Hidden Villages

I: Motivations of the Raikage

"Are you aware C is the result of the practice banned by our village?"

Darui leaned against the wall in the Raikage's office watching the man in charge of their entire village carefully. The Raikage's younger brother sat in a chair nearby slumping forward; his usual zeal was definitely missing, yet Darui knew full well Killer B was just as bothered by the situation as he was.

The silence in the room left Darui to his own thoughts, including the fact he perhaps should have left what amounted to the personal business of C well enough alone; in fact, he wondered if he'd overstepped regarding his current actions. The Raikage simply stood looking out the window with his back to his bodyguard.

"So C told you as much?"

"Yes." Darui's eyes narrowed more than usual, not liking the way the Raikage brushed the issue away.

"Then my choice of pairing you with him worked better than I thought."

Darui let out a sound of annoyance. "Did you partner us up so I might spy on him and his family? It doesn't feel right turning on my partner even if we've not really connected yet."

"Yes, I do want you to keep tabs on him. Killer B as well."

"Fool ya fool
Killer B won't turn on a friend
On this, I will never bend
Brother yo might in fact be
I will never turn on C
Fool ya fool."

Darui watched the Raikage tense slightly indicating the man was reacting to his younger brother's statement. He turned and walked over to Killer B and thumped him on the head. Darui felt the corner of his mouth twist up while the Raikage glared at his own brother. "You're the fool, Killer B."

The bodyguard of the Raikage wasn't sure how to respond to this particular declaration. "You do realize the only reason I approached you regarding the matter is comes down to the fact I am honestly worried about my partner."

"That's why I paired the two of you together." The Raikage turned and looked right at Darui. The man walked back to the window after saying those words, yet didn't stop speaking. "And yes, I do want you to relay information regarding the matter. Don't think of it as spying on your partner though, but doing what is best for him even if he may not at the time realize it."

"Yet you say nothing regarding spying on his family. Isn't his father on the council?"

"His father isn't the problem." The Raikage continued looking out of the window. "I'd give you more details, but I think it best if you learn more about C's situation by interacting with him and gaining his trust rather than me dismantling said trust."

"Dull. What am I supposed to do with this?"

"I expect you to be your usual easy-going self regarding this matter and to take things as they unfold."

"I don't like the way things are unfolding. Specifically, I am not fond of my partners night time activities." The only response Darui received from the Raikage was a sigh. Darui let out his own sigh while ruffling his own hair in frustration. "Sorry. I shouldn't have assumed let alone question your judgment."

"Of course, I doubt you and C will be able to prevent Killer B from taking off for the Chunin Exams held in Iwagakure this year and as such you two will need to go after him."

"What?" Darui let the words sink in, yet a quick side glance over at Killer B allowed him to see the words sank in much quicker for the Raikage's younger brother. A rather big grin spread across Killer B's face of which the jinchuriki gave the Raikage a thumbs up. Darui let his eyes roll into the back of his head and let out a groan. "Great. However..." He looked right at Killer B. "For this plan to work you need to make the slip believable."

Killer B continued grinning at Darui, yet Darui found himself wondering what exactly might go wrong in the plan, let alone the fact the Raikage openly admitted the younger brother he was protective of would, in fact, try and sneak away. The double thumbs up from Killer B, of course, didn't help his mood either.

"Or I simply bring my brother with me, which means we hopefully have some shinobi passing through the first two rounds for us to watch, which in turn means my bodyguard would need to go with me. Of course, I've heard a rumor the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage graduated early and is to be entered into the exams, so that would be something worth going to check out if she makes it through, yet something worth rubbing in his face if she doesn't."

"Oh?" Darui let one eyebrow shoot up in amusement. "That, honestly, is a better cover."

"Chances are you two will be kept busy keeping up with Killer B's antics and keeping him out of trouble while we're there. Who's to say the two of you won't end up someplace where you can't enjoy yourselves."

"You mean somewhere where..." Darui glared at Killer B who now simply sat in the Raikage's office grinning like the fool he wasn't. "... Killer B can enjoy himself and we're forced to participate."

"At least C will be socially interacting and doing something other than just shinobi business."

"So, I have permission to every so often manipulate him into doing things not related to our shinobi business." Durui pointed his thumb at Killer B. "And he's going to help me?"

A laugh escaped from the Raikage's lungs. "That's a good way of putting it. I can't think of two better for this task either, given the fact you go with the flow of things and don't ramp things up unless you need to and my brother - well, he definitely knows how to have fun as well as express himself."

"Yeah, I'm not sure we want C rapping what he's feeling though. I think that would take things I bit too far."