Chapter 7:
The soft sunlight cast leaf shadows across Naruto's face and the wooden pavilion. Though the wood was hard and flat, he managed to sleep comfortably with the help of the silk pillows he had tossed down before he went to sleep. As usual, he was sprawled out, taking up most of the space Neji's wasn't occupying. He was partially on Neji as well, one leg thrown over his tail and the other propped up on his thigh. Neji was already awake and waiting for Naruto to move.
"Good morning," Naruto yawned.
Neji snorted a greeting. He pulled his tail out from under Naruto's leg and started to stand up. Naruto went tumbling down the wooden steps and landed on his back on the stone pathway.
"Neji..!" he whined. "Don't move yet, I'm still on you."
He snorted again. Naruto rolled backwards, landing on his feet and stood up. He cracked his back and bounced up and down, trying to wake himself up more fully. Neji watched him silently.
"What? You don't do this in the morning?" Naruto didn't wait for an answer and looked back at the rich house standing behind him. The garden was even more beautiful in the daytime. Now he was able to see the flowers in full bloom and the koi pond nestled safely by the bushes forming a natural fence around the yard. "I wonder where Seji is? I hope he plans to feed us breakfast. I'm starving."
Naruto started back into the house on his own, hunger getting the better of him. Neji attempted to follow but stopped, remembering that he was too big to enter the fancy home of the young lord. He sat in the middle of the yard and waited.
In the meantime, Naruto sat down at the decorative wooden table in the dining room to a large bowl of rice porridge. It was nice to have something warm to eat after spending the night outside on a cold pavilion. At least Neji wouldn't accuse him of being selfish or abandoning him in his time of need. Naruto did feel obligated to stay the night with him outside. After all, this whole mess was his fault.
Seji entered the dining room and welcomed Naruto with a smile. "Good morning. I see you still haven't gotten dressed yet."
"Huh?" Naruto looked down at the kimono he had borrowed for the party last night. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. I guess I forgot."
"It's fine. There are days when I don't feel like getting dressed myself." Seji sat down across the table from him and the servants set a bowl of porridge in front of him and filled his teacup while he stirred his breakfast. "How's your friend doing?"
"I, uh…"
"Would he like breakfast, too?"
"Oh… Yeah, I bet he would."
Seji called over his servants. "Would you be so kind to serve the dragon out back as well? Perhaps a larger portion would be nice. Give him what we have in the kitchen. That should be enough."
The servants bowed and left.
Naruto was already finished with his bowl and was looking for seconds. Seji grinned.
"You have a healthy appetite."
"Oh. Thanks."
Seji pushed his bowl across the table and over to Naruto. "Help yourself. I can always have the cook make more."
"Wow, thanks." Naruto slurped up the porridge without a second thought.
Seji watched him for a minute before speaking. "I was up a good part of the night thinking about your friend's situation."
"Oh?" Naruto paused between slurps then went right back to eating.
"Yes. I know I said last night that I had no idea how you would cure your friend and I did mean it. I've never been outside this village before, so I have no idea if this village will have anything you're looking for. I've never even heard of the village that you came from the other day. The one with all the legends and stories. Which is odd because we live right next to it, oddly enough."
Naruto licked his bowl clean. "So where is this going?"
"I don't really know," Seji said with a sigh. "With all honesty, I should have panicked when I saw your friend enter our village, but didn't. No one did which is an odd thing. Maybe it's that people these days are more accepting of such things. I hope you come across others like that on your journey."
"Thanks. Hope so, too."
"But while I was up last night…" Seji switched topics again. "I tried to look up any information I could find in my personal study that may aid you."
"Yes? And?"
Seji sighed once more. "Again, I found nothing. I really did try."
"Oh." Naruto placed his chin on the table. "Thanks for getting my hopes up."
"Sorry about that." Seji chuckled.
For a nice guy, he sure seems kinda ditsy…
After a quick breakfast, Naruto went outside to find Neji finishing up his breakfast in the garden. He was fed any leftover meat they had from the party and whatever else they had to give him. Neji swallowed a roast chicken and walked around the side of the building to get to the street. Naruto followed him, zipping up his orange and black jacket. Now that he had returned the borrowed clothes and sandals and eaten his fill, it was time to leave.
It was still early, the sun barely over the mountains far off on the horizon. But that didn't stop the villagers from waving off their wandering guests. They came out of their homes and flooded the street as soon as the dragon made his way out of the lord's garden. It was as if they had all been watching from their windows to see them off. The children, still in their nightclothes, clung to their parents as they were carried out into the cool morning air to give the dragon one final look. It was a warm farewell, just as their greeting had been.
Naruto climbed onto Neji's back, settling himself behind his shoulders and checked his pocket to make sure they still had the map. Hearing a crinkle and feeling the smooth folded edges of the map, Naruto pulled his hand back out, satisfied. Neji's large head rotated from side to side, looking at the people pressing in on both sides stroking his scaly body with their hands. Children were hoisted onto their parent's shoulders to reach his mane and stroke his back. He remained still. Naruto could feel him tease up and wondered if Neji was uncomfortable being touched or simply that there were too many people.
Someone tugged on Naruto's pant leg and he looked down. Seji was pushing his way through the crowd carrying something in his hands. He lifted it up to Naruto who had to bend down to reach it. "This is for you. I thought I might help."
It was a light brown brocade bag. It was thick and held quite a bit. Opening it, he discovered that it already held treasures inside that would aid them on their journey. Inside, he found a small wool blanket, a hollow gourd filled with fresh water and a generous simply of cakes. Naruto pulled the cord to close the bag and flipped the top over to conceal the lord's parting gifts. "Thanks, Seji. This is awesome."
"I felt bad about not being able to help you more."
"Hey, you fed us and gave us a place to stay. I say we're even!"
Seji reached up and clasped Naruto's hand, shaking it. "I wish you and your friend the best of luck. Safe travels, the both of you."
Naruto shook back. "Thanks." He pulled his hand free and waved to the other villagers. "Bye, everyone! Thanks for everything!"
The villagers waved their good-byes, shouting over each other to wish them luck. The children chased Neji down the street, savoring every moment they had left. Once they reached the last of the houses, the children stopped following and waved, not to Naruto, but to the dragon he was riding on. Neji waved to them with his tail as they called after him, sad that they were leaving but happy to have met.
They waved and called out to each other until they were out of sight. Sighing, Naruto leaned back on his hands and swung his legs while Neji walked. "That was nice, wasn't it? They were the nicest people I've ever run into. That was a great village. Even Seji was nice. I guess he gave me this bag to make up for not being able to help us out more." Naruto strapped the bag to his back and leaned forward to poke Neji in the spine. "So, I see you ate pretty well. Did they just give you chickens to eat or what?"
Neji bucked his back.
"What? Can't I ask that?" Naruto pouted. "They were nice, you know. Would it kill you to be grateful? Most of the time when I go out on missions, I meet a bunch of asses. Can't I be happy when I run into people I like and who treat me like I'm royalty?"
It's a poor village and we ate their food and wasted their time. That lord, Seji, was the only one in the village who had any money at all and he was frittering it away on parties he throws every month. It's a waste of food that these people have to work so hard for everyday and then they're expected to go back and work after getting drunk and eating themselves sick. I don't want to be responsible for eating all their food. I just wanted to get some information and maybe a place to stay for the night and get going as soon as possible. Not party all night and leave when everything's gone. I think we took advantage of them. Then again, they were foolish for throwing such a party every month. If they were smart they wouldn't be doing such a thing. Even that lord isn't very sharp if he advises this for his people. He won't have any money at this rate if he keeps throwing it away like he's doing… That's what Neji wanted to say. Instead, all he managed to do was grunt and growl.
Naruto knew he was saying something but couldn't make it out.
"You were suspicious of that place the moment we walked in and everyone welcomed us, weren't you?" he asked the dragon. "Can't people be nice and welcoming without having some evil plot?"
Things just don't work that way. I'm trying to make things better between the main branch and my second branch, but we still have our places. Things are changing, but not that much. I don't think that will ever change. We will always have the two separate branches. Still, Neji couldn't make his words understandable to the boy on his back. He would go unheard.
"Can't you have a little faith in people?" Naruto continued. "I know Seji's a little on the weird side and I haven't known him that long, but he's a nice guy and these people are grateful to him. You heard his story. He felt bad for them and wanted to help."
There's a difference between being generous and being foolish with your money. There's a fine line when it comes to helping people. People need to know their place in society. Those people aren't rich. He is. Yet he's opening his doors and welcoming them into his home and being careless.
"Seji wants to help those people and give them some joy in their lives because they have to work all the time. His family always told him that there were two kinds of people in the world: the rich and the poor. The rich keep their money and remain rich and the poor people suffer because no one will help them. It's stupid. At least Seji was smart enough to see that unless the people are taken care of, the rich will have nothing because the people provide for them, growing their food and everything. Without them, they have nothing. Seji opens his door to those people to show them that there is no difference. Rich or poor, they're all people. And they matter. That's why he has a party every month, so that they can enjoy themselves. He's trying to share the wealth and show that they're equals. Money doesn't have to change that. What's the point in having money if you don't use it? He's using it to help people instead of hording it."
That may have been true. But still… He won't have any money left if he keeps this up.
"They're all in this together," Naruto went on. "Seji's a good guy, even if he is a little weird, like I said. Why should the poor live in the mud? He made them houses, he gives them food and shows them a good time. He's trying to help. He's sharing his money. He's a good person. If anything bad happens to him, the people will help and same thing goes for if they're in trouble. They have each other and that's what's important to them. They don't care about class or money or place in society. They're all just people. Seji sees everyone as equals. And judging from how the villagers were acting, they feel the same way. Since they're not restricted by class, they have freedom. They're happy."
Neji paused. Once again, Naruto's words hit hard. That was a very good point. Those people were farmers and hard workers, spending most of their time tending to fields and cattle and doing chores from the moment they got up to the moment the sun went down. They all had jobs to do and worked hard at it. Yet they seemed so happy. Normally farmers didn't have much. Certainly not the clothing they were seen wearing when they visited and definitely not to have a party like that on a monthly basis. The lord provided for them, as Naruto said. He kept them happy and living comfortable lives. Work and play. They were welcomed into the lord's home as if he were a normal person. He was a normal person; he just had money. Naruto was right. Seji was doing his best for these people and now they were equals. He wasn't going to let greed and his money cloud what really mattered. Money got in the way of some things, dividing people into separate groups. Seji eliminated that.
I guess I was wrong… Neji stepped over a fallen branch in the dirt road, taking Naruto to the next village. It's just that I was brought up with the difference in class and all that. The main branch… and mine. I am working hard to patch things up, but no matter what I do, there will always be the two separate branches. We will never be one. Never equal. He lowered his head, thinking to himself. The more he thought, the more he felt saddened by what he had discovered. How the Hyuga clan could never be like that village they had just left. I don't practice in fatalism the way I used to. Not after my fight with you, Naruto. But I still believe that there are some things you cannot change. Though it would be nice if I could live like them and not have to worry about differences. I'd like to know what that kind of freedom feels like.
Neji stopped and Naruto looked around his long neck to see why he had stopped. "What is it?"
There was a fork in the road and Neji stood in the center of it. The road branched off into different directions, and different villages.
"Hang on." Naruto opened the map and looked at the path the headman had drawn for him. "Uh… Ok. Go left, Neji. That's what the map says."
Neji turned left, taking the lonely dirt path into the forest. After walking for some distance, the road grew more narrow and the trees became thick. Neji lowered his head as the branches came dangerously close to his face.
While he walked, Naruto amused himself with the bag Seji had given to him. When he got bored with that, he started to use Neji's body as a jungle gym, climbing up his long neck, grabbing his horns and sliding back down. He tried a balancing act, standing on Neji's back as he walked and making his way up and down his spine. He tried to see how close he could get to Neji's tail without losing his footing. After a while, Neji found Naruto doing push-ups on him instead and grew annoyed. He turned around to say something.
I'm not some playground for your amusement. If you have that kind of energy, then get off my back and walk. Instead of that, Naruto heard, "Raah ruara ruagh. Raugh rarara rah."
Naruto stopped doing push-ups. "Huh?" Neji repeated himself, then paused and groaned, remembering that Naruto couldn't speak dragon. "I told you before, I can't understand a single word you're saying. We've been over this."
Sighing, Neji faced forward and kept walking. As it turned out, he didn't need to order Naruto off his back. He did that on his own. Now the two were walking side by side in the forest. The sun disappeared as the trees grew thicker and thicker, blocking the natural light. They walked for a few hours, then Naruto hopped back onto the dragon, hitching a ride.
When he felt enough time had passed, Naruto opened the brown bag and started to eat the sweets Seji had given to him. Neji turned his head and Naruto tossed a cake into his mouth. They feasted on Seji's cakes as they walked. Naruto drank from his new gourd and reached inside for another cake only to discover that he had eaten the last of it. With nothing left to eat and his stomach now full, he flopped down on Neji's back and took a nap.
Taking opportunity of the quiet, Neji decided to practice using his dragon powers for a little while. He had nothing else to pass the time with. He was also curious about the extent of his abilities. What else could he do? Just in case anything happened, Neji wanted to be ready and have good control over his powers. There was only one way to do that: use them.
So while Naruto slept, Neji practiced using his fire abilities. He blew out a stream of fire from his mouth when the trees parted, giving him more room to work. Next he tried to control that flame. He puffed out small fireballs. He tried making different shapes with the fire and control how much he released. Wondering if he could do the same thing with smoke, he tried that next, blowing out a puff of smoke with no flames. He puffed out a ring of smoke next, then a ball, and then tiny wisps. He was getting pretty good at this. He was a natural.
A natural. Something he didn't want to be. The very thought made him feel sick to his stomach.
I'm not a real dragon. I'm a human being. I shouldn't be good at this. I shouldn't be a natural. What would that make me? Neji didn't want to be a dragon. I'm a human, not a dragon. So… So I…
This was so confusing. It was good that he had a handle on his powers, but still. He didn't want to get used to this body or to these strange new powers. He wasn't planning on staying this way for long. He wanted to change back as soon as possible. So he shouldn't get used to anything.
Well, it is good to have some control over it in case anything happens. And I haven't broken anything in a while. That's good. That was a good thing. It's good to be prepared.
He inhaled deeply and caught a damp scent in the air. Moisture. He looked up at the sky, noticing how grey it had gotten in such a short amount of time. It looked like rain wasn't too far away. He nudged Naruto awake, gesturing to the sky with his head.
Groggily, Naruto sat up and looked at the sky. "Oh… looks like rain…" Rubbing his eyes, Naruto gave a look around. "How long have we been going? We must be close to the next village by now."
Neji pointed to the map closed in Naruto's hand.
"Oh, right, I should look that up." Naruto opened the map and took a peek. "Let's see…"
Neji watched his face as he read the map. Slowly, it shifted to a frown.
"Aw… man."
Neji grunted, wanting to know.
"Looks like it's another day away. If I'm reading this right."
Neji snatched the map away with his teeth and set in on the ground to take a look for himself. The village headman had drawn a line to where they needed to go, marking the shortest routes. But the next village wasn't a day away like Naruto thought. It was two. Even if they hustled, it would still take them a while to get there. Neji wasn't too sure about traveling at night. Naruto wasn't too heavy to carry, but that wasn't the issue. Though he didn't feel very tired, even after walking constantly, he knew his dragon body needed sleep at some point. Not only that, but it was going to rain. They had to find shelter somewhere. The forest wouldn't provide what they needed to survive in the rain over night.
"What's with that look, Neji?" Naruto had hopped off his back and was staring him in the face as he consulted the map on the ground. "Something wrong?"
Neji pointed to the map and made growling noises.
"How many times do I have to go over this with you?" Naruto whined loudly. "I can't un-der-stand you. Just, I don't know, pantomime something."
So he did just that. Neji held up his fist to symbolize something, and had it rotate in a circle twice.
"What?"
Neji did this again several times.
"Ok… what about it? What do you mean?"
Rolling his eyes, Neji held up his closed fist again. Naruto stared blankly at it. Neji pressed it close to his face, trying to get Naruto to focus his attention on it.
"Ok, ok… It's your fist. What about..?"
Neji shook his head. He pointed at the sky, then held up his fist again.
"Ok. Fist… No, hand. No, wait. Uh, sun! Sun, right?"
Neji nodded.
"Ok, sun…" He watched Neji rotate his hand in a full circle twice. "Sun circle. Sun ball… Sun spin? Sun something." He watched, trying to understand. A full circle twice. "Sun…" It went down then up again. "Sun… set? Sunset. And then… sun… up. Sunrise."
Neji nodded.
"Ok. So sunset and sunrise…" Naruto watched. "So it goes down and up twice… so that means… two days, doesn't it?"
Neji nodded again and pointed to the map.
That was when Naruto understood him. "So it'll take us two days to get to the next village." His eyes widened. "What?! Two whole days! Are you serious?!" Seeing Neji nod, he slumped to the ground with a loud whine. "Ohh..! This sucks!"
Neji folded the map carefully and nudged Naruto with his head, trying to get him to stand up.
"Yeah, you're right. we'd better get a move on if we want to get there before it rains." Naruto snatched up the map and stuffed it back in his jacket pocket. He climbed back onto Neji and pointed forward. "Ok, onward!"
Neji slapped him with his tail.
"What?" he whined back.
Hours passed. The road seemed to stretch endlessly. Naruto would hop off Neji's back and walk for some distance then hop back on and ride for a while. Neji never stopped moving. They wandered the forest utterly alone. There was no sign of life and they hadn't seen one animal for the past several hours. The sky was growing darker by the minute, making it impossible to tell if it were day or night.
Naruto hopped back onto Neji sighing heavily. "I hope we get there soon. I'm tired."
Neji stopped walking and glared at him. While Naruto slept and rode on his back and feasted on cakes, Neji had been walking nonstop, carrying him everywhere.
"Right. Sorry."
The trees started to thin out revealing fields and patches of land. There was still no sign of civilization. Not one building. They followed the road taking them into the hills and away from the trees. That's when they heard rumbling. Something wet trickled down Neji's nose. A droplet hit Naruto's cheek.
It started pouring. The sky opened up, drenching them both in a sudden downpour. "Ahh!" Naruto grabbed the brocade bag and held it over his head for cover. The rain pelted them like hail. "It's raining too hard!" Naruto shouted over the rain.
Neji looked from side to side, seeking shelter. There weren't many trees in this area and the hills would provide them no shelter from the storm. He started to move quickly through the rain, searching for a place to stay and wait out the rain.
"Neji, wait! Look!" Naruto pointed at a wooden shack at the top of a shallow hill. Neji would have never noticed it if Naruto hadn't pointed it out, it was so well hidden by the trees and the rain. Neji hurried to the shack, his feet sinking in the mud like quicksand. "Hurry, Neji! It's really coming down!"
Neji started up the hill, his feet sticking to the ground, taking great effort to free them from the mud. They passed the first couple of trees at the base of the hill. Now Neji could clearly see the shack. It looked like a small barn, but that didn't matter. It had a roof and that was most important. Neji pulled his feet free from the mud and clung to a rock as his back legs slid down the hill. The ground gave way under him and the land started to slide out from under him like a flimsy carpet.
Seeing Neji sliding around in the mud, Naruto got off his back to help. He jumped down, landing in a large puddle and opened the barn doors. "Come on, Neji! Here!" He ran back for the dragon. The hill was shallow but it had gotten a lot steeper from his struggling and from the rain. Neji's back legs were stuck, sinking deeper into the mud the more he struggled. He tried to pull himself free using the rock but it offered little help. He saw an orange blur and felt something pushing against his left leg. He turned around and saw Naruto trying to pull him free. "Come on, Neji!" He pushed as hard as he could but the dragon was too heavy.
Neji pulled as hard as he could but he was stuck. He let out a roar, pulling against the rock which slid down the hill in the unstable ground and rolled past Naruto and into the road with a splash. Losing his balance, Neji fell forward into the mud, getting his front leg stuck, clawing at the ground with the other.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
From out of nowhere came a dozen Naruto clones. They stood on either side of Neji and started pushing. Naruto, the real one, stood at Neji's front, grabbing onto his leg and pulling with all his might.
"Come on, everyone! Get him out! Come on!"
"Push!"
"Pull!"
"Push!"
"Pull!"
His clones did what they could to free him. A couple bend down by his body and started to dig in the mud with their bare hands, trying to get his legs free. Some pushed while others pulled, sliding in the mud themselves. At any time, Naruto could have gone into the barn by himself to get out of the rain. He could have left Neji behind. He could have brought up his clones and gone inside while they helped Neji. But instead, Naruto was out in the rain with them, helping. Neji watched them slide around in the mud, getting soaked from head to toe and never complain. He felt their hands on his body, pushing and pulling to free him. Taking in a breath, Neji heaved, trying to charge up the hill. They all pushed and pulled at once. There was a loud suction noise and Neji's back legs were freed. The clones tumbled and popped. Neji ran up the hill, not wanting to lose this momentum. His front leg pulled free and Naruto went flying into a puddle. He quickly got up and ran to the barn doors. A powerful wind had blown one shut. Naruto stood in front of it and pulled it open.
"Come on, Neji! Hurry! Get inside!"
Neji ran past him and into the barn just as the wind started to pick up. The wind rattled the wooden doors, making it impossible to close. Naruto pushed hard against the wind closing one door. He grabbed the handle of the other door and pulled it shut, latching them shut with a thick wooden board he found nearby.
"Whoo!" Naruto stepped back with a loud sigh. "How was that, huh?"
Neji was standing in the middle of the barn, shaking like a dog, trying to get dry. His scales were already dry; his mane the only thing still damp. He stood in the large puddle he made, trying to get the mud off his legs. It was really caked on.
Naruto sneezed. He looked like he had just climbed out of a swimming pool, completely soaked. He took off his jacket and wrung it out where he stood. He reached inside and took out the map. The edges were damp, but the writing was unharmed. "Good, it's pretty dry." He set the map down on a pile of hay and continued to wring out his clothes. "I'm completely soaked, right down to the bone." He flapped his jacket out in the air. There was no way it would be dry anytime soon. He hung it up in a nail he found sticking out of a support beam near the door. There was a hook by the nail with an oil lamp hanging from it. He took it off the hook and held it out to the dragon. "Neji, would you mind?"
Neji blow out a small flame, lighting the lamp and giving them some light. There was only one window in the barn and that was up near the loft. It was far enough away that they didn't have to worry about it. Naruto shined the light around the barn. It was small, but big enough to accommodate the two of them. There were blocks of hay in the loft, taking up all the space. Even if Naruto climbed the ladder to get up there, there wouldn't be enough room for him to sleep, or even sit down. There were piles of hay everywhere else in the barn. There were barrels of water, too, which Neji was already drinking out of.
Thunder rumbled outside and the rain beat against the wooden barn, threatening those inside. The wind howled, aiding the rain in its attack on the barn. There was no way they were leaving tonight. Not in this storm. Naruto hung the lamp from the hook by his wet jacket. "Looks like we're staying here tonight."
He started to remove his pants and Neji gave a loud growl moving away from him.
"What? They're soaked! Want me to get a cold?" Naruto pulled off his pants and wrung them out before hanging them from another hook he found. "They should be dry by morning." Naruto stood in his boxers and undershirt, shivering. He looked around for the bag and opened it up. He pulled out the heavy wool blanket Seji had given to them. "Perfect!" Naruto wrapped himself up in the blanket and snuggled into its warmth. The bag seemed to protect it from the rain, keeping it warm and dry.
Neji collapsed on a pile of hay ready to get some rest. Naruto hopped over to him and laid down on Neji's torso. He curled up into a ball, trying to keep warm. Neji wrapped his tail around Naruto like a cocoon, trying to help him keep warm. If it weren't for his help, he would still be out there in the mud and rain. He owed him this much.
Using Neji's shoulder as a pillow, Naruto bid Neji good-night and burrowed into the wool blanket. "We'll leave in the morning when it stops raining. Night, Neji."
The dragon snorted his good-night and rested his head near Naruto's. They left the lamp burning all night, drying the wet clothes hanging up on hooks and nails, leaving still shadows on the dark walls.
Aw, bonding ^-^
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