Chapter 25
Sasuke woke up in the middle of the night to Itachi shaking him. His brother stayed silent and was intently looking at something. Then Itachi pointed to the doorknob of their room and Sasuke still didn’t understand. Naruto grumbled a bit when he woke but was quickly shushed by Shisui. The four continued to watch and after a moment, it began to turn and push inward.
The additional chain on the door stopped it from opening completely. It was eased shut again and silence fell for about a minute before it was eased open again and a hook was threaded through the crack. It felt forever to Sasuke but couldn’t have taken more than a few minutes. Itachi and Shisui took their positions on either side of the door and waited patiently for the intruder to make it inside. Sasuke and Naruto shared a look and layed back down facing the window so the intruder wouldn’t see that they were wide awake. Sasuke was confident hearing was keen enough to tell when or if someone got too close and even if they did. His brother would make quick work of them..
He wouldn’t be able to reach for anything in the drawers though. All their bags were neatly settled between Itachi and Shisui’s bed. Instead of going for them, Sasuke felt the intruder leaning over him in the bed. He kept still until he heard a kunai thud wetly right above him. “NOW!” He heard his brother's signal and lunged out of bed at the same time as Naruto.
He saw another man sprint down the hallway but was prevented from giving chase by his brother. “Stay here, I’ve got him.” Sasuke nodded and turned his attention to the already tied up man in the middle of the floor courtesy of Shisui. Naruto turned the lights on and they kept guard until Itachi returned with the other man.
Sasuke saw there was no need for restraints when the man stared straight ahead even as he was roughly pushed to the floor. Sasuke wasn’t sure whether he was in a genjutsu or whether he was dead, but he wasn’t going to ask now. They all glared at the remaining man and waited for Itachi’s lead. “Who are you and why are the two of you breaking into this room?” Itachi’s face was cold and distant.
“I ain’t telling you anything.” He struggled against his restraints.
“That’s too bad,” Itachi said and Sasuke saw his Sharigan activate. The man was instantly caught in whatever illusion Itachi had created. It lasted a few minutes before Itachi dispelled it and the man fell bonelessly to the floor, gasping for breath. “Let’s try again.” It almost sounded like an offer. “Who are you and why are you here?”
“I told ya! I aint saying …..” He yelled as Itachi put him under. Sasuke clenched his fist and saw Naruto look away. It was difficult to watch his gentle brother torture someone but they had to get used to it.
Thankfully, It didn’t take too long for the man to give in. “Fine, fine. You win. Ikagawashi sent me to nab the kids.” He stilled at the glare being sent his way by his interrogator but his mouth seemed to be moving faster than his brain. “A man came into the village a few weeks ago and offered a huge price if we could catch one of you. We were going to sell the spare.” That was about it for information while the rest was just useless gasping and pleading.
Shisui interrupted the display by slitting the man’s throat. Naruto flinched but Sasuke figured that would happen the moment he said they were the targets. “That could have gone better.” Shisui noted and untied the rope off of his victim. {
“We expected this to happen at some point.” Itachi mumbled out before turning to the two younger shinobi. “Are you two okay?”
Sasuke nodded and Naruto gave a weak “yeah.”
Itachi was using his mind reading again because he faced Naruto and Sasuke away from the carnage and Shisui started the cleanup. “You never really get used to killing.” He explained . “In fact, you shouldn’t be used to it. Sometimes though, you don’t have a choice when you’re protecting something important.” He was focusing on Naruto as he spoke. Sasuke had already gotten one version of this speech from his mom so the sight of two dead men didn’t bother him as much.
“Done,” Shisui let them know and they turned around. The two bodies were already sealed in scrolls. “Next time, I’ll show you guys how to properly check the bodies over. I figured you might be too overwhelmed the first time.” He gave them a smile.
“Go report to the mayor. Don’t let him know that we managed to get them to talk. Just tell him they broke in and we killed them.” Itachi commanded.
Sasuke asked “Why don’t we just go and take out the mayor. He sent those men to kidnap us?” He tried to keep the offense out of his voice.
Itachi almost smiled. “It’s always best if you have the most information. We’ll send a report home. I’m not worried about what they did as much as why they did it.”
“Because of the man that paid him?” Naruto piped in.
The two relaxed as Itachi’s face went into teacher mode. “A lot of people would love to steal the sharingan but the fact they were going after both of you tells us some information by itself.”
“What?” Sasuke asked.
“Well, if it were Konoha, then they would know that Naruto doesn’t have a sharingan. The person who tried to pay them off would have told them to bring him back alive.” Itachi grimaced at the thought but the two boys looked thoughtful. “We can’t pin down who it is by those two things alone but if the mayor thinks we're in the dark on who ordered those two men, then…..”
He trailed off to give them time to answer. Naruto is the one to figure it out first. “He’ll probably give us more information than if we interrogated him.”
“That’s right. People give away more information if they're not on their guard. That and we don’t have time to investigate this ourselves. Since we're on a mission already, we can’t stop it to go do something else. What’s the protocol right now?”
Naruto was stumped but Sasuke had this answer. “We report back all we’re able to uncover and continue our own mission unless given further instructions.” Sasuke sounded like he was reading it from the textbook.
“The only exception is if there is imminent danger. Otherwise, it’s always best to get your facts together before charging in headfirst.” He gave them both a pointed look and the boys diverted their eyes. Itachi sighed, “Those lessons are wasted on you, little brother.”
Sasuke pouted and they were quizzed on proper protocol until Shisui returned without the corpses. “What do you bet they forget to tell us their identity.” Shisui jokes. While Shisui and Itachi discussed what they would report, Naruto showed Sasuke how to trap the door so nobody else could use the same trick to sneak in. It didn’t take long for them to settle down for the remainder of the night.
The morning was surprisingly uneventful, but there had been a switch in guards. The new one was younger and the other villagers seemed less hesitant to approach the stall, suffice to say that business was more successful than yesterday. Granted, after the revelation from the bearded man of the mayor’s schemes, Itachi and Shisui decided to stay vigilant and helped with trading.
During his break he managed to have a look around the other vendors' stalls and while most of it wasn’t in much better condition than the charlatan’s there were a few items that were sure to make traveling easier, he was particularly proud of the deal he got for the sunscreen. Itachi thought so too and he was given his well deserved praise. A few of the vegetables were close to ripening though so he ended up giving some away before they packed up to leave.
Unfortunately, they didn’t find out any more information about the man trying to nab them. Itachi sent out a detailed report about what happened though and assured them someone else would investigate. It took them about two weeks to go through the other towns on their map and they found one more that wasn’t listed on it. There were no other incidents like the first though.
In the last town, they left in the early morning. “Where to next,” Naruto was already too loud. Shisui laughed and Itachi pulled out their map.
“Well, Now we’re going to a hidden village. The village hidden in iron, Tetsugakure. It’s a neutral ground so other shinobi won’t be able to attack us. It’s a good spot to start.” Itachi pointed to the route. “There are also several more villages on our way there. We’re not going to set up in all of them but we could take some odd jobs if you want?” The last question was directed at Naruto and Sasuke and they both responded with an enthusiastic yes.
After only a few weeks, Sasuke and Naruto could feel their chakra reserves getting larger. They still had to take frequent breaks but they were having a great time. The next few towns flew by. Sasuke wasn’t sure what number it was when they finally saw the poster.
They had already had to restock their vegetables and were able to send back a multitude of spices and seeds so they were taking a day off to do some missions for the village. Not every town had a shinobi country close enough to do convenient tasks so they would hang up the jobs on a notice board. There were plenty of wanted posters and a few odd jobs. Sasuke was looking at wanted posters when he came across the odd sight.
“What’s this?” He asked and pulled down a poster without a face on it. “Itachi,” he must have sounded worried because Itachi was pulling the paper out of his hand before he even finished his name. Naruto and Shisui looked at the interaction.
“Wanted: Any information on the Uchiha Clan. They are wanted in Konoha for conspiracy to commit treason. Shisui snorted. Itachi shot him a look and continued. “Will pay for any Sharingan eyes, whether the user is alive or dead. Be cautious, most Uchiha are dangerous with flee on sight orders given to civilians. Please go to the Konoha help desk to receive payment and drop off products.”
Sasuke was seething “Products!” He yelled in outrage and had to be shushed when several people turned to look at them.
“The Daimyo’s seal isn’t on this so he didn’t approve it. We need to get this to Uncle as soon as possible.” Shisui sounded urgent and Sasuke could understand why. This was shameless defamation. They had done nothing to warrant an order like this to be given.
Itachi quickly summoned a crow and sent it on its way with the poster. “We’ll have to be careful where we sleep from now on.” Itachi warned. “Even if it’s not an official notice, some people will be desperate enough to try. We’ll stay together for missions for the time being.”
“If that’s the case,” Naruto butted in, “then pick something harder than herb picking.” He said while making a face. Sasuke appreciated the attempt to lighten the mood, but found that he secretly agreed with that statement and had to look away from his brother's offended face before laughing.
Itachi put down the gathering request and started looking at the wanted posters. “Has anyone been sighted nearby?” Shisui questioned and began searching with him. Looks like a Mist shinobi is on here. Shisui picked up a poster. Spotted around Iron county, name’s Zabuza and likes using a sword.”
“Maybe he broke it and has to get it fixed,” Sasuke speculated. He knew the land of iron was known for their blacksmithing so it wouldn’t be a farfetched guess.
Itachi grabbed the poster and looked at it. “He’s pretty strong.” He sounded pensive but Sasuke couldn’t figure out what was so special.
“Yeah, but we outnumber him.” Shisui argued. “What is the worst thing that can happen with both of us there?” Sasuke thought that was an ominous question. “Besides, this way we’ll build a better reputation and help our home village gather up some business.”
That argument swayed him enough into agreement that they took the poster with them when they left the village. They didn’t stay as long as they would have liked but they did leave a poster of their own on the board, advertising the new village and what it was meant for. They were all understandably jumpy when they crossed into the area where Zabuza was last seen.