Menma and I stayed at the park for a couple of weeks. We would go out into the town only at night to find leftover scraps. It wasn't much but at least we weren't as hungry. Anytime any kids came by we would always hide and watch them. We would sometimes mimic them after the sun began to sink. They would jump and play and laugh and sing. They seemed to always have so much joy. Is that how it was to be normal? To be human? No care in the world? A part of me admired their carefreeness and smiles. Another part of me hated them to their core. Why couldn't I have that life? And if not me, why not Menma? Why did we have to suffer in the dark because of what we were born to be.

I never knew I was a danger until my mother told me to not go towards town. I would bug her asking why, and finally she told me that people are afraid of what they don't understand. That sounded bogus to me. I could make them see me for something else. I can show them I am not scary. I get the urge to go play with them to show them I am actually not bad. But then the thoughts of me being a wolf and possibly killing people would come across my mind. Maybe I am scary. Maybe I am bad. And maybe I don't belong with the humans at all. No one would see me for me but only as a monster. I had killed someone, or maybe even multiple people, no wonder why they are scared of me.

But they killed my parents! If they were still alive they could've helped me on the full moon… I just need help… I am not so bad.

I always stayed up all night thinking about these ideas. My thoughts contradicting each other at every turn. My mind was against me. It was not fair. I hate those kids, I hate humans. They can live together in peace as if nothing is wrong. They don't have to live with constant fear.

Its not fair its not fair!

"Freak!"

I was brought out of my train of thoughts. Looking for who said such cruel words and to whom. Did they see me?

I looked down to see three boys with a pink ball laughing at a small girl with dark blue hair. She was weeping softly, I could only tell because of the soft whimper she gave off. They were pointing and making fun of her.

'That's mean' menma said watching next to me.

I grit my teeth, what did that girl even do to them?

"Loook at her ghostly eyes! Eww"

"Are you a ghost or something, Oh no don't haunt us ! Hahaha!"

Despicable.

These boys were making fun of the little girl for something she couldn't control! It wasn't her fault she was born that way. It angered me to see this. Finally having enough I rushed forward and jumped down in between the girl and punks.

'Naruto ! What are you doing!'

I ignored Menma and looked at the three boys.

"you better leave her alone! It's not her fault she has ghost like eyes. She was born that way! I bet if you actually got to know her you would find out that she actually isn't a bad person! O-or that she's really nice and sweet! But you don't care all you care about is how someone looks, you are the ones that are scared! It's pathetic!"

The boys gave Naruto a disgusted look.

"ew he reeks!" The slender boy said

"Yeah gross he must be this freaks friend!" the chunky punk added

"Look at his clothes haha, he's filthy!" A short boy with glasses said.

The boys laughed some more pointing at them as if to humiliate them further.

"We will keep this ball ghost girl, ours flat." The slender one said.

They began to turn and walk away, "Hey you wait right there!" I yelled. I felt a small pull on my shirt, "D-d-don't w-worry a-a-bout it" She stuttered with every word letting out a soft sob.

"No!" I yelled my fist balled up.

"Yeah? And what are you going to do about it?"

Less than five minutes later the boys were running home with barely a scratch on them. I had gone easy on them and just scared them enough to get the girls ball back. The ball was left in the grass and I went to pick it up.

"here" I said handing the ball to the little girl. She gave me a soft smile. She had short hair and a purple short sleeve shirt. She had on black shorts that reached her knees. I nodded my head in acknowledgement and turned around to walk away.

"W-wait" She nearly whispered.

"What?"

"W-w…uh"

"What? I don't have all day" I said getting a bit annoyed.

She put her lips in a thin line, it looked as though she was going to burst. She pushed the ball out and bowed her head. Not saying anything.

"You want me to play with you?"

She looked up excited and nodded her head. She was very pretty and I didn't want to tell her no but it was best if Menma and I stayed away.

"I-

"OF COURSE!" Menma jumped down by my side startling the girl making her yelp and fall backwards.

"MENMA!"

"We would love to play with you!" He said again smiling from ear to ear. He had always wanted to play with the kids but I knew it would be bad if we tried to interact with them.

'WE? You baka we aren't supposed to be talking to them!'

Hinata got up excited," T-thank you!" She said smiling. Her smile was warm and Menma was excited, who was I to destroy such joy. I sighed

"Alright."

"H-Hinata" She said nervously

"Naruto. And this here is my brother Menma."

She blinked between the both of us as if seeing doubles, " A-Are you guys twins?" She said cocking her head to the side.

Menma burst out laughing, "How could you have guessed it?" he said smooshing his face to mine. "Get off me baka!" I playfully elbowed him in his rib, "OW!" he said elbowing me back.

Hinata began to giggle watching us scramble amongst ourselves like the siblings we were.

Hinata, Menma, and I played catch and soccer for who knows how long. To be honest it was the most fun I ever had in a while.

"OVER HERE!" I laughed

Hinata passed me the ball and I bounced it off my head which Menma in return bounced it off his chest. It was exciting playing together but the fun was soon over when we saw the sun setting. I felt an empty sadness because I knew it would be time for Hinata to leave soon. She saw this and hugged both Menma and I, "T-thank you for playing with m-me" She said sweetly. She ran with her ball waving at us. We waved slowly back and watched as she disappeared down the stairs.

'T-that was a lot of fun!'

'Yeah, but don't get used to it…'

'Why?'

Menma and I walked to the dome we called home.

I shrugged,' we might not be able to trust her… what if she tells someone about us?'

'oh.. ' menma said sadly.

'And she might not come back..'


To our surprise the very next day Hinata was back. And the day after that, and the day after that.

We all became friends rather quickly. She even taught us new games to play, and we taught her some of our old games. Everything felt right with her. And everything felt okay. Seeing her smile warmed my heart, and made my cheeks turn red. I didn't understand it but I accepted the feelings she made me feel.

"Start again."

We sat together on a bench eating cinnamon buns that her mother had made.

"M-my..N-name… Is.. Hinata"

"Again" I said taking a bite of the cinnamon bun.

"You almost got it Hinata!" Menma said encouragingly.

"My.. Name..i-is..aw" She pouted.

I laughed at her cute pout, and patted her head, "Practice makes perfect…in your case…. A lot of practice." I teased. She squinted her eyes at me, "What's that over there?" She said perfectly, "Where?" I questioned looking where she pointed.

"TAG! Y-your i-it!" She yelled running away with Menma high fiving each other.

'you fell for the oldest trick in the book!' he yelled in my head hiding somewhere.

I jumped up with a grin on my face.

"IM GOING TO CATCH YOU GUYS! BELIEVE IT!"

When the sun went down we always felt that sadness when Hinata would leave. But this time was different, a woman had approached us. She had long beautiful dark blue hair and white eyes like Hinata. She had an elegant purple kimono on and walked with grace.

"M-Mom, What a-are you doing h-here?" Hinata asked out of breath.

"Hello sweetie, your father had said it was dangerous to be out alone." Hinata's mother smiled at her and then looked at Menma and I.

"Oh my!"

Menma and I looked down in shame. She must have been shocked by our dirty appearance.

"Where do you boys live?" She questioned getting down on her knees.

'Don't say anything.' I said to Menma in my head

"We live at the orphanage."

She glanced at the dirt on us and the leaves and twigs that stuck out of our hair in some areas. She looked at the park to see some trash lying around as if someone was living there. She sighed.

"These are your new friends that you found? That protected you?" She looked at Hinata and she nodded her head. She stared at us for a long time with soft eyes.

"Come." She finally said getting up. Hinata followed her holding her hand. She turned to see we weren't following. "You guys too."

"WHAT!?" Menma questioned

We both had dumb looks on our faces.

She smiled brightly with her eyes closed. We ran after them close behind.

'D-do you think this is a good idea?' Menma asked cautiously

'I don't know yet. 'We followed nervously behind.

'Hey….have you noticed that their eyes… look familiar.'

'I have.' I said darkly.

They looked like the man that we had seen the other night and that made me all the more nervous to trust them. But for some reason I felt no malicious intent coming from either of them. Just.. warmth. I've never felt such kindness. Why was it so easy to trust them? I hope I didn't get Menma and I caught.

After a while of walking we arrived at what looked like a café.

"L-lioness Café?" Menma pronounced the words on the window. It was dark in the café but the woman flipped the light on to reveal a cozy café. Smell of coffee permanently lingered in the air. She nodded and went to the back to get something. Hinata excitedly sat down and gestured us to sit too. We awkwardly sat down at the table.

"Here." The woman came back with a plate full of cinnamon buns and muffins.

Menma dove in devouring the food.

"Menma!" I chided him

The woman only giggled and Hinata too.

"I-I'm sorry Mrs. Hinata's Mother." I said embarrassed.

"S-srry!" Menma said with his mouth full, food spitting out.

'WHERE ARE YOUR MANNERS!'

'ITS SO GOOD'

"It's okay boys. And please, Akemi is fine." She said headed towards some stairs in the back. "Hinata when you guys are done come upstairs, I'm going to make a phone call."

Hinata nodded.

"Is this where you guys live?" I said, hearing the sound of water running upstairs.

"Mhm" Hinata said eating.

"Wow, it's nice here." Menma said in awe. Of course anything was better than our "home".

After finishing the food, we went upstairs, Akemi had a bath ready for us, and some fresh clothes. The bath was nice and warm. I didn't want to leave it. But the dirty water made me a bit disgusted. I got out putting on the fresh new clothes. I felt… clean.

We brushed our teeth and headed to bed. Menma and I shared the guest room.

Everything felt as though it wasn't real. It was all too good to be true. Who was this woman? Why was she helping us so much? Was she going to turn us in? Was she related to that man? I wanted to run away from them but having clean water, food, someone who showers me in kindness and a nice comfy bed was seducing me. I felt tears in my eyes.

"Goodnight boys." Akemi said turning the lights off.

Menma had already fell fast asleep with a grin on his face. He was bundled up in all the blankets. It was truly nice but they would have to leave in the morning. That phone call could have been to someone dangerous. They were just in a trap. I held the covers tightly, but it was nice. It was so nice. I was too afraid to sleep but I heard Akemi and Hinata snoring softly in their rooms. Could I just.. allow myself to sleep…My eyes closed and I drifted to sleep.


"Naruto, Menma. I'd like to introduce you to Karura."

Menma and I stood side by side staring at this new woman with short brown hair.

'She's a..'

'wolf'

Our eyes popped out of our heads. We looked at Akemi in shock.

Karura smiled at us, "Yes, what you are assuming is true, I am a wolf. I am going to take care of you guys. But keep in mind not everyone knows about us okay? And there are still dangers out there so you have to be careful. You will live with me and my children and I will help you control your instincts."

I blocked menma from them, "How do we know we can trust you?"

"Because my son is just like you."

A red-haired boy with black circles around his eyes appeared behind her. He was clutching to his mother's skirt. He was a wolf too!

"W-would we still be able to see Hinata?" I asked worriedly

Akemi smiled, "Of course."

Hinata came rushing downstairs in her pjs , awoken by the comotion,"Hey G-garaa and Karura!" She said bowing.

"Sorry Hinata we are here for just a quick visit this time." Karura said sadly.

"W-Why?"

"Sweetie, Naruto and Menma are going to live with Karura." Akemi got down to hug her daughter.

Hinata looked sadly at us.

"B-But I wanted them to live with u-us." She whispered looking at her feet.

"It's okay Hinata! Im sure we can visit each other!" Menma said nervously not really sure of our new situation.

I looked at Karura for insurance, and she nodded. "We will come visit and you can come visit us, we aren't that far away missy."

Hinata smiled, "O-Okay!" She came up to us and hugged us. "Stay right here." She left and came back quickly with her ball.

"here, when I come over we can play together again" She said barely stuttering. She smiled sadly knowing she was going to miss seeing us every day.

"Yeah.."Menma said excitedly

"believe it !' We said together, including Hinata. We all laughed and said our goodbyes.

I didn't want to leave Hinata, but if this woman was going to help us then so be it. That sad empty feeling was still there despite my thoughts however.

Akemi is not Hinata's mother name in the manga, It actually never went into great detail about her mom. So it is a made up name but she is still kind like described. That's why she helped Naruto and Menma despite realizing that they were wolves.

Akemi also does not live with Hiashi, you will see a bit more late. But ican tell you here to. She has moved to her cafe away from Hiashi. She never saw eye to eye with Hiashi but she still loves him dearly. She just doesnt like his ideals and you will see why she didnt. She also didnt want Hinata involved in it as well. But they do not live far from each other her father still visits her and what not.

Anyways thanks for reading dont forget to leave a review. Did you notice somethings similar to other chapters?