Hey you guys! I'm sorry it took so long to get you this chapter. I managed to get it written out after some difficulty ( thinking to much on the boring things I guess.) But in any case here it is.
I will say that I really need some helpful criticism because I cannot grow up as a writer without those kinds of reviews so if you have any helpful tips or want me to expand on things that are vague within the story just let me know and I'll update the chapters. Note I will usually leave a notice in the authors note area letting you guys know if i have changed the story chapters any.
I'll voice some concerns with this chapter on the bottom of the page.
Having found myself back at the market street, which lay in the middle of the city, I decide to walk slowly down the market area to see if I could find anything that resembled a convenient store.
The market is kind of crowded with people shopping or passing through; I pass stands with different kinds of vegetables. On my left I see what looks like Cabbage or lettuce being sold. As I go down the street I see some vegetables that look almost like celery sticks except they have more of a green onion like look going on for the stocks; I saw a few stands that had these kind of stocks though some trained eye would tell me they were all different. I did take a few moments at each of these particular stalls to see if there were differences. Of course there were even stranger green vegetables like one that looked like a big bunch of noodles; well there were a couple stalls with these. Then there were a couple of stalls that had these big turnip like things and stalls with other bulb like vegetables. I will admit I was happy to see some potato looking vegetables being sold. I was surprised to even see tangerines and stuff like lemons and limes being sold.
When I got to the middle of the market place I started to become nervous. The food being sold are meats. I saw normal things like chickens and ducks but I saw other animals like goats and frogs. I couldn't figure out why those were being sold but there they are. And they were in deed getting customers as I saw the stands having people stop by them. As I past those stalls I am not prepared to see what catches my attention.
A very heavy set man stood behind the stall with a white apron on and a plad t-shirt under it. Like the man who sold the oranges to me, he looks to be selling some sort of dead, cooked and hairless animal. The face of one of the animals hangs on a hook on the stall. Its lips were drawn back in a snarl showing sharp pointed teeth and its eyes were closed; the ears are pointed up and I can't help but feel queasy as it looked very much like a dog. I can tell he's selling the dead animals is by him actually letting the current customer take one of these canine into their basket.
I can't stand not knowing what this particular shop keeper is selling so I make my way to the stall and I am greeted with a smile.
" Good afternoon! How can I help you today?"
" Could you tell me what you're selling?" I can't help my furrowed eyebrows and the slight feeling of being ill.
" I'm selling dog meat here, can't you tell?"
" I've never seen it be sold before so I didn't know." It made me even more queasy as I looked and thought of how they could have been someone's pet.
" You are not from here are you?" I guess he could tell from my look I was giving to the animals that I was foreign.
" No sir, I've just got here a week ago." I look back at him and he wears a curious look on his clean shaven face. I could see the second chin protruding lightly from his under chin. You could see his tan even within his stand which had a tarp or sheet covering over the box of dead dogs and the man easily.
" Ah, so dog meat is not a delicacy within your foreign country?"
" Yes, we don't eat dogs where I'm from."
" Well you are like many people who live within the city."
" They don't eat dogs here?"
" Well some do eat dog meat and those that do stop by my stand; but there are sayings that this village has taken to keeping these livestock as pets. Their very well natured they say though I have yet to see such phenomenon here."
" Maybe it's hard to keep pets here."
He puts his hand on his hip and says
" Well if it was I would be selling a lot more. Even Naburty is having better luck than me and he sells cat meat." ' Cat meat?'
" Is this meat sold better elsewhere?"
" You really are new here…" He sticks his fat thick arms up and places his hands behind his head.
" I don't really know much about this country so if it isn't too much of a bother would you please answer my question?"
" Eating Cats and Dogs is a natural thing outside of the city." I quickly turn my head and I see a middle age man with a mustache, white skin and a lean build standing next to me.
" Naburty…" I hear the heavier man say warningly.
" Really?" I ask with surprise
" Yes, in fact the country has many poor people who would benefit from eating Dog and Cat meat as meals." The man's voice is higher pitched and slightly raspy, something a merchant with sneaky selling techniques would have.
" How does it benefit them?"
" Well for one many other meats are hard to come by because of the weather here and the lack of
farming land."
" Oh. So meats like hamburger are imported?"
" I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with that term." Once again I found myself correcting my dialect.
" I mean cow meat is imported right?"
" Well I don't know about that; there have been instances where cows can be seen grazing within this land; But I'm not sure if it would mean they import it."
" Don't listen to Naburty. It's a well known fact that Konoha has a herd of cows grazing near the city."
" Did they level some of the forest to do so?" I remember seeing cows within one episode of the Naruto anime but I hope he could tell me more about it.
" Beats me, all I know is that they do have a herd and that its located outside the city somewhere." He looks back to me with a stern demeanor.
" Now are you going to buy something or do you have some other plans?" The thought of buying dog meat let alone cat meat makes me feel a little ill and very uncomfortable.
" No I have something else in mind," I turn to the heavy man and bow to him.
" Thank you for telling, I mean informing me about your goods."
" Well it's all good kid." The skinny man comes closer to me and asks with a small smile that disturbs me.
" Perhaps you would like to purchase some of my goods?"
" Naburty…"
" Now now Daisuke, you have as much equal chance as I have now. So what do you say?" I shook my head and replied with a slight temper
" Look I'm not interested in buying anything."
" But perhaps you would at least look perhaps you would find interest." I honestly didn't want to see the man's wares; but a part of me told me that I had to at least give him a chance.
" Ok, I'll see your wares." He claps his hands together with enthusiasm I wish I could have.
" Excellent! Please come this way!" The last thing on my mind I wanted to see was the dead cats on display. We pass a couple of stands with strange vegetables and I find myself ill as we stoped his stand.
His stand was also covered by a cloth tarp to shield his stall from the sun. What really got me was the tan skin of another dead group of animals; already cooked, small like a house cat, and unmoving they lay there piled on top of one another easy for grab.
I can see the pores where the cats whiskers would have grown and I can see the unmistakable 'm' shape of their top lips and that tells me he really is selling cats as a meal. The undeniable features of a cats and them being sold made my stomach turn with more and more disgust with these men and their livings.
I really want to cry because I love cats and I am horrified that people would do this to them. However my actual reaction was to hold it in and attempt to not offend the man with my emotional outburst. I couldn't help the distaste on my face though; he gives me a look of confusion and asks me.
" Is it not up to your standards?"
" No, I'm just not used to seeing cat on the menu." I say quickly. I can't help but want to leave the stand and I quickly say.
" Thank you for showing your wares; but i'm not interested in purchasing anything." I'm trying to look for a way to leave and I'm thinking ' God, you should give it a chance, I mean what if its something you like?' Then i'm thinking. ' God no!' However somehow I lose the will to say no and the words fall out of my mouth just as I'm about to leave.
" Wait, I'll take one." That sentence should have horrified me; but that act didn't. The man Naburty claps his hands together.
" Splendid, now just pick out the one you want and I'll tell you the cost." The act of picking out a cat that I would have to eat didn't seem to bother me at the moment and I decided on a small one that was probably younger than it looked.
The one I picked out was smaller than a lot of the cats; it was maybe a few months old or a female I couldn't tell. Though when I pick it up I feel ashamed that I didn't see that it was already gutted and that none of its internal organs remained within the cat.
" Ah not a big eater? That will be 1200 yen please." I go to grab my money and then a thought of clarity comes to mind. 'What are you DOING?' ' There's no harm in trying something new.' Another thought comes to mind. ' But is this something you want to do?' That helps clear up my judgement as my answer is no.
" I'm sorry sir I change my mind." He gives me a surprised look.
' Have you lost your mind? We need food Sam!'
" Are you sure?"
" Yes I'm sure." With that I find myself leaving the stand with renewed focus that I didn't even know I had inside of me.
" I am not going to eat some cat that could have been a stray or worse; someone's pet!" I spoke this under my breath as I passed the other people who walked through this market.
I continue down the marketplace and I'm quite happy to get away from the men.
'That man chose to make a living off selling cats, and the other man chose to make a living out of having dogs on the menu. I on the other hand do not ever have to have the animals on my menu again. Even if I am opposed with the gesture I can't say what actually had me almost agree to buy that man's cat. The worse thing that could happen is that I end up disliking the food and have to throw away the carcass.'
As I arrive at the middle of the of the market it occurs to me that I don't actually know how much money I have. I am surrounded by different stalls at the sides of this street and there are many people here who are shopping or walking along this area of town. I do however see a spot by some seller of cabbage like vegetables that I could stand by to count my money. So I walk to the stand farther from the stand to say I'm not buying anything.
" Hello! Would you like to buy some lettuce?" That vegetable he is selling didn't look anything like the lettuce from where I'm from.
" No, thank you." I take out my envelope and count out my money and politely declining the merchant, who was a man like the cat meat seller, and trying not to be irritated by the mans persistence to sell his strange lettuce.
I found that I had five ten-thousand yen, three one-thousand yen, and five one-hundred yen which added up to be 53600 yen.
' So I have fifty three thousand five hundred yen to sell, I mean use. Its use Sam.' The commentation of my voices wasn't coherent enough for me to understand so I mostly ignored it.
Despite taking a slight detour around the market road I manage to reach the end of the market street and I can see the a huge wall that protected the civilians who lived here; though how much the wall actually works on keeping enemy shinobi out of the city was left to be said and tested. I assume though that it made the civilians feel safe in a world where shinobi could climb walls easily.
In any case, I know that I still haven't found a store that has what I needed or a stall for that matter so I look around for someone to ask. There were many people shopping and I spot a young man walking the street alone. I go up to the man and politely ask for his attention.
" Excuse me sir." The man stopped walking and turned to me.
" I was hoping you could tell me where I could find a store to buy pots and pans, I can't read Japanese so I can't tell where one is."
" You just go up the street and on the right corner of this street you should find the store Fukui's general store."
" Is there anything visually you could tell me about it?"
"This is the only store that has glass windows on its door on the street."
" Ok thank you sir." I remember to give some sort of a bow and go on my search for the store.
I found the store back up the middle of the street, the building was a lot smaller than I've ever seen a general store be. Compared to the big buildings around it looks like a small house in a big city. And it was colored with soft, light green on the outside except for the top floor; it's a light yellow tan like many of the buildings I've seen while walking this city's streets.
When I got to its door I feel nervous because I don't like making mistakes even when I know it's a human trait. Despite being nervous I take courage and open the clear door so I could get a better view of the store inside.
The store was not big like Walmart was; in fact it was as small as a coffee shop. The store had five shelves that are wooden and not that tall stretching into their own small isles. The people that were shopping carried their own baskets filled with items waiting to be bought. I could see a refrigerated section of the store; though it looks to have stretched along the walls of the store.
I start my search through the middle section where I could see the pans and what not. There were many pots and pans sitting on the shelves ; some of them big some of them small and they weren't really organized. I found that there were a lot of big pans as I walked down the small aisle; but I only wanted a small pan for now so that I could cook eggs. So I walk back up to the middle of the aisle and spot the pan I'm looking for next to this masculine looking person. Next to a big black boiling pot and a small frying pan; I pick up a medium size pan that had a black lid from the shelf and look for a price on it. On the bottom of the pan it said 1100 yen on it.
" Eleven thousand yen? Wow, that's a lot for a pan."
" Actually that's not a lot. It's a good price for that size of a pan." I am startled by the feminine voice that spoke to me. I look for the lady who spoke to me and saw the masculine looking person looking at me.
" It is?"
" Yea, turn it over for a second." I complied with silent nervousness to the woman and found on the bottom of the pan there is red Japanese writing printed on the back.
" Ho oh! It's made by the Kurikawa company! That's a neat deal!" My initional curiosity to her reason for speaking to me is easily put aside as my curiosity for the world around me is at this moment deemed more important
" Is that a good company?" I am still looking at the Japanese kanji as she replies
" You're not from here are you?"
" NO, definitely not from here." Looking back at the woman I take a nervous look at her.
The lady has short, straight, black hair and dark eyes. The lady wore a sizable robe shirt that is light jade green and has light blue trim on it. The robe is tied with a pale white scarf thing. She wears dark brown pants that looked to stop at her ankles.
" Hey why don't you let me help you look around the store for what you need? I'm sure I can be of great help."
" Would you mind? Cause I'm not really sure of what a lot of the stuff here is."
" You do know that's a frying pan right?"
" Well I know stuff like that but I don't know what a lot of the fruits and vegetables are and I can't read Japanese so…" She gives a smile and holds a hand up and bends it in a 'take it easy' like gesture.
" Well don't worry about it, I can read Japanese; though i'm surprised you know how to speak it so fluently."
" I kind of wonder about that myself."
" Ok lets get this shopping thing going shall we?"
So the masculine lady helped me shop for some basic supplies like toilet paper, trash bags, utensils. The lady helped bring some clarity to the different foods that were here. She told me shopping here was expensive so she helped me shop within the markets though I didn't have much money left. We separated from each other and then I ended up getting kind of lost as I went through Konoha's streets. I accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up walking into a dead end alley way.
" Oops went the wrong way." I turn around and find two men standing in the alley corner and they were walking toward me. My heart started to race within my chest as I realized this was bad news.
" So, I heard you had a lot of money." I jumped and turned quickly away from the masculine voice behind me.
" Holy shit!" I see a tall man in white robes and long brown hair, he had a sick smile that disturbed me. I back up from him and I bump into something else. I turn around and it's the other two men wearing the same robes.
" Now why don't you hand over your money and your valuables." I hold up a hand and I say
" Ok I'll do it just don't hurt me."
" That won't be necessary." I recognize the voice as being a deep woman voice with a serious tone; but the two men block my view from seeing the lady.
" And who are you supposed to be?"
" I'm the one who's going to kick your ass."
" Ha! Boys, get her." I'm suddenly pulled close to the man and I see them walk away from me to whoever was at the edge of the alley way.
Two people seemingly come out of nowhere and land kicks to the men's skulls. Then the rough hold on me was suddenly removed from me and I could hear the hit of two things colliding. I'm launched forward from the sudden movement and then I'm suddenly in someone's arms.
" Whoa, I got you!" I look up and I see a young teenager with long black hair, green eyes, and light skin.
I was about to comment on how thankful I was for having them save me when I saw that both of the other party were the exactly the same as the other person. I look between the two quickly and ask.
" How the hell did that happen?"
" What? All you have to say is a line like that? ' How the hell did that happen?'"
" Well I was going to say something about that when I saw those other two looking identical and then you look identical to them…"
" Those are just my clones." I am filled with disbelief and surprise.
" Clones?" I turn around thinking that the one behind me was actually a different person but they were identical with the person who held me up. I look back to the girl who caught me and I take a moment to see their similarities.
She's wearing a light green robe vest and wearing a fishnet looking shirt just underneath she wore plain shorts and had the unmistakable light yellow pouch on her left along with a dark blue box on the same leg.
" Are they real?" I see that the copies of the woman were securing the men; I walk passed the woman in front of me to the copy on the right and was about to poke one to see it was tangible.
" Boy you really are a foreigner, their just chakra constructs." The clones started to protest and she argued with them to calm them down all I could really make out is that they disagreed with her.
" How do you know I'm a foreigner?"
" Well for one your cloths are outlandish, two we talked before and I helped you shop for stuff." I furrowed my brow with confusion.
" I am pretty sure we've never met before." Suddenly a puff of smoke appeared around her and when it left it revealed the same short black haired woman that helped me not to long ago.
" Whoa, what the fuck just happened?"
" I'm using a Genjutsu, of course you probably don't know what that is. So basically i'm creating an illusion to change my appearance." Another puff of smoke happens and I find myself seeing the long black haired woman who had saved me from being mugged.
" Wow, I've never seen a Genjutsu before; nor have I seen actual clones before." The woman who caught me furrowed her brow.
" Is 'nor' a word from your language?"
" Yes, yes it is." I find myself remembering I still haven't thanked her and so I bow to her.
" Thank you for rescuing me!"
" Hey, its no problem. I suppose you don't know about the city life do you?"
" I've been in a city before, I've just never had this problem before."
" Well, there's only one thing I can do about that." I found myself not only curious but reluctant of her help.
" And that is what exactly?" She grows a smile on her face and enthusiasm runs off her easily.
" We're going to be friends!" My eye brows raise in surprise and then I find myself having to ask her.
" Really? I mean you don't have to do that…" ' But I really need a friend…' Last thing on my mind was having someone tangible that I could talk to let alone a friend.
She has this widening grin on her face as she says.
" That is true; but I want to. I like you anyway so there ya go!" She walks up to me and puts her arm around my neck in a side hug.
" You and me are going to be good friends!" ' Are you crazy?' The thought was not my own and I couldn't figure out at first why I wasn't apposing this development until I realized as we stood there that I wanted a friend and that this was a blessing from God or who ever ruled this world. That train of thought brought a hesitant smile on my face; because even though I was nervous and scared this did not seem like a bad idea.
" Ok. I'll do it." She brings me closer to her for a moment then lets go. I turn to her and she holds out a hand.
" My name is Kiwikawa Myuzaki!" I take her hand and reply.
" My name is Samantha Porter." She tilts her head with confusion.
" So your name is Porter?" I realize my mistake and quickly go to fix it.
" No, my first name is Samantha and my last name is Porter." She tilts her head again and says.
" Is it normal to introduce yourself that way?"
" Yea in English we introduce with first name then last name." She hummed and then one of her clones walk up to her.
" Boss, we got the men secured."
" Good! Now I just have to turn them into the Station."
" Station?"
" Ah," she places a hand behind her head in a sheepish gesture.
" My mission was to secure these delinquents and turn them into the Security Station."
" Oh, you better go do that. I wouldn't want these guys running the streets."
" Well have a good day Samantha I'll stop by your place when I'm off duty."
" How are you going to do that?"
" Lets just say I can be in more than one place." Her and her clones jump and I watch with awe as they went high enough to reach the two floored building roof and disappeared from sight.
As I turned back to the alley entrance and continued walking home my mind lingered on the potentially dangerous event and how I had made a friend out of her. Now my only problem is: how am I going calm myself when the reality of this event really sinks in?
So your at the end of the chapter, and here is what conserns I've had with this chapter.
Should I expain more on the help samantha gets on shoping with the helpful citizen? ( Aka Myuzaki) like describing it or should I actually leave it and mention some of it later within the book?
Also did I do well on the fighting scene? ( I personally think its crappy but I haven't written one in a long time so...) Can some of you give me some feedback on that too?
Any helpful critism is welcome as long as your not giving me flames. Thats not helpful, its being rude and unconsiderate. How do you expect me to be a better writer unless you tell me what I did wrong? Don't just tell me it sucks and then not suggest any helpful changes.
In any case I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one! :D
