Tsunade yawned as she worked her way up the stairs. It had been a slow week in Konoha, and she had encouraged Shizune to take the day off, which meant, by extension, that Tsunade would have the day off as well. It would just be her, some sweets, a bottle of sake, and the pillow she had snuck in for just such an occasion. So when she opened the door to her office and found half the village jounin waiting for her, she immediately closed the door and began to walk back the way she came.
"Tsunade-sama!"
She swallowed the curse on her lips and turned around.
"Is there something I can help you with?"
"Naruto."
"…"
A ninja she couldn't name offhand closed the door behind her, standing guard outside while Tsunade headed for her seat. The group parted for her as she passed, then gathered around her desk once she sat down, leaving jumping out the window the only escape route.
"Well? What do you all want?"
"With respect Tsunade-same, I think that's quite obvious."
She glared a moment at the man who spoke, Nara Shikamaru's father, before bowing her head slightly.
"This should not be a surprise for any of you. All of you can imagine the result of even the slightest rumor that the Kyuubi has reappeared. Naruto has been thoroughly examined and the seal has not been affected in the slightest. The changes are purely cosmetic, the result of-"
"A missing-nin's jutsu. Yes, we know. Still, how could you have not told us of this?"
"I'm sorry, err…"
"Yamanaka Inoichi. When I heard from my daughter what had happened, I-"
"Wait, wait. From Ino? She wasn't assigned to Naruto's care. When did she find out?"
"She…told me Sakura invited her to the Inuzuka complex to see him…"
"That's what Chouji said as well-"
"….And Lee…"
"Shikamaru-"
"Hinata-"
"Enough! Just…how many people know about this now?"
After a few minutes of mumbling with each other, it came out to Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi's teams, the families of the genin under each Sensei, Tsunade, Shizune, Iruka and a handful of doctors and ANBU, which had Tsunade sighing in relief.
"No civilians, at least…now, if that's all, I have a lot of work to do."
"No. I want Hinata removed from this mission-"
"Shino should be-"
"No. So far, this mission has been completely uneventful, and I want to keep it that way.The last thing we need to do is make the genin suspicious there is something unusual going on."
"You can't imagine the look on Hiashi's face after I spoke to him. And this morning, the servants said he left early on some important errand."
Shikamaru had the couch to himself, eyes closed and fingertips together, absorbing the information the genin had brought him over the course of the morning. Around him, Neji, Naruto, Hinata (who absolutely refused to acknowledge Neji's presence) and the rest of her team sat patiently for Shikamaru to provide the clues they desperately needed.
"Hey guys!"
Sakura ran into the room, waving a scroll case in the air and sitting down next to Naruto.
"Look at this…it's the medical history of the Uzumaki family. Notice anything?"
She unraveled the scroll over the table, and after a minute of intense staring, Kiba turned to Sakura.
"It's…err…"
"I mean the scroll itself."
Shino reached over and ran his fingers over the edge of the old and yellowing paper. Several of his bugs flew out, and began to chew on the edges before flying into the air in what looked like random motions to the other genin.
"It's a fake."
"What? How can you tell?"
"If this was an old scroll, the chemical composition would be altered slightly by time and exposure to dust, moisture, and human body oils from being handled. Also, it's own weight and the weight of other scrolls stacked on top of it would permanently deform it after a long period of storage. And this scroll…" Shino rolled the scroll up, and then quickly released it. The paper quickly unraveled by itself, with only a slight curve remaining. "Has not even been kept rolled up for a long period of time."
"Well, it's clear…"
"Shikamaru! Have you figured it out?"
"There's something going on."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"WE KNOW THAT!"
"What I meant was that there is an organized attempt to conceal something in Naruto's past-"
"WE KNOW THAT TOO!"
Shikamaru finally opened his eyes, just long enough to roll them at Kiba before slumping back.
"And not just some unpleasant family secret that no one wants to come out. Don't you get it, Kiba? The Hokage just ordered someone to forge an official record. Letters were sent home with you, to some of the most powerful clans in Konoha. From the reaction of our parents, the Hokage even kept Naruto's condition a secret from them. How troublesome…just what did you drag me into?"
"Oh, damn…this is really serious, isn't it?"
"Neji!"
"What is it, Shino?"
"Leave, fast! Tell the other genin to stop asking questions! If the jounin realize we're digging into this…"
Neji dashed soundlessly from the room, and the genin remaining sat silently, absorbing the implications of what was said, until Hinata spoke.
"But why now?"
"Why…what?"
"Why now? This jutsu, with Naruto being like this? Why is everyone so worried?"
Shikamaru pulled himself up straight and stared at the foxboy, napping and curled up around Hinata's feet.
"This jutsu…reduces the target's intelligence. If he can't communicate, then he can't divulge any information. He hasn't used any ninjutsu, or perhaps he simply can't, so then there would be little risk of him being a serious threat. Other then that…"
"You're forgetting something."
"Shino?"
"It is not the jutsu that concerns people…but his appearance."
"His…appearance? What about it? Ears and a tail? C'mon!"
"It can't be ignored, Kiba."
"Umm…"
"Hinata?"
"Like…someone…said earlier, I greeted my father last night with a pair of cat ears. But…this morning, before he left, he saw me looking at myself in the mirror with fox features exactly like Naruto's, and it seemed to disturb him, greatly."
"Fox? Foxes…foxes…what do foxes have to do with anything?"
Shikamaru reached for the scroll again.
"Sakura-san?"
"What is it, Shikamaru?"
"Asuma-sensei once told me…that some secrets are best hidden in plain sight."
"What do you mean?"
"Read this scroll as a medical ninja would, as if you thought it was real. Tell me what's true or suspect. A clue may have been placed inside unintentionally."
"Alright…um…treatments for disease coincide with outbreaks in the village…Naruto has no living relatives, his family has always been small, parents died in the battle against the…"
"Sakura?"
All the color drained from Sakura's face.
"Sakura? What is it?"
The paper tore in her hands as she unraveled the rest of the scroll, eyes darting back and forth frantically across the parchment.
"Sakura!"
She froze in mid-motion. Still as a statue, she carefully rolled the scroll up, smoothing out the wrinkles and tears almost mechanically as she put the scroll back in its case.
"What's wrong?"
"Foxes."
Her voice was smooth, perfectly flat and unemotional.
"What do you…"
"Naruto's birthday…was correct. It was also the same day both his parents died. They died…on the same day…"
Sakura turned her whole body, shifting slightly, balanced and tense in the same way as every other jounin did when they saw Naruto. Expecting an attack.
"The same day…when Konoha was attacked by the Kyuubi."
