The Dark Side of Akatsuki. Chapter 16

Actually, he would have guessed the man was a samurai, but it didn't seem to fit. For one thing, the man didn't move as if he was accustomed to armor. For that matter, he had hair that was short, spiky and weirdly… green, and had an odd sort of outfit, even for a place like this. No, samurai didn't seem right.

Then, the man drew one of his swords, showing the blade to the shopkeep as part of his argument. Was he threatening the man? Sasuke was moving slowly down the street and was growing closer to the two by the second.

As he drew near, he began to hear what they were saying.

"Like I said, I'm looking for a shop with specialty cleaning supplies. Anywhere with swords that look like this should work fine."

"Nosir, Nosir, ain't got anything like that here. It's real good work alright, but we're just knives and a few throwing stars, you know, so the kids can play pretend, gods bless 'em. Don't think our main shop's got anything of the quality of that piece of work either."

As the shopkeep yammered on nervously, Sasuke had closed the distance to the swordsman. Fifty feet, thirty feet, fifteen feet-

The swordsman froze, and the world slowed down.

Pressure. A sense of menacing pressure that stretched out time to unbearable lengths. Sasuke had paid too much attention to the man, and somehow he'd made him wary. A murderous sort of energy was bubbling up from the swordsman's skin.

If Sasuke reacted poorly, he would have to defend himself.

Step by step, he moved closer, and he knew he had to do something. Moving in a straight line, he'd pass within striking distance, and the swordsman might make a move. Oh well, time to take a chance.

"Hey! Don't just swing that thing around, ya bum!" Sasuke called out, in his assumed voice, made rough and slurred from years of hard drink, "Damned tourists think ya can just do whatever ya please…" he growled, almost to himself, as he passed.

The swordsman relaxed quickly, and the pressure abated. He shook his head slightly, as if confused, then responded, "Yeah… sorry…"

Sasuke continued on until he could round a corner and disappear. That had been close to breaking out into some sort of confrontation, which was rarely a good idea when collecting intel. One thing was for certain though, every instinct he had was telling him he'd just found a lead. Now, it was time to capitalize on it.

After a while spent laying low, Sasuke leapt up to the rooftops to scan for his mark. It wasn't hard. The guy was asking somebody else for directions to a store that sold some odd-sounding oils for weapon maintenance. Nothing that Sasuke had ever heard of, and that was strange in and of itself.

Sasuke examined his own sword, now unhidden, removing it slightly from its sheath. 'Kagerou,' or 'Heat Haze', was a treasure of the Uchiha Clan smiths. His straight-blade had been appropriated from clan storage, since it was unlikely anyone else would ever get any use out of it. One of the benefits to being scion of a dead clan, he supposed. Regardless, the sword was a masterpiece, and was guaranteed to get the attention of any sharp-eyed swordsman.

Leaping lightly from roof to roof, he made his way quickly to the path that the swordsman had been directed to. Left, straight for two blocks, take a right, and you can't miss it.

Cutting ahead, he descended to the streets in an alley and emerged transformed as a scarred old man, clearly a retired samurai relaxing in the sun and cleaning his weapon on a stone bench. There he waited.

Ten minutes later, he realized he had somehow missed the swordsman. Perhaps the green-haired man had made a wrong turn?

Another round of spying. The swordsman was asking for directions again. Another dash ahead, another disguise. Nothing.

Sasuke tried this one more time before he got nervous, pausing in a corner of a shaded warehouse rooftop. He'd been made? The swordsman had somehow known he was being followed and was dodging him? It didn't make sense!

He hunted the swordsman down one more time, still in disguise. Finally, he saw his target three blocks away and moved to shadow him from above. The green-haired man was staring intently at a fenced off alleyway, his arms crossed. It sounded like he was talking to himself.

"Didn't that old hag say it was right past the first alley? This is the first alley on my right, but I can't pass through here with this fence in the way. Was she just senile, or what…?" he muttered.

Sasuke was stunned. Was the guy just lost? Should he approach? This seemed way too suspicious.

His decision was made for him a moment later when the swordsman climbed quickly up to the rooftop Sasuke was on and blinked, surprise evident in his face.

"Huh, I thought that old hag was lying to me when she told me to go this way, but I guess people here must use it after all," he said to himself, before continuing, "Hey! Do you know where the harbor is? I'm a bit lost, and want to get back to my ship."

Sasuke stared at him blankly for a few moments, then turned his head slowly to look at the ocean water and varied assortment of fishing boats that were visible about a quarter mile away. In fact, the harbor was clearly visible from any of the main streets he'd been on in this area. Sasuke opened his mouth and tried his luck.

"You… wanna know where the harbor is?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's what I said. I asked a couple of old grandmas, but they clearly didn't have a clue."

Sasuke paused, weighing his options. Finally…

"Yeah, ya know what? The old women here? They're all crazy. They gave ya bad directions. Think the sea air does somethin' to their heads, ya know? Why don't ya come with me and I'll take ya right there."

!!!Suscribe for more chapters in advance¡¡¡

Patreon: patreon.com/Suzy177