There were many discrepancies in the history of Konohagakure no Sato. It was only to be expected; after all, it was a village full of mercenary ninja who killed for pay. It was also the home of the most powerful shinobi on the continent, its techniques feared far and wide. The Byakugan and the Sharingan were only two of its weapons. From the kikaichu-wielders of the Aburame to the mindwalkers of the Yamanaka, they all contributed in one way or another to the sheer power that was the military of the Hidden Leaf, and they all had their secrets.

Shikamaru himself was a testament to this. The Nara were not one of the premier clans of Konoha for nothing. Their shadow-binding techniques had been guarded jealously for generations, and while every new generation was that much closer and more loyal to its village there were still some clan secrets no one outside the clan knew.

So he knew that searching the records of the village for clues about the Godaime's appointment would be a long shot. There was simply no way that he would find something concrete in the first few weeks. But even as he combed through the paperwork, Shikamaru grew more and more frustrated that there was no hint, no shred of evidence that led anywhere.

Shino was working the Uzumaki angle. It was the only thing that had both of their hackles raised. A good shinobi's instincts rarely pointed them in the wrong direction, and they were not just good shinobi, they were jounin of the Leaf. Aoki was a lead neither of them were willing to let the other have, but in the end, Shino's R&A contacts won out. And so Shikamaru was stuck looking at old paperwork.

Between him and Shino, they knew people almost everywhere in Konoha. ANBU was an open book to them, insofar as ANBU was an open book to anyone. Shikamaru's father knew people on the Civilian Council, the military police liked nothing more than to help ANBU, and the filers loved him, though he had no idea why. Shino's reputation for being fair and honest had opened several avenues with the financiers of Konoha, and he had a cousin working in the hospital. The only place they had no power whatsoever was the Hokage's office, or as Shikamaru was thinking of it more and more often, the Tower. The Tower of the Godaime Hokage, which Shikamaru was sure held all the answers.

But right now there was no need to think about all of that. Right now, he was having dinner at Asuma-sensei's favourite restaurant, listening to Ino-chan tell him yet again about how he needed to move on from Temari and get himself a nice girl. How Sakura had got a new haircut, and that Sasuke-kun had beaten Neji in their latest spar, and other equally troublesome, mundane things. It was a relief, in one way, to be away from the reports of ninja killing and spying and seducing.

'-maru? NARA SHIKAMARU, are you even listening to me?' Ino yelled at him.

'Yes, yes, of course I am. You were just saying how Sasuke-kun had beaten Neji, and clearly he is superior, and all the rest of it.' Shikamaru replied.

Ino grumbled about lazy Nara men, but let it go. And before Shikamaru knew it, he was being interrogated not by Ino, his teammate and best friend, but by Yamanaka Ino, protege of both her father and Ibiki-sensei, T&I specialist.

'So what's this I hear about you and Shino-san?' she asked.

Shikamaru rearranged his face into what he hoped was a suitably bemused expression.

'Me and Shino-san? Last I heard, we weren't in a relationship. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's straight, and and I'm even surer I'm straight too.'

Ino looked at him, and Shikamaru knew it hadn't worked. 'You really expect me to believe that? Come on, do you think the rest of us are blind and deaf? Even Kiba-san's noticed it.'

'Noticed what, exactly?' Shikamaru said, hoping to play dumb just a little while longer, trying desperately to think of a good lie should he need one.

'Nothing, Nothing at all. Merely that you're suddenly spending much of your free time together, that you've taken your sick leave when you've never taken any before, that he's chatting up people at R&A, that the filers are gossiping about how much time you spend cooped up on the fifth floor. No, nothing at all, Shika-kun. Everything's perfectly normal, isn't it?' Ino had a sarcastic tongue when she wanted to use it.

'Look, Ino, I don't know what you think-'

'No, clearly you don't! It's one thing to keep secrets from Chouji and me. Ok, fine, you don't want to tell us. But then to share it with Aburame Shino? I mean, do we really mean that little to you, that you'd go to a bug-user for help before you come to us? We're your friends, aren't we? We've only been through dozens of near-death situations, laughed together and cried together, right? What the fuck, Shikamaru?'

Shit. Clearly he'd overestimated his and Shino's abilities to keep things quiet, and underestimated Ino's depth of feeling. Now he knew why Chouji wasn't here. His best friend hated confrontation, and this would very hard on him. But it also made it just that much easier, because now he only had to lie to the clan-heir of the Yamanaka, and not to Chouji as well. Ino-chan was good at spotting lies, but Chouji was terrific at spotting his lies.

'Ok, Ino-chan-' he started again, before he was cut off again.

'Don't you "Ok, Ino-chan" me!'

'Very well, Yamanaka-dono. I apologise for my transgressions, and would like an opportunity to explain myself.' He slipped into formal tones, hoping that it would at least soften Ino up a little while he thought about what he was going to say.

She continued to glare at him. Shit. It was then that a vague memory of Asuma-sensei teaching them about how to avoid interrogation.

'If all else fails, go for the eyes'. He meant that in the last resort, be outrageous, and hope for the best.

'Shino-san and I both met about a month ago, regarding an issue that concerned both of us acutely. Since then, we have been working towards a resolution of this matter, which has required both regular meetings and frequent correspondence between us, as well as much research. As a result, we may have been neglecting our duties to our fellow comrades.' So far, so good.

'This is what you're giving me? 'Issue which concerns us'? 'Regular meetings and frequent correspondence'? Just tell me, or don't. Don't give me this bullshit.' Ino snapped.

Shikamaru mentally flinched. It was all or nothing, then.

'You really want to know? Fine! Both Shino-san and I have been concerned that Hokage-sama hasn't picked a replacement yet. He's getting old, and the sooner he picks and trains a successor, the better. So we've been trying to talk to people, and do some research, to find out what we can-'

Ino's eyes went wide. 'You're going for Hokage? YOU'RE GOING FOR HOKAGE, AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US?'

Shikamaru was seriously unsure whether this was a good thing or not, but he could run with it if he needed to.

'Ino! Don't screech, it hurts my ears. And there are other people here too, you know.' he admonished.

'Shikamaru, this is the last time I'm going to ask. Are you going for Hokage?'

'Shino-san and I both agreed that we thought a successor should be chosen. If either of us was it, then the other wouldn't come in the way, and might even be picked for Chief Advisor. Until then, we should probably pool our resources, see who came up with what, and whether either of us had any support. And before you ask, no, of course I didn't tell either of you. I only told Shino-san because I had to. We both agreed that we'd tell no one until we were ready to formally declare it. The less people know about a secret, the less likely it is to spill. So don't take it personally. You think I didn't want to tell you?' Shikamaru said. The best lies always had a healthy amount of truth in them.

Ino sat opposite him, playing with her rice but not actually eating any of it as she considered his words. Shikamaru took this time to mentally heave a sigh of relief. It had gotten Ino off their scent, and would probably work for anyone else who was suspicious too. Shikamaru might have regretted it if he hadn't been sure that Shino was going to be in the same situation soon, if he was not now. They had to meet soon and get their stories straight.

'So. You're going for Hokage, with Aburame Shino. And you didn't think it was a good idea to tell us because, and I quote 'the less likely the secret is to spill'. Right.'

'Yeah. And it's nowhere near official. We haven't talked to any of the clan heads, not even our fathers. The jounin know nothing, the Hokage knows even less. At this point, it's just two ninja of Konoha, talking about our village's future. Happens all the time.' he said, trying his best to downplay the entire thing.

'Ok, so you're going to need a strategy. I know we can't bring in anyone else, but we can at least formulate some sort of game plan. Hmm, your most likely contenders would be Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei, but the prejudiced bastards'll never give it to the 'Cursed Uchiha', and Kakashi-sensei's never wanted it, as far as I can tell. So you have the upper hand, but the minute you announce there'll be a flurry of others. Sakura-chan, maybe, and Lee-san, even. Some of the ANBU, you think?'

The rest of the night continued in that vein, with Ino putting her not inconsiderable mental faculties to use in various political campaigns, trying to see which would work best. Shikamaru knew that finding Shino was now more important than anything, so as he dropped Ino off at her apartment, he immediately Shunshin'd to Shino's flat, where he was greeted with a stony look and a tight grimace which said 'We're fucked.'

'I don't suppose your evening was any better than mine?' Shikamaru said.

'Probably not. Hinata-chan and Kiba-kun both attacked me, in different ways though their result was the same. We were at Kiba's sister's house, and Hinata completely ignored me in favour of Hana. Kiba, on the other hand, was completely normal until the meal got over, at which point he started to shout at me about secrets and teammates. And you, of course.' he replied.

'Sounds remarkably similar to Ino's speech, to be honest.'

'Yes, I imagine it was planned that way. In any case, Hinata left as soon as Kiba was done, and Kiba went with her, so I wasn't given any time to defend myself, and they made it clear they didn't want to see me until tomorrow, at the earliest. How did yours go?' he asked.

'Much the same, except Chouji wasn't there. Ino was enough for two people, though. I did, however, get a chance to say something on my behalf.'

Shino stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

'We're running for Hokage.'

As Shikamaru described his conversation with Ino to Shino, he noticed how Shino didn't even flinch when it came to her descriptions of him. The same girl who cursed the Council for being prejudiced about Uchiha also spoke of the Aburame in a biting tone that was not usually her style, and Shino looked upon it as almost normal. Shikamaru filed it away for another day, returning to more pressing matters.

'This is genius, it really is. It's mad, but it's genius. It gives us complete immunity to look at whatever we like, we're running for Hokage, after all. Anything for the village, the Will of Fire, the Legacy of the Senju. We could almost get away with it.' Shino said, half incredulous and half amazed.

'I think I've gotten away with it already. She spent the rest of dinner talking about when the best time to announce would be, and whether we should talk to Jiraiya-sama. It was mindboggling.'

'No, it makes perfect sense, and it's a terrific reason not to tell anyone. How long do you think before it comes out?'

'On its own? Ino's reliable when it comes to really important things, but there might have been someone at the restaurant. If you tell Kiba and Hinata, and I tell Chouji tomorrow, and it's not out by then, I think we're ok. It could still leak in any of a dozen ways, but if it comes out, it will. It's not like it hurts the original mission.'

'No. Still, can you imagine accidentally running for Hokage?' Shino said. Shikamaru was almost surprised, it was the first time he'd heard the usually taciturn man say anything that resembled a joke.

He shuddered. 'Let's not go there. At any rate, have you found any new leads?'

Shino smiled. Without his coat, he seemed much more approachable, his face was nowhere near as drawn and guarded, though he still wore his sunglasses.

'I know who Kushina is.'

'I was on my last legs at R&A. I think no one wanted to talk, least of all to me, about Uzushio beyond what you found in the textbooks, and almost no one seemed willing to say anything about the Uzumaki. However, today I found a reference in an old retrieval mission to one 'Uzumaki Kushina'. Turns out when the village was destroyed, by the Kyuubi, did you say?' Shino asked.

Shikamaru nodded, that was what the girl had said.

'Yes, so in the aftermath of the destruction, the clans of Uzushio scattered to the winds, so to speak. I imagine most of them went to Kiri, being the closest to Uzu, but apparently Konoha was a close ally of the Whirlpool, despite being so far away. So they sent a few of their ninja to the Leaf as well, which was probably a good idea.' The Civil Wars of the Mist were dangerous, and had happened soon after the Third Great War. There was no way the leaders of Uzu could have known about it then, but most ninja in Kiri from major bloodline clans were later wiped out. Kiri was not a good place to be in those times.

'They sent ANBU to retrieve any survivors heading our way. Only one of them survived.'

'Uzumaki Kushina?' Shikamaru asked, his heart racing.

'Exactly. Uzumaki Kushina. I suspect the only reason the record wasn't lost when they reorganised ANBU was that whoever Kushina was, she was very important to Konoha's leadership. The scroll had several high level seals on it, and I only managed to unlock it because it was a very old scroll, and was probably forgotten about after her importance faded. With both a first name and a last name, things went much faster. I found records of a few missions she went on, some important dates, things like that.'

'So what did you find?' Shikamaru asked impatiently.

'Kushina joined the Academy before the Third War. She made genin at 12, chuunin at 13, and jounin at 15, though that might be because of field promotions. The scroll reported her as married, but she kept her own name, and the husband's name was blacked out. She died during the attack of the Kyuubi, and her scroll was sealed and put into storage until I stumbled onto it today.' Shino said.

'So whoever Kushina is, she's related to Uzumaki Aoki by blood, right? But her death is way too early to affect anything that happened with the Godaime.' Shikamaru replied.

'I think the missing link will prove critical. Kushina's son must be Aoki's father. Do you think we can look through the Academy's records, to see if we find something?'

'Where do we start looking, then? There doesn't seem to be anything left in ANBU, but I'm not sure we have anywhere else unless we start asking people straight out.'

They sat in silence for a few minutes, mulling over the new information and its lack of clarity.

'Have you tried the Academy files yet?' Shino asked.

Shikamaru looked at Shino in confusion before he caught on.

'The son was only ten when he left, yeah. He should be in the Academy files, which might not have been purged', he said. 'I don't know if we can do that without seeming like paedophiles, but we can try'.

The skin around Shino's hidden eyes crinkled in amusement.

'What time frame are we looking at, here?' he said.

'Let's just check all the records within five years of the Godaime's succession. I'll go through the rest of the mission logs that the filers have, to see if Uzumaki or Kushina pops up anywhere. But we need to move faster now, if it gets out that we're planning to run for Hokage-'

'-then everything stops. I agree. We might have ask Academy teachers, see if they remember whoever the son was.'

'Ideally, we should ask Tsunade-hime about the Hokage. If there's anything that we want to know, she'll know it.'

'But getting her to tell us will be impossible. More tea?' Shino asked.

Shikamaru nodded. 'Hmm. This might prove more troublesome that the previous problem.'

They had descended into silence for a good fifteen minutes when Shikamaru stood up.

'Right, then, I'll make a start on those Academy files sometime next week. I need a break from all this first.' he huffed.

'I can imagine. I'll have to meet my team and tell them the news, and you might want to lay low for a while. Just in case something happens.'

'Yeah, OK. I don't suppose there's any chance of a trade?' Shikamaru asked hopefully.

'What, Uzumaki Aoki in return for looking through old test scores? Not a kikaichu's chance against one of Hokage-sama's toads.' Shino said.

'Oh well. It was worth the try' Shikamaru muttered to himself, and left the apartment in a flurry of leaves.

so, new chapter! sorry if you're waiting, but i really suspect you're not. i dunno if this is believable, but having a killer-ninja with a body full of insects talk to another ninja who can control shadows is stretching disbelief anyway, so i guess one or the other pretending to run for Hokage isn't too far out. next chapter will be out whenever.