Hughes stretched and rolled off the couch. He stood and massaged the back of his neck to work the tightness out. He couldn't remember the last time he'd spent two nights in a row on the couch. It certainly hadn't been this painful when he had, though. Maybe he was getting old. He looked over towards the bedroom, and was shocked to see Roy poke his head out around the corner. If he didn't have to be, Roy was hardly ever up before ten. And here it was, probably eight in the morning. Not only was he awake, he was dressed as well. Then again, he'd probably fallen asleep in his clothes. Come to think of it, Hughes hadn't heard anything from the bedroom all night. It was rare for Roy to sleep soundly. It was hard to believe that he had, but Hughes convinced himself that he would have known if Roy had snuck out on his own over the course of the night.
"Morning!" Roy smiled and waved at Hughes.
"Are you planning something? You're never up this early."
"I know. It's weird isn't it? It must be the change of scenery."
Hughes looked Roy up and down. He had indeed gotten more sleep than usual. It had really been a good idea to give up the bed. He rubbed his neck again. This would unfortunately be the last night he'd give Roy that luxury though, if only to stop the cheery anomaly that was Roy awake in the morning. It wasn't fun not to be able to wake him up and watch the grumpy look on his face as he squinted at the sunlight. This was simply unnatural.
"Did you have some sort of revelation last night or something?"
"You could say that… it was just a dream, though. I don't know why it's put me in such a good mood. It didn't make any sense."
"Hmm." Hughes walked over to the door and slipped on his shoes. "Well, in that case we should take advantage of this rarity and do our errands now."
"Without breakfast?"
"We'll pick it up on the way out. Come on. We've got a lot to do today."
Roy looked down at his feet.
"Take off the socks, I don't want you to get them dirty. We'll buy shoes first."
Roy reluctantly pulled off his socks and followed Hughes out the door into the morning light. Despite the early hour, the village was busy. People wandered the streets running their various errands, and none of them seemed to pay them any mind. Roy ignored the odd sense of déja-vu. They stopped briefly at one of the little stores to pick up breakfast, then walked down the road a bit more until Hughes stopped in front of a small shop. Boxes of shoes were stacked in the windows, and a strange old lady sat behind a counter inside. Under normal circumstances, Roy would have immediately pegged it as a front for some other sort of covert organization, but he let it pass. Go with the flow. He smiled as he followed Hughes inside. The place smelled like old paper and cardboard. The scene was simply bizarre. All the shoes seemed exactly the same. At least, the style was the same. Some had open toes and heels, others didn't. A few were black, most were blue. Outside the window no one so much as glanced at the storefront. It gave the feeling that maybe it wasn't even there. It was eerie. The lady gave the two of them a smile – the sort you would expect from an old woman sitting in an odd shop that may or may not really exist.
"Hello, gentlemen." Her accent was startling. It didn't match anyone else's in Konoha, but it didn't have the same beat and pattern of speech as Roy and Hughes', either. It reminded Roy of the murmur of the people in the market in his dream. He shrugged it off, but he could swear that at the moment he connected the two accents the woman had winked at him. He ignored the feeling. No use adding even more inexplicable things to the mix. "Here for shoes, I see."
She looked down at Roy's bare feet and pulled a box out from behind the counter. Handing the box over to Roy, she said "These ought to fit you well. Try them."
If he hadn't been so convinced that the lady was psychic or something, he would have glared at Hughes for dragging him to such a creepy place. Didn't anyone else here sell shoes? Why did they even need shoe stores if they all wore the same shoes? Hughes stood in the corner and smirked. Apparently he'd been through this as well. Maybe it was some sort of initiation. Or an in-joke among the ninjas. Roy decided he'd do his best to play along. He pulled the shoes on. They were the same shade of blue as the vest Hughes had given him, with open toes and heels – the kind typical of the lower-level ninjas in the village. Roy didn't mind. They were comfortable, at least. Strangely comfortable. Roy decided to quit while he was ahead and get out of the store before it seriously started to creep him out. He nodded to the old lady.
"These will be great, thanks." He picked up the empty box and handed it back to her as she rung up the sale. Hughes paid her, and they turned to leave.
"Keep an eye on the gate for me, boys. These things come in threes, and I know the time must be soon if the Rubedo is here with Nigredo. Ah, I knew it was coming. Rubedo is incomplete though… no wonder. He must still be bathed in the flame for a while longer. Funny that he appeared before Albedo, though. Just wait until it's that time of the month again. Two halves, perhaps? I wonder why they're late… Ah, and a messenger at the point. Watch out for blondes, my friends." She smiled an eerie, ominous smile. "Oh, and don't forget your change."
The woman hurried from behind the counter and dropped something into the box Roy was holding. Hughes pushed the door open and they practically ran, as respectfully as they could, away from the shop. A block away, Roy finally looked over at Hughes.
"What the heck was that?" He looked back, and couldn't remember where, exactly, the shop had been. "Isn't there someplace less creepy you could buy me shoes?"
"Actually, no. We all have to go through that. At least she was quick about it for you. I had to listen to her prophecies for almost an hour. She told me the last person to buy shoes like mine had been Orochimaru. Just forget about it, she's a little bit weird. Rumour has it she just showed up in the village one day and started selling shoes, out of the blue. But that was years ago."
"Where are we going next, then? I hope you don't have any more shops like that."
"No. I've got to take you to Tsunade now. I promised her that she could see you after you healed." Hughes punched Roy in the shoulder. "If it wasn't for her, you'd have a much nastier scar there."
"She healed me? Who is she?"
"The new Hokage. Unfortunately she doesn't owe me anything, so it's going to be much harder to get you trained. We're going to have to try, though. She showed some interest in you when I brought you in... Which is odd, come to think of it, since I thought she was with Shizune…"
"Why do I get the feeling that Shizune is a girl?"
"Because she is."
"Is anyone in this village straight?"
"Well, Kakashi might be, judging by the novels he reads. But lots of people seem to think he's with Iruka." He paused a moment. "Actually, even the novels are suspicious. Jiraiya is way too interested in breasts to actually be straight. Maybe it's all a front…"
"… Never mind. I won't ask again." Go with the flow Roy said to himself. Just go with the flow…