Two artists |Araya x Inojin/Shikajin|

4

Finally, they reached the village where the exhibition was taking place. However, they had no idea where it would be placed. They asked passers-by, but nobody knew anything. The boys were confused.

"Are you sure we are in the right place?" Inojin finally asked, looking at the taller boy who was wondering.  "There is nothing."

"There are very few people here," he noted, looking around.  "Hey, can you sense how many people are around us?"

"Why? It makes no sense. I'm not good enough to be able to sense everyone. The information may be wrong," he explained, but it didn't discourage Araya in any way.

"Try," he encouraged, watching him closely.

"Fine" the blonde sighed loudly and after a while focused on the task. He closed his eyes and frowned. It lasted longer than he expected. By using this technique for too long, his head ached and blood ran out of his nose.

"Are you alright?" dark-haired boy asked worried, approaching him.  Inojin nodded and wiped the blood with his hand.

"That's weird..." he began, drawing other's attention, who was waiting for his words. "I didn't feel anyone. Even though we've talked to so many people, it looks like noone is here."

"As I thought. Immediately after entering here, we were caught in genjutsu. What are we going to do?"

"They had to know we will be here. What's more, we're dealing with  ninja," he said, and put his hand on his hip.  "However, this illusion is not strong. We can easily free ourselves from it. The only thing left is that they know about us. They may know how we look like. We have no idea who they are and where to look for them."

"For now, we can only free ourselves from the illusion."  Inojin nodded and they were both free immediately.  "We can't separate. Don't get lost."

"Okay, Dad," the shorter one answered ironically.  "It's hard to miss you anyway. You stand out from the crowd."

"You have one less problem then. Come on, we have to hurry," he said, pointing the time on the big clock.

They both moved ahead, looking for the exhibition they were heading to.  They didn't have to ask anyone because it was marked with a huge signboard. Along the way, they also saw leaflets. They exchanged a look and went inside.  The walls were white. A lot of paintings and wall lamps hung on it. This place had its charm for such a small village.

"Do you see anything suspicious?" Araya asked, leaning toward the shorter one. Inojin was about to answer when two men approached them. Brown-haired boy was already prepared for the fight and stood in front of him in defense of his friend. His first friend.

If only they knew who they were dealing with.

"Are you looking for something specific?" asked the fatter of them, frowning. He didn't look like a nice person. "We are happy to help you."

"You don't have to. We'll manage," the blonde replied, smiling artificially.  Araya prayed silently that he won't say anything inappropriate. He knew him well enough to expect sort of it.

"For sure? I think our help will be useful to you," he insisted, smiling disgustingly.

"Are you deaf, fat man? I said-" he couldn't finish, because the tall boy stuffed his mouth with his hand.

"I'm sorry for him," he said quietly, taking the boy aside. "Did you have to?"

"Huh? Did I do something wrong?"  he asked confused, tilting his head sideways.

"Forget" he sighed, looking around the room. "Do you think it was them?"

"Their chakra is as disgusting as they are. No doubt it was them. We have to watch them carefully." Araya nodded.