The picture above is Jake's necklace.

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I woke up to the birds chirping and the sun in my eyes. I looked around me to see that Jake was no where to be found. At first I thought that he had left in the middle if the night, but then I saw something shiny on the ground. I bent down and grabbed it carefully with my pale hand. It was a beautiful necklace. Jake's necklace. After a few minutes of staring at the beautiful object I heard a noise. I looked around, but saw nothing. I kept hearing the noises and a few seconds later Jake, in dog form, came waltzing through the bushes. I let go of a breath of air that I didn't know I was holding. I walked up to Jake and saw that he had a basket hanging from his mouth with fruit in it. He put it down and transformed. I jumped back a little as I was not yet used to it. Once the dust disappeared he bent down and picked up the basket and held it out to me.

"I went to a nearby river and picked some fruit. I also cleaned them" he said. I looked at him with a surprised look. I looked at the basket and grabbed a blackberry.

"Um thanks" I said then ate the berry. I looked around and started to pack up all of my things. I put my book bag around my shoulders and headed for my village. I opened my hand and saw the necklace. I immediately closed it when Jake walked up to me.

"So are we almost there?" He asked impatiently. I smiled at his behavior.

"No we are not almost there" I answered. The next few seconds were completely silent until.

"Are we there yet?" He asked again. I rolled my eyes.

"No" a few seconds later.

"Are we there yet?"

"No" then.

"Are we there yet?"

"Yes"

"Really?"

"No" I said and then looked over at him and saw him pouting. I laughed a little.

"Don't worry we'll be there soon" I said and patted his head like a dog. He just swatted my hand away. I laughed again. The next thirty minutes to an hour were silent besides the birds and the cool breeze. Then I heard faint voices.

"No! Don't put it in there. Put it in the basket where all of the clothes belong" said a feminine voice. I immediately recognized that voice. Me and Jake went over a small hill and stood on the top of it. I saw the woman who spoke. She was wearing shorts and a ripped red and black plaid shirt with a white t-shirt underneath. She was also wearing red converse. She had a little wrinkles as a sign of old age and beautiful,wavy gray hair that flowed just passed her shoulders. She looked towards me and I immediately recognized those beautiful bright blue eyes.

"Nana!" I shouted running towards her in full sprint mode. I hugged her as tight as I could and breathed in her familiar evergreen forest scent. I let go and saw Sam. The fifteen year old boy that had recently stumbled upon our small village a few weeks earlier. He has brown hair and bright blue eyes, like Nana. He has fair skin and a few freckles. He was a bit taller than me and let's just say that he was not like a weak little nerd in school hiding behind his books. He was actually pretty muscular. I guess living in a forest trying fight for survival helps a lot with that. Then I looked behind me and saw that Jake was slowly trailing behind me. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on slowpoke" I said. He smiled and jogged the rest of the way. Once he was right beside me I introduced him to Nana and Sam.

"This is Jake" I said, "I found him on my way back here" I finished. He shook hands with Nana and Sam then I took him to my little hut closer to the opposite end of the village. The hut wasn't a sight to see. It was made out of thick branches for the walls and a tarp for a roof. It was kinda like a tent, but not really a tent. More of like a small log cabin with a dirt floor and no windows, but hey it made a good shelter and I loved it so everything is all good. I set my stuff down next to my bed made of leaves and thatch tied together. It wasn't comfortable, but hey you can't survive in the forest AND be comfortable at the same time. After I had checked my stuff and made sure it was all there I turned to Jake who was standing near a corner looking at a book. I sighed.

"That's my photo book" I said causing him to look up from the dirty, old book. He looked back at it as I walked across the six foot wide 'house' and stood next to him. The picture he was looking at was a picture of my mom. She was wearing a pink, white, and green plaid shirt and jeans shorts that stopped just above her knees. She wore pink and white high top converse and she had her brown hair down. She was leaning against a pole. That picture had been taken by my dad on their fifth anniversary. So about six years before the fire.

"Who is she" he asked cautiously. I sighed as a tear formed in the corner of my right eye.

"My mom. That photo was taken six years before my family died in a fire about three years ago" I finished. I looked down as a tear escaped from my eye. I immediately changed my attitude and looked up. He jumped a little at my sudden movements.

"Well I think it's about time that you met the rest of the village" I said as I grabbed his hand and dragged him out of my hut.

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Hey guys, ninja_of_steel here. So how is it so far? Do you like it? I do. Anyways I have one person (hopefully) that has agreed to be in the sequel. So that means only one spot left. Well I'm gonna go so I'll see all of you beautiful ninja in the next chapter.