By the time I woke we had passed the border into the Land of Fire.
Saying my hushed goodbyes to the caravan, I entered the town searching for the tea shop owned by Reku's family.
It's mid fall by now, a light rain sprinkled down onto the town, with the sun still shining unto the town.
The environment is strongly different than just across the border, the pine trees blending into the sparse birch and weaving to avoid the knob filled wood surface of the hashirama trees that block a large amount of sun compared to the other trees.
The buildings styled in expert woodworking, the joints being cut and filled with precision to not fall even after many years.
Paper lanterns dipped in colored oil lit the early morning streets the sun has yet to shine onto.
The stone brick road dyed an array of red and yellows, in prayers for life and money , a hope for prosperity in the war's aftermath.
The sun just peaked above the canopy as I reach the shop. Its name marked on the oil paper panels on the door and windows.
" Attakai's Teashop"
Despite being a tea shop they sell an assortment of dangos as well as skewered meat.
The main draw to the shop being the quiet environment and the rented private booths in the back.
Waiting in the line I finish reading the menu.
Reku's family has apparently hailed from the land of Hot Water. For generations they named their children names that in some way hinted at fire, a matching fit to Reku's chakra that is like a candle burning slowly but steady.
Reku sent me with a bag filled with tea tins of tea leaves to restock the shop and introduce me at the same time, trusting me not to run off with the merchandise.
Coming up to the counter as the line finished being seated, the girl at the counter who couldn't be more than sixteen herself looks at me in a look of pity, assuming I am a lost child.
" Hey little one, What brings you here today?" The girl says in a soft tone, keeping her customer service voice gentle and sweet despite the fact that a four year old is hardly likely to gain her a sale.
I decided to be as straightforward as I can.
"Hello miss! Reku sent me here to find work- oh, he also sent a restock of tea leaves with me."
The girl behind the counter seemed to glance at my attire and small size before saying a soft.
" One moment please."
She goes behind the counter and opens a sliding door that looks like a wall until moved, the oil paintings on the paper panels matching the rest with the soft sea and sunrise depicted. The only difference I could find is the swirling of clouds that seems to form a dragon roaring towards the doors opening.
I finished inspecting the door she disappeared behind just in time for the miss to return with an older woman, I would guess her age to be in her fifties walking with a cane, but not truely leaning on it.
The older woman leads me behind the counter through the door and a hallway before taking me to a private booth. Sitting across from me and settling her cane on her lap.
"Hello, My name is Madam Hono. I run this shop, You said my son Reku sent you yes?"
I nod my head. "Yes Ma'am, He said that you might be able to give me work." I trail on, not sure how to continue as I am not used to speaking long sentences.
"He also sent some leaves for restock with me."
I stop speaking now. Feeling like I have gotten the important information across.
"We can certainly do that, yes, however we may need a name to call you." Madam Hono says politely, her tone holding a certain grace of it, one would assume her to be used to speaking with those of higher social standing and not be wrong.
I blush, embarrassed at my lack of basic etiquette.
" Ah, My name is Enkai, I am four years old, soon to be five!"
"Good enough" She says seemingly amused " You will need to learn a few things before you begin work here. However-"
She looks at me up and down with keen eyes, covered in dirty and still clothed in my thin and ratty orphanage clothing.
" You look like you will need a place to live and proper clothes as well. No proper girl should be walking around as dirty as you, especially in a place for eating." She says with a small wrinkle of her nose.
She signals her hand for the miss that was manning the counter to approach.
" Rin, take this girl to the top floor and get her clean and dressed in one of your old uniforms would you? I'll watch the counter until you return. After that I will take over with her training." she says in a kind yet stern voice.
"Yes Madam." says the newly dubbed Rin.
Rin Proceeds to take my hand and leads me down what feels like a maze of hallways and two flights of stairs before we approach a room with a wide wooden basin reaching an adult's knees in height, but for a toddler like me it reaches my shoulders.
Rin picks me up, and I let her place me in the basin, she turns on a spout flowing room temperature water into the basin and grabs a sponge and lathers it with oil.
She gets a glint in her eye that makes me a bit hesitant until she grabs my leg and starts scrubbing the layer of dirt of, I want to complain when my skin turns pink from the scrubbing but I hold back as I realise I haven't been cleaned in over two week and Rin is probably putting up with my foul smell more than I am putting up with the slight stinging on my skin.
Rin seems to scrub at the small seal diamond shaped on my left hip before dismissing it as a birthmark and moving on.
After she scrubbed me until I was pink, the water was muddy.
It took three basins of fresh water before Rin Decided i was clean enough and began to brush through the tangles in my neck length hair, still brown from the seal. After brushing she grabs some clippers and attempts to even it out, with me still wet and wrapped in a towel.
After she finishes evening out my hair she dresses me in a kimono that has far too many layers for me to put on myself.
Once again eyeing me up and down with a face of deep thought, her expression changes and she claps once above me head.
" Alright, that should do it, much prettier!"
She leads me into a medium sized room with a table close to the floor and several cushions surrounding it made to act as seats.
"Wait here while I get the Madam."
I tentatively sit cross legged on one of the cushions of the table and wait.
A few minutes later I hear the door open and Madam Hono walks in.
" Alright Enkai, Lesson one; Proper posture and etiquette!" She brings her cane up to me knee and lifts it, So when I try to get up I fall onto my back and bruise my bum.
" Starting with posture…" She says grimly eyeballing me sprawled onto the floor struggling to get up under all the layers of kimono and my own legs bent in a way that isn't supporting my weight.
I very suddenly realize that the patronizing attitude of Reku is genetic, and Reku didn't inherit the worst of it.
AN: I wrote this chapter a bit more slowly, writing it on monday, editing it on tuesday. And going to post on wednesday. The next three chapters are likely going to be the most difficult to write chapters in this book so I will be taking my time to make sure they are executed to the best of my meager abilty.