Chapter 13:

They found a quiet place to rest for the night beneath a tall tree. Again, Neji used his tail as a blanket to cover Naruto and the two slept curled up together. They went to sleep an hour after sunset with the intention of rising early so they could reach the next village during the day. Naruto didn't want to go searching around in the dark for a place he had never been to before.

When the sun rose, so did the dragon. Neji opened his eyes first and looked down at Naruto, sprawled out over his body like a carelessly placed rag doll. He waited but Naruto did not rise. He snorted in his face, blowing his blond hair back. Naruto twitched but didn't wake up. Neji then began to nudge him with his nose. He pushed Naruto's head onto his other shoulder, growling softly. He continued to nudge him until Naruto started making sounds. He moaned and raised his hand to stop Neji's prodding. Neji kept it up, more determined than ever to wake him.

"Neji, stop… Stop it, Neji…" Naruto faced away, pushing Neji back with his hand. He continued to nudge him. "Knock it off…"

"Ruu!" Neji nudged him harder and faster. His smoky breath and constant nudging made it impossible to go back to sleep. Naruto started to sit up.

"Alright, alright. I'm up, I'm up…"

Neji gave a pleased growl and stopped pushing. He seemed excited to be so close to their goal. Their destination was just a day's walk from where they sat. Naruto started stretching and yawning while Neji did the same. He stood up rubbing his legs while the dragon uncoiled himself, wagging his tail and shaking his head.

"Ok, I guess you want to get going, don't you?"

Neji's tail wagged and he gave a happy growl. He circled around the tree several times and then pointed his body toward the road. Naruto had never seen Neji behave this way. He must have been very excited and wanted to show it to Naruto the only way he knew how. It was strange, however. Neji was never this expressive before.

They left right away, following the map's instructions. As they walked, they noticed some fruit bearing trees and their stomachs rumbled. Sick of apples, Naruto wasn't sure if he wanted anything the trees had to offer. As it turned out, these were peach trees, not apple trees. This Naruto could eat without complaints. Neji made things easier by letting Naruto sit on his head while he tossed down the peaches. They had gathered up several dozen peaches and started eating them immediately. Neji bit off a branch of peaches directly from the tree and ate it, bark and all.

"How about I just toss them to you?" Naruto suggested, realizing that Neji couldn't pick the fruit as easily as he could. Neji agreed and opened his mouth. Naruto tossed in several peaches before sitting down to his own. His mouth filled with juicy peach flesh and groans of delight. "These are great, aren't they? It's been a while since I had peaches."

Unable to wait for Naruto to toss him more peaches, Neji helped himself to Naruto's pile instead. Naruto never told him to stop so he assumed it was acceptable. After a breakfast of peaches, Naruto gathered up any leftovers into the brocade bag and they were soon off again.

Two hours passed and suddenly the trees came to a stop. It was the edge of the peach forest. Naruto stepped out first and saw a sight he had been hoping for. It was a thick white wall. The wall wasn't very large as expected from a place that wanted to keep people out. It wasn't a fortress at all, just a wall that fenced in the area, keeping wild animals out. Naruto could see rooftops and flags fluttering in the gentle breeze and could hear voices and laughter. He could smell smoke coming from behind the walls and could see the puffs coming from the buildings.

"It's the village. We made it."

Neji poked his head between the trees to take a look for himself. Naruto pushed him back before he got too far beyond the forest.

"Hang on a second, Neji."

The dragon gave him a puzzled look.

Remembering how the Seiha brothers Shi, Kyo, and Touzoku reacted to seeing a dragon, Naruto wasn't taking anymore changes. This village may have been the place where the Dragon Priestess originated, but there was no guarantee that the villagers would be welcoming of a real-live dragon on their doorstep this day and age. Until Naruto got more information, Neji would have to remain hidden.

"Stay here, just in case. I'm going to head into the village and see if I can find someone who can help us." Naruto took off the brocade bag and dumped the leftover peaches at his feet. "Just sit tight while I go on ahead. I'll leave these here for you so you have something to snack on."

Neji gave him a concerned look. It seemed he didn't want to be left behind on his own.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, ok? Just sit tight."

Neji stretched out his neck and touched his head to Naruto's. It was an odd gesture, but Naruto thought he understood. He was wishing him good-luck. Naruto reached up and scratched the side of Neji's jaw.

"Wait here, ok? I'll be back." He returned the bag to his back and backed away from the forest. Neji watched him with sad eyes. Naruto wondered if he was disappointed that he couldn't enter the village he had been hoping for ever since this fiasco began, or because he would miss Naruto while he was gone. He gave Neji a wave and turned, walking toward the white walls.

Naruto stood at the tall wooden gates, looking up at the walls fencing in the village. They weren't very tall at all. Roughly ten feet or so. There were no guards either. It would be rather easy getting in. Naruto gave one last look at the forest where he knew Neji was hidden, took in a breath and pushed the wooden doors open.

At first glance, it looked more like a city than a village. The building were quite tall and tightly packed together. As he walked, Naruto felt more comfortable wandering this strange place by himself. No one said anything or bothered him. They weren't welcoming, or rude. The people here seemed rather indifferent to his presence. It seemed like a rather nice place to live. Further from the gate, Naruto saw shops and stands with people selling things and customers negotiating prices. People were walking their pets, children were playing in the street, adults were chatting. It was a very peaceful place.

A crowd of people passed him by, engrossed in their own conversations. No one took notice of him. After they had passed, he noticed even more shops. These ones got his attention right away. Naruto ran up to the first window and peeked inside. It was a restaurant. People were packed into booths, eating a wide variety of foods and wines. Seeing the different dishes made his mouth water. One woman looked up from her meal and spotted Naruto in the window. Unnerved by her stare, Naruto slinked away back into the crowd of people bustling by.

"That place is too fancy anyway… It's not like I have any money to…" Naruto stuffed his hands into his pockets and felt something. Something round and hard. He pulled out a lone coin. "Oh, yeah! That little girl gave it to me. I forgot all about it."

This single coin wouldn't offer him much. Certainly not enough to eat in one of those restaurants. But it would be enough to get him something to eat elsewhere.

Naruto began to do a little window shopping. Following his nose, Naruto went straight to a bakery and pressed his nose against the window, eying all the sweets with hungry eyes. So many decorative cakes and cookies and pies and breads and so much more. Everything looked so delicious. He swallowed his saliva and moved on to another window. This one also had pies in the window. Apple pies. Tired of apples, Naruto turned away, in search of something else. He then came across what appeared to be a butcher shop. Chickens hung upside-down in the window on the right above a sign describing recent deals. Naruto was looking in the window on the left which had a wide display of meats all set and ready to be picked up for dinner. Naruto was busy eying the honey glazed ham right up front.

"Maybe I should get it," he thought allowed. "I could eat a bit of it and give the rest to Neji. He likes meat a lot now." Naruto looked down at the coin, hoping it would be enough.

Just as he was about to enter the shop, he heard a voice down the street. It was an old woman. Naruto could tell by her voice. The rest of her was completely covered up by rags, which looked like pieces of old rags used to wash floors stitched loosely together. She was reaching out to a vendor with shaking wrinkled hands.

"Please," she was begging him. "Please? Just one. Please take pity on an old woman. Please?" The vendor refused, keeping a tightly hold of his fruit stand and everything on it. The more the woman begged, the more angry he became. He waved her away from his stand. "Get! No money, no fruit. You know this. Now get out of here. You're bad for business."

"Please?" The woman's voice creaked. "Just one? Your smallest? Just a grape? A single grape?"

"I said get! Get lost, old woman! Go!"

Seeing this display happen before his eyes reminded Naruto of himself just a few days ago in the last village. He had begged a similar way to the farmer who lived there, wanting food; anything he could get. He, too, was told no and asked to leave. The farmer was kinder than this man. This man was just greedy and rude to boot. Surely this vendor could spare her something.

The beggar woman moved to the street, pleading with passersby to spare her some change so that she could eat. Her hands trembled with hunger. She was so frail and old, it was all she could do to keep from falling over as people passed her by without so much as looking down. Some people walked on the other side of the street to avoid her while others kept a tight hold of their pocketbooks, refusing to give her anything. With one hand, she kept the front of her rags closed while the other was held out toward the people, shaking weakly. No one showed her any shred of pity.

The vendor chased her away, demanding that she leave before he took action. The old woman shuffled down the road, looking like she would collapse at any moment.

Naruto looked down at the coin, still hot in his hand and knew what he had to do.

"Hey, wait! Old lady!" Naruto ran in front of the woman, cutting her off. "Hang on a second. Here." Naruto took out all the money he had and placed it into the old woman's boney hand in the same fashion the little girl had done for him. "Take it."

The old woman looked down at the lone coin in the palm of her shaking wrinkled hand as if he had handed her gold. She closed her boney fingers around the coin and held it tight, closing her eyes as if she were about to cry. "Oh, my dear boy… Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Don't worry about it." Naruto had been in her position before. He knew what it was like to be hungry and have everyone around treat him cruelly because he had no money to his name. He saw the way this woman carried herself. She was clearly sick and frail. She was a poor old woman. This may have been her only chance to eat in weeks. No one showed her pity or kindness. Naruto was the only one. He didn't mind. There were plenty of peaches just beyond those walls. He didn't need that ham. He had plenty of money back home, too. This old woman needed it more than he did.

Keeping her rags closed across her chest, the old woman took the coin and bowed her head to Naruto. "Thank you so much for your kindness. You have a good heart." She started to walk around him, completely overlooking the fruit stand she had been begging to. This struck Naruto as odd. If she was so hungry, why wasn't she buying the fruit she had wanted so desperately moments ago?

What she did next made his heart stop for a full two seconds. As she passed him by, she whispered to him clearly. So clear, it was unmistakable.

"I hope you find the cure to your dragon friend waiting outside."

Naruto stopped breathing. So many things ran through his mind at once. How did she know about Neji? Who was this old woman? Naruto turned around and saw her walking away. "W- wait!" He had to find out. "Come back! Old lady, stop!"

He chased her down the road. A few minutes ago, it was all she could do to stand up on her own. Now she was moving swiftly down the street, outrunning the spry young ninja. She moved so fast, it was as if she were gliding across the ground. Like a ghost.

Naruto weaved through the crowd, trying to stay on her. "Please, wait! Old lady!" She never looked back. At the end of the block, she turned a sudden corner, disappearing from his view. "Wait! Stop!" Naruto turned the same corner and ran into something and was knocked off his feet.

"Oh!"

"Ouch!" Naruto sat up rubbing his shoulder. There was a woman knelt in front of him, picking up her fallen groceries. "Ah, I'm sorry!"

"That's alright…"

Naruto looked passed the woman, looking down the narrow road they were on. There was no sign of the old woman anywhere. "Say, you didn't happen to see an old lady run by this way, did you?"

"An old lady?" The woman looked over her shoulder. "Here? Just now?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't see anybody. You're the only one I saw."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I was just walking down this way when I heard someone yell 'wait' and then you came around the corner and ran into me. If there was an old woman running this way, I would have seen her for sure."

It didn't make any sense. How could an old woman just disappear like that?

While trying to figure out what went wrong, Naruto helped the woman gather her belongings and collected them in her woven bag. "Sorry about that."

"I said it was alright. I'm not hurt or anything."

Now Naruto got a good look at the woman he had run into. She was rather pretty. She looked fairly young, possibly in her twenties. Her dark brown hair was pinned up in a bun in the back, letting her bangs hang loose off to one side of her head. She also wore earrings the color of wheat. But the odd thing about her appearance was her clothing. Unlike the other people in this village, she was wearing silk. It was a silk hanfu the color of the summer sky with a purple flower pattern.

The woman caught him staring. "What is it?"

"Uh… It's nothing. I was just…"

A man stepped up behind the woman and placed his hand lovingly on her shoulder. "Is something wrong, Shira? Who are you talking to?"

"I haven't asked his name, honey. But we ran into each other. He helped me pick things up."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

The man smiled. "My name is Nianzu. It's a pleasure."

"He said he was looking for an old woman. I didn't see anyone. Did you?" asked the woman he called Shira.

Nianzu looked down the road and to the other side. "No. I saw no one." Nianzu had black hair he kept in a ponytail and dark, gentle eyes. Just like the woman, he, too, was wearing a silk outfit. Unlike hers, his was red and black.

Still fixated on the old woman, Naruto tried describing her to them and told them exactly where she had gone. "You're sure you didn't see the old lady?"

"No, we haven't seen anyone like that. Why are you looking for her? Is she important to you? Do you know her?"

"I…" Naruto sighed. There was no way he could explain it. "It's nothing. Never mind. Thanks anyway."

Nianzu chuckled, pulling Shira in close. "It's like that story I heard a long time ago. You remember that, darling? That spirit?"

"Yes, yes. I've heard that story from you before… many times."

Spirit? Story? Naruto began to wonder… These people seemed kind enough. Maybe he should trust them. Still wary after his earlier run-in with the Seiha brothers, Naruto felt the need to put it to the test, just in case. Though they seemed trustworthy, Naruto had to make sure before he told them about Neji and their quest. "Um… I have a question for you two."

"Yes?"

Naruto phrased it carefully. "Have you guys ever heard of a story about cursed Dragon Pearls or something like that?"

Nianzu's eyes twinkled. "Of course, I have. Ah, those have been passed down for ages… The legend of the Dragon Priestess."

"So you know about the Dragon Priestess?" Naruto asked.

Nianzu laughed. "Of course I do! I'm her descendant."

Again, Naruto's heart stopped beating. His breath caught in his throat. And then, all at once, it came back along with a great burst of energy. "Really?! No kidding?! You're dead serious?!"

"I wouldn't lie about my ancestry. You have my word." Just to prove himself real to Naruto, he rolled up his sleeve, showing Naruto the gold bracelet he was wearing in the shape of a dragon coiling around his wrist. "See? Passed down from generation to generation to the next heir. This belonged to my father and his father before him and his father before him and his-"

"Honey, he gets it."

"Haha, sorry… It's just I've never had that kind of reaction before. Everyone just assumes it's fairy-tales."

Naruto couldn't believe it. A real living descendant. The headman had said that there may have been living relatives still living in this village. What luck! It was true. It was all true. Naruto couldn't believe it was really happening. This journey wasn't all for nothing. They had finally found the family who started it all. A living descendent of the Dragon Priestess. Naruto was ready to collapse in relief but chose to jump for joy instead.

Nianzu and Shira took Naruto to their home located in the far corner of the village. It was a humble little home. Despite how they may have dressed, they clearly weren't rich. It was a small house, with just enough room for two people to leave comfortably. Naruto climbed the three steps to the front door and was shown inside. It was very well kept but there wasn't a lot of furnishing.

"Make yourself at home," Nianzu told him, getting more comfortable himself. He showed Naruto to a square table in the middle of the floor and asked him to sit. Naruto did as he was told, removing the empty bag from his back and setting it down beside him. Nianzu noticed this, eying it curiously. "May I see your bag for a moment?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." Naruto passed it to him, sliding it across the table.

Nianzu picked it up in both hands, looking it over carefully. "This is a very fine bag. Carefully woven, perfect stitching… beautiful design… How is it you've come across this? I didn't expect a ninja to be carrying something this expensive around with him on missions."

"It was given to me by someone from another village."

Nianzu smiled. "You happened upon a very kind village to give you something like this. I haven't seen something this fine in a very long time. It's well made, too. It won't tear easily."

Maybe one act of kindness deserved another. "You can keep it if you want."

He looked at Naruto in surprise and smiled happily. "Really? Thank you so much. How kind of you." Nianzu set the bag aside but continued to look at it, very pleased.

Naruto figured that he wouldn't need the bag anymore. Besides, this man was kind enough to let him into his home and invite him for lunch. He owed him something. At any rate, Naruto wanted to get on the man's good side. Maybe if he gave him the bag, he would be more likely to tell him secrets of his family. Maybe even the curse binding Neji to his scaly form. This seemed a good way to break the ice.

Nianzu looked across the table at Naruto, still smiling. "Ah, I feel like the Spirit of Good Fortune. I may be indebted to you now."

"What's the Spirit of Good Fortune?" asked Naruto. He had heard many stories from the village holding the Dragon's Pearl, but he was unfamiliar with that one.

"Oh, it's a story his family told for ages," answered his wife from the kitchen. She was hard at work preparing them lunch.

"I've never heard that one. How does it go?" As usual, Naruto was easily distracted.

Nianzu was happy to tell the tale to his eager guest. "It's an old tale about a rich man who used to live in this very village. He shared his wealth with many people. He never hoarded."

Naruto grinned, instantly reminded of Seji from the other village.

"The people of the village respected him very much and treated him very well. Whenever he left his home, the people would gather around and bow to him, no matter the time of day. He was treated like a king though he was not of royal blood. For years this went on, until one day, he decided to put the people who adored him to the test. You see, this rich man was a wise man as well as a trickster. He enjoyed playing games and pulling pranks on people in his lifetime. As kind as the people were to him, he had always suspected something was amiss. So one day, he left his house in secrecy through a hidden door. He disguised himself as a poor man, pulling a cloak over his head so that no one could tell it was him. He went into the town square and humbly begged passing people for any spare change they had on them for food."

Something about this story seemed oddly familiar to him.

"The people of the street were very cruel to him, giving him nothing but complaints and harsh names. They could spare no kindness toward a moneyless man on the verge of starvation. Even the vendors wouldn't give him anything to eat. He went back to his home and emerged as himself. When he stepped out into the square this time, things were much different. The vendors even offered him food, free of charge. Seeing how shallow and coldhearted the people of the village could be, the rich man decided to leave and never return. He couldn't live among such cruel people who only valued money and a person's worth based on such."

Naruto hung on his every word. It sounded like no more than a fairytale, but somehow he understood. This may have actually been true.

"The rich man was never seen again," Nianzu continued. "However, some say his spirit lives on as a shape shifter, taking on pathetic forms to test a person's heart. If a person shows him kindness or any sort of generosity, he blesses them with good fortune. One kind act deserves another, after all. He rewards those with good hearts. That's why he's known as the Spirit of Good Fortune."

"What kind of things does he take the form of exactly?"

"Oh, anything. He's been known to disguise himself as anything that could easily be overlooked. A poor man on the street, a starving child, a dog, an old beggar woman… anything really."

Naruto's heart was beating fast. Could that old woman on the street have been..? It must have. She disappeared so quickly. And, as luck would have it, the very corner she turned happened to lead him right to the very person he had to meet. Now he was here with a direct descendant of the Dragon Priestess. That was very good fortune indeed. Naruto couldn't believe it. He had just met a real spirit and didn't even realize it.

"A lot of people have heard that story. But most people just think it's to teach children good manners and kindness," Nianzu said. "It's up to them whether to believe it or not. I like to believe in spirits. I think they exist."

Shira brought out a tray of hot tea for them, setting it on the table. She smiled at her husband and he smiled back.

"We've already been blessed with good fortune, we'd like to think."

"Oh?" Naruto lifted his head, wondering if there was going to be another story.

Nianzu nodded and stroked his wife's stomach tenderly. "Soon, there will be three people living in this house. We've always wanted a family together."

Naruto blinked and then stood up. "You mean you're going to have a baby?! And I ran into you like that?! Oh, man, I'm sorry! I hope I didn't-"

"It's ok!" she laughed. "It'll take more than that, I'm sure. Besides, I'm not expecting for six more months. There's still a ways to go. I'm sure everything's fine. Besides, you hit the bag, not me so much. It cushioned the blow."

Naruto sat back down, relieved. Then he started to wonder… "Are there a lot of stories your family has passed down?"

Nianzu nodded. "Oh, yes. Many."

"It's true," added Shira. "He never forgets to remind me of them. Every single time." She playfully slapped his shoulder and went back into the kitchen, giggling.

"Are you interested in those stories?" Nianzu asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I went through a village that had a whole bunch of stories. But a lot of them are a bit mixed up."

"That's bound to happen over the years. People tell it differently, things get changed, improvised. I understand." Nianzu's eyes started to twinkle again. "There are stories about the Dragon Priestess, too. Would you like to hear those?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto bounced up and down in his seat like a child. Nianzu laughed, more than happy to oblige.

Story time!

How you liking the story within a story deal? Fun, huh?

Please review! ^-^