A/N: Rather than a double-update where people may skip-over/miss one of the chapters, I decided to make up for July by just doubling this chapter in length. Don't go expecting this length for normal chapters though!

Also, don't ask me where this political drama came from. I have no idea. It just is.

"I always felt that insects are the general rule, and everything else is a special case."

- Paul Bystrak -

The day before graduation took place we'd had to fill out an aptitude test. It'd been simple, more a personality quiz than anything and I'd doubted it would actually affect our team placements all that much.

I was wrong.

My test hadn't really revealed anything I didn't already know; I was an introvert, an intuit who valued logic and loyalty, I was also very assertive. Like I said, all things I already knew. It had, however, told me what specializations I'd be best for. I'd appreciated the fact that both "research/development" and "cryptography" had made the list but was rather surprised to learn "saboteur" was ranked first.

I mean, not that I didn't think I'd be a good saboteur, but more...it wasn't a field I'd ever envisioned for myself?

Although, after looking at Shino's results and seeing that "tracking" had tied with "saboteur" I'd begun to wonder if it wasn't a field that no-one envisioned for themselves (and thus was thrown at everyone in the hopes that it stuck.)

Regardless, I had looked at the paper, shrugged at it's words, nodded when I'd read that Sasuke would be perfect for "Tracking" or "Police Investigation," and put it out of my mind.

Until a week later when we were being assigned our teams, and I had to blink as "Haruno Sakura," joined "Fujimura Hikaru" and "Karuso Shinta," on Team 5.

Did, did that just happen?

In retrospect, I don't know what I was expecting. We had 8 clan-kids in our class, all of them children of a Clan Head, and only 9 slots for the jounin-track. In a fair world that last slot would have gone to Sakura, actually in a fair world none of those spots would have been guaranteed to us anyway. But this was the real world, and in it the last spot would have to go to the village's Jinchuriki.

I did feel a twinge of guilt at the idea of what I'd just cost my classmate. I shrugged it off though, after all, in this world she'd never broken her friendship with Ino (that I could tell), and she had decent scores, it's likely Ino'd get her an apprenticeship through her clan.

If not I could always mention to Itachi-nii that there's a girl with the potential to be a genjutsu mistress who was just booted from the Jounin-track.

In the end I was confident that Sakura would be fine. Me, on the other hand?-

"Team 7 will consist of Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Naori, and Aburame Shino."

-I wasn't so sure.

"Led by Hatake Kakashi."

I'm going to die young.

"Hey! Why do I have to be on a team with the teme?!" A voice shot out, jolting me from my thoughts. I just turned to the blond confused. Had I done something to piss him off? Or had he heard 'Uchiha' and just stopped listening?

Although, he does have a point, I'm not Rookie of the Year, so why?!

"Sit down, Naruto! The teams were decided based on your grades and placement tests!" Naruto grumbled before shooting a glare at Shino.

Wait, what?! Was Shino the "teme" he was yelling about!? But, but I don't think I've ever even see them speak to each other?

"On your team," Iruka continued, "we have Shino-who scored in the Top 3-, Naori, who had an average score," here he glared at me and I sent back a cheeky smile and a wave, " and you, Naruto, who barely scraped by with a pass!"

Naruto opened his mouth, presumably to go on another tirade, when Iruka cut him off. "You three also share compatible specializations." Which, I'd seen Shino's results, the only specialization I'd had in common with him was -

"Uh," I uttered, face paling, "Iruka-sensei, are you trying to tell me our team is specializing in-"

"-front-line fighting," he interrupted, giving me a weighted look, "yes," he stressed, "that's exactly what I'm saying."

Right. Great. We're a sabotage team.

And we can't tell anyone.

Yup, of course, makes perfect sense. I glanced from Shino to Naruto and back. Damn. This actually does make sense. I thought about our sensei, about his track-record, his own team, Kannabi-bridge. Wait. Is Team Seven? Thought about Minato's Hirashin, Jiraiya's spy-network, Tsunade's super-strength. Oh my god, they are! Connected dots I hadn't even realized existed, and came to the horrific conclusion that Team 7 -

Damn you Kishimoto!

- was Konoha's saboteur Team.

I mean, it made a perverse bit of sense, why else would a bunch of new genin be constantly sent on missions to politically unstable countries? Why would Kakashi, a jounin, actively encourage the kids' overthrow of government after government? Why would the Third look the other way as Jiraiya stayed behind in Rain (to help train revolutionaries)?

There was probably more to it, it's unlikely that the "front-line fighter" bit was just a cover, and considering the survival rate of the Team (by the start of the manga there were what, 2 members out of 3 generations of Team 7 still in the village?) learning to fight could only be a boone.

Still. I stuck with my earlier assessment.

I'm going to die young.

Four hours.

It took Kakashi four hours to show up.

The first hour hadn't been too bad, we'd had other teams to keep us company. Sasu-chan and I'd managed to share our happiness with our assignments - me that I was with Shino, and him that he wasn't with a fangirl and had Shisui as a sensei. (I didn't have the heart to tell him that Shisui-shishou - yes, he made me call him that - was a monster when it came to training.)

There'd been a brief altercation when Team 10's sensei'd come to pick up his cell - the same as in cannon - and had pulled my brother and I aside...to talk.

"Ne, would you two mind thanking Itachi for me, again? I know he ships off tomorrow, and I won't really have time to stop by."

"...ships off?" I'd questioned.

"Tomorrow?" Sasuke'd mirrored.

"He hasn't told you yet?" A scratch of his beard, "I mean, it's technically classified, but most people tell their family anyways. After all, not like you won't miss the fact that he's gone for the next four years."

What.

The explanation that had resulted had worked to put both Sasuke and I in a rather foul mood. Luckily, for Sasu-nii, Shisui-shisho, (Sui-sho?) had decided that this was the perfect moment to whisk away his little tracker unit; complete with Hinata and Kiba.

I'd been less lucky, left as I was with two boys and (while I hadn't know it at the time) three hours to kill.

Thankfully Shino could take care of himself, and Naruto was actually rather easy to keep entertained. I didn't really want to show off any jutsu; we were in a rather cramped space. But I did promise that if he behaved I'd let him witness one of my experiments-today I was going to see what would happen if you connected chakra strings to a wooden door, then accelerated your hand towards the point of contact. Would the chakra recede into your palm without conscious thought? Or would the connection break?

I think Naruto was just curious what an "experiment" was, but it didn't matter as he did endeavor to behave. Even if I had to make throwbacks to my past-life to keep him entertained.

"My first impression is that…" I hate you.

Or, at least that's what Hatake Kakashi thought his first impression would be. After all, this was meant to be another group of kids that were too cocky by half, who he'd refuse to send out into the field to be brutally murdered.

After four hours of avoiding the brats Kakashi had imagined he'd feel hatred, or maybe extreme dislike. It didn't matter that this team had his sensei's brat, or the newest Uchiha prodigy. Didn't matter that the Hokage had all of begged him to give them a chance (he would) and to please just read their files (he wouldn't). Didn't matter, in a sense, what they did (or didn't) do, because he didn't want to be there.

So, yeah, Kakashi was definitely expecting some hatred when he first made their acquaintance.

What he was not expecting was to walk into the room - four hours after he was "supposed" to be there - to the sight of the two boys staring intently at the girl as she held a pencil aloft.

"This is but an ordinary pencil," she announced, voice serious, "taken right there, from Iruka-sensei's desk. And yet!" Her voice pitched dramatically, "could an ordinary pencil do this!" And Kakashi had to legitimately hold back a chuckle when the girl started moving the pencil in such a way that it appeared to bend, and both boys stared at her as if she was a magician.

"My first impression is that..." I hate you, he wanted to say, but instead what came out was -

"...you're weird."

And he had known his "team" for all of 3 seconds, hadn't even gone through proper introductions, but Kakashi still felt he should have seen the girl's response coming.

"Aww! Thank you, sensei! And don't worry, you're weird too!"

"...right," he drawled, "meet me on the roof in five minutes." That gave him just enough time to skim through the girl's file-the Third would never let him live this down-before they arrived.

And that's exactly what he did:

~:~:~

Naori - Progress Report

Biography
Name: Uchiha Naori
Birthday: July 23rd
Blood Type: AB
Jutsu Type: Genjutsu
Specialization: Frontline/Research & Dev.

Grades
Ninjustu: 75%
Taijutsu: 75%
Genjutsu: 75%
Weaponry: 75%
Strategy: 75%

Notes
Naori is incredibly bright, likely on par with her brother, Itachi, in pure intelligence. However, she lacks a drive to succeed. Her scores are the results of self-sabotage in response to the suggestion of early graduation. She has shown marked interest in scientific experimentation, reading, jutsu-development, and insects. Observations by Uchiha Shisui (Jounin) place her skill-level around high-genin, possibly low-chunin for genjutsu and chakra-manipulation. Jounin-instructor is advised to evaluate true skill-level, and adjust training accordingly.

~:~:~

Kakashi blinked at the form.

He re-read it, hoping for something more concrete. That was it? She was as smart as Itachi, and Shisui had been observing her training? Where were the facts?! Her jutsu repertoire? Her personality assessment? That was hardly enough information for the Hokage to have insisted he read it. Surely there must have been something he'd missed?!

And glaring at the paper as if it had offended him Kakashi realized there was something.

Look underneath the underneath.

Clearly he was getting sloppy if it took him a full 20 seconds to recognize the rather obvious code of 'sharingan'. Now, had anyone else seen this paper they'd probably have assumed the message was to inform him of her awakened Kekkei genkai. However, Kakashi was not 'anyone' and a quick glance at the paper with his newly uncovered Sharingan eye revealed that there was far more to this report than he'd initially assumed.

~:~:~

Naori - Progress Report - Unredacted

Specialization: Sabotage/R&D/Infiltration

Notes

Uchiha Naori is a protege who was capable of passing the written graduation exam before entering the academy. She mastered the academy 3 within her first year, while simultaneously learning the Grand Fireball jutsu and unlocking her clan's Kekkei Genkai.

Early graduation was suggested at age 8, however, student declined opportunity claiming political ramifications outweighed possible benefits. Uchiha and Aburame clans have supplemented her education resulting in a strong foundation in Uchiha-taijutsu, genjutsu, and chakra theory.

Student developed an original taijutsu-style at age 9. Style is reliant upon increasingly complex kicks while hands are left free to access weapons/cast jutsu. Also began experimenting with chakra strings/manipulation for use outside of puppetry.

Student began wearing a tanto at age 10, has no prior experience with-nor has sought a sensei for-swordsmanship. Personality quiz suggests a strong moral compass, and extreme stubbornness, student's sensei have also noted a loyal streak concentrated on Uchiha Sasuke (brother) and Aburame Shino (betrothed).

~:~:~

And then, at the very bottom, almost as if it was an afterthought;

~:~:~

Uchiha Naori has shown alarming signs of autonomy and disregard for authority. Student is considered a medium-flight risk; to be re-evaluated by Jounin instructor in 6 months.

~:~:~

Kakashi groaned, of course he'd gotten the defective kid. Wasn't enough that he'd been saddled with sensei's hyperactive brat (the freakin' Konoha jinchuriki) and the Aburame heir-Shibi was terrifying on the best of days-but he also had to be thrown part 1 of a 2-part Uchiha special for crazy.

Kakashi knew he'd been a pretty big brat back when he'd been on his first genin team, but surely he didn't deserve a team like this?!

As if to prove his point the door to the roof was blasted open leaving his three genin staring at him with eyes the size of saucers. The girl, because of course it was her fault, seemed to get over the shock quick enough. Physically shrugging it off before skipping to the steps in front of him. "Sorry, sensei," she chirped, not sounding sorry at all, "I thought the door was stronger than that."

Kakashi just stared at her. Using his patented "I'm too aloof for your BS" face to try and break through her facade. He was mildly impressed to note she didn't back down, even if her smile got slightly sharper in response. Definitely an Alpha, then. Rather reckless to so openly challenge a Jounin, though. "...right," he drawled, because he had years of experience playing unaffected, and this little girl had nothing on some of the things Gai had pulled. "Happens all the time, I'm sure."

"Hn." She just shrugged, and he was pleased to note that at least the other two weren't so blase. Or, well, Naruto wasn't (honestly, who could tell with the Aburame?)

"Wh-what?!" The blond screamed, head whipping from the door to his teammate and back. "What do you mean 'hn'? You just broke the door by high-fiving it, that's not normal!"

Another shrug. "Should I make a fist next time?" And, yeah, Kakashi wasn't too sure he wanted to know. Who slaps doors, anyway?

"...you guys should probably introduce yourselves." He interrupted, desperate to get this over and done with. "Starting with you, Blondie," he nodded towards Naruto.

"Huh?"

He opened his mouth to explain, but the girl was quick to cut him off. "He means like a report," she began, smile still stretched across her face, "you know; likes, dislikes, abilities, dreams for the future? Things like that." Kakashi went to nod only to face-vault at the girl's newest attempt at humor. "Like sensei," she continued, "his name is Hatake Kakashi and he's a Jonin of Konoha. He likes to be late to meetings with his cute new genin team, and doesn't like when said team blows up doors. His dream for the future is to train his new team in the ways of being-late-while-not-destroying-doors."

"Really?!" The blond asked, turning to him with stars in his eyes.

"No."

"You're not Kakashi-sensei?" The girl questioned, voice-innocent, "then why are we even here? Come on Shino, Blondie, let's blow this joint!" And Kakashi was almost tempted to let her leave, if only to see the Hokage's face when he learned he'd failed his team because they'd never showed up to their test. (Never bothered to learn there was a test.)

Unfortunately the Aburame decided that this was the moment he was going to make his presence known. Speaking up with a single, "Naori," that caused Naruto to jump 5 feet in the air (before hissing at the 'teme' to announce himself) and made the aforementioned girl freeze in place.

"...it was just a joke," she muttered petulantly, only to wince when she caught the eye of her...fiance? (Had he read that right? Weren't they, like, 12?) "...fiiiine," she sighed before turning back around and executing a perfect 90° bow, "I'm sorry, sensei. It won't happen again," she muttered.

At least I can see why these two were placed on the same team. But why pair them with Naruto?

"Maa, it's fine. Now that you've introduced me, why not continue like that?" Kakashi could get used to their confused faces, "introduce each other. Naruto take Shino, Shino take Naori, and Naori, you can wrap it up."

"...hn."

"...hn."

I nodded in acceptance, ignoring the fact that this was not how the introductions went down in cannon. I wasn't even all that surprised anymore, we were about as far removed from the original Team 7 as possible. Naruto wasn't stuck on a team with his crush and his personal rival (although what he had against Shino, I just had to know). Shino was hardly the same level of angst as said rival, was hardly like my brother at all. And, well, can't get much more removed from 'fangirl' than 'engaged at age 7.'

Still, having us introduce each other? It was rather unorthodox, bound to cause some team-tension the day before we took the bell-test, and yet...it would give Kakashi an acute insight into our psyche. Rather ingenious, and made all the more remarkable when one realized that he'd probably just wanted to troll us. Had hit upon a perfectly legitimate way to sabotage our budding team, while gaining valuable insight, all by happenstance.

Scary.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto!"

Tearing myself away from my thoughts, I refocused on our group's resident blond before snorting at the annoyance radiating off of Shino. He'd been stepping closer to the edge for hours now, control slowly fracturing with every 'believe it!' shouted our way.

I decided to step-in before any blood could be spilled. "Ne, Naruto-chan," Shino twitched, I ignored him, "you're supposed to be introducing Shino, you know? Like I did with Kakashi-sensei?"

"R-right," he blushed, "I knew that!"

"Hn"

"Y-yeah, well his name is Shino-teme," oh dear lord, "and he likes, uh, bugs," he smiled for a second, proud of himself, before dropping into a scowl, "and looking down on people." Was he serious? Shino? "He dislikes everyone who's not perfect like him," a snort, "his hobby is sneaking up on people, like a creep." What? "And...he doesn't have a dream."

I clenched my fist.

What in the world was wrong with him?! What had Shino ever done to him?! For the first time since realizing where I'd been reborn, I had to seriously consider the world around me.

Am I not in the cannon-universe? Or, what's left of it? What's going on? This isn't how Naruto was in cannon! Right? I mean, he was pretty antagonistic against Sasuke there, in the beginning, but Sasuke gave as good as he got!

Luckily Shino had buckets more control than I-a holdout from important Clan training-and managed to intervene before I drew blood.

"She is Uchiha Naori," he recited softly, drawing my attention away. "Her hobbies include researching alternative applications for chakra usage, testing said applications at random intervals, and hunting for cicada with m-with her friend." The last part he whispered, cheeks dusting pink. "She likes, loves, her family and...insects." Why did I get the feeling that wasn't what he was going to say? "She dislikes those who make assumptions without fact-checking, and disloyalty." Had I ever told him that? "And her dream for the future…" here Shino's entire face turned crimson before he mumbled something and turned away.

Huh?

"What was that last bit?" Kakashi called, eyes twinkling. "Something about kids?"

Shino whipped around so fast he almost lost his balance, before managing to level a rather impressive glare at our sensei. I swore I could almost hear buzzing he was so pissed. "That is impossible. Why?" He muttered, voice icy, "her dream is to…" again he trailed off, anger fading out of him. He sent me a forlorn look, and it took me a moment to decipher it.

Just what is it that he's so worried about saying? I don't really have any future dreams? Let alone anything that should make him so worried!

Hesitantly I nodded, giving him permission to, to say whatever?

"...she wants a world where information is freely accessible, and knowledge is not divided by clan or village loyalties. A world where everyone shares with, and learns from, each other."

I just stood there, staring at Shino as if seeing him for the first time. When, when had this happened? When had this boy, this kid, started understanding me better than I understood myself? A world where information was free? Of course that was what I'd wanted! What I had yearned for since I'd first realized what being in a shinobi village entailed. What I'd never even missed until it was so far gone as to be considered laughable to even mention. But that wasn't something I'd ever said, not here, not in this world where technology was deliberately stunted just to prevent the spread of information. Not in this village where people staked their entire careers, their very lives, on the acquisition and protection of said knowledge. Not when we had places like Uzushio where just the threat of knowing "too much" lead to an island-wide genocide.

I had never said this outloud. But, apparently, I hadn't needed to.

"R-right," I gulped, trying to adjust to this paradigm-shift. Okay, so Shino is all but able to read your mind. So what? You've had friendships like that before, and it's not like you can't basically read his mind most days! "Right." I confirmed, feeling more confident. "His name is Aburame Shino."

"His name is Aburame Shino."

Naruto was pretty pissed with his team assignment. Not only did he not get on Sakura-chan's team, but instead he was placed on a team with the teme and a sensei who was four hours late to their first meeting! He'd thought he'd at least been lucky to end up with one of the better kunoichi in class (imagine being on a team with Ino) had even been happy to let her distract him and the teme while they'd waited for their baka-sensei. But then she had to go and pull this crap. Forgetting to introduce him during their team introductions!

"Hey!" He snapped. "You're supposed to be introducing me." There was definitely no whining going on. Nope. None.

"Uh...hn." The girl, Naomi? Nori? whatever, blushed before sending him a sheepish smile which he ignored with a puff. He wasn't gonna buy into that fake-apology crap! "Sorry," she muttered, "my brain just does that sometimes. I'm thinking about something else, and words just, bleh. And then people are confused, and, yeah," she shrugged. Naruto could feel himself softening at the explanation, it was pretty crappy, but also pretty sincere. And it's not like he'd never said things without thinking.

"Un." He nodded, accepting her apology and telling her to hurry up, so they could run off to do real ninja stuff! Like-like, save a princess! Or something.

"Hn." And Naruto settled in to listen to whatever kind of BS this random girl had to say about him. Not like anyone ever paid him any attention, right?

"His name is Uzumaki Naruto, he likes instant ramen in a cup, and really likes the ramen Iruka-sensei gets him from Ichiraku's. He hates the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. And his hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them."

Naruto's jaw dropped.

"His dream for the future is to be the greatest Hokage, that way the whole village would have to stop disrespecting him." Here she turned to Naruto, her eyes twinkling with some sort of secret knowledge, "they'd have to treat him like he was somebody. Somebody important."

And Naruto couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine, or the word that dropped out of his mouth. "Yokai," he whispered, scampering away from the demon before him. "H-how did you know?!" He screeched, mind racing, "can you read my thoughts?!"

"Hn." She confirmed, eyes bleeding blood-red.

"Yokai," he thought, even as the girl explained.

"It's a secret technique of the Sharingan, you know? The ability to read the minds of short-blond boys who wear orange."

"Really?!" He questioned, incredulous. She opened her mouth only to be interrupted by Kakashi-sensei.

"No."

The girl just smiled at him, the picture of innocence, and Naruto couldn't help but glance at the teme who seemed resigned to the scene in front of him. "Maybe," he thought, glancing at the girl again, "maybe I misjudged Shino. He could have been trying to protect us all these years."

"Maa," their sensei drawled, "now that we've all been properly introduced, let's talk about our team-test."

"What?!" A test? Naruto didn't know anything about a test! "B-but, what test? We already passed the graduation exam!"

"Hmm, you didn't think you were shinobi, did you?" He smiled at them, "the graduation exam was just to weed out the people without any potential. My test is to decide if you're actually good enough to be genin." Naruto gulped. It was just to weed them out? But hadn't he failed that test three times already?! What kind of exam would this be?!

"What I'm going to give you is survival training. 27 students passed the academy exam, when we're done that number will drop to 9. An exam with a 66% fail rate!"

"Hn." The girl grunted, drawing Naruto's attention, "that means there's a 33% chance we'll pass? I'll take those odds. Shino's in the top 3, I've been hiding my skills for years, and Naruto must have done something special to earn a field promotion, we'll be fine."

"Yeah!" He yelled, bolstered by Noria (or whatever her name is), "we'll pass your stupid test, no problem! Believe it!"

Their sensei just nodded at them, and Naruto could practically hear the sarcastic, "sure you will." Well, he'd show him! He was going to be Hokage, and the first step to that was passing this stupid test, so he'd pass it!

"Maa, well, at least you're enthusiastic. Alright, meet me at training ground 7, at 0600 hours. Oh, and skip breakfast, otherwise you'll puke." He whispered before disappearing in a whorl of leaves. Naruto just growled, getting ready to head off, only to be stopped by a hand on his arm.

"I'm going to eat breakfast tomorrow," the girl muttered.

"Huh?" He yelled, pointing at her, "do you want to fail? Sensei said not to!"

"Hn." She shook her head, "it wasn't an order. Or maybe it was? But it was a stupid order, then. I'd rather puke from working too hard than fail because I was too hungry to concentrate." A shrug, "but, I mean, do whatever you want? I was just letting you know. I'm eating tomorrow, and I'm bringing a book to read, in case sensei is late again." Naruto watched as Shino-teme nodded his agreement. Well, if both of them were breaking the rule, it's not like he was the type to listen to his sensei anway!

As he left Naruto couldn't help but feel a little less pissed about his team assignment. Kakashi-sensei and Naori-chan may have been weird, and Shino-teme was still himself, but at least they treated him like a team member. In fact, Naori-chan seemed to already believe in him. What was it she'd said, "[he] must have done something special to earn a field promotion"? Where Shikamaru-baka had asked if he'd stolen his headband, and even Sakura-chan had looked passed the fact that he'd graduated, this random girl had assumed he'd earned his promotion. Naruto smiled. Yeah, maybe this team wouldn't be so bad, after all.

"How was your team meeting, imouto?"

I shot Itachi an unimpressed look, I had no doubt that he knew exactly who my sensei was.

"Hn." It actually wasn't bad, all things considered, Kakashi-sensei seemed to have a decent sense of humor and Naruto was easily manipulated, like hell I was telling him anything, though. Not when he'd been sitting on a secret this big.

"...and you, otouto? Do you like your teammates?"

"Hn." Sasuke snorted, just as unimpressed. If Itachi was looking for sympathy with Sasuke then he was barking up the wrong tree. We were united in our anger.

He seemed to realize what we were on about rather quickly, sighing to himself before squatting down to our level. "...it was classified," he tried to justify, looking the slightest bit forlorn. "Had I been permitted to, I would have share-"

"-you were promoted, Itachi-nii!" I interrupted, "You were promoted, and we had to learn about it like that. How do you think we feel?"

"Hn! Naori's right, nii-san! Some random sensei knew more about our brother than us! And now you're leaving!? It's unfair!"

I stifled the urge to say, "life's unfair," that wouldn't help anyone, and I wanted life to be fair. Why couldn't it be?

"You two knew a promotion was inevitable, I've been running A-ranked missions for years."

"Hn," I agreed, "we knew they'd make you Jounin soon, not that they'd make you part of the fire guard!" Never in a million years had I imagined this scenario. Imagined that in order for Asuma to return (to train Team 10) some shinobi had to take his place. Some poor, unprepared, Jounin had to travel to the Capital where they'd be on bodyguard duty indefinitely.

"You're leaving us, Nii-san!" Sasuke shot out, fists clenched. Itachi recoiled as if struck, and I had to squash my instinctive reaction to comfort him. It was harsh, but Sasuke wasn't wrong. This wasn't like his other missions, which were dangerous and could run for months, but which always held the promise of a return. This was closer to Itachi moving out.

Which, you don't normally have a choice in the shinobi world. It's either "accept the mission" or "be charged with treason." But the Fire Guard is one of the few exceptions; it's an entirely voluntary mission. This meant that Itachi had volunteered to live in another city for the next couple of years. And worse, he hadn't told us about it.

"He's right," I agreed, "you didn't have to take this mission. You chose to; so you chose to leave us."

I clenched my fists tighter as Itachi turned sorrowful eyes my way. Imploring me to understand his reasoning. And, I got it, I did. Itachi wasn't a kid, he was 18 to our 12, and the only reason he hadn't made Jounin earlier was because that would require him being seen about more often-and ANBU couldn't afford to spare him. But now he was Jounin, and that made him an adult in the eyes of the clan. And, Itachi wasn't a kid, but he wasn't really an adult either, not in the ways the clan wanted.

So I got it, I really did.

Itachi knew I did. I'd had to go through all this crap myself, after all. I'd seen him in the formal kimono, seen our parents lead the Uchiha Elders to that one fancy room down the hall. Still, just because I understood didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"You could have told us," I whispered, trying to ignore the tears pooling in my eyes. This was so stupid, Itachi wasn't injured, wasn't dying, he was just moving a couple miles away. And yet, the pain I felt was real. I was losing my brother, even if just to time, and I hated it. "You could have told us nii-san." I continued, "you should have."

"Hn." Sasuke nodded, tears in his own eyes. "We would have spent more time with you."

And wasn't that the crux of the issue? Time. Sasuke and I weren't mad that Itachi was leaving - fleeing, an unhelpful part of my mind corrected - to the capital. We were mad that he was doing so tomorrow. That we hadn't been able to cherish our last few days with our brother. I was smart enough, empathetic enough, that I knew he'd probably held off as long as he could. After all, Asuma was already in the village-that meant the Daimyo was down a guard for as long as Itachi dawdled. He'd probably had to really fight to be here for our graduation day. I saw that, I appreciated it, but it still didn't stop the sting of his leaving. Or the anger of his keeping it from us.

"We're not babies, Ita-nii," I chastised, tears finally breaking free, "you can talk to us."

"Hn." Sasuke nodded, glaring at my brother.

"When did you two grow up?" The question had barely registered before I was being pulled into a hug alongside Sasuke.

I froze.

When was the last time Itachi had hugged me? Not been hugged by me, not done his annoying forehead-flick thing, but actually hugged me?

...was there more to this than just an arranged marriage?

"Ita-nii?" I mumbled, face pressed into his chest. Sasuke stood quietly next to me, but I could feel my confusion echoed in his posture. "Are you okay?"

It was quiet for a second. He tightened his hug, and then, barely audible, "...no." A quiet chuckle, "but I will be soon." He released us, and I shot my eldest brother a skeptical look, "I promise, Ri-chan," he turned, "you too, Sasu-chan. I'm sorry for keeping this from you. Sometimes I forget you two aren't the same kids I had to drag to the academy." Here he poked our foreheads, ignoring our grumbles, "the clan is acting up," he confided in us. "I'm sure you've picked up on some of it, Naori."

I nodded in confirmation, "they want you to get married, right?"

He just nodded ignoring Sasuke's look of surprise - he really should be more observant, it wasn't even like our parents were trying to hide it.

"Hn. They've begun the process of drafting a proposal for Izumi-san." I nodded, having expected as much, since she was about the only clan-girl outside of his family that Itachi even talked to. He was also relatively friendly with Inuzuka Hana and Uzuki Yugao, but Hana was her clan's heir and Yugao was already dating someone so that wasn't happening. Not that Itachi-nii was really interested in any of them that way. Half the reason he was friends with Hana was because she was one of the few girls who didn't fawn over Itachi. The real question was why this would cause Itachi to flee for the hills, he would have seen this coming miles away and he always bought into that whole "self-sacrifice" thing, getting married for the sake of the clan would have been right up his alley.

My confusion must have shown on my face because he continued, "Izumi-san...she is pregnant."

Wait, what?

"Hn. She and Kamano Saisu have been in a relationship for the past 2 years. However the elders are pushing her to dissolve her relationship with an 'outsider' and marry into the clan. They do not appreciate the idea of an Uchiha Kunoichi who has unlocked her Sharingan, leaving."

I just raised an eyebrow, wasn't that my situation exactly? "Hn," he nodded, "but you brought us an alliance with your match, Ri-chan. Kamano-san is civilian born, he has no merit in the eyes of the clan. And Izumi is already the daughter of an outsider, it is considered highly disrespectful for her to attempt to leave the clan that had adopted her after the Kyuubi attack."

"And the baby?" Sasuke whispered, cutting to the heart of the matter. "It's Kamano-san's, right?"

"Hn. He doesn't know," my brother confirmed, "he has been on border patrol for the past month and isn't slated to return until next week. The clan planned to have us betrothed by then, they are unaware that Izumi is pregnant as she fears they would force her to abort."

"So you're running to the capital? To what? They could still go through with the engagement. And if they learn she's pregnant her only chance is to pretend it's yours." The atmosphere darkened as we all contemplated what the clan would do to the bastard-child of their future matriarch. Itachi would never let that happen.

"We," my brother corrected, "Izumi-san and I shall both be traveling to the capital, Hokage-sama has already given his permission. I am to escort Izumi-san to the Fire Temple where she shall meet with Kamano-san, I will then act as their witness while they are wed. The clan does not have the power to dissolve a legally binding marriage."

That, that could work. But Itachi would be openly standing against the elders, they wouldn't like that. Sasuke knew it too.

"But," Sasuke questioned, "the clan? The elder's are going to kill you nii-san." An exaggeration, but close enough to the truth. They couldn't actually touch Itachi, he was incredibly strong, had a good relationship with the Hokage, and was well liked in Konoha. Sure he had a rather poor reputation amongst the clan, but they were all stupid anyway. The elders couldn't touch Itachi, but they would still be there when he was made clan-head, and they could kill him through politics.

"Hn. Tell me, Sasuke," Itachi muttered, voice deceptively calm, "have you ever considered taking over for Father?"

...what?

"N-nii-san!" Sasuke spluttered, as thrown as I was.

"I know you wish to lead the Police Force, but how would you feel about adding the clan to your responsibilities?"

I narrowed my eyes, "and what would you be doing, Itachi-nii?"

He shook his head, "I want to hear how Sasuke feels, first. This is a big responsibility, after all, he shouldn't let anything influence his decision." Which was nice in theory, but this was Sasuke, there was no way Itachi wasn't influencing his decision. Even if just by accident.

"I-I'd want to do it," Sasuke muttered, "if Nii-san doesn't want to, then he shouldn't. You can't be a good leader if you don't want to lead." Not exactly true, but the sentiment was nice enough. And it was true that of the three of us Sasuke was the only one who actually cared about the clan.

Itachi cared about Konoha as a whole, he would sacrifice the clan if it meant protecting the village. And I cared about individual people, I would sacrifice the village if it meant protecting those closest to me. But Sasuke really bought into that whole clan propaganda-thing. He'd go to hell-and-back for his family, no matter how extended.

"Hn. Then, I'll talk to Father, tomorrow." 'While you're busy with your exams' went unsaid.

"And, you?" I questioned, "What's going on, Itachi-nii? What are you going to be doing?"

"...this is classified information."

Sasuke and I sent him our most unimpressed stares. He just chuckled to himself, probably recalling what had started this whole conversation, "I only mention it to impress upon how important it is that you not speak of this." Here he shot me a look, "I'm including Shino-san in this, Naori. I know you trust him, but you have no way of monitoring your surroundings, and the walls have ears."

"Ne, we get it!" I pouted, "just tell us already!"

"Hn." A pause. "Sandaime-sama has decided to nominate a Hokage-candidate."

"...you?" I questioned, despite knowing the answer.

Itachi just dipped his head. "He believes my time would be best spent guarding the Daimyo as it is ultimately the Daimyo who decides between candidates."

"Candidates. Plural?" I asked, "who are you competing against?"

"I have not been made aware, any of the elders may nominate their own candidates once the Hokage has done so. But Sandaime-sama plans to wait until after I have built up a rapport with the Daimyo. Hence why you must speak of this to no one."

Itachi might be Hokage?

I turned to face my brother, my confusion mirrored in his eyes. Our older brother? The leader of the village? Even if it wouldn't be for awhile, what had Asuma-sensei said? 4 years?

Just what have I done?

A/N: There ya go! In case it wasn't clear the teams currently stand as such;

Team 7 - Naruto, Naori, Shino, Kakashi (Sabotage)

Team 8 - Kiba, Hinata, Sasuke, Shisui (Tracking)

Team 10 - Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Asuma (Capture/Retrieval)

[If anyone's curious I have Team 9 (Gai) slated as the true Frontline/Melee team]

No, I haven't forgotten about poor Kurenai, I just feel it would be much harder to become Jounin as a Genjutsu Mistress with the Uchiha clan still around. Also, no way are the two Uchiha heirs being placed on the same team.

Next chapter we get the bell-test and some flashbacks to fill in on the training/skills Naori has picked up over the years!