Chapter 47: Purpose
…
"You…what?" I asked, perplexed.
"I challenge you," the man repeated, "for the Uchiha Dojo!"
I glanced over my shoulder at the clan dojo. In the days since Obito and Kakashi's departure, it had been left completely unused. When I looked back at the man, a tall, tanned, heavily muscled civilian with a mustache and goatee, he grinned.
"Why?" I asked. "And what exactly does this 'challenge' involve?"
"Heh, I'm surprised that such a renowned warrior clan is unaware of dojo challenges," said the man, shaking his head. "It is a grand tradition between martial arts schools to defend the honor of their teachings in combat. As a proud martial artist, it is my ambition to test my strength against the most fearsome of opponents, and no clan is more fearsome than the Uchiha. So come! Take me to any who would dare trade blows with the legendary Iron Fist of the Crimson Mountain!"
The legendary what?
"This isn't a school," I said. "It's a clan dojo. Besides, I'm busy. I have surgery in an hour, and I need to—"
"So you don't accept my challenge?" he barked. "Then I lay claim to this dojo!"
Huh?
I might not have been familiar with dojos and schools and their challenges since those tended to be for civilians and taijutsu-specialized ninjas, but that didn't sound right.
"No," I said, irritation making me curt. "This is my house, and my dojo is not open for challenges. Please leave so that I can go to work."
"If you want your dojo back, challenge me for it," said the man.
He tried to brush past me, swaggering into the dojo like he owned the place, but I was out of patience and time. I brushed his arm with a fingertip and Hiraishined him to one of the training fields about a day's walk outside of Konoha.
Thinking that that was the end of it, I went to work.
Only to find the man stalking toward the house the next morning as I was getting ready to leave. I waited for him to arrive and didn't even allow him to get a full, blustering sentence out before I Hiraishined him back to the distant training field a second time. This repeated for four consecutive days.
On the fifth day I heaved a frustrated sigh as I felt the man approaching. But I had limited options. As a clan head, it would probably look bad for me to go around knocking out civilians even if they were literally asking for me to do exactly that.
"I said 'no'," I said as the man arrived at my front gate. "I will not fight you for the rights to my own house."
"And by the rights of training dojos, this is now my house," said the man. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. The hospital had me on a tight schedule. While Tsuande was still around for a few more weeks, she was also busy with the preparations for her transition to Ame. And I needed to get ready for a trip I was planning with Haku. I didn't have time for this. "I will not leave until I have fought the master of this house!"
I was about to correct him on the 'master of this house' part, but then I paused.
…Huh, that gave me an idea.
"Well, if you must, then please enter the dojo," I said, smiling sweetly. "And the 'master of this house' will be with you shortly."
The man nodded, satisfied, and I Hiraishined up to Madara's room, knocking hurriedly before opening the door.
Madara was eating the breakfast I'd brought up with one hand and was reading a braille scroll with the other.
"There's a man here who wants to claim our dojo as his property," I said, skipping any preamble. The clock was ticking, and I had to get ready for my morning surgery. "I've sent him away with Hiraishin numerous times, but he keeps coming back each morning."
"Surely a civilian is not too much for the Uchiha clan head," said Madara.
There was a bite to that remark, but I ignored it.
"I don't have time for this," I said. "He wants to see the master of this house, and, well, you built this place, so that's you. So please go down there and make him leave. Oh, and make sure he doesn't come back."
I Hiraishined to the hospital before Madara could object only to Hiraishin right back.
"And you're not allowed to kill him," I added, before returning to the hospital.
I didn't give either of them another thought as I performed my morning operations and had almost completely forgotten about the whole ordeal until I saw the man being wheeled in on a gurney an hour later. I took over from the triage nurse to check his wounds, but Madara had been careful not to inflict anything permanent. I healed him in a few moments, and when he sat up, I put my hands on my hips.
"I suppose you've withdrawn your claim on my house?" I asked.
He blinked up at me. Then he was on the floor, kneeling and bowing his head.
"…Yes, Uchiha-sama," he said. "Please forgive my disrespect. I have decided to become a rice farmer instead!"
"It's fine," I said, waving him off. "Just don't challenge us again."
The man shook his head vehemently, and one of the nurses guided him to the front desk where he could be discharged. Meanwhile I went back to work to finish my shift, which turned into a double shift because there was a sudden influx of training accidents.
I didn't mind, though. At least the dojo debacle was over and done with…
Is what I thought until I arrived home that evening to find at least sixty people waiting in line outside my house.
"What?" I asked, nonplussed. Then I spotted Lee in line as he waved me down. "Lee? What is everyone doing here?"
"Yosh!" shouted Lee. "We're here to fight the legendary ninja, Uchiha Madara! Word has spread throughout the village that he is defending this dojo, and many powerful shinobi would like to test their strength against him!"
At Lee's words, there was a loud crash as a green-clad ninja burst through the wooden wall of the dojo leaving a Guy-shaped hole in his wake. I peered inside to see Madara standing in the center of the dojo with a self-satisfied smirk.
"I see I'm going to have a bit of trouble unless I do this!" said Guy as he began opening chakra gates…in my courtyard.
When ninja got serious, there tended to be a lot of collateral damage.
"Guy-sensei!" I shouted. "NO INNER GATES IN MY HOUSE!"
Abruptly, Guy's chakra cut out.
"Oho, Kiyo, didn't see you there!" he shouted. "Come, witness the fire of Youth!"
"The dojo is closed!" I said. I would raze the damn thing tonight. Obito and Kakashi could train in the garden when they returned. "Everyone go home."
"What?!" Lee objected. "But Kiyo-san, we've been waiting in line all day! If we do not challenge the strongest of opponents and reach the greatest heights of our training, how can we truly embrace our Youth?"
All day? Had Madara been fighting for the last sixteen hours straight? He didn't seem particularly tired, but he'd probably been sticking to taijutsu. Suddenly, I understood the reason behind the abrupt influx of 'training accidents' arriving at the hospital today.
Itachi would not be happy about this.
I glanced back at Madara, who had taken the opportunity to grab a water bottle. He looked none the worse for wear. In fact, he seemed positively cheerful by Madara standards. I stepped through the hole in the wall and pressed my hands against his chest, running a diagnostic jutsu. Madara allowed it.
Yep, he was uninjured.
"You're alright?" I asked under my breath.
"Hn, this is nothing but an idle amusement," he said.
I squinted at him.
"Are you enjoying this?" I asked.
"Hn."
That was probably a yes. Then again, Madara was a warrior, born and raised for battle. I'd heard stories about the harsh training that children of our clan had undergone before the formation of Konoha. Back then, children died young. Parents, teachers, and siblings showed their love by pushing the younger ones to grow stronger. Coddling someone was a good way to get them killed.
And suddenly I felt like a complete idiot.
Madara often tried to pick fights whenever we spoke. I'd assumed that he just enjoyed being a jerk, but maybe that was just his way of reaching out and showing affection? Of looking out for me and trying to make me stronger?
And was this his method of doing the same for the whole village?
I bit my lip and turned back to the line of people who still looked dissatisfied about being turned away. Among them were various Konoha shinobi and the four ANBU from a few weeks ago. They were all unmasked and in plain clothes right now, seeming just as disappointed as everyone else. I guessed that they wanted to see if they did, in fact, have the power to compel Madara to do anything.
There were also a few obvious civilians and at least three foreign ninjas. I doubted that any of them actually believed that they'd succeed in a fight, but now that I thought about it, I probably shouldn't be too shocked that so many people would like a chance to battle a legendary ninja like Madara. Especially in a safe environment like a dojo challenge where no one was expected to die or be permanently injured.
"Okay, okay, you can come back tomorrow," I said. As the assorted ninjas cheered, I leaned over to Madara. "And you can patch all these holes while I make dinner. Oh, and keep it contained. I don't want to come back one day and find the house in ruins."
Madara grunted again, his lips quirked in the barest hint of a smile.
"And…" I said. Oh, I just knew I was going to regret this. "If you want to, do you think we could…spar sometime?"
Madara's smile vanished for a moment before it returned as a full grin.
"If you think you'll be worth my time," he said. "Yes, I'd like that."
Well, everyone needed a hobby, I supposed.
…
I placed the burning incense beside Zabuza's blade and said a small prayer for him. Beside me, Haku did the same. The grave was in a better state than I'd expected. Apparently Haku had been stationed in the Land of Waves for a while when he was with Orochimaru and had maintained the site whenever he could, so it wasn't any great hardship for us to tidy it up a bit now.
"Thank you, Kiyo-sama," said Haku as I stood. "You did not need to take time from your journey to come here for me. I know that you have many commitments."
The ocean breeze kicked up and the waves crashed on the rocks below.
"It's alright," I said. "I was planning to come here anyway, so it only makes sense for us to come here together."
Itachi had been a little reluctant to let me go on this mission. There was no need for me to deliver the child seals of my healing nexus personally. Most of the others had already been distributed, either at the previous 5 Kage summit or by ninja courier.
But I'd insisted.
"Why would you have come here?" Haku asked. There was no doubt in his voice, just curiosity. "He was only ever your enemy."
I hummed.
"He may have started out that way, but when Gatou revealed the truth, Zabuza became our ally, at least for a little while," I said. Okay, 'ally' might have been stretching it a bit. But we had shared a common enemy, so that was close enough for me. "And even if he hadn't been, I still feel grateful to him. After all, if it weren't for Zabuza, I would never have met you."
"I owe him everything," Haku agreed, his normally placid voice becoming rough. "I only ever wished to repay him, but in the end, I could not be what he needed me to be."
We both looked at the grave and the broad sword that marked it. There was no name etched in stone, no dates of birth or death, not even an epitaph for the legendary Demon of the Hidden Mist.
"...In the end, Zabuza wanted me to heal you instead of him," I said at last. "Because the purpose of our existence is not found in how useful we are to others. It is found in the lives of the people we care about. He cared about you. He wanted you to live. And you did. That is what he needed."
"I have tried to live in a way that would honor his memory," said Haku. "As a living weapon…and as the heir to the Demon of the Hidden Mist. I thought that I had killed the weakness in my heart, but though it is quiet now, it still remains. And I fear that I will never be the legacy that he deserved."
"It's only natural to want to follow in the footsteps of the people we love and admire," I said. "But is his reputation as the Demon of the Hidden Mist really the part of him that you cherished the most? Is that the part of him that is most worthy of being carried on?"
Haku hesitated.
"I don't know," he said, sounding lost.
"It's alright," I said. "You don't have to know right away. But maybe…you can think about it?"
Haku nodded, still staring at the grave and the executioner's blade that marked it. We stood like that for a long while, listening to the crashing waves until it was time for us to go.
…
I wasn't sure what to expect when I was suddenly called to the secure wing of the hospital. I'd half-expected it to be Madara-related, but he'd spent the last week happily defending the dojo and otherwise staying out of trouble. Instead Itachi briefed me on an attack involving 'exploding humans'.
"Preliminary examination suggests a blood limit, though the exact nature is unknown," said Itachi. "The victims can be rendered unconscious with the Sharingan which prevents detonation, but foreign chakra remains in their bodies. I was hoping you could determine if a permanent cure is possible."
"Of course," I said, setting down the report and approaching the tables where three people were lying unconscious and covered in chakra suppression seals. I sank my chakra into the closest one and frowned. "This chakra feels…like water release with a genjutsu component, so yin release as well. It seems to be blood-based, at least as a transmission vector. Give me a moment, and I can purge it from his body. Are these the only victims?"
"The only ones to survive," said Itachi as I finished with the first victim and moved onto the next. "I've sent Obito to rendezvous with Sasuke and investigate."
"Just Obito?" I asked. He'd been on a diplomatic mission to rebuild impoverished communities with Kakashi, Yamato, and Shizune. Kakashi was there primarily as a guard and supervisor while Obito and Yamato did all of the actual building, and Shizune was acting as a field medic for communities that didn't often have access to healers. I also privately thought that Tsunade had assigned her to act as an observer since Kakashi wasn't exactly impartial when it came to Obito, and Yamato had a tendency to go along with whatever Kakashi wanted.
"Obito knows of an island where wealthy civilians gather to pit slaves with blood limits against one another in combat," said Itachi. "He expects to find more information about this type of rare blood limit there."
"Well, if it's only civilian fighters, they should be okay," I said, as if that was a necessary caveat. Sasuke and Obito could face a dozen Kage-level fighters and still come out the other side unscathed. And Sakura wasn't exactly a pushover either.
"I'd like you to consider possible treatment methods for any future victims," said Itachi.
Because there was no telling how many people would be attacked, and the killer showed no qualms about hurting innocents.
"Of course, Onii-chan," I said. In fact, I already had an idea...
…
"Kiyo-chan, what are you doing here? I sent you the letter."
I hadn't expected an enthusiastic welcome, but I'd privately been hoping for something a little warmer than Sasuke's mystified expression. We were standing in a secluded hallway, though there was a vast room just beyond filled with a roaring crowd.
The Coliseum.
"First off, a piece of paper that only says 'Everything is fine' is not a letter," I said. "I expect the next one to have at least three hundred words. And I will be counting. Also, I came here to deliver this, which should help you with the exploding humans." I held out my custom medical scroll. "It contains a healing nexus specialized for removing contaminated chakra. Just apply the seal to the victim and run chakra through the central node."
As it turned out, sealing away the healing nexus was pretty easy, so much so that I was considering creating a ready stock of them for standard medical packs.
"Ah," said Sasuke, taking the scroll and unfurling it to reveal a master seal with one thousand child seals, each one of which could be applied to a victim. I didn't actually think he'd need them all, but better safe than sorry.
"Oh, Sasuke-chan, who is this?" asked someone.
I blinked at the cutesy honorific, as I'd never once heard anyone refer to Sasuke as 'Sasuke-chan'. Well, Naruto might have used it once or twice, but only as an insult. The speaker was a young girl with silver-blonde hair and violet eyes. She stood between Sakura, Obito, and a large man with blue hair and gold eyes. All three of them had just rounded the corner.
Her chakra was—
"This is my little sister," said Sasuke, carefully packing away the scroll. Both he and Obito seemed completely relaxed around these strangers. Sakura seemed annoyed, but not outright hostile toward the girl.
My eyes flicked between Sasuke, Sakura, and Obito with my Sharingan casting an auditory genjutsu.
This girl's chakra matches the chakra within the exploding humans.
Sasuke blinked slowly. Sakura's mouth pursed. Obito didn't react at all.
"There's something else I need to see," said Sasuke aloud, turning and heading down the hallway with a swish of his cloak. "You should return to Konoha."
"Hey, wait up!" said the girl, hurrying after him. The man and Sakura both followed, but Obito lingered for a moment. Technically, his part in this mission was done, but...
Stay with them a little while longer, I thought. There's something I want to do here before I go.
Obito nodded and followed the others out of sight. Once they were gone, I headed toward the sound of cheering. On a stage far below, a pair of teenagers were fighting for the amusement of the crowd.
Slaves, huh?
We'd see about that.
Arranging things turned out to be relatively straightforward. Apparently, how it worked in the Coliseum was that contestants faced each other in scheduled matches, and the losing slave became the property of the winner's owner. Barbaric, but it was something that I could work with. The owner of the Coliseum had stars in his eyes when I made my proposal. Or maybe they were dollar signs. He'd cleared his schedule for the special event. Of course, he wasn't the only one I needed to convince…
"And now for a very special contestant!" the announcer shouted into the microphone. "A legendary fighter, a monster in human flesh, the one who declared war on all of the Elemental Nations…Uchiha Madara-sama!"
…but Madara hardly needed to be talked into a fight.
He materialized on stage in his red armor with his gunbai and kama slung across his back. The crowd went wild.
I sat back with my arms folded. The owner had provided me with special box seats where only the wealthiest clients were allowed to view the matches. There was a spread of high-end food and alcohol and it was populated by about twenty other well-to-do patrons, some of whom had dropped everything for a chance to see the Uchiha Madara in action. Each of them had put up at least one or two contestants to challenge Madara, which meant that we'd be able to save about thirty slaves.
I was taken aback that so many people were willing to bet against Madara, but civilians had little understanding of exactly how strong some shinobi could be. At least if people like Gatou, Hatou, and Tukai were any indication. I doubted that any of them fully appreciated the difference between an average jounin and Madara. At least not yet.
I sipped my tea.
The first five challengers went down without a noticeable struggle, much to the chagrin of their owners.
That was when the first patron pulled out his contestant.
Slow down, I thought, projecting the genjutsu to Madara between the sixth and seventh matches. If they think you're unbeatable, more of them will pull their fighters out.
Madara didn't deign to respond, but he did allow the seventh contestant to nick him with a lightning-shrouded blade.
"Oh no," I murmured quietly, just loud enough for the men beside me to overhear. I bit my lip and stared down at Madara with a worried expression. "Maybe his injuries really were too much…"
The man who had pulled out his slave put him back in, haggling with a rotund woman for her place in the match order. I very carefully did not smile.
The eighth through twenty ninth matches went about the same way. Madara defeated them easily, though he allowed several to score a hit against him. He used a subtle water ninjutsu to create beads of sweat on his brow.
Whenever the other patrons seemed uneasy about a match, I made sure to mumble feigned words of concern.
"Oh, that was too close…"
"He's lucky to have dodged that without his Sharingan…"
"Perhaps he is getting a bit too old for this…"
It worked, mostly. Only three were astute enough to pull out their fighters. The rest were left angry, but I had no sympathy.
"Well, that's a relief," I said aloud as I stood. "He's really pushing himself too hard. He might need a few days to rest before he's prepared to fight again."
The owner grinned like a man that had just made a fortune on a long night of betting.
"I do hope you intend to return soon," he said. "Will that be all for tonight? I'll arrange for the tag transfers immediately."
"Thank you-," I began, but my words were drowned out by Madara's booming voice.
"Is that all you have to offer?" he shouted. He was painted in red, having discarded his chest armor a dozen fights ago to better allow his opponents to score minor hits against him. It was all his own blood too since I'd forbidden him from seriously injuring any of the other fighters, but it still made him look wild and fierce. "Such weakness disgusts me. Show me your strength, all of you! If you wish to claim me as your prize, then come at me with everything you have! I'll take you all on at once, and I will bow to the first one who can strike a single blow against me!"
That made everyone perk up. The owner looked at me.
"Um…" I said.
"I accept!" screamed the rotund woman who had lost two of her slaves already. "You three, get down there now!"
Three of her slaves leaped obediently to the platform below, but they weren't the only ones. There was pandemonium in the box as all of the patrons accepted the offer, throwing every single slave they had at Madara at once. And they weren't the only ones. In the audience below, there was more screaming as slightly-less well off attendees offered up their own fighters to the mix. At least two hundred combatants crowded around the platform. The announcer pushed his way forward.
"Are we ready?" he asked, glancing up at the owner, who looked to me. The crowd roared in response.
"…Sure," I said.
The owner nodded to the man below, who brought his arm down.
"FIGHT!"
And Madara activated his Susanoo.
…
"...How many did you bring back?" Itachi asked.
I was standing in his office, having just given him a report on my recent unsanctioned rescue mission. Karin was sitting at her desk with one eye twitching. Haku was looking between us with more reserved interest.
"Well, we rescued 278 slaves, but some of them wanted to return to their home countries, so I've sent them off already," I said, hoping that by mentioning the larger number first, he wouldn't be quite so bothered by the slightly smaller one coming next.
"How many did you bring back?" Itachi repeated, unwilling to indulge my feeble delay tactics.
"...215," I admitted.
"215?!" Karin shouted. "Where are you going to put them all? And don't say the castle because we don't have that many rooms. And I am not going to stand in line for the bathroom each morning!"
"Madara is building a barracks for them until we figure out what to do," I said. By now they were probably all settling in. "And Ame is actively recruiting for their new training program with Jiraiya-sama, so I'm sure that some of them will be interested in joining…"
I could only hope that many of them would be interested, because while I couldn't just abandon them all, integrating that many foreign ninja into the village wouldn't be easy. Not to mention the cost of sustaining hundreds of people for an indefinite amount of time. Housing wouldn't amount to much considering the size of the Uchiha district and Madara's ability to construct buildings, but feeding and clothing over 200 people would be difficult. The funds of the Uchiha clan were substantial, but we wouldn't be able to provide for them all forever.
Itachi sighed.
"There are more concerns than simple housing and upkeep," he said. "These individuals all possess blood limits, and having hundreds of them suddenly entering a single village could be interpreted as a deliberate consolidation of power, much the same as Hashirama's initial capture of the tailed beasts. It could complicate international relationships."
"We can always just do what the First Hokage did and trade them to the other villages," suggested Karin. "That might even earn us a few favors."
"No," I said flatly. "These are people. Some of them are children. I won't allow them to be traded and used like property. Besides…there might be a slightly better way. Instead of trading them like resources, why don't we have an…intern-village job fair? We can invite leaders from all of the different hidden villages together, and they can make a pitch to the rescued slaves as prospective recruits. You know, offer things like housing, training opportunities, and a stipend to get settled. There's even a precedent since some of Suna's former shinobi are still being integrated into other villages already."
"That would incentivize village representatives to criticize one another publicly in order to make their own offers look more enticing," Itachi pointed out. "It could raise tensions and spark conflicts."
"Yeah, but some of that would probably be justified," said Karin. "Mei is making big changes in Kiri, but that doesn't erase their very recent past."
I glanced at Haku, who had borne witness to the massacre in Kiri firsthand, but he merely inclined his head.
"It would be irresponsible to not warn them of potential dangers," he said softly. "Not all who possess powers are fortunate enough to find a home with those who would care for them properly."
Karin snorted in agreement.
"We can consult with the village leaders about the specifics of the negotiations," I said. "We all have pasts that are darker than we'd like, but I believe that most, if not all, villages are working toward a better future now. I'm sure we can come up with a system that's both fair and informative without devolving into insults. If you think this might work, I'll go talk to the newcomers and see if any are interested. Once we know how many are open to leaving, we'll know what to tell the other village leaders."
"That's fine," said Itachi. "I'll send a team of administrators down to begin the registration and documentation process."
Yeah, that would probably take a bit of time. Better to get it started now.
"Sure, I'll tell Madara that they're coming," I said.
"Kiyo-sama, may I accompany you back to the Uchiha district?" Haku interjected before I could Hiraishin away.
I blinked.
"...Sure," I said.
Haku turned to Itachi.
"With your permission, Hokage-sama," he said, to which Itachi gave his assent.
I took Haku's hand and Hiraiashined us to the entrance of the Uchiha district. From here I could see the 'barracks', which turned out to be a four-story mansion across the lake from our home. I could sense all 215 chakra signatures inside plus Madara, who seemed to be sorting people into rooms.
"...So?" I prompted when Haku did not speak or move to step inside the district.
"...I wish to make a request, Kiyo-sama," he said hesitantly. I nodded, expecting as much, and he continued. "I have been considering what we spoke about in the Land of Waves. About the legacy that I wish to carry on for Zabuza-san. You said that there were children among the slaves you rescued. They will likely be too young to fully understand what the village leaders are offering, and they may be easily swayed by those who would do them harm."
I nodded because, yes, that was a very real possibility. A guarantee, actually. We were ninjas, after all. Lies and deception were part of the job, and the villages were looking to recruit literal child soldiers.
"I take it that you have a suggestion?" I guessed.
"I wish to care for them as Zabuza-san once cared for me," said Haku. "I wish to keep them safe and to train them so that they can protect themselves. But I will need a place for them to stay. So please...accept them as vassals of the Uchiha clan."
Ah, that was a pretty big request, especially since I knew nothing about them or the threats they could potentially pose, both to the clan and village. But there was another reason for my hesitance.
"I cannot accept children as vassals when they are too young to fully understand the oath," I said. Haku wilted, so I took his hand. "But they don't need to be vassals to stay here with you. They just deserve the chance to decide for themselves. Not now, when they're young and frightened, but when they're older and ready to decide if that is what they really want. I would be happy to help you care for them in any way that I can. There are about 20 of them under the age of 12. Do you think you'll be able to handle them all?"
While I couldn't sustain hundreds of people, a few children wouldn't be too difficult.
"Yes," said Haku instantly, but then he paused. "...Though it will mean that I can no longer assist Itachi-sama in the tower."
"That should be fine," I said. "Naruto will return in a few weeks, and since he's going to be the Seventh Hokage one day, it will be good for him to assist Onii-chan with all of the administrative tasks in the tower. Once we make that transition, you should be free to look after the children. Is that alright?"
All of the tension seemed to melt from Haku's shoulders, and a small smile appeared on his lips.
"Yes, Kiyo-sama," he said. "That will be quite alright."
…
AN: Alright, one more chapter to go. It should be a fairly short chapter, so I'll include some information about post-story events in the notes such as pairings and their subsequent babies that didn't make it into the actual story.
