Just outside the leaf village a lone silver haired figure dressed completely in black tiredly trudged along the old dirt road leading the village's main gate. Christ but this last mission had been a bitch. He thought as he tried to bite back an exhausted yawn. He felt so physically and mentally drained that he couldn't wait to turn in his paper work on the mission and go home for some much needed sleep and R&R before he went to check on Uzu.
His late sensei's orphaned daughter.
Perking up a tad at the very thought of said child, he smiled to himself as he thought about the scrolls, books and other presents he'd brought back with him. Which included a pretty white kimono with pale blue flowers and soft green and pink butterflies on it, a matching set of hand made silk slippers, plus a matching pink and soft green butterfly hair comb.
There were other gifts stuffed in his pack, a few shirts, two pairs of shorts, a nice jacket that she should be able to wear until after she hit her next growth spurt. Three sun dresses.
A cute, knee length green one with a pretty white floral design around the collar. A sleeveless sky blue ankle length with a little pink ribbon that tied at the throat. And then there was the faded pink one with some bead work along the collar that looked like little roses.
He'd liked that one so much that he had even snatched up the hair clips that matched the bead work.
He'd also gotten the girl five pairs of pants, and three new sets of PJ's before he'd finally gone broke. Yes indeed, he thought almost amused at his own antics. Those shop keepers had been able to see him coming a mile away. And would likely ambush him the next time he was in their particular neck of the woods.
Of course hopefully by then he'd be an old man and wouldn't feel so inclined to buy gifts to spoil little Uzu with. He chuckled to himself as he thought about the girl's reaction when she woke up in the next day or so and found everything he'd gotten for her.
He knew that as an orphan, she tended to slip most people's notice unless they were angry and wished to use her as a scape goat of sorts. And as much as he wished to completely stop that, only a legal guardian could step in and do so. And as much as he adored the child, his life as a shinobi was simply too unstable for him to be allowed to take her in legally.
But that didn't mean that he had to like it all though. He checked up on her enough between missions to know that people were attacking her and hurting her. Attempting to end her precious life or to break her of her will to live. He knew that the store owners in the village gave her spoiled foods- like fish, meat, eggs, and milk- just to name a few things. Just like others charged far too much for what little clothing she could manage to purchase. Leaving her to run around the village in rags a majority of the time.
He knew she had never had toys. Or had anyone to celebrate her birthday with.
She was denied even the smallest and kindest of things due to the hatred and ignorance of others.
And though he often felt no better than anyone else- it wasn't because he didn't care. The fact that he bothered checking on her at all, should count for something. But his mind sniped at him often, that it didn't.
There was no excuse for his absences. No excuse for her to suffer needlessly or go without.
And though it was a foolish hope on his part, he hoped that he could somehow fix things... He just had to take it one step at a time. Which was possibly why he had bought so much for her while out of the village.
Uzu may be an orphan but she wasn't just any orphan, dammit. And he wanted her to have nice things and be happy.
Come to think of it, he stopped walking for a moment as a thought occurred to him, he had been out of the village for quite some time. He wondered if anyone had bothered to check up on her in his place.
Normally he'd ask Gai to do something like that since he was a decent fellow. Weird and mentally and physically exhausting to be around- but decent. However this time he hadn't been able too seeing as he'd been practically escorted out of the village by some Anbu after locking up his apartment.
He wondered if she had been eating right? If she had any decent food? If anything serious had occurred while he'd been gone? Had the villagers picked up their abuse and other shit towards her?
Was she still running around in rags? It was still summer now but fall was just around the corner and the whether would be getting cooler than comfortable for little children who liked warmth.
Maybe I should check on her before I go home. He thought worriedly. And while he was at it he could check her food and some other things and maybe switch some better stuff out with what he found and drop off her presents before he took off.
Resuming his movement down the road, he picked up his pace until he was practically running. The sooner he returned to the village, the sooner he could see for himself whether or not Uzu was alright and hopefully lay the sudden dread he was feeling in his heart and mind to rest.