Disclaimer – Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters therein.

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Memories Of Others

Chapter 23

Arrivals At Konoha

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"Konohagakure." The leader of the group of four stated as the top of the wall came into view.

"Long trip." Grumbled the boy in the one-piece catsuit, only for him to be given a dope-slap by the blond girl walking beside him. "Dammit, Temari! What was that for?"

"You're always grumbling, Kankuro!" Temari shot back. "Can't you just shut up for once?"

"Sensei, please tell her to stop hitting me." Kankuro whined.

"She's your sister, she's allowed to."

"Thanks, Baki-Sensei." Temari chirped as Kankuro sulked.

As the hut beside the gates came into view, Baki turned his head so that his single eye was gazing at the final member of the team, a red-headed youth carrying a huge gourd on his back.

"Gaara, remember your father's orders." He said and the boy gave him a dead-eyed glare. "Those bandits were the last people you're allowed to kill without orders. Until I tell you otherwise, keep that bloodlust of yours under control. Understood?"

"Yes… Sensei…"

Baki stared at him for another long moment before giving a sharp nod.

"Good. Now, I want all three of you on your best behaviour while we're here. We can't afford to get caught up in anything unplanned."

The two taller genin nodded while Gaara just growled. Baki nodded again and increased his pace slightly, forcing the trio to follow.

"Let me do the talking."

Gaara didn't bother to respond, but Baki nodded anyway and turned his attention to the duo behind the guard hut's desk.

"Good morning. Team Baki from Suna, here to participate in the Chunin Exams."

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"Konoha." Zabuza stated, shifting his sword slightly. "It's not too late to pull out, but then I'd have to beat the cowardice out of you."

"I believe that my team-mates would prefer to enter the exams, Zabuza-sama."

"Dammit, Haku. It's Zabuza-Sensei these days, how many times must I tell you?"

"At least once more… Zabuza-sama."

Zabuza growled as he glanced back at the other two. Suigetsu was taking another swig out of his surprisingly small water bottle and Zabuza felt a surge of satisfaction at having managed to get a seal-lined one that could hold almost a thousand liters and slowly refill from atmospheric water, enough to let Suigetsu use all of the clan techniques he knew.

Damn thing had been expensive, though.

Chojuro was looking somewhat nervous, although the training that Zabuza had put him through had already made a considerable difference. The muscles on his arms showed their definition even through his sleeves and he could fight for almost two hours, despite the weight of his sword.

"Zabuza-sama, I believe that it may be best if I deal with the guards." Haku demurred. "We both know how much you dislike paperwork."

Zabuza nodded. That one fireball jutsu he had learned (which had, ironically enough, been stolen from the Uchiha) had become infamous in Mist as the Paperwork Destroyer.

Along with the fact that to Zabuza, three pieces of paper constituted too much paperwork and a reason to use the aforementioned jutsu.

"Fine." He growled. "The faster we get in, the faster I can point out the son of the Yondaime to you. If he's even a tenth as good as his dad, even I would be in trouble against him."

"So… stay polite?" Suigetsu queried.

"Then run like hell." Zabuza confirmed. "Screaming like a little girl is optional."

Zabuza mentally smirked at the expressions on the faces of the two genin, then turned back to Haku.

Who was no longer there.

"Thank you for your help, Shinobi-sama." Haku's voice said and Zabuza half-turned to see him at the gatehouse, accepting back the paperwork that Zabuza knew the genin hadn't been carrying earlier.

"Huh." Zabuza grunted as he checked his vest pocket and found it empty. "He's getting damn good at that."

Zabuza moved forwards, then froze as he saw just who was in the guardhouse.

"Oh. Fuck."

The smaller of the two figures looked at Zabuza and waved.

"Hi! How did it go with the Mizukage?"

"Pretty well." Zabuza managed. "Just what the hell are you doing on gate duty?"

"I'm a clone." The blond laughed. "Boss has several dozen more of us with the instant reaction platoon…"

"So if you pop, the platoon'll be here within seconds." Zabuza sighed. "Fuck. You're getting even scarier than you were in Wave."

"Thanks."

"Wasn't a compliment." Zabuza grumbled as he stomped past the amused clone.

"So, should we be running yet?" Suigetsu asked, earning a growl from his Sensei.

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Akatsuchi lumbered forwards, grumbling under his breath and his normal cheerful disposition in abeyance.

"Sensei?"

"Yes, Shimaru?"

"You seem… unhappy…"

Akatsuchi looked at the heavily-armored stocky teen for a moment, then he nodded.

"We're headed for the village that managed to capture my cousin and the entire team she was leading, without any serious injuries on their side."

The other two genin, twins Dori and Gura, simply looked at him curiously. The siblings were unusual in that they were archers, although Akatsuchi had gone out of his way to ensure that they were at least proficient in the other standard disciplines of an Iwa Shinobi. Too much specialization was generally a quick way to get promoted to chunin and then, as the saying went, promoted to glory just as fast.

Shimaru's skill with the tetsubo matched the twins archery almost perfectly, meaning that while they stayed back and sniped at the enemies, he would take advantage of their aiming skills and smash into the enemies, taking the few return blows on his steel armor.

It was a technique that had worked so far.

"How?" Shimaru asked in shock. "I've seen her fight… how did she…?"

"One of the genin involved is a trap specialist. Another can use the Yondaime Hokage's Hiraishin to teleport reinforcements to where they're needed. Kurotsuchi and her unit went up against two Jonin and six genin that they knew about… and another Jonin and three genin that they didn't. Since the unknowns were Maito Gai, the taijutsu specialist of Konoha and his team… yeah."

Shimaru winced in sympathy.

"Once we get settled in, I'll walk you through the files." Akatsuchi added. "The only good piece of news is that you won't be going up against the Hiraishin user, he's part of Konoha's Genin Pool and not on one of their teams."

"Sensei, what do you mean"/"that he isn't on a team?"

"Just that." Akatsuchi stated. "Konoha prefers to place its so-called elite genin in teams to train them up for command. This one… Naruto, was placed in the Genin Pool which is where those who aren't seen as being outstanding end up and of which only a few get promoted out of."

"By the thousand Kamis!" Shimaru breathed. "He can do the Hiraishin and they don't see him as outstanding? What the hell are we getting ourselves into here?"

"Now you start to understand why I don't like this." Akatsuchi grunted.

"And why we got assigned"/"to the Tsuchikage's bodyguard."

"Please stop doing that. It's annoying."

The twins smirked at each other and Akatsuchi grumbled under his breath about annoying genin and how irritating they could be.

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"Team Raishi from the newly-formed Village Hidden In The Sound." Orochimaru said from behind his false face as he handed the paperwork over to one of the two chunin behind the desk. The duo were a pair that he recognized on sight, although the last time he had seen them, they had been genin. "My team are Abumi Zaku, Tsuchi Kin and Genin Leader Kinuta Dosu."

The trio of genin lined up behind him nodded to indicate which one of them was which as Hagane Kotetsu leafed through the pages, his eyes darting between the pictures on the sheets and the genin of whom the pictures were of.

"Very well." He said slowly as his partner, Kamizake Izumo, pulled out four tags and passed them across the desk. "Everything seems to be in order, so welcome to Konoha. Please remember that any violent acts by you or your team will be investigated and should you prove to be at fault, you will be asked to leave. I see that you have already arranged for accommodation for your time here, so all I can say is good luck and I hope you do well."

"Thank you." Orochimaru smiled. "I have every trust in my team and I am certain that they will prove that Otogakure is a village worth taking notice of."

"I'm sure that Konoha will look on your progress with interest." Izumo responded diplomatically and Orochimaru waved for his genin to follow him through the gate.

As they walked through the bustling streets of the hidden village, his genin played their roles perfectly, looking round curiously, but without either looking like they were seeking out tactical information for the upcoming invasion or looking like it was the first shinobi village they had ever been in, either of which could have caused certain… complications for his plan.

"Our hotel should be… that way." Orochimaru said, playing his own role as visiting Jonin who had memorized the file his village had on Konoha. "Tomorrow, I shall check in with the supervisors to get the details we still need for the exams.

As the trio of genin nodded in acceptance of his words, Orochimaru caught a glimpse of an ANBU vanishing, having obviously overheard his comments.

Konoha shinobi were just so predictable…

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"Ino!"

Ino quickly hung up her newest top in her wardrobe as her father's voice echoed up the stairs. Pausing to close her weapons cabinet (and thus prevent the sunlight from reaching and reducing the effectiveness of the poisoned senbon), she quickly descended to find out what her father wanted.

"I'm here-oof!"

A somehow-familiar pair of arms wrapped around her as their owner glomped her, causing her to go from a near-run to a staggering stop.

"Good afternoon, Ino." Tsunami smiled from the corner sofa, where she and Yamanaka Ayaka were sipping tea. "When Inari heard that I was undertaking a trip here to see if my father's company could help out at all, he wanted to come and say hello."

Ino looked down at Inari, who had released her and was grinning up at her, then she glanced over at her father, who was trying (and failing) to hide his amusement.

"Hello, Inari." Ino finally said, smiling at the younger boy. "Tsunami-san. How's your father?"

"He's doing fine." Tsunami smiled. "Trying to plan his next project, but at the moment, all that really needs doing is simple house-building for the new people moving into Wave. With the harbor rebuilt and new warehouses, the amount of trans-shipping and trade has really grown."

"Ino, since I need a few things from the market, could you and Inari-kun go get them for me?" Ayaka asked, holding up a shopping list and nodding to a small purse. Ino accepted the list and glanced at it.

"Sure thing, mum. This shouldn't take too long."

"Well, I think you should show Inari around Konoha first." Ayake suggested, her mouth twitching as she suppressed a smile and Ino's eyes narrowed.

"Mother, just what are you…"

"Hey, Ino. I see you've got your toyboy again." Shikamaru joked from behind her and Ino almost reflexively threw a trio of knockout senbon at him. "Whoah! That almost hit me!"

Ino glared at the smirking boy who was peeping in around the senbon-pierced doorframe.

"Shi. Ka. MA. RU!"

The shadow-user vanished and Ino lunged after him before realizing that she was holding Inari's hand. Firing a glare at her father, who had raised a hand to cover his mouth, she scooped up the purse with her free hand and stalked out of the door. As soon as Inari had vanished through the door behind her, the three adults burst out laughing.

"You realize she'll be using you for target practice when she finds out that you warned Shika-kun?" Ayaka managed to ask despite her giggling and Inoichi nodded.

"Worth it."