a/n – this is a sort of 'big' update. I've rewritten segments of chapter three, moved and rewritten chapter 4 (it is now 5) and inserted a new chapter 4. If you haven't read the updated material, you'll find yourself a little lost. ;

Chapter 5

Night time in the desert was calm and cold. The silently shifting sands and the breeze added an element of inexplicable eeriness to the desert after sunset.

"Quiet isn't it?" Kai asked.

Rae nodded in response, "it's peaceful."

He looked at her, "almost too quiet, don't you think?"

"I suppose?"

After a long pause, Kai spoke again, "I can't believe I let you talk me into this" he muttered, "we're not actually going after that thing are we?"

"Who knows?"

Kai sighed heavily, "remind me, why are we doing this again?" he muttered to himself, "oh, right because Rae-chan is bored…when she should be in bed resting…silly Rae-chan… always running around restlessly when she's ill. Not lady-like at all."

Rae turned to him, "I didn't ask you to come with me" she hissed.

"How can I possibly leave my precious to wander the streets alone with that thing roaming around?" he smirked, snaking his arm around her waist but she pushed him away, completely disgusted.

She rolled her eyes, "it attacked me…" she growled, pulling back her collar to bare the claw marks above her chest.

"Ooo…so now its personal…would you like me to kiss it better?"

Rae ignored his snide remark and walked faster ahead but halted not two steps from where she had began, "shhh…someone is coming" she whispered, scanning the perimeter. Moments later a figure carrying something large on its back emerged from the shadows. Upon closer examination, she realized it was the Kazekage. Both Kai and Rae bowed as they greeted Sabaku no Gaara.

"What are we doing out at this hour?" he asked with a slight frown.

"Ha –"

Rae jabbed Kai in the stomach with her elbow, "hunting, Kazekage-sama. We've heard that the thing only appears at night"

"Ah… very well" he nodded thoughtfully, "any luck thus far?"

Kai shook his head, "I'm afraid not. But I – "

Rae clasped her hand over Kai's mouth and pressed a finger to her lips then mouthed the words "something is coming". One minute Rae was on feet, the next she was flat on her stomach, her assailant holding her hands behind her back and a katana to her throat. Gaara immediately stepped forward but Kai halted him, "watch"

The cold steel grazed her neck, drawing a thin line of blood. He bent down and dropped his chin to nuzzle her bloody neck. For a moment, it appeared as if the assailant was only playing…. He threw his head back, almost in a state of ecstasy and smiled, the blood on his lips glistening in the moonlight. Suddenly, the blade jerked back severing her head; the second the blade made a clean cut, the bushin disappeared and Rae emerged from the sand underneath her attacker. The first blow caught him in the jaw and he leapt back, surprised. Rae began to advance but stopped and began to perform a series of hand seals, "Kokuangyo no jutsu!"

The opponent froze, stunned like faun come upon by a pack of wolves. Rae approached and stood over him, her right foot grinding into his ribs, "what do you want?"

The assailant was silent.

"Who sent you?" she demanded.

When she received no reply, she struck him at the base of the neck then dragged the unconscious assailant back toward the Kazekage and Kai.

"As you can see, Kazekage-sama" Kai explained, seeing that she was approaching them, her task complete, "there was no need to be concerned."

"Kazekage-sama" Rae said with a bow as she dumped the body at his feet.

Gaara nodded, "What do you propose we do with him?"

She thought for a moment, "We could search it, hold it for questioning, I suppose" she replied, "He would not speak when I demanded an answer of him…but under torture, the result maybe different"

"Interrogation?" the Kai raised an eyebrow, "if his contractor can only afford to send assassins of his calibre, we've nothing to concern ourselves with"

The Kazekage sighed, "I will have a team perform the interrogation" he said.

Rae shook her head, almost in disagreement, "Kazekage-sama…if your shinobi perform the interrogation then the file becomes classified documents to which neither Kai-san nor I will have any access. I would like to perform it myself, under your supervision… I must know the truth."

"Would it not be simpler for our shinobi to perform the task?"

She sighed, "demo, Kazekage-sama. I was attacked and I intend to discover why"

Gaara sighed as he slung the fallen assailant over his shoulder like a rag doll, "If you must, Rae-san. We can arrange for you to sit in on the interrogation"

Rae bowed, "thank you, Kazekage-sama"

"Follow me then"

"Show off" Kai hissed into her ear as he fell into step beside her while the Kazekage walked ahead to lead the way. Rae scoffed but said no more. Her mind was troubled with more important matters than arguing with Kai – the attacker…

….what did he want? But more importantly who did he want?

The Kazekage would be the obvious target but he had gone after her…Was she to be the hostage? The ransom? But why kill her? Or did he know about the bushin?

Rae sighed, her mind was muddled with questions and possibilities.

"Are you scared?"

"Hmm?"

"That is why you asked to interrogate him yourself, isn't it?"

She glared at him out of the corner of her eye but did not reply.

Kai sighed, "you should have killed him"

"I need to know….He came after me, this you saw. For him to be after the Kazekage, it didn't make sense that he would kill me. It seems more plausible that he was in fact, after us"

He chuckled, "don't worry, it will be fine."

"But I do worry. I've been attacked – have you any idea what these means?"

Kai rolled his eyes, "as if we're of any worth to a petty assassin" he muttered, "we've neither fortune nor power – what could he want from either of us?"

"To stop us from…"her words faded into the night breeze.

Sighing, Kai glanced at his companion out of the corner of his eye. She worried too much, meddled too much and one of these days it was going to cost them. Staying a week to watch over Kazekage's brother and now this…what exactly did she have in mind? The longer she put it off, the harder it would become… couldn't she see that? All she was doing now was wasting time and growing attached to this stupid place but moreover to…he couldn't bear the thought of it.

He sighed softly and walked on.

But the way she looked at the Kazekage bothered him; the way she bowed before him; spoke to him, even – Kai clenched his fist – she didn't dare…

Kai stood behind the clear, sound proof glass watching the procession of the interrogation. The assailant sat bound to his chair by chakra threads while the shinobi questioned him vigilantly. Several times he attempted to escape by slowly forming seals with this bound but still mobile hands, this abruptly came to a stop when the Rae tightened the bindings around his wrists and threatened to sever his hands in this manner. She spoke little throughout the ordeal and spent much of her time in observation or seemingly lost in thought.

When asked about the contents he carried with him – a map, contact explosives and a letter written in code he acted as he had previously done, spat and refused to speak. The signal was given and instruments of torture were taken into the interrogation room by a third shinobi dressed in scrubs, presumably a medic. A canister of liquid nitrogen was placed before him and the question restated.

Silence.

The medic picked up the flask with a pair of tongs then emptied upon the assailant's the head some of its contents. A dull hum reached Kai's ears, a remnant of the blood curdling scream that escaped his throat. The repeated silence was retorted with emptying of the flask onto other parts of the body until the assailant finally broke. The shinobi emerged from the chamber a short while later, satisfied; the criminal was to be returned to his cell. His face now unrecognizable from the damage the freezing had inflicted upon his skin.

"Well?"

"He confessed to the order assassination of the Kazekage but I'm not convinced"

"Why?"

"He spoke only after they tortured him" she explained, "I think he lied so that they would stop."

Kai sighed, "what do you think he was after?"

She shrugged, "we will never know" she muttered, giving Kai one last long look before heading down the hallway. What sort of fool do you take me for, Kai-san?