Kaito and the oranges

Kazuki left quietly that day. Daichi had prepared everything Kazuki needed before he died. All Kazuki needed were his own personal items from his wardrobe. He decided to leave 'Make-out Tactics' where his master had left it… Following the instructions, Kazuki headed north on foot, wondering what exactly the danger of going by air was. His mysterious birthday present was strapped to his back, ready for emergency use. Kazuki walked in human form for about five minutes, then he decided to increase the pace. Changing into the form of a slim black horse, he galloped down the path at speed.

Late in the afternoon, Kazuki was forced to turn back into a human and, exhausted, his pace slowed to a crawl (not literally). As Kazuki crested a hill, he blinked in surprise at the site of a large field which seemed to be on fire. When he blinked and looked again, he saw that the field was full of bright orange fruit plants. He trotted down the hill to it curiously. Plucking one of the fruit, he observed that the plants all bore oranges. He peeled it carefully and took a bite. He immediately spat it out again.

"Ugh!" he cried, gagging. "It's so sour!"

Suddenly, a nasty comment about Kazuki's mother emanated from deep within the orange fields. Kazuki peered into the fields suspiciously and, turning into a bloodhound, went to investigate. The stench of the citrus fruit was strong, but for some reason, there was an overpowering smell of cheese and gaffa tape coming from somewhere ahead. The bloodhound emerged into a little clearing in the centre of the field to find himself next to a large scarecrow. It had a wide brimmed brown hat at an angle covering its face and wore a long brown leather trench coat. Puzzled, Kazuki sniffed around the scarecrow's legs. Looking under the trench coat, he saw a pair of sandals on the ground. As he peered upwards, he was surprised to find that there was nothing under the coat at all.

"What are you doing!?" cried a voice.

The dog backed away from the scarecrow, paws scrabbling frantically in the dirt. Kazuki looked up at the towering scarecrow and realised that it was actually a person.

"Looking up my coat!?" it said. "Are you some kind of pervert!?"

Kazuki frowned at the figure, whose face was obscured by the sun's glare.

"Er… I'm a dog." He said, stating the obvious.

He heard the strange person snigger. "Yeah," he said, "I've noticed."

Strangely intrigued at meeting a person who found talking dogs perfectly normal, Kazuki changed back into human form. Suddenly he jumped back in surprise as he was able to see the person clearly for the first time. The man stood at least a foot taller than Kazuki and sported a medium sized black beard. The black hair sticking out of the floppy brown hat could only be described as 'fwoofy,' and his eyes were bright green, but had strange blotches of red that circled the pupils. The most unusual thing about him however, was that apart from the beard, hair and eyes, he was completely invisible. He looked to Kazuki like a mass of black hair floating above a trench coat, with disturbing looking eyes hovering in between the thick hairs. As Kazuki stared, the strange man took of his hat in greeting, causing his hair to rapidly expand like dough.

"Hello," he said to the bewildered teenager, "I'm Kaito."

Kazuki didn't reply. He stared at the hat that Kaito had just removed. He couldn't see any hand holding it aloft by his side; it just hung magically in the air a couple of inches from the sleeve of his coat. Kaito coughed.

"I'm Kaito." He repeated, in case Kazuki hadn't heard him.

The invisible man held out a sleeve. Kazuki, still in shocked silence, stared at where a hand should have been, ready for him to shake.

"This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen…" He thought, looking from the sleeve, to Kaito's face and back again. He shrugged. "Then again," he reconsidered, "ten seconds ago, I was a dog…"

He reached out a suspicious hand and, after a moment or two of searching, his fingers locked onto another set. With an unusual feeling, Kazuki shook hands with what appeared to be air.

"I'm Kazuki." He said, gazing in wonderment at his hand, still shaking it slowly.

"Nice to meet you…" Replied Kaito, nonchalantly yet desperately trying to free his invisible hand from Kazuki's hysterical grip.

"You're invisible…" Noted Kazuki dumbly.

Kaito's bushy eyebrow floated slightly higher. "Yeah, I know."

He slipped his hand away from Kazuki. As he did, Kazuki noticed a shinobi headband wrapped around Kaito's upper arm, bearing a symbol he didn't recognise. It almost looked like an orange…

"Which village is that from?" He asked, pointing at the band.

Kaito glanced at the headband. "The Village Hidden in the Oranges." He answered proudly.

Kazuki frowned. "Where's that?"

Kaito smiled, revealing a set of white teeth that contrasted with his black beard. He raised his arms, indicating the forest of orange plants around them.

Kazuki coughed. "Er… not much of village." He said. "No offense…"

Kaito glared at him. "Why not?" He demanded crossly.

Kazuki glanced around him. "No buildings." He replied. "Can't have a village without buildings."

Kaito sighed in exasperation. "It's the Village Hidden the Oranges, right?" He asked rhetorically, "So it's obviously very well hidden."

"Hmmm…" mumbled Kazuki, "so there are buildings?"

Kaito coughed. "Er, no…" re replied, "that's what makes it so well hidden!"

Kazuki raised an eyebrow. "So how many people live in this village?"

"Just me…" answered Kaito.

"So you live on your own," Kazuki said slowly, "in a village with no buildings in the middle of an orange patch?"

Kaito nodded.

"Which means that you're essentially a hobo living in a field," deduced Kazuki.

The two men stared at each other awkwardly. After a moment, Kaito plucked an orange from a nearby plant. With a flick of his wrist, a shiny silver fork shot out of his sleeve into his waiting, invisible hand. He then proceeded to use the fork to peel the fruit, spooning the insides into his mouth.

"Who eats an orange with a fork?" wondered Kazuki, thinking about running away sometime soon. He glanced around at the thousands of brightly coloured fruit. "Then again, I can't argue about oranges with someone who lives with them…"

Kaito held out the half eaten fruit. "Want some?" He asked hopefully.

Kazuki sniffed at the manky looking orange. "No thanks," he said, pointing over his shoulder, "I have to go…"

Without another word, he transformed into a bee and buzzed off…

Kaito stared at the insect that was fleeing from him, munching on the orange.

"Why do they always run from the oranges?"