AN: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.
The next day
Sakura hurried out the door. It was almost 6 AM and she did not want to experience whatever nasty surprise Kakashi-sensei had in store for her if she was late.
As she dashed across the busy market streets, her body went on autopilot, honed from years of traipsing across these roads with her parents and friends. That allowed her to reminisce about last night. It had been a good experience for her. She did not have much friends and her teammates, whilst cordial were not someone she could have personal conversations with. And as much as Kakashi-sensei was growing on her, he had this 'lone-wolf' vibe that she doubted he would ever shed.
It had been nice to see how her teammates were without inhibitions. If it weren't for the sad longing in Sasuke-kun's eyes or the haunted look of isolation on Naruto's face, they could've almost passed as normal teenagers enjoying a night out with their friends.
As a female, Sakura considered herself very observant, and from what she had seen both boys had a history that bogged them down and prevented them from fully opening to others. And as their teammate, she took it upon herself to make them feel more comfortable, to bring forth the 'family' element of their team.
Besides, she would be lying if she didn't admit her curiosity. The tipsy version of Sasuke-kun had shown to her a boy almost starving for interpersonal relationships and affection, and Naruto too had lowered his walls of solitude and mingled quite nicely. She was definitely going to ask Ino what drunk Naruto was like.
Hurrying through the busy morning streets, she somehow stopped in front of her teammates and Team 10 at exactly 6:00 AM. Thanking her stars, she caught her breath and joined her teammates.
"It's unlike you to be late Sakura" Shikamaru said.
"I went straight to bed last night to avoid my parents. It took me half an hour to get the scent of alcohol out of my mouth this morning."
She saw Ino and Naruto share a quick look amongst themselves that no once else seemed to notice, and this only served to heighten her eagerness to have another one-to-one with her best friend.
They entered the building and found their respective senseis waiting atop the stairs.
Asuma held out six sets of keys.
"We did you the courtesy of arriving earlier and sorting everything out."
Kakashi pushed off the wall he was leaning against, "Three neighbouring farms have been ransacked. All the produce is missing, the crops are burnt and the animals either missing or slaughtered. Your job is to find anything of use. These keys will give you entrance to all the places within the respective farms, and we trust you to return these as you received them."
Sakura looked at her sensei, "And where will you be?"
"We've got a meeting with the Hokage. We have to brief him about yesterday's mission."
The jounin gave them their individual set of keys and gave them the directions to the farm, sending them on their way.
30 minutes later
They had arrived at the entrance of the farms, and the place extended as far as the eye could see. Sometimes she wondered just big her village was.
She looked at the others. Naruto had a strange expression on his face, as if he were thinking about something completely unrelated to the task at hand. He stayed like this for a few moments, before Ino came and tugged on his sleeve, taking him away towards their allocated farm.
Now she was definitely curious. Something was up with those two, and she wanted to find out what.
Unfortunately, Choji came in the way. He greeted her with a polite smile, and invited her to start their mission. Unable to think of a plausible enough reason to refuse and follow their teammates, she entered the farm behind him.
After ten minutes, she felt a tug in her gut. Her feminine instincts were tingling, and a foul smell besmirched the arid air.
She ventured further, cautiously feeling for the weapon that she kept on her person since her first day on Team Seven.
That uneasiness multiplied when she stopped in front of a large factory. Gulping in apprehension, she slowly opened the enormous doors alongside Choji, and what she saw inside left an indelible stain on her consciousness.
Bodies. Dozens if not hundreds of them. Of sheep and chicken and pigs. Poor, innocent, mute animals that had harmed no one, that had lived life so simply and harmlessly, all slaughtered and discarded like garbage. She struggled not to remove her breakfast, and her skin paled as she turned on the lights and saw the entire extent of the inhumanity.
Stacked at the end of factory, were the heads of sheep and chicken, and on the faces of some she could see their pain and anguish, the pain of their final moments scarring her mind.
She choked back a sob and ran outside. What kind of monsters would do this?
Naruto was surprised by her boldness. After going home and replaying last night's events non-stop, he convinced himself that her actions were the result of her inebriated state. After all, the first time she had touched him he had granted her an introduction to his tenant.
He had hoped it would be enough to deter her from manhandling him again. After all, he had not seen hair or hide of Kiba since their final day at the academy either.
She held out her arm towards him "Thanks for lending me your jacket."
He accepted it, trying to ignore the alluring scent of roses and wondered when she had had the time to wash it.
She stopped him again with her words.
"About last night."
He prevented her from moving into dangerous terrain, "It was your first time drinking, and you weren't in the right state of mind. No hard feelings."
She looked to protest, but the detached, almost indifferent expression on his face deterred her.
Nodding slowly, Ino offered a weak imitation of a smile and followed him inside.
'So much for being brave' she chided herself.
It had been difficult to sleep last night, when she closed her eyes and all she could see was the clear but repressed desire in his eyes, and she blushed at the ensuing thoughts that followed that line of thinking.
She couldn't explain to herself why she had done what she had, because in that moment she had simply stopped thinking, only doing as her instinct mandated.
And her instincts had been sent haywire at the image of his twinkling blue eyes and sparkling blonde hair in the silhouette of the Moon.
'Stop it. You like Sasuke-kun' she scolded herself.
Yet even as she did, she knew the last sentence was a question more than a statement.
'You do like Sasuke-kun?'
Last night she'd dreamt again, as most other nights. Except this time instead of a black-haired boy, a blonde invaded her fantasies. And instead of abandoning her he did something even worse - stalking her until a bright orange aura enveloped them, and long arms lashed out at her, until she felt nothing but pain...
Her dream stopped at that point, and she woke gasping and breathless, her skin still stinging from the heat of the orange luminosity.
Ino used the free time to wash his jacket, taking time and care in ensuring no spot was unmarked, taking out her frustration on the piece of cloth until it was bled dry.
Back in the present, Naruto signalled a hand to stop, as he suspiciously looked at the stables a hundred yards ahead of them. Sniffing the air, his eyebrows widened; as if in horror or realisation, and he took out a shuriken from his pouch.
"Tread carefully."
Gripping a kunai in her dominant hand she followed him towards the stable.
As they neared, she bit back the upsurge of bile in her oesophagus. No wonder Naruto had that expression on her face.
A truly repulsive smell was radiating from the stables, and a sense of trepidation seized her.
She looked at him again, and if it were possible he seemed to be faring worse than her. His face was turning pink from the exertion of not trying to breath, and it was a miracle he was still able to stay this focused on the task.
They arrived at the door, and the foul odour occupied the space around them. They both closed their eyes, and Naruto twisted open the door handle.
What she saw made her want to tear off her own skin.
Corpses of farm animals - cattle and horse and mice made up a mountain of savagery in front of her. There was blood smeared everywhere, even on the ceiling.
She took a step back to turn around, but a warm, solid palm latched onto her wrist.
As averse as he was to physical contact, a part of him recognised the importance of the greater good. They were shinobi, glorified murderers given a glorified persona. He had witnessed scenes a ten-fold more gruesome, and so would she in time - like any other ninja.
It was better to start here, at a relatively young age and situation.
These were still aphonic creatures, not of much more use to their owners than meat or dairy. Human beings were another matter. He still remembered the faces, even the ones mutilated beyond identification.
She attempted to escape again, and he tightened on his grip on her wrist almost painfully. He ordered her to stay, and conviction in his tone forced her to.
He felt a sudden weight on his shoulder, and a pair of arms wrapped around him.
Yesterday when she had done this, he had shrugged it off as intoxication.
Now, there was no such excuse. A pretty girl was seeking comfort in his arms.
He banished those treacherous thoughts to the darkest pits of his mind, silently castigating himself for his budding libido in such an inappropriate moment.
Instinctively he turned around and did the same, turning them around so that her face was turned away from the atrocity, and toward the sunlight peaking in through the stable door.
He felt tears wetting his neck, and silently cursed himself for not hitting his growth spurt yet.
It seemed these days that there was very little he could do right.
When she calmed down they separated, and he could swear some of the light in her eyes had dimmed, lost forever to the realities of their cruel world.
Part of him fell saddened by this, and he shifted his mind back to nights under the stars with his godfather, and stories of an ideal world where children would not have to kill or be killed, and where he still had his parents...
"Shou-should we try and clean this up. At least give them a proper burial" she requested, a hopeful plea in her voice.
He felt his throat constrict, but he did his best to stay composed.
"It's best we don't. There might be something useful to the forensics team". There were a lot of clues in the crime scene. Whether or not they were helpful or not, or even added up to anything was another question.
She closed her eyes and lowered her head, a few mutinous tears making their way down her cheeks.
He hated that look on her.
By the time they had finished, the Sun was making its way down the sky. A quiet tension gripped the air, and the two walked in silence back the way they came.
She still had a troubled expression on her face, and for some inexplicable reason it kept bugging him.
"I have heightened senses" he blurted out.
Why, he had no clue. But there was no use questioning it now. The fox was out of the bag.
She broke from her gloom and eyed him in surprise, looking for an explanation.
"When we were going to the..." he had to prevent himself from saying 'scene of mass slaughter'.
"To the stable. I can't control them all the time, and the smell was too much to handle".
"How do you have them?"
"I don't know. I've had them since I can remember".
Taking a sudden interest in the topic, she looked up at him.
"What's it like? Having amplified senses?"
"Honestly, it's not too different most of the time. There's the rare times when it comes in handy, though as you just saw it does have its drawbacks."
"Really? What are some of the benefits?"
"I can see a bit further, my eyesight is more acute, I can taste more flavours and I can hear a bit louder."
Ino raised her eyebrows, "Does that mean you can hear in on private conversations."
"Yes" he admitted, "but I don't ever do it, unless it was teachers deciding what to teach in class. I would listen in and just skip school that day."
She rolled her eyes at him.
"That's not even the coolest part" Naruto revealed.
"What is it then?"
"I can predict when it's going to rain."
He raised her hands for her to listen, "Now before you call bullshit, just hear me out."
She folded her arms and looked at him expectantly.
He raised his arms up and declared, "I predict it shall rain now."
Almost in unison, sheets of rain started pouring down on them.
Ino looked at him in astonishment, her mouth almost touching her chest.
"How did you know?!"
"Simple" he grinned, "I just looked up at the clouds."
She chased after him for that, a look of indignation etched onto her face.
He mock-ran away, staying close enough to tempt her to try harder.
Kami, it felt good to let loose. Sometimes he forgot he was only thirteen, just entering his adolescence. It felt relieving to act his age for once.
By the time she tired, she collapsed to the ground and laughed at his antics.
Naruto smiled and relished it. He was really beginning to like the sound of her laughter.
She held a hand up and he obliged, picking her up. By the time she straightened her clothes, he had procured the only umbrella he had sealed, which co-incidentally was big enough to just about fit the both of them.
She searched his face for answers, and he revealed to her that it was a gift of his godfather's.
"What? The umbrella or the fuinjutsu?"
"Both."
"Really? I didn't know you have a godfather. Who is he?"
"Oh, you wouldn't know him. He's mostly travelling to promote his books."
She seemed to take that as an acceptable answer, and he sighed inside in relief. What books his godfather wrote was not something he was too keen to divulge.
It was a tight fit. Their shoulders bumped together, and Ino had to place her arms atop Naruto's to stay within the security of the umbrella.
"Thank you" Ino said.
"What for?" he asked her.
"For cheering me up back there. That was the hardest I've laughed in a while."
"You noticed that?"
"You don't hail from a clan of mind-walkers and not pick up one or two hints into human behaviour."
"Aren't you mind-walkers?" Naruto teased her.
"Don't get me started on that" she glared at him.
Looking at him again, she probed "Where was this Naruto yesterday?"
"Where was this Ino yesterday" he countered.
They shared a smile in understanding; and the rest of the way passed in companionable silence.
Their teammates waited for them at the base of the tower. Shikamaru seemed to have been caught in the rain, and his hair was out of its usual ponytail. No one was looking at another, and it was apparent to him that they too had had a similar experience as Ino.
"They're just outside the Hokage's office waiting for us" Shikamaru replied.
He made to open the entrance, before Shikamaru's voice stopped him.
Naruto looked back at him, "What is it?"
"I think there's something we should discuss before we head upstairs."
When nobody objected he carried on, "For the past two days, we've been investigating crime scenes. Yesterday, it was nothing too extreme. Today" and he took a moment to steady himself, "we were sent to a murder scene. Something that is way above our current rank; something that even a chunin squad would not usually encounter."
"What are you trying to say Shikamaru?" Choji frowned.
"I think, and I told Sasuke as much yesterday, that we're being tested by the higher ups."
"How though?" Choji asked. "It makes no sense."
"It does" Naruto piped up. "They're trying to see how we'll handle tough situations, what our response will be like and if we can carry out our mission in the face of adversity."
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Shikamaru narrow his eyes at him, no doubt having reached the same conclusion as him, and wondering how he had understood the real purpose as well.
"Why though? What would they hope to achieve?" Sakura's hollow voice echoed out, her normally vibrant green pupils jaded by today's events.
Sasuke stepped out of the shadows, "They're trying to protect us".
Ino folded her arms, "They have a very unusual way of going about it."
The Uchiha answered without looking at her, "Be grateful that the first dead bodies you saw were farm animals rather than actual human beings."
The others paled in response to his implication, and Naruto wondered if this was Sasuke's own way of conceding his own mental fragility.
"It would help us in the longer run, to acclimatise ourselves to our job; and better for the village that its shinobi don't freeze in pressure situations" Shikamaru agreed.
"Doesn't mean I have to like it" Ino huffed.
"No one said you had to", and with that Shikamaru gestured for them to enter the building.
Despite the events of the day bogging down on them, Naruto could still see the look of apprehension on the faces of the others as they stood outside the Office of the Hokage. Yes, that included the lazy Nara.
He couldn't fault them. The room they were about to enter was the highest station a Konoha station could achieve, the occupant a royal in all but name.
Even the very air they were about to breathe was above their pay grade.
Kakashi snapped shut his book, "Took you long enough."
Sakura threw him a dirty look before falling into line behind him as they entered the Hokage's Office.
"Jounin Hatake and Jounin Sarutobi reporting with Team 7 and Team 10, Hokage-sama" Asuma announced.
The Old Man looked up from whatever he was reading to make his nose bleed (which was most likely cheap porn poorly concealed inside a thick book) and smiled at them.
"You just about made in time. First thing's first, how was the mission?"
He could see the calculating gaze behind the smile, and though it unnerved him he definitely respected it. Even though he was the Professor, the Third could be as shrewd as a politician when required.
He was testing them again.
"It was very eye-opening Hokage-sama", Naruto spoke out.
"And how so, Naruto-kun?"
"It prepared us for our future as shinobi of Konohakagure no Sato, and gave us a glimpse of what we might encounter in the future."
He then asked them to give a thorough verbal report, and once everyone had finished he simply smiled at them and congratulated them for a good job.
That seemed to do the trick. Everyone's spirits lifted a bit as they exited, and to their delight he gave them a good news.
"As a thanks for your valuable efforts, you can have the next three days off. Be sure to spend this time wisely."
And with that, the Sandaime dismissed them.
Just before turning around to leave, Naruto mouthed something
"We have to talk."
The Old Man gave the slightest of nods and looked away.
Later that night - Konoha council meeting
"These allegations, compelling as they are cannot be sole evidence of our allies breaching our trust, Hokage-sama" Aburame Shibi objected.
"And they are not, Aburame-san" the Jounin Commander, Shikaku Nara revealed.
"They do not paint a pretty picture" Inoichi said, looking up from the sheets of data in front of him.
"And yet they are within the realm of plausibility" Hiruzen countered.
"And just implausible enough to be dismissed as drivel" Shikaku agreed.
"You have been lagging behind in your efforts, Sarutobi" the one-eyed man from the corner of the chamber frowned.
Hiruzen smiled tightly at him "And that is why I have you Danzo. To get to the root of every problem facing our village's safety."
The man addressed glared at him, "Such treachery must be crushed mercilessly."
"The way you speak Danzo-san, we must consider it confirmed?" Hyūga Hiashi questioned, the ever-constant look of disapproval etched on his face.
"At this point the only thing remaining is a hand-written confession" Inuzuka Tsume responded.
In uncharacteristic fashion, Nara Shikaku stood up and fisted his hands on the table, exhibiting his impatience.
"I have a proposition, Hokage-sama. It would include another existing mission we've had in the books for quite some time."
At his leader's nod to proceed, he expounded "There have been myths of a Temple of Sand for as long as one can remember. A secret facility hidden deep inside the desert that was once said to be the home of the Ichibi, and also where previous containers would go to be transformed and to re-strengthen their seal. There have been numerous failed attempts to locate this temple, many of our own. Last month, when Jiraiya-sama was touring Suna to promote his new book."
"A new one?" Akimichi Chouza interrupted, his eyes furrowing in surprise. "What's the name?"
Hiruzen slightly edged forward in his dais, eager to hear the answer.
Seeing the enraged glare on Tsume's face daring him to answer that question, Shikaku's cheeks dusted pink before he side-stepped the question.
"I-I don't know. Anyway, back to the point. Jiraiya-sama met up with some of his local contacts, and he sent two transmissions over the channels only used for above Top Secret clearance. We decrypted them, and the first wrote of the mental instability and physical isolation of the Ichibi's container."
"The youngest child of the Kazekage?" Inoichi questioned.
"Indeed. It is possible to deduce, given the fragile control the jinchūriki has over its bijuu, that the Temple of Sand would not be too far away."
"What do you propose, Shikaku-san?" Hiruzen asked of his Jounin Commander.
"Well, at any other time this would not be possible, but since Konoha is hosting this year's chunin exams, it is an ideal opportunity. In fact, this is quite common between allying villages."
"You wouldn't be referring to the practice of sending an invitation through an envoy would you, Nara-san? One preferably containing a close relative of the daimyo?" Danzo anticipated, whatever visible of his face contorting into an unsightly smile.
"Correct. And of course, any relative of the daimyo would have to be well protected. Several jounin in fact, would be required to ensure the security of such an important figure. And it would be seen as a great disrespect if they were not hosted by the Kazekage himself; which conveniently for us is right next to his children's residence."
Chouza slapped his old friend on the back, "Every now and then Nara, when you get off that lazy hide of yours I'm reminded why you're a genius."
Shikaku rubbed his aching back and carried on, "The next message wrote of a very disturbing scenario. It mentioned shinobi and civilians both suddenly disappearing near the border of the Lands of Wind and Rain. One of the many reasons we found this alarming was this was the last established location of the missing-nin Orochimaru."
Even here, deep within the safety of The Village Hidden In The Leaves, the name Orochimaru darkened the chamber and made everyone stiffen in their seats, and the smoke from Sarutobi's pipe felt just a little less warm and comforting.
"Another cause for concern, was that often these people would return, only to drop dead instantaneously and shapeshift into other people."
From the corner of his eye he saw Danzo tighten his grip on his cane, and he filed that away as another question he would need answered.
"What you are suggesting Nara-dono would break the laws of nature" Hiashi frowned.
"Only the laws we know" Hiruzen answered.
Shibi re-adjusted his glasses and looked to him, "Only one person could be capable of such perversion Hokage-sama."
"Which makes any effort we make at getting to the bottom of this even more precarious" he agreed.
He could feel Inoichi's gaze on him, perhaps wondering if he would reveal what they had seen in that torture room to the others. He had no intention of doing so. It would cause mass havoc which was the last thing needed if the situation was as dire as he feared.
Shikaku continued his revelations, "And as far as we know, there has been no official enquiry into this matter either by the Wind Daimyo or the Kazekage".
"The Sand must be ensuring their Daimyo is kept in the dark. He was always a gullible fool" Danzo sneered.
Hiruzen thought on it for a moment, and then decided to give the go-ahead.
"It is a good plan Shikaku. Write an official mission request, and I would see to it that the correct personnel are assigned to it."
"I would volunteer some of my own shinobi Sarutobi" Danzo claimed.
"YOUR shinobi, Danzo-san? I was under the impression that we are all under the branch of the Leaf?" the Hyūga head checked.
"Indeed, as am I; it is only that some are under my jurisdiction" the cripple lied smoothly, and Sarutobi smiled slightly as his childhood rival was forced to eat his own words.
Hiruzen smiled tightly at him, "Never the less, your magnanimity is well appreciated Elder Danzo. But we can manage with the regular forces. Now I must go and send word to the Daimyo" and with that he dismissed the Council.
It was going to be another sleepless night.
0600 the next morning, the Office of the Hokage
Kakashi was simultaneously impressed, and far from impressed at the same time.
Impressed at the sheer scale of magnitude and planning involved in such a short time, and far from impressed due to his role in it.
He had been summoned at quite an ungainly hour to his Hokage's office, where he was shortly joined by a purple-haired kunoichi whose name was on the cusp of his tongue.
"Mitarashi Anko", she helped him out and he smiled gratefully at her.
"I knew I knew your name.".
At her ugly look, he fittingly looked away ashamed.
"I must apologise for inviting the two of you in here so early in the day."
"No need to apologise Hokage-sama, you must have a very good reason to" the kunoichi assured him.
Then, they were explained the preceding events, from Sasuke and Shikamaru discoveries in the letters to the messages they had received from an unnamed spy (Kakashi had a very good idea who that was), and then the over-night communication Sarutobi had with the Daimyo, who had agreed to sending an envoy with his daughter as the lead.
At the end of the Third's speech, he was more than blown away what he had just heard.
"This is quite the plan you have set in motion Professor-sama" Kakashi praised, regarding the man sat in front of him with deep respect.
The Third addressed the other person in the room, "What do you make of these Anko-chan?"
"I can see why Suna would do this, but I do not think this is proof enough of betrayal."
Kakashi looked at her closely, "What makes you see why they would do this?".
"After the last war, where we basically saved Suna from being run over a new trade deal was accepted - which pretty much crippled them. They have since found ways to get by, but I'm sure there is still some hostility brewing."
"And that is why this is necessary. Your mission, should you accept to choose it would be three-fold. The most obvious is the safety of the Daimyo's daughter. I have not informed the Daimyo the real purpose for this trip so you must make sure she does not have any suspicions. The second is to investigate these strange occurrences on their borders. Again, be discreet and if you must, feign identities if you feel it would help progress the mission. The third, when you get to Suna itself, is to find out whatever possible about the Temple of Sand. No detail, no matter how minor or accessory it may seem should do un-investigated. Do I make myself clear?"
They nodded their assent, and The Third looked at them carefully before proceeding.
"And the last important piece of information, which I have deliberately withheld for after you have agreed to this mission - is that you will be going undercover"
"And how will we be doing that?" Anko asked, folding her arms.
Kakashi suspected he knew the answer.
"As a married couple. Who will be back-up assistants to the Head Chef".
To their credit, neither complained. Instead, they just began firing questions.
"How would we pull it off?"
"Won't my mask seem suspicious?"
"We don't know the first thing about the other?"
"What if we actually have to cook something?"
Sarutobi sighed and put a hand up. It had the intended effect - their protests died down immediately.
"The uncertainty is not lost on me. I will answer all your questions if you give me the opportunity to."
When neither spoke up, the Hokage continued; "To answer the first question, once we are done here the two of you are going to meet a marriage counsellor who will help you get into character. Kakashi, for this mission your mask will have to come off. Do not worry, you will not be forced to show your face to anyone. Both your hair will be died and a bandage will be applied to your face - you can say you were burned in a kitchen accident. I believe the marriage counsellor will also help for you third question. And as to the last question, you will not be going anywhere near a kitchen - you are back-up assistants, added at the last-minute. You would have no reason to have any contact with her. Do you have any more questions?"
Kakashi mutely shook his head, and they were sent off to meet the marriage counsellor.
Two hours later, Training Ground Three
"Weren't we supposed to have the next three days off Kakashi-sensei" Sakura griped.
Kakashi eye-smiled at her, "You still do Sakura-chan. I just called everyone here for an important announcement."
"Well then, get on with it" Sasuke grumbled, clearly displeased at being woken out of bed.
"I'm going to be gone for the next week or so on a mission out of the village. In that time, I want you to keep working on your training. After your break is over I have arranged for Kurenai-sensei of Team 8 to train you until I return. I do not want any complaints from her about your attitude or ability, and everyone is to be on their best behaviour. Do I make myself clear?".
His genin nodded at him.
"Good. Any questions?"
Sakura raised her hand up like she was still in the academy and spoke before he could tell her she didn't need to raise her hand anymore.
"Where are you going sensei?"
"That's something I can't disclose to you. One day when you have your own team of genin you'll understand why. Now, any questions not related to my absence?"
After a minute of silence, he nodded and dismissed them.
He really hoped this worked. He wasn't really worried about Naruto and Sasuke, those two would continue training as normal, it was Sakura he was worried about. Though he had succeeded in slowly improving her work ethic, it was still nowhere near enough a genin's. He had even asked Kurenai to get her kunoichi genin to work with Sakura in the hope of motivating her; but when he'd heard about her own self-doubt and lack of confidence that was no longer an option.
He sighed. It really was going to be a long week.
Nara Clan Archives
Shikamaru had only been in this place a handful of times, and each occasion was more troublesome than the next. He supposed this would be the most troublesome yet.
He had not slept last night. That alone was cause for concern. Normally he could put his head down and it would be lights out in moments, but last night he tossed and turned around in his bed as one question kept nagging him like his mother: why?
Why kill farm animals? He could understand killing people, even though he had been fortunate enough to not be in that scenario himself. People lied, cheated, mocked and hurt one another. All understandable reasons to take a life, if not pardonable.
But these farm animals had not harmed anyone, apart from the odd harasser or two.
And then there was also the manner of the killings. Far as he knew, only these three farms had been targeted. Each had housed different species. Choji and Sakura went to the one with sheep, chicken and pigs. Naruto and Ino got the farm with horses, donkeys and cattle. The farm he and Sasuke inspected was the odd one out - it was a farm for non-mammalian creatures. They had seen disfigured snakes, slugs and toads.
That fact stood out to him for some reason. He remembered reading about those three animals and their significance to Konoha - he just couldn't remember what.
He had made pointers on paper, all the things that stood out to him. For example, all the male cattle had been dehorned, all the poisonous snakes were missing their venom glands and the pigs and mice were missing their heart and brains.
Organ harvesting seemed unlikely, not on such a scale or with the barbarity with which the animals had been dismembered.
That's why he was here in the Clan Archives. Searching for reasons behind this depravity, or perhaps even a previous similar act.
Access to these parts of the Archives was only for the highest ranking members, which he now joined as the Clan Heir after becoming an official ninja.
He buried himself in the criminology section, and it wasn't until hours later that he stumbled upon a Mission Report which he would regret after reading that he had ever found.
Even reading it made him want to be sick.
Archive No. 14688641 (Easter egg: the first four digits are the number of missions Orochimaru has completed, and the next four are the same number in reverse)
Mission Report: Nara Shikan (FYI - it means stem or complete)
Rank: Jounin, ANBU
Mission type: Combat
At 06:00 a squad of four, including the Hokage and two other ANBU whose names I am not privy to, left the Hokage Tower to question and possibly arrest if need be, Orochimaru of the Sannin. We had received information of a secret hideout that the man maintained at the outskirts of Training Ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death.
Personally speaking, I felt quite favourable about our success. Strong and evil though our target, we had the Lord Hokage - the God of Shinobi with us.
What we saw in there is something that will forever haunt my consciousness.
The man, if he could even be considered human anymore; had been conducting experiments on test subjects - both live and dead. Though from my vantage point, it seemed more like torture and desecration than any actual scientific enquiry. The test subjects were both human and non-human. Immediately, we tried to apprehend the now-criminal and preserve the room as evidence. Unfortunately, he was prepared.
I do not know how Orochimaru could have been aware of our arrival, but he pressed a button below on his desk and suddenly hot air started fizzing into the room. Realising what it was we all got out as soon as we could, and we made it out just as the explosion sounded behind us.
We rushed back in as soon as we could, and what we saw was the charred remains of once healthy, living beings. There were considerable efforts of course, to determine how Orochimaru could have left that room, as well as to retrieve anything from the room to figure out what the sadistic sinner had been working on.
Unfortunately, none of these efforts bore any fruit, and from little we could gather, it was presumed that more of these locations existed, and since then the Leaf has sought to find, examine and eradicate them.
He felt ill, and his stomach felt queasy all of a sudden. His thirst for knowledge had been doused by the perversion he had just read. There had been lessons of the Great Sannin at the academy, of three warriors of great strength who had won Konoha the Second Shinobi War. Beyond that though, there was little mention of them. Now he understood why. The actions of one had banished them to a mere footnote in the history books, at least of this village. And unjust as it was to the other two, Shikamaru agreed with that decision. This Orochimaru fellow seemed like a wicked monster, straight out of the books his mother used to read him, who would come devour him if he didn't go to bed on time.
Shikamaru hoped he would never have to cross paths with someone like this monster.
How wrong he would turn out to be.
After dinner, he approached his father in his study.
"Oyaji, I have something to ask of you."
His mere presence in the study raised his father's eyebrows.
"It is unusual of you to come here, even more so to ask me about something unrelated to chess."
Shikamaru dove straight to the heart of the matter, "I read Archive No. 14688641."
His father closed what he was reading, "I see. And what is it about that particular dossier that brings you here?"
"I wanted to know more about Orochimaru."
For some reason, the room seemed a bit more dark as he said the name, and the chimney fire just a little less vibrant.
"Orochimaru" his father contemplated, "was a complex case. He was orphaned at a young age, and he always possessed a flexible morality. Still, with immense shinobi skills and a genius intellect, alongside the training of the Third, he became one of the pillars of the village, a true war-hero. He was even in contention to become the Fourth, and when someone else was awarded that privilege, it is speculated to crushed whatever loyalty he had towards the village. He was rarely seen in public, and after a while he began mingling with the wrong crowd. Suddenly, abduction rates started to spike, in and around Hi no Kuni (The Land of Fire), and multiple investigations implicated him. And the rest you know."
"But what happened to him? Did he manage to escape? Did they find anymore hideouts?"
Shikamaru felt a calculating gaze on him, and he could see the man in front of him was not his father now, but the Jounin Commander of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
"To this day, we have had no official confirmed sighting, and he is presumed dead in our record books. And as of yet, we have yet to find such similar sites, though we are still alert for any information on that front."
He paused for a moment, wondering if he should ask his next question, and if his father would even have any answers. He had wandered about this particular topic for years, at first not giving it much thought but it had been at the centre of his mind since a few hours.
"I wanted to ask you about Naruto."
This time, he was met with a hard stare.
"I understand you have been carrying out missions with Team 7; any questions you may have about them would be best answered by themselves or their sensei."
He turned around in frustration, but his father hadn't stopped speaking.
"Remember a long time ago when you asked me why adults seemed to dislike him. I told you then to form your own opinion of him, and I believe you had done so. Perhaps now, when you are seeing a different side of him your perceptions may have changed. It is one thing to tell you about a criminal, a S-Rank criminal long before your time, but when it is your comrade and someone who used to be your friend you must speak to them yourself."
As soon he answered those questions, he turned around and busied himself in a report, gently but firmly ushering Shikamaru out of the room, and away from this conversation.
He wasn't dumb though; he could read between the lines and figure out what he was really being told. As much Shikamaru appreciated his father trying to shield him, there were a million questions more he wanted to ask him.
But he understood this was not the time.
He took one last look at the Nara Clan Head, wondering if one day he would ever have to do this, and left the room.
That's all for Chapter 5. To fellow writers, how do you balance writing fanfiction with life? What are your motivations for spending considerable time and resources for something that at the end of the day, does not make any money? Not that I'm saying it should (or shouldn't), but I was curious about what spurred on other fanfic writers? Any tips would be greatly appreciated, as every now and then I do find it a bit difficult to write something coherent and relevant to the story. It is frighteningly easy to go off tangent and write something which has no correlation to the story, so any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Speaking of tips, here's one I read online:
If you're suffering from writer's block, the answer to your question lies 10 lines above.
Do let me know what you think of the validity of this sentence.
Moving onto more important topics, the Chunin exams are upcoming. I have so far thought of a number of scenarios:
a) Same as the original, all three phases in Konoha
b) Mixed, some phases in Konoha, some outside - e.g. Takigakure
c) Completely different from the source, all phases outside the Leaf
I have set up a poll for this, and here is the link:
~silentassassin786
Just in case the link doesn't work, you can access the poll from my profile page.
For now, I have decided to keep it open for a month; so please poll as soon as you can!
I am also going to try and update more, but my focus will always be on quality over quantity so I hope you can understand if it takes a while for updates.
As always, please favourite, follow and comment - it means the world to me, especially when someone reveals to me that they like my story or give me constructive help to improve, as English is not my first language.
Thank you and Stay Safe!