Chapter 9:
Birds were chirping overhead, flocking to their nests in the morning light. The sun had risen some time ago, but shadows still covered the dragon and ninja sleeping on the ground, nestled between two large hills. A bird perched on Neji's horn, grooming his wing. Neji did not move. He knew the bird was on his head and didn't want to frighten it off. A bird had never landed on him before. Resting on his horn, Neji didn't feel its touch, hearing only its tiny talons scratching against his horn. When he finally did move, the bird fluttered off, as he expected it would.
It was a beautiful morning. Cast in shadow, they didn't have the harsh sun in their eyes this morning and were able to rest a bit longer. Neji had wanted to get going as soon as possible; by dawn if they were able. However, Naruto was sleeping in for the second day in a row. Neji had to wonder why he slept so much. He was the one carrying him around everywhere. He should have been the one in need of rest, not Naruto. But as long as he was asleep, he was quiet which made him more tolerable.
As time went on, Neji grew even more restless. He had been awake for some time and wanted to go. The village must have been close. He could smell smoke from chimneys and livestock which meant that there was a village nearby. Neji sniffed Naruto's hair, breathing hard to rouse him. Naruto didn't move. Neji snorted roughly, blowing the wool blanket off his shoulders. Naruto pulled the blanket back around him and turned over. Next, Neji did the only other thing he could to do wake him. He stood up. His pillow now gone, Naruto fell onto the ground, instantly waking up.
"Ouch..!" He rubbed the back of his head, looking around. He saw Neji towering over him and pouted. "Couldn't you have thought of a more gentle way to wake me up?"
Neji ignored him and started stretching. He gave his long body a shake, ruffling his mane. Naruto stretched and started to pack up the blanket in the brown bag. He strapped on the bag and called for Neji.
"Come on. We should get there pretty soon."
They walked through the hills, rising high like giant camel humps on either side. For quite sometime, they were traveling without the aid of a road, making their own path between the tall hills. Then the hills started to smooth out. They stepped out into bright sunlight, their shade left behind. When Naruto's eyes adjusted, he saw something in the distance. A gathering of wooden houses and acres of farmland, fenced in by tall trees and hills.
"What?!" Naruto grumbled loudly. "You mean if we had kept walking just ten more minutes, we would have gotten to the village? Are you kidding me?!"
Neji nudged Naruto in the back with his nose.
"Yeah, yeah, you're right. We're here now." He sighed heavily. "Well, let's get there and get something to eat. I've starving to death."
They started down the long dirt road at the base of the hills and headed straight to the village. It was a town, from what they saw. It was a bit larger than the other village they had come from and this one had a lot more land by the looks of things. The farmland was on the right and the town was on the left of the road. There were buildings on either side, but more on the left which were closely packed together. Naruto was eager to get there. With so much food, they should be willing to give some to a couple weary travelers.
Naruto heard a clacking coming from behind. He ignored it at first, but then it grew louder. He turned. A large wooden cart was speeding right toward him from down the road. Within moments it was right on top of him. He yelped, tensing up just as Neji grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him out of the way. The cart sped by with the boy driving it calling out to them angrily. "Get out of the road! What's the matter with you?!"
Naruto started thrashing, but Neji held him back, jacket still in his teeth. "What's the matter with you, you stupid jerk?!" Naruto shouted back. After the cart had disappeared from sight, Neji let go. "You saw him! You saw what he did!" Naruto ranted to the dragon. "He almost ran me over! He saw me there. Jerk could have killed me!"
Neji rolled his eyes. As right as he was, it was doubtful that he would be killed by a speeding wooden cart driven by some impatient boy. Still, Naruto had every right to be angry. The boy could have stopped and shouldn't have been going that fast.
The dragon endured Naruto's ranting all the way to the town ahead. It was only mid morning, but the town was bustling and full of life. The delicious smells of baking bread and grilled meat made Neji's stomach growling noisily. As inviting as the smells were, Neji still hung back out of fear that this village wouldn't accept him as he was. The other village may have, but that didn't mean that this one would.
Naruto turned around and gave Neji a pat on the snout. "What's wrong with you? Come on. Let's get some food." Naruto led Neji into the village, foolishly believing that no one would take notice of the large dragon following him around.
Almost at once, the people on the street grew quiet and stared. The customers at shop windows stopped in the middle of their shopping to turn and gawk. Some went into buildings or hid around corners as the dragon passed by. A few people actually glared at him. Neji lowered his head, feeling self-conscious again. Some of the small children ran to their parents and hid behind their legs while others approached cautiously, staring open-mouthed at him.
"Oh, well," Naruto was saying. "Looks like this village doesn't have any parties going on tonight."
That's what he's so concerned about?! Neji wanted to make use of his fangs by biting him but doing so in a crowd such as this wouldn't be very helpful.
As they got further into the village, Naruto finally became aware of the awkward stares they were receiving from the locals. "What's up with these guys? You'd think they've never seen a dragon before."
That's highly possible… They probably haven't.
As they passed, some of the people returned to their business, looking up every now and again. Some of the curious children followed at a distance, still staring. Some parents held them back, discouraging against them getting any closer to the dragon or the boy accompanying him.
Shops with fresh meat hanging in the windows caught Naruto's attention and he started to cross the street over to one of the stores.
"Watch it!"
A wooden wheel ran over Naruto's foot and he and the driver were knocked off balance. "Ow!" Naruto hopped up and down, holding his foot.
"You should have looked!" shouted the driver.
"You should be more careful yourself!" The boy he was yelling at couldn't have been older than nineteen. He had straight black hair and a stained gray shirt. His hands were rough and he had a straw hat tied loosely around his slim neck. His sandals were worn and his legs were the same color as the dirt road. The wooden cart he was pulling behind him was carrying a large supply of melons and corn. That's when Naruto noticed something crucial. "Hey, wait a minute! You're that guy from before! The one who almost killed me on the street!"
"Would you not shout like an idiot?" the boy grumbled. "You shouldn't have been in the middle of the street like that."
"Where do you get off calling other people idiots? You're the one who should have watched where he was going."
"You shouldn't have been standing there with your pet lizard."
Naruto looked at Neji and then back at the boy. "He's a dragon."
"Sure, he is."
"He is!"
"Then why isn't he flying? All dragons fly."
"He can! He… just doesn't feel like it. He doesn't like flying."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Naruto growled back, stomping his foot on the ground. "Hey, come on! He's only been a dragon for a couple of days! Get off his back."
The boy rolled his eyes, checking the wheels of his cart. "Whatever. I thought you ninja were supposed to be stealthy and quiet."
"Ah," Naruto puffed out his chest. "So you noticed that I'm a ninja."
"Yeah. I saw the headband. We don't get too many of you around here." The boy started to turn his cart a little to the side, away from Naruto. "We don't need help from your kind. We can actually handle ourselves and don't need to pay someone else to do our jobs for us." The boy grabbed his cart and drove away, never giving Naruto the opportunity to shout back.
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Naruto tilted his head to one side.
It's obvious that this village had some bad blood with ninja. They clearly don't think too highly of us. This boy alone seems to hate us without being provoked. Unfortunately, all Neji could do was grunt and snort while trying to explain it to Naruto. The sooner this curse was lifted, the better.
After the boy had left, Naruto and Neji continued on their way. People still stared and shied away from them. Neji felt very uncomfortable here. This town was not as colorful and lively as the other village they had come from. This one was the color of dried mud, dull and faded brown. The people here were even more so. No one laughed while the boy and the dragon were present. They only stared. Right away Neji got the impression that this wasn't a very friendly village at all. Did everyone here not like ninja like that boy, or were they nervous about having a dragon in their midst? He chose to ignore them as best he could.
Soon, he became aware that someone was following them rather closely. Neji stopped. The tiny footsteps behind him stopped at the same time. He started walking again and the footsteps resumed, moving five times as fast as he was. He stopped again and, this time, looked to see who it was. A little girl was standing behind him, clutching the fabric of her purple dress nervously with both hands. She was unlike the rest of people here in that she was much brighter than they were. She had rosy cheeks and big brown eyes, the color of sweet chocolate. Even meeting the dragon's eyes, the girl did not shy away. Neji faced forward and started walking. The girl followed. Again he stopped and turned around. She was still there, staring at him.
By this time, Naruto had noticed that Neji was behaving strangely and turned around. "What's the matter? Why do you keep stopping?" He saw the little girl walking beside Neji's hind legs. "Oh, hey there."
She looked up at Naruto quickly then looked back at the dragon. "Is this yours?" she asked timidly.
Naruto looked at Neji and then back at the girl. "I guess you could say that. He's my friend."
"Is he a real dragon? Like the ones from my books?"
It was difficult to answer. But this girl was young so Naruto didn't bother explaining the facts to her. He just gave her the short answer. "Sure is. He's a dragon alright."
"Can I pet him?" she asked innocently.
"Sure. Go for it."
Neji stayed perfectly still while the little girl reached out and stroked the scales on his leg. The sleeve of her dress rolled up as she reached forward, revealing her sliver bracelet. It was rather worn and the color was faded. It looked as if paint had been splattered onto it at a certain point. She was young so it was very possible that she didn't keep track of her things very well. Little kids were always messy. She must have been around five years old, possibly four. She stroked him gently with her fingers a few times then pulled away. "Thank you."
"Sure thing." Naruto had a sudden thought as his stomach growled. "Do you know any good places to eat around here?" he asked the little girl.
She pointed further ahead. "There's lots of places over there."
"Thanks." The girl watched them walk away then left herself, happy to have touched her first dragon. Naruto could smell the food before he saw it. Then he found it. There were produce stands lining the right side of the street under thin fabric canopies. One stand had large melons stacked up in tricolor pyramids, round and juicy. Tasting them already, Naruto ran over to the stand and picked up a large watermelon, half the size of his torso, in both hands. He thumped the melon with his finger, listening to the hollow echo. This one was perfect.
A hand reached out and slapped his wrist.
"Ouch!" He dropped the melon onto the table. "What is with everyone hitting me today?"
The brown man behind the counter leaned forward, glaring at him. "You might want to pay for that before you try eating it. Cash only, of course. No I.O.U's, like some deadbeat idiots."
Naruto felt around in his pockets for some spare change. Nothing. No wallet and no change. "I don't have cash."
"Then you ain't getting no melon. Move along."
"Oh, come on! I'm starving!"
"Not my problem. Come back with cash, then we'll talk."
"You don't have to be such a jerk about it, you-" Neji picked Naruto up by the collar of his jacket and carried him away from the stand, kicking and screaming. "Put me down, Neji!"
It's obvious that he's not going to give us his largest melon for free, you idiot. Though I have to agree, he could have been nicer about it.
"I know he probably wouldn't give it to us for free, but come on! One melon didn't kill anybody! If he had been nicer about it, I wouldn't have lost my temper." Neji set Naruto down in the middle of the street. He fixed his jacket and brushed himself off. "Fine, fine… I'm sure there are plenty of other places around here that will take pity on a couple of hungry traveler."
Doors to restaurants and small shops slammed in their faces and curtains fell around every produce stand they went begging to. In this village, there was no such thing as a free lunch. No one would take pity on them. The boy and his dragon were not welcomed here without money.
The pain in Naruto's empty stomach and the constant slamming doors sent him into a fit. He was ready to lose his temper and kick the doors down just to get a morsel for food to wet his appetite. Once again, Neji had to hold him back. Frustrated and hungry, Naruto stormed away in an angry huff. From the street he spotted the farmland adjacent to the town they were standing in. His hopeful smile was back and he gave a little chuckle. "Well, if these guys can't be bothered, I know one other place we can go to for food."
Surely the farm, with such a wide variety for foods, would have something to spare. Naruto led the way across the street and over to the farm on the other side, suddenly full of energy. Naruto kept his eyes on the farmhouse poking out from the tall stalks of corn, licking his lips. In the meantime, Neji got a good look of the land.
This side of the street proved to be no better than the other in terms of color and cheer. It was just as brown as the town. The only source of color came from the red and green tomatoes and the cornstalks. Even the melons on the ground were just as muddy as the earth itself. Everything was covered in mud. The wooden fence keeping hungry creatures at bay around the land were the color of dried mud and soil. The ground under his feet was very uneven, hard and thick. No grass grew here. It became clear to Neji why this was so. In order to coax any sort of crop out of the stubborn land, it had to be flooded with water. The hot sun dried the mud onto the land, the wood and the plants, resulting in this mess. The farmland was vast, but that may have been because it wasn't very fruitful. Given the ratio, the farmer must have had to plant more crops just to make a halfway decent harvest, making up for what didn't grow in this land. So far, many of the crops appeared plentiful, but there must have been high demand. It was times like this Neji was glad he wasn't a farmer.
"Finally!" Naruto exhaled loudly, seeing the farmhouse come into view. Just like the fields, mud had been tracked to the farmhouse and dried in the hot sun, turning it the same shade of faded brown.
There was no one on the porch and no one moving in the windows. The house seemed empty. They heard a whacking sound coming from behind the wooden fence. Naruto moved closer while Neji stayed behind. If there was someone there, he didn't want to frighten them.
Hacking away at the crops with a hand scythe was, who Naruto hoped to be, the farmer. He had on a worn straw hat and stained clothes. He stood on the dry muddy land in bare feet with his back turned to Naruto.
"Hey, farmer guy," Naruto called. The man looked up. "This stuff's all yours, right?"
The farmer stopped what he was doing and walked over the weed covered land over to him. He took off his hat for a moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead. His face was brown and sunken in. There were wrinkled lines on either side of his mouth and on his forehead. He put his hat back on with a heavy sigh. "Yeah, this is my land." His voice was rough and tired. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah," Naruto beamed at him, thinking they were going to get a free meal. "I was wondering if you could get me and my friend something to eat."
"Your friend, eh?" The farmer looked around the corner of the corn field and saw the dragon. He flinched but didn't cry out. He looked the dragon up and down then back at the blond boy. "This is your friend?"
"Uh-huh. So can we have something to eat, please?"
The farmer leaned against the wooden fence with another sigh. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that."
"What? Why not?" Naruto whined.
"I just can't give you any of my crops for free."
"Come on. You've got so much."
"I'm sorry but I can't spare you any."
Naruto started begging. "Please? Come on, we've been wandering around for days! We haven't had anything to eat since yesterday morning. Please? Just a little bit?"
The farmer was vehement about not giving away his crops, which he worked so hard to grow. No matter how much Naruto pleaded, he still refused.
"Please? Just one melon? I'll settle for a tomato. Your smallest."
"No. I'm sorry, but I cannot spare any of it. You'll have to try your luck in town."
"We just came from there and they sent us away. Please! We're starving!"
Still the farmer refused. He had nothing to spare them.
"But you have tons! Why can't you give us just one little tiny tomato?"
Neji looked the farmer up and down. Through the damp spots on the man's sweaty shirt, he could see the man's ribs. He saw the man's boney hands and how warn-out he looked. This man was a poor farmer. He may have grown a lot of crops, but this man was starving. He was weak and just as worn out as the torn, stained clothes on his back. Neji understood. Everything he grew here went to the town across the street. Very little he got to keep for himself. This poor man worked so hard and had little to show for it. Just a thin worn body. He couldn't spare anything for them because he had nothing to spare.
Before Naruto could throw a temper tantrum, Neji picked him up by the back of his jacket and pulled him away from the farmer. They would achieve nothing here. As Neji carried Naruto away from the farmer, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Naruto claimed that they were starving when in fact it was the farmer himself who was on death's door.
Neji set Naruto down by the gate and nudged him to go across the street. They would get no food here.
"We could just pick an ear of corn from over the fence. He won't notice."
Neji pushed Naruto away, discouraging it. As hungry as he was, they were not about to steal from this land.
As they left, the boy with the cart wheeled up to the gate and slowed down. He glared at the boy and the dragon leaving the farm. Once they made it back onto the street, Neji looked back and saw the boy pulling his wooden cart up the dried mud path, calling to his father.
Back in town, Naruto paced up and down the street, trying to ignore his grumbling belly. They had to get something to eat, but this village wouldn't give them the time of day. Their only option was to try their luck elsewhere. Maybe they would run into more deer and roast another up for lunch.
Just as they were about to leave, Naruto heard someone yell from within a building. He rushed over to one of the restaurants, peering in through an open side door. There was a man inside, whom Naruto assumed was the owner, yelling to his staff. "What's going on?"
The plump man, turned and frowned at Naruto. "What are you doing here, kid? Get lost!"
"Not until I know why you're yelling so much."
He rolled his eyes. "If you must know, our heat source is down. Busted up real good."
"Heat source?"
"It provides heat to everything in the kitchen, from the oven to the stoves. Without it, we have no way to cook any of the dishes," said one of the cooks. "Looks like all we can give the customers is salad until we can get it fixed."
"Do you know how much business we would lose?!" shouted the owner. "Plus we can't get the guy who can fix it to come in until the afternoon and he'll charge me the morning's profits to do it! I'll lose even more money!"
"Sorry, boss, but we can't serve anything hot to the people without something to cook it. Stoves and ovens are all busted."
Lady luck was smiling down on them that very moment. Time to turn someone's misfortune into good fortune for him and the dragon. Naruto stepped forward, smiling. "I think I can help with that."
"Oh, really?" The owner sounded skeptic. "Don't tell me to rub two sticks together to make fire. We'd need a lot more heat than that."
"No problem." Naruto opened the door wide and showed everyone the dragon standing behind him. "I think a dragon's flame will suffice."
The cooks gathered around the door, gawking at the large reptile standing behind the boy. "You really think your lizard will be able to help with this?"
"Dragon," Naruto corrected. "He's a dragon. And yeah, I totally think he can."
The owner didn't like the idea but he was out of options. It was either let the dragon unleash its fire or lose the day's profits. He wasn't about to lose money when there was a possible solution standing in his doorway. "Alright, kid. I guess he can work."
"Not so fast." Naruto wasn't done. "On one condition."
"I knew there was a catch," the owner grumbled. "What do you want?"
"We'll work for food," he answered matter-of-factly. "Neji and I work for you until you can get your stoves and stuff fixed and you give us something to eat."
Sounded pretty fair, but the owner liked the idea of giving a couple of strangers free food almost as much as losing money for the day. Still, he had little choice.
"So do we have a deal?" Naruto asked. "We work for a day and you give us some food. Deal?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure." The owner jerked a thumb at one of the cooks over his shoulder. "Get this kid an apron and put 'em to work."
"Yes, sir."
Naruto turned to Neji, bouncing with excitement. All they had to do was work and they would get a meal. This was a great idea.
Since the dragon was too big to fit inside the restaurant, the staff had to work together to come up with a solution to the problem. Two of the cooks along with Naruto built an impromptu fire pit behind the kitchen and the other chefs carried out their uncooked meat to be roasted. Using his flame, Neji set the meat ablaze, cooking it quickly. A dragon's fire was perfect for cooking things quickly and thoroughly. The cooks were able to carry out the dishes to the customers in record time thanks to Neji. Naruto helped build a makeshift oven out of stones and had Neji breathe his fire directly into the stone box he created to bake the breads and pies. Naruto also helped out in the kitchen, carrying uncooked meat out to Neji and cutting up vegetables when he wasn't needed.
They worked for hours. Neji had never used so much fire before. He was starting to wear down after keeping at it for four hours straight. Thankfully, the repairman arrived and set to work fixing the problem inside. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky. It would be sunset soon. Neji's stomach grumbled loudly. All this work would be worth it when they finally got their meal.
The repairman left and the ovens and stoves were all functioning the way they used to. Neji stopped heating the fire pit and stamped out what remained of the fire when it was no longer needed. Naruto finished mixing his last salad and went outside to see how Neji was doing. He was tired from working but other than that he was fine. The two stood outside, waiting for the owner to give them their reward.
"I'm so hungry. We worked really hard, he's bound to give us a big meal. Oh, I can picture it now."
The owner stepped outside, nodding his head. "You two did a good job. I was able to keep everyone happy today and now our heat source is fixed."
Naruto bounced in place, biting his lip. He was ready for their meal, wondering what they were going to get. Maybe some smoked ham and a big baked potato dripping in butter. Or crab over a bed or hot rice. Or some udon. He watched Neji cook a whole pot of it and it looked magnificent.
"You may go now."
"Huh?!" Naruto stopped daydreaming about his food and stared wide-eyed at the man. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, get out. Leave. Go. Now. Get."
"But what about our meal? You promised."
"I promised no such thing. Now leave."
"You can't do that!" Naruto shouted, taking a step towards the man. This time Neji didn't hold him back. He was just as outraged as he was. This man promised them food and he went back on his word after they had worked all afternoon for him for free. "We worked all day long! You said you'd give us something to eat!"
"Things change. Besides, you really think I'll just give away my precious food to you people?" he laughed. "I have to make a living somehow."
"You don't exactly look like you've missed any meals yourself!" Naruto shouted at the plump man. "We worked hard! Both of us did! You said you'd give us something to eat!"
"Hey, you offered. I never gave you my word and we never shook on it. No deal."
"You said it was a deal! Come on, we're starving! Just give us something!"
The owner turned back into the building. He looked over his shoulder at them and pointed to the street. "Get going before I have you thrown out of here." He slammed the door shut.
Naruto went into a rage and started kicking at the door and pounded it with his fists. "You lying son of a..! Open this door right now! Get out here!" He pounded the door until his hands were sore and stepped away, breathing hard. He looked from the door to Neji and back to the door, panting. He looked at his red hands and yelled one last time at the locked door. "Liar!" Then he turned and looked Neji in the eye. "Sorry, Neji. I tried. I really thought he would give us something."
Naruto had nothing to be sorry about as far as Neji was concerned. That owner was simply dishonest and greedy. It wasn't Naruto's fault. He was actually trying to be honest and do honest work. They waited outside the door for another minute, hoping to get someone's pity and be brought food but it never happened. Their only other option was to go in there and take it by force, but neither one of them was willing to do it. These people already looked at them as if they were carrying the plague. Breaking into a man's place of business to steal food wasn't going to make the villagers see them in a positive light.
They turned to leave, giving to door one final look. No one was coming. They walked into the street and kept walking. This village wasn't going to do anything for them. No handouts and no honesty. They would have better luck walking around in the middle of nowhere.
"Hey, wait!" a little girl's voice called.
Naruto and Neji turned. It was that same little girl from before. She ran up to them, her purple dress fluttering behind her like wings. She reached out for Naruto. He bent down and she grabbed his hand, placing something into his palm. It was warm, round and flat. He opened his hand and looked down at the single coin the girl had given to him.
"Go ahead, take it," she said.
Naruto held the single coin between his thumb and index finger. "What's this for?"
"My mom gave it to me to get candy." This young girl was given an allowance. Once a week, she was given a coin for good behavior by her parents. Normally she took the coin and spent it on candy at the store or saved up to get a new doll. Today, she was on her way to the candy store when she heard Naruto yelling at the restaurant owner, having been cheated out of a promised meal. Taking pity on them, she decided that this coin should be spent on something more important.
"You can't give me this," Naruto told her, trying to give it back.
"I want you to have it. The owner of that place is really mean. He said he'd give you food and he didn't. And you don't have any money of your own, right? So I want you to have it." She closed Naruto's hand with the coin safely in his palm and pushed it into his chest. "Now you've been paid for your hard work."
Naruto didn't know what to say. This girl had just given him all the money she had because a selfish owner decided to go back on his word. This little girl was the purest thing in this whole muddy town. Taking the coin, still hot in his hand, and placing it carefully into his pocket, Naruto looked at the girl. "Thanks. That's very nice of you. You have a big heart, don't you?"
She smiled at his praise.
Wishing there was something he could do to repay her, Naruto looked around for answers. He got his answer in the form of a scaly beast behind his back. "Say… since you were so nice to me… how would you like a ride on a dragon?"
The girl looked at him as if he had just offered her gold. "Really? I'd love it!"
"Alright." Naruto took her by the hand and led her over to Neji. Having seen the whole thing with his own eyes, Neji willingly bent down and allowed Naruto to place the girl onto his back. "Hold on," Naruto told her and the girl gripped Neji's mane with her tiny hands as he rose up. Walking beside him, Naruto led Neji around with the girl as if the dragon were a large horse. They went down the dirt path slowly.
The girl giggled and looked at the buildings passing them by which suddenly didn't seem so big anymore. This was her first time on a dragon and she was loving every second of it. She had never seen one in real life before today and now she was actually riding one. It was like a dream.
They walked to the edge of the village and then stopped. Neji bent down to let the little girl off. Naruto stood nearby, holding out his arms. "Alright, ride's over. We've got to get going."
The girl slid down Neji's back and into Naruto's arms. "That was fun! Thanks for the ride!" Naruto set her on the ground. She pet Neji's leg with her hand. "Are you guys going already?"
"Yeah, sorry. There's somewhere we need to go."
"Well, good luck and be careful. Thanks for the ride again."
"Sure thing. And thanks for the coin. That was very nice of you."
The girl hugged Naruto good bye, wrapping her arms around his knees. Then she stepped back and watched them leave the village with a sad smile. Naruto turned around and waved to her, walking backwards, and Neji waved with his tail. She waved back, calling out to them. "Good-bye, dragon! I'll miss you!"
Naruto finished waving and turned to Neji with an annoyed smile. "So you're the one she'll miss, huh? Guess I can't compete with a dragon."
The girl watched them until they disappeared behind a hill and returned to her family. They were never going to believe this.
Sweet girl ^-^
Any other thoughts about this village and its people? Why is it so muddy? Why are they so mean? Why don't they seem to like ninja? Hmm...
Please review anyway! ^-^
