World 2: Ninja of the Hidden Leaf
"Uh, yes, Hana, this is the Konoha Village. I thought we just got through telling you that." Kakashi was the first one to break the silence. They were all staring at her weirdly as Hana began to register what she had just said.
"Yeah well, I was just pointing out the fact that this is Konoha. You know, I think that fall might have jostled my head a bit…" She laughed gingerly, tapping the side of her head. Natori shot her an equally curious look, questioning her sanity.
"Well if you think you hit it hard enough, you might want to get it checked out." The huge green doors to the village opened and let them in. there was a ninja standing by a small hut looking building by the entrance and he glanced up at them as they entered, the sun glinting off his head band.
"Hey, Kakashi, you're back." He smiled. "What'd you bring back this time?" His eyes landed on Hana.
"A traveler; we found her wandering around outside the village. Say's she was on her way here."
Did I say that? Oh well, can't do much now…But this is just too weird…This is Naruto, as in the anime and the manga Naruto! And it's an actually thing, a real place! Does that mean that Masashi Kishimoto's manga story is real? Or was this world created because he wrote the manga? Like an alternate reality or something? If it's an alternate reality, then it means the events in this world are already predetermined…So where am I in the story plot? Hana was too busy thinking to hear the ninja's question.
"Hana." Kakashi said tapping her on the head, shattering her thoughts.
"Uh? What? Sorry, I guess I was daydreaming a bit."
"Do you have your traveling papers? This guy needs to see them." Hana froze, her face looking like someone who had forgotten something very important.
"Y-Yeah, just give me a minute." She turned to Natori for help. I completely forgot about traveling papers! Oh man, what do I do now? If I don't have any papers, they'll think I'm a spy and I'll be locked up! Then I'll be interrogated and if I learned anything from watching the anime, the interrogator is scary! "Psst, Fat Louie, do we have any traveling papers?" She whispered, trying to remain calm.
"Don't call me that!" he hissed. "I don't know."
"Listen, cat, you need to spit something up that at least looks like traveling papers, otherwise we'll be locked up as spies. Do you understand me?"
"Fine, I'll see what I got." He opened his mouth and it began to shine with a bright white light. First her bag shot out onto the ground beside her then a purple folder fluttered out. They stared at it for several seconds before Hana picked it up to look at it. She stiffened as she read the contents. This is crap! No one's going to believe that these are traveling papers! At the bottom it said "Curtsey of Yuko" signed with a black swallowtail butterfly. Yuko!
The ninja suddenly took the folder from her and looked over it carefully and Hana felt a small part of herself die inside. Noooo! My journey's over before it even started! She screamed inside, watching the ninja's facial expressions.
"Alright, it all looks good. Welcome to Konoha, Miss Everdeen." The ninja replies with a smile and hands the papers back to Hana. She stood there with a mixture of disbelief and surprise on her face.
"Ah…thanks…I guess…" She replied robotically picking up her bag and walked past the gates in a daze. What in the world just happened? They believed these papers? I don't get any of this…I need to contact Yuko about this.
"Looks like we got lucky this time." Natori muttered.
"More than lucky…"
"So what now?"
"We get some food." The lights were starting to turn on, lighting up the village like Time's Square, New York. A whole pallet of new smells washed over her, making her stomach growl at the scent of so many different food smells.
"Wonder what we'll eat. Have you checked the Credit Card yet?" the cat looked around at the people moving about through the streets. Behind Hana and Natori, team 7 followed, watching her every move.
"I'm doing that now." Hana slipped it out and read what it said. On the top of the blue and yellow plastic card it said "You are in the Konoha Village in the Land of Fire" on a thin screen at the top. At the bottom it said amount. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped.
"What's with that face?" looking up, Natori noticed her shocked expression.
"Th-That's a lot of zeros…" she choked, still trying to let it sink in. I could buy…pretty much anything I wanted to back home…THIS is a lot of money. I should be able to buy something with this…but I don't think they've come up with the cash register yet. Well that does me no good! I have all this money and I can't access it to use it.
"If it's a lot of zeros then why are you making a depressed face?"
"Because," she said, "I don't think they take credit cards here. This does no good to me unless it's hard cash."
"Maybe you should read the book Yuko gave you." He suggested.
This hadn't occurred to Hana. It was the most logical thing to do, but it completely went over her head. "…I guess maybe I should." She rummaged around in her bag until she found the book and stared at it. This thing does have a table of contents like a normal book, right? The pages were heavy as she flipped through the part she assumed was the table of contents. Let's see…"How to avoid upsetting a government or place of power", no, "How to avoid black holes and time warps", no, "List of unknown and different creatures you might experience", I'm not gonna comment, "How to use all devices used in Time Traveling", that sounds more like it…Let's see…Page 45…
"Hey, Hana!" Naruto's "you-can't-ignore-me" voice cut through her thoughts like a Justin Bieber song, making her cringe. She turned to find him running towards her, alone, his other teammates had vanished. "Are you going anywhere?"
"Uh…no, not really," she answered, quickly flipping to the page she needed, dog-earing it. I don't even know where I'm going to stay. Maybe somewhere really, really cheap. Like a cardboard box.
"You wanna get some ramen with me?" it face was beaming with eagerness, overwhelming her with bright optimism.
"Sure…I am a bit hungry? Where'd the rest of your team go?"
"Oh they left since the mission was over. Sakura probably went home and who cares about Sasuke, am I right?"
"I guess…" That's right, I know the whole story and who likes who. Naruto likes Sakura who likes Sasuke who likes no one. Such a sad love triangle…But where am I in the time line? Sasuke…hasn't left yet…so this much mean that it's not even the Chu'nin exams yet…Hana thought sadly, remembering Sasuke's betrayal.
"Hey, why's your face looking all sad and stuff?" Naruto was walking beside her, gazing at her with wide blue eyes.
"Ah, it's nothing." Hana assured him with a smile.
"She's just upset because she's so short." Natori yawned.
Hana glared down at the cat and grabbed him by the scruff. "I'm sorry. I didn't quite hear that? What were you saying about my height, you drunk cat?" her voice seethed, her eyes burning with the flames of rage.
"Let go of me, you brat! I'm not a cat!" he hissed, trying to scratched her face.
"You are to me!" she squeezed him in her arms as he tried to claw his name away. "You are a big, fat, obnoxious cat who has cursed the world with your big fat mouth!" Hana squeezed the cat hard with each word. The cat gave a muffled meow and went limp. "Oh? Have you give up already?"
"I-I think you killed him…" Naruto poked the unconscious cat hesitantly.
"Oh please, he'll be just fine. A good nap will do him good." Hana told him and continued walked like nothing had happened, carrying the limp cat in her arms.
"What are you reading?" the boy asked, noticing the book in her hands. He was as ADHD as a puppy. Hana held it up for him to read and he squinted at the title. "'The Time Traveler's…Guide to the Universe…?' What kinda of name is that? Time traveling? That's not possible."
"You're right; this book is a fictional book." The less people who know about this, the better.
"I guess you like reading. I hate reading; too many words." He muttered. "Here's the place!" he pointed to a ramen shop up ahead, shinning like a bright beacon in the night. The scent of food hit her in the face and seemed to be pulling her along. "You'll like this place," she heard him say as they entered the ramen stall, "the food is the best."
"That's good." Hana sat down at the raised bar. Behind the divider that separated the kitchen from the rest of the stall, a man wearing a white apron smiled at them as steam rose up from the pots of boiling noodles.
"Hey, old man! Get me the usual! And one for Hana!" Naruto smiled as he plopped down, dropping his bag on the ground. Hana set hers down carefully and
surveyed the menu.
"Alright, Naruto. So I see you're back from your mission already? So who's your friend?" the man asked as he began to fill two large bowls.
"This is Hana, she's a traveler."
"A traveler, huh?" Hana eyed the steaming bowls filled with noodles, a slice of egg, and meat. "So where are you from?"
"I don't even remember anymore, it's been so long." Hana said, smiling. Natori was snoring on the stool next to her, lying on it like a limp bag of flour.
"So what exactly do you do in your travels? What made you want to travel?" Hana pondered his question as she broke apart her chopsticks, feeling the familiar wood texture under her fingers as she took her first mouthful of noodles. Her face lit up eagerly as the flavorful tastes settled on her tongue. "Good, isn't it?"
She nodded and chewed the noodles thoroughly before replying. "Yes, very. Why I started traveling?" She paused, remembering all that happened before she left. It all felt like millions of miles away, years away despite it only have been an hour since she had left Yuko's. Or had it been longer? It felt longer. "I guess I just wanted to leave my old life and see the world. I'm also searching for something very important."
"Aren't we all?" The ramen man rubbed his hands on a towel as Naruto finished his bowl and set it down loudly, signaling that he wanted another.
"What're you searchin for?" Naruto asked, leaning forward curiously, his blue sandaled feet swinging in the air back and forth.
"Something important. Once I find it, I'll move on to my next destination."
"And you think it's here?" he slurped up more ramen.
"Hopefully." She mused, staring off into the broth left in the bowl. Her distorted reflection stared back and she continued to look at it until she couldn't stand to any longer and gulped down the rest.
"You said that you came from a place far away, right?" Naruto inquired again, his voice muffled through the food.
"Yes."
"Do you have a Hokage or anything like that?"
"Not really. We have a man that is in a place of power, but it's nothing like a Hokage." Hana looked over at Natori suddenly, wondering when he was going to wake up and then at the book he was sleeping on top of.
"Oh, like a feudal lord or something? Well, one day, I'm gonna become the Hokage! The best there's ever been! Believe it!" He pointed his chopstick in the air, still wearing that blissful smile on his face. Hana stopped and looked at him, then burst out laughing at his lame ending line. It was so familiar to her, all the chapters ending with his famous catchphrase "Believe it!" If only the boy sitting next to her in the bright orange jumpsuit knew, if he only knew how much his future would push him towards greatness. "Hey! Why are you laughing?"
"The ending phrase. I almost took you seriously until you said 'Believe it!' then you lost me!" she chuckled.
"Hey! It's a cool phrase! Just you wait!" he went back to eating, slightly stung by her laughing.
"I believe you. I can just tell that you're destined to become the greatest Hokage, Naruto." Hana said finally calming down as her laughter trickled off.
"You really think so?" His eyebrows perked up as his moment of hurt was dispelled.
"Yup, totally!" Somewhere behind her words, Hana knew what lay ahead, the betrayal, the death, the friendships, the hurt, the meetings, and everything else in between. It felt weird, knowing the future, but not being able to tell anyone. She knew if she told him, the whole course of Naruto's destiny would fall apart with a few words.
I guess this is what Yuko meant when I'd only be able to be a bystander…Knowing what will happen, but being unable to do anything for fear of changing the future of an already delicate world. Is this how she feels? Does she know the future? It feels…heavy and lonely…She thought.
"Hey, you've got that sad look on your face. Are you homesick?" Naruto's face was suddenly close to hers.
"Y-Yeah, just a bit." She jerked back a back, startled.
"I guess I'd be pretty sad to leave this place too. I have a lot of friends who I'd miss."
"It's the same for me."
"Do you have a family?" She knew that the question would be coming sooner or later.
"No." Hana left it at that.
"Neither do I. it was really lonely, but I found friends. So I'm not that lonely anymore." Still, he smiled. Naruto was always smiling even though he had experienced loneliness. When had she stopped learning how to smile that way? Would she ever be able to smile that way again?
"I see. You are very lucky." Hana said, pulling out the credit card to stare at it. She had finished her meal and figured she should pay quickly so that she could go find a place to stay before it got too late. Her fingers rubbed against its smooth plastic back until her fingers hit what felt like a small, flat button that was barely raised. What's this? She pressed it and it beeped, suddenly shooting out bills from its side. What the-? Fumbling, she pressed the button again and the flow of money stopped. She hopped down and scrabbled to pick up the money.
"What was that?" Naruto exclaimed as he leaned over her shoulder, eyeing the money that she was collecting in her hands. "That's a lot of money. Do you carry all that around?"
"Yeah, I gotta survive somehow." Hana stood up and turned to the shop owner. "Will this be enough?" She held out the money. As the man took in the money, his eyes widened.
"you want to pay…with all that?" He breathed, stunned at seeing so much.
"I want to pay for my meal and Naruto's." She insisted. "you can keep the change."
"No, I couldn't do that. what you have there is enough money for ten people to eat. You guys only ate five bowls."
"It's fine, really. I have a lot more." Her smile eventually wore the man down and with a reluctant sigh, he took the money.
"Alright, if you insist."
"Well, thank you for the food." Hana gathered up her things and Natori and left.
"Come again!" the man called.
"Hana!" Naruto raced out after her. "Thanks for buying me dinner. To be honest, I didn't have any money on me!"
Still happy-go-lucky as ever. She sighed. "Hey, do you know of a place where I can stay?"
"Yeah, there's an inn down the road a bit on the right. It's blue. The rent is cheap and the landlady throws rocks at the kids who mess with her flower garden and paint her cat. She'll let you and your cat stay." He told her.
And you must know from experience. Hana said in her head. "Thanks for letting me know. It was nice meeting you, Naruto." She waved and went her spate way.
"It was nice meeting you too!" he shouted, his hand waving in the evening air like a fast metronome. "Maybe tomorrow we can meet up!"
Hana smiled, not wanting to get his hopes up. Remembering his directions, she looked for a blue building similar to an inn on the right. Natori was muttering in his sleep softly, something about food and saké.
"I'm not a cat!" he suddenly cried, his eyes snapping open as he shot upwards, colliding with her lower jaw. It was like being stuck by a brick; a fat, furry brick.
"What the heck?" she shouted, slamming her hand down hard on his head. He gave a shudder then went limp again, muttering softly again like a drunk in his sleep. "Man that freaking hurt!" Hana rubbed her sore jaw sourly and continued down the street, people staring at her.