End of an Era (Naruto AU)

Act 4, Scene 30 Cont

Shizue knelt by a young man stripped down to long pants and a shirt. He couldn't be beyond his teens yet, and she knew that the only chance she had to stop all of this was to talk to him. He looked… he didn't look like a monster, but then who did? They were people.

Shizue took a breath and glanced over at where she'd prepared some food. She'd feed him, and she'd give music, if that'd help set his mind at ease. She'd give anything to know what was going on. The better to act against them if need be, the better to argue against acting in such a way if needs much. It was that simple. Shizue wanted what was best for the tribe, and she wasn't sure what the right choice was.

And when you didn't know, she thought, wasn't the solution to learn more? Certainly, she had a feeling if she asked Emiko for advice, this is what her teacher would have approved of. So she tried to compose herself as she leaned in and waited for him to wake up.

His eyes fluttered after a full two minutes, and then slowly opened. He looked almost like a child, that's what she thought at his wide-eyed, stricken look.

"Huh," he said, wincing.

His arms were behind his back, but even if it wasn't for that, he'd surely know he was being questioned. They were in a tent, a very small one, and with nothing else in the tent except for the two of them it wasn't very hard to figure it out.

"Are you okay? If you're hungry, I can help with that. I brought some food."

The man glared for a moment, and then blinked as he took her in. "Miss?" he asked, and then he got a soft look. There was something sly about those eyes, though, the way he said, sweet as honey, "I need to use the… could you just untie me for a moment?"

"Untie you?" Shizue asked, in a neutral voice, intentionally made to sound a little naive.

"You see, this is all a big misunderstanding, but I can't talk so well all tied up like this." He didn't seem to suspect who she was, and that probably meant he'd been felled during the first big attack, when the horses had gone down.

"Really?" Shizue asked quietly. "I hope it is, but I can't let you go… sir."

"Oh, well, it was worth a try. I ain't gonna tell you nothing, not even if y'all go, little missy, and get that shinobi that done in for us."

He spoke with a thick accent, but he was surprisingly understandable. Probably educated, Shizue figured, or at least, he saw enough of outsiders to learn the language well.

"What's your name? I can feed you for now."

"Fine, it's… you probably know it already. Shiratekka."

"A pleasure to meet you, Shiratekka-san, I am Shizue-chan."

"Wait... " the man said, slowly piecing it together, as she picked up a rice ball and leaned in. "You're… not from around here, are you?"

"What makes you think that?" Shizue asked.

"You got a weird accent, like you can't…" he paused, and Shizue realized he was about to insult her. "Sorry, but then… are you a shinobi?"

"Yes," she said, holding out the rice ball. "Do you want to eat?"

"The Gods can shave their heads if you think I'm gonna eat from the hands of a filthy… maybe you weren't… nothing."

Shiratekka shook his head and moved his mouth forward, opening it wide.

"I wasn't anything. I've only been here for the last few days. No time at all, really," Shizue said, softly. "So I don't know why you're angry, Shiratekka-san."

"Shir-ah-te-kah," he corrected, quietly.

"Ah, right," Shizue said.

"So what are you?"

"Security," Shizue said. "I was also doing odd jobs."

"Security… so, your sensei or whatever, he's the one who beat us all?"

"No, that was me," Shizue said, just as he took a big bite of the rice ball and had to swallow fast.

"Wait… how?!"

"Jutsu. Training," Shizue said, leaning in. "That's all it is. You've been trained too."

"Not enough," Shiratekka said, quietly, shaking his head back and forth.

"Why don't you just eat for now? Do you want to listen to music?" Shizue asked.

"You trying to soften me up?" he asked.

"And if I am… you won't eat?" Shizue looked at him, waiting for his response.

"Fine."

********

He ate slowly and carefully, but clearly ravenously, and talked about his horse, who was…

Probably dead. She couldn't say anything to make that okay, at least in his eyes, as he looked at her like she was a murderer, even when she told him that she'd not killed any of the people. He just glared at her and ate, and then she reached over and took up her flute and waited for him to say something.

"What's that?"

"Oh, I sometimes like to play a little music," Shizue said. "Not much."

"Ah, huh. What was it you did to us?" he asked, frowning.

"Breakthrough," Shizue lied, "It's pretty basic, it--"

"I know what a breakthrough does."

Shizue tried not to smile. She'd been hoping that he'd know, or that when explained he'd react… just about like that. "Fine, fine, sorry, sorry. But I'm not part of this, you know? I just stepped in and tried to help people out. I was watching people's kids the other day, two of them. Cute kids who have as little to do with this as I do, really. Do you have any brothers, or sisters?"

"A younger sister, but--" he began, before Shizue kept on talking, slowly driving out answers.

"I hope that she's okay. Are you poor, are you desperate? Do you need food? Is that it, are you starving? Because I could help you. I've made a little money from helping this tribe, I could buy food if it's that bad." Shizue said it quietly, allowing her concern to slip out. She usually didn't think that much about others: after all, it was her own that mattered more, but she really would use some of her money if she had to.

"We don't have a lot of money, but we don't need your pity," he said.

"Maybe you don't. I've been poor before, and I had my own sort of pride," Shizue said, with a slight, wistful smile. "I know what it's like. Or maybe I don't. If I don't, tell me." She stood up, tapping a rhythm with her foot as she got closer. "I don't know a lot of things. I'm just a young girl, but I'm trying to understand here. You attacked the cattle, and I assume the problem was the men, not the cattle."

"You're pushy just like my sister," Shiratekka groused.

Shizue laughed and plopped herself down, trying to channel a little more Saya, but nicer, as she tilted her head and said, "If you just tell me what's going on, I can try to do something. You know that. That's all I want, to understand. And I don't want to do anything, except listen."

"Do anything? Are you threatening me?"

"No, dear," Shizue said, her smile soft, arranging her face to be pleasant. "The other thing I could do is talk. I could talk about how important it is to know. I could talk about how I want to know what to do, and you can help me."

Shizue shrugged, and then looked away, "But Shiratekka-kuuun, I thought that if I just asked nicely…"

"You… little brat," he said, with a laugh. "You're teasing."

Shizue turned back, her smile now a little more sly, "I'm a kunoichi. We're very sneaky, but I'm not lying here."

He frowned, considering her words. "What about the others?"

"They're up, and they're probably talking by now," Shizue said. "I have this nice friend of mine. He talks a lot and he's really charming, I'm sure he's figured something out." It was true that Okiie was talking to someone else, and to Shizue, he was definitely charming.

Maybe not to a random raider, though.

"Fine… fine. Whatever. They poisoned the well."

"Who? This tribe? Which well?"

He held his head higher. "A week and a half ago, we got to one of their locations just as they left. There was one of them, Turushno, at the well. We didn't think much of it, because he said he'd slept in late, and he hurried after them. Then our cattle started getting sick, and so did some of the small children. Three cattle died: no children, thanks to the shinobi we had there, before we were finally able to find out. Someone had poisoned the well, and from the…"

"From the time the poison was put in?" Shizue asked.

"Yeah, it took time to steep, cause it was this rare desert poison. It had to be Turushno. And that bastard is a screwup… pardon the language. But he's loyal to his tribe. That's just how he is, so if he was doing it…"

"Do you have any other evidence that he was behind it?"

"Well, there's the fact that it's the exact sort of poison their tribe excels at. So high and mighty, just cause they have a sealer."

"A… what?" Shizue asked.

"Nothing, nevermind. But we were training warriors, so we thought: those all, those people are jerks, but we're good guys. So we'll just do an eye for an eye. Steal a few dozen cattle, and that'll show them."

Shizue blinked, a little stunned by how similar that thinking was to the chief's here. Measured, proportional responses, to actual slights.

"Oh. And you ran into me."

"You beat… all of them?"

"With help," Shizue said. "And I don't want to raid your tribe back. They're confused… or they say they're confused, and want to do a response that fits the attack, stealing a dozen or two dozen of your cattle."

"Really?"

"Do you want to talk to him?"

"No!"

Shizue nodded. "Very well, I'm going to sit here a while, in case you change your mind."

She took up the flute and began to practice with it, her eyes closed most of the time, looking at him only when she could hear him make a noise. He was just looking at her, as she played her music, a frown on her face.

"You're… really, really good."

"My mother was better," Shizue said, though now that phrase didn't have all of the pain she felt like it could have had.

Once it would have been the end of a conversation. Now it was the start. "But I'm trying to improve. More than that, I'm trying to use what I know. I like people listening to my music."

"What song is that?"

"A song I made."

"Oh," Shiratekka said, frowning. "So, you want me to talk to this chief Itakshir, and you think things will be okay? It's naive. It's nonsense…"

"Please," Shizue said.

"Fine. Fine."

********

Itakshir listened, there was that. Frowning a little as he heard it. "This sounds like nonsense, but I'll call him in."

Turushno was a short, slightly fat young man, in his mid-twenties, and wearing thick clothing that left his eyes almost unseen as he gave a short bow. "Uh, um. That day? A week and a half ago? I did sleep in late, uh, sorta. I was late to go with you all, but I didn't… I didn't go to the well. I, uh."

"Yes?" Shizue asked.

"I had the shits. Y'see. I was in the toilet all the way until the last moment, and I had to run off to catch up with you."

"Yeah, right," Shiratekka said. "You're following Shizue-chan here, but not me."

"We don't know about this… why would we poison you?" Itakshir.

"Because you're jealous we have better warriors," Shiratekka said.

"So… wait," Shizue said, holding up a hand. "Your tribe has poisoners and… sealers? So, someone who does seals?"

Itakshir frowned and nodded, "Yes. We're not a martial tribe, but we do have a few people with talents that are often…"

"Associated with being a shinobi. I understand," Shizue said, wondering at who else might be involved. "So, you have poison. Would the poison you're talking about work that way?"

"Well… yes," the chief admitted, "But we didn't use any on the well. They're our friends and allies. And we learn the poisons because they're the first step to creating antidotes. We sell them, actually."

"Sell them?"

"To the locals. And to Suna, too, sometimes," Itakshir admitted, though he looked reluctant.

Of course he was: wouldn't someone who could make poison like that someone who should be a shinobi instead? Even if that's the only talent, it was still… notable. And a sealer, that spoke to the fact that Suna had to be ignoring quite a lot. "Is it common knowledge?"

"Well, yes," Itaksihr. "What, you think we've been framed?"

"I'd believe it as a shinobi," Shizue admitted.

Shiratekka stared at them. "Is this a trick?"

"Yes. But I'm not sure if either of our tribes are the ones playing it," Shizue said, glancing over at the hapless Turushno.

Hmm.

What to do?

[] Continue on your way, but examine the poisoner's logs and talk to them, to try to get to the bottom or find any proof or evidence that this might be a frame-up.
[] If the well really was poisoned, perhaps there is some evidence at the stopping ground that could be found, though it'd be quite a trek.
[] Perhaps it's time for that meeting in force… with the captive, Shiratekka, as evidence of their opinion and goodwill… hopefully.

******

A/N: I know this was short, but. You're the one who made the decision!