Child of the Moon

Beggars

"Um, where are we going?" Sakura questioned, as the three walked through the village.

"You wanna eat tonight, don't ya?" Tazuna answered, giving the young ninja an odd look. "We gotta pick up some things for dinner."

Tsukiko's gaze moved over the people lazily, the thoughts around her depressing and sometimes hostile. None of the hostility really aroused her caution, however, since none had any real skills at fighting. They'd be a threat to Tazuna on his own though.

"Thief!" a voice cried. Tsukiko spotted the thief, a small boy running down an alleyway with a strip of dried meat in one hand. She slipped away from Sakura and Tazuna without their noticing and caught the kid. The shop owner caught up, gasping for air.

"Damn brat!" the shopkeeper yelled, reaching to hit the boy, who flinched. Tsukiko caught the hand, and with just enough pressure to cause discomfort, she caught both of their attention.

"Enough," she snapped. She looked down at the boy. "You should know it's wrong to steal."

"I..." he hung his head, biting his lip. "I don't got any money. I'm just really hungry."

"I get that," Tsukiko answered. "Why don't you help these kids out, instead of label them as criminals and beat them?"

"Easy for you to say!" the shopkeeper snapped, rubbing his wrist. "You're not broke poor, or starving because you can't make any money! I got nothing to give these brats!"

"When all you have is nothing, there's a lot to go around," Tsukiko said calmly. "Maybe instead of attacking these kids, have them help you. Instead of stealing, work for your meals."

"No one wants to hire a kid!"

"What could that dirty brat possibly do to help?"

Tsukiko sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You must have things that need cleaning or sorting, no? Something that a kid can do, in exchange for a little bit of food? Figure it out!"

She reached into her pocket and dropped the money for the food into the shopkeeper's hand. "I'll help you out this time, kid, but don't do this again. Without a really good reason."

She walked away, slightly grumpy, knowing that she didn't have the means to change things.

Well... there was her mind altering technique...

No, he made her promise to never use it.

...Unless there was a really good reason...

"No."

"Dammit," she muttered to herself, catching up with Sakura.

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She happened to walk into the store as Sakura kicked a man in the face, screaming "pervert" as she did so. The man landed at Tsukiko's feet, and she blinked at him for a bit, before looking over at Sakura.

"You're pretty strong for such a small girl," she said.

Sakura stood there fuming for a bit, as Tazuna finished buying things.

"I gotta admit, I was pretty surprised," Tazuna said, the three making their way back through the village. "Girl's around here don't fight like that."

"They should!" Sakura fumed. "Something is seriously wrong here!"

"It's what happens when you get knocked down enough times," Tsukiko said, as she sensed a child approaching from behind. "Eventually, you stop trying to get back up."

The child grabbed Sakura's clothes, and she almost flipped out.

"Hey, buster!" she yelled, stopping mid rant when she saw the dirty child looking at her with a mixture of fear and surprise. When the kid saw she wasn't going to hit him, he reached out to her and smiled brightly.

"Please?"

She reached into her bag and pulled out some candies, Tsukiko sensing her guilt and pity as she put them in his outstretched hands.

"Um... here..."

He looked at them, and while it wasn't much, particularly for such a malnourished looking child, his face lit up. "Oh, thank you!"

Tsukiko crouched down and pulled some more sweets from her own pouch. "Hey, have some of these."

"Wow, thank you!" he said brightly.

Tsukiko smiled. "You have such beautiful eyes. Do me a favour, ok?"

He looked at her quizzically. "A favour?"

"Yeah, promise me you'll keep smiling like that, and I'll come back after my mission and get you and your friends some real food, ok?"

The smile on his face was something that Tsukiko would never forget. He promised brightly and ran over to the friends she'd spotted watching anxiously a little ways away, and began sharing the sweets he'd just scored.

"This is how it's been since Gato came here," Tazuna said, as Sakura wiped some tears from her eyes. "The children suffer, and the adults are afraid to stand up to him."

Tsukiko stood up and put a hand on Sakura's head.

"As Tsukiko said, after being beaten down so much, everyone's lost hope," Tazuna continued. "That's why we need to finish the bridge. It will bring commerce to the village and trade. But much more importantly, that bridge is a symbol of courage. We must restore the spirit of our people."

"What Gato has done here is unforgivable," Tsukiko said, still watching the children, one of them giving his only candy to an old beggar. "Your bridge will be finished, Tazuna."