Timeline: The bar scene, the mission scenes, Tsunade's scene and the first pup scenes are all set before the events of chapter 14. The Team-Gai scene is for Telosphilos, Genma and Raidou are for Nezuko, the dancing Jounin are for Shock XD

Thanks again to everyone that's read/reviewed! And to Shock, Alana and Telosphilos who were kind enough to proof-read parts of this chapter XD

For everyone that's helped so much with this chapter (20 Pages of Doom), there is more Iruka-love XD

Formal Chuunin uniform - a fitted grey-green uniform, high collar clipping snugly round the neck, pins pressed neatly at the shoulder - giving Iruka a more cleanly presented, self important air than he was used to. It was slightly unfortunate that his usual uniform didn't have as many pockets and folds in which to hide the recording equipment and live feeds he needed for such close range surveillance, the suit making him look far more elaborately dressed up than his usual casual look.

On the bright side, as long as Kotetsu hadn't informed their target of Iruka's sexual preferences (and even then he could easily use it to flatter her with), the closely fitted clothing might come to some use after all. He retied his hair, lower and more loose than usual, allowing some stray thick locks to fall a little across his right eye and ear - tickling the bridge of his nose and effectively concealing the tiny ear piece.

"You're certain you can get the information?" asked the ANBU assigned to fitting out Iruka's surveillance equipment. Iruka imagined an affected bored expression pinching the blank face behind that mask, imagined how advantageous Kakashi would've found the situation had he been home, imagined what he'd have thought of the rumpled look Iruka had painstakingly cultivated.

"I can get the information." Iruka was surprised to find his voice slightly rough - husky - it was almost five weeks since Kakashi had left, and Iruka was getting impatient.

"Fine. We can give you some quick tips if you like? Chuunin training might not cover what you'll face..." Iruka grinned at the ANBU's huffy voice. What would this elite think if he discovered Iruka's Chuunin training had been ANBU level anyway? That the Sandaime had taken a personal interest in his interrogatory education? What would he make of Iruka's experience interrogating the elite shinobi of Konoha on a regular basis? Of Saratobi's own peculiarly humane methods of 'Individual Assessment'?

"No, I think I'll be fine." Iruka answered politely, all sweetness and light as he exited the room. Genma met him at the door - dressed up for his night on the town in his own unique fashion.

"You're so impatient," Iruka mock sighed, taking in Genma's half open shirt, the tight trousers. "Raidou-san's only been gone for a week and you're already trying to pull!"

The Jounin snorted in amusement, the erratically bobbing senbon not hiding the brief flash of worry along the set of his mouth. "I'm just making sure I look good enough to cause a distraction should you get in over your adorably studious head. Speaking of which..."

"And so humble, why -" But before Iruka could even finish his sentence, Genma had pulled a camera out of seemingly thin air and proceeded to take several quick fire photographs of Iruka. "Genma!"

"I'm on technical surveillance, Iruka-sensei!" Genma insisted eagerly as he dodged Iruka's unskilled lunge towards the camera - no point seriously competing against a Jounin, unless he had to. "I have to make sure I have visual references!"

Iruka stared blankly for a moment, before choosing to just ignore the higher ranking ninja in favour of meeting Izumo, Kotetsu and the target - Reiko. Genma jogged lightly after him, breaking off after a moment to join a surprisingly cheerful and scantily dressed crowd of what Iruka recognised as Jounin undercover specialists, taking several pictures of his comrades as he met them. This must've been a mission they'd all clamoured for.

Weekends off didn't come cheap in a ninja village, after all.

The forest was noisy - he managed to conclude before the pain returned - but comfortably noisy - with birds and scurrying things and 'Oh shit, but if that eight legged weight on my back is a spider I am screaming like a girl - ninja or not - oh shit - no insect should be that heavy.'

After a few moments of suppressed whimpering, Raidou managed to throw himself to his back (wincing a little at the crunchsquelch of whatever had been making a nest on him), worrying less about the man-shaped-dent now in the undergrowth and more about dragging his battered arse over to wherever he'd deposited Iwari - because, and he had to face it - if he'd been unconscious for more than four hours there was no way his friend would still be alive. And nothing attracted the enemy like corpse.

Raidou swung to his knees, pausing on all fours as he waited for the worst of the dizziness to pass. He back-tracked his own far too obvious path to a large, covered dugout - a three-man shallow trench, left from the Third War, stationed between medical bunkers for ambush and diversionary purposes - moving awkwardly past the overgrown bushes that once acted as a shield from the outside world, now dense, unkempt and next to useless.

Iwari was dead. His eyes were open, which Raidou found strange remembering the man's stubborn refusal to wake when he had been able enough to attempt treating his comrade. Iwari was dead. So Raidou - swallowing back some unprofessional emotion - took his team-mate's small water canteen, fuller and fresher than his own; some extra weapons to replace those he'd lost; and carefully removed Iwari's hitae-ate and dog-tags, slinging them both around his neck before methodically assessing his own wounds and decided how best to defend himself should he meet another ambush.

Iwari is dead, Raidou thought when he'd finished his preparation, finding himself fighting the rising urge to vomit as he noticed for the first time the buzzing of flies around his friend's pale corpse. Shit. Shit - and I can't find my bearings.

Raidou dragged himself from the undergrowth, stumbling a little at first before he figured out the best way to move through the pain of any weight on his leg. He walked for hours, tripped a few times at first - not daring to look down at his feet lest he become thrown by the waves of dizziness that were already too frequent. Raidou guessed that he probably shouldn't fall asleep again so carried on moving through the spots that sometimes lined his vision - although he'd hardly choose to call the horrifying blackness of before 'sleep.'

Sleep was something longed for, a peaceful depth that - while evading so many of his comrades - had always been kind to him. Raidou's haven was his ability to sleep, to rest. He didn't dream much, and when he did they were never vivid enough to cause him grief. Sleep came best with Genma, after they'd screwed each other senseless and there was no more need for them to stay awake. Raidou longed for that feeling now, that breathless space between being asleep and being absolutely spent. He had to get home. He could sleep when he got home.

Raidou could feel himself lapsing, his feet faltering horribly and his concentration wavering. He needed some impetus to keep moving; allowing his mind to wander through the daze of his journey back home, willing himself to remain awake and alert - just in case - even as the pain dimmed to a distant throbbing to his distressed awareness.

He had to get home - or no one would know about Iwari; no one would know, and his comrade's wife would cry and worry and give birth and forever be left thinking: 'Give it a week. He'll be home in a week. He'll meet his kid in a week.' And his child would grow up and hate Iwari for leaving, and become an avenger and get himself killed - and it would all be Raidou's fault for bleeding out instead of getting home, and he'd be damned if he'd let that drag on his eternal conscience.

Raidou heard a quick snap high up above his head - the accompanying fierce crackle of chakra dragging him painfully back to alertness as some battle began to rage - and he turned a sharp right, hoping to get the hell out of the way of that scene because he'd only get himself killed anyway and that wasn't what this mission was supposed to be about. He could hide maybe, and wait for it to pass, but he didn't trust himself to keep awake and he had to get home!

He managed to hobble slowly around the battle - each step sending an odd shudder through the right side of his form - cutting it far too fine for comfort but too aware of his body's limitations and his current sense of direction. The fight fizzled out long before Raidou had made it back to the rough, hidden path that led to Konoha, and he heard someone let out a low whine as he drew near. His thoughts raced to the small medical pack at his belt - he gauged the amount of bandages and aid he could spare - but the knowledge that it might be a ploy, an enemy, a trap - or another dying friend - made him hesitate.

"Tell me who you are?" Raidou's voice was low and croaky - Genma would've laughed at the harassed tone, would've laughed a lot provided he couldn't see the state of him. "I can't stop unless you say!"

Raidou crouched by a tree - his eyes unable to focus enough to make out the worn markings on it. There was an arrow though, pointing away from where he believed Konoha to be. He waited for the return call until his eyes grew heavy, until he daren't risk the exposure that came with crouching on a pathway covered in the soothing drip of his own blood.

When Raidou couldn't wait anymore, when the ragged sounds of his own breaths became too loud to his oddly muted ears, he continued on home.

"Do you think," began Sakura, as she resignedly watched Joben - now tinted slightly green from his drain exploration. "That Kakashi-sensei knew what they were like when he named them."

"Oh no, Sakura." Sasuke huffed sarcastically as he gripped Kioshi lightly by the scruff of his neck - punishment for the puppy's disobedient romp in the Daimyo's wife's prize garden. "He just randomly decided that 'enjoys cleanliness' is an ideal name for a dog that climbs in drawers and jumps down drains."

"He ran from a cat!" Naruto groaned pathetically again, lying despondently on the grass as Sushi trembled beneath Naruto's collar.

"We heard you the first time, idiot." Sakura sighed, wondering how they could fail so miserably at training puppies. Hatake puppies at that.

A series of high pitched protests pulled the three shinobi from their desperation in time to see two highly amused ANBU members depositing Team Konohamaru in the field. The female - a petite, purple haired kunoichi - pointed out the sprawled forms of Team Seven as her companion (carrying Konohamaru and Udon by the backs of their shirts) dropped the kids to the soft grass as the kunoichi waved cheerfully in Sakura's direction.

Bemusedly lifting an arm to wave back at the masked ANBU Cat, the male shinobi - an owl mask covering his face - tilted his head oddly before grabbing the Cat's hand and tugging her back the way they'd come. The three puppies immediately gave chase - Sushi getting briefly tangled in Naruto's jacket before bounding after his brothers towards Team Konohamaru.

Moegi's shrill screech at the puppies' sudden dart towards them seemed to shock Sasuke out of the lethargic bemusement that the day's event had left him with. Rising quickly to his feet Sasuke stomped his heel on the ground, his sharp shouted order - "Kioshi! Stay!" - stunning the pup into obedience.

Kioshi's tiny form jittered uncontrollably in his attempt to be still, Sushi bounding a few more loping steps before flopping down on the grass beside his older litter-mate. Joben ran a little further, circling back warily when he realised the other pups weren't following. Spotting Kioshi's tense stance, and sniffing at the older dog's heels, Joben crouched close to the ground - growling at the three Gennin children in front of the pups.

Sakura was too tired to be surprised, too numb to be impressed. She thought perhaps that emotionally, this was the calm before the shit storm, and welcomed the hysteria she had no doubt was ahead of her. She raised an eyebrow as Sasuke allowed himself to slump back down onto the grass. Naruto hadn't moved from his despairing sprawl.

"When'd you teach him that?" Sakura asked as the young Gennin across the field began to hesitantly pet the three nin-pups.

"Just now," the Uchiha replied nonchalantly, digging his fingers into the soft soil behind him.

"We're doomed!" Naruto cried, burying his face further into the grass, Sakura idly wondered if he was trying to suffocate himself, and almost suggested he use a sock.

But then, she thought again - casting a mortified look at those too-trusting, too affectionate dogs - they'd all suffocate soon enough when Kakashi returned. If it was even possible to choke on embarrassment.

The announcement shocked the table out of their awkward silence, Reiko looking almost disgusted before she grinned drunkenly, the whiteness of her small teeth contrasting with her browned skin and gel-slick black hair. A farce, Iruka thought, even while he matched it with a ridiculous grin of his own, slipping his eyes shut slightly to help dilate his pupils. None of us have drunk enough for any of us to be this inebriated.

"I'll come with you!" Izumo declared, slightly too noisily, grabbing the arm of his shocked and bemused friend as he dragged them off towards the back of the bar, bumping into Genma as he and another seemingly drunk shinobi staggered their fluid, winding way towards the bar, and away from the insanely jumping, writhing circle of dancing surveillance operatives.

"They are so weird!" chuckled Reiko, her deep purple lips - the lower one still slightly swollen - turning up in an oddly affectionate smirk. "I thought only girls went in pairs!"

"It's Izumo's attempt at subtle," Iruka offered wryly, his previous certainty thrown a little by the affection in her expressive face.

He took a long sip of his drink - forming the prompt in his mind before asking it aloud. He had to find out about her, and to do so he had to allow her to gain confidence. She needed to slip up. But what could he tell her that would cause her over-confidence? He grasped at straws, remembering his lessons from years ago. There's no lie like the truth, Umino. It's all in the wording.

"Izumo wants me to find out what you think of Kotetsu," he said almost casually - his voice thick with the underlying worry of a concerned friend. "And Izumo's probably in there playing match-maker himself!"

Reiko had the grace to flush slightly, a coy little smile tugging at her lips. A smooth chuckle in Iruka's earpiece congratulated the move. She made some noise of flattered interest, her strong Earth Country accent stretching the syllable into a drawl. "Oh?"

"If you don't mind my asking..." Iruka leant in, tracing lines into the condensation on his glass. "What are you doing here? Kotetsu said it would be rude to ask -" Iruka gestured to her face, and his own, his lack of subtlety hopefully endearing her to him - or at least convincing her to underestimate his skill. "-but I'm a Konoha nin, you know? Gossip, gossip..."

She laughed lightly, blinking quickly - either she really didn't want to talk about her travelling here, or she'd been expecting a different reason for his asking. Iruka fought a smirk as she cast her eyes down at the sticky table top. The noise of the bar rode like waves around them, and he could almost feel the surveillance teams leaning in.

"Stone want war." She began, voice quiet and hesitant, and Iruka had to lean in until he could smell her clearly, even through the alcohol and smoke saturating the atmosphere. He distantly admired the move. "I.... I didn't agree with what they were... proposing. So I left."

"You deserted?" Iruka remained next to her ear, but raised his voice slightly, ensuring the accusation was lucid and pronounced.

"Well," she bristled predictably, the lack of sympathy in his voice jolting her eyes up to meet his caring expression. Her eyes immediately darted away, sliding to the left as her pupils contracted. "I'd rather desert them than... than kill innocents!"

"That's very noble of you." Iruka conceded gently, watching as she searched him for sarcasm, or an opening, or something. The pulse of her neck, the jumping of her skin, calmed slightly as he watched. She gave him an oddly provocative half-grin, and he realised where she thought his eyes had slid to. The bar was perfect for this form of interrogation - he'd probably be able to time her pulse with his fingers and make it look like flirting. "But aren't you of the Senshi Clan?"

"Yes. What of it?"

"They helped to found Hidden Stone..." Iruka's comment gained a brusque nod from the kunoichi, he could almost see her mind forming accusations of abuse and brutality and dishonour - anything that would justify her own desertion and keep her in the game a little longer. He decided to see how far he could push it. "Ninja aren't deserters."

She froze for a moment, her long fingers flexing around her glass. "Not all children turn out like their parents!" She spat, and Iruka lowered his eyes carefully.

"True." He hesitated for a moment, almost apologetically. "I'm sorry, Reiko-san, I didn't mean to offend..." Iruka smiled a little, eyes crinkling innocently as her mouth curved warily back.

He laughed a little, straightening as he nudged his elbow gently into her side. Too gently. She'd think he underestimated her. "So you're not just banging Kotetsu for information, then?"

She laughed with him - high pitch and fluid - before answering teasingly. "You've got me! I'm secretly spying on behalf on the ninja that broke my face!"

They exchanged a solemn look before cracking up again, their laughing gaining odd looks from the shinobi on the surrounding tables - many of them Reiko's tails. Kotetsu and Izumo finally returned, wearing identical expressions of some strange emotion; suspended between fury and mollification. An uncomfortable silence rapidly descended, and Iruka - realising how close his body was to Reiko's - stood quickly.

"I'll get the drinks in then, shall I?" He threw a quick smirk at Izumo, watching as his friend slumped down in his chair, pointedly ignoring Kotetsu's attentive interaction with Reiko as Iruka made his way to the bar.

With Hatake Kakashi on a mission elsewhere, and the skills of Inuzuka Tsume and Hana similarly preoccupied, it fell to the Special Jounin stealth expert to track this particular criminal - linked without doubt to the horrendous ambushes of the last month. Ebisu was worried - his tracking abilities weren't his most comfortable skills - but he was Konoha's expert shinobi. He wasn't about to let the Hokage down.

Eventually the target slowed, scanning the area before setting up his bedroll in the dirt of the forest floor. Ebisu, masking his chakra expertly and scanning for the tell-tale signs of his target's awareness, decided to move in slightly, gradually inching forwards until he was almost directly above the Missing Nin.

A flare of chakra was Ebisu's only warning as the criminal below disappeared from existence - a clone, then - and the real body fell silently from above - the force and weight of the other nin knocking Ebisu from the branch he rested upon.

They crashed through several branches before either nin managed to get their footing - Ebisu using chakra to glue his feet to a tree-trunk in time to prevent braining himself against an enormous branch below.

He extended chakra through his arms, pushing his enemy away from his body in order to get free enough to right himself. They squared up several meters from one another - separated by crisscrossing branches that did not muffle the killing intent rolling from both forms.

"All alone and far from home, little nin," the criminal's sing-song hiss was confident and clear as he grinned confidently. "I'll make sure to leave a body for your family to find."

Ebisu casually adjusted his sunglasses, pulling out a weapon scroll and slowly running finger across its length. "You won't need to, shinobi-san. I do not intend to let you live, and hold no such respect for your corpse."

With a fierce growl, the nin leapt towards Ebisu, deflecting everything the stealth expert could throw at him. Once it had begun, the fight lasted minutes, the Konoha nin - for all his bravado - simply no match for the other shinobi.

After, Ebisu lay dying in the undergrowth for more than twenty minutes before a scraping sound jolted him into awareness. The shiver that tumbled inside his own bones made it impossible to prevent the keening whine that escaped his lips.

"Tell me who you are?" Came a low, croaky call. It sounded distant, and Ebisu tensed. What if it's a trap, an ambush, an enemy? What if it's another dying friend?

"I can't stop unless you say!" Ebisu couldn't trust a voice in the dark - and wow but everything really was getting dark - so he kept silent, peculiarly aware of the blood oozing slowly from his form.

Eventually, the voice moved on.

"Tenten-chan!" Lee's overly shocked face undermined his dismay. "You shouldn't use that language! I think being confined here has got to you!"

Neji tried to keep a straight face as Lee continued; Tenten's trapped expression growing more frustrated with each word.

"I'm only repeating what Hiashi-sama told me." It was odd, he felt, that even now they were mostly on speaking terms, how the sama always came out through gritted teeth. "You know how he likes to use his village status to crash the bigger meetings."

"I almost respected her." Tenten grumbled, scowling now. "She was a strong woman. A fighter."

"She was the eldest child of a Stone warrior clan." Neji noted. "That would be expected of her."

"And we must always do as we're expected, right Neji-san?" Tenten teased, her sly little grin digging at Neji with practised ease. "Not all children turn out like their parents."

"Yes, look at Hinata-chan; or Sakura-san!" gushed Lee, reflecting on the two kunoichi he knew best outside of Tenten's company.

He had always been fond of the kind hearted Hyuuga heir, and suspected Neji's view of her had changed dramatically since their first Chuunin exams. Haruno Sakura was admired for an entirely different reason. As the first ninja in her family for generations, Sakura had no latent expectations to fall back on, and had needed to work hard to gain the recognition her team-mates and teacher had so easily - in Lee's opinion - achieved. Plus she's gorgeous, Lee thought - the beautiful femininity of her hair and the graceful slope of her pale forehead; her lithe athletic movements - surer now than they had ever been when they were first gennin...

"Hn." Agreed Neji, lips quirking slightly at some joke his team-mates couldn't see. "Lee, show Tenten those pictures you took from Gai-sensei's apartment."

"You went through his things!" Tenten yelled, horrified, as Lee protested his innocence. Neji waited calmly for his team-mates to quiet.

"We only had a quick look, to understand where we could and couldn't go. Sensei lives closer to the hospital, and we didn't want to leave you both." Neji's explanation soothed Tenten's indignation a little, until he turned to Lee. "And don't pretend you didn't pocket those photographs, I watched you."

"You stole from your sensei! Lee!" Tenten screeched, heedless of the panicked shushing noises her green-clad friend was making.

"Look at them! Tenten-chan, look at these pictures before you tell!" Lee fished around in the covers of his leg weights, pulling out three crumpled photographs of several of what appeared to be the current Jounin teams - though much younger. One photo was of Gai's Gennin team - posing with their teacher in the most self confident manner she'd ever seen. Tenten wondered how long it had taken these students to be confronted with the realities of shinobi life.

The second picture was of twelve shinobi - it reminded her of the family photographs she had seen in old houses like the Hyuuga estates and the Hokage's tower during Sandaime's rule. Three Jounin senseis posed cheerfully at the back of the photo, their nine students lines up in front of them. She could easily make out Gai-sensei and Kakashi-san; the latter's bored expression obviously designed (and succeeding) to irritate both the teenage Green Beast and a goggled boy to his left. Hinata's teacher was easy to spot, the wild dark hair and red eyes unchanged over time, crouching down in front of the boys with a mahogany haired girl in an old-fashioned medic's apron and a petite blonde with bright, dark eyes.

The third picture was slightly out of focus - a shot of the medic from the group photograph, looking in the camera's general direction. She was a little older in this one - her expression was far more confident - though she looked harassed, hurried, and was either clinging or being clung to, by Kakashi-san's gloved hand.

"We think this is how it all started!" Lee spoke in a rushed, excited whisper. Tenten could almost see the sheer effort of will it took him to not shout the words at the top of his lungs.

"Don't drag me into your conspiracy theories." Neji started, taking the images from Tenten's grasp and placing them neatly in a concealed pocket of his clothing.

"Our sensei's Noble and Eternal Rivalry! A Quest for True Love!" Lee had stars in his eyes, and Tenten wondered if no one else thought taking secret photos of some girl you fancied wasn't a little creepy. "Kakashi-san must have stolen the Fair Lady from Gai-sensei's clutches!"

A nurse came in to check Tenten's vital signs, an act they had grown so used to in the last few weeks that they merely gave a cheery little wave and carried on with their hushed conversation.

"Oh?" Neji sniffed, raising an eyebrow at the thought of Gai and Kakashi fighting over some girl. "And where is she now, then?"

"Maybe Kakashi-san killed her!" Tenten laughed, sharing a disbelieving smirk with Neji.

"Maybe Gai-sensei did!" she giggled, not noticing the nurse double and then triple checking the monitors' simple bleeps.

Mission Room duty tomorrow, thought the nurse as he listened to the speculation grow wilder, trying to fish out the truths from the exaggeration. I wonder if I'll see Anko-san?

"Oh, she's a spy. No doubt about it." He replied easily, grinning at Aoba when the Chuunin waved in greeting from one of the huddles of bodies lining the long barrier between the partying shinobi and their precious alcohol.

"She tried to double bluff me!" Iruka added, grinning widely at the bemused look on Genma's face. Sandaime-sama would've found the fact hilarious - Iruka was famous among the village's parents for using such intricate circular logic and reverse-psychology on his more stubborn students that he could extract a confession from most within minutes.

"I'll let Godaime-sama know immediately." Genma announced, gesturing to the barmaid to let another shinobi order first. "Can we get anything useful out of her?"

"I don't know. I'll keep working it - but if they're sensible enough she hasn't been privy to the Stone's plans for a while." Iruka leant on the bar in one relaxed motion, aware of how Reiko might be watching them. "She's more at risk by pocketing than the standard infiltration."

"Try and find out if she has contacts. We'll keep the Tails tight on her." Genma reflected, gesturing wildly with a lewd grin for the benefit of their alert little spy. "The Stone failed at this sort of infiltration before, I can't see them trying it again - but if that's what you conclude Tsunade wants her actively tailed for at least five days to find out what she knows."

"How would find out further?"

"Oh you know," Genma leant in slightly, "False documents, fake leads, see what she does with them. Ideally we'd have Ebisu all over her, but he's not back yet."

"I thought he was just on a standard tracking?" Iruka asked, waving a hand around vaguely. "Not like him to be late."

"Yeah, but everything's standard in theory."

"Shit." Iruka shoved at Genma with a slight frown - playing up to the innocent teacher routine as he noticed Reiko's eyes dart their way again. "Alright. But what if that's what they want us to think? That she has contacts I mean? Your Tails'll be able to cover that alright?"

"Hmmm..." Genma waved the barmaid over, flicking the senbon in his teeth in a way that made her blush and move to Iruka; taking his order instead of the flirtatious Jounin's. "Find that out too."

x

Iruka moved gradually back to the table, setting the drinks down before handing Reiko's over with a cheeky grin. "For our own little spy!"

She laughed delightedly, playing along. "And what about for all my comrades?"

She didn't flinch, didn't change her breathing; her eyes were steady and sharp and amused. Iruka gave her a clear once over, letting her think she'd won the little mind game. She's working alone. She's alone.

Hatake Kakashi had come in yesterday evening - half bursting with plans and suggestions, which were half smothered by his obvious need for sleep - but he hadn't mentioned the many Konoha operatives that had gone missing in the last two weeks. The two weeks which had turned out to be almost a complete village-wide shut down - Tsunade had already restricted missions to the Jounin and ANBU ranks - and she could see the restless tension running through the gossiping Chuunin ranks, the nervous energy of the Gennin teams. At least he'd been able to positively identify Senshi Reiko - the girl was a good spy, no matter how obvious Umino Iruka found her methods to be. She would be executed later in the day, and Tsunade still hadn't figured out a convincing way of getting her here.

And Jiraiya was still glaring at her from across the room.

"Alright, alright, that's enough!" She sighed, waving off the bickering strategists - their hopeless nervousness coming out in petty arguments that didn't help anyone. "Everybody out, we're getting nowhere. I'll speak to you all tomorrow."

The office cleared slowly, as if the bodies there were simply suspended in time, waiting for Tsunade's next decision. This was why she'd fought against becoming the Hokage - this was the reason she didn't want to return. Too many people - too many of her people - that just didn't know what to do.

As the last lagging ANBU strategists finally stole their way from the room, Jiraiya folded his arms huffily across his body, chin against his chest as he glared.

"Finally," he huffed. "I've wanted to speak to you for a while."

Tsunade mentally steeled herself for the argument to come. Jiraiya was like a storm; he'd rant and shout and she'd ignore him. Maybe even hit him if he offended her. Eventually, he grow sick of screaming at the brick wall a leader had to be. Sometimes he'd make some sense, but rarely.

"If it's about Kakashi -"

"We'll get to Kakashi." Jiraiya uncrossed himself, leant forward on his chair. An inquisitive expression crossed his face. "Why isn't Shiranui panicking yet?"

"You noticed that, hmm?" Tsunade smiled bitterly - a twist of the mouth in all the wrong places. "He doesn't know that Raidou's late back." A sharp silence greeted her; Jiraiya seemed to contemplate the wisdom of the idea - a look on his face that shocked her every time she saw it.

Jiraiya's answer was expected, concerned. "You'd better hope that he comes back alive."

"Can we get to the argument now?" she sighed, utterly weary with the downward spiral she felt her village moving in, almost looking forward to yet another rift between the Sannin if it moved the conversation away from her shinobi and his missing lover - it hurt that she couldn't do anything about it, about any of it. For any of them. "That is why you're here, after all."

"Fine. You're a hypocritical bitch, do you know that?" Jiraiya hissed, the venom in his voice almost shocking the Godaime. "All that bullshit at Umino's birthday - about your children having hope and starting to understand what we felt about them all, and then you dare to act like you used to. Like Kakashi's thirteen again, and you're still relying on the same stupid rumours."

"You must've misunderstood me, Jiraiya." Her voice was cold and clipped. Warning. She hoped he hadn't noticed the scrolls on her desk - Jiraiya and Sakumo's last reports, their oh-so-methodically detailed analyses of the strategic movements of the enemies of the Second and Third Wars. She'd been forced to go through them, every one, to remember them - her old friends and team-mates - as they had once been. She missed that strength, that invincible immortality they'd thought they possessed.

"Do you have fun picking out your scapegoats? Is there a process to it, or will you take the first little brat that stumbles along?" Jiraiya made some noise that might have been a sigh - if not for the tense frustration, the barely checked anger that fuelled it. "It won't do, Tsunade. You can't fall on our failures every time your life goes to shit!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." The pointedly unconcerned arch of an elegant eyebrow only infuriated the Toad Hermit more, as Tsunade began to pack scrolls and folder haphazardly into the desk drawers.

"No?" The Sannin crossed the room, leaning against her desk again - an odd echo of the accusations of yesterday, and Tsunade struggled to maintain her feigned indifference. "How about when we first returned here? Don't think I don't remember what you said to Kakashi after Uchiha Itachi's particular brand of mind-fuck."

"That's totally different -" she stuttered, her confidence battered by the sick sort of sense he was making. She had been harsh, maybe, on her return to Konoha; that first meeting after so long. What had she said after dragging him from the coma? Only beaten by two enemies...thought you were a genius... some genius. But she'd known about the Akatsuki - at least, she'd known what Jiraiya had told her - and Kakashi could not have been a match for two of them.

She'd said worse to the Hatake Brat before and since - after all, with only those perverts for company he needed someone to put him in his place - and she needed an outlet. And before her, Jiraiya was still talking. Ranting.

"Every time, Tsunade. Every time your world comes crashing down you look for someone to take it out on. I think sometimes you convince yourself that you're right. I swear; we used to think you had an Evil Inner Tsunade stomping around in there! -"

"Shut up." Tsunade stood, crashing her hands against her desk, nose to nose with her childhood team-mate. "You don't understand about Kakashi - He - I mean - "

"This isn't about Kakashi, you moronic girl! You were fine with him a month ago!" The old Sannin growled, nose nudging dangerously against Tsunade's own. She almost laughed at the old insult. "What's wrong, Tsunade? Really?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She repeated, walking around the desk to pick at some war-time strategy map pasted sloppily to the wall.

"You used to take it out on me, Tsunade-hime. After your brother - after Dan." He came up behind her, almost touching her, his breath hot against her ear. "But I grew wise to you, Hokage-chan, so you moved down the pecking order."

"Don't be so ridicu- " She span round to yell some unnecessary retort, only to find herself trapped by his body, nose to nose again. She fisted a hand at his shoulder for balance.

"Do you not find it odd that you create such conflict with your predecessor's student? Our old friend's son? 'You only hurt the ones you love.'Strangely enough, Orochimaru told me that." His voice was oddly subdued - slow - as if he was simply allowing the words to get through.

He'd said it all before, of course, he'd screamed, shouted, written and attacked the words. He'd said them in a thousand ways and watched them slide off the tragic masks that the legendary kunoichi favoured. He'd never tried this before, though. Never dared to get quite so close. "You have to face your fears, Tsunade, not displace them."

Her eyes widened oddly, fist clutching slightly at the cloth of his shoulder, long nails digging in. "What if we can't win this time, Jiji?" Tsunade's voice was horribly small, and Jiraiya tried to look anywhere but that mouth - or lower.

"Then we'll take the Stone down with us." He replied, somewhat huskily, amazed at how easily their scents mingled in the air between them. "I promised you we'd protect our village, and we will. But we can't do it if you doubt them."

She laughed, almost ruefully, almost relieved - looking up at the old pervert with wide eyes. "I'm an idiot. Kakashi's just so easy, he just sits in front of you and bares his neck."

"Hn." Jiraiya looked down at her, mouth set in a grim line. "What are you going to do about it?"

"What can I do?"

"Stop letting your head run off with you - Stop using bystanders in this war against yourself. It doesn't help. The Brat'd probably like to cause his old friend some damage." The Hermit speculated, stroking his chin with the hand that wasn't gradually inching its way to Tsunade's hip. "The one that got Maito Gai."

Tsunade shifted, feeling horribly exposed. "When did you get so-"

"Hokage-sama! It's Raidou-san!" Shizune's shrill call gave them little warning before the office door was flung open. Tsunade moved instinctively towards the wall, and Jiraiya stepped with her - pressing her body flush against it, finally allowing his eyes to take in his team-mate's generous form.

"Hokage-sama?" They froze like that, momentarily, Shizune's shocked and scandalised voice breaking through to Jiraiya clearly - any student of his would have found the humour in the situation - but not this one, oh no. He grinned as Tsunade hit him, forcibly ejecting him from the room. He took one last practised look at his Hokage before leaving - nodding happily at the more understanding set of her jaw, the more determined glint of her eyes.

'Well, that's one crisis averted,' Jiraiya congratulated himself as he strolled from the tower. 'Now to finish the new book.'

He struggled at first to regain his alertness - Iruka's gentle administrations of the night before leaving him relaxed and loath to move - but eventually crawled out of bed and into the shower when he realised how pointless it would be to try and get back to sleep.

It was 10:26 am by the time he'd got as clean (and awake) as he was going to get - the greasy tinge of his hair was annoyingly stubborn, and the pins and needles in his leg hadn't quite dissipated yet - making Kakashi three hours late for his students had it been a normal day.

He decided to wander for a while - walk around in the sunlight and allow himself to be seen by people, maybe - in the hopes of finding his brats and getting his puppies back. He hoped they wouldn't react too strongly to their sire's death - normal dogs, once weaned, rarely remained strongly attached - but Kakashi's pack were hardly normal dogs.

He eventually found his students - much to his surprise - lounging by the river. The sheen of sweat on their brows indicated recent sparring, or training of some kind - even Sakura's arms were slightly more gleaming than usual. Naruto's jacket was tossed carelessly on the ground beside the three, and Kakashi - moving closer silently, the stealth coming naturally to him after the last five weeks' work - noticed Sushi wriggling in the fabric, chasing his own tail adorably as he held a sleeve between his teeth.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted them, finding his students' tired, deflated expressions highly amusing. Ignoring their questioning yelps, Kakashi passed his students, moving towards a shaded clump of trees by the river's edge. He lounged back against the widest tree - wondering when it had become habit to guide his students instead of actually teaching them - and smiled a little sadly as three grey bundles tore yapping into his lap.

The brats sat before him - for the moment obedient and subdued - no doubt noticing the tired shadow beneath their teacher's exposed eye and the loose fit of his already baggy uniform.

"I see you remembered to feed them!" grinned the Copy Nin, running sure hands across the puppies' flanks and beneath their underbellies, searching for any injuries or abnormalities in their growth.

"What did you teach them?" There was some vague note of expectant teasing in his voice, and Sasuke bristled.

"Not much, Kakashi-sensei." He scowled, "you didn't leave us any instruction and -"

Kakashi cut him off with a grin. "Excuses can come later, Sasuke," that cheerful expression never faltered. "What did you teach them?"

"I taught them fetch." Naruto growled, almost daring his sensei to mock. "Sasuke taught them 'stay', and Sakura taught them not to piss inside the house."

"Naruto!" Sakura screeched, not noticing in her furious lunge for the blonde shinobi the pleased chuckling Kakashi couldn't quite stifle.

"Show me." Kakashi said quietly, holding a scroll out for the puppies' inspection - the grey dogs climbing over one another the snuffle excitedly at the toy in their master's hand.

He handed the scroll to the sullen Uchiha, still ignoring his other students' squabbling. Sasuke stood, throwing the scroll as far as he could. The puppies moved to chase it, but Kakashi's quiet "Stay" had Kioshi settling back into his lap, the other following his lead.

"Go Fetch." Kakashi nodded, and the pups went tearing after the scroll - their chase formation far more sleek than the competitive bounding of weeks ago. "You did much better than I thought you would!" Kakashi said after they'd gone, shocking Sakura from her game of Dent Naruto's Head.

"WHAT?" Naruto yelled, spluttering wildly as Sasuke eyes widened in astonishment.

"One of you tell me," Kakashi said, drumming his newly reclaimed copy of Icha Icha Paradise against his chin (He'd gleefully found it on Iruka's bookshelf, chapter 21 marked with the same strip of map Kakashi had sent with it. He must have read it.) The three students looked on warily. "How the commands fetch and stay could be of use to a nin-dog?"

Three blank faces stared back at their masked sensei, and he chose to let them stew. Eventually they'd realise that they'd stumbled across the two most important commands for a retrieval dog to obey.

"Alright, let's look at it this way." Kakashi drawled, wondering if they'd even once thought about leadership in the entire exercise. "Why do you think you couldn't get any further with my puppies?"

"Because they didn't have any chakra!" Naruto squealed, just as Sasuke announced their lack of information on dog training, and Sakura shrieked something about her mother. Kakashi didn't want to know.

"I take it at least one of you went to an Inuzuka?" Kakashi grinned. "And they no doubt guarded their techniques obsessively. Without understanding about how to train nin-dogs, you could still train a dog in the basic ways - sit, stay, here, fetch, roll over, beg - and adapt them. Fetch becomes bite that enemy, sit becomes guard this entrance, roll over becomes get out the way of that shuriken. Eventually, your dog learns to respond to gestures, eventually to instinct. You've got yourself a fighting dog."

"You mean," ventured Sasuke. "You didn't care how far we got?"

"Sakura," Kakashi asked sweetly. "How long did it take for you to realise how to house train Joben?"

Her eye twitched as the whole task came into place - not to train a nin-dog to full capability, but to understand how to train it. Understand how to communicate with your charge - and later your subordinate. They had come close, but they hadn't quite got it.

"Now that you realise how important it is to understand those under your command - those reliant upon you for their safety - you might find it easier to understand the duties of a high level shinobi." Kakashi intoned, driving the lesson home in a way they'd missed in the last month. "Underestimating the little things - underestimating basic skills - will cause you to fail a mission, or even lose you life or the lives of those around you. Don't do it."

Sasuke's lips twitched slightly as he glanced at Naruto's attentive expression. "Yes sensei." Chorused Naruto and Sakura, all of them grinning slightly as a yapping unison drew nearer.

"Lesson's over, I'll see you tomorrow," smiled the masked Jounin, already moving to slice his thumb on a shuriken from his thigh holster. "Thank you for not killing my dogs."

The three left slowly, talking amongst themselves, speculating on their sensei's mission as they moved towards the high street. Hearing several high pitched whimpers, they turned back briefly to see several dogs surrounding Kakashi, the three puppies whining on his lap as Pakkun licked and nuzzled at their little heads. Kakashi was mumbling something they couldn't hear, hands everywhere - each of the dogs receiving the same sorrowful, attentive stroke as they clambered round their master's form.

Adding this to her mental list of Hatake Mysteries, Sakura moved along.

"Hey..." His voice was still croaky, now slurred by the morphine's effects on his strangely thick tongue. He reached out to the far left Genma, felt his hand pulled away and settled on someone's lap. "...Sorry m'late."

"You're late?" Genma sounded amused, hysterically so, "I hate you. I hate you. You're never going on a mission again. We're retiring to the country where old women throw things at us for living in sin while their teenage granddaughters fantasize about watching it."

Raidou smiled, too tired to laugh. He could feel Genma holding his hand gently - but considering he couldn't really feel much else figured he must be clinging pretty hard. "Missed me then?" he slurred.

"Shut up." Genma sighed, running a hand that Raidou couldn't feel across his sweaty brow. "I'm sorry about Iwari-kun."

"Slept too long..." Raidou muttered, hating the drugs that muted Genma's comfort but not the sick pain coiling in his gut.

"Sleep some more," Genma ordered soothingly, calmer now that Raidou was alive, not just a lump of meat hooked up to too many monitors.

Raidou drifted obediently off to sleep, vague images of old women stalking Genma dancing along the edges of his consciousness.

End of Ch.15!

Technically. However, here's a little PS to apologise for taking so long - I tend to have patches where I just can't write, and the last time I pushed it I stopped writing for a long time. I really love writing this(with exception of this evil chapter), so I'm sure you'll understand why I chose not to rush it XD.

Citizens of Konoha,

Rumours have been circulating for some time, questioning
the malignant intent of if the recent attacks and ambushes
targeting our village.

I would like to address each of you on this matter, however
to do so separately or according to rank would bring
unnecessary speculation as to the level of information I
have shared with each of you.

Therefore, tomorrow at noon - Wednesday 3rd July - a
village meeting will take place outside the Hokage's Tower,
I will expect you to attend in order to receive this information
and allow me to answer a number of the questions you may have.

Copies of this letter have been sent to each villager, and posted
upon the public notice boards within the village.

Godaime Hokage.

(Please forward any queries to ANBU Strag. Ops. (T&I Unit: 4)
Allow 48 hours response time.)

x

Shikamaru's mother finished reading the announcement with an odd waver to her strong voice, handing it to her husband at Shikaku's impatient gesture. Shikamaru watched as his father paled, hand clenching and unclenching around the flimsy bit of paper as the other fingered the scars on his face.

"Fuck." Shikaku spat. "I need a drink."

Shikamaru's mother didn't say a word as Shikaku stormed from the house, dinner still lying untouched at the table. Shikamaru watched her hands shake as she cleared dish away obediently; casting a tight almost-smile at her son when their eyes caught. She jumped on hearing the front door of their home slam awkwardly, rattling the thin slides separating the dining room and kitchen, and Shikamaru realised, seeing his mother's subdued obedience, that something was drastically wrong.

For the first time since hearing the rumours of war, Shikamaru was filled with dread.

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