Two days. That's how long it had taken the Aburame clan to react to Shikamaru's ridiculous story. Just two days. Shino was torn between pride for his family's intelligence abilities, and fright at being the target of them. Telling Hinata and Kiba was simple enough, they looked at him for three seconds like he had grown a second head and then moved on. Of course, they were both a little sore about not being told, more so than Shikamaru's friends had been. Team 8 might not have had the history of Ino-Shika-Cho, but they had just as much trust between them, and Shino was feeling the effects of having broken that trust. He did not want to contemplate what would happen when he told them that he'd lied to them after ignoring them. No, those thoughts would be banished for another day.

He had been tending to his hive, and listening for any problems, 'troubleshooting', his father liked to call it, when his grandfather found him. Aburame Shinichi was deadly in combat, and deadly in conversation, and it was generally a good idea to be careful of his wrath. However, when Shino saw him first approaching, he smiled at the chance to speak with him. Of course, he had no idea what was about to befall him.

'Greetings, Honoured Grandfather', he said respectfully.

Shinichi merely gave him a stern gaze.

'I hope your hive has not been giving you any trouble? The unseasonable winter is having an effect on my own kikaichu, I'm afraid', he tried again.

'Grandson, I shall be frank with you', he began gravely. 'Is there something completely wrong with your mind? Have your allies finally given up on you and turned your brain into mush for their children?' his grandfather said in a chilling tone.

'I'm afraid I... do not follow, grandfather' he said, all the while wondering exactly what he had done wrong.

'I am speaking of your bid to attain the post of Hokage, Shino-chan. What else would I be speaking about?' his grandfather continued. Even after all these years, he could not drop the childish honorific he had given the clan heir when had seen him first, barely a day old and already burdened with the expectations of an entire clan.

'I may have been considering such a thing, grandfather. However, I certainly have no idea-'

'-please, Shino-chan. Do not insult the clan's capabilities. Simply because the Yamanaka are not capable of finding out what their own daughter is doing does not mean our own eyes and ears are of no use', his grandfather admonished.

'May I explain myself?', Shino snapped. He had not expected a full-frontal assault from his own grandfather, not about something that, while he could not actually admit to the fact, was not even true.

Shinichi let out a breath. 'I'm afraid I let my irritation get the better of me, grandson. I am sorry.' Shino's eyes went wide. His grandfather actually apologised?

'I merely want to ensure you know exactly what you are getting into. This is not a small thing, eh?' he said with a wistful smile.

'I-, that is, yes. Yes of course.' Shino managed, with a stutter.

'You know and I know the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Clan Heir.' he began. Shinichi was speaking slowly, enunciating every word, making sure Shino understood everything, just as he had done years earlier when telling him bedtime stories about Konoha. 'Our ancestors came here a very long time ago, at the request of the Senju, partly because of the respect we had for him, but also because it was, in fact, the most logical choice at the time. The other Villages, both Great and small, were being set up in locations far less suited to our purposes. Kumo, Suna, Ame, none of them had conditions that were perfect for our kikaichu. The choice was obvious, even though Fire Country was probably more dangerous than Water, or Wind. Imagine, grandson, an entire forest created in the blink of an eye, by the wielder of the Mokuton, and his brother's prowess with Suiton.' He paused as he took a breath, gathering his thoughts.

'So we came to Konoha, eager to find new opportunities, new allies, new ways to protect our own and discover others like us. But we were in for a shock, weren't we? Because our ancestors were not accepted with the same joy by their comrades as, say, Inuzuka. Bonding with dogs was in some ways more understandable than bonding with our friends. But it was not a great revulsion, only a little one, so our ancestors settled here and protected for the Leaf, and died of the Leaf, and lived for the Leaf, just like every other ninja here. But we know this Village, Shino-chan. It is not conducive to that which it decides does not belong, and its fear of us has had a long time to grow and spread.'

'Pardon me for asking, Grandfather, but what is the relevance of your tale to my situation?' Shino asked.

Shinichi's eyes, had they been visible, would have twinkled with amusement.

'I was just coming to that, Shino-chan. As a potential candidate for Hokage, you should be aware of all the costs. This, in some ways, is the most important of them.' He took of his sunglasses, and wiped them with the hem of his shirt.

'If you are truly aspiring to be this village's leader, you must know its prejudices. And we know how prejudiced it is towards us, do we not? It is almost unconscious, just below the surface, and in most cases does not make any real difference. But with something like Hokage, it will be magnified a hundredfold. But you must do this, Shino-chan. If there is one surefire way of changing their perception of us, it is by leading them and showing them that in reality, we are not so different from them after all.'

'I only wanted to make sure you knew, grandson. It is not an easy thing, to be Hokage, and it will be even harder for you. It will be harder for you to get there, and harder for you to stay there. But this village is the strongest of the five Great Villages for a reason. It is the strength of its ninja, and the dedication of its Hokage. Do not make this choice lightly, and be wary of falling down the throat of an unseen toad.' Shinichi stood up with a grunt, and ended his lecture with one last comment.

'I will not blame you if you choose not to run, Shino. After all, it is the same choice I made when I was your age.'

Shino watched his grandfather walk away from him, his soft footsteps echoing in the clan compound until he jumped on a nearby roof and began the trip back to his own apartment. He had given him many things to think about, not least of which was that him running for Hokage might not be so fake after all.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, was having far more luck with his end of the stick. His father hadn't said anything about Hokage to him, and Ino and Chouji were satisfied with the whole story. It had taken him three hours of practice to make sure there was nothing Chouji could catch, but it was well worth it. Currently he was walking towards the Tower, contemplating how to get access to the Academy's files without appearing too suspicious. Of course, there was always the hope that no one would care. Past files of students were only kept because of Konoha's affinity for paperwork, there was no real reason for them to be kept otherwise. But he still needed permission, and one could never be too careful when dealing with the Hokage's Office.

There was, however, something that was bothering him, something that had been on his mind since he had started this entire investigation. In the context of everything else they had found, Uzumaki Aoki's age simply didn't make sense. If she was sixteen, then that would put the date of her birth well before the Godaime's accession. But her father was supposed to have left Konoha pre-genin, so unless he had become a father before puberty, there was no way she was his actual daughter. Shikamaru frowned, counting off the years in his head. Assuming the traitor had had a child at sixteen, the earliest he was willing to assume, that still put him six years after the Godaime. It had only been fifteen years since then. For a second he couldn't believe it had actually been fifteen years since he himself had been a wide-eyed genin, being trained by Asuma-sensei and doing crap missions like weeding and shopping. But the fact remained that Aoki was too old to be the traitor's daughter. There was something going on there, something that he had yet to figure out, and would probably, given their luck so far, never come to light.

As he approached the tower, he noticed the remaining members of Team Seven murmuring to each other, Sakura's hands animatedly making her point while Sasuke's eyes softened just a tiny smidgen. There was a reason Hatake Kakashi didn't speak to the Uchiha heir anymore, and it probably had something to do with his curse, and it was best to stay on his good side. But there was no way to get into the Tower now without attracting their attention, and Shikamaru really didn't walk to risk it. So he figured the best thing to do would be to slink in and hope they didn't notice him. Sure. That would happen. The Cursed Uchiha not noticing him would actually make a terrific testament to either his stealth abilities or his complete irrelevance. He figured the former was slightly less likely than the latter. He briefly contemplated using a Shadow Teleportaton or a Shunshin before dismissing both as too troublesome, and probably illegal this close to the Hokage.

Into the breach it was, then.

'Shikamaru-kun! Over here!' Sakura said loudly. She seemed to have all of Ino-chan's irritating qualities with none of the things that made Ino such a good friend and teammate. No wonder Team 7 turned out as it did.

'Good morning, Sakura-san, Uchiha-san. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, it's all this work I'm doing' Shikamaru said. While it wasn't a lie, it certainly implied that he was doing official work, and that wasn't the truth, either. Sasuke tilted his head a tiny fraction at Shikamaru's greeting before resuming his impression of a face carved from marble. His eyes were cold as ever, and huge contrast to his friend's animated green ones.

'I know what you mean. Tsunade-shishou runs me ragged at every chance she gets. But, aren't you on holiday? I'm sure Ino mentioned something.' Sakura said.

Shikamaru raised his defences ever so slightly. Sure, Sakura could have come by that information in a perfectly harmless way. But on the off-chance she hadn't, he would have to come up with another story.

'Oh yes, this is a personal project of mine. That's why I'm going in to see the Hokage just now, actually.' Shikamaru said, hoping she'd take the hint.

'Oh, of course, don't let us keep you. I just thought I'd say hi, and see how things are going', Sakura replied.

'Indeed. I'm sure we'll run into each other again,' he said.

Just as he was about to make his exit, Sasuke caught his eye.

'Nara-san, this project you're working on, it wouldn't happen to have anything to do with a conversation you had a few days ago, would it? One about your prospects for the future?' he said softly. Sakura's eyes hardened just a little bit, ready to defend her teammate in case Shikamaru exploded.

He merely sighed.

'Ok, look, I don't know what you think you heard, or how you heard it, but whatever it is, put it out of your mind. I've got better things to do than talk to eavesdroppers and rumourmongers.' Shikamaru said in a cold tone.

'We were just enjoying dinner when we saw our comrades in the same restaurant, Shikamaru-kun. We'd have come over, but you were so involved in each other I don't think you would have noticed', Sakura interjected.

'All we want to do is talk to you privately, whenever you have the time. Come over to the compound, I'm sure you know where it is' Sasuke continued.

Shikamaru gritted his teeth. 'Whatever. I have stuff to do, and your political manoeuvrings don't interest me one bit.'

Sakura grunted something that sounded suspiciously like 'men', before saying 'Look, Shika. We're not looking for anything, we're just asking for half an hour of your time. Listen to us, and then you can leave or whatever. IS that too much to ask?'

'Fine, half an hour, I'll see you sometime this week. Now get out of my way.' he said, as he pushed past them to get through the door. 'And if I don't turn up, well, you can do what you like', he muttered, fully aware that they could still hear him.

He spent two hours arguing with the administrators in the Tower about whether he had the right to look at the files, but in the end his ANBU status won out. Clearly the normal filers and the ones in the Tower were two different breeds, because the former loved him while the latter seemed to seethe about the fact that they had had to defer to him.

He then had to trek back to the Academy and root through several cabinets' worth of paperwork before he found what he was looking for. Attendance records and teacher comments for students in the last ten years of the Sandaime's reign. Just for old time's sake he pulled the very last one of the bunch, the one that he himself had graduated from, and started reading. It seemed whoever had made the report ahd come back and found the file, to update them with pertinent information about whether the student had passed or failed, and what they were doing now.

Aburame Shino

Grade: A in Theory, A in Practical. Passed Pre-Genin and Genin exams. Passed Chunin. Passed Jounin. ANBU, codename unknown.

Remains quiet and rarely engages in class, just like the rest of his clan. Surely this isolation must be hurting him socially, but Shibi-san refuses to hear anything about it, so I can't interfere. But I guess this year is worse than most others, and the reputation his clan has probably doesn't do much for him.

Who had written this? Umino Iruka, it said on the bottom. He vaguely remembered the man, a smiling teacher with a large scar across his nose who always took care of his students even when he caught them skiving. Shikamaru smiled at the memories before moving on.

He saw a few other names he recognised, like Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata, but he was really interested in what the man had to say about Shikamaru.

Nara Shikamaru

Grade: C in Theory, D in Practical. Passed Pre-Genin and Genin exams. Passed Chuunin. Passed Jounin. ANBU, codename Deer.

The boy doesn't seem to engage in class at all, and just spends most of his time asleep. If it weren't for the fact that he's the heir of a notoriously lazy clan, he wouldn't get away with this at all. This kind of favouritism can't be good for anyone, surely. Still, I don't make the rules.

Shikamaru's eyebrows shot up. He didn't realise exactly how exasperating his behaviour had been to his teacher, he probably would have changed it if he'd known. Well. Maybe. Still, there was a blatant favouritism in his class, and in the village in general.

He started looking from the bottom of the pile, knowing that Uzumaki, if he did indeed exist, would be found there. Shikamaru couldn't remember anyone called that, but it had been a very long time ago and he couldn't remember most people from his year, especially given that most of them had dropped out after failing their exams.

Yuriko, Yamanaka, Uzumaki! He actually managed it! It made perfect sense, too. If the traitor had left just before graduation, then that would tie in perfectly with Jiraiya-sama's return to the village. Shino was going to regret the day he chose Aoki over school files. Not to mention he had managed some pretty useful blackmail material against everyone in his year. Just one copy of all of these files and he could trade ANBU duty whenever he liked. Genius!

Excited, he pulled the specific pages with a little more force than he needed to, tearing them slightly but not doing any meaningful damage. He read the words greedily, noting that while everyone else had only gotten a line or two, Uzumaki had managed an entire paragraph.

Uzumaki Naruto

E in Theory, E in Practical. Status Unknown.

Naruto is easily the smartest and the most creative of all of my pupils, if he only ever bothered to apply himself. It's understandable, I guess, and I was the same when I was his age, but there's really no reason for him to act out so badly and so often. Still, he's better than when I first met him, though when I first met him I had my prejudices too.

Naruto continues to surprise me. He came up with the most inventive application for the solid Henge, though I have a very bad feeling about where it will lead. He's also gotten a lot quieter in the last few weeks, he's pulled no pranks whatsoever, and I haven't heard the words Hokage, ramen, or dattebayo even once. I'm starting to miss them, now. I guess it's worth having a Naruto who's concentrating, I guess.

I've talked to Hokage-sama about Naruto, and he agrees that his status might have something to do with his recent changes. He's got an ANBU guard, of course, but he's always been able to hide from then and outrun them when he needs to. It's scary what a determined twelve-year-old can do, and it's terrifying what this determined twelve-year-old seems capable of doing.

I can't believe what just happened. They came and found me while I was having dinner, and said something about the Fox having finally betrayed us. I didn't understand what he was saying at first, but when I did it frightened me more than anything. Naruto just up and left, and he didn't take anything. That orange jacket he loves so much is just there in his closet, and so is that ridiculous hat Hokage-sama gave him for his eighth birthday. I've never seen his apartment so clean. T&I said it looked like it had been planned for a while. Naruto, what have you done?

It's been a while since I've last looked at this. Years, really. I've kept up with my other genin, ticked them off and written down what they're doing, but somehow I always managed to avoid looking at Naruto's file. When I see what the village has become, I can't help but feel that it would have been better if he had been here to see it. I can't help but feel that if I'd just reached out to him a bit more, he wouldn't have had go through all of that, wouldn't have left Konoha. But I can't do this anymore. I can't keep thinking about the past, about how it might have been. It's time I said goodbye, Naruto-kun.

Shikamaru's eyes hardened. Whoever Naruto was, clearly he had had no conception of how much Iruka-sensei had cared for him, and the fact that he had made that kind teacher feel guilty because he turned traitor was somehow too much to bear. Before, this was just a puzzle to solve, but now it had just taken on a whole new level. Now it was personal. He would make sure Naruto realised exactly what he'd done when he'd betrayed his village, and make sure his daughter knew what sort of a man her father really was. He swore it, on his clan's honour and his Konoha headband and his ANBU mask, that Naruto would pay.

ehhhh, i dunno about that one. still, better than nothing, and shit continues to hit the fan. next time, i'll tell you a little bit more about the differences between this and canon, move away from just Shikamaru and Shino, because let's be honest, there are other people in this story too, and hopefully Team 7 will seem slightly nicer when you hear their side of the story.