"Well FINALLY! We're here!"

"I can't believe we made it. Wow."

They were at the simple, quaint village archway entrance that had a wooden carved sign that read "Welcome To Norashima-Stay for a day! It'll feel like a lifetime!" in English letters, which was odd, but it wasn't out of place.

Looking ahead down the dusty road path into the village, they could see that despite how Konoha had been both modern and Asian at the same time, this one was the complete opposite. This village resembled that of a town in the Old West, almost looking like it was out of one those Clint Eastwood western movies. The only thing missing was that no one was dressed like a cowboy or any kind of Southern style. It was all modern, and yet also, work clothes. Including overalls, and hats.

People pushed carts around, horses were being ridden or pulling carriages or wagons, people carried boxes and crates around, pushing or pulling wagons. All of the buildings were Old West style, surprisingly. With old fashioned signs and even the front porches!

The two of them slowly entered the village, earning curious glances from the villagers, but nothing further, as they looked around the place, taking it all in. They were amazed and puzzled all at once. It was so interesting, seeing a real place that resembled that of the Old West. It was nothing special, but Helga had butterflies in her stomach, as did Arnold. This was just so interesting.

"Howdy there, kids." A farmer-type middle-aged man greeted as he walked by them, tipping his hat to them.

"Hello, sir." Arnold said politely. In a lower voice, he said to Helga, "This is so interesting. It's like we're in one of those movies that takes place in the wild west."

"I know!" Helga agreed giddily. She didn't even have the will or strength to be mean right now. "This is the coolest! I'll bet they even have guns! Or even...look! They've got one of those old west saloons! ...Oh wait, they're calling it The Old Tavern Hall, but still, it looks like one!"

Arnold looked at her with surprise, amazed that she seemed so excited and giddy for a change, letting out how she was really feeling. It was refreshing, and interesting to see this side of her. He watched her as she took in the place, pointing things out, and looking around the town, and he couldn't help but smile. He was glad she was feeling better about the whole situation and had something to be excited about.

"Arnold! Look over there!" Helga tugged on his arm, pointing ahead them. "There's a train station!"

"Really?" Arnold followed her pointed finger, coming to see that right ahead was indeed a train station.

It also, like the rest of the town, had that old west feel to it. Some people were coming in and out of it, waiting outside it, some waiting by the tracks, he could see. No train was there, but it was obviously in operation.

"Arnold! Do you see what this means?! We can hitch a ride on the train!" Helga said excitedly. "Ha! Justice prevails! We could be out of here by tomorrow! This is great! Fantastic! Awesome!"

She was so overcome with the excitement of seeing such a picturesque Old West town, all the things in it, and then a TRAIN station, that she didn't even realize what she was doing.

Helga grabbed Arnold to her and hugged him tightly, causing his nose to mash up against her collarbone, squishing him against her. She was too happy, too happy to be facing all of this with her beloved, that she didn't even remember what she was SUPPOSED to be doing! She just wanted to express her joy, not care what other people thought, and just HOLD him! She was in pure bliss and having him so close to her like this, maybe not like this this morning when she woke up in his arms, but still felt great none the less.

Arnold meanwhile, was very surprised, with his eyes wide and his arms limp at his sides, feeling like a deadweight and yet turning into putty in her arms. As tight and forceful as she was in hugging him, it was still sincere and full of joy and....love. Arnold felt his heart beat erratically and a strange warmth come over him as she hugged him like this. To return the favour, he just warmly patted her on the back, unsure of whether or not to hug her back, which was actually what he wanted to do. He knew deep down that he had a strange habit of giving her a hug when she did something he liked, and even that one time he hugged her as if he had missed her...so maybe that was why she was hugging him, too?

He had to admit, it was kind of nice hugging her, or somewhat hugging her, and not being pushed away so fast. Hesitating, he brought his other arm around her, and went for it, hugging her back.

After a few more moments, they pulled back, just a bit, not out of their embrace, their eyes met and once more, everything around them seemed to slowly slip away. Helga didn't even care anymore, and neither did Arnold. They just, looked at each other, with gentle confusion. Helga was looking down at him with slight surprise, and yet, she was making no attempt to get away from him. Her eyes were a little wide, and yet, calm. Like she was accepting affection from him instead of turning away from it. It was strange. Why didn't she move? Why didn't she snap out of it and push him away?

It was strange, and yet, they still stood there, as if time itself had frozen, but no. Life was still going on, with the townsfolk still doing what they were doing. No one paid much attention to the two blonde children, staring at each other in a warm embrace.

All of a sudden, not even thinking, they barely even registered what was happening as they leaned closer and closer to each other, their eyes slowly closing, as their lips came closer, just one more step away from meeting-

GONG-GONG-GONG GONG!

Arnold and Helga's eyes snapped open and they quickly jumped and pulled away from each other as if they'd been shot at. They trembled a bit, eyes wide, as they searched around for the source of the noise. Helga looked, and some ways away to the left of the train station, was an old courthouse that was half built, with a clock tower. It almost looked like the Old West version of the Hill Valley courthouse in Back To The Future III, even if the face of the clock looked more like that of Big Ben in England. It had been ringing, the source of the noise.

Once over the initial shock, the two of them couldn't even look at each other. At least, not with the other one seeing.

"S-Sorry about that, Helga." Arnold apologized.

"F-Forget about it, football head. It never happened! I was just caught up in the heat of the moment, sheesh! Don't flatter yourself." Helga snapped. "Let's go find an Inn. I'm starving and my feet are KILLING me!"

He gave a quick nod and they resumed exploring the town a little, to try find an inn or whatever they may have.

--

As luck would have it, the town did have an inn. It also, was an Old West style kind of place, and the door even rang a little bell when it opened. A man was behind the desk up front, some chairs were located around the lobby, and a set of stairs was located to the right.

"Um excuse me, are you the innkeeper?" Arnold asked the man.

"Ya got me, kid." Said the innkeeper with a grin. "What can I do for ya?"

"We'd like a room, ya know, preferably with a good working bathroom, and most essentially, two beds." Helga held up two fingers. "Ya got that, padre?"

"Ain't you two kids a bit young to be checkin' in yourselves?" The innkeeper scratched his head. "Where're your parents?"

"Dead." Helga said nonchalantly. "So can we have a room or what?"

"Well I dunno...I ain't allowed to be givin' rooms to minors." Said the innkeeper.

"We-We don't blame you, sir." Arnold said, and looked up at him with sad eyes. "We could never ask you to break the rules. But we-"

Helga nudged him in the leg with her foot.

"My sister and I have been on our own alone ever since the accident when our parents were...killed." Arnold lied. He was a lousy liar, but he hoped he could be at least a little bit convincing. "And our only living relatives live miles and miles away, so we're trying to make our way to find the village they live in. If you could just let us stay a night or two, we have enough money, that's all we ask. Please sir, can you help us?"

"Uh...yeah, what he said. Yeah, we're twins...fraternal, yeah." Helga added to the lie, a bit nervous.

"Oh....dang, that ain't cool." The innkeeper said sympathetically. "Don't worry kids, you can stay as long as you two need. Really, I'm so sorry to hear about your parents. You kids will be okay?"

"We'll be fine." Arnold said. "Thank you so much, Mr. Inkeeper."

"Please please, the name's Hijiro, I'm glad to help you. So then, we got one room left here, you're in luck!"

Hijiro handed them the room key, and Arnold paid the man, the inn had low rates, so they paid enough for two nights to start, and see where things would go. They went upstairs, and came to their room, which was room 203.

Inside, the room had a bathroom, a television, a coffee table, a couch, a closet, a dresser, two night stand tables, and one bed. The walls, floors and ceilings and doors were all made of wood.

One bed. Queen-sized.

"There's only one bed?! Oh come ON!" Helga exclaimed angrily. "Oh forget it! I am NOT sleeping in the same bed as you, football head! No freaking way!"

Arnold gave a sigh and nodded, deciding not to argue. "Okay, Helga. We don't have to sleep in the same bed. You can take it tonight, I'll sleep on the couch, and then tomorrow night if we stay around, we can alternate."

Rolling her eyes, Helga sighed. "FINE, whatever. Have it your way. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to use the bathroom first. I need a shower, bathing in that pond was probably not the best idea." She disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door.

"Whatever you say, Helga." Arnold said, and for a brief moment remembered seeing her naked. He blushed bright pink, praying she didn't see, and went to sit on the couch and turned on the TV.

This was going to be a long day.

--

"Okay football head, we're settled, now we must get some grub. I'm starving!" Helga announced as they were now all washed up and settled, walking around the town. "Where's the nearest restaurant?"

"Um....I think that one there." Arnold pointed to a nearby building that had a sign over the door that read "Hana Aku No Koro Ni Eatery-Come and Eat!"

"Sheesh, does EVERYTHING have to have a catchy slogan?" Helga rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever. Come on, let's go eat. It's an eatery, so that's good enough for me."

"Okay, let's go." Arnold said, leading the way inside.

It was a quaint little restaurant, with some round tables set about with customers sitting around and having coffee, some food, dessert. It wasn't very crowded, so a few tables were available.

"Wow, this is a pretty interesting place." Helga remarked as they sat down at one of the tables. "Everything in this village is like something out of the Old West. I don't know about you, but that's pretty boss."

"I know, it really is." Arnold agreed, and looked around to try to spot a waiter or an employee. "It's not so crowded, so I guess we won't have to wait too long. I wonder what they have here..."

"Well if you want, I definitely recommend that you guys try the Domburi, they make it really well here, especially with the tendon." Said a girl from the table next to them. She had long blonde hair in a ponytail, with some strands of her bangs hiding the right side of her face, along with teal hair clips.

Sitting with her was a large fat boy around her age, with long, fiery red-brown hair and dressed very differently than what they were used to seeing. Also with them was a tall boy with his hair tied back in a pineapple style.

And they all had forehead protectors of Konoha!

"Really? What else is good here?" Arnold turned in his chair to face them.

"You can try the Soba, I guess." The dark-haired boy shrugged.

"I definitely recommend their barbecued ribs!" Said the fat boy. He almost reminded them of Harold from back home. "And if you like noodles, definitely go with Udon! And their wings here are awesome too."

"The Oden is great if you're into mixed foods." Said the blonde girl. "Or to be simple, have some Yakitori, they make it pretty good here, actually." She then looked a the two, studying their clothing. "...Whoa, you guys have some....interesting clothes."

"Ino, give it a rest." The dark-haired boy sighed. "Not everyone is as close to fashion like you are. Sheesh, what a drag..."

"Shikamaru, you wouldn't know fashion even if it bit you in the a-"

"Ino, come on, don't be so rude." The fat boy said kindly. "These guys just want to know what they serve around here, I guess it's not often that they come here."

"That's for sure." Helga muttered.

"Um, Helga?" Arnold whispered to Helga, turning back around in his seat. "I don't even know what any of those things they said are." He felt like they were at Chez Paris all over again.

"Relax, football head, you can learn a thing or two when your best friend's Japanese. Domburi is a bowl of fried rice that has various toppings on it, usually it's with tempura, chicken, eggs and beef. Pretty good, actually. Soba and Udon are Japanese noodles that are served hot or cold, are kind of similar, and usually served with various toppings. Oden's a nabe dish prepared with some fish cakes, daikon, boiled eggs, konyaku and kombu seaweed. Yakitori is kinda like kabobs, it's pieces of chicken on skewers." Helga explained.

"Hello, and welcome, what can I get for the two of you?" A waitress in her twenties asked them as she came to the table.

"I'll have the Kare Raisu, 'cause I'm living it dangerously, toots." Helga said coolly. "And some water."

"Um...I'll just have Domburi." Arnold said. "I'll also have water."

"Oh, fantastic!" The waitress nodded, writing it down on her notepad before heading off to the kitchen.

"Living it dangerously, not bad." The girl, Ino, remarked.

"It's what I do." Helga shrugged. "Say, couldn't help but notice you guys are from that village back there. Konoha? Yeah, that's it. Leaf village or something."

"Um, Helga, maybe we shouldn't..."

"Nah, it's fine." The dark-haired boy, Shikamaru, said. "You guys from there?"

"No, we're...um, traveling to go stay with our relatives." Arnold said a little sheepishly, trying to remember their lie. Helga kicked him under the table. "I-I mean, well, we just came from Konoha, we left yesterday. I'm Arnold, and this is Helga."

"Ah, traveling kids, huh?" The fat boy said. "Nice to meet you! I'm Chouji Akimichi, and these are my teammates, Shikamaru Nara and Ino Yamanaka."

"Hey." Shikamaru said boredly.

"Hello, and yeah, you're right, we are Shinobi of Konoha. My family also owns a flower shop, I work there in my spare time." Ino said proudly.

"Really? That's pretty cool, I worked in a flower shop in our neighbourhood with my best friend one time. It was interesting, even if we hit some rough grounds at times."

Ino nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean. So! Where are you guys off to?"

"Oh, just some village, I guess." Helga shrugged. "Gotta find Granny and Grandpa and whoever else we can find in our family."

"You're on the road, traveling to find them, and you don't know where they live?" Chouji asked in alarm.

"We're nine years old, doi! We don't know a lot that goes on in the world and where some places are." Helga said.

"Actually, we're just still trying to find it on the map." Arnold explained, hoping his lousy lying was convincing.

"What a drag..." Shikamaru muttered.

"Wait a sec. Do you guys know some other ninjas there in Konoha... Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura...that Princess..."

"We do!" Chouji nodded. "Naruto and Sakura were in the Rookie Nine along with us. Princess Orivia was a few years ahead, she's our age but sometimes she hangs around us since she's good friends with Naruto."

"You guys met them?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah." Arnold nodded. "Listen, um, if you see them when you get back to the village...can you not tell them you saw us? I mean, our situation was...pretty embarrassing and we couldn't really tell them what's going on."

"Yeah, you know, major embarrassing, tell them you saw us and I'll strangle all of you!"

Ino laughed. "Riiiiight, sure. Well okay, if it means that much to you, we won't tell. But won't they want to know that you're okay?"

"Not unless you lied." Helga said.

"Helga! We can't-OW!"

Team 9 all raised their eyebrows, but shrugged it off.

"Well," Arnold reiterated, wincing in pain from where Helga kicked him in the leg under the table. "I guess you can let them know we're okay. They deserve to know that."

"We'll do that, Arnold!" Chouji promised. "Come on guys, we better get going if we want to reach Konoha by sundown."

"Man, what a drag..." Shikamaru sighed, and got up. "We'll, we've gotta go for now. See you, Arnold and Helga. Hope you find your relatives."

"Bye for now! Come back to the village sometime, maybe we'll see each other again." Ino winked at them and stood up with her teammates.

"Bye kids! Be good and be safe!" Chouji waved to them as he and the other two trouped out the door.

"Thanks, bye!" Arnold waved after them. He sat back in his seat just as the waitress came back with their orders.

"Sorry it took so long." Said the waitress. "Enjoy!"

"Thanks, toots." Helga said nonchalantly, and realized once more that they were given chopsticks. "Hey, you...." She looked at the waitress's nametag. "Hitomi." She pronounced it "Hit-tom-mi." "You mind bringing us a couple of forks?"

"Oh, sure!" Hitomi replied with a nod, seemingly not affected by the rather obvious mispronunciation of her name.

"We'll have to probably learn how to use chopsticks eventually." Arnold murmured, staring at his dish apprehensively. "If we're going to be here awhile, I guess."

"Arnoldo, you're supposed to be looking on the bright side!"

Hitomi returned with two forks, but then Helga grabbed her sleeve before she could walk off.

"Hey Hitomi, we couldn't help but notice the train tracks and the station outside. I take the train is in operation?"

"Yes, it is!" Hitomi nodded.

"Okay, so when does the next train come in?"

"Monday morning at 8 O'Clock, Miss."

"...And today is...?"

"It's Saturday, Miss." Hitomi said, and went off to another table.

"...Well, at least we're on the same time from back home." Helga said, taking her fork and eating some of her curry rice. "So we've been missing about a-whoo! That's hot! A day now."

"I guess everyone back home is really worried by now." Arnold sighed, slowly eating his food, which he thought was very good. "I'll bet Grandma already went out searching for us."

"She'll be looking for days." Helga muttered glumly. "Face it, football head, we may as well get used to this lifestyle. We might be stuck here for life."

"Don't say that, Helga. There has to be a way out of here. I mean, we ended up here somehow, right? So, there obviously has to be a way back." Arnold said, though his tone was uncertain.

"Always looking at the bright side." Helga rolled her eyes again. "Frankly, we should just stay here, make a new life for ourselves."

"We can't just give up like that, we have to try." Arnold protested. "Look, it's not going to be easy, even I know that by now. But we've made it this far, haven't we? We should keep trying, maybe someone knows about the amulet."

"Um, newsflash, football head, how are we going to bring THAT up? And frankly, how do we even prove it?"

Arnold opened his mouth to answer, only to find he had no answer to that, and sighed, slumping over the table and finished his food.

"Figured." Helga finished her plate, and pushed it aside. "But whatever, let's just get the check, then we'll go out to the station and look at that railroad map, see if we can find something."

Arnold nodded. "Okay, Helga."

Hitomi soon returned with their bill, which they paid up and then left the eatery. They went over to the train station, looking around for a railroad map. There was one mounted on the wall on the platform, indicating the routes of the tracks, water sources and bridges.

"Okay, there! So we're here, in Norashima." Helga indicated on the map with her finger. "So let's see...we can either go north back into the outskirts of the Fire Country, we can go west, or south, or north, north east...you get the picture. Since we really are stuck in a strange world, the sky's the limit, doesn't matter where we go."

Arnold studied the map, considering their options. Going toward what they knew now were the Shinobi Villages within their respective countries would mean dealing with ninjas, and other villages, of course. If they steered clear, they would simply come across average places.

The question was, what to do?

"Well, we could get extra help and resources from Ninjas...providing they don't think of us as spies or fugitives. Or we can also go toward the ocean...but then again neither of us can ride a boat, we'd have to charter one."

"We've got until Monday morning to think it over." Helga said. "But hey, I think I know what we can do. We'll leave here, and go west, then...well, maybe while we're at it we can do research and see if we find anything on the amulet, that is, if it does exist here." She bit her lip, considering this.

"We could try." Arnold said. "While we're here, and if we still want to try for that on Monday when the train comes in."

"So it's settled." Helga said, nodding. "First things first, we're off to the library."

That done, they headed back into town, going to the library, which although was small, would hopefully contain some of the information they would need.

--

Okay, so yeah...XD I used some references and ideas from Back To The Future Part III. Honestly, I did NOT plan for that, and this village is entirely made up, tucked in its own place. I'm making it up as I go along and looking at a Geography map of the countries, so do forgive me. They went south from Konoha, and now they're heading west toward the Wind Country.

If anyone is confused, feel free to ask questions. :3