Minato got the summons to go to the Hokage's office at midnight by a ANBU member. He answered the call to a scene of absolute chaos. Shinobi fluttered in and out, in silent, but urgent tasks that quickly moved through the city bearing summoning scrolls and missions. They flowed around each other- if one wasn't looking, they would never know that there was so many people in one place. Each and every one of them was silent. Except for the small knot off to the side, where a low murmur of voices surrounded three figures Minato knew very well.

Gai curled up in his seat with huge, blank eyes that stared off into the distance. Tear and snot tracks had dried on his face. Ebisu was flat on his back, still breathing hard from whatever had happened. Genma was equally exhausted, with a huge gash that had been quickly patched up across his chest.

The three were surrounded by ANBU, medic, and interrogators.

"What's going on?"

"The Seven Swordsman of the Mist," supplied a nearby interrogator. "Apparently they appeared close to Konoha, so we're all scrambling to respond."

"But what does that have to do with those three?" Gai, Genma and Ebisu had made themselves semi-permanent visitors in the eight months since they first met. Since they had no official teacher even now, Minato had let them stick around a little to chat with his team. Whatever else, Gai wouldn't be turned away no matter what, so there was no point in attempting to shoo them away.

"They're the ones who ran into them." The interrogator shook his head, "All seven of them."

All seven swordsmen? How were they still alive? They were children. Minato knew even the Hokage would have a tough time against all seven swordsmen at once.

Gai curled up into an even tighter ball as a hand was laid on his head. Genma stirred slightly as another approached, hands lying on his head as well. Ebisu sighed tiredly, but leaned into the hand anyways.

The interrogators weren't bothering with an oral report- they were ripping the memories straight from the kids' minds.

Minato looked away from where the three sat, as the Hokage approached. His white cloak billowed out impressively behind him. "Ah, there you are Minato. Thank you for coming at such a late hour."

"It's no problem Hokage. I suppose I can guess why I'm here. To lead a group in searching for the Seven Swordsmen."

The Hokage nodded, arms tucked into his sleeves. Exhaustion tugged at his eyes. "The interrogators assure me that at least one of the Seven is dead, and probably more. But they're riled up now, and will probably be ready to attack."

"Dead? I know that we've been told we have quite a few geniuses, but I doubt three children kill even the weakest of the Seven. They're all amazing shinobi themselves."

It didn't make sense. The Hokage sighed, even more exhaustion creeping in. "Apparently the Maito family had a forbidden taijutsu technique called the 'Eight Gates'. While we have records of the Gates, they haven't been taught in a long time. The last technique is certain death in exchange for a brief burst of power."

Ah, that explained the tear tracks on Gai's face. It also explained why Genma and Ebisu were not looking at Gai.

The Hokage glanced at the three students, before looking back at Minato. "Please go out and search for the remaining living members of the Seven Swordsmen, and if possible kill them. I've already arranged for a gag order to keep this quiet. We don't want to raise a panic."

Minato could see from the corner of his eyes the ANBU members sorting themselves out to follow, watch, and, if needed, kill any of the three who blurted out the information. It was harsh, but the panic that would grip the city if it turned out that the Seven Swordsmen managed to get so close to Konoha without being detected would be devastating.

"I will do my best."

Shikaku Nara had been enjoying a rather relaxing day. The sun was bright, the birds were chirruping, and he'd just finished a few plans to help with the war and turned them in to his father. He wasn't quite ready for taking lead of an entire army, but father had him helping with the war efforts either way.

"This kind of relaxing day needs to be topped off with a spot of cloud gazing." Shikaku strolled along the empty training fields. There was a certain training field that had a huge tree that was perfect for lazing under. While he was there, he could rest, and start thinking of some new battle plans. Father had been frowning at them recently, and suggesting that he might want to make changes.

It meant that somewhere he was messing up, but he wasn't sure how or why. And Father wasn't giving him any hints on why he was displeased.

Thus, cloud gazing to clear his mind.

Shikaku paused at the edge of the field. Eyes flickered to where a single ten-year-old kid sat, fiddling with his sunglasses in one hand. The kid had twenty scrolls piled up around him. He was completely alone-

Shikaku's eyes narrowed for a brief moment. There, in the trees, he could feel a flicker of chakra. The kid wasn't alone. There was someone else in the shadows, watching the kid. Was it a member of the ANBU, or an enemy? Only one way to find out.

Shikaku plastered a smile across his face, and started the stroll to the tree and the child. The kid didn't seem to notice him, too intent on drowning himself among the scrolls. "Hello. Do you mind if I cloud gaze over here?"

The kid flinched, fingers tightening around his sunglasses for a brief moment. The moment passed after a brief second. "Sure, go ahead."

The kid edged away, piling the scrolls up like a really bad wall. Antsy kid, like he was waiting for an attack or death blow. Shikaku considered fifty different lines of questioning, before choosing a single thread. He flopped down onto the ground, staring up at the sky. "I guess I only have a little bit before your team comes along."

The kid went pale, curling up on himself a little more. "Nah, neither one is coming in today. Too much happened…" The kid cut himself off.

Shikaku kept his hand tucked from view, shadow ready and coiling within the trees branches for an attack he wasn't exactly certain would come. There was a very good chance the kid knew about the other watching him from the tree line, and wasn't panicking about that. Which probably meant ANBU, and ANBU never meant anything good. What had the kid gotten himself into that required an ANBU standing watch, probably to slit his throat at the slightest opportunity?

"Huh, sounds like your team is lucky." Shikaku faked a yawn- the wariness from the tree line faded slightly. "What are you working on then all by yourself?"

"Reports. Training schedules. Genma and Gai are counting on me to do at least that much."

What sour looking face. Shikaku relaxed his hand, letting the controlled shadow fade into a real shadow. He shouldn't interfere any further. Still, a ten-year-old doing training schedules? What an interesting thought. "Can I see?"

It might be a good break from war tactics and missions. Besides, even if the kid proved to be horrible at it, Shikaku could help out a little. It was troublesome, but it was a situation that Shikaku had inserted himself into.

"No." The kid scowled, protectively holding the scroll close. "You'll laugh and make fun of me."

Ouch. Did he really look that mean? Chōza was probably laughing at him now. Inoichi would probably be laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. But it was too much of a pain to correct the misinterpretation. "Hmmm, if you say so."

The kid started rolling up the scroll. Shikaku glanced at it sideways- it was only a brief glance, but it was enough.

The training plan was well put together. There was a weekly schedule, with big blank spots for whatever teacher they had. What was most interesting though was the list of abilities that were listed off to the side, neatly organized beneath Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu. The kid wasn't half bad.

But he wasn't going to get involved in something so troublesome.

Shikaku turned his eyes to the sky- a kunai cloud drifted past. He really needed this break, didn't he? If even the clouds started looking like weapons, then he was probably too focused on the war. While the war was a horrible thing, there was little he could do other then a few plans that his father took a look over for any weak points.

The kid dropped the scroll on the other side, away from where Shikaku could reach. He then pulled out a different scroll and a pencil. He yawned, and Shikaku noticed for the first time that the kid looked absolutely exhausted. He rubbed at his eyes, and huddled further into the tree as if it could somehow keep him awake.

"Wanna cloud gaze with me? I think the kunai cloud is finally changing to something different."

The kid shook his head. "No thanks."

He continued writing away at his scroll. Shikaku shrugged easily, eyes slowly sliding close. His mind floated away on the warm fall breeze. He fully expected the snore that came an hour later. He wasn't going to get involved. It would be far too much of a pain to be involved.

His curiosity niggled at him though.

Shikaku sat up- and nearly flinched as he realized that the ANBU member had appeared before him. He hadn't been keeping track of where the member was- no, this was a different one. He had only sensed the one in the tree line, and that one was still there.

"Nara, please don't investigate any further. Otherwise punishment will come upon your head."

Shikaku slowly nodded. "Fine, I won't say anything to anyone." He knew they probably wouldn't kill him. At least, not in a way that could be reliably traced, and nobody could outsmart a Nara. Making the head of all war planning mad was probably very low on the list of things to do. "It's too troublesome to get involved with anyway really."

The ANBU member watched him carefully for a few minutes longer, before slowly nodding and turning away. "Just do not do anything that would require punishment."

The ANBU member vanished. Shikaku covered his eyes. A peaceful, restful day seemed to have vanished. Instead there was an overwhelming question of what to do next. Did he go and poke around a bit more? Or did he leave everything well enough alone?

Or, he could stay, and see what happened next.

Shikaku stared at the clouds until twilight came and the kid stirred. "Oh, it's that time- what are you still doing here? Don't you have missions you should be doing?"

"Taken off the front lines for a short bit." Shikaku waved a hand lazily, one eye sliding open. "Are you sure you should be napping out here next to a stranger?"

"Probably not." The kid laughed, a short and harsh sound. "I guess I should go back visit Genma in the hospital. I wonder what melon I should get him."

The kid pulled himself to his feet, and started gathering up the scattered scrolls. Shikaku remained lying on the ground, eyes closed.

"Ebisu. There you are. I've been wondering… oh, you were talking with a Nara?"

Shikaku opened one eye lazily. Well, well, well. How very interesting. The future Hokage, if his guess was correct, was standing next to Ebisu. But Minato, as he was supposed to, had the White Fangs son and a Uchiha on his team. Ebisu was neither of those two. There were also rumors of the girl already proving herself to be an amazing medic-nin that would surpass Tsunade without question.

"Minato-senpai." Ebisu murmured, "No, I wasn't. He was cloud watching."

"I see. Ebisu, have you seen Gai? He challenged Kakashi which Kakashi accepted, and well- I've never seen Kakashi come out of a battle looking that…" Minato trailed off. Probably because of me, Shikaku thought to himself, he doesn't want me to listen in.

Ebisu said, "I haven't seen him all day. But I doubt you need to worry about him, tomorrow he'll be perfectly fine."

"Ebisu-"

"He will be. He and Genma were talking a few days ago, and he said he'd go challenge Kakashi and now that he has, he'll be fine." Ebisu stressed. "He's an idiot- there's nothing to really worry about. By tomorrow he'll be ready to move on."

"Ebisu."

Ebisu ignored Minato to finish gathering up his scrolls. "Now if you'll excuse me Minato-senpai, I have to visit Genma in the hospital." He ignored Minato's warning, worried look to march off.

Nara rolled over. "What an off-beat team." The ANBU member in the treeline was slowly following Ebisu. Judging by Minato's stance, he too was tracking the ANBU.

"Yes. They truly are quite the unlucky team. No teacher, and no promise of one."

That was news- there was a genin team that didn't have a teacher? Usually there was always a Jounin in waiting to take over. "They're that horrible, huh?"

The Shika-Ino-Cho trio always knew from the start that they would be together, and which teacher they would train under.

"Less terrible and more that whenever they try they end up falling into some kind of disaster. I've never met a team so unlucky as them. It makes me wonder what will happen during the Chūnin Exams next year. But, the Hokage said he'd try to find them a real teacher since the incident, so they should be settling down soon." Minato frowned, "It just seems odd that they haven't got a teacher yet. Genma especially- despite his laid-back attitude, he's more than capable of becoming a truly great fighter."

It was odd, but not impossible. There were other genin teams that would find themselves in the same boat if their own teacher died. There weren't many Jounin that were willing to devote themselves to full time teaching. Certainly there were quite a few willing to pitch in for a few days, or even a week. It would be like vacation- but to go full-out teaching? Nah, it was troublesome and bothersome.

"Sorry for troubling you, Nara. I'm sure you're not interested in them." Minato vanished, leaving Shikaku alone beneath the tree. Shikaku stared up at the rustling leaves, before closing his eyes.

Maybe tomorrow he'd take a poke around and see what he could find. He certainly wasn't going to bother tonight.

It was midnight, and he was waist deep in scrolls about the various missions that Team Disaster had gone on. It was a good nickname, Shikaku couldn't help but think- for their teachers. Either they had the bad luck of having some of the most incompetent teachers around, or someone was aiming to kill them off.

Dangerous seals scattered in manure, traps that shouldn't be set up, the time they managed to stumble upon an ANBU safe house chasing an escaped cat- it was almost hilarious. But if their teachers had been paying attention, then they should have been able to bring to a halt to those activities before it had gotten dangerous. And the one temporary teacher's written report about how the three tried to kill him with a knife between the eyes was obviously exaggerated. Or, if he really Shushin himself into the middle of a training field, his own fault.

"Shikaku? I thought you were trying to relax, not cause even more problems for yourself."

Shikaku glanced up at his friend Chōza standing in the doorway. "I heard about a troublesome team, and I wanted to see just who exactly they were. Look at this Chōza- while they were chasing down a cat they managed to run straight into an ANBU safe house."

Chōza laughed, and picked him up. "Hey! Wait a minute! Chōza!"

Chōza easily carried him out, seeming how Shikaku didn't really have the heart to fight back. "I was told to come and get you. Ino's working his father's shop tomorrow, so he's in bed."

"I'm surprised my father even noticed soon enough for you to come looking." Shikaku said, "How did you find me anyways?"

"An ANBU member appeared at your father's door, and then he sent me off to go find you. What did you get involved with this time? I thought things were too troublesome and bothersome to get involved with."

Shikaku shrugged, mind going back to Ebisu huddled beneath a tree. "I just met a kid."

"Are you, the laziest Jounin around, thinking about becoming a teacher?"

"What?! No, of course not! I'd never be able to relax as much as I want then!"

Chōza laughed again, the streets melting away until they were before the Nara compound. "Good luck with whatever your father has to say."

"Thanks Chōza." Shikaku settled onto his feet, waving goodbye to his friend. Chōza trooped off towards his own family home.

Shikaku entered his home, and came face to face with his father. "Ah, there you are Shikaku."

"Hey father. I'm surprised you're still up."

"Hmm, visits from the ANBU will do that to you." Shikaku couldn't even bring up enough decency to look sheepish. Instead, a half-childlike grin spread across his face. "I'm not going to tell you stop, but remember- you're not old enough to be a teacher yet. Minimum age requirement is twenty."

"I- who said- I don't want to be a teacher father."

"Hmph. Just reminding you."

"I'm going to bed now." Shikaku wearily started down the hallway.

He froze when his father laughed. "I suppose you'll want it for tomorrow morning."

"Huh?"

"You might not be old enough to be a teach but-" His father had the expression of deepest enjoyment as Shikaku's mind suddenly started running full speed. There was a scroll in his fathers hand. A scroll that was usually in teachers hands… "Have fun with your new temporary team. I had to agree with the Hokage's assessment that only a Nara could possibly handle the amount of amusing fun this team will bring about."

His fathers laughter haunted his dreams that night.

a/n: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I didn't know where to place Maito Dai's death, so I decided to place it pretty early on. It must have happened somewhere close to Konoha, for Dai to rush to his son's rescue. And having enemy ninja that close would be pretty terrible for Konoha's reputation.