Chapter 4:

"That was so much fun," Himawari said as they walked. "I'd love to do it again."

"Yeah, but I thought you had to go home to another place after tonight," said Koeda.

"Yeah…" Himawari sighed sadly. "Too bad."

"We never get to play with humans. And you were so much fun. I can only imagine what it would be like to play with a bunch of others. Showing off our fox fire and other tricks."

"I bet they'd love it. I'm sure the kids in my village would. I thought it was pretty cool."

"It was nice of you to explain what ninja were to my friends. After you already explained it to me."

"It was fine. I had fun." Himawari looked around at the trees. "Didn't you say the human who came here a long time ago was a ninja, too?"

"Uh-huh. He was friends with the leader and the other elders."

"I wonder who it was…"

"Can't you tell from the head band stuff?" Koeda asked. "You said it's the mark of your village." He looked away. "But I guess you can't tell that yet, because you don't have a headband thing. You said you haven't earned it yet."

"But I know what the symbol is." Himawari picked up a stick. "I can draw it for you."

She took the end of the stick and started to draw in the dirt. She made a little line and turned the stick so it went away from the line and around and drew a little swirl in the center and attached a triangle to it, finishing her work. When she was done, it looked like a leaf.

"There. That's the symbol."

Koeda sniffed the dirt. "That's the mark of your village?"

"Yup. The mark of the Leaf Village."

Koeda looked up. "The ninja who befriended the elders came from the Leaf Village."

"They did?" Himawari said excitedly. "Oh, wow, maybe I know them. Who was it? Do you remember their name?"

"Yeah," said Koeda. "His name was Naruto."

Himawari gasped. "Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Yeah."

"That's my dad's name!" she almost screamed. "My daddy's the one who came here and became their friends! It's my daddy!"

"Your father was the ninja who came here? You're Naruto's child?" Koeda exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Himawari jumped up and down. "Yeah! Your family met my daddy! He knows you guys! They're friends!"

"That's amazing!" Koeda's smile was wide and his eyes were huge. "Oh, wow! That's incredible! And to think I actually met his child. Both generations have met each other."

"So cool!"

They celebrated this discovery by running around in circles and jumping.

When they had both calmed down, everything had sunken in.

"My daddy knows you guys…" Himawari crouched on the ground, resting her tired body. "Wow."

"It's not just a story anymore," said Koeda. "The fabled Naruto is not just a story anymore. I met his child. You're his pup. Which makes everything real."

Koeda recited the tales one after another for Himawari to hear. Everything from him coming to this land long ago and befriending the kitsune. Helping them stop a powerful enemy and saving the prince who had since become king. Him arriving a second time to help them drive out a new threat and how they in turn helped him save his homeland. How both sides helped each other. How Naruto was the one who helped inspire their leader to become the leader when he was so reluctant.

Himawari smiled when he was through. "My daddy's amazing…" She knew there was a reason why he became Hokage. He was strong in his younger years and he was strong now. He had done so much. She was proud to be his daughter.

"I'd love to see that village with my own eyes," said Koeda. "I heard from the elders that a couple of them have been there before. The leader was one of them. They had both seen the Leaf Village. And Naruto is still there?"

"Yeah. He's the village leader. We call the leader the Hokage. That's my dad."

"Wow. So both our leaders were good friends and still are to this day. That is so cool."

"It really is."

Koeda sighed. "I'm jealous. The elders speak of Naruto so highly but I've never seen him. And some of them have even been to the Leaf Village and none of us have. I'm a little disappointed."

Koeda sighed again.

"I would love to see it with my own eyes. To see him."

Himawari turned her head and saw the look of longing on Koeda's face. She could tell that it was very important for him to see the Leaf Village.

It was his dream.

Without him having to say it out loud, she knew what he was thinking. She knew he thought it was impossible, because kitsune could not enter a human town.

However, Naruto had come into the forest and met with the kitsune. The kitsune even left the mountain to travel all the way to the Leaf Village. They even visited the king who did not stray from his palace. Therefore, there were ways in which a kitsune could enter a human town. Apparently, the rules weren't set in stone. The adults must have simply told the young kitsune not to for the sole reason of keeping them safe. The adults were simply being worried parents.

And the Leaf Village wasn't the human town they were forbidden to enter.

Himawari swiveled around to face Koeda. "Want to come home with me?" she asked him.

Koeda looked up. "Huh?"

"Would you like to come to the Leaf Village with me? I can take you there."

He looked excited. "You can? You will?"

"Well, your rules say that you can't enter this human town. So that means you can enter a different one. And my place isn't a human town. It's a ninja village."

Koeda's eyes lit up. "You're right! There's no rules against that."

Himawari nodded with a big smile on her face. "Exactly. If you really want to see it, I can bring you home with me and show you the Leaf Village."

Koeda nodded up and down. "Yeah, yeah!" He jumped. "Let's make plans. Right away. I really want to do this."

"Great."

Himawari and Koeda set to work arranging plans for him to come home with her.

If kitsune were not allowed into the human town, then she had to sneak him out in some clever way. She would either have to return to the forest and smuggle him in her bag, or she would have to meet him in the forest just outside the town. The forest did loop around the town. She could meet him by the side of the road. Near the wooden sign they passed, perhaps.

But what about her brother? Would he let her take a fox home with them? He might protest. He might even try to force her to leave him behind.

She had to keep it a secret from him.

She also couldn't do anything until tomorrow when they left for home. If she brought Koeda with her now, he would technically be in the town. Since Himawari and Boruto were going to spend the night in the palace, Koeda was at high risk of being discovered since she would have to bring him inside.

That settled it. They would meet up tomorrow morning and she would sneak him home with her. No one would be the wiser.

Himawari parted ways with Koeda and hurried back to the palace. She was so excited she could hardly keep the smile off her face. It all seemed like a clever plan.

She ran up the steps of the palace and pulled the large door open. The doors were open before. Now that she had to pull them open herself, she discovered how difficult it was. They were quite heavy. She pulled the door open just enough to squeeze inside and closed it. She walked across the carpeted foyer, up the stairs and to the second level.

The palace was so lively before. Now everything was quiet. She wondered how long she had been gone.

As she entered the ballroom, she shut her eyes tight. After being in the dark forest, the lights of the ballroom were blinding. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at the floor until they adjusted.

Once they had, she looked around the ballroom and noticed that the only people left were the servants. They were clearing off the tables and sweeping the floors. As for the rest of the room, it seemed that they were going to wait until morning to take down all the decorations. The leftover food and mess on the floor was their primary objective for now.

The band and everyone else had left. Himawari did not notice this when she had exited the forest at the edge of the town. The houses were all dark and quiet, just as they had been when she first left the palace to explore. The townspeople attending the party and being in bed were no different so she never noticed if they were there or not.

She was in the forest anyway, far from the town, so even if they were walking home from the party, she would have never seen or heard them.

Himawari looked around for her brother. He couldn't have left without her. He wasn't in the ballroom, so where was he?

She stepped out into the hallway and decided to go to the room the king provided for them. Boruto might have been there. If he wasn't she had no idea where to look.

"Himawari!"

Halfway down the hall, she was stopped by a voice. Before she could turn fully to face them, she felt two arms around her shoulders.

"There you are!" said her brother in an exasperated tone of voice. "I've been looking everywhere for you. When all the guests started to go home, I went back into the ballroom but you weren't there. I've been up and down this stupid palace searching for you."

"Oh. Sorry." She didn't think Boruto would notice she was gone, he was too busy pouting. She was so fixated on the kitsune, she hadn't given it much thought anyway. "I'm sorry, Boruto."

Boruto stepped back, looking Himawari up and down. "What happened to you? Look at your dress. And your shoes."

"Huh?"

She looked down and saw that her shoes were covered in mud and blades of grass. Her stockings had a small hole in them and the hem of her dress was dirty. So were her hands and arms.

She tried to keep herself clean, but running around in a forest with animals in the middle of the night made that almost impossible.

"What happened?" Boruto asked again.

"I… I went for a walk in the woods." She did. "I lost track of time." And she did.

She told Boruto the truth. She just left out the part about the kitsune.

Boruto sighed. "You brought a change of clothes, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. I guess it's not all that bad."

Boruto looked down, thinking. He figured Himawari got upset at their father as well and took a walk outside to cool down while he stayed in the corner. Part of him was angry at their father for making her feel this way. Another part was upset at himself for not noticing how she felt and comforting her. Instead, he left her alone.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "Come on. Let's go to bed. We have a long walk ahead of us in the morning."

"Ok." She followed Boruto to their room, keeping quiet about her adventures. No matter how much she wanted to tell him, she had to keep it a secret. Otherwise, it would ruin the surprise.

Himawari hardly slept that night. She was too excited for morning to come.

She wondered how her father would react, meeting one of the kitsune children. She wondered if he would tell the kitsune all about his adventures. She wondered if he would show the kitsune around as they had done for her.

The next morning, she and her brother were treated to a delicious breakfast with the king and queen and their son. According to Boruto, he and Prince Hoshi talked for a little bit at the party after the clone popped. He didn't go into detail about it.

"Would you two like a cart for your journey?" asked the king. "It's a long walk for just the two of you. I can arrange transportation for you."

"We can walk," insisted Boruto.

"What about your sister?" he asked. "I'm sure a ninja can make the journey no problem, but what about her?"

Boruto hadn't thought of that. He assumed she could keep up with him, but he had to remember that she wasn't a ninja yet. He was far more advanced. On the way here, she hitched a ride on her father's clone for part of the way. They even rode in a wagon on the way to this town.

He had to be considerate of her limitations.

"I guess a ride would be ok for part of it. Not too long, though."

"I understand. I'll arrange everything for you."

Himawari sneaked some food off the table and into her pocket for Koeda. She imaged he would get hungry on their journey.

When it was time for them to leave, the royal family came to see them off. They all lined up by the front door to say good-bye. There was a carriage waiting for them just outside the palace gate.

This made going into the forest to retrieve Koeda more difficult. Himawari had to come up with some way to get outside without arousing suspicion.

Rather than come up with a complicated excuse, she simply said, "I'll be right back," and went outside.

No one stopped her as she went out the door. Not even the coachman tending to his horses.

She entered the forest and returned to their meeting spot. It looked different in the light, but this was the place.

"Psst!" she called softly. "Koeda. I'm here."

She returned as promised, but she couldn't see him.

Had the adults discovered what they were up to and stopped him? Could kitsune ground their kids like humans did?

Then she heard a familiar rustling sound. Koeda emerged and greeted her with a smile.

"You came."

"I did." Himawari lowered her bag to the ground and opened it. "Hurry, get in."

Now she was thankful she hadn't brought too many things with her for the trip. Only her clothes and hairbrush. Boruto packed everything else. She moved some things aside and she put her shoes in Boruto's bag without him knowing. Because of this, Koeda was just able to fit inside.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yeah." Koeda poked his nose out of the bag. "I'll stay quiet and hidden. Just like we discussed." He stuck his nose back inside the bag.

Himawari zipped most of it shut. She kept it open slightly so Koeda could breathe. With Koeda inside, her bag felt heavier. She estimated he weighed at least a dozen pounds. It wasn't unbearable, but she wouldn't have been able to carry him all the way by herself. Now she was thankful they got a coach to take them part of the way.

She put the bag on her back and hurried out of the forest. On her way out, she picked some flowers growing around a tree.

Boruto stood on the front step, looking around. When he saw his sister running past the gate towards them, he called out to her.

"Where were you?"

She held up the flowers in her hand. She ran up the stairs and handed the flowers over to the royal family. "These are for you." She bowed. "Thank you very much for having us. We had a great time. And thanks for letting us spend the night. And thanks for the carriage ride."

The king and queen chuckled, finding her quite adorable. "You're very welcome."

She waved to them as she went out the door. "Bye. Thanks again."

Boruto watched her raced past him and into the carriage. He made sure that's where she was before he looked away to say his good-byes.

"Thanks for everything. Bye!" He jumped down the stairs and ran to the carriage. He tossed his bag on the floor of the carriage and sat next to his sister.

The royal family waved to them from the front step and the carriage took off. Himawari and Boruto waved one last time then sat back and enjoyed the ride.

Boruto looked out the window at the townspeople looking and waving. He felt like a celebrity. "This is pretty cool, isn't it? Like we're V.I.P. or something. It's cool."

He looked and noticed that Himawari was keeping her bag in the seat next to her.

"Hey, why don't you put that thing on the floor next time mine? Here." Boruto grabbed the strap and started to lift the bag off the seat.

"No!" Himawari put both hands on the bag, keeping it in place. "I want it here."

"Why?"

"I don't want it to get dirty," she claimed.

In truth, she didn't want Boruto to toss the bag concealing Koeda on the ground as roughly as he had to his own bag. She didn't want Koeda to get hurt. Besides, Boruto had a habit of putting his feet on the bags and she didn't want him accidentally kicking or discovering Koeda.

Boruto took his hand off the bag. "Whatever. But your dress and shoes are already in the bag and they're all muddy. What difference would it make?"

"I want it here next to me."

"Ok, fine." Boruto looked back out the window.

The carriage ride was very nice. Both siblings enjoyed themselves. Even though Boruto complained several times about how he could run faster than the pace they were currently going. But even he admitted it was better than walking and it was faster. Not as fast as running, but he already made that quite clear.

The carriage stopped a little more than halfway to the Leaf Village in front of a rest stop for travelers. The coachman climbed down to visit the little shop for some lunch. Boruto got out of the carriage and told his sister to follow. When the coachman returned, Boruto said that they were going to continue on their own.

Himawari pulled the bag onto her back and stood beside her brother as the coach turned around and returned to the town.

"Come on," Boruto told her.

They ate their snacks along the way. Boruto led the way. Himawari tucked the scraps of food from her pocket into her bag for Koeda to eat. He was being so quiet she wasn't sure if he was awake or not. She made sure he had enough air and followed her brother.

It was a long walk, but they managed with little issue. Most of the journey was spent with minimal conversation. Every now and then, Boruto would complain about something. Like the carriage ride and how the royal family was lacking in technology. The prince had never played video games, something that shocked Boruto. He told Hoshi all about it and said if he had known, he would have bought it for his birthday instead.

"Hoshi said it wouldn't have made a difference," said Boruto. "He said that his father wouldn't allow it. It would distract him from his studies or something like that. But what does a prince have to do anyway? What's there to study? You just sit on a throne and tell people what to do. Royalty doesn't have to do any work. That's what servants are for. I don't get it."

"They still have to take care of people in town and stuff," said Himawari.

"Like how? The people can take care of themselves. I just don't see the point of royalty. What do they do?"

"I bet if you were a prince, you'd get to see what it's like and find out for yourself."

Boruto grumbled.

As they were walking, something came out of the woods and stood in their path. It was a wild boar.

"Aw, crap," growled Boruto. "Not one of these again. Himawari stay behind me."

Himawari stood where she was and watched.

Boruto took out a kunai. "Shoo! Shoo!" he told the animal.

The boar did not leave the road and every time Boruto tried to walk around it, the boar would block his path. Himawari waited, but the same thing kept happening no matter what Boruto did.

"I said get!" Boruto slashed the air with his kunai.

The boar charged and headbutted him in the stomach. Boruto tumbled backwards.

"Boruto!" Himawari gasped.

"I'm alright. I'm good." Boruto bounced back and kicked the boar in the face. "Last chance to run before I kick your ass!"

The boar lowered its head and got ready to charge.

Himawari didn't want Boruto to kill it and she didn't want to see him get hurt. She knew Boruto would only hurt it a little. At least, that's what he intended. If the boar put up more of a fight, then he might not have much of a choice.

The boar snorted and scratched the ground with its hoof.

As it prepared to attack, it looked at something behind Boruto and squealed. It turned and ran back into the woods.

Himawari looked over her shoulder and saw a giant beast looming over them with massive teeth. As soon as the boar ran away, the beast disappeared in wisps of blue flame. She looked at her bag and saw Koeda's eye watching her. He quickly tucked himself away.

When she looked back, she saw her brother puffing out his chest with pride. "Ha! It took off scared as I knew it would. It took one look at my knife and ran."

Boruto thought he had been the cause and Himawari wasn't about to correct him. Not if she wanted to keep Koeda a secret.

"Thanks," she said loud enough for either of them to hear.

Boruto smiled at her and reached for her hand. "Come on. We're almost there."

She took his hand and they continued on their way.

When they saw the walls of their home, Boruto let go of her hand. "We're home!" he announced proudly.

Himawari turned her head to see if Koeda was peeking through the opening in her bag. She saw his bronze eye looking at the village gate. The sunlight almost made his eyes look gold. Either way, his eyes were sparkling.

They entered the village and went straight to their house.

Himawari could feel Koeda shifting around in her bag, trying to get a good look through the opening.

Boruto let them into the house and they both called out for their mother.

"Mom! We're home!"

"Welcome back!" she called from the other side of the house. "Did you have fun?"

Himawari heard her mother's footsteps and got concerned. She would most likely take their bags and do the laundry. If she did that, she would discover Koeda.

It was too soon to reveal him. Himawari wanted to wait until her father got home that night and surprise him. She was worried her mother would make her take Koeda back, even if she explained it was only a visit and that she wasn't keeping him for a pet.

Boruto stepped further inside to hunt for his mother. He couldn't wait for her to come to him. Taking advantage of this, Himawari ran upstairs to her bedroom.

She clutched her bag to her chest as she ran, hoping Koeda wasn't being bumped around too much. She went into her room and closed the door. She set her bag on the floor and unzipped it.

Koeda slinked out and stood, looking around.

"This is my room," she explained. "You'll have to stay here until tonight. I don't want anyone finding you."

"Where's Naruto?" he asked.

"He's working and won't be home until tonight. We'll have to wait until then, ok?"

He nodded. "So I hide here?"

"Yeah. Just keep out of sight. I'll come back to check on you later." Himawari gathered her bag and left her room. She made sure the door was closed before heading back downstairs.

When she arrived, she found her mother hugging Boruto in welcome.

"Himawari, there you are," she said. "Welcome home."

She went to give her mother a hug.

"Did you two have fun?"

Boruto complained while Himawari told her all about how much fun the ball was and how nice the royal family was to them.

Of course, she left out the part about the kitsune again. That could wait until tonight.

It was going to be a great surprise.

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