Leaning back on the sofa I sigh, staring at the ceiling and counting the tiles. How unbearably boring. My gaze drops as I sense someone enter the lounge, clearing their throat to get my attention. Smiling slightly I stand and greet my fellow chunin, "Hello Iruka-sensei. How are you today?"

The scarred chunin smiles back warmly, "I'm alright, thank you for asking. I just wanted to ask… How is Naruto and Team 7 doing? I'm a bit concerned about their placement."

I nod my head, him questioning me like this is logical. Iruka has a soft spot for Naruto and is aware of how Sakura and Sasuke's negative behavior towards him. He probably also knows that Kakashi-sensei is rather aloof. Not to mention that a jonin, especially one as renowned as Kakashi-senpai could be rather intimidating. So I would be the best person to approach if he wants a serious answer.

Sighing I twirl a strand of my mint shaded hair, "Honestly Team 7 has the worst dynamics I have ever seen. Naruto and Sasuke are both in need of therapy and the latter is mentally unstable. For some reason Sakura is under the impression that she must diet in order to stay thin. Naruto doesn't know proper grammar, which should be learned for infiltration missions. They all should be performing at a higher standard."

Iruka hides his face in his hands as he pales, "This is all things they should had learned from the previous sensei. How could I not notice their lacking knowledge? I am a failure of a sensei."

Shaking my head as I place my hand on his shoulder, "No. You are an excellent teacher, Iruka-sensei. Not many people could look at Naruto unbiased. Do not be ashamed, you are not in the wrong here. No, I think something much more serious is going on. Sabotage at the academy. Why do you think the number of jonins have been dropping recently? I haven't started investigating seriously yet however the implications of this situation is very sensitive. I was meaning to approach you later but since you are here… could I possibly ask for your assistance in this matter? It will be difficult to gain all of the documents needed to bring this matter to the Hokage on my own." I remove his hand and look at him with a troubled smile.

Emotional manipulation. Underhanded, yes, but effective and worth the outcome.

My previous teacher nods, determination in his eyes, "Of course! I won't let whoever did this get away with their crimes."

I bow my head, quickly concealing my smug smirk. 'Too easy.' Raising my head I smile cheerfully, "Thank you very much Iruka-sensei. I really appreciate this. Ah… Could we keep this between us? If this really is an infiltration we don't want to spread this around, you know?" Straightening myself I look at the clock and fake a look of panic, "It's almost four! I have so much paperwork I need to do before tomorrow. I'm sorry Iruka-sensei, do you mind if we talk later? Stop by the compound any day after eight and we can talk more then. Is that alright with you?"

He smiles and pats me on the head, "That sounds fine. I'll see you later Setsuna-san."

I stick my tongue out at him childishly, waving before I shushin out of the room, leaving a burst of red maple leaves behind me.

After exiting the building I stride through the crowd of people back home, easily weaving around the civilians. With a tired sigh I unlock the massive wooden gates of the compound and slip inside. The area, empty as usual, felt rather depressing today. Who am I kidding? This place always feels forlorn and empty. I almost wish that Asuka was here…

My attention snaps to the left as an unfamiliar chakra approaches me. Tensing I reach towards my kunai pouch and pull out senbon coated with paralytic poison. Forcing myself to focus on the foreign signature -as I am not naturally a sensor- I quickly make note of this person's skill level; which is at ANBU level. Clearly above me in terms of skill.

I relax slightly as a blank mouse masked ANBU drops in front of me, but not lowering my guard completely. That would be foolish, as it could be an imposture. Narrowing my eyes as she strides forwards I glare at her sharply, "Halt. You are trespassing on Clan property. State your business."

Impassively the mouse ANBU stares at me blandly for a moment. Then, in a monotone voice she speaks, "You have been selected for a rare opportunity. We have decided to give you a chance to join the elite of the elite. The ANBU corps. Not many are offered this honor."

Dropping into a more relaxed posture I grin at her sheepishly, "I like where I am. Thanks for offering though. If I wish to join ANBU, I will do it through my own strength. Not by cheating my way in."

The ANBU pauses and then says, "We could help you gain the strength to track down Kamoto Asuka. Is that not one of your goals?"

She's gone through my file. I wonder who commissioned this. Certainly not Hokage-sama. If anything, he seemed insistent on my staying with Team 7. Almost as if he were shielding me from politics… Ah, that's it. He is worried about me becoming another Uchiha Itachi. Not allowing me to join black ops is both protection for myself and the village. He was subtly warning me to stay with Team 7. I just hadn't realized it at the time as I was too focused on the impending consequences and the potential political fallout that is Team Kakashi.

Maintaining a polite, closed eye smile I tilt my head slightly, "I wonder what Kakashi-senpai would say if someone mentioned that an ANBU had tried to recruit me without permission from Hokage-sama. I think he would be quite displeased."

Blanching at the thinly veiled threat Mouse bows her head, "I will approach you at a later date in case you change your mind, Kamoto-hime."

After that simple statement, Mouse disappeared in a puff of smoke. Frowning I make mental note to get defensive fuinjutsu barriers made for the compound. It just wouldn't do to have random ninjas entering whenever they please, now would it? Not that they would get very far. The Kamoto library, armory, and crypt and heavily guarded by blood fuinjutsu arrays. No one that is unrelated to me is entering those places. Not without being blown through the roof.

As I am walking towards my house I freeze and turn back to the spot where Mouse had vanished. I just remembered something, a critical point. Blank ANBU masks have been taken out of circulation, out of respect of the very first members of the organization. That person was not a certified ANBU. An imposture. I was right then… If this has ties to the Academy issue then this is more that just an infiltration. This is so far above my pay grade it isn't even funny. However I have no evidence to prove anything. Someone on the council is a traitor, no one else would have had access to my files. That, unfortunately means I can't just ask the Yamanaka to do the mind walk jutsu on me. I haven't any idea who the enemy is, and I can't cross anyone off. No matter how unlikely it may seem. Hopefully I was right to place my trust in Iruka. This is so much bigger than I could had imagined.

Then again, I might just be getting over excited. My mind is making connections based on little to no evidence. I will do some digging and see where it leads me. Hopefully it is not bad as it seems.

With a scowl I sigh and saunter to my house with an annoyed expression. I am thinking way too much. My head is starting to hurt. I sympathies with the Nara. Taking my shoes off at the door I lazily make my way to the kitchen. I put a bunch of rice into a huge pot, measure out an equal amount of water and set it on the stove to boil. Then I move into my office, where three piles of paperwork await me. The first is mine, only four or five sheets. The next pile, which is Anko's (I can tell by the purple paper clips) reaches up to my knee. Twitching I approach the third pile, only to find a bright green sticky note attached.

Yo Setsu chan~ You shouldn't ditch your students like that. Thanks for doing my paperwork for me. I also put our little genins files in the pile. Have fun finding them!

-Senpai.

Flipping the note over I glare at the rabbit crudely drawn, teasing me about my twintails again. I clench the note in my fist with a glare at the stack, which triples Anko's in height and discard the sticky note into the top drawer of the desk. Damn it Hatake.

Dropping into the chair I make two earth clones, and start filling out the paperwork, a fond smile eventually spreading across my face. I could never deny them anything. Even though I barely know them… I can feel how they are becoming important to me. My most dangerous flaw is rearing its head once again.

Hello everyone! Sorry about the long wait, I've been quite busy lately. This is only half of what I had planned for this chapter and is mostly an information dump, so sorry about that as well. I try to make all of my chapters at least 2000+ words but I just don't have the time to type that much up. It's 6am right now and I have school in three hours so I got to go. Since I split this chapter into two there will be, just as before, two chapters until the Wave Arc. I'll have more interaction with all the characters next chapter... starring Tenten! I'll try to have that up soon but school is really wearing me thin right now *sigh* oh well. I better try to salvage some sleep.