A/N: A huuuuuge thanks and round of applause to hohum, who helped me brainstorm and bounce ideas around for some interesting future plot developments. You're the best!
Enjoy, guys!
.
.
The thick inverted triangles on my cheeks continued to surprise me every time I caught a glimpse of my face in a reflective surface.
I had just completed the last bit of my morning hygienic routine, wiping off my face after having washed it, but was once again blinking in surprise at my reflection in the mirror when I moved the hand towel away from my eyes.
The skin was no longer puffy and inflamed as it had been for a few weeks following the tattooing initiation, which I was thankful for. My skin had always been delicate and sensitive, and had been quite irritated in the immediate week following the night I received my tattoos. But now the flesh under and around my cheeks had returned to normal, and the tattoos were a bold testament of my complete acceptance as an Inuzuka.
The tattoos themselves were a privilege, one that was considered an honor, and I wore them with pride.
I no longer questioned where my place was in this new world, because the markings on my cheeks announced it loud and clear. My place and loyalty was with the Inuzuka clan. My family and pack.
The tattoos were a message to others, but they were also a message and reminder to myself of what I was capable of and who I was. It was a reminder that I too could be brave in my own way, that I could make a difference even without the advantage of being a kunoichi.
I was Inuzuka Mari: a woman of the head family of the Inuzuka clan, a member of the Resistance, a veterinarian in training, and a woman who was becoming braver with each day that passed.
A sharp rap on the door tore me from my thoughts.
"Hurry up, Kimari, I need to get ready!"
"Sorry, Kyohei! I'll be right out!"
I was also Inuzuka Mari: a woman who was hoarding the only bathroom in our small cabin.
Setting the towel back on its hook, I opened the door and slipped out of the restroom with a quick apology, taking a fussy baby from my "husband" and allowing him his own turn in the bathroom.
Aki seemed to know the drill as I walked into the living room and set her down onto a quilt we had spread on the floor for her. She still wasn't crawling yet, though she could roll herself around, so we used the quilt as a designated play area for her.
With Aki licking the bottom of her feet and Aoi successfully distracted from the fact that I had set her down, I got started on breakfast.
Our pantry shelves were nearly as barren as a desert, all but empty.
Food rations had been reduced again, until crops from farms outside Konoha began to yield their harvest. At the moment, the reality of what war meant for those who stayed behind was clear. Malnutrition was beginning to show its ugly face around the village for poorer families who had more mouths to feed. For those who didn't have enough money to get extra from the black market, and those who were not connected to any clans, the situation was only getting worse.
Rations were distributed based on family size and amount of people working in the household, which meant that many children were unenrolled from school so that they could work. More working members in a family meant a better chance at getting more rations. It was a direct repetition of what had happened in the last war when I was young here; I had been taken out of school as well to work at the market, and was never re-enrolled. It was disheartening to think that the same might happen to many other children.
Once a week, every Wednesday, one member from each family stood in long lines with their ration cards and waited in a long line to receive their allotment of rice and other things.
This week we had received a small portion of rice, some dried fish, a few vegetables, and a small jar of fermented soybean paste for a family of three. It made me wonder how other families with many children managed to feed themselves. Perhaps they didn't.
But there were ways to get around food scarcity, as I had learned in my last life and again in this life.
Not many people knew that common weeds, such as dandelions or horsetail weeds, along with other unassuming plants in the forest were edible. If you knew what you were doing and what to look for, you could make many things out of plants you might not have looked twice at before.
Every now and again you might get lucky scavenging the forest and find wild growing herbs for added flavor. Last week I had even scavenged some wild lettuce and mushrooms, and there were plenty of spring onions that grew by the river.
Preserving leftovers was something that I had recently begun doing – just in case things got worse. Whatever leftover rations at the end of the week, if any, were preserved and tucked away in case of emergency.
If you let rice soak overnight, and then cooked it with extra water before serving, you could nearly double the substance. It was somewhat soggy in texture and it stretched the nutrients of the rice thinner, but it helped in filling stomachs when there wasn't enough rice to last the week. Rice could also be made into porridges to stretch the resource as long as possible.
Dried meat or fish could always be rehydrated and eaten that way, but it was smarter to make a large quantity of broth out of it instead. That way you got a vitamin and nutrient rich broth that could be used in other things, as well as the leftover pieces, which could be added to porridge.
There were ways to scrape by when things got bad and resources ran low, and I was just happy that I knew these tricks. We had food. It was often bland and nothing to fawn over, but we had food and that was a blessing in and of itself.
Aoi was giggling with Aki as I began cooking the rice I'd soaked the night before, and soon enough, Kyohei joined the two of them on the quilt now that he was dressed in his MP uniform and ready for work.
We were lucky that he had been given the job, even if he had seen a substantial cut in his pay. If I was being honest, I was just happy he hadn't been sent to the front lines. I suppose we had Danzo's paranoia to thank for that.
Kyohei was going stir crazy trapped in the village, but at least he was under the employment of somebody he felt he could trust. These days it was hard to tell who was a friend and who would double cross you if given the chance. Danzo had ushered in an era of war and hushed lips, and even the villagers were beginning to become paranoid as well.
Danzo's new regime encouraged us villagers to keep an eye on one another, and for those who came forward to report suspected spies or dissidents the reward was substantial. Villagers watched each other like hawks, some even falsifying reports so they could take the reward and feed their family with it.
Neighbors suspected neighbors and friendships were strained because men and women could no longer speak openly. One word against the new regime and you could find yourself being tortured in a T&I cell. People kept to themselves more and more, and walked with their heads down.
The days were certainly dark, darker than I had ever imagined them being.
There were now public executions, something that had never happened before. They had executed a small handful of foreign nationals who resided in nearby villages for work or trade, the reason always the same: unspecified treason. Who knew if any of it was true? But the tactic served it's purpose. They were performed out in the open, in front of crowds who were forced to watch – a way to frighten the public into submission.
So, the public kept quiet. But at night, they whispered to themselves, hushed voices in the dark.
Some supported Danzo, in fact, many did. They allowed themselves to be spoon-fed an ideology where they were the ones who deserved to have power over those from other nations, that they were somehow superior to citizens of foreign nations, that their culture and way of life was more civilized. Danzo spoke of creating a world where men and women of the Land of Fire would never live in fear of war again, a hypothetical utopia with Konoha dictating how things ought to be run.
It was all hogwash at the end of the day, just a way for him to gain more power and land and control. I sometimes wondered if Danzo himself even believed in it, or if he only said what he did because he knew it was a persuasive ideology that would gain him support from uneducated civilians who had been the victims of too many wars and now held prejudices against certain nations and peoples.
There were those who did not agree, of course. I suspected there were quite a few, but the fact remained that with each day that passed, it only became more dangerous to allow those sentiments to be voiced aloud. Saying things like that, openly claiming that what Danzo was doing was wrong or unethical, that was a surefire way to get yourself labelled as a dissident.
And with the few public executions we'd had so far, nobody was willing to take that risk.
Sometimes they left the bodies on display afterwards, letting them decay in the sun as a warning sign or hoisting their corpses from trees to let them hang there to remind the population of what punishment awaited you if you followed in their footsteps.
I had passed by one just the other day. Nobody I recognized, but still awful to see.
I used it as a reminder to myself, a reminder that if I wasn't careful with my work in the Resistance, that it would be my body strung up for others to see.
My mood went somber as I served rice and steamed vegetables onto the kitchen table.
"No meat?" Kyohei asked sadly as I ladled bowls of rice porridge and vegetables. "Not even an egg?"
I snorted before realizing that he wasn't joking.
"Sorry." I placated. "I heard they might have tofu next week though."
We hadn't had much in the way of meat for weeks now, much to Kyohei's dismay.
Kyohei, as if sensing my shift in mood and aiming to lighten it, blabbered nonchalantly about this or that, and cracked more jokes than usual. I smiled half-heartedly at his attempts, unable to find it within myself to feel a sense of joy or happiness in the crushing gloom that hung in the air.
Kyohei left first this morning, taking Aoi with him to drop her with a clanswoman who often watched her for us while we worked. She adored Aoi, and often hinted about wanting to spend even more time with her.
I made quick work of cleaning up the kitchen, not that there was much to clean. I suppose that less food to make also meant less mess to clean up after cooking it, but I couldn't quite make up my mind whether that was a good or bad thing given our circumstance.
I set out after tying my hair up and covering it with a bandana. Today I had a long shift at the clinic with Hana, and then extra work in the kennels afterwards, which always got messy. I still loved it though, and I felt like I was really progressing with my training. Hana was a wonderful teacher, and I was a very eager student.
The day was a lovely one.
The sun was already getting warmer overhead, and the breeze was soft and cool as it brushed against my skin. The skies were clear and bright. It was almost easy to forget that there was a war going on when spring in Konoha was so beautiful.
My revel in the beauty of the day didn't last long, however. As soon as I crested a small hill and the clinic came into view, I could see some sort of commotion at the front doors. Hana was there, as well as three ninja dressed in grey, the uniforms of Danzo's new ANBU force.
With urgency in my step once I realized Hana was yelling at them, I rushed to where she stood.
One of the grey-dressed ninja turned towards me as I approached, eyes startlingly blank and devoid of any sentiment. Probably ROOT, like Kyohei had guessed.
Another grey-uniformed soldier walked out of the front door of the clinic, carrying with him a large box of supplies. Our supplies.
"Put that back! You can't just march in here and take my medical supplies!" Hana was fuming, angrier than I had ever seen her before. "Those are mine, I paid for them! Me!"
The ninja was not amused, and only returned in a deadpan tone that sounded as if he were bored,
"They no longer belong to you." He stated monotonously. "Under order number thirty-eight of the war charter, any supplies of use to the war effort are to be turned over to the central authorities. These medical supplies will be shipped to the front where they will be put to better use."
"Better use? I'm using them here." Growled Hana. "My clinic treats the animals of Konoha, and it's the only one within the entire village that's qualified to treat ninken. You can't take my supplies, I won't let you."
"We are authorized to use force. The supplies will be confiscated whether we have your permission or not. Stand aside, woman."
Seeing that the situation was only escalating, I quickly maneuvered my way next to Hana's side, attempting a different approach.
"Surely there's something we can work out between us?" I asked, forcing a polite and pleasant tone. "As loyal citizens, we understand our duty to support the war effort, but is there any way we could keep some of the supplies to continue our practice here?"
Piercing black eyes settled on mine then, emotionless depths unnerving. I kept my features perfectly pleasant and unsuspecting, grateful for the training that Himeko had given me on keeping my composure.
"That is impossible." He stated, glancing to Hana when she gave another feral growl. "Our orders are not just to confiscate the supplies, but to close down your establishment until the war is over. We also come with new assignments for both of you, so it is therefor illogical to request your clinic remain open."
New assignments? Both of us?
"What?" Hana barely managed to get out, voice dangerously low. "What the hell are you saying?"
The ninja looked curiously at Hana.
"I will repeat myself if you did not hear what I said."
"Listen here you little shit-"
"I think what my sister-in-law is trying to say-" I jumped in frantically, before Hana pounced on the man. "Is that we'd like a bit more clarification of what Lord Hokage's orders are! If we know more about our duties and responsibilities, we'll be able to perform them to his liking."
I wanted to bite my tongue off; the words I was spewing were placating, but made me feel sick.
The ninja seemed to relax somewhat at my words, though still kept a sharp eye on Hana, who was practically radiating killing intent.
"There is a shortage of supplies at the front, therefor the decision was made to strip smaller clinics and veterinarian offices of their materials. Now that this clinic will close, the two of you will be given work or new assignments according to your rank, skills, and knowledge. Lord Danzo's office has made their decision that the civilian and ninja forces should be allocated properly to increase efficiency."
"So." Hana scowled, though it seemed that she had regained control of her temper. "Not only are you robbing me of my personal tools and supplies, but you're shutting down my practice and reassigning Kimari and I to Kami knows where?"
"Yes. That is correct." Responded the former ROOT agent. "Although it is I who knows where, not Kami."
"Why don't you just take my house and the clothes off my back too while you're at it." Spat Hana.
The man only cocked his head slightly, looking somewhat confused again.
"I have no need of your house, nor your clothing, though it is generous of you to offer."
"Do you think this is a damn joke? I ought to rip out your-"
"May we know where our assignments are?" I interrupted, in a last-ditch attempt to keep whatever semblance of peace that was still salvageable.
The man looked to me once more, inky black eyes unreadable.
"You are Inuzuka Mari?" He continued when I answered him with a quick nod. "You have been conscripted into the Civilian Wartime Workers Alliance, as you are an able-bodied woman who can work. Since you have some veterinarian and medical training, you will work as an aid to the healers in the hospital. You are expected to report for your first shift tomorrow morning at sunrise for basic nursing training."
The hospital?
They must be pretty short staffed if they need me there, I'm not even a nurse, let alone any sort of healer.
On the outside, I only smiled serenely and nodded, as if the news were somehow pleasing to me. On the inside, I was fuming.
How dare they just shut down Hana's livelihood and steal all the equipment and supplies she's worked so hard for? She's been building this up from the ground since she was a child, and now he just sends his soldiers to come and strip it bare? The nerve of him.
Another ninja dressed in grey exited the clinic, this one carrying multiple scrolls in his hands, which I could only presume to be the majority of Hana's supplies, medicines, and equipment.
But this time, she didn't try to stop him. It seemed she had realized she had no choice in this. None of us did.
"And me?" Hana asked, scowling nastily at the man, who remained unfazed. "Where will I go?"
He answered without skipping a beat.
"Inuzuka Hana." He stated. "You are being sent to the front lines. You are to report to your station in one week's time."
They left without a word not long after, carrying with them all their stolen goods. Hana's face was grave as she watched them go.
"Thanks for showing up when you did." She finally murmured, and I turned my attention to her. "I was close to ripping his throat out."
"Hana…" I started, not really sure what to say.
"It's okay. It was inevitable, wasn't it? Most of the other jonin have already left, it was silly to think I'd be an exception." She sighed, looking both forlorn and strangely calm. "Just promise to take care of Kiba while I'm gone."
"Of course, you know we will."
"I almost prefer it, you know." She remarked off-handedly, briefly gesturing towards the direction of where the Hokage tower loomed in the distance. "I think things might be getting worse here pretty soon. At least on the front I won't have to worry about being double-crossed or watching my every word. All I have to do is fight – and I'm good at that."
The wind picked up as we stood in silence. Hana broke it first.
"And you'll fight too, right?" She demanded, not meeting my eye. We both stared at the Hokage tower for another beat of silence. "We can't let the enemy win."
It was clear she wasn't talking about fighting for the sake of Danzo's military campaigns. It was also clear that she knew that I wasn't either.
"I'll give everything I have to the cause." I finally settled on that bland statement.
She nodded, knowing that I was not speaking of our new government. We both knew better than to say anything other than vague pretenses that carried hidden meanings.
"I suspected that might be the case. I noticed Kyohei has been training you at night. You're more confident these days." She stated. "Whatever your…endeavors…are, be careful."
"I will."
"Oh, and Kimari?" She paused, continuing when I secured my gaze on her once more. "If you're ever in need of a friend or ally, you'll find your help by turning over a stone near water."
Turning over a stone?
Was that a reference to the old proverb about the stone and the water? It went something along the lines of 'in the struggle between the stone and water, in time, the water wins'. But somehow, I doubted that's what she meant. Perhaps she meant it literally, but that made even less sense. What friends could I possibly find under a rock?
I stared blankly at her for a moment as I attempted to figure out the hidden meaning.
What did she mean that turning over a stone could help me? How would that help anyone at all? The only thing that you would find by turning over a stone near a source of water anywhere in Konoha was…
Of course.
Beetles.
I gave her a quick smile, showing that I understood her hidden message. She grinned back, before turning towards the clinic and leaving me where I stood.
Translation? The Aburame clan is your ally.
.
.
Ueda Machiko felt like a stranger in her own village.
This was not the village she had grown up in, it was too cold, too different from the soft memories of years spent in the warm Konoha sun and under the shade of the green trees that she held close to her heart.
The trees from her memory were still standing, of course, and the sun continued to grow warmer as spring gave hints of melting into summer, but nothing was the same. Not anymore. Not since Shimura Danzo had risen to power.
Now only hushed whispers could be heard in the marketplace where her family's silk stand stood, when it had once been filled with joyful laughter and boisterous conversation. People spoke of the war, of the food shortages, of spies, and of their rising discrimination against foreign nations on the opposite side of the war.
More than half the stands in the once lively market had already closed. Without the influx of trade from their neighboring lands, the economy had all but plummeted, and those who had their businesses based on international trade had suffered greatly from the rising tariffs and closing of borders.
Machiko knew it was only a matter of time before their stand would be forced to close too, not just because they could no longer trade in goods with the Land of Wind, but also because of the locals who were steadily refusing to purchase goods from her family.
With the way things were getting, it was growing steadily more dangerous to be associated with anyone who might draw attention in the wrong sort of way.
The young woman felt uneasy thinking about it as their new Hokage's voice filtered out of the old radio that another family had inside of their stall a few shops down. A couple vendors had abandoned what they were doing to make their way to where the radio was, listening intently as the words came out of the rusty transistor.
Machiko felt uneasy as she unwillingly listened along too, quietly observing the reactions of her fellow vendors as Danzo made one particularly nasty comment about those 'desert barbarians' or 'rain heathens' who apparently were responsible for their current economic situation.
A few villagers nodded along, many frowned unhappily in agreement, but Machiko had to fight to keep the nasty scowl from spreading over her lips.
Honestly. She thought to herself. Anyone with a brain knows that the citizens of Sunagakure and Amegakure aren't responsible for the fact that there's not enough rice to go around. But someone has to be the scapegoat.
She drummed her fingers nervously against the wood of her stall, lips turning downward as she listened.
Ueda Machiko's grandmother had come from a tribe of desert nomads who produced fine silks and woven rugs, and though her own mother had been born in the Land of Fire, she had spent most of her life on caravans back and forth from the capitols and hidden villages of the Lands of Fire and Wind. She had only settled after accepting the proposal from Machiko's father, and Machi had been born and raised here.
Konoha was the only home she had ever known, and she had only visited her mother's side of the family twice in her life. She belonged here, in the village, and she had just as much right to her citizenship as everyone else who had been born here too.
If only her fellow villagers thought that way.
Machiko's heritage and her father's choice in his first wife were public knowledge, though it had never been any sort of inconvenience to them until now. The diversity that had once been celebrated was now seen as dangerous.
Her blood was now viewed as impure, and her family subject to suspicion. Just because of who her mother was and the fact that they'd had a daughter who embodied two cultures in one, even if Machiko didn't know the first thing about what her grandmother's culture had been.
Machi was a Konoha woman, through and through, she knew little of the desert-dwellers – and now she was being labelled as one. Unfair. It was all so unfair. But nothing was ever fair in war, a lesson she was learning the hard way.
It had started simple enough.
There had been whispers, some strange stares at first. Now it was no longer so innocent. The more hatred Danzo spewed on the radio, the bolder the villagers became in their anti-foreigner sentiments.
Nobody bought from them, nobody sold to them. Their landlord had told them that he would not renew their lease when their contract expired in three months. The families she had once been friendly and familiar with were now distant. They were living on their savings now, and it was only a matter of time before that ran out. She wasn't sure what they would do when that happened.
If things continued the way they were, the once prosperous family would be left without a roof over their heads or a single ryo in their pocket.
Children threw things, their home had been vandalized, and Machiko no longer felt safe on the streets when she was out by herself. It was only by chance that she was at her silks stand today without her father, who was home with a nasty cold and roughing through it, because medicinal herbs were scarce and even harder to find when people didn't want to sell them to her family to begin with.
Even Satoko, her step-mother, had left her father and returned to her own parents, unwilling to be associated with them or viewed as sympathetic to those who dallied with foreigners or were born of foreigners. Satoko was saving face, as well as her own skin, by distancing herself from Machi and her father.
That stupid pig. Good riddance.
She knew it was petty, but she was glad Satoko was gone. She just wished it had been under different circumstances, because nothing about her exit from their lives felt at all victorious like she had once dreamed about it being. She supposed she would just have to take the small blessing as it came, even if Satoko was actively helping to fan the flames of hatred and discrimination against them to keep herself safe.
Only a few old friends remained loyal, Kimari included. Kimari had remained a positive force in her life despite what others thought about it, though it seemed like these days that Kimari didn't really give a fig about what the villagers thought about her any longer. Machi would be lying if she said she wasn't jealous of how her friend had secured a sense of freedom for herself, breaking the chains of tradition and growing into a confident woman who was no longer shackled by societal expectation.
Her old friend Keiji, however, had chosen his side. Unfortunately for Machiko, it was not in her defense. The young man who had once been a friend to her was now one of the most vocal ones in his bigotry. The butcher saw Danzo as something of a savior for Konoha, one who would lead them to prosperity.
And it seemed like fate that as she was thinking on two of her friends that one of them strolled into her vision. Or, former friend, she corrected herself mentally.
The butcher, who had a particularly nasty sneer on his face, was making his way to her stand. She noticed a spiteful look in his dark eyes, and he held his head higher than he once had in what she was sure was a sense of superiority he had gotten from his new Hokage. It was then that she also noticed three young men trailing behind him.
Machiko frowned. This couldn't be good. She tensed as Keiji and his little pack stopped in front of her stand.
"Still selling this filth, Ueda?" He asked, seeming to peer down the bridge of his large nose at her.
She noted the cold look in his eyes, along with the fact that he no longer addressed her as 'Ueda-chan', just 'Ueda'. This was not the Keiji she knew. He had changed.
"You have eyes, don't you?" She snapped, not particularly in the mood to deal with any more prejudice than she already had in one day. "I'm working, leave me alone."
His glare was piercing.
"Nobody wants to buy silks these days, everyone knows they come from those barbarians across the border. You've got a lot of nerve trying to sell the enemy's goods in the same market where hard-working citizens are trying to make a living." He spat.
"In case you've forgotten, Keiji-kun," She stressed the familiarity she had always addressed him by, a subtle reminder of the link of friendship that had once existed between them. "You're talking to one of those hard-working citizens right now. If you aren't going to buy anything then go away and take your stupid lackeys with you."
"You ought to talk with more respect to a pure-blooded citizen of Konoha. You should realize that things are different now." His tone carried a warning to it, one that Machi ignored against her better judgement.
"I'll show respect where it's due, thank you very much." She turned her nose up in the air for emphasis. "Now get lost."
Keiji's lips twisted even further, looking as if he had smelled or seen something revolting.
"People like you will get what's coming to them. It's only a matter of time. Your blood traitor of a father was probably never loyal to the village in the first place."
She decided to skip the bickering since he would likely not see reason and hit him straight where it hurt. And she knew exactly where to hit.
"Kimari was right about you. You're an oaf, and a terribly stupid one at that." Machi practically sang at him, enjoying the flash of pain that appeared in his eyes. "No wonder she preferred that strong and handsome ninja to a poor imbecile like you."
His mouth set itself in a thin line, red coloring creeping up his neck. She'd really done it now, but she wasn't done yet.
It was clear that Keiji had never quite gotten over Kimari's rejection. He was still reeling from what he clearly viewed as a betrayal and a broken promise, even if that promise had been made between his father and her grandfather without her consent.
It was no secret he had wanted Kimari as a wife, and it was certainly no secret that she had done much better for herself, for now she was a member of the head family of a powerful shinobi clan. If Inuzuka Hana died, her husband would become next in line for clan head and Kimari could be the next 'Lady Inuzuka'. And even if her husband never became clan head, she was still part of a tight-knit clan that truly cared for her.
Keiji could have never matched that, and he knew it. It was a sore subject for him, and he nearly always visibly flushed in a rage whenever it was brought up how happy she was and how well she was doing. Keiji saw her rejection as an insult to what he perceived as his honor, or what little was left of it.
"Poor Keiji." She hummed sadly at him, cocking her head to the side as she twisted the knife a bit further. "Rejected by his bride-to-be, not that I blame her. Any girl in her right mind would have made a run for it."
"You'll shut your mouth if you know what's good for you, you filthy bit-"
"Oh!" Interrupted Machi, adding yet another blow. "I wonder if we might be expecting an addition to their family any time soon! Wouldn't that be lovely? It probably won't be long, I've heard that those Inuzuka men are absolute devils – if you catch my drift."
She was really teetering on the edge of going too far, she knew it. She just couldn't help it. The way Keiji sputtered at Machi's innuendo about the intimate life of the woman he still pined for was very satisfying to see.
Ueda Machiko had come to have her fill of his newfound supremacy complex and bullying. He'd been bitter and angry since Kimari rejected him, but had channeled that hate and bigotry onto anyone who didn't fit Danzo's definition of blood purity – despite the fact that their nation and hidden village had been built by clans who had come from far and wide.
How could there be such a thing as purity of blood when all the bloodlines that had built this village had originally come from somewhere else? Even the civilian clans who were original to the village had migrated to it shortly after its creation.
But that logic was wasted on Keiji and his posse, who now looked positively livid at being given such cheek by somebody they perceived as lesser than them, and a woman at that. Still, Machiko had always spoken her mind and pushed the barriers of what was considered appropriate. Even now, she didn't feel sorry for what she had said.
"I'm going to give you one chance to take that back and apologize." He seethed. "If you don't, I'll make sure you regret it."
Machiko paused.
She could apologize, she could appease the angry man in front of her. She could grovel and humiliate herself by asking his forgiveness, which seemed to be what he wanted. He wanted her to feel lower than him, as dirty as he apparently thought she was.
I could apologize, it would probably make things easier for Otou-san and I. She considered it only momentarily before making up her mind. Her father had raised a proud daughter, and she would not bow her head and grovel to anyone, especially not Keiji.
Nah. Where's the fun in that?
"Go screw yourself, Keiji." She replied sweetly, a faux and sickly-sweet smile stretching across her face. "Because Kimari never will."
She didn't regret it when he slapped her across the face.
She didn't regret it when one of his lackeys pulled her out from behind her stall and pushed her roughly to the ground.
She didn't regret it when they overturned her stall, tearing it apart and ripping the precious silks to shreds before they stomped on the rubble that remained.
Ueda Machiko only picked herself back up and stood her ground firmly with her head held high. Her spine was straight and rigid as she watched them destroy her livelihood. She didn't speak a word as Keiji spat on her face before he left. And when they were gone she did not cry.
She was a fearless woman of Konoha, and they would not break her.
But she was now more certain than she had been before: things were getting dangerous, and the delicate safety that citizenship afforded would not last much longer for people like her.