BXBX NOVEL Chapter 6 - 6. The Wounded
Seeing them being such lovely creatures, all the villagers realised that their fears were for nothing and that these creatures want nothing from them except equal treatment.
Tailed beasts were huge, and the villagers used to listen to them talk sometimes. They realised that these creatures were real siblings, and were hundreds of years old, and had even tried initially to befriend humans but they were shunned and hunted instead.
Soon, a small council of elders of the village and Chief gathered in a makeshift hut.
"Chief, those spirits are not evil at all. They are just like us. They wanted to live in peace, but they were continuously annoyed and hunted by Shinobi. They are old and wise beings akin to gods on land." One of the elders said.
The chief nodded, "Yes, they are walking relics of our history. They have seen us people establish villages, and then destroy them in wars. They saw the worst humanity had to offer too many times. No wonder they do not seem to trust humans.
"They aren't spirits. They are saints. We will call them saints from now on, understood? And we will give them the respect they deserve. As long as we act normally and don't make troubles, I'm sure they can come to like us."
Everyone agreed to this decision. And hence, since that day, the people of the village stopped fearing the tailed beasts. Not completely, but still, they were trying.
They slowly found out that even these mighty beings were also hungry for social interactions, and to have people to talk to around them.
...
1 week later.
"CHOM CHOM..." Shiroken cutely called Chomei.
Chomei, who was busy helping the villagers erect some big structures, stopped and looked back in shock.
"AAAA... SHIROO... YOU SAID MY NAME?" He was on cloud nine as he heard Shiroken.
"Chom Chom," Shiroken repeated. It seems that's all his vocabulary allowed him.
Shiroken then turned to Kurama and called his shortened name too, "KU-KU."
"Hey, hey, say my name." Saiken came running.
Shiroken stayed silent for a while, trying to remember what Saiken's name sounded like.
"MOAA?" he said with a slightly tilted head.
"NO, that's what cows say. I am Saiken. SA-I-KEN" Saiken corrected him.
"Sa-Sa..." Shiroken blurted with a satisfied smile and nod.
"He's getting smarter, it seems," Gyuki said.
Son Goku added, "About time. He needs to become superior to those mindless humans soon. He will be as intelligent as Apes."
Nobody corrected Son Goku there. All knew that Apes were not smart creatures but Son Goku was a hardcore pro-ape supremacist.
Jin, the little boy, had by now become a play friend of Shiroken. And he always stayed nearby him. He also tried to get Shiroken to say his name this time.
He softly poked his chubby cheek and asked, "Lord Shiro, say my name too, please. It's JIN."
Shiroken stayed silent for the most part. Then, when Jin again went ahead to poke his cheek, Shiroken opened his mouth and bit his finger. Initially, Jin did not worry because he did not have teeth.
But, how wrong he was. Shiroken's teeth had grown out the last night, and the reason he was calling everyone's name today was to tell them his teeth were feeling itchy.
*BITE*
.
.
.
It took 3 seconds for Jin to understand that his finger was hurting. Then, he screamed in pain. "AAAAAAAA... it hurts... Lord Shiro... Don't bite my finger off."
Kurama quickly used one of his tails to tickle Shiroken to laugh and release Jin. The poor boy now had teeth mark on his finger and it was also bleeding. Seeing the blood, Shiroken immediately crawled to him.
His face looked apologetic and he quickly used his unknown power to heal the injury. Then, he went ahead to patted him on the forehead as if consoling Jin.
"He's got teeth now. Does this mean he will also eat food along with milk?" Saiken wondered loudly.
"I think so," Gyuki muttered.
"Then I will have to increase the scope of my animal farm to meet Shiro's meat requirements. If he eats meat as much as he drinks milk, he will need a lot." Saiken said.
Shukaku arrived then, "Do you not think about anything other than your farm and keeping Shiro fed?"
"NO! Feeding him is my job, and I love my job," Saiken blurted immediately. He was the most serious bijuu in the camp now when it came to the well-being of Shiroken.
"Hmm, we will need some good and big utensils to cook the food. Also, some spices to make it taste amazing so that way Lord Shiroken will become happy." Rakumatsu slowly walked with his cane.
"And where can we find all this?" Kurama inquired.
"Maybe in a bigger village, with a market. Or maybe a travelling merchant caravan. We are so deep inside the forest that there is no way of reaching out to the world. We cannot buy clothes either." Rakumatsu explained to him.
Kurama was a blunt person, so his ideas were also chaotic, "Just tell me where all of this will can be found, and I will destroy that market and bring everything here."
Gyuki as always reasoned, "No, don't do that. We don't need unnecessary trouble. We have lived in peace for a while now, and if we make trouble they will come out to find us."
"Then what do you suggest?" Kurama asked with disdain.
Gyuki looked at Rakumatsu, "Village Dama is supposed to be a secluded place for Shiro. And this village will always stay that way. You people need to become self-reliant so that you can produce everything for yourself. From clothes, steel, to spices and so on…"
"Send a small caravan to the nearest market village. Buy all the necessary material from there, from steel forging equipment to seeds of various spices. We will help you with the construction of storehouses and buildings, so bring a year's worth of material. And by the end of this, you will become self-reliant."
"Remember, nobody should follow you. You know the consequences."
Rakumatsu nodded, "I understand Saint Gyuki. But... we do not have any money for all that."
"Take the gold, it's of no use to us anyway. Make a good plan and buy everything you require. Understood? You will leave tomorrow morning." Gyuki ordered him.
"ACHOOO..." Shiroken suddenly sneezed while playing with Jin.
Rakumatsu saw him and smiled, "I will bring a lot of tasty sweets for Lord Shiroken."
Saiken agreed, "Good, bring a year's worth."
...
The next day, Chomei helped them and transported their small caravan of 3 Bullock carts and 4 horses to the edge of the forest near the road. From there on they would be on their own. Although they had a few swords with them, they knew that if they were to come across a bad Shinobi they were as good as dead.
Leading the caravan was Jin's mother, Fumiko.
They had a long way to go as the tailed beasts had set up their camp in a very secluded place. Even though Chomei helped them, they were still many days away from their destination.
But at least no wild beast would dare to attack them as there was the scent of the tailed beasts on them.
After 6 days of travelling at a very fast pace, they arrived at an old village. This village could be called a city, except there was no such term in the world just yet. It had a thriving economy as many Shinobi had gathered here to make it a base. These were Shinobi that were not from big clans.
Still, the administration of the big village was taken care of by a normal human lord.
There, Fumiko spent one day gathering everything. From steel equipment to seeds. From weaving machines to sweets for Shiroken. They also bought a few stuffed toys for Shiro and small kids in the village.
After that, they paid the forced toll and left the village silently without attracting any bad eyes.
"It sure was nerve wreaking at the gates. I thought they would take all our items." one of the caravan's guarding men said.
Fumiko nodded, "They could have done that if I had not said that I was headed to the Uchiha clan base to sell our items."
"To think we have to use the names of those who destroyed our lives to save ourselves. Tsk... I hope when Lord Shiro grows up he teaches all of them a lesson." Another guard said.
"Yes, he is such a miracle child. I am sure he will become a very great person someday, and he's so kind... and cute... aw..." A female who was handling the Bullock cart started fawning over Shiroken.
"EYES ON THE ROAD. We need to return safely first." Fumiko warned them sternly.
But their luck was not on their side, it seemed. On the 5th and the last day of their return journey, they found a female body floating in the river. They were resting at the back at that time.
Fumiko went in and dragged the body out.
The body was that of a little girl that turned out to be not dead, and so Fumiko tried to save the girl. She looked no older than 10 years old. Pressing her chest repeatedly, Fumiko was able to get water out of her lungs. But then she saw so many wounds on her body.
"Bring me some clothes." She ordered a man.
Soon, she tied her wounds and put her on the cart, to take her with them or else she might get eaten by animals there.
"What do you think happened to her?" One of them asked in wonder.
"Check her clothes to see if there's something," Fumiko ordered.
A girl in the caravan quickly patted the injured girl's clothes. Soon, she felt something hard and clanking. Putting her hand in, she took the items out.
"AAAA... S-Shinobi..." She fell back.
Their caravan stopped as soon as they all heard this. Fumiko quickly went to check and saw there were some kunai that had a seal on them.
Everyone immediately recognised the seal and this lead to them becoming angry and full of rage in a second. One of them even unsheathed his sword.
"KILL HER..."
"SHE'S AN... UCHIHA!"
[You can see the village leader on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]
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Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*
Thank you for your support!