Ain't That a Kick in The Head?

11: Assigned Reading

It's pouring.

It's been pouring ever since they got truly into Grass Country-- past the tourist town on the border, past the scarred, brown countryside still healing from the last war. They went past what may as well have been ghost towns– aged, rotting houses and stores collapsing in on their own weight as the furtive silhouettes of townspeople inside watched them pass through from behind drawn curtains.

They were unprepared for the weather. Their clothes quickly became soaked and after a few miserable hours trudging through the unrelenting storm, they took cover in a system of caves. After making a fire and camping for the night, Team Seven had assumed the downpour would clear up by morning.

That did not happen. It got worse, and instead continued to pour like a torrential inland hurricane.

Being stuck inside a cave with Umeko for three straight days was not fun. 

Especially not with her gal pal, the new, improved, and terrifying Sakura.

Sasuke shudders still, thinking about it.

Eventually, the rain lightened to a drizzle and they continued on their merry way to the capital of Grass Country. It was another two days' walk through battered earth beginning to renew itself with young grass and sprawling walled, wary villages. They passed by overflowing canals giving way to distant blue reservoirs, through thinned woods, and across unnatural rock structures.

The capital of Grass Country was as bustling as any town in this place could be. People were out and about, mingling in the streets or buying wares from outdoor markets. It didn't matter that buckets and buckets of water fell from the sky. He supposed this was as normal for them as the near year-round greenery surrounding Konoha.

People also glared at them, he noticed. A lot.

They'd get a side-eyed glance from a fruit vendor they passed by that would be gone as quickly as he noticed it. He'd hear whispers coming from groups of civilians staring at them as they passed. There was something that felt awfully close to hostility in that freezing damp air.

The daimyō's castle is small. It's in the center of the city, surrounded by an iron gate fixed together with multiple plates of steel bolted together. Much like how the rest of the city is. Most houses look like they're primarily made out of metal. There's a tinkling sound that reverberates throughout the capital of raindrops sliding off silver roofs.

That's what those caves are, he guesses. Or were. Mines. Because in a gloomy country predominantly consisting of fields, you're gonna have to dig for your building material.

Team Seven plus the Mochizukis and Kazuhiko sit in the drawing room of the castle, waiting to be received by their host. The room is huge and empty, all bright and spotless wood floors. They sit on tatami mats. In the corner are sticks of incense burning at a small altar. The doors are open and Sasuke can smell the wet earth from the garden.

Sakura and Umeko sit next to each other, giggling about something Sasuke really doesn't want to know. Kazuhiko sits in between Hajime and Umeko, sulking and occasionally giving bitchy side-eye to Sakura. Yamato and Sai sit at the end of the row, by Hajime. Naruto sits on Sakura's other side, next to Sasuke, and stares out into space. On Sasuke's other side is Kakashi.

It's quiet. The only sounds carried through the room are of Sakura and Umeko's hushed whispers to one another. A heavy tension is present in the air that Sasuke can cut through cleanly with his sword.

Quite frankly, that's kind of fucking weird.

He's never known Naruto to ever stop running his mouth. Right now the idiot sits with a look on his face that's two parts pensive, three parts plotting.