A/N: Hello, people! COVER ART BY: Niyuu_Trickster_Kat!

I don't own Naruto.

I have no beta.

ENJOY!

CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR. HELLY-WATERMELONSMELLINFELLON!

TAGS for this Chapter: SWEARING and mentions of SEX TOYS. You'll see.

I'm writing Ch. 17 right now.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed when Anbu Inu arrived. Kakashi was one of his best shinobi and giving him a mission inside the village had earned the old man a very unimpressed glare that could be felt through his mask. He'd been trying his best to get Kakashi off the excessive missions lately, preferring him to relax more and stop nearly dying all the time. If that meant keeping him in the village then so be it.

His guilt hadn't made him suicidal yet, but yet was the operative word. Who knew what Kakashi would get up to if he didn't have something to distract him?

Therefore Hiruzen had called him in for a special, S-Rank mission centered around Konoha. It would probably be the most important mission Kakashi would ever take in Hiruzen's lifetime.

"This isn't your typical mission, I admit it. And I know you'd rather something that seems like it would make better use of your skills, but there are few I would trust with this particular mission because you would not allow bias to interfere with the mission and your tracking skills are quite necessary."

At once, Kakashi stood a lot straighter. Even if his expression was masked by the Inu mask itself, his emotions were easy to read from his body language. That one thing had never changed.

"It has come to my attention that an Academy Instructor by the name of Mizuki, who ranks as Chunin, might be subtly sabotaging Uzumaki Naruto's efforts in the classes where he has direct access to the boy."

Kakashi became deathly still. The mounting rage wafting off of him was almost palpable. Someone might be actively seeking to sabotage his sensei's child. Of course he wouldn't take it very well.

"I need you to tail him for exactly seven days. Find out where he goes, what he does, who he speaks to, and anything that seems important. Even things that seem unimportant. He is most likely deliberately going against my orders and I want to know why before we bring him in and place him in Ibiki's tender care. I want every bit of proof I can get ahead of time."

The Anbu gave a sharp nod, falling into his persona instantly. "Anything else, Hokage-sama?"

"If he becomes an immediate threat to Uzumaki Naruto's continued existence, in any capacity, you have permission to handle him so long as he is alive and sane enough for T&I's workers to get information out of him."

"Hai!"

And then he was gone.

Hiruzen hated traitors. He'd made enough mistakes in his life and he wasn't about to let this go on. He'd already failed Naruto in various ways but wouldn't allow this to be another.

Mission Prep was something else.

Yuuki took to Konoha Sign Language like a fish to water, sucked at Morse Code, and was so-so at yoga. Signing was just so fluid and pretty that she found herself practicing it randomly during classes. Morse Code sucked because they had to learn how to write it, how to signal it, and how to finger-tap it. The taps all sounded the fucking same and were hard to keep up with!

As for yoga... it required movement and even if she could stretch pretty well, it wasn't fun. It wasn't her idea of a good way to pass time.

But it was so cool learning about new stuff that she really didn't mind it all too much since it was a smaller part of a much bigger class. Others in the class weren't as receptive to the new lessons of course. As to be expected. Some boys thought it was 'too girly' though how learning to survive in the field was considered girly, she'd never know.

Lunch was, as always, the favorite of all class periods. Because food. And the abundance of it surrounding her person from all sides. Of course her lunch consisted of fruits and rice, but that was fine. Rice was her favorite food in general and watermelon and peaches were like dessert. Yuuki could pack away an entire watermelon as a meal, she didn't mess around. She would accept no criticisms either.

Yuuki sat beneath a tree in the yard, watching all the other students and cataloging the different groups and the purpose they'd assigned themselves in the meantime.

Group 1 were the Groupies. The Fangirls. Every girl in their year except Hinata and Yuuki was in this group. Out of all the classes, A-E, all gathered together. Most didn't have lunches, though from what she'd gleaned, it was a personal choice and not because they were poor. They were 'dieting for Sasuke-kun'.

Being able to decide when not to eat had to be the height of privilege and Yuuki felt the urge to bang some heads together. She refrained just barely as she didn't want to disappoint Iruka. Having a teacher's trust was a very useful thing and he actually cared for his students.

As for dieting for a boy, who ended up being Broody of all people, it just sounded really stupid. Especially since Broody never paid them any mind to begin with. And where did they get the idea that he 1.) liked girls, 2.) preferred thin girls, and 3.) liked long hair?

Dude never spoke to them so where did the widespread belief come from?

Then there were the Troublemakers. This group consisted of Puppy and his puppy, Loudmouth, Pineapple, and Chubby. Puppy and Loudmouth seemed to often fight over who could be the loudest while Pineapple would lay down and sleep and Chubby would go through like nine bags of chips while he watched the proceedings.

They skipped class as a group twice since Yuuki had started at the Academy, which told her that was a normal thing for them and that they'd probably do it again without remorse.

The other classes of their year had students gathered together to mock wrestle or play Ninja. Save for the Fangirls, Class A did not mix with Classes B through E all that much. She didn't really know why as of yet, but she had some ideas.

Clan kids often ended up in the A-Class and the rest didn't have many, if any. So that meant the others just held civilians, or children of shinobi who came from civilian backgrounds. Clan and civilian children didn't even mix well even on a good day.

Broody was up in a tree that none of the fangirls could climb apparently, eating a tomato straight and ignoring everything. He looked annoyed, but that was normal for him.

Hinata was seated with a boy that Yuuki had yet to find a nickname for as she'd never heard him speak and never saw his face behind his big coat and its high collar and his dark sunglasses. As for Hinata, secretly she referred to her as Stutters now and then, but would never say it aloud for fear of ruining her already low confidence. She liked Hinata.

The two sat at a table of their own and their mouths didn't move to make conversation. They merely ate in silence and watched everyone else.

Curious, Yuuki decided to go over and strike up a conversation herself. She had questions and the best way to get answers was to ask them.

"Hey," she said upon getting close enough. "Is there a reason you two aren't a part of any of the groups that have formed?" she asked, sitting beside Hinata who choked a bit on her rice at Yuuki's sudden appearance in her peripheral.

The orphan patted the girl's back until she stopped hacking up a lung.

Hinata and coat boy regarded her intensely.

Coat boy decided to answer for them both, his sunglasses shining in an eerie way. "We don't fit in very well with them. Why? Because we are neither slackers nor obsessed with Uchiha Sasuke."

While Hinata didn't nod along with him, it was easy to see that she agreed to an extent. She was probably just too nice to say anything that could be considered mean. A Hyuga who wasn't a jerk was proving her good character every day.

Yuuki turned to coat boy and asked, "Why do the students especially avoid you? I noticed they go to ridiculous lengths just to not touch you and since you don't seem like a bad person it's a bit weird." Let it never be said that she minced words. Getting to the point was just better than wasting time being cryptic. Time could be used for more important things. Like food. Or sleep.

He didn't answer her verbally. Instead, he held up a hand and Yuuki got to watch as the skin on the back of his hand parted into several small holes. And out of those holes crawled several bugs that looked like a cross between ants and beetles.

Many thoughts passed through her mind at once and she tried to put them in order quickly.

Where had they been? How long had they been there? How were they getting oxygen to continue living? How did that even work to begin with? Did his skin hurt when it parted like that? Was it uncomfortable to have them crawling all over his body? She now had even more questions than before!

And she also found his nickname! Buggy!

"The Aburame Clan form symbiotic relationships with certain species of chakra beetles from a young age and in return for their service they use our bodies like living hives and share our chakra," coat boy explained in deep monotone that was unusual for an eight year old.

"... I'm not gettin' it."

Both Hinata and Buggy were silent, but their confusion was obvious.

Yuuki shifted to get more comfortable and said, "We're not hollow despite what many think. Even excluding our organs we still have muscles, tendons, fat, and bones inside of us. So where are they living exactly? And I doubt they get a regular supply of oxygen so how do they even survive inside you? 'Cause if they're getting oxygen from your blood, you would need to have a third lung at least in order for your brain's continued health to not be hindered by their presence. Furthermore, is it loud in there? Like do they make a lot of noise you can't cancel out? And do they molt inside of you, leaving their old bits behind? Do they mate inside of you too?"

Buggy had opened up a whole new can of worms with this. Her curiosity could not be tamed.

"Shino, your comrades are restless, what is wrong?"

Aburame Shibi shared a look with his wife Kanna. They'd never seen their son so scatterbrained. Sitting stoically wasn't a new pastime, but being incapable of responding when spoken to was something they'd never dealt with from him before.

His Kikaichu chattered not in agitation but in excitement.

"I met a strange girl today," the boy confessed.

"Care to elaborate?" asked Kanna, her curiosity a lot more noticeable than usual.

"A girl transferred into our class from the civilian school last week. Today she asked me to my face why the other students avoided me when I'm not a bad person. So I showed her… and she said our relationships with our comrades didn't make sense and began asking where exactly they lived, how they got oxygen, if they molted and mated inside our bodies, and more questions that became very invasive very quickly."

It was the most Shino had ever said in a single sitting. They weren't a particularly loquacious clan so such long bouts of speaking were unusual for them. Besides, they could communicate in many ways without opening their mouths.

As for the source of his scattered thoughts, that was an unexpected bit as well.

Shinobi from shinobi clans barely tolerated the Aburame, let alone the shinobi from civilian families. The way they chose to live unnerved everyone, even the most desensitized of individuals.

To hear that such a person hadn't immediately dubbed their son a freak or tried to bully him was astounding.

"And how do you feel after this?" Shibi asked, curious to know what would come of this new interaction.

Their son continued to stare at his plate, a single hand raising to pat his chest. "My heart is beating 1.5 times faster than usual."

A first crush. It was that time then.

How adorable.

"Learning resuscitation techniques is really weird," Yuuki told Hinata. "This kind is like making out with a dummy. While I don't wanna put my mouth on a real person if I don't have to, how is anyone going to tell if our 'technique' is good?"

The other girl flushed a bright pink. "Um... I think they look at mouth and hand placement. The dolls are inflatable so the air pressure you provide can be seen and graded on."

For a split second, the words, 'blow up doll' came to mind along with a quick vision of just what that was, and Yuuki took a giant step away from her dummy in disgust. The mouth was normal-sized but who knew what freaky stuff people got up to on the sly. And with proof that at least one Academy instructor wasn't an upstanding guy, what else was she supposed to think?

"Are you okay?" asked Hinata in worry, looking between the dummy and the orphan in concern. Yuuki was touched.

"Eh... not sure."

"Is there a problem?"

Both girls turned to the sensei in charge of this particular lesson. She was tall, blonde, and looked like she needed to sleep for the rest of known time. She was also not one with a long fuse and would probably explode if anyone else messed up in class that day.

"No, Watanabe-sensei," they replied innocently. Of course it kind of failed on Yuuki's end since she had a perpetual cross of Resting Disinterested-Bitch Face. Hinata was cute enough for the both of them though.

Watanabe-sensei didn't look like she believed them, but she didn't further that line of questioning. Probably too frustrated with everyone to get involved in something that annoyed her so much. "Return to your assignment then."

Yuuki chose to keep her thoughts to herself, not wanting to freak Hinata out. That didn't mean she was any more comfortable with the dummy than she was before.

"Inu, report."

Hatake Kakashi, in his full Anbu gear, bowed to the Hokage and began recounting his findings over the last week of reconnaissance.

"Chunin Mizuki spent the first day among his colleagues in the Academy. They went out for drinks in the evening and talked about the students in their classes. Nothing out of the ordinary happened until that evening after he'd gone to bed. Or rather, made a big spectacle of going to bed and then sneaked out his window at two in the morning. I tailed him to a Training Ground on the outskirts of the village, #71, and found him handing off a scroll to a small, albino snake. I quickly made a Kage Bunshin that ran to intercept the snake once it was out of his line of sight. Mizuki then returned to his home."

The scroll in question was quickly handed over alongside another. "The first is what he was handing off, the second holds the body of the snake for additional study."

"Well done." The Hokage took both with a firm nod and motioned for him to continue.

Clearing his throat, he continued. "Nothing of great import happened on the second day save for him teaching Uzumaki Naruto more incorrect kata in Taijutsu class. The boy is unaware that he's being duped. On the third day he was unusually agitated and snapped at anyone who so much as looked at him wrong. This resulted in him muttering to himself while at home, about 'damn demons' and 'think of the end results, they'll be glorious'."

Everyone knew the moment the Hokage brought out his pipe, things had gotten serious. He was mildly concerned, but was grateful that this attitude wasn't aimed his way because he'd done nothing remotely treasonous in years.

"Day four was a free day for him. He didn't even grade any homework. He spent his entire day in the company of a geisha from the okiya in the Hana District. Dai-Ichi is its name. While thoroughly enjoying each other's company, they exchanged information about the current Academy class of Clan Heirs and the infrastructure of a village supposedly called Otogakure, though no such village has ever existed as far as I am aware.

"Two names were mentioned in such ways that made them sound far more important than the rest. Mizuki spoke of Uchiha Sasuke almost reverently and the subject of his possible Sharingan came up. The two became much more quiet and the geisha, named Mai, said 'it isn't time yet, but a living Kaguya has been found and if all goes well, he'll be the next, then the Uchiha after he's been tested'. She called the Kaguya, Kimimaro, and said he was a prodigy in his clan's specific Kekkei Genkai and that 'he would make use of such an ability when the time comes'. This wasn't the first time they talked around the name of an individual both consider to be more important than them."

It was easy to see the cogs turning in the old Kage's head.

"On day five he returned to the Academy where nothing remotely interesting happened. Day six saw him receiving a nighttime visit from a masked individual dressed like a member of Anbu, but the mask was blank and no such member exists in Anbu as no registered Anbu member at present is shorter than 173 cm."

Instantly the pipe in the Hokage's hand snapped in half. No KI had filled the room as of yet but they both knew what this meant and it wasn't good in the least. It went beyond Uzumaki Naruto basically.

"Continue." He was deathly calm.

"The masked shinobi said Mizuki's update was late. He then rushed around for several moments before handing over a piece of paper. I left a Kage Bunshin to watch Mizuki and pursued the figure a fair distance before putting them in a subtle Genjutsu that allowed me to get close enough to copy the contents of the page with my Sharingan. I've recreated what I saw, on this piece of paper."

He then handed over the recreation. Kakahsi didn't understand half of what was on it, but maybe that was a good thing as the Hokage's reaction upon seeing it made him want to be anywhere else but where he was standing presently.

"The last day was boring and nothing happened beyond another time set aside to sabotage Uzumaki Naruto's test papers."

"Well done," the old man said, eyes flickering over the obviously coded page. "I'm relieved to have your loyalty, Inu."

Kakashi bowed low in respect and awaited further instructions.

"I should like to have Shikaku, Inoichi and Ibiki in here as soon as possible if you don't mind. I'm going to be here for a while."

"Hai!"

He could only wonder what Danzo was getting up to and what the Sandaime was planning to so about him.

A/N: Another chapter is done!

How was it? Let me know.

Ja ne! :D