Kakashi set meeting times to train with Naruto and Sasuke. They had one month to prepare for the next round. Sasuke had been drawn against Gaara, once more. Kakashi was very confused. What were the odds? Something felt wrong to the jonin sensei. He didn't know why, but he had bad feelings about that chunin exam. Especially since he noticed Deidara in the bunch of genins.

I hope Yamato is preparing Arashi, because the boy will get into trouble, Kakashi thought to himself. He didn't say it aloud, though Naruto was not dumb. He was worried that his brother wouldn't pass the round of 12.

"Kakashi sensei, Shikamaru is trying to set us up a meeting with, you know, the, uh," he then started to whisper as low volume as he could, "time-travelers."

Kakashi frowned. While he had expected the group to talk, it was not advised to speak with your opponent. Though, with the look on Gaara's face the other day, Kakashi felt maybe they needed to talk.

"Okay, what are you planning on talking about?"

"We have to talk about something that happened to Neji and Gaara's teams, someone who shouldn't have been there," Sasuke said. "Shikamaru is trying to set his father to be there too, but he's always busy, like my father, with Naruto's, usually."

Kakashi felt his stomach drop, wondering who shouldn't have been in the forest. Gaara probably had wanted to warn him. As for Shikaku, Kakashi wished him to be available, but kept his hopes low. The Hokage's schedule was always filled with meetings, and more often than not, Fugaku and Shikaku tagged along, or at least one of them.

"When and where are you meeting? I'll be there. If there is something to bring up to the authorities, I will. Who was it that infiltrated?"

"Neji didn't say in his note. My guess is the Akatsuki."

Kakashi frowned. After Obito's return to Konoha, Madara had officially been killed. Orochimaru and Itachi had never joined them, the first from being killed and the second because the massacre never happened. And Jiraiya had met with Konan after Arashi's sickness disaster, and from his reports, the organization had fallen out a few years back, and Konan had taught fuinjutsu to people in Ame so the practice wouldn't be lost to time. She was not behind the attack on Arashi, and she lived in the Ame region now, living an as peaceful life as she could.

But Kakashi couldn't help but be worried. Maybe Deidara's presence was just what it seemed to be: that new village offered him an opportunity to shine, and he took it. Could the remains of the Akatsuki be living in Yama?

The next afternoon, they all went to the Nara forest. It felt the safest place to meet. Shikaku couldn't be there, but Shikamaru allowed them access. Even the sand siblings were there.

"I'm grateful that Yamato sensei decided to train Arashi, because it feels so hard to lie to him all the time when we want to discuss things together," Naruto said.

Kakashi nodded. At the academy, they had felt forced to push him away at times, to talk about changes happening from one life to another, like when the massacre was avoided. It must have been hard for Naruto, because he and Arashi were very close, but they couldn't risk telling anyone about time traveling. Arashi could be trusted, but he was still the son of Minato sensei. And the Hokage would flip if he learned for how long his former Anbu, his assistant and a bunch of kids including one of his own sons had been keeping information from him. Back then, Kakashi had been tempted to tell sensei about it. But with Shikaku, they decided against it. They'd be asked too many questions, changes to make, and the aftermath could have led to even worse events. Especially if Danzo had learned about it. Or if Madara hadn't been killed for good.

Everyone sat down on the grass. "There is really just Shikamaru's dad missing here, right?" Temari said aloud. She was playing with a small object in her hands.

"He had a meeting with the Hokage that couldn't be postponed, and it was not a case of his other assistant's workload," Shikamaru said, before frowning, looking at the oldest girl with suspicion. "Tem, what is in your hand?"

Temari turned completely red, while Kankuro had a stupid grin on his face, as if he was happy his sister had been caught.

"Oh, it's something I've been given when I was a toddler. Your father wanted me to know in a subtle way he had succeeded in time-traveling when he visited Suna with the Hokage to seal Shukaku into Gaara."

A bunch of teenagers stretched their neck with the hope of seeing the said object. Shikamaru came closer. "The Nara crest? That's… nevermind."

Kakashi felt the teenager was embarrassed. He had rights to be. These kinds of objects were meant to stay within clans, even if it was a small thing. Kakashi remembered Shikaku's strategy to confirm to the siblings of his identity as a time-traveler. And the sneaky reason why he had given that particular object to Temari specifically. But who was he to tell Shikamaru that his father was hoping Temari would join the family one day?

Kakashi decided to save the teenagers from embarrassment by bringing them back to business. "What happened in the forest? Why did you want us to meet, Neji?"

Kankuro cleared his throat. "Sasori invaded the exam. If it was not from Neji's team, we'd be dead by now."

Sasori of the red sand. That meant trouble. Really bad trouble. Kakashi's suspicion that former members of the Akatsuki were living in Yama was confirmed. There were at least two now, counting Deidara. "Where did Sasori go?"

"We killed him," Lee said. "The six of us together."

Kakashi gulped in surprise. It was very impressive. They did it without a jonin sensei. A bunch of genins!

"I'll tell Lord Hokage about it as soon as I'm out of this forest. You three," Kakashi said, addressing the siblings from Suna, "Have you told your sensei? This needs to be reported to Lord Kazekage as well."

And I'm hoping the six of you get a good pay for killing a guy from the Bingo book. And a good look for a promotion

Temari shook her head. "Honestly, we're still trying to process it. I don't know about telling Father about it. He already hates Yama, and with the famine happening back home, Sasori is far on his mind. He won't even care that he's dead."

"As you wish, can you give me the details?"

Kakashi wanted to know if there were other Akatsuki around, but according to Baki and Guy's team, Sasori had not referred to anyone. His teammates for the exam were his own puppets, so he acted all by himself. Kankuro even wondered if he knew Deidara before the exam, wondering if the person who recruited him in their first life made it to the Akatsuki this time. Deidara wasn't part of this life's Bingo book. So many things had changed from one life to the other, who knew what impacts time-traveling really had.

As soon as the meeting in the forest was done, Kakashi rushed to the Hokage's tower.

"I need to see sens– Lord Hokage now," Kakashi said. "It's something regarding the chunin exam. With Shikaku if possible."

The guards raised an eyebrow. "What is this about precisely? And he's busy right now."

"This can't wait," Kakashi said. It was mostly a lie. It was not as urgent as it seemed considering the enemy was dead, but Kakashi feared there were more than one enemy. He needed Shikaku's input. And sensei's.

A guard knocked on the door and entered, checking in with the Hokage if a meeting was possible. He came back a minute later.

"Lord Hokage decided to see you. You're lucky he has a soft spot for you."

Kakashi shrugged the comment away. He had heard those kinds of jealous remarks before. He tried to ignore them. He didn't think Minato sensei was playing favorites at all.

"What is it, Kakashi?" Minato said. He was sitting at his desk, Shikaku next to him, standing but with a butt cheek on the Hokage's desk. Fugaku was nowhere to be seen, and Kakashi preferred it this way. Not that he didn't trust him, but Kakashi was much more at ease with the Nara clan head, with reasons.

"I'm not sure we should go forward with the chunin exam," Kakashi said.

Minato and Shikaku both looked at him with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"There was an infiltration in the forest. It's been dealt with, by some miracle six genin were able to kill a ninja from the Bingo book, but I don't know if he acted alone. The teams involved just reported it to me."

"Which one? Your teams and? Why didn't Naruto tell me?" Minato said. He looked concerned, and confused as to why his son would have kept such important information from him.

"My team was not involved, sensei. Guy's was, but for some reason, they came to me"

Shikaku nodded, and Kakashi knew he was suspicious of why they came to him precisely, not that he'd tell Minato that. "The other team being?"

"The children of the Kazekage. My bet is Sasori targeted them on purpose to create drama. He intended to test and kill them. Neji, Tenten and Lee basically joined them, and the six of them ended up killing Sasori."

"Guy's students teamed up with a team from Suna? I understand they are next in line to become Kazekage, but it's surprising. Usually, when teams pair up, it's from the same village," Minato remarked. "Should I invite Baki's team here to have their versions? And how on earth did Sasori of the Red Sand get in there without any proctor noticing?"

"The Suna siblings were with Guy's team when we talked, you won't have to bring them here. I happened to pass by when they discussed it, wondering who they should tell, so Lee grabbed my attention," Kakashi lied. Shikaku made a little smile, going along with the lie. That would have been a Lee thing to do. "As for Sasori, they explained that he was inside of a puppet, and his teammates were puppets as well. That's how he disguised himself."

Minato was shocked. "If he was killed, why cancel the exam?"

"Sasori had a Yama headband. With the rank of the mission they do, and how much they charge us all for it, I'm afraid we might have to deal with more ninjas from the Bingo book. If Sasori was able to seek refuge there, others might as well. Or he was able to pretend he was representing the village hidden in the mountains and fooled us all."

Kakashi looked at Shikaku and mouthed "Deidara". He had to let Shikaku know they might deal with the remains of the Akatsuki. If Kakashi wasn't able to talk with him privately, Shikamaru would have to tell him when his father comes home, if Shikaku figures out his son knows about it.

"Thanks for letting me know, Kakashi. I'll discuss the matter with Shikaku, Fugaku, and the proctors. But as of now, I think we should still go forward with it. Yama only has one participant in the final round, and the village is quite far, by the time the news of the cancellation reaches them, their delegation will already have left Yama. Besides, they were invited because we want to gain their trust. Wasn't it the both of you that suggested we ally with other lands?"

Kakashi wasn't happy, but his hands were tied. Sasori was dead. Deidara wasn't even in the Bingo book, so it was useless to name him in front of Minato sensei or anyone who didn't time-travel. Kakashi couldn't prove there were other criminals involved in Yama, even if he suspected it. And he knew he couldn't tell Minato that he meant, years back, to have alliance with Suna first, then the other allied nations of the Fourth Ninja War. Yama was not part of the plan, like the Sound village wouldn't have been if Orochimaru had had the chance of creating it.

So the only thing Kakashi could do was to leave the Hokage deal with it, and pray that Shikaku brings him to reason. And hope Deidara doesn't plan to explode the arena next month. One Konoha Crush was more than enough.