𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 | 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨 [HEAVY EDITING]

𝟓 | 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

Just as I had initially presumed, this village is ginormous!

From the short glimpse I caught of the Hidden Snow Village during my escape, the Hidden Leaf is at least six times bigger. And yet, despite its size and my lack of patience toward just how long it will take for me to tour every inch of it, I still want to see all the shops; to venture through the forest that lines the edge of the Leaf and its mountains; to finally attend the Academy the Lord Hokage told me I'd have to attend; and, I want to climb to the top of the cliff of rocky heads that sits high up above the Lord Hokage's mansion. At first, I'd found it odd to have a mountain of heads, until I was told they represented the previous Hokage to have protected the village.

I worry about what will happen when I get to the Academy. The Lord Hokage had told me that other children my age go there, too, to train hard to become strong and protect their home.

If I become strong, just like them... will I be able to protect it, too?

The very thought makes me shake with excitement as I walk down the sun-bathed street. At this hour, there are still just as many villagers out and about as there had been this afternoon. Some travel in small groups with either their friends or their relatives, and some go along on their lonesome. There is one thing about most of them that stand out to my eyes, and that is the steel-plated bands placed somewhere upon their bodies.

My keen nose pulls me abruptly from my thoughts as the smell of boiled leeks, meat, and garlic wafts through the air.

"Is that... ramen?" I say. I realize I must be starving to be able to smell it so strongly, especially since it ends up being a half a dozen blocks away from the street I currently stand in the middle of. I'd turned the corner and found a cabin-sized shack with the name "ICHIRAKU RAMEN" printed across the split banners that hang over the entrance.

"Yum, ramen!" I cheer on my way over to it.

I've never smelt anything as good as this. It smells even better than Makara-sensei's cooking, and that's saying something. Her cooking had been the best, although I'd never had anything else to compare it to. If this place can top it...

If it isn't obvious enough, I love ramen. I love almost every kind of ramen there is. Tonkotsu is my favourite, as Makara-sensei had always seemed to have all the ingredients stocked up whenever I had asked for her to make it for me. I'm generally a terrible cook, except for the few very simple things like rice or eggs or fish. I burn almost all the food I touch, so I stick to cleaning.

I weave in and out through the other villagers, and then push a piece of the banner away to avoid getting hit in the face by it. Taking a seat on a short wooden stool that was placed in front of a low table, I smile up at the people who turn around from a counter littered with different kinds of vegetables and meats— an old man and a teenage girl. Large silver pots are simmering on the stove next to it, occupying each of the flaming burners.