Is it just me, or did it feel like March went by reeeally slowly?

Anyways, here you have it: Chapter san (as they say in Japan)

Also, please be praying for Japan. Donate, pray, post YouTube vids or watch YouTube vids, because I know there are a lot of YouTube stars that are supporting Japan through their videos and every view counts.

So with that said and done, let's get the show on the road!

First Movement, Part Three

The day Shinpi started to live with Kaimu, the old artisan, was the day the weather cleared up enough for the travelers to start moving again. Nakao provided Kaimu with enough clothes for Shinpi for her to stay warm enough in the cold Amegakure winter.

Shinpi sat upon Kaimu's loyal horse, Ishi, warm in the fur laden coat Nakao had handmade for her. It was her first day traveling and she was excited. For the last week all she's ever seen were the dark stone walls of the cave. Now, in broad daylight, she was finally able to see all the travelers. There were at least 25 families or circles in the caravan.

Kaimu pointed at some of the families and told her which ones provided which necessities. Shinpi was smart. After half a day of traveling and instructions from Kaimu she had quickly learned most of the family-groups of within the caravan. During breaks, she convinced Kaimu's friend, Joiji, to take her around to be introduced to the families and soon just about everyone knew who she was.

"My, my, what an adorable little girl you are," one of the ladies sitting with Nakao said as they worked on mending while the group was taken a break.

"And with such pretty hair and eyes," a younger woman that has just been married into the caravan said.

"That's just because you haven't been traveling as much as we have, Meiko," Nakao said. "Once you've traveled half as much as I have you'll feel like you've seen everything."

"That's very true," another woman said with a big smile. "But I'll say, Nakao-san, I've traveled just as much as you have and I have seen people with a head of gold hair, but I can't say I've ever seen a person with purple eyes." The woman leaned in just to take a closer look, but with her mouth a gape Shinpi shuddered a little and backed away.

Nakao tapped the woman. "You're scaring her." She turned to Shinpi, "Don't worry Shinpi. They are saying you look very pretty."

Shinpi understood what "pretty" meant since she's heard it so many times as Joiji took her around. She smiled big as a "thank you" which just made the women fawn over her more. Soon she was tired climbing over rocks and stones to see everybody. Joiji led her back to Kaimu who had taken out his instrument to clean.

It was the first time Shinpi has ever smelled resin. The sweet fragrance scattered in the air as Kaimu rubbed the resin over the bow. He explained to her how the resin makes the sound more crisp and gave demonstrations of a bow without resin and one with.

Shinpi watched in fascination as Kaimu clean his many instruments, first starting with the smaller ones and moving on to the largest koto. He let her handle cleaning he kokyu that was designated for her as he demonstrated with his own treasured one.

Before Shinpi knew it the caravan has started moving again and she learned just how quickly one must move in order to stay on schedule. As she put her kokyu away in its case Kaimu and his two other disciples, Kagura and Shin, had already packed everything else up, saddled their steeds and was ready to go.

They traveled for most of the afternoon without stop. The horrible storm before had delayed them in taking the leisurely scenic route as the caravan cut through hills and streams in order to get to the town on time.

When it was only a few hours after the early night fall of winter Shinpi saw her first view of lights in a foreign town. The locals welcomed the caravan warmly, all very happy to get the preparations for the annual Festival of Flowers started.

Kaimu led his group of four into an inn. Shin brought Shinpi down from Ishi's back as Kaimu lead it into the stable.

"You three go in first and let the instruments have a breather. Teach Shinpi what to do," Kaimu directed his pupils.

"Yes, Sensei," Kagura said to him and took Shinpi's small hand. "Shinpi-chan, carry your kokyu and Sensei's," she said to the little girl as she handed the instruments to her.

Shin carried most of the large instruments leaving Kagura with the smaller ones as they made their way into the inn. As they entered the inn keeper smiled as he saw the familiar faces.

"I was thinking who had dropped in. I've been waiting," he said.

"We were held back by the storm," Shin explained. "Thank you," he replied as the innkeeper took some of the load off his back.

"And who is this little one?" he asked as they walked up the stairs to the room they usually rested in.

"Her name is Shinpi," Kagura said. "She was found by a couple of kids in the snow. Sensei took her in saying that she has natural talent. She can't speak or understand Japanese very well yet, but she's learning fast. Shinpi-chan, what do you say to Innkeeper-san?"

Shinpi knew very well how to give a greeting. She bowed her little head of gold as she balanced herself with the instruments in her hands and said, "Nice to meet you. My name is Shinpi."

"Oooh! Well, isn't she adorable? Nice too meet you too, Shinpi-chan. You can just call me Innkeeper-san. Here's your room," he said and opened the sliding door. "Enjoy your time here. I'm looking forward to your performances."

"Thank you," Shin said as he set down the instruments with Kagura's help.

Shinpi sat next to Kagura as she explained the process of airing the instruments. They needed to do this every time it rained since the humidity would affect the sound. The bright Shinpi understood the process quickly and started helping out staring with, of course, her own.

Soon Kaimu entered the room and started the process quietly with another set of instruments. Afterwards, Shinpi watched the other tune the instruments to make sure there was nothing else that need adjustments. She was pretty tired by the time Kaimu started to tell them of the schedule for the next few days.

"We'll do some mock performances during the heat of the day when the workers have a break," Kaimu said as Shin moaned against the idea. "We'll slowly move west until we get to the center of the town on the sixth day and then after that is the day of the festival. Your body is the most important, don't ruin by playing too much. As we near the day of the festival I'll receive a more detailed schedule with public performances as well as private. Now if you have no other questions quickly get ready to sleep."

Shin and Kagura had waited to hear those words for the entire day. They quickly gathered their things and headed for the public bathes.

"Shinpi," Kaimu said, "you stay."

Shinpi sat still, understanding the words that Kaimu had said and forced her little body still.

Kaimu took his kokyu from its box and Shinpi did the same. While traveling Shinpi hdn't had the chance to continue further with her studies in music. She became excited and full awake all of a sudden. Kaimu saw how energized and restless she became by just holding her instrument again.

He put a hand on Shinpi's shoulder and said, "First, a musician must calm his heart. If he's too restless he'll play too fast and the music will be rushed and choppy."

To make sure she understood him, Kaimu gave her shoulder a little push downward to physically calm her body and then closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he placed his bow on the strings. After a moment's pause to emphasize his point he started to play the same piece he had taught her before.

In a minute or two he finished the song up the part where she had left off and told her to play. Shinpi copied exactly what Kaimu had done before. She closed her eyes and breathed in deep. She waited a second longer and started to play. She did her best to make sure the slurred parts of the song were slurred and that the notes were clear and bright. Of course since she had only played the song a few times mistakes were inevitable. After she finished she blushed and was angry at herself for all the mistakes she had made.

Kaimu smiled at her diligence and put an encouraging hand on her shoulder.

"Patience child," he said. "Learn at the speed your body allows. Work hard and you will become the best."

Kaimu and Shinpi practiced together for another hour. Kagura and Shin had already started to prepare for sleeping when they finished. Kagura got out of bed again to show Shinpi the way to the public bathes. There they met Nakao who had finally had a chance to bathe also.

"Don't worry, Kagura-san," Nakao said, "I'll bring Shinpi-chan back to the room when we're finished. You go on back."

"Thanks a ton," Kagura said and walked back to the inn.

Nakao and Shinpi were the last ones in and the large bath was luxury for their sore bodies. Nakao washed Shinpi's back and Shinpi returned the favor.

After they decided they have soaked long enough in the hot bath water they got out to dry their bodies. Shinpi finished faster than Nakao and waited patiently outside the bath for her.

From the men's side, Toroki walked out finishing his bath. His eyes widened as he saw her again. It's been nearly two days since he's last seen her. While traveling, he always stayed close to his father and never strayed to play with the other children since will be his job one day to lead.

Seeing her damp hair glisten in the moonlight made his heart throb and beat impatiently. He felt like the air in his throat choked up and he didn't like the feeling at all. He became frustrated and angry at her because of it and out of impulse he laughed at her.

"Look at your hair!" he said as he laughed. "They look so stiff like a ghost's! Are you a ghost? Shinpi-ghost! Shinpi-ghost!" he mocked as he circled around her pretending to be a ghost.

It scared Shinpi beyond her wits. Although she didn't understand most of the words she could piece together Toroki was implying she was the ghoulish character he was enacting while he made crazy sounds.

She shut her eyes tight and put her hands over her ears and crouched low to the ground in fear. Toroki saw that she was shaking and laughed at her again.

He pointed his finger and laughed loudly, "Coward! Coward! Shinpi the ghost is a coward!"

"Toroki!" Nakao yelled furiously and smacked her son on the back of his head. "Stop doing that! Shinpi-chan is scared of you! Look at you, you poor thing." Nakao helped Shinpi back on her feet. "Quickly and go home, I'll take Shinpi-chan back to her inn."

In the terrifying presence of his mother Toroki didn't dare let another word out of his mouth. He couldn't do anything but obey and turned himself around and headed for the in his family stayed in. He looked back at Nakao leading Shinpi back hand in hand one last time before he started making his way back.

The next day Shinpi did her best to catch up and stay on schedule. There wasn't much that she could do but follow around. Kaimu didn't allow her to play and taught her the ultimate entertainer's rule: never perform in front of your audience unless it is the best that you can provide for entertainment.

She followed Kaimu and the other two helping out with instruments as they walked to the town's small square and watched the three set up the instruments the first time. She listened to them perform. When they finished she helped pack put and returned to carrying instruments as they moved on to the next scheduled stage, the second time she helped in setting up.

This continued throughout all of the six days and through the two week festival nights. She always stayed up an hour late with Kaimu to practice.

Even when the festival was over and the caravan continued to travel she would stay up with Kaimu to practice. While the group was out in the wilderness she would continue to practice on her won even after her sessions with Kaimu. She figured since she was too young to help out with anything during the day and all she had to do was stand up again Toroki and the other children's bullying, she spent her time and energy at night practicing until late into the night.

Her efforts paid off. Within the next year, when she turned 7, Kaimu let her have her own public performance for street wanderers and bystanders.

"Good job," Kaimu congratulated that night. "I have something for you," he said and reached into his own pack. "It took me awhile to make and I had meant to give it to you earlier but the timing never seemed right. Since today is your debut I thought it would be appropriate to formally include you into the troupe," he said and handed to her a small bowl with matching chopsticks. The hand crafted bowl was dyed red with an intricate design of a kirin flying with its body breaking into wisps of flames as they are marked with thin gold plates.

Shinpi took the bowl and chopsticks with both her hands and examined the elaborate carvings. She knew Kaimu was more than just a musician, he was an artesian talented in many things, but she didn't think that he would be able to create something like this.

She set the bowl in front of her and bowed. "Thank you very much," she said. "I will treasure it always."

Yea, I know. It's a slow chapter, but worry not. It's going to get better. And I know most of you are probably thinking, "This is chapter three already! When is Mr. Uchiha Itachi going to show up?"

Eh, just wait. In the story Shinpi's like 7 and that makes Itachi like 8. Ooh, he's got his Sharingan already!

Review!

-RueLin