Two weeks later…
"Thank you," said Itachi as he accepted a handful of coins from the elderly shopkeeper.
The old man smiled. "You're quite welcome. I haven't had an errand runner as efficient as you in a long time. It's nice to have some quality help around here, and you certainly earn your keep."
When he'd first stumbled into the settlement he had noticed two weeks ago, Itachi had been stunned to realized that what he had seen was just the edge of a truly gargantuan city the likes of which he had never seen before. The clearing that he had woken up in was actually just one of the small stretches of wilderness that were allowed to grow between districts of what was otherwise a monumental urban sprawl. He had wandered through the city aimlessly for two days as he'd struggled to get his bearings, having to assemble bits and pieces of knowledge from overheard gossip and a few questions to passersby.
He would truly have been lost forever were it not for a lucky break. On his second night in the city, as he'd been searching for somewhere to sleep for the night he'd wound up outside a general store. There had been a commotion coming from inside it, and upon investigation Itachi had discovered a handful of thugs attempting to rob the place after roughing up the proprietor. Recognizing a golden opportunity to make an impression and gain a potential source of information regarding this strange afterlife, Itachi had attacked the would-be robbers and brought them down in a matter of seconds. In doing so he had learned several valuable lessons; his skills in taijutsu remained as sharp as ever, he was still quite capable of sneaking up on a target, and he was no longer capable of calling upon the genjutsu and ninjutsu powers that he had employed while he was alive. That didn't mean he was completely powerless, though; he could sense some form of new energy within him, similar to chakra but at the same time distinctly different, but he lacked the knowledge necessary to fully understand it.
After Itachi had sent the punks packing and seen to the proprietor's bumps and bruises, the old man had offered him a place to stay for the night. Itachi had gratefully accepted the offer, and it was a most fortuitous one as well; he had felt himself growing hungry as he had wandered the city, which had struck him as very strange since this was supposed to be the afterlife and it did not make sense for him to still require food. The proprietor had fed him while at the same time offering Itachi some valuable information regarding his new condition.
The first order of business had been to find out just where he had wound up, and the proprietor had happily provided that information; he was in the Rukon District, sometimes referred to as the Wandering Soul City. To narrow things down, Itachi learned that he was currently in Western Rukon, District 37. The Rukon District was divided into four main districts, North, South, East, and West, and each of those four districts were then broken down into 80 smaller divisions, making for 320 in total. Itachi had gotten lucky; according to the proprietor, standards of living declined the higher the District's number was, with the descent into poverty especially noticeable beyond District 50.
The former Shinobi also learned that he was actually in the minority as far as his need for food was concerned. It was true that all souls in what the proprietor told him was the known as the Soul Society could partake in meals and indeed enjoyed them, but it was only those with active spirit energy that could truly experience hunger. The revelation that Itachi had that spirit energy had been quickly followed by an alarming incident; the old man had suddenly keeled over halfway through his explanation. Itachi had moved forward to help, but the proprietor had held out a hand to keep him back. The cause of the old man's collapse had been the pressure exerted by the spirit energy leaking out of Itachi, and moving closer would only make things worse. After a moment, the proprietor had managed to right himself, and while he tried to make light of the incident Itachi still felt terrible about it and had made to leave. The old man had stopped him though, claiming that he would only need a little bit of time to adjust to what he called Itachi's spiritual pressure, although Itachi could detect a hint of doubt in the proprietor's voice. Still, the old man had insisted on letting Itachi remain at least for the night as a means of repaying him for throwing out the punks, so Itachi had politely accepted the offer with the full intention of leaving as soon as dawn broke.
As it turned out, though, the old man had risen before Itachi, and had asked him to move some goods to a customer since his usual daily labor was running late. Not having anything better to do and realizing that this would be a good chance to learn how to properly navigate the Rukon District, Itachi performed the errand as requested. He had not been expecting payment, which had made it all the more surprising when the old man had given him a handful of coins upon his return. Not only that, but the old man had offered him a job right there on the spot; apparently Itachi's delivery time had beaten those of the regular helpers by a considerable margin even though Itachi had literally just arrived in the Soul Society and was still trying to get his bearings. Figuring that it would be good to have at least a temporary source of income while he tried to acclimate to his new environment, Itachi accepted the job. He continued to live at the old man's shop while running errands for him, but he did his best to keep some measure of distance between him and his new employer in order to avoid causing the proprietor to collapse again. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done; the radius affected by Itachi's spiritual pressure seemed to fluctuate randomly, and it got even worse when he tried to sleep.
Of course, the violent nightmares he had whenever he attempted to get some shuteye probably weren't helping matters.
Over the course of his errands for the shopkeeper it was inevitable that his gaze would soon fall upon what appeared to be a fortified region that seemed to be at the very heart of this vast city. Upon inquiry, the proprietor had told him what it was; the Seireitei, or the Court of Pure Souls. It was the heart of the Soul Society, the capital city of the afterlife, home to both its rulers and its guardians, the Soul Reapers. The shopkeeper had never been inside personally, but he had a few acquaintances who were allowed entry, and from the tales they had relayed to him Itachi gained a glimpse at what he realized was a startling gap in security and comfort between the Seireitei and the Rukon District. Clearly the afterlife was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and while Itachi had further questions it soon became apparent that the proprietor would not be able to give him satisfactory answers. Itachi resolved to learn more at a later date, but for now he would focus on his current duties as an errand runner while settling in to his 'life' in the great beyond.
"Something on your mind, lad?" asked the shopkeeper.
Itachi shook his head. "It's nothing important. Are there any more packages that require delivery today?"
"Just one," the proprietor replied as he pointed to a sack of rice, "Do you mind hauling that over to the bar down by the river? I know it's close to sundown, but I promised the establishment's owner that we'd have this load delivered before the day was out."
"I'll handle it," said Itachi as he grabbed the bag and effortlessly hefted it over his shoulder.
The old man smiled. "Thank you, Itachi. I know I've said this before, but you're a good sort. I bet your parents were mighty proud of you back when you were still alive.
Itachi averted his gaze; family was not a matter he liked to discuss, and if the proprietor knew just what he had done in his past life he would understand that quite well. "I'd best get moving. I'll likely be back late, so don't wait up for me. I can grab something to eat on the way back, so don't worry about me when you make dinner."
The shopkeeper nodded. "All right, then. Take care of yourself, Itachi. West Rukon District 37 is a fair place, but as you know it can still get a little rough after dark. Don't do anything foolish."
Itachi nodded as he set out. "I'll be careful."
His journey to the bar was for the most part uneventful. Itachi always made an effort to put some distance between himself and other people just in case his spirit energy started flaring up again. He wished that there was a way for him to properly control it, but since he was still trying to work out the differences between it and chakra he still had a long way to go before he could prevent his spiritual pressure from posing a hazard to the people around him.
The old man mentioned before that Soul Reapers learn to control their spiritual pressure, he mused, I wonder what sort of exercises are required in order to achieve that…
He was getting close to his objective when the instincts that had been finely honed over years of experience as a shinobi told him that he was being followed. Surreptitiously looking around as he continued his journey, he caught a glimpse of a cloaked figure before they disappeared behind a building. About a block later he managed to catch another glimpse of the same figure, and a little further down the road he had his third spotting. That was far too many times to be mere coincidence; he was definitely being tailed. What's more, the third time he actually felt a faint pulse of spiritual pressure come from his pursuer.
Was it one of the punks from two weeks ago out for payback? That was the first possibility that came to mind, but after a moment Itachi discarded it. None of the thugs from the robbery attempt at the shop had exerted any kind of spiritual pressure that Itachi could perceive during their brief skirmish. A couple blocks later he felt another pulse from his pursuer. It didn't feel like a deliberate probe, and Itachi guessed that whoever was following him did not have complete control over their spiritual pressure.
So we're on even ground as far as that's concerned, he thought, I should still be cautious…
He completed his delivery a few minutes later, but rather than head back to the shop for the night he went behind the bar towards the river. Itachi had no intention of involving the proprietor with his pursuer; he would deal with whoever was following him on his own.
Putting his back to the river, his eyes narrowed as he braced himself for a confrontation. "I know you're there. What business do you have with me?"
The cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows, and Itachi heard a shockingly familiar voice reply with a chuckle. "Well, that depends…"
It cannot be, thought Itachi, stunned as the figure lowered their cloak, The odds of us meeting in an environment as vast as the Rukon District are less than a billion to one…
Probability could be damned here, though. Itachi knew that there was no mistaking who he was faced with. The tall and toned figure, waist-length spiky white hair tied in a ponytail, fair skin and red lines descending from his dark eyes were unmistakable. He was lacking the red haori from their last encounter, but he still wore the same green short shirt kimono and matching pants from before, along with a pair of wooden sandals. There was a humorous light in his eyes, but Itachi knew that it could become quite menacing should the occasion call for it, and given the circumstances under which they had last met it would not surprise him if that happened here.
Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, gave him a piercing glare. "On whether or not you harmed my apprentice before you died, Itachi Uchiha."