Chapter 17
The never-ending rain didn't wash off the pain or the loss Yahiko felt. He could only meditate and recover his chakra. He tried his best to blank out his head, listening only to the rain and trying to focus solely on the feeling of the rain falling on him and the sound around him.
But all he could hear were the memories of the kids running around, calling him their big brother, and playing with him. The laughter and excitement when he showed his new ninjutsu. And now here was only silence.
After a while, he finally managed to focus on the rain. And after a few more hours, he recovered enough to move once again. Even though his body was cold from the rain, he felt refreshed, and his mentality had stabilized enough to think of what he needed to do next.
"Yahiko," Nagato looked at him first. "I found out that those who did this to this town were going west. If we hurry, we could catch up to them."
"And do what?" Yahiko asked. "Kill them?"
"They can't get away with it!" Nagato was adamant. "We have to stop them; we have the power to do so."
"Will it bring back the people who are already dead? Will it restore this town? I don't think so. And what have they done? In their minds, they only protected themselves from the hunters sent by the village to take them down. This town doesn't even exist in their minds. Even if we find them and kill them, it will not be justice, for they won't even know why we kill them. From their perspective, it will be a mindless murder."
"What are we going to do?" Konan asked, and she also seemed to want to go after them. "Nagato is right, we have the power to do something; we should at least try something."
"We do have the power," Yahiko replied. "Power to help those in need, not to hunt others. Nagato, since you know best the Earth Release jutsu, please build a few shelters. Konan, can you use your paper creation to look for supplies around?"
He didn't know if it was because of him or not, but Nagato and Konan felt like they had to do something. And Yahiko gave them something. As much as it would probably be satisfying to kill those shinobi who destroyed this town, it served no purpose for those who lived.
It would set them on a road with no return. A path that would bring only more misery, destruction, and death. He would never allow them to follow this path, no matter what. There was always something else they could do.
Helping those people who were still alive and were now struggling like they used to was the right thing to do. While Nagato created temporary shelters to hide from the rain and wind, and Konan looked for supplies, Yahiko went around seeing if anyone needed any medical assistance.
By night, the forty or so people who stayed in the ruined town were now more or less taken care of. Yahiko could only give some supplies that they managed to find to those who decided to leave.
With the dead buried and with nothing left behind, Yahiko decided they shouldn't stay here any longer. This incident brought back bad memories for Nagato and Konan. Yahiko didn't want them to relive those memories over and over again while staying here.
And one thing he was sure of, there were other places that could use their help. Since they were strong enough to roam this country now, it was time to use the power they were given. Yahiko wanted to see what kind of other places this country had to offer; he wanted to meet new people and see new sights.
Even though most of it was for him to get away from his pain. He will grieve, he will accept the pain, but he won't sit around and do nothing. He failed once, and he might fail again, but he had to try.
…
With Nagato able to easily use Earth Release, they never had to worry about a shelter for the night. They could make a cave anywhere they went, and with Konan's paper manipulation, even in the open, they were safe from the rain.
Compared to them, Yahiko felt quite useless. Well, at least he could use sparks to make fire, and he was still a better cook and fisherman than the other two. After gathering their supplies and leading the townspeople to their hideout, they left, not even looking back once.
Nagato wanted to go west, to make sure that those rogue shinobi wouldn't hurt any more innocent people. But Yahiko convinced them to go east. Those shinobi weren't their responsibility. They would only get in the way of those who hunted them.
It wasn't the time to get involved with villages and other shinobi. Even if they were strong enough to defend themselves, Yahiko didn't want to take any risks, especially when it wasn't needed.
They walked far in a short time. But they could never escape the grey skies. It was fine, it wasn't like they tried to. Yahiko just missed the stars. He missed the warmth of the sun.
He would have liked to sleep under the stars rather than in the cold rain. Well, at least with their chakra mastery, they could go through rivers and the water filling up the roads without getting wet. After all, they had a limited number of pairs of socks and boots.
"Dinner is ready," Yahiko said, presenting them with the fish he prepared.
The hot and steaming fresh fish filled their empty and cold bellies well. Konan prepared tea to go with it, and they were completely set. Still, as comfortable as they were, Yahiko saw the empty looks on Konan's and Nagato's faces.
That town was their neighbor. They came there for years to buy supplies and play with other kids. They were their friends, and now they were gone. And they had to live on with that, with the memories that would be lost with time, wishing they could change the past.
Regret was one thing, but guilt hit them harder. Especially Yahiko; all he could think about was 'what if.' What if he brought those kids to their home? What if they left their hideout and stayed in the town? What if he had been able to react to the signs of the fight in the village?
None of those kids survived. They lost their homes and families first before they lost their lives altogether. What was the purpose of those short lives? Why was the world so cruel to the weak and the small? Especially the innocent.
"Hey, what's that light?" Nagato asked as he stood guard for the first part of the night.
"Caravan?" It was hard to tell, but the row of lights didn't speak of shinobi. "Let's check it out. They probably don't even know about the rogue shinobi in the west, and we might be able to trade some stuff with them."
Yahiko needed anything to keep his mind off that town. And those people probably didn't know that the next town they were going to was already destroyed. He should at least warn them.
It seemed that Yahiko was right, as after gathering their stuff and a quick run, they reached the main road that was now filled with rows upon rows of carriages and horses, and hundreds of people.
Some with swords and bows, in armor, standing around and surrounding the caravan in defensive positions. Women were caring for the kids and cooking food for the rest. And most importantly, there were performers, singing and dancing and telling stories and drinking, and laughing.
Those who worked were in a hurry, those who didn't just tried to hide from the rain or enjoy the evening. And all of it was just on the side of the road. It looked like they were only now settling in for the night.
"Stop! Who goes there?" Yahiko's and the others' shadows could probably be seen as they were stopped, still quite a few steps away from the caravan.
"We don't mean any harm!" Yahiko yelled back, coming closer. "Where are you going?"
"What does it matter to you, you little rats? Get out of my sight!"
"Taka!" A woman with a kettle, hearing the commotion, came to see what happened and smacked the guard in the head. "Oh, you poor kids. Quickly, come! What are you doing in the rain all alone? Are you alone?"
"Yes," Yahiko replied, not knowing what else to say. "We came from the west. Are you going to the west?"
"Yes," the woman replied hesitantly, as she probably could sense something wrong from Yahiko's tone. "Did something happen there?"
"The next town over is gone."
"Gone? What do you mean, gone?" The guard was now alerted and worried.
"There were shinobi, and a fight broke out," Yahiko explained. "The whole town was destroyed. Not many survived."
"Oh dear," the woman's face went pale at the news. "Taka, quickly go inform the leader. And you kids, come. You must be cold and tired. Come with me and tell me everything you know."
Before they knew it, they were dragged by the fire, with bowls of stew in their hands and people looking over them, checking if they were alright. Yahiko didn't even have a chance to refuse them, as their wet clothes were taken away and they were wrapped in warm and thick blankets.
"The whole town…" People started talking around them after Yahiko finished recounting what they knew. "I thought that with the end of the war, we could return to normal. But the scars are still here, and now even more wounds in our country are opening up."
"Damn that Hanzo! I knew the moment he took the power of our village, nothing good would come from it."
"Watch what you say. If it weren't for Hanzo, our country would long since have been turned into nothing but ashes and graveyards. It's the other countries that can't leave us alone, always meddling and trying to take every last thing we have."
"They won't be satisfied until everything is taken from us."
Soon enough, the whole camp started to argue with each other, talking politics and whatnot, blaming one thing over another. Sharing fears and uncertainty. They were not part of that discussion, though, and were left alone to eat and rest.
But before long, the people started to drink, and the heavy mood lifted little by little as a few songs rang out in the camp, and people continued to drink and dance. And those who didn't join now talked about where they should go since their destination was now gone.
"You kids, come with me," the guard named Taka took them from the main camp to the side. "We don't have much room, but you can stay here. It's still better than freezing in the rain. If you need anything, just ask. Travelers have to share everything they have for all of us to survive."
His tone was now completely changed as he led them to one of the smaller tents. Yahiko still didn't know what to say. It felt quite wrong to refuse their offer. And it had been quite a while since people acted around them like they were kids.
In the town, they were known since they came to trade from time to time. And ever since he beat the bullies trying to take advantage of them, nobody treated them like kids. But these people didn't know them, and they treated them like they were innocent and weak kids.
To them, they were unfortunate kids who lost their home and were traveling all alone. Yahiko decided not to reveal the complete truth, since they weren't that far off in their assumptions. And Yahiko didn't want to alarm them, since they all seemed like quite nice people.
"Are we going to stay?" Konan asked.
"Yeah, for a while at least," Yahiko decided. "It isn't like we have a particular destination anyway. And they seem to be nice and kind people. But don't use your ninjutsu, nor do anything that might be suspicious."
Since Yahiko wanted to travel the country, the caravan seemed like a nice way to do so. There was no point in refusing them. And with those rogue shinobi around, Yahiko might be able to help those people if they encountered them.
A.N. As always. Thanks for reading and supporting me. If you want 7 more chapters of this story and 42 chapters in total with all my current stories, please consider supporting me on pa treon ironworlf852. Thanks in advance.