A heavy mist formed in front of Damasa and Hanko as they patrolled their base.

Damasa stopped suddenly, his eyes scouring the woodland. "Did you hear that?" He whispered to his companion.

Fast steps came from the mist straight at them, accompanied by the sound of heavy breathing.

"Be ready but don't strike, it sounds like a child." He added, settling into a ready stance

The steps came closer until they could make out a small figure stepping out of the mist.

It was a hooded boy, his eyes filled with tears. "Please, help me," he implored. "They're going to kill me. Please don't let them kill me."

"It's okay, what's your name kid?" Hanko asked.

"My mom told me not to give my name to strangers," The boy told them, his body shaking with fear.

"It's okay, you're safe with us," Hanko told the boy. He moved his hand to push down the hood, but the boy resisted and just pulled the hood further down.

"Hanko, bring the boy to the camp and warn them against a potential attack. I'll keep watch and make sure no one chase you down," Damasa said.

Hanko nodded and turned to the boy, "Is that okay with you?"

"I just want my mommy," the boy said. They could hear that he had stopped crying and sighed with relief to have calmed him down a bit. The boy held out his hand towards Hanko, who took it gently as he was able and led him deeper into the forest, leaving Damasa alone to the potential danger in the mist.

-x-

It was easy to see that the boy wasn't a ninja, but despite that, he had no problem keeping up the pace, as long as he got a push now and then. He wasn't used to civilian kids, but he could respect that not everyone wanted their children to partake in fighting the Bloody Mist. They fled the village to give their children a safer life and making them ninja would defeat that purpose.

The last weeks had been calm, but now there was another attack a bit too close to comfort.

As the two entered the camp he let go of the boy's hand.

"Do you think you can find your mother on your own? I need to warn people about this." Hanko asked the boy.

"Thanks, sir." the boy muttered from beneath his hood.

"Just call me Hanko," the man smiled at the boy, despite the fact that the boy couldn't see it under the hood.

"Thanks, Hanko," the boy said and ran towards one of the tents.

Hanko quickly got the attention of the ninja stationed in the camp and hurried out to push back the attack. They couldn't let their location be exposed or it was over for them.

-x-

"Mei, I have a letter for you. From Yagura," Ao spoke, his voice grave.

"Give it to me," Mei grabbed it from Ao's hand and started to read.

"What does the letter say, my lady? Is Yagura making some ridiculous demand? Or perhaps he wishes to surrender?" Ao asked, allowing himself the luxury of a smile

"Not exactly, but if what he's saying is true, this is very good news. He tells me that he's been controlled by an unknown Uchiha, but if you ask me, this is a weak attempt of a lie," Mei spoke, her fingers rose to cover her mouth as her eyes followed the words down the page.

"I was once subjected to the powers of an Uchiha. Such would not be beyond their power," Ao recalled with a voice full of bitterness.

"Your silence would be appreciated, Ao. I'm reading," Mei told him with a clipped tone.

His silence assured, Mei leant back in her chair and read deeper through the letter.

"He's starting reforming the laws, abolishing the caste system and making sure that bloodline users are safe from prosecution," Mei read aloud. A tone of wonder crept into her voice and an incredulous look settled on her face.

"Is that just talk or is he really doing it?" Ao questioned. A frown adorned his face as well and he longed to read the message himself.

"I told you to shut up! But we have a chance to get more intel, as part of the peace process, he's inviting lower ranked ninja back into the village with full amnesty" Mei told him, a gleam in her eye.

"Do you have anyone in mind that could be the right one?

'Do you have anyone? The right one?' All Mei could hear was him talking about her finding herself a man.

"Shut up," she growled. "Or I'll kill you."

"There is something I want to know Ao, where did you get this from?" Mei asked. She placed the letter gently on the table and turned to him.

"What do you mean, my lady?" Ao answered.

"Who delivered this to you? We don't have any communication channels to the village," she elaborated.

"A young boy handed it to me, I don't know who it was; he was wearing a hood and refused to give his name," Ao Explained.

"Bring me some sake, I need to drink," Mei told him, the arms of her chair cracking under her tightened grip.

"My lady?" Ao questioned.

"It was Yagura, you idiot!" Mei roared." How did he find out this easily? Why didn't the patrols stop him, and are there actually any traps around here?"

Ao brought Mei a bottle of sake and was about to pour it into her glass when she grabbed the bottle and chugged down.

"Bring people back, there is no attack," Mei order Ao, emptying the sake down her throat. "And bring me another of those," she added, half tempted to throw the bottle at the head of her right-hand -man.

"Mei-sama, there is something you have to see," one of her Ninja interrupted her. After what had happened tonight, there was really no time to lose, her sake could wait.

Outside she saw something burning on the ground, on a closer inspection, she noticed that it was Yagura's clothes.

"What do you make of it?" Ao asked.

"There's no explanation I can think of, Ao. Either he's has gone completely insane and is running around in the forest naked, or..." She sighed.

"And our next move?" Ao asked further.

"For now, we'll work with what Yagura has given us. I'll send Chojuro to the Mist, the boy is honest to a fault. We will make a decision based on his observations," Mei explained

Ao gave a bow and returned to the tent with her command. As he left, Mei turned and watched the ashes float away on the wind.

'Is this a sign?' She wondered to herself. '"I have shed my old skin." Is that what you're trying to tell me, Yagura?'

'No matter what your intentions are, you've made us look like fresh Genin tonight. But if you want to talk, I see no reason to refuse. You've already proven that you could easily crush our resistance. Can there be a peaceful resolution for all of us?'

-x-

"Chōjūrō, come here," Mei ordered.

"Mei-sama, have I done anything wrong?" Chojuro spoke, having dashed into the room.

"Of course not, I have an important job for you," Mei said with a calm smile.

"My lady? Are you sure?" Chojuro spoke, worry creeping into every word. "I'm not sure I'd be the best person.

"You need to believe in yourself more. You're just going back to Kirigakure to observe if Yagura is serious about changing the village," Mei told him with a gentle tone.

Chojuro could not face her confident smile and looked away. "My lady, I.."

"Don't be afraid, if he tries to do anything to you I'll come to Kiri and crush his skull. Besides, it would make me oh so happy if you did this for me," Mei said to him with a gentle caress.

"I'll do it, I'll make you proud," Chojuro replied, a confidence filling his voice out of nowhere.

Mei smiled into her Sake. Boys could be so easy to work with at times.

-x-

Iruka was engrossed with the marking when there came a knock at his door.

"Come in," Iruka said while keeping his eyes on the work. "Hmm, Shikamaru's tests, I'll just mark it one hundred per cent, no need to actually check it," he mumbled to himself. His eyes were glued so thoroughly to his work that he very nearly jumped right out of his seat when he heard the Hokage's voice.

"I hope you aren't thinking of falsifying results, young man," he spoke, no humour in his voice.

"Oh no, Hokage-sama, I was just joking with myself," Iruka told him with a nervous laugh. He stood up and gave his master the customary salute.

"I should hope not, these children are the Leaf's future Iruka," Sarutobi spoke, before shaking his head and moving to stand by Iruka's fireplace. "I'm not here to control your work Iruka, require a favour from you."

"Anything for you, Hokage-sama," Iruka replied.

"I want you to teach your students about the history of the Hidden Mist, focusing on its brutal past. Nothing need be said about the current Kage, of course," Sarutobi explained.

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama, but the lesson plan is already full. The children will only listen to so much," Iruka replied.

"I'm sure you can squeeze it in somehow."

"We're already pressing too much, I'm really sorry," Iruka replied. He found himself rubbing his hands together as a cold chill entered the room.

"Tell me Iruka, for how long have you been a teacher?" Sarutobi asked, turning his head gently to look at Iruka.

"Are you going to fire me?" Iruka exclaimed.

"Oh, I'd never fire you, Iruka, but perhaps a short… Holiday is in order. You're clearly stressed. In the meantime, I'll find someone who's more open to the idea," Sarutobi said.

"I'll fit it in, but I don't know much about it myself. If you can help me out and get me an overview of the subject," Iruka sighed. "I'll sort something out."

"I'll be happy to help out, I'll have a someone deliver something on your desk till tomorrow," Sarutobi said.

"Is this about Naruto?" Iruka asked, breathing out.

"You could say that, yes," the Hokage answered. "I don't know if the Mizukage will go after more of our ninja, I'm most worried about Sasuke and Hinata since they are the most susceptible. Make sure they keep close attention at least. But who knows how many of the Kunoichi he might be able to charm."

"I don't think you'll need to worry about them, they're much too interested in Sasuke to go after someone much older."

"Let's just hope you're right," Sarutobi mumbled and left Iruka's office.

-x-

"All right class, we've had much about Konoha's history, so today's class will be about the Hidden Mist Village," Iruka greeted.

Naturally, his students groaned in response, he had hoped that they might be somewhat interested in the other villages, but he was too optimistic.

When the class finally finished, he was relieved, hopefully, this was enough for the Hokage. He could see that the students were shaken by what they heard. The contrast to their own village and Mist's gruesome graduation requirements was too great, even if it was a thing of the past. Though he wondered why the Hokage had forbidden him to talk about Mizukage, it didn't bother him too much. Sarutobi might just have some old grudge with him from the war.

-x-

"Sakura, can I talk to you a bit?" Shikamaru asked Sakura after the class.

"Sure, no problem I've nothing to do anyway," she answered.

"Was it just me, or did Iruka feel quite strange today?" Shikamaru asked.

"Hmm, yeah, it was strange, almost like he didn't want to teach us about this at all. We don't have any about the other villages. Why are you asking me about this? I'm sure you've it all figured it out already."

"I wasn't sure if I just over-analyzed things. You seem to have a good head, I'll trust your judgement."

"Oh, thanks," Sakura blushed.

"Do you have any idea why he focused so much on Hinata and Sasuke, he didn't care about the rest of us, but as soon as one of them stopped paying attention for a moment, he was straight at them."

"Of course he'd notice Sasuke-kun, but why Hinata. And where is Naruto gone?"

"Do you think this is connected, and that Hinata or Sasuke might disappear too?" Shikamaru asked.

"It's strange, but maybe. As much as Naruto bragged about becoming Hokage, it's strange if he just quit. But now we have to focus on trying to graduate, I don't want to be held back while Sasuke-kun becomes a ninja. See you later, I promised to help mom with something, so I can't let her wait anymore."

-x-

Chōjūrō was waiting nervously, today was the day he'd return to the Mist village. He was just a little child when his parents left the village. Mei had offered to help him pack while he was sorting out his nerves.

She had gone over the plans for where and how they'd meet, and she's promised him to check up on him as often as possible, but it didn't help still the fear that Yagura would slice him in two as soon as he entered the village. But he would be strong for Mei, she'd been quite supportive of him after his parents died.

"Are you ready Chōjūrō-kun?" Mei asked him.

"Yeah, just a bit nervous," Chōjūrō answered.

"You'll be fine, and remember that this could end the war. just make sure to gather as much information as you can. You should write a diary to keep track, it to be read, so be careful about what you write. Anything else, you need to remember on your own. Don't try to write code, they'll crack it and then you."

"But what if I forget something?" Chōjūrō mumbled.

"That's why I'm going to visit you as often as I can, we talked over this, it's nothing to be afraid about," Mei smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

-x-

Chōjūrō was standing in the large open office of the Mizukage. ANBU had apprehended him quickly after getting near the village, after explaining himself, he was brought here to wait. The Mizukage had yet to arrive, and two ANBU was watching over him like hawks.

When he saw a young child enter the room he took the courage to him.

"Excuse me, but have you seen the Mizukage, I've been waiting forever now," Chōjūrō muttered.

"I'm the Mizukage, and you are?" Yagura said and signalled to the ANBU that they should leave them completely alone.

"I'm sorry, I'm Chōjūrō, Mizukage-sama," he bowed down in front of him and tears falling down his chin. It didn't make him less nervous that he had messed up already now.

"I'm glad to see you Chōjūrō-kun," the Mizukage smiled, though it was hard to read the expression. It was a mix of happiness and something a more sinister, if only slightly. "How good are you at keeping secrets?"

"Ehh, what do you mean Mizukage-sama?" Chōjūrō stuttered.

"Call me Yagura, please. I need your help, our village is in grave danger. You can't know the details, but simply put, we're going to be teammates. But do not disclose who I am. I need people to think I'm a Genin, not many know who I am, and keeping it that way makes it much easier to act as needed. A genin can walk much more freely around than a Kage, and your last teammate cannot under any circumstance know who I am? Do you think you can do that?"

He had overheard Mei talking about Yagura going mad, was this it? But no, he had no other choice than play along with his crazy ideas.

"I can do it, I won't disappoint you," or rather, he wouldn't disappoint Mei and he didn't want Yagura to kill him.

"Good, you're free to do as you want until I need you. See this as a chance to prove your loyalty."

-x-

Sarutobi was held up with his usual paperwork as a Chuunin brought in a big wooden crate into his office.

"What is that?" he asked the ninja.

"I don't know, it says it's a dog on the package and apparently it is from the Mist, but it has been quite silent, let's hope it's not dead. I didn't know you liked dogs Hokage-sama."

"Thank you, you can leave now," the Hokage answered.

As the ANBU left, Sarutobi picked a kunai from his pouch and pried the crate open. Looking down at the miserable shape of Kakashi, tied up and gagged by his own mask. "Did you have a nice trip?" Sarutobi asked.

Kakashi couldn't do anything that mumbled something inaudible.

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me help you with that."

When Kakashi got his mouth free, he finally was able to talk. "It's not funny,"

"What did you do to make them send you back in that state?" Sarutobi said and looked down at Kakashi.

"I did what I had to do," Kakashi answered.

"Whatever you did clearly didn't work. I was about to get someone to chisel your name into the stone, what did you do?"

"I found Naruto, but he lost control while I was talking to him," Kakashi answered.

"I'm sure there are more to it?" he asked.

"I and Yagura had a little spar," Kakashi answered.

"Are you out of your mind?" Sarutobi yelled at him, "Do you know what consequences that could have for the village? I can't let it be known that my ninja has attacked a Kage like that. Our diplomatic stance is already weak, and you go around ruining it like that. And what made you think you'd even win, Yagura didn't charm his way to Kage, even I would think twice about facing him in a battle, and it would be a death wish to do it in the Hidden Mist."

"I felt I owed Minato-Sensei and Naruto it," Kakashi answered back.

"Give me one good reason to not ship you back to Yagura and let him finish his work? This is on the border to treason."

"You need me to teach Sasuke and to steer him on the right path, we're quite similar I feel."

"You better take your job seriously then, and if you think about visiting Mist again, I'll send your head on a silver plate to the Mizukage. You're dismissed, and don't show yourself here again before passing your team."

It was time to arrange another meeting with his old friend. At first, he needed someone to check on Sasuke, but now it seems like he needs eyes on both of them. Hopefully one of his agents could act like a human being.

-x-

Sakura was waiting patiently on her new Sensei and tried to steal a look at Sasuke when he wasn't paying attention. She'd hoped he was more open to her now that they were teammates, but so far no luck, she just had to give him some time.

"You three, meet me on the roof," a white-haired man said from the doorway before he disappeared.

"Three?" She said to herself, looking behind her, she saw a creepy pale as chalk boy smiling at her.

Sasuke was already on his way out.

"Wait for me," she called out and ran after him.

-x-

"Hmm," Kakashi mumbled and looked at his three students after hearing them introduce themselves.

"Anything wrong," Sakura asked.

"No, I was just thinking, you three are quite, I'm not sure what to say, special?" Kakashi mumbled. "But you're not proper Genin yet, I'll test you again properly tomorrow."

"Another test?" Sasuke grumbled. "What was the point of the graduation test then?"

"Ah, that was just to weed out the weakest and save us Jounin some time, I'll recommend that you don't eat breakfast tomorrow. It's for your own good. Let's meet again at training ground 7 at sunrise". Kakashi jumped down from the roof and left them to their own devices.

He sighed, he didn't know exactly who this Sai was, apart from the fact that it was not his real name, who sent him. and that it was not good news. He knew he was being watched, and even if he couldn't detect anything, he knew that Sai was following him. He picked up his speed to test the boy, if he could keep up and still not be detected, he might be a quite valuable addition to the team once Danzo's brainwashing has lost its effect.

-x-

This was the weirdest task Mangetsu ever had received, he trusted Yagura, but now it seemed like the man had gone a bit insane, sure he was glad Yagura had taken a stop to finally improve the village, but it wasn't good if Yagura lost it.

But now he was here, preparing to take on his first Genin team, apart from the fact that one of them was Konoha's old Jinchuuriki, other was a rebel spy and the last one was the Mizukage himself.

He was mostly supposed to keep the act up for the Jinchuuriki and give the boy a friendly view of the village, and it wouldn't be a hard task, as the boy had no idea how a Jounin-Sensei would actually act. What he should be worried about was Yagura punishing him for messing up, the younger ninja seemed to have grown a much softer side recently. But the stress caused by failure could send Yagura over the edge, and that would only mean bad things for the village. Or even worse, the Konoha Jinchuuriki would lose control. There were all sorts of bad ideas involved here, but he knew better than challenging the Mizukage on this. Despite him being an adult, he could be just as stubborn as his appearance would suggest.