How do you say "pair" of people?


I speak no Japanese, but need to represent the concept of pair or team in a
poetic context. Specifically, I would like to describe two people (a couple)
as a "pair of shinobi". From a poetic standpoint, my goals are:

  * Good: "Matched pair" as in "two items that go together and are better together"
  * Good: "Team" as in "people working together toward a common goal"
  * Good: "Couple" as in "married couple"
  * Good: "Fraternity" as in "friendship and mutual support within a group"
  * Preferred: Old-fashioned sounding. If the phrase sounded like it was out of an 8th century text, that would be great.
  * Preferred: "Two" (e.g. "pair") rather than "multiple" (e.g. "group").
  * Preferred: Kanji rather than hirigana or katakana.
  * Bad: "Opposition" as in "one item versus another"
  * Bad: Sounding illiterate, silly, or foreign. It is extremely important that this not sound like a foreigner playing with a language. If this forces hiragana, so be it.
  * Bad: Evil or malicious. I'm slightly concerned that "shinobi" is inherently negative.

I've been digging through dictionaries and thesauruses and come up with a few
possibilities:` If at all possible (without sounding illiterate or silly), I'd
like to use only Kanji:

  * 対: Could also mean "against/versus"?
  * 双: Implies identical pair rather than matched pair?
  * 組: Too official? More like "group" than "pair"?
  * 団: Too impersonal? Also more like "group" than "pair"?
  * 忍者: Inherently evil? Is there a better word for stealthy and highly skilled in martial arts?

What words would you use?

I'm also not sure of the positioning. Would 対, 双, 組, 団, or whatever word you
suggest go before or after 忍者?

Thank you very much for your help.




二人の忍 will simply mean "two ninja" or "a couple of ninja" as in "there are a
couple of ninja out there."

If you emphasize the two ninja as a _team_ , who always act together, then try
忍【しのび】の二人【ふたり】組【ぐみ】. This one is neutral, which doesn't sound foreign nor old.

Alternatively, 双忍【そうにん】 is not a word listed in dictionaries, but it's
actually used to refer to [a certain pair of ninja in one
manga](http://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E5%8F%8C%E5%BF%8D). It would sound a bit more
old-fashioned and cool to my ears, which may match your intent.




二人の忍 will simply mean "two ninja" or "a couple of ninja" as in "there are a
couple of ninja out there."

If you emphasize the two ninja as a _team_ , who always act together, then try
忍【しのび】の二人【ふたり】組【ぐみ】. This one is neutral, which doesn't sound foreign nor old.

Alternatively, 双忍【そうにん】 is not a word listed in dictionaries, but it's
actually used to refer to [a certain pair of ninja in one
manga](http://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E5%8F%8C%E5%BF%8D). It would sound a bit more
old-fashioned and cool to my ears, which may match your intent.

