Their arrival at Cascades Town is met with the collision of exquisite nature. The scenery, with its alluring beauty and sweet quietude, transcends that of anything man-made. From vines, to branches and leaves, nature entwines itself with the construction of village houses that warms the silent atmosphere.
At a nearby restaurant, Izumi and Itachi suspend their journey for the sake of physical replenishment. The inside air is dull, a strong mismatch of untainted mountain breeze that saunters from the outside.
Before her, Itachi sits deceptively dazed, a demeanour of vigilance with a large portion of his mind withdrawn. His speech steadily creeps into the non-verbal domain. Not once does he bother expending energy answering her long winded questions.
Since departing Konoha, Itachi's level of concentration has diminished remarkably. Although they have not crossed enemies, Izumi is surprisingly adept at analysing the level of awareness her teammate displays. Almost as if Itachi is honing his level of caution into something imaginary, it seems his thoughts may be more of a substantial enemy than anything that exists on the outside.
"Itachi, our food is here," Izumi says.
She gently shakes his shoulder.
"Sorry, Izumi, I must have zoned out," he replies automatically.
She frowns anxiously.
"You don't say. Itachi is everything okay?"
He remains silent, as if eating is on autopilot and he can return to his inner muse.
Though Izumi is not particularly bothered by such behaviour, she finds the action disturbing when it concerns Itachi. This is the first time she has seen him drift dangerously from reality.
As they leave for their inn, Izumi passes a trio that sends a discomfiting feeling across her body. Her arm accidentally scrapes against the wall, rebounds and hits against the side of someone.
"Oi kid! Watch where you're going!"
The tone is low and menacing, its owner is twice as fierce as his speech. Standing over seven feet with slick, well-oiled chains across his chest, he sends Izumi an intimidating stare that gets her glaring back in retaliation.
Size and looks does not deter her from a battle, and she will not hesitate to challenge anyone who undermines her.
"My apologies," she answers tensely.
The man does not react to her forced apology, and it seems he may have read her underlying vexation.
When he attempts to block her way, another voice floats through. The sound is oddly eerie, as if the speaker is whispering but the tone is loud enough to warrant normal speaking level.
"Fudo, this is a public space," the voice says.
And when Izumi tracks the source, she is watching a bizarre figure with piercing yellow eyes. She cannot see the person's face beneath the roughened bandages.
With lightning speed, Fudo withdraws from the entry. And from behind his hulking figure, there stands a third unimposing person.
A pretty young woman who appears severely mismatched against her two fellow comrades. Her shoulder length brown hair reminds Izumi of Honoka, however, this woman does not exude blandness. She may be watching the commotion, but there is a look of fervent disinterest that surfaces her expression.
"Please do excuse, Fudo," the bandaged person says.
Still for the life of Izumi, she cannot figure out whether this person is a man or woman.
Then, the person turns and directs their attention to Itachi, who is standing beside Izumi with a peculiar expression on his face.
Izumi can rarely read his emotions, yet she feels a strong component of suspicion radiating from him.
"Ah, Uchiha Itachi, what a splendid coincidence," the person says, and the tone is indicative of a hungry predator.
"But the coincidence sadly does not coincide with the success of my experiments," the person continues, "Given more time, a prey evolves and becomes stronger and stronger. The excitement and thrill of capturing such prey is more than worth it for the predator."
The person points a slack finger at Itachi, a powerful hint of excitement that consumes their inner psyche.
On Izumi's end, the disturbing comment sends a wave of repulsion and disdain throughout. She moves to grip Itachi's arm with a look of pure contempt.
"W-What sort of creepy, disgusting thing are you talking about?" Izumi demands.
And that low, menacing snicker reinforces her aversion.
"Play with him well," the person says, and he gestures for Fudo and the woman to follow, "We will meet again, Itachi, I will make sure of it."
As the group disappears in shadows, Izumi and Itachi depart immediately - towards an inn furthest away from the village restaurant.
Izumi's mind is fiercely inundated with the person's abhorrent nature, yet her physical is strangely composed - an exemplary example of her body conditioned to remain wary of immediate post-suspicious circumstances.
Ahead, Itachi remains silent to the previous ordeal, as if the situation is a common aspect of his work and warrants little regard for the danger level it deserves.
Perhaps it is Izumi who overestimates her enemy? Regardless, Itachi's observed demeanour, whether confronted by enemies or the empty landscape before him, remains a solid line of deliberate detachment.
At the inn, when they are settled with separate keys and rooms, the silent journey stirs unease.
"Itachi, one moment please," Izumi says.
She grips his arm and halts him.
"Itachi, is everything okay? You can tell me."
His back faces her, and the relax position he had adopted all night turns unusually rigid.
"Perhaps," he answers vaguely, and Izumi gets the strong impression he is drifting.
"Itachi, I know something is on your mind. The coup d'etat?"
But his reactions are far from startling. He merely turns to her with a blank expression, as if the coup is the least of his worries.
"Don't worry Izumi, I will be okay. We are almost at the end of this mission, lets rest up."
Izumi is troubled, but she cannot force him to speak things if he chooses to refrain. His lack of engagement in a zone rife with enemies is a call for disconcertment, however, a speck of intuition tells Izumi he may know more than he lets on.
When he speaks his goodbye and turns for the staircase that diverges and demarcates their inn rooms, Izumi's jumbled mind decides to speak.
"It's dangerous what you are doing!" She says angrily, "Regardless of how strong you are, or the problems that are going through your mind, you cannot disengage. Why must you do something that would put yourself in danger?"
From somewhere deep inside, she can hear her own frantic heartbeat, a sound so loud, she is sure Itachi can hear every irregular rhythm.
He pauses in his ascending. And as he looks over his shoulder at her, there is passive reluctance grazing his underlying features.
But what Izumi sees is resignation.
"Because my mind is safe when you are around," he answers quietly.