Chapter 24
“Are you sure you have everything you need?” Mikoto was fussing, and Sasuke barely resisted rolling his eyes.
“Yes, mom. I have my tools, my clothes, the scrolls with the products from Kurata and Kobo, an emergency med kit, and more than enough food to last. I think you packed more of my bags than I did.” He was pouting now, but he couldn’t help it. Shisui probably wouldn’t be packing for Naruto.
“Don’t use that tone with me.” Sasuke heard the warning in her voice loud and clear, so he kept quiet.
“The four of you are supposed to meet at the village entrance,” she fiddled with the list for a few seconds before putting it aside and walking over, pulling him into a tight hug. “Be careful and protect each other. I know you won’t be able to stay out of trouble but keep the damage to a minimum.” He couldn’t tell if she was joking or not, so he nodded.
Mikoto squeezed him one more time for good measure and then broke the hug while wiping away a few tears. Still, she smiled “off you go then!” And pushed him towards the door. Sasuke yelled a quick bye to his smiling father as he left. Thankfully, they didn’t walk him all the way to the village gate.
Well, he tried to get there early, but he was stopped no less than 5 times. Haruka had even insisted on giving him breakfast and waved him off his attempts to pay for it. “Naruto, Shisui,” He greeted when he finally made it to the entrance. Naruto was making faces at Shisui but he quickly turned towards Sasuke. “Hey, it took ya long enough to get here. Where’s Itachi?”
“I’m here.”
Sasuke and Shisui burst out laughing as Naruto yipped and turned around at Itachi’s voice coming from right behind him. Itachi smiled softly at the panic on the blond’s face.
It didn’t take long for them to head out after that. “Where to first, o great captain,” Shisui was having too much fun with the idea of Itachi leading them. Naruto and Sasuke looked at him as well. They didn’t really know either.
Itachi sighed and pulled out a portable map of the area. It was incomplete for the moment but still usable for basics. He tilted it so the shorter kids could see as well and pointed to a village about an hour’s run away. “We’re going to go here and fan out a bit. I want to stay at least one day in each village. We’ll start close to home to see how things go before we go further.”
Sasuke nodded and looked at the map. They had about four towns close to their village. “We can also take out some bandit nests and make some extra cash on the side while the kids are doing their thing.” Shisui supplied helpfully. Itachi frowned a bit. “I don’t want to leave them alone.”
“We’ll be fine.” Naruto chimed in. “You guys can help us set up in the market and meet us at the end of the day. Who would attack us there?” Sasuke got the feeling the question was supposed to be rhetorical but he opened his mouth anyway to answer. Naruto’s elbow jabbing in his stomach stopped his response though.
“We won’t go far,” Shisui gave Naruto a look that Sasuke couldn’t decipher. “It’ll also be great practice for the kids.” Sasuke gave him the stink eye for calling them kids but let it go because it looked like Naruto was winning this debate.
“Okay,” Itachi decided. “But, you two are to stay in the market. Got it.” His brother could glare with the best of them and Sasuke meekly nodded his head at the instructions. Details cleared, they sped up the pace and as he tried to focus chakra on his feet it proved to be a bit difficult with Naruto’s constant chatter in the background.
Sasuke would rather bite his own tongue off before he admitted to being as excited as Naruto out loud but he would at least admit it to himself in the safety of his mind. This mission was a big deal and Sasuke was happy to be going with his brother. Technically he and Naruto were there as apprentices but the Uchiwa on all their backs were proof they weren’t normal civilians. Even Naruto’s gaudy orange jumpsuit had the fan stitched in the fabric. A going away present from Mikoto that Sasuke helped with.
Even with Shisui and Itachi carrying most of their supplies, they still had to stop at the halfway point for Naruto and Sasuke to regain their chakra and catch their breath. “You don’t need to push yourselves too hard,” Great, they got Itachi to fret now.
“We’ve got plenty of time.” Shisui added. “Just think about how quickly your chakra reserves are going to grow.” They continued to chat and the time flew by as they made it to their first village. Oddly enough, the mayor greeted them at the gate.
“The Uchiha party, wonderful to see you so soon.” There was a sleazy look about him and Sasuke resisted the temptation to hide behind Itachi as he pranced over to them. “You must be Lord Itachi, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Sasuke was startled a bit at the formal title but the mayor didn’t seem to notice it. “I am Mayor Ikagawashi. I was quite happy to receive your letter.” His eyes cut to Sasuke and the younger boy couldn’t help but take half a step back. The older man's slimy smile made the hair on his arms stand up.
Itachi moved slightly to be in front of him. That’s when Sasuke noticed Naruto had not resisted the urge to hide and was now standing behind Shisui. “If you received the letter, that must mean you know why we’re here.” Itachi inquired and the man took his eyes off of the children and returned to speaking with Itachi.
“Of course, an envoy, right?” Ikagawashi was still smiling. “Let me show you around and then lead you to the market. I was told you have wares to sell.” He motioned for them to follow.
Luckily, the tour was short since it was a small town and Sasuke didn’t like the way it looked either. Ikagawashi would show them magnificent statues but he watched beggars on the street be shooed away by the man’s guard. Sasuke spread out his awareness and couldn’t sense any shinobi but they could be hiding as well. “Here’s the market,” the man’s words caught Sasuke’s attention. His “market” didn’t look very good. There were several vendors but the prices Sasuke saw were extortion at best. They were so high, it was no wonder the place couldn’t function.
“You can set up your stall here for the rest of the day. I will of course provide you with a guard.” It wasn’t even lunch yet, so they had plenty of time. Itachi went to talk to Ikagawashi while Shisui helped Naruto and Sasuke set up. He didn’t leave like they expected though.
“I think I'll stick around for a bit, just until Itachi is finished with the whole meet n greet thing.” He was talking to them but looked pointedly at the guard the mayor assigned. Sasuke wanted to be upset about being handled with kid gloves but he was more grateful that Shisui was staying with them.
“We’ll probably need the help anyway.” Naruto was pulling out bread and vegetables and unsealing them. They had brought more than enough to barter and sell off the excess produce the village had produced. They could also easily send for more or send supplies back via summon from one of Itachi’s crows. Sasuke’s weren’t ready for such long trips yet.
“Yeah,” Sasuke easily agreed while happily unsealing the tools and the stand. Before they were even finished, several people had come over and started looking. The guard shot them a glare that made most of them leave but others stayed and seemed too curious to be scared off.
“Don’t know how much business you’re gonna get from these types.” Why is he acting like they were on friendly terms? Sasuke internally scoffed and decided to ignore the guard, he would let Shisui handle it. He didn’t trust himself to not say something that might have them kicked out on their first mission. From the corner of his eyes, he watched Naruto talking to someone about the bread and quickly stepped up to help the next person.
“Good morning, is there something you would like today?” He politely greeted the woman in front of him, she gestured to some potatoes and held out her hand. It was a copper piece. Sasuke counted out a few extra to put in her basket after looking at her ragged appearance. Neither Naruto or Shisui said anything about it.
She didn’t speak at all which made for a quick transaction. It wasn’t until she was leaving that there was an incident. The woman had started to walk away when she ran headfirst into a man that was standing too close to her. “Dirty Peasant,” He yelled out and swung. She was faster and was barely able to avoid his hit as she was falling.
It happened so fast, Sasuke didn’t have time to react as the man pulled his leg back to kick the cowering woman. Shisui was much faster and blurred as he got between the two. Sasuke swiftly went to pick up the dropped produce and put his hand on the woman. She flinched and curled back. It took her a moment to realize she wasn’t struck and she looked up. Sasuke looked as well.
The man was almost purple in the face and Shisui was standing in front of him. The other customer that Naruto was talking with had disappeared, along with everyone that was standing near the stall. “Hi, are you interested in our wares?” Shisui’s voice was almost pleasant, even as he held the man’s leg in the air. The guard greeted the man by the name “Taihen” and Shisui gave his leg a gentle squeeze before he released it and the man stumbled back.
Sasuke extended his hand to the woman but she refused to get off the ground. He glared at the offending man. “You shouldn’t be selling to the riff raff. He gestured to the frozen woman and Sasuke shifted his body to get between them, unknowingly mirroring his brother’s movement from earlier. “I own the stall over there,” he continued as if he had some authority. “They can’t afford the goods here. The only reason I even set up is because Ikagawashi pays me too.” He sounded like he was bragging.
“Well, the riff raff had made a purchase here so I don’t know what that says about you.” Shisui said, still pleasantly. The other man frowned but didn’t comment on it. “I am sorry though, I will have to ask you to keep your distance from the other customers and wait your turn. We don’t want any other collisions.” It was a reasonable request but the man only frowned harder.
He finally said, “Since I only see this one customer, how about you help me and we’ll see what kind of goods,” his lips curled at goods, “you have to offer.” He absentmindedly went around Sasuke to the stall. They had only put out what they thought the people here would be interested in so it was mostly vegetables and some tools.
As soon as he looked at the stall, the woman grabbed her basket and disappeared from Sasuke’s sight. He dusted himself off and observed the man. He was certainly dressed in finer clothing than the others but the look in his eyes reminded Sasuke of a rotting fish. “You don’t seem to have a lot. Is the famous Uchiha clan struggling?” He laughed and Sasuke felt his blood boil.
“We haven’t put out our finer wares yet.” Sasuke hoped his face was like stone as he spoke. He didn’t bother with a smile. “We didn’t want anyone to wait for service so we didn’t put it out yet. If you wait a moment. I will get them.” Sasuke really didn’t want to sell him anything but he also didn’t want the other man spreading rumors they didn’t have finer things.
“Unfortunately,” Shisui cut in, “because we are limited by how much we can carry, we are also limiting how much we can sell in one place. I’m sure you understand.” Sasuke thought there must be an insult somewhere but the other man wouldn’t dare call them out.
He pursed his lips. “Fine, I will wait. Set out your finest.” He settled into a haughty pose and Sasuke saw Naruto roll his eyes. All the other customers had left when the man showed up so unfortunately he was the only one for them to see.
“One moment please.” Naruto managed to smile at him. Sasuke pulled out the scroll of glassware he had made himself. Like heck was he going to show this man their finest just to watch it go into his stand at a marked up price. He pulled out a few and gently set them down for the man to inspect. He also pulled out some jewelry. One of the perks of working for the glassmaker and blacksmith was working with finer metals. They didn’t find a lot in the cave but there was enough for Sasuke to play with.
It helped that neither teacher wanted anything to do with mixing their craft so Sasuke didn’t have to share much. The merchant couldn’t stop the intrigue in his eye as he reached down to inspect a glass flower Sasuke had spent a week on. The price was listed underneath it so Sasuke felt no need to speak to the man. He half believed the other would simply smash the work.
“No doubt a master made this, why would he trust it to a bunch of kids.” He was turning the glass over in his hand and Sasuke’s fingers itched to take it back.
“Actually, Sasuke made that himself.” Naruto chimed in. The man looked surprised but kept looking. His eyes widened at the price.
“I’ll give you three silver for it.” He shot off a price that was half of what it was marked.
Sasuke opened his mouth but Shisui interrupted him with a wink. “With finery such as this, made by what you called a master. That price is much too low.”
“As you can see, nobody is buying my products so I don’t have much more to give.” The man argued. Sasuke looked again at his stall and looked at the prices.
“How about a trade then,” Sasuke suggested. Shisui looked intrigued and Naruto followed along.
“Yeah, some stuff in your stall for this piece.” Naruto agreed. The man readily accepted the deal and pointed for them to take whatever they wanted in the stall. Sasuke figured it was because he wasn’t selling anything worth near the amount so he walked over and ignored the prices completely. There were several tools that looked well made but had some damage, as well as some books that looked too well worn to have belonged to the man.
“I’ll take these,” Sasuke picked up half a dozen tools and the books. The man quickly looked at the items and back at the flower. “Fine.” He settled and Sasuke was happy about the sale. He wrapped the flower for him and took his haul back to his own stall. The man’s face soured when Sasuke repriced his products much lower than what he was selling for and put the books under the stall for safe keeping.
It didn’t take long after that for the merchant to close his stand down completely for the day and almost run out of the market. “Probably to brag to his wife about his great deal.” Shisui said under his breath so the guard couldn’t hear him. As soon as the man left. The same woman from earlier came back, along with several others. She gestured for Sasuke again and he didn’t understand. In his frustration, he asked. “Can you not speak?” He didn’t mean to sound rude per se, but it was definitely not polite.
She stopped and leaned forward, Sasuke jumped back and gasped in horror when he saw her point to her mouth and noted she was missing her tongue. A young man on the line was watching the interaction and quietly approached to explain. “She used to work for the mayor but when he fired her last year. He declared he didn’t want her to tell anyone his secrets so he….” He trailed off and shrugged. “I think she wants the books you just bought. You didn’t put them out and they used to belong to her. She….”
The man stopped and looked to the woman for permission before continuing. “She used to have two children. Someone broke into her house before she lost it and they were killed. They stole the books from the house then and they showed up in the stall. Those …” he swallowed hard before continuing. “Children's books that she used to read.”
He didn’t know what to say to that and turned to Naruto by reflex only to see the other boy tearing. Sasuke had suspected that the merchant had swindled someone but he felt nauseous knowing the truth. He quickly grabbed the books and handed them to her. She tried to hand him back the potatoes she had bought moments ago. “For payment.” The young man uncomfortably added.
He pushed the basket back to her. “I don’t need payment for this.” Sasuke was firm even when she tried again. “I love my mother very much,” he tried to explain. “I would never take this away from you.” He handed it to her. Crying, she left clutching her basket.
“Thanks,” the same man from before spoke. “We don’t get many travelers here to begin with, let alone ones that are kind.”
“Well, we’re neighbors so being nice is important.” Naruto stated from where he was helping another customer. Several people looked at him and he continued “Haven’t you heard?”
A few shook their heads so Naruto explained. “We ran here this morning. Our village is about tw…” He rethought the speed that civilians travel. “About half a day’s travel that way.” He pointed. “If you show me a map, I can mark it down so you guys can stop by our market. This seems kinda small.” He rubbed his head. He spent most of the day talking to the people while the guard glared at them. They didn’t sell a whole lot but still enough to call it a day by the time Itachi returned.
Itachi looked more exhausted than Sasuke felt. He helped them seal up their stand and the four of them went to the hotel that the mayor insisted they use. While Shisui checked for bedbugs and Sasuke showered, Naruto told Itachi about the whole day. “Maybe mention this in the report when you send it home.” Shisui suggested. Itachi agreed and the four went to bed for the night.