CHAPTER 11: Red Archives

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Meeting the old woman again was unnerving to the blonde. With Hiiro's words in mind and the lengthy warning before the two had entered made her every move suspicious and Naruto began to pick up the slight cues and odd glances that she would throw his way. Despite this however, Hiiro's hand on his shoulder throughout the whole ordeal had distracted him from most of the conversation and before he knew it Hiiro was dragging him out the building with two full sacks tossed over his shoulder. Naruto understood very little of what the two were talking about much to his displeasure, most of the conversation contained phrases that were most definitely slang and codes for places around the Red Light District that Naruto had obviously never heard of before. Hiiro of course knew this and pointed out different areas and the names of certain streets as they passed by. Naruto was speechless at the energy of the place. The red lanterns projected a red glow across the streets, not a stone left out from their reach. It created a dangerous yet playful and alluring atmosphere that the blonde slowly found himself getting addicted to, yearning for it the more he came back.

Naruto let out soft chuckles at the snide comments that Hiiro murmured to him as they passed certain places and people. The feeling of Hiiro's hand that tightly gripped his own as to not let the blonde stray out of his sight pulled Naruto back into reality and he took a glance at Hiiro's masked face, the other boy's eyes just visible in the slits of the fox mask.

"Your package, sir," Hiiro handed one of the many inconspicuous packages from his satchel and handed it off to the man who nodded curtly and shut the door in the two bows faces. "He's always like this," Hiiro turned, meeting Naruto's eyes. Said blonde looked down, the blush on his cheeks hidden by the black mask as his friend caught him staring.

"So, where to next?" Naruto smiled, looking back up as Hiro pondered for a moment, recalling the list of areas the Madam of the brothel had voiced out.

"Another for sectors to go then you back streets, I reckon we could get it done in bout four hour." Naruto grinned and pulled the other away from the door.

"Let's get going then."

Their rounds were relatively uneventful, the two merely walking swiftly from sector to sector and door to door. As the satchels got increasingly lighter and Naruto began to commit names to memory they reached an old building. It wasn't old in the sense that it was run down or worse for wear than its surrounding structures but rather the architecture or the building. It was built differently to the buildings that surrounded it, smoother and more free flowing wood.

"They say the first Hokage built this building with his jutsu," Hiiro retold the information he had heard many times from the proud old librarian of the district, "one of the first buildings he ever built in the village and one of the only few left standing." Naruto looked around at the countless books that lined the shelves. The shelves themselves were lined from wall to wall and floor to ceiling.

"It's so big," he then turned to Hiiro sharply, an accusatory look in his eye, daring the other boy to say it. Hiiro met his challenge with a smirk.

"That's what she said." He was met with a soft punch on his shoulder and an exasperated sigh. "Oh come on, Ruto. It wasn't that bad," he whined out, rubbing his shoulder in a show of overdramatic pain and agony, "that hurt."

"You deserve all the pain," there was no malice in Naruto's voice, only a playful warmth.

"Welp, these are the Red Light District archives," Hiiro introduced the building, pulling Naruto to a shinobi section. "It's gonna take us a while but I'm sure we'll find something if we keep looking." And so Naruto pulled out one of the many dusty books. "Ah, by the way," Hiiro started nervously, rubbing the back of his head and looking away, "not much of a surprise, but I can't read." Nauru was surprised before remembering the other boy's origins. Of course Hiiro couldn't read.

"Would...would you like to learn?" Naruto mimicked Hiiro's action unknowingly, bringing his hand to the back of his nape and rubbing it nervously, "I could maybe teach you, I guess?" Hiiro looked at him in surprise and quickly accepted, thanking the blonde as the two got settled down at one of the tables, clearing the layer of dust from its surface.

"I would really like to learn, y'know. It would be easier to get a job out of this place if I could read directions," Hiiro chuckled at his own situation while Naruto wrote out a list of things he knew about the blonde teen from his dreams. Once Naruto had finished the list Naruto had spent the next two hours teaching the orphan basic characters, their meaning and how to write them. Hiiro was quick to pick up bits of information, not quite words just yet but he had managed to memorise a few sounds that went with characters. "We should do the last of our deliveries and get home," the two were beginning to tire, worn out from the walking and study. Not to mention both boys had exerted themselves quite a lot, Naruto in Kakashi's jounin exam and Hiiro's manual work for the day. Naruto grinned at him, a bit of energy returning.

"Yeah, let's go home!"