So yeah... this defector. Beyond creepy. Bad enough we almost all got killed by a bunch of Sound-nin, but you think I'd at least get to relax on the train ride home. No such luck. I drew the short stick and got stuck with the first watch while the other girls got to shower and sleep.

He had been staring at me for fifteen minutes straight. Like, not the good kind of 'Wow, that girl is hot' staring. The 'I could eat you in one bite' sort of look.

"What?" I demanded, looking over at him. He just smiled, a row of pointy teeth suddenly visible. I pulled my dress closer to my body, trying to show less leg. Seriously, don't they have dental care in Sound?

He stood up and it was like every part of me was on fire. My muscles tensed, my eyes locked on him and I was ready to take him down if he got within two feet of me. Instead, he turned to the bathroom, casually running a hand through his white hair.

I was about to relax when the door behind me opened. I jumped up, ready for anything, only to find a sleepy-looking Hinata walking in. I shot her an unimpressed glance. I knew she had probably burned through most of her chakra dragging our new friend to safety while protecting him until ANBU showed up. She was obviously still exhausted.

"I'm here to relieve you, Ino-san," she said softly, trying to stifle a yawn.

I rolled my eyes. "As if you'd last five minutes on watch. Go back to bed, I'll be fine."

"No, I couldn't..."

"Yes you can," I smiled sweetly. "You'll just owe me one."

Hinata hesitated for a second. She was a smart girl, but I could see she was ready to collapse; so I just poured on the charm and the smiles and eventually she relented. Sucker. As soon as she was gone, I leaned back in the seat and started to think of the ways I could call that favor in.

The defector came back in and slowly sat down in his seat. His eyes lingered a bit on my chest and I swear I almost killed him. Ew, just ew. I don't usually mind the occasional leer (I'm hot, I know they can't help themselves) but this guy was just off.

Eventually Tenten came to take over and I was satisfied she wasn't going to fall asleep. Okay... fine, I tried the same thing on her that I did on Hinata but she wasn't going to let me win that easy.

A quick shower, and I was almost human again. Lying in the bed I began to review my current to-do list for Operation Clueless and Operation Hopeless. Clueless was going to need a push again as Hyuuga couldn't be bothered with changing the status quo. Subtle hints weren't working, time for the more direct approach. Maybe lock them in a closet? ...nah, Tenten would probably chop through the door in record time and I'd been on the wrong end of whatever weapon she used to do that.

I was going to think about Hopeless but I just passed out. I didn't use a lot of chakra but the gentle rhythm of the train was like a lullaby. I didn't wake up until we were at the station nearest to Konoha. And that was only because Sakura was shaking me like I was a tambourine.

"WHAT!" I yelled, finally awake enough.

"We've been in the station for TEN minutes," she snapped back.

I sat up and looked out the window. Okay, fine, maybe she was right, but that didn't mean she had to rattle me to the bones. I was ready to reply, a great little retort bound to sting her a bit, but she sat down on the bed with that completely defeated look she sometimes gets and that killed the desire to use it immediately.

"He was there," she whispered.

I didn't need elaboration on the 'he', only one guy could make her look so down. One guy, who, if I EVER got my hands on him, would be less of a man. If you catch my drift.

Words were useless in situations like this so I just put my arm around her and hugged her close. She didn't cry, which I guess some people would think was progress. But I knew better. It made me despise him more. Sakura had always worn her heart on her sleeve, her constant whirlwind of emotions made us compatible and the best of friends. But now, it was like she was starting to close up.

I hated him. I hated him SO MUCH. But at the moment I couldn't channel my rage at him as he wasn't there. So instead I used it to mold the most evil, hateful glare directed at someone who had been close to him. As we left the station, each of us took a cardinal position with him in the center and started to walk down the road. ANBU shadowed us in the forest, never seen or heard. It wasn't going to be a fast return home but it was the safest.

I was behind him but even if he couldn't see my glare, he should feel it crawling over his skin like a million fire ants. But even after an hour straight of walking, he never even bothered to look my way. Time for the direct approach.

"Why did you defect from Sound?" I demanded.

He didn't stop walking, just shrugged his shoulders. "No special reason."

My eyebrow twitched. What the hell kind of answer was that? "You can't be serious."

He stopped and turned around. "Well... I heard the girls in Konoha were pretty. I guess we'll see once we get there." Hinata flinched, he started walking again and Tenten was suddenly next to me grabbing hold of the hand that had somehow found a dozen kunai.

"No killing," she said firmly.

"Maiming?" I asked hopefully. She frowned.

Tsk, it was totally unfair. I should have at least been able to salvage some of my pride. Instead, I resumed glaring. I glared as we walked all day. I glared as we prepared for a night in the hotel. I glared right up until we passed through the gates of Konoha. And then I let it go because, honestly, all that glaring was going to give me wrinkles.

We went to be debriefed but Hokage wasn't there; something about a big meeting in Iwagakure. Some old guy took our report, looking completely unimpressed despite our awesomeness. Hello, we had held back Sound-nin on our own... with some assistance from ANBU, but whatever. It was still a complete win, especially considering that...

"Uchiha Sasuke was there?" the old man asked.

Sakura nodded firmly. "He was observing the situation."

The man frowned and looked at one of the ANBU. "And you concur, captain?"

The ANBU shot a quick glance at Sakura before responding. "It seems... unlikely, Danzo-san."

"What?" Sakura demanded. "He was there! Why would I lie?"

The ANBU's voice was steady. "If he was there, then we would all probably be dead."

"I agree," Danzo replied. "Your attachment to that boy is evident, but he is a traitor and I have no doubt that if he had been there, not only would the defector have been killed but all of you would have as well."

"But..." Sakura trailed off and looked at me. True, I had been there with her at the time but... I looked away from her and concentrated on a spot on the floor. I heard the defeat in her final reply and the dismissal from Danzo. As soon as we were outside the Hokage's Tower, I tried to catch Sakura but she was gone, brushing me off and disappearing in a plume of smoke.

I sighed. Hinata and Tenten looked at me nervously, not sure what was going on. But I didn't bother explaining. Because I didn't know if what I was thinking was even possible. I needed time to gather my thoughts. So I left them and found a patch of open green grass. I lay down and looked up at the sky, watching the clouds go by.

It was probably about an hour later when someone sat next to me.

"What did you do?" Shikamaru asked.

"Nothing!" I replied, with a frown. Geez, you'd think I always got in trouble.

Shikamaru sighed and leaned back on the ground, looking up at the sky. "You come here when you've got too much on your mind and need to sort it out," he drawled. "So it makes me think either Operation Clueless or Operation Hopeless has gone astray."

I frowned. "They're perfectly on schedule."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" Then he went back to cloud watching. He wouldn't pry but this was the one case that I kind of wanted him too.

You see, I had this crazy idea. I know Sasuke was there, I saw him. But like ANBU said, why wouldn't he just kill the defector right then and there? Unless… well, unless he wanted the guy to defect. And that meant he was there to make sure he made it to Konoha safely.

Crazy, right?

But think about it. If Sound wanted someone in Konoha, what better way then to set up a double agent? But... it didn't seem like Orochimaru's style. He was more the 'destroy everything' type of person. I'm pretty sure if he wanted something in Konoha, he'd just send enough Sound-nin in to plow through our defenses. And if a few got killed in the process, I don't think he would have cared much.

This was subtle. There was something Sound wanted in Konoha but they wanted to get it out without us knowing. No... wait. It wasn't Sound. It was...

"I've got it!" I cried, sitting up. "Shika-kun..." But I trailed off. He was passed out on the grass. I rolled my eyes and poked at his nose. It scrunched up a bit and he went right on sleeping.

I didn't bother to wake him up. I had other people to call in for backup and he was obviously exhausted. I ran home and picked up the phone, starting to dial. Chouji was on a mission and Hinata was in a 'council meeting', whatever that was. I finally got Tenten on the phone.

"I just need you for like half an hour," I started.

There was a pause. "Well... I was supposed to train with Neji, but I guess I could..."

"No!" I cut her off. This was perfect! She'd been gone for a week and we weren't back in Konoha for more then six hours and they were already planning to see each other. GAH, why couldn't they just both see how much they wanted each other?

"What?"

"I mean... it's totally fine," I said. "It was just some shopping. So you're going training?"

There was a long pause before she spoke again. "Um... yes?"

"That's great! I mean you and Neji train so well together."

Tenten was sensing the trap but couldn't quite see where it was leading. "Well... thanks?"

"I'm just saying," I continued, "it's good that you still train with your genin team. Chouji and Shika and I try to get together once a week."

"Yeah... I mean, it's not like Lee doesn't train with us. He just tends to stick with Gai-sensei."

"I understand, Shika and Asuma-sensei would play Shougi for hours," I laughed. She laughed. Perfect. She's at ease, now was the time to strike. "So do you guys go out for food afterwards?"

"Oh... yeah, sure, sometimes."

"We went to Ginza last week. It's the new restaurant that just opened. You should totally go after training today."

"Well, I don't..."

"They have the best chocolate fudge cake." I smiled, knowing full well that this was one of Tenten's weaknesses. In fact, I could hear her thinking on the other end of the phone. It would be silly to go by herself just for a dessert, people would look at her oddly, sitting alone at a table. But hey, conveniently there was someone she was meeting in a short while who was known to eat out occasionally.

I waited for it all to click into place, clutching the phone impatiently.

"You know... we haven't really tried anything new," she said slowly. I squealed in delight and then just prayed she hadn't heard. "It might be worth looking into."

"Great! I know you'll love it. Just ask for Futuma when you get there and he'll take care of you."

"Oh, okay. Thanks Ino. Have fun shopping."

I hung up the phone with a smile as big as Konoha itself. Ginza was a new restaurant, a romantic new restaurant nestled right on lake. At night the fireflies came out and the moon turned the water to silver. Futuma was their head maître d' and he had promised me last week that just mentioning his name would get the best spot in the restaurant. Operation Hopeless was full steam ahead.

But I was still without someone to help with my other problem. Really all that was left was Sakura but... I don't think I could ask her for help in this. Still, I did need to at least explain.

I called but all I got was the machine.

"Sakura-chan, listen, we need to talk. About Sasuke. I know he was there but... look I think I know what's going on but I need to prove it otherwise that Danzo guy is going to blow us off again. So can we meet later?" I paused. I knew she was there. She was probably just angry or sulking or both. "Okay, just meet for ice cream in a couple of hours. I'll explain there."

I hung up and frowned. Let's say I was right. That Sasuke sent this defector to Konoha to get something for him. There was only one place in Konoha I could think he'd have something he wanted to retrieve. I grabbed a kunai pouch and a few scrolls before heading to the Uchiha compound.

Part of me recognized that this was stupid. I should just go and demand that Danzou send ANBU to look for whatever the defector was searching for. But the guy just didn't strike me as the type to change his mind once it was made up. Like I told Sakura, we needed proof. So I was just going to have to get it myself.

As I was walking towards the compound I recognized a face in the crowd. It was Hyuuga. PERFECT.

"Hi!" I smiled, running up to meet him.

I'll give him credit for not visibly flinching when I caught up with him. Instead, he maintained his calm. "Yamanaka," he replied.

"I hear you're off to train with Tenten," I said. He looked a bit confused as to how I would know that. "She totally blew me off when I asked her to go shopping because she had plans with you."

He paused. "She could have rescheduled."

I shrugged. "No big, I know she likes training with you better then anything else."

If he wasn't Neji, I would have heard the sigh. "Yamanaka..."

"Yes?" I replied sweetly.

"You are... persistent."

"Well, of course I am. Tenten and I are really good friends and I want to see her happy. Don't you?"

"Of course."

"So..."

"So?"

I sighed in frustration. "You both deserve each other," I replied, hands on my hips. "You're both so damn stubborn that you'll spend the rest of your lives two millimeters from being together rather then take a chance. You know, there's no guarantee she's going to be around. Something could happen, it's not like we have the safest jobs in the world. One second you're here, laughing with your friends, and the next..."

I stopped. Hyuuga looked... well, he almost looked concerned. I realized I had stopped talking about Tenten midway through that last train of thought. I didn't realize I was afraid up until now. He was about to say something but I jumped in.

"Sorry, just... stressed out over the last mission," I said, hoping the lie would hold.

He didn't reply right away. "You shouldn't worry. Tenten speaks highly of your mission capability. You were and should continue to be able to face whatever you have to."

I... okay, I blushed. I admit it. You don't just brush off a compliment like that. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks. Have fun training and afterwards," I said, leaving him with a confused look as I took off. I did help settle my mind a bit. I knew this was dangerous but I could handle it. It's not like the defector wouldn't have an ANBU guard with him. All I had to do was convince them of the possibility of something fishy going on.

I made my way quickly to the Uchiha compound, looking for anything suspicious as I did. The place was huge, it took me almost twenty minutes to cover the first quarter of it. Everything was deserted, covered in a layer of dust and cobwebs. The whole complex was beyond depressing. And it was perfectly normal right until I saw the two ANBU lying in the street. I approached them carefully, searching for any signs of life. Before I could check for a pulse, I heard someone moving in the building nearby. I carefully pulled out a kunai and a scroll from my pouch, making sure I kept my noise down to a minimum.

I unfurled the scroll and bit my finger, drawing enough blood to activate the alarm beacon. Just as I pressed it to the paper, he attacked, exiting the door and coming at me with both of the ANBU's katanas. I deflected with a kunai and backed up to try to get enough distance. But the 'defector' was vicious. I gained a couple of feet of breathing room at the expense of an open wound on my arm.

I realized defense wasn't going to work so I charged, dodging the first katana that swiped at my head and deflecting the other at my side with the kunai. I pulled another kunai out and slashed at his midsection, scoring a hit but only getting splashed with water for my trouble. What the hell? Had he just turned his body to water?

He attacked again, and even with two kunai to deflect I was having problems keeping up. My right leg suddenly collapsed and I was on my knees before I realized I had been hit. Something grabbed my ponytail and all I could see out of the corner of my eye was a row of pointed teeth. I didn't get a snappy retort, not even some proclamation about how weak I was. All I felt was a sharp pain in my side and I couldn't move.

He let me drop to the ground and it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. Where the hell was backup? The alarm should have reached them by now. I saw him run back into the house and come out with something in his hand. It felt like it had been hours but it was only a minute. Backup would get here too late.

As he disappeared I forced one hand to move to the puddle of blood near my side. Some part of me wanted to panic over how much there was. But I kept it silent and concentrated on the task at hand. Slowly I drew one kanji and one arrow pointing in the direction he had gone. And that was all I could do.