Chapter V: Of Bellboys and Parties

Though the rain had significantly increased, there was no dampening of the lively mood of the party.

Naruto nearly tripped down the stairs while staring at a gargantuan chandelier that twinkled over the center of a lustrous marble floor. The gaudy furniture embellished with gold and statues made from an assortment of igneous rocks accentuated the glitter of the mansion's interior. Sasuke scoffed at Naruto's inattention. That idiot was always fascinated in anything bright and shiny.

Hanging his cloak over the arm of a chair, Sasuke fingered his loose hat awkwardly before organizing a visual hunt for important figures, which included an analysis of the mansion. Only the rich could afford to throw or be invited to these kinds of parties. Formal Western clothing had a fickle habit of being hard to find and quite expensive when found. The amount of money invested in the costume, allied with the rain, however, could not convince the Uchiha into wearing the ridiculously cylindrical hat.

A group of musicians played unfamiliar tunes on what looked like extravagant boxes of various sizes at the side of the dance floor while attendants snaked through the guests serving appetizers. Four rooms were to be used during the course of the party including the dining hall. The balconies were also open to the public.

Sasuke nonchalantly snatched the champagne Naruto had acquired from a passing waiter and emptied its contents in a nearby potted plant.

"No drinking."

Turning away from his pouting friend, Sasuke figured that Sakura should arrive soon and scanned the area for his teammate. Making her arrive alone was a good idea. Sakura was quite attractive, and a single woman would hopefully catch the attention of their target

Sasuke's eyes halted their wild scanning and did a double take of the stairwell from the entrance.

Previously, he had believed that Sakura's handkerchief quote was nothing more than an extreme exaggeration of the truth, noting that her wardrobe had progressively become more conservative. At least, that was his take. Naruto was shoving tissues up his nose.

Her claim was closer to the truth Sasuke realized. Garnets at Sakura's throat, ears and arms glittered in the soft light as she descended the stairs. Though she took care to remove the bounce from her step, the bangs she had parted to one side gently brushed her cheek as she walked. On her head, locks of pink hair piled up in fashionable disarray, held in place by four long, black, and ominously sharp pins. Senbon needles dressed to kill.

Halfway down her decent, Sakura caught Sasuke's gaze and did her best to smile as normally as possible. Rather than returning the gesture, Sasuke covered his face with a gloved hand and quickly turned away. He prayed to the four deceased Hokage that once he was accepted into the ANBU, fate would grant his team an assassination mission of a certain feudal lord in the Lighting Country.

Naruto, on the other hand, had gone catatonic before spazzing out. His reaction involved more theatrics and decibels compared to his friend and hastened Sakura's entrance in order to land a decisive blow on the blonde's head before he attracted any more attention.

The kunoichi threatened her two escorts; if the two leaked any information into Konoha concerning her apparel this evening they would be signing their death warrants the next time they checked into the hospital. Both raised their right hand in solemn oath. Both crossed the fingers of their left hand outside of Sakura's hawk-like gaze.

"So what about ero-senpai?" Naruto held up his bowtie and invited Sakura to knot it for him.

"He said that he's coming later."

"'Later', he says," Sasuke quoted cynically while eyeing his top hap with heretical interest. They would be lucky if he arrived 'in time' to see them leaving.

"Will he have his mask off?" Naruto asked hopefully. Pulling the ends taut, Sakura adjusted the tie some more before stepping back to observe her handiwork. She shrugged.

"I would look weird if he had it on...but I don't think s...senpai has enough fashion sense to take it off," she admitted. As Naruto sulked, Sakura's eyes caught Sasuke fidgeting with his hat.

"You're supposed to leave that with the bellboy." The two elite ninjas looked blankly at each other.

"Bellboy?" they questioned in unison. Come to think of it, there was a guy that tried to take their belongings at the door. Sasuke had tied him to a tree when he insisted quite tenaciously to relieve Naruto of his cloak. Such blatant methods of larceny were ingenious, yet creativity in public offense was no excuse for acquitting petty crimes.

"Is that a guy that takes people's stuff at the door?" Sasuke prompted. God help us if it is, he thought.

"Yes."

Oh. Crap.

"Eh he he he..." Naruto laughed nervously and quickly pulled Sasuke aside.

"Did you tie him up in the garden or the front lawn?"

Sakura groaned. Tonight was going to be a long night.

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Other than the mysterious disappearance and reappearance of a distraught bellboy, the party ran rather smoothly.

It happened to be that six years had served to mature the trio into three alluring cases. In addition, their lack of exposure to high society created a bubble of mystery. The Rumor Mill had failed to touch them, and many were quite keen on gleaning information on the unknown guests before drawing near. Thus, no one had approached them. Yet.

"How are we supposed to 'establish connections' if we just stand here?" Naruto's exasperated remark sounded odd with the joyful expression that was plastered on his face.

"Just a few more minutes before the natives come out to investigate," Sasuke said as he beckoned to a waiter with a platter of refreshments. Naruto huffed in impatience and declared that he would scout for other targets alone. Better doing something rather than nothing.

Soon after his departure, however, Sasuke became aware of a person of importance making their way to where he and Sakura stood. Handing a glass of a non-alcoholic sort to Sakura, he muttered a warning.

"Women's rights case, two o'clock."

"Victim or perpetrator?"

"Neither." Inner Sakura expelled a long breath of relief. Hopefully the meeting with the Bullfrog would be delayed long enough until she found a bathroom.

"Ah, so you must be the ninjas that my brother-in-law hired for escort!" A rather pale man with a high, nasal voice that spoke with a heavy accent, 'graced' Sasuke and Sakura's with his company. From that afternoon's research, Sakura had found out that this man had come from a country no one from Team Seven had heard of. It was fairly clear that his status as a lord came from family ties as well as a generous amount of hard cash. Evidence of cross-cultural marriage reeked on convenience.

"You must be Thompson-sama," Sakura answered warmly. The sudden change of her character caught Sasuke off guard. She was good, he thought.

Thin lips curled into quite a sinister smile, deftly lifting Sakura's gloved hand and kissing it with practiced ease. The task was done with such dexterity that Sasuke felt his brain implode. This must be what they call Culture Shock. Briefly pondering this new advance in emotional range with his surviving brain cells, the discombobulated shinobi decided that some 'alone time' should remedy the psychological damage.

"I need to go restore my mind," Sasuke drawled mechanically. Sakura immediately turned to plead wordlessly for his company until she saw that his eyes had glazed over and his features sported an abnormal shade of grey. Watching him drift away, she decided to leave him be.

"It seem like your husband is not feeling well."

Husband? Sakura blushed furiously and wondered where such outlandish notions originated.

"H-he's not my husband," she stuttered. Suddenly she felt intimidated by this man that seemed frail enough to snap in a good breeze several seconds ago. In her anxiety, Sakura was now on high alert for anyone who came close enough to provide distraction.

"Oh?" The man was unnervingly fluent at Japanese. "Then that yellow-haired friend of yours..."

"Both are just teammates, Thompson-sama." Sakura prayed that Sasuke or Naruto would return before she let something awful slip from under her genteel façade.

"Sakura-san, please, you do not need to express such formalities," he implored amicably before rushing on, "So are you, at this moment, single?" First her mother, now this man. What was it with people and their interest in her marital status? Where the deities feeling a pressing need to give her the ball and chain treatment so early in life?

Sakura opened her mouth to administer rebuttal but froze at a hand that slipped possessively around her waist. A hand that belonged to someone that possessed stealth far above her own. A hand that was not Sasuke or Naruto's. Another ninja.

"I'm sorry," an unmistakably masculine voice behind the kunoichi spoke with smooth, lethal sincerity.

"Were you speaking with my wife?"

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Author's Note:
I thought that this chapter was to be uploaded next week, but lo and behold, I managed to get it up this week (though a bit late).

As for the next chapter and future updates... I'm not too sure what'll happen. Check my user page if I don't update for an extended period of time.

I have a beta! Many thanks to Tea Leaf!

"Fanartist"