Disclaimer: PLUS ULTRA DISCLAIMER!
Revised by: LORDANTAS
After Juugo retrieval, our group traveled to the nearest town and stayed at an inn, which gave us a good discount... after I accepted to share a drink and a meal with the owner's daughter, I knew this kind of thing would never end, but what caught me by surprise was that the daughter was in her late twenties.
So I had to provide company to a cougar. Or was it even legal for her to be interested in me?
It was an awkward experience, but at least I can say I can finally sympathize with those girls who provide company at those cafes or bars.
That kind of job needs strong willpower.
Karin didn't seem to care for my awkward date; better said, she found it funny, which Suigetsu agreed as well and laughed together.
Juugo was the only one who was indifferent about the whole thing; he looked thrilled with the little bird using his orange hair as a nest.
Honestly, I believe my situation was exactly how Sasuke had been living his life; people had been handing him stuff for free or at dirt-cheap prices.
Anyway, the inn itself was decent, and after doing the favor, we were given a few extra advantages and a recommendation to the town hot springs.
Karin wanted to go to the hot springs as soon as possible, but I denied her request. First, we needed to have our team discussion; the rest agreed with me, leaving her unhappy.
I called for room service and ordered a plate of appetizers for our room; I didn't know the name; I just asked for their recommendation. It was free anyway.
The maid arrived with our food and left it on the small table; it was a plate of twelve Gyozas, and it had a delicious smell.
I was the first to take one, and I couldn't deny how delicious it was, but I had to maintain my cool.
The rest took their own. Only Karin was the one who exaggerated the experiences, but at least she wasn't unhappy about the denial of hot springs.
"Since the entire team is finally reunited, do you mind telling us what our purpose is?" Suigetsu was the first to speak with his mouth full.
Unlike him, I swallowed and looked at everyone expecting gazes."The primary purpose is to track and neutralize Itachi Uchiha." I only needed to speak with him, so I had to use my words carefully; neutralizing doesn't mean killing him. Though I was still worried about his reaction the moment he realized I wasn't his foolish little brother anymore, it was something I was stressing over.
But my group didn't look surprised in the slightest.
"But there are more things that come up which need our attention first," I added, immediately catching their full attention.
"Something more important than getting revenge against your brother?" Suigetsu asked, as if he was trying to provoke a reaction out of me.
I glared at him.
"They are not more important than Itachi, but he can and will wait for me because that's the kind of bastard he is." It wasn't like he had any other option; how far has the illness gotten him? And with him constantly moving, I couldn't predict how much further his body had deteriorated.
"So, what are we going to do?" Karin grabbed another of the Gyozas and ate it in a single bite.
"We will go after the Jinchuuriki of the seven tails," I answered as a matter of fact.
Karin instantly choked on her food and started to cough uncontrollably; I was ready to assist her, but Suigetsu was already at it. By hitting her back with unrestrained strength, forcing her to spit the half-chewed food to the floor before looking at me with her mouth hanging open.
"Excuse me?!" she exclaimed between breaths, completely ignoring the shark boy's past actions.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
She slammed both hands on the small table, her strength throwing off balance between the plate and the appetizers.
"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?!" Karin stood up and pointed at me, looking at me with disbelief. "Do you even understand what the consequences of trying to capture or kill a Jinchuuriki are?!"
I raised an eyebrow, wondering how she reached that far-fetched conclusion. Then I remembered my exact words.
Karin took it as a sign of confusion and shouted her explanation, not caring that we shared our walls with another room, a good thing that it was daytime or we might have got noise complaints. "Not only will they will label us as extremely wanted bounties from that village, but Akatsuki will rip us apart!"
I sighed in exasperation and rubbed my temples in a way to calm my nerves. "When did I say that we will capture or kill the Jinchuuriki?" I clarified my words before glaring at her. "And keep your voice down; we don't want the entire building to know about our personal lives."
She cowered when our gazes connected."You... did not?"
I facepalmed; she was so emotional. "Don't jump to conclusions so quickly; I need to establish more connections; besides, I want to make Itachi's little group work harder to obtain their goals." They looked confused, so I had to explain even more. "Orochimaru had been keeping close tabs on their operations personally; after all, he possessed one of their rings. They plan to capture the Jinchuuriki of the seven tails on the next Chunin exams that will be held at Suna; we will stop them."
I simply couldn't allow more Akatsuki successes in their master plan. Their failure and destruction were in everyone's best interest, and I personally hated Obito.
"Not even a month, and we will be fighting S rank shinobi." Suigetsu commented, sounding quite happy about it; it wasn't unexpected for a warmonger like him who is addicted to the adrenaline of the fight.
"Is that bad?" Juugo turned to Karin and asked innocently.
"OF COURSE... yes Juugo, S rank shinobi are really strong." She calmed herself after realizing who she was speaking to; she then turned to me. "At least you know who will be after her, right Sasuke-kun?"
I searched in my memories for a moment.
"Hidan and Kakuzu," I answered nonchalantly.
"Hidan and Kakuzu." She deadpanned.
"Yes."
"The zombie brothers." She continued.
"Yes."
"The immortal duo." Her blank expression was getting annoying.
I sighed again, "What are you getting at?"
Karin blinked twice and smiled.
"Oh, nothing, just thinking about what I will write in my will since we are going to die!" Her calm smile twisted into anger in a fraction of a second.
With a single glance, I could tell Juugo was losing his cool thanks to her antics.
Suigetsu, on the other hand, looked that he had enough of her ramblings and kicked her legs, effectively throwing her off balance and falling to the floor.
I expected her to say something or try to escalate the situation, but she said nothing, only glaring at Suigetsu, who wore a cocky smile.
I rolled my eyes; I had the feeling that our group dynamics would be like that in the future. "They aren't that special. The only trouble is Kakuzu's fighting experience and his five hearts," I explained. Hidan's only advantage was the surprise of his immortality catching his enemies off guard and then agonizingly killing them off with his sadistic ritual.
"What do you mean?" She asked, confused.
"Hidan might be immortal, but he is useless the moment we cut off his head; he is heavily reliant on his immortality and sadism to fight his opponents."
Suigetsu snorted."His fighting ability must suck then; I can hold my ground with my Kenjutsu, even though they cannot harm me with physical attacks."
I didn't like his overconfidence, especially when directed towards Akatsuki members.
"He shouldn't be underestimated." I explicitly warned. I did not know if Hidan had a trump card he was never able to reveal.
"What about Kakuzu?" Karin asked.
"Kakuzu possesses five hearts, each one with a different elemental affinity. He is the real threat since he is a master in both taijutsu and ninjutsu; the only way to kill him is to destroy every single one of his hearts or possess a jutsu strong enough that can pulverize him in a second…" Naruto Rasen shuriken came to mind, but then a realization hit me as if I was illuminated by the deity knowledge. "Which I do."
"You do?!" she exclaimed in surprise.
I nodded.
"The Kirin will completely pulverize him to the bone, but it requires a lot of preparation and favorable weather to perform it." That extremely powerful and broken jutsu was my trump card to defeat anybody who didn't possess a perfect defense; in other words, I was sure I could even deal a lethal blow to Pein. However, I needed more practice and meditation to assimilate everything thoroughly; I almost incorporated everything, but that little portion left couldn't be overlooked.
"That sounds complicated, and I don't even know the details." Suigetsu added to the conversation.
I looked him in the eye, giving him a knowing smile.
"That's why we will go for a specific legendary sword of the mist," I said, immediately catching his full attention.
He couldn't help but smile when he understood our next move. "Ah, I see THAT pair. I didn't expect we would get another one so quick you are becoming a little more likable."
"What are you talking about?" Karin asked, confused since she was clueless about the topic; the legendary sword of the hidden mist wasn't exactly a hot topic after all.
Suigetsu did some stretching while lying on the floor as if he was a cat. "One of the legendary swords of the hidden mist; the Kiba blades which can control the weather to its will, and as far as I can remember, Raiga was the last wielder who had a very humiliating death. Do you think that pair is still there?"
"Don't they possess some sentience and decide if the new wielder is worthy?" I didn't know, but some swords possess a sentience level that allows them to be picky with their future owners.
Suigetsu only grinned. "Yep, they are still there."
He stood up and dusted his clothes before walking towards the door.
"Wait, wait, where are you going?!" Karin exclaimed as she tried to grab Suigetsu's hand.
"To recover my swords, duh," He replied.
"But do we even have a specific destination or funds?!" Karin's question brought us to a halt.
She was correct.
I didn't know where precisely the Kiba blades had been left except near a mining town, and my personal funds wouldn't last us more than a week even with the discounts; I needed information and money, which I posses, but I needed to turn it into actual cash first.
Karin somehow became the voice of reason.
I pulled out one of the storage scrolls in my robes and tossed it to Karin, who quickly caught it and analyzed it.
"How much do you think Kabuto's corpse is worth?" I asked.
Karin became shocked at telling her the contents of the scroll but was quick to regain her composure and adjust her glasses.
"The prices always change, so I cannot give you an estimate; let me bring the Bingo books."
It took her like half an hour to return with a bag filled with the famous Bingo books of every village.
She grabbed the red one and started to check through the pages.
"Well, he is an A-rank missing-nin, but it seems Tsunade hated him so much that she put quite the price on his head." Karin made me wonder why Tsunade would hate Kabuto so much; he didn't exactly do much as far as I could remember unless she took it very personally, covering her with blood unless he did something to Shizune. Still, he was the type to boast his cruel achievements, so it was doubtful he harmed Shizune in any way.
I would have known.
"So?"
"He is worth 10 million, Ryo."
"Nice." Suigetsu grinned.
His price tag also surprised me; it was a lot of money that I could cash out for such a simple thing; if the world wasn't in imminent danger, we could live with that money alone for a long time without caring about it world affairs.
"In Konoha." She finally added.
"Fuuuuuck." He groaned while I clicked my tongue.
I didn't want to go to Konoha, not unless it was necessary. Before, I wanted to go since the headache was driving me insane, but thanks to Karin's...direct treatment, it was no longer was necessary. I don't have many reasons to return unless Itachi goes mad with revenge and tries to kill me.
"And the other villages or the black market?" I wondered about the other villages' desire for his head; after all, he was Orochimaru's right hand, and he had been doing a lot of fucked up things to each village.
Karin repeatedly went through the pages of the books looking for his name until she finished checking on the black book and shook her head in disappointment. "All other villages only are willing to give 300 thousand, and the black market one million."
"Man, this sucks!" Suigetsu crossed his arms.
I was utterly disappointed to hear the other villages offer it only left Konoha as the only place to cash out the bounty, but I couldn't just go there and expect my reward.
"Karin, Suigetsu, you aren't known in the elemental nations, right?"
They both looked at me.
"Well, I used to be part of Kusakagure, but I was marked as KIA years ago, so I'm kind of secret...I think?" Karin's reply made me remember our...first meeting back at the chunin exams. Who could have guessed that Kusa was that cold to discard and mark her as KIA without doing proper research? No wonder Orochimaru could recruit her so easily into his ranks.
He scratched his head."The new Mizukage doesn't care if I'm alive or not. I think she would be happy if I return and rejoin their ranks since they are lacking shinobis." His answer caught my attention.
"How do you know?" I asked; it was odd for him to know a little too much of the outside world since they had imprisoned him inside a test tube for who knows how long.
Suigetsu shrugged. "Orochimaru used to talk alone inside his laboratory."
That sounded so much like him.
With their answers, it was clear that they were unknown people towards the elemental nations, so the higher-ups wouldn't bother to do a background check on any of them.
"Sounds good enough; you two will go to Konoha, cash out the bounty, and Karin will do the talking."
"Can't we give him to the nearest outpost? Usually, that's how bounty hunters business works with the villages." Suigetsu complained, knowing how lazy he was; going to Konoha, which was relatively far from the town, didn't sound that appealing to him.
"The bingo book explicitly says that it must be given to her personally." Karin was quick to explain Suigetsu; then, she turned to look at me with worry in her eyes.
"Besides, Kabuto was Orochimaru's right hand. How can we, who are supposedly unknown shinobis, explain his death?" Karin surprised me with her insight; I was overlooking important details, taking things for granted.
There was room for improvement tho.
I shrugged as if it wasn't much big of a deal."Simple, after I killed Orochimaru, Kabuto had a mental breakdown. He didn't move or say anything, so I easily cut off his head." The event occurred weeks ago. It was a fresh memory, but it affects me. With his death, only Obito could revive Madara, which he would not do; I was satisfied with my past actions. By killing that snake, I prevented a lot of troubles before they could even occur.
"So we were lucky shinobi who found him?" It stunned Karin while Suigetsu was looking at me, bored.
"Yes."
She looked down and sighed in defeat.
"That sounds stupid but believable, at least to a certain degree, since there had been cases. But if you have forgotten something, Konoha has famous tracking clans like the Inuzuka who will catch your scent and immediately ask questions which without a doubt will inform the Yamanaka, and boom; we are exposed." Karin introduced more problems that I didn't think about; while it was annoying, it was necessary since I couldn't predict or know every detail, no matter if I knew the world's future.
"If they ask questions, then say that you met me while you were moving, asked you a couple of things, and left. So you investigated the place where I have come from and found the hideout, explored the place, and found Kabuto."
Karin grabbed her chin for a moment and shook her head.
"Honestly, this sounds complicated, and there are many possibilities that things can go wrong. Are you sure it wouldn't be better just to sell him to the black market? While it is ten times less, one million ryo will be enough to cover our expenses for a while." She looked at me with the hope that I would go through with my plan.
I sighed. She was right, but it was probably my ego or my greed that I didn't want to give up that amount of money so easily.
"I also need an update of Konoha; without Orochimaru, we cannot rely on his spy network anymore." Even if she said that his network had been functional, with the news of Orochimaru's death spread to every corner, there was no longer a guarantee of their loyalty.
"Well, that is true; nothing is binding them anymore since the news of his death had been spread, so it is only a matter of time before they simply stop providing information or might even betray us."
"So we will need more funds besides our expenses to buy information and other things."
She didn't retort anymore after that; she simply nodded along with Suigetsu. While Juugo was feeding and petting the bird that used his head like a nest.
With our first objective set, our team discussion was over.
However, we all deserve a rest after days of travel and fighting.
So I put to use the Hot springs recommendation and took my team to relax before they would embark on their respective mission.
Karin had her mood do a 180° turn and happily led us towards the place.
Our group earned different looks and reactions as we walked across the streets; it was impossible not to draw attention, sadly. Suigetsu's oversized sword was one reason, Juugo's peaceful appearance giving an image of the Disney princess surrounded by little critters, Karin with her unique hair color, and last but not least, my dashing natural gifts.
It wasn't narcissism, just a cold, hard truth.
The place itself gives a traditional folklore appearance.
And for the first time, I didn't get a discount, since the receptionist was a bald old man who explained to us that there were public and private hot springs depending on what we chose. The price varied. Hence, I went to a private spring for myself and another for the rest of the group, but every single one of us needed to take a quick shower.
I wanted some privacy since I didn't feel comfortable exposing so much of my body to others; even if Sasuke's choice of attire said otherwise, I was planning to get another set of clothes, and with the bounty that I would receive could be picky about it.
There were more things that I needed to think about regarding our plans, and I was focused on exterminating Akatsuki. For anyone else, that would be a fools' dream, but for me, Sasuke Uchiha, it was within possibilities after unlocking the Mangekyo Sharingan and obtaining Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
I smiled in amusement as I remembered his time when Sasuke tried to act like a big shot in front of the Kages, and he only received the biggest beating of his life for doing so; I could sum it up in the overestimation of oneself.
Thinking so much could build up stress very quickly, but thankfully the water's temperature was right on point to relax my muscles; if only the technology existed to artificially create bubbles would have been perfect.
But my daydreaming had to come to a halt when I heard the door slide open.
I was ready to explode on the bastard who dared to interrupt and invade my heaven until I noticed the distinguishable red hair.
"What are you doing, Karin?" I should have expected her sneaking around to be with me, but being so relaxed and unpreoccupied with my surroundings, the idea didn't cross my mind at all.
Karin said nothing before she threw her glasses and slowly walked towards me, and when her feet reached the hot water, she removed the towel covering her and completely submerged until it reached her neck and kept going until she was right next to me.
"You owe me." She whispered in my ear as she lovingly grabbed my chin.
Honestly, I can only hope that Suigetsu wouldn't ruin the moment.
AN:
Look, Karin is a creep no matter what many try to argue but she is an obsessed creep with all the material Kishimoto and Pierrot gave us about her only in Boruto she shows a lot of improvement with the so little I saw in Youtube clips, I don't know if it is necessary to even remind you all that is AU but yeah even some characters personalities will be changed.
Tho I'm curious why people are so against Konoha? Is it because of the ridiculous amount of Konoha bashing stories?
Also, do people read the ANs? I mean I'm explicit with certain things but people still point it out as if I don't know *sighs*
PD: Not gonna lie, I love the new nickname a YouTuber gave to Orochimaru, "El vende papas"
PDD: And yes I'm still sulking, happy but sulking.