Chapter 32
They packed up quickly but efficiently. “We’ll send word to father about the seal before we head out.” Itachi jotted something down while Sasuke secured the bedrolls. Naruto was sealing the food and water and Shisui was making it look like they were never there. That part always took the longest and everytime Sasuke almost missed something.
He observed Shisui disperse the rocks they used for the fire. “Why are we hiding anyway? Don’t all the villages know where we are because of the notice?” Sasuke asked and began collecting ash from the fire. It was great for his crafting so he didn’t want to waste it. Naruto plopped down on a rock next to him and watched them.
“Two reasons,” Shisui reasoned. “One, you two could always use this to review and we’ll start having you do it soon. The villages know what we’re doing but not where we are. We gave them a timeframe to expect us but never told them what order we were seeing them in. Two: We don’t know if there are any bandits or other problems lurking in the area and we don’t want them to be aware of us.”
“Hmmm,” Naruto hummed. Meanwhile, Itachi performed an earth jutsu to make the grass grow over the rest of the ash. If one looked hard enough, they could still see traces of uneven soil but that was all that was left. Sasuke did one last check over the camp before they departed for Mist. Because of Naruto’s predicament, they decided to travel the main road as civilians instead of taking to the tree tops.
Naruto wasn’t given any of the supplies to seal on his skin so nothing would have a chance to interfere with his seal. After some badgering, Itachi allowed small exercises.
“Alright, time to improve your lessons. We’re going to work on chakra suppression. Shisui was chipper as they trudged along. They had done some work at the academy but neither boy paid it much mind.
“What’s the point of suppressing it though? If people can tell when I’m doing it, won't it be better to focus more on erasing our presence?” Sasuke pointed out. Naruto nodded along.
“That’s only if you are trying to disappear but tell me. How much chakra do you sense from me?” Shisui pointed and Sasuke focused on him.
“A bunch.” Sasuke answered honestly. It wasn’t the largest amount he’d sensed but it was far from the smallest.
“How about him?” Surprisingly, Shisui pointed to a farmer that was coming from the opposite direction. The four of them waited for him to get out of hearing range before Naruto answered.
“Hardly any. He’s probably not even a shinobi.”
“Exactly, but he still has chakra.” Shisui nodded to Itachi before turning back towards them. “Tell me what the difference is between his and Itachi’s.”
“Brother has more.” Sasuke said the obvious.
“Are you sure?” Itachi smirked and Sasuke checked his chakra out of habit. He had to do a double take because it felt just like the farmers. Sasuke hadn’t even noticed the change.
“What happened?” He would have been more alarmed if they weren’t so calm.
“I’m suppressing my chakra. Instead of erasing it, I matched it to his. With erasing, you notice something is happening even if you don’t know what it is. With masking, since you only took a quick glance, you couldn’t tell the difference between me and a civillian.” Itachi explained and Shisui continued his lesson.
“It’s hard to hide in a forest but not impossible if you match your chakra to the natural chakra around you. Matching is easier in a city. Unless they thoroughly vet everyone in the village, a good shinobi could hide indefinitely with chakra alone.” Shisui then had Sasuke and Naruto match their chakra to everyone they saw on the road.
Some of the “Farmers” were startled at the change but a pointed glare from Itachi sent them on their way. “Someone else that’s matching,” Itachi explained after the first time.
“What if there’s no one around to mask with?” Sasuke scrunched his face in thought.
“Erasing can be used in that case or you can mask by using natural chakra instead of people. A trained Shinobi can tell you're erasing but they won’t be able to tell how strong you are or your exact location. You can also erase chakra surrounding you and create a large enough blind spot to slip into a more populated area.” Itachi explained.
“Are we in danger if we practice? Won’t it be obvious that we’re using chakra?” Naruto asked.
“Yes but right now, me and Itachi feel like regular chunin. At most, they’ll think we’re on a field trip. Only the village heads are privy to the location of the new village. That’s why we’re doing this.” Shisui waved off the concern and they continued walking until after a civilian appropriate lunch time.
Since they weren’t using chakra to travel, they didn’t tire as easily and they got to pick the spot they wanted since they arrived so late, successfully avoiding any other travelers. There was a river nearby and they decided to catch fish and grill them fresh. “Fresh is best and I’m going to enjoy good food before we end up in the next village, just in case.” Shisui commented gleefully.
Since they were travelling trade routes, they used a pre-existing fire pit. There was some firewood set by a tree. Sasuke lit the fire with that while Shisui and Itachi set up a perimeter and gathered more to replace what they used.
“How far are we from the village?” Sasuke asked as they settled down to eat.
Naruto answered since he had the map. “Normally, it would take a week but at this rate, two?” He looked at Itachi for an approving nod before he repeated himself, more confidently. “About two weeks. Are we going to stay on the trade route?”
“For now,” That was Itachi’s way of saying who knows. They would hear back from Kaja in another two days if she didn’t run into any trouble. They didn’t take long to finish eating and when they did, they continued at the snail’s pace. Shisui had them erase their presence but told them to leave the firepit and wood for the next people. Sasuke ended up leaving a fishbone near the pit.
“For someone so detail oriented, you forget the weirdest stuff sometimes.” Naruto teased him while they were maintaining their chakra. It was apparently the second part of the exercise.
“Yeah, well. You distracted me,” He really didn’t but they both knew that. Naruto grinned, sensing victory.
“Not all of us can be so perfect all the time,” He brushed off imaginary dirt from his shoulder and put his nose in the air like a snooty princess.
“Yeah, right.” Sasuke didn’t have a better comeback so he let Naruto’s shoulders relax before he lunged at the blonde. He wasn’t expecting Naruto to fight back though and they ended up scuffling on the ground for a solid 5 minutes before Sasuke managed to pin his friend.
“Hah, I win!” He sat on Naruto in victory and ignored the civilians laughing at the attention they drew to themselves. He didn’t use any chakra so it’s not like they looked like Shinobi. Itachi cracked a smile before he ushered them up and pushed them forward.
They continued this trend of friendly poking and playing until the sky started to get dark. Itachi stiffened and groaned as they approached the next checkpoint. It was near the crossway of several villages so it was expected to have much more traffic than the little road they came from.
“Be cautious. I don’t sense any problems but it’s always best to be prepared for trouble.” Itachi calmly told them as they approached the camping area.
“What’s this?” Sasuke was enthralled at the campsite. It felt like he was looking at a pop up village. There were crates and horses scattered everywhere, along with so many tents that it was hard to tell where the well worn ones met the silk.
“This is a trade route.” Shisui explained. “Since there are so many people that travel these routes, it’s easier and safer to camp together. On that same thought, it’s also profitable if you find something useful on the way to your next location.”
“How is fish useful?” Naruto was looking puzzled at a fish cart. It looked like it was stocked with the same fish they had caught earlier. The price was cheap enough but the supply was plentiful since they were parked next to the river.
“Well, they may be headed towards the village hidden in the sand. There fish is a commodity or they may not have the time to fish.” Shisui explained. “Also, it's good for learning the gossip around the area. We can learn about the places to stay away from.”
They chose not to set up a stall here and browse the other stalls. Naruto and Sasuke did most of the exploring while the older brothers set up a tent and picked a place by the fire. By the looks of the stalls, it was almost like a festival. The smell of roasting fish was enticing enough, so he bought two for him and Naruto.
Next they found a book and were purviewing. Sasuke was reaching for a particular book when his eyes caught a girl reaching for the same. Normally, he wouldn’t pay much attention to her but her odd hair color drew his attention. He didn’t give it much thought and handed the pink haired girl the book.
She blushed a little before reaching out. “Sorry,” she said timidly. That didn’t last long as she dove into the cover. “This book looked interesting. We don’t have many books on natural chakra back at Konoha so I was thinking about getting it. Not that my family will complain.” She chattered on and Sasuke was officially stuck. Naruto eased away from the duo to continue looking. “After all, they only care about getting me married into a prestigious clan. Then again, it’s not that they don’t love me or anything. It’s just….”
He really wished she’d stop talking. Naruto had given up the pretext of subtlety and was now openly laughing at Sasuke, who was trying to get a word in on the one sided conversation. He finally just waited patiently for her to run out of breath before he asked a question. He figured since she talked so much, he could get her on a topic that interested him.
“Wait, if you're from Konoha, why are you all the way out here?” It was at least two weeks in shinobi travel but she didn’t look like a shinobi so Sasuke multiplied that estimate by two.
She pouted a bit and took a breath. “You weren’t listening, were you. Here I was excited about meeting kids my age, too.” She kicked a pebble to the side and puffed her cheeks but didn’t look distraught so Sasuke couldn’t tell if she really was upset. “My family are mostly traders. They enrolled me at the academy last year and this is the only extended break we get during classes." Sasuke vaguely remembered a pink haired girl from his class before he left. He wondered if she remembered him but kept quiet about this probably not being their first meeting. "So they’re trying to teach me the trader way between the shinobi classes. We’re actually going to head back towards Konoha in a couple of weeks.” She answered.
Her excitement must have dulled when Sasuke asked her that question because she waited for an awkward “Hnnn,” before she continued.
“By the way, my name’s Sakura. What’s yours?”
Naruto answered for him. “My name’s Naruto and this is Sasuke. We’re headed towards the mist with our brothers.” There wasn’t any harm in small talk but she was a little exhausting to talk to.
“You really don’t want to go there right now,” Sakura turned towards the vendor and paid for the book. Sasuke was gracious and didn’t argue her claim. He did offer it, after all.
“Naruto had taken over the conversation. “Why’s that?”
“We heard there’s a really nasty lord making it hard for people to trade over there. You won’t get any money out of it. I heard my parents talking about it. We’re going to skip that village because we don’t want trouble.” She spoke matter of fact.
“What kind of trouble?” Naruto continued as they walked towards a large central firepit. Sasuke waved at Itachi and Shisui to let them know they were there now but they followed the girl to her seat.
“I’m not sure, you could ask my parents.” She offered.
“Ask them what?” Shisui appeared behind Naruto and grabbed him, cutting off the blond’s startled yelp. Sakura and Sasuke both laughed at his antics.
“Apparently there’s trouble in Mist we may want to avoid,” Sasuke summed up the conversation. Shisui’s eyes sharpened at his words. “Sakura was offering for us to talk to her parents for more information.”
Sakura seemed a little more shy with Shisui, “That’s right, sir. If you like. You guys can sit with us.” Naruto elbowed her and smiled. She smiled back before straightening up. “My father’s a great story teller, so it would be worth it and I can keep talking to you guys.” She smiled at the boys.
“That’s a great idea,” Shisui smiled. “Let me get Itachi and we’ll meet you over there.”
Sakura almost floated over to her parents and presented Sasuke and Naruto like a prize she had caught. “Look, I told you we might run into someone my age and now I found two!” The smug grin on her face made Sasuke think she won an argument with the gruff looking man.
“Hello, lads.” He greeted after a silent conversation with his daughter. “To whom do I owe this introduction?”
Naruto brought out his smile and answered “Well, we’re travelling with our brothers towards the village hidden in the mist, for some trading. Sakura said there might be trouble over there and you would know more.”
“We would greatly appreciate it.” Itachi spoke up behind them. Sasuke didn’t jump because he sensed his brother. They were trying to blend in so that meant normal walking.
“Oh, that.” The man's face turned grim. A man named Gato has taken over all the ports. He’s levied such high taxes that no one can afford to do business there.” Sasuke frowned at the name. Gato didn’t sound familiar at all.
“I heard rumors that he’s destroying the peoples crops as well so they are slowly starving. I wish we could help but we have our daughter to think about. We can’t be hunted by a group of mobsters.” He looked around suspiciously, like the thugs were going to attack him now. Sakura bit her lip and stepped closer to her dad.
Naruto gasped. “That’s horrible.” It wasn’t fake. They learned how important trading was since they left Konoha.
“Why don’t they leave?” Sasuke whispered his question.
“They can’t. Gato controls the port. He’s forcing them to stay for some sick reason. You best stay away.” Sakura’s father warned.
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Itachi nodded.
They stood in silence for a moment until a more friendly face adjourned the older man’s face. “Well, what information do you have?” Itachi looked flabbergasted at the change of topic.
“What?” He was looking at the older man like he was crazy.
“We’re traders. I gave you info, you give me info. That’s how it works.” He put his hands up in a universal what can you do gesture.
Shisui jumped in and told the man about the village hidden in iron. He didn’t go into detail on how they got the information but the man seemed to enjoy it. Naruto and Sakura started chatting away on Sasuke’s other side and Itachi conveniently vanished. So much for not using shinobi tricks. Unable to escape, Sasuke looked at the fire.