"It was nice doing business with you, Komori-san."
The faces of the three Komoris who had been negotiating with her for the past thirty minutes twisted.
That didn't surprise Kakashi at all. She had learned something devastating when they handed her the final payment.
The Komoris had been underpaying the Hatake clan.
The gap between what they had been paying and what Kakashi calculated the crops were worth at this time was enough to make her want to punch each of them twice in the face.
It was easy to see how they had managed to get away with it for so long. The Hatake simply lacked proper market knowledge. Clearly, it hadn't occurred to the previous Hatake clan heads to check whether they were getting a fair price.
The Komori family had noticed that weakness and decided to take advantage of it.
Not anymore.
Thanks to Kakashi's calculations, the Komoris had ended up paying double what they had expected.
The bounty she had delivered to their doorstep played a big part in their folding quickly. After all, the bounty on the head of Red-Nose Gaku had been put out by the Daimyō himself. If his man went to deliver the bounty to the Hatake's doorstep only for her to raise such a grievance with their village…
The outcome would be disastrous.
"I hope we can do business again," Komori Tadashi said through a strained smile.
"Of course," Kakashi agreed casually. "Next time, though, try to be a bit more realistic with your payments."
Tadashi's smile disappeared.
Kakashi waved cheerfully. "See you next time."
Kakashi turned to Shū, who was still sitting on the now-empty cart, and handed him the wooden box she was holding. "Come on, Shū-kun, it's getting dark. Let's go find a good inn to book."
Shū took the box and, out of curiosity, peeked inside, only to choke.
How was it filled with so much ryō?! Did she rob people again?
That was more than two harvests' worth of money!
Shū stared at the money for several seconds before slowly closing the box and reaching for the leash to lead the cart down the road.
"Kakashi-sama."
"..."
Shū's shoulders sagged. "...Kakashi-sensei."
"Did you rob them?"
"Of course not." Kakashi wanted to laugh. Had she accidentally given this guy the impression that she was a thug?
"They were the ones robbing us all this time."
Shū's grip on the leash tightened, his eyes narrowing into a glare. "What?"
"They were underpaying us." Kakashi patted his back. "But don't worry, Sensei straightened them out."
Kakashi would rather he not start trouble with them over this, even if they had been cheating. Komori is the closest village to the Hatake clan, and they have other dealings around here, so they shouldn't start an argument that could end with them being banned.
Shū forced himself to swallow the anger that had been building inside him. After all, this was an injustice that would have led to a straight-up war. But starting one wouldn't do them any good.
"Shū-kun?"
He turned to her, only to see her pointing at a tailor shop farther down the road. "Can we take a look at that shop?"
"Huh? Do you need to adjust your clothes, Kakashi-sensei?" Shū asked. "My granny can sew. I can ask her to help you instead of going to a tailor."
"I was actually planning to have them tailor me a few outfits."
"What's wrong with your current clothes? You never had a problem with them before?"
"Well, Shū-kun, I never had to fight all that much before, so I never realized how inconvenient my current wardrobe is," she told him with a shrug. "If I'm not careful, someone might see something they shouldn't."
Plus, she seriously needs a new mask because the one she's wearing is so inconvenient. It drew quite a few quizzical looks, and Kakashi would rather wear a more natural-looking mask.
Shū's face contorted in disgust. "Yeah, I see your point."
That was how Shū ended up going from stall to stall as Kakashi-sama headed to the tailor shop.
By the time they were standing at the front of the shop, she had filled a quarter of the cart with things Shū couldn't even understand why she needed them.
Eventually they reached their destination, and he watched as Kakashi-sama bombarded the poor tailor with all her demands.
They will probably have to come back here in another week to pick up the clothes. Just thinking about taking another trip with Kakashi-sama gives him a headache.
While the tailor was writing down her requests, she looked at Shū over her shoulder with a smile. Naturally, he made a disgruntled face, but that only made her laugh.
Before he could complain about her taking so long, a conversation at a nearby stall caught their attention.
"Did you hear? The Uchiha were spotted near the edge of the village again."
"Again? What are they doing this far out?"
"Apparently, they've been moving around more than usual lately," the first man continued. "Some merchants said they saw a large group of them heading toward the nearby Hagoromo territory." Visit g.com for the full chapter.
"Hagoromo? Didn't they used to be allies?"
"Yeah, but they cut ties. Makes you wonder if a fight will break out between those two clans."
"Wouldn't surprise me."
"Still, I'd rather not be anywhere near it if they do."
"Same. I've got enough problems without getting caught in a clan war."
"You still fixing that hole in your roof?"
As they switched topics, Shū turned back to Kakashi. He found her looking a little constipated as she clutched her heart.
He wondered for a moment if she was about to have a heart attack.
Kakashi would have rather had a heart attack than deal with this shit. What do you mean the Uchiha were nearby?!
Why?!
Of all the places in this godforsaken era, why did they have to be near her?
She had hoped to avoid them. As the saying goes, if you're having a bad day, an Uchiha is probably cursing you. And if it's not an Uchiha… it's probably a Uzumaki.
She didn't want to encounter Uchiha Madara!
Even if she had grown stronger since the Fourth Shinobi War, she had no confidence that Kakashi could take that man in a fight on her own. So she would rather not test her luck.
Kakashi quickly paid the tailor half the money the bandits had generously gifted her and agreed on the day everything would be ready.
She turned to Shū with a manic glint in her eyes. "Shū-kun, I changed my mind. We will not be staying the night. We will be leaving right now."
Better to go now than to stay and stumble into an Uchiha later. She would simply return home, train Itsuki and Shū, and spend the rest of her time pretending the Uchiha didn't exist until Konoha is created, that is.
"Okay?" Shū shrugged. Anything would be better than watching her spend any more money. Some of the things she bought were actually expensive.
The worst part was that he couldn't say anything because this was the money she had robbed from the bandits.
He would have rather not traveled at night because it is dangerous. But with her around, who would be able to bother them?
For some reason, Kakashi had a sudden, ominous feeling.