Chapter 2
Dan Ootsuno was a man with soft heart — this characteristic made him unbefitting of being a merchant. While he lacked the coolheadedness that all merchants possessed, he made up for it in spades with sheer passion and guts.
Unlike other merchants who traded vegetables, clothing, jewellery or antiques. His set of goods was a little bit different from them. Children. He sold, traded, exchanged children — young enough not to remember their past, old enough not to die on the road. Of course— it was illegal. But where there is a demand, there will always be a supply.
Most people would rather employ honest and naive children from small country villages rather than shrewd orphans who would fight tooth and nail for every ryō. Of course, there were other reasons -loopholes in the law- that allowed the intermediary sign less than fair contracts for these children. Rarely could or would these children leave after their glorious employment.
Could it be said that this intermediary -Dan Ootsuno- was a bad person? — No. Not really. He helped many of them escape a certain death. If they were smart enough or lucky enough, they could live very well. It could be said rather than sell, he helped them find employment — for those who lived on the streets it was something they could only dream about. Though this whole procedure was illegal, many clothed their eyes on that knowing that it was someone's last straw.
Yuuki lost count on how many days they spent travelling on the road. The whole he spent half in delirium — all that rocking, bumping and knocking made him motion sick, various less than pleasant smells also didn't help his situation. Haruka who acted like an angry cat - hissing and scratching at every stranger- had to devising escape plans and tend to her cousin.
The second shinobi world war was raging on in the Land of Fire. Even if they traveled on the outskirts of their country from one poor unimportant village to another— it was still too reckless of Dan. Four burly men were hardly a deterrence for desperate starving people.
The only saving grace they had was the unspoken rule not to interfere with them. Drought, epidemic, infestation. Who knew if one day you would be the one trying to sell your own child as the last resort?
The smell of despair and desolation was thick in the air as they entered a small farming village. The ground was cracked with craters splashed all over it- as though painter randomly made splotches with a brush on a canvas. Instead of lush vegetation only withering weeds were coming out of the ground. It was supposed to be rice paddy's field - abundant with water. Further down the road the autumn forrest that surrounded the village looked half scorched. Forrest fire?
"Please…- hic- I beg of you- take my child with you!" Yuuki could see the skeleton looking woman loudly banging her head on the cracked ground, the wisps of dust were rising in the air. Curious onlookers came to see the commotion– most women were thin and wiry – already on their last legs, men who farmed every day still looked robust and tanned but their skin was dry, and lips chapped. Dehydration.
Others either looked disapproving or were considering doing the same.
By the side of the woman stood tall but thin boy -a bit too old and too ordinary looking- brown hair and eyes, common face, typical native of Fire Nation. The boy was trying to stop his mother from kneeling. "Mother, please… don't do this." His jaw was set in a harsh line. "I don't care if I die, I want to stay with my family!" He screamed loudly; tears were welling up in his eyes.
"What do you know, you stupid boy!" she scolded him and continued with her pleading. Yuuki and Haruka exchanged secret glances wondering how Dan will handle this situation. "He is really hardworking and strong…"
Someone who looked like his elder brother held a two-year-old child in his hands, after hearing the words of the woman he turned his head away unwilling to see more, but not willing to interfere. The boy should be middle child.
Dan -the softhearted useless man- flung the bag of grain at woman's feet. The mother's eyes lit up in joy. She grabbed the food almost forgetting to hand over the house registration and birth certificate of her son. The deal was done.
One bag of grain and one shell shocked boy later they continued on their way. Yuuki wondered how much Dan paid for him and Haruka. Maybe they were worth even less than that bag of grain.
Before they left Yuuki heard enough whispers from locals to know what happened in the village. "Stupid shinobi" "Should've have just been raided by bandits rather than being subjected to this excruciatingly slow death" "Never again" "Destroyed livelihood".
Dan stopped multiple times on the road and while he was able to grant employment for some of them, no one wanted this too old boy for themselves, it didn't help that his dazed expression made him look particularly slow witted. In the end Dan cursed and deposited him at one of the least crowded Orphanages they could find in some medium sized town. The boy went from guaranteed starvation to a possible one. Yuuki didn't blame him for looking entirely unimpressed and dejected.
The longer they traveled the bigger towns became, the higher the buildings were. New sights fascinated children - they all came from poor villages and couldn't even imagine something like that existing on the same land they lived on.
After bumping in the cart for God knows how long - only seven children were left with Dan. All of them had rather exotic or pleasant looking features except for Haruka with her homely face.
The cart finally stopped and Yuuki breathed a sigh of relief, the motion sickness was killing him. Haruka couldn't tear her gaze away from the sight in front of her. She distractedly hit Yuuki in the face instead of intending shoulder. "Yuuki, look…" her voice and hands trembled as she pointed in front of her.
The massive green walls with red scribbles appeared in front of the children, their jaws hung open in shock. Even if they looked up craining their necks they couldn't see the end of the walls.
Yuuki immediately knew- they arrived at their destination.
The night was getting darker, but the village seemed to light up with even more colour during this time of the day. Streets and building were adorned with lanterns and lamps of all shapes and sizes. Yuuki and others looked around in wonder as the village still teemed with life even during the night, chattering people milling about, food stalls with mouth-watering scents wafting from them, and many more sights and sounds and smells those children had never experienced.
The bright light shone from the the open door of the house and sprayed on the two people standing in the dark alley. "Ootsuno-san, you know that we do business during this time. You should have come tomorrow morning. Better noon even." The middle-aged woman in ostentatious kimono and red spots on her cheek masked by white powder said in displeasure.
"Or are you here for fun?" She asked with raised eyebrow, amusement thick in her voice.
Dan coughed uncomfortably and waved his hands in the air in denial. "Business… cough- only business." He scratched his head with embarrassment, his cheeks shone with hot flash. "Maybe later…" Both of them knew he wouldn't be able to afford even one night.
Tsumoru-san, the ex-worker and now manager of 'Red Blossom' Okiya- the biggest and most prominent entertainment establishment in Konohagakure- led Dan and children in-tow inside the building.
Yuuki and Haruka held hands together and trembled under laser like gaze of middle-aged woman. Before Dan didn't allow them to appear in front of other clients, it was their first time being looked at like a bunch of goods. Haruka bristled under her scrutiny, Yuuki fidgeted and hid his hands behind his back.
"Do you like any of them?" Dan asked with hesitation. What an incompetent quack. But at least he has eyes for goods.
"Mother would be the one to make final decision." She elegantly approached Yuuki and lifted his chin up. "What a striking pair of blue eyes. If not for those eyes I would have thought, you brought me Uchiha."
Tsumoru-san took the lock of his hair and carefully inspected it under the light. Dark blue, not black. Haruka glared at her from the side, while Yuuki was inching his body away from her.
After round of inspections, she pointed only at Yuuki, who could feel his heart drop. "I will show Mother only this one." He gripped Haruka as tightly as he could, but they were no match for able bodied adults.
"No!" "Give him back!" "He is not going anywhere without me!" Haruka screeched at the top of her lungs. Yuuki tried to bite and scratch the woman, but she didn't even budge. Screaming had no effect either but at least he could try.
Tsumoru-san clutched his hand and the shoulder in vice grip and dragged him into another room. Before clothing the sliding panel behind her she looked Haruka dead in the eyes. "Girl, I can guarantee that this place will be much better than whatever shithole you end up at. If you like him so much, then don't drag his feet down." The venom was seeping into every word she uttered.
Behind the door Yuuki could hear Haruka's cries. Only at this moment did he finally realise that he was sold by his family, that he would never see them again, that he was all alone. This whole journey he was being taken care of by Haruka, he thought they would forever stay by each other's side.
He could hear music and laughter somewhere faraway - behind the doors, further down the labyrinths of corridors and rooms. "Don't speak until spoken to. Don't you dare look Mother in the eyes. Just kneel and do as she say." Tsumoru-san's words didn't register in his head.
Finally, they reached the sliding door panel, before Yuuki could even do anything Tsumoru-san pushed his head and his whole body down in kneeling position. He could hear the gentle scratch of matches against the box, the cracking sound of wood being devoured by the flame and satisfied sigh of someone.
From the side Yuuki could see Tsumoru-san motioning him to get up. The older woman smoking a tobacco pipe gracefully approached him. The pair of silver glasses resting on the bridge of her nose made her appear extremely strict. "How old is he?"
Tsumoru-san was the one who replied. "Born in the year of hare. He is only four years old."
"Just the right age."
After that Yuuki was subjected to the one of the most humiliating experiences in his life. He was stripped naked and scrunitised from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. After finding him satisfactory Mother waved her hand in the air telling them to get out.
After he was bathed in the cold water he was sent to the attic, where other children were staying.
The sound that he would always remember from that day — would be the sound of the latch that locked them inside that shabby room from outside.
The sound that sealed away his fate.
"Mother, what do you think about new arrival? Yagura needs new Kamuro after what happened to the last one." Tsumoru-san sighed sadly.
"Don't talk about that dirty thing!" She said angrily. "How much trouble we went through because of that darn girl."
"I apologise, Mother." Tsumoru-san's face paled in a fright. She knew she overstepped.
"Still from the new attendants he is the most promising. Just his resemblance to the Uchiha would garner him enough popularity." She added tremblingly.
Mother puffed out the smoke in the shape of the ring. "We shall see. Wait a bit more."
"Understood, Mother."