Naruto felt nothing short of awe. The store was simple woodwork, but it was nearly as large as the bunkhouse he grew up in with eleven other kids! Packed to the brim too, with shelves or troughs all but overflowing with all manner of strange knick-knacks and tools and supplies. Easily, it was three times the size of the general store back at Ironhold and must have held ten times as much merchandise!

He was only broken from this stupor by Hanabi's harsh words.

"GaaaaAH that's stupid! What kind of stupid lousy shop doesn't even have glass cases?!" she complained, drawing his eyes immediately to the counter. The heavy-set woman resting her arms there only glanced back towards him before addressing the demanding little girl. Her eyes were narrowed, but her face was calm, as were her words. By thegray in her hair and size of her hips, he couldn't help but assume she'd dealt with an unruly child or two in her time.

"Most shops, I'd wager, certainly most of them in this town. Now, if you'd like, I can order you some and have them here in about two weeks, downpayment requi-"

"-we're not going to be here for two weeks!" the child yelled back, so worked up that she even jerked sharply when Naruto jumped to her side and placed a firm grip on her shoulder.

"Hanabi, by the gods, don't be rude!" he pushed, meeting her eyes as she glared up stubbornly at him. "Don't interrupt adults like that, and don't insult a person's shop while you're standing in it! They can throw you out you know, refuse you service," he added the last part when her face remained stubborn, and those words at least made her face fall a little, a look of pondering if not remorse. "You should apologize,"

"S-sorry," she mumbled, not looking at the woman and still seeming deep in thought.

It felt awkward to look up into the clerk's eyes, with that bemused appreciation on her face, so his focus quickly shifted to the little wood rectangle covered in tiny latches. He lifted one and revealed a small cell inside, big enough for almost any bug! What was the problem even?

"Look Hanabi, this thing'll work fine for storing bugs; glass is expensive anyway,"

"But with wood I can't see them," she countered, snapped out of her internal world. "I can't crane around and look from below and stuff only when it's opened!"

Gods above and below the things a highborn could complain about.

"We'll get you a little pair of tweezers , he offered, proposing a simple solution to this dire problem of hers. "You'd want one of those anyway to pick bugs up without squishing them too bad,"

"I…. okay, fine," she grumbled, crossing her arms and looking away. With that, the business they had was concluded; he'd only left her side to look over the aisle with the little snacks and candies, but it seemed wrong to buy anything like that for the kid at this particular moment. He asked the price and counted out one extra silver, six in total, to hand to the woman.

That raised a brow and her smile a bit; she even lifted one meaty arm to rest her chin there and relax a little.

"Well, thank you very much," she said warmly. "Is that your uh… daughter there?"

"Ah no, just a little noble-lady that I'm babysitting," he explained, trying to add the emphasis to excuse the behavior, if only a little.

"Right, here for the tourney, I should have guessed. You work for her parents then?"

"Sort of," he muttered, stretching the truth to the furthest reaches of those two words. He quickly changed the subject. "You get a lot of extra business around now?"

"Mostly on the day of celebration, and the one just before, you barely beat the rush," she offered in a chipper tone. "Where did you blow in from then?"

"Ironhold,"

"Endless hells, that's a bit of a trip for a little thing like this, isn't it?"

"Well, we're on a bit of a tour, going to try to catch a few tournaments, but what do you mean? This town is huge, at least compared to Ironhold,"

"If you say so lad, I've never been. The yearly Lakeview festival is mostly for the locals; nobody's taking a long trip to this shithole for it, except you, I guess. I mean, sometimes we get a few knights come down to waste time and coin, but not many,"

"Well hey, we'll probably win then," he surmised, saying the words as he realized them. "You've seen a lot of these tournaments then?"

"I'd say so. I've lived my whole life in this damned store," she muttered.

"It's a nice store," he offered, earning a little laugh before he asked another question. "Well, sorry again about her highness, but I should go," he offered, earning another laugh and a wave of her hand as he grabbed Hanabi's.

Stepping back out into the streets was overwhelming in itself.

Just buildings everywhere he looked. Like he was at the center of a fucking maze standing between him and the safety of the nearby wilderness. However safe that actually was. If there were farms and lumber mills and shit in the surrounding countryside, they had to be fairly free of monsters or fey or anything else he figured. Safer than trying to hide from an angry mob on their home turf.

It was as he pondered this that a more optimistic thought crept up.

He could claim a valid cause for his healing powers now, at least for wounds on his own body; Sasuki and Marui would back the claim to anyone who cared to investigate. A mayor and a freeholder. Quite literally the two most powerful people in his current home, that could protect him from a lot of law power.

As long as he didn't piss off a duke or a powerful count or something, he was almost safe!

It melted away a lot of the lingering anxiety about the fights he was going to have to struggle through in the coming days. All the same, there was one more serious worry. That one of those visiting knights might just see him walking with the disappointed, moderately upset, and most importantly, highborn child of a powerful house that they've made enemies of.

That was a situation that could end with a sword through his chest if they misunderstood him.

Or if they misunderstood him.

It was for that reason he was keeping as brisk a pace as Hanabi would allow to the tourney ground, where Sasuki was seeing about the bets and scouting out her competition. As huge as the town felt, the area around their little wooden arena was clear of all but a couple dozen people. It was easy to find her.

"You're back already?" she asked dryly, placing a hand to affectionately rub Hanabi's head as she spoke, making all too clear who she was addressing with her words. As if the stare didn't do it. Whatever, at least the little girl was smiling without a care now.

"We only had two stops to make between buying food and a toy for her," he defended, before giving the more serious explanation. "Besides, I think me being alone with her isn't the safest thing in the world if there are knights or nobles lurking around,"

"Don't be a coward; you're the son-in-law of a mayor aren't you? Not quite a nobody anymore,"

"All the same, given what might happen if someone didn't respect that title or didn't give me time to give it, given the certain someone who might show up to protect Hanabi or me, I think I should stay close. She's happier by your side anyway," he argued, fatigued by her words but surprised by the next ones.

"I'm the one who will die if I get stabbed wrong when you're not right next to me," she said them so quickly and so softly, so out of character for her, that it actually made him blink with worry. "I'm taking a risk by not being right next to you too you know it's not like it's fucking fun for me!"

"Sasuki," he began sympathetically, not even sure what to say. "I want to stay as close to you as possible, you and Sakura. Speaking of which, were is she?" he asked, distracted by his own questions. Sasuki didn't look particularly pleased by this, but she did answer it. Her tone was even treading closer to normal.

"She's washing down by the beach; I thought it better if she wasn't right beside me when I tried to make our bet,"

"Doesn't the town already know we're with a giant?"

"Yes idiot, but the so-called 'town' we're in seems to have a hard limit on how much they'll let us bet on our victory. Five fucking coins; we need to find someone to actually bet the rest of our purse against directly. So I'm trying to find some proud knight with more coin then caution,"

"You're sure confident we'll win,"

"We will," she deadpanned.

"Yeah!" Hanabi agreed with a boastful punch into the air that made him grin. They probably would, even he could admit; it just felt risky to bet all the money. Ironhold was days away after all. He'd heard stories about some damn impressive knights in his day, and it's not as if giants were invincible.

Sakura seemed damn near that point with proper metal armor, but still.

He thought about the fact she was currently not wearing that armor, probably wearing nothing at all down by the lakeside scrubbing herself down. How many gawkers did that gather? With a shake of his skull, that dangerous thought was banished. He tried to distract himself further by looking over the thin crowd in his sight, making his observation quite quickly.

"Nobody looks like a noble or a knight or anything,"

"Yes, thank you for that Naruto," Sasuki mocked, looking at him only out of the corner of her vision. "It's still entirely possible some are in fact, and just choosing to be inconspicuous. It means fewer eyes watching them train and better payouts when they win if nobody is betting on them but themselves. At least three of these folk look healthy and fat enough to have money, if not actual titles. I'm trying to eavesdrop on them right now to get a better picture of their circumstances and find out how I might coax them into a bet, which you are distracting me from," she finished, lips pursed tight as she spoke her quieter words.

"I'll shut up, fine," he grubled, strolling a few steps away to punctuate, circling the ring and phasing past the excited conversations. Angered homesteads discussed petty family feuds that they hoped to beat out in that combats; personal grudges were discussed in sharp whispers, while friendly rivalries were exaggerated in good fun. Even still a bit on edge by the crowd, the young man found his mood rising.

It was all quite exciting.

Without the serious, sour fear pervading it that he felt before those actual battles. A part of him was even looking forward to swinging that blunted weapon around, showing how hard he could hit and seeing how he measured up against other fighters! He couldn't help but assume he was tougher than most of the men he passed, with his muscles from the mine and his experience being stabbed. Surely, he was at least significantly more tolerant of pain and injury?

He ended up spending most of the afternoon watching people and enjoying the ambiance. Sasuki found nobody worth talking to before Sakura returned but made no complaints as they all moved closer to the waterfront as a group. Their inn was near the water, near the enormous yurt that their giant would be sleeping in too. Idly he wondered if Sasuki would sleep out there or in the rooms.

It felt wrong to ask.

In any case, he was quickly distracted by more pleasant things when he stepped into the palace that Sasuki led them to. The wood below his feet was a shiny, rich brown and carved into all sorts of interesting patterns, while the walls were covered in various paintings or cloths, all while a fucking harp was casually played in the corner. Like the air itself was singing.

To say nothing of the smell.

All manner of fine meats and spices and things he couldn't even fucking identify but wanted in his mouth screamed their presence into his nostrils. The entire ground floor appeared to be a dining hall of some sort, a crowded one with a dozen tables and half as many staff running between them. He had to swallow the drool just to speak with dignity.

"Does this room come with a free meal like the last inn?"

"I took care of that when I made the reservation, obviously," Sasuki offered, keeping her pace directly to one of the few empty tables. It would be their first proper meal in a fair few days, and it looked like it might be the best damn one of his life. If his common body could even process such fancy food!

There were fine roasted meats, cheese and fruits before it, equally sweet drinks to wash it all down then a fresh baked pie to top it all off! Still hot from the oven! The young man could barely drag himself up the stairs, and none of them found much time to speak between inhaling the endless plates of delicious food.

The rooms were no less luxuriant. Beautifully decorated with their own washing trough and even soapstuffs to accompany it. Spare dressers they didn't really need to store their meager belongings neatly, a sturdy lock, and a small window over the bed letting in a wonderful waft of fresh air!

Straw mattresses, but sheets that felt like silk on his weathered skin.

He was asleep in seconds.

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