Chapter 30
The hallway on the other side of the door was empty. Itachi squeezed the symbol for danger on Sasuke’s hand anyway.
It took a few seconds to figure out what he wanted. Directing his gaze to the floor, Sasuke pushed himself into his brother’s side to hide the activation of his Sharingan. When he did, he had to steel himself to make no outward reaction.
He readjusted his hand in his brother’s so Shisui could see it from behind them and tapped out 5. He could sense 5 chakra signatures around them. He barely managed to stop the nervous tick to just spin around and make sure they were still there. Naruto’s heavier set of footsteps faltered for a brief moment before their pace evened out again.
Naruto stepped closer to Sasuke and they swiftly formed the defensive formation with the older boys effectively shielding them and facing the frontline. As Shisui stepped up to a well worn but ‘official’ looking door and knocked briskly three times, then waited for a curt “enter.”
The man behind the desk was no longer the spoiled princeling from the market or the wise leader Sasuke met under the city. This man was all sharp edges. He wasn’t glaring but several of his guards were. Two of them were part of the group that they had let go this morning. Sasuke got the feeling the only reason they could see them was because the man in the chair wanted them too.
“Well, we seem to have ourselves a bit of a situation here.” Friendly, though the polite friendly kind. “Can I ask why you saw fit to ambush my citizens in the dark of night?” Sasuke bristled at the accusation and was ready to defend them but Itachi squeezed his hand again in warning.
“We did not attack your citizens unprovoked and I think it would be prudent for you to listen to us before you cast judgement.” Itachi’s voice was clipped and Sasuke took this time to glance around the room. He saw his figurine on the corner of the table. He didn’t know what to make of it. General Mifune spoke before he could linger anyway.
“I feel like I do need to speak with you but whether it’s in this office or an interrogation cell makes no difference to me. I don’t care who you are. I only have one question before you start. What reason would Uzushio have to assassinate me?”
“We have no reason to harm you or your village.” Itachi spoke. Mifune waited like he expected Itachi to elaborate on his answer. When he realized no additional information would be forthcoming without asking, he waved his hands.
“Leave us,” It took a moment for the startled guards to leave. All except two left the room and he relaxed a bit before waving at their small group. “These are my most trusted men, you can speak freely to them. Before I order your arrests, I want you to tell me your side. Be grateful for the opportunity.”
Shisui stepped up and explained the men coming to them in the market and then leaving the village to see the orchard. He left out the part about the bribes changing hands and let them assume they intended to spend the night out of the village gates. He also conveniently fudged the timing between the first and second invitation so they wouldn’t know that they knew something was fishy the whole time. He told them about the ambush and the bodies they had collected and what information they gleaned from the bandits.
Shisui spoke so long that Mifune had to send one of his advisors out to make sure nobody thought they killed him and escaped. It was quiet for a few minutes after Shisui’s explanation finally trailed off.
“So your story is that someone wanted me dead and you killed them out of the goodness of your hearts. How am I even supposed to know where you got those corpses? Maybe you hunted them to cover your tracks.” He didn’t look like he believed his own words but Itachi answered him seriously.
“I can assure you sir, if we wanted you dead. You would be dead.” Both his advisors put their hands on their blades and readied for an attack. Itachi continued like nothing happened. “You can get a professional to look at the time of death to determine when they died and check the stasis seals to see when they were activated. That should confirm our story.”
Mifune rubbed his chin before looking at the man on his left questioningly. “That would be possible.” He reluctantly admitted.
“Then go and fetch an expert now. I don’t want to release them back into the village if they're dangerous so I would like to get this sorted now. You,” He pointed to the man on his right. “Go and find me a bingo book and reward posters. We need to identify the corpses as well.” It wasn’t until after they left and he locked the door that Sasuke realized Mifune left himself alone with them.
“I wonder how many of my own men want me dead,” The sharp leader left and Itachi let go of Sasuke’s hand. The wise leader waved them to sit. “I have been thinking someone high up in my command is trying to do me in but I don’t know who it is. I spread my men out for you. Did you recognize any of them from the group you released this morning?” He sounded tired.
Sasuke felt Naruto inhale before he was stopped by Shisui. “We could tell you but we have no reason to believe you would believe us. Besides that, between the treatment we’ve received since coming here and the ambush we just endured. What reason do we have to say anything besides to prove our innocence?”
“I thought it might turn out this way so I did prepare payment for the information, if it’s true.” He picked up some papers next to him and held them out to Itachi. Itachi didn’t move and allowed Shisui to take the papers and read over them.
“This is awfully generous for just a couple of names.” Shisui sounded skeptical. “A treaty with a village as unknown as ours would be beneficial to us but what’s in it for you.”
“You've got a good head on your shoulders,” Mifune commented. “As you can see in the treaty, it mainly involves trade and allowing your people to come here on a regular basis. I give that to all the villages that do business here. Don’t think you're too special, I give these out to many villages. I don’t have to give you information and you don’t have to share either. It's a glorified non aggression pact between the villages.”
Shisui nodded his head in agreement. “By doing this, you recognize us as our own village. Will that not cause you problems?”
“No, you lot have already gotten approval from the daimyou. If anything, I'm starting my treaty before you get wise and ask for more.” It was said like a joke but Sasuke could see it was genuinely serious.
“We intend to stay a couple more days before parting to the next village. We will give you a decision before we leave.” Itachi stated.
“Very well,” Mifune unlocked the door and let his frantic followers back in with the expert and bingo book. They spent the next hour determining the cause of death and identity before the expert agreed they had to be telling the truth.
“Now that we know you truly don’t want me dead, can you answer my question?” Mifune requested.
Shisui nodded and Naruto was permitted to speak. He described the two men that looked familiar and they watched the four other men curse. “No wonder their attacks are getting bolder, those men have full access to the Kage at all times because they are part of his personal guard.”
Shisui coughed lightly to get their attention. “Since we are here and know the situation. Would you like to hire us to capture them and bring them to you.”
“We would but you know the rules, we won’t even pay the bounties on these. We don’t allow that in this village. We have to act on our own to apprehend them. It won’t be hard, they are still in the building.” The advisor explained.
“How about a show of good faith in our business contract,” Naruto piped in. “We can catch them for you in return for the contract. That way, you have a reason to offer it to us and nobody can complain.”
“Wonderful idea boy!” Mifune complimented.
After that it only took a few minutes to separate the two men and lock them up. They screamed the whole time about trusting outsiders. “We’ll talk with them for a while now and let you know if something useful comes up. I think we’ve taken enough of your time. You have a business to run, after all.” He shooed them out and they found their way to the lobby just as mystified as the first day.
“Is that all?” Sasuke asked. They still didn’t know why those men attacked or how big their group was. It felt like he only had more questions instead of answers.
“That’s how it works with outside villages,” Shisui shrugged. “Since we’re just hired help, we don’t need to know. What’s most important now is this,” He wiggled the papers in front of him. “And finding food. We cooked the rest of the meat earlier.”
“I don’t want to spend so much on meat.” Naruto whined. The meat in the stalls was mostly dried jerky and it was so expensive. That was the one thing they weren’t able to restock in this village. Now Sasuke understood why they sold out in the first two days.
“It’s alright. It’ll be the bandit’s treat.” Shisui comforted him and Sasuke wondered how much money they actually pilfered. Now that he thought about it, they needed to look closer at the weapons later too. Several of them were obviously well made and probably local.
They continued looking around the stalls when Sasuke finally asked.“What are we going to do about the treaty?”.
“It looks pretty standard but Itachi will have to go over it in detail before he signs it. As the next head, Fugaku already gave him the authority. We just need to make sure they don’t pull a fast one on us.” Shisui explained.
“I’ll go over it tonight and we’ll give our answer in the morning before we leave.” Itachi added.
“Good riddance. This place has been nothing but bad luck since day one.” Shisui stretched his arms out and put them on the back of his head. Naruto copied it as they walked to the neglected side of the market.
Several people stopped them, asking about their shop but they told them they would be leaving so it won’t open again. It was difficult to find time to shop but that meant they could barter with the glass and they were able to save the money for later. They managed to get enough for dinner and breakfast for the next day before heading back to their room.
The matron stopped them before they could go up. “I’m sorry, that room is no longer available.”
“What? But we paid for it already.” Naruto said.
The matron fidgeted. “I know, sir, calm down. The General sent a message that you were to be upgraded to our best room. There weren’t any belongings in your current room so I just had it cleaned and moved your reservation. I don’t know if you wanted to move but….”
“The General would be harder to say no to, wouldn’t he?” Shisui took pity on her and they allowed her to lead her to their new room. It had an actual kitchen attached so they didn’t have to pull out the pots and pans. There was also a fresh bowl of fruit on the table, “compliments of the General,” she explained with a flourish and grin towards Shisui.
“Does he do this often,” Itachi was quick to question this new generosity. She reluctantly turned towards him to answer.
“Not really. If he wants to have special guests, they are invited to the tower. You guys must have really impressed him when you saved his life a few days ago.”
Sasuke startled a bit. He had completely forgotten about the incident a few days prior. The matron turned away from Itachi and quickly started regalling Shisui with tales of the General and the amenities he was so gracious to send them. Sasuke started edging away and nudged Naruto.
“Looks like someone has a favorite, huh.” He commented, proud that he caught it.
“It’s that obvious?” Naruto seemed surprised and the two of them watched her fawn over Shisui before they quickly grew bored.
“Hey lady,” Naruto interrupted with the most innocent display Sasuke had seen so far. “I was wondering what all the commotion this morning was about?” He was almost surprised at how genuine his friend sounded. They all focused on her as she prattled on, easily forgetting how dangerous they actually were.
“What commotion? I heard that one of the lords got sick because of food poisoning from a questionable fishing stall but that was days ago. We don’t get much news around here unless it’s about work.” She hummed thoughtfully before turning to Naruto. “Why? Did you hear something odd?” She leaned over him and suddenly the blonde was regretting his innocent act. He hid behind Shisui and peeked around him.
“Noooo…?” He made sure to drag it out like a question.
Sasuke saved him by butting in “We were exploring near the tower this morning and noticed there were more guards than yesterday. So we figured something had happened.” He lied smoothly.
“Oh, that.” She sounded bored and waved her hand dismissively. “Sometimes, a rotten apple starts stinking up the village so the General has to send guards to take care of things. It’s hard because we allow all these rough types to come and go as they please and we don’t allow active bounty hunting, so he has to be real discreet. He’s the General though, so everything usually turns out fine.”
“I guess he would need to do something every now and then to protect the place,” Shisui commented.
“Yep,” she confirmed. “I think that’s everything for right now. If you need anything, you call me.” Oddly enough, she looked right at Shisui when she said that before leaving the room.
“Is something wrong with her legs,” Sasuke couldn’t help but ask. She was walking fine a minute ago but now she kind of wiggled when she walked. Was she talking so much her legs fell asleep. Nobody answered his question but Naruto laughed and Shisui covered his face with his hands. Itachi just sighed and walked towards their kitchen.
The memory of that morning’s incident made Sasuke quickly race after him.
Making sure to reach the cupboards before his brother, he let out a delighted sound. “The kitchen comes stocked!” There was a bag of rice on the table, along with some other goods. When he went to the refrigerator, he found it stocked with enough meat to last them several days.
“Weren’t you listening to the matron,” Itachi scolded. “As part of the General’s generosity, he sent over all of this for us to enjoy the local cuisine to its finest.” The curl of his lips when he said cuisine made Sasuke think he should have paid better attention to what she was saying.
“That’s not all she was saying,’ Naruto teased and elbowed Shisui as the two walked over and began rummaging through the drawers. Sasuke grabbed some meat out of the fridge and started boiling the water. Only for Naruto to take it from his hands and shoo him away before taking over. Sasuke might be the master but Naruto was a great sous chef. He happily relinquished kitchen duty and went to sit at the table with his brother.
Itachi had sat down and was reading the treaty that Mifune had given him. Sasuke sat quietly next to him while sharpening their weapons. Naruto set the timer for the food and then joined them at the table. By the time he was done with the blades and chatting with Naruto, Itachi had finished reading through the pages and was discussing the details with Shisui.
“I can’t believe they tried to slip free labor out of us,” Shisui laughed and shook the offending page. The paragraph in question required the village to do a certain number of missions free of charge for the village hidden in iron. Itachi took a pen and marked it out with prejudice.
“Most of it is the basics. Supplies and requests for mutual aid in acts of war.” Itachi explained to the younger boys when he noticed they were listening in. It was all gibberish as far as Sasuke was concerned. “I’ll go through it and make a counter offer before signing it. For instance, instead of aid in the form of military men or equipment. We’ll offer a non aggression pact and humanitarian aid in case of war. We’ll try to get this agreement with the others too.”
“Honestly, he should have come to us at the beginning of our stay and offered all this but he was too busy ignoring us.” Shisui complained. “We sent word to all the villages so they could make arrangements when we arrived.”
“They know they messed up now. That must be why they gave us all this food,” Naruto was chopping vegetables.
“Hnn,” Sasuke didn’t really care why they gave them the food but he did remember the woman at the desk being very rude. Come to think of it, he didn’t see her last time they went in. All he saw was the advisor.
“Come to think of it, we need to have snacks when we go on outings from now on. I was half starved when we made it back,” Shisui changed the subject.
Itachi put the papers to the side. He was finished looking over them. “Good idea, but it can’t be bulky.”
“Why not jerky?” Sasuke suggested and Naruto made a face.
“That’s not balanced at all. You need nutrients from plants, not just meat. Besides, we aren’t staying long enough to dry our own so we’d have to buy it.”
“We could always get the matron to get us some. I think she’d do just about anything for our resident charmer.” Sasuke was quick to tease. Itachi smiled in his hand and Shisui sputtered.
“No way! She didn’t mean it!... Did she?” The last question was directed at Naruto.
“Afraid so,” He said, not sounding sorry at all.
“Even I could see it. Maybe she’ll come back later and ask you on a date,” Sasuke added while holding back laughter.
“You’ll leave a trail of broken hearts in our wake,” Itachi deadpanned and Sasuke lost it.
“How about instead, we finish this contract in the morning and make a run for it.” Shisui suggested looking paler by the second.
“I can have one of my summons carry it home for us,” Sasuke offered. He missed Kaja. Even if he had time to talk to her, Itachi said not to summon in the village.
Itachi gave him a knowing look. “You can summon one right after the meeting to carry it and we’ll leave tomorrow.”
“How far away is our next stop?” Sasuke couldn’t help but ask. It felt like they were in this village forever and he was excited to get back on the road.
“We’ll stop by a few smaller places but our next stop is in the village hidden in the mist. There’s a lot of greenery over there so We’ll need to hunt as much as we can before we head to the village hidden in the sand.” Itachi explained.
“I also want to see if we can pick up a water summoning jutsu. At least one of us needs to learn it before we hit the sand and what better place to learn?” Shisui’s optimism knew no bounds. Naruto would probably be the only one to master it before they left the mist village but maybe Sasuke could get some basics.
He set the table for the group while Naruto started dishing out the food. Sasuke didn’t realize how long it’d been since his last good meal until he took the first bite. He ate the rest so fast he almost choked.
“Careful there,” Shisui laughed and playfully protected his own bowl when Sasuke passed him to get seconds. Naruto must have realized how hungry they would be because he made enough to feed a small army. He helped himself to another portion and sat back down.
“We should sleep early tonight,” Itachi suggested.
“I can take the middle shift,” Sasuke volunteered. Last night was his break turn and tonight was Itachi’s. The least he could do was take the worst shift.
“Then I'll take the first and that leaves Naruto with the last tonight.” Shisui offered.
“Guess that means I'm making breakfast. I’m pretty sure I saw eggs and bacon in that fridge.” Naruto was gleeful as he thought about tomorrow's breakfast.
With that, Sasuke went to bed early as did Naruto. Itachi stayed up a bit later to work on the treaty a bit more and Shisui took the first shift. The two younger ones shared out of convenience.
The room was big enough that Sasuke was able to take his midnight shift in the kitchen and read a little. He was absolutely hopeless when it came to water and earth jutsu but he still had to know more. When they had done the chakra paper in school. He showed a strong affinity for fire and lightning but unfortunately they didn’t have a teacher for the latter.
He spent his shift wondering if it was possible to summon lightning like Naruto could summon water. Fire was made almost exclusively from chakra but earth and water was more about manipulation than creation. That sent him spiraling down a rabbit hole and before he realized he spent his whole shift and half of Naruto’s researching weather patterns instead of studying water jutsu.
He jumped out of his trance when he realized the time and tried to be extra sneaky when he woke Naruto. “What’s up? Why didn’t you wake me?” Of course Naruto would notice anyway.
“I just…” he shrugged helplessly and gestured to the table.
“Again,” Naruto looked at him exasperated. “One of these days, you’ll realize sleep is not optional.”
“Pot calling the kettle black,” Sasuke mumbled within hearing range just because he could.
A couple hours later and they were all eating a well made breakfast. Even Shisui managed to get up without help.
It was decided that Naruto and Shisui would stay behind to pack all the new gifts the General gave them and Sasuke and Itachi would go to the tower. Shisui patiently put on the radio bugs with a promise to teach them how to hide it later.
“It would be better for them to be seen right now.” He explained.
With all the interactions in the last few days, the walk to the tower was completely silent. Tough not awkward or forced. Sasuke even held his older brother’s hand and leaned on him. It had been a while since he could do this and he would take advantage while it lasted.
When they walked in, the bored girl was back behind the counter. She didn’t turn away like last time though. She stopped what she was doing and gave them her full attention. The smile was eerie as she chirped. “Hello, are you here to see the Kage.” It was so professional, Sasuke worried she was replaced by an alien or something.
“Yes,” Itachi acted unperturbed by the change.
“Go ahead to the elevator. He’s been expecting you.” She pointed out the way and Sasuke saw her shoulders fall as they walked away from her.
“Do you think she got in trouble?,” Sasuke whispered.
Itachi didn’t bother to whisper “She was probably blamed and punished.”
Sasuke frowned at the thought. He wondered who’s fault it was that they didn’t see the kage. She was the one that denied them entry but was it really her decision or did the kage want to blame someone else to make himself look better.
“It doesn’t matter now.” Itachi read his mind. “What’s done is done. Let's just get this over with.” Sasuke nodded.
When they got in the elevator, Itachi turned to Sasuke. “Now that it’s just the two of us, the rules are going to be a bit different. I want you to speak at this meeting. Pay attention to what is being said and comment on it. You are going in as the second son of the village head.” He then tried to straighten Sasuke’s clothes fruitlessly.
“Then why couldn’t I talk before,” Sasuke asked.
“Before, we were shinobi being interrogated. Now we’re representatives making a decision. Don’t worry about messing up, I’ll cover for you.” He gave up on the clothes as the elevator dinged.
There were only two guards stationed outside this time. The same trusted subordinates from yesterday. The General sat at his desk with two nice chairs in front of him and a table that wasn’t there yesterday.
The doors closed with a soft click, leaving only the three of them in the room.
“Let me get started by thanking you for preventing another assassination attempt. I am in your debt.” Mifune broke the silence.
Itachi nudged Sasuke so he stepped forward. “Yeah, sure, anytime.” He stumbled across his words.
Itachi was quick to recover them. “Uzushio is glad to help an ally in their time of need.”
After an appropriate pause, Itachi continued. “About the treaty yesterday, I can negotiate on behalf of my village as the heir to the leadership. Some points need to be adjusted to better fit our abilities and needs.”
Mifune’s eyes sharpened. “This is the same contract that we offered Konoha. Is it not to your taste?” Sasuke sensed danger in that question.
“Perish the thought,” Itachi redirected, “but you’ll understand that we are not as large as Konoha or any of the five great nations. To put the same burden on us would be unequal.”
“That and we’re different from Konoha, too.” Sasuke tried to interject.
“How so?” The question sounded mild and Sasuke saw a flash of panic in Itachi’s eyes as it was directed at Sasuke. He tried to squeeze his big brother’s hand in comfort.
“Well for starters, our school starts missions earlier so we have to be extra careful what missions we accept.” He was repeating what his mother said and hoped not to give away too much information. “Also, Konoha is huge and we’re just now building.” Itachi squeezed in warning and Sasuke stopped at that.
“Is that so?” Mifune looked intrigued. Sasuke realized he might have forgotten to tell Itachi about the full content of his and Mifune’s conversation under the village. He might not be as nervous if he knew Sasuke had already spilled the beans.
“I think you’ll find the changes agreeable,” Itachi avoided the question and handed back the papers. Mifune took no time at all looking over them. His eyes were approving when he looked up again.
“I do and I’m sure you’ll be heading out soon as well.”
“We’ll be leaving once our business concludes with you this morning.” Itachi didn’t try to chat. He spoke like he was giving a report.
“Goh,” Mifune barked and one of the men from the door entered. “Go and rewrite this with the noted revisions. Quick as you can. They have other things to do today.”
“Yessir!” Goh ran out of the room with the papers.
“It won’t be long. Now that the business part is over, we can talk a little more informally.” Mifune’s eyes softened. “Where will you be headed next?”
“Towards Mist,” Sasuke answered with a quick glance to Itachi.
“Great weather but always a place to be wary of. I heard Zabuza is on the streets for hire, so you should be careful.” Mifune warned.
Sasuke almost responded that Zabuza wouldn’t be a problem but Itachi stepped on his foot and he yelped instead.
“Yes, it can be a scary thought for kids,” Mifune misunderstood the sound. Sasuke tapped his foot and glared at his brother.
Itachi ignored him. “We appreciate your concern.”
“I’ll send word ahead so there’s no more misunderstandings. The girl at the desk was punished for not bringing me word of your arrival. I’m sure you understand how hard it is to find good help.”
“It’s fine,” Itachi answered before Sasuke could ask about the punishment. “No harm was done.”
At this point Goh returned with the treaty. Itachi took his time reading over every line before he took out his official seal that was made for this. He stamped his seal at the bottom of the adjusted treaty. He also signed beside the seal. Mifune signed him with a flourish. “Here’s to a happy treaty,” he said as if giving a toast.
“If there is nothing else, we will take our leave.” Itachi gathered his copy and walked out the door before Sasuke could turn around to follow.
“Thank you for your time.” Sasuke managed to throw over his shoulder as the two made their way out.The girl didn’t even look at them as they passed her desk.
Naruto and Shisui were waiting for them outside the tower. Naruto grinned at their arrival. “It’s about time you showed up. We’ve been out here forever!”
“Let's get out of this god forsaken place before anything else happens,” Itachi all but hissed at Shisui and they were on their way again.
They sprinted out of that village for the first 20 miles, partially to escape the bad luck and partially to get into better terrain. While Mifune’s “Donations” were enough for a few days, they really wanted fresh meat.
“Seriously, do you want to go back and get a quick date?” Naruto teased. Sasuke grinned beside him and Shisui almost missed a step as they were tree hopping.
“Choices are limited at home,” Itachi sounded like he was considering their options.
“No way, that’s why we had to escape,” Shisui ran ahead of them. “This stag isn’t getting tied down yet. I’ve still got plenty of bachelor days ahead of me.”
Sasuke laughed at his antics and joined the teasing. “I don’t know, I bet there are tons of pretty girls scattered between the 5 great nations.”
“Exactly!,” Shisui sounded like Sasuke handed him the answer to all his problems. “I can’t deny the rest of the female world all of this.” He struck what he probably thought was a sexy pose but it was sabotaged by his own laughter.
By now, the rocky terrain had turned greener and trees more frequent. Because of all the rain the village in the mist got year round, it was quite beautiful. It was hard to see with the rolling fog but the air tasted different compared to iron. Also in contrast to iron county, mist was teeming with life. They were able to butcher at least two deer and 5 rabbits after only a couple hours. Naruto did most of the butcher work and even managed to replenish some of their herb stock.
Early in the afternoon, Itachi called it. “Why don’t we stop here for the night?” It was next to a river and a pretty good clearing as far as sleeping places went. The thick canopy above them would hide smoke and the trees surrounding them would stop most of the light from being seen from a distance. Sasuke could see why it was worth bedding down early for.
“Yeah, we could go fishing!” Always thinking with his stomach. Shisui had to stop Naruto from going straight to the river.
“We shouldn’t need the tent tonight,” Itachi called to Sasuke. He stopped pulling out the tent from his storage and pulled out a tarp instead. This tarp was specially made at Itachi’s request. It was more insulated and had a hole carved out of the middle, perfect for starting a campfire and securing the space around. The extra insulation made it more comfortable than many of the beds they had slept on.
He piled the bed rolls to the side so they wouldn’t get wet or muddy. Naruto had already begun stacking sticks up to make a fire, so Sasuke waved at Itachi and went a short distance in the woods to collect fuel. It didn’t take long to get a sizable pile between the two of them.
Sasuke was laughing and looking towards the trees. Kaja was in her small form flying next to him. He felt so relieved to have her back after the long days in the village of iron. They also did a quick patrol to run off the excess energy before coming back.
Naruto was by the fire, roasting the rabbits they had caught earlier and drying out the deer meat to make jerky. Shisui was fishing in the river and by the looks of it, he had already caught several fish. They stacked the wood by the edge of the camp and dispersed. Itachi went to talk to Shisui and Sasuke sat beside Naruto. He didn’t offer to help because Naruto looked like he was having too much fun for that.
The evening went on more relaxing than the last two weeks and Sasuke was in no hurry to leave.