The Dessicated Village [B-Rank]

Thu May 20, 2021 6:14 pm

The Dessicated Village

Spoiler:

Sukotto pulled on his hat and gathered up provisions as he went over the mission details one more time. He was to journey out to a small village where people were getting sick and dying because someone had taken over the water supply and was charging citizens exorbitant amounts to gain access. The requestor hadn't been specific about who exactly was charging these prices though, so he honestly had no idea what he was in for when he reached the village. With that in mind he made sure to pack food and water for the trip, along with his general shinobi weapons and gear.

With that done he headed out and through the cleft. The moment he left the village the heat of the sun hit him full force. He didn't know how anyone could live in these types of temperatures. But thinking back, there was a time when that had been his life. Sweltering heat during the day, the sun beating down mercilessly day in and day out. Despite that, and the fact that he had to steal food to survive, he didn't hate those days. He had never felt so free, nothing holding him down, no responsibilities of any kind taking him this way or that. Back before his appetite for blood had driven him from that simple life, he had been happy in a way. He didn't regret his choices though. He loved his new life in the village, a place he felt he belonged, at least in part. He could never feel truly at home since he was the only person there that seemed to have a literal thirst for blood, but since he kept that side of him hidden, he was accepted, even if it wasn't all of him.

Sukotto did his best to travel quickly across the barren desert. He had been moving across sand all his life, so the unstable ground didn't cause him any trouble as he ran. The heat on the other hand was overwhelming. In the desert heat was always dry, which was technically a blessing as the huge amounts of sweat he produced evaporated near instantly working to try and cool him down, unfortunately the human body wasn't nearly good enough at self regulating to deal with the sweltering heat upon him.

After about two hours he stopped at the small oasis that was about midway to the village. He drank a copious amount of liquid as he tried to replenish all that he had lost on his way here, then refilled his water supply. Since he was on his way to a village that lacked water he had brought far more than was necessary for the trip, so even without the oasis he would have had far more water then necessary, but it was always good to refill when given the option. He also took a short break under one of the few trees near the water, grateful for the meager shade it managed to provide. With a sigh, he began his treck back into the desert and toward the village in need.

Just over two and a half hours later, Sukotto reached the village. Sand covered the village as he looked upon homes in disrepair. Villages like this always looked a little rough, but this was something else. The lack of strength in its inhabitants, the inability to care for their belongings was obvious. This village was near death. Soon it would disappear, swallowed up by the desert, along with all of its inhabitants. A nameless village that nobody would remember, that as far as anyone knew, had never existed.

He walked in, his eyes falling on the largest of the decrepit homes. He walked toward it, figuring that the leader of this small village would be here. Honestly he just expected someone to be there. If he still lived in a small village like this, he would have holed up in this building if he had his pick and with things as they were, he probably would have. He knocked, and waited.

A few moments later the door opened, a wiry old man standing in the door frame, a hollow gaze falling upon the shinobi. His stare was blank, empty, and lacking any recognition despite the headband upon Sukotto's brow. A dry voice cracked as he spoke, "Yes?"

Sukotto looked the man up and down, before he let his eyes peer past him, noticing a few forms deeper within the home. "I am a shinobi from Sunagakure, may I come in?" He couldn't be sure if the old man had absorbed what he said, but he stepped back into the home, allowing Sukotto passage. He turned and closed the door behind him as he thanked the man.

The interior of the home was in no better condition than the exterior. Sand and miscellaneous refuse strewn across the room with no apparent order or care. He took in the other inhabitants, a few children and a couple adults. All looked to be in bad shape, but the children seemed better off then the others, likely because the adults had given them what little water they could get their hands on. He pulled a flask off his belt and handed it to the old man. "Water." A slow understanding came into his eyes as he held the flask and pulled it back, trying not to spill any as he poured it into his throat greedily. The old man didn't have a chance to drink much though as Sukotto quickly pulled it away from him. "Slowly, your body can't take it all at once." With that said he walked to each of the inhabitants letting them drink a small amount before taking it back from them.

Turning back to the old man, he noticed that his expression seemed clearer. Sukotto said again, "I am a shinobi of Sunagakure and I came to help your village. Can you gather everyone else here? I have water for everyone." He walked over to one side of the room and set his backpack down as the old man left the home. Reaching in, he pulled out a water skin, leaving the other nine where they were. He needed to do his best to force these people to only drink small amounts before their bodies could handle more, and having all of this water on display would likely lead to problems. He would prefer not to use physical force on these rundown people if he could help it.

Slowly people began to enter the home, each getting a sip of water before having it taken from them. All told there looked to be only about twenty five people left in the village and aside from the old man who had let him in, nobody looked to be over fifty. It was sad, but not surprising. They would have been the first to fall due to the lack of water.

He walked over to one of the children, a boy of about six years old. He looked relatively healthy as a portion of whatever water the citizens had been able to scrounge together likely made its way to him. He bent down so that he would be about eye level with the boy, "Hey I have a job for you." He handed him a water skin. "Take this around to everyone and let them have a sip, then take it to the next person. Don't let them have any more than that." He smiled at the boy, "Think you can do that for me?" The boy's eyes lit up, excited at the power his little job gave him and nodded vigorously as he set off to take up his task.

Now that everyone had arrived, he turned to the old man who had just gotten another sip of water. "Can you tell me what has been happening here in the village?"

The old man smiled at the young boy through his cracked lips, then turned his attention to Sukotto. "Thank you. Yes." He was silent for a few moments as he gathered his thoughts, "Some time ago, it is difficult to say when exactly, a man came to the village. He seemed nice enough, and was looking to move a trade route through our little village here. He flashed ryo all over the place and he drew us in. Traders started arriving at the village, bringing us goods we never even knew existed. Foreign clothes, jewels, luxuries we never thought we could have came in. We bought into it hook line and sinker. In return for these items that he sold to us for far less then they were worth, he gained land in the area. We didn't even notice when he purchased all of the land the water was on. It didn't take long for things to change after that. The goods kept coming, but we could no longer afford them, and he started charging us for access to the well. It is deep, and there is a vast reservoir just east of the village. You can't tell from looking at it, but the water there supplies much of the surrounding area. That had been his goal from the start, we were just a means to get a hold of it legally. Now that he controls it, he controls the trade routes that come this way, forcing everyone to pay him for access to the water. He didn't need us anymore, and we can't afford his prices, this is the result."

Sukotto wasn't expecting the story to go the way that it had. He was expecting to fight some bandits, or thugs who had taken the well. This was something completely different, and not at all in his comfort zone. How the hell was he to deal with someone who legally owned the water. He couldn't just take it from him, even if he had taken advantage of these people, or he would be the one breaking the law. "Thank you for your story." He walked over to his bag and pulled out a few more water skins before he strapped it on his back. "Drink slowly. I am going to go have a little chat with that asshole."

He exited the village heading east. His legs devouring the distance in little time at all. A large building quickly came into view, a brand new building built with the lives of the small village he had just left behind. Anger smoldered within him, but he still had no idea how he was going to help those people. So instead of dwelling on it, he simply walked up to the building, hoping something would come to him.

A large guard stood at the entrance blocking the door. He looked Sukotto up and down, and just as he was about to speak his eyes alighted on his headband. The words died on his lips and he took a step back, "A shinobi of Suna, we don't get many of you out this far." From the way he was staring, it was apparent he had never had the pleasure of welcoming a shinobi out here. He was completely out of his depth and had no idea what he was supposed to do.

Sukotto stepped past him, his voice coming out harsh as he pushed the door open. "I came to speak to your boss." He didn't slow his steps as he spoke again, "Why don't you go get him?"

Standing in the entranceway he felt the anger in him growing at the opulence before him. People were dying so some piece of shit could amass this wealth. He didn't even notice when the guard behind him ran past to go find his boss. He just stared at the display of wealth around him and struggled not to just start smashing things.

Eventually the guard returned and led him deeper into the building. They passed many works of art, and a number of additional guards as they made their way to a lavish room in which a man sat in a large oak chair, behind a massive oaken desk. The man stood, his oily voice just pissing Sukotto off more as he stepped out from behind the desk and spoke. "Welcome shinobi of Sunagakure. I am Hachi, it is a pleasure to have you here. I assume you have heard of my thriving business. Does your village wish for a partnership perhaps?"

Sukotto was taken aback, "A fucking what? Partnership? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

Hachi stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth agape. "I..." He composed himself slightly as he went red in the face. "Guards! Get this filth out of my sight."

Sukotto did a little circle, looking at each one of them. "You weren't hired to deal with someone like me. I am not gonna hurt this piece of shit, though I really want to." He paused and looked back at Hachi, making sure he caught his eye. "I really want to." He returned to addressing the guards, "But if you touch me" He pressed his hands against his face, and dragged them down, his claws leaving small cuts as tiny red beads of blood formed "I will fuck up your world."

He was about to say more when he felt something on his face. He reached up and touched it, his finger coming away with a small red drop on it. He then noticed the red on the tips of his claws. "Oops." His thought process completely derailed, he made his way over to a silver vase and leaned in close, trying to get a look at his reflection, small drops of blood falling upon the marble floor. Reaching into his weapons pouch, he produced a small white rag and wiped his face clean, trying to get a closer look. "It doesn't look too bad, but I can't really tell." He turned to the closest guard, "Hey come here, these aren't too deep are they?" The guard didn't move, so he walked to him. "Oh calm down, I am not gonna hurt you. Just tell me if the cuts are deep."

The guard didn't say a word, but shook his head slightly, indicating they weren't bad. Sukotto grinned, "That's a relief. Thanks." Walking back over toward Hachi he said, "Now where was I?" He drummed his fingers along his leg in thought and blew out a breath, then snapped his fingers, "Oh I got an idea. Come with me." Nobody moved. "Fucking come on!" exasperation edging into his voice.

He walked out of the building, Hachi and the four guards following behind. Sukotto turned to face them, "Okay so you are literally killing that village with your prices. People are dying, people have died. So, we have a couple options. One, you can give them water for free. Or two." He turned and walked about 20 meters away then formed four handseals Hare-Monkey-Ram-Dog. As the last seal finished his mouth opened and water began spewing forth at a tremendous rate. Sand was blasted away as ten meter tall waves of water shot away from him in every direction. The massive wall of water crashing down and flooding everything around him in a fifteen meter radius.

Once he had finished and the water had stilled, he walked back toward Hachi and his men. "I can supply this whole area with water and your business will crumble." He completed his sentence from earlier as if he hadn't just created massive waves and flooded a small part of the desert. "Now personally I hope you choose option two. Hell of a lot more work for me, but fucking you over would be just the best. Unfortunately for me, while you are a detestable human being that I would just love to" He made a jerking motion with his arm as if he was ramming his hand into Hachi's throat. "You aren't technically breaking any laws, I don't think." He screwed up his face in thought, "I really should brush up on my laws. Criminal negligence maybe? I know I have heard the term, maybe it applies, not sure." He tilted his head slightly, "So... one or two?"

Sukotto took his time as he walked back to the village. Once again wiping the small amount of blood from his face. He lit up a cigarette as he walked, inhaling deeply then exhaling the smoke. He was annoyed with himself for how he handled that whole situation. He liked the eventual outcome, and found his solution damned hilarious, but he knew he needed to keep his emotions in check. His actions when he first reached that mansion had been unbecoming of a shinobi. Justified maybe a little, but that wasn't how he was supposed to handle himself, especially not when he was on a mission. He needed to do better in the future.

He was especially annoyed with himself because now that he had calmed down, he actually had come up with a salient argument. If he had just brought up the fact that with the village dying, the trade routes would likely shift, and while he certainly wouldn't lose all of his business, he would face a substantial financial loss. On top of that, with the trade routes passing through the village, the villagers would have money to build up and grow the area. With the village growing, it would bring in even more business and in the end Hachi would only increase his wealth.

When he reached the village he walked back into the large house where he had left the inhabitants. They had finished the water he had left, so he pulled out his five remaining water skins and handed them out, then addressed them all. "So Hachi has agreed that you no longer have to pay for water. You are free to take as much as you need."

The group stared at him, the old man finally taking the initiative to respond. "Just like that?" Sukotto nodded to him, "Yep. He will still be charging stupid prices to the traders that come through, but for you it is free. And so help me god, if he tries to charge you a single ryo, you contact the village again. I will take care of it personally, free of charge."

When the villagers had finished drinking the rest of the water he had brought with him, Sukotto said his goodbyes and made his way out of the village. He may have made some mistakes on this mission, but at least he had succeeded in getting the villagers the water they needed. In the end, that was the only thing that really mattered. If he could in turn take this experience and grow and do better in the future, all the better.

[WC 3136]

Ryo 6100
AP 30

21 Speed
10 Chakra

Applying 962 to Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave raising it to A-rank from previous thread 2500/2500
Applying 2174 to Ninjutsu Enhancement 2174/2500

Thu May 20, 2021 6:29 pm

approved

The Dessicated Village [B-Rank]

The Dessicated Village [B-Rank]

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