Shadow of the Snake - Death Bed
I had won.
I shouldn't have. Even with the deck stacked in my favour, the odds were low.
I'd expected a feeling of triumph, or at least disbelief, but by the time I woke up, the fight was just a fact in my memory.
Data Entry x: Yumika defeats a Chunin.
I recognised the lab table I woke up on.
Hopefully, this is the last time I wake up here…
Then I picked up on the voices.
"...I managed to flush the poison, but with the proximity of the blast, the leg is beyond recovery."
Silence.
"More severely, the explosion shattered a number of bones in your upper body, and the resulting shrapnell has punctured several of your internal organs, including a number of arteries. No one here but Lord Orochimaru is capable of fixing you now, and he is currently preoccupied."
"...how long?"
"Your chakra is working overtime to cover for the injuries, that'll cease to function in a few hours. You'll be dead by the end of the day."
A folder closed.
"Will there be anything else or shall I go?"
"No, nothing."
Footsteps faded, before smothering into silence behind a closed door.
"Kid… you can stop pretending to be asleep."
I sat up without much of a fuss.
He lay there on the table next to me. His right leg was gone, replaced by bandages. His right arm was charred black.
Worst of all: he was without his mask.
His face was mostly undamaged, thanks to the durability of ninja wear.
Sharp chin, pointed nose, short brown hair that fell into a collection of loose spikes on either side of his head.
He looked like he was in his late 20s.
He probably fought in the 3rd great ninja war as a genin.
A single scar followed his right cheekbone, smooth, from some sort of blade.
He lay unmoving staring at the ceiling.
He looked… defeated, resigned to his fate.
He looked so very human.
"So, you heard that, I'm going to beat it soon. Congratulations on your victory."
My fists clenched on the table.
"I shouldn't have won."
He laughed, but it was cut short by a cough of blood.
"You can tell, huh?"
"No, I'm just good at maths."
"Tsk, too damn smart for your own good I say."
There was a moment of silence.
"...You're not as quiet as you think you are. Next time, an enemy could turn that around on you. You were too focused on where I was supposed to be on the other side of the smoke. A trained enemy could vault over or move around, and in a proper combat scenario he'll have allies. Tunnel vision like that again and you'll get jumped. You need to cover up your traps, or make them unavoidable, the caltrops were too obvious, they could have been much more effective. Don't use distancing traps unless you know you can win the skirmish, you didn't know if I had any ranged techniques. You were too confident in predicting my moves, and telegraphed as much. But…"
He coughed into his fist.
"...good job with the poison arrow trick, and good use of tools. The poison and the tag, two plans, less likely both are to fail, smart. Good job keeping your chakra close to the chest, how long have you had control? Actually, don't answer that. I didn't even consider the possibility until the tag went off."
Something caught in my throat.
"W-why?"
"It's my job, nothing more to it, kid."
I shook my head.
"You knew…"
I dropped off the table to my feet.
"You knew! Then why…?"
I choked on my next word.
"Why'd I walk into your plan?"
A silent nod.
"Truth is… I wanted to see what you'd do."
Something cracked.
"Call it teacher's pride."
A smile tugged at his lip.
"You did good, for a brat. I won't be stepping away from this one."
Hic.
"Why?"
I hate him…
"Why!?"
He deserved this…
"Why did you make me do this!?"
I did this…
"You wanted me to stop holding back right? You could have just said so! I asked you what you wanted from me didn't I?"
This was bound to happen…
"...but no, you kept it close and tried to riddle me into what you wanted like some stupid sage from a stupid legend. It's ridiculous, I can barely form a sentence, but it feels like I'm the only one speaking!"
He cracked his knuckles…
"I may be squeamish to violence, but you're too reliant on it. You and the rest of the ninja. Father too! I hate this world! What's wrong with talking, what's wrong with trying to let everyone win?"
It shouldn't be like this…
"Why does wanting that make me the fool! How can you say I 'did good' when you're like this!? What part of this do you have any right to be happy about?"
He looked proud…
"You know what, you deserve this! I tried to talk! When that failed I tried to compromise! When that failed I even warned you! I told you didn't I? I was striking to kill! I won't feel anything for you…"
So why…
Why couldn't I stop crying?
"...damn it all."
He did my pride a favour and didn't acknowledge it, keeping his gaze on the roof.
"Bold of you to say that to a ninja, even on his deathbed… but it's nice to see that you can get angry. I was starting to think you didn't feel anything."
"I hated you."
"You mentioned that, I never saw it. I used to be a stick in the mud myself. Had the whole 'Ninjas don't feel, ninja are tools' schtick. My teacher beat the snot out of me until I decided to fight back. He told me that no matter what, in the end we can't do anything about being people first. He wasn't any good at talking with words, guess unlike my old man I wasn't good with my fists either."
"That's…"
"Stupid right? I thought the same thing, but neither of us knew any better."
He breathed a sigh.
"You should probably scram brat."
I took a couple of steps before turning back.
"Do you… have anyone? To stay with you?"
"Nah, after the war, I didn't trust myself around people. Based on how I treated you, I was right."
I paused, then shuffled back to his table, bringing a chair with me.
"What now kid?"
I mumbled something.
"Speak up!"
"Noone… should die alone."
I sat by his side, and took a deep breath.
"So… if you don't mind… I'd like to… sit here with you, until the end."
"Do what you want, kid."
A pensive silence fell.
I could.
It might be my only chance.
Another deep breath.
Here it comes…
"Actually, I'm 28 years old. So… not much of a kid."
"Huh, figures, how'd that happen?"
He might think I'm joking, but it got him talking at least.
"Well, some people die… and stay that way, I… woke up again…"
[…]
"...on the bright side you dodged… the 4th great ninja war, that's something for me… to look forward to."
"Lucky me, which idiot starts it this time?"
"Madara Uchiha."
"You're shitting me."
"Nope, he was still alive… and kicking until like ten years ago-"
"So he got the gears rolling to start the next war before kicking the bucket huh? Bastard."
"Actually, no. Some… idiot brings him back… using the reanimation jutsu…"
[…]
"...so with this 'internet' thing, you could speak instantly with anyone else? That sounds like Yamanaka bullcrap."
"Yup, all… tech though…"
[…]
"...and that's how.. Mutually Assured Destruction… is supposed to function as a peacekeeping tool."
"That just sounds like… Tailed Beasts with extra steps."
"...and less human sacrifice."
"Point."
[…]
"Hey mr, are you still with me?"
"What? Yea, yea… so this Descarte… guy…"
"Famous for the saying 'I think therefore I am'..."
[…]
"Mr, do you have family?"
"Yea…"
[…]
"Mr, is there anything more I can do for you?"
"Nah… I sorted my… affairs… years ago…"
…
"Mr..?"
Silence answered me.
Natsuhi and I got permission to leave the village to bury the body. He was apparently too damaged to be worth anything as a resource.
We found a clearing with a patch of yellow and green flowers. He'd mentioned something about the flowers in his mothers garden being those same colours, so I thought it would fit.
Like he said, no one else bothered to come now or before he died.
A branch planted in the ground marked his grave. I left the headgear of his uniform with the headband on it.
"He was a despicable guy…"
"He hurt Issai, he hurt me, he hurt other kids…"
"He started as a ninja far too young, and never had room to become much else…"
"...despite that, he was a person and not a tool. He loved everything mango, had troubles saying what he meant, and in the end the thing he took pride in was his position as a teacher. Even if he was a shitty one."
"Rest in peace Mitsutada, I hope you get the chance to learn to do good in your next life."
I offered a silent prayer.
"For what it's worth, thank you."
I clutched the one thing he'd given me.
A jutsu scroll for the academy basic three.