Bullies, a shopkeeper, and a wooden goldfinch

Friday at last! Every kid in their right mind would be bursting with energy and anticipation for the weekend ahead. Iruka, stopping his last six students before they followed in their classmates's footsteps by rushing out the front doors, knew this. It didn't surprise him when Kiba impatiently tapped his foot and crossed his arms, assuming an accusatory expression complete with a glare and pout that looked absolutely hilarious on his eight-year-old face. The chunin didn't want to aggravate his student though, so he didn't mention it.

Ino hung at the back of the group, Sakura by her side, and asked. "What's the hold-up, Iruka-sensei? Why can't we leave already?" She was trying to sound polite, but a very noticeable amount of irritation was evident in her voice.

"Well..." Iruka began, looking at each member of the group individually before continuing. His gaze lasted longer on Sakura though. "I just though you'd all want to know that Sakura's free to hang out with you today." Now he was looking at Sakura in particular. "A message came through from your father, and you're no longer on house arrest! Not just for today either, you're completely free to go!"

The news sank in, and all six children cheered, Sakura the loudest of all.

"C'mon Sakura!" Ino dragged her pink-haired friend past their instructor . "You haven't visited in forever!"

"ByeIruka-senseiseeyalater!" Kiba sputtered out the words as he ducked underneath the chunin's outstretched arm blocking the door and hurried off after the two girls.

Naruto ran after Kiba, but paused to turn and wave a goodbye. "See ya Monday!"

Choji calmly walked out into the sunshine, turning to give a quick wave and a muffled "Later!" though a mouthful of potato chips before leaving after the others.

Before Shikamaru could go the way of his friends and run around the corner of the building, Iruka decided to make a comment. "It's a nice day, isn't it?"

The Nara replied. "Uh-huh." He kept lazily moving in the same direction Choji had gone, arms supporting the back of his head as he watched the sky.

"Kinda cloudy though."

"That'll clear up by nightfall." Shikamaru responded absently to the chunin behind him, his feet walking him further away every moment.

Iruka chuckled fondly and said. "Another prediction then, little weatherman?"

Shikamaru didn't deign to answer with a verbal reply, though he flopped one hand through the air in a lazy, and faintly annoyed, farewell before rounding the corner of the school building. Iruka watched him turn out of view, and then the teacher stepped back into the academy and drifted towards his classroom to grab a few things before leaving. He whistled a short tune, remembering when he'd been that young, and silently wished his favorite students a fun-filled afternoon. Not that he had favorites, of course.

They all caught up to each other a little over halfway to Yota's oak tree, where the six-year-old would've been waiting since that self-same Friday morning. Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kiba had escorted Yota to their beloved forest clearing on their way to the academy, dropping him off with the few non-perishable foods they'd managed to scavenge from his blown-away snack stash and a picture book to keep him busy. The very short list of what they'd managed to retrieve from the debris of Yota's tree house was given to Sakura verbally, along with their plans to keep looking for more.

Soon enough, they arrived. Yota, upon spotting the six of them, especially joined by Sakura again, yelled in glee. "Yatta! You're here!" He jumped once and spun around in a circle, which was fairly dangerous considering his position in the tree branches.

"Yota! Careful!" Shikamaru shouted up.

The raggedy boy ignored him, opting instead to run across the branch, getting closer to the end of it, and yanking something out of a cluster of green buds. He tumbled back to the sturdier area of the trunk where the tree house had once nestled, and got back up, waving what he'd yanked out of the branches in the air.

"Lookit! Lookit wha' I found!" He excitedly exclaimed. Yota clambered down the wooden steps of the trunk ladder and ran towards his friends as fast as his legs could carry him the moment he touched earth. "Lookit! Treasure!"

The six older children clustered around the youngest, and Choji gently lifted the item from Yota's outstretched hands. Shikamaru, standing next to the Akimichi, slowly and carefully lifted a hand to pull the dog-eared bottom corner straight. After touching it, as if to make sure it was real, he smiled.

"Heh. This's treasure, alright."

And it was, in a way. The object Yota had found in the branches of their ancient oak tree was the one thing that had come with him besides the clothes on his back. A slightly rusty steel pole with a tanned and tattered cloth attached to it, proclaiming to all who read it the words, "Weather for Sale". It might've been junk for everyone else in the world, but to seven children in a special clearing, it was treasure.

...

...

...

"One..."

Seven young and determined faces were all focused on one thing and one thing only.

"Two..."

Seven small hands raised a tightly gripped metal pole into the air, the afternoon sun glinting off a silver corner and illuminating an old, torn cloth attached to it.

"Three!"

Seven children, all in one sweeping, grand, and simple motion, thrust a newly rediscovered treasure into soft, green, earth. The metal pole of Yota's sign had embedded itself at least three inches in the ground. And it was staying, if a bit wobbly. The six taller figures backed away a foot or two, and the smallest one twisted the pole back and forth while trying to force it deeper into the dirt. Slowly but surely, it stuck. He lifted his hands off the steel surface, and the group of friends watched their flag stay fluttering steady.

"Yatta!" They collectively cheered together, adopting one of Yota's favorite words. The group then collectively plopped themselves down on the grass.

Every one of them took a moment to simply appreciate the day. It was beautiful weather, with sunny blue skies overhead and soft, white clouds drifting by on a gentle breeze. The same warm breeze blew through the group, caressing skin and ruffling hair. Yota didn't actually have anything to do with this. The breeze carried with it a green, earthy scent, one that brought suggestions of rain and flowers and spring. The day really was a wonderful one, as close to perfect as things could get. Yota'd found that tattered "Weather for Sale" sign, the old oak made it through the storm, Yota's blankets were all found, and they'd already cleaned up all the debris so there wasn't any more work to do.

It was the kind of day you could simply sit still and appreciate. Of course, that grew boring.

"Sooo..." Ino drew out the single syllable. "What now?"

She received a chorus of very similar answers, ones that were absolutely no help at all.

"I dunno."

"No clue."

"Um..."

"Dunno."

"Meh."

There was a pause of silence after that, and it was during this time that Yota looked back and forth between his friends, trying to see if any of them had a suggestion. No one did. And so, he gleefully shouted out his own.

"Le's go to t'e vil'age!" His rapid and excited speech left out several consonants, but the meaning was very clear nonetheless.

Ino responded. "What?! No way!"

"Nuh-uh!" Naruto vehemently agreed with the negative sentiment.

Kiba pointed out. "They're cracking down hard on people from outside the village right now! We can't take you there!"

Sakura glanced between Yota and Ino uncertainly.

While Choji personally thought that Naruto, Ino, and Kiba were right on the money, he didn't voice it. Knowing his best friend Shikamaru as well as he did, the Akimichi knew that the Nara was actually thinking over the suggestion, and was likely going to join Yota's side. Why, he didn't know, but he could tell from Shikamaru's expression that he did. And so, Choji kept quiet.

Choji was right. Shikamaru said. "I think we ought'a bring Yota into town."

Another pause of silence, though this one was three parts disbelieving, one part hopeful, two parts undecided, and one part self-assured confidence that no one else was thinking things through.

It was suddenly broken by Ino. "Why?"

And that was the crux of the matter. With Shikamaru, the question was never "what?" it was always "why?" or "how?".

Shikamaru explained. "Well... For one thing, Yota needs new clothes."

Yota glanced at his dirty, smudged, blue shirt, and his tattered brown cloak, and the yellowing bandages on his head. He self-consciously tried to brush a grass stain off the hem of his tunic.

"And," Shikamaru continued. "We might as well show him around Konoha, so he won't get lost if he's ever there again. Plus, we can disguise him. Besides, it's the least we can do, seeing how he's the only one who can't make it to Choji's sleepover tonight..."

Now there was a guilt trip. The others glanced at each other, then at Yota, and then Shikamaru, and then Yota again. Eh... they might as well.

Half an hour later, seven children were standing at the end of a small side-street in the market district. The street they'd just walked down was devoid of other people, as most of the street's buildings were unused and dusty "For Sale" signs hung in the shop windows.

Ino, rather unsubtly, tried to divert her friends's attention. "Oh, would you look at that! The corner shop next to the main street's been sold! I wonder who's bought it? All these dusty old buildings are pretty empty, whoever bought the store could probably set things up by themselves in a day or two. Oh, what do you think it's going to be? Maybe a dress shop?" She made exaggerated hand movements as she spoke, and an unrealistically dreamy expression crossed her face. Ino really was an awful actress.

Shikamaru sighed. "Ino, we all agreed to this. Stop trying to distract us. And we can't go back now, Yota's already in costume!"

And Yota was definitely wearing a disguise. A horribly mismatched one, for sure, but quite good considering what they had to work with and the fact that no one working on it was older than eight.

Yota now had on Choji's over-sized green jacket over his blue tunic, and his tattered brown cloak had been left back at the oak. His bandages were wrapped around his legs rather than his head, and the purple, rope-like sweatband that had gone over that was now tying back his tangled muddy-beige hair into a ponytail reminiscent of Shikamaru's own. His eyes were horribly recognizable though, so they'd made a quick stop at Naruto's apartment to dig out a pair of plastic sunglasses that hid his discolored whites easily enough.

Now, they were about to hit the streets of Konoha.

Ino wore a worried expression upon her face as they glanced at the street ahead of them. On a road map of the village, the intersection they were at would've been T-shaped, and the seven children would've walked up the stem of the T, and stopped just before it met the top. Even Shikamaru, the most confident of their plan, was a little hesitant. But in the end, it was Yota himself who stepped forward into the busy throngs going about their business in the market district.

Nothing happened at all, besides him almost falling into an old lady. No ANBU agents suddenly leaped out of the shadows and grabbed him. No elite jonin appeared out of nowhere with kunai in hand. Nothing.

The tension evaporated like water droplets on a hot pan, and Yota was soon joined by his friends. The group of seven stuck close together to make themselves more easily noticed and therefore less jostled about by all the grownups out. When they'd counted up all their pocket money, the total sum had turned out to be just enough for a few simple outfits and perhaps a small toy. So, they headed for the nearest clothes shop with a discount sign in the window.

While Ino and Kiba were debating between themselves the merits of fur-lined jackets and T-shirts, Choji took the lead and made a path through the crowd. The Akimichi pulled open the door when they reached it, and they filed in one-by-one. The store, Yuyake, was managed by a pair of sisters in their early thirties, and they quickly spotted the small crowd at the entrance. The seven children were promptly kicked out.

"Hey!" Ino glared through the glass window at the two shopkeepers. When they ignored her and went on organizing clothes racks, the Yamanaka huffed and turned on her heel. "Hmph. Jerks."

She noticed a fist-sized stone on the ground, picked it up and spun around, ready to throw it at the shop window angrily. Her arm, moving fast with the smooth grey stone in a firm grip, was suddenly stopped in it's movement. Sakura had caught her by the elbow mid-throw, and in her surprise, Ino dropped the rock, letting it fall back to the dusty ground. In almost the same instant, Sakura snatched her hand away from Ino's arm, letting it fall to her friend's side once more.

"N-no." Sakura shook her head back and forth. "T-that'll get us all in t-trouble."

"Sakura." Ino blinked in shock, her expression blank and bewildered, but then a moment later, she smiled. "Thanks."

Sakura Haruno was just as surprised at her actions as Ino was, if not more so. "Um... Y-you're welcome." Her voice sounded more confident than before.

Ino glanced around, and saw the rest of their friends already moving on to another store, hopefully one that would let them shop there. She grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled her towards them, the two girls weaving their way between adults with the deft skill born of being a child in a world of grown-ups.

"C'mon." Ino said to her quieter friend. "Let's go catch up with the boys."

They ducked to the side of a man on a bike pulling a delivery cart behind him filled with cardboard boxes. As the twirling noise of the bicycle's wheels faded away, Ino slowed her pace to a brisk trot, and Sakura followed suit. The Yamanaka then pulled her friend forward again, but kept her own pace, bringing Sakura to a steady walk at next to her. They were moving side-by-side.

"Sakura." Ino began, softly but in a sure and confident tone of voice.

"Um, yes?" Sakura wondered what it was Ino was about to say.

Ino went on speaking, looking her best friend directly in the eye. "Thank you." At the pink-haired girl's confused expression, she clarified. "For stopping me back there. I know I said it then, but still... thanks. That just made me realize... that we really really need you. To keep us from doing anything stupid. Or... well, me, at least." Her pride was wounded to admit that, but she was going to be honest throughout her speech.

"You remember yesterday? When you found Yota?" Ino continued, avoiding Sakura's gaze now. "I... He was upset because I asked a stupid question. We... well... I don't always think things through. And when I don't, you hold me back. And... Thank you. For that." She ended her speech on an awkward note.

Sakura didn't know how to reply to that. It was an honest and heartfelt speech, if a little clumsy, and it made her feel... proud. Proud that she had a place, that she had a friend who needed her... It was a nice feeling. Before she could attempt an even more awkward response however, Naruto shouted back at her and Ino.

"Hey! C'mon! We found another place!"

Sakura found herself running with Ino again, shimmying, scurrying, and slip-sliding through the masses of people in the market. Although Sakura was panting a little from the effort, she kept pace with Ino, who wasn't running as quickly as she could've. This time, Ino wasn't dragging Sakura along behind her. They were side-by-side.

"Aw, man! That's like, the twenty-second one!" Kiba complained loudly. Not that he was counting. Akamaru whimpered, and the Inuzuka gave his nin-puppy a scratch behind the ears.

True enough, the seven children had been through twenty-two stores, eight stalls and one tent included. After five clothing stores evicted them, they'd started trying at random any shop that looked interesting. Every single one had either kicked them out or ignored them, and the salesman in the tent even started packing up to move somewhere else. It was incomprehensible. Illogical. Unavoidable.

People gave them all looks. Cold, cruel looks, hot and angry looks, sickeningly sympathetic looks of pity, and worst of all were the harsh, unseeing looks of indifference. It was like everyone held them in contempt just for breathing the same air.

Naruto wasn't very good at hiding emotions. Everything he felt showed on his face and everything he thought he was shouted to the world-or at least to Iruka. The guilt was as obvious and eye-catching as tar on the Hokage Monument. His friends could all plainly see that he blamed himself for their horrid treatment at the hands of the shopkeepers.

Kiba, after noticing that his insensitive comment had made things worse, winced and apologized to the blond boy. "Oh... Sorry, Naruto. Didn't mean that at you."

He received no reply.

"It's the stupid people's fault that they're bein' so mean." Kiba continued, trying to pry any sort of response from his melancholy friend.

Silence.

"Oh, look!" He pointed ahead at a store, one that actually sold clothes this time. "C'mon, let's try this one!"

It didn't have a sale going on, but at that point they just wanted to get their mission over with successfully. Although morale was low, hope was ever-present, and everyone allowed themselves a secret feathery hope that maybe this was a shop that would let them stay.

"Alright." Shikamaru conceded. "Let's go!"

Ino ran past the others and arrived first at the door. The people walking on the street ignored her for the most part, until the rest of the group caught up and joined the Yamanaka in front of the small clothes shop. Then, they glared at the seven children collectively before hurrying on their way. Yota seemed the most apprehensive about going in the store, after Naruto, of course. The six-year-old didn't move from his spot in front when Ino pulled the door open.

"C'mon, Yota. Maybe we can actually get you some new clothes this time." Ino said, trying to persuade the youngest of the seven.

At her support, Yota walked in, and the rest followed suit within seconds. The inside of the store was almost obsessively neat, every single item having been organized first by color and then by size and brand. They barely had enough time to notice this before they were ushered out by an old lady with a broom. Upon having the door slammed in their faces for the umpteenth time, the group of friends was feeling rather depressed.

No one made a sound as they went on walking down the street.

The Inuzuka allowed it this time, keeping uncharacteristically quiet along with everyone else. The group of seven continued their mild pace walking through the market district, though by now it had been over forty minutes and were quickly coming back to the very same point they'd started at. Within moments, the left turn down the small side street was visible again through the thinning throngs. They'd come full circle.

Shikamaru, who'd been in the lead, slowed down as they neared the very same intersection they'd started at, and spotted an empty bench nearby. He strolled in that direction, and sat himself down at one end with a quiet sigh. Choji plopped down next to him, and Yota next to Choji. Sakura took up the last open space and the others just leaned against the back of the bench. The usual noises of the market district seemed filtered and muffled through the gloom of disappointment and hurt.

They sat there, quietly, for a while, each person keeping silent for fear of setting someone else off. Yota didn't like the new quiet. His friends stared listlessly at the people passing by, but Yota watched them instead. Half of them just looked sad and disappointed, though Naruto's expression was a guilty one and Kiba seemed angry. Shikamaru's face was passively blank.

Yota sighed softly, so much so that not even those sitting next to him noticed. He himself felt sad. Not because of the fact that they hadn't managed to get him anything new, but because the shopkeepers all seemed to hate them and that that made his friends sad.

He had no idea why everyone kept kicking them out, though the stares were achingly familiar. Then, a small, twittering bird with golden-brown feathers on its back, bright gold on its belly, and white stripes on its wings landed on the ground in front of him, between his hanging feet. That brought a memory to the forefront of his mind.

Flashback...

Yota, eager to see the small village they were passing through, begged an uncle for some money. The man, wearing clothes very similar to Yota's own, though obviously bigger, consented with an amused smile. He handed the little boy a few bills and coins, and sent him on his way.

Yota gleefully ran down a dusty street. It was small and the buildings on either side were rather old and ramshackle just like the rest of the village, but it was interesting. His small clan had traveled there because they'd heard the place was having a dangerously dry summer. They'd fixed that with a few special jutsu combined with their weather-controlling kekkei genkai, bringing rain to the small patch of civilization. Now, they were staying for just another day before moving on.

Slowing his fast trot to a slow jog, Yota finally saw the people walking on either side of the street. They stared at him a lot, some curious, and grateful, some fearful, and some just tried to ignore him. When they figured out that he'd noticed their stares, everyone quickly looked away and Yota moved on.

He happened upon an open stall selling small toys and miscellaneous things. Yota stood on the tips of his toes to see over the counter. The man running the stall had a cream-colored, cloth, tool pouch tied around his waist filled with all sorts of tiny little tools meant for building and repairing toys. Tiny hammers, minute screws, a thumb-sized screwdriver, a little bottle of super blue and another one of rubber cement. There was a pocket knife too, clipped onto the outside, one of those thick ones with the multiple things inside. Yota didn't remember the man's face, but the tool belt was fascinating.

"Looking for anything in particular, dear?" The shopkeeper asked, his voice kind though his words were choppy, like he wasn't used to the language. And he didn't gawk like the other villagers. He seemed nice.

Yota glanced at what was on the shelves or hanging from the ceiling of the toy stall. Everything was simple, but it was so inviting and most were lovingly handmade. There were dolls in faded cloth, and smoothly sanded wooden figurines, and baskets woven out of grass, and little wooden puppets with carefully made joints. There were brightly colored origami kits, and delicately stitched stuffed animals, and ceramic puzzles, and leather balls made to last.

The six-year-old's green eyes were drawn to one thing. One of the wooden figurines. "Wha's'at?" He asked, pointing at the carving. "That bird?"

The shopkeeper plucked the figurine out of the loop of string it hung from and set in on the counter in front of Yota. "Oh, this one? This is a carving of a bird called a lesser goldfinch. You don't see it too often here." His voice was soft, and wistful.

Yota gently lifted the carving from the counter and cupped it in his hands like it was a real bird.

The shopkeeper continued, as quietly as before and just as sentimental. "It doesn't come from here, or anywhere nearby. It's first home is far, far away. But it did come here, and it's found a new home for a while."

"Did you ever see its firs' home?" Yota asked.

He received an amused chuckle in reply, and then. "No, no. I'm from far away too, but we're not from the same place. Would you like to see a real one, dear?"

Yota nodded, smiling an eager smile.

The shopkeeper bent down and reached under the counter. Shuffling noises indicated things being moved around. At last, he grabbed something, and slowly and carefully pulled it out onto the floor of the shop. He stood up, still holding it, and lightly set it down on the counter-top. It was covered by a lavender cloth, but Yota felt certain it was a bird cage. The shopkeeper lifted the cloth, and sure enough, it was a bird cage. Inside, hopping about, was a lesser goldfinch.

"Ooh..." Yota poked the door of the cage with his finger.

"I keep meaning to let it out." The shopkeeper said fondly as the bird twittered. "But I've never found the right place. They eat sunflower seeds and need a green habitat. This village is too dry though, dear lord. But I promised I'd find it a home one day, and it's the right thing to do."

Curious, Yota asked. "Promised who?"

"Myself." Was the reply. "When I bought this goldfinch from a seller who had no idea what it ate, the poor bird. I promised myself I'd let it free one day, poor thing."

Yota tugged the money his uncle had given him from his cloak and asked. "How much is it for th' wooden one?"

"Oh, not much at all, dear." The shopkeeper covered the cage again and placed it back underneath the counter. "Those coins are enough."

Yota picked the coins out before shoving the bills back into his pocket. Suddenly, a stone flew out of nowhere and bonked the boy on his head.

"Ah!"

Yota dropped both his coins and the bird figurine, and they both landed on the ground. The shopkeeper, startled, leaned over the counter and pulled the six-year-old back to his feet.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" He dusted the child off. "What was that?"

Both of them turned their heads to see a gang of older children right across the road.

"That's the freak!" A scruffy, mean-looking boy no more than eleven shouted. His friends stood by him and jeered at the two at the stall.

A shorter one with dirty green-black hair who looked to be a sidekick to the leader yelled out. "Hey! Toy guy! Hand over the baby weather-freak!"

"Oh, dear." The shopkeeper flustered about, trying to diffuse the situation. "Now, don't do anything rash, children. If you could just talk this out-"

He never got to finish the sentence, as the gang started pelting them both with sticks and stones picked off the dusty street.

Schunk! Schunk! Schunk! Thwack!

The shopkeeper had tried to shield Yota with his arm, but a particularly sharp stone crashed against the little boy's collarbone, bruising him, and knocked him to the ground. Yota sniffled, and when the shopkeeper stepped out of the stall and tried to help him back up again, he instead brushed past the man and ran away in the direction he'd come from. His clan had comforted him after he made it back to camp and they left early. That was the last village Yota ever saw before falling victim to a fatal fever. He never saw the shopkeeper or the wooden goldfinch again.

Flashback end...

Yota frowned. The storekeepers in Konoha reminded him a lot of the gang of children who'd pelted him with rocks and twigs back then in the countryside village. The exact same kind of closed-minded, mob psychology was apparent, only it was all the worse here because they were adults with a bigger target. And the target wasn't just him anymore, it was his friends too. There wasn't even a shopkeeper to make things better.

He was very close to crying. Yota absolutely hated the kind of attitude that the Leaf Village, or at least the market, seemed to be full of. He kept his tears inside though, and the drizzle that would've resulted nonexistent. But he wasn't above a quiet sniffle as he watched the lesser goldfinch between his sandaled feet.

Then, two shoe-covered feet came into his view, just about a foot away from the goldfinch. They weren't sandles, they were proper civilian shoes, with a dark rubber sole and chestnut-colored cloth. Looking up from the feet, he saw a tall, thin man in a tan-colored trenchcoat and a floppy, wide-brimmed, brown hat. Yota's friends were watching him too, and with a justifiable amount of apprehension after the treatment they'd just been through.

The man bent down so that he was at Yota's eye-level, and held out a bundle of folded clothes. Ones that he recognized as being from the store that had most recently kicked him out.

There were three tunics that coincidentally looked rather similar to the one he wore underneath Choji's jacket. A red one, a grey one, and a blue one. There were also two pairs of cream-colored cargo shorts. The clothes looked a size too big, but Yota didn't really care about that. What he was wondering was what on earth this stranger was doing handing them to him.

"Here." The stranger said softly, placing the bundle on Yota's lap. He wore a warm smile on his face, the rest of which was mostly shadowed by the brim of his hat. "I saw-and, er, heard- you all being kicked out of that shop. Seemed terribly unfair, to me."

The man glanced up and seemed to look Yota in the eye then, even through the six-year-old's sunglasses. When he did, Yota caught a brief glimpse of wire-rimmed glasses with odd, rectangular lenses. He caught a glimpse of a wavy lock of hair of a color he couldn't quite make out. He caught a glimpse of sky-blue eyes with a soft, welcoming kindness in them that reminded him of his friends's academy teacher.

And then, the man awkwardly coughed into his hand and pulled the brim of his hat low in a strange gesture of goodbye. He turned and left as quickly as he came, the back of his trenchcoat disappearing into the crowd.

It was quiet for a moment.

"Huh," Choji said. "Well, there's bound to be nice grown-ups if there are mean ones." He snacked on another potato chip.

"Mm-hmm." Shikamaru nodded.

"Guess so." Kiba admitted.

"Eh, why not?" Ino shrugged.

"Mmm." Sakura nodded as well.

"Well, duh!" Naruto exclaimed, his usual cheerfulness back again. "There's Iruka-sensei, and the Old Man, and Teuchi, and Ayame's kinda a grown-up, a-"

Shikamaru interrupted. "We get the point."

Choji noticed the longer shadows at there feet and the yellowing light. He said. "Guys, it's getting a little late."

Ino glanced at the sun's position in the sky and replied. "Not that much."

"Yeah, but my parents said I gotta get home early if I wanna have that sleepover." Choji responded, slightly let-down. He slipped off the bench and gave a half-hearted wave farewell. "See ya guys later." He started walking away.

"Come to think of it," Ino said. "I still need to find a sleeping bag." She waved over her shoulder as she joined the throngs of people moving one way or another. "Buh-bye!"

After Ino'd gone, Sakura felt a little awkward just sitting there, and followed her after a quick. "B-bye."

Shikamaru sighed. "My mom's gonna nag if I'm out late before Choji's sleepover." He got off the bench. "Later, guys. Kiba, make sure Naruto and Yota get back to his apartment."

"Hey! We can take care of ourselves!" Naruto protested, more to keep Shikamaru around a little longer than anything else.

Kiba ignored the blond and saluted in response to Shikamaru's order. "Sir, yes sir, General Shikamaru!"

"Oi!" Shikamaru was slightly miffed. "Quit calling me that!"

"Fine." Kiba huffed. Then, a mischievous grin grew on his face. "Weatherman."

Shikamaru pretended he hadn't heard and left in the direction of his home.

"'kay, c'mon guys, let's go!" Kiba began play-marching down the street, joined by Naruto.

Yota slid off the bench, but opted to walk instead, still carrying the bundle of clothes gifted to him by a kind stranger. He contemplated his thoughts on Konoha once more.

There were adults who wouldn't abide the presence of Yota and his friends in their stores. It was unfair, and it was mean. The village's ANBU didn't want him there for some reason, which was unfair too. But then again, his friends came from this village, and they were good friends, so the village had to have good in it too.

A gang of bullies, and a wooden goldfinch.

And, Yota thought, glancing down at the bundle of clothes and thinking of the man who'd given him the charity. A shopkeeper.

He wasn't running away this time.

AN: Whew! That's got to be the most I've ever written at once. 5,000+ words, wow. That's a record for me. I hope the chapter was enjoyable!