a/n okay so um...here's chapter three!! yay!! It mgiht be a while until I update this story again. yeah...hopefully not too long, actually. :)
Song of the Full Moon's Child
Chapter Three-Trees
Tired and dirty, I walked through the gates of my third town. This one, unlike the others, was a village meant for tourists. It looked very polished and low key, at first glance, quite unlike the other two places I visited as I traveled, searching for Konoha.
Sighing a little as I wiped the sweat from my forehead, using the back of my hand, I took another step forward. For some odd reason, I believed that I would see the whole town differently just because of that one little step. But it was just the same.
"Time to go find some jobs around the village so I can get some food. Maybe even a place to stay this time, since I have a little money left over from the last village..." I said to myself; my hand clutched at the pouch filled with money that I had been carrying.
There wasn't all that much left; I had done all the jobs I could and promptly went to get food; hunger was getting to me, so strong that I couldn't ignore it.
"Miss! Miss might I interest you in a wonderful--"
"No," I said curtly, walking right on passed the salesman with a blank expression. Up ahead I saw a stand, with an item that made me freeze where I stood.
Apples. All shades, shapes, and sizes. But they were apples. There was a woman looking through them, and a man looking rather pleased by the stand.
A pained look came across my face, and I felt myself begin to squirm. The man noticed me and after staring a little, motioned for me to come over.
"Girl...girl, would you be interested in some apples? They're fresh, and there's plenty to go around..."
At the word 'apple' I felt the lump come into my throat, large as a golf ball, but as hard as a rock. I blinked away the tears before quickly shaking my head and running around the corner. I pressed myself against the wall, biting my lower lip. I heard the first salesman make a remark to the apple-one.
"Well, seems like she was more interested in mine. At least she didn't run off crying when I asked her."
A comment that usually would have made me burst out laughing, even if I was in the worst of moods, couldn't even make me crack a smile.
"Reina-onee-chan," I whispered, sliding down against the wall so that I sat on the loose dirt of the alleyway. "You loved apples..."
I hugged my knees close to my chest, the only noise I made was the whimpering and sniffling.
"It hurts, Reina-onee-chan..." I said eventually, my fingernails digging into my calves as I squeezed my legs closer to me. "Why? Why?" I tried to swallow down the tears, but it did nothing; my shoulders heaved as sobs escaped me, silent. But each one tore at my throat, and I found it difficult to breath.
Stop it Kaiyo. You're being ridiculous I told myself. Just stop swimming self-pity. It's pathetic. You're just wasting time, mourning something that happened a year ago...
Shaking slightly, I brought myself to my feet and walked on, needing to find a place where I could temporarily have a job.
"What is it, Kaiyo dear?" Reina asked, wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.
"Ma says to come help her out at home!" I said in my childish way.
Reina groaned. "This is what they could call child abuse," she mumbled, hopping off of the tree stump she sat on.
"Nani?"
Reina shook her head. "Never mind. Come on, Kaiyo dear..." She took a bite into the crisp golden apple she held in her hand and draped her arms over my small shoulders, guiding me back home.
"Excuse me, sir?" I asked, leaning on the counter of a stand that looked pretty well off. "I was wondering if you have any room for a part-time--"
The man cut me off. "No. We aren't taking on new employees. There isn't enough money to go hiring help."
"Oh...Well do you know of--"
Rudely, he cut me off again, shaking his head shortly. "I don't know of any. You're probably going to get the same answer everywhere you ask."
"Oh. Well thanks anyway."
"Heh..."
I took off again, asking almost every place I passed. The answer was the same all around. Until I reached one stand. It seemed pretty run down, and the two people running it, the woman holding a young child, looked just as beat up.
"Excuse me..." I began slowly, feeling uneasy asking these people. They both looked up at me and smiled kindly.
"How can we help you?" the man asked, leaning on the counter with his elbows.
"Do you know of a place where I could get a job for a couple days?"
If they want to give me a job, they can feel free to do that. That's why I worded it the way I did--because they can say they don't know of a place. Or just mention a place that isn't theirs...
The two people exchanged a glance. "We'd be happy to hire you! We don't have any employees, and we're beat."
I smiled a little. "Thank you so much! So when can I start?"
"Anytime you want."
I didn't even think about it for a minute before saying, "I can start now! It'll give you a break..."
The woman broke into a grateful smile; she seemed even more rundown than the man, who I assumed was her husband. Plus she was taking care of a baby.
"Here's my apron. My husband will explain the job to you. I can't thank you enough." Handing me to soiled apron, she disappeared to one of the buildings behind the stand. I turned to her husband expectantly.
He sighed, running a grimy hand through his brown, graying hair. "First off, let's introduce ourselves. I'm Kaemon Natso." He held out his hand; I gladly took it.
"Kaiyo is my name," I said, deciding not to tell him my last name. "It's nice to meet you."
He smiled in return, giving a short nod. "Well, come on back here and I'll tell you what we do." He yawned widely as he made room for me to stand beside him.
"Well, we're pretty much a pottery stand. In the back, we make the pottery. In the house we bake them and, after they cool, we paint. But we also do some other things, depending on what the customer needs. Sometimes we provide a service and other times we sell fresh-baked bread." He grinned a little, rubbing the back of his head. "So do you have any experience with pottery?"
I shook my head. "But I'm willing to learn."
Natso nodded, smiling. "It's nice to hear someone say that for a change," he said softly as he looked around, eyes scanning over the village. "Well I can teach you tomorrow. But for now, would you wind putting the pottery we have made already in the fire pit? It's right inside..."
"Not a problem." I picked up the tray and carefully made my way inside. The fire pit-thing was probably the worst looking thing in there. It was grimy and the bottom was covered in ashes.
Because they need it for everything... I thought. They're so desperate for money, they do what the customer needs...
Sticking my head outside, I asked what to do to heat it up. I was told to just put a fire in the bottom with lots of coal. I was surprised that it would be enough, but he knew best.
As I rummaged around the cupboards for some coal, I felt a pang in my heart. I ignored it and continued searching; my hand grazed over a lumpy bag. I pulled it out of the cupboard and grabbed a handful of coals to throw in. As I did so, another pang shot through my heart.
"Reina! What took you so long?" Mom's screech pierced my ears, and I could tell they burst Reina's ears as well, because her free hand shot up to one.
"Well you see, Kaiyo is only six years old, and you sent her to get me. So it took a bit of time for her small legs to carry her to me. Plus she had to find where I was...so that took a while. But once she came, we left right away," Reina replied, moving her hand from her ear to a strand of her teal, knee-length hair.
Ma stepped into the room, red faced and thin-lipped. "I didn't ask for your tone missy!" she said in a dangerously low voice.
The 11-year-old Reina froze as Ma came towards her and I. Mommy didn't even acknowledge me, cowering against my sister, clutching at her clothes. Reina, arm still draped over my shoulders, brought me close to her so that my face was snuggling against her sides--she knew what was coming, and she didn't want me to see.
But that didn't protect me from hearing the sound of Ma's hand making impact against Reina's cheek. "Now get into the kitchen to help me bake bread, got it?" she snapped.
Reina mumbled something and hurried to the kitchen, keeping me right by her. "Actually, Kaiyo, I was wrong before. That was child abuse..." she whispered, bending slightly so she could say it right into my ear. Then, straightening herself, she grabbed the pan of bread dough and put it into the fire pit, then lit underneath after throwing coals in.
"Kaiyo! Are you done?" Natso called in. I quickly finished up and then came out of the house, wiping my black hands on my already soiled clothes.
Natso smiled at me, a look that seemed to wake up his tired face. "Thank you for doing that, Kaiyo," he said, and looked out at the village again with hopeful eyes. "Come on. Let's get started on some other things. Maybe painting?" he suggested.
"Okay. I can do that..." I said, and made my way over to him so that my new boss could show me what to do.
"Okay, here's your days wages. I'm sorry it isn't a very large amount but you see..."
"Oh I understand!" I cut him off so that he didn't have to say what he was going to. "Well I'll be heading off now..."
"I understand, onee-chan!" I whispered. "I'm coming with you, and I'll be very quiet!"
We slipped out the back door into the fading day. Quietly, the two of us walked through our backyard and then out onto the dirt-roads. Reina led the way, holding my hand tightly so I wouldn't get lost.
We went down a path that I didn't know about until that day; it fascinated me what with the tall trees that had leaves that looked like they were made of water. The moonlight reflected on those special leaves, showing the path ahead.
"You like it, Kaiyo dear?"
Too awestruck to speak, I nodded; Reina laughed as she too looked up at the canopy of leaves.
"It's nice, isn't it? And they're really special, too. Do you know why they're so special, Kaiyo?"
"No," I whispered.
"Because these trees are only found here in Gekkougakure. If anyone tries to bring them to another country, or even another village in THIS country, it won't be able to grow. Because only our very own Gekkougakure has the right climate, terrain, and everything that this type of tree needs..."
"What kind of tree is it?"
"I can't remember..." Reina said, turning down an even smaller path. "Kaiyo, come here. I'll carry you the rest of the way."
And that she did. Into the center of this small patch of forest she took me, and then stopped. Towards the middle were apple trees galore. But in the very center there was a giant tree, that seemed to be a mixture of an apple tree and the water-leaf tree.
"Do you see this, Kaiyo dear?" Reina jerked her head towards the tree. "It's because of that giant thing that apple trees can grow here. It gives off some sort of power...I'm not sure how. They never taught us that in the Academy." She grinned sheepishly as she walked under the shade of the giant tree and leaned against the trunk.
"This tree is the only one in the world that has this type of apple. Take a look." She plucked two from the branches and then sat down next to me again, handing one to me. But before she took a bite of her own, or said anything more, she took out a kunai and gently dragged it over her palm once, and then again, above the first one. Blood slowly leaked out; I watched in horror.
"Onee-chan? Why-why did you do that?"
Reina laughed lightly. "It's for the tree, see?" she slapped her palm against the blue-ish bark. The blood from her hand glowed for a minute on the bark, and then vanished.
"Nani?"
"You see, since this tree is one-of-a-kind, whenever an apple is taken, you have to pay the tree in blood. Just a little bit, Kaiyo!" she added quickly, seeing my horror grow. "And you must use as many cuts as the amount of apples you took. I won't go any further than that, okay?"
I nodded.
"Good. Now take a bite. Trust me, it's good."
I obeyed, my small teeth digging into the small apple. That was when I noticed the color of the apple's peel--blue. I gave my older sister an odd look; she nodded reassuringly.
It was juicy, and tasted like...nothing I had ever experienced. It still tasted like an apple, but it had a different kind of sweetness.
"What did I tell you?" Reina said, laughing, when she saw my delighted expression, and then went on to devour her own.
Eventually we both fell asleep, feeling incredibly safe.
I hadn't gotten too far; my thoughts had left me walking slowly. So, thinking about that day and the safety I felt under a tree, I turned back to the stand. Natso was still there, looking hopeful, even though he knew no one would come, especially at night.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, how may I help you? We have a fine selection of pottery here and--" he stopped short, squinting through the dark at me. He looked disappointed.
"Oh. Konichiwa, Kaiyo. What do you need?"
"Do you know of any forest areas nearby that I could sleep in?" I asked, not in the least hurt by the fact that he was disappointed that it was me. What would you expect from a man who was just trying to earn money enough to support his family, and only got one customer the entire day?
"Oh yes. Just go down that road there and take a left. You'll see it soon enough..." He said passively, waving a hand as a spoke.
"Arigato, Natso-kun!" I said, smiling and turned away to run in the direction he had said. "Sayonara!"
"Wait!!"
I stopped dead in my tracks and turned towards Natso. "Nani?"
"Did you say you were looking for trees to sleep in?"
I nodded hesitantly.
"You haven't got a place to stay?"
I shook my head. I hadn't enough money to pay for a room anywhere, I knew that.
Natso sighed a little, smiling as he shook his head. "Well why didn't you ask about a place then? I'd be happy to let you stay at out place for as long as you're staying--for free."
"Oh no! I wouldn't want to impose. I'll be fine in the forest!"
"No, I insist! It's the least I can do for coming to work for us! It's finally giving my wife a break. She's exhausted enough as it is, what with a baby and all. But having to work all day as well...it's too much for her. And for me too. You've relieved us both from a lot of work. Arigato."
I nodded. "It's not a problem. I like to work!" It keeps my mind off of other things...
"Nevertheless, I want you to stay with us. Please..."
Giving a resigned sigh, I nodded my head. "Alright. Arigato, Natso-kun."
"My pleasure. You'll be able to use the shower, as well. And feel free to sue the washing bin at any time to clean your clothes..."
"Arigato," I said again.
Natso nodded. "Come along, I'll show you to the extra room..." Putting his hand on my back, he led me into the small house to where I could stay.
a/n I don't know how many Chapters Kaiyo will be in this town. But I know for a fact that in chapter four, she'll still be here, and probably the chapter after that as well. so um, not tryign to be a beggar but...reviews? Come on folks, it's Christmas! Spread the cheer :P lol. anyway!! laterz! back to uploading new stories!! yay!!