Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Shizune was fed up with Princess Tsunade's problem with gambling. But at this point, she realized that nothing was stopping her master. Like always, they would fall into the cycle of Tsunade losing, then taking a debt before failing to repay it. Then, all that would be left was to beat up the debtors and escape the town for another one.

It was only a question of time before there wouldn't be a town where they weren't known. Too bad the Land of the Fire was too big for it to happen any time soon. Maybe when nobody is willing to loan her money, Princess Tsunade can escape this cycle. But then again, maybe it wouldn't be for the best, as nothing would distract her from drinking.

"Beat it, you freak!" Shizune was forced to stop as she heard yelling from the alleyway they were passing through. "Look at him. He can't even fight back. Go back from you came, you freak."

Tsunade, too, glanced at the alleyway where a group of men were kicking a teenager with long brown hair. The teenager was curled up into a ball, so it was hard to see his features, but Shizune could tell from how small he was that he was malnourished and probably even sick. It made Shizune mad that those deplorable men would beat on a teenager who couldn't even defend himself.

"Leave it be," Tsunade said as she averted her eyes and continued walking.

"What? No, we have to help him," As much as Princess Tsunade was her master, Shizune had her morals, and she wouldn't bend them, even if it were her master who asked her to do it. "Leave him alone!"

So, Shizune walked up to the group and smacked them across the face. She was careful not to use too much force as they were normal civilians. But it was enough to knock them to the ground. Maybe realizing what they were doing was wrong or didn't want to be smacked again, they all picked themselves up and ran away, leaving the boy alone lying in the dirt.

The teenager looked even worse than Shizune thought. There was nothing but bones and skin on him. His clothes were nothing but rags. The boy didn't even have sandals as his feet were dirty and probably cold. But what shocked Shizune the most were his hollow, pale, golden eyes. There was no life in them. They were the same eyes Princess Tsunade had when they left the village.

The boy stood up, looked at her, and bowed in thanks before walking off. His back was unbelievably small. Sadly, there were plenty of people like him everywhere you go. Orphans, homeless, and people with no reason to live. It was hard to say which of these three categories the boy belonged to. But Shizune's gut said he belonged to all three.

"Like I said, leave it be, Shizune," Princess Tsunade said as Shizune caught up to her. "Let's eat."

Maybe noticing her mood, Princess Tsunade went to a restaurant rather than a gambling den, as she usually would. Once they entered a new town, the first thing Tsunade would look for was a gambling den. Before they even find an inn, Shizune's master would already be losing her money. Only then would they look for a place to stay the night, and that was because Tsunade would want to drink at that point.

So, Shizune was grateful for her master for once not thinking only about herself, but she had no appetite as she couldn't stop thinking about the boy. She knew there wasn't much she could do for him. It wasn't like she had a place she could call home, either. She couldn't just drag him around with her. Hopefully, he will be left alone from now on.

Luckily, they found an inn with rooms and food service. But the atmosphere was another thing. When they took their seats, Shizune could tell that these people didn't like them. It was quite discerning as in most towns they visit they were welcomed warmly since they were two young women walking by. It wasn't like they were suspicious or anything.

"It is a small town," The waiter said as he set their food on their table. "We can tell when vagrants walk by. All of them cause trouble for the good people of this town. So, please don't take it personally, and don't cause trouble for us."

"How dare he?" Shizune was angry at the insulant guy who left their table.

"Let it go," Princess Tsunade said as she poured a cup of sake for herself.

"They are there, big bro," A man burst into the inn with a group behind him. "She is the one who beat us down."

"That's why I told you not to get involved," Tsunade sighed as the men entered the inn and pointed at Shizune.

"Leave them alone, Jin," The waiter from before said. "They are new to the town. Whatever they did doesn't need to get out of proportion."

"This is my town, Ryu," Jin was a big and muscular thug. "And they laid their hands on my men. So, now they will pay for it. But don't worry, when I am done with them, they wish they never came to this town."

It made Shizune sick of how that thug looked lecherously at Tsunade. There was no mistake of what he was thinking. There were always this kind of deplorable men in every town. They think they can do anything they want because they are a bit big and tough. Well, it was about time they were taught a thing or two about how scary the world is.

"Move away; I don't like cardboard," Jin told Shizune as she approached him.

"I will make sure that you won't like anything anymore," Shizune replied, kicking Jin's balls. "I will make sure you remember this whenever you have thoughts about women."

As Jin collapsed to the ground, Shizune stepped on his little member. There was an audible crunch as Shizune put more weight into it. Jin's shrill screams could be heard throughout the town. Nobody dared to even look at Shizune as the rest members of Jin's gang quickly carried unconscious JIn once Shizune stepped away from him.

"And I told you not to cause any trouble," Ruy, the waiter, sighed. "At least you didn't kill him, and he kind of deserved it."

"You bet he deserved it," Shizune replied with a huff. "Buch of troublemakers. By the way, do you know the teenager those guys were picking on?"

"You talking about that sixteen years old?" Ryu asked, waiting for Shizune to nod. "He came here a few weeks back. Another no-good vagrant. But unlike you two, he didn't seem to have any money. At first, he was left alone as he lay on the sidewalk, not bothering anyone. Yet, there was something weird about that boy."

"Weird?" Shizune asked, now even more curious.

"He didn't beg for money or food like most homeless people," Ryu answered. "He just sat on the sidewalk and stared at the sky all day. At first, even that didn't bother anyone, but soon, people noticed that the boy didn't eat anything. It started to weird people out as a week passed without anyone seeing him eating anything, even when he was offered food."

"That's why he was beaten up?" Shizune asked in anger, as it was a stupid reason.

"At first, yes," Ryu didn't seem proud of the fact. "It was just children throwing stones at him. But even then, the boy didn't react. And the weirdest thing was that, no matter how bad a stone would hit him, cut his face, and whatnot, he would always be fine by the next day. It started to scare people around this town. Nobody knew who he was nor why he came here. You can only expect one reaction from locals. Fear."

"So, those thugs tried to chase him away?" Shizune asked, now understanding the situation better.

"Or worse," Ryu answered. "Anyway, it is none of my business. The boy can die as long as he doesn't bother anyone."

It was a bleak thing to say, but Shizune had no right to judge the man. The boy was probably sick, if not physically, then mentally. She wished she could help the boy, but that kind of treatment needed facilities the town didn't have. Someone would have to watch over the boy for months, if not for years, even after treatment. And sadly, there wasn't anyone who would take on such a task.

…

"You sure it is okay to leave this town?" Shizune asked her master as they left the town behind them.

"There is no gambling den in there," Tsunade replied as if all that mattered. "And you saw how people were looking at us. They would soon start to throw stones at us to drive us away."

Shizune knew that, but she still was worried about the boy. The boy shouldn't be any older than sixteen, probably severely sick and all alone. It bothered her how small the boy's back was. And those hollow eyes were asking for someone to help him. But sometimes, it was best to leave it alone. She might even worsen his situation if she couldn't dedicate herself to helping him for months.

"Shinobi?" Shizune's thoughts were interrupted as she and Tsunade saw a squad of shadows pass on top of the trees. They were too fast to take a good look, but she noticed that their vests were white, similar to those of the Cloud shinobi. "They going to the town."

"Leave it be, Shizune," Tsunade warned her student. "Nothing good will come from interfering with them."

"But still," Shizune could feel deep in her gut that something bad would happen if she left it to be. "Even though we are close to the border, this is still the Land of the Fire. What would these foreign shinobi want from the small town?"

"It isn't our business," Tsunade was adamant. "The leaf will deal with it if it comes to it."

"We are from the Leaf," Shizune said, getting mad at her master's attitude. "We can't leave it be and hope for the best."

"We are going to the next town," Tsunade wasn't moved by Shizune's words.

"Well, you can go," Shizune snapped, unable to look at her master. "I'm coming back to see what the situation is."

Shizune knew she wasn't all that powerful of a shinobi, but she still was a Jonin. And even though she didn't see much fighting in her career, she was a field medic and knew how to care for herself. She couldn't let foreign shinobi wreak havoc in her homeland as they wished. Shizune knew those shinobi wouldn't care about the innocent people caught in their path.

"Stop it, Shizune!"

Shizune heard her master's yell from behind as she rushed back to the town. And just as she got to the town's entrance, she heard buildings being destroyed and steel clashing. As she expected, nothing good would have come from them. She ran to the place where she heard the fighting coming from; on her way, she was blocked by civilians running away in panic.

Not wanting to waste time, Shizune jumped on the buildings and continued toward the sound of the battle. She needed to get to them as fast as possible if there were injured people, it would be bad the longer they had to wait for help. She knew very well how nasty the wounds were from shinobi tools. And it would be even worse if a civilian was caught in ninjutsu. She couldn't let that happen.

It didn't take long to reach the place, yet rather than rush in, she hid herself and watched the situation. She didn't expect to see the boy from before fighting four shinobi from the Cloud alone. She didn't know their rank, but they at least were chunin from how they moved. Yet, the boy, whom she thought was helpless, was playing with them.

The boy's movements were like a dance, fluid as water. Unlike anything else she saw, the boy barely moved, but the four shinobi couldn't touch him. Even though he was surrounded, with each step he took, he would dodge an attack. It was like he had eyes on his back. But for whatever reason, the boy didn't fight back.

"You will pay for what you have done to our comrades, Utakata of Blood Waters!" From the way the shinobi yelled, Shizune could tell that he was furious that he couldn't injure the boy. "Die!"

The shinobi thrust his sword toward Utakata, and just as Shizune and the rest of them thought the sword would skewer the boy, Utakata jumped on it. He gracefully landed his feet on the tip of the sword, shocking Shizune and the Cloud shinobi. It was like Utakata didn't weigh a thing and was light as a feather. And the next moment, before they could regain their composure, Utakata moved, fast as lightning.

Shizune couldn't believe what he saw. Utakata knocked three of them in an instant. One moment, he was standing on the tip of the sword. The next moment, he kicked the sword's wielder in the head. Then, in the same movement, Utakata jumped over the other two and chopped at their necks with his hand. They fell to the ground instantly.

"Three chunin and one jonin," Utakata's voice was monotone and hoarse, like he hadn't said a word in a year. "As your team leader, you should have known how futile it was to fight me. What did you expect to accomplish when your whole army couldn't do anything to me."

"You monster," the squad leader rushed at Utakata once again. "Die!"

"How did you find me?" Utakata asked as he batted away his enemy's kunai.

"We heard of you, and you matched the description," The shinobi replied as he continued attacking Utakata. "It was a coincidence since we were returning from the mission. No, it was fate that led us to you."

"It seems I can bury my weapons but can't bury my past."

"I will bury you!"

"I will only dislocate your shoulder so that you can look after your teammates," Utakata replied, catching his attacker's arm and, with a snap, dislocated his shoulder as he said he would. "Go back home before Leaf shinobi discovered you. Take responsibility for your team."

"It isn't over; more will come after you," The team leader picked up his teammates but didn't turn his back to Utakata. "We won't stop until you are dead."

Shizune let out a sigh of relief as the Cloud shinobi left. And as she looked around, she couldn't see any civilians who might have been caught in the crossfire. Just as she was about to leave, she stopped as she noticed a piglet in Utakata's left hand. It has been here the whole time, but she only noticed it now. Yet, at that moment, Utakata turned towards her, and Shizune quickly hid herself.

"You like to get yourself involved in others' fights, don't you?" Utakata asked, making it clear that he noticed her. "You too kind for this accursed world. But since you are here, would you mind caring for her?"

"Who?" Seeing that there was no point in hiding, Shizune revealed herself. And just as their eyes met, Utakata moved. Shizune could see his feet move, but somehow, he got in front of her before she realized.

"In my travels, I have seen stray cats, dogs, and even stray snakes, but it was the first time I met a stray piglet. She looks trained to listen to orders, so she shouldn't be too much trouble for you. And since I have already stayed in this town for far too long because of her, I would have to leave her behind. So, take good care of her."

"What's her name," Shizune asked as she took the cute piglet from Utakata's hands. Yet when she lifted her eyes from the piglet, Utakata was gone. She couldn't even see a shadow of him anywhere.

"That's why I told you not to get involved," Tsunade said as she appeared beside her.

"You knew him?" Shizune asked.

"I heard that about a year ago, the youngest member of the Seven Swordsmen killed two fellow members of the order and escaped the village. I didn't recognize him initially, but I saw how he looked at his hands. All he could see on his hands was blood that couldn't be washed away. That's how I realized that he wasn't a helpless kid."

Utakata of Blood Waters, Shizune saw that name before in Bingo's book. He was a rising shinobi in the war. But Shizune didn't care to remember him. Yet, seeing him fight and defeat a shinobi who was as strong as her so easily made her shiver. He was so powerful, and yet he looked so helpless to her. Shizune saw many similarities between Utakata and her master.

…

Even after a week passed and they skipped two towns, Shizune couldn't help but think about Utakata. She has taken liberty and bought the newest bingo book she could find. She read about how many horrible things he has done. How monstrous he was. And yet, she couldn't believe it was the same person.

She wondered what he was truly like. As she held her piglet, whom she named Tonton, Shizune couldn't imagine Utakata being the monster he was portrayed in the Bingo books. As they entered the new town, Shizune was prepared to dedicate herself to watching over her master, but with an adorable 'oink,' Tonton jumped from her hands and ran into an alleyway.

"Hey! Tonton!" Shizune chased after her but was forced to stop as Tonton ran into the lap of a certain boy. "You?"

"Shit," Utakata looked at Shizune and cursed.

A.N. As always, If you want more, up to seven advanced chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852. And if you have any requests for stories, I will only take them on my pa treon.