- Chapter 17 -

Mr. & Mrs. Fukui

"If you say anything about these missions to anyone, you're a dead man."

The pair of these metallic eyes were saved in her memory and this image was repeated continuously in her brain. It was as if she was trying to solve the mystery of how wide the universe was; nearly impossible to define. Same want for Pein's stare, it was hard to realize what emotion was imprinted in the depths of his metal grey eyes when he spoke these words.

With these thoughts in her mind did Akira escort herself in her room with Tobi leading the way happily. She carefully glanced at the papers which were placed on the nightstand of her partner just as like Pein had said, the subject of the mission piquing her interest. Despite being dumbfounded and utterly perplexed a moment ago from the sudden rush of information thrown at her, she plucked herself on the floor across her partner with curiosity glimmering in her hazel eyes.

Tobi opened the file and stared at it, his hold on it reminding to Akira of that of an elementary-leveled kid who had just picked up a book for the first time. The girl rolled her eyes and stared snobbishly at Tobi as if he was the biggest outcast of the whole world.

"Do you want me to read the file, Tobi?" she politely asked, earning a surprised yelp from the male who was obviously engrossed in the piece of paper he couldn't even read- or at least it seemed like that.

"Here, here, Akira-chan~!"

Akira took the file in her hands and took a quick glance of the plain front page before opening it. No sooner had she done that, a pack of photos fell off the file document and spread across the floor, the action earning an annoyed groan from the ginger. Despite that, she rummaged them a bit with her foot and focused her eyes back on the file.

Name: "Saiken" Utakata
Age: 31
Height: 179 cm
Weight: 59.5 kg
Background: [ classified ]

Objective: Infiltrate his building (location given below), retrieve his computer files and eliminate. Date of the mission will be given personally.

Akira raised an eyebrow at the limited information given as she soon realized that there was no word for his background or the reason behind the mission. She bit down her lip and stared at the pictures which were sprawled on the floor. He seemed young, of a wealthy family and looked like he didn't have a reason as to be attacked or any of the things said above.

"Did Pein give you the reason behind the mission?" Akira questioned her partner who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Everything is written in there, Akira-ch-"

"Tobi, I know you're hiding something. Whether it is for my bad or our objective's bad, well . . ." she placed down the file and focused her eyes on him, "you better watch your back. 'Cause there is no way that the two of us can infiltrate a whole building and do whatever Pein wants us to do."

The girl could swear that she felt as if Tobi was smiling behind his mask as he extended his hand towards her, as if inviting her for a dance.

"Nothing is impossible if you're with me, Akira-tan."

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The high heels clicked against the pavement outside the familiar building, darkness of the night sky covering all the details that could be easily spotted in the daylight. With one swift movement, the dress tailing behind was pulled forward in order to keep up with the rest of the body. The vehicle was parked outside, waiting to depart at any minute now with one passenger inside, the other standing outside, pondering what they had got themselves into.

Akira rubbed her exposed shoulders, cursing inwardly the moment she agreed to do this. Her hair were neatly styled by Konan in a feminine way while she was dressed in a strapless black dress with a tail which was decorated with tiny blue "flower tutus". Even if she was originally a girl, she hated the idea of wearing exposing dresses like that and moreover, the fact that she would attract attention. But she had no other choice since their mission was betting on that and her partnership with Tobi. Tobi.

Akira's mouth hang open as she stared at the huge piece of clothing she was suggested to wear. She instantly crossed her arms in front of her, shaking her head in disapproval, "Nope, ain't wearing this shit."

"But Akira-chaaan, you gotta! You're the most feminine person after Konan and it's the only way this is going to work!" Tobi insisted, shaking the dress in front of her eyes.

"Nope-"

"I approve."

Pein was leaning against the door, having entered like a ghost as always. The ginger glared at him, her eyebrows furrowing in pure anger. She desperately wanted to retort with something but as long as she glared at him, the more she realized that she would be forced to get into this huge fuckery a.k.a. huge dress. In the end, she sighed, groaning profoundly as she stared at her death.

"Fucking fine."

This is not fine, she groaned internally, opening the passenger's door and sliding inside the car after struggling with the tail of this forsaken dress. Her eyes fell on Tobi who was sitting in the driver's seat and her breath hitched in her throat unexpectedly. He was wearing a black suit with a dark tie and he had taken off his mask, replacing it with a black one that was merely covering his eyes, like the ones people were wearing in carnivals. A part of his face was exposed and from what Akira could see, his skin was creamy and an old scar was occupying half of his face (the darkness and Konan's makeup skills had done well covering a big part of it).

He's so handsome, was all Akira could think at the moment, staring at him continuously and totally profoundly. 

"Looking good, Akira-chan~" Tobi mused with his usual childish tone, taking Akira by surprise.

"Th-Thanks, Tobi," Akira mumbled, mentally slapping herself to focus back in reality. "Why the mask?"

Tobi chuckled, a rare sound which surprised Akira once more in a matter of seconds, "It's a masquerade ball party, remember? Here, here, wear yours too."

Tobi leaned over only to give her an equally black-tinted mask with a more feminine look to it which, for once, didn't make her cringe in disgust. The girl tied the mask around her head with ease and waited for the car to take off.

Their chance to infiltrate the building had come two days after the announcement of their mission; it was discovered that Utakata was holding a ball to act as a cover for illegal activities taking place that night and it was the perfect chance for them to enter it and execute their mission. It was crucial for Akira to watch every move of her partner because let's not forget she was working for her original purpose of joining the Akatsuki and a big part of her life -and Gaara's life- was hanging from this mission.

The car came to a halt in front of a building which seemed like the ball place, or rather, a palace. Akira was expecting a worn-down warehouse with guards all around it but she came face to face with the bright lights emitting from a luxurious building, at least two floors high, like it had come out of a fairy tale. 

Tobi came out of the car and exchanged a few words with a person from the staff who came to greet them. The car was driven away and Tobi stood besides Akira, offering his arm like a gentleman to her.

"Don't make it so obvious that you're surprised by it. Utakata has money, lots of it, m-hm."

The sudden deepening of Tobi's voice made Akira's face flush; he sure knew how to get from minus one hundred to thousand pretty fast. However, the ginger didn't comment on it and wrapped her hand around his arm like a lady would do.

The duo strolled easily inside the building which made Akira question this easy access for a second yet she realized that the Akatsuki had a huge power over people, thus making it easier for the accomplishment of their missions. They were greeted by the bright lights of the ballroom which was, needless to say, completely stunning. At least a hundred persons were gathered in the room, chatting with each other or enjoying the rich variety of foods in the place.

Tobi leaned close to her ear, pretending to brush a strand of hair behind it, "Remember, we are Mr. and Mrs. Fukui now."

Akira couldn't help but grin even so slightly, nodding once. The pair made their way into the crowd and tried to blend in the dark tuxedos and rich dresses. They ended up taking a glass of champagne each and surrendering in a corner from where they could inspect most of the crowd. Rich men seemed to be attending the party, judging from their stances and clothing, and the luxurious decorations were adding to the atmosphere of the ball.

"Have you spotted him yet?" Akira whispered, taking a small gulp of her drink and scrunching her face after tasting the sour liquid.

"Yes."

"Then why aren't we-"

"He's coming that way."

Akira let her eyes wander around the space in front of her and easily spotted their target. Utakata was dressed in a casual kimono with lively blue colors and his stoic eyes were steeled upon them as he walked towards their direction. She couldn't help but get anxious over his shortcoming, her heart thumping viciously in her chest.

The tall male paused his step when he was just a breath away. That's when the duo noticed the two guards accompanying him, one in each side.

"Mr. Fukui, I didn't expect to see you here."

Tobi shook Utakata's seemingly strong hand, "I usually avoid any social events but I could hardly miss this wonderful ball. Besides . . .". Tobi's hand was indicated to Akira who bowed slightly in front of him.

A slight grin was fixated on Utakata's face, "Ah Mrs. Fukui decided to join us. How pleasing."

"This gathering is splendid, Mr. Utakata," Akira mused, gifting Utakata a slight smile.

Utakata nodded and turned his attention back to Tobi who glanced at the girl before walking off with the man. Akira's gaze lingered on the silhouettes of the two males, her mind taking turns and analyzing all the possible matters they could be discussing about at the moment. However, she shook off these thoughts, deciding that it didn't matter for the meantime. The only thing that held importance was the accomplishment of their mission.

Her phone inside her purse buzzed and she opened it, revealing a message from the leader.

From: Pein
Our mission was successful. Good luck to the rest.

Akira sighed and shook her head, taking another sip of her drink. Disgusting.

"It's a quite nice ball, isn't it?"

The girl was taken by surprise and looked to her side where a person had spoken up. He was wearing a formal suit and if it weren't for it, she would have mistaken him for a girl upon looking at his long hair tied in a ponytail high on his head and his feminine features decorating his face. What was surprising about his appearance was the contradiction of his empty, dark eyes. Without a doubt, he was a charming man and even if he was a girl, she would totally try and hit on him.

"Indeed."

The person grinned at her as his eyes ran up and down her appearance, making the girl feel a bit uncomfortable. Despite that, she didn't change her stance and kept staring at him. "Have I seen you somewhere before?" he questioned, the tone of his voice remaining the same soft one.

Akira pretended to chuckle, "I don't think so. Have I?"

The male simply smiled at her and turned around, waltzing his way away from her. The ginger was utterly perplexed and terrified at the same time. Less scared about this random encounter and its outcome, more terrified about the last smile he gave to her. That expression of his gave her the chills, as if she had seen a nightmare taking place in front of her naked eyes.

"-kira. Wake the fuck up."

Akira shifted her eyes on no one else than Tobi who had profoundly cursed for the first time if her memory was right. She raised an eyebrow behind her mask and as if he had caught that, he simply sighed.

"Showtime is taking place in five minutes. Come with me and keep following me if you don't want to end up somewhere dead in that maze of a palace."

The girl nodded and wrapped her hand around his, bringing her body close to him, "What's the plan?"

Tobi lead her through the crowd once more, keeping his voice low and distinctive, "Lights will be out in four minutes, Deidara-senpai took care of it. All we have to do is to sneak into the place Utakata will be held until the power is on again and do our job."

Akira nodded and let Tobi take her close to what seemed an emergency exit. With every second passing, she could hear her heart thumping louder and louder in her ears and how much did she hate that sound; at times like these, she wished she could focus in the task at hand instead of being worried about the outcome of it. You have to give your all.

Within a split second, darkness engulfed the place and panicked screaming filled the room. Akira wasn't given a moment to adjust in the new environment as Tobi pulled her by the hand and both started walking off to somewhere. Nonetheless, both ran as fast as they could.

"Stay close," was the only thing Tobi told Akira as they stood extremely close, like tuna fish in a can, behind what felt to be a curtain.

They waited with their erratic heartbeats banging against their chests until they heard rushed footsteps walking their way inside the room and the door shutting loudly. There was a small exchange of words from which only "you're safe" and "stay here, master" could be distinguished. In the end, the door was locked and the room felt a lot emptier. It was time for them to make their move.

Tobi went out first and intense shuffling was heard coming from that direction before silence fell over everything once again. That was Akira's sign. She went out and used her cellphone as a flashlight, immediately spotting the laptop sitting on the wooden desk. She sat as uncomfortably as she could on the chair due to the heavy dress and pressed the "start" button, thanking heavens that it was charged thus it didn't need a power source. 

She didn't spare a glance to Tobi who was restraining Utakata and took deep breaths as she clicked on his files. Her eyes ran across the documents and when she found what she was searching for, she clicked on it.

Access Denied
Enter Password: 

Akira hissed and connected her phone with the computer, running a program through it while tapping her fingers nervously on the desk. A satisfying 'ting' erupted from her phone and she turned her attention back on the computer. The file was opened right in front of her eyes and she started its transfer to a USB connected to the computer.

"We don't have much time, hurry up," Tobi exclaimed, his eyes steeled upon her behind his mask.

Akira checked the remaining time on the computer, "Six minutes left."

Her eyes fell on the unconscious Utakata who was laying  on the ground and focused on the ticking noise of the grand clock sitting behind her. She could now breathe freely and sit back on the comfortable chair of the man's office. Tobi sat besides the man's body and stared at something Akira couldn't quite manage to distinguish due to the heavy darkness around them.

Suddenly, the lights were back on and the place was illuminated with light.

Akira raised an eyebrow and glanced at her partner, "Hey, the lights are o-"

The next thing Akira knew was that something broke besides her ear and she was now laying on the ground with something heavy above her. A voice that seemed like Utakata's started yelling and more thumping sounds occupied the place. She blinked her eyes hard while trying to get rid of the buzzing sound which was deafening her ears. Shutting her eyelids, she wished deep inside of her that the buzzing would stop.

"Akira!"

Tobi's voice snapped her out of what had gotten into her and she turned to face someone sitting on top of her, their fist millimeters away from her face. The blow on her jaw was so hard she felt like it broke and bounced off her head. However, before receiving the next blow, she was quick and conscious enough to kick the person off her and roll to the side. As much as her limbs hurt from the bad fall, she managed to stand up and look at her attacker.

They were standing across her and they wasted no time to lunging forward. Akira easily avoided their upcoming hit and she was about to knock them away from her but her foot got tangled in the long tail of her dress, resulting to her trying to keep her balance on her high heels. This opening gave the attacker the chance to grab her by the hair and slam her head on the nearest furniture. 

The last thing she saw before blacking out were the same empty dark eyes that had surprised her at the ball.

Him.

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 Yes hello everyone! That ninja boi is back with an ass-whooping chapter after about . . . 10 months? Please don't kill me . . . ? But I really do hope you enjoyed it and I want to say a big thank you to everyone who continues reading this book.

I have great news! I've published a side-story to this one, called "The Newbie" and it's up on my profile if you want to check it out! I'll leave a link in the comments below too.

Q: Who was that mysterious boy in the end?