Chapter 9

"What do you mean, you're relieving us of duty?"

Haku almost shook his head. Raito's lack of respect was going to get them in trouble one of these days. He wasn't sure if she was even capable of acknowledging someone else's superiority. At times like these, it sure didn't seem like it.

"If Orochimaru was going to strike, he would have done so. Kakashi is capable of providing Sasuke adequate protection, at this point in time," the Hokage explained patiently. A part of his mind wondered just how far Raito was going to go to protest this. Their mutual emotional attachments were a part of the reason he was letting her go. He didn't want to give the young Uchiha any ideas before he was ready.

"It would be logical if he was lying in wait, there's a possibility that he's waiting for the opportune moment to strike."

As his teacher, the Hokage had to acknowledge that there was a strong possibility that was exactly what his former student had been planning. It wasn't likely to happen now, though. If there was a reason for waiting any longer, the Hokage could not see it. The last three weeks would have been the opportune time to make a move, if he had been planning on doing it around this time. Naruto had been gone with Jiraiya, and last week Kakashi had gone on a mission far away enough that there wasn't a chance that he would not get back in time. The third Hokage doubted he would let three children that looked to be Genin stop him from getting his prize.

With Kakashi back, and still no sign of Orochimaru since the exams, it was time to let go of the extra protection.

"Both of the people that pose most of threatening people to his mission have been gone in the past week, there was no better time to take advantage of the situation," the Hokage argued, and then wondered why he was even bothering to do so. He was the one in charge here, if he said they were fired, they were fired.

How come it was never as simple as that?

Raito looked offended to the extreme. "We're not threatening?"

"You three are children, there's no question that you're not threatening," the Hokage replied.

Shihizuki, for all of his indifference, took slight offense to the Hokage's argument, even though it was clear that he by no means meant that they were harmless. "Two of these three 'children' are more the most skilled shinobi most people have come across, and are recognized as powerful by most Lands. Either Orochimaru is an idiot; in which case you've hired us out of pity, which is one of the greatest offences you can commit to someone of our status; or he doesn't want to risk alerting Sasuke to his intentions by failing. It's quite clear that if Orochimaru were to fail in his attempt to steal Sasuke, or whatever it is that he's planning, his entire plan will go down the drain. Given this, I think it's safe to say Sasuke is still in danger," Shihizuki finished.

The Hokage was not surprised in the slightest that he was regretting indulging the manipulative Raito. He should have known that her team would be just as skilled at getting their way.

"I know Orochimaru better than just about anyone, he's too arrogant to consider mere children a threat. Since I've already paid you for your services, this meeting is concluded. You three are dismissed." 'I'm just glad this kind of manipulative power hadn't been extended to Naruto...'

Raito's nails dug into her palm in agitation. One of the few things that tried her patience above all else was adults not believing her because she happened to lack a few years of age. In this case, it was combined with the fact that she knew for a fact Orochimaru was planning something, that Sasuke was going to get hurt for it, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Haku knew that if he waited much longer, Raito was going to say or do something they would regret, so he bowed and led her out of the room by the hand. It was the only way to be sure she wasn't going to do anything stupid. By the time they got to the street, Raito was literally shaking with rage.

"There was nothing else we could do. He has no reason to suspect that we're going on anything other than intuition and logic. Next time, he'll be more inclined to believe us." Haku attempted to calm his partner down, but his words seemed to slip off her uselessly. It was nothing less than what he expected, but all the same, he knew that she would remember them later. It was all according to a pattern that had been long established.

"Next time, if he doesn't listen I'm going to beat the living daylights out of him until he does," Raito threatened. Haku considered it an extreme show of self control that she wasn't cursing like a sailer, he could clearly see the words on the tip of her tongue.

All the same, he couldn't help but smirk at the term. "As opposed to the dead ones?"

Raito couldn't help it. Like he knew she would, Raito smirked. Making fun of her odd phrasing always lightened her mood when she was angry. "Those too."

XXXXXXXXXX

Before Raito even considered talking to anyone, they decided to pack. Somehow, this involved techno, every time. It was tradition. Shihizuki thought it was one of the oddest he had ever heard of, but the effect the music had on the general atmosphere was instantaneous. Soon the three of them were all in a good mood, and Raito was temporarily able to forget about Orochimaru, the Hokage, and her concern for Sasuke.

Even Shihizuki was able to lighten up and participate in the playful banter that Raito and Haku had started up.

"Work it harder, make it better, do it faster, makes us stronger..." The three of them had finished cleaning up, and at this point were trying to see who could get the furthest through the song. Shihizuki paused for breath, and promptly lost track.

It didn't help that they were trying to do it in the same pitch as the song, but that made it all the more amusing. Haku could safely say that he was never going to let Shihizuki live this down, because he, surprisingly enough, could get his voice that high.

Even Raito was impressed. Even she had trouble reaching some of those notes without warming up, and she was a chick.

"Bloody hell, Shihizuki, who taught you how to sing?" Raito asked once he had gained the appropriate amount of breath back.

The boy in question looked embarrassed. "My parents wanted to have a family band for a while... it was a pet project of theirs to see how high I could get my voice to go."

"I wonder..."

The expression on Raito's face as she said this was enough to let Shihizuki know that this could not possibly be a good idea. "No."

"Come on, don't tell me you've never wanted to know..."

"No. Whatever you're about to suggest, I'm not doing it," Shihizuki said firmly.

"You don't even know what it is yet," Raito protested.

At this point, Shihizuki could tell that Raito was about to go into ultra manipulative mode, so he did the appropriate thing.

He put his hands over his ears and said "I can't hear you," repeatedly.

"But what if..."

"Nope! Still can't hear you!"

"I just wanna..."

"Lalalalalalala!"

"I will get..."

"What's that? I can't quite hear what you're saying," he said in a louder voice, for effect.

"Ok, I can't say I didn't warn you." With that, Raito got up and headed for the door. A feeling very similar to the one someone feels right before they die swept over Shihizuki, and he knew that if Raito got out of that door, he would somehow die. His gut told him so.

Because he didn't have any blackmail that would actually work, Shihizuki grabbed her ankle before she could quite reach the door, making her fall over with a loud "thump". Despite this, Raito continued to reach for the door. When she came to the conclusion that it was still out of reach by about three feet, she started trying to crawl over.

She almost got there, before Shihizuki dug his feet into the carpet to prevent her from taking the both of them out into the hall. That alone was more embarrassment than he cared to go through.

Haku watched the whole thing with amusement.

"I don't know what you're trying to do, but I'm not going to let you do it."

"No!" Raito yelled slightly more quietly because she was inside a building when Shihizuki dragged her even further away from the door.

The last thing any of them were suspecting was for Naruto to open the door. Raito looked at him upside down, as she had been trying to pry Shihizuki's hand off her ankle with her other foot.

"Raito, what's..."

"Say it and die," Shihizuki warned. He didn't even want to hear what she had been planning on doing, much less anyone else. Raito's answering smirk confirmed his fears.

"I was just..."

"Raito..."

"...going to..." That was as far as she got. Shihizuki took her by surprise, and slid her across the floor close enough that he could put a hand over her mouth.

"Ow! You bit me!" he yelled in protest when Raito's teeth dug into his skin in protest.

"Nrow I di'n't, I jurst hurged yo' skrin wif my teef," she said through his hand.

Naruto wasn't quite sure what to make of the entire situation. Daft Punk was playing in the background, the house looked to be packed up, Shihizuki had his hand over Raito's mouth, and Haku was watching the entire thing with amusement.

"What's going on?"

"Actually, we were just going to find you," Haku said, which was unsurprising. Shihizuki and Raito were a bit preoccupied with trying to get free and preventing that from happening.

"You aren't going to leave again so soon, are you?" he asked, already knowing the answer to his question.

Raito finally got fed up and forced Shihizuki's hand off her mouth, or maybe it was a mutual decision. Naruto couldn't tell. "Sorry, but apparently our mission here is over. If your..."

Raito was cut off by a sharp jab in the ribs from Haku. "What she means is, we were going to ask you if you wanted to get dinner before we left," he finished with a sharp glare at Raito. "You know, as a 'until we meet again' type of thing."

"You were here on a mission?" Naruto asked. Haku glared at Raito again, certain that she was going to say something that shouldn't be said. Like explaining the details of the mission.

"Yeah, but now that it's over, we can't stay here anymore," Haku said.

"And when were you planning on telling me this?" said an annoyed Sasuke, who was standing in the door way. A part of him felt betrayed, in a way, that they weren't even going to say good bye to him.

"Huh, and here I thought it was going to take some blackmail, and maybe even some duct tape," Raito said.

Sasuke blushed the tiniest bit, which made Shihizuki smirk. The blush disappeared, to be replaced with a glare. Naruto looked between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Say anything..." Sasuke warned.

"Hm..." Naruto mused, still trying to puzzle out what Shihizuki had on Sasuke. Whatever it was, it could be useful.

"Next person to try and start something isn't coming," Haku said quietly. The words had their effect though, Shihizuki and Sasuke stopped glaring at each other.

"It's a shame Father's already left town, otherwise I'd invite him too," Raito said. "But since he isn't, would you two be willing to endure a dinner that's sure to embarrass us all on at least some level?"

"Your father was in town?" Naruto asked, feeling a bit left out because he didn't get to meet him.

Raito was about to answer, when Shihizuki cut in before she could. "Yes," he replied.

That was all Raito needed to connect the dots. She wasn't sure who she wanted to beat the hell out of more, the Hokage or Shihizuki. The latter shrank back from her murderous glare.

"We will be discussing this later," she informed him.

With this one, Naruto was pretty sure he didn't want to know. Even Haku looked a bit fearful. Well, at least one thing was clear. This promised to be an interesting dinner.

"Shihizuki, you idiot," Haku hissed in a tone that was quite similar to Sasuke's. Luckily, Raito didn't hear it. If she had, there would have been blood.