Chapter 27
The rest of the trek to iron county was refreshingly boring. While they did meet and disperse one group of bandits, they were so pathetic that Itachi and Shisui didn’t even join in or do any educating during the entire fight. Shisui was vibrating with excitement that they were finally “growing up.” Sasuke elected to ignore the teasing.
Iron Country was in one word, Huge! Sasuke saw the structures before he could sense the citizens. He stopped where he stood to gawk at them while Itachi gave him an amused look. “Is that where we’re going?” Naruto asked excitedly.
“Yep,” Shisui popped the p when he spoke, helping Sasuke to finally manage to pick his jaw up off of the ground. \
“It’s bigger than I expected.” There was no point in acting cool now, but he still gave it his best shot. He thought the Hokage Tower in Konoha was large but this place had to dwarf it several times over.
“It’s one of the oldest villages built and they are not lacking in craftsmen to make it even larger.” Itachi explained and as they continued at a more sedate pace. The trees were gone by now and in their place, a prairie. It could almost be called serene if the lack of cover didn’t put them all on edge.
“They’re the ones that cleared out the surrounding woods. There weren’t many trees to begin with so they moved on to the metals in the surrounding mountains.” Itachi explained.
“Lots of caves and minerals but their agriculture sucks,” Shisui joined in. Sasuke remembered reading about how the ground out here was so spoiled from the metals that not many things grew. The ones that did were considered tainted or poisonous.
“Is that why there are so many people coming in and out?” Sasuke asked. He was taught before they left that this village had the most lenient policies for allowing visitors. That’s one reason it was such a hot spot for rogue ninja. Itachi had told him if he was ever looking for someone and didn’t know where to start then Iron Country was his best bet.
“Yes,” Itachi confirmed. “You remembered your lessons.” Sasuke colored at the praise. “Since they have to rely on outsiders for almost all of their food supply, they keep an open door policy. As long as they don’t think youre too much trouble. They don’t care who you are.”
“Is that why they are the first of the big 5 we’re visiting?” Naruto surprisingly gave his input. Usually his eyes would glaze over when Itachi went into teacher mode. He said it was hard to listen to Itachi’s monotone voice. Sasuke didn’t mind it as much because he thought it was kinda soothing
“Ding Ding Ding!” Shisui started looking curiously at other people that were beginning to show up on the road. Itachi tensed as one group got close but they went by without incident.
They chatted a bit more before Naruto gently prodded “Hey Itachi, are you okay?” He had tensed up several times in the last few minutes and his already sparse words had disappeared completely. Leave it to Naruto to notice first
“Don’t mind him too much,” Shisui answered when it became clear Itachi had no clue how to. “We’ve been here a few times before. With so many people, it’s hard to get a read on the surroundings and puts any good shinobi on edge.” Sasuke felt [there was more to that story] but he let it go. Instead, he went over to his brother and grabbed his arm in a loose embrace. Itachi relaxed a bit in his grip.
“Looks like we're here.” Naruto pointed towards the huge gate. For how different it looked from Konoha from a distance, the gates were surprisingly similar. It was made out of metal but aside from that, they could have been designed by the same person. There was also a very very long line. Sasuke made a face at the thought of waiting but the four obediently took their spot Sasuke and Naruto quizzed each other about their latest evening lesson while Itachi and Shisui discussed their plan.
“We should scout ahead for a good spot before we set up shop here.” Itachi warned as they got closer.
Sasuke didn’t question it but Naruto did. “Why? We haven’t had to do that yet.”
“There’s more unsavory types here,” Shisui explained. “We don’t want to run into trouble. That and since nobody came to greet us, we might as well. This whole expedition is to introduce Uchiha goods and services. We can go ahead and hang our notice.”
It felt like forever before they managed to get near the front. Sasuke watched the guard let person after person in with barely a nod of their head. He could have sworn he saw several cut forehead protectors but couldn’t get a close enough look to determine the villages they were from. He was so invested in what was happening, he lost his balance and bumped head first into the person in front of him.
Normally, bumping into someone wouldn’t be a big deal, but normally that person wasn’t the biggest scarred up man Sasuke had ever laid eyes on. He wasn’t even able to get an apology out as his eyes went wide. They traveled up and up until they met a scowling face, of course he couldn’t have been lucky enough to run into a normal thug either.
Although the man didn’t have a Hitaiate, Sasuke could feel his charged chakra just under the surface. He was trained but his shock held him in place for the first crucial moment of the encounter and the other man swung before he could yell in alarm.
“Watch it ya bra…..” Sasuke put his arms up to block and as all movement seemed to slow down he distantly worried he accidentally activated his sharingan. It took a few seconds to process that the man had been promptly cut off and he was greeted with quite the scene. Itachi held this large man by the throat with a murderous expression on his face. Sharingan spinning wildly.
Shisui was clutching Itachi’s other arm above his head, preventing a kunai from piercing the target. The entire line around them had been replaced by guards with the iron insignia on their head bands. All of them were armed to the teeth.
“Alright now, everyone stay calm.” Shisui looked directly into Itachi’s eyes as he spoke. “We just had a bit of a mishap. Nothing more.” He tugged Itachi’s armed hand until the weapon was no longer in danger of being lodged into the other man.
“Why did you have to go and try to hit Sasuke!” Naruto’s shrill voice had an odd effect on the iron shinobi. Sasuke couldn’t identify the looks they were giving the group but Sasuke felt his face turn red as Naruto started berating the man still hanging in Itachi’s hand. After a moment longer, Itachi took a deep breath, deactivated his sharingan, and gently lowered the man to the ground.
He then gave the man a half bow, as if he hadn’t just tried to skewer him. “I’m sorry. My little brother was excited and didn’t mean to bump into you sir. We will try to be more careful in the future.” Sasuke lowered his head to match Itachi’s and could swear he heard someone laugh.
The other man huffed and turned away. Instead of joining back in line, he made a beeline into the surrounding rocks. Sasuke couldn’t keep his eyes on the steadily blurring image. At least the ruckus left them near the front of the line, he thought to himself.
Naruto quickly took the opportunity to save them from the watching eyes by turning to the guards and letting out an almost whine. “I’m hungry, can we come in yet?”
A few guards actually laughed and the one manning the gate walked over to greet them. He eyed the jounin in the group. “You should know better than to come to a place like this and try to start trouble. Especially with eyes like those.”
“Now, Now. I’m sure we can work something out. You saw that the whole thing was that contemporary piece of patchwork’s fault, right?” Shisui stepped forward and clasped hands with the guard. Sasuke saw the glint of money change hands between the two.
The guard smiled and put his hand in his pocket. “I reckon you're right. I did see that. Sorry for all the trouble.” He motioned for the other guards to stand down. “I heard you lot were headed this way soon.” He continued the conversation. “I feel the need to warn ya that you might not want to stay too long. You can go to the mission desk and ask for an audience with our Kage. In fact, I think you should go straight there.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
They took the dismissal with grace and made their way into the walls. “How am I supposed to maintain my youthful charms when you guys keep trying to give me early gray hairs? If this keeps up, I’m deducting from your part of the share for the hair dye,” Shisui complained. Itachi snorted. “Right, the stress wrinkles would also give me straight away so the skin care too, thanks for the reminder.” He added dryly.
“That man wasn’t very nice,” Naruto commented. “I didn’t like the way he was looking at us.”
“You did so good,” Shisui reassured. “You broke that tension like a professional diplomat. We got off easy because of you.”
“Huh?” Sasuke frowned in confusion and poked Naruto’s arm to get him to explain it.
Naruto,using his Sasuke translator, easily complied. “I’m not really that hungry but people like kids and don’t like fighting us.” He gestured to the two of them. “I showed them we didn’t want to actually fight.”
“Unless provoked,” Shisui shot Itachi a look.
“Someone’s in trouble,” Naruto cackled. At times like this, Sasuke truly wondered if Shisui and Naruto were secretly related.
Itachi huffed and turned more firmly towards the tower they were walking to. “He was going to hit Sasuke.” He reasoned.
“You don’t think you overreacted just a little,” Shisui guided. “I’m not saying you were wrong to stop him, that guy was obviously bad news. I’m just asking, did you really need to pull out a blade after you had him beat.”
Itachi didn’t look remorseful at all when he replied. “If he didn’t want to get hurt, he shouldn’t have swung first.” The two of them bickered like that all the way to the mission building.
It was marked by two flag poles with flags from the 5 major ninja villages. The iron flag moved proudly at the top of both poles. It was also the only new flag displayed. The building itself looked as sturdy as the walls but had no other decorations or color aside from the notice board and flags. Sasuke shivered at the clinical vibe that came off of it.
Naruto and Sasuke stared at the notice board outside. It wasn’t like any other one Sasuke had seen and he couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong with it. He put the thought out of his mind and started looking for a place to put his notice. He found a small spot between an ad for sword crafting and a retrieval reward that looked as old as the board itself.
“Why aren’t there any wanted posters?” Naruto pointed out the anomaly.
“Good observation,” Itachi then explained. “Because of the type of visitors the village gets, it’s illegal to hunt for rogue ninja inside its walls. They don’t want to endanger their own citizens.”
Sasuke finished pinning the notice and they went into the building. It looked to be at least five stories from the outside but that was normal for the main villages. Itachi didn’t hesitate to walk up to the counter and waited for the woman to greet him. She milled around behind the desk for a bit before she finally turned to them.
“Hello, we are the Uchiha party. We sent notice that we would be arriving.” Itachi greeted the woman, as prim and proper as ever.
“Oh, yeah. Was that today?” The woman responded and turned completely away from them. Sasuke bristled at the rude welcome. “I think someone said something about it,” she mumbled and looked in a bookcase behind the desk.
She turned back to the with the letter they had sent out weeks ago and another packet of paper. “You’ll have to fill these out to be recognized to do trade or work in the village or its surrounding area. We are not responsible for your well being or belongings while lodging here, yada yada yada…” She waved her hand and threw the papers on the desk. “Don’t expect an audience with the Kage either. He’s a busy man and doesn’t have time for small villages. I’m sure you can find the market yourselves.” She shooed them out the door.
Naruto exploded when the door shut behind them. “What the heck. She wasn’t even looking at us and acting bored the whole time.” He seethed.
Even Shisui had to take a calming breath while Itachi looked through the papers. Sasuke peaked over his shoulder. “She told us to fill these out first but they kicked us out before we could. Does that mean we don’t have too?” He wasn’t sure whether to be mad or embarrassed about how quickly their interaction went.
On one hand, the village leaders they had met so far seemed to be made from the same material. Greedy merchants who got lucky enough to score a title. He didn’t particularly like meeting them so he was happy they wouldn’t have to deal with that. On the other hand, this journey was important and to have it brushed off as nothing made him furious. He didn’t know which emotion to feel first so he defaulted into being annoyed.
“I think she gave us permission so we should go ahead and check the place out tonight. We can fill out the paperwork there and turn it in tomorrow before we start. We don’t want to stick out anymore than we have already.” Itachi said reasonably, like it wasn’t his fault they stuck out. {Heh}
Since there was a long way to the market. Sasuke spent his time practicing his sensor skills. Naruto tried as well but kept getting distracted by the sights. It was mesmerizing. No wonder Itachi said that this was a great place to hide. He couldn’t count how many chakra signatures were around him, let alone the different types. He almost ran into Naruto twice before the blond boy took his arm and started dragging him in the right direction.
“Stay close,” Itachi warned as they came closer to the stalls. Sasuke was glad for the warning when they entered because it was packed. All the smells mixed together to the point he could barely pick one out from the others. He definitely smelled herbs and fish. Shisui had to grab him and Naruto so they wouldn’t run off and the four of them browsed the market.
It was so colorful as well. It wasn’t just food but weapons, armor, and fabrics. Sasuke even saw a wood carver that made toys. Everyone seemed happy and prices were being yelled out. Sasuke and Naruto couldn’t talk to each other through the noise. They did buy some fresh fruit that Shisui insisted was a great price to eat later. Eventually, they were pushed to the inner ring of the market.
It was startling how much darker it was than the outskirts, or that might have been the fading daylight. Some people were quickly packing up and leaving while others took their places. There was more blood splatter that looked harmless during the day but had an ominous feel to it in the now hushed environment.
“Don’t worry,” Shisui comforted. “This is pretty normal here.” He said that but still shifted closer to the two younger boys in the group. “Just think of it as a night market,” He tried to explain. “Things that you usually can’t get during the day are sold now instead.”
“Do we need to set up at night?” Naruto’s question was sincere and filled with a mix of exhaustion and acceptance.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Shisui said. “In fact,” here he made his voice louder and looked pointedly to an alley near them. “I think we’ve had enough fun and should find a place to bed down.”
Itachi was standing on the other side of them. The sun was gone completely before they were halfway back out. Women in scanty clothing were walking up and down the street. Naruto almost walked up to greet them before Shisui stopped him with a grimace. The market wasn’t less busy but the sounds were now hushed and mumbled when they passed. Merchants looked at them with hunger and suspicion when they got too close.
Sasuke didn’t realize he was holding his breath until they could smell the fresh air of the empty street.
“That was tense,” Naruto decided to break the silence and walked a few feet in front of the group.
“Is there anyone following us?” Shisui turned to Itachi and Sasuke warily expanded his senses.
“None that I can tell,” Itachi sounded tired. His eyes traveled the deserted road, never staying in one spot long before moving on.
“Let’s find someplace to sleep and eat,” Shisui suggested, never letting his guard down. Using hand signs, Itachi directed them into a loose formation that could be mistaken for a casual stroll. They had gone over several unique formations before they entered the gates so Sasuke and Naruto fell in line with barely a thought.
The place they picked was closer to the mission building than the market. Sasuke figured that Itachi picked it out to keep them away from the night market. The food had a disgusting texture and was stale but he kept that to himself while in the dining area of the inn. There were enough people around them that they easily blended in and stayed invisible.
They went upstairs not long after that. “About time,” Naruto flopped on the bed and Sasuke sat down beside him to take off his shoes.
“What are we doing tomorrow?” He looked to his older brother. Itachi was sitting on the other bed with Shisui and filling out the paperwork he received earlier that day.
“We’ll set up a booth in the morning and see how things go. We can put out some glass, books, and vegetables.” They still had some preserved in the scrolls. “If all goes well, tomorrow, we’ll set out some weapons.” Itachi’s eyes furrowed as he looked at a question and Shisui looked over his shoulder.
Shisui was obviously holding back laughter at whatever he was reading. “What are these questions,” he couldn’t hold his giggles anymore. “I don’t understand half of them. Good thing this falls to you, o fearless leader.” He patted Itachi’s shoulder in sympathy and mirth.
He then passed Sasuke and Naruto some fruit and listened to the two of them complain about the food downstairs before sending them off to bed. As he settled into the same bed as Itachi, Sasuke listened to Shisui shut down the room, which wasn’t big enough for more than two beds so they had to share with their brothers.
He fell asleep listening to Shisui tell Naruto bedtime stories about the clan with the knowledge he would be safe until his shift. He slept with dreams of all the new colors and chakra types before his turn eventually came. Shisui nudged him to wake him up, but since it wasn’t urgent this time, Sasuke took his time getting up and stretching.
They had been taking shifts since the beginning of the trip. Three people would take turns at night while the fourth had the night off, at the same time taking care to switch up the order of the shifts. Tonight was Naruto’s night off, meanwhile Sasuke had the last shift so he would be awake until the others started the day. Shisui used hand signs to tell him nothing interesting had happened except the run of the mill snooping that was successfully warded off by the locks.
Sasuke nodded along but made sure to stay silent. Itachi was especially easy to wake during shift change and he didn’t want that.
He didn’t enjoy inns as much as camping outside, they were boring. Meanwhile, Sasuke could walk to the treeline around the camp and talk to Kaja while the others slept.
She was still smaller than Sasuke wanted but he couldn’t help her get bigger in their world until his chakra stores were built up.
In the inn, the only thing he could do was stay in a corner of the room and read. He couldn’t go far without putting the others in danger and the wards they placed around the room would alert if someone was around as long as he was awake. Reading itself was fine, it was the silence that got to him. With everyone around him, he was hard pressed to find such quiet except in the middle of the night.
It was beginning to unnerve him and make him think of when he was home. When everyone but him were out on missions or in meetings and he wouldn’t know if something happened to them. He enjoyed the quiet in small amounts but only when he knew everyone was safe.
The sun slowly peeked in through the window when he decided to work on his second job as the last shift, making breakfast. Naruto was the best at it but at least Sasuke wasn’t completely hopeless like Itachi and Shisui. He couldn’t understand how they survived so long with such low skills in food.
There was no place to cook and he wasn’t looking forward to eating downstairs so he decided to use a trick Kaja showed him. He took out one of their pots and put it on the fire stand. He filled it with water and grabbed the pot near the bottom. It didn’t take long for the water to start boiling with Sasuke’s fire chakra surrounding it. After that, he put in the oats and lowered the heat.
The smell roused Itachi first. He was silent as he padded across the floor. “Good morning,” Sasuke’s greeting was met with a grumble and a stomach growling. Looked like Sasuke wasn’t the only one still hungry after that pitiful dinner.
Surprisingly, Naruto was the next to wake up. He had been waking up with the sun since they started camping and was much better company than Itachi . The two of them started plotting on how to wake Shisui while Itachi got the bowls ready and Naruto added some berries they had collected to the oats.
“I say we spray him with water,” Naruto excitedly suggested.
“Too simple,” Sasuke shook his head. They had used water last week and he didn’t want to become predictable.
“Tickling, ice?” Naruto cycled through some of their ideas and Sasuke shot down each one. Itachi, the traitor, only listened on in amusement. He had yet to interfere in their routine.
“Wait, I got it,” Naruto grinned and Sasuke knew he had a great plan. “We could use that thing you're doing now,” he gestured to Sasuke’s hands, keeping the food warm. Honestly, not even Naruto knew about this trick but Sasuke was picking them up so fast that neither he or Itachi questioned it anymore.
“I don’t want to burn him too bad,” Uchiha had some resistance to fire but it still hurt when that line was crossed.
“Just put some on his feet and crank up the heat until he can feel it. I can burn some paper in the corner so he thinks his toes are being roasted.” Naruto was cackling at his idea. Looking at Itachi’s smile confirmed he was in as well.
Sasuke snuck over to Shisui and grabbed his foot from under the blanket. The teen could sleep like the dead when he wanted to. He nodded to Naruto and started warming his hands up. With another nod, he signaled Naruto to light the paper on fire.
What he wasn’t expecting was for Itachi to go to Shisui’s bedside “Shisui, quick the room is on fire.” He sounded so urgent, Sasuke looked around the room before he figured out Itachi was helping with the prank. The prone Uchiha shot up so fast, he jerked his brother on the bed. The covers muffled his laughter and Naruto was frantically trying to hold his own in.
“What, where, Lets go!” Shisui swung around the room and took in all the details in a moment with his sharingan. He then gave Itachi the meanest stink eye Sasuke had ever seen him produce. It only made him laugh harder. He couldn’t get out of bed.
“Ha, Ha, right. Pick on the night owl. Just you wait for my revenge.” He struck an intimidating pose that was ruined by his bedhead and blanket still on his shoulder. “Is that breakfast? I’m going to eat it all as part of my revenge, Mwh-ha-ha.” The evil laugh incapacitated everyone in the room with giggles and served himself breakfast before they could recover.
Sasuke mentioned Kaja taught him the jutsu and Shisui’s eyes went wide. “That’s a great idea. Why don’t you summon Kaja to be with us today.”
Itachi Hm’ed “She could help keep track of our resident trouble makers.”
“I don’t know what you're talking about,” Sasuke denied. Naruto was still way worse than him.
“I like it,” Itachi acted like he didn’t hear him. “I managed to finish those blasted papers last night. So let’s turn them in and head to the market.”
“Minus one page,” Naruto snarked and pointed to the ash in the corner.
Shisui shrugged, “I doubt they’ll miss it anyway.”
With the only running water in the room being in the bathroom, they sealed away the pots and pans and vowed to clean them later. After that, they went back to the mission desk. Sasuke handed the bored woman the packet and she all but threw a seal carved in wood at them with brusque instructions to hang it somewhere.
Even with the obvious downer, Sasuke and Naruto were still excited to get to business.
“Does this place ever sleep,” Naruto asked. It was still bustling and the sun had barely come up.
“Cities never sleep,” Shisui answered vaguely and Naruto pouted. Sasuke tried to focus on Chakra but it was a lost cause.
He almost gave up until Itachi spoke up. “Why don’t you find me the closest water type chakra around us?”
It took a moment but he pointed them out. Then Naruto joined in as well and it predictably became a competition to see who could find someone closer to them the way that Itachi wanted. Shisui’s laugh would distract him on occasion but he was happy that he was winning more than losing.
They played until they made it to the market. There was no coordination to the stalls at all so they just picked a corner and summoned the wares they agreed on. Without even completely setting up, they were completely covered in customers. Apparently glass was a commodity and everyone wanted a piece.
Sasuke felt like a real merchant as he called out prices and haggled with customers. Just like the other towns, he accepted trades just as often as he collected coins. It felt like he couldn’t keep anything on the shelf. He took a glance to where Itachi was on guard duty, keeping an eye out for thieves meanwhile Shisui had to use his advanced speed to restock everything.
“Aren’t you glad that we stocked up before we left home.” Naruto called out.
“Yeah,” Sasuke was having the time of his life. He was pretty sure he may have traded for some unsavory or stolen items as the day passed but he could never be sure. They ended up skipping lunch today and about mid afternoon everything started calming down.
“Whoa, that was wild,” Naruto mumbled as he munched away on a sandwich.
“Is it always this busy?” Sasuke pointed his question at Itachi but Shisui answered instead.
“Probably not but since we’re only going to be here for a few days, it makes what we’re selling extra valuable. Think about it. If they don’t get it now, they would have to travel a couple of weeks at a shinobi pace to get some of what we’re selling.”
Sasuke never thought of it that way. Up until now, it was always about surviving and providing for everyone equally. This was nothing like what he experienced today. Sometimes people got into bidding wars over his pieces and he got premium prices for them, despite being apprentice made. It made a warm feeling well up in him to know that people wanted his creations because they thought they were beautiful and not just because they needed them.
Even though it was still busy, Itachi made them take down their stall when it started getting dark. Apparently not quick enough because when Sasuke looked up from packing a particularly fragile piece of glass, he saw a slimy man talking to Shisui and Itachi.
Since they were about finished, Sasuke went over there to see if they needed help. He wouldn’t say no to one more sale for the day, even if it was a slimeball.
“What do you say?” The sheer malice in the man’s voice made Sasuke shiver.
“No.” Itachi’s answer left no room for discussion. He turned away, clearly intending to leave the man and his unpleasant questions behind him when Shisui of all people stopped him.
“Doesn’t it sound interesting though?” The two shared a look before Itachi sighed and turned back towards the man. It was at this point that Itachi noticed him and shooed him back to his stall. Curious but willing to wait for his answers, he turned back around to finish working.
“What’s that all about?” Naruto looked at him curiously but Sasuke could only shrug his shoulders. When they finished packing, the man was already long gone, yet Shisui had that look on his face again. The one that spelled trouble for everyone involved, Itachi somehow seemed even more resigned.
Sasuke tried to ask but was waved off until they got back to the inn. Itachi paid extra so they could use the sink to wash that morning’s pans and the four of them enthusiastically decided to skip the inn’s “meal” and eat in their room. It wasn’t until Naruto was making a stew over Sasuke’s hands that Shisui told them what that was.
“He wants us to help them kill the kage.” Shisui smiled.. They were an envoy being sent for peace. They couldn’t murder political figures, could they? He asked as much and got a chuckle in response.
“I don’t intend to help them. Their problems are their own.” Itachi’s face screwed up as if he smelled something foul when he remembered the conversation.
“Nah, it wouldn't be good for our village either. The last thing we need is to be known for murdering people. That’s not a good direction.” Shisui waved them off. “But since we acted interested, we now know a few details so we can avoid the whole mess. That guy was an idiot to give us a time and place. We could go in and stop their whole operation.”
“We won’t interfere,” Itachi cut straight to the point.
“Isn’t it like treason if we don’t warn the poor guy?” Naruto asked. Sasuke didn’t know how poor he was because they still had yet to meet him.
“We could,” Shisui contemplated but Itachi interrupted the thought.
“We shouldn’t. Village politics can be dangerous and we would do better to leave. Whether he lives or dies doesn’t affect us in any way.”
Shisui didn’t look like he liked the idea but Itachi was the leader for a reason. They had a couple days before the assassination so they would just have to clear out before then. Plan in place, they finished their evening routine and Sasuke passed out on the bed. He was happy it was his night to sleep in because the day had been exhausting.
The next day was equally so. They didn’t have as many cash offers but everyone seemed to want a piece. Ignoring the blacksmith tools and weapons, everything else was fair game.
Sasuke even managed to talk to a few blacksmiths that were admiring his craft. They spoke of different techniques for shaping metal but never more than a surface explanation. He got several ideas from them but it would take many experiments before he could get through half of what they were saying. Naruto beamed at him when they took their lunch.
“Ah, look at you. Socializing without being forced.” Sasuke blushed a bit. He wasn’t sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.
“They were interesting,” Sasuke grumbled in his defense. “I never realized you could fold the metal to make a stronger blade. I wonder how they did it?” Naruto’s eyes seemed to slowly glaze over as Sasuke spoke so he changed the subject. “Have you had any interesting conversations today?”
“Oh, yeah. I met an old guy who said that a while ago, some of the farmers tried to plant an orchard outside the village. It died but there might still be some trees left. Can we go check it out?” He turned his puppy eyes towards Itachi.
Though itachi tried to resist, Sasuke had learned the technique from Naruto, he was a goner. “Fine, not today though. Maybe on our way out?” Naruto cheered.
They left close to dawn the next day and Shisui kept an eye out for a slimy figure. However, the man never appeared.
The day wasn't as crowded as before but there was still hope for excitement. Apparently someone important was coming to the market. Sasuke tidied up the stall while they listened to the citizens and other merchants brag about past business. Allegedly, this rich dude had loose strings on his coin purse so everyone pulled out their most expensive goods. Sasuke’s mood dampened a little when the market was cleared out almost completely to make room for this important guest. They weren’t short on funds but it still didn’t make sense. How important could he actually be?
Sasuke watched as an honest to Idra palanquin went through the stalls at his leisure. He skipped over most of them without a second glance. The stalls he did stop by were blessed with gold coins. That did make Sasuke a little nervous. He didn’t know how much change he had for that.
By the time he found their stall, Sasuke was stiff from standing straight and ready for the man to leave. He wanted him to skip over his stall so they could leave faster but alas, his luck was never that great.
“Hello, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around,” He greeted while looking in interest at a glass turtle.
Naruto, bless him, answered the question. “We sent notice that we were coming but we’ve never been here before. This village is so grand!” It was easier to get someone talking to you if you complemented their home. The forehead protector on his head had the village insignia so it was easy to assume he was a local.
He looked almost bashful about the words “I am sorry about that. You should have had a warmer welcome but I'm afraid I didn’t know you were coming until you were here.” What an odd and complicated way to say hello, but Sasuke decided to brush it off.
“Such fine work for so cheap. Why?” The older man asked.
“An apprentice made that so we priced it to match,” Naruto looked proud and patted Sasuke’s back. “This apprentice to be precise.” Sasuke puffed up a bit to look more presentable and the man shot him a critical eye. They didn’t have a Hitaiate yet so Sasuke didn’t have anything aside from the Uchiha crest marking him as a shinobi.
“Let me see some things your master made, boy.” His words weren’t harsh but definitely more judgmental. Shisui unsealed some of Kurata’s work. It was more detail oriented than Sasuke’s.
He hmmed at the appropriate times and offered Itachi the money for it instead of Sasuke. The product wasn’t marked and he didn’t ask for change so Itachi took the coin without offering any. It was over what they were asking but Sasuke figured he deserved it for ignoring his work.
He did the same with several other pieces, skipping over Sasuke’s. He felt his face redden in shame but did not comment on it. If the man did not want to buy his things, he couldn’t force him to.
“You should come back after this one has graduated to a master.” The other man’s voice was jarring after the awkward silence. “Apprentice work cannot go into the kage tower but I would be happy to buy from him in the future.” That befuddled Sasuke and the man was swept away to another section of the market.
“I think,” Shisui sounded just as confused, “that we just met the village kage. He seems…..”
“Like a jerk,” Naruto supplied. “Sasuke’s work is great. Even Kurata says so and he’s hard to please.” Sasuke appreciated the anger.
“He does seem a bit shallow,” Itachi allowed himself to say. An alarmed look passed his face and he poked Shisui. “Do you sense that? I thought the assassination wasn’t for a few more days.”
Shisui must have felt the same because he started sealing their belongings up as quickly as he could. Usually they left that for Sasuke and Naruto. He finished in the same amount of time it took for Sasuke to find what freaked them out. A group of a dozen jonin level shinobi were headed straight for the market. The guards on the kage stiffened when they got closer and Sasuke almost scoffed.
“Why did it take them so long to sense them?” Sasuke couldn’t help musing as they began to subtly leave.
“The kage surrounds himself with a type of warrior called samurai instead of shinobi. They are trained in the basics of chakra control but for the most part, focus on weapon oriented fighting.” Shisui explained and they almost made it to safety when the first yell sounded out.
The next thing he knew, the market was full of people screaming and swinging weapons. A barrier went up so it was impossible for the group of four to escape. Trying for their next best option, they slowly made their way over to the kage’s ring. He was whimpering and curled up in the middle of a circle of his men.
A few men attacked when they saw the small group approaching them but Itachi was efficient in explaining their situation of getting caught in the middle of things and only wanting to help. It took no time for them to trust the group and soon they were fighting together.
Sasuke and Naruto stayed closer to the kage as a last defense. The man’s whining ran out and when he realized that the enemy was being killed quickly, he sat up and acted bored. “Ah you again” He was dismissive when talking to the two kids. “Have your guards hurry this along so I can go home.”
Sasuke gritted his teeth and it didn’t take long before the would-be killers were dead or dying. “At least Shisui made a new friend,” Naruto gestured when the older Uchiha was laughing along with one of the younger samurai.
Everyone was so relieved that only Sasuke noticed one of the man’s own guards started getting closer and molding chakra. This went way beyond the basics and he wasn’t trying to hide it. He only had a moment to grab the disgruntled leader before the world went dark, literally.
It must have been an earth style jutsu and normally Sasuke would have been able to avoid it easily like Naruto did but in his defense. Naruto didn’t have a ruler clinging to his arm and dragging him down. He was able to slow down their fall so it wouldn’t kill them but couldn’t see any light from the area they fell.
The fearless leader had fainted. Sasuke refrained from giving him a good kick for dragging him down as well. It was a large cavern that kind of looked like the hideout back home. Only there were many more tunnels and Sasuke wasn’t sure what to do. He summoned Kaja to help light the way and listened to her complain for a bit before a groaning distracted him.
“Oh what now,” the now conscious man complained and looked around twice before his eyes settled on Sasuke. “Great, now I'm stuck in the catacombs with a demon eyed Uchiha. Could my luck get any worse?”
Sasuke startled at the reference to him. In all of their interactions, he didn’t ask for a name. The man must have noticed the reaction because he responded like Sasuke asked him a question.
“Yes, yes. I know all about you. I got a message from Konoha long before yours came through.” Deciding to wait it out instead of leaving Sasuke, he sat down. “How your family went crazy and killed some people before running away to parts unknown. Honestly I was expecting us to get the mission to put you out of our misery when you first went rogue. That was before the daimyo approved of your new village.” Was that a sneer on his face? Maybe a joke? Naruto had been teaching him some but it could be difficult to read faces.
One thing did stick out though. “We didn’t kill anyone!” Sasuke was outraged. “The only thing we did was leave.” He conveniently left out the escape plan but that was none of his business anyway.
“Don’t give me that,” He waggled his finger at the younger boy. “I heard plenty about what you all did. Double dealing and selling citizens. How did you expect any other response?”
Sasuke’s face colored in anger. “We would never. That’s wrong!” He didn’t have any other defense with words so he kicked a rock as hard as he could. “You, you…. How could you say that?” He didn’t understand all the reasons his clan had to leave Konoha but he knew enough to know they weren’t treating them right.
Frustration tears welled up in his eyes and he swiped them away quickly. “What did we ever do to you? You shouldn’t say things like that. I don’t even know you!”
The kage looked mystified that anyone would talk to him so disrespectfully. Something must have gotten through though. “I guess we never did introduce ourselves properly, did we. I’m General Mifune.” He held his hand out and Sasuke looked at it like it might bite him.
He stared until he realized what the other man wanted and gave a proper introduction. “I’m Sasuke Uchiha. Second son of Fugaku Uchiha.” His father told him it was important to introduce himself this way.
They held hands for a moment before Sasuke’s curiosity won out. “General? Not Kage?”
The man laughed at him and finally let his hand go. “Here I thought your group would be dangerous. Kages have a lot of power and a bad reputation. I was elected because of my ability to keep us safe, so I prefer the title general. I guess we should wait for the others to come rescue us then, shall we?” He gestured next to him and Kaja settled on Sasuke’s shoulder as he sat down.
“Might take a while, Naruto’s the only one that’s any good with earth jutsu,” Sasuke commented while following his gaze.
“While we wait, let me take one more look at your wares,” the general must have noticed Sasuke’s bag was intact. Seeing no reason not to, Sasuke opened a scroll and let the man look over the items in it. He was focusing so much on the work that Sasuke didn’t have as hard a time as usual at making conversation.
“I thought you didn’t like them?” He prompted.
“No, they are beautiful. Any glasswork is to be cherished here. I have a reputation for the finer things so I can’t buy apprentice goods, no matter how well made.”
“That’s dumb,” Sasuke stated. “If you like it, you should get it. That’s how we do it at home.”
“It seems I have been misinformed about how you do things at home. Why don’t you set me straight?” He was still focused on the glass so Sasuke told him a little about Uzushio. Nothing about the meetings but about what they were making of the village. He seemed intrigued about the concepts of a village that allowed refusing missions. Sasuke noticed he wasn’t sharing much but figured he could get most of his own questions answered by reading a book or asking.
It took hours for the topside group to dig down deep enough to find them. By the time they did, Sasuke had spoken himself almost hoarse and the man was the proud owner of a cat figurine.
He was proud of making a friend but before he could tell his group about it. The man turned his nose up and his personality did a 180. “It’s about time you got here. This whole situation was atrocious! How long will it take to fix all this.” He gestured to the damaged square and complained to his entourage before he remembered the Uchiha group.
“This changes nothing. Go on now. Get lost! I’m not paying for the assistance.” Sasuke puffed up at the remarks but allowed Naruto to drag him away. People were already looting the bodies in the street and setting up their shops again. He seethed the entire way back to the inn and told the others the full story when they set up their protection wards.
“Well, he was either lying to you to get information or lying to his village for some unknown reason.” Naruto guessed.
“Not a bad guess. He could also just be crazy. You don’t become a Kage without having major mental problems.” Shisui added.
“What are we doing tomorrow? Are we going to set up like normal? We are supposed to be here a few more days.” Sasuke was impatient because he had the second watch that night and wanted to go to bed early.
“Might as well,” Shisui looked towards Itachi. “I’m pretty sure that was the assassination attempt we heard about. What are the chances of it happening twice in one visit?”
“Fine, but if there is any sign of trouble. We leave. We can meet up at the notice board if anything happens.” Itachi decided. They had the leftover meal from the night before and Sasuke went to sleep.