章 15: Chapter 14
Take care of yourself now." Shinku said, waving off a merchant and his family as he departed from Ishi Village in the land of vegetables.
Three months had passed since joining Sora, and the man had gone a few changes in appearance.
His once bushy afro hair was now much longer, braided, and pulled back into a ponytail that reached down to his shoulders. The vest he used to wear was removed, and he now had a necklace with a thin red crystal.
Recently, Shinku had been hired by a caravan leader to rescue an abducted merchant, his son. Neither Iwa nor Suna were willing to take up the man's request since the pay was not only low, but the dangers one could face during the mission meant it would be classified as B or A rank.
Now, Shinku was heading back to Yugakure alone as he had to sneak past not only the Suna and Iwa Shinobi, who were deployed in the minor countries.
All around, signs of a looming war could be seen as the Shinobi were constantly on edge.
Sighing as he moved in the shadows and alleys, the figures of normal, starved, homeless, and exhausted humans entered his gaze.
People like them would only grow in number, and the world filled with ninjas, death, and war was certainly not a world these people deserved.
These sights only continued until Shinku reached Yuga, where he entered through the village gate undetected.
"The difference is uncanny." Shinku said as he watched many villagers and visitors make their way through the village with cheerful smiles, ignorant of what many others must go through just for a bread crumb nowadays.
Shinku made his way to the Sora mercenary tower and quickly headed down the winding stairs.
"Oh. You're finally back, Shinku!" Summer's excited voice was quick to silence the Tavern as many of the masked men and women showed their open hostility to the man who just walked in. Of course, none had the will to act out on it.
"Where's the old man at? He said there would be intel for me." Shinku smirked at the hostile gazes being thrown his way as he sat down at the bar with the giddy woman.
"Aww. Now, why worry about him when I'm right here? Hmm. I can give you so much more than the Intel Ofin wants to give you. Hell, I'm the one controlling the network." Summer moved to sit on the island, placing one of her legs onto Shinku's shoulder.
"I am aware. Though what I'd have to pay you for it is more than I'm willing to offer." Shinku brushed her leg off and moved lift his mask up to his nose.
"Have it your way, all I wanted was a good fucking." Summer giggled before blowing a kiss to Shinku and sliding off the Island so she could continue preping everyone's drinks.
"..."
Shinku stared in silence at the smiling Summer.
"Are you just gonna continue smiling, or will I get an answer?" After a few moments, Shinku sighed. A tad bit annoyed at being ignored.
"Oh, right. He's been behind you the whole time."
Hearing her say this, Shinku snapped his head back in surprise as he believed he had been aware of everyone in the tavern from their chakra signatures.
His gaze soon landed on the empty space. Grumbling in annoyance, Shinku shifted his gaze back to Summer as she placed a bottle of sake before him.
"Do you at all plan on telling me where the old man went?"
Taking the bottle of Sake, Shinku asked, holding back the smile that threatened to spread across his lips.
'All this time, you're the only one aside from the old man who's like this with me.'
"Hehe. Odin received a lucrative offer when you were out from some jade faced heir."
"..."
"..."
"That's all I get?"
"Can I get a kiss?"
"Do you want me to drain your chakra while doing so?"
"I wouldn't mind..."
"Summer."
"...He's to help establish a trade route between the land of tea and the land of sky, the home land of our organization. So you can see why it would be a boon for us."
As Summer spoke, Shinku noticed how tensed her body was, and while cleaning the pints, she nearly shattered the one currently in her hand.
"But you don't feel the same."
Standing up, Shinku reached over the island and placed his right hand over hers while easing out the glass pint.
"Honestly, i don't see why Odin had to be sent out himself, considering we're in the land of hot water and he renounced his village."
"Sigh. It's because we're in the land of hot water, a land surrounded on all sides by potential threats."
"Which also makes it the best hiding spot from those threats and an easy access point for underworld operations."
Hearing her words, Shinku remarked, questioning both Odin and his suspected reasoning.
"... How do people know we exist when Yugakure and the five great nations don't even know about us?"
Though his thoughts soon shifted to something he's found odd for a while now.
"That's because only those who have relationships with our mercs can put in a request, let alone know about us. Take that nomad you helped. His wife is a mercenary with us, though she's been on a covert operation for the last few months."
Summer explained as she soon loosened up after their conversation shifted elsewhere.
***
After chatting with Summer, Shinku thought about taking another request while waiting for Odin to finish his own.
'It would be an easy way to just pass the time, but why should I bother when I only need the bare minimum as repayment for the intel I'm still yet to receive.'
Shinku thought as he stood in a changing room for the bath house.
With a towel wrapped around his waist, Shinku soon headed out of the room and towards where the springs were.
Passing by the male only and female only baths, Shinku sensed a few dozen chakra signatures present as he soon made his way into the mixed bath sensing as there wasn't anyone there at the moment.
Stepping out, Shinku moved to the edge of the outdoor spring, giving a glance to the crest moon overhead.
With a new found habit, shinku stepped into the steaming water and took a seat. Every night since coming to Yugakure, Shinku would soak in the mixed bath.
Since the bath house was located in the red light district and around this time, many of the villagers were already home. It was understandable that very few would come to the baths around this time, and almost nobody came to the mixed bath during this time.
Removing his mask for the first time in the last few days, Shinku breathed in the clear air after having to deal with his stuffy mask as well as the sweaty bar smell he had soon gotten used to as he moved to place a smaller towel over his head.
'I'm done playing the hero...' Distant but familiar words echoed in the back of his head. Over the months he's been away from Uzu, blurry and undistinguishable fragments of his past would appear. None of it made any sense to him and only continued to confuse him.
'What did you find Odin that could warrant you to want to discuss with me personally?' Shinku thought, recalling a messenger bird that found him not long into his mission.
With it was a note that informed him that the intell he wanted was delicate and had to be thoroughly explained when he returned, but only a few days passed, and Odin had split.
'If I knew you were leaving, I wouldn't have taken my sweet time enjoying the botany in the land of vegetables.' Letting out a heavy sigh, Shinku sunk a little deeper into the water.
Left to his thoughts, Shinku didn't even notice that time flew by, and more than 3 incense sticks of time had passed.
It wasn't until a strong chakra signature began heading towards the mixed bath, followed closely by another, and one very weaker but still strong signature practically stalking the two.
'The hell, what kind of idiot comes to the mixed bath this late to relax? No, there chakra's too strong to just be random idiots. They're Shinobi.'
Thinking this, Shinku unsealed a Kunai from the storage seal on his wrist and hid it under the water behind his back.
If they're Shinobi and are aiming for him, killing them would be no issue. Though how they found out where he was was another question.
On the other hand, if this was truly a coincidence, he didn't want to shed unnecessary blood if he could avoid it. So he kept his head towel on as it covered his face, with the Kunai safely hidden behind his back.
'3...'
'2...'
'1...'
"And then granny just kicked him out! Once again, I had to help Sensei out before he upset her even more just by speaking."
The sliding door to the bath opened, and a woman's voice soon filled Shinku's ears. The voice was so familiar yet so foreign that Shinku had loosed his grasp on the kunai stunned, though he instantly re-raised his guard.
"Tsunade, please. This is the seventh time you have gone on a rant about Hokage Sensei, and I don't think this resting villager wants to hear you nag." A questionable voice soon followed as Shinku sensed their two gazes fall on him as they soon entered stepped into the water.
The two remained a respectful distance between one another and a great distance from him, which only made Shinku question their intentions more.
'That... was a male voice, right? Or was it a female?'
'Doesn't matter either way, but, to think there are Konoha Shinobi in Yuga, and why the hell are you both just staring at me in silence.'
Shinku held off from killing the two as he sensed the third Chakra signature watching from atop of the roof. The thick steam only hid his figure from the eyes, leaving his chakra signature was pretty much a beacon telling everyone where he was.
'What the hell, if you plan to hide, at least erase your chakra signature. Honestly, they're probably not even here for me, but to rest after a mission. Though that doesn't explain why their third man is on the roof.'
Shinku soon resealed his kunai, giving these three Konoha-nin the benefit of the doubt, deciding that if they were after him, they would have known not to touch the water and that three men aren't enough.
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