sunshine

The bitter taste of life

I thought it might pass the time and I was right. The months seemed to pass as I flipped through the many pages of books. As I grew to learn more of the world in the shadows. I gained fear; so many thing's lurked in the dark. How had humans even survived?

I helped guard the village whenever Master Ren left on his trips. Trip's I knew would be him hunting some loathsome creature that had stepped from the shadow and was wreaking havoc on humans. He would not take me with him, and I honestly... did not want to go. My hands shook whenever I had to fight those wolves in the forest, keeping them at bay even with the death glares they gave me with their chaotic eyes.

I prayed they never got the chance to claim one of the villagers and that is all that kept me fighting. I still loved Kakashi; I longed for his arrival. I knew who and what he was, but the world he lived in was scary. I wanted to be brave and fight for the humans of the world, but I was afraid.

I trained endlessly and read endlessly. But I was still unable to surpass Master Ren. I was convinced that I was simply human. I closed my eyes. I was sitting on the roof of the barn, smoking from my pipe. It was a terrible choice—one I knew Kakashi would have my head for. But it was the only thing that kept the stress down and kept the wolves in my dreams at bay.

I had asked Master Ren why there were so many wolves in the area. He said that this area was one of the dens; he told me that he would have to hunt down every single werewolf in the surrounding area to wipe it out fully. He said he simply did not have the time. To many wolves, spreading like disease, not enough manpower to kill them all off.

I told him that the wolves seemed to be getting closer and closer. I told him I was worried that someone from the village would get attacked soon. He told me that sometimes they get too close before they back off. I tried to whip it from my mind; he knew more than me anyway.

But still, here I sat, watching even from here as a wolf paced the edge of the dark forest. It wasn't even 6 pm yet. I watched Kito work. It amazed me that in this day and age the fact of the beasts was not more well known.

I blew out smoke, going back to looking at the wolf. My eye's felt hazy as for a moment, I slipped into a memory of Kakashi only to be yanked back out by Kito a second later.

"Mori? Isn't today your birthday? Surely you can take a break at least today." Kito called up to me, finally noticing after hours.

Was it my birthday? Huh. I honestly didn't even remember. Take a day off? Hmm... the wolves didn't seem to be aware it was my birthday. I sighed. I climbed down from the roof and walked over to him. "I'll take a break once Master Ren is back." I said it, smiling at Kito.

He looked down at me and rolled his eyes. "Ya, sure... say... you know...uh...did...you..."His face started turning red and he stumbled over his words.

I looked up at him waiting; maybe he had been in the sun too long. "Kito, you should take a break. I'm going to head home and get something to eat. Don't head near the wood's and finish up before the sunset. I saw a wolf on the edge of the wood's earlier. I'm going to eat, then go hunt it down." I told him as I patted his shoulder and turned to leave.

I glanced over at the wood, seeing the wolf gone before heading home. As I was eating, Master Ren returned home; he looked tired. But he looked the same in his face; he barely aged since the first time I met him. I wonder if that had to do with the bond thing.

We ate together and he raised a brow as I was starting to get ready. The sun would be down soon. I didn't like the looks of that wolf from earlier; the thing seemed a little more there than the others.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

I glanced at him. "There is a wolf that keeps patrolling the border in the woods. I want to hunt it down before it attacks someone."