Naruto fidgeted as she glanced at Shikamaru. Her friend was putting on a brave façade; his eyes steeled in determination, his jaw squared in seriousness, his posture straight. If she didn't know any better, she would never guess that the stoic ninja beside her was most likely forced to pop several chakra pills just so that he doesn't fall over in exhaustion. He had only just been released by the medics, barely making it in time for the Hokage's speech. As they stood there waiting for the preliminary matches to begin, Naruto couldn't help but ask, "Are you okay, Shika?"

The Nara smiled softly as he lowly replied, "I'm fine Naruto, promise."

Naruto narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "You stopped an S-rank level ninja, and probably came very close to depleting your entire chakra reservoirs. How are you okay?"

Shikamaru chuckled as his gaze did not stray from where the Hokage was still speaking, "You should have more faith in our medics. I'm perfectly fine."

"Fine enough to fight?" Naruto questioned incredulously.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "Fine enough to win at least."

Before Naruto could fully lecture her friend, the Hokage raised his voice, "Is there anyone who would like to withdraw?"

Silence.

Naruto poked Shikamaru forcefully in the ribs. With a slight groan, he said, "I told you Naru, I'm fine. Don't you trust me?"

Naruto's determined countenance wavered, "Of course I trust you Shika. I'm just worried."

He smiled, "I appreciate that."

Naruto grinned, before looking around the room, "Hey where's that older glasses guy? You know, the one with all the cards?"

Shikamaru gazed around the room. With a seemingly confused look, he replied, "Perhaps they didn't make it out of the Forest?"

"But his team is right there."

Nara shrugged, "Then I'm not sure. He could be too injured to fight."

"I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he is."

Unbeknownst to Naruto, but certainly at the very least suspected by a plotting Shikamaru, the aforementioned Kabuto was currently being questioned by the some of the very best in interrogation.

"Who are you- really?" Ibiki asked, leaning in his chair calmly.

Kabuto's eyes widened in fear, "My name is Kabuto Yakushi. I am an orphan-"

Cutting him off, Ibiki continued, "I'm not interested in your persona. I want to know who you work for, and why you turned against Konoha."

Fixing his glasses, a nervous gesture, Kabuto trembled as he replied, "I'm not sure what you mean. I'm a regular genin hoping to get promoted!"

The interrogator scoffed, "You know what the funny part is? None of us here ever even suspected you. Not once. Yet a genin had one chance meeting with you, and came to the conclusion that you're a spy. So then I took a closer look at your file, only to notice several inconsistencies and questionable gaps. And then, low and behold, Orochimaru of the sennin attacks. So tell me- why should I believe you?"

"I really had nothing to do with this! I have served as a loyal Konoha ninja for all my life!"

"But that's not really true, is it? In fact, you don't even remember where you're from. Kabuto isn't even your real name. Konoha isn't even your real home either."

"It's been my name for as long as I remember. And Konoha will always be home."

"Yet still you betray us?"

Before Kabuto could reply, a shinobi entered into the room, "Ibiki-sama, the Hokage summoned you."

With a sigh, Ibiki stood, "Well it looks like we'll have to continue our conversation at another time. Oh, and a little warning: next time, I won't be so nice during my questioning."

Naruto narrowly avoided the urge to throttle a smirking Sasuke, "You won one match, don't let it get to your head!"

"I still won, didn't I?" The Uchiha said with an arrogant tone.

"You did great Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered, flipping her long pink hair over one shoulder.

"So great!" Ino echoed in the same fangirling manner.

"Like super-duper amazing!"

"So amazing that we were blinded by the sheer awesomeness!"

"You're so strong Sasuke-kun!"

"You're definitely going to win the tournament!"

"Totally!"

Neji winced at the sheer volume, having somehow unluckily ended up between the two shrieking girls, "Uchiha performed admirably. However, in your so-called 'excitement', you missed an even greater performance."

The girls halted their screaming to look over at the stage, where Shikamaru was lazily slouching above a knocked-out Kin. "Kami, I hate fighting girls," He muttered as he walked back to his empty seat beside Naruto.

"Woah! Shikamaru you already won!?" Ino cried in surprise.

"Yes, he did," Naruto spoke in amazement, her gaze never straying from her roommate, "And it was glorious!"

"I thought you had chakra exhaustion," Sasuke remarked with a frown.

Shikamaru shrugged, "I did, however my reserves were slightly replenished. At least enough for a quick fight, if we spent any longer in battle I might not have made it."

"So you ended it quick," Neji correctly surmised, "That was smart."

"Of course it was! Shikamaru is a genius!" Naruto proudly stated, hugging her friend for his victory.

"Yeah yeah yeah, we get it. You're happy for your boyfriend," Kiba muttered angrily.

"Yup, that's me! Super happy for my boyfriend! Yup yup, supportive girlfriend here!" Naruto stammered nervously.

Shikamaru chuckled. Kami, Naruto was so bad at lying. She was just too cute.

"What can I say? I'm just lucky enough to have such a supportive girlfriend," Shikamaru replied with a smirk, laying a small kiss on her cheek in the process.

Watching his friends face turn red with embarrassment, Shikamaru found it hard to fight the laugh that was threatening to burst out.

"You guys make a cute couple," Tenten remarked.

Before Shikamaru could reply, he was interrupted by the large build of the Head of Torture and Interrogations, "Nara, I would like a word."

Nodding, Shikamaru stood to follow him. "I'll be right back," He said to his friends as he left the room with Ibiki.

The bandaged man took him to an empty hallway, where no one could accidentally overhear them, "Who taught you ANBU code?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened in faux surprise, "I don't know what you mean."

Ibiki smirked, "I'm talking about the poem written on the back of your exam paper."

"A simple poem and no more, I assure you."

"A simple poem that led us to find a spy of Orochimaru hidden within our ranks."

"Oh? What a coincidence!" Shikamaru sarcastically drawled.

"Look kid, we both know that someone had to teach you. But I digress, you did well in informing us. We currently have him apprehended and held for questioning. It seems as though he is the one who allowed the sennin to stay hidden in the forest for so long."

Shikamaru nodded, finally dropping the innocent façade, "I assumed as much when I saw Orochimaru."

"Speaking of which, I heard you were able to keep him immobile long enough for your peers to get away."

"A mere 15 seconds." Shikamaru confirmed humbly.

"15 seconds against an S-ranked ninja is a lot more than even chunin could say. And everyone got out relatively unharmed. In fact, the greatest injury was your own case of chakra exhaustion. Yet despite that, you were still able to win your match at the preliminaries. How?"

"A combination of chakra pills and the foresight to end the fight quickly."

Ibiki grinned, "You know, I happened to glance at your file after we received your message."

"Oh? And what did you learn?"

"That you were either an idiotic almost dead-last student with zero motivation, or a genius who purposely hid his skills. I had to dig up more information in order to find out which though."

"So what's your conclusion?"

"That you're a lot more interesting than I originally suspected."

"How so?"

"As the Heir Apparent of the Nara Clan, you are perhaps the only ninja of your age to already throw a ring in the political field."

"I must confess I am once more unsure as to what you are referring."

"You see, a month ago, the only official clan allies the Nara had were the Yamanaka and the Akimichi. Yet I found a single, particularly curious document which outlined the alliance between the Nara and the Hyuga. A document of which I'm sure the Hokage himself hadn't yet been made aware of. And I'm sure you can guess whose signature I found sprawled on the bottom?"

"I may have an idea," Shikamaru admitted. It was only a week previous when he finally was able to convince the Head of the Hyuga Clan to sign a formal alliance with the Nara. Now this procedure was a little outdated, mostly being used in the times before the founding of Konoha. Yet Shikamaru wasn't about to take any chances about Hiashi's loyalty. So as the Heir Presumptive, he took the liberty to cosign the document, officially aligning the Hyūga Clan interests with his own.

"I'm going to be frank kid, when you become chunin, I want you to join us."

Now this surprised Shikamaru, "Join you?"

Ibiki nodded, "We need more shinobi of your intelligence and caliber. I think you would make a fine addition to the Torture and Interrogation Unit. What do you say kid?"

"Okay, so this is what you missed," Naruto recapped as Shikamaru retook his seat, "Ino and Sakura went against each other, but they ended up knocking each other out. So they're both disqualified. That weird Sand chick Temari beat Tenten, who by the way, has more weapons up her sleeve than I have ramen in the cupboards. Hinata and Neji fought too, but Neji quickly ended the fight by rendering her immobile, until she was forced to forfeit. And now we're waiting for the next match!"

Shikamaru nodded along with Uzumaki's rant, yet his mind was still preoccupied with the offer from the mercurial integrator. Shikamaru never considered joining the ANBU, it was too troublesome. Yet here the opportunity was, handed out to him on a silver platter. But what would be best for his plans?

"Up next: Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka!"

"YES! Come on Mutt! Get ready for me to destroy you!" Naruto cried as she leapt onto the stage.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're a girl!" Kiba spoke, arrogance coating his tone.

"Bring. It. On."

With a rage infused punch, Ibiki tore a whole in the wall as he cried, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE ESCAPED!?"

The poor shinobi who had to deal with Ibiki's anger cowered, "He was left unsupervised. He tore through his handcuffs, using medical-jutsu I believe, and walked out. No one questioned him because of his Konoha headband."

"And which, pray tell, of you idiots left our prisoner unsupervised?!" He bit out angrily.

The subordinate shuffled nervously, "I'm not quite sure, sir. He must have only been unsupervised for a few seconds before-"

"Before our greatest lead on Orochimaru escaped?" Ibiki interrupted, "Find him. Now."

"Yes sir!"

"And get me Hiashi Hyuga. We have a lot to discuss."

Two more clones sprouted from either side of Kiba, and with perfect timing sent the dog-loving boy down. Cheers engulfed the stadium, people astonished by the legitimate win of one Naruto Uzumaki.

With a grin and a skip, she made her way back to her friends, "Ha! And that's how you kick ass!"

"Good job Naruto," Shikamaru said with a smile.

"Yo Naruto, where did you learn how to make solid clones like that?" Choji questioned.

Naruto chuckled nervously, "From a scroll."

Before anyone could further question the stammering blond, Shikamaru interjected, "Look, Lee is up next. Against Gaara."

"I'm worried for Lee," Naruto softly confessed to her friend.

"Me too, Naru. Me too."

Naruto clenched her fists, hot tears of anger rolling down her cheeks. Beside her stood Shikamaru, a warm hand on her shoulder.

"They say he will never be a ninja again," Naruto spoke softly.

"I know."

"Lee didn't deserve this."

"I know."

"Gaara went too far."

"I know."

"Sasuke is going to face him in a month."

"He will."

"He'll lose. Badly."

"Unfortunately, yes."

Naruto frowned, "There must be someone out there who could heal Lee."

"There is," Shikamaru assured, "And I'll help you find them. Until then, focus on your training."

The Uzumaki sighed, "Kakashi-sensei is busy training Sasuke. He assigned Ebisu to teach me instead."

"Konohamaru's perverted sensei?"

"The one and only."

"Worst comes to worst, you can train with Asuma. None of my teammates made it to the finals."

"Shouldn't he be busy training you?"

"It's not like I plan to get much training done," Shikamaru answered honestly.

"Shika, you're going against Temari. You didn't see her fight against Tenten, she's powerful."

"A wind user, right? I'll be fine. Regardless, I never wanted to take these exams in the first place."

"Shika, promise me you'll try."

"Naruto I can't-"

"Promise me Shika."

Nara sighed, "I promise."

"Good."

"So you write porn?"

Jiraiya grinned as he put away his orange-covered masterpiece, "I'm surprised you recognize my work! Aren't you a bit young?"

Naruto shrugged, "I grew up in a bad part of town. Plus, my sensei is a fan."

"Your sensei is a smart man."

"And you're a pervert who spies on women."

Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, this girl was going to get him killed, "Listen brat, keep your voice down."

Naruto crossed her arms, "No. You injured my teacher, and left me all alone without instruction. Either you teach me in his stead, or I let those fine females on the other side of this bush know that you've been spying on them."

Jiraiya sweat-dropped, "How about I give you a free copy of my book instead, huh?"

"Not interested."

"I'll even throw in an autographed picture."

"Definitely not interested."

"I'll buy you… ramen?" He guessed, desperate to quiet the young blond.

It was a physically pained Naruto who answered, "N-n-n-no-not int-in-intr-intrests-interested."

"It sounds like you're interested."

"What I need is training. So, are you going to help me or not?"

"Absolutely not brat."

"Alright then," The girl shrugged, "HEY LADIES! THIS MAN IS-"

A hand quickly darted out to stifle the blonds yelling, "Shhhhh! I'll train you, ok? Just for the love of Kami, shut up!"

Naruto grinned, "Thanks! So I just finished learning water walking, but I need some cool jutsu or something to surprise my opponent. I'm going against Neji Hyuga, he's a so called 'genius'."

Jiraiya sighed. He was certain that somehow, someway, Minato was laughing at him from the great beyond, "Have you ever heard of summoning?"

"You want to recruit young Shikamaru Nara into the Torture and Interrogation Unit?" Hiashi calmly questioned, taking a sip of his steaming tea.

"I do," Ibiki confirmed with a nod.

"Isn't he a little young to be recruited into a section of the ANBU?"

"Isn't he a little young to broker an alliance between two major clans?" Ibiki mocked.

"So that's what this is about," Hiashi clicked his tongue, "How did you find out?"

"By happenstance," Ibiki admitted, "The Nara used ANBU standard code to let me know that we had a spy in our midst. I was interested in the boy, and as I was digging up information on Shikamaru, I found this."

Reaching over and reading the document, Hiashi sighed, "Yes, it's true that we are allies."

"I'm guessing the HoKage doesn't know. It was a stroke of genius, by the way, filing the document under Shikamaru's name and not your own. It drastically reduces the chances of your alliance being discovered."

"It was Shikamaru's idea."

"Now see, that brings me to my next question. Why all the secrecy? Why broker an alliance with the Nara's through Shikamaru if you have no intention of letting anyone know about it?"

"You'll have to ask the boy yourself, after all, it was all his plan."

"And you trust the boy?"

"Undoubtedly. Shikamaru Nara, despite his youth, is an unparalleled strategic genius. You have seen it at work yourself, uncovering a spy that your own Unit missed."

"It's true the kid interests me, I haven't denied that. Yet I haven't gone to the lengths that you have."

"Shikamaru can be quite persuasive when he needs to be."

"Hiashi, we have been friends for a long time, stemming from back to our academy days. I need your complete honesty; how big of a role is this kid going to play in the future?"

The Hyūga leaned forward, "A huge one. And if I were you, I would ally myself with him as quick as humanly possible. Sometime within the next few weeks, he's going to make his move. You need to be firmly on his side when the dominos start to fall, trust me."

"I always have."

"ANBU?" Shikaku questioned.

"Yes father."

The elder Nara sighed as he leaned back into his seat, "We didn't foresee this variable."

"No, we didn't," Shikamaru admitted, "But I have been thinking about it. This may be an unexpected blessing."

Shikaku raised a brow, "How so?"

"Members of the ANBU have a lot more leeway in the shinobi force, while simultaneously they are also more protected. It could help us quite a bit in the future, if I'm not in a position to be easily manipulated or maneuvered."

"You want to take yourself off the playing field," Shikaku realized.

Shikamaru nodded, "It would be a lot easier for me to take greater risks if I'm not in a position to be used by Danzo and other members of the council. Under the Torture and Interrogation Unit, the only ones who could command me would be Ibiki and the Hokage."

"And you're okay with working under Ibiki?"

"In theory," Shikamaru mused, "But I would have to research more. It's all moot point if Ibiki's goals don't line up with our own."

"You're going to launch an investigation into the Head of Investigations? It almost seems like a suicide mission."

"Keyword being: almost."

"Just be careful."

"I always am."