Itachi felt Shisui's eyes on him, boring into his skin and probably reading so much more into every nuance of Itachi movements and expression than anyone else ever could.

Itachi nodded. "As far as I can tell, it's nothing more than that. I taken the time to study each meeting before, how it came about and what happened before. I truly think it's coincidence, or people travelling the same road. There's a possibility, I know, that these weren't random meetings, but the seem to be. She's given me travel tips and advice on which roads were bad or news that travelers often trade."

Itachi took a breath and held it for a moment. "She was with the caravan the Chuunin were watching during the mission that you were talking about." Itachi paused. "The man matching Orochimaru's description stabbed though Ashiko to get to someone else." A clean strike, but straight through Ashiko's body.

"I'm fairly certain he's her employer," Itachi added. "She goes travelling a lone a lot on what she calls errands, so it stands to reason she's very high in his trust and would know some valuable secrets."

Itachi refused to look at Shisui still. "I ran into her last week."