A Quiet Day

At dusk.

Although the two dawdled along the way, they eventually returned to the Hidden Rain Village.

After following Juzo to meet Pain, Itachi felt a little restless, but he still calmed himself down.

He was not eager to test how deep Pain's strength ran. He merely wanted to see whether he could place a trigger-type Genjutsu on Pain.

But after considering that Pain possessed some of the Rinnegan's abilities and was merely a puppet body himself, Itachi lost interest.

The two also went to see Kakuzu and handed over the bounty...

As usual, Juzo spoke with Kakuzu while Itachi stood behind Juzo like an invisible nobody, perfectly concealing himself.

"Want to get something to eat?"

The two walked through the village, where drizzle fell year-round and the atmosphere felt strange.

Juzo spoke softly.

"Forget it. We've been traveling for days. I'd rather wash up properly and get some sleep."

Itachi gently declined Juzo's suggestion.

He did not feel much like eating right now.

He only wanted to sleep soundly.

"Fine."

Juzo had nothing to say about Itachi's decision.

After bidding Itachi farewell, he strolled leisurely into a tavern.

Itachi walked down the drizzly street toward his room.

Knowing that the rain was Pain's Rain Tiger at Will Technique, Itachi did not want to remain in it for too long.

It made him feel as though someone were watching him.

The feeling was rather unpleasant.

After returning to his room, Itachi happily took a hot bath, then fell asleep sweetly.

Compared to the wilderness, sleeping in a bed felt especially wonderful.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

Just as Itachi was sleeping soundly, someone knocked on the door.

Itachi opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling.

He realized that he had slept until the next day, and daylight had already fully broken.

The knocking outside grew more urgent.

Itachi, who had been a little distracted, came back to his senses.

"I'm coming..."

Itachi answered softly, then lazily sat up and stretched.

After rustling through a quick wash-up, Itachi opened the door.

"Why are you coming to see me so early?"

Looking at Juzo, who reeked of alcohol, Itachi spoke speechlessly.

"There's another mission..."

Juzo replied irritably to Itachi's laziness.

After saying that, he rushed into Itachi's room, grabbed the teapot from the table, and took a huge gulp straight from it.

As if he had come over just to mooch some water.

Itachi frowned slightly at Juzo's actions, feeling somewhat disgusted. He had put his mouth directly on Itachi's teapot without even using a cup...

But when Itachi thought about how the servants would clean and replace everything in the room after he left for the mission and returned, his displeasure gradually faded.

"Did we take the wrong direction?"

Seeing Juzo head straight out of the village, Itachi asked in surprise.

"I already got the mission details."

Juzo answered softly, clearly knowing what Itachi wanted to ask.

"Oh."

Hearing Juzo's words, Itachi understood why they were not going to see Pain and were instead leaving the village directly.

"What's the target of this mission?"

The tedious mission was underway once more, and Itachi asked without much enthusiasm.

"Making money..."

Hearing Itachi's question, Juzo did not turn around. He merely answered flatly.

And after hearing Juzo's words, Itachi felt that his question had been unnecessary...

Wasn't that right? The Akatsuki's current business was making money, and then making even more money...

Since Juzo had not slept all night and had spent it drinking, he had no desire to talk.

Itachi did not speak again either and simply traveled quietly.

When night fell, the two ate some dry rations, and Juzo promptly fell into a deep sleep.

Itachi was responsible for keeping watch.

Watching Juzo fall asleep in minutes, Itachi did not know how Juzo had managed to hold out until now...

He had thought Juzo would need to rest after walking for a few hours.

He had not expected him to endure until nightfall.

Itachi, who had grown accustomed to slacking off, found it somewhat hard to adjust.

As for his teammate and coworker suddenly becoming so driven, he could not think of a good way to deal with it for the moment.

Itachi trained until the latter half of the night. Seeing that Juzo was sleeping like a dead pig, he had no intention of waking him.

Instead, he summoned two Shadow Clones to stand guard, then leaned against a tree and began to doze lightly.

Nothing happened that night.

When Itachi awoke the next day, daylight had already fully broken.

Juzo had also prepared several cute little animals and placed them atop a broad leaf.

He held a wooden carving in his hand, absorbed in carving it.

"You're awake, brat."

Juzo sensed Itachi's movement immediately.

He spoke casually, as though saying good morning.

"Uh..."

Juzo's voice woke Itachi up a little more.

Rubbing his slightly numb legs, Itachi stood up, shook out his arms, and twisted his waist...

"Ah, life in the wild leaves my whole body aching..."

After moving around for a while and using chakra to ease himself, Itachi sighed softly.

Juzo honestly rolled his eyes at Itachi's complaint and had no desire to respond.

Still, seeing Itachi recover his vigor in an instant made Juzo feel somewhat bitter.

"Youth really is wonderful..."

Juzo sighed softly, full of wistfulness.

"You're not bad yourself. At your age, you can drink all night without sleeping and still walk for an entire day..."

Itachi instinctively chimed in at Juzo's sigh, and his opening strike was devastating...

Seeing Juzo's gloomy expression, Itachi found it rather amusing.

He casually handled the ingredients Juzo had prepared and began roasting them.

Before long, waves of fragrance drifted over, invigorating both of them.

"Want a drink?"

Seeing that Itachi had finished roasting the meat, Juzo took out a jar of wine and spoke softly.

"I'll have a cup..."

Itachi was somewhat speechless at Juzo's sudden fondness for drinking.

But recalling that Juzo's wine was quite good, he nodded and agreed.

"Brat, you'll understand when you're older..."

As if sensing Itachi's lack of understanding, Juzo suddenly said this.

"Oh, when I was seven, quite a few female classmates were already bringing me lunch and snacks."

In response to Juzo's nonsensical remark, Itachi inexplicably said that.

The previously harmonious atmosphere instantly fell silent.

Juzo blanked out for a moment, then looked at Itachi's handsome face and fell silent.

After a long while, he drained a cup of wine. Everything went without saying...

"Was that woman pretty..."

Watching Juzo drink in silence, Itachi picked up the wine Juzo had handed him and took a small sip.

"She was..."

After answering instinctively, Juzo gave up on saying anything more...

"Don't be afraid. You may be ugly, but you have a good personality. One day, you'll meet someone who appreciates your inner beauty..."

At this point, Itachi understood that Juzo had most likely suffered heartbreak.

So he offered a gentle consolation.

"Shut up..."

Itachi's words made the already dejected Juzo even more depressed.

"I'm telling you, I'm well versed in all kinds of relationship theories. If I casually teach you a few tricks, I can help you win over the girl you like."

Itachi ignored Juzo's words and began boasting grandly.

"Oh? Then how many people have you dated?"

Juzo showed some interest in Itachi's words.

"Well, I'm still too young to be dating..."

Juzo's question left Itachi somewhat choked up. Thinking about his single-dog life in his previous life, it seemed he had not dated anyone in this life either...

But recalling all the dating guides he had read in his previous life, Itachi felt that he knew what he was talking about. His words became firm, full of confidence.

"Tch..."

Hearing Itachi's answer, Juzo instantly lost interest and turned his attention back to the roasted meat.

Itachi was not discouraged in the slightest by Juzo's disdain.

As a man of great learning, how could he become angry just because someone questioned him a little?

"Can you tell me what happened between you two? I'll analyze it for you."

Itachi eagerly began asking about Juzo's relationship, itching to show off his skills and let Juzo see what a true love expert was!

"I can't talk to you about that! Hurry up and eat. We still need to travel after this."

Juzo looked helplessly at the suddenly enthusiastic Itachi and replied irritably.

Juzo never opened up in the end.

Itachi's first attempt at becoming a relationship mentor thus came to nothing...

Still, Juzo no longer kept pushing himself so hard, which eased Itachi's gloom somewhat.

The two began slacking off on the job once more...

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