Chapter Seven
Sasori rubbed at his sweaty forehead as he trudged down one of the many dirt roads that seemed to connect all of the districts together. It had been a few days since he had left the old women behind in district thirty-six and his travels so far had been easy going. Even though he had been sleeping in a bed for the past few months, he easily grew re-accustomed to the simple life-style that traveling required of you. He had never been particularly picky about the way that he lived and as a ninja he definitely hadn't been soft or spoiled or anything like that. In fact, it put him more at ease than living safely and comfortably ever could.
However, by Sasori's calculations, he would need to arrive at some sort of town pretty soon. He was starting to run low on the food he had brought with him and even though he didn't mind searching for his food in the wild, it would be much easier to find a town and pick a few things up so that he could keep moving. Although Sasori didn't feel like rushing, it wasn't like he was going to be hunted down just because he left, he didn't feel like slowing down either. He had been inactive and complacent for so long that he just felt like going as far as he could in the least amount of time possible. For once, he didn't even care where he was going either.
If anything, Sasori was kind of looking forward to the districts with higher numbers. it had been a while since he had been able to have a proper fight with someone, anyone, and it would be interesting to see what the people here were truly capable of. Did the longer lifespan effect their skills? Perhaps having more time to hone your abilities made them exponentially more powerful than the people he had fought while in the living world. Sasori was especially excited about observing a shinigami. From the descriptions that he had been able to pick up from both Nobuko and the locals, it sounded like the shinigami was this world's equivalent to the ninja in his own world.
The two groups were both militaristic, the powers that gave you the ability to become one was hereditary more often than not, they kept the peace to some degree, and many people were suspicious of them. Of course, there were many differences as well, but Sasori was only making a rough comparison. He didn't think that he would actually becomea shinigami, although learning the shinigami arts that were talked about so reverently and with hushed voices would certainly prove to be interesting. Sasori had already proved that there was some sort of connection between the chakra system he was used to using and the one that the shinigami used here. Learning what else he was capable of here would have been a great experiment.
Sasori shrugged, why bother thinking about the improbable. It would be wiser to use his time to think of a way to earn some money. Although he did have a decent amount saved up, that wouldn't last forever and sooner or later he would be out. Sasori sighed irritably. Perhaps when he reached a town he would be able to think of some good ideas. Doing random jobs for people only really worked when the townsfolk knew you or you were a harmless acquaintance. The people here seemed to be even less trusting of strangers than they were in Sasori's own world, and since a lot of the people he had met while alive had been highly paranoid shinobi, it certainly was an accomplishment.
"Until tomorrow then," Sasori said aloud. Night was already darkening the sky and soon he would have to stop and rest. Tomorrow was the day for action, for now, it was time for rest.
Sasori blinked widely when he finally got to the town he was sure was there. He was unsure of what district he was in, if he had even gotten to another district, but the small town here was definitely different than the one that he had left. Nobuko's town was respectable and, although Sasori wouldn't call them rich, they were all fairly well off. On the other hand, this town wasn't as nice. The people were dirtier and looked irritable, homeless children were constantly running through the crowds of people, occasionally stealing or pick pocketing. Sasori had already grabbed a thin wrist or two and threatened to snap it.
It seemed unlikely that Sasori would be able to get any jobs here, although he would ask around anyway just in case. First, he would see what they had to sell here. He wanted to pick up some more preserved foods and maybe eat lunch somewhere, if there was anyplace decent to go.
As it turned out, the market place really wasn't selling anything that Sasori would've considered edible and when he asked people if there were any jobs that he could do around town, the replies he got were either paranoid stares or harsh laughter. After finally giving up and simply asking the next decent looking person what district he was in, he learned that he was currently in district forty-two.
'Well, that makes more sense,' Sasori thought as he leaned against one of the shoddy wooden houses on the side of the road. 'I wonder what order the districts are in.'
He decided to keep moving after a while. He couldn't go back to where he came from, but he planned to ask the next person that came along what other districts were close by and how he could get to the lowest numbered district. Nothing would get done if he kept on walking into districts that were the same or worse than the one he was in currently. Especially since it seemed that seeking out the higher districts wouldn't be worth the time.
When Sasori made it out onto the main road that led out of town and had walked a fair amount, he paused for a moment, head cocked to the side. He thought he felt a faint trembling in the ground... What was that? ...It almost sounded like the sound of hooves coming his way.
Sasori realized quickly that it wasthe sound of hooves stampeding towards him and that he was standing in the middle of the only road in the area. He turned to look behind him and his heavy lidded eyes widened for a moment when he realized that five men riding large boars where headed towards him.
Sasori moved to the side of the road swiftly and was narrowly missed by the gang of boar-riders that had almost ran him over. Sasori coughed a little at the dust cloud that had been kicked up as a result of the whole incident.
"Whoa there Bonnie-chan!" a voice called out and Sasori realized that he wouldn't be rid of the five idiots so quickly.
The five of them all turned so that their leader, a fat, ugly looking man with goggles on his face, was in the front and facing the not so amused figure of the ex-Akatsuki member.
"What... the hell is this?" Sasori muttered to himself when the leader dismounted his boar and strode over to him.
The stranger's stance was aggressive and he was easily twice as big as Sasori was, although Sasori could tell that if push came to shove Sasori could beat him in a fight.
"Now fellas, what do we have here?" the man said jeeringly to his comrades as he pulled off his goggles. The rest of his 'gang' smirked and chuckled, leering down at Sasori from atop of there 'steeds'.
Sasori rolled his eyes and met the man's beady gaze without flinching as he stood directly in front of him, invading Sasori's very large personal bubble.
"So," the man glared narrowly at him, Sasori kept an impassive face and stared at the man's crooked nose. "You're the guy that everyone in town is talking about..."
Sasori blinked his eyes at this. What was this fat idiot talking about?
"Pardon?" Sasori said aloud. The man scoffed and continued to stare him down in a way that Sasori assumed was supposed to be intimidating.
"You. You're the guy that everyone back in town has been talking about," the man explained. "Asking questions, freaking everyone out."
Sasori hadn't really known that he had been making that kind of impression on the townspeople, but he wasn't really known for his human interaction skills, so it was entirely possible.
"Asking questions is a crime?" Sasori replied, his tone flat. Why was he always being forced to suffer fools?
"No," the man grunted, his eyes narrowing further. "But they didn't like the look of you and I don't either for that matter. No one really likes wanderers. What's your name kid?"
Sasori found that it was his turn to narrow his eyes. He despised being called a child. He had long since earned the right to be called an adult while this waste of space was still struggling out of the adolescent mindset it seemed.
"My name is none of your business," Sasori told him coolly, moving back a step so that the man wasn't in his face. "And I'm leaving."
"Hey!" the man shouted, grabbing onto Sasori's shoulder. "Respect your elders, kid. Answer my question! What's your name?"
Sasori grabbed onto the stranger's wrist and squeezed. The man winced, but he didn't back down or let go. Sasori was mildly impressed, although he had never actually known for his physical strength so perhaps it really wasn't worth the impression.
"It's rude, don't you think, to ask for someone's name before you tell them your own," Sasori countered. "And besides, I'm just passing by, really. Unless you chase down and interrogate all of the travelers that walk through town."
The man grunted at that, sneering at the young boy that was talking down to him. However, he couldn't quite argue with the first point.
"My name is Ganju Shiba," he proclaimed proudly. "And normally it isn't a problem, unless there's suspicious activity. The head of the town asked a favor of me, I'm simply helping them out. You're probably completely harmless, but refusing to answer isn't exactly helping your case, now is it, punk?"
"Well, Ganju," Sasori began reasonably. "Whether or not I seem suspicious or harmless to you is none of my concern."
"Why you-"
Ganju would have continued, but Sasori had acted before he could complete whatever annoying thing he would have continued to say. Sasori used the grip that he had on the other man's arm to move his body so that his back faced the other man's front. Sasori caught a glimpse of the man's widened eyes and smirked. Sasori moved fast and used the man's weight to throw him over his shoulder.
"Like I said," Sasori said, looking down at the stunned man and then looking over his shoulder at Ganju's equally stunned companions. "I'm really just passing through."
Sasori passed by the stunned men and continued down the road. He ignored the shuffling on the ground behind him and kept walking at a steady pace.
"He-Hey!" he heard Ganju yell. "Hey, come back here!"
Sasori rolled his eyes and prepared himself to run. Although the boars that the men had been riding were fairly fast, Sasori had been exercising daily with his new body and he had gotten his speed back up to respectable levels for a shinobi, meaning that the five boar riders behind him didn't stand a chance. Of course, his stamina wasn't what it used to be, but he could keep it up long enough to out-run the idiots and their hogs.
Sasori directed some energy to the bottoms of his feet and he flew down the path, ignoring the yells and the pig squeals coming from behind him. He really did hate dealing with idiots.
