I could feel that Kanna had some questions as we started on today's journey. She just had this feeling about her, and I saw her open her mouth multiple times, almost about to say something, before she closed it again.
Yet I chose not to ask what it was about, both because I could guess it, and because she needed to build up her confidence a little bit.
While I did demand respect, it wasn't to the point that I wouldn't allow people to ask questions, more so if that person was my travel companion.
But I knew it wouldn't help to tell her that. I had tried multiple times already, and she was still so afraid that, unless she was otherwise distracted, she rarely asked me things if we weren't already talking.
It wasn't until we stopped for a small break hours later that she finally asked.
"Kaguya-hime?"
"Yes, Kanna?" I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible to not frighten her. Though I never could tell just what would make her nervous and what wouldn't.
I had so very little experience dealing with traumatised women.
"What made you turn his offer down in the end?" she finally asked.
"Nothing really. I never intended to accept at all."
"I thought so, but then why did you spend three days negotiating with him?"
I hummed slightly at her question; it was a fair one, after all.
"I admit, the offer was very generous; I could find no fault in it. Whether or not he could deliver would be something else."
"Did he lie? He didn't seem like the type to do that," she couldn't help but ask.
I nodded, satisfied that she asked and that she judged Kitsuchi's character on her own.
"He likely didn't lie, and I do think he intended to fulfill every promise he made. The thing is, it's sometimes just not up to those in power to make good on a promise. He promised us that we would be seen as part of Iwa, but could he promise that the classmates in Karin's class, once she started the academy, wouldn't treat her like an outsider?"
Kanna lowered her head at my words, clearly taking them in. "I guess he couldn't…"
"Indeed. He might mean well, but in the end, some things are just hard to achieve. Though, despite how generous the offer is, I have no intention of settling down. I have things I want to achieve, and I can't do that from inside Iwa, nor would I feel good leaving you there."
"Kaguya-hime," Kanna was clearly touched.
"Still, we will have to figure something out for when Karin gets a little older; you can't carry her around forever, nor can she walk alongside us either."
"You don't have to think about us, you have already done enough," Kanna quickly apologized.
I gently shook my head as we continued through the Land of Earth.
As we just cut straight across the southern part from east to west, we didn't get to see all that much of the country.
Honestly, the Land of Earth was a peaceful place; it didn't have the extensive forests of the Land of Fire, where bandits liked to hide out.
Not that there weren't bandits—we had run into some already—but overall, there weren't as many. Not to mention that those who wanted to prey on the weak sought those with the most money.
And no people had more than those in the Land of Fire; their geography was truly blessed.
They had a vital resource, one many might overlook, but one that was truly important.
Wood.
Wood was a key building material; even while other countries built with stone, they still needed wood.
The Land of Earth did have earth; it wasn't all stone, even if they had plenty of that. But their earth was often filled with rocks, and not suitable for large trees to grow in. It was fine for wheat and other greens, but trees didn't grow that tall.
Which meant they needed to import wood; every building needed some, and every home used it for fires. Every merchant required it for their carts.
High-quality wood was also needed for paper, not to mention water; the Land of Fire produced much of this, as well as having both rich mines and farmland. It had everything it needed, and more than enough to export.
And Hashirama had only made it richer by growing trees filled with chakra, perfect for chakra paper and paper for sealing.
No village could go without its explosive tags, but to make that, you needed paper to write the seals on, and not all paper was equal.
So one of the things we often saw as we walked across the land was timber transports.
Heavy carts transporting large logs across the paved roads. The Land of Earth wasn't poor by any means. It had its rivers fed from the snow-capped mountains to the north, allowing them to grow plenty of food.
They also had the largest pork production, meaning they didn't have to import too much of their food. However, they grew little rice of their own.
What they exported were mainly stones and metals. With all the volcanic activity they had, they were blessed with plenty of metals to mine.
Though due to how much of it went to their shinobi village, they exported less than the much smaller Land of Iron, despite them likely possessing more iron.
That just went to show how much fine steel a shinobi village required; even Konoha had to import much from the Land of Iron, their own mines just not producing nearly enough.
The old clans had their own mines, so they didn't need to import much, but the village's overall needs far exceeded what even the clans could spare.
The Uchiha clan in particular had a few rich mines, which I had no doubt the Konoha Four would happily claim once the Uchiha clan was gone.
All for the good of Konoha, naturally.
…
The remaining time in the Land of Earth went without anything of note. We didn't run into more bandits, nor did we encounter any trouble with the Iwa shinobi. Without a bounty on our heads, and without any visible marks showing we were rogue shinobi, they had no reason to do anything, even without orders from above.
And I didn't think they received any—at least not those not stationed at important checkpoints. Those going to, or returning from, missions had no way of being informed of the plans involving our group, and there was no reason to inform them.
Shinobi was a dangerous career, so those inside it knew when to avoid trouble. Not everyone were like Naruto, barely a genin and throwing themselves into a dangerous mission just to help some old man who lied to them.
Most shinobi would avoid unnecessary trouble, and those from Iwa were relatively stable.
The Will of Stone, a cheap copy of Konoha's Will of Fire it might be, but it did work.
It made the shinobi of Iwa calmer, less likely to start fights, more patient, firm like a rock.
Or something along those lines; I honestly didn't remember much about their philosophy, but it was something like that.
…
Soon enough, we passed through the border checkpoint into the Land of Valleys. A land formed by the shifting of the earth.
A scar left behind by my battle with Hagoromo, when the earth rolled like waves of water as it answered our call and chakra.
This land was fully dependent on the Land of Earth, a satellite state, yet an unwilling one.
It was just unlucky; it had too little land that could be used for farming, and so it needed to import food.
Yet due to the many valleys that gave this land its name, there were countless places for bandits to hide. Needing shinobi to escort all shipments of food, yet without a village of its own, it had to send its missions to Iwa.
"If this county relies on Iwa, why not give the mission to them? Why leave it open as a bounty?" Kanna asked as I slowly explained what I knew about this place.
"A good question, and it honestly just comes down to politics. It's an internal issue, and they don't want Iwa to settle it for them. They would rather rely on someone like me. They only have to pay me; they don't have to worry about any politics around it."
"I don't get politics," Kanna admitted, making me smile a little.
"Most people don't get it, and those who do mostly hate it even more." Indeed, politics were always a headache. Trying to navigate it was a nightmare.
Thankfully, I didn't have to care overly much; as long as I didn't get open bounties on my head, a few in the black market didn't matter, but getting village shinobi hunting me down would be annoying.
Thankfully, just like with bandits, as long as shinobi weren't paid to hunt down people like me, they didn't do it often. Not unless they wanted our bounties for the money, and that didn't happen often.
Even less when my bounty was far below the strength it would take to claim it.
"Come now, we've got to reach the first town before night falls, and we don't have long," I said as I looked up at the sky.
It was honestly just a subconscious act. My Byakugan let me see the sky no matter what direction my head was pointed, but there was just something deeply ingrained that made me tilt my head towards what I was focusing on.
"Right, sorry for slowing you down, Kaguya-hime," Kanna was quick to take the blame.
Though she didn't slow me down that much. I was in no real hurry to get to my target. Few would take him on, so the chance of someone else claiming it wasn't small.
Though… I was slightly worried, mostly because I was running low on funds, for real this time.
If I didn't get this bounty, I would likely have to lower myself down to taking on some jobs that paid far less, just to get enough to go on another longer mission.
Or maybe I should just rob someone… always some fools around with more money than sense… maybe that little creep from the Wave mission?
Though there was still more than a decade before that would happen, so I didn't know how rich he would be right now.
Still, if worst came to worst, there are targets. It would be beneath me, but sneaking in and stealing from a noble wouldn't be hard.
"Waak!" little Karin said, and waved her hands around.
"Yes, we are going to walk some more," I couldn't help but respond.
Children truly were my weakness.
(End of chapter)
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