The Worn Down Inn

We headed out of the house and exited Konoha, with our luggage on our backs.

"I got us a carriage since I figured it might be rather... Unsuitable, for my wife to walk there. However, that does not give any of you kids a reason to not be walking. It is good for your body and mind to exercise, so unless you are dead tired, you will not be resting."

Alright... I guess that means even with my eyes eyeing the carriage he will still make me walk. I guess he might be right about the "It's good for your mind and body," part but still.

I gave him a disgruntled look.

He responded, "Don't give me that look. If you want to be shinobi, then this is necessary as well."

I know, but still... You let your grown wife ride, yet you make the young kids walk?

Asuya yawned while rubbing her eyes, "Daddy~, I'm sleepy."

He lifted her and let her onto the carriage, "Alright, upon the carriage you go."

Meanwhile, Jun and I were watching this exchange with our mouths agape.

Jun and I both thought, 'You could get on, only if you were sleepy? Then what if I were to try it?'

I dismissed this thought, thinking it was not possible. That Ryuji wouldn't ever let me on, even if I were to try it.

Jun stepped up behind Ryuji and tugged on the edge of his shirt, mustering his cutest face possible, "Daddy... Can I get on too?"

"You also didn't sleep well? Okay, up you go!" He lifted Jun up onto the carriage. Asuya and Jun both laid their heads on their mother's lap.

Meanwhile, I was watching with my mouth hitting the floor.

Wait, does that mean...? I can do it too?

I stepped up, trying to look cute while fidgeting and gave him the puppy eyes, "Can I also go on the carriage?"

He glanced at me and shook his head, my heart dropped, 'Does this mean it's a no?!'

He ignored me and no longer paid me any attention. Am I not cute enough?

I looked towards the two on the carriage, both looked undeniably cute, then I looked towards my reflection in the puddle.

I look cute too, don't I?

I have short spiky red hair and lapis lazuli eyes, my face is round and chubby with a hint of boyishness, probably due to the way I was dressed. I looked down at my clothes, I am wearing cargo shorts and a white short sleeve shirt, with a black jacket over it. My sun necklace is tucked into my shirt and the white wooden carved fox necklace was short so it was visible.

Did I look so much like a boy, that I was no longer as cute as I should be?

I mean, it's a coincidence that Jun and Asuya both look like girls and were chosen. While I look like a boy and wasn't chosen right? But I do admit only girls are cute, not boys.

I felt despondent, so I wasn't chosen cause he doesn't think of me as a girl, huh?

"We are leaving. Don't start daydreaming now, Rin! You better start following before the carriage gets out of sight!"

I looked up and away from the puddle, the carriage was already a distance away. I ran after them. Luckily, I could catch up due to the slow pace it was going at.

I followed them closely behind and looked behind me. The village of Konoha was slowly disappearing into the horizon.

This village... I don't have very many memories of it and yet, I already have a feeling of nostalgia. Even though I feel this way, I know we'll be back in one week.

...

We went for miles without end, stopping frequently along the way to let the horses rest. As we were halfway there, we decided to stop again.

The sun started to set. We had been traveling the entire day, making a good amount of progress in our journey.

We parked the carriage off to the side of the road, in the grass. All around us was a large forest with tall and sturdy trees.

As we finally stopped walking, I could finally feel my legs again. I had been walking this entire time; talk about exhausting. Even now, my legs still feel like jelly.

I wobbled over to the carriage and rested up against a tree next to the carriage's brown horse on the side of the road.

I looked all around me, on the other side of the road was a small shrine.

I wonder for which deity it was built?

My mind wandered needlessly.

We rested for a while longer.

My legs are very sore and I feel very exhausted, I should probably try my luck to get on that carriage.

I said with a worn out voice, "May I get on now? I'm very tired..."

Sighing, he came over and picked me up. Placing me on the carriage next to Asuya, "You may rest. But once you have finished, join the others in practicing your chakra control or meditate." He handed me a leaf, expecting me to use my time wisely.

Taking the leaf from him, I took a deep breath and sighed.

He's not letting me get an ounce of rest at all. Oh well...

Our carriage started to take off once again, and as we started to go, I noticed that we passed an odd group of six people that looked like ninjas, they went the way we just came and seemed to be looking around for something.

I said they look like ninja's, but they really are dressed weirdly... They have a black mask covering their faces and were entirely covered in black. I wonder what they are doing and where they are going?

They look oddly suspicious...

Especially with how they look like they are trying to find something.

They quickly went out of sight, they seemed to be in a hurry.

I hope the feeling in my gut doesn't mean anything...

Our carriage continued on for a while and all of us slept in the carriage on the seats. Since I couldn't get any sleep yesterday, my tired and worn self was able to quickly fall asleep without any trouble.

...

I slowly opened my eyes, the bright sun shining in my eyes and invading my sleepy stupor.

I slowly sit upright, rubbing my eyes and yawning. I see Asuya and Jun on my sides, and Shinko's sleeping bag is open. She must've already woken up.

I slowly exit my sleeping bag and get out of the carriage. It seems we stopped again to let the horses rest as I no longer felt the bumpy road moving under the carriage's wheels.

As I got out of the carriage, what I saw was forest all around us, except this time it seemed to be slightly hazy outside.

Why was the forest covered in this fog like haze?

"Oh, you're awake? Why don't you start practicing then, we'll be arriving at the Village Hidden In Hot Water soon. The steam is a sign of that."

Oh, so that was what the haze was about. But The Village Hidden In Hot Water? Oh, the one that makes a living from their hot springs being beneficial for the body? Awesome!

I could feel myself getting excited.

Ryuji laughed, "Don't get too excited now. You'll be training there."

All of a sudden, my heart's hopes and expectations dropped to an all-time low. Going there to train? I have to train at a hot spring?!

Why? This sucks.

"Com'on, get back on the carriage. We'll be leaving soon."

I gave him a look of anger.

"Don't be like that, it's not like you can never enjoy the hot spring. If you perform excellently then I will allow you to have a little fun too."

At least he'll let me enjoy it at some point. But still, going to a hot spring and not letting me have fun there? What manner of teaching is this? An absurd one, that's what.

I got back on the carriage with help from Ryuji. As the carriage headed deeper into the village, the steam became more abundant, making seeing ahead difficult.

...

Soon, we arrived in front of the entrance of a one-story wooden inn that looked like it had seen an ages worth of conflict. It was slightly worn down, but it was enough for us at the moment.

We parked the carriage on the side of the inn and went inside.

As we entered inside, what came into view was the scene of a regular old-fashioned Japanese inn. They had a small area at the entrance for you to take off your shoes and a wooden counter for those who wish to check in. An old lady was seated just behind it, sleeping.

We took off our shoes at the door and put on the slippers they had lying on the ground, as per common courtesy. We went up to the counter.

"Hello, we would like to stay for the week. Do you have any free rooms?"

The old lady was startled and hurriedly stood up from her seat. Her voice coarse, "Yes! How many rooms do you need?"

"We'll be needing two rooms please."

She looked down from the counter and saw that we had five people in total, her eyes landed on me for a moment before passing on back to Ryuji again.

"Okay, that'll be two thousand Ryo."

That's pretty cheap for a week of stay. She probably took into account how worn down her inn is.

"Oh, also we have a horse and carriage as well."

"No need to worry about them, I'll see to it that they are taken care of for the week."

He took out two thousand Ryo from his wallet and handed it to her.

She took the Ryo and put it in a metal box and locked it, then quickly exited from behind the counter and led us to our rooms.

"Your rooms are right this way."

We followed closely behind as she led us.

*Creeak*

The floor creaked as I stepped on it, spooking me. I could feel the shivers going down my spine. I looked to the old lady, she continued on as normal without minding the creaking, it seems she was quite used to this.

'Everything is so worn down...'

As we passed by all the rooms, I could easily tell how worn down her inn is. There was rot on some parts of the walls and her floor would creak eerily with every step we took. It seems it was not just the outside that was worn, but the inside as well. Must not get very much business here, probably because of how worn down this establishment is.

We went down several hallways and stopped at the two rooms at the end of the hall.

"These are your rooms."

She pointed towards the two rooms. They both had cherry blossom patterns on the paper sliding doors, very old-fashioned.

She bowed towards our family and said, "Let me know if you have a need for anything." Leaving us to our business.

"Alright, let's see who should get which room."

We opened up the first door, on the left of the final one before the end of the hall.

When we entered, what came into view was an eight tatami mat sized space. It has a small table on the side of the room and a few cushions to sit on, with a floral vase on the table with purple lilacs in it. They have a closet space on the far side of the room. On the other side of the room, they have two double doors leading outside to some kind of garden.

It seemed she took care of these few rooms in her inn just in case she got any customers.

"I wonder what's outside..."

Asuya went to the back of the room and opened the door to the outside area. I followed closely behind.

What came into view was as I predicted, it was a large garden. There were several different types of flowers and plants planted here. It seemed she took care of all of them quite well, as they had no signs of wilting or lack of water.

The smell of several different flowers permeated the air. It was impossible to distinguish what smell was which, as there were too many floral scents in the air. However, even though it was all mixed together, it wasn't a gross smell, it was a good smell.

Asuya spoke with wonder and amazement apparent on her face, "It's so pretty..."

I stood next to her, taking in the sight, "Yeah, you can tell she really takes care of all the flowers here."

"Shall we go check out the next room?"

We admired it for a while more, reluctantly moving on to the next room.

We went to the next room and opened the floral sliding door. What came into view was a room similar to the last, just slightly smaller, at around seven tatami mats. This room was nearly identical to the other room.

Ryuji put his hand on his chin, "Which room do you girls want?"

Asuya and I looked at each other, "We'll be fine with this room. It doesn't really matter too much to us."

"Okay, then. It's settled. Shinko and I will stay in the other room, and you girls can stay here."

Jun raised his hand, "Umm, what about me?"

"You will stay with Asuya and Rin."

He interrupted, "I'm not a girl."

He proposed, "If you are uncomfortable with it, you don't have to sleep with them. You can sleep with Shinko and me. However, since you are all so young, there shouldn't be a problem if you want to stay together."

He looked to Shinko, "Right?"

She nodded in acquiescence, "Right."

Jun gave up and didn't try to change their opinion any longer, deciding to stay with Asuya and me for the duration of the trip.

The sun started to set and each of us set up our beds, going to sleep for the night.