#buntan

Spoiler warning: Spoilers up to Boruto episode 248

For a Greater Cause

Buntan stares at the corpse at her feet, still bleeding out despite the man having died already. This was it; it was done. She’d gotten her revenge. What was getting one’s revenge supposed to feel like? Once she got her revenge for Kagura, whatever it made her feel had been overshadowed by her grief over Hebiichigo’s death, but now, while there had been injuries, there had been no deaths on her side. The only one who died today was Shizuma, and yet she felt nothing. Just… empty. She wasn’t glad, but by no means was she sad, either.

Wanting something else to think about, or more like just somethingto think about, she looks at the person who had helped her with her hunt from the corner of her eye. A chuunin from Konoha, Metal Lee of Team 5. He had joined her, with the Hokage’s permission, in her hunt a few weeks back when she’d finally gotten a reliable lead on where to find her target. Shizuma had caused no trouble to Konoha aside from that one time on Sarada’s class’s field trip years ago as far as she knew, so it was odd for the Hokage to send someone to help. That was enough to tell Buntan that it hadn’t been the man’s own idea; Metal must’ve requested this. Why, she was not sure, but she was grateful for the help; she wasn’t sure if she could’ve done this alone.

“Why did you come to help me?” she should be saying thank you instead of questioning his motives, but the doubt and need for answers comes far more naturally to her.

Metal, having also stared at the body until now, looks up to her.

“If Miss Hebiichigo was still here, she would’ve lent you a hand. But she’s not, and that’s because I couldn’t protect her.”

Ah, so he was still stuck on that, blaming himself of the girl’s untimely death. It’s not like he was entirely wrong, but if he was to blame, then so was she. They’d both been there, so they’d both failed to protect her.

“It wasn’t your fault” Buntan says “Not any more than it was the fault of the rest of us. We were there too, Iwas there, yet I let her die. We alllet her die.”

Needless to say, comforting people wasn’t her strong point. Metal says nothing, and they stand there for a long while until he starts to move the body in front of them. She doesn’t need to ask; she can tell he’s preparing for a burial. She’s not all that sure that Shizuma deserves one, but doesn’t say it, and joins the man.

Once they’re done, Buntan feels ready to go home and leave this all behind; it was over. However, seeing Metal stare at the grave in silence keeps her from voicing her desire to leave. She senses he’s not done with whatever he came here to do, something aside from just helping her.

“Can I burden you with a secret?” he asks all of sudden. Buntan is surprised by the sudden question, but doesn’t think much of it, even though calling it a burden strongly implies that it isn’t something happy. And she owes him, though even if she didn’t, she would’ve probably still given the same answer: “Sure.”

“I’m leaving Konoha” he says, lifting his gaze from the grave, his intense, pitch-black eyes meeting her own “I’m going rogue.”

What had Buntan been expecting him to say? It certainly hadn’t been that, that much she knew.

“Rogue? Why?” and why was he telling it to her? Did he think she wouldn’t try stopping him? Not that he was wrong, and she wouldn’t rat him out, either. Not her village, not her problem, but she did have the urge to know why he’d make such a decision.

“Do you know why Miss Hebiichigo became a shinobi?” he asks.

“…I asked her about it once. Her answer was “because I’m good at killing.”” at the time, Buntan had been sure there was more to it, but she hadn’t asked. Should she have? She was starting to feel like Metal knew something she didn’t.

“Yes, that’s right. She followed the shinobi who’d praised her for her ability to kill after she’d accidentally killed a runaway shinobi. That was the first, and for a long time only, thing she had been praised for.”

Buntan hadn’t known that. She didn’t know much of Hebiichigo’s life before they met, other than it hadn’t been an easy one, and even that she only knew by observing her, not because of something the girl herself had told. But for one reason or the other, she’d told Metal.

“She became a shinobi and honed her skill to kill because she thought it was the only thing, she was good for, because no one gave her a chance to think otherwise, to try something else. There are lots of people like her out there, and I want to help them. For her sake; no one deserves a fate like hers, dying without getting to try out other paths in her life, without really even getting to see that they were there!”

She could understand what he was saying, or at least she thought she could, and she respected his desire to help complete strangers, even though that was anything but her style, yet it didn’t answer the most important question.

“But why go rogue? Wouldn’t it be easier to help others as a shinobi? You would have your team and your friends to help you, and you wouldn’t have to worry about being hunted down for being a rogue ninja.”

“I would if I could; I already tried” Metal says, visibly deflating as the light leaves his eyes. He looks away “I talked about this with Denki and Iwabe. They understood, and we brought this up to our teacher and even the Hokage. They said they understood what we meant, but that it was important to have strong new shinobi available for the village’s sake, so encouraging everyone with talent to become shinobi was necessary. And that even though we do that, no one’s forcedto become shinobi. And I’m sure that’s true for those of us born in the village, those privileged enough to have choices in front of us right from the start, but what about the ones with talent who have nothing, the ones like Hebiichigo? They’ll take the chance when given one, and no one bothers to let them think of other paths in life. That’s what I want to change. I want to give people like that a chance to decide for themselves, before any village can get their hands on them and make them think being a shinobi is the only choice they have!”

Buntan stares. She had not expected such a passionate speech. But how was Metal planning on doing it all?

“At first, I thought that I could still do things on my own and with my team, help people from outside the village that are recruited, but others caught up to it soon and told us to stop. We were just telling people there were other options for them, too, yet we weren’t allowed to do that. Who would’ve it harmed if one or two people occasionally chose differently?! It’s about theirlives!”

The sharp toothed woman couldn’t agree more, but was the situation really as bad as Metal made it seem? The Seventh Hokage was known for his soft heart; wouldn’t he back Metal up in this? She voiced her thoughts, but the boy shook his head furiously.

“The Hokage himself told us to stop; that’s why Iwabe and Denki quit. I know that he has to do what he sees as the best for the village, but I can’t think like that, Ican’t stop thinking about the individual people who might be able to make themselves better lives if they just got the chance!”

So, the Hokage was no longer as soft as in the stories. Had his age and the world caught up to him, getting rid of his naivety? Or had the stories ever been true in the first place? Buntan didn’t know, and probably never would.

“Well, the Hokage isn’t naïve. That’s good, considering that he has a lot of people to lead. But you are. How do you plan to find such people? And to avoid those chasing you?  How will you get money to live? Do you have any plan on how to go about this?”

Metal gives her a heated glare, but while the boy knows how to give a convincing speech, he lacks the ability to intimidate.

“Of course, I have plans!” he defends “I’ll leave while pretending to go on a vacation, so I’ll have a head start! After I don’t come back in time, it’ll still take a while for them to understand that I left on purpose! I have savings; I’ll get by with those for a while, and I can do small jobs here and there. If I keep low profile, it’ll make it difficult for anyone to find me. I’ll- “

Metal rambled on, and while there were a lot of risks and what ifs, Buntan was pleasantly surprised about how well he had thought things out.

“And what if I go rat you out to the Mizukage right now? He’d report it all to the Hokage. What would you do then?” she asks while he’s midsentence and Metal stops talking. But to her surprise, he doesn’t seem worried.

“You won’t; that’s not what you’re like” he says, sure of himself “That’s why I chose you.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong. Buntan was a lot of things, not all of them good, but she wasn’t a snitch. She wouldn’t rat out a friend.

“Why did you tell me all this in the first place?” a thought occurs to her “Is this why you helped me to get my revenge? To make me feel indebted to you so that I would follow you?”

“What? No!” Metal looks absolutely mortified by the idea. It’s not like Buntan had seriously considered it in the first place, but with how genuinely he denies it, what little doubt she did have leaves, too. But he had to have some reason “I could never expect that out of you or anyone else! I just… needed to…”

He trails off, and Buntan recalls where this conversation started from.

“Can I burden you with a secret?”

“You wanted someone to know the truth” she says. Metal nods, visibly relieved, but also embarrassed if the pink hue on his cheeks was anything to go by “You wanted someone to know that you aren’t doing this out of selfishness or some greed. You wanted there to be someone who didn’t judge you, but you needed it to be someone who wouldn’t try to stop you.”

“Yes, exactly!” Metal confirms, but his smile leaves as soon as it came “But I now realize that it was a bad idea; it’s unfair to push a burden like this on someone. I’m sor-“

“Don’t” Buntan cuts him off fast, and Metal snaps his jaw shut “Don’t say you’re sorry, I… I’m glad you told me, that you trusted me.”

And she wasn’t going to spit on that trust, even though she felt like she really should, for Metal’s own sake. Not that she’d actually go and tell the Mizukage, but maybe Boruto or Sarada… if only Kagura was still alive, she’d definitely tell him.

“But are you sureyou want to do this? Kyohõ and I got off as easily as we did due to Kagura’s insistence, our young age andthe fact that our actions were limited to Kirigakure and the Land of Water. You might have friends in high places, but you aren’t a child anymore, and if you really want to avoid being caught, you’ll have to leave the Land of Fire. If you do this, there’ll be no going back.”

“I know. It’s not like this is some sudden impulse, most certainly not. I thought of it long and hard before coming to this decision. I have to do this.”

They stared in to each other’s eyes, and the always so earnest boy’s, or more like a man’s, really, gaze didn’t waver. His mind was set.

“…Visit Kagura and Hebiichigo when you start” Buntan settled on saying “You might not have a safe chance to do so for a long time afterwards.”

“Right! I will!” Metal says, and even while she doesn’t know him very well, even Buntan can tell he’s relieved she’s not trying to talk him out of it. He’s like an open book, which makes her wonder if his friends and family will eventually notice that something’s wrong and stop him. She’s not sure if she should hope for that to happen or not.

In the end, it only takes three weeks for Metal to arrive at the graves of their friends. Buntan’s on a lookout high up in the tree when he does so. He doesn’t notice her, causing the woman to scoff. It’s not like she was in plain sight, but if he was going rogue, he’d need to learn to pay attention to his surroundings at all ti-

“Did you come to see me off, Miss Buntan?”

She blinks, surprised. So, he hadnoticed her, simply not acknowledging her presence until now. She supposes she didn’t give him enough credit. She jumps down, landing directly behind him.

“I came to see if you could really pull this off. No one suspected anything?” she asks. She hadn’t thought he’d change his mind, but she had been sure that someone, probably Boruto, would notice something being wrong and would confront him about it.

Metal turns to face her.

“They seemed to notice that something was wrong, but I just claimed to be a little tired. Taking some time off fit well with that, too. And I made sure I wasn’t followed, many times, so there is no need to worry about that.”

With that, he picks up the bag at his feet.

“I wish you well from now on. To Kyohõ too, of course. But now, I must be on my way.”

Buntan smirks. That was her cue.

“Great” she says, walking over to the tree and taking her own bag from where it’s hidden from sight just right “Let’s go, then.”

Metal stares. Blinks, then stares some more, before what she said sinks in.

“What? No no, I never asked you to come along, I told you that didn’t I?” he panics, waving his arms around “I only told you because- I mean- “

“I know” Buntan assures, closing the distance between them to put a hand on his shoulder “I know you didn’t. This is my own choice. This is what I want to do. After Shizuma died, I didn’t feel any sense of relief or happiness, I just felt empty. I had no idea what to do. But now I do; you gave me something to feel about again.”

“But going rogue- didn’t you work so hard back then so that you wouldn’t be chased down? All the work that Kagura put in to getting you your freedom- “

“Has been put to good use during these few years, but it’s time to let go” she interrupts him yet again “Following the orders of someone sitting safe in his office while subordinates risk their lives isn’t for me, anyway.”

“Then what about Kyohõ? If you leave, then his whole team- “

Buntan interrupts him by putting two fingers in to her mouth and whistling, shutting him up. Only a few seconds later, Kyohõ walks up to them with a bag thrown over his shoulder.

“He’s coming too”

“What? But-?”

“I can’t leave Buntan alone, and I want to help people like Hebiichigo, too” this time it’s Kyohõ who interrupts the soon to be rogue ninja’s speech “I want to do this.”

“We had a long talk about this, and we’re not changing our minds” Buntan smirks “You’re stuck with us.”

Metal stares at them. Buntan is prepared to argue some more if he still tries to change their minds, but it turns out to be unnecessary.

“Alright, I’ll be counting on you, then” he bows deep, dramatical as usual “Thank you for joining me!”

“Yeah yeah, whatever” Buntan says, still not used to his overflowing honesty despite having known him for years. No wonder Hebiichigo always found it awkward “One question, though.”

“Yes?”

“What’s with the clothes?” she can’t help but ask. This was the first time ever that she saw Metal wearing something else than a ridiculous green jumpsuit. He was still in a similar outfit, but this time it was black.

“Ah, this? I couldn’t possibly dishonor the Great Green Beasts of Konoha by wearing the usual when I go rogue. Leaving Konoha means leaving behind that, too.”

She recalled him defending the ridiculous garment heatedly when it had been made fun of, and he’d worn it so much; it was obviously important to him. He had made sacrifices for this, unlike her or Kyohõ; after all, they had nothing tosacrifice. Many people in this world had nothing to sacrifice, aside from their lives.

It was people like that that they were setting out to help.

“Kagura must be rolling in his grave by now, but let’s do this” Buntan says, holding her fist out “For Hebiichigo, and for those like her.”

“For Hebiichigo” the two chorus as their fists hit hers.