Chapter 9: Stores
Hatada's first attempt was pitiful. He completely over calculated the amount of mana he would need to use to stick the leaf to his head, and blew the poor thing up. He took this as a lesson and collected a decent pile before starting again.
After a few minutes of trial and error, he could finally hold the leaf on his head with little more than his mana.
Soon; 5 minutes… 10 minutes… even 20 minutes passed before it fell.
The next attempt lasted even longer.
This process continued for the rest of the day. It was naturally much easier for him to do than others when they started, since he had technically been using mana for longer than he had been alive (in this world).
Sooner still came the end of his first day (really) training, and the beginning of a long year. He made sure to stop before the sun went down since he had some things to do.
By then, he had a decent amount of mana left, so he went on a run to town (his reason for stopping before the sun went down). In the future, he was sure he would thank his current self for knowing where any stores he'd need were.
This run took him 36 minutes, and a decent chunk of his mana, but he managed to make it to town before dark.
Rarely, if ever, did Hatada visit the main town of Konoha other than the public library, so he really didn't know where anything was. 'If only I knew someone who could guide me…'
As he thought that, he actually recognized someone!
'She was in my group… hmm… shouldn't be a problem if I ask, no?
'I can't stay antisocial, or I won't last long in this world.'
Hatada thought she was alone, which was why he was comfortable asking for her help. What he didn't know was that the girl, Nisi, was with both her mother and brother. She had left them to get their haircuts in a nearby salon, and she had decided to sit around on the water fountain nearby.
Nothing in particular was going through her head at the moment. After a while, she had finally managed to recover from the day before's relentless teasing from the two people who had shamelessly forced her to tag along to a trip to the salon.
'...'
As she turned to look at the sunset, her mind went blank. 'Am I… seeing things?'
The boy that had caused her so much internal strife was standing right in front of the setting sun, literally glistening with the beautiful golden-orange Konoha sky as the backdrop. His soft, golden locks looked ethereal, and his deep sapphire eyes almost glowed in contrast with the other, nearly overwhelming colors.
Fresh sweat trickled off his skin, slightly seeping through his well-worn t shirt, showing off a physique quite impressive for a six year old. His chest was falling up and down rhythmically. Stunning the poor girl in place.
"..cuse me…"
For a second still, she sat there, staring, until she finally realized that he wasn't a figment of her imagination.
"A-ah! I apologize, w-what was that?" she stuttered.
"Is it a bad time? I was just wondering if you could help me find some places… I don't go into the city much," Hatada said, chuckling awkwardly.
'Oh no… oh no… oh no! It hasn't even been a full day since I calmed down, and he does this!'
Hatada, in fact, had done nothing. He just asked if she could help him find some places. In fact, he had placed himself in between her and the sun so she didn't have to squint to look at him, so his "ethereal" entrance was completely unintentional. 'What a strange girl…'
He hadn't noticed her internal struggle in the slightest. For one, she had a perfect poker face, and on the other hand, he didn't even know her name, let alone any of the tells her family would have easily (and ruthlessly) pointed out. Instead, it looked to him that she had simply zoned out, not realizing someone was directly in front of her and asking a question.
"You're kind of the only person I remember from our group in the entrance exams… and we just so happened to end up in the same part of Konoha at the same time… but if you have no time, that's no issue," he said while scratching the back of his head.
He really had no qualms with asking a random civilian for directions, but he felt that since the opportunity presented itself, it would be beneficial to at least make one connection before entering the academy.
"N-no!" she blurted out. Catching her mistake, she recomposed herself. "I'm not pressed for time right now," she said, sitting upright and proper. "My mom and big bro are getting a haircut right now, and they usually spend too much time there, so as long as it isn't too far away, I'll guide you."
'There's still hope for me,' she thought. 'Even if he's polite and… g-good looking… he has to have some flaw! I just have to find it, then I'll stop li-'
"Perfect! To start, do you have any idea where the cheapest clothing store is? I'm working on the assumption that the village's allowance to orphans won't be enough to afford anything but cheap ones, just as long as they don't fall apart in a day."
'And he's not even some rich kid like I assumed… this isn't looking good…'
"Yes, I know of one," Nisi nodded. "Follow me."
Nisi walked quickly to the closest clothes store that matched those requirements. Hatada caught up and began walking beside her. A few people they passed by smiled at the cute scene in front of them. The two of them had aloof and stone-faced expressions, but because of how young they were, those that saw only found it endearing.
The store wasn't far away. She had taken him to a thrift shop. Hatada noticed, and nodded.
"This place is perfect. I don't have any money right now, so we can move on to the next place… umm…
"I never caught your name, by the way," Hatada said. "I'm Nobokuni Hatada," he said, extending his hand for a handshake.
"Hyuga Nisi…" she said, shyly shaking his hand.
The few men and women who had caught sight of the scene had figurative arrows shoot through their hearts, nearly passing out on the spot.
The two who nearly caused the spontaneous collapse of a couple dozen individuals continued their conversation.
"There are a few other places I'd like to find. I'll list them out now, and if any are too far away, or if you have to get back to your mom and brother, you can just point me in the right direction(s)."
She nodded, so Hatada continued.
"If there are any cheap places I can buy ingredients for cooking, that would be first on my list. Next would be a blacksmith, as skilled as you know of. Next would be some place I can get school supplies, again, cheap. Last would be any ninja equipment stores."
Nisi thought for a moment. "There is a grocery store near here, one that my mom usually buys food from, and you can get school supplies from the store across from that, but the other places are across town."
"No problem, let's head over to the grocery store, you can just point me in the right direction for the others from there."
"Mhm~"
.
.
.
"Thanks again, Nisi. You've been a big help," Hatada said gratefully.
"D-don't mention it," Nisi said, turning away. She was having more and more trouble hiding her emotions in front of Hatada, and was genuinely glad to finally be rid of him.
"Well, get home safe, and see you at school!"
With that final goodbye, Hatada jogged off, following the directions Nisi gave him to find the other stores.
'Finally…'
Suddenly, shivers permeated throughout her entire body. An almost sixth sense lit up her internal danger alarms like the Gjallarhorn sounding the beginning of Ragnarok.
"~Who was that, my cute little sister?~"
"~Yes, my sweet daughter, who was that cute little boy?~"
'...No…'
She was, for lack of a better phrase: Royally fucked.
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