Dance of Flute and Horn
Ch. 5: To Be Paired
Tayuya walked over to me cautiously and took my hand, not letting go when I tried to push her away so that she wouldn't get hurt. She continued to hold my hand for five minutes, and then wrapped her arms around me in my final curse stage, not letting go until a while later when my curse mark released its hold on me and I dropped to the ground in my normal form.
I lifted myself up slowly, and started to walk back to my room with my waning strength. Tayuya seemed to notice my struggle and put my right arm over her shoulder to take some of my weight.
"Not so much of a hot shot now, are you Sakon?" Tayuya asked playfully as we neared my room.
I grunted in response, focusing my energy on keeping consciousness in Tayuya's presence.
But unfortunately, we were intercepted by Ukon, who looked at me questioningly and then told us that Kabuto still needed us.
So we proceeded to Kabuto's office and plunged in before Tayuya could have second thoughts about re-entering the room of torture.
"Ah, there you two are, you've been awhile. I thought I told Kimimaro to fetch you right away, but oh well. I needed to tell you—" Kabuto started, but I cut him off.
"If this has anything to do with another one of your Saturday nights, we're leaving and will never come back inside of this room again."
"You're so harsh… But no, this has nothing to do with myself and Orochimaru-sama except that Orochimaru-sama assigned the two of you a mission."
"The two of us? Why isn't it for all of Sound Four?" Tayuya asked, sounding nervous. She probably thought that Orochimaru was sending us on some type of suicide mission together because we were the disposable ones of Sound Four, even though she should have known that she was the best of the Sound Four, even if Kimimaro was the best of the Sound Five before he needed medical attention.
Kabuto smirked.
"Good question, Tayuya. Orochimaru-sama needs a couple to successfully complete this assassination mission. He originally had you and Ukon in mind," Kabuto watched Tayuya shudder at the thought, "but Ukon was not as good at interacting with people and not strong enough to be able to complete the mission, so Sakon here was picked."
"And just what might this mission be that it needs an alleged couple?" I inquired with a suspicious tone.
"You are to attend a banquet in Kumogakure at which you will make friends with one Fianna Yukuro, and assassinate him at whatever time you see fit, but you must make sure to first get his papers from him, he'll know what papers. Here is his profile," Kabuto said, sliding the papers onto his desk in such a position that they were easily visible to both Tayuya and I.
"Okay, when do we leave?" Tayuya questioned, vaguely interested in our new mission.
"You leave tonight at midnight. The location isn't even a day's travel from here, so you will arrive at your destination at least three hours before you need to be there. Formal attire is required at the banquet, and here are your identities for this mission," Kabuto finished, handing us both our own I.D. card with a description on the back.
I was pretty surprised; I hadn't done any missions like this since the years before I joined Orochimaru, so this type of mission was almost a challenge. But I also received the opportunity to show true affection to Tayuya and have her not know that that is how I really feel.
"What time is it now?" I asked concernedly, to see how much time I had to locate some formal attire for the banquet.
"Relax, Sakon, it is only 12:00 in the afternoon. You have plenty of time to find that old suit of yours," Kabuto reassured me, although I found no comfort in his words. Actually, I just ignored him and dashed off to look for my suit, because otherwise I would have to wear one of my kimonos, and most people know that a kimono makes me look fat and ugly. That, or Ukon had told me that kimonos did so many times that I had begun to believe him.
After the equivalent of two hours of searching, I had found my suit and no longer needed to wear an accursed kimono, but that was an event of the past, seeing as we were at our destination now, and in the check-in line to get into the banquet. Tayuya looked ravishing in her blood red kimono accented with black flowers, black butterflies, and a black obi. She was lucky; her kimono didn't make her look fat. Her red hair was flowing freely down her back and her tabi shoes clacked quietly against the cement outside.
We made it to the front of the line and were accepted through without issue, and started to look for our target. We spotted him sitting at a table not too far into the large dining hall, and the chandelier above is refracted through his glasses, sending beams of light across the room as he inclined his head. Tayuya and I quickly made our way over to him before the two seats on his right could be taken.
"Hello there, Fianna-san, I am Hokate Keiji and this is my wife, Hokate Mirabelle."
"Ah, yes, you were the ones who sold me those fine paintings, correct?" Fianna-san asked.
"Yes," I confirmed, "and we wanted some feedback. How are you liking the paintings? Do you have them hanging in your estate?"
"Ah, but of course I have them hanging, and the paintings are marvelous. I have been wanting to tell you that, and then fancy meeting you here at this banquet!" he exclaimed happily, and he seemed to be innocent. In that instance I could not believe that this man had even heard of Orochimaru, much less betrayed him. But then the man said something completely unexpected and I understood how he operated.
"I'm sure you two remember the son of the Tsuchikage that we were all very annoyed at and heard news of his most untimely death? Well, I had my special assassin dispose of him for us, so that our trade can finally go on in peace. Aren't you pleased?"
"Yes, that was very thoughtful of you; we'll return the favor," was my reply, but only Tayuya and I were aware of my statement's double meaning.
A/N: I feel as if this chapter was better than the rest; and I actually updated a decent amount today! I'm feeling pretty good right now (and a bit self-absorbed, but oh well). Thank you to my reviewers, Sakura4eva and Higura Natume!