Chapter Six: Ugh, I Really Hate this Place

Before they left the village Shadow and Sasori had walked around looking for food stands so they could stock up on more supplies and food and, to Shadow's annoyance, were continually mistaken as a couple and had to repeatedly decline merchants' offers. By the time the tenth merchant had made her observation, this time a woman selling elegant kimonos, Shadow had gotten smart and finally decided to cross the road so she was no longer next to him. The red haired "demon" that always seemed to enjoy her embarrassment.

By sunset the streets were fairly empty; which allowed the pair to move around more freely and Shadow decided that it was finally safe to rejoin the red-head. By night fall they successfully made it out of the village and were on their way to the Grass village.

In between breaks Shadow had begun to read the scrolls she bought in the Suna on the Grass shinobis' ways and she had become so involved in its history she ran and fell into various bushes that grew in the desert and slipped in sand pits constantly. When she decided that she had had enough of getting hurt, she twisted to the side to shove the scroll back into her bag and she caught sight of Sasori's shoulders shaking only subtly. Although he himself was silent and his face emotionless, she could tell that he was laughing at her.

She blushed as her chibi screamed, He's laughing at me! That arrogant bastard is laughing at me! What the hell gives him the idea that it's funny with me suffering and having to read all these crazy customs? I mean, seriously, who the hell would've thought up a holiday called "Flower Day" when all you do is walk up to people by random, and give them flowers, then say "I like you lots" and run off again! What a load of... That's almost exactly like Valentine's Day! Or even White Day! Only stupider.

Shadow blushed saying through tightly clenched teeth, "Care to share what's so funny?" she looked at him as he glanced away with another arrogant smirk on his face.

"Not really."

Shadow's chibi popped another vein. "We should probably stop for the night," she said, glancing at the sun slowly sinking behind the hills.

"Well, I suppose if youneed to..." He shrugged as he walked past her, laughing. Shadow quietly steamed as she followed behind.

They lit a fire and Shadow began reading her scroll as she ate. She stopped for a little, and looked up. It was odd, for a moment there she thought she could feel the eyes of someone watching her. Of course Sasori was playing with his little puppet again and she concluded that it was just paranoia because they had left the safety of the Sand village.

She discarded the thought, and went back to reading.

By the next few days they were on the outskirts of the Village Hidden in the Grass and quickly slipped in finding the address to where they were to stay. In an alley way, Shadow quickly pulled on a blue and black collared yukata, and pulled her hair in a bun (but to her dismay strands on both sides of her hair hung down and wouldn't behave so she was forced to leave them hanging) and then she added the final touch by forcing in a pair of chopsticks and a hairclip in the form of a dragonfly on her bun.

The dragonfly clip was the family representation of the people she was to live with and finally, to mask her eyes she placed in a black pair of contacts that made her natural eye color look black. When she finished she had released her concentration on the wall she had formed and pushed Sasori out of the way. Her so called 'wall' was actually see-through, and outlined everything in white while colored the rest black so Sasori had promised not to look and to block the way casually as his partner changed.

"I'm supposed to sleep at the Shirotsuki Inn," Sasori said, already walking to the left. "You know where you're going, right." His last words were supposed to be in the form of a question, but the way he had said it was more like a comment than real concern.

"Yeah," Shadow said slightly annoyed. They split up, Shadow turning right and when she got to the house she was a little surprised at how nice it looked, but then she remembered that this was a family who owned their own hot springs and spa. Didn't think they were that rich though. She thought.

The house was about two stories tall, and had a balcony on the second floor. Green herbs hung off the side of the house over the roof and vibrant flowers in beautiful potted plants lined the winding sidewalk to the house. Cherry blossom trees also lined the walk way. Shadow knocked on the mahogany door when she reached it and it opened to reveal a very fat woman who filled the doorway.

"Ah! Hello, hello!" She called cheerily. "You must be Yumi Yumeka!"

"Yes," Shadow said smiling she thought awkwardly, Yumi Yumeka? Seriously? Come on Naruto, you could've come up with a better name than that... She pulled out a red envelope from her bag and handed it to the woman. It was, as she was told, an envelope which contained the directions the woman was supposed to follow and her pay.

Naruto and Gaara must be paying her a pretty high sum of money for doing this. Shadow thought again. Not many merchants would do these kinds of things for other villages unless they were promised a something big.

'As if this family needed any more money, this house is so big and it looks as if this woman hasn't missed a meal once!'

The chibi argued.

The woman bustled Shadow into a pink room. Explaining that her name was Yura, and also telling Shadow what part she would be playing as. Supposedly, Shadow's mother had saved Yura from a gang of kids and in return for her kindness Yura offered to teach Shadow of the 'feminine ways' because apparently, as her mother said, Shadow lacked feminineness. Reeeeaaaal original Naruto.She thought sarcastically.

Shadow cringed as she was sat down onto the pink couch; it wasn't just the complete pink room that annoyed her. Not even the pink and white tiled floor, but the whole story itself had, in Shadow's opinion, too many holes and unexplained details. She felt that if someone were smart enough they would be able to figure out that it was all a lie in an instant and the fact that everything in the room was pink just made things worse. From the couch to the window shades, even the marble tiles on the floor were pink.

"So you will be playing as my sister's friend's niece who has taken in an interest for the way of a hot spring maid. Now I bet you're tired from your long journey so please let me show you your room!"

It's been only five minutes since my arrival, Shadow thought warily to herself. And I'm already beginning to hate this place. Hello stress, good-bye relaxation.

Edited: August 7, 2012