Favorites. Prequel. Part 1. chapter 6

Part 1. Chapter 6. The simple life of difficult guys

"It's a beautiful city," I drawled, when we arrived around noon where our temporary companions were heading.

"It's great, isn't it?" Emma smiled. "Actually, the festival itself, when the guests and all kinds of tourists come together, will be in a month, in August. And now there are preparations and rehearsals. We are volunteers, and we will also help our friends with a theatrical production and a march. But now you can watch everything calmly, without crowds of people. And Edinburgh itself is a very interesting city. That's why we've been coming here for the second summer. And the hotel will be quite inexpensive. Many of our people spend the night in a tent camp, it's more fun that way. At this time, the main rehearsals are held, which can be viewed for free, and the volunteers are also entitled to various discounts in museums. Harry, when Emma mentioned the tent camp, chuckled strangely, but did not add anything.

"You didn't know about all this, did you, Nart?" Jess's eyes narrowed slyly. "Yes, RJ?"

We changed our names a bit because Harry said that the name "Naruto" is difficult to pronounce in English. I don't know how his "Harry" turned out to be "R.J." but that's how he introduced us, the guy learns fast, and he didn't bother with "muggles."

"We made a mistake," I sighed, smiling broadly. "Yes, you're right, girls, we just went with you", It occurred to me that here, too, women can be treacherous and very clever. "When else can you get acquainted with such beauties? And if you've succeeded, then catch your luck by the tail. R.J. and I had nothing better to do, and we were sick of stuffy London. So it seemed like a great idea to go out in good company to change locations."

"Okay," Emma fixed her hair. "Then take us out, we will register as volunteers, and then we will walk around Edinburgh with you."

Despite the fact that the festival had not yet begun, preparations for it were in full swing. They put up all kinds of posters on which I only understood the numbers "1996".

When I asked Harry about the numbers, he said it was the year, and I thought it was a little strange. There's a completely different time frame here. And Harry also added that it was "the time of the Nativity of Christ," which completely confused me. In our country, everything is considered differently and much simpler: a year means a twelve-year cycle and an animal in this cycle, everything is clear, for example, I was born in the year of the Tiger of the sixth cycle of the era of Hidden Villages. And here it's kind of too confusing.

The people had fun, sang songs, danced, and Harry and I looked at all this with all our eyes. There have been holidays in Konoha too, but it's all on a big scale, and it's just a rehearsal, not the festival itself. But there really weren't as many people as in London, and mostly only in the center at the so-called "venues". And we also met what seemed to be military men, dressed up in some kind of bright uniforms, who walked in formation and played completely strange melodies on shiny musical instruments, it was unusual. It was funny to me because I imagined such "warriors" in the Konoha forest with their "music".

Emma and Jess and I walked through the streets of Edinburgh, and the further away from the center, the calmer and more peaceful it became.

Harry thought to call Kreacher in the public bathroom and ask him to exchange his gold coins for local paper currency. The house elf didn't show up later, but I had a wad of banknotes in my pocket. It's funny, as if the old dwarf didn't trust his master to spend money, or maybe he didn't want to break my "magic", since Harry and I still wore my henge. I gave him the money, but he told himself to keep half of it just in case.

Our girls chatted incessantly, telling and showing the local sights, it was funny. We visited the stone castle and the museum, and I liked the crap that turns everything upside down. Harry cheered up and relaxed somehow, sometimes even began to laugh. Periodically, turning to Jess, he began to hug her, she didn't seem to mind. And Emma was almost hanging on to me. It's a pity that there are so many people and the city... However, it may not be customary to take girls into the bushes here. Besides, in Konoha, I would prefer a normal bed or a futon.

"Let's go to a cafe," Jess suggested, pointing to a bright red corner. Above the door, which resembled a torii, there was a gilded inscription of three words. Actually, I've already noticed that the first short word of three characters is often found, not that I decided to study the local script, but natural observation takes its toll.

"What's the name?" I asked Harry.

"The Elephant House," he read and explained, "An elephant is such a big animal."

"Don't you know who an elephant is, Nart?" Emma smiled, looking at me questioningly.

"I've never met him," I laughed.

"You guys are kidding us! R.J., are you kidding?" Jess tugged at Harry.

"Yes, we're joking, but I haven't really seen the elephant, what does it look like, this elephant of yours?" I giggled, joking. We went to the cafe, it was quite cozy there.

"That's what an elephant looks like!" Emma showed me a wooden chair in the form of a fat-nosed and lop-eared animal on four legs-pillars.

"Then I'm sitting on an elephant!" I laughed, sitting down.

We ordered, and the girls went to the bathroom. By the way, there were a lot of elephants and his images, so I understood why the cafe has such a name.

"Listen, Naruto... I mean, the Sled," Harry leaned a little closer to me. "I... I don't know, should I kiss Jess? I'm not sure and..."

"Haven't you ever been kissed?" My eyebrows went up on their own.

"I've been kissing," Harry sighed. "But when it happened, that girl burst into tears"...

"Are you such a bad kisser?" I was amazed. I have never heard of such a miracle. "Or is it a manifestation of magic?"

"Well..." he lowered his gaze. "I just liked her, and she... liked the guy who died because of me a year ago, we kind of dated her, but..."

"Nine tails in my liver," was all Naruto could mutter. "You're that... Don't worry."

"I don't think the problem was you and your kissing technique," I patted him on the shoulder. "Of course, the first experience is very important... hmm... when I was little, we accidentally kissed... one guy in front of the whole class. That was the number. We almost killed each other, and the girls beat me up", I thought about it, remembering my shame and disgrace. "Anyway, I mean, it could have been worse for you."

"Yeah..." Harry muttered. "Did they tease you afterwards?"

"It happened once and by accident," I shrugged my shoulders. "And then Sasuke became my friend. Not because of the kiss, of course, but because we were assigned to the same team. I actually like girls."

"But still... I'm a little unsure," Harry changed the subject.

Emma and Jess returned, and the noodles we ordered were brought to us, but they tasted completely different from those in my homeland. We had dinner with an appetite and sat in a cafe for a long time and chatted with the girls. From the large window there was a view of the castle we had visited earlier in the day.

A middle-aged woman was sitting at a table in the corner, scribbling something in a thick notebook, glancing at us a couple of times absently. I noticed her because the owner of the place came up to her and brought her tea, and also talked to a little red-haired girl, about three or four years old, who was hanging around her table, playing with a doll, and often looked at me. Probably because we were laughing and smiling, the girl was probably a little sad.

"It's time for us to go to camp," Emma said, looking at her watch. "You can take the hotel. There are quite a few of them nearby."

"We can meet tomorrow..." Jess offered, embarrassed. "There's a great beach here...."

"Okay," I nodded. "We'll walk you out."

It wasn't far to go, so we handed the girls over to their friends and went back.

"Well, can we really stay the night here?" Harry suggested. "There is money, but there are really a lot of motels and hotels here, near the castle."

The streets were almost empty, most likely because most of the people were closer to the center, where they were still rehearsing and playing music.

"So you're a wizard after all, Naruto? Since you can do all sorts of magical things" Harry asked me as we walked down the street, enjoying the silence.

"Well... we call it a "chakra." And according to the classification you gave me, I'm more of a combat magician. I can't brew potions, that is, poisons and poisons. And to treat, too, that's what our ninja doctors, the Irinins, are doing. What you called mental magic is our genjutsu, my friend Sasuke is well versed in it, and he has special eyes.... It can confuse your head... — I sighed. — Ninjutsu is most likely what you called "enchantment". Perhaps the only ones you didn't mention were taijutsu, kenjutsu, and fuinjutsu. I don't know, maybe it's not in your world, or maybe you don't know."

"And what is it?" Harry asked.

"Taijutsu is the art of hand-to-hand combat, the body is saturated with chakra, which gives high speed, impact power, and impenetrability in some cases. Kenjutsu is a fight with weapons, most often with a sword, katana, or tanto. But few ninjas use pure kenjutsu, which is ineffective against Shinobi. Sasuke, for example, can pass his lightning element through his sword...."

"Wow, are you also elemental magicians?" Harry stared at me.

"Well, yes, everyone has an affinity with some element...." I scratched the back of my head, remembering Kakashi's instructions. There are five main ones: lightning, water, earth, wind, fire. And some particularly gifted people, which I'm not one of, have the ability to combine basic elements to form new ones. I met a guy who made ice, and one of my captains could grow trees by combining water and land... I also heard that someone in the land of Earth has an element of lava — the union of fire and earth."

"Wow!" said Harry again. "Your world is incredible!"

"There are constant wars in my world," I sighed. "Shinobi are made to kill. And we always sow hatred. We avenge our dead comrades, and then they take revenge on us.... Eh, let's not be sad, okay?"

"Okay," Harry smiled. "I would like to see what your chakra is like...."

"Well, that's easy," I grinned, releasing a chakra in my hand and forming a ball of simple, almost non-combat rasengan. "Just don't touch it."

"Wow," Harry's face lit up with a bluish light.

"It's a pure chakra, but it's shaped like a ball", I explained, pulling the rasengan back into my palm.

There was a rustle in the bushes, and I resisted the urge to throw a shuriken there. It was lucky for the cat that ran out of there that I had a weapon in my backpack.

"Well, shall we go to the hotel?"

"Yeah, let's go."