Konohagakure, the greatest Ninja Village in the world, consisted of three cities.

Konoha was the oldest of the three. The seed from where the entire village began. There you could find the Hokage Mountain, the Shodaime's Legacy, and other places of importance. Not many people lived there nowadays. Over the years it had become the face of the village in the eyes of foreigners, and it was the commercial heartbeat of the village.

Years after Konohagakure's inception the Hokage's brother had initiated the building of Kinone. The civilian population of the village had grown rapidly, and they all needed somewhere to live. Built several miles from Konoha, this was to be their home. They built stores, homes, and over the years it became a city onto itself. A multi-cultured hotbed of innovation and opportunity. It now dwarfed Konoha in size, but certainly not in significance.

As the decades passed the wealthier patrons of Kinone grew discontent. They saw how the clans lived in grand compounds in the forests between Kinone and Konoha, and they wanted that kind of exclusivety. So they pushed for the founding of a third city in Konohagakure's territory. The village was named Konokan. There the wealthy civilians with dreams of fame and grand stature resided.

Growing up in Kinone, Naruto liked to think he'd seen it all. Everything from unsavory characters to sketchy dealings. Kinone was the filthy underbelly of Konoha's territory, and if you paid close enough attention, it showed. It was the largest of the three cities that resided within Konohagakure along with Konokan and Konoha itself.

It didn't help that due to a weird quirk, probably inherited from whoever his parents were, Naruto didn't sleep. So at night when everyone else would rest their heads and stop living for a few hours, Naruto walked the streets.

It was in those dark nights that he played at being a ninja. Snuck around in the shadows, spying. At first, he'd been awful. People seemed to always just know where he was. It took him some time until he learned to keep his distance. He learned to sharpen his senses.

Once he had that, his spying opened his eyes to some of the most unsettling people in the town. People who during the day smiled and laughed like the world was just one big joke, and at night, allowed their smiles to turn feral as they whispered threats and looked at the world with cold suspicious eyes.

So yeah, you could say Naruto had been around some unsettling people. He'd gotten used to identifying people with darkness in their hearts. Which was why he found himself feeling very concerned when he entered the Dango store in Konoha and got his first look at his new sensei.

That was where she had asked for them to meet her. He arrived early, happy to make use of his newfound freedom to tree jump from Kinone to Konoha, a privilege only granted to active shinobi to allow them quick travel between the three cities. Of course, that meant he arrived covered in a thin layer of sweat. It wasn't something he ever took notice of when he was home, but now? Right before meeting his teammates and sensei? He found himself feeling very self-conscious. So self-conscious in fact, that he took a small detour into one of Konoha's few clothing stores to spray some cologne all over himself. The people working in the store gave him some dirty looks, but he ignored them in favor of "freshening up".

By the time he found his way back to the Dango store he was no longer the first one there. He saw a girl waiting outside. She was tall, for a girl, about his height. She had long legs that disappeared into a purple skirt. Her headband was not on her head, instead tied around her waist. She turned to him before he'd even called out to her.

She examined him with some interest and Naruto felt himself stand a little bit taller. He gave her his best smile. "Hi! I'm Naruto."

"I've never seen you before. Where you from?"

Naruto cocked his head in confusion. Was it that obvious that he wasn't from Konoha?

"Uh… aren't you meant to tell me your name before you go all ANBU interrogation on me?" he asked.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Ino Yamanaka. Now, back to why I don't recognize you."

Was it how he dressed? He found himself getting annoyed.

"Do you recognize everyone who's ever gone to the academy? It's a big place you know."

"I recognize all the people that matter." She said.

Ouch. "Okay. I'm not from around here."

She smiled, obviously happy that her interrogation was proceeding. "You're from Konokan then? What family? My dad does a lot of business with Kan families."

"My family isn't that big a deal, we have a little ramen store but that's it." He wasn't about to correct her assumption about which of Konohagakure's three great cities he called home. People rarely treated you the same when they knew you came from the bottom of the tree.

"You're uncomfortable." She said.

"What?"

Her eyes narrowed questioningly as she looked at him. "Not so much about your family or else you wouldn't have volunteered up the information about it. But you didn't conform that you're from Konokan… which means you're probably from Kinone."

She knew before the words came out of her mouth. He saw the growing surprise in her eyes. He'd hoped to keep it secret for at least a little while. Give himself the chance to impress his teammates before they found out.

"Wow. What's it like there?"

There she went. As if Kinone was some kind of hole in the ground.

"Is it really as bad as they say?"

As if she'd believe him even if he told her otherwise. Naruto started to walk past her to in the store.

"Ghosts and demons scouring the streets, abducting innocent kids to sacrifice to Jashin."

Of course they would… Wait a second. Ghosts? Demons? Naruto turned to look at her and ask where in the world she heard such a stupid rumor. And he immediately felt like an idiot when he saw the smile on her lips. He couldn't help but laugh, and he was happy that she laughed with him.

"No, I haven't seen any demons lately." He managed between chuckles. "Ghosts yes, but I'll have to say no to the demons."

Ino nodded wisely. "You should always say no to demons. That's what my mother tells me."

Naruto decided then and there that Ino was alright. They talked for a few minutes more, this time about more normal topics like what they knew about their sensei. Naruto had nothing to contribute, but Ino surprisingly knew a lot about Anko.

She was a Jounin 3rd Class, which Naruto already knew, and a former member of Konoha's Tracking Unit, a captain by the time she'd left the division. She must have been damn good as well. All the other captains in that division were Inuzuka members, trained from birth to be good at what they do. She'd also had a very short run in the Torture and Interrogation Division. Ino's dad had worked with her before, and apparently Anko was more inclined to torture than interrogation.

"Why'd she leave the division?" he had asked.

Ino shrugged and peered through the window of the shop. "Don't know, but she may just have been looking for a promotion. Outpost captains get paid a lot I would guess. They do have to spend months away from their homes and families."

"I'm going to hate that." Ino looked at him in confusion. "The staying away from family part. I help out at my dad's shop. My sister does too, but she isn't really reliable or anything."

"Has anyone ever told you, that you talk too much?" She asked the question with a smile, so Naruto took it in a positive way.

"Sorry. Shinobi aren't really meant to reveal so much are they?"

She was about to respond when she focused on something behind him. He turned just as she introduced their third teammate.

"And here comes our wayward teammate. Hey Shino."

Shino looked the most like a shinobi of the three of them. His jacket covered most of his body, and the high collar even hid his face from view. Naruto could see himself reflected in the genin's clean sunglasses.

"Is there any particular reason why you are waiting outside the establishment?" asked Shino.

Naruto seriously considered if it was a Konoha thing not to introduce yourself. "Not really. Just getting to know each other a little. After all we are going-"

"I'll be inside." Shino walked carefully around him and into the shop.

Naruto exchanged a look with Ino.

"That was rude." She said going through the door.

"Maybe he's having a bad day." He replied, following her in.

**********MoNJ**********

Naruto followed Ino as she led the way through the place. It smelled of dango, as was to be expected, and was surprisingly busy for the time of day. Most of the people in the shop weren't dressed like shinobi, so Naruto did wonder why they weren't somewhere working.

They found Shino, and by extension Anko, sitting in a private booth at the back. Naruto followed Ino's lead in sitting down next to Shino.

Anko didn't really look the part of a shinobi, Naruto decided. She was skinny, skinnier than he thought shinobi would be, even the female ones. She didn't look like she had any cool scars from past battles, and although her headband looked worn and tattered, there were none of the telltale signs of cuts and scratches that were present even on his own one.

No, Anko didn't look like a shinobi. So why did Naruto feel a shiver run down his spine when she looked at him over her menu.

She slapped the menu shut in her small hands and gave them a smile. It was probably meant to look welcoming. Naruto just felt the shiver again.

"You're late. I hate people who're late."

Naruto started to explain but Ino's hand on his arm stopped him as Anko cut him off.

"I also hate excuses. So next time, just don't be late. I'm your team leader Anko Mitarashi. Before we get ahead of ourselves there's something we need to do. Basic introductions and all that crap. I'm supposed to get to know you."

She pulled out a notebook and snapped it open to some unseen page. "Tell me your name, your dream, and a positive and negative about you."

Naruto's name was halfway out his mouth when she added, "And go in descending order of intelligence."

It took Naruto a second to figure out what she meant, but a second was all it took for Ino to start talking.

"My name is Ino Yamanaka, daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka. I dream of being a member of the Jounin 1st Class just like my father, and taking over the leadership of my clan. My best quality is my speed. I got the fastest time in the 80 yard dash in my class, and second fastest of my graduating year. My worst quality is my kenjutsu. I don't have the steadiest hand, but I'm working on it."

She sat back with a satisfied look on her face.

"Detailed." Said Anko with a blank stare.

Ino smiled sweetly. "I try to be."

Anko stared at Ino for a moment before writing something down in her notebook. "Next."

"I'm Naruto!" he blurted out. Like hell would be dubbed the dumbest member of the team. "I like ramen and samurai movies, I'm really good at a taijutsu and I suck at ninjutsu and genjutsu. One day, I'm going to be Hokage and I'll... do great things."

Naruto sat back and sighed. Felt good to get it out. And now, he was officially the second smartest person on the team in the eyes of his sensei. He just hoped she wouldn't read too much into his dream. He'd learned to keep some things to himself.

"You have horrible taste."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

"She said you have horrible taste." Ino chipped in helpfully. "Whether she was talking about your clothes, food or movies, I wouldn't know."

"Hey! Samurai movies are great! There's action, heroes, damsels in distress!"

Ino rolled her eyes. Shino didn't seem to care.

"Alright," Anko continued,"last but not least, the dumbest member of the team."

Shino nodded shortly. "Clarification. When you said a positive and a negative, were you referring to our skills as shinobi or to our personalities."

Anko tilted her head and smiled. "Why would I want to know about your skills? I have your case files from the past 6 years of your training. It would be pretty stupid to think that's what I wanted to hear. After all, I did say I need to know you."

It didn't take a genius to see what she was getting at. Naruto laughed aloud. If she was going to be like this all the time he could see Anko being a lot of fun. Ino on the other hand stiffened in her seat and glared at their sensei.

"In that case my name is Shino. I like gardening, collecting beatles, and I'm a logical thinker. I'm not good at dealing with simple people. My dream is none of your business."

Anko nodded and scribbled something into her notebook. She tore out the page she'd been writing on and began to fold it up.

"For a second I want you to assume everyone in this room is trying to kill you. What do you do?"

"What kind of question is that?" said Naruto as he looked around the room quickly. He'd heard rumors of Chunin and Jounin sensei using genjutsu to scare their genin and he was not about to caught off guard.

Ino didn't waste any time with questions however. "Escape. There's too many of them between here and the door so I'd use the back entrance."

"How do you know there is one?" said Naruto. Ichiraku's had a back entrance but it didn't seem like a given than all places would. They'd get cornered if Ino was wrong.

But apparently she had thought it through. "Konoha safety regulations. This place has to have an emergency exit somewhere."

Shino sat back heavily in his chair, far from impressed. "This test is pointless. I wouldn't have entered the room at all if I had any inclination that these people intended to kill me."

Ino turned to their teammate and Naruto could hear the exasperation in her voice. "Most assassins don't have giant signs warning you of impending doom you know?"

"Most assassins don't work in groups large enough to orchestrate a maneuver like that. They work solo to keep things simple."

"Naruto, back me up here."

Naruto felt himself backed into a corner. After all, he liked Ino, she was nice, and she was kind of making sense. But he didn't want to get any further on Shino's bad side, especially on the first day. Besides, he had never been a fan of the fleeing strategy.

"Uhhh. What if we fight them?"

Ino stared at him for a second then sat back in her seat shaking her head. "Lovely. You have a gift, you know that?"

Anko chuckled, drawing attention back to her presence and the fact that this was all her fault. "I am a fan of the suicide option. Never gets old."

"No, seriously." Naruto began, "all these people are civilians. Between the three of us we could probably take them in a straight fight."

"What makes you think they're civvies?" asked Ino incredulously.

"They're not dressed like shinobi. No vests or headbands."

"Naruto, we're in Konoha. The capital city of a region that houses shinobi. Most people here are shinobi. Headband or not."

"How was I supposed to know that? I don't live here!"

Anko stepped in again, the same amused smile on her face. "You know, I'm not an expert or anything, but I think it would be a good idea if you asked yourselves all these questions the moment you entered a new place. Who's there? What're they capable off? Where are the exits? Just a thought. Moving on, in three days we're going on deployment."

"What's deployment?" asked Naruto. He knew what is was, kind of, but a long time ago Ayame had explained to him the wonders of asking for answers to questions you thought you already knew the answer to. He'd lost count of the number of times he came to realize that he misunderstood something.

"Maybe if you'd let me finish you'd find out. Look, Konoha deals with thousands of missions a year from all over the Elemental Nations, but over 80% of those missions are from in and around Fire Country. People all over the place, from the dirtiest little shanty town to the big border cities, want to use Konoha shinobi for their own selfish reasons. But do you know how long it takes to get from the Eastern border to Konoha? Even for a shinobi?"

Naruto shook his head. Iruka sensei had gone over the geography of the country at some point, but that kind of thing was boring. When would he ever need to know exactly how many miles were between Konoha and Tanzaku anyways?

Anko tutted and shook her head. "The academy ain't what it used to be."

"I know exactly how long it takes." Said Ino. "About five to six weeks at a steady travelling pace for a shinobi. Longer for civilians."

Anko glanced at Shino but he didn't add anything. "Right. More or less correct. So, obviously if people have urgent stuff they want taken care off, they can't exactly take the time to plan a trip to the nearest town and then send a messenger so that help can arrive a couple of months later. That's why we have outposts."

She reached into the deep pockets of her coat and drug out a map. Pushing aside her empty plates she spread it out over the table until its tattered edges spilt over the edge. It was the entirety of Fire Country, split into all of its regions.

Again, Naruto didn't really know or care about most of this. But he humored Anko since she seemed to be getting closer and closer to the point of this conversation.

"So," she continued, "every region has an outpost slapped down in the middle of it somewhere. The size of the outpost depends on the mission frequency of the region. Normally the outposts closer to Konoha are smaller because they can depend on quick backup from the village."

She pointed to one of the regions that sat along the Eastern Border. "This is where we'll be going."

"Duration of stay?" asked Shino.

"3 months."

The next few exchanges passed Naruto by before he exploded. "Three months! What do you mean three months? I can't be gone for three months I have things to do, people to look out for."

Anko paused long enough to let him finish. "Naruto, unless you're valiantly struggling to feed a family of four, I don't care. Those are your orders."

She folded up her map and went rummaging in her pockets as Naruto seethed. Three months? Pops needed help at Ichiraku's. Money was getting tighter with every passing month, and until the Chunin exams brought in another wave of customers and new settlers he was going to need all the help he could get. Of course Konoha wouldn't let him starve but, if he went broke, he'd have to close down Ichiraku's. That would break him more than bankruptcy ever could.

His thoughts continued to race as Anko took out another map. She didn't unfold this one, instead putting down on the table next to the piece of paper she had ripped out and folded from her notebook.

"Your task for the next three days? Memorize this map. Commit to memory every mountain, cave, lake, river, tree and stone. By the time you're done you should be able to navigate your way around that region with your eyes closed."

As she stood to leave Ino asked a question. "Is this our test?"

"Wait, what test? There's a test?" asked Naruto.

He heard Shino sigh beside him, but he ignored him. This was important.

"The genin test Naruto." said Ino, "It's the test your sensei gives you after you graduate. It decides whether or not they'll be the one to teach you. Anko can decide to test us on whatever she wants. It can be as simple as seeing if we have basic manners if she wants. It's a pretty pointless test." She gave their sensei a rather smug smile. "Consequences really aren't that bad either. If you fail, you just get assigned to a different team. Probably a pre-existing one too."

Anko put on a disappointed face. "Aww, you're too well-informed princess. But you're wrong about one thing, the consequences don't matter... for you."

She turned her eyes to Naruto,and he got that feeling again.

"For him, they matter a hell of a lot. See, if you get reassigned, you're going to be put with a chunin sensei. They're decent enough I suppose, teach you the basics. But for mister I-wanna-be-Hokage I think it's worth noting that almost no one who was trained by a chunin sensei has made it to Jounin, and there has never been a Hokage who wasn't a member of the 1st Class before they got appointed. Ino and Shino could maybe make it to Jounin because they get all their jutsu from their clans." She looked at Naruto. "What about you? You think some third rate chunin will teach you what you need to know to become Hokage?"

Naruto clenched his fist but kept his mouth shut. It couldn't work that way. It wouldn't be fair. What if the Jounin designed an elaborately difficult test just because they couldn't be bothered with teaching?

He glanced at Ino. Her smug smile was gone, but she didn't seem too worried. Shino... didn't care. Something worrying occurred to Naruto.

"Do we pass or fail as a team or as individuals?"

Immediately he felt Ino's eyes on him. In fact, he saw Shino turn his head as well. Anko just smiled.

"What? You don't trust your teammates to pull their weight? You're not wrong I suppose. As Shino would tell you, it's the logical conclusion. They don't have much to lose, their parents are Jounin after all."

"Well. Do we?"

"That's up to me." Anko said after a moment.

"You still haven't told us what the test is going to be." said Ino.

"Oh right. I'm not going to tell you. If I tell you, you'll save all your hard work and endeavor for the test. But if you have to assume that anything and everything I tell you to do could be the test, then you'll do a better job. Great motivation isn't it?"

She grinned at them and made to leave. As she passed through the door she said over her should, "Oh, meet me at The Autumn House tomorrow night. Dress to impress."

Then she was gone. And Naruto was left with his two teammates. Shino stood up and left without a word.

Ino just scoffed. "Guess he doesn't want the map then."

He realized that Anko had left them just the one map between the three of them. Well, it was Shino's loss. As to how he and Ino were going to share it...

He gave her a serious look. "Half it?"

"You are so stupid." She took the map and started to get up something about libraries on her lips, but she stopped when she noticed something on the table.

Naruto followed her gaze and saw the paper Anko had folded up next to her empty plates. "She forgot it."

They exchanged a look and Ino leaned in as he picked it up and unfolded, the excuse "she didn't tell us not to" falling easily from their mouths.

He unfolded it. They read the message. Ino bolted. Naruto didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The message read, "I.O.U.".

Yeah, he thought as he eyed the burly man at the bar and started planning an escape route, Anko was truly a piece of work.

**********MoNJ**********

AN: Thanks for reading. Please share your thoughts and feelings through the form of a review if you can spare the time. Cheers!