Blind Sight (COTK Book 1)

Chapter 16: Kumo

Aoki Restaurant, Sunagakure, Land of Wind, EN.

Rasa chuckled as the chunk of fish flew up into the air, confident the Kunai flying towards his head, hidden behind the meat, would never reach him.

Sure enough, once the Kunai had pierced the meat, it reversed course abruptly, as the string of chakra attached to its hilt was sharply pulled.

The chefs of Aoki would never cease to amaze Rasa. Despite eating here frequently, they always had something new to show.

Aoki was a restaurant only for those that knew about it. Its single room, dominated by natural wood and rice paper, created a simple, yet warm and authentic ambiance. The room wasn't massive either, only having three tables and a bar counter.

However, that wasn't what made Aoki such a special place, its history was. It had been created over twenty years before by two retired Shinobi from the Second Great Shinobi war. Since its founding, it had only employed three other retired Shinobi.

One of them was a retired Puppeteer.

Rasa shook his head and smiled as his old friend, Junzo, picked up the just finished plate of food, and flipped over the bar counter. A second later, the dish was set on the table in front of him; none of the food the least bit disturbed.

"I'll never figure out how you do that, Junzo," Rasa commented, breathing in deeply through his nose.

Junzo smiled. His hands folded behind him.

"Enjoy your food, Rasa-sama." Junzo said, "Sasori-sama and Baki-sama are on their way."

Rasa nodded and caught the pair of chopsticks Junzo tossed to him.

Snapping them apart, he habitually adjusted them in his hand and picked up one of the sushi rolls on his plate.

It was delicious, of course.

Hearing the room's only door slid open, Rasa looked over to find Baki, who was closing the door behind him.

"Seems I was first this time," Baki commented as he sat down at the table, and Rasa chuckled.

Setting the chopsticks down, Rasa waited for Sasori to arrive, knowing that he'd have to wait to finish his dinner.

"Ahh, damnit, you beat me," Sasori exclaimed as he entered.

Making eye contact with the owner of the restaurant, Sasori created an X-like symbol with his hands. The retired Shinobi nodded and gestured to the other chefs to follow him. A second later, they had all vanished.

Rasa raised an eyebrow in surprise as the chair Sasori was about to grab moved, Baki having pushed it with his foot.

Rolling his eyes, Sasori attached a chakra thread to the chair and pulled it back into place, catching it and sitting down.

"If you two are done acting like children every time we have a meeting, I'll explain why I summoned you here." Rasa said, considering eating another piece of sushi roll.

Giving in, Rasa attached a chakra thread to one of the pieces and manipulated it through the air and into his mouth.

"Mainly, I wish to discuss Naruto, and get your thoughts on some inconsistencies I've noticed about him." Rasa began after a moment, "After that, I want to hear what you've learned about the rumors I asked you both to investigate."

"Sounds good to me, I've definitely got some stuff to share on those matters as well." Sasori said, suddenly wishing they'd met in Rasa's office, as he now had nowhere to prop his feet.