Chapter 2:

Ino and Naruto were filled in by Kakashi and sent to the gate to meet up with Shikamaru. He told them before they left that he wanted to keep his position a secret, even from the village that hired them. No one should indicate that he was the one they wanted to answer the town leader's questions.

"As far as anyone knows, we're all equal. We watch each other's backs and don't stick out."

"Then why'd you bring him?" Ino asked, jerking a thumb in Naruto's direction.

"If for any reason one of us is compromised, he can create a shadow clone and switch places with that person. His clones last longer than ours. Besides, he has other things up his sleeve which may prove useful on this mission."

They got all their talking done before leaving, just in case there were spies on the road. Seeing no point in hiding the fact that they were shinobi, they kept their headbands where they were and went to the village just like they would any other mission.

Naruto wasn't sure what would indicate who the answerer would be unless they spoke about it directly. He assumed it would be anyone who acted intelligent. He didn't know how anyone could look smart. Protecting Shikamaru wasn't a clear indication as far as he was concerned because they always looked out for each other, not just the target. He had thought about changing his behavior to throw them off but Shikamaru told him not to do that. He said they didn't need a decoy.

When they arrived at the village, several people came to greet them. A number of them talked at once, asking questions and announcing their relief. One person pushed himself to the front of the crowd and told the shinobi how happy he was that they came. This must have been the village leader.

"Please, which one will answer the town leader's questions? Who is the test-taker?"

"We're not at liberty to say," Naruto told him with a sly smirk on his face. "Maybe they're here, maybe they're not. Maybe we haven't decided yet. Who knows?"

The man looked confused then nodded. "Oh, I see. Keeping it secret. I understand. Well, you must be hungry after your journey here. I'll show you where you'll be staying."

The shinobi followed him, keeping an eye on everyone around them.

Once inside the building, Ino asked the man a question. "Are there people from the town here?"

The man's downcast eyes said it all, but he answered anyway. "Yes. The test is tomorrow. They arrived just this morning."

"What have they been doing? Just standing around, watching?"

"Pretty much."

"Can you point them out to us?" asked Naruto.

"Why?" asked the man. "You think they'll do something deceitful?"

"Well, it's not uncommon," he answered.

"I doubt they would. They're not shinobi, after all. I doubt they'd stand a chance against you if they tried. I'm sure they know that, too. But if you must know, there's four of them. One's been standing by the main gate with one of our guards, keeping an eye on who comes and goes. The other three have been lurking around different areas of the village on patrol. You can tell they're from the town because of the colors they wear. Dark red. The town's crest is on their backs."

"They're making no attempt to hide themselves," muttered Shikamaru.

"Why would they?" asked the man. "The town leader is so confident that no one will win that it has me wondering what the test will be. I doubt he'd stoop to cheating, but just how hard is the test?"

Shikamaru and his team already knew it was very likely that the men skulking around the village were there to sabotage them, but didn't want to say anything aloud.

The man left and came back with their food, placing them on small low tables in front of them. It was a modest meal but they didn't touch it. Shikamaru told his team to pack extra food for the mission in sealed containers just in case the food at the village had been tampered with. Including the water. Shikamaru was taking no risks.

"I hope you're able to pass the test," the man told the whole group, since he didn't know who was who. "I had to dip into my savings just to get you here. If you fail and the village is taxed, we'll have nothing left."

"I thought you were independent of the town," said Shikamaru, already knowing the situation. "How could they tax you?"

"We're expected to pay back our debt. If we're no longer affiliated with the town, we have to either return everything they had given to us or pay to keep them. We can't return them without digging ourselves into a hole and we can't afford to pay for them either."

"Then why not just stay affiliated with the town?" Shikamaru asked.

"Because they increased our taxes so much that we couldn't pay them and not go into debt."

"Sounds rough. Have you thought of any other options?"

"The town leader proposed this arrangement for us and that pretty much is the only thing left we can do. If you don't pass his test, we're screwed."

"And since you paid to have us be here, that's even less money you have. Sorry to hear about your situation. Hopefully we'll be able to help."

Naruto stole a glance at Shikamaru, wondering why he was acting like this. Even the way he spoke was different. Nonchalant but concerned. This must have been Shikamaru's method for keeping himself hidden.

In truth, it was. Shikamaru knew that if he acted like a complete moron, it would be suspicious. Even those who didn't know him would think he was putting on an act. If he acted average, it would help conceal him.

It was a balancing act, of course. Doing too much or too little would tip them off. If he tried to help the village solve its problems, the enemy would suspect he was a lot smarter than he was making himself out to be. If he played everything off as being over his head, they would know he was hiding his intellect.

"What time tomorrow is the test supposed to take place?" Ino asked.

"In the afternoon," said the man. "When he arrives. Probably around three."

"Three in the afternoon? Ok."

They had to make it until then.

They tried to remain indoors as much as possible but couldn't relax their guard for a second. Any time a door or window opened, they would jump and look for an enemy. They checked their room for traps multiple times, including the ceiling. It was too narrow for a human to hide in and their room sat between two other rooms. Their window faced the yard which had a single tree covered in leaves. It was a good hiding spot, so they kept watch to make sure no one and nothing was using it for cover.

A gift arrived for them on the back veranda. A box of cupcakes which unleashed a sweet aroma the moment they opened the lid. With it was a card saying that it was from the village bakery as a token of gratitude. As tempting as they were, they couldn't accept it. Naruto wanted just one dab of frosting but Ino wrenched it out of his hands and donated the box to some local children instead.

"I can't have them but they can?" Naruto asked. "What if they're poison?"

"Yet you wanted to eat them?" Ino shot back. She kept an eye on the children but they were all fine after consuming the cupcakes.

"There really was nothing wrong with them," Naruto pouted.

"Better safe than sorry."

"I doubt they'd poison us over a stupid test." Naruto closed the door to the veranda. "Drug, yes. Poison, no."

"Just stay on your toes, ok?"

Another gift arrived from the flower shop with a card of gratitude. Ino knew these flowers were harmless but feared there might be something inside the arrangement, so she placed the flowers in the yard under the tree, far from the group.

They could have thrown them out, but she thought someone might go through the trash and find them, the cupcakes, too, and know they had suspected they were tricks. If it looked like they accepted the gifts, if they were from the enemy, they would leave the group alone, thinking they had taken the bait. They didn't want anyone to know they were on to them.

Naruto used his clone to walk around the village safely and found the four men the village leader had told them about. One stayed by the main gate and did not budge. The other three roamed around the village, rarely staying in the same spot for long. Naruto took note of everyone they spoke with. Most villagers were a little offput by them and others made it clear that they didn't want them there.

At one point, Naruto saw one of the men talking to an older man sitting outside his house. The man in the dark red vest stood close to the old man in the chair as they spoke. The old man said something to the man and pointed in Naruto's direction. When the red-vested man followed his gaze to Naruto and the two locked eyes, Naruto's clone hid behind a house and popped.

To relay this information safely, Ino used her jutsu to communicate with them telepathically. He told them what his clone witnessed and Shikamaru said it was possible that the old man was a spy himself or he just thought Naruto was being a bother.

"If all he did was point at you and tell the guy to look, it could be something innocent like he was just bringing you to the guy's attention," Shikamaru told him. "Saying that some blond teen's looking at him or something."

"He has a point, Naruto. But we'll keep an eye on him anyway, just in case."

For the next hour, everything was calm.

Then a commotion outside caught their attention.

They cautiously peered outside and saw two villagers arguing with a red-vested man. Things got heated and the men started taking swings at each other.

"Should we do something about this?" Ino asked Shikamaru.

"It's not exactly in our job description…"

As he was saying this, someone screamed from the other side of the road and the red-vested man shoved the two villagers out of the way of someone swinging a heavy metal bat coated in spikes. The red-vested man started to draw something from his belt but the metal weapon was too fast and struck him in the chest and arm, knocking him backwards.

"But that is," said Shikamaru, knowing they needed to help. "Come on."

They couldn't let their guard down, even now. Rushing out of the building was very risky, but if villagers were in danger, they had to help protect them.

Shikamaru used his shadow to stop the man before he could swing again. Naruto used his clones to offer cover. He put one at Shikamaru's back and two around Ino. They stood in a triangle formation, looking in all directions for enemies.

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded the man in Shikamaru's shadow. "Why are you here?"

"Behind you, Naruto," Shikamaru warned. A second man was coming his way with another metal weapon. Naruto used the two clones at his side to attack directly, hanging back to avoid being hit himself. He hated doing this, but he knew he couldn't risk the real him getting caught in a trap.

One clone popped but the other managed to land a hit on the assailant, sending him staggering. The clone unleashed a series of kicks on the man who covered his head with the metal rod. As the clone landed to get ready for another attack, the man swung the rod at the clone's legs and it popped.

Naruto gritted his teeth and got ready to create more clones. The man suddenly stopped and dropped his weapon on the ground. He gave Naruto a girlish wink and pointed at Ino being held by one of his two clones.

"Nice one, Ino."

Shikamaru looked from the one he was holding to the one Ino had under control. Both men were wearing masks similar to Kakashi's. They could fight but they didn't seem to be shinobi. This couldn't have been a random attack.

They subdued the two men and restrained them in the street. The red-vested man they attacked was still holding his left arm and the two villagers he had pushed out of the way began to crowd the shinobi, trying to get a look at the two they captured. Naruto's clones pushed them back.

"Ino, the guy needs medical attention," Shikamaru told her. "Can you please see to that?"

"I will." She looked over at Naruto. "We need crowd-control."

"Working on it," said one of the clones. "Stand back, I said. Stop crowding."

The real Naruto looked at Shikamaru. "Can you gather their weapons?"

"On it." Shikamaru had to admit that they were doing a pretty good job keeping things equal. Everyone was telling each other to do something so there was no clear indication who the leader was and they all protected each other.

Ino bent down to treat the man's arm. He kept it close to his body, complaining of pain. "Let me see," she told him gently. She started to roll up his sleeve to see the damage. There was no blood and no bruise.

Shikamaru bent down to pick up the spiked weapon and noticed that it and the metal rod weighed the same. Touching the metal spikes, he discovered that they were just stiff sponges. They weren't sharp nor hard.

Naruto looked at one of the masked men tied up on the ground and noticed a familiar glare. He bent down and removed one of their masks and saw the same face he had seen talking to the older man.

His eyes widened in horror. "You're…"

"Ouch!" Shikamaru clasped a hand to the back of his neck. He quickly pulled two thin darts out of his skin. A chill went down his spine and he looked at his team in fear.

One of the villagers Naruto's clone was restraining had a straw-like rod in his hand with which he had used to fire the darts. Naruto snatched the weapon out of the villager's hand and threw him and his partner to the ground, pressing both knees into their spines.

"You're not injured," Ino had said to the vested man before turning her attention to Shikamaru's cry. She saw him pull the two darts out of his neck and Naruto's clone disarm the two villagers. "This was a setup."

Shikamaru dropped the darts on the ground and tried to remain calm. He could feel himself sweating. What was this going to do to him? He didn't feel tired. He didn't feel sick. He wasn't going numb. What was in those darts? What was going to happen to him?

"Do you have any idea what I'm going to do to you for attacking my friend?" Naruto's clone snarled dangerously into the villagers' ears.

Naruto approached Shikamaru, seeing Shikamaru rubbing the back of his neck. He couldn't tell if he was in pain or not. He was glad Shikamaru was still standing but it also made him worry.

"Shikamaru, are you ok?"

"… Heh…"

Naruto was getting even more concerned.

"… Heh… Heh heh… Heh ha hahahahaha!"

Shikamaru's gradual laughter had Naruto and Ino scared. They had never heard him laugh so loudly before.

"Are you ok?"

Shikamaru's laughter started to subside but he was still giggling while he spoke, as if trying to get out a hilarious joke. "I had absolutely no idea that was gonna happen. Did you?"

"Are you ok?" Naruto repeated again, even though it was clear that he wasn't.

Shikamaru made a buzzing noise and jabbed himself in the back of his neck with his fingers. "Just like that. Did you see?"

"What's going on with you? You seem kinda loopy."

Shikamaru staggered into Naruto, suddenly feeling off-balance. "Heh heh, you think it might be the thing that went bzzt into my neck?"

"Yeah, pretty sure."

Shikamaru slid down Naruto's body until his head was on Naruto's chest. "You think it'll do something to me?"

"I'm pretty sure it already did," Naruto said, trying to keep his growing alarm in check.

Shikamaru chuckled, amused. "I can hear a thump-thump here." Shikamaru pressed his head further into Naruto's chest, hearing his heartbeat. His cheek brushed against the zipper on Naruto's jacket and he began to play with that, flicking it with his index finger while blowing raspberries with his tongue.

Naruto gave Ino a worried look. "Ino, what do we do?"

Ino just stared at Shikamaru pulling Naruto's zipper up and down in his teeth, looking very amused. Ino clasped her hands to her face and wailed, "I don't know!"