Murakumo Birthday 1

Tucked away in the mountains, Murakumo and her foster-sisters hid away with Kurokage in a cabin. Two new additions had joined the family, Shiki and Minori and their bickering threatened to ruin Kumo's birthday. The thing Murakumo wanted most for her big day was to find her ninja animal. That wasn't a gift anyone could grant her however, she'd have to earn it herself. It was the next big step on the path of the shinobi and she couldn't wait to reach it. She knew everyone would be proud, even her parents would have been happy for her. Unfortunately her birthday had come and still no sign of her reaching that next milestone.

 Due to their remote location there wouldn't be any parties or guests it would just be Kumo and her new family. Yumi and Yozakura were busy cooking and everyone else was free to go outside and play until it was ready. The new girls were too young and rowdy for Murakumo so she snatched up her sketchbook and pencil, pocketed away the little snack Yozakura had made and headed uphill. Murakumo loved to draw, her sketchbook only had a few pages left and she asked for a new one for her birthday otherwise she'd have to start erasing her previous works. Murakumo figured that if she could draw her animal then maybe it would come to her. She sat herself atop of a hill as a vantage point and scanned her environment. Her animal would have to be here somewhere.

It wasn't any of the insects that lived among the grass or the ravens that viciously cawed at each other to maintain their little territory. None of the other birds caught Murakumo's eye either. She was ready to give up and go back to drawing something out of those old sci-fi serials Kurokage showed her when she caught something dart through the trees. It looked like a wolf but with markings Murakumo had never seen before. Rather than call for help or retreat, Murakumo instinctively followed. It got darker as she ventured into the trees, she crept forward until she found a clearing.

Murakumo could here whimpers and pants from behind a fallen log and when she looked closer there was three wagging tails flicking up from behind. 'H-Hello?' Murakumo called out and three small heads peaked up. They looked like puppies, just old enough to venture out on their own but not old enough to be full grown. Two of them had white fur the other black and each had peculiar markings just under the eyes and their ears were perked up. Murakumo put her voice up in a baby talk 'It's okay. I won't hurt you.' None of them moved from their spot.

'Maybe this will help?' Murakumo took out the food Yoza had made and broke it up on the ground in front of her. She could see them sniffing at it and one of the white ones scampered over to investigate. As soon as it started chowing down the other two raced over. Murakumo could now see that one of them was much larger than the others and it made its presence known by pushing its brethren aside to take the lion's share of the food for itself. The small white one lapped at Kumo's cheek, clearly hungry for more of Yoza's cooking while the black one nervously darted back and forth playfully.

She sat there and played with the two smaller ones, while the largest sat there uncooperative to any of Murakumo's calls. The small white one seemed to enjoy being pampered and scratched behind the ear while the black one liked to chase sticks that Murakumo threw for it. Murakumo lost track of time while she played with the wolf cubs and didn't realise how long she'd been there until the skies darkened. If she didn't get home soon either Kurokage or the wolves parents would be furious with Murakumo.

Murakumo waved goodbye and gave the wolf cubs one last pat on the head, even the larger one. As she turned away, the cubs whimpered and yelped. 'You can't come with me.' Murakumo pleaded 'You have to go home to your family.' The small white one pulled at Murakumo's sleeves as if to beg her to stay. It unnerved Murakumo and she'd wondered just what she'd gotten herself into. 'I can't stay here either! We both have homes to go back to!' Murakumo kept walking and the little wolves followed, whimpering and calling out to her all the way. The followed her out of the tree line and down the hill.

Halfway towards the cabin Murakumo knew she had a problem 'I mean it you guys! You have to go home!' The wolves sat and stared at her with wagged tails. Each of them begged with puppy eyes. Murakumo pouted 'Really I want to keep playing with you but I can't take you home!' The two smaller cubs ran ahead of Murakumo and yapped for her to follow. 'Guys please!' The larger cub snuck up behind Murakumo and jumped from behind to push her towards home. 'Hey!' Murakumo grumbled 'Well fine, but don't blame me when we get in trouble!'

The smaller cubs danced around Murakumo's feet all the way home and the larger one lingered several paces behind. When they arrived at the cabin, Murakumo's sisters stood there with mouths agape and Yumi called for Kurokage. Minori was the first to be brave enough to step forward and touch them and she marvelled at their soft fur and wet noses. Shiki went next and brushed them with the back of her hand to not get dirty or ruin her nails and ended up being kissed on the cheek by the two smalled ones. When Kurokage came to investigate Yumi stood with him. Murokumo shyly bowed her head to him 'They kind of just followed me home. I know you don't want us having pets but I couldn't send them back.'

'You wanted to meet your ninja animal didn't you?' Kurokage chuckled 'Looks like you found your kindred spirits.' Murakumo smiled bashfully, she'd gotten the one gift she wanted most in time for her birthday and later a new sketchbook to give her everything she had wanted. Each of the girls congratulated Murakumo, especially Shiki who was glad Murky had gotten something that wasn't gross; like spiders. Yumi reluctantly let that comment slide. The family had three new members and guests for Murakumo's birthday. They'd soon become favourites in the household.