People of the Land

Chapter 8 - A Day in Konoha

Nato hated shoes with a passion. They pinched his toes uncomfortably and kept his soles from feeling the softness of the grass beneath. They were confining and cumbersome and-

-He tripped over his shoes again. Yes, Nato hated shoes with a passion .

"I swear if I die from anything, it will be from tripping off of a cliff because of these sacheed shoes!" The boy pulled himself back onto his feet, and continued to tromp down the forest path. "And then I'll track down the blrin'wern who invented these sacheed shoes, and give them a piece of my mind! And they can go ahead and try but they will never escape me, because theirsacheed shoes will have brought me to Illue with them!" Nato cackled as he further planned out his glorious revenge. It would be perfect.

The Wind brushed past Nato's cheek fondly, guiding his head to look forward towards Konoha.

"Ro, ro, sei zirq." He answered, listening to both the wind and the gentle drums. "There's no need to rush, ya know."

The drums quickened in reply.

Nato sighed, but sped up to follow the Land's drums. "Fine, but if I trip and die, I'm coming after both of you too."

It wasn't that Nato didn't want to see Hinata. No, not at all. She was the only reason he was coming. It was simply that the sooner he got there, the closer he would come to saying farewell. Although, the Yaunkur didn't say goodbye, but it might as well be so, at least for a year. Now that he knew (was finally reunited with) Hinata, Nato also knew that a year would be far too long to go without her. Nato just wanted to drag out the minutes some, even though he also knew that by spending more time getting to Konoha meant less time with Hinata.

Less time with Hinata. Oh. I don't want that!

Coming to this realization, Nato picked up his feet and dashed through the forest as if Nuon himself was chasing him. In the back of his mind, the drums merrily pounded, seemingly happy that their young charge finally understood, and the Wind sighed fondly.

Barely avoiding a low hanging branch, Nato burst past the forest boundaries and approached the city gates. The walls of the capital city were tall, reaching far above the ancient trees of the Konoha Forest, standing as indomitable proof of the Leaf's strength. The Great Nations were in a time of peace, and this clearly showed in the way the gates were thrown wide open, welcoming all who came.

Because of the recent festival, Konoha was busier than it was at any other time of the year, and as such, Nato's wait in the line was loooong . And he wasn't even in the visitor line! Nato shivered. It was in instances like this that he was glad to be a Yaunkur. In most places they were allowed entry through the faster lines. If Nato had to wait any longer, he might go insane. But maybe that was just his hyperactivity speaking.

"Oh, Nato! Back already?" The guard asked.

"Hai." Nato rolled up his sleeve to show the four-pointed star on his inner forearm.

"You have permission this time, right? Not breaking any rules?" The guard teased as he verified the mark.

"I wasn't breaking any rules!" Nato flushed.

"Like staying out past your bedtime, or getting into child romances?"

"Bedtimes are just suggestions! And romance? What are you talking about?!"

The guard laughed and waved Nato through the gates, ignoring the confused and fuming boy as he checked the identification of the next person in line.

"Kids these days, am I right?" He said fondly.

Nato stomped away from the gates of the city, finding himself in a mood closer to a storm cloud than a ray of sunshine. He decided, all his childishness, that he was going to be irritated. All day. Nothing was going to dissuade him from his anger, not even the delicious smell coming from the nearby ramen stand.