Chapter 26: One Small Favor
Itachi and Kimimaro walked rather stiltedly side by side. Orochimaru, in an attempt to push them closer together in preparation for the Chunin Exam. Itachi pulled the list from his pocket to recheck its contents.
Radix Angelicae Sinensis
Fructus Arctii
Rhizoma Arisaematis
Radix Astragali
Rhizoma Corydalis
Radix Glycyrrhizae
Vinegar
Sugar
Eggs
Flour
A few pictures and instructions had been attached but Orochimaru had refused to give them pointers as to where to find the plants. He tore the bottom of the list off and handed it to Kimimaro. He took it without a word and left Itachi with the indecipherable list of plants.
He went to the first place that came to mind: the library. Although the overwhelming majority of books and scrolls had been abandoned when they'd all fled Konoha, Orochimaru had donated a sizeable portion of his personal one for the benefit of all. A few generic encyclopedias on plants wouldn't be too hard to find.
Sense Danger's level has increased by one
What an odd time, Itachi thought to himself as he walked into the library. He'd seen the librarian a number of times while studying and training himself during his free time. She was a sweet old lady with massive bifocals and nothing remotely threatening about her. He approached the counter, unconvinced by whatever his power was pulling.
"Itachi, is that you?" she asked as she turned around. She was squinting as if she was looking into the sun. Her bifocals were nowhere to be found.
"Yes, it is," he replied with a bemused smile. Being blind certainly wasn't going to make her spontaneously fling a kunai at him.
"I seem to have broken my glasses, do you mind doing me one small favor taking them in for repair down the street?" She asked him with an old lady smile.
Quest Alert: The Librarian's Glasses
Help the kindly old librarian by delivering her glasses to the repair shop.
Completion Award:
25 XP
The proper encyclopedias to find the plants.
Completion Failure:
No encyclopedias to research your plants
"Okay." Fugaku and Mother always insisted that he pay heed to the needs of the elderly. Well, that and he sort of needed the encyclopedias if he didn't want to meander the surrounding countryside for a few plants. " But is there any way you could help me get some encyclopedias on these plants?"
"Oh I'd love to help you but I can't read very well without my glasses." Her face drooped in a frown. "And I'm afraid that without reading the names I can't get you the right books." Itachi figured.
"Here," he said, extending a hand, "if you would give me your glasses, I'll make sure they get repaired as soon as possible." She fumbled around on her desk before giving Itachi her glasses. She clasped his hand with both of hers to make sure that they didn't get any more damaged.
"Thank you." She smiled as Itachi left the library. Still one thing bothered him. Why had his sense danger skill leveled up? He was no stranger to people trying to kill him, so it seemed preposterous that a simple request would level it up.
"Welcome, welcome, what can I do for you today, Itachi?" His thoughts were interjected by the words of the owner of the repair shop. The tools were rather sparse compared to what he was used to. But the fact that they had any was courtesy of Orochimaru. The man seemed to have everything.
"The librarian asked me to bring these to you," Itachi said, producing the broken glasses.
"Oh, Misaka broke her glasses again?" He snatched them out of Itachi's hands. "This shouldn't be too difficult," he said more to himself. "Actually…"
"What is it?" Itachi asked. He got a sinking feeling.
"I've run quite low on charcoal," he explained, folding his arms. "Without it I can't make glass to repair this. If you wouldn't mind getting some, I'll throw in a spare pair so she has a backup."
Quest Alert: Charcoal for the Repairman
The repairman needs charcoal before he can make repairs to Misaka's glasses.
Completion Award:
25 XP
Misaka's repaired glasses, spare pair of glasses
Completion Failure:
No glasses to give to Misaka to get the encyclopedias
"Where do I need to go?" Itachi asked.
"The lumberyard," the repairman said, "there's a furnace on the Western side of the saw where they make charcoal. Just tell the foreman I sent you and he'll give you a bag."
"I'll return shortly." Itachi hoped this was the truth.
The lumberyard was a recent addition to the Sound village. It'd been set up to help facilitate the rapid expansion needed to accomodate the Uchiha. As he wandered to his destination he noticed that all the employees were Sound villagers and not Uchiha.
"COME ON THIS LUMBER AIN'T GONNA CUT ITSELF!" A short, plump man with a moustache in a hard hat was yelling at everyone in the general vicinity. Itachi assumed this to be the foreman and approached him.
"Excuse me sir," he said, "I was told to ask you for a bag of charcoal."
"WHAT'S" the man yelled before adjusted the volume of his voice, "my bad, what do you want, Itachi?" Despite the man's stature he still looked down on Itachi.
"The repairman needs some charcoal for his furnace," Itachi repeated.
"Fair enough, but you should already know, nothing is free." He told him. Itachi regretted not asking for some money from the repairman. The foreman twirled the end of his moustache for a moment. "It's about lunchtime, but I've forgotten my lunch. I'd get it myself bu- HEY, WATCH IT, YOU'RE GOING TO KILL SOMEONE," he yelled at some bumbling workers, "but as you can see, I have an important job here. Do you mind picking it up from the deli?"
Quest Alert: A Working Man's Lunch
The lumberyard foreman requires his lunch before he hands over the bag of charcoal
Completion Award:
25 XP
Bag of charcoal
Completion Failure:
No charcoal to get the glasses to give to Misaka to get the encyclopedias
"You have a deal, sir," Itachi said, giving the foreman a dubious look.
"Don't worry, Itachi, I've already paid for it," he reassured him, "all you have to do is pick it up."
"Thanks for the reassurance." Something told Itachi that it wouldn't be as simple as it seemed. There was a definite pattern emerging. He turned and left for the deli.
"Hello," a voice called out in response to the bell tingling. At least it was an Uchiha business. "Oh, hi Itachi," she dropped the business tone upon seeing him.
"Hello, Misami, ma'am," Itachi replied. Misami smirked and leaned over the counter.
"No need to be so formal Itachi, if anything, we should be formal to you." Itachi flinched at the though. "You are the savior of our clan."
"I believe Orochimaru deserves that title more than me," Itachi stated. "It was through his grace that we were given a place to stay."
"Too humble as always Itachi," she said. "Just like when you graduated at 7 and got into ANBU." Suddenly Itachi realized why she was familiar. She was among the endless parade of family friends who'd been present at both "celebrations" for him.
"I'm here for the foreman's lunch," Itachi said, cutting off the chance of further non sequiturs.
"I was wondering what you were here for. I'd have it but the foreman likes a very particular type of meat on his sandwiches, and I don't have it." She explained, dropping the playful tone.
"And I suppose you want me to go and get it from the nearest town?" Itachi asked, already resigning himself. Perhaps the "danger" that triggered his skill leveling up was the danger of a seemingly endless list of menial tasks to complete.
"Well, no," she corrected him. Could there be hope? "I was supposed to get a shipment of it this morning but I think someone attacked the delivery man. I haven't seen him."
Quest Alert: A Meaty-ocre Thief
Misami can't make the foreman's lunch without his preferred meat, which has been stolen
Completion Award:
45 XP
Foreman's Sandwich
Completion Failure:
No sandwich to trade for the charcoal to get the glasses to give to Misaka to get the encyclopedias
"That is rather problematic," he replied, ignoring the abysmal title of his most recent quest. "I'll go find out what happened."
"Thanks, Itachi. The delivery man usually arrives from the northwest road into town." Finally, someone who was actually going to be helpful when giving him a task. "Oh, and be careful out there." she added.
"Thanks, I will." He left the deli in heightened spirits. It'd been some time since his last real mission. Well, this couldn't be called a real mission. Recovering some stolen goods wouldn't take long, but at least he wouldn't have to talk to anyone.
And so Itachi began down the path out of town. He took in every blade of grass, every dirt particle flowing on the wind, every tree on his left side, and every footprint he could discern. It was of no surprise that after walking for about 4 minutes, he discovered a trail of someone dragging a body.
He drew a kunai and followed the tracks into the woods. Not 20 steps in, he found a man he identified as a delivery man with a quick usage of Observe. He was tied up to a tree and his goods were nowhere to be found. This thief is terrible, Itachi thought to himself. At least the title of his quest was accurate.
"Halt!" A deep voice called out. "Who dares enter the woods of Akihiro, the master thief?"
"Master is overselling yourself," Itachi said into the thicket of trees. "I just want to take back what you've stolen."
"You think you can just reclaim these goods so casually? Do you have any ide-"
"Shut up," Itachi cut him off. "I have no interest in entertaining your delusions of grandeur. Just come and fight me and I'll make this painless." He lowered his guard to further insult the thief.
"Very well foolish child, take THIS!" Akihiro plunged down from the foliage above. Itachi rolled his eyes and stepped aside to let the man sink his knife into the ground.
"Is that your best?" Itachi asked in a dry voice. The man before him showed a battle level of 5. Even as a child Itachi could've taken him.
"S-Silence!" he countered. "Special Attack: Mega Destructio- OW!" Itachi had punched him in the nose. "What was that for?"
"Stop wasting my time." Itachi snatched the man's collar and stared at him, chakra starting to flood into his eyes.
"Well, well," he struggled to find a way out of the situation. "If you hurt me, I'll never tell you where I hid the goods. If you want them, you'll have to get me a…" he paused for a moment. golden ring, yes, a ring!"
Quest Alert: Thief's Ring
"No." Itachi said, dismissing the rest of the quest pop up.
"What?" The smile fell from Akihiro's face.
"I said no. Do you not see my eyes?" He looked him dead in the face, Sharingan now active.
"Wait, wait, you're an Uchiha, aren't you." Realization dawned on his face. "Shit."
"If you don't tell me where it is, I'll have to use my powers," Itachi explained to him as if he were a 5 year old child. "You wouldn't want that, would you?"
"N-No, I wouldn't." He was grasping at Itachi's hand, trying to pull it off.
"Good, now where is it?" Itachi released him and he walked about 3 steps and retrieved several parcels from the hollow of a tree. "Thank you." he told him. After rummaging through them he found the appropriate parcel and began walking away.
"So you don't want the rest of this?" Akihiro asked, his voice shaking.
"I don't care. I just wanted this particular meat," Itachi said with a dismissive wave. "But…" he appeared behind the thief, "if you ever steal again it will not be pretty." Akihiro whimpered. Itachi released the genjutsu and continued back towards the village.
What happened next was a flurry of activity as Itachi swept through his active quests.
Quest Complete!
Quest Complete!
Quest Complete!
Quest Complete!
Quest Complete!
Itachi now had the needed encyclopedias in front of him.
"Hello again." It was Kimimaro.
"Orochimaru send you back out after you brought him his things?" Itachi asked, not lifting his face from the books.
"Yes, unfortunately," came the reply. Itachi suspected he'd been sent out much earlier, and instead had chosen to watch him run around instead of helping him.
"Take these," he handed Kimimaro a list of places to look and the photographs. "We're almost done with this inane task." He took it in silence, as he had with the first list, and left Itachi alone.
He spent the next 2 and a half hours searching for the required plants, trying in vain to match plant after plant after plant to the photographs Orochimaru had given to him. Eventually though, he came up with a decent amount of them, and he headed to Orochimaru's lab.
"Well there he is!" Orochimaru exclaimed in a mockingly jovial tone. Itachi just dumped the assorted roots onto a table.
Quest Complete!
"Here." He plopped himself into a nearby chair and let out a deep sigh.
"Oh, someone's a bit grumpy from his day of hard work." Orochimaru was definitely mocking him. "If you're a good boy and show me a smile, I've got a treat for you."
Itachi just looked at him.
"Close enough." Orochimaru said with a grin. He shoved a few hard candies into his hand.
"What did you do to these?" Itachi asked, eying them.
"Nothing, they're just ginger candies. Kimimaro brought me more than enough ginger." Sure they were, Itachi thought. Observe.
Ginger candy
A delicious hard candy made with boiled ginger root and covered with sugar. Made with love, just like grandma's cookies.
Itachi let all emotion leave his face before he carefully placed it in his mouth. Exactly as he'd been told, it was coated in sugar. It was sweet, like dango… right up until the sugar coating slipped off.
Ginger as it turned out, was pretty spicy, and burned Itachi's throat. This immediately prompted a violent coughing fit from him. Orochimaru produced a glass of water for him. He took it, taking large gulps to alleviate the burning.
"I hope you didn't just send us out so you could make us some candy." Itachi said when the coughing subsided.
"Of course not, I needed those roots and such for the medicine." Yet again, Itachi looked at him dubiously. 'If you keep looking at me like that I won't teach you my secrets."
"To making ginger candy?" Itachi asked him.
"No, that's a family secret," he answered without missing a beat, "to the medicine. I believe you've taken an interest in it?"
Itachi's anger subsided.
"Good, now if you'll follow me you'll have your first lesson in medicinal science."
A/N: This chapter was hard to write. Fetch quests suck to play but they aren't exactly better to write. I didn't want to make the joke go on too long nor did I want it to be super duper short. I didn't want it to be boring either so I masterfully inserted some totally subtle information about the new Uchiha village.
I'm honestly glad that this roadblock is gone, and we got troll Orochimaru in there. Had a couple ideas that didn't make it in but whatever. I also would've kept going but the chapter would feel janky in my eyes if it was gamer shenanigans and other stuff. But uh, plot hook! I'll try making longer updates but this range I've been at is what I prefer immensely, even if they are just little update bites
Anyways thanks for reading and putting up with this long ass hiatus from me.