Night draped itself over the dunes like a cold, endless shroud.Sunagakure grew quieter after dark than Konoha ever did. The only sound was the wind howling across the rooftops, flinging sand against every surface like someone shaking a rattle beside your ear.
Tobika cracked his eyes open, slid out of bed, and pushed open the window.
A full wave of sand slapped him in the face.
He blinked through the grit, glanced down at the empty street, then hopped over the balcony railing. Three floors up. He landed in a heavy crouch, the force blowing aside a layer of sand and revealing the stone tiles beneath.
Someone stood in the darkness, killing intent funneling straight at him.
Tobika yawned.
"So it's you. Standing outside my place in the middle of the night, leaking murder like you've got a hole in your chest."
The Suna shinobi snarled.
"You filthy Konoha trash. How dare you step foot in our village."
Tobika tugged his pajama shirt loose from his pants.
"I agree Konoha can be filthy sometimes. As for why I'm here…One, I was targeted. My ridiculously busty squad captain dumped the mission on me.Two, I was definitely targeted, because I know medical ninjutsu and somehow that means I'm perfect diplomatic material.Three, I was absolutely—"
The Suna shinobi charged, fists clenched, expression twisted with rage.
Tobika didn't stop talking.
"—targeted."
Bonk.
He casually knocked the man on the head with a closed fist. The shinobi staggered back, almost falling.
Tobika sighed.
"Back up. Too close and I get nervous. Anyway, I'm also pretty sure the clan head's wife pulled strings to get me a long-term mission far away from home. Otherwise why would an S-rank assignment fall onto the rookie's desk?"
"You… you talk too much."
The shinobi's vision spun. He roared and lunged with a kunai.
"Diplomacy failed," Tobika muttered, side-stepping. "Captain, I tried.I'll bring you some sand-flavored buns as apology."
His knee slammed straight into the man's stomach.
The shinobi folded like a dying scorpion, retching onto the sand.
Tobika scratched his nose.
"You're the fifth one tonight. Strongest out of the five, though."
The Suna shinobi glared up at him with hatred—Just in time to see Tobika knock on a nearby courtyard gate.
"Yakura, fifth attempt tonight."
The lights came on instantly.Yakura, in pajamas, stuck her head out the window.
She saw the collapsed shinobi.She saw Tobika posing like a bored champion.
Her eye twitched.
"Beating a chunin… is that something to brag about?"
Tobika tilted his head.
"I just realized this must be how Uchiha Madara looked at his defeated enemies. You know. 'Invincible' written all over his face."
"Get out of my way."
She opened the courtyard door, but Tobika blocked the frame with his hand.
"You want to fight me and help your 'invincible' heart feel better?" she growled.
"Nope."
He leaned in and whispered into her ear.
Yakura froze.Then her eyes widened with pure murder.
"…If you're tired of living, I can help you with that right now."
Tobika exhaled and looked toward the Suna orphanage.
"I support people's dreams, you know. When I was four, Tsunade said she wanted to build a medical division. I supported her dream immediately. Sure, she thought I was a scheming Uchiha spy, but the instinct stuck with me."
Yakura blinked.
Her dream… was to help Sunagakure recover.
And Tobika was offering to—well, to financially assist that dream.A ridiculous amount of financial assistance.
Her face twitched.
He was basically a walking stack of ryo.
It would be a crime not to fleece him.
The next morning
Yakura descended the stairs fully dressed—only to freeze.
The blanket was folded.The dishes were covered.The air smelled like breakfast.
She reached for her kunai…Then remembered last night's deal.
She picked up the note on the table.
"First time I've cooked since I stopped drinking milk.Everything in Suna has sand in it.Even instant noodles have sand."
A snort escaped her.
She lifted the dishes—simple but warm—and shook her head.
A man who cooked was rare.A Uchiha who cooked? Practically extinct.
Kazekage's Meeting Hall
The place was full. Nearly every available jonin was present.
A chunin guided Yakura to a seat near the Kazekage.
"Thank you," she said.
Moments later, the heavy doors opened.
Rasa entered, wearing black shinobi gear and a conical hat.
"Meeting begins."
"Wait!"
A burly councilor wrapped in a white scarf stood up, glaring at Yakura.
"I have a question.Is it true you let that Uchiha stay in your home? Unacceptable behavior for a jonin!"
Yakura leaned back, arms folded.
"Oh. That? I sold my sofa for one million ryo."
"…Your sofa is made of gold?"
He blinked. Then caught himself.
"We are talking about the Uchiha, not your sofa!"
"Same thing. Uchiha Tobika bought the sofa's usage rights for three months.Which means he's technically renting my place.And I used ninety percent of the money to donate to the orphanage."
The entire room went silent.
The councilor trembled, staring at her donation receipt.
"…One million ryo?"
Before anyone could continue the argument, he switched topics abruptly.
"According to intel from our Iwa spies, the Stone may be preparing to strike us again. Our finances are collapsing. We cannot handle multi-front warfare. I propose we pursue peace with Kirigakure next. We cannot rely solely on Fire Country support."
Rasa nodded grimly.It was reality.
Meanwhile
Tobika had no idea he'd become Sunagakure's most controversial tenant.
He was busy teaching medical ninjutsu.
Suna textbooks were shockingly similar to Konoha's.After skimming a few pages, he glanced up at the small group of children glaring at him.
"I'm Uchiha Tobika," he said. "From the Konoha Uchiha. Yes, that Uchiha."
A kunai whistled toward his face.
Tobika caught it between two fingers.
His chakra flared.The wooden floor splintered under the pressure.Wind roared through the room.
Hatred dissolved into terror.Some fainted outright.
Tobika withdrew the killing intent and the atmosphere immediately snapped back to normal.
He pointed lazily at them.
"You can look at others through tinted lenses, but don't underestimate their strength because of it. If someone stronger than you isn't trying to kill you, your job is to learn everything you can. Chiyo is gambling her techniques on you."
He walked toward the door and waved.
"What are you standing there for?If you don't work hard, Chiyo will cry herself to death."
He left them trembling.
The infirmary
Tobika entered with the students behind him.
A Suna shinobi lay on a bed, one foot rotten to the bone.
"Battlefield medics need only three skills," Tobika said. "Stop bleeding.Amputate.Neutralize poison.This foot? Gone. Even off the battlefield."
The patient croaked weakly, "What about off—off the battlefield…?"
"Still gone."
Before the man could protest, Tobika tied him to the bed with rope.
"Stop Blood Technique—you all learned it, right?"
"Yes! Yes!"
With one smooth motion, Tobika drew his sword and severed the rotting foot.
The children screamed.
Two threw up.Three collapsed.The rest shook uncontrollably.
Tobika opened the window to air out the vomit.
"Stop the bleeding before he dies. Or he'll never be a shinobi again."
Outside the room, a Suna medic covered his mouth in horror.
No anesthesia?Konoha… you demons.
But he didn't intervene.The patient's foot truly was beyond saving—and Chiyo had given permission.
An hour later, Tobika nodded approvingly at the pale, trembling students.
"Good. First lesson is decisiveness. On the battlefield, if amputation saves a life, you don't hesitate. Cut first. Stop blood second.There's no anesthesia in war."
He jumped out the window.
He needed to cook.
His stomach was tired of swallowing sand.
Pineapple fried rice today. Simple. Cheap.
His wallet was dying. And he still needed money to keep bribing—no, "funding"—Yakura's dreams.