Ino and Karin stood in the middle of the snowy market street, clutching the heavy bags of newly bought clothes and the empty bag meant for food.
After the merchant's door slammed shut behind them, they both burst into a fit of triumphant laughter.
"Karin, I have to admit, that was a masterclass!" Ino giggled, patting the bulging Gama-chan purse.
"When you told him the dye was basically colored mud, I thought his head was going to explode. We saved so much money, we could probably buy out half the meat stands in the city!"
Karin adjusted her glasses with a proud smirk. "He was trying to overcharge us because we look like kids. He didn't realize he was dealing with people who can spot a fake stitch from a mile away."
But as the laughter died down, Ino's expression suddenly shifted to one of pure panic. She looked left, then right, staring at the rows of steam rising from different buildings.
"Wait... Karin," Ino whispered, her eyes wide.
"Where exactly did Sakura and the others go?"
Karin froze. "I thought you were watching them! You were the one leading the way!"
"I was too busy thinking about how much I wanted to change out of these frozen clothes!" Ino shrieked.
Panic set in. The two of them immediately bolted back through the slushy snow to the exact spot where the group had split up earlier. They stood there, breathing hard, looking at the crossroads.
"Okay, okay," Ino said, trying to stay calm.
"The closest bathhouse is right there. Let's start with that one."
They ran to the first counter, Ino slamming her hands down.
"Excuse me! Did a group of girls come in here? One has bright pink hair, and another is a very quiet girl with her eyes shut—she's supposed to be blind!"
The attendant just blinked slowly and shook his head. "No pink hair here today, Miss."
They didn't stop. They hit the second bathhouse. Then the third. By the fifth one, Ino was practically vibrating with frustration.
No one had seen a 'blind' girl or a 'pink-haired' or a girl with 'two buns.' The city felt much bigger and more confusing than it had ten minutes ago.
"We're lost," Karin muttered, clutching the bag of old cloaks. "We have the clothes, they have the hot bath, and we're all going to freeze before we find each other."
Far away from the shopping chaos, the air was quieter and much colder. Sasuke and Lee were walking down a narrower street where the buildings were taller and cast long, faint shadows over the ice.
Sasuke walked with his hands deep in his pockets, his gaze fixed forward.
His black high-collared shirt was hidden under his old, tattered cloak, but his mind was already moving three steps ahead.
Lee was walking beside him, his green jumpsuit practically glowing against the grey stone. He looked remarkably energized despite the freezing wind.
"Sasuke-kun!" Lee said, his voice echoing.
"Why are we heading toward the quiet district? My internal compass of youth tells me that we will find a much better place near the market place!"
Sasuke didn't slow down. "The market is where people go to get noticed. We need to find a place where the guards don't bother checking 'common' travelers. Besides..."
Sasuke glanced at Lee out of the corner of his eye. "If we stay out here much longer, you're going to start doing push-ups to stay warm, and that will attract even more attention."
"It is a valid training method!" Lee defended, though he shivered slightly.
The cold wind whistled through the narrow alleys of the quiet district as Sasuke and Lee approached a heavy, iron-reinforced wooden door.
Above it hung a sign depicting a FROZEN CRANE—a mark of a high-end, traditional inn. Sasuke pushed the door open, the warmth from the interior hitting them instantly.
They stood at the heavy wooden counter, the air around them smelling of expensive incense and old parchment. The clerk, a man who clearly took pride in the high prices of his establishment, tapped his fingers impatiently on the desk.
"We need two rooms," Sasuke said, his voice flat and commanding. "One specially designed for girls, one for the boys. They must be adjacent."
The clerk let out a dry, mocking chuckle. "Two rooms? Young man, this is the Peak of Iron Inn. We are fully booked with merchant lords and high-ranking officials. The only thing I have left is the Grand Pavilion on the top floor. It is one single, massive room."
"One room?" Lee chimed in, his eyebrows shooting up. "But Sasuke-kun, our youth requires separate quarters for privacy! How can we all stay in one place?"
"It's either the Pavilion or the snow outside," the clerk snapped.
"It's a massive space—large enough for a small army—but it only comes with two permanent futons. If you want more, you'll have to pay through the nose."
Sasuke didn't blink. "Show us the room."
They walked up a winding staircase to the highest point of the inn. When the door opened, even Sasuke felt a moment of surprise.
The room was vast, with high ceilings and a massive, floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over the jagged, white peaks of the mountains.
But as the clerk had said, the polished floor was mostly empty, save for two lone futons sitting like islands in the center of the dark wood.
"This is it," the clerk said. "8,000 Ryo per night."
"And the extra futons?" Sasuke asked, walking toward the window. "We need seven more."
"Seven?" The clerk's eyes lit up with greed. "That's 3,500 extra. Plus, if you want blankets and pillows for all, that's another 2,000. You're looking at over 13,000 Ryo per night, boy. Do you even have that much?"
They walked back down to the counter to finalize the 'deal.' The clerk pulled out a thick ledger, his quill ready to write down a price that would bankrupt most travelers.
"Now," the clerk said, looking up with a smug grin. "About those nine futons and the blankets... how do you plan to pay?"
Lee looked at Sasuke, his heart racing.
'Sasuke-kun doesn't have 13,000 Ryo! Even if we used all of Naruto kun's frog money, we'd be eating snow for a week! Maybe I should offer to wash the floors for the next three years?'
' Yes! My youthful labor will pay the debt!'
Sasuke didn't reach for a purse. He didn't even look at the ledger. He leaned over the counter, his shadow falling over the clerk.
"You are mistaken," Sasuke said, his voice dropping into a low, hypnotic vibration. "You are going to give us the Grand Pavilion for free till the day we live. You will provide nine futons, nine sets of heavy blankets, and you will not record our names in that book."
The clerk opened his mouth to shout for the guards, but he stopped.
Sasuke's eyes shifted. The black bled away, replaced by a deep, crimson red. Two black tomoe began to spin slowly around his pupils, catching the light of the candles on the desk.
The clerk's pupils dilated instantly. His face went pale and emotionless, his hands dropping limply to his sides. The greed in his eyes was replaced by a hollow, vacant stare.
"Yes... Sir," the clerk whispered, his voice sounding like it was coming from a deep well.
"The Grand Pavilion is yours. Nine futons... nine blankets... no charge till the full stay. I will have the staff bring them up immediately."
Lee stared at the clerk, then at Sasuke, his jaw hitting the floor. 'Incredible!' Lee thought, his eyes sparkling.
'Sasuke-kun's negotiation skills are terrifying.' Lee thought, his fist clenched in front of his chest with youthful passion.
'He just looked at the man and the man gave up all his profit! Is this the 'Uchiha Stare of Absolute Poverty'? I must try to mimic this intensity! If I can master the 'Discount Eyes,' I will be the greatest shopper in Konoha!'
Eager to learn the secret behind such a powerful 'bargaining face,' Lee whipped his head around to look at Sasuke. He expected to see a look of extreme 'poorness' or perhaps a soul-piercing glare of 'coolness.'
Instead, to his absolute horror, Lee found himself staring directly into a pair of bleeding-red eyes. The two black tomoe had an unnatural crimson glow against the dark wood of the counter.
It wasn't a face of negotiation—it was the face of a hunter who had just snared his prey's mind.
Lee's heart skipped a beat, his thick eyebrows jumping nearly to his hairline. Before he could even let out a gasp of shock, the crimson bled away.
In the blink of an eye, the terrifying SHARINGAN was gone, replaced by Sasuke's usual, cold black eyes.
Sasuke didn't acknowledge the look on Lee's face. He simply turned his gaze back toward the snowy window, his expression returning to its usual mask of coldness.
"Don't just stand there with your mouth open, Lee," Sasuke muttered, his voice as icy as the wind outside. "Go to the entrance. If the others don't find this place in ten minutes, we're going out to look for them."
Lee swallowed hard, the image of those Sharingan burned into his mind.
'That... that was definitely not a discount technique.' he thought, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead as he scrambled toward the door.
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SNEAK PEAK LINES💬
"Go to Hi no Kuni"
"Soft enough for a brat"
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—With love, one forehead poke away from collapse,
Sakura Shinomiya 💫
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