"Wow... this is so gross, Neji." Tenten could not help scrunching up her little face. She held up an earthworm she had accidentally chopped into two pieces with her shovel. It made her feel sick, but thinking that Neji needed it for fishing, she still picked it up and set it aside.
"Earthworms are like that." Neji Hyuga said calmly as he dug up quite a few worms. "Go find a big leaf and wrap them up. Otherwise, you'll have to put the earthworms in your pocket."
"What?!" Tenten was shocked. Put earthworms in her pocket???
That would be disgusting!
"I'll go find one right away." Tenten immediately got to her feet and looked around. Spotting a taro leaf not far away, she hurried over to pull it up.
But the leaf was too large. Even using every ounce of strength her six-year-old body possessed, she could not pull it free and only exhausted herself.
In the end, she found a flat stone and used it to cut through the leaf stem. Holding the leaf, large enough to serve as an umbrella, she returned to Neji Hyuga's side.
"It doesn't need to be this big..." Neji Hyuga took the leaf and glanced at the proud Tenten, who had puffed out her chest. Still, he praised her. "Impressive. You found such a big leaf."
"Ha, it was nothing..." Tenten looked exactly like a wild child as she rubbed beneath her nose with her index finger and happily accepted the praise.
This was so much fun. She had never played like this before.
Neji Hyuga placed the wriggling, tangled earthworms in the middle of the leaf and wrapped them up. Carrying the leaf, he said, "Come on, let's go fishing."
"Okay." Tenten followed behind Neji Hyuga into the forest.
After walking for