Haven't posted in ages sorry! family trip XD Promise we are getting somewhere

Enjoy!

The door slammed shutting angrily behind him, his involuntary flinch at the bang causing him to drop his head with a groan. Troublesome really, a failed mission of these proportions, even after such a careful set up, only resulted in a furious Tsunade, and a more than annoyed Sakura and Ino when they had to stand beside him earlier and help explain why the mission had failed. It's as if someone had known, had seen their plans as they had made them last night. The only people who roamed the halls of the Konoha intelligence underground set up were trusted clan members, and this plan was only discussed with the six members who attended and Tsunade, his now royally pissed boss.

Tsunade, the boss, the reason the unit was ever made, drunk when under pressure, hell drunk most days for the kick of it. Yet she ruled the intelligence unit with an iron fist and with such sure orders that were rarely spoken against, even he had a tough time going against her decision. Though an angry woman, she was more than capable of keeping the peace, whether it was with alliances, treaties, the underground, or her team of legacies.

He'd have to sit back and think on the matter, figure out why none of it made sense, how could someone know about this. The woman he was sure stole the card, the only way he knew for sure was she was the only one who had made any contact with him on his way to the office, she had to have been waiting for him, that's why he didn't hear her walking down the hall, she had been there around that corner waiting to make her move. Who she could be still baffled him? He'd have to get the team to start the search, someone who interfered with government work never lasted long, and many knew this and feared the intelligence finding them out. The few seconds of silence he had for his thoughts didn't last long, the bark of a dog turned enough of his interest to look at Akamaru as he ran past him and down the hall, a shoe in his mouth and a shouting man running after him.

"Damn it Akamaru, give it back!" Kiba sprinted after the small hound, one dress shoe making contact with the floor, a sock with the other.

Kiba Inuzuka, the team's main security, childish, hot-head, annoying could describe him and yet the most loyal and dependable guy you could ever count on. His dog, or as he called it, his emotional support companion, Akamaru spent most of his days napping by his desk or eating anything he could get his paws on. A good man to count on when you needed a quick escape, but could also take those anger management classes with Sakura every now an then.

Shikamaru leaned back slightly as Kiba passed him, giving a short uninterested glance their way before turning and walking down the hall they had come from, hands slipped comfortably in his black slacks, ignoring the struggle behind him. He continued down the hall with a sigh, the thought of a cigarette vaguely coming to mind, walking towards the Konoha's main team's headquarters. Passing the start of the glass, the room inside had more of an auditorium feel to it, a large conference room lining one side, screen the other, their main offices scattered around, brightly lit, decorated in a clean almost laboratory feel white color, the symbol of the Leaf printed on everything. There were more than a few secret bases hidden around the city, all for the purpose of keeping corrupt people, hidden, quiet, and unable to break the peace they worked hard to maintain, some methods dirtier than others. He passed the glass wall, only looking inside when he opened the double doors, the sign of the Leaf decorated each side.

"Damn it!" the first shout of Ino, typical, she was more upset to be scolded by the mistress than he was, getting yelled at by these women wasn't exactly new to him. She had stood beside him with her eyes glaring down to the ground the entire time, she blamed him, but Ino understood why he aborted the mission, though the humiliation of it still stood strong with her and she was still mad about the need for a retreat. He didn't want to be found out while deep inside the Iwa embassy, the gun was always his last resort if words or an escape failed him, and to be discovered would mean more trouble with Iwagakure than they needed, not that Dai hadn't already started that with his outspoken views about the nation of Sunagakure. They had managed to keep him quiet for months, but he slipped past, helped by the ones who sided with him. The whole day was already starting out a drag, and it wasn't even noon yet. To top off the struggle, his appearance in the room turned almost every eye to his presence, and the unfortunate for him, darkened glare of Ino.

Ino Yamanaka, his annoying friend since they were babies, literally since they were born their fathers always kept them together as they had been best friends since they were kids themselves, both retired now living their lives drinking and always trying to hide from their nagging wives. The two kids, however, didn't play well with each other and usually ended with Shikamaru getting yelled at by her, troublesome really, but like any sister, not by blood, they had each other's backs, their fathers' bonds bringing them together as a unique pair of friends who simply recognized each other as family, though the bickering almost never stopped on her end. She was the eyes and ears of the group when she wasn't gawking at any man who gave her a second look.

Current mission, make him miserable even more for his order to retreat today.

"Shikamaru you've got to be kidding me" let the excess scolding began, he thought with a groan when she turned to him, hands to her hips her tone more than unnecessarily loud "Seriously how, just how did you not notice your key card get stolen?"

"Notice?" he replied annoyingly, already irritated enough with his return from Tsunade's office, he didn't need to keep repeating himself, yet everyone seemed to find a way to pull it out of him by force this morning "what that some random woman I bumped into took my damn key card?" she fumed before him, Sakura cleared her throat.

"We could have gotten played by another nation Ino. You have to consider they have people on the inside too" Sakura intervened, but her eyes focused on a stack of files she was looking through on her desk, slipping a file open before looking up at them "maybe one of their spies in the embassy? The cameras and mic got cut off as soon as you got near her" she brought a hand to her chin mulling over the possibilities "there had to have been something jamming the signal to our connection with you"

Sakura Haruna, the team's personal medic, second smartest person in the room, and the mistress's personal assistant. Smart and strong, if you piss her off, she had intelligence just under his range but close enough that he respected her say against his, helping him with planning the missions placed on them. Less annoying than Ino and able to get the team to listen without much trouble, definitely the second in command in the intelligence division, with Tsunade being the first. Not that he minded them being in charge before he was, less work on his part. Though she could use a lesson in anger management when things didn't go her way, and possibly a leash to hold down that sketchy lover of her, who was rarely seen making an appearance in headquarters, even when ordered.

"I bet whoever this woman was, she had help on the outside" Ino began, irritated still but calmer talking to Sakura "if she was able to get past Kiba and our sights on her when she left" turned to face him again Shikamaru rolled his head back with a groan while she spoke "you got played by the oldest trick in the book, bumping into someone to pickpocket them, now that's just sad Shikamaru" she shook her head in disappointment.

"I can see that Ino" He looked away from her, rubbing his neck, calming and quickly becoming bored in arguing with her "Tsunade already threw a fit about this, I don't need you adding to our issues"

"Me? You deserved more than just a slap to the wrist" Ino snapped crossing her arms and looking to Sakura who rolled her eyes speaking over them.

"We all are lucky Tsunade went easy on us, probably the morning mimosas kicking in" Sakura looked between them, and turned down to her papers "this was already a bad idea from the start, but we had to make sure it wasn't Iwa who did it, Dai was a nuisance, but he didn't need to die" she paused a put a finger to her chin "I mean it was a last resort idea so maybe someone beat us to the inevitable, remember we still don't know who tried to assasinate him in the first place"

"It's not my fault we failed, I made the call to leave while i still could and it was the only right decision at the time" Shikamaru stated eyes shut for a moment as he spoke "besides I didn't want to resort to having bigger problems if I had to use force and you all know what would happen if they had discovered me inside their forbidden wing of the embassy" you woman are just being irrational right now, he thought to himself knowing the reaction that would get out of the two if he actually said it out loud, not a good one.

"Kinda is" Ino muttered bitterly, she hated things falling out of the plan and when he was right about why it had to happen the way it did.

"Come on Ino it was unexpected" Choji attempted to defend him as he came to Shikamaru's side rustling a bag of chips "Shikamaru made the right call to leave when he did" he slipped a chip into his mouth and looking away when Ino focused her glare at him, warning him to not intervene.

Choji Akamaichi, the team's muscle, he wasn't exactly your typical agent. Not to smart, not to sneaky, more of a bodyguard really, a distraction if needed, and to kind most days. His day consisted of following his orders and sneaking in snacks to meetings, and surprisingly enough, intel from the dark underground of Konoha. How he did it he would only shrug and say he just knew a guy, the rumors and talk of the city somehow always finding it's way to him, without him even trying. Yet Shikamaru always found himself at his side, friendship as strong as they come, since they were six. Both were easy going, content in watching the fire burn in the distance rather than rush to put it out, that fire being the drama of the teams' daily disputes.

"Whatever" Ino groaned, seemingly calmer as she began to put her brain to work, smart when she wanted to be, as he'd describe her "Since we didn't catch what exit she ran off to, can you at least, tell me what she looked like, we can tell Sai and Neji to help us find her by description" she pointed her finger at him sternly "we need details, because the cameras caught nothing but her leaving down the hall" Shikamaru slipped his hands back into his pocket and furrowed his brows, thoughtful, remembering the short glimpse of the woman he had gotten, the rest of the time he'd been around her was spent with her anxiously avoiding his gaze, preventing him from seeing anything useful.

"Short brown hair" he began with a shrug "eyes I think were green? Maybe blue?" he groaned the only thing he really remembered was the nervous demeanor and the meek voice, and those eyes the color some fascinating shade of blue or green he couldn't quite pinpoint "How the hell should I know? I wasn't staring at her. It could have been a disguise for all we know"

"Well, that's not very helpful" Choji muttered through his mouthful, Shikamaru casted him a quick glance before looking back to Ino, her head turned back to Shino, his desk pressed to the wall, bugs displayed on the wall, and multiple screens to the other, a mess of black and white facing him.

"It's all I really remember" Ino had stopped listening to him as she leaned over to Shino pointing to the screen

"We need to figure out why the camera went off, when she turned the corner right here" In the video the woman was nervously rushing away, yet her steps never missed a beat, she knew where she had to go to escape, then the screen went blank and the next hallway was cut off, the video black again.

"She had some kind of outside help" Shino stated, fingers working quickly to change between the cameras to the outside, all black all unseen "I can see if I can decode it, they aren't deleted just covered, but whoever did this is very good at masking their interference"

Shino Aburama, the teams decoding master, computer whiz, and bug collector, able to find anything one asks of him, and usually with very little effort on his part. His favorite pass time, messing with the firewalls of unsuspecting people, sending bugs and spam, no reason he just enjoyed it. He had a collection of bugs around his desk keeping most away, as they were alive, and despite protest they sill somehow remained. Quiet, calm, analytical man with little desire to mingle with others unless ordered.

"Someone had to have been close to the embassy to be able to access that, see if you can find that signal Shino" Shino nodded to Shikamaru when he spoke dark eyes set to looking through the screens, stopping at the video of the woman walking into him playing on one that he had been able to recover. He glared at the way he grabbed her, she had dropped her left hand and slipped right past his waist, his focus on her stare up at him giving her a chance to pocket the card with ease, that was when she had grabbed it and he didn't even feel it. A rival from Konoha? A underground thief? Maybe a spy from Iwa? He mused on the thought through the conversation.

"It'll take me some time" Shino slipped open a screen of black and green letters and began to type.

"I need to see it now" Ino groaned, irritated in waiting.

"Then imagine it" Shino replied dryly, Choji choked on his mouthful, covering his mouth, Shikamaru pulling a hidden grin when Ino tensed ready to start a fight by the looks of her stare down at him. Choji recovered quickly and cleared his throat.

"Ok let's go Ino let him work" Choji draped his arm around her shoulder trying to turn her around "and maybe get you something to eat" his way of comforting his friends.

"I'm not hungry" she hissed eyes set to Shino, his gaze focused on the screens ignoring her.

"Ino, Choji's right" Shikamaru kept his gaze at the screens as he spoke "you get mad like this when you start your diets"

"How did you know I was dieting again?" She gapped and quickly recovered, back to irritated "At least I didn't lose the damn key card and cost us the mission" she snapped and stomped away, heels clicking the ground furiously in her departure.

"These women are troublesome" Shikamaru rolled his eyes, turning to Choji as he went back into his bag searching for his next chip.

"You got that right" Choji agreed

"This is why I prefer my bugs over people" Shino grunted, but never stopped his pace. Shikamaru leaned away, knowing it would take some time before he figured it out, no use in waiting around when he could do somthing more useful. Looking to Choji they fell in pace with each other towards their desks, casual and calm even in a crisis.

"So what are we going to do when we figure out who this woman is?" he asked, crumbling his bag and tossing it to a near by bin without looking.

"Probably capture mission, whoever she is, she knew what she was doing, but to interfere with a peacekeepers work isn't exactly a smart choice" Shikamaru sighed rolled his head to one side then the other before stretching his arms above his head "so we'll need to interrogate and figure out why they needed the keycard" he relaxed his arms behind his head and looked over to Choji.

"Do you think she's from Iwagakure?" asking Choji looked to him.

"Could be" He thought on it for a moment "Then again Iwa's current enemies are Kumo and Suna" he stopped walking, Choji quick to follow and give him an expectant look "Dai's death" was all he said before looking around for a second and setting his new destination to Neji's desk, decorated in screens similar to Shino's, though his were covered in open tabs, of news, studies, and an muted interview with their cities elected Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto Uzumaki, once a agent now the Hokage, the main political head of Konoha's governmental hierarchy, the man who kept the hidden intelligence unit going. A good man in a storm, though childish and rash at time, but never before the camera, he was all smiles and good news even in a calamity. His love for his people was given back to him tenfold and everyone revered him as a great leader and great husband for his wife Hinata, the city deeming them the couple of the century, and it helped with keeping their focus away from worse news.

"Neji, do you like the coffee I made you?" The question coming from Tenten spoken nervously while she rubbed her arm, waiting for his response as Neji looked down into the coffee cup, seeming to look for his answer in it.

"It's fine, thank you" he stated quickly and cleared his throat, turning back to look at the screens, unaware of Tenten's slight blush and huge grin, or his own.

Neji Hyuga, cousin of Hinata Hyuga, wife of the Hokage, another legacy family who were deemed the riches in Konoha. Though the riches went to the main household, while the lower ranked branches like Neji's simply served to protect the clan however their leader saw fit. His job was public relations, knowing who what and where each of the leaders were in the city and if needed preparing speeches for them when conflict began. Everything for him was taken seriously, and he always did it with a stern scowl on his face, and with a know-it-all kind of personality.

"Glad to hear" the awkward air between them breaking when Shikamaru walked to Neji's side, ignoring the surprised look form Tenten at his appearance.

"Neji I need you to pull something up for me" Shikamaru stated, looking through the screens momentarily before looking to him.

"What do you want?" he grumbled leaning back into his chair, taking a sip from the warm brew in his hands.

"Any article about Dai's death and the assassination attempt" Shikamaru muttered, half lost in the thoughts the possibilities "and his interview while in the hospital, the one about needing to strike Suna before they can attack first. I have a feeling that we might not be dealing with Iwa after all"

"What do you mean not from Iwa" Tenten looked stunned for a moment.

Tenten, weapons expert. Woman could use every weapon man has ever made, and with great accuracy. Guns, daggers, and even bombs, she excelled in all the forms, and she always made sure to have her team prepared for anything. She got along with just about anyone and was usually one to accompany the team on more public affairs when the clans would meet, though not a leader herself. Secretly in love with Neji, they didn't know it, but just about everyone on the team did.

"Iwa is currently on bad terms with two nations, Kumo and Suna right?" they three looked at him, waiting for him to explain "we never found out who shot Dai in the first place, the investigation there is still ongoing, but what if one of their nations shot him as retaliation, and this woman came to finish him off?"

"But which one?" Tenten raised a brow and crossed her arms.

"Suna" Neji offered, catching his meaning quick, pulling up the latest news article speaking about Dai's speech before he was shot "considering the speech was about them, but they have denied any involvement"

"Of course they would, their Kazekage wouldn't openly say that they did anything" Shikamaru rolled his eyes "In a dictatorship he's the one with final say, unless" he paused and grinned "Someone was working against him, or without his knowledge"

"You thought of this is like thirty seconds" Choji snorted a quick chuckle, but didn't seem surprised.

"I just now pieced it together" Shikamaru shrugged "last week after Dai spoke about Suna their embassy was reinforced, remember? They had doubled their security inside, and didn't allow the Leaf diplomats in probably because they were cautious about Konoha accusing them for the assassination attempt" With a sigh he mulled over the reminders from a meeting with the Hokage last week "Naruto said they have been preparing a statement but no word yet"

"They denied it though" Choji added

"Why would that woman from the hospital come and finish off Dai though" Tenten asked leaning against the side of Neji's desk and looking to one of the screens.

"Maybe she messed up the first time in killing him" Neji looked to her for a second and quickly back to the screen, eyes set firmly on skimming the article of his death.

"Well I can see that" Choji nodded his agreement

"It's possible she was one of their agents, it wouldn't be the first time they have caused trouble in Konoha" Shikamaru brought a hand to his chin, reading through the article with a glare.

"Are you sure though?" Tenten looked to him, concerned "That would mean serious public disapproval of the alliance Naruto is working with their Kazekage"

"That's the only issue with it, even if he isn't the one giving the order it had to be someone from Suna as Dai was always against them rather than Kumo" Shikamaru sighed and dropped his hands back into his pockets "They wanted him dead for attempting to start a war, in their case they were simply defending their nation against him, but it's still an attack on Konoha"

"So what you agree with what they did?" Neji glanced at him briefly.

"Of course not" Shikamaru scoffed stating the obvious "what they did was a extreme measure" he sighed "hell you both know it would have been our last resort if he went over the Hokage's head to start the war" Shikamaru looked down to Neji who nodded in agreement, Tenten remined concerned as she looked from him to the screens "His death was meant to end his opinion about Konoha being the first to start the war, Iwa agreed with him as they need allies" He paused and groaned "But we have a problem, Dai already spoke, he got past us and was able to give his speech to the other political heads, so this just means he is the first of many"

"Are you saying?" Tenten gapped at him.

"Yeah, this isn't going to be the first assassination, this is just the start" Shikamaru glanced at Tenten with a furrow of his brows, serious "Everyone on the council who sided with Dai is going to be a target from here on out, we just have to figure out who's next" behind them Choji cleared his throat and opened a new bag of chips.

"I might know a guy" Choji grinned when the three turned to him.