Winter in Konohagakure was a particularly beautiful time of the year for the Hidden Village. The snow tended to fall silently across the picturesque rooftops and blanket the awnings of the various restaurants and shops beautifully. This beautiful image was somewhat ruined for Aburame Shino as he stared at the tongues of fire that licked the edges of the Yakitori Sushi shop.

Flames from a fire that he himself had started. Tucking his hands into the pockets of his Akatsuki cloak and feeling the wind slip between the edges of his hooded sweatshirt and his high collared button-up, he glanced once more at the fire and proceeded to leap up onto one of the adjacent rooftops alongside his partner.

"Admiring your old hometown?" she whispered, her luscious brown hair glowing in the glowing fire light. Her cloak rippled around her as they shot off into the darkness and her eyes gleamed even as her features were lost in the swirling snow and the darkness.

"No. Just considering some things. Things lost to the past." He muttered as he lost himself inwardly.

---

"Shino-kun!" yelled Hinata as she jogged towards him. He placed the groceries he was carrying on the ground and felt his cheeks warm behind his jacket as she engulfed him in a hug "I have wonderful news!"

"What is it Hinata?" he queried, interest piqued.

"Naruto-kun finally asked me out!" her excitement was easily visible in her usually timid voice as she brought her hand up to show him a beautiful ring gleaming there. It was the azure blue of her lover's eyes.

"That is wonderful Hinata." Shino's stoic demeanor remained the same even as his heart raced like a horse. He had been too late…

"What is the matter Shino-kun? Are you feeling ill?" She could always read him, just like a book.

"No Hinata-chan, of course not. Would you like to go get some sushi at Yakitori's?"

"Well I should probably go and find…but anything for you, Shino. I'll pay OK?"

He merely nodded as he adjusted his sunglasses and strolled beside her. The groceries lay behind him and as the wind picked up, the lighter of the two fell to the ground, its contents spilling out of the brown sack. One of the eggs contained in the dozen he had purchased broke upon a rock and its' contents spilled out onto the earth.

When one of his kikai-bugs reported this to him later, Shino couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the broken egg. After all, his heart felt the same way.

---

"Hey Shino wake up. Earth to bug-boy…"

Shino started and glanced around. Apparently Rokka had landed just on the outskirts of the village just inside the forest.

"Why have we stopped? The Leader will want the things we picked up"

"We're not going anywhere. You're far too emotionally drained right now to keep traveling. Why I let you drag me off on your dumb-ass missions…"

Shino had stopped listening. Had it been that obvious? He kept his lips closed however; as much as he hated to admit it, this break would be good for him. It would provide him a chance to mull things over. As he looked up at the sky, the tiny flakes of snow striking soundlessly against his hood and sunglasses, he thought it the best. He would concentrate on preparing himself for now, for it would soon be time for him to continue his mission.

Then perhaps Rokka would understand why he made constant layovers in Konoha, simply to visit old places and try to remember a past nearly forgotten.

---

Tsunade was feeling old. Well old-ER that is. The Godaime Hokage was nearing 60 and still working at her job as hard as Sarutobi-sensei had. But the questions of the council still loomed over her-who would be her successor? She had quite a few in mind but only one she considered the best candidate-and she knew the council would take some convincing on the part of that one.

"Hokage-sama?" queried Sakura as she entered the main office. She knew, even if she was a prized student that Tsunade hated to be disturbed while working.

"Yes Sakura what is it? Have we found any culprit for the arson case?"

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama we haven't. Shikamaru currently has two ANBU squads searching the surrounding woods but he has little hope of finding anything. The winter cold conveniently makes for a lack of witnesses as well." Sakura shifted uncomfortably as she spoke, her sadness over failing visible in her face.

"Do not worry yourself too much Sakura-I believe the only thing that is hurt is Yakitori-sama's pride."

As Sakura stood there, staring at the ground, she whispered out a quick "Hai" and exited, presumably to return home to head home. Tsunade rubbed her head, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. Even as she reached for her bottle of sake, however, her door flew inward and a blur of green burst in with a scream of "Hokage-sama! The beautiful green beast returns!"

With a groan Tsunade rubbed her temple as she spoke, "Yes Lee? What can I help you with?"

"I just wished to report that Neji-kun and I recently returned from our scouting mission-we confirmed that the Tsuchikage most likely has one of the biju sealed within a statue located somewhere in his chambers. Neji reported that it was most likely the seven-tails, or Nekotama the Bat, judging from the nature of the statue. However he admits that this may be less than accurate as the security around Iwagakure prevented us from getting very close and they had some powerful chakra seals surrounding the statue."

"Well that's a great help. Even with the peace treaty, the Tsuchikage hasn't liked me much after I forgot to pay him back for that gambling debt. Anything else to report Lee?"

"No Hokage-sama!"

Tsunade inwardly groaned even as she asked, "And do you...uh have your written mission reports?"

"OS!" screamed Lee as he pulled the huge stack of papers out. Just like his sensei, the 'irrepressible' Rock Lee's mission statements tended to give Tsunade an irrepressible headache. Why would she ever need to know about every single plant and animal they passed on the way here? Or the exact coordinates for every one of their camps sites?

Pushing the tome to the brink of her desk she brought back Lee's attention and began with some of her own questions "Lee did Neji say if he sensed any strange chakra signatures around the Earth country? Anything worth reporting?"

"I assume you mean anything related to Akatsuki Hokage-sama and no, he did not. For the past few months it appears that they have not been moving around too much except to complete missions from different sources. It would appear that they are trying to become a legitimate hidden village, perhaps?"

"That's what I'm the most worried about Lee. That's all I need-make sure to have Neji find some time to come and talk to me about the mission as well"

"OS!" and he was off, leaving Tsunade reaching for the sake and groping for some aspirin. Screw warning labels.

As she sipped her alcohol and slipped two of the orange tablets into her mouth she considered what Lee had told her. If Iwagakure did have one of the tailed beasts sealed somewhere in their village than it was no doubt that Akatsuki would begin seeking them out, if their mission still involved the sealing of the tailed beasts. She would have to get some more information about the organization if she was going to ever find out what to do with the whole situation. And she would be sure to send a few delegates to the Earth country to try and hammer out some sort of agreement, preferably carrying a large case of money. She knew how much the greedy Tsuchikage loved to see the green before he agreed to anything.

Hopefully the Akatsuki didn't know that as well. As she took her first sip of the burning sake she sincerely hoped that, for the sake of Konoha might depend on it.

As the she heard her Chuunin assistant step out side of the main hallways door, Tsunade made sure to lock her door before starting in anew on her sake. If anyone else needed her, it would have to wait until tomorrow morning.

---

Tenten waited with bated breath. She had ended team practice nearly 2 hours ago and had time to eat a leisurely dinner at the new curry restaurant with Gai-sensei before returning home. And yet her husband was still not back from his mission to the Earth Country. Had something happened? Had the two taijutsu masters finally failed as a partnership? As these thoughts ran through her head she heard the door creak open slowly. That was him then, better late than never. She pulled the covers up around her sleeping outfit-even though he could see her in perfect clarity that didn't mean she didn't want to make some things a surprise.

Neji stepped into his house placing his ANBU bird-mask in its' usual place before walking in. His limbs hurt, his chakra was nearly gone, and his head ached from the near-constant travel. All he wanted to do now was curl up on his side of the bed and say goodnight to the world. He nearly fell even as he walked feeling the sharp pain in his left leg.

Damn that Iwagakure ninja got me worse than I thought. Damn earth jutsu…

With thoughts that he would be sure to head over to see Sakura or one of the other medic-nin in the morning he slipped into bed, pulling the covers up around his neck before turning his body over and feeling sleep creep over him.

"Neji-kun? I have something to tell you."

That was all Neji needed-he was out of bed, byakugan reactivated and nearly out the door before Tenten called him back with a cry of "Wait! It's something wonderful"

He sighed. He still worried, even he could admit it and even with near 360 degree vision he couldn't see everything. But as he turned, he saw something he wasn't used to. His wife had stood up while he'd been worrying and he could see the small, but powerful concentration of chakra in her lower stomach.

He fell to his knees and praised the kami that nothing worse had happened. "Can we discuss it in the morning?"

She nodded and he fell back into bed. But even as the he resumed his journey to dreaming he couldn't help but wonder: Would the child have byakugan or not? Black hair or brown? Boy or girl?

---

The Leader appeared before Shino and Rokka sometime later and they bowed to the ground before rising as one. The shimmering figure merely nodded before beginning, "Did you pick up the scroll I asked you for?"

They both whispered their consent that, yes, they had. He nodded again and glanced at both of them "And did you encounter any difficulty from the Konoha shinobi?"

"No" they whispered again, even though the threat of discovery was near nonexistent. They had moved deeper into the forest and were currently about 2 kilometers from any inhabited areas.

"Excellent. Both of you are to continue onwards towards the Earth Country. I need to to be involved in a mission there: one of the other elite teams has already been dispatched as they were in the area. Speed and silence are of the utmost importance. Leave at dawn."

They both nodded again as they figure fazed out of existence and they were left alone once again.

Rokka was the first to speak, as she usually was. Even so many years out of his native village Shino still held onto his stoic and silent demeanor. "What do you think the new mission is?"

Unneeded discussion was not something Shino enjoyed but Rokka was one of the more talkative shinobi and he would have to live with that fact for at least a little while longer. "I believe it will have something to do with a mission to your native home. My kikai have informed me that the Hokage is planning to send a delegation there to investigate rumors of a biju there."

"You still have insects planted in your kage's office?" she cried incredulous "Why? And moreover how?"

"The intelligent bug never leaves a nest uninhabited when he moves onto the next one. He merely lets it seem to be so."

She muttered something under her breath and he rose telling her, "I'm going to walk for a little while."

She nodded and began to make preparations for the night. They would usually stay in some sort of inn in one of the border towns but it would be too much of hassle, especially since they hadn't received the pay from their last mission yet.

Even as Shino walked away he could hear the cracking, rumbling noises of rocks being drawn out of the pliant forest floor. He took only a few steps and then placed his hands together, forming a few quick seals. Before he could finish however, he heard the whoosh of a weapon cutting through the air and had just enough time to dodge the large trench knife that came hurtling out of the trees, aimed right for his outstretched hands.

"Ah Shikamaru are you still using your sensei's weapons? I'm impressed."