Rolling green hills and a bright blue sky surround us for miles as we make our way down the little dirt road to Springtree.

According to our map and the last sign we saw, we should be less than three kilometers from the village, and we've already long since changed into our official uniforms as ninja of The Leaf.

Like with many things from the story, it had been a surprise to learn that flak jackets were only given upon promotion to chūnin. In reality, I'd received two copies of it, along with three copies of the blue trousers and long sleeves shirt combo, the same day I got my headband.

Ultimately, regardless of when I got it, this is the first time I've been in uniform, or seen my teammates in theirs, and I have to admit, we look sharp.

Although, between the matching uniform and the somewhat similar bright, spiky hair, Naruto now looks oddly like a mini-Kakashi…

(The so-called mini-Kakashi stumbles on the uneven ground and nearly faceplants before recovering.)

… As long as you ignore everything else, of course.

The sounds of a cursing man and a bellowing bull reach us as we climb the next low hill, and subconsciously, we all become more alert, standing a little straighter and composing ourselves (even Naruto, who I initially worry about due to the sudden glow of excitement on his face).

We crest the hill to find, as we'd expected, a man and a bull, though on second glance, it seems a bit more complicated than that.

The bull lies on the ground, bellowing in what I can now tell is pain, while the man (an old one, with grey, wispy hair and wrinkled, weathered skin) crouches next to the animal, holding one of its hind legs gently with a scowl on his face.

Behind the bovine is a cart full of wrapped goods with a wrecked wheel.

It doesn't take a fuinjutsu specialist to figure out what's happened here.

Since we're making no effort to conceal ourselves, the old man hears us coming long before we reach him.

He looks in our direction, casually, almost dismissively, but upon noting our uniforms, his focus pinpoints on us with unfaltering intensity.

A hint of something flashes across his face, so fast I almost miss it. Almost, but don't. It's fear; for a split second, the old man had looked at us with fear.

But then he swallows, and his expression goes back to one of irritation mixed with interest at the sight of us.

"Hello, noble ninja," the old man says.

He rises, then bows politely, and I don't know what it is, but something about the simple gesture sticks out to me as odd.

"I'm Ken," the old man says. "Ken Ishimura, of Springtree village."

We bow back.

I step forward, making it clear that I'm in charge. Which I am, since Kakashi is only here to spectate and make sure that we don't get in trouble. Or cause it.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha," I say, then give my teammates the opportunity to introduce themselves. "We're Team 7," I say when they're done, "of The Village Hidden in the Leaves."

"You must be here for Chief Okinawa's birthday then," Ishimura says, as though needing to confirm.

I don't miss how he eyes Kakashi, who's been standing at the back so far, quiet except for when he introduced himself.

"Yes, we are," I say, then move on to the matter at hand. "What happened here?"

I have a pretty clear idea, but it can't hurt to hear it from the man himself.

Reminded of his recent misfortune, Ken sighs, his face morphing back into its scowl. "Wheel broke," he says, pointing at the broken wheel, "threw Ushi—" he points at the cow "—off, and he twisted a hock."

'A what?'

"Wait," Naruto says, before I can speak, "you named your cow cow?" The blonde's eyes gleam like he thinks this is the wittiest thing ever.

Knowing Naruto, he really might.

Apparently, Ken appreciates Naruto's appreciation of his wit, because the old man smirks: "Actually, his name's Ushi the third; he's the third cow I've owned."

Naruto laughs. "Hehe, Ushi the third. So, what would you name a dog, if you had one? Inu?"

"I'm on Inu the second," Ken says and Naruto giggles in delight.

Sakura pinches the bridge of her nose, looking like she's digging deep into whatever's left of her well of patience.

"Hey, do you have a c—" Naruto begins to ask, but I quickly cut in.

"A spare wheel. For the cart."

"Hmm? Oh, yes," Ken says.

"Good, get it. Sakura, Naruto, handle the cart. I'll fix the cow," I say, then move to the animal.

I lean next to the creature and pick up the leg I'd seen Ken handling previously.

Despite how gentle I am, the animal moans pitifully.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Ken asks, eyeing me shrewdly.

"I've fixed worse," I reply.

True it was all either on human, fish, or mice subjects, but cows can't possibly be that different.

A simple scan shows me that nothing's broken; it's a simple sprain.

I almost roll my eyes; the way the animal's been moaning and whining you would think it were dying.

Activating The Mystical Palm Technique, I channel my chakra to the injured spot, and barely a minute later, everything's as good as new.

I rise.

Aware that the source of its pain is now gone, the cow rises too.

Gingerly, it tests out the leg, and when there's no pain, it settles its weight onto it fully, then, to my surprise, the animal turns to me and tries to lick my face.

I dodge.

Naruto chuckles. "Looks like Ushi likes you, Sasuke."

I ignore him.

In little time, the wheel of Ken's cart has been replaced, and the cow is reattached.

We walk with Ken the rest of the way to Springtree, and while the old man laughs and jokes well enough with Naruto, I still catch those rare moments when he would look at us all with unease.

I almost sigh.

I guess there might be something going on in this village after all.