41. Trouble

"Please help us!!" said an old man bowing towards Jiraiya and Aiko as many people who stood around also started following the example.

Aiko looked at the people around him, some of whom seemed sad, some anxious, some helpless and angry. Aiko thought back to the events that led to this encounter.

............................

Even though it was Aiko's first time travelling outside Konoha, he clearly felt something was off, when they had entered the village.

The people they passed by on the street would become unnaturally quiet when they were in proximity and Aiko picked up a sense of vigilance and from their aura as they looked at him and Jiraiya.

"Something is wrong." said Jiraiya who also noticed the weird behaviour of the people around them, but he did not care much as they would be on their way the next morning.

Soon they reached a quite old wooden building with a sign ' Travellers Inn' nailed on it and entered the establishment to find a room and rest for the night.

"Welcome guests, to our humble establishment, would you like to drink something?" asked a chubby man who seemed to be the owner of the inn, he put on a cheerful face but Aiko was able to tell that he was nervous about something.

"A bottle of your best alcohol and a glass of fruit juice for the boy." said Jiraiya putting a bag of coins on the bar table where they had taken their seats.

The owner visibly cheered up as the bag of coins clanked in his hands and quickly placed a glass bright orange liquid in front of Aiko and white bottle along with a glass in front of Jiraiya.

Aiko noticed that the nervousness of the chubby man decreased a lot as soon as he got the money.

"Nice mead.." commented Jiraiya quickly downing a glass.

"It is a speciality of our village, made from the local produce of fruits and honey." said the man standing a bit straighter. Aiko also noticed the man's mark turn slightly green.

"Nice Juice.." said Aiko after taking a sip of the liquid in front of him, but he thought it was a bit too sweet.

"I added a little bit of extra honey in it." he said proudly and Aiko saw his mark turn a shade dark as the man's mood improved. Jiraiya shot a quick look at the red haired boy and calmly went back to his drinking.

"How's business, there doesn't seem to be much traffic or did we arrive at a wrong time?" asked Jiraiya casually looking at the man.

"The business has been a bit low these past weeks." said the man after hesitating for a bit as he poured himself a glass of dark liquid.

"Wasn't the harvest good this year?" asked the white haired man, his tone containing a bit of sympathy.

"No. By the grace of Kami, we had an abundant harvest….It's something else." he replied, taking a sideway glance at Aiko.

"There have been people gone missing, even some children, the village chief has not been able to find any clues or do anything about it….The people are scared to roam alone at night because there are rumours about vengeful spirits taking revenge circulating around the village." he added in a low voice leaning closer to Jiraiya.

"I suggest you and your kid, stay indoors when it gets dark." said the chubby man looking out the window as the last wisps of sunlight paints the sky pale orange.

Aiko, who had heard everything due to his improved senses, felt a little curious wondering what these vengeful spirits were.

"Well then.." said Jiraiya, taking out another bunch of coins and placing them on the table. "We will book a room for the night." he added.

The chubby man nodded his head happily, his business had taken a hit as the travellers to the village had been reducing these past weeks and with the rumours around the village almost nobody stayed out late.

"Are you a shinobi, customer san?" asked the man handing Jiraiya the key to a room on the first floor of the building.

"Yes, I am a shinobi from Konoha and this is my student." said Jiraiya not hiding it as with their gear it will only make them more suspicious if he lied, he accepted the key and headed to the first floor of the building to their room.

The owner's eyes had a look of respect in them as he gazed at their backs, to common people like him in some small village, the shinobis were strong mythical figures and Konoha in fire nation was like this paradise for all young people aspiring to be shinobis.

'It is clean' thought Jiraiya as he looked around the room there were two clean tatami mats on the floor and a table and a lamp in the room.

"Aiko kun have you seen snow?" asked the white haired man looking at the boy who was already lying on a tatami mat.

"Snow?, no, but I have read about it." said Aiko puzzled."Why?" he added looking at the white haired man.

"Hehehehe, you will know when the time comes." said Jiraiya mysteriously looking at the boy's curious face and quickly falling asleep.

Aiko was curious, 'Are we going someplace with snow?' he thought, but quickly suppressed his curiosity as this wasn't the first time Jiraiya had tried to be all mysterious.

He turned off his presence concealment skill as he had kept it on all day and quickly fell asleep feeling tired from the journey and training.

...............................

"They seem to be shinobis." said a man who had a quite a grandiose build, but his face wasn't clearly visible in the dimly lit room.

"We should be careful and stop our activities for a while, the man's chakra is vigorous. '' said another, there were five people sitting around the table as if having some type of conference.

"Or we can lure him and make an offering to our lord." said another in a sinister voice.

"How strong can he be, he might be a rogue ninja for all we know." said the large man agreeing with the third person.

"How strong is he?" asked another person who was sitting at the head of the table looking towards the man who had spoken second.

"I didn't go close enough, but the man was at least Jounin level and the kid doesn't look like he had started his training yet." answered the man after thinking for a moment.

Everyone around the table was looking at the man sitting at the head position, waiting for his instructions.

"Collect the remaining offerings tonight and spread word around that there is a shinobi in the village, let's prepare a trap and send them into our lord's arms." said the man in a fanatic voice.

"Lord might even bestow us with another miracle, once we complete our work." continued the man making the people around the table excited as they started mumbling prayers looking at the sky.

...........................….

Aiko woke up to the sound of someone urgently knocking on the room's door. He looked out the window and realised that the sun had started rising in the horizon.

Jiriaya woke up and opened the door, and saw the chubby owner of the shop standing in front of the room with a anxious expression on his face.

"Customer san, the village chief wants to meet you and is waiting in the bar downstairs." he said, noticing Jiraiya's confusion.

"What happened?" asked Jiraiya bewildered.

"A…. A lot of people went missing last night." said the man clearly a bit scared as he requested Jiraiya to come down as the chief had something important to discuss with him.