It was a quiet and cool evening in the Village edge of Shippuugakure. The "Forest" Was silent besides the constant whispering of the great winds that Shippuugakure was known for. In the sturdy guard tower, Chihiro watched out the window at the almost leave-less limbs of the great trees that grew there. Mother was curled up by her feet, napping peacefully. The mission of Guard duty was to be done by every member of the Village, and it was simply their turn.

Chihiro didn't mind night missions, in fact, she loved them. The partners would often sleep through the mornings into the afternoon. Their heightened senses made weaving through the blackness of night fall a breeze. Chihiro stayed silent, just enjoying the visions of nature.

Hours seemed to drag. Guard duty was Chihiro's least favorite task. Nothing usually happened. On her most exciting evening she came across some kids trying to scare each other in the woods with ghost stories. All she had to do was take them back to their mothers, and by the looks on those boys' faces, that would be plenty.

Just as Chihiro's mind wondered with the past, there was an odd stir in the distance. She slightly gasped and her body tensed. Her eyes focused and her increased hearing abilities were doing work. Mother too noticed something was off, and produced a low growl.

Chihiro's eyes scanned the trees carefully. She locked on a strange figure. She lifted the top hatch and jumped up on top of the watch tower in an instant. Someone with more patience would have known to move in a more smooth cautiousness way, as to not alert the enemy that they had been spotted, but Chihiro was rash. As it did so many other times, her ways bit her on the butt.

She slightly gasped as the figure was no longer where she had last spotted it. Her eyes widened. Luckily, Mother was taking the needed wares and still had the dark figure in sight. She growled, with her muzzle pointed at the foe, now more to the left, and closer to the duo. From Mother's pointing, Chihiro had re located this unknown person.

Mother went out the bottom door of the tower. Mother would aim low while chihiro aimed high. Without contact between them, both Chihiro and Mother knew. They both launched forward into the trees. Mother kept to the branches slightly lower than this figure, while Chihiro was slightly above. Both of them were showing teeth aggressively. Chihiro had not yet activated her beast mimicry.

The figure did not retreat, which slightly worried Chihiro. The night was now not insipid, but now a hundred things buzzed through her head. What were the intentions of this night guest?

A whirling sound erupted from the darkness of the figure. Shuriken! Thought Chihiro. She shot to the side, closer to the trunk of the tree she was jumping on. The end of the branch where the shuriken had shot through was torn to shreds.

Before Chihiro had time to worry, Mother launched Passing Fang. The wolf did not take kindly to those who threatened her Chihiro.

Spoiler:

The wolf destroyed small tree limbs on its way to the attacking figure. She managed to land the attack and take the figure with her to the ground. Chihiro watched the small white twister dance through the trees and smash into the threatening person. As contact was made dust flew through the air, but it could still be made out that the wolf and person were still falling lower to the ground.

Chihiro quickly leaped down to the commotion. She saw the great white wolf growling down at the pinned prey. Her fangs barred, and her claws were dug into the clothes of the unknown party member.

The figure wore a mask, covering the person's face. Chihiro crossed the grass and removed it. Under it was a man of about 20 years of age. he looked dazed and his eyes were sunken in. His bones were very prominent and he had little fight in him. The man was starving. Probably a rogue ninja who had a bad name in some distant land.

Chihiro's eyes softened. Mother felt the energy around Chihiro soften and backed off the man's chest. Dawn would be coming soon and Chihiro had to act fast.

The wolf carried the man to the boarders, and Chihiro followed with a large bag of food and a full canteen of water. She had already let him drink all of hers. For now, the man was resting. She laid him on a pile of leaves and set the supplies beside him. At their current location he was no longer trespassing. Chihiro could be quite compassionate for life, as she was right now. She sat beside him and bandaged his cuts and bruises from the assault from her faithful companion.

Chihiro trotted away from the rising sun, back towards the watch tower in silence. The climbed the latter up, and Chihiro picked up their things and finally took a look at the Report log. Mother sat and tilted her head with a light whine. Chihiro looked at the wolf and held a faint smile.

her eyes drifted back to the paper. In it she wrote: Nothing of significance to report. "C'mon, Mother. She said softly as the shut the log book, and placed it in her bag. This wasn't really a lie. As of current the village was not in danger and the situation was handled as far as Chihiro could tell.

First Mother hopped out of the tower, and then Chihiro onto her back. They watched as next shift slowly walked up and relieved them of duty. Chihiro handed over the log book with a soft nod. The duo slowly entered the village headed for home. After such an event they were ready for some well deserved rest. The wolf yawned, and chihiro followed suit. the human's head hung forward, and wolf's trot was slow. The rest of the world was just coming to life and all they wanted to do was sleep. Even in this state the girl wondered if what she did was right.