Maya - a Naruto Fanfic

63. Desperate Times

Travelling with Takadoshi, Atsushi has decided, is by far the most awkward experience of his life.

Satoru is refusing to forgive him for bringing the strange man with them, and Takadoshi, he's realised, isn't one for making conversation. So Atsushi walks, suffocating, while his travel companions refuse to talk.

He almost wishes someone would attack them, just to break the tension. Bandits, maybe, or rogue shinobi who want to fill their bingo book. Something. Anything. If he's not insane by the time they reach Konohagakure, it'll be nothing short of a miracle.

"We should avoid villages." Is the first thing Satoru says for hours, just as the gates to a town rise up across the horizon and Atsushi's hopes soar. Satoru's words send those hopes crashing down in a fiery and violent death.

"Oh hell no." Is Atsushi's immediate response.

"I agree with Satoru, interacting with outsiders would be annoying." Takadoshi chips in, voice light and detached. It's really starting to get on even Atsushi's nerves.

"Don't agree with me, you-" Satoru scowls.

"I am not spending a whole night alone with you two, I will go insane. If you're so opposed to staying in a village, stay out here, but I'm going to talk to real people and sleep in a real bed." Atsushi snaps, storming off towards the town, expression almost violent.

How hard would it be for them to just make conversation?! Sure, he and Satoru are both shinobi, but even shinobi talk. Maybe bringing Takadoshi was a bad idea, after all. If it were still just him and Satoru, it'd be fine, they could be as they usually are, and Atsushi wouldn't feel this uncontrollable urge to run away.

Before he knows it, he's crossing under the village arch into a main lane, crowded with people and stalls covered with goods. It's immediately clear that this isn't a shinobi village, as he enters uncontested, and Atsushi feels his shoulders loosen. Of course, Satoru was just being a worrier, as usual.

"Excuse me, miss?" He calls out to a slightly older woman just ahead of him.

"Yes?" She turns to him, and he notices the sharp glint of intelligence in her eye.

"Do you live here?" He asks.

"No, but I've been here for a few weeks now, what do you need?" She tucks her thumbs in her pockets and leans back, but it feels more like an imitation than actual relaxation. There's a tenseness to her stance that belies the casual appearance.

"I was wondering if you knew the best place to stay for travellers on a budget?" He gives her his most charming lopsided grin.

"The cheapest place is Matsumoto's, but you're more likely to catch a disease there than get a decent night's sleep. Try Fujioka's inn, first building on the first left from here." She informs him, tone almost reminiscent of Takadoshi's in it's unaffected distance, though hers is far more serious.

"Masu-chan~!" An older man calls in a tone totally unbefitting his sophisticated appearance.

"That's my husband. I wish you a pleasant stay." She bows formally and goes to join the other man, meeting his wide grin with a blank face but a gentle touch to his wrist. Atsushi watches them leave with the faintest feeling of longing in his chest. Will he ever get that? A wife to go on trips with, such peace and security that he can call her name out in a crowd? No, there's no time to think of such things. Maybe if he survives this mission, but he can't waste a second until then. So he follows her directions to the building labelled 'Fujioka's'.

It's simple, made of plain plaster and wood, but clean. There's barely a hint of grime on the surface, and the road outside has been cleared of debris. It definitely has the appearance of an inexpensive, but pleasant inn. Still, it may just be a façade, a pretty exterior used to hide some new kind of hell.

Well, there's only one way to find out.

He slides open the door and steps inside.