The Tavern

Shitoro Village Arc, Pt. 2

Walking along to Shitoro and listening to little Tsusa, I could not help but now agree with the foxes a little. Having to listen to a hyperactive kid was a bit…hellish. It was no wonder that Kurama went a little bit nuts at being stuck in two hyperactive kids. If in his place, I was sure that I too would go quite insane at having to listen to this day and day and day again.

I would have thought more on the topic if not for Tsusa's sudden exclamation which startled me and caused many of the foxes to jump in fright, "Look! There it is!"

Looking over to her ,still rather startled, I saw the little girl pointing off towards a small village off a little ways. Small billows of smoke from fire places and likely from the blacksmith that Tsusa had spoken of.

She gripped onto my robes and pulled, attempting to lead me off to it, "Come on!"

"Just a moment, Tsusa-chan." I said to her, smiling kindly.

Turning to Toshio, I spoke, "Could the pack station itself around the village?"

The fox nodded, "Of course, however three Soldiers will be coming with you. I will also be going along with your as well, Fusa-sama. It is simply far too dangerous for you to go on your own this close to the battlegrounds."

Nodding to him, I spoke, "I understand, Toshio-san, thank you."

Turning back to Tsusa who was trembling a little in anticipation, I spoke once more, "You can lead the way again, Tsusa-chan. Sorry for the wait."

Smiling brightly, she began leading me off to the village, clutching my Uzukage robes as she did her best to drag me off to the village. The foxes chortled and chuckled with great amusement at this, most especially Toshio. Who trotted behind with three Soldiers, akin to a personal guard. Going into Shitoro Village with Tsusa, I was greeted with many stares and gasps and all manner of mumblings or looks as she led me through the village. Many of the gawking and shocked villagers let out many a comment.

"Is that…?"

"But how..?"

"Did they survive…?", "No Impossible, they couldn't have!"

"But the rumors say…", "Well obviously they are false! Just look…!"

"Maybe more made it out…?"

"Look, it's him…he actually…!"

"My, he is very young…"

"The Uzukage is alive…!"

"THE UZUKAGE IS ALIVE!!"

Soon enough the chattering and murmurings turned from shock to awe and then to excitement. Many of the villagers began to cheer in happiness, finding out that Uzushio's Uzukage was actually alive and hadn't died. It had given this village of Fire great hope, and to that I was glad…

Uzumaki Yutane felt terrible…no that was too nice of a word….horrible was more like it…Around him at this large booth which sat inside a lonely tavern such this, sat around twenty others, all members of the very place he had failed so horribly.

'''You must be more careful, Yutane, this lateness is not good for a Shinobi. You will fail a mission one day if this continues.'''

He snorted at the memory, his Sensei had been right on that and right now, he felt horrible. He almost felt like he…no, like he should…no, that he should go into a hole. He shook his head again, it was too nice. Crawl was better. He ought to go into a hole, crawl into it on bare hands and knees as to make them scrape along a rocky and dirt riddled ground.

In all, he felt horrible because he had failed. He had failed his family, his clan, his village…everyone. He closed his eyes in deep sadness for his failures. Uzumaki Yutane had been the messager for Uzushio's Sensor Department. The Sensors had sensed…something odd and asked for Yutane to deliver a message to Konoha, fearful that perhaps the Land of Water or someone else was making a surprise attack as Iwa had in the First Shinobi War during what the Uzumaki called, "The Battle For Uzu". It was the first ,and thus far only, naval battle in Shinobi History.

In regards to the message scroll, had given the message to a Konoha ANBU who had said that they would give the message to the Hokage. When he returned after a few days of rest to Uzu, he found nothing but dust and bones. The entire village had been razed to the ground, even the Kage building. All of those skeletons…it had been a horrible sight. He even saw two skeletons clutching a small one of size to a small bundle… It was saddening and perhaps the first time that he lost himself into his emotions.

He wailed for two days and three nights before at least slumping along, wandering Fire Country. Soon, coming across Uzumaki Patrol, some ANBU, and some Teams that had been out on missions and survived the slaughter…it couldn't even be called a slaughter but rather extermination. Whoever had destroyed their home, they hadn't just targeted the Shinobi but the civilians too. But they didn't stop there… They took everything… Scrolls, History, Clothing….everything. If you were present at such a place, you must assuredly would not have survived, whether you be woman, child, man, or infant. Sighing deeply, a single tear once more made it down across his cheek as he felt as if he could weep in great sorrow…it was all his fault….

"Yutane…" One of the surviving Teams' Sensei spoke, only to quickly be shut down by Yutane.

"It's my fault…it's all my fault…! My fault! If I had been quicker, if I hadn't rested or if I went directly toward Konoha instead of being so fucking lazy to give the message to somebody who looked like Konoha ANBU…." He cried out and wept, tears flowing down the Chunin's face.

The Uzumaki all looked over at him in great pity as another surviving Sensei spoke, "You did your best, Yutane, that's all anyone could ask…"

The attempt at comfort did nothing, the Chunin's grief continued to eat away at him, making him feel worthless. He began to believe it was all his fault, that he shouldn't exist at all…

He jumped in fright then ,his pathetic Shinobi instincts failing him again he thought to himself , when two of the twelve Genin slammed the Tavern door open and rushed to the table. The Genin gleefully ignored the angered shout and yelps of several of the Tavern attenders and barkeep, going straight over to tell their fellow survivors the news.

"UZUKAGE-SAMA'S ALIVE!" One yelled while the other jittered in excitement.

The reactions varied; The Jonin and some of the Chunin gained widened eyes and shocked gazes, a couple of Genin spit out their liquids with wide eyes, and in Yutane's case; He was absolutely shocked, mouth agape and eyes wide.

"He's alive!?" Yelped a Genin, in absolute shock.

"He is!" Said the second Genin.

"Aratsu, Mokko! This is no time for jokes!" Their jonin sensei criticized them.

"We're not lying, the whole village is talking about it! He's here!" Mokko said, looking at them all seriously.

The shock came again but then it was replaced with deep suspicion. With Uzushio gone, the Ninja world had to have heard of it by now and given that…

"We will need to verify this." Spoke one of the Jonin Sensei to which the other two surviving Jonin nodded in agreement.

"Kino, Raki, and I can go and verify if what these two are saying is indeed true." Spoke one of the Uzumaki in offer, he had bright spiky red hair and a white kabuki wolf mask strapped to his side.

Katsukko ,a Jonin Sensei and the pseudo-leader of the group, nodded to him. "Do it with haste, if the Uzukage is indeed alive, we must protect him at all costs. We have lost our home, we cannot lose our leader if he is indeed alive."

The ex Uzushio ANBU nodded and with that, he and his small group of two silently left the Tavern, masks in hand. They were ready for this mission as it now meant everything.

Tsusa and I sat in the reception area, the little girl swinging her legs up and down in boundless energy. I sat, reading some of the Scroll of Seals while Toshio sat asleep but alert on my lap.

Heavenly Typhoon Strike:

Allows the user to create a Whirlpool of water above the enemy to then slam down and eliminate them.

Armadillo Rush:

Allows the user to create an earth shock that targets the enemy no matter the range, also allows for underground surveillance if used right.

Wicked Dragonfly:

Allows the user to launch multiple large wind gus-

"DADDY!!!"

I was interrupted from my reading, slightly startled at the sudden exclamation as I looked up to see Tsusa make a run for a middle-aged man who wore light red/white robes.

"Tsusa-chan, my little starfire. Shikio tells me you left the village, what were you thinking?!" The elder asked, looking very worried.

"I'm sorry, I only wanted to explore…but I'm ok now, Kage-sama saved me!" She said, smiling brightly at her father.

"Kage-sama? Young man, are you truly a kage?" He asked, turning his gaze to me.

"Yes sir, I am the Sandaime Uzukage, Uzumaki Fusa…although I am not all there I am afraid to say." I spoke awkwardly, making Toshio chuckle but also feel rather glum due to my situation all the same.

"My word, did you lose your memory?" The father asked, looking quite worried.

"Well something of the sort…would you like me to explain?" I asked of him, he nodded to me at that.

"We can speak of it in my office. Come along, Tsusa-chan." He spoke kindly to his daughter, taking Tsusa's hand.

The little girl hopped down with a giggle and followed after him as I got up, Toshio hopping off of me as I did so. Putting away the Scroll of Seals into my satchel, I soon followed after the father and daughter duo. We then made our way with the two into the Elder's office, unaware of a figure watching us from the rafters…

…A figure with a completely blank white kabuki mask…