Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Forget Valley ❯ Forget-Me-Not Valley ( Chapter 1 )

A tall man of about twenty man stalked down the old, bricked road, a cool spring breeze ruffling his crimson hair and rising sun illuminating his body with a golden glow. Pausing by a large building with the word INN written on a banner over it's door, he glanced at the small piece of paper he held in his hand and narrowed light green eyes. With a frustrated snort, he shoved open the Inn's doors, a small bell tinkling softly at its movement, and stepped inside. Behind the main desk, a man with black hair jerked from his nap to full awareness and sat up quickly.

"Welcome, traveler," the man said, smiling. "My name is Tim, can I help you with anything?"

The man walked up to the desk and held out the piece of paper. "Where am I and what is this?"

Tim took the paper with a confused blink and told the man, "This is Forget-Me-Not Valley." The other man snorted and Tim glanced at the piece of paper, reading the words silently.

In honor of your acceptance to Forget Valley, you have received the land on plot 24A. Instructions and help will be given upon request.

Romana

Tim smiled and handed the paper back before pointing out at some point past the Inn walls.

"Plot 24A is the farm just across the -"

"Farm? I just arrived here and I have a farm?"

"Why, yes," Tim responded. "If Miss Romana has decided that you need this Valley, then you must belong here. Now, as I was saying, the farm is just across the street and up the hill - you can't miss it."

"… A farm? I have never been on a farm in my life - I don't know how to farm."

"Well, your acceptance papers mention something about instructions, so I'm sure it won't be too bad for you."

With a grimace, the man turned around and began to walk away, saying, "Just past those hills, right?"

"Yes - you can't miss it."

He stalked out of the Inn and trekked along the road once more, traveling up a path and onto a large plot of land. A small house was nearest the short path and beyond that was a tall, concrete building. Just across from the tall structure was a large, wide building with a wide, hardly fenced in field full of tall grass. Beyond those he saw a second small house, a cultivated square of land, a building a bit smaller than the house, another plot of land, a shack and a finally large plot of land where several long vines were sprouting.

Placing a hand behind his head, he momentarily fought the urge to make a face at the farm he was now tied to when, suddenly, a tall man emerged from the wide building connected to the field. Appearing to be around his mid-thirties, he had silver hair and an eye patch placed over his left eye. Dressed in a pair of blue jeans and long-sleeved black shirt with a dark blue bandanna covering his mouth and nose, he looked up with his visible eye to see the redheaded man blink at him.

"What are you doing here?" the older man asked, walking up to the other.

"I should ask you the same question - this is my property, apparently." Suddenly, his eyebrows knitted together in thought. Pointing at the man, he said, "Don't I know you?" The other man blinked. "Yeah! You're that scarecrow guy - Kakashi."

"And you're… the sand kid. Gaara."

Gaara paused for only a moment more before saying, "I remember when we were younger that you had at least half a brain. ("Gee, thanks," Kakashi muttered sarcastically.) Can you tell me where we are, and why, exactly, I have a farm?"

Kakashi sighed and folded his arms across his chest, saying, "This is Forget-Me-Not Valley. Nick named 'Forget Valley' - and with good reason. All those who wander away, running from their pasts all end up here, no matter where they try to go. And all those destined to stay here are given jobs and living quarters by Romana, the mayor here."

Gaara felt a shiver run up his spine and for a moment thought about what kind of past Kakashi attempted to escape before ending up in the valley. Instead of showing it, however, he merely snorted and said, "Destined to stay here? Just watch, I'll be gone in the morning."

"Don't sound so sure of yourself. I've been here for several years now - there is no escaping this valley."

Pushing Kakashi's cryptic words aside, Gaara looked up and asked, "What have you tried to escape?"

"Something incredibly stupid that I won't tell unless you tell me why you're here." At the redhead's silence, Kakashi continued with, "Have you ever worked on a farm before, or do I have to explain things to you?"

"I've never even seen a farm before now."

Kakashi grumbled a few curses under his breath before saying out loud, "Then I'll just have to give you the grand tour." He turned about to face the farm and pointed at the house nearest them. "That's where I live."

To the tall building. "Storage center. There's a ledger in it. If you want to buy or sell tools, animals, food, what have you, write it down and I'll go into town that day. Or you could do it yourself - no real matter to me."

The wide building. "That's the barn. You have a cow already in there. Her name is Sakura and she just gave birth ten days ago so you should be able to milk her about twice a day, now. Behind that is the obvious grass field that you can cut the grass down and turn into fodder which the barn animals will eat. Connected to the barn is the tool shed. I left the major tools in there, so that should help."

The second house. "That's where you'll live. There's some bread and milk in the fridge in there so that you won't starve while the tomatoes are still growing. Not to mention there are wild roots everywhere that you can eat."

The smaller building. "That's a chicken coop. Want chickens? You know how to get them."

The shack. "I still have no idea what that is. It's been locked since I've gotten here and it refuses to open under anything."

Finally he motioned to the cultivated plots of land. "And those spots are where you grow things. First you have to till the ground, plant the seeds, and then water the seeds and plants twice every day. I already have the tomatoes growing in the largest field and hey should be ripe in a few days." He looked back to Gaara. "Any questions?"

"That was…" Gaara searched for a fitting word. "Craptacular." He fixed the older man with a dull stare and a quirked eyebrow. "Is that the best you can do?"

"Hey, shut-up. I just had to go through with selling an utterly useless animal to a complete out-of-towner idiot. I deserve to have a crap day. Now, if you will, you need to go and water the tomatoes." And with that Kakashi began to walk away, presumably to go into town, when Gaara coughed uncertainly, catching his attention once more. "Yes?"

"Like I said before - I have no idea how to farm. It's sheer luck that I even know what a farm is. And, well…"

Kakashi sighed. "And you need help?"

Gaara pursed his lips together and glanced away.

"Fine. Let's go to the tool shed and I'll get you started with the basics…"

Wootwoot! It's getting written. And fear not, people who read this! It will be completed.

Itachi: Like all your other fics "will be completed"?

Angel: Yes, exactly like - hey, screw you! >< This one actually has a plot!

All except Angel: -gasp-

Angel: -can't breathe for a moment- Anyway, in case you're wondering, yes this is a cross over with Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. Gah, I hate that game! Keeping me up until 3-4 am, just playing it. >< It really sucks. Bah. At least my months of stalking finally paid off. And in case y'all are wondering about other characters showing up in this… I dunno, I might if I can figure out who and how. -sigh; point- Naruto! You haven't said anything in a while! Do the disclaimer.

Naruto: -grumblegrumble- Angel doesn't own Naruto or Harvest Moon.

Angel: Excellent. And, so, till next time!