Daraku didn't know what to make of the last twenty-four hours. He'd killed over a dozen people,  maybe not directly, but at least manipulated them a bit to do so to each other. Either way, he was the mastermind behind each death. That wasn't why he felt like shit, though, he was used to death and killing people. It was like second nature to him. The problem was that in this elapsed amount of time, he hadn't slept at all. He hated being so tired, it was bogging down his senses and his reflexes, basically making him a vulnerable target on his journey back to Iwa. Thus, he made it his primary goal in this return trip to just focus on pure speed. He was somewhere in the wilderness of Konoha, surrounded by trees and greenery. He wondered how the rest of the Aoi Bara's trip back had gone and whether the defecting guy had found his proper place in the group. He was the lowest ranked member, at the moment, so he was probably getting just a bit of shit for it...which brought a smile to Daraku's face.

The missing-ninja's pace increased as the amount of forestry began to thin. He had certainly reached the Konoha border by now, and without any further physical obstructions in his path, he stopped and positioned his footing before making a clear sprint toward Iwagakure. The village was in sight by that time, a small dot in perspective to the massive stone edifices and mountains. It progressively grew in size, until finally Daraku was less than a dozen meters away. He slowed his sprint down to a calm walk, and halted at the village gate. He went in and wandered the streets for a while, until he found the establishment that he stayed at before heading to Konoha, a small inn that had given him quite the extended stay for his money's worth. As he came into the lobby, the owner greeted him with a solemn expression. "I'm sorry, Matsuro-kun, but you've already stayed here for weeks on end, and when you left, we got booked fully. You'll need to wait a long while, at least 4 days, until we have another opening." Daraku didn't even bother to reply, he just left the building and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He certainly didn't want to pay more ryo for another one anyway, and he figured it wouldn't be a big deal if he just stayed at the Bara's Mansion, so he turned, headed back toward the mountainous region of the area.

Daraku finally arrived, and he stood there outside of the Aoi Bara compound for a while, contemplating everything. Maybe this wasn't right for him. He'd aligned with the organization in search of riches, and he had certainly received at least some of what he was promised, but he always rode alone, and was a lone wolf in that sense. Now, he was with this organization of powerful ninja...and something didn't feel right. He'd always seen himself on this journey alone, and at first he was open to the idea of having a team with him, but now it was a foreign concept he didn't quite grasp. Either way, at that moment he couldn't manage to get a solid grip on reality, not with such sleep deprivation. He deduced that he'd worry about it later, all that mattered now was sleep. He entered the gates and went inside, searching for Tsuyo to ask him where to sleep.

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Travel Hi no Kuni to Tsuchi no Kuni Complete
Word Count: 610/600