13 Tragedy
The Agricultural Food Court was one of the biggest conglomerates within the Land of Fire. It was immensely wealthy and backed by three powerful families, making it one of the most influential forces in the Hidden Leaf Village.
Now, Akimichi Narute, the CEO of the food court, was having a meeting with the board of his multimillion-ryo company. The other top shareholders of the Yamanaka- and Nara clans were also present. Today's agenda was of supreme importance to Narute and his close family.
"You're all shareholders of our food court and uncles to my daughter, so I'll cut to the chase."
Akimichi Narute slapped the table and said angrily, "Today, Uchiha Dobito from the Uchiha clan slept with my daughter Himawari but wanted to abandon her after the rice was cooked. That's certainly unfair to my daughter, and it breaks my heart. So, I hope all of you can do the right thing in this matter."
All the shareholders rolled their eyes. They had heard the circumstances around this event on their way to the meeting. They all felt that it couldn't have been Uchiha Dobito's wish to be together with Akimichi Himawari in the first place.
However, Akimichi Narute had always been anxious about his daughter's marriage. He would ask about their sons, grandsons, and even nephews whenever they met in the halls of the food court.
Now that a scapegoat had shown up, they certainly wouldn't refuse! At least they won't have to doom one of their own kinsmen to a fate with that 'little' girl.
"Narute-san, rest assured. Himawari-chan is our dear niece. Nobody could possibly take advantage of her inside of Konoha." One shareholder from the Nara clan began.
"That's right. We'll make all the preparations. We guarantee that Uchiha Dobito will marry Himawari-chan within three days." The patriarch of the Yamanaka clan confirmed.
Excited, Akimichi Narute said, "Haha, I'll thank you in advance on Himawari's behalf. Let's have a drink and barbeque together at my daughter's wedding."
"Definitely! Definitely!", the members of the board left after some hypocritical formalities. Very soon, the Uchiha enterprises would find that there was no food for sale for any of them in the entirety of the Land of Fire.
Within the day, one could hear the echo of Uchiha Fugaku's enraged screaming throughout all of Konoha; 'Damn you, ino-shika-cho~! Curse you, devil spawn Malaria~!'
--
The area around the Poison Shop and its surroundings is the best place to find herbs and research materials in all of Konoha. But having so many sellers for the very few buyers made the prices skyrocket to make the ends meet.
'These herbs have become terrifyingly expensive!' Malaria thought. When he bought materials the last time everything was priced much more reasonably.
But after hearing about a certain child releasing a certain brew in a duel, the shopkeeper was quick to realize the potential benefits to be made. Racking his head and looking at old receipts, he found what Malaria had bought and doubled the price on the spot.
Malaria was looking for the herbs he needed with a cart in his hand, but they were all very expensive. Before he receives the 'handling fee' for Uchiha Dobito, it seems he can only stare at the merchandise.
Especially the materials for the 'pink-mix' have soared to appalling heights. He would need almost 300,000 Ryo just to make a batch of 20 bottles. It's no wonder that the traditional aphrodisiac potion sells for at least 50,000 Ryo a bottle. It's all material costs!
'Research is indeed the costliest thing one can do.' Malaria sighed. It's no wonder civilian families could hardly distinguish themselves in different fields. The costs alone are a major problem.
Malaria started regretting that he put Dobito's settlement so 'cheap'. Himawari should've paid at least ten times the amount. She could've easily afforded to pay up ten million Ryo with a wave of the hand.
'Damnit, I'll just have to settle with a diluted version of the 'pink-mix' first.' Malaria sighed again. After picking his herbs, he came to the counter, ready to pay.
Right then, Namikaze Minato approached him with a smile and took out his wallet. "I can pay for those, if you'd like." He said, radiating like sunshine.
Malaria stepped back warily. "I'm not into men. Let me tell you, although I'm a lovely and handsome child that everybody (eXcEpT tHe AbUrAmE) wants, I'm not gay. If you want to have me, you'd better drop the idea."
Minato's lips twitched. What a narcissistic brat! "I'm not gay, either. I just want to learn more about you." He said after taking a deep breath.
Malaria looked at Minato thoughtfully, before he ran back and collected all the herbs he wanted into his basket. He also took ingredients he wanted to try out for another recipe of the mosquito repellent.
Minato suddenly had a new understanding of Malaria's shamelessness, which was beyond the description of words. He just wanted to chat with the living-menace that made the first year's teacher start crawling on walls and scratching floors with his nails.
Minato felt his heart break into pieces when he noticed that 3,780,000 Ryo were claimed by the clerk. The shopkeep was even smiling brightly, clasping his hands, and nodding along to Malaria's actions.
He was the student of the legendary Jiraiya, one of Konoha's Sannin. But he only had limited funds because he had to support Kushina who couldn't leave the village on any missions since she recently became the Kyubi's Jinchuriki.
What Malaria just consumed was his funds for the entire coming year!
Although he couldn't be any more regretful, Minato maintained a sunny smile and told himself it was no big deal if Malaria could be properly settled down and stop creating incident after incident in the village.
They left the Poison Shop after the money was paid and the shopkeeper gave his best wishes.
Malaria started walking back to the Ninja Academy with the herbs packed tightly under his arms. Minato hurried to chase after him and asked, "Malaria-kun, can we chat for a minute?"
Malaria replied in disdain, "Who are you? I don't know you. Get as far away from me as possible, I'm not into men!" He kept walking after saying that, leaving Minato stunned.
This Malaria is somewhat… erratic! Minato was dumbfounded, feeling that it wouldn't be easy to make Malaria behave and stop troubling the villagers every step of the way.
However, Minato refused to give up, not after he spent his lifesavings on the guy. All of a sudden Malaria turned around and said, "Give me your contact details."
Minato was overjoyed, smiling happily. Had his thoughts been acknowledged? Will Malaria listen to his advice and the troublesome assessment tomorrow will turn out fine? The Hokage had assigned Minato be the examiner in order to deal with this mess, and he hoped to avoid any issues in advance if possible.
Without any hesitation Minato gave Malaria his contact details in case he wanted to visit and have a chat. Perhaps he could introduce Kushina to the brat? Their personalities when young are kind-of similar.
Malaria accepted the note with Minato's address and waved his free hand. "All right, you can go back home now. I'll contact you when I need to resupply the herbs. Remember to stack your wallet in advance."
Minato's face stiffened. This jackass only wanted him to pay for his purchases next time. How could there be such a shameless brat in this world?
--
Soon, Malaria came back to the Ninja Academy and looked for his teacher. He needed directions to find where his new laboratory is supposed to be.
The moment he came to the teacher's offices he found his teacher squatting in a corner with a coffee mug in his hands. No matter how you looked at it, he was clearly on the brink of mental collapse.
Malaria was worried that something went wrong with the teacher's head after the assessment earlier in the day. He truly must speed up the brewing and give him a few 'pink-mix'-bottles to cheer him up.
"Teach, are you alright?" Malaria asked, tapping him on the shoulder.
'Am I all right? Me? All right after a devil like you is undermining the foundations of my life?' The teacher pondered the question for a second, before coming to a conclusion.
"Yes, I'm fine Malaria-kun, what can I do for you?" He ignored his own anxiety, threw it out the window and acted normal so this demon would not catch on. He really couldn't handle any more of this brat's malevolence right now.
'Why were you squatting in a corner, sipping on coffee like an asylum patient then?' Malaria thought.
"I wanted some directions towards my new laboratory. I can't wait to start working on my next masterpiece!" Malaria replied, "Could you lead me there? It should've been prepared in advance, right?"
"Yes, of course. Let's go immediately" the teacher rose to his feet and started leading the way outside the Academy grounds. The faster this gets done, the sooner he can get away from the little demon.
--
Tree Leaf Hospital was the best general hospital in Konoha. It was famous for housing Tsunade for a number of years as she developed her medical-jutsu to the acme of perfection.
Uchiha Dobito was lying on a bed in one of the wards, his eyes dazed and fixed on the ceiling. His life has crumbled and there's no meaning to continue.
"Dobito, say something! You're scaring me!" Dobito's mother called, with tears flowing down her cheeks.
Uchiha Fugaku, the clan patriarch, took a deep breath and muttered under his breath, "Kill that brat Malaria for me."
"Understood." Somebody accepted the order from the shadows, but nobody could be seen at the scene at all.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door to the hospital room. A man decked out in a merchants' outfit with the official Uchiha clan seal on his back came inside.
"Patriarch, Akimichi Narute, together with dozens of shareholders of the Food Court launched a crazy economic assault on our acquisition routes pertaining to grain and livestock. They say that we'll be starved to death if Dobito and Akimichi Himawari are not married in three days."
The merchant lowered his head. He did not dare to mention that Akimichi Narute had declared he'd flatten the entire Uchiha compound if they refused the marriage.
Fugaku breathed out softly and said, "Reply to Akimichi Narute that Dobito and Himawari will marry. You can ask them to make the preparations first."
"My poor son!" Dobito's mother yowled and lamented. Her wonderful son was going to marry a fatty that can roll without the Akimichi's secret techniques! What a truly weighted fate!
Fugaku glanced at Dobito and said, "Child, most things in life do not go as you plan. Consider it a sacrifice for the Uchiha clan."
Dobito shed a tear of grief on the sickbed after hearing the Patriarchs words. 'Was it not you who made Malaria do this to me!? Bastard, bastards all of you!' he wailed in his heart.
His happiness had been used as a bargaining chip by the ambitious Patriarch. Now the clan had a foot-in-the-door to Konoha's top clans through him, using Malaria as a springboard to achieve the objective.
'Goodbye, my beloved goddess, Haruno Mebuki!'
Uchiha Dobito closed his eyes in pain, feeling that his life was dark.
—
In the shining and newly renovated laboratory just outside the Konoha Hospital, Malaria dripped a residue liquid of a type of mushroom extract into a red tube. The substance bubbled and frothed like it was becoming alive.
'That mushroom has similar qualities to a half breed between cinnamon and eucalyptus plants from my past life.' Malaria thought, 'Both of those are natural mosquito repellents by themselves. This time, it should be a success!'
As the solution settled down and became stable, a chilling and refreshing smell, with notes of warmth and… a tinge of vanilla, wafted through the air?
'This aroma is just like a freshly baked cinnamon roll, if I had a peppermint chewing gum in my mouth. Exquisite!' Malaria was ecstatic, this seems to be a success!
