Veiled Intentions

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot!

1. Village of Clouds

A young girl stood at the entrance hall and greeted each of the wedding guests as they came into the church. If she were lucky, she would just sit back and enjoy the party.

Too bad there was an annoying buzz in the back of her head that said all hell can break loose today before the happy couple said I do.

While she directed the guests to sign the registry- a duty that was given to her by the bride- she continued to watch for problems. A man walked up to her, Tivon, brother of the bride. "So, see anyone worthy of your love?"

"Very funny." She replied.

"Well, I got to watch for any party crashers." Tivon smiled and went on his way.

An odd sound caught her attention. The sound of scrapping metal. She whipped her head to the other side of the narthex where the lanky photographer was. She made a mental note to watch him. Her friends seemed to be worried about something but wouldn't tell her. Not being in the same rank, she had no notion why every one was so uptight. Tokubetsu Jonin, she thought as she smoothed her black pants. Her black and white top hung cloak-like. As she touched her red hair she thought of killing Mirani. The honey citizen had bleached crescents into the girl's hair while she slept, changing her appearance.

Something rubbed against her leg; she looked down to find a black puppy. "Gavran! Come back here you!" Kosan yelled. She giggled and scooped the dog up, ignoring the hairs that clung to her shirt.

"Gavran, you're such a cute doggie!" she laughed as he licked her cheek.

Kosan ran up to her panting. "Sorry, he said he'd found a cute girl." He braced his hands on his knees and glared at his dog.

"Aw, Gavran, I'm very flattered." She pats his head then gave the puppy back to the ninja. Gavran barked and Kosan's head snapped to the door. A young man had appeared and stepped toward them. Well, walking was a tad too polite. He stalked, smooth and slow, toward the two teenagers as they conversed.

Here was a guy who fit her taste. Dark silver hair. Very long and held loose by a clasp. He had no pupils, just blackness of the eyes. Scary. The girl had been around ninjas all her life; she knew trouble when it came.

This guy was lethal.

Pulling in a hard breath to steady herself, she caught a scent of his cologne. Something manly and musky. It was better for a long night of sex than a wedding.

Or maybe it was just her imagination working overtime.

Whoa.

An imagination with serious bad timing. She brushed her arm against his. The soft contact garnered her another glance. Not a dismissive one either. There was interest in the depths of his black eyes. Too bad she couldn't make out exactly what kind of interest it was.

She smiled, letting her nervousness show. But then, not showing true feelings would make her look like an idiot. As she offered her hand in greeting, she introduced herself. He shook her hand.

Eventually.

"Would you please give me your invitation?" the male looked at her then placed a hand in his jacket. Kosan tensed as he took out an invite and presented it to her. She frowned looking at it. "Excuse me, but your name isn't on here." He stared at her then pointed to the front. His name was there. "Oh, sorry Mr. Wakasa. Would you like to sign the guest registry?"

"No." Not too surprising.

"Oh, okay." She tried a different angle. "It's a keepsake for the bride and groom so they know who attended. May I sign it for you if you give me your first name?"

He looked at her then at the book. "Wakasa Raz."

There was a touch of Rock dialect in his voice. An effortless, sliding that matched his attitude.

Kosan listened as the nin spoke with the girl. He needed to know what this Wakasa was doing here. Was he the killer? He pushed the girl into the newcomer slightly, making her stumble and the nin to catch her. As he pulled her up, Kosan caught a glimpse of several kunai and shurikan.

Kosan had anticipated weapons, of course. However, reality caused him to tense up. He pushed the panic aside and got to work. He needed him away from the guests and his friend before he took this Raz down. "Are you alright?" he asked the girl. She nodded and blushed while looking up into Raz's eyes. "Maybe you should sit down." He suggested leading both the girl and Wakasa to a place where he could fight unaffected. The room was for raincoats and the like. Easy for a close battle.

Blocking the doorway so he couldn't leave, Kosan grabbed the girl and pulled his kunai. "Here's how this works," he instructed. "Keep your hands where I can see them and explain why you brought weapons to a wedding."

The Wakasa shrugged his shoulder casually. "I carry my weapons with me everywhere. I guess you do the same?"

Kosan growled with annoyance. Raz wasn't even remotely concerned. Shame Kosan didn't feel the same. His throat was dry and he kept a firm grip on his kunai while releasing his friend. "Yes, but for me, it's part of my job. I'm Kosan, shinobi of Thunder, and this is what we call stop and frisk."

Raz paused. Said one word of profanity under his breath. One rather crude four-letter word. He tipped his eyes to the ceiling as if seeking divine intervention.

Or something.

"Know what I think?" he asked.

"Not particularly. But I want you to remove your kunais slowly and carefully from the holster and place them on the floor. Notice those words. Slowly. Carefully. Floor. Those are major conditions here, and your going to do that while using only two fingers. Make any sudden moves, and I'll take you down the hard way."

He looked straight into Kosan's eye. "That wasn't what I was thinking." He disarmed himself, just as Kosan instructed. Slowly, carefully, and he placed his kunai directly between them.

"Oh, yeah?" Kosan motioned to the girl.

The girl caught his shoulder and turned him around. She positioned his hands, palms flat, against the wall, and pushed his legs apart. "What exactly where you thinking?" she asked quietly, while searching for other weapons.

The man certainly was solid. And built. Her fingers skimmed over lots of hard muscles. Odd. She'd never noticed anything like this before. Kosan watched as she blushed while touching his chest and the Wakasa close his eyes and shudder. He knew she never did this while helping him apprehend a dangerous Nin. Maybe it was his cologne.

"I think you'll regret doing this," Raz let her know.

"I doubt it." When he looked down at her she hurriedly added, "Especially since it might save lives. That is why were doing this, right?" Kosan nodded.

She located his wallet in his jacket pocket. Except when Kosan looked at it, he realized it wasn't a wallet. That caused his stomach to tighten into a hard knot. It also caused Kosan to use a little profanity of his own. The girl looked confused as she finished searching Raz. Kosan flipped open the passport and read the name out loud.

"Wakasa Raz."

"Captain Wakasa Raz," he clarified. And with that he turned to the girl. "Sent by the fifth Mizukage." Kosan's breath landed somewhere near that knot in his stomach.

Kosan shook his head. This had to be fake. Except it wasn't. "Impossible. I've worked with ANBU. I've never seen nor heard of you."

"Because I'm from Rock." He enunciated each word as if Kosan was mental.

Shoot. That bit of info cleared the buzz that had been going on inside the girl's head. She wasn't sure where this was leading, but she didn't like the final decision.

Raz picked up his kunai and reholstered it. Somehow, he managed to look cocky even doing that little chore. No hurried moves. No display of emotion.

"Well, Kosan, I'd say we have a problem. A problem with you being here because this isn't your mission. Why am I so certain of that?" he pointed to himself. "Because it's mine."

The girl didn't think this could be more embarrassing- or frustrating- but she was wrong.

"Yours?" she asked.

"Mine." The ANBU pushed her and Kosan out the doorway and turned to leave, delivering the rest of his news. "Oh, by the way, that means I'm your boss."