Enraged shouting filled the living room.

An empty cup clattered to the ground as Yoshino's hands pounded the coffee table, her fierce gaze meeting that of her son's.

"What are you even thinking?!" She was yelling, glaring right back. "Who do you think you are? You aren't even the clan head yet, yet you think you can just disobey your father's orders?"

"I will be in a month's time, and I refuse to take part in this farce!" He argued back. "I am needed here! More than the battlefield! The clan will need my skills in deduction should there be a civil war, not another fighter that will just perish with my clansmen!"

"You aren't needed here as much as you'll be needed out there," Yoshino enunciated her words carefully, as if he were too slow on the uptake. "Your father and I can handle things here. You're young and far more valuable than he would be!"

"A seasoned veteran would be less useful than a mere boy?"

"Shikamaru, think about someone else other than yourself for once! Think of your heritage! Think of your duty!"

He grew still. A fierce anger took hold of him, and his fists trembled. It took all he could just to look up at her, his face entirely devoid of anything save for a cold fury.

"For years now, I've been selfless." He spoke quietly, yet his words cut. "For years now, I've sacrificed myself over and over and over again for the clan, for our country. For my friends and loved ones. For years, I have not dared to think about myself because everyone else comes first ."

He turned his back on his mother. "Just this once, let me be selfish. Because I know I'll be damned if I take part in a war I don't agree with."


In another part of the city, Ino Yamanaka was standing near her mother, teeth grit in anger.

"No no no, I won't do it!" She shouted. "I don't care what he said, I'm not fighting! I'm staying here!"

"How privileged do you have to be, to declare that you'll just disobey the order of the king's council?!" Her mother flew into a rage, her fists clenching.

"More privileged than others are right now, mother!" Ino retorted. "I was born to lead, not to fight! That's what you've always told me, isn't it? I thought father's lessons in self-defense and how to manipulate the mind was important enough to you!"

"Oh believe me, it's not like I want a kunoichi for a daughter either, but the king specifically requested you for your skills!" Mrs. Yamanaka scoffed, folding her arms across her chest. "Your father will already be busy with the Tenth Division, and it's not like you'll be fighting alone - you'll have Shikamaru and Chouji to fight alongside."

"That's not the problem!" Ino exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. "I don't care about fighting with strangers, or even fighting at all - what I care about is having to fight innocents!"

"Innocents?" The brunette balked, eyes going wide. "Ino, every day that cursed rebel group picks off our soldiers one by one! They are hardly innocent!"

"They wouldn't have to kill if we didn't strike first!" The blonde argued. "They don't even attack civilians! The first time I remember hearing about the rebels is after Prince Itachi left and Orochimaru popped back up; they never even touched us until we raided their camp!"

"That's because we needed to make sure they weren't spies, Ino," her mother said slowly, carefully.

It pissed her off more than she could express, the patronizing tone in her mother's voice. "We could have just asked! We're no better than actual war-mongers!"

"I don't want to hear such blasphemy from my own daughter's mouth!" Mrs. Yamanaka exclaimed, turning her back on the teenager. "They are killing innocent people, Ino - does your inflated sense of justice not see that? Are you so narrow-minded that you would sooner look at the casualties on their side than ours, the place where you were raised? The place that has afforded you so many privileges that so many others cannot have?"

"I'm not fighting on the same side that killed my best friend, Mother!" Ino finally screamed, her face bright red in rage. Her lips trembled and her throat was tight, but she wouldn't stop. "Ever since Eriko died, Sakura was totally miserable - and it's because of the king's leadership that she went off and killed herself!"

Immediately, her mother whirled around, a deadly look on her face. "Do not bring her up now to suit your own agenda," she hissed, thrusting a finger at her daughter's face. "She was kidnapped by Mimei and later killed! Were you not listening when the news came? Were you not paying attention when your dear friend's parents were sobbing on our doorstep about how their daughter got herself killed?"

"Sakura wasn't stupid or weak enough to get herself kidnapped! She would know better! After all, she-!" She cut herself off, holding her tongue before she could let the secret slip. "She- she knew the statistics of human trafficking! She practiced self-defense lessons with me nearly every day after work! She would never give herself up without a fight, and if she did, she damn well would rather die than give up any information to such a corrupt band of people, according to you!"

"Whatever you believe, this is no way to speak of the king or his leadership," her mother hissed again. "We are already on thin ice with your little breakdown after Hinata-sama's death, and I will not have him questioning our leadership when things are so turbulent with the rebels! I forbid it! You will either obey and join the force, or you will suffer the consequences, and neither I nor your father will be there to help you! Be the adult you so often claim to be and make your own choice!"

Ino had enough. With a stop of her foot and a wordless screech of rage, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, tears burning her eyes and blurring her vision.


"And I just- ugh!" Shikamaru sighed hotly, running a hand across the top of his head, flattening his restrained hair. "I can't take this, Lee - the investigation will have to be put on indefinite hold if I do get drafted, and we can't afford to let this one get swept under the rug!"

Lee nodded with a grim look on his face. "I know. I've already reached out to Gai about it, and he said he's trying to get it before the king - but I doubt he'll give it much precedence unless we can accurately identify that it was indeed one of the guards, and not just a random naked civilian."

"I just wish there was some way out of this that didn't involve incarceration, y'know? I'd even run away from Konoha if it meant I wouldn't get hunted down." He sagged against the brick wall of the alley, scowling down at his shoes.

"Excuse me, young man," a smooth voice startled both of them and they looked up to see a figure in a dark traveling cloak standing at the entrance to the alley. "But I couldn't help but overhear that you wished to get out of Konoha safely?"

Shikamaru exchanged a look with Lee before tentatively replying, "... it depends on who's asking."

"One of the agents of Mimei, the Akatsuki branch," he replied, and scarlet eyes glinted at them from under the cloak's hood. "My partner and I are briefly in town to gather data, and we will be leaving in three days. If you wish to get out of Konoha undercover, this will be your only chance. I cannot guarantee that any of our rank will be back for a long time."

His heart was pounding in his chest, sweat beginning to gather a chill on the back of his neck. He swallowed, looking up at the stranger intently. It didn't seem that he was lying in any way. His presence was relaxed, though still on-guard, though if his words rang true it would explain a lot.

Lee, too, was looking intently at him, although for a different reason. His scrutinizing gaze looked him up and down for any identifying marks or features, but after a moment more of searching, he gave up and glanced back at Shikamaru.

Seeing as nobody was speaking for a few long seconds, the stranger continued. "I'll give you until three days hence to think about my offer. Should you accept, you may bring one trusted confidant - and even then, you will be under heavy surveillance from the time we leave to the time we reach the main group. I hope you will get your answer to me soon."

With that, he turned and strolled off, and even if he was wearing dark clothing, he managed to appear like any other traveler walking through the streets of the city. It was baffling to the young man how he managed to change gears so fast.

He blinked and turned to look at Lee again. There was an unrecognizable determination on his face, and as he gave Shikamaru a solemn stare, he nodded.

"This may be your only chance," he said quietly, his hands clenching on his pant legs. "Should you get away, you would not only escape the draft, but you could also find the real traitor and hopefully throw a wrench into whatever plans they have."

"I suppose I'm lucky I sympathize, otherwise this would have been a prime opportunity to cause some damage." He heaved a sigh, slouching further against the wall. "He's given me three days to think about it… I suppose I'd better get to thinking. In the meantime, we'll have to work double-time to identify the body."


A/N: Please tell me what you thought.