Chapter 11

It didn't take long for them to find the hideout, and then a gas bomb knocked all of them out at once without any of their team being spotted, there was no chance for retaliation. Raito and Shihizuki picked up the guys they had been sent in to capture, and rendered them immobile so there would be no chance of their escape. Haku stood watch in case someone from their group was in charge of guarding the base, but it seemed that these were rather low ranking criminals as there was no one.

They were dropped off at the jail with no fuss, and went back to the Kazekage's office after getting some ice cream.

"That was rather boring," Shihizuki pointed out. "We didn't even get to fight anybody."

"We're ninja, we're stealthy creatures of the night that hide under the cover of shadow and attack when our enemies are least suspecting it, taking them out before they even get the chance to see what hit them, literally. I admit that A ranked missions are more fun, but that went perfectly. I'm quite satisfied with our work." Raito took a bite of ice cream after she was done speaking. "Besides, the sooner we get something done, the sooner we get paid."

"'Stealthy creatures of the night'? What are you, some author of a horror novel?" Shihizuki teased.

"That wasn't the point," Raito muttered to her ice cream.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shukaku hissed and recoiled, and Gaara pressed a hand to his face, trying to get his demon under control.

"Shihizuki, what's going on?" Raito asked. They were reporting that the mission was a success when this started.

"His demon really doesn't like me," the red eyed boy replied. "I think it might actually be afraid of me."

"What are you doing to him?" Kankuro demanded. Normally, he and Temari both watched out for Gaara, but she had other things she had to do. "And how do you know about his demon?"

"I'm not doing anything," Shihizuki replied. He switched his gaze from Gaara to Kankuro, who was glaring steadily at him. He didn't fail to notice that the bundle that usually rested on his back was now under his hand, ready for use. Gaara calmed down a little bit, enough to glare at Shihizuki.

"What did you do?"

"I told you, I didn't do anything. I don't know why Shukaku is acting this way."

'Tell him to look at us.'

"What?" Gaara replied, bringing focus back to him. Shihizuki was careful to avoid his gaze.

'Tell demon boy to look at us, I want to talk to him,' Shukaku demanded.

"Shihizuki," Gaara said, and the black haired boy looked at him.

'When?'

"Why should I tell you that?"

"You're forgetting that I'm Kazekage. I demand that you tell me what's going on, right now."

Shukaku laughed. 'Your stupid human rules are useful for once. We'll kill you if you don't tell me when.'

"You're afraid," Shihizuki replied easily. Shukaku didn't respond, instead he swished his tail angrily.

'I know no fear.'

"Then there is no need for this conversation. Time is meaningless to someone like you, at least in this regard, and you know the rules."

"What rules are you talking about?"

'Demon boy, tell me, or I'll paint the walls with your blood.'

"9, 7,28, 5,37."

'Soon... I didn't expect it to be so soon...'

"Tell me something in return, where can I find death?"

'...'

Shihizuki sighed and broke eye contact. "Well that was completely useless..."

"What were you even talking about?" Gaara asked, less than pleased that he had been ignored throughout the entire conversation.

"Gaara, you're not hurt, are you?" Kankuro asked out of concern for his little brother.

"I'm fine, but I do want some answers." He looked at the three, most of all Shihizuki.

"Well, as you can guess, I just talked to Shukaku. In essence, he wanted to know when he was going to die. I told him." He explained only the bare essentials on purpose, being pushed into explaining wasn't something he particularly enjoyed.

Gaara nodded. "You three are dismissed."

XXXXXXXXXX

"That was interesting," Haku remarked on their way to get some lunch.

"No kidding. I almost forgot he was a jinchuiriki," Raito said, and then started walking away, like she suddenly remembered something.

"Raito, where are you going?"

"There are a few things I need to be check, I'll find you guys later."

Raito started walking away, to do whatever it was she decided needed doing. Shihizuki decided he didn't even want to know.

Haku nodded. "Let's eat, I'm hungry."

"Haku?" a distinctly female voice, making both boys turn around to see Clare along with her team coming towards them. "Are you stalking us?"

Shihizuki nodded acknowledgement to Ren, but said nothing to the slightly older boy. The other did smirked a bit. "Going from village to village because you're having trouble holding down a job?"

"Nope, we just decided we wanted to travel for a while," Haku said pleasantly. "I didn't expect to see you guys here though. Shihizuki and I were just going to get some lunch, do you want to come with us?"

"That sounds like fun, and there's a really good place nearby. Let's go," Clare suggested.

Haku looked at Shihizuki, who saw the expression on his face and caved. "I guess it wouldn't be too bad..."

Ren sighed. "If you must, grab your girlfriend and let's go."

"Excuse me?" Haku asked, very much offended.

"Ren," Yosuke said in a disapproving tone. He was getting tired of Ren constantly trying to pick fights with his brother.

Ren, because he was Ren, didn't heed the warning. "It's obvious that you're a chick, and you two are going on a date. Need I say more?"

Haku punched him. Hard. This guy was really beginning to tick him off, which was quite the achievement. "I'm not a chick. Get that through your over sized head."

Ren stumbled back from the force, and glared at Haku, getting ready to get him back. He never got the chance, Clare slapped his upside the head. "If you're done trying to pick fights with friends, I'm hungry. If you can't behave, you can go home."

Ren grumbled about it, but didn't try to start anything again. It might have been because of the look Clare gave him. The rest of the afternoon went without further incident, Clare and Yosuke showed them around Suna while Ren sulked. The one time he was about to say something, Clare gave him another look and he thought better of it. Shihizuki decided that he liked Ren a lot better when he was silent.

It wasn't until nightfall that they finally said goodbye, with plans to meet up again tomorrow. Clare and Yosuke left with the full intentions of beating the story as to why Ren hated his twin so much out of him. Ren was a pain, that had been long established, but normally he wasn't this difficult to deal with.

It wasn't like she expected him to be best friends with his brother or anything, but the kind of hostility that he was showing, mixed with Shihizuki's reactions, made it apparent that this was not for any real particular reason other than he thought himself better than his slightly younger brother. That was one thing that Clare didn't appreciate, but there wasn't much she could do about it. It was just one of those things that they were going to have to work out themselves.

That didn't mean she didn't fully expect an explanation though. Clare patiently waited for Ren to start talking.

"Shihizuki is the reason I'm here in Suna. Our parents didn't want to keep two kids, so they chose between us. They wanted me instead of him, so he was put up for adoption, then left Mizukagure because they felt bad. He's the reason their so depressed, they never got over it, but didn't take him back. By then he had already been adopted, so they couldn't adopt him. A few years back, they decided that it would be a good idea for us to meet, but as you can guess, that didn't go too well, so now we ate each other, even if he's more passive aggressive about it," Ren explained.

"There's still no need to pick on him like that," Yosuke decided. "It looks bad if we start things, wait for him to say something first."

Ren didn't apologize, but he did nod, which was enough for Clare and Yosuke. They didn't expect him to, it was Ren. If he actually said he was sorry, they knew Armageddon was upon them.

A loud explosion interrupted the silence that had settled comfortably, and without waiting, all three of them jumped to their feet and out the door. A large, white bird that was most certainly not native to this region was circling the village, and very faintly they could make out white things that rather resembled bug falling from it.