However I dress it up, I was a spy and I am not proud of it.
-Christine Keeler

Chapter 16: However I Dress It Up

His red and white robes billowed out behind him as he stared out the window overlooking the academy. A purple haired girl was chattering beside some of the genin hopefuls. A while ago, he would have thought the sentiment was sweet and that Hinata was trying to help them. Now, he could not be so sure. Was she whispering traitorous mumblings to the students to get them before they even passed? No one could say except for the ones that were listening to her at that time.

Hiruzen frowned as he looked at them. Hinata pulled away from the two students and gave a quick wave before running out to where Teru was. The two talked for a moment more before walking away. The kage stared at the empty spot where they once stood before he heard the squeak of the door opening. He looked over to see Inoichi and his genin standing in the doorway. The old man gave a sigh before motioning them in. He would get no reprieve from all of this business.

He moved back to his chair and took a seat at Team Tsume entered the room. Inoichi shut the door with a click and turned the key in its lock before joining the genin at the desk. "Team Tsume, reporting," said Inoichi with a short bow.

"Thank you, Yamanaka-san," said Hiruzen. "I will not waste time and ask how your mission was. You all look well enough and that is what matters right now. We have more important things at hand. I trust that Yamanaka-san has told you all of your new mission?"

The genin all bobbed their heads up and down. "There is more to it than that. New intel has been received since I was able to contact you. I sent that message almost a week ago now and the situation has continued to evolve."

Shikamaru was absorbing the information like a sponge. He had known that heading into this, almost no information could be trusted. This was a delicate situation. It was a battlefield. The battlefield was always changing. Things that could be truths one second could be falsehoods the next. He would have to be extremely careful about who he could trust. He knew he could trust Kei, Inoichi, and Naruto, but who else? He knew of no one, not even his parents.

"The Kazekage has come along with his genin team. The important thing is the fact that he brought nine body guards." Inoichi raised a brow at that. The Kazekage was always known to be cautious, but nine body guards? Wasn't that overdoing it? It seemed to be a neon sign saying that he was suspicious, but was it too obvious? Anyone who was trying to sneak in to Konoha with a miniature army would never do it in such an obvious way.

"They range from chuunin to ANBU. They all check out from various co-op missions that we have performed with Sunagakure, so they aren't outside mercenaries. Unless, of course, they have been planning this farce for an even longer time than we had suspected." The Hokage explained. He grabbed the pipe on his desk and flicked a match and let the tobacco burn. He took a puff before continuing, "Obviously, we are suspecting them. However, there are many other countries to be worried about."

"Otogakure is a new country. No one knows the details of how or why they were given land from the daimyo. We have consulted their sovereign on the matter, but he remained evasive. It may be a simple sign of protectiveness, or he may be purposefully trying to conceal information from us. Either way, it is not a good thing."

Kei had her notebook out and was scribbling in a mirror image script cipher. The kage made no sound of beginning to stop, so she had to assume that there would be a lot of countries to cover. "Amegakure is another unknown factor. They are great illusionists and most of their genin have a knack for genjutsu. Some intel that came in suggests that they may have sent in genjutsu specialists to infiltrate the village. No one entering has been caught with a genjutsu, but since the Uchiha boy's sharingan hasn't activated yet, we can't be sure."

"Kusagakure is an enigma to us. They retain good relationships with all of the other shinobi nations, so in a sense, they are trusted, but no one trusts them. They are allies with too many countries to have a true allegiance to any of them," he explained.

"Kirigakure is coming off of a civil war attempt. Many government officials were assassinated. We don't know if they would side with us because they want to prevent the precedent of another civil war even if it is in another country." The Hokage ended with a sigh. A long puff of smoke issues from his nostrils as he looked over towards the team in front of him. "Do you begin to see where it gets complicated?"

"Good grief," said Naruto blankly. He blinked a few times before nodding emphatically. He refrained from saying much more for fear of exposing his fright of the Hokage. It was probably more suspicious for him to say nothing, but he couldn't just talk normally after stealing from the old man.

"Indeed." The Hokage agreed with a chuckle. "There are 51 teams that have been scheduled to enter. This is, with you entering of course." He realized at that time, Inoichi had never confirmed that they were willing to enter. He looked over to the former T&I director with a calculating look. Inoichi took the message and nodded.

"Team Tsume is going to enter the chuunin exams." Inoichi almost regretted his words the moment they left his mouth. He was still worrying over the fact that they might not be ready. He knew Kei and Shikamaru weren't offensive types. What if they got themselves killed for this mission? Inoichi would never be able to live with himself.

"Good. The exams still have a few weeks left before they get running, so use your time carefully. A few other genin teams from Konoha are joining as well: Team 6, Team 7, and Team 8. I believe they were all graduating from the same class as your genin, Yamanaka-san," the Hokage said.

Kei flipped back a few pages in her notebook to a part that was written in a Vigenère cipher. She had made bios on all of the genin teams that she had graduated with and had prudently left a margin for each person for more notes. She looked it over quickly, decoding the jumble as she went before flipping back to the front of her notebook. A lot of the information would probably be outdated, so this gave her the perfect chance to gather new info.

"All of them? Are they truly ready?" Inoichi asked in confusion. He had not expected for all the new genin to enter at once.

"I do not think so, but each team has a clan member that is demanding that they be put through to the chuunin exams," said the Hokage, puffing on his pipe. The Uchiha is receiving support from the council in general while Hiashi and Chouza are vying for their own children. I couldn't reject them or risk the spurring of the rebellion."

Inoichi frowned. Chouza had never been a militaristic type. He preferred to relax and chat with his friends. Inoichi couldn't imagine his longtime friend as someone who would try to force his son into the exams before his time. The thought crossed his mind that Chouza was training his son to be a soldier, but that couldn't be. Things couldn't have changed so quickly since their last get together. He'd have to visit him soon to see what was really going on.

"However, I had better talk about the task at hand." The Hokage waved them closer to his desk before unraveling a scroll. It was a detailed map of Konoha with a few buildings circled in red. Above each circle were the names of all the countries. "On here I have marked down the locations of all the genin teams and their leaders. Each dignitary is staying in a separate facility to prevent tensions between the higher ups. The politicians have been provided guides during their stay, but the genin and their teachers have not. I did this so that you would be able to approach them with no one to stop you."

"When they came into Konoha, I requested that they only be out during certain periods of the day. And if they wish to use the training grounds, they have select time slots in which they can do so." He brought out a separate notebook and slid it over towards them. Kei picked it up and eagerly began leafing through it. "That contains the time slots that they have requested and when they should be out and about. You'll need it if you are to plan out encounters before the actual tournament. All the teams have arrived except the delegations from Kirigakure and Amegakure. I chose their time slots for them and their future lodging are still marked on this map."

He tapped the scroll in the two spots marking the hotels they would be staying at. "Absolutely do not let this fall into enemy hands. I was not supposed to mark down their locations at all since they were supposed to be done completely by oral agreement. I have broken my word for the safety of Konoha, and I do not want that lie to be for naught. Understood?"

Naruto bobbed his head up and down hurriedly. He really wanted to get out of here. "All right. Are there any questions then?"

Silence reigned as each of them looked back and forth between each other. Finally, Shikamaru said, "If we have an opportunity to go undercover, should we take it? I mean, if someone close to us is already in the group, should we ask to join with them?" It was painfully obvious that Shikamaru was referring to his family. The Nara clan would be the first to be sought out about a revolution because of their strategic skills. A Nara versus a non-Nara would be a pathetically easy match, however, a Nara versus a Nara and the sides would be equal.

"Yes, Nara-kun." Hiruzen nodded solemnly as he laced his fingers together. "Just try to contact another one of your genin team and have them tell me of the proceedings. If you try to directly contact me either by hawk or by an in-person meeting, it may endanger you. However, only do it if you are comfortable with the situation, all right?"

Shikamaru nodded with a frown on his face. Hiruzen sighed. It was a pity that children at such a young age had to be involved in this. When he was twelve, he was still dreaming of being the best ninja he could be. He was still trying to weed gardens and catch cats, none of this spying nonsense.

"So is that all?" No one made a reply, and so Hiruzen leaned back into his chair. "That will be all then. Feel free to take the scroll. You are dismissed." Inoichi leaned forward to wrap the scroll up before tying the rope back around it. He pulled out a sealing scroll and plucked the time keeping notebook from Kei's hands and placed it on top of the seal along with the map. He jetted a small amount of his chakra into the scroll before an almost invisible puff of smoke took the items away.

He leaned away and gave a quick bow before turning to hustle his genin away from the office.

Naruto was all too eager to leave, something that the Hokage easily noticed, but didn't stop. It was more than nervousness, but Hiruzen didn't want to put more on the boy's mind than he had to. The door slammed shut and Hiruzen watched as smoke drifted off into the air. He hoped this would not be the last time he would see them and that they wouldn't vanish like so many other spies gone before them.

-TSUME-

They had all dispersed afterwards to go back to their family or to their empty homes. Shikamaru walked on the dirt path up to the Nara Estate with his eyes closed and his hands deep in his pockets. Being like this helped him think. When the world was empty around him and all that existed was his own thoughts. It was why he always appeared to be sleeping. It allowed him to think and for nothing to distract him.

The sound of the deer stepping through the grass sounded to the right of him, and Shikamaru exhaled sharply. This was so troublesome! His eyes snapped open and latched onto a rock before him. He kicked it harshly and watched as it tumbled across the ground and into an innocent sapling. Shikamaru rarely lost control. He always seemed like a collected character, but all of that fell away when he was truly alone.

When things got to that critical point, he had to do something. May it be scream or kick a hapless rock; he needed to vent his anger. It wasn't just that he had gotten injured and he was recovering or even the fact that his family could be traitors. Both of those things worried him, but they weren't even to drive him to this point. What really frustrated him was the fact that there was no definable line. There was the good and the evil, sure, but it would be impossible to divide people into such easy categories.

He knew there would be people that were forced to join the rebellion and others that had been fooled into thinking that it was the right thing to would be the term he would use to describe them. They were not inherently evil in and of themselves, they were just being forced to do evil things. But he would still have to mark them down as enemies and people that could be disposed of if it came to a battle. He wasn't a fool; he knew he would be writing death sentences if it came down to a coup de tat.

He ran a hand through his hair and tried to get a hold of himself. It would do no good for him to panic. He had to keep himself cool if he was going to walk back into his home and talk to his clan mates and his family. They would instantly pick up on the fact that something was wrong, they were Nara after all. Shikamaru dropped his hand from his hair and breathed in an out until he felt his heart rate had slowed enough.

The boy looked forward sadly before walking forward towards the estate. The cream walls loomed above him as he stepped upon the wooden flooring. "I'm back!" He yelled out into the empty hallways. The sound of his voice echoing could be heard as he slipped up the short stairs onto the main walkway.

"Ah, Shikamaru! Welcome back, boy," said Shikaku from his spot at the dining table. He held a cup of tea in his hands while another one of their many cousins was trying to match him in shogi. "If you're back, you must have succeeded, but to keep with tradition: how did the mission go?"

The question seemed so innocent, but now Shikamaru's mind ran differently. Was Shikaku asking him this to calculate how strong Shikamaru was and if he'd be an asset? Or perhaps was he trying to gather information on his teammates to figure out which ones would be eliminated first? It briefly crossed his mind that his father just honestly wanted to know how his son was doing, and Shikamaru stopped. This really was beginning to affect him.

"It went well in the beginning, later on though, not so well." He kept his reply vague, but truthful. Later was both worse in the sense of Aoi and that they had received their true mission.

"Ahh? Why so?" Shikaku asked while he sipped his tea.

Shikamaru sighed. This was going to be a long evening.

-TSUME-

"Kei-chan? Is that you?" Kei flinched. She had hoped that no one would notice her on her way back to her home, but that was obviously not to be. She turned around to see a peppy blonde running up towards her. Ino hopped, skipped, and jumped over to her before landing daintily in front of her. "It's been ages, hasn't it?" Ino's voice made her want to cringe, but it would be impolite to do so. In any case, she was Inoichi's daughter and had to have some good qualities.

"Yes, it has. I've only just got back," she explained. Hopefully the not-so-subtle hint would not go unnoticed. Needless to say, it went unnoticed.

"Really? Then you must tell me all about it!" Ino squealed happily, tugging on Kei's arm. "Let's go have some candies or something! I know just the place."

"Don't you have something to do with your teammates, Yamanaka-san? Most people have training about now..." Kei's voice trailed off when she saw the expression that crossed Ino's face. It was one of pure disgust and disdain.

"Hah? Why would I purposefully stay around with those losers? Seriously, Kei-chan, I thought you knew me better than that. They've only gotten worse since you left though, so I suppose it is kind of understandable." Ino scrunched up her face as she thought about her teammates. "Hanagaki-san is a twit. You throw a kunai at him, and he gets down on his knees to beg for mercy. Akimichi-san isn't much better, but his blubber protects him from everything that comes at him, I suppose."

Kei was beginning to expect the unexpected, but it was still nothing she had every expected. Ino had a look of such revulsion on her face, Kei had never thought it was possible. "I've had to pick up the slack for all of them," complained Ino. "I spend most of my off hours reading daddy's tomes about the Yamanaka clan jutsu because my skills are ahead of the others. And you know how that goes. "No, Ino. You can't work on more advanced techniques even though you are obviously more talented. You have to wait for your classmates to catch up." That is such a joke. I can't believe my time is being wasted like that..." The blonde ended with a roll of her eyes.

"I don't even want to talk about them..." Ino turned away to stare at the ground, closing her blue eyes. Kei stood there awkwardly before reaching a hand out to tap Ino on the shoulder. "So let's go get those candies, hm?" Ino whipped around and flashed Kei a glittering smile. It was so bright, Kei almost jumped. Ino's personalities were switching around so quickly, it was hard to keep track!

Ino grabbed onto Kei's hand and pulled her down the street towards the candy store. "Let's have fun, huh?" She squeaked happily as her hand fastened around Kei's. Soon enough, the maroon haired girl was dragged down the busy streets. Her mind had drifted away to another place though. Ino was showing signs of Borderline Personality Disorder. BPD was normally triggered by post-traumatic stress disorder or trauma such as childhood abuse.

But Inoichi had been away from home, so it couldn't have been him. Another relative perhaps, maybe the problems with her team or was it... Her eyes widened as she came to a new conclusion. Was this the stress of being a part of a rebellion?

Her golden eyes flicked back to the hand that was wrapped around hers. Until she figured out what side Ino was on, Kei would have to be on alert. Her eyes softened as she looked at the bright cheeriness on the blonde's face. Any other time, Kei would have gone to consult a doctor about her friend, but now that would disrupt the delicate balance in the village.

Was it unethical to not try and get help for her friend in case something wrong was happening? She tried not to think about it as she was hauled away. Instead she closed her eyes and silently hoped that Ino was not on the other side because no matter how annoying she was, she was still a friend.

-TSUME-

Naruto sat on his stool at Ichiraku and slurped up his noodles with the money he had received on the previous mission. He ate in silence, once in a while sending glances to the other people in the stall. On the far side, he saw Team 8 eating their own ramen. Teru talked animatedly to Hinata whilst making a good impression of Team 8 being a two man team. Shino sat glumly, hunched over his noodles. The boy seemed to be taking notice of nothing else as he stared at one of his bugs crawling along the edge of the bowl.

"Dude! That's so gross!" Teru reached over and grabbed the small chakra sucking bug and held it in the air. He smiled cockily before dropping it back onto the table. Shino snapped out his hands and caught the falling bug before turning to look at Teru. Naruto would not have been able to tell it was a glare, save for the killer intent that was obviously radiating off of the boy - the very same killer intent that Teru was oblivious to. "And those things live inside you? I can't believe it! How creepy!" He said in his jolly voice, unknowingly offending the Aburame even more.

"It is kind of strange," offered Hinata. The girl leaned casually back in her stool. She leaned her head on her arm that was propped up on the counter. What struck Naruto was the fact that her shyness seemed to have decreased since he was gone. She wasn't cowering anymore, though she still had her bangs. She seemed a lot more relaxed than she used to be. She gave Teru a look that signaled to Naruto that she obviously had a crush on her teammate. That meant that they would probably mobilize as a group and that the side that got Teru would get Hinata as well.

"They live as well. Do not think that they do not understand what we say," replied Shino shortly. The bug crawled back up his sleeve, and Shino turned back to his food.

"It was just a joke, dude! You have to relax more!" Teru chirped, slapping a hand across Shino's back. Shino choked on some of the ramen in his mouth and shook his head, trying to ignore his teammate. Naruto felt kind of sorry for the guy. It was obvious that Shino didn't get along with any of them, not even Hinata. In Shino's eyes, she must have become a fangirl much like how Ino was for Sasuke.

"I am perfectly relaxed. You are the only one who is disturbing the calm. I am only here because Kurenai-sensei requested it. Do not mistake this for actually caring for either of you," snapped Shino. Teru pulled back and raised his hands in a sign of parley. The blonde shook his head in a blasé manner that Naruto found vaguely irritating.

"Excuse me for wanting to make friends. I'm not the socially awkward person here." Teru turned back to Hinata and left Shino in his own world. From his seat, Naruto almost felt like going out to talk to Shino. The guy obviously needed a friend, but Naruto held himself back. He couldn't get involved with anything right now. If he walked up to Shino while Teru and Hinata were still around, then they could transmit information back to whoever they were allied with. He'd have to stay silent for now.

And so he sat, regretting every moment as he watched Shino. His ramen was tasteless.

Author's Note: I stayed up late writing this one. xD Once again, I have another event on this weekend. They're called weekends for a reason! Why can't I seem to get any rest! In any case, I hope you like how this story is developing! I had fun researching personality disorders and ciphers to come up with this chapter. I'll be easing back into all the genin teams. I've really missed writing them.

Thanks again to Pokepikachu1 for betaing for me! And thank you so much for continuing to support this story and reading it every week! Leave a review and tell me what you think of the chapter? I'd really appreciate it, and I'm open to answering any questions you have. (: