Nara Shikaku displayed none of his customary apathy as his eyes roamed the streets sharply, roaming across the empty sidewalks. He walked close behind his former team-mate – no longer 'former', he supposed – occasionally glancing around to look at the few ANBU that were following, just on the edge of sight. Akimichi Chōza was unusually silent, probably for the same reason he was.

Ino-Shika-Chō, the 'legendary' team, had last been officially active when hostilities between villages were at their peak. There were precious few reasons why the Hokage would reassemble them on such short notice, especially without clear briefing first. Shikaku had a few ideas on the reasoning, particularly since he'd been at that accursed council meeting – though it had been civil, Shikaku had realized quickly that the Hokage was not at all at ease; a worrying sight.

Of course, at the same time Shikaku was also annoyed that he now had to combine his duties as Jōnin Commander as well as a member of his old team, which would cut into his free time considerably.

A glint caught Shikaku's eye and he saw Chōza had stopped in the middle of the road – there was something reflective there, and the robust man bent over to pick it up. Shikaku cursed aloud as he realized what the object was, and that it would not be in the middle of the street by chance. An ANBU was approaching from his right, seemingly coming to the same conclusion, but wouldn't be in time. "Chōza!"

The flicker of hair-thin wire was visible and Shikaku reacted. In a single movement, Shikaku connected his shadow to his teammate and threw himself bodily backwards as hard as he could, covering his face as he crashed painfully to the floor.

The explosion was huge, sending out a blast wave that caught both shinobi and threw them backwards, the rush of wind and unbelievably loud noise blasting glass out everywhere. Thick biting smoke billowed outward as the fiery blaze set off by the tags almost immediately dissipated due to lack of oxygen. Shikaku landed in a heap across the street, collapsing against the curb, his head just barely missing cracking on it like an egg. Chōza wasn't far behind – the Akimichi lay twitching in the middle of the street, blood pooling next to his head as the smoke started slowly dissipating; the approaching ANBU had collapsed, smashed against the nearest wall, though he was already moving to sit upright.

"Chōza, Chōza!" Shikaku tried, working his way to his feet- thankfully, nothing seemed broken. The street was covered in a thick layer of dust and scorched rocks that had been blown free. The Nara's Shadow Possession Jutsu, seal-less though it had been, had managed to save the Akimichi from a lethal blow – the laboured breaths of the large shinobi were clearly audible. "Chōza, are you okay?"

"I think I burst an eardrum," answered the wounded shinobi, followed by a drawn-out groan. Then a forced snicker could be heard, interrupted by a cough. "We- we agreed this shouldn't become a habit!"

Shikaku laughed under his breath, wincing as his shoulder protested his movement – okay, perhaps he hadn't come out of this intact after all. Forcing himself to his knees, he stared around himself, suddenly realizing that the attacker was still around. He knew what Chōza was talking about: early in their career, Shikaku had rescued Inoichi from a fatal explosion by using his shadow jutsu, though the man had hit the floor quite harshly, leading to a solid week in the hospital with a concussion. The Nara had sworn never to do that again, though it had been mostly in jest.

"Akimichi-san, Nara-san, are you alright?" Two ANBU arrived next to each of them, helping them to their feet – Shikaku got up easily enough, Chōza was barely budging. "We need to get you away from here – the attacker may still be around."

"You sent someone after them?" Shikaku asked, rubbing his shoulder gingerly. He sighed deeply, as the presence of multiple ANBU should dissuade any would-be attacker. "I saw the wire – someone set that trap off remotely, but they must've been in line of sight."

"A kunoichi was spotted fleeing, but without any distinguishing marks beyond her gender and without a hitai-ate, it's going to be tough to track her down." The ANBU scoffed, grimacing as he looked at the devastation – a few neighbourhoods were going to need to have a lot of things replaced. "Dishonourable Iwa scum…"

"They're ninja," Shikaku pointed out as he walked over to Chōza, who had finally gotten to his feet and was examining the damage he'd taken – the street in front of him was marred by a large crater, and it seemed all the glass in at least three neighbourhoods had burst by the blast. Though his body was strengthened by chakra, even Shikaku heard soft ringing in his ears in the wake of the explosion. "Honour is optional, we should've expected traps. What I wish to know is why we were the target specifically."

Two more ANBU showed up in lockstep, each wearing a simple white mask with a few lines and symbols on them – it was getting positively crowded now. "Commander-sama," one stated, bowing slightly. "We come from the Tower - two more attacks were made at around the same time as this one, in other parts of town. Hokage-sama asked me to inform you immediately – he is heading for the hospital and wishes to meet you there."

"Who were the targets?"

"Yamanaka Inoichi and Maito Gai, it seems, Sir." The ANBU with a pig-like mask reported. "Yamanaka-san was moved to the hospital with minor injuries, Gai-san had none."

Shikaku nodded seriously, looking worriedly at Chōza, who was still panting and bleeding from his ear, as well as several other places. "I should head to the hospital and get descriptions of the attackers, then – this must've been a concentrated strike to take out military assets, considering who they chose."

Of course, that didn't really make sense, Shikaku considered. Shikaku may be the Jōnin Commander, but none of the other targets were significant for any reason except perhaps their fighting prowess. It would hurt Konoha, but not nearly as much as more strategic targets that would hurt the whole. If this was an intentional assault, it would make more sense that the attacker knew about the reconstitution of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio, and wished to prevent that. Where Gai fit in he couldn't fathom.

"Did any of the attackers get caught?"

"Maito Gai disabled his attacker," the ANBU said with a queasy look. "Apparently the assailant was under the impression that body-armour would be sufficient protection – he's not expected to live the night, given his injuries."

Shikaku winced imperceptibly, considering what could set off Maito Gai to do that. He could really only consider one scenario. "Any ancillary wounded?"

"Yamanaka-san's daughter received minor burns; she was protected from the main blast. Rock Lee and Hyūga Neji, students of Maito Gai, were both unconscious in the wake of the blast but recovered quickly."

"Figures it'd be his students," Shikaku muttered dryly; Chōza had been taken away to the hospital by ANBU while the two talked – another ANBU was gathering remains of the few explosive tags that hadn't properly gone off. "Gai's not usually so harsh."

"Yamanaka's pursuer escaped; he brought his daughter to the hospital and collapsed in the waiting room himself. He's suffering from chakra exhaustion due to using a powerful defensive jutsu, as I understand it." The ANBU picked at his mask nervously. "All attacks were in the middle of the road, using the hitai-ate as a lure."

"This means two more Iwa jōnin on the loose in Konoha, then." Shikaku concluded. "That's the minimum, at least." Internally, Shikaku was already reaching disturbing conclusions. Between the recent death of the jinchūriki of Kyūbi and the sudden formation of an elite team (that included his son, Shikaku reminded himself, with a touch of pride) and now Iwa infiltrators of considerable skill…

Looking morosely over the large hole in the road and the blood spattered across the floor where Chōza had collapsed earlier, Shikaku grimaced. This was looking more and more like the beginning of more than a dozen wars he'd read treatises on – particularly the Third Shinobi World War, which had seemed innocent enough at the start, but had escalated out of control. Legends were born in that war. If it came to war this time, Shikaku thought darkly, there would be no 'Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō' to save Konoha.

"How is this possible?" Shikamaru breathed, looking over from Minato to the corpse and back – the features were uncannily identical. "What-"

Minato didn't answer, unsteadily shuffling over to the body in the coffin. It was wearing the same clothes that he remembered when he arrived in Konoha, as well as a long white cloak with red flames at the bottom that he'd worn in life. The fact that it looked practically fresh was no surprise – that had been customary since the First, who invented the jutsu that was used for the preservation.

Thoughts raced through Minato's mind, each more confusing than the last, and he forced himself to focus. He briefly considered whether or not there were genjutsu at work, but a glance at Kakashi using his Sharingan to stare at the identical bodies dismissed that notion.

"Am I the real one?" Minato finally asked, slightly panicked. He remembered everything from his life – he remembered dying! He couldn't be some facsimile, couldn't he?"

"What technique would duplicate a body?" Shikamaru wondered, shock making way to a mix of curiosity and dread. "You are identical to the Fourth in mind, but not in body? Are you the same or…?"

"I should have expected this," Kakashi finally said, sitting down in front of the coffin and rubbing his good eye. "The one resurrection technique I know of – the one that would actually bring back the dead, doesn't actually use the original body."

Minato looked stricken, trembling slightly. "You mean the Second's-"

"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei." Kakashi confirmed. "A summoning technique, known as the Impure World Resurrection, that returns the dead to a temporary body under the summoner's control. One of the vilest jutsu I personally know of – and I wish I didn't."

"I'm not one of those – those zombies, though," Minato said, gulping. "I have my own mind, don't I?"

"It's not the same," Kakashi confirmed as he glanced back and forth between the two bodies. "Edo Tensei leaves a shinobi with incredibly advanced stamina – virtually limitless. Clearly, that's not the case for you. Aside from that, the sclera of the eye is discoloured. Besides, I'd be able to detect that your body wasn't technically your own." Kakashi tapped his hitai-ate that he'd put back over his Sharingan eye. "Whatever this is – it seems more advanced."

"Someone perfected that technique?" Minato conjectured, distressed. "Even if so, why would someone like that bring me back? Wouldn't they know I disagree with such jutsu?"

"It could be it wasn't that, but something inspired by it," Shikamaru observed, frowning. "Pakkun reported that Naruto was here – the only reason I can see to require specifically him is that the attacker was after his tenant. Whatever technique they used must've required the Fourth's body in the ritual, as the one who first sealed it away. Whatever they did could be to draw the fox out – possibly into a new body."

"You know about that part of Edo Tensei?" Kakashi asked, blinking. "It is a kinjutsu of the highest order, how?"

Shikamaru shook his head in exasperation. "I know of the original concept behind the technique – the Nara clan has a wide collection of historical documents, including those relating to the Nidaime Hokage. Using a body and infusing it with the dead – it seemed similar to this."

"They made a new vessel out of a living but soulless body, and transferred the seal to it," Minato said with a disgusted look. "The only way that could happen is through the direct intervention of the –" Minato stopped as the obvious answer occurred to him; it made sense that they'd need his body in the ritual, given that they needed a direct line to- . "The Shinigami…"

Minato stood up, pacing back and forth, considering this possibility. "If the ritual used the Shinigami to transfer the seal, then likely the victim was still alive and was sacrificed; that is the price for its services, after all. The soul was taken and in exchange the body was left that had my seal on it."

Kakashi gasped. "Does that mean that Naruto's in–"

"No." Minato answered tiredly, though he didn't elaborate. "I'm confident enough in my sealing that THAT couldn't have happened. It would've- It couldn't have happened."

"If this ritual is what occurred – where do you come in?" Shikamaru wondered, patting Pakkun, who had long since left the conversation to the geniuses, though he was paying close attention. "If it was about transferring the Kyūbi, why would you be affected?"

Minato didn't answer immediately, paling dramatically as he almost toppled over again before he steadied himself. He glanced at Kakashi; worry clear in his eyes. He then looked at Shikamaru with a calculating look.

"I think I know… I - I'll have to verify it. It's probably best if I keep it to myself and the Hokage, for now."

"What … do we do with you?" Kakashi asked, motioning towards the coffin after a few moments. "We can hardly just leave a Hokage's body out in the wilderness, but it'd raise a lot of questions if we brought it back."

"I'll store it away for now," Minato answered, looking apprehensively at the body. "I don't know how much DNA has been extracted – I am beginning to reconsider the wisdom of this particular tradition of ours. Who knows what people would do with a Hokage's genes?"

Minato quickly summoned a rather obese toad that, much to the fascinated disgust of Shikamaru, swallowed the Fourth's coffin whole within seconds. Minato patted it appreciatively. "Tell Gamabunta that I'd like it if he kept that somewhere safe. I'll come for it at a later time."

"Of course, Summoner-sama," the frog responded, bowing marginally before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"So…" Kakashi began with a concerned expression. "We have an enemy of Konoha on the loose that apparently has a better version of the Edo Tensei technique, or has relocated the Kyūbi to a new, malleable host. We're in serious trouble, I'd think."

"It's worse," Shikamaru said in a dark tone. "Whoever it is headed for Iwa – and they've probably already arrived there. Iwa's got a jinchūriki of their own now – and we don't. If there's even the slightest chance that they're hiding more than just this, and I think that's probable, then we're looking at a heck of a lot of preparation we need to do for those exams. It'll be bloody."

"They might go on to unleash the Kyūbi on Konoha – again." Minato whispered, aghast. "Was – was everything futile?"

"We have to stop it," Shikamaru declared forcefully. "We have a few months – you two are already some of the strongest shinobi of Konoha. If anyone can stop this war in its tracks, it has to be this team."

"We need our fourth member, and quickly," Kakashi said. "Latest reports put her in one of three towns northwest of here, in the direction the trail is heading. We'll follow it, see if we get lucky and the one who made the tracks didn't make it all the way across the border. When we get near the towns, we'll check each."

Minato agreed as he put his hypotheses aside for the moment in favour of action. "We still have our mission – that is our priority now. We've already exposed quite a bit here – we need to figure out if our interpretations of evidence are correct. Best bet is for us to head in Iwa's direction while training along the way – we need all the time we can get to get ready if the opponent's bringing the big guns. Shikamaru, you're with me."

The Nara nodded, realizing that he'd probably be training constantly whenever he wasn't busy with following the trail or scouting out villages. It'd be a long, long mission. "What a drag..."

Author's Note : Well, that was that - next chapter we get some combat, both in Konoha as well as on the road. :)