Authors Note: Sorry people, work has been really difficult recently. Again, I've done my best to add definition between paragraphs, but for some reason, doesn't like more than one line between paragraphs. If anyone knows how to define paragraphs more, please let me know!
The atmosphere had been tense from the moment the wizarding guests had stepped inside, accompanied by Iruka. The bright robes, drawing near silent hisses of distaste from a few of the younger ninja. The eldest outsider had a grandfatherly face plastered on, his eyes twinkling as much as his robes. Unfortunately for him, the majority of the room had been through a war, and the others were observant enough to see the fakeness of it. His gentle, slightly superior smile barely covered the manipulative twist to his thin lips. The brightness of his eyes covering up a cunning, scheming look. Shikamaru hid her grimace of distaste behind an emotionless veneer. Dread filled her belly, as the early conversation with her mother returned to her…" was creating plans about turning you into his puppet" … Shikamaru felt the shiver run down her spine, she would have to be careful with food and drink around the guy. There were plenty of poisons that made someone malleable to influence. A stern voice cut through the tension.
"Ah, Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Iruka-kun, just in time. Let us sit and discuss the mission details over lunch. My jounin commander mentioned that roasts are common in your world, so I thought it would be nice to have one for lunch." Shikamaru watched as the Hokage gestured to their visitors to sit. The formal dining room set to be as westernized as possible, to put the clients at ease. She found herself shuffled into a seat between her teammates as pleasantries were exchanged between the older folk, and dinner was served. Once the light soup appetizer was served, the Sandaime started talking again. His voice raspy from age and his smoking as he outlined the agreement.
"As we agreed last night, two teams; both on s-rank pay; will be required for the year. I believe your year is from September to July for schools? So that's what we have as the duration. My commander will go through the teams in a minute. You agreed to provide tutoring for the 3 undercover genin over the next two months and provide the needed equipment. Now, if the three genin are all able to use your magic, their clans have said they will pay for their school equipment. You will provide board and bedding to both teams. We will provide board and bedding for Professor Snape as he does the tutoring. Our undercover team will be keeping on the lookout for threats inside the school, the other will be securing the grounds and the building itself. The total payment will be upfront in total before September 1st. Normally we require half up front and half on completion, however due to the nature of this mission it is all upfront. Payment will come to 1,500,000 ryo plus 50% tax for administration fees, external fees, and length per shinobi. That's a total of 13,500,000 ryo. We accept equivalent amounts in precious metals and gemstones." The Hokage paused to finish his soup, and Shikamaru had to sneakily pinch herself at the amount of money this mission would earn. Of course, a percentage of her pay would go to the clan treasury that went towards upkeep of the grounds, schooling, research proposals, shinobi equipment, retirement allowances for the elder members of the clan, and so on. Still, that was a lot of money that would go into her bank account. She'd be able to get that necklace she had been looking at getting for her mother as soon as she got back! Shikamaru refocused back on the conversation, as the Hokage continued.
"As for the conditions. The leader of the mission will follow all given instructions, except those that put the interests of the village at risk or aren't deemed within mission parameters. My ninja will be willing to put themselves between danger and any student or teacher within your school. However, you must be willing to share information with them to help them do that job. Should withholding of information cause an issue, or make my ninja fail in any aspect of their mission objectives, we will not accept responsibility and you are not entitled to any refunding on payment. Do you agree to these terms, I will give you til the end of the lunch to decide? If so, please nominate who the coordinator between yourselves and my people will be for the duration." The Hokage seemed to be done with talking for now, as he turned his attention back to the plate in front of him. Humming in appreciation at the roasted venison and vegetables. It wasn't a common meat among the rest of the village, as the deer were normally exclusive to the Nara clan, and they didn't like to use them as a main source of protein.
Shikamaru watched sneakily through her lashes at the gob smacked expressions covering the faces on the older two wizards. Apparently, they hadn't realised how much content went into a shinobi contract. Though she was faintly amused to notice the dour looking wizard spring up a conversation about plants of all things with Uncle Inoichi and her father. The amusement grew as the trio clearly reached a satisfactory agreement between them. A glance around the table revealed that her amusement was clearly shared by the leaf citizens. A cleared throat dragged the rooms attention to the green clad witch, who was looking at the Sandaime.
"Whilst it's Albus that should be agreeing to the current offer, I was wondering if I could make a contract to invite Mr Umino to spend the year teaching at our school. After spending the morning with him, I would like to provide him with an opportunity to learn some of the in and outs of teaching that he might not have been taught yet. I believe that a combination of Mr Umino and the teacher you've selected might be the best for the physical defense class. Provide a range of instruction for the students. I am, of course, willing to pay the extra amount for another shinobi. I will also provide mentorship for him to grow as a teacher. Maybe, he could then provide teacher training for your village to standardize the teaching practices in your schools?" She finished her proposal, and staunchly ignored the spluttering from the yellow clad male next to her. Her eyes focused on the leader of the leaf. Shikamaru paused in her eating to consider the offer. Honestly, she thought it was a good idea, Iruka adored teaching and he really put everything into his job, some formal training would just make him better, and improve other teachers. A smile crept across her Hokage's face as he glanced at Iruka, before turning to consider the witch.
"Agreed, Professor. However, the contract for you will be less, as you are providing a lasting service for our village. Iruka-kun will follow the same protection orders as the rest of the shinobi, but he will focus on the teaching. So, still an S-rank, but a total of 750,000 ryo for his mission fee, as an acknowledgement of the training you will provide. I am afraid it will also need to be up front as well. If that is agreeable, I will have the contract written up for you this afternoon. His main contact for anything about teaching will be you, however. Not the headmaster."
An inclining of the witch's head sealed the deal. Shikamaru shot a happy look at Iruka. One of her favourite people was going to be around. A comfort when her parents wouldn't be around. A hard pinch on the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh had her glaring at Ino, as he leant into her and whisper to stop looking so happy in front of clients. A sub-audible growl rolled through her chest at him before she smoothed her expression to emotionless. An approving look from her father, had Shikamaru focusing on eating. Her ears listening as "Albus", the oldest wizard, discussed details about expectations with the Hokage. Honestly politics were such a drag. Though her attention was grabbed when her father joined the discussion to place conditions on interactions with her, Ino, and Chouji. The headmaster was not to try and influence the three of them into leaving the leaf. He was not to try and detain them or force them to not return. He was not to interfere with their continued training in the shinobi arts. They were to be tested on the 30th August to be placed in the appropriate class levels, depending on how their tutoring goes. With the details hammered out, her father stood and handed out dossiers to every person at the table, minus Iruka as his hasn't been created yet. The shinobi had mission details; the wizards had a copy of each ninja's stats. Once everyone had time to flip through, the Commander started to speak. His raspy voice low and steady, as he introduced the two teams, and detailed which team was responsible for what. Shikamaru focused on her father as he labeled Kakashi the overall team leader. From what she could remember about the last Hatake, he was slightly insane, a complete troll, extremely powerful and a very private person, with a big emphasis on teamwork. From drunken discussions between the older InoShikaCho, they were worried about him and his stability. They believed that he needed time away from the village and the amount of s-rank suicide missions he took. Which is why he was given a genin cell. Unfortunately, word on the street (aka Ino via Sakura) was that he hadn't taught them anything. They did D-rank missions every day. It was obvious to Shikamaru that Kakashi had been chosen deliberately by her father, to help him.
The meal/business meeting lasted another hour as the last details were hammered out. Each of the older InoShikaCho would take turns to visit the school; one of them each month would appear to bring supplies and collect mission reports. Shikamaru muffled a sigh into her glass of water, meetings were troublesome. In fact, this whole mission would prove to be troublesome. She'd bet her book collection on it. If it wasn't for Ino and Chouji elbowing her sneakily, she'd have probably drifted off into a daydream by now. Though a statement by the youngest wizard did catch her attention. He was going to see if they had magic now, before contracts were signed, so they could be edited if the names had to be changed. A flash of excitement filled her, raising her heartbeat with adrenaline. Finally, they would see if she did inherit anything from her birth mother. Part of her hoped she didn't, so the whole mess would go away, however another part (the bigger part, she could admit) hoped that she had something to relate her to this unknown woman and world.
Shikamaru watched with narrowed eyes as the professor pulled out a small round orb of what looked like obsidian, and gesture for team 10 to approach him. The three of them exchanged glances before standing and stalking around the table. All of them were tensed, ready to move as far away as they could, a fact that got approving looks of pride from the older ninja in the room. When they reached him, he eyed them with eyes dark enough to be made from the same stone he held before he started talking.
"This orb has been in my family for generations. Any pureblood family has a similar one, though the crystal is different depending on what the family holds as values. The Prince family, of which I am the head now, hold spirituality and clear vision in life and magic working dear to their core. For this reason, ours is made of obsidian. All you need to do is hold the orb and focus on the stone. Do not push your chakra into it. Shinobi chakra is similar enough to produce a positive result in the stone, but it isn't magic in the way we need it to be." He paused, and made eye contact with each of them, Shikamaru could feel a cold sensation flood her body, filling her with anticipation. She swore she saw a flash of sympathy through his eyes, despite the icy tone he used to talk. "We will start with the Heir of the Yamanaka clan."
Shikamaru watched, entranced, as Ino reached out a steady hand to hold the orb and closed his eyes. She couldn't suppress a shiver as something akin to chakra intent radiated from Ino, so similar yet at the same time extremely different from normal. A gasp from Chouji on her left had Shikamaru staring at the orb as it shone with a bright, purple-tinged light. Snape retrieved the stone and announced that the glow was an extremely good sign. Before handing it to Chouji who repeated the same steps. This time the light was red-tinged, and matched Ino's in brightness. Again, Severus retrieved the orb and turned to the room, clearly reading the restless shifting of the other leaf ninjas correctly as he started to explain what was happening.
"The orb glows if magic is detected, the brighter the more power the child, normally, will have. The colour is just the leaning of their magic. For example, the purple tint means that Heir Yamanaka will find magics like mind magics easier, than other people. Heir Akimichi will find magic for the body easier. Its just a talent, it doesn't mean they won't be powerful else were, just something that's useful for if they want to focus on their talent area. White is the glow we all aim to have as we age. That's a powerful magic with an attunement for magic in general. Elder, wise wizards and witches sometimes achieve white glows in their late 200s. It is rare for a child to already have a talent for magic overall. In fact, most families routinely check their talents as they grow to see."
With his explanation out of the way, he handed the orb over to Shikamaru, who swallowed hard before closing her eyes and focusing on the stone. She focused on the chill of it against her skin, the unnaturally smooth surface, the heavy weight of it in her hands. She heard a gentle murmur from the professor in front of her as he directed her to let go of the worry, to focus on the stone and let it draw the power from within. A familiar hand cupped the back of the neck, as her father stepped close to ground her. With a sigh, Shikamaru just…stopped. She had a feeling of time stopping. That reality was freezing as a pull from her navel built and rushed towards the orb in her hand. An encouraging warmth flooded her limbs as through closed eyes she could sense the orb light up. Several sharp intakes of breath had her frowning and struggling to the surface of the warmth. Suddenly instead of feeling comforted and powerful, she felt smothered, like she was drowning as the orb kept pulling the magic from her. Shikamaru yelled and dropped to her knees panting as the orb was ripped from her hands; the pain of the disconnection overwhelming her. Looking up at the magic users, she noticed the colour had drained from their faces; glances at her teammates and her father had her worried. They looked terrified… of her… Fear must have shown in her eyes, because her father had her up and out the room in a blink of an eye.
The rest of the day passed with Shikamaru curled up in between her parents, the rest of her team and their parents close by. She had briefly asked but had just been told she had magic. No one would explain what had terrified them. Though they were all quick to reassure her that they weren't scared of her, and that she was still a member of their families. Apparently, the magic tutoring would start tomorrow instead, not in a few weeks' time. The wizards had signed the contracts and two out of three would be leaving tomorrow. Shikamaru sighed and tugged the blanket close, the thrum of the magic creating a buzz under her skin that alternated hot and cold. From what her father had learnt, this was common for people who get access to their magic later in life. With a sigh, Shikamaru closed her eyes to sleep, hoping that her dreams would be less troublesome than her day had been.