Christmas is tomorrow! I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday of the year :) this year was difficult for obvious reasons, so I'm extra grateful for all the good in my life. I hope you are too.
I finally made it to chapter 10. Happy holidays & happy new year!
When Maigo awoke the next morning, Sasuke was already moving about and getting ready for the day ahead of them. Their breakfast was one whole piece of fruit each, and when Maigo was finally prepared, the two companions embarked outside to find themselves some work. The sun had risen a few hours prior, so there was plenty of activity in town. Most of the town markets and stands were open, even though they were small in number since the Howling Wolf Village wasn't that big of a town. Many of the people in the village were approachable. Others just kept to themselves.
While exploring the town, Sasuke and Maigo were directed to a person nearby that headed the harvesting of the medicinal plants. As they walked around, the two young men noticed some individuals hanging around one of the smaller town buildings. The building itself seemed to look rundown, a mere shell of what it appeared to be in its youth. Half of the group seemed dazed and entirely out of focus, clearly inebriated from some substance they all ingested. Maigo lingered, a bit curious about their behavior, but Sasuke dragged his blonde friend along.
Upon reaching the harvesting spot, Sasuke and Maigo quickly found the person in charge they were looking for. Sasuke approached them. Maigo followed as the blonde looked around and saw all the harvesters hard at work.
"Are you the person in charge here?" the raven-haired young man asked.
"Yes, I am," a lady replied. She was older in age, to be sure, a woman in her late forties by her appearance. "My name is Natsuo. Who are you two?"
"I'm Suto. This here's Maigo," Sasuke introduced his blonde companion. Maigo gave the woman a curt smile. "We came here looking for work and heard this was a good place to check. Can you take on two more people to tend to the fields here?"
"I could," she responded, her eyes grazing over both boys' forms. "Either of you got experience harvesting?"
"No," Sasuke answered honestly. "We don't. But we're both hard workers. We pick up things rather quickly. We could work today as a trial of sorts, and if you don't like us, we'll be on our way and not bother you again."
Natsuo shrugged. "No, we'll pay you for the day. I don't believe in making people work for free. If you do well enough a job, I'll keep you on. Go to Hina over there," the woman gestured towards a younger woman out in the fields. "She'll tell you where to start."
Hina was kind enough to explain how to harvest the plants properly. It seemed simple enough, so the two travelers quickly got to work. Both Maigo and Sasuke got the hang of it by the end of the hour. They were both given a warning, though. Under no circumstances should they continue working if they cut themselves with a tool while harvesting the plants. The reason was that some of these plants had hallucinatory properties if the residue of the herbs penetrated a person's bloodstream. The hallucinations wouldn't occur right away. Of course, it would take a few hours. But from previous incidents, it was alluded by Hina's caution that the occurrences never ended well.
In no time at all, the sun was setting over the fields of medicinal plants. Natsuo called it a day and sent everyone on their way. She handed out envelopes of money to everyone who worked today, who all gathered in a line to receive their payment. Sasuke and Maigo finally reached the woman, who mentioned that she'd be happy to have the two work again the following day. Sasuke suggested that he and Maigo should celebrate their new jobs at a local restaurant. Since the Howling Wolf Village was a small town, there wasn't much in terms of variety, but it was nothing our two travelers weren't already accustomed to. They went back to the place they went to the day before.
"Welcome back, boys," the cook greeted them with a friendly smile. "What can I whip up for you both?"
Sasuke and Maigo exchanged glances. "We'll have the same thing that we did yesterday," the raven said, as Maigo nodded in agreement. The dish was nothing special. It was a simple soup but plentiful in flavor and warmth. The two young men went to sit in a little corner of the shop while they awaited their food.
"So," Sasuke said, his eyebrows raised. "We got a job already, right on schedule."
"Yeah, who knew it'd be so easy to get employed so fast?"
"Guess we're lucky. But we shouldn't count on that. It may be harder to find work down the line, so we should make the most of the jobs we got right now. Make enough, so we're not hurting for money." Maigo approved.
"How long were you thinking?" the blonde asked.
"A month should be enough, don't you think?" Sasuke prosed. "We're not paying much at the place we're staying, so we should have enough money by then to make our way."
"Yeah," Maigo said. "She paid us way more than I thought. I don't think I've ever held so much money in my life before."
"It must be because the plants are medicinal, so they must be high in value, and you have to take care when harvesting them," Sasuke offered. "But to be honest, I don't really care. I'm just glad to be paid."
Maigo smirked. "Hear, hear."
"Here you are," the cook came to serve the young men their meal. "You two sticking around for a while?" They asked.
Maigo began eating his soup without delay, but Sasuke, not wishing to seem rude, decided to reply to the restaurateur before eating. "Yes, just for a couple of weeks."
"And y'all settled in okay over by that inn down the road?" the cook inquired. Sasuke nodded.
"Them's nice folk," the cook said. "They'll treat you right. I'll go ahead and leave you to your meal. You've been nice enough to let me bother you."
"It's no bother," Sasuke said.
"That's sweet of you to say," the cook expressed. "Enjoy your meal."
"Nice lady," Maigo commented as he ate his food. Sasuke nodded in agreement. The two finished their meals without further discussion. As they exited the room, the travelers bade farewell to the cook. As Maigo and Sasuke walked to their room, they passed by the group of men they saw hanging around the same rundown building in the morning. It seemed unlikely, but it was as if none of them moved from where they lounged all day. Among them was a man who appeared to be slightly older than the rest, with a large scar spread across his face, from the upper right side of his forehead to the lower left side of his cheek, along his jaw. His head perked up, slowly turning towards where Maigo and Sasuke happened to walk by. Maigo caught this man's gaze, and briefly, the two's eyes connected. The scarred man stared at the blonde, his eyes glassy and bloodshot. He stumbled as he stood up, dragging his feet as he walked towards the two travelers. Maigo froze as this strange man got closer to him. Sasuke looked back behind him to see the encounter playing out before him. He tensed, unwilling but prepared to fight if it came to it like last time in the woods a while back. Before anything terrible could happen to Maigo, though, the scarred man started to fidget a little. His facial expression became stiff with panic as he seized up and collapsed to the ground. He began to foam at the mouth, and his limbs twitched fiercely. Sasuke quickly grabbed his blonde companion by the wrist to drag him away.
"What? We can't just leave him!" Maigo said urgently. "We have to help him."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Sasuke argued. "I'm no doctor. Are you?"
"We can try to find one," Maigo suggested.
"In a town this small?" Sasuke disputed.
"The locals would know, like the lady who gave us the room at the inn," Maigo proposed. He began to run towards the inn in hopes of saving time. Sasuke followed him.
The pair of travelers burst into the inn's entrance, startling the innkeeper and her daughter. "There's someone out there that needs a doctor," Maigo blurted out in a hurry.
"Where are they?" the manager asked. Maigo told her where the scarred man was. All four people ran over to the man in need, but he went still by the time they got back. The foam that seeped out of his mouth turned red.
"No," Maigo breathed drearily. The manager bent down to check the man's pulse, but it was too late. He was dead. She nodded, confirming the stranger's fate.
"Shit," the blonde cursed, louder this time. Sasuke wore an expression of lament.
The manager closed the man's eyes. Other people were gathered to collect the dead man's body and prepare to lay him to rest. All the while, the dazed men in the corner remained still throughout the entire ordeal, paying no mind to what occurred. It infuriated Maigo to no end. He knew he shouldn't care. That it wasn't his business, but something about their apathy had him incensed. Maigo was about to storm over to the group, but Sasuke grabbed him quickly by the arm.
"Don't," he advised.
Maigo was taken aback, "what do you mean?" he said incredulously. "A man just died, and they just stood there and did nothing! You did nothing either!" Sasuke motioned for the blonde to quiet his voice. It only irritated Maigo further.
"Why do you think that is?" Sasuke whispered harshly.
"Because they're high off their ass," Maigo answered raucously. One of the people nearby perked their head up but thankfully returned to their ministrations.
"And why do you think they can just hang around there all day like that, hm?" Sasuke said. "Why doesn't anyone else here do anything about it?"
It was a good question Maigo had to admit, and one neither traveler could answer.
"Besides, we shouldn't be bringing attention to ourselves," Sasuke said. "That's why I didn't want to do anything before."
Maigo, still upset, shook his head. Of course, they remained wanted fugitives in other lands, so being in the center of attention in a small town, probably wouldn't bode well.
"Let's go back to our room," Sasuke said, finally releasing Maigo's arm. Maigo followed his raven friend, leaving the townsfolk to deal with the strange man's tragic death.
When getting to the room, Maigo flopped onto his bed. It was quite the day.
"I'm sorry, Maigo," Sasuke apologized as he lay on his own bed. "It's just I really don't want us to get into any more trouble."
"I get it," Maigo said. "I just hate when people act so…"
"Indifferent," Sasuke offered.
Maigo nodded, "Yeah, that."
"The world can be like that," Sasuke commented.
"Well, it shouldn't be," Maigo said at that. "A man fucking died, and nobody lifted a finger." His hair moved as he shook his head to and fro.
"I should have acted," Sasuke relented. "But I didn't. I'm sorry. I just felt like there was nothing left to do. But that's no excuse. You're right. We should be better, even when the world doesn't want to be." After a pause, Sasuke found himself chuckling.
"What?" Maigo spoke.
"Who knew you'd be so righteous?" Sasuke said slyly.
The blonde sucked his teeth. "Whatever, man. It's just; I don't know, watching all that go down. It's like it woke something up inside me. Like a part of me that I didn't even know was there, or a part of me I don't remember. It's weird."
Sasuke nodded. "No, I get it. I've had similar experiences." He thought of when he still lived with Misuto and Makoto when specific memories and feelings would rush back to him."I guess that means you probably were a very helpful person before. Perhaps even a hero of sorts."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Maigo said sheepishly. "I don't feel like a hero. I didn't save anyone."
"No, but you didn't even think about wanting to help that man. You just jumped into action, running to get help," Sasuke noted. "That's pretty heroic to me."
Maigo shrugged.
"I had a good feeling about you when we met," Sasuke said. "It's good to know that I was right about you."
We'll see about that, won't we?
That chilled the blonde to the bone. Oh no, Maigo thought. Just when he believed it was all over.
"Hey, you okay?" Sasuke asked out of concern. He observed the blonde's sudden look of terror.
"I-I'm fine," the blonde stuttered. "Just some stomach pain. I'll go sleep it off." He rushed off to bed, tucking himself in and turning away from his traveling companion, so he wouldn't have to see his face. Sasuke grimaced but didn't want to bother the blonde. While he meant what he said about meeting Maigo, he also had to admit the guy was a little strange at times. He supposed it was due to the traumas he must have suffered on his own. After all, when they met, the blonde was being hunted and jumped to his death. Who knows what Maigo underwent on his own before their meeting?
"Good night," Sasuke said to the blonde.
"Good night," Maigo replied curtly. Sasuke shut off the lights, calling it a night for himself as well. And thus ended their first full day in the Howling Wolf Village.
Looks Kurama ready to rear his presence back again. Just going to be waiting for his opportunity.
Also real thing from the Naruto universe, there are people in the Howling Wolf Village that I spoke about in the last chapter, that would take these plants and use them to get high. And bless sweet Maigo/Naruto's heart trying to help out that guy. He may have forgotten who he was but his heart is still there.
Stay tuned to find out what happens next :)