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Chapter 74: The Cave, The Fire, The Sand
After a moment of silent calculation, Ragnar nodded. "Alright," he said. "For a while."
Yahiko's face split into a brilliant, unrestrained grin. "Great! I'm Yahiko. She's Konan."
"Ragnar," he replied, offering the name without subterfuge. In the muddy backwaters of the Rain Country, his name held no weight, carried no bounty.
"From now on, we're partners! Come on, I'll show you our base!" Yahiko declared, slapping Ragnar's shoulder with a camaraderie that felt both alien and strangely earnest. He turned and led the way with a confident stride.
Ragnar followed, a subtle tension in his posture. This casual, physical familiarity was foreign. The Yahiko in his mind's archive was Pain, the stoic, godlike leader who spoke of agony and crushed villages with a thought. This exuberant, scrappy child was a dissonant prelude to that symphony of suffering.
Konan gave him a shy, tentative smile and fell into step beside him.
Their 'base' was an abandoned cave a short distance from the town, hidden by a thicket of thorny brush and cascading rainwater. Inside, it was damp and smelled of earth and old smoke, but it was organized. Stacks of pilfered goods lined one wall: canned food, sacks of rice, folded blankets, and mismatched clothing. It was the horde of survivors, not thieves.
Ragnar scanned the inventory with a professional eye. They weren't destitute. Yahiko had skill, or at least, relentless nerve.
"This is home," Yahiko announced, puffing out his chest. "We stick together now. If I have food, you eat. That's the rule." He rummaged in a small crate and pulled out half a wrinkled apple, its skin still glossy. He held it out to Ragnar like a sacred offering. "Here! It's still good. A welcome gift!"
The longing in Yahiko's own eyes as he looked at the fruit was plain. In this land, such luxuries were for others.
Ragnar looked at the proffered half-apple. The gesture, so large for their meager means, was unsettling. "I'm not hungry," he said, pushing it gently back. "You keep it."
Yahiko's hand closed around the apple almost reflexively, then he blinked, realizing his eagerness. A flush of embarrassment crept up his neck. "Ah⊠right. Yeah." He scratched his head, the picture of abashed enthusiasm.
Konan watched from the side, a soft, genuine smile touching her lips. Her happiness seemed simple, rooted in companionship and the basic security of the cave.
To cover his fluster, Yahiko hopped onto a wobbly, overturned crate, striking a pose. "Okay! Operational briefing!" he declared, his voice taking on a mock-serious tone. "Priority one: stockpiling. We need reserves. You never know when a stretch of bad luck will hit."
He paced the limited space of the crate. "Priority two: acquisition protocol. Stealing is a last resort. And some targets are off-limits. Absolute, no-exceptions off-limits." His expression sobered, a shadow crossing his face. "The guys with the forehead protectors. The ninja. Don't even look at them wrong. If you cross themâŠ" He drew a finger across his throat, the gesture chillingly graphic. "They'll kill you. Just like that."
Konan hugged herself, her earlier smile gone. She stared into the cold ashes of their previous fire. The memory of ninjaâof the war that took her town, her parentsâwas a fresh, cold stone in her gut.
"And if you have to steal food," Yahiko continued, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "do it in a crowd. Plan your exit before you grab. And for the last time⊠stay away from the ninja. They're not people you can reason with. They're death."
He spoke with the fervor of a street-corner prophet, a natural leader rallying his tiny tribe. Ragnar listened, but his mind was elsewhere, lulled by the rhythmic patter of rain on stone and the bizarre domesticity of the scene. It was a distant echo of the Hokage's long, winding speeches about Will of Fireâinspirational, repetitive, and ultimately background noise to a soldier's pragmatism. His eyelids grew heavy. For the first time in weeks, there was no immediate threat to analyze, no ambush to anticipate. A rare, unguarded drowsiness crept over him.
Yahiko, finishing his grand speech with a flourish, looked down to see his new recruit's head nodding, eyes closed. A vein ticked in Yahiko's temple.
"Hey! Are you even listening?!" he yelped, jumping off the crate and shaking Ragnar's shoulder. "This isn't a joke! You get careless, you die! Don't come crying to me!"
Konan looked up, concern in her violet eyes. "Ragnar, he's right. Please, you have to be careful. If we're caught stealing, it's just a beating. If we anger a ninjaâŠ" She trailed off, the unspoken horror hanging in the air.
Ragnar opened his eyes, the momentary peace replaced by his usual calm focus. He looked from Yahiko's frustrated face to Konan's worried one. "What if I told you," he said, his voice quiet, "that I am a ninja?"
The cave fell silent.
Yahiko stared. Then a loud, snorting laugh burst from him. "PfftâHAHAHA! Okay, okay! The game is up! I confess!" He struck a dramatic pose. "I, too, am a ninja! A jonin, in fact! Fear my mighty⊠uh⊠sneaking skills!"
Konan giggled, a sweet, light sound that momentarily dispelled the gloom. "It would be wonderful to be a ninja," she sighed, the laughter fading into wistfulness. "At least then⊠you wouldn't feel so helpless."
"Don't you want to be one, Konan?" Ragnar asked, watching her closely.
She looked down at her small, calloused hands. "A civilian like me? There's no chance."
"I do!" Yahiko interjected, his earlier joking replaced by a fierce, burning determination. "If I could learn ninjutsu⊠I'd use it to protect people. To stop the guys who prey on the weak just because they can."
Learn ninjutsu. Ragnar filed the words away, a seed of an idea taking root.
Outside, the sky deepened from iron gray to charcoal. The rain continued its eternal lament.
A secluded mountain path, several miles away.
A squad of seven Sunagakure ninja moved with the weary tread of soldiers on a long patrol. Their leader, a sharp-eyed man named Sajiro, glanced at the darkening, waterlogged sky.
"It's getting too dark to move safely," he announced, his voice carrying the dry rasp of the desert. "Amegakure ambushes are easiest in this gloom. Fan out. Search for defensible shelter. A cave, an overhang. If we find nothing, we'll use Earth Release to dig in."
The squad dispersed into the dripping forest.
Minutes later, a young chunin returned. "Captain! There's an abandoned cave about five hundred meters northeast. Looks dry enough. Could house us for the night."
Sajiro nodded. "Good. Lead the way. We'll secure it and rest. Double watches tonight."
The squad of seven Sand-nin changed course, heading toward the promise of shelter.
Inside the cave.
A small fire crackled, fighting bravely against the damp chill that seeped from the walls. Ragnar, Yahiko, and Konan huddled around its meager warmth.
Yahiko exhaled, his breath fogging in the cold air. "We're running low on dry wood. We need to find more tomorrow."
"There's a little left by the entrance," Konan said, standing up. "I'll get it."
She walked to the cave mouth, where a small pile of scavenged branches was kept just inside the dripline. As she bent to gather an armful, she happened to glance out into the twilight-shrouded clearing beyond.
Her body went rigid. The branches slipped from her suddenly numb fingers, clattering to the stone floor.
Yahiko looked up. "Konan? What'sâ"
Konan didn't turn around. She stood frozen at the entrance, a small silhouette against the gray rectangle of outside light.
Ragnar was already on his feet, his senses snapping to full alert. He didn't need to look. His Observation Haki, which he'd kept muted in this moment of false peace, flared to life.
Seven chakra signatures. Not the weak, flickering lights of civilians or hungry orphans. These were concentrated, disciplined, and sharp. Shinobi. And their patterns⊠wind-whipped, dry, and abrasive.
Sunagakure.
They were less than a hundred yards away and moving directly toward the cave.
(End of Chapter)
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