Build-up chapter. And short like last time.
Over the last few days, there were more and more sightings of the wolves. There?ve even been a few that were seen in the village down the hill that Shinru?s property was. The wolves, though, seemed to leave the village alone, the more there were, the less the village was attacked. And there haven?t been any attacks large enough that it required anyone more than Shinru.
But there were other matters to attend to; Shinru used most of his time in his study, and the rest of it trying to put out the fire. He was careful not to use any jutsu that connected to any part of him, after Riku told him the entire story, he was being pretty careful not to allow the fire to get to him. With each try he grew more frustrated, but the fire seemed to change in numbers. The first day, there were five, then the next, three, and then seven. There was no kind of pattern, it wasn?t increasing or decreasing, it was just bouncing from one number to the next.
But the wolves... every day we counted the same number of wolves as there was of this fire. It was obvious that the wolves were connected to the fire, so Shinru decided to start luring them towards the fire before he finally defeated them, giving him time to compare both. So far, the only sensible hypothesis was that the fire was calling out to the wolves, and the number of callings was equal to the number of wolves that arrived. Even though that was probably the answer, it still didn?t explain why Riku felt as though each fire had its
own persona.
Riku decided to banish the frustrating thought. The only good part was that the past week allowed his arm to heal, though it was still barely healed enough to carry a sword, which was a little troublesome since he always used his right hand, he needed to practice twice as hard to learn how to fight with both. And the poison was gone about the day it came
due to Shinru and a few medical ninjas down in the village.
Riku rolled out of bed and walked towards the window, watching as Shinru and a few others made more failed attempts to douse the flames. He started walking towards the door, and then looked back at his blade, safely inside of a scabbard. It had been a long time since he used it. Maybe three years, since he fought Tenzu. But besides that, he hadn?t seriously used it besides trying to find some of its abilities against training dummies. He grasped the sword; it felt lighter in his hands for some reason. Deciding that it didn?t matter too much, he went outside, hoping, out of desperation, that it would have some kind of ability that could douse the flames. He picked up his white robe, it was almost a trademark of Shinru?s, so he wore it as well as his apprentice. The robe had the base color of white, but had peculiar black lines on random parts of it. The lines seemed more like someone was trying to calculate a sound waves on a line graph. Shinru told him that the robe had some properties, he didn?t know what exactly, but knowing Shinru, it was likely something simple as the look of it mesmerizing your opponent.
Shrugging the robe onto him, trying to move his injured arm as little as possible, he pushed the door open with his uninjured arm and walked out of his small cabin to find several ninja standing out in the field near the fire, as expected. He squinted to get a better look, the fire seemed a little bigger.
When he arrived to the field, he immediately drew a curious glance from Shinru, or more particularly, his sword gained the glance, ?Why?? Shinru asked simply, apparently too tired to ask anything else.
Following where his tired-looking eyes were, Riku finally figured out what he was asking and answered, ?Just a feeling.?
Shinru looked at him for a moment, as if he thought Riku was going to assassinate someone, and then looked back towards the fire, Riku following his glance once again, noticing the worry in Shinru?s face, ?We?ll find something about it...? he said under his breath, more to himself than to his master.
Shinru turned to face him once more and looked turned his head back slowly, shaking his head as he did it, ?That?s not what I?m worried of too much. But Akatsuki, that?s what worries me. The wolves haven?t attacked for about a week. And I?d be a fool if I didn?t think they were planning something.?
Riku grimaced as he thought of what his sensei was hinting at, Akatsuki had been trying to find them for years. And even if the wolves were there for another reason and coincidentally met them, which he doubted, the shady organization undoubtedly knew by now. And he dreaded even more who he figured they?d send.
Even after all of those years, he still remembered that dark red pair of eyes, under a cowl that would be suitable for death itself. Still, he remembered the seemingly eternal grimace on the man?s face, and still he remembered the grotesque arm.
Still, he remembered Tenzu Uchiha.
He shuddered at the thought of him, and looked back towards the fire, and walked back, wanting to get away from this grim place.
Shinru watched him as he left, feeling sympathetic for the boy. The moment before he left, he saw the smallest hint of mixed emotion in the boy?s face: pain, confusion, even guilt somewhere. In such few years, his main feeling was fear. A child his age shouldn?t have to go through this. He spat at the ground and cursed, apparently directing it to Akatsuki.
He walked towards the captain of the squad of ninja that were there.
?Still nothing?? he asked, with more than a hint of impatience in his voice.
The captain looked at him quickly, stunned for a second, and then relaxed, ?Apparently, it just engulfs... well... everything.? He said with uncertainty.
Shinru grunted and started to walk back towards the armory, with the slight hope that something may be in there that could help. As he walked back, he felt a chill, and suddenly a haze began to fill his mind. He shrugged the thought away as just a simple figure of his overacting imagination.
Rubbing his eyes and pushing grabbing the knob, he pulled his hand away, noticing the door knob to be hotter than usually. Using his shoulder, he pushed in the door, not wanting to spend time thinking about it.
When his vision came back, he saw someone sitting in a chair and leaning over his small table. As his vision came back to him, realization dawned on him.
A black and red cloak, a bulging arm, and glowering red eyes that hungered for power, vengeance, and the like.
He stared with awe at Tenzu Uchiha.
A Dying Hope
Over the last few days, there were more and more sightings of the wolves. There?ve even been a few that were seen in the village down the hill that Shinru?s property was. The wolves, though, seemed to leave the village alone, the more there were, the less the village was attacked. And there haven?t been any attacks large enough that it required anyone more than Shinru.
But there were other matters to attend to; Shinru used most of his time in his study, and the rest of it trying to put out the fire. He was careful not to use any jutsu that connected to any part of him, after Riku told him the entire story, he was being pretty careful not to allow the fire to get to him. With each try he grew more frustrated, but the fire seemed to change in numbers. The first day, there were five, then the next, three, and then seven. There was no kind of pattern, it wasn?t increasing or decreasing, it was just bouncing from one number to the next.
But the wolves... every day we counted the same number of wolves as there was of this fire. It was obvious that the wolves were connected to the fire, so Shinru decided to start luring them towards the fire before he finally defeated them, giving him time to compare both. So far, the only sensible hypothesis was that the fire was calling out to the wolves, and the number of callings was equal to the number of wolves that arrived. Even though that was probably the answer, it still didn?t explain why Riku felt as though each fire had its
own persona.
Riku decided to banish the frustrating thought. The only good part was that the past week allowed his arm to heal, though it was still barely healed enough to carry a sword, which was a little troublesome since he always used his right hand, he needed to practice twice as hard to learn how to fight with both. And the poison was gone about the day it came
due to Shinru and a few medical ninjas down in the village.
Riku rolled out of bed and walked towards the window, watching as Shinru and a few others made more failed attempts to douse the flames. He started walking towards the door, and then looked back at his blade, safely inside of a scabbard. It had been a long time since he used it. Maybe three years, since he fought Tenzu. But besides that, he hadn?t seriously used it besides trying to find some of its abilities against training dummies. He grasped the sword; it felt lighter in his hands for some reason. Deciding that it didn?t matter too much, he went outside, hoping, out of desperation, that it would have some kind of ability that could douse the flames. He picked up his white robe, it was almost a trademark of Shinru?s, so he wore it as well as his apprentice. The robe had the base color of white, but had peculiar black lines on random parts of it. The lines seemed more like someone was trying to calculate a sound waves on a line graph. Shinru told him that the robe had some properties, he didn?t know what exactly, but knowing Shinru, it was likely something simple as the look of it mesmerizing your opponent.
Shrugging the robe onto him, trying to move his injured arm as little as possible, he pushed the door open with his uninjured arm and walked out of his small cabin to find several ninja standing out in the field near the fire, as expected. He squinted to get a better look, the fire seemed a little bigger.
When he arrived to the field, he immediately drew a curious glance from Shinru, or more particularly, his sword gained the glance, ?Why?? Shinru asked simply, apparently too tired to ask anything else.
Following where his tired-looking eyes were, Riku finally figured out what he was asking and answered, ?Just a feeling.?
Shinru looked at him for a moment, as if he thought Riku was going to assassinate someone, and then looked back towards the fire, Riku following his glance once again, noticing the worry in Shinru?s face, ?We?ll find something about it...? he said under his breath, more to himself than to his master.
Shinru turned to face him once more and looked turned his head back slowly, shaking his head as he did it, ?That?s not what I?m worried of too much. But Akatsuki, that?s what worries me. The wolves haven?t attacked for about a week. And I?d be a fool if I didn?t think they were planning something.?
Riku grimaced as he thought of what his sensei was hinting at, Akatsuki had been trying to find them for years. And even if the wolves were there for another reason and coincidentally met them, which he doubted, the shady organization undoubtedly knew by now. And he dreaded even more who he figured they?d send.
Even after all of those years, he still remembered that dark red pair of eyes, under a cowl that would be suitable for death itself. Still, he remembered the seemingly eternal grimace on the man?s face, and still he remembered the grotesque arm.
Still, he remembered Tenzu Uchiha.
He shuddered at the thought of him, and looked back towards the fire, and walked back, wanting to get away from this grim place.
Shinru watched him as he left, feeling sympathetic for the boy. The moment before he left, he saw the smallest hint of mixed emotion in the boy?s face: pain, confusion, even guilt somewhere. In such few years, his main feeling was fear. A child his age shouldn?t have to go through this. He spat at the ground and cursed, apparently directing it to Akatsuki.
He walked towards the captain of the squad of ninja that were there.
?Still nothing?? he asked, with more than a hint of impatience in his voice.
The captain looked at him quickly, stunned for a second, and then relaxed, ?Apparently, it just engulfs... well... everything.? He said with uncertainty.
Shinru grunted and started to walk back towards the armory, with the slight hope that something may be in there that could help. As he walked back, he felt a chill, and suddenly a haze began to fill his mind. He shrugged the thought away as just a simple figure of his overacting imagination.
Rubbing his eyes and pushing grabbing the knob, he pulled his hand away, noticing the door knob to be hotter than usually. Using his shoulder, he pushed in the door, not wanting to spend time thinking about it.
When his vision came back, he saw someone sitting in a chair and leaning over his small table. As his vision came back to him, realization dawned on him.
A black and red cloak, a bulging arm, and glowering red eyes that hungered for power, vengeance, and the like.
He stared with awe at Tenzu Uchiha.
