10. Smile for the Camera

A final exam question on Business was:

"Define what risk is?"

The shortest answer ever at one word was:

"This."

- Anonymous

April 30, 8.22 PM

The ambassador of Kirigakure was permanently annoyed as of today until the end of May. The month of spring, graduations and the bloody chuunin exams meant that for a month he would have to put up with the scum from every other kingdom. On any other time of the year he rarely had to tolerate the presence of other ambassadors, but during the chuunin exams they would all be invited to witness the individual one-on-one matches that sometimes took several days to complete – meaning the ambassadors would all be cosily cooped up on a tiny balcony.

Also the snake trash would show his face as well, remaining as untouchable as the previous year, and all the ones before that.

Kisame was more than convinced that this formal sign of good will was just Tsunade's way to set off another war between the kingdoms. One misstep, one wrong remark and an old wound might be torn open, and wouldn't the Hokage just love that. It was all a farce, after all, the peace that is.

He tried to channel the irritation to gracefully hack through a tender steak, accompanied by a glass of fine red wine. Only then did he notice a familiar redhead enter the restaurant. Shimotsuki was still in her military uniform, a leather bag swung over her shoulder, most likely heading home after doing overtime. The woman walked up to the bar and ordered something; he couldn't read her lips from that distance. She paid up and while her order was being prepared cast a look over the hall, scouting for a place to sit.

Kisame scrutinised her every move through the crimson liquid, pausing to asses her next move. Would she try to make contact?

Their eyes met and Naoko smiled politely and nodded respectfully, but kept her distance. Perfect, a distraction for tonight's dinner that could maybe clear his foul mood for an hour or two. Kisame returned a toothy grin, making sure to flash his pointed teeth before motioning Naoko to join him. There's no way she could refuse such a direct invitation without causing any offense.

She grabbed the beer and thanked the barman before manoeuvring between the maze of tables and, after what seemed like an eternity, reaching the ambassador's table.

"Ambassador Hoshigaki," she greeted him courteously. This woman would make a fine diplomat indeed. Kisame rose and offered a polite bow before pulling out a chair for her. "No need to be so formal, Shimotsuki. Please, have a seat."

To his surprise Naoko showed no reluctance and gladly took up his invitation, "Thank you, I guess it isn't classy for a woman to drink beer alone at this time of the evening. You're helping me save some face!"

Kisame chuckled, "And a jounin no less, just one day before the chuunin exams. What will the public say, I wonder?"

The redhead drew some patterns on the tiny water droplets on the side of the glass, smiling to herself, "Before taking the exam myself I came here to drink a beer. I was so nervous because I was worried I'd get caught, being underage and all, but I didn't. And now I'm sending a group of my own genin to the exams and the feeling of nervousness is identical, because I realised that this is completely out of my control now, whatever happens. So I thought I might make this a tradition."

The ambassador raised his glass for a toast, smiling amicably, "A tradition I should copy, no doubt. I'll keep the incident of underage drinking to myself." And I'll try to ignore that the beer you're drinking is low-grade.

Naoko laughed, "I imagine you might be stressed out, a few weeks cooped up with every ambassador is no small feat. Nerve wrecking I imagine."

Kisame's eyes flickered to the redhead cleverly, "Careful, you're implying that I have no desire to meet my lovely partners." He dragged out the final two words with some distaste, but his face didn't betray a thing. Years and years of practice was on his side. Naoko made a mental note to research this man. Did he have any official military training?

"Do you wish to trade places? I'd gladly get away from the organisational part of the exams; if I may let this tiny complain slip." Naoko was easy-going and casual, something Kisame hadn't witnessed in her before. Her posture was still perfect, most likely due to the uniform, but Naoko's face betrayed that she was done for the day.

On their first encounter she was rigid, but also cornered. The second time she had braced herself, but this time Kisame felt that the air was less tense around her.

He took another calculated sip of wine, grinning from ear to ear, "My dear, the only thing more numbing that mingling with politicians is organisational duties. I'm afraid I'll have to decline your offer."

The woman smirked, "Indeed, political turmoil is much-much more entertaining. Hopefully this year goes by quickly and painlessly."

The ambassador raised an eyebrow, "If memory serves me right then last year one boy got his hand blown into mush, doesn't sound that painless after all?" His voice betrayed no compassion or worry for the incident, he could've been discussing the fine cuisine for all anyone cared. Oh no, Kisame remembered that particular incident well - it had been the one bright light in the dull scuffles the military called battles during the exams. One of the snake's manic scum had set off a grenade – say what you want about the snake, but he knew how to amuse.

Naoko pursed her lips in thought, avoiding Kisame's gaze, "And in return the Hokage helped build him a bionic arm. I'd say he came out a winner from that situation, and he graduated as a chuunin."

Kisame tilted his head a little, "Do you think that was too much violence for the children?" He asked, purposefully hoping to force Naoko to stumble, slip up and stutter. One trial after another, hoops and rings for her to jump through until finally her foot will get caught up in one.

Yet the question was something that Kisame asked himself as well, suddenly provoking the memories of his own graduation exam. Two guns, a bullet in each of them, pitted against his best friend, the first and only child who saw past the mutation. "Kill him!" they said, and without hesitation Kisame grabbed the weapon and pulled the trigger.

Surprise, confusion, betrayal – several emotions flashed over the boy's face while his body fell backwards. Such a small, bland room to become of a child with so much potential, now dead and plastered over the walls. There was so much more that this kid could've given Kirigakure, so many more ways to go. What had happened to the body?

Physical contact jolted the ambassador out of his daydreams, or perhaps nightmares would be more accurate. Pain was his way to ground back to reality, and in this case the physical impulse was very real and tangible. Flashbacks like this didn't leave him whimpering like a child, Kisame knew very well what was reality and what was merely a, although he hated to admit it, painful memory.

Namely, the fine red vintage was now all over the table, mixed with specks of red of his own, forming a pretty impressive modern piece of art. Kisame looked at his hand and had to admit that it looked like a silver hedgehog. Oozing blood, pain – this was reality and he had slipped. Only then did it occur to him that there was someone else with him as well.

Naoko was making it increasingly difficult for him not to be a little impressed with her. She remained unfazed, sipping her beer. "Ambassador, should I escort you to the hospital? Or do you have a chauffeur?" Was it professionalism, or nonchalance, or perhaps was Naoko enjoying this demonstration of power? She most likely had no idea what had provoked this reaction, or perhaps she knew exactly which buttons to press?

Kisame waved away a panicky waitress who was trying to clean up the mess, offering the poor girl a few words of apology for the disturbance before smiling at Naoko. "There's no need for concern although it is appreciated, I'll text my driver." He said apologetically while fetching his phone with the one good hand he had. "I think I'll have to cut this pleasant encounter short, my pardons."

This was irritating, and messy. Kisame hated both of those words and he wanted out of this situation. She will not be in control. Why was she in control? What had triggered the sudden change in mannerisms?

"A firm grip you have," noted Naoko, catching his attention, "Strange that the mention of violence triggered such a reaction. Is everything alright?"

Kisame's thin lips curled into an involuntary grin. Whatever this was, his interest was piqued and this little army rat had his full attention.

They stayed like this for the next few minutes, exchanging pleasant banter while Naoko was still finishing her beer. Finally the driver arrived and Kisame had to excuse himself. Naoko rose from her chair and bowed politely, wishing Kisame a quick recovery. Laser treatment was too risky to be used on minor injuries such as that; it was only used in case of major organ damage. Then again, who knows, maybe Kisame's mutated genes also granted him extraordinary quick cell reproduction.

While Kisame's back was turned, she used this chance to inconspicuously fill a tiny vial with his blood. The flick of her wrist was so smooth and natural that it escaped all notice, she made sure to be blocking the security camera with her body.

Now she had all that was necessary. The redhead pulled out a phone from her pocket, the necessary person on speed dial, "Hey, have you got a fridge? I've got something I can't really store at my house."

May 1, 10.00 AM

At precisely 10 AM to the dot, Naoko slammed open the door to the academy's biggest auditorium. Today it was filled to the brim and bustling with excitement. A jounin was stationed to every other row with the necessary number of copies of the exam that the rookies were about to take.

"Good morning!" she greeted them cheerfully, met with an equally enthusiastic response. Save for the Uchiha and Hyuuga kid, not much of a surprise. Her eyes scanned the room quickly to verify that everyone from her team was there.

"Today marks the beginning of your first Chuunin exam. As you all might be painfully aware, the first part involves a written test. You need 51% to pass and enter the second stage."

As she was speaking, the rest of the jounin were handing out the copies, turned upside down for now. Naoko was eyeing them all like a hawk, well versed in how the rookies had a habit of cheating.

"If I or any other jounin catches you blatantly cheating, you fail. Chatter or exchange words with someone, you fail. Speak without permission from me or any other jounin, you fail. Once a jounin has decided that you were cheating I don't wish to hear any back talk, feel free to issue your complaints after this exam has finished. Am I clear?" Naoko was pacing in front of the classroom in slow, deliberate steps. Her back erect and brown eyes narrowed and sharp. They had to be nervous; she was purposefully trying to frighten them.

"Yes ma'am!" resonated firmly back to her. She stopped in the middle of the room, her hands still behind her back.

Kakashi was late. No surprise, but she couldn't help but to feel irritated. Oh how he was going to be scolded once he bothered to show up. If he bothered to show up at all. This was boring and tedious work, Kisame hadn't been wrong about that.

Naoko was painfully aware that just a few stories downward, the Hokage was welcoming each ambassador to the exams and making sure that…no one got physical. Not that any one of them would risk losing face in front of others, but Tsunade was in no mood to deal with murder under her watch.

"You have exactly two hours to complete this test. You may begin."

The first condition was a tricky one. 'If we catch you blatantly cheating', meaning that they were expecting to see solutions that were cunning and covert. Naoko knew that there were theoretical geniuses like Nara or Haruno, who will most likely pass with flying colours without any assistance at all.

Most of them were simple strategic problems that they had studied in their lectures. Battleground manoeuvring, basic strategies, army patterns and so on.

Naoko scanned the faces of her own pupils, and her stomach tightened in what might have been nervousness or excitement. All three of them looked positively alarmed, meaning that all three most likely were planning to cheat their way through. Damn, how come even Sakura was this worried? Did they step up the difficulty levels this year? Naoko hadn't exactly seen this year's test.

Luckily, it seemed that Nara failed to disappoint and was happily scribbling away. That means that there was at least one person who knew.

Just a few seconds later Sasuke was also frantically writing, Naoko recognised that faint red glint that his eyes had taken. Of course, Uchiha bionic eyes, amongst many uses, allowed the copying of movement.

Out of curiosity Naoko decided to check on the two Hyuuga kids as well. Granted, strange wrinkles were marring their otherwise smooth faces. If she remembered correctly then the Hyuuga's were basically granted x-ray vision.

Sakura was suddenly moving, attracting Naoko's attention. She opened a small case and took out a pair of completely normal looking glasses. The redhead nearly grinned, that sneaky, conniving, devious girl…Naoko knew as a fact that Sakura didn't need glasses, meaning that those speckles weren't quite as innocent as they seemed.

Just a few days ago Sakura had shared her knowledge of a toxin that could be injected to the unknowing victim and that compound would head to the victim's eyes via their bloodstream and transmit whatever they were seeing to those glasses. It was a short lived one, with the lifespan of a few hours and it didn't leave any traces to the victim's body.

How the hell did she get her hands on that? Most likely it was Nara that the girl had decided to infect.

Naoko knew that she wasn't the only one who recognised the toxin, Kurenai, another jounin from the Intel branch, was also smirking at the sight, but made no move to bust Sakura. That was the type of cheating that they were expecting. Calculated, careful and completely inconspicuous. Did they actually know that their answers only formed a fraction of what would become of them? The brighter ones probably figured out pretty easily that there is very little that they don't notice in this room under heavy scrutiny.

Now there was only Naruto left. Naoko was confident that Sasuke and Sakura had already secured their positions. He was seated next to the Hyuuga girl, Hinata was her name if Naoko was correct. She noticed her passing the answers to Naruto who…

That idiot.

He refused them all.

Despite the stupidity of this decision, Naoko couldn't help but to feel a little proud at this firm demonstration of beliefs. Not many would stick to their guns under this pressure.

She checked the time, only thirty minutes had passed. Damn, she was growing bored already.

May 1, 10.02 AM

A male redhead photographer was lazily sprawled on his armchair, his chin resting on his palm and the other hand tapping impatiently on his knee.

"That girl, Yamanaka, she's fired." He mumbled under his breath as he listened to the seconds ticking away. Sasori despised waiting amongst other things, but time was valuable and punctuality was the key to his heart. If this girl wanted to succeed as a model she'd have to learn to be on time.

Two minutes of his precious time, gone. Who was stupid enough to buy a clock for his studio that ticked was the important question.

It was his only fault – being painfully aware of his mortality. Yes, it was ridiculously dramatic of him; Sasori was very knowledgeable about that, but he wasn't biologically that young. Almost forty, although his features were that of a man half his age.

Luckily none of his assistants caught that little mumble earlier; otherwise they'd be buzzing around him like bees, trying to placate his mood. His eyes caught one of his assistants making his way to him. Sasori was about to snap at him, but decided against it. Misplacing his anger wasn't one of his habits, and he damn well didn't plan to make it into one. His assistants were well trained by him and they did their job perfectly.

If only others could follow suit…

"Akasuna-sama, someone is calling you. Shall I tell them to try again in two hours?"

He held out his hand, "Depends on who it is." The assistant placed the phone to his outstretched hand, well aware that Sasori didn't let anyone else answer his calls, and he rarely answered during a photo shoot.

Brown eyes narrowed at the caller ID. What did he need this time?

He rose from the chair just as the Yamanaka girl was ushered inside. Sasori gave her a lazy look before waving his hand dismissively, "You're late. Stay there, I'm going to take this." If she was going to make him wait, then the girl might as well learn some patience as well. His eyes caught the baffled and offended look, but Sasori couldn't care less. She needed him more than he needed her.

Unless she proved to be bloody amazing.

Sasori headed out to the balcony, double checking that there was no one outside before answering the phone.

"Hoshigaki, how are you doing?" he answered with the blandest of voices, everything in his demeanour betraying that he had no desire to speak to the ambassador. The mutant was a brute with no eye for the arts. He barely deserved the services that Sasori occasionally offered.

Nevertheless, they were both Akatsuki and helped out one another, albeit begrudgingly.

"Manners? That's unlike you, Sasori; you're usually much more straightforward."

The redhead leaned against the railing, eyes narrowed, "What do you need?" Kisame wasn't one to make idle calls to play polite, at least not with the Akatsuki. Their alliance was a practical one born out of necessity, but still a damn unbreakable one.

There was a tense silence on the other end of the line, "Incriminating, no…just…I have an inkling about someone. I need to know what they're up to."

Detective work…tedious, boring and…well there was some room for artistic shots. There was some light in this situation. It didn't take long for Sasori to make up his mind, not that there was much room for refusal to begin with.

"Fine by me, name?"

"Shimotsuki Naoko, Konoha Intel."

Happy holidays everyone!

I'm beyond happy to update again after months of silence.

To be honest my mental health completely deteriorated during the summer and it only got worse when uni started and I was under constant stress and pressure, BUT I'm a lot better now. Or well, I'm dealing with it so it should be a bit easier now.

Lots of love

Lilyholics