Disclaimer: Naruto and it's characters aren't mine. This story has been inspired by Vixen Tail's story Deja vu No Jutsu and Hermionechan90's Inoue Shiori. Both authors have given me permission to use ideas and themes from their stories.

A/N: I'm back!

Updates should resume to every other wednesday now. Enjoy!

During the week after graduation, leading up to team placements, Naruto assisted Aioka around the HQ. He sat in on all of her meetings—taking notes on how she handled disagreements between Divisions—and helped administer two Mandatory Skills Evaluations or MSE's. The meetings showed Naruto the reality of what being a leader meant and introduced him to the horror that was paperwork.

The blonde had been peripherally aware of the administrative side of Aioka's work, but hadn't truly comprehended the importance of the paperwork she never seemed to be done with—nor how much effort went into communication between the division lieutenants.

Naruto participated in his own version of MSE's every once in a while. His MSE focused primarily on Chakra control while general MSE's covered theory, taijutsu, village familiarity, and Academy skills.

As of his last evaluation, Naruto was able to make a ten Kage bunshin with half the amount of smoke he made when he first learned, and a single clone with no smoke. He could also perform Kawarimi with one less hand sign than the jutsu was taught with. Considering his ever growing chakra pool, Naruto was pleased with his control.

MSE's were a means of ensuring individual training was being maintained and also a way for Corp genin to advance rank, so to speak. The genin corp had two official ranks: genin and genin commander. Unofficially there were: Recruits, Privates, Captains, and Lieutenants.

The MSE's tested genin on their mastery of their knowledge. For a Recruit to become a Private, they must be able to (a) effectively use Academy taught jutsu in a spar against an existing Private, (b) defeat a Private with a team, and (c) get full marks on a written test on Academy theory.

The first thing the Corp did when receiving fresh graduates, was a series of tests to determine what their overall skill level was—different from MSE's only in the fact it was to assess what the genin did not know and not what they had mastered. Mornings were dedicated to physical tests, gauging strength and endurance, trapping skills, katas, weapons, etc. An hour was given for lunch at noon followed by a written test that ended whenever the graduate finished. The written test covered everything from first year to fourth year theory, history, and whatever else was paper applicable. It was a week long process that occured every six months, or whenever a jonin failed a graduating team.

It was day four of the skill evaluation—during the written portion—when Aioka felt Naruto enter the HQ. When the boy landed by her side, all but snarling in aggravation, and demanding how he could help she simply motioned to a random graduate and asked him tell her about him.

For the next hour and a half, Naruto observed the stressed graduates and carefully compiled verbal reports about the individuals based on what he saw. It was an exercise Aioka employed to teach her corp how to properly analyze those around them. Usually a genin would spend a day people watching and make a written report on those they saw then validate their reasonings with hard facts.

Gradually Naruto's roiling agitation settled into exasperated resignation.

"My Teammates are Idiots."

Aioka's lips twitched, both at the blunt statement from the boy next to her and the rather impressive attempts to cheat happening among the recruits. Cheating was not discouraged because it taught stealth and was useful later on, however it was critiqued. "How so?"

Two days ago Iruka had announced team formations—Naruto had not be been amused with his teammates or sensei.

The following account of Naruto's day was equally amusing as it was troubling. The new team had done two simple D-ranks and had utterly failed them. Oh, they got the work done, but Aioka could only imagine the bad review the client would give.

According to Naruto, Haruno Sakura had talked more than she had worked and had constantly been fretting about her hands and hair.

How had she made Kunoichi of the year? From both Naruto's reports and Aioka's own observations of the girl, there was little to recommend her beyond her—questionable—intelligence.

The Uchiha had sneered at both Naruto and Haruno-san, and gave the client a cold shoulder when addressed.

"Give your Sensei time, Kit," she advised. Hopefully the Jonin would be able to make something out of the other two. "As unorthodox as the Jonin seems, he is among the best the village has."

Naruto acknowledged the statement with scowl. "Iruka-sensei said the same thing yesterday. I don't see it."

Aioka gently bopped him on the head. "Think, Kit. Why would a Jonin of his caliber act the way he does?"

When Naruto had told her who his sensei was she had listened to the boy gripe for nearly fifteen minutes before she threw him out with the orders to go do research on the man.

She knew a lot about the Hatake. He was one of the first signatures she memorized. It was hard not to when the man spent so much time at the Memorial stone atop the Hokage Monument near where she stretched her Senses. Since he was among the first, he was one she put out more effort to learn about. Doubly so, due to how hard it had been to get concrete facts on him. The Jonin's mask ran deep and had so many facets Aioka wasn't sure where it stopped and the man began.

"To make a fool of himself?"

Aioka gave the boy a flat look. Unimpressed by the thoughtless comment. "Really?"

Naruto grimaced, actually thought about it and promptly groaned. "I just called myself a fool didn't I?"

"In a roundabout way; yes, yes you did."

Naruto smiled distractedly as he mulled over this revelation. His Jonin-sensei wore more than just the mask that obscured his face; he wore a Mask much like Naruto's own.

The Jinchuriki wondered if the older man's mask was more than to make people underestimate and dismiss him. His own Mask of Pranking Idiot hadn't been a mask at one time. Was it the same for the Jonin? Did the man use a facet of his personality to hide the shinobi?

Naruto supposed he would just have to find out.

Aioka smirked in approval when she saw a sharp, slow, smile cross the young shinobi's face. The boy was thinking again.

A:CG

It wasn't often that he felt genuine surprise. Feigning such expressions was far more normal than the real thing; which was probably why it took him a moment to recognize the emotion.

Uzumaki Naruto, Dead Last, King of Pranks, had a Mask. One so good the Copy-nin had missed it for two weeks.

Kakashi resolutely ignored the fact that for those two weeks it was all he could do to call his Genin by their names, and not that of the ghosts that overlaid everything they did. If the blonde hadn't slipped up yesterday, Kakashi was sure he would still be drowning in his past.

Flipping the page of a book discussing child psychology—hidden in the sleeve of his favorite Icha Icha— Kakashi wondered when Naruto had developed his mask. Most shinobi formed masks as coping methods at some point, but it had been a long time since Kakashi had seen a mask on one so young. Since the Third War ended, shinobi began developing their masks later and later in life.

Naruto's slip had been for a moment—blue eyes flashed, features smoothed to nothing, muscles deceptively loose and still, the promise of annihilation charging the air—and then the obnoxious idiot returned. That moment had taken Kakashi to another time and place when such an expression had ended in the deaths of Konoha's enemies.

The boy had caught his attention.

Watching that brat now, Kakashi had to remind himself that 'yes' he really had seen something yesterday because the idiocy on display was making it difficult to remember. Today their mission was one he had to request in advance, as it was not usually offered to Jonin-track genin teams.

Kakashi wanted to gauge how well his Genin did with unreasonable demands from clients. The old woman they would be working for was an embittered widow with no family. Her spouse had secured her care through repetitive D-rank missions paid by some investments he had made while alive. She was notorious for being particular with how things were to be done.

The mission was awful.

The woman refused to acknowledge Naruto (unsurprising) which led to Sakura asking questions and making speculations. The girl berated Naruto and demanded that he apologize for whatever he done to offend the old woman.

Sasuke refused to speak when spoken to, though he did follow the woman's directions reasonably well.

The blonde was mostly his normal self, if a hair quieter and considerably less confrontational.

Once the mission was done Kakashi was quick to usher his team out of the civilian district. All three of his genin needed better social etiquette. Under the circumstance Naruto had done as well as his mask allowed him by not antagonizing their client. Sakura's behavior was the most disappointing because, of the three, she was the most normal and should have behaved. Sasuke's cold demeanor was going to have to be buried if the boy didn't want to get hugely reprimanded in the future.

A wave of weary bitterness suddenly washed over the Jonin. Who was he to correct them? He couldn't even correct his own flaws, how could he ask his students to do what he himself was unwilling to do?

Entering the Missions Office brought a sense of relief to the Jonin, as his thoughts were distracted by habitual scanning his surroundings.

A team of Corp Genin were just walking away from returning their mission scroll—they appeared to have just return from an outpost run if their packs were any indicator—four Jonin were receiving missions, and a chunin team were turning in their completed mission.

A subtle change in one of his student drew Kakashi's attention; Naruto had relaxed from his exaggerated pout and was exchanging silent greetings with the team of career genin.

The genin were nondescript but something about the lone kunoichi kept drawing Kakashi's attention, even as he handed over the missions scroll.

The woman was forgettable as many career kunoichi were yet Kakashi's instincts would not allow him to completely dismiss her. As he stepped away from the missions desk, he tried to catch her scent but with so many unfamiliar people in the room it was impossible for him to pick hers out.

"Neh, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked down at Naruto, his gaze far more lazy than he felt as he tracked the departing genin team. "Hmm?"

"I want you guys to meet someone."

Kakashi was torn between curiosity and irritation. He wanted to stalk—ah, investigate the genin kunoichi but this offer into Naruto's personal life was unexpected.

So Kakashi shrugged his agreement and had to stifle a grin—and a stab of pain—when the blonde gave a grin that was reminiscent of a certain redhead Kakashi once knew.

"Come on, she's waiting for us outside."

"Who, Dobe?" Sasuke grouched as he and Sakura fell in behind the blonde.

Kakashi followed behind his cute little genin, acknowledging various shinobi they passed with miniscule movements and making note of any who looked at Naruto with less than neutral expressions. His trapping and sabotage skills were getting a little dusty, perhaps he would brush them up later.

Exiting the tower Kakashi mentally paused when Naruto trotted up to the genin team he had greeted earlier. The team of four greeted his student with a mix of professional and personal familiarity. That professionalism remained when he approached with his other two students.

This was very interesting.

Naruto grinned as he did introductions."Aioka-nee, this is my Jonin-sensei Hatake Kakashi and my teammates, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Guys this is Shojikina Aioka," the kunoichi smiled politely with a nod, "Buske Noki," a shinobi with sharp eyes, "Yuzu Deidre," a shinobi who was favoring his left ankle, "and Mosaki Kei."

The last shinobi was gazing at Naruto like he wasn't sure what to make of him, suggesting to Kakashi the young man hadn't met Naruto yet.

With the introductions out of the way, Kakashi lifted a hand in a typical two finger salute. "Yo."

The kunoichi's smile was refreshingly polite and lacking in fangirling. "Hello Team 7."

The young men bowed and echoed the greeting.

"I didn't know you knew Naruto, Shojikina-san," Sakura said, curiosity in her face.

"Hai, Naruto is very familiar to the Genin Corp," the kunoichi's teasing smile and hair ruffle spoke of far more familiarity than simple acquaintances. "You could say he's somewhat of job security for us."

Naruto scowled at the teasing but did not hide the pleased gleam in his eyes at the affection he was being shown.

The kunoichi snorted at the boy's expression once and Kakashi found himself meeting the kunoichi's copper eyes. The first thing that struck the Jonin was the complete lack of nervousness that usually shadowed most people's eyes when they met him. The second was that Kakashi would eat Gai's Curry of Life if this woman was actually a simple career genin. He had met very few Jonin who could hide their signature as thoroughly as this kunoichi was.

"Naruto-kun came to me last week to arrange a spar between Team 7 and one of my own. I told him that was up to you."

Kakashi blinked languidly and settled more fully into his customary slouch while he thought. That wasn't a bad idea. His team did need more experience sparring as a team and it might help boost their confidence in each other if they spar a team they could beat. And it would give him an opportunity to study the Kunoichi more.

"Maa, one of your teams, Shojikina-san?"

The phrasing made it sound as if the kunoichi had more than one. As far as he knew, career genin didn't have assigned teams that they could claim as 'theirs', usually career genin were thrown into random teams at the mission desk. Or maybe things had changed. It had been a while since he had paid career genin more than a passing glance.

The kunoichi dipped her head in acknowledgement. "Hai, career genin who take C-ranks require more training than those who stay in village. I make sure that they have a better chance coming home in one piece if things go south."

Kakashi glanced at the three shinobi standing quietly behind her; who were being surprisingly subtle about their discretion with their awed glances was appreciated. Most people were not so polite with their hero worship.

The three were covered in dust from whatever mission they had just completed but did not appear tired. Kakashi wondered how often career genin didn't come back. A morbid curiosity over took the jonin and he decided he would look into it. He wasn't so much of an ass as to ask outright.

"Is later this afternoon convenient?"

The woman looked at her team, all three gave various motions of agreement, before answering. "I'm meeting my tou-san for lunch; two hours from now alright Hatake-san?"

"Sound perfect."

The woman bowed lightly. "Thank you Hatake-san."

With a lackadaisical wave he acknowledged her thanks and then dismissed his team. "Training Ground 7, Shojikina-san." With that said, he sought the nearest ANBU on village patrol. He had a Genin to learn.

Aioka turned to her team-absently noting that Naruto's Jonin-sensei was with Azakoda Sorra, an ANBU who regularly kept watch in village-and clapped Noki's shoulder. "I'm going to lunch."

The wiry young man smirked and dipped his chin slightly in acknowledgement that she was leaving him in charge. "We will meet you at Training Ground 7 in two hours, Taicho."

Nodding in approval, she left them to scout out their opponents and the meeting place. The three were the second team she trained after joining the Corp. As individuals, each had trained up a team or two but prefered working together.

Slipping her hands into her pockets, the copper eyed genin lazily made her way to the Akimichi restaurant she and her father loved.

This would be the first time in almost a month that the two of them had seen each other. Between both their schedules it was difficult to make time to meet.

Shikoru had made Jonin six months ago and had endured a string of back to back missions since then. Missions that left the Nara in a perpetual state of physical and emotional exhaustion. As an observer, Shikoru was often called on by nobility for petty reasons. Was that spouse really faithful? Is that servant stealing from me? Is that heir doing what they are told?

Shikoru disliked dealing with nobles but it was always interesting to him to puzzle together how individuals worked.

As she arrived at the restaurant, Aioka felt Kakashi's signature settle near by. It seemed the man was going to stalk her.

Mentally shrugging, Aioka dismissed the thought and smiled as she stepped into the familiar establishment.

"Aioka-chan."

"Hi Aioka-chan."

Several of the staff called their welcome and she waved and called her own greetings as she went to her usual booth.

Nara Shikoru stood from their usual seat, a lazy smile on his lips. "Hello Yurei-chan."

Aioka stepped into his offered embrace with a quiet sigh, mild everyday tension slipping away as she pressed her face into his shoulder. "Missed you tou-san."

Shikoru tightened his embraced and dropped a kiss on his daughters' bandanna covered hair. "You too," he murmured before stepping away. "What team were you leading today?"

Aioka chuckled as they sat. It hadn't taken her father figure long to decipher the meaning behind how she wore her Hitai-ate when she first implemented the new dress code. Today, her Hitai-ate was telling him that she was leading teams—when she wore it on her forehead in the traditional fashion it meant she was part of a team but acting as support rather than a leader. A role she usually took to assess one of her genin's leadership skills.

"My second one. We will be sparing with Team 7, later today."

For the next hour they shared a meal and traded details about their lives since the last time they saw each other. Between new recruits and meeting Iruka, Aioka had a lot to say. Shikoru caught her up on how Ichika and Mikimaru were doing. Mikimaru had arrived in the little family's lives four months ago.

"Thank you tou-san," Aioka sighed in content, wishing for a moment that she had the Nara name to get away with a nap. "Lunch was fantastic."

Shikoru smiled lightly, his body lounging loosely in the booth across from her. "Anytime Yurei-chan. Bring the Kit by tonight. Ichika-chan misses you two and the boy hasn't met Miki-chan yet."

Aioka hummed an acknowledgement. Naruto came with her to visit her parents as often as he could but hadn't since Miki-chan was born a few months ago. "Well, off I go," she groaned happily as she stretched.

Shikoru tilted his head back as she stood, a little too comfortable to move just yet. "Be safe, tell those boys I say hello."

Aioka dropped a kiss on his cheek. "Will do."

"Yurei-chan." Aioka paused a few steps away. "You're ghosting again."

The woman huffed sheepishly and pushed her signature out, privately amused when Hatake flinched a little across the street. "Thanks tou-san."

A quick trip via rooftops took Aioka to training ground 7, where her shinobi teammates were lightly stretching. Sweat beading on their skin as a tell tale sign of a recently finished warm up.

"How was Nara-san, Taicho?" Noki inquired, leaning his head on the ground while sitting in a full splits.

Aioka gently pressed Kei's lower back forward and down, aiding him in his stretch. "Pleasant; he says hello. Deidre, flatten out, you're rounding your back."

The young man obeyed with a low groan, trying to press his belly into the ground without breaking from the splits. Aioka noted that he had taken the time to get his ankle healed. He had twisted it on the way home goofing off with Noki.

Due to their build and muscle mass, Kei and Deidre had difficulty staying flexible compared to the more compact and wiry Noki.

"What are our limits in this spar?"

Aioka release Kei when the three changed stretches and idly began twirling a shuriken with chakra, rolling the weapon over and between her fingers. It was a mindless exercises for her.

"Don't hospitalize them. Other than that I don't care. Naruto-kun wants his team to see what teamwork looks like and we want a potential Jonin sponsor for the Exams."

Various Runners and Scouts had picked up conversations about the Chunin Exams being hosted in Konoha early last year and had confirmed the event shortly after Naruto's graduation. It was Aioka's hope that if enough of her teams got sponsors/vouchers, and a well crafted petition was given, that the Hokage would allow Corp Teams to participate. She had been working on the petition since the first rumors and had been combing through it with various clan friends for the last week.

"Is Hatake-san aware of that?" Noki inquired, pulling an arm across his chest to stretch a shoulder.

"Probably."

The three gave their Commander a dry look. To most, Aioka's tone would pass off as nonchalant but these three had been with her long enough to read her more subtle inflections. At the moment she was amused and mocking the Jonin hiding in the trees behind them for accepting a spar against a team he knew nothing about. They probably wouldn't have sensed the man if they hadn't been Aioka's students, but Aioka had insisted that anyone she trained personally pick up some form of sensing, be it chakra, scent, sound, or sight. It helped that the man wasn't bothering to hide his signature all that much in the first place.

With various sounds of amusement the three sat down to meditate until Team 7 arrived. Aioka learned meditation from Shikoru when she was younger as an alternative to chakra depletion that her birth father had taught her. Meditation had many uses; ranging from calming tempers to increasing chakra reserves, and was the most undervalued exercise at a shinobi's disposal.

The three shinobi were using meditation to review what they knew and had learned about their opponents.

Five minutes before the two hours were up, Haruno Sakura arrived to a scene she found at odds with her preconceived notions of kunoichi. As an inexperienced civilian girl, Sakura had never seen a kunoichi train and had developed the belief that kunoichi never trained with boys around. Because of this belief she felt her sensei was being unreasonable in making her sweat in front of Sasuke-kun. It never really crossed her mind about when, or how, other kunoichi trained.

So, the sight of Shojikina Aioka—a career genin she had grown up seeing chatting with people in the market—doing push ups from a handstand while her teammates sat napping was strange.

Hesitating a few yards off, the pinkette watched the older kunoichi with growing curiosity. Were those Kunai balanced on her feet?

Sasuke's arrival effectively took Sakura's attention away from the older kunoichi, just as she was starting to puzzle out how a person built up to doing such an exercise.

Aioka bent her knees and lowered her feet by her head, allowing the weapons to dangle from a thread of chakra for a moment before dropping them and standing up via a walk over. Vertical push ups had lost their challenge years ago but combining the exercise with balancing kunai without chakra was a different story.

Behind her, Noki and the other two came out of their meditation to greet the younger genin and Naruto when he came barrelling into the area a moment later.

For the next hour, the seven genin waited for Kakashi to join them. During this time the Career Genin introduce Kage Bunshin Shogi to Team 7. Aioka had invented the game to better help Naruto understand the game. Having something a little more physically interactive had help the blonde immensely.

Kei and Sakura were in the middle of a game when the silver haired man finally appeared.

"Hatake-san," Aioka greeted after Naruto and Sakura were done yelling at him.

The masked shinobi gave a lazy two finger salute in reply. "Alright my cute little Genin," Kakashi cheerfully turned to his students, "Shojikina-san and I are going to plan you torture. Warm up."

The three preteens obeyed, the older three mimicking them to loosen up, and Aioka followed the Jonin out of unenhanced hearing range.

"Has your team sparred Jonin track genin before?"

Aioka shrugged faintly, "Naruto spars regularly with a number of my Genin." As did a number of branch members of various clans Aioka was on friendly terms with but the Jonin didn't need to know that.

"Individual spars first then," Kakashi said only to read Aioka's dissatisfaction at his announcement. "You disagree."

A loose shrug echoed her Nara influences. "I try to make spars as close to genuine combat as I can. In reality you won't have the opportunity to preview your opponent's skills."

The brow relaxed and his onyx eye became deceptively lazy and assessing. Aioka wondered what the man was thinking but remained unperturbed by the famous Jonin's regard.

"Sounds good," the masked jonin conceded. With that said, the duo returned to the waiting Genin and Kakashi set the rules.

"Stay in the training ground. All skills allowed. Don't kill each other. First team with two members unable to continue wins. Hajime."

Before Team 7 had coiled themselves to leap away, all three were face first in the dirt with shinobi on their backs and kunai at their throats.

Kakashi blinked slowly. "That was awful Team 7. Team Shojikina, wait two minutes before engaging."

The younger men voiced their agreement and helped their even younger opponents up. Sakura was dazed, Sasuke irritated, and Naruto pouting.

"Go."

After the allotted time Kakashi watched his team get decimated repeatedly by the older Genin. The Career Genin never used the same tactics twice; twisting Sasuke and Sakura into psychological knots with mild KI and taunts. The boys had solid teamwork. If Kakashi didn't know otherwise, he would say they were a seasoned chunin cell. Other than Ebisu, Kakashi had never seen E and D rank ninjutsu used with such mastery, or creativity. More often than not the teens never used hand seals. A sign of hours of training not many shinobi dedicated to one, let alone half a dozen, jutsu.

Kakashi also learned about seven different ways to use Fire Flicker, an E-Rank Fire Jutsu.

The older genin drove Sakura to every end of the emotional spectrum with their usage of henge. Forcing her to spar Sasuke look alikes or Yamanaka Ino and, in one instance, a civilian man with bazaar purple pink hair. Each henge was accompanied by impressive acting skills that reflected the one they were imitating.

With Sasuke they henged into random females and acted as fangirls. Driving the boy into fits of embarrassment and rage. It was very disturbing when Kakashi recalled that the henged girls were in fact teenage boys. He was also relieved that they did not attempt to impersonate Uchiha. That would have severe consequences for the last Uchiha's psych.

Naruto tried to assist his teammates but was dismissed as a non threat by the older genin. The Jonin winced at the screaming rant that the blonde spewed but thought he saw amusement in the whiskered blonde's eyes.

The three young men were frighteningly familiar with his Teams' buttons.

When they moved on to individual spars, Kakashi let Aioka lead at her request and admired her methods. Under her, the spars weren't the directionless slug outs he usually allowed. They were an exercises of analysis, KI desensitization, and temper control. Every time a spar ended Aioka had the observing genin give an analysis of the two sparring. What could they have done better? What exercises could they do to improve?

Throughout the spars Aioka leaked KI of varying intensity and made anyone who lost their composure stop and tell her why. When either Sasuke or Sakura got out of line she would look to him briefly. When he failed to step in she bluntly told them to shut up.

Kakashi was glad his book was up to hide the way he choked. The shock on his genin's faces was hilarious, though the lack of Naruto defending his teammates disturbed him.

It was clear that Aioka's students were miles ahead of his own. They would not get his sponsorship—he had listened to their conversations earlier—but he would put in a recommendation...after he figured out when the Corp had been permitted to participate in the Chunin Exams and why hadn't he known about it.

After his team left Kakashi listened as the Career Genin debriefed. The shinobi reported what they had done the moment they had left the tower. Which was not the hanging out that Kakashi had expected. The boys had gathered intel on his team and had used what they learned to win.

His team had never stood a chance. A rueful and bitter smile twisted beneath his mask; he had learned far more than he thought he would and none of it was what he thought it would be.

"Hatake-san?"

Kakashi came out of his thoughts, noting that he and Aioka were alone. "You are an excellent teacher, Shojikina-san."

The woman smiled politely, the expression giving away nothing of her thoughts. "Thank you. Do you have any questions?"

He did, but he would rather figure them out then ask. "No, I have a lot to think about already."

Aioka dipped her head in acknowledgement. "If you want another spar, any of my Corp are available. Just ask." With that invitation the woman left at a leisurely walk.

Shunshinning to his flat, Kakashi noted that the kunoichi had referred to the Genin Corp as 'hers'.

"Just who are you, Shojikina Aioka?"