"Renzo-hime, welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village!"
"Whoa! This place is huge! My village only has people from my clan, but yours has a whole bunch of different people!"
I scanned the crowds of people, looking for nothing in particular. But someone did catch my eye. And I seemed to catch his. The boy had extremely pale skin and a soft, yet rigid face. His eyes were like deep pools of onyx coal, drawing me in to swim in the calm, dark waters. Our eyes locked for what seemed like eternity, but I was snapped back to reality by Lee's voice.
"Do you want to get a better look at the town? There's a really good view from lady Tsunade's head!" he said happily, pointing behind him at the only female face on the mountain.
"Sure. That sounds nice." I said absently, not really listening. When I looked back to find the boy from before, he was gone. And once again Lee snapped me out of my trance, but this time, it was much more physical. Before I had a chance to protest, he had wrapped one arm around my waist and put my own over his neck. In an instant, we were high up in the air, and far from the plaza.
I gasped at the sudden launch and gripped him tighter. He was running at an incredible speed and the momentum of it allowed him to jump even higher than the average ninja. He chuckled when we stopped because I was hiding my face in his chest. He put me down slowly, allowing me to go at my own pace. When I pulled my face away from him, I was struck breathless.
The city was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. The hundreds of buildings and thousands of people looked small from our place on the mountain. There was a wall surrounding it all, and though it was meant to be for protection, it added a dangerous charm to the town. There were miles of forest in every direction outside the wall, and the leaves danced in the breeze.
All my cares were nonexistent there on that mountain top. And even after we had descended and strolled the town, I was still thinking about it. It was nighttime now, and we had just finished eating dinner and a sushi place. "Would you like me to walk you home, Renzo-hime?" Lee was such a gentleman, but after spending a whole day with him, I had decided he wasn't really my type. And I'd seen the movies; a walk home meant a kiss at the door.
"No. I have to get used to walking around on my own, so I won't get lost. But thank you anyway." I smiled lightly at him and opened my arms to give him a hug. He looked dejected, like a puppy that was put outside for rough-housing. I couldn't bear to see him so sad. So, despite my better judgment, I gave him a little kiss on the cheek. He perked up immediately and waved good-bye with renewed vigor when we parted ways outside the restaurant.
I smiled to myself as I walked home, feeling accomplished that I had been able to see practically the whole town on my first day there. Not many people were out, so I figured it must be at least ten or eleven, so I stepped up my pace.
After a while, all the roads looked the same and the people were disappearing. Pretty soon, I was all alone on an unmarked road in what looked like a bad part of town.
"Crap… I have no clue where I am…" I said out loud, hoping that talking to myself would bring comfort, but it didn't. It did, however, draw the attention of a two grizzly looking men who were lazing about the road by the fence. One of the men wolf whistled as I passed. "Hey hey hey… I ain't seen you 'round here baby. You're lookin' a lil' young to be wanderin' the streets this time of night." I laughed nervously, and replied with a shaky voice, "Yeah well, I'm still getting used to the town so I had a little set-back in walking home." It was a bad idea to play nice.
"So you don't know many people in town?" another, better pronounciated man said. But his pronunciation didn't comfort me much, because he looked even more grizzly and hard than the other man. They exchanged a look and stood up slowly. "Haha yeah, I guess it wasn't such a good idea to walk around alone, huh?" I took a step back with every step they took towards me. When my back hit a wall and I turned to find myself in an ally, my heart leapt into my throat. All hope at this point was gone. I could tell by the head-ware that both men were ninjas, so I couldn't fight my way out of this predicament. I closed my eyes and pressed myself as close to the wall as possible. I heard a few grunts and thuds and opened my eyes to see a boy standing with his back to me.
He was dusting himself off and kicked a form on the ground. Only then did I realize that the two men were on the ground, pummeled to a bloody pulp. I looked back at the boy, but now he was facing me. It was the same boy from the plaza! I was still shaken up and I was unable to speak, so I just stared at him.
"Sai."
He was soft-spoken, but held a confidence in his voice.
"What?"
"Sai… my name is Sai."
