Chapter 10
"Raito, ramen is that way," Naruto said in an attempt to sway her decision. He had no such luck. She continued dragging them down the street, oblivious to the fact that Sasuke was dragging his feet. He was upset both because Raito had a firm grip on Shihizuki's wrist, and because he didn't believe that they were going to actually invite him along.
"I'm aware of this. There's a reason we're not going there, you'll see in a minute."
"I'm getting a bad feeling about this..." the orange ninja replied. "Sasuke, do you have any idea where we're going?"
"Patience, Naruto," Raito berated. "We're almost there."
Shihizuki paled even more than normal when he recognized a glowing sign. "No. Raito, this is cruel and unusual punishment. Tell me you aren't planning what I think you're planning."
Raito kept an iron grip on Shihizuki's wrist, despite his attempts to get away. "That would depend on what you think I'm planning, wouldn't it?"
"What are you planning?" Sasuke asked. He was kind of curious as to what would freak Shihizuki out so much. This kind of information could prove valuable in the future.
Raito's answering smirk confirmed his suspicions. "Revenge."
"Karaoke?" Naruto asked disbelievingly when he saw the sign.
"This can't be legal," Shihizuki muttered. "Even Ibiki wouldn't go this far."
"Raito, this isn't really a good idea..." Naruto said quietly. He sounded nervous, and suddenly the whole party stopped.
"What's the problem, loser? It's just bad singing."
The silence that ensued carried a certain amount of weight. Raito let go of Shihizuki and curled her hands into fists. Naruto looked at the ground.
"My sincerest apologies, I didn't even think of that," she said quietly. 'If it weren't for the fact that it would make Naruto uncomfortable, I would go in there and beat some sense into these people. Barring him like this is ridiculous...'
"It's ok, you guys can still go."
'Sometimes I really hate my job... I wish I could protect him more.' "Nah, it wouldn't be any fun without you anyway. Why don't we throw a party at our house? There's plenty of room now that everything's been cleared out," Haku suggested brightly.
"So self sacrificing! Clearly, you two are the picture of youth! Look, Lee! Take note of their consideration for their friend!"
"Yes, sensei!"
"Lee, Guy sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.
"More importantly, Lee, what happened?" Haku asked concernedly. Seeing the cast that covered his leg and arm raised his alarm.
"The idiot tried to go against fate," Neji replied, stepping out from behind the two. Shihizuki narrowed his eyes. "Once a loser, always a loser."
"Shihizuki, stand down. If I'm not allowed to pick fights, no one is," Raito said angrily. Right now, what she really wanted to do was punch something, preferably the Hokage's face, but held back. It made sense that she expected the same of the people around her.
"And so help me, if anyone tries I'm going to smack you so hard, you'll all be knocked into next Tuesday. Now all of you are going to get into that building this instant and anyone who says otherwise is going to find themselves sleeping with the fishes. Got it?"
Needless to say, they all got into the building without a problem. An angry Raito is a scary thing, and not to be messed with. It was obvious from her expression that she wasn't bluffing. That same expression got them through the door though, without any questions, so there had to be some benefits to being able to strike fear into hearts just by looking at them.
Then Raito smiled, like none of that had ever happened. Lee wasn't quite convinced that Raito was human with that kind of behavior.
"Raito? What are you doing here?" Clare asked when she caught sight of her friend.
"I could ask you the same thing. Oh yeah, Chuunin exams, right? I almost forgot."
"Yeah, why'd you drop out?"
"Meh, I got bored. Hey, you should join us, this is our last night here."
"Ren, Yosuke, would it be ok if we joined my friend, Raito?" Clare asked in her cute, innocent voice. Of course, having known Clare for a while now, they saw right through it, but decided to play along anyway.
"Who?" a relatively normal looking boy asked, turning around on the stool he was sitting. The other boy that he was sitting next to, this one had black hair, didn't move. He was stirring his drink meditatively.
"Her," Clare said simply. She gestured to Raito.
"Raito, are you planning on join us today? This was your idea," Shihizuki asked.
Clare and her friends' jaws dropped in shock. At the sound of Shihizuki's voice, the boy sitting next to the brown haired kid turned around. "Shihizuki, I didn't think you'd bother to enter the exams."
Looking at the two of them was liking looking at a mirror reflection. Both of them looked exactly alike, with the exception of the streak of red coloring Shihizuki's bangs and his bright red eyes. Even their expressions were exactly the same, down to the set of their jaws. They clearly weren't happy to see each other.
Raito angled her body in a slightly protective stance, and Haku slipped to her other side upon picking up on her body language.
Someone seemed determined to ruin their evening, at all costs. "I take it you didn't tell your team about me?"
"Why would I tell my team about such an useless younger brother?"
"Ren, you never told us that you had a brother," Clare said, still unable to wrap her head around the concept that there were two Rens. No matter how she looked at it, there was no way this could be a good thing.
"Shihizuki is far from useless," Haku defended.
For once, Shihizuki was glad someone had his back. He knew there was no way he could beat his slightly older brother. "Come on, we have other people waiting for us," he said.
"It was nice running into you, Clare. Maybe we can catch up some other time," Haku said, before turning away. There was nothing to be gained from a confrontation here and now.
Somehow, despite everything that had already happened that night, they managed to get Shihizuki back into a good mood, and after Ren had gone, up on the stage, singing Katy Perry's "Hot 'n' Cold". It was pitch perfect, and for all of his embarrassment, it was easy to tell that he was having fun. Rock Lee and Might Guy sang "Thriller" by Micheal Jackson with no prodding, complete with the dance. Somehow they managed to convince Neji to sing, even. Since he had to be prodded so much, TenTen picked the song "Human" by The Killers. Even Neji had to smirk at the lyrics.
"'Are we human, or are we dancers?'"
Despite Naruto's insistence, Sasuke could not be convinced to get up on the stage, so Naruto was next. "Eye of the Tiger" was his song of choice. TenTen sang "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day, mostly because of its limited vocal range. The fighting message and upbeat rhythm didn't hurt either. Haku sang "21 Guns," also by Green Day.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke. "You're the only one who hasn't sung anything yet," he accused. Sasuke narrowed his eyes right back. The only difference was, he didn't look ridiculously stupid doing it. Raito drew her hand across her neck in the universal "abort mission" sign.
Somehow, this seemed to encourage Sasuke's mischievous mood. Maybe it was because of this that he did exactly what she had just warned him not to do. "Humph, I'm not the only one, idiot. Raito hasn't either."
Naruto looked between the two of them, and got an idea. His lips spread into the most impish of grins. "You should do a duet."
Raito choked on her drink. "Have you taken leave of your senses?"
Raito might have been able to talk Naruto out of this idea, had Haku and Shihizuki not decided to get a little revenge of their own. "I agree. This place is going to close soon anyway, we probably don't have time for two more songs."
"Then I'll let Raito do the last song," Sasuke said, trying to get himself out of it. "It's the least I can do after you've invited me along," he finished mock politely.
If his polite attitude didn't give him away, the slightly malicious smile did. Naruto picked up on it instantly, oddly enough. So did Raito.
It was official in her mind, it was more important to get Sasuke up on the stage than to keep herself off of it. "Not at all, and Naruto's right." At this, Neji and Sasuke both almost spat out their drinks. Neither of them had expected Raito to turn the situation around like this, not to the extreme of saying Naruto was right. Guy sensei watched the entire thing with amusement. "It would be much easier if we just sang something together."
Before that moment, Might Guy never had the opportunity to watch Raito's skills of manipulation at work. Of course, he completely missed Haku giving Naruto the idea while he and Lee were singing "Thriller".
Thoroughly backed into a corner, Sasuke had no choice but to go along with the idea. He sighed, but gave no other sign of discontentment.
When Haku had originally thought of the idea, had thought that they would pick some kind of love song. As much as he didn't care for the idea of Sasuke dating Raito, he was of the opinion that she needed to learn that it was good to care about other people. In no way did he agree that refusing to love other people would benefit her, even though she refused to listen to anything else.
Having said that, Haku still felt that Raito needed to be protected. If anyone even thought about hurting her, he would hurt them, probably beyond repair. When it came to the people he cared about, there was nothing he wouldn't do for them. That had always been true of him, and probably always would be.
Besides, she looked like she was having fun singing "Scared" by Three Days Grace with Sasuke. Shihizuki seemed to share his opinion of reluctant approval, though why he wasn't entirely certain.
On their way out, Neji stopped to the point of getting all of their attention. "This evening never happened, and is never to be referred to again."
TenTen, Sasuke, Shihizuki, Haku, and Raito each nodded their approval of this motion, then looked at Naruto, Might Guy, and Lee when they didn't.
"This evening was most youthful, young Neji. I believe we should make it a practice to do this more often!"
"Yes, sensei!" Lee agreed.
Shihizuki used his intimidation skills to their utmost effect. "This evening never happened, and will never be spoken of," he reiterated in a tone that left the threats unsaid, but there all the same.
The three that were in opposition to this motion reluctantly nodded. Having reached an agreement, they parted ways. It didn't escape Might Guy's notice that Raito and Sasuke were walking as far away from each other as was possible.
"It's a shame you guys are leaving tomorrow, that was really fun," Naruto said.
"It's not like we're never going to see each other again," Haku replied. "It just probably won't be for a while."
"You guys should stay in Konoha, I'm sure the Hokage wouldn't mind."
"Sorry, but we've already made arrangements to leave," Haku said. 'Yes, the Hokage would definitely mind if we stayed here...'
"Where?" Sasuke asked.
"Suna." Haku didn't see any real reaction on Sasuke's face, but Naruto frowned.
"That's really far away." There was a distinctive whine in his tone, but it went unnoticed or ignored. They had reached his apartment building already.
"Good night, Naruto," Raito called while he walked up the steps.
"Night guys," he replied cheerily.
"Good night, Naruto," Haku called before the orange dressed boy disappeared into the building.
"What's the real reason you're leaving?" was the first thing Sasuke said as soon as his blond team mate was out of ear shot.
"That's it," Haku answered. He didn't miss the fact that Raito tensed up at the topic. "The Hokage has decided that our services are no longer needed, so we're done here."
Sasuke could have sworn her heard Raito mutter "bloody idiot," but dismissed it as imagination. She was nothing but polite to people that outranked her. It was a bit infuriating, actually.
"So you three weren't needed after all."
"We've saved your life three times since we were hired," Shihizuki corrected.
"Humph, I never saw anything."
"That means that we're still doing our job up to standard." A warm gust of evening air jostled Haku's hair. "We make a point of doing things out of sight, there's no need to make a commotion when we don't have to."
Of course, there would have been even less commotion had Haku been able to wear his hunter nin mask, but Raito had strictly forbidden that while they were in Hidden Leaf. There was no need to alert Team 7 to the fact they had been there during the original confrontation with Zabuza. During these kinds of missions, it was important that they had the trust of the people they were protecting, and suspicions on Sasuke's part wouldn't help anything.
His annoyance went completely unnoticed by the girl he was trying to communicate it to, she was too lost in thought. 'Probably trying to get Sasuke out of harm's way without compromising anything...'
"So that's what was distracting Kakashi sensei. I didn't think much of it because one of you was already there when that happened." Sasuke's tone implied that he was berating himself for not paying enough attention, not that Shihizuki particularly cared. If he felt bad about it, he was more likely to remedy the behavior in the future.
"Of course, if the enemy sent someone in to distract us it would have worked if everyone went in to help the fight. If they sent the less powerful of the group to distract us, there would be a chance that the most powerful of us would have gone to stop it, leaving you more significantly more vulnerable than you had been previously." He paused. "All it takes is one poison tipped kunai to kill someone."
"I know that. I'm not stupid, and I can take care of myself. The Hokage didn't need to even bother hiring you guys, I'm sure Kakashi and I could have taken care of it."
'It's that kind of attitude that's going to get you killed...' "Don't be delusional, it's far more likely to get you killed. Kakashi might have been able to fend them off, but you'd just get in the way," Raito said, even though she didn't really intend to join the conversation.
Sasuke glared scathingly at her. "I'm perfectly capable of holding my own, and I don't get in the way," he bit back.
"Really? Could have fooled me," she replied.
"Better than relying on your team to do everything for you." Sasuke tried going for a different line of attack, intent on putting her on the defensive.
"Not that you could claim that, it seems like Naruto does most of the work while you insult him."
Sasuke bristled at the insult. "The idiot consistently does things that are stupid, and I always do more work than he does."
"Such loyalty to your team, no wonder you're stuck doing little missions."
At the same time, Haku smacked the back of Raito's head and Shihizuki did the same to Sasuke.
"Grow up, you two are acting like little kids, exchanging petty insults," Shihizuki said.
Raito's expression went back to neutral at the interference, perhaps a little sad even. It was the same one she always got when someone told her that she still needed to grow up or that she was too young to be who she was. In Haku's mind, it didn't really make sense, everything else about Raito pointed to she would react angrily, but there was none of it. He supposed it had something to do with her past, one of those things that she refused to tell him about.
Sasuke didn't look pleased at the insult, but didn't say anything. He wasn't quite sure why they were all reacting like this, but couldn't ask, either. He doubted they would tell him anything anyway.
The rest of the walk was spent in silence, and it was some time before Sasuke could get to sleep.
XXXXXXXXXX
Not one person of the Hidden Mist Village currently visiting Suna was surprised when they heard about the attack on Konoha, nor were they surprised when they heard that Orochimaru had played a part in it. They didn't hear about it until after they had reached Suna, as they were walking instead of moving in a hurry, which was kind of lucky because being involved in such an attack would not have been in their best interests.
Raito bowed formally when she entered the Kazekage's office, wanting to make a good impression on the new Kazekage.
If she was surprised to see Gaara was the one under the hat, she didn't betray it. "As I'm sure you're already aware, we are here to assist the Village Hidden in the Sand in any way the Kazekage deems fit," she explained in the event that he had not been informed.
"Congratulations on assuming the role of Kazekage, we are at your service."
"You three aren't even Chuunin, I don't require your skills," he replied. He did not forget that they had dropped out from the exam. "You may tell the Mizukage that."
"I assume you haven't been informed, then. Because of arrangements made by our former... manager," was the best way she could describe it, "we have learned from many villages, and have a very expansive collection of jutsu ability at our disposal. In return, we owe the villages that have been so kind as to share their knowledge, and to repay some of that debt we do missions for them."
"Hm. If that's the case, participating in the Chuunin exams seems counter productive."
Raito nodded in agreement. "The purpose of our presence was not for our own benefit, but rather protection detail for one of the participants."
"Unfortunately, we were pulled off the mission before the attack on Konoha," Haku added, not wanting to give the impression that they were unable to do their job.
"Have you spoken to the Hokage about retaliation?"
"No, a new Hokage had yet to be appointed when we left, though the Sage Jiraiya and Naruto were leaving to find Lady Tsunade with the intent to make her the new Hokage."
"I see. As for your mission, two dangerous criminals by the names of Rokuro Hideaki and Takeshi Shin have recently become a nuisance. I want their capture, dead or alive."