Silk

VI.

Newly-working eyes opened for the first time a few days after Orochimaru had completed his work, said owner of eyes pushing the body up to sit, to stare around, to judge and question where he was. Haku found himself sitting on a soft bed, covered by warm blankets that had the faint smell of roses. The building he was in reminded him of a simple medical station that was usually set up on the side of a road, to help injured travelers and let them rest while they recovered. Still, despite that look, the building seemed to be in the stages of repair, or construction. Construction, Haku decided, when he heard the sounds of hammers outside. Cautiously, he rose, testing out his newly working limbs, moving gingerly. A part of him knew he had been dead. He’d seen the afterlife, and he’d seen what was waiting for him. It hadn’t been an afterlife that pleased him, simply because Zabuza hadn’t been there. Speaking of Zabuza…

Haku turned in a complete circle before he spotted the other bed, looking recently vacated. He moved cautiously over, touched the blankets and found them to still be warm. These had the faint scent of Zabuza, that smell of rainwater and pine. If there had been danger where they were, Zabuza would have taken him away. Right? Haku moved to the doorway of the evolving hospital and gazed outside at the village. Houses, not just shacks and small cabins, were being built, some actually finished or in the process of being finished. There was a wall being constructed around the trees instead of cutting the huge obstructions down, and when Haku craned his head to look up in the canopy, he could see rope bridges, and homes being constructed in the branches. The thick leaves of the trees were covered in a fine, silvery thread, almost like a spider’s web.

“It’s called the Village of Silk, because of that,” Zabuza said softly, sitting behind Haku in a rocking chair. The boy whirled a bit, a sheepish smile on his face, even as he moved over to his beloved master, purposely settling in his lap. Zabuza only sighed and said nothing, settling back to watch a group of men and a few women dart from place to place carrying materials and tools, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy.

“I see you two are awake,” A softer voice said from the side, both of the Mist nins turning their heads to watch Kimimaru approach. “I’m glad. It was touch and go for a while.”

Zabuza merely made a sound, leaving Haku to wonder where the normal retort for such a comment went. Kimimaru moved over to the pair, examining both, and because Zabuza didn’t seem to be bothered with the pale one’s prodding, Haku let his friend examine himself as well. Satisfied, Kimimaru drew back, folding his hands in the sleeves of his kimono.

“You’ll probably be weak for the next few days, so take it easy. We’ll keep you fed and well, and once you get your strength back, you’ll more than likely have to go through some kind of physical therapy. I’ve reconnected your chakra pathways the best I could, but for now,”

“We know, Kimimaru,” Zabuza said, not quite interrupting the pale killer-turned-medic. The bone manipulator only smiled and nodded, moving into the hospital to deal with something else, Haku figured. The boy looked at Zabuza, the elder nin looking different without his customary bandages wrapped around his face. Zabuza only watched Haku back, head tilting a bit.

“Orochimaru got it into his head to start a new village,” Zabuza began to explain as Haku settled against him again. “He explained to me when I woke. He, Kimimaru, and Sasuke are making this happen. In this village, orphans find family, missing nin become ninja again, and outlaws find haven. That’s why there are other people here besides us.”

“And he had Sasuke find us to bring us back?”

Zabuza made a sound. “Perhaps. Normally, I wouldn’t trust the snake as far as I can throw him, but he seems sincere about this. He calls this land Suzaku no Kuni.”

“Land of the Phoenix,” Haku translated, watching the men pull up the wall of one house, leaving it needing only the roof and other simple matters.

“Where those who need a home can find it,”

The pair watched the men and women work until exhaustion over took them again, both falling asleep sitting together in that rocking chair. Orochimaru approached later, but at a gesture from Kimimaru, left the two where they were. He stood with Kimimaru on the porch of the forming hospital and watched the group of men and women work. In all, now, there were seventeen inhabitants of Silk, including Orochimaru’s group of five. The group working on the house currently consisted of a young man named Risukku, a missing nin from Snow who had a severe gambling addiction, though he never lost; a young lady named Kura-ou who had been a former whore and had escaped her master. She was skilled in making clothes and a decent chef; her lover Shousei and his twin brother Kaoru, wanderers with a knack for building with nature instead of against it; Shoumei, a young medic nin in training, who while helping with the building, she was also learning under Kimimaru’s watchful eye. The other seven whose names Orochimaru didn’t know were missing nin and other bounties that only wanted a safe place to live. Silk offered that and more, and Orochimaru found more loyalty given to him from the people he offered that wanted safety than he had ever found in his underlings.

Already, more than half of the defensive wall had been constructed, built around and with the trees than against them, specifically by Kaoru and Shousei. The tree houses were still underway, as most of the building was taking place on the ground. And only the qualified ninja could get that far off the ground without the elevator system that was still being constructed for those who weren’t nin. There were five completed and as of yet unfurnished houses, six more with their frames built, and two that only needed roofs. There was a garden off to the side, growing vegetables and a small orchard to the left of that. Sasuke brought them the other supplies that they needed as well as information for nin that they could still recruit. Orochimaru had begun a list of a few names, two or three he knew the locations to personally. He would go after them and he would send Sasuke after the few he didn’t. Kimimaru would remain in Silk to help rehabilitate Haku and get the young ninja ready for missions. Zabuza would remain to help build when Haku went out, despite protests that the two were partners. The older nin’s strength was needed to help build what remained to be built. So as more people came to Silk to make their home, the larger the village became, and soon Sasuke and Haku were being sent out on missions to bring in food and materials, as well as ninja that could help teach the young children that were coming in with families, or on their own. Orphans were adopted by those who could take care of them, but most of the children who came in were old enough to live on their own and the older children without parents obtained materials to build a home near the back of Silk in which to house younger orphans, the older ones taking responsibility for them.

Orochimaru watched his new village take shape, watched a school for children, shinobi and not, slowly appear, along with a tower for his own use and the rest of the hospital. The village was complete soon enough, and it became a simple joy to look out the window of his office and see children running about under the watchful eyes of the villagers. Orochimaru turned to Sasuke then, watching his apprentice leaf through the papers that littered the former Sannin’s desk. Sharingan eyes flicked up to piercing yellow and for a moment Orochimaru thought he was staring at Itachi. Sasuke had gotten to the point he wore the Sharingan nearly all the time. He’d grown in power and Orochimaru felt a little proud that he’d helped Sasuke achieve such a ranking. Sasuke was certainly jounin level by now. He shook his head and moved to sit down in his chair, fondling the outfit that Kura-ou had sewn for him and his office.

“It will take time to get these back,” Sasuke said. “I’ll be able to bring them back one at a time. And it’s a problem with the last two. They sort of cremated his body and he was reduced to bits by sand.”

“Shit,” Orochimaru sighed and rubbed at his face. “All right. Just find those and bring them back.”

Sasuke nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke and burning ozone, leaving Orochimaru alone in his office. While Sasuke was away, Orochimaru and Kimimaru had a little game to play. How long would it take to find two souls so long dead?