On their first morning in the village, the morning market was only half open.
The street was short enough to see from end to end.
Half the shop shutters were nailed shut. The other half were propped open, with vendors huddled behind them.
A rice-price sign hung from a scale beam. The number had been changed three times.
The first two crossings-out were faint. Beneath the deepest stroke, the previous price was still legible.
The new price pressed down on the old. Only a trace of the old one remained.
Someone squatted before a stall, studying the sign. After a while, they tied their purse shut again.
The team passed down the street. No one looked up.
Naruto counted as far as the third nailed-shut shutter, then stopped counting.
Kiyoshi walked past the sign, his eyes settling on the last number. He recognized this kind of revision: change the price first, then change the people.
Sasuke paused half a step in front of the sign, then caught up. Sakura closed her notebook and took another look down that alley.
Naruto swallowed what he had been about to say, slowed half a step, and dropped to the rear.
Kakashi walked at the front, sweeping his gaze across both alley entrances.
At the little courtyard at the far end of the village, the same two fence posts still leaned crookedly.
Once inside, Tazuna brought out his toolbox and set it against the wall. Its latch was broken, so it was tied shut with hemp cord.
It took him three tries to untie the cord.
A plane, a saw, an ink-line reel, a hammer-he wiped them down one by one and hung them on the wall.
His movements were slower than they had been at the Ferry Crossing.
After wiping and hanging them