'Gosh, did he bath in sake?! Wait, is that vomit on his shirt?', the blonde raised his eyebrows at the blowzy and very sleepy man standing in front of him. The man looked at him up and down. – Who the hell arh ya? – he rubbed his forehead.

- Erm, my name's Kese. I'd be your new apprentice, Ushimaru-san.

The man yawned and scratched the back of his head. - Why you this early?

- In your letter you asked me to be here today at 9 a.m.

The blacksmith rubbed his eyes and stared at the ground for half minute. – It's Monday?

- Yes.

Ushimaru grumbled and closed the door. – A minute. – he said and so Kese waited. Not much later the man – now at least dressed – appeared and led him to the back of the house, where there was another, smaller house, built right next to his own. He opened a door and pointed into it. – My dear forge, this is... What was your name again?

- Kese.

- Kese what?

- Kovács* Kese. – Ushimaru raised an eyebrow at it. – Kovács means blacksmith in the language of my home village, Magor. We don't really have surnames, but if we have to use one, it's usually the name of our family's occupation. – Ushimaru still had an eyebrow up at him, which made the blonde sigh. – But you can use its more Elemental-like version, Kowachi Keshe.

- Okay... So, this is my wonderful forge! – he waved around in a large, but untidy room. – Use her with great care and don't dare breaking anything. Get to work now and be quiet. I'll be back soon. – he yawned and turned towards his house.

- What should I work on?

He shrugged. - Do what you want.

'Thanks, asshole', he thought and something came to his mind. – You mentioned in your letter that I'd get some kind of… housing.

- Ah yes! – he pointed into the workshop. – The door in the back, there's a bedroom, kitchen, and others.

And with this, Ushimaru leisurely walked back into his house. The blonde almost saw him fall into his bed and start snoring, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be back till late afternoon.

It was getting dark already, when Kese exhaustedly fell onto his not so comfortable bed. He had been tidying the forge, then his poorly furnished bedroom (with a bed, a very small wardrobe, and a three-legged chair for no reason) all day, and he hadn't started cleaning the small bathroom and kitchen. When he had first looked around he got shocked by the mess he saw, in which actually no one could live. It had become clear quickly that Ushimaru hadn't worked, or rather hadn't been in his forge for the past few weeks or even months. 'This is pure wasting!' the blonde had got outraged while cleaning one of the man's equipments. 'I don't even know what this is for, but it looks expensive as hell. And he's just letting it lie around and gather layers of rust, while he's bathing in his stinking drunken stupor!'

He thought about his father's neat forge and Tas' strict but kind behaviour, and suddenly he wanted to be at home. – Why did I leave at all? – he whispered to himself. 'Ah, yes. I wanted to see the world and find my roots, and that's why I took this opportunity. I don't regret it, at least not yet, but what I imagined was… a "bit" different'. He whined a little, then forced himself up. The worst was still waiting for him. – I really have to clean the bathroom now. I shall make some clones to help me and... – he slapped himself. - Oh, god, I'm an idiot, I could have made some and I'd be ready!

Feeling completely stupid and motivated, he stepped into the messy kitchen, got ready for the mouldy bathroom, and was about to perform his shadow clone jutsu, when suddenly, the door of the forge opened and Ushimaru stumbled in. Kese saw him looking around with fear in his widening eyes. – What the holy coal have you done to my fabulous forge?!

- I have cleaned it.

- Why? – the blacksmith's eyes were getting filled with anger.

- It was messy as hell.

- It was good as it was! – Ushimaru stepped to Kese. – You didn't get permission from me to-

- You told me to do what I want; I take it was a permission. And by the way, that mess wasn't worth to call a forge!

- You little-! – Ushimaru grabbed his shirt and raised his fist to punch the blonde's face. Kese noticed it in time and moved his head away, causing the other blacksmith's fist to hit the stone wall hard. He cursed loudly, released the blonde, stepped back and tried to not feel the pain in his bruised hand. He looked up to Kese with upmost rage.

The blonde immediately knew he was screwed. He could clearly see it in his eyes that he would most like to kill him in that instant. But it seemed Ushimaru wasn't a complete fool: something cleared his mind and he didn't give another try. Kese prepared himself to get fired and sent back home. But instead of these, his new boss just turned around and walked away while rubbing his fist. – I'll give you work tomorrow. Until then, don't... – he hissed threateningly. – I don't care. Do what you want.

An hour later Kese emerged from the once dirty, now relatively clean bathroom and kitchen. – Alright, I think I'm finished. Good job, guys! – he high-fived his three clones and they disappeared a second later. He opened all of the windows and doors for his whole "apartment" and the forge smelled terrible from the detergent and vinegar he had used to clean with. He took his oil lamp with him outside, sat down to the ground and ate from the food he had got from Aba that morning. He looked around at the remaining tasks he had to do: sheets, pillow and rugs from the bedroom were still hanging on a tree. - I only need to do my bed. – he had a satisfied smirk on his face as he leaned back to the wall.

He had almost fallen asleep when he heard the talking of two drunken men, which came from inside Ushimaru's house. At first, he didn't pay too much attention to it, but soon he realised they weren't speaking Elemental but another language. It sounded familiar, so Kese tried to recall when and where he had heard this one, and he froze when he remembered. 'Last year when Dombi and I were here, in the inn, and two men were talking about the...'

Kese jumped up and quickly climbed onto the roof of the forge. Ushimaru's house was taller, and there was a window where the blonde noticed some light coming out. He crouched under it and listened. 'Could it be... They're that two men?!'

- So, he just tilted his head and you idiot smashed your fist into the wall? – a stranger's laughter was heard. – Have you broken it at last? Ghahaha!

- Oh, shut up already. Of course not, but hurts as fuck! That bastard... How could I agree to call him here?

- It's easy. You like money.

- Well... that's true, mate.

- And by the way. You only have to keep an eye on him for a while. It'll take a few weeks, at most.

- Are you a frigging goldfish, or what? I've just told you that their crew is still not complete. They suffered a great blow from him last time, and that attack they did in Kiri also wasn't a good idea… And they want him alive, you dumbass.

- Oh... that's why they got those kiss ass mercenary ninjas*. To deal with him better.

- Exactly.

- Hey, what if he hears us?

- Hah! Nobody in the East knows this language, I'm sure. So even if he does, he won't understand a word of it. – he emptied his glass. - But let's forget about him for tonight. I'll take a piss then we can go visit the girls.

Kese winced when Ushimaru closed the window right above his head, and for a moment he thought he got caught. He jumped to the ground and tried to wake himself from his shock as he stumbled into his bedroom. He put the pieces together almost too fast: he realized the pirates had not abandoned catching him, but they were paying his boss to keep him under watch. - Worse... – he hissed while packing all of his stuff back into his bags. 'They entrusted him to lure me from my home and hold me here as long as possible, so they can capture me away from my home! I have to go-'

He suddenly stopped and asked himself. – To where? - his voice sounded so weak as he whispered. 'If I go home, they would follow me and... No, I can't go home. If I run away, to somewhere, anywhere, they'd figure out I knew about their intentions. And what would keep them from another visit to the Silent Island then? But if I stay here...' he let himself swear at this thought. He collected himself and ceased his trembling. 'At first, I need to know when they would come for me. If I knew the date exactly, I could come up with something more precisely.' – Alright, calm down, Kese. Let's figure out what to do now... I can't go home. I can't go away now just like that. I have to stay here at least for a while. And think.

He sighed and suddenly heard a door slamming: Ushimaru and his friend left the house. Kese looked at the stuffed bag in front of him; and on top of its content, there was another, leather bag. He knew what it held: his blade and the white hood, which seemed to fit each other as he examined them. He quickly created a new clone, then put on the hood, the blade and a long-sleeved shirt, which was like the shirts the civilians of the Land of Water wore. 'I might get some more info if I follow them. And this clone would provide me alibi by walking around, if something goes wrong and I have to use this. I hope it won't come to that', he retracted the blade after checking it, then hid it under his sleeve. 'Strange, I've just finished it, but it feels like I've been wearing and using this blade for a long time. It's so natural and easy to have it on my arm. I thought getting used to it would be more difficult…', he thought about his visions and dreams. 'Could it be because of the Bleeding Effect? It could be… But no, it's not that. It clings to a part of me…', he stared at the blade on his left, being mesmerized by it. 'It's so beautiful and scary at the same time… Like the Apple… A pretty and mischievous piece of metal… My hidden blade…'

Suddenly his clone shook his shoulder, waking him from his daydreaming. – Ah, yeah, I should go. - and with that, he hurried after those two men.

He had to stay on the ground because Siplak's streets were wide and the houses were far from each other. He wouldn't be able jump from one to the next without the help of his chakra. Creating his clones had used and split up most of his available resources, and it would be a little too suspicious to just jump around like a shinobi anyway.

It began raining and the air got cold. Kese knew the Land of Water wasn't the warmest nation, but still, Siplak was relatively close to his home village and their climate differed so much. The Silent Island had hot summers with storms and cold winters with blizzards, then dry and wet weather switched each other dynamically even in spring and autumn. The Land of Water and Siplak was dull compared to this. It was always cool with a lot of mist or rain, the ground was always wet and cloudy weather made the people pale white. In daylight everyone knew Kese was an outsider because of his bit tanned skin.

But at night and under his hood no one saw his face, and it made him easier to get by. While he was tailing Ushimaru and his friend, he didn't see much people on the street anyway. He didn't act odd; he looked like a random villager who was stubborn enough to go out for his usual walk in rainy days too. He just somehow happened to walk after two other men, who didn't even notice him. When they turned left, he too turned left, when they turned right, he turned right as well. But when they entered a house, Kese just walked past it, memorizing the location. Then after turning a few corner, he decided to climb up to the top of a house. Fortunately for him, the roofs were closer than in the other parts of the village. When he got on top of the house Ushimaru had entered, he crouched and tried to listen to the noises coming out of it. Soon he got fed up with all the unmistakeable chuckles and moans, and decided to go back. Ushimaru and his friend sounded too busy to talk about the pirates, and he wouldn't get to know more from them. Well, besides the location of such wonderful place.

He got back to the forge quickly. His clone wasn't lazy and made his bed, so he only had to slump into it after taking a quick shower. The next day he gave a try to the equipment and tools he didn't know, trying to find out what they were made for. When he started making noises, a very hangover Ushimaru appeared, and scolded him, then he gave the blonde his usual phrase again. – Do what you want. - And Kese did everything he could to disturb Ushimaru's peace. 'Concerning he can't really fire me, at least I can give him some fun!', he grinned while loudly hitting the hot steel.

Not only his boss visited him while working, but the neighbours too. They were surprised by the fact someone actually used that forge. Some of them even sent their children to him to see what a normal blacksmith actually does, because Ushimaru wasn't really a good example. But what Kese did after work wasn't a good example for those children either. At first, he made sure his boss stayed at home for that night. Then he took his spare money and went out to visit the brothel.

He somehow knew he hadn't been into one himself, but what he saw, heard and experienced didn't surprise him. He talked to the girl who entertained him, and after complaining to her about his new workplace and Ushimaru, she told him a few things about him and his friend. The other was called Osouma, he had been a horseman at the stable of their island, but now worked as a docker. Both of them were single men, frequent visitors in the brothel – and strangely, originated from the far Land of Earth. They had come to Siplak about two or three years prior. According to the girl, they were both impatient but lazy men; Osouma rather rude, and Ushimaru negligent. Kese didn't get to know more about them, but was satisfied with the little knowledge he managed to gain.

When the blonde left the brothel, he was surprised he didn't pay more than the third of his money, which would be enough for about two weeks of food for him. The next day he was thinking about how to make a little more, when some of the neighbours visited him again with broken belongings made out of iron or other metal, and commissioned him to repair them. In return, he got food and money from them. He couldn't have been happier. The fly in the ointment was Ushimaru, who took a big part of his payment as rent. In addition, he surprised him again: he simply forbade Kese to work on Saturdays and Sundays. In response, the blonde made as much noise on Friday as he just could, especially after he had learnt the man was hangover again. It was raining outside that afternoon when he noticed another "visitor" in the entrance of the forge who greeted him by croaking.

- Hey, you should be outside. – he spoke to the quite large, white and red frog or toad, and put down his hammer. – I though you frogs like wet weather; you would get dry by the heat inside here. – he stepped to the amphibian and carefully helped it out. – Good boy! Bye!

'Oh man, I've just talked to a frog. I'm so pathetic', he thought after returning to work. In the evening he wrote a few articles about that blonde man who had been in his dreams more and more in the past days. Then he went to bed thinking about how he should solve his laundry problems, but eventually he fell asleep.

He was him again, but somehow he didn't mind it. And he saw that white haired man too. They were talking at a table, but their words were flummery, and the blacksmith didn't know what was going on. He thought this situation couldn't go any weirder, but suddenly, colourful frogs appeared from everywhere and the white haired man and he too got flooded with them. Kese suddenly left that man's body and saw the river of frogs turning into oil, and this river of oil ended in a waterfall. He saw big stone frog statues and a strange rainforest, then someone slapped him.

He opened his eyes and didn't see much. He felt like something was sitting on his face. He grabbed that thing, lifted it from his head and looked at it. The frog from the day before was croaking and staring at him. Kese blinked once, blinked twice, but couldn't comprehend the sight. 'What. The. Frog?' he slowly stood up, opened his window to place poor animal outside of the house. – How did you get in here? – he lowered his hand and released the frog near the ground. But it suddenly jumped right back onto his face! Kese struggled to get it off his head, until it decided to jump off and land on his bed. After this, the blonde heard someone speaking in a very high, childish voice. – I am not a frog! – he looked around but didn't see anyone. – Hey, look here! Down here! – he heard and searched for the source of the voice. He couldn't believe what he saw.

- I'm still dreaming. – he rubbed his eyes. - Frogs do not speak.

- Hey, I've told you: I'm not a frog!

Kese blinked dumbfounded at the white amphibian sitting on his bed. – What?

- I'm not a frog! I am a toad from Myoubokuzan*!

Thanks for reading! :)

* Kese's surname, Kovács [ kovaːʧ ] really means blacksmith in Magor (which is Hungarian); he changed it a little to sound more Elemental-like (which is Japanese). If you try to pronounce Kowachi as a Japanese word, it wouldn't sound the same, but alike. It could be written with Japanese katakanas, and with them, his name would look like this: コワチ ケシェ (Kowachi Keshe). On both languages (Japanese and Hungarian) surnames are before given names, and I intend to stick to this form. Sorry if it causes problems.

By the way, Kovács is one of the most common family names in Hungary. If you're interested in how Kese's entire name sounds, just make Google translator say it for you. :)

* „A mercenary ninja is a skilled ninja who is hired to fight for another country (or someone else) other than his own, for money. Because they fight not for loyalty of their own country, all mercenary ninja are also missing-nin. Misisng-nin, or nukenin or rogue ninja (literally meaning "runaway shinobi") are ninja who left their village without the intention of returning. They severed their ties with their village, often because they have committed criminal acts or to pursue other personal gains." (Source: Naruto Wikia)

* Myoubokuzan or Mount Myouboku is a sacred place of the land of toads in the Naruto world. It's a place where all the toads that can be summoned live; a rich and beautiful land, which is home for huge and small toads alike.

It's been a year since I've uploaded the first chapter! Since then this story has received 8882 total pageviews, 25 reviews, 35 followers and 32 person have faved it. It's not much compared to other fanfictions, but I'm really proud of it. Thank you for reading, following, faving, etc, you're all awesome for being here and staying with me and this story! Thank you! :)