"Crisis! The Hidden Leaf 11 Gather!"
Naruto and Sakura are walking through an area of the Leaf Village that is still rebuilding after the Chunin exams. The work has exploded and there simply isn't enough skilled workers available to meet the demand so they've hired a bunch of outsiders. Naruto runs into someone he knows, old man Genno, a carpenter from the Land of Sand. He's a frequent customer of the ramen stand. The old man invites him to some later and Sakura only sighs. Later comes and the three are eating there. Naruto finishes his in record time and the old man gives him the rest of his. Sakura is giving him shit but Teuchi and his daughter say the old man is like Naruto's grandfather and it's always like this. Naruto thinks Sakura should loosen up and that she hangs out with too many crabby people. Granny Tsunade, Shino, Ino, Kiba, Kakashi-Sensei, they're all crabs. They wouldn't be so crabby towards you if you weren't such a jerk. Meanwhile the camera pulls out to reveal a shadowy figure watching from a nearby tree and the old man thinks it is almost time for him to go...
That night while Naruto is sleeping peacfully an unnatural miasma rolls over the village. Naruto falls out of bed and notices the disturbance before going back to bed. The shadowy figure watching the old man is awakened by an ANBU squad before he ninjas off with them. Shizune is waking up Tsunade with some bad news, the man the ANBU Black Ops has been following has eluded them. How did he get away and what do they know about him? No matches in the most recent Bingo book but she looked in an older edition and found something. Could it possibly be Genno the Trapper? He's old even by Tsunade's standards but why would he be in the Leaf? Genno is complaining to himself about being old and he is surrounded by the ANBU. They ask him to return what he took from the forman's house. He claims not to have it on him. He also makes a bolder claim, that he has lived this long to see the Leaf Village come to its end but he is preapred to end it now.
Holy Paper Bomb Suicide Vest Batman! The ANBU flee like the cowards they are...wait no, he does explode. Arc over. Morning dawns, a hawk cries and Guy-Sensei wakes up in a start. Asuma too and so do a ton of Chunin and Jonin, running along the roofs, the Hokage signal was lit. Tsunade meets them all in that war council room with the crystal ball that shows up in the first episode. Guy is the first to speak, you think someone is planning to attack the Leaf? That's all Shizune has, why else would they steal the plans to the new construction. Tsunade says that even with the blueprints it should take time for them to plan but they can't gamble on that. The enemy could strike at any time. She authorizes an emergency S-Level security alert. She's sending most of the skilled ninja out to secure the borders with orders to attack anyone hostile.
Good guy Naruto finally wakes up and Sakura is standing right outside his window. Shikamaru gets an assignment from the Hokage, it sounds like a drag but she is counting on him, that's why he isn't on the borders. Shikamaru needs more men though to complete his task. Shizune is fresh out of men and Tsunade says she gave them the best she had. Naruto and Sakura are walking towards the office and Naruto mentions the fog. But it was clear as a bell when she went to bed. Naruto thought the same thing and maybe it was a dream. They don't meet a soul on their way through the building, probably because of the special security alert.
This is news to Naruto. Sakura says he should just notice these sort of things, but he asks why nobody told him and Sakura thinks this is why Lady Tsunade wants to see them. Shikamaru is still there and Naruto tells him he's relieved he wasn't the only one left out of the loop. Shikamaru has no idea what Naruto is going on about. Also that wasn't fog last night, nor was it a dream. It was a smokescreen. He'll explain it all when everyone gets here. Tsunade tells them they were taken off the S Level security detail to join Shikamaru's secret mission. Yep, they'll be working together and Shikamaru tells them the first step is to gather more people.
They meet next at the war memorial. Lee is doing thumb pushups, flanked by Neji and Hinata leaning up against trees. Shino and Ino are standing there looking cool while Twenty is sharpening kunai and Naruto is pacing in front of her. Who cares what Kiba is doing and Sakura is standing next to him. She tells Naruto to quit pacing around. Naruto says it is past the scheduled time to meet. Shino corrects him saying there is still 20 seconds left. Shikamaru and Neji look up and Neji says that he made it. It's Choji, you waiting for anyone else? Ino gives him shit about always being the last to arrive and Shikamaru begins the briefing. The village is under an S-Level security emergency alert, 9-11 changed everything. You're probably wondering why. Kiba saw the smokescreen. Naruto is incredulous that they knew. Neji figured it out, so did Shino with his insects. Choji didn't and Ino gives him shit for admitting it.
Sakura is worried that she is dumber than Naruto, a valid concern. Twenty asks Lee if he has any clue what caused it. He knows it has something to do with ANBU Black Ops so he did not get involved. Shikamaru says that is correct, the ANBU were at the scene. Just as Hinata thought. He lays out the background details you already know if you were paying attention. The ANBU had a man under surveillance for the past two weeks. He broke into the forman's house and stole the plans for the important village structures and stole them. Naruto doesn't get what all the fuss is over. Ino gives him shit, Hinata sighs and Neji explains it as if he wasn't a professional spy/assassin type. With the plans you could execute an attack on the weakest points of the village's defenses. For example if they had the plan's to Tsunade's mansion it would be very easy to devise a successful assassination plan. The suspect made the smokescreen but the Black Ops cornered him in the eastern forest before he exploded himself. The ANBU confirmed he didn't have the blueprints when he blew himself up. They need to hope the plans aren't in the hands of their enemies or the Hidden Leaf Village could be history! Gasp! That's why the alert. Kiba asks what the mission is. Recovering the plans. Neji says it's like a needle in a haystack, Twenty says they should start by retracing his steps. There's the rub, this man was an infamous trap master and chances are they will run into them. Shino thinks that is highly likely and Ino says they accept that risk and want to know what their orders are. Naruto wants him to get the show on the road.
Shino gives them some background information while passing out photos in the coolest possible manner. He posed as a carpenter. No, it couldn't be the guy with the same name as Naruto's friend Genno! Naruto can't believe it, a sweet old man that wouldn't hurt a fly. He loved Ichiraku ramen so he wouldn't destroy the leaf. Shikamaru lays down the hard truth, it was just an act. Choji backs him up, even bad guys like ramen, in fact they love it. Shikamaru wants Choji to use his ways to explain to Naruto but Choji does say he's never seen a bad guy eat at Ichiraku* before. Shikamaru is not pleased by this turn in the conversation. Next they meet with the foreman who gives them a list of all the blueprints that were stolen and how he is ashamed and can never face the 5th Hokage again. Shikamaru asks how many of those projects Genno was apart of. Due to the secure nature of those buildings they only used Leaf contractors on those assignments, 50 state boondoogles, no outsiders allowed. Outside contractors worked on residential projects only. Shino asks if he could have slipped into any of those sites and laid traps but the foreman says they had excellent security. Neji stands up and says they should check them just in case so Shikamaru hands over the list. He gives one of the books to Hinata and Lee and Twenty also volunteer. Shikamaru mentions that there is a case the enemy doesn't have the plans yet so he could have hidden them. Kiba and Shino volunteer for this and tells Akamaru that they are going on a treasure hunt. Shino sends his bugs across the entire village. Shikamaru assigns Ino and Sakura to the morgue. Look over the body for any clues. Ino gives lip but Sakura is glad for this assignment. Ino asks Sakura if she can handle it and Sakura thinks she can finally put her training to good use. Ino doesn't know if she can handle it.
That leaves Shikamaru, Naruto, Choji, the dream team. He asks the forman for the full run down on Genno. He first came three months ago with a letter of recommendation from a famous Sand carpenter. They needed as many skilled hands as possible. He was adequate but not quite skilled enough for a permanent job, he took his work seriously, showed up on time and always did what he told. He discovered the letter was a fake eventually and gives it to Shikamaru. Detective Naruto asks how he knew it was fake, he had a previous recommendation from that master and the handwriting was different. Shikamaru asks for the original letter. That's odd...it's gone, he apologizes. The foreman didn't care because the work was adequate but it was a mistake to not inform the Hokage sooner but he never thought the man was a ninja and still can't believe himself that the old man was behind it. This puts Naruto in a gloomy mood. No traps in here says ceiling Ninja Shikamaru. It's the old man's tiny apartment. The landlady says he was the perfect tenant. Rent on time, no loud noises, would come back drunk a few late nights but never caused trouble. Shikamaru doesn't find anything but he didn't expect the guy to leave any obvious clues lying around here. Choji found something though, a lovely stockpile of instant noodles, all sorts of Udon. Shikamaru chides him but Choji brings up a point, usually single people have more food than this on hand, not just instant noodles. Shikamaru just thinks he didn't like to cook. Choji brings up that if he cooked at home he could spend less and cook more. The three go onto the work site to interview some carpenters as a man in an ANBU masks watches them. The old man didn't talk much, they say. Except one time he talked about this great kid he met at lunch. Choji thinks the kid might have some clue to the plans. Shikamaru isn't too sure that the kid knows anything. Naruto thinks they should talk to him before Shikamaru calls him a dummy, the kid is you. Naruto has a face fault. The ANBU have a few questions for Naruto Uzumaki as the episode ends.
NEXT EPISODE: "The ANBU Gives Up? Naruto's Recollection"
*See episode 168, true believers, though he didn't personally see the evil ninja chef eat there.
