Chapter 1
Blue eyes roved the bar, taking in the occupants of the room. Assured that the man at the bar drowning his sorrows away was no threat, the eyes turned to its partner next to them.
"Are you sure this is the place?" asked the man with blue eyes.
"Of course I'm sure, I don't make mistakes," replied the woman.
Knowing this to be true, the man returned to scanning the bar. Catching sight of a fight brewing in the corner of the dark and musty establishment, the man sat back in his chair, watching amusedly. The sound of the door scraping against the stone floor as it opened did not go unnoticed by the duo as they sat watching the soon to be fight. The woman gave the man a nudge, and he inclined his head in acknowledgement, but did not turn away from the scene, or otherwise give any other indication. Silently, the newcomer found a table, waited for the bar maid to come around, and ordered some sake. That done, he briefly scanned the bar, pulled a book from his pocket, and began to read.
"That's our target, can you confirm Ryuu?" asked the woman.
"Give me a moment Rei," replied Ryuu, standing up and making his way over to the counter where the drinks were sold. Rei picked up a pen, and began the pretense of doing a crossword puzzle she had left on the table, while Ryuu struck up a conversation with the bartender, angling his body so he could observe the target without seeming to. After a moment, Ryuu gave a casual glance about the room, catching Rei's eye, and gave a slight nod. They continued like this, Rei with the crossword and Ryuu carrying on the conversation with the bartender, all the while observing their target.
After the target finished his sake, he closed his book, stood up and made for the door. As the target opened the door, Rei stood up, tucked her crossword under her arm, and walked passed Ryuu, following the target out the door. Shortly after Rei exited the bar, Ryuu finished his conversation and followed suit.
The light outside was blinding, compared to the dark insides of the bar, and Ryuu paused a moment to let his eyes adjust.
"Where did they go off to…" murmured Ryuu as he cast an eye about the solitary road leading to the bar.
"Ah there they are," he said, catching sight of the target rounding a bend up ahead, Rei not too far behind. Jumping into the nearby trees, he began to move forward quickly, closing the gap between him and the target. The sound of kunai whistling through the air brought Ryuu to a halt as he quickly dropped from the tree, the kunai imbedding behind him, while simultaneously pulling his sword, Kuroken, from its sheath. In an instant, Ryuu brought up his sword to block as the other ninja appeared in front of him, slashing with a kunai. The sword and kunai made a clang as they met, sparks trailing on the edge of the sword as the kunai slid slightly.
"I will not let you continue," said the ninja, his cold eyes staring into Ryuu's blue ones.
"You have no idea who you are dealing with," Ryuu replied, at the same instant sending a little chakra into his blade, cutting through the surprised enemy's kunai. Reversing his grip on the sword, Ryuu cut across his opponents midriff, and with nothing to stop his blade, sliced him cleanly in two. Ryuu watched the two pieces fall to the ground as he sheathed Kuroken, blood and guts staining the forest floor. Turning away from the gruesome sight, Ryuu jumped back into the trees, intent on regaining lost ground.
Rei followed the target out of the bar, stopping to let her eyes adjust to the bright light of the outside. Spotting the target already moving ahead, she set out casually, staying far enough back to not be suspicious, but close enough to keep the target in sight. Occasionally, she would stop and make the pretense of smelling some flowers, or watching something in the trees that only she could see. Just as the target was about to round a bend in the road ahead, she sensed Ryuu exit the bar behind her, then take off into the trees to flank the target.
'This will be over soon.' Rei thought to herself. The target disappeared around the bend, and she sped up slightly to regain sight of him. Rei fingered her metal fan as she rounded the bend herself, catching sight of the target still a ways ahead. The target reached a small meadow with a stream, and Rei creased her brow as she felt Ryuu's chakra signature stop moving, and eventually fall behind. 'Most peculiar,' she thought, 'he must have-'
"You are following me." Rei's hand tightened on her fan, attention immediately snapping back to the man. The target stood in the shadow of a tree to the side of the path, watching Rei's movements amusedly.
"You are good, I must admit, I wasn't sure if you were following me until my companion confirmed it when your friend followed me as well. My companion went to take care of him." Rei gave a small smirk.
"Then your companion is already dead, and soon, you will be too."
"We shall see about that." said the target, eyes flashing angrily. The target pulled a kunai and rushed at Rei, taking only five steps when a kunai flashed out of the trees, impaling the target's foot to the ground. Before the target could scream in pain, Rei moved quickly to the target, knocking him unconscious. Ryuu jumped from the trees and landed lightly beside Rei.
"Was that really necessary?" Rei asked, "I had him you know."
Ryuu pulled his kunai from the target's foot and put it away, turning to face Rei as she bandaged up the wound.
"If you had seen what he did to those children…" he said, trailing off. Rei inclined her head and dropped the subject.
"Come," she said, "Hokage-sama will want him interrogated." Silently, Ryuu grabbed the target, throwing him over his shoulder as the duo set off for Konoha.
"Come in," the Sandaime Hokage's rough voice passed through the door, reaching the ears of those waiting outside. Ryuu opened the door, and he and Rei stepped through, shutting the door behind them. They then stood in front of the Hokage's desk, while he leveled his gaze at them.
"I am pleased with the results of the mission, and that you managed to capture him alive. The prisoner is with the interrogation team now, and I'm certain we will get useful information from him. A job well done." Rei let a small smile cross her face, and Ryuu inclined his head in acknowledgement.
"Now," continued the Hokage, "it's high time you had a break. I'm giving you some time off before the next mission."
"But Hokage-sama-" Rei began, before the Sandaime cut her off with a raised hand.
"No buts," he said, "you are taking time off, and that's an order. I expect to see you here in two weeks. I have other things to take care of now, enjoy your break." The Hokage let out a small smile, and returned to the mounds of paperwork on his desk. Rei and Ryuu gave a small bow, then turned and exited the office.
Ryuu smiled at Rei. "I don't know about you, but I think I will enjoy this time off."
"Ichiraku's in an hour?" Rei asked, returning the grin.
"I'll be there, gotta change first," replied Ryuu, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Rei continued smiling and shook her head slowly, turning and heading for her apartment.
"Itsuki, you came too?" Rei asked as the third member of their team pushed back one of the flaps covering the opening to Ichiraku, closely followed by Ryuu.
"Yeah I'm so glad to be out, I was dying in there you know?" Itsuki replied, smiling and gesturing to the faint scar on his arm, where he had been wounded on their previous mission. Ryuu sat down next to Rei, and Itsuki to the right of him. Rei smiled back at Itsuki, knowing he must have had a terrible time being kept inside the hospital for several days.
"I can only imagine," she replied. Teuchi took the trio's orders, and soon had hot, steaming bowls of miso ramen down on the table in front of them.
"Itadakimasu!" the three said, before breaking their chopsticks and digging in.
"You know," Rei said conversationally, "Hokage-sama gave us two weeks off, Itsuki."
"Ordered us to take two weeks off is more like it," Ryuu cut in.
"That's great, who can say no to a little vacation time? Well, except maybe for you two." Itsuki said teasingly. There was a moment of silence as everyone continued to eat. "Hey Ryuu," said Itsuki, "do you want to train tomorrow?"
"Sure." Ryuu replied, not looking up from his bowl of ramen.
"Awesome. Usual time?" By now the three had finished their meals, and at this Ryuu placed his now empty bowl on the counter, standing up and motioning for the others to do the same before walking outside. Rei and Itsuki gave their thanks, and followed him outside the restaurant "Well," Ryuu said once they had all exited the establishment, "I have some errands to attend to beforehand." Itsuki thought this over for a moment. He opened his mouth to ask when a good time would be, when a messenger hawk swooped down and landed on Ryuu's shoulder.
"What's that for?" Itsuki asked, curious as to who would send a messenger hawk this late into the evening. Ryuu untied the scroll from the hawk's leg, opened it up and began to read as the hawk flew away, its mission complete. Ryuu handed the scroll to Rei when he was finished, turning a thoughtful gaze into the darkening sky. Rei quickly scanned the document, looking up at Itsuki when she was finished.
"Some information we have been waiting for," she answered.
Ryuu turned back to the group. "Meet at training field 4, the usual time tomorrow. We have some work to do." he said.
Beta'd by ArgentumVulpes.