Chapter 10: Encounter

A/N: Ah, so I've been putting off this chapter because 1) the last chapter didn't end on a cliffhanger, 2) I've been anime/manga-ing during my free time instead of writing, and 3) I had no computer access for a few days… yes, the horror! But enough of my woes; read and enjoy:

Somewhere in the Land of Red Beans, Toriya sat under the cloth roof of a little café, munching happily on her lunch (red bean soup, red bean pork chops, and red bean noodles with a dash of the local specialty: curry red bean paste, quite zesty). Her black sandals, fashioned and elongated at the lower thigh to look like boots, danced along the top wisps of the sandy ground as she idly hummed a tune.

"Tsumemaru-sama," she said to the dark brown hawk, shrunk down from his usual size, "have some red bean pork chops."

"Why is everything in this country red bean-based," he grumbled.

"Stop complaining and don't be picky; it's food. Now eat."

And she proceeded to stuff a large chunk of meat into Tsumemaru's beak.

Paying no attention to the poor hawk's choking sounds, Toriya fingered the crystal necklace that Shiro had given her and wondered if the boy was doing fine. Atsui-baa, the old lady to whom she had talked prior to seeking Shiro in his cave, had assured her that she would look after Shiro. However, Toriya could not help worrying about the Akatsuki-nin assigned to capture the gobi. For that reason, Toriya had followed a trail of clues, based on alerts from the robot birds, to the small Land of Red Beans, hoping to find some members of Akatsuki.

Just then, amidst the peaceful bustling of the village, a man suddenly shouted, "STOP, YOU MONGRELS!!"

Any rudely yelling man would have attracted the attention of a crowd, and, sure enough, there congregated a healthy congregation of people. Curiously, Toriya stood up from her table (Tsumemaru was still struggling to unstuck his beak) and joined the commotion. Upon catching a sight of the incident between the heads of two balding men, she couldn't resist a smirk.

It was a queer sight to behold: the shouting man, donned in a green apron and a white outfit bruised with black stains, was apparently angry at two other people, wearing straw hats and very familiar black cloaks with red clouds, for not paying lunch.

Toriya never thought she would see the day when Itachi and Kisame (made apparent by the infamous popsicle sword), two S-class criminals wanted by many great countries, were being accused of a petty crime as not paying for a simple meal of red beans.

Consciously, Toriya quickly tossed the exact amount of money onto her table. While Tsumemaru, having finally managed to consume the pork chop, flew to Toriya's shoulder in irritation, she concentrated a mass of compressed wind in her hand before—

BOOM.

The wind sphere, like the one in Orochimaru's base, exploded between the three men. As dust and leaves swirled wildly in the atmosphere of confusion, Toriya pulled Itachi and Kisame away from the scene and into the nearby woods.

"It's been a while, eh," Toriya said smugly, echoing Itachi's favorite greeting phrase.

She serenely brushed the dust off her blue top, ignoring Itachi's cold gaze of scorn and Kisame's grunted thanks.

"Why are you here, Toriya-chan?" Itachi said tonelessly, not betraying his inner annoyance at having his words being stolen.

"Do I need a reason to be here?" she replied casually. "Perhaps I'm merely passing by. I seem to be rather taken by traveling around these days. I've heard the red beans here are rather scrumptious."

"That's because they only have red beans here…" Tsumemaru muttered in an undertone.

"Well, anyway, I'd better be off," Toriya said. "Be thankful that I saved you from not paying for lunch." She gave a small wave and disappeared in a flicker but not before stealthily planting a small black bird on the back part of Kisame's neckband.

"Should we go after her, Itachi-san?" Kisame said.

"No," Itachi said. "You have already captured yonbi, and I am assigned to the kyuubi. We have no business with her."

"Yes, yes, I suppose you're right…"

They took a path and disappeared into the dappled shadows.

x-x-x-x-x

"Akatsuki," the daimyo of the Land of Red Beans said with a slightly mournful air, "I am pleased you have come." A/N: For those of you who read/watch Fullmetal Alchemist, think of the daimyo looking like Yoki. And I don't own FMA.

Itachi and Kisame entered the house of the daimyo and sat down, the former wearing a look of indifferent boredom and the latter staring at the fish in the aquarium with deep interest.

"I cannot thank you enough to offering to accept this mission at such a low rate," the daimyo continued in the same tone. "I am very honored, very much so."

"What is the mission?" Itachi said coldly, dearly wanting the bewailing old man to get to the point.

"I'm glad you asked."

The daimyo smile meagerly and adjusted his velvet clothing with a flourish (Itachi's hand was on the verge of reaching for his kunai at this point).

"Your mission is to assassinate the daimyo of the Land of Green Beans." (Here he gave another mournful sigh.) "Without the head, they body cannot survive. The nearby green beans business is interfering with ours, and everyone knows that red beans are distinctly superior."

He gave the two Akatsuki-nin a watery look of gratitude while stroking his long gray beard.

"Understood."

Itachi and Kisame stood up, bowed, and left the house of the daimyo in a flicker.

x-x-x-x-x

A few hours later, the two Akatsuki-nin were making their silent ways along the dark corridors of the house of the daimyo of the Land of Green Beans.

"Keh, that was easier than I'd thought. Ah, come off it, Itachi-san," Kisame added in response to his partner's stony silence, "don't look so sour that I had the honor of making the last blow."

Itachi gave him a sharp glare that quickly refocused its attention on their surroundings. They both skidded to a stop. For a few moments, nothing could be heard except for the rustling of the ginkgo leaves in the wind and the soft hooting of an owl.

Then figures clad in midnight black clothes stepped out from the cover of the shadows. They all wore deathly masks of hatred on their dark faces, and they all were wielding swords that shimmered silver in the moonlight and that ached to eat into flesh.

Itachi and Kisame stood in the middle of it all, watching slow waves of new angry guards close in.

They were surrounded.

A/N: I was just thinking, well, if there's a Land of Red Beans, why not a Land of Green Beans? It just popped into my head. XD

Naruto (c) Kishimoto