Traveling Companion
"Hey Naruto, look at these! Aren't they cute?" Sakura held up a pink pig for him to examine.
"It looks like Tsunade-baba's pet, minus the pearls." Naruto wrinkled his nose in distate.
"It's a pillow! Look!" Sakura squeezed the pig in demonstration. "It's soft and squishy, and small enough to carry around on missions." She hugged the pig close.
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto waved her away. "Like I need something cute like that. Those silly things are for girls." Naruto stopped in his tracks. Next to the pile of pink and black pigs was a pile of monkeys and bananas. But just beyond that was a pile of pandas. He walked over slowly, curious about the little black and white pillows and picked one up. It was soft and squishy, just like Sakura had said. Naruto gave it a few tentative squeezes before grinning.
"You like it?" the shopkeeper asked. "We also have one more in red." She rummaged around her boxes and pulled out one more in the same pattern only it was white and red. Naruto let out a big smile. He felt a bit silly, but he simply couldn't pass it up.
"I'll take that one," he said discreetly, passing Sakura a glance to see if she was paying attention. He pulled out his green wallet and pulled out the right amount of coins. As he handed it to the woman, he noted something in her pocket.
"Ne, baa-san, can I borrow your red marker?"
She handed it to him, smiling and he pulled the panda pillow close enough to write something on it.
"Thanks," he smiled and handed it back to her.
He took one look at the red panda, staring up at him with beady little eyes and a red "ai" drawn on the left side of his forehead. He chuckled to himself and stuffed it into his pack to keep it safe.
Living on the road was tough sometimes, but he had a feeling that from now on, it would feel a little less lonely.