It was Naruto who heard the knock first. Stuck somewhere deep between Sasuke's long limbs and Sakura's pointy elbows and knees, Naruto stirred gently, trying to remove himself from the entangled limbs without waking anyone.
He opened the bedroom door quietly and stepped barefoot into the dark living room. Judging by the position of the moon in the window, the morning was a far ways off. They had only fallen asleep an hour or so ago.
The knock came again, more demanding this time.
Naruto muttered under his breath as he hurried to the front door, cursing whoever was responsible for prying him out of his warm bed.
The living room was an obstacle course, littered with empty bags of crips and plastic cups. The group had stayed up late the night before, celebrating a job well done. Following Choji's delicious supper, Sasuke had wanted to get back to work on the papers, but Ino and Sakura had popped open a bottle of sake they found buried deep in a cabinet and all but pushed the bottle into everyone's mouths.
Choji had remained sober, opting to care for Kitsune, but the rest of the group had drunk sake and laughed merrily until Ino's head drooped onto Choji's shoulder and Sakura curled into a ball on the carpet between the side table and the couch (why she loved sleeping between couches and side tables was anyone's guess).
The knock began for the third time, when Naruto twisted the doorknob and yanked the door open, angrily.
"What do you-" Naruto didn't finish his sentence. In front of him, a group of shinobi stood at attention, hands tucked behind their backs. They wore masks like Konoha's Anbu, but no animals were painted onto the faces. The masks were pale white and blank. The shinobi in the front had tied a headband to her waist, cinching the navy uniform she wore. Naruto didn't get a chance to get a closer look at the emblem on the headband because the next thing he knew, he was being jostled awake, roughly.
Naruto groaned lightly as he felt a jab in his stomach. He tried to roll away from the prodding, but a sharper jab hit his side. He yelped, and sat up, furiously blinking the sleep away from his eyes. The room was dark and he couldn't see anything clearly. His bum felt numb from the hard floor he was laying on.
"Wh-what? What? What's going on?" he mumbled. He tried to lift his hand to rub his eyes but couldn't. His wrists struggled against cool metal. The feeling made his stomach sink.
"Naruto!" Sakura hissed from in front of him. He looked up, and in the dark jostling room he could make out her small frame, leaning against a wall, hands behind her back. It had been her foot that had been prodding him earlier.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped, but quickly felt another jab in his side.
He turned around in time to see Sasuke's elbow retreating from his side. "Be quiet, Naruto!" Sasuke said in a harsh whisper.
Naruto felt the room they were in jostle once more and he felt his stomach turn. "Can someone please explain what is happening?" he asked, desperately.
"We've been arrested," Naruto heard a voice at the other end of the room.
"Shikamaru?" he asked, quietly.
"Shut up and listen, Naruto!" came Ino's exasperated voice from somewhere next to Shikamaru.
Naruto struggled against the cuffs behind his back again, gritting his teeth and feeling sweat gather on his upper lip, but it was futile.
"They're chakra-inhibitors," Sasuke replied, jabbing Naruto again. "You won't be able to get them off. Now, Settle down and listen!"
Naruto stopped moving, just in time for the room to jostle again, causing him to fall into Sasuke's side. Sasuke shoved him off with his shoulder.
"We're in a carriage, being taken to Land of Claws right now," Shikamaru explained. Naruto couldn't see his face, but he could imagine it quite well hearing Shikamaru's terse tone. Suddenly the layout of the room made much more sense. "We were arrested a few hours ago for a litany of charges. They knocked on the door, incapacitated you, did the same to the rest of us, put us in cuffs, and loaded us onto this carriage. I say we have about another few hours until we get to the Land of Claws."
"Arrested us for what?" Naruto asked, still in shock. "Arrested by who?! How are we already by the Land of Claws? That's farther away than the Land of Birds was!"
"They arrested us for everything," Sakura said softly. Naruto could make out that she was sitting with her knees close to her chest, resting her forehead on her kneecaps.
"We were arrested by the Shinobi Tribunal," Sasuke provided, his voice dripping in a silent rage, "they probably used some sort of jutsu to speed up our travel time."
"The tribunal?" Naruto replied, eyes getting wider, "you mean the one they made after the war for rogue ninja? But why? We didn't even do anything wrong!"
Sasuke was about to answer when Shikamaru cut him off. "That's not what is important right now," Shikamaru said, sounding like he was trying to control his anger as well. "This feels like a trap. We were set up somehow, and we need to figure out why."
Naruto felt another jostle, which he now recognized as the carriage tires bounding over a rock. Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, trying to keep his stomach steady, but another question came to him.
"Where's Kitsune?" he asked.
"They took him when they arrested us," Choji growled from the other end of the carriage. Choji had grown quite fond of the baby, and not knowing anything about his whereabouts scared Choji.
Naruto shifted uncomfortably listening to the dejection in Choji's voice. "C'mon guys, we have to be able to get out of this!" he said, half-whispering, "We've been through much worse. Sasuke, if we go back to back, maybe you can undo my cuffs and I can take out one of the guards and- "
Shikamaru tsked. "No, Naruto. Anything you do while in custody will only hurt our case. There's no escaping this. If you run now, you'll be a rogue ninja with a bounty on your head. If you hurt any of these guards, you'll be committing an international crime."
The carriage fell silent for a moment as they all thought about their current position.
Bound and placed in the back of a carriage, hurtling towards a trial, for charges they didn't even fully understand.
"Ne, Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispered to Sakura. She looked up from her hands for a second.
"What happens at the tribunal? I thought it was just for rogue ninja."
"The tribunal shinobi arrest any ninja that have broken the rules of decorum between shinobi and civilian life. The rules of decorum were just recently codified so there aren't many cases to go off in terms of precedent. The shinobi that arrested us are taking us to the Land of Claws right now where we should have a fair and just trial in front of a panel of judges selected from various villages. They decide whether or not we are guilty. If they decide we are guilty, then our case is turned over to a jury made of shinobi and civilians who decide our sentencing." Sakura explained. She sounded tired. She spoke slowly and softly but Naruto still caught every word.
"Judges from various villages, right? Well, that's perfect! We just need a Konoha judge on the panel, and we'll be good to go! Plus, if we're on trial, Kakai-sensei will definitely come. There's no way we're found guilty with him around!" Naruto whispered. "Don't worry guys, it's going to be okay. This is all just a big misunderstanding." Naruto attempted to sound cheerful but only succeeded in sounding desperate.
Sakura nodded gently, and no one else replied. Naruto's grin slowly faded away.
The rest of the uncomfortable journey was spent in heavy silence only broken by the wheels on the rough ground.
When the carriage finally halted to a stop, Sasuke could make out the murmurs of their jailors as they went around the sides of the carriage and opened up the backdoor. The blinding light burned Sasuke's eyes, and he looked away abruptly. He felt rough cold hands grabbing at his arms, pulling him out of the carriage.
By the time his feet hit the ground outside, his eyes had finally adjusted to the blinding mid-morning sun.
Naruto and Sakura look disheveled, standing next to each other, peering around them, nervously. Choji, Ino and Shikamaru stood a little further of, huddled.
Behind them, all stood one of the largest stone buildings Sasuke had ever seen. The pillars outside of the white stone building were long and sturdy, and intricate carvings adorned every inch of them. White stone steps led to the massive front door. Sasuke couldn't make out the top of the building because the sun was shining too brightly, but he imagined the whole thing looked like a castle.
He didn't have much time to take in the architectural beauty. Sasuke felt gruff hands grab at his wrists and release the cuffs for a moment, only to bring his left hand to his front and cuff it to Sakura's hand, and cuff Naruto's front hand to his back hand. He looked behind him and saw the blank-faced shinobi doing the same to Team Ten. They stood in a line, looking like they were holding hands on a school trip until one of the masked shinobi yanked on Sakura's front hand.
The masked shinobi's headband glinted in the sun as she began leading the group up the stairs. As she turned slightly to look back at them, Sasuke could make out the insignia on the headband. A pair of scales. How astute.
As though by their own accord, Sasuke's feet began moving towards the building. He looked down at his legs, confused. Everyone had the exact same pace and gait. Sasuke looked around for an explanation, but he saw several of the masked shinobi that were flanking them holding up a hand-sign he hadn't seen before.
A body control jutsu perhaps?
The line of people climbed the front steps all the way to the massive front door. Under the shade of the overhang held up by the pillars, Sasuke took a deep breath.
In Justice We Trust, said one pillar. May the truth always be heard, said another.
The massive front doors swung open slowly, and Sasuke followed Sakura as they entered. He could see perfectly fine over her petite frame. The massive room was made in slabs of marble, chandeliers hung high into the domed ceilings, and doors extended in many directions. A grand staircase stood in the center of the room, leading to a second-floor that seemed to have even larger doors than the first.
The entrance was quite busy, filled with people in suits running around with papers and files, but all the movement stopped when they walked through the door. People stopped what they were doing to look at the 6 prisoners and whispered amongst themselves.
Sasuke grimaced. The fact was that he was an international criminal. He had just been lucky that his home village was Konoha where his best friend was a war-hero, his old sensei was the Hokage, and his other best friend was an apprentice of the previous Hokage and one of the best medical ninja to ever exist. Sasuke knew that he had been incredibly lucky to avoid any sort of penalties for all that he had done, but he always thought it had been too good to be true.
Perhaps his day of reckoning had finally come. But why were all of his friends being dragged in with him?
As though he could hear Sasuke's thoughts, Naruto took a step closer to Sasuke, bumping his shoulder into Sasuke's back.
Sasuke released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding and Naruto stepped back into his place in line.
The masked shinobi that was leading Sakura waited for another masked shinobi to approach her. They whispered for a few seconds before the shinobi holding Sakura's hands looked back at the others and made a hand signal.
They began walking immediately, heading up the white marble stairs. Sasuke could see the sweat gathering on Sakura's palms and the angry red marks that were forming on her wrists from the cuffs. He had to look away. Her fear was a little contagious.
God-like battles? They could handle. Bureaucracy? Now that may be fatal.
Right in front of the top of the steps, a red carpet led to an enormous gold door. The masked shinobi at the front pushed the door open and led Sakura in. The others followed closely behind.
The room inside was just as lavish as the door. The room was filled with seats, in all directions, going high into the air. The red carpet led directly to a clearing in the middle of the room where an elevated stage with 6 ornate velvet chairs sat. Next to the stage was a small wooden box that held a microphone and across from the stage sat a long wooden desk with smaller chairs. The masked shinobi led Sakura and the others to the long wooden table and tapped Sakura's cuffs. The cuffs fell away. Sakura looked around, unsure of what to do. She rubbed her wrists before pulling out a chair and taking a seat. The others followed her lead.
As they sat, Sasuke looked around them. Eyes were peering at them from every direction. He imagined this is what Naruto must have felt like in the Pit at the Watering Hole. The chairs that were in the mezzanine held men and women in lavish clothing, holding small binoculars and whispering behind gloved hands.
What was this spectacle? Sasuke eyed his comrades, wondering what they must look like to the people around them.
Sakura and Ino looked terrified, their small frames sitting at the edge of their chairs. Naruto looked angry, eyes flashing like a wild animal as he surveyed the room around him. Choji looked worried, shifting constantly in his seat, trying to get comfortable. Shikamaru looked apathetic, but Sasuke could see his mind calculating at a furious rate as he took everything in.
Sasuke looked down at his own hands which lay listlessly in his lap and wondered what he must look like. Sasuke wasn't scared of much. Fear was something that he didn't have the privilege to have. But for the first time in a long time, Sasuke had something to lose, and the idea of anything happening to his precious people chilled him to the bone.
A hush came across the room and Sasuke's eyes jerked up. Men in long robes entered the clearing and everyone stood. Shikamaru stood as well, pushing his chair back, and glanced at his friends, urging them to do the same. The other five followed suit. The robed men sat in the ornate chairs on the stage and looked down at the 6 of them. One of them gestured with his hands that they could sit and they did.
The room was deathly silent.
"Ladies and Gentleman," the judge in the middle began, "We have gathered the Tribunal today in order to address some disturbing allegations against these six shinobi we have in front of us."
The judge was old and his face sagged with wrinkles. Crescent-moon glasses laid on the bridge of his nose. His voice strained to be loud enough to hear, and he stopped between words to rewet his mouth.
"The tribunal today consists of members from Suna, Birds, Claws, Storms, Fields," he said as he gestured to the row of judges on either side of him. Then he pointed to himself and added, "and of course, Konoha, where the defendants are from." He seemed a little too pleased to say that.
Any hope Naruto had about a merciful Konoha judge drained from his body. Naruto had never seen the man before, but he didn't seem particularly friendly.
Suna's judge was a sharp-looking woman with a clever pointy face and fiery red hair. The judge from the Land of Birds was a portly man with a bald head who resembled a thumb. The man from the Land of Claws wore glasses that were perched high on his large nose, his face twisted in a frown. The judge from the Land of Storms was an old lady, who looked like she should have died a few times by now. She was small and could barely see over the desk in front of them, but her beady eyes scanned the room in a cold and calculating way. The judge from the Land of Fields was a younger man who looked uncomfortable under the eyes of all the spectators.
Naruto leaned towards Sasuke and asked if he had ever seen the Konoha judge before, but before he could, the little old lady from the Land of Storms cleared her throat in a soft high pitched voice.
"There shall be no discussion between the defendants," she said in a small high pitched voice, leaning forward to look at Naruto and Sasuke.
Naruto sat back in his chair and she leaned back again.
Sasuke could have sworn he heard Naruto mutter something like "old hag."
The judge from Konoha began again. "Today, we are starting a trial that is unprecedented for this new tribunal. As you all know, this tribunal was established following the fourth war, for the purpose of holding shinobi accountable. Shinobi are naturally blessed with more natural power than civilians and often answer only to themselves. The fourth war taught us all that these men and women with the power to destroy towns and shape-shift must be watched. The damage they can do is far too great. This tribunal was created with the purpose of showing that no one is above the rule of law—not even shinobi."
A round of applause thundered from the stands and Shikamaru gulped. He suddenly knew exactly where this was going.
"Today," the judge began again, silencing the applause, "we will explain the charges against these young men and women. Tomorrow, the trial will officially begin."
"Wait, without a lawy-"Naruto began, but the beady old woman slammed a thin stick down on the wooden table before he could continue. The noise was incredibly loud.
"No. Talking," she repeated, in the same sickly sweet voice.
Naruto sat back again, and out of the corner of his eye; he could make out the look Shikamaru was giving him that said, "shut up."
Naruto obliged.
The Konoha judge had unraveled a long piece of parchment paper while Naruto was being chastised and had pulled on glasses. He peered over the glasses towards the paper.
"Normally, I would read the charges by the defendant, but the list here is too long to name charges individually. Instead, I will explain the charges chronologically as they have happened. Let us start with Haruno, Sakura, Uchiha, Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto of Team 7 of Konoha"
Sakura shifted in her seat and bit her lip. Sasuke and Naruto could tell she was trying her best to stay calm but Sakura had never been one to break the rules.
Once, in the academy, she had allowed the others to talk her into hiding all the chalkboard erasers. Their teacher had come in and had simply asked where the erasers were when Sakura began to cry and confessed. She even took a self-imposed punishment of staying after school to wash the chalkboards even when the teacher had said it was okay.
"Team 7 consists of Uchiha Sasuke, a known war criminal who was pardoned by his previous sensei, the current Hokage of Konoha."
The crowd gasped and Sasuke felt his skin prickle.
"Uzumaki Naruto, the jinchuriki for the nine-tailed fox."
The crowd got a little louder. Naruto hadn't felt this level of fear and hatred directed at him in a long time. He glared at the backs of his hands angrily.
"And Haruno Sakura, a shinobi trained by the previous Hokage, who has been rumored to have a romantic relationship with both of her teammates."
Sakura blanched at the accusation. That's what they had to say about her? Her teammates were renowned ninja and she was a love scandal? Sakura fought the urge to say something un-lady like. The crowd seemed delighted at this scandal. The whispering got louder.
The judge gestured for the audience to quiet down. He held up the parchment paper and peered at Team 7 over the top of it.
"In your deployment for your current mission, Team 7 went to the Land of Fields and is being charged with the following crimes;
One count each for shinobi malpractice for going rogue and partaking in activity not related to your mission of escorting the daimyo's one and only infant son.
One count each of impersonation of a civilian, for impersonating a farm manager, a younger brother of a business tycoon, and a horde of factory workers.
One count of power abuse against Uzumaki Naruto for participating in an illegal shinobi fight against a civilian.
One count against each of you for aiding and abetting power abuse, for not turning in the other rogue ninja who were participating in illegal shinobi fights against civilians, despite having found all information relating to them in a book."
One count of arson against Haruno Sakura for setting a civilian home on fire.
One count of burglary against Haruno Sakura for stealing coins from the coffers of the home she burned down.
One count of fraud against Uchiha Sasuke for selling false gems.
One count against each of you for theft, for diverting grain and sending it back to Konoha instead of its intended destination without the sellers knowledge."
The crowd murmured amongst themselves in harsh whispers. Sakura wilted in her chair and Naruto's eyes burned with anger.
That is not how things happened. Well...they were, but there was important context missing! He wanted to object but he knew it would do little good now. When the judge laid out their crimes like this, it didn't sound too good for them.
The judges eyed each member of Team 7 one by one before continuing.
"Then, after causing this damage, Team 7 met up with their comrades, Team 10, consisting of Nara Shikamaru, son of Konoha's chief strategist during the third war, Yamanaka Ino, heiress to the Yamanaka clan's mind control jutsu, and Akimichi Choji, son of the Akimichi clan, known for their brutish strength."
Ino wanted to yell that her jutsu was not a mind-control jutsu, but she bit her tongue.
"In the Land of Storms, you are being charged with the following crimes;
One charge of fraud against all six of you for selling false medicine in the form of elixirs;
Two counts each of Shinobi malpractice for each member of Team 10. One for going rogue on your mission and one for betraying your own client.
One count of fraud against both Team 7 and Team 10 for selling fake elixirs.
One count of trespassing against Akimichi Choji and Nara Shikamaru for entering a hotel building that was off limits
Two counts of medical malpractice against both Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino. One for poisoning your client, and another for subjecting the man to a false and invasive medical procedure during which you accessed his mind, violating his privacy and autonomy.
One count of property damage against both Team 7 and Team 10 for destroying the roof of a hospital, with sickly people inside and causing a water leak, presenting dangers for the patients
One count of impersonation for Uzumaki Naruto for presenting himself as a guard to the hospital's staff
One count of Intellectual Property Theft against Team 7 and Team 10 for stealing data being collected by the Land of Storms relating to their business in water reservoirs."
With each charge, the crowd murmured louder. The gasps got more pronounced. From behind them, Sasuke heard someone hiss, "that Haruno girl is the worst of them all! Burning and looting civilian homes and poisoning her own client? What a monster."
Sasuke fought his blood lust and hoped that Sakura hadn't heard the comment. He couldn't tell if her rigid posture was because of what people were saying or because the shock of it all.
"Tonight, the shinobi will be sent to the jail cells. Konoha representation will arrive tomorrow morning, and the trial will proceed immediately," the Konoha judge explained. "For tonight, the court is dismissed."
The chattering in the court room got louder as the judges exited the room. Sakura looked frighteningly pale, but before Sasuke could put a hand on her shoulder, his wrists were back in the cuffs and they were being led through a backdoor into a dark and windy hallway.
The hallway steeped lower and the air got cooler and damper. The hallways here were lit only with lanterns hanging off the wall.
Deep dark jail cells were lined for what seemed like miles.
The masked shinobi unlocked a cell door at the end of the hallway and let all of them in. The jail cell was cramped and humid, and devoid of any furniture but they were just glad that she hadn't separated them. She removed their handcuffs and slammed the bars behind her.
For the first time, she spoke to them. "These bars stop you from using your chakra for anything. You can't summon. You can't use your jutsu. Don't bother trying. Anything you use will be recorded and will only add charges to your trial." She sounded young.
The shinobi turned on her heel and left silently.
The six shinobi looked at each other dumfounded. Sakura eyes got teary and she tried to hide her face by acting like she got dirt in her eyes. Ino sniffled.
Sasuke looked around, dejectedly. No amount of training could get them out of this one.
He leaned against a wall and peered from between the bars when he heard a slight scratching sound.
Shikamaru was hunched in a corner, drawing something in the sand with his pointer finger and muttering to himself.
Soon, everyone noticed. They all crawled a little closer to Shikamaru, who looked up.
Shikamaru looked perplexed, sweat gathering on his brow. "I need to talk through this," he said. His voice held none of the good-natured boredom it usually did.
His stubbornness was contagious. They were Konoha's finest. They weren't just going to accept defeat.
Sakura pulled her hair back and wiped her tears. Ino bit her lip and nodded. Choji grunted and Naruto and patted Shikamaru's back.
They weren't ready to give up just yet.
"So let me start with what we know," Shikamaru started. "The tribunal. Who can explain it?"
Sakura leaned forward. "The judge basically explained it. The tribunal was created to hold shinobi accountable. We're too powerful to just answer to other shinobi. They saw what happened with Danzo and what he was using root members for. They saw what happened with the Uchiha-" she stopped to glance at Sasuke, but he looked unbothered, "The point of the tribunal was to avoid any more tragedies like that."
Shikamaru grunted as he drew some more in the dirt.
Ino nodded and added, "there was also a concern about how powerful shinobi are. After the fourth war, it became obvious that even one misguided ninja could destroy entire lands."
Naruto leaned back on the wall next to Shikamaru, "the point of the tribunal makes sense, but why us? We're not the bad guys."
"No, we're not," Sasuke replied slowly, "but we are famous."
Shikamaru stopped his doodling to look at Sasuke who shrugged. "You all saw the crowd in the courtroom today. No one cares that much about a trial unless its sensationalist. It all clicked for me when the Konoha judge was introducing us. He wasn't informing us or the other judges about our charges. He was weaving a story. A really biased one at that. A traitor, a monster, a scandal, three behemoth threats from Konoha's biggest clans…" Sasuke's voice trailed off.
Sakura's eyes opened wide, "you're right! After the war, you and Naruto are probably the best known shinobi in the world. Konoha was solidified as the greatest of all the ninja villages even though no one came out and said it."
Shikamaru pondered this for a moment and added, "so, putting Konoha's best and biggest on trial will reach the masses. Everyone will know that we are on trial…. why would they want that?"
Everyone thought, but no one had an answer.
"Okay," Shikamaru said, drawing a question mark next to a box, "then next question. All of the things we are being charged with are true. They all happened, even if they were taken out of context…who brought these charges against us? Who knew all of this happened?"
"Could it have been Kawakami and Sato?" Naruto asked. "They both interacted with us."
Shikamaru shook his head. "No, it can't be. The charges they brought against us were detailed. Sure, Sato may know we sold him fake elixir and gave him a fake surgery but how did they know about who you all transformed into in the Land of Fields? How do they know that Ino was poisoning him or that we stole the data? We left no traces."
Shikamaru drew another question mark.
He kept staring at the ground and asking himself, "why and how? Why and how?"
Eventually, the others moved away from him to find comfier places on the ground. When they had been brought in, the sun had been in the early morning sky. Lunch should be arriving soon.
Sakura and Ino curled up next to each other in one corner and Sasuke and Naruto sat together in another, not saying much—but finding comfort in each other's presence.
"Fuck!" Shikamaru gasped, breaking the deadly silence.
He stood up and walked to the farthest corner of the cell and motioned them over.
"They set us up," he said. When no one put the pieces together he tried again. "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, you got the mission to escort Kitsune in Konoha, right?"
They nodded.
"Sakura, you mentioned that for those first few days, Kitsune never left your side. He was with you all when you found out about the illegal fights, when you made your side-mission, when you came back the next day and brainstormed together?"
Sakura nodded, but Naruto said, "oh c'mon Shikamaru, you really think Kitsune told on us? His vocabulary is limited to gibberish," but Shikamaru ignored him.
"He was with us the entire time we were planning on what to do with Sato," Shikamaru said fiercely.
Choji cocked his head. "Okay, and?"
Shikamaru turned to his own team, excitedly.
"Choji, do you remember a few days before Naruto got to us, you stayed home instead of coming to the Sato house."
"Yeah?"
"You said it was because it was raining and I told you that wouldn't look good for the client, so you made me a batch of soup to give to him…"
Choji smiled slightly at the memory. "I did, yeah. I put a good amount of buckthorn in it and told you guys not to have any…he didn't ask to see us for a few days after that…probably far too busy in the bathroom."
"Exactly," Shikamaru said, "Why didn't you get charged with poisoning?"
Choji blinked, dumbfounded. I it had been Sato that had reported them, there was no way a man as fragile as that would have left out that detail.
He looked around at each of the other people, and then asked, "they knew all these details that no one else could have known, but they didn't know that Choji caused Sato immense pain and suffering for a few days, right before you got here. If Sato was the one that reported us, don't you think he would have added that?"
Shikamaru spoke slowly, as though he was parsing out the information as he spoke. "They knew it was only Choji and I in the hotel room. We're the only two that got trespassing charges…"
Sakura drummed her fingers on her cheek and added, "somehow, they knew I was training Ino with the poisoning. I got a charge for it too even though she was the only one going to visit Sato. How did they know what we were doing in the apartment?"
Ino gasped and slapped a hand on her thigh. "You're right! I even got a charge for using mind control jutsu during the operation. That wasn't even a part of the plan! It was improvised!"
Sasuke cursed under his breath, "the fucking bingo book," he said, looking at Sakura and Naruto, "they knew that we had the bingo book of rogue ninja and didn't turn it in. We only talked about it in the forest between the two lands, completely isolated. Only me, Sakura, Naruto…and Kitsune."
Shikamaru looked around the room as the realization slowly dawned on everybody. "There is only one person out there, besides all of us that knew all of this information," Shikamaru said.
Sakura blinked like a deer in headlights. "You don't mean…"
Shikamaru nodded. "You told me Kitsune had a scar at the base of his neck. I saw it myself. You know what that scar is now, don't you?"
Sakura looked shell-shocked. "He was microchipped and recording us," Sakura said in a voice barely louder than a whisper, covering her mouth with a hand. "There has been a lot of new technology being made for surveillance missions…but who would put that in a baby? What sort of a monster?"
Shikamaru nodded, "It was a set up from the very start."
Sasuke grimaced and turned to Naruto, "do you remember when we were going from Land of Fields to Land of Storms and you said I jinxed us into getting ambushed? I literally did. They heard me and they were fucking with us. That's the only reason they sent those jokers to fight us." Sasuke let out a bitter chuckle, "I guess I was right in that it was weird that we hadn't gotten into any fights…they were watching us the whole fucking time."
Naruto looked like the room was spinning. His face paled and his hands were clenched tightly at his sides.
"Wait, wait, let's slow down," he said, shaking his head "how is this possible? Why would Kakai-sensei allow this?"
Sakura sighed. "He didn't know, Naruto. Do you remember what our mission scroll said? Kitsune's mom came to the village, hiding from something, gave birth and passed away. I bet she was sent here on purpose from the Land of Birds so they could assign the mission of escorting him to someone and eavesdrop."
Sakura turned to Shikamaru, jaw set firm in determination, "but Shikamaru, you know what this means right?"
Shikamaru grimaced and looked away. Sakura turned to everyone else. "It means…this was in part an inside job. That baby was born in Konoha. That means that he was microchipped in the Konoha hospital. Someone in our own village wanted this to happen. They sent us to places where they knew we'd take action, and they listened to us do it to build a case against us."
Shikamaru nodded again. "Team 7 was the real target. We were just collateral damage. It's as you said Sasuke. Your team is famous, even to civilians. Everyone knows you. We were just perfect collateral damage. Even more kindling to throw in the fire. They got the chance to take down 6 Konoha shinobi in one go."
Sasuke looked disgusted. Sakura squeezed his hand and gave him a concerned look but Sasuke was seething.
Shikamaru turned back to the group, brows furrowed. "Okay, so now we know how they brought charges against us and we know its most likely an inside job…the next question is who would want this and why?"
AN: Thank you all for reading! Please Please Please like, follow, and review, I am literally begging. Also, really excited for the next chapter because it's been what I have been waiting for!