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Shikaku looked up, rather surprised at the sudden request. His eyes trailed over everyone in the room, a gesture denoting hesitation, but used to determine reactions to the decision. Sora appeared... Earnest, for lack of a better word, but hesitant. Most likely her choice was more personal than implied. She didn't want to have to read about what appeared to be a friend gone rogue. The Raikage was as unreadable as ever behind her veil, but as she gave so outward sign of discontent with the decision, his eyes strayed to the last member of the group. The boy appeared now to be trying to hide his face... Or would it be better put as expression? Undoubtedly he was upset about having the chance taken away from him. Would accepting it himself make the older boy an enemy? The overly telegraphed fake smile he was given forced him to suppress a shiver from going down his spine. He would have to ensure that he wasn't caught alone with this one.

Nodding, half to himself and half to Sora, Shikaku stepped forward, picking up the file with one last glance at the Raikage to confirm it was indeed acceptable procedure. With no immediate reaction given, he quickly stepped back to his previous position, turning to he could face all three members of the group at once, with a slight leaning towards the two genin.

"I don't like people standing behind me..." he offered quietly, in lieu of an apology for his position of choice going against the given methodology. Flipping the file open, he examined the photo more closely than he'd been able to earlier, committing it to memory for later use before moving on to the first page of the file, skimming it quickly to more easily summarize the information. "Uchiha Kensei." he began slowly, making sure to intone the words clearly enough to be understood by anyone in the room. "Age, twenty one. Height, six foot one. Brown hair, brown eyes. Slim yet muscular build. No truly distinguishing features." Summary of the base description given along with the photo complete, he pulled that page from the file, passing it to Sora. His way of ensuring the others wouldn't feel it necessary to bypass his implied "Personal Space" issues.

"Subject holds the rank of chuunin with no additional titles. His headband, if he still wears it, is generally kept on his forehead. Chakra color is recorded as green. Level medium, known affinity for katon and raiton techniques." That page complete as well, he passed it on to Sora, quickly moving to the next, his tone growing more professional as he read on. Hopefully that would be recognized, at least by the boy he was growing to distrust, as him trying to act the part, rather than letting his other act slip.

"His strength and speed are rated at B rank, while most of his other abilities level out at C. Appropriate, as his specialization is taijutsu. A possible but unconfirmed weakness to genjutsu is noted as well. In combat he is capable of utilizing jutsu in rapid succession. As an Uchiha, he has unlocked his Sharingan and advanced to the third stage..." Shikaku trailed off there, frowning slightly in thought. Could that be why he had gone rogue? It was rumored that the fourth stage of Sharingan could only be accessed through murder. Hadn't they said he'd committed a murder and fled?

That was the end of that page though, so keeping his thoughts to himself, Shikaku pulled the page loose, passing it along as well. "Subject is a known summoner, utilizing the bird contract. How many birds and of what types is not noted. Utilizes the taijutsu style "Ansatsuken". On what level and what techniques are known is again not noted. Ninjutsu and unaffiliated taijutsu techniques are not noted..." He didn't bother trying to hide his frown anymore at this point. They were being sent to fight and capture a man, with no knowledge of his techniques. Knowledge he was certain the village would have on record for any of their shinobi. Why? Had he somehow gotten into the records before he ran and destroyed the information? Or was something else going on?

Pulling the mostly useless ninjutsu section from the file, he passed it on yet again, leaving only missions and history. The history section was short, and considering current events, likely false in it's statements, so he moved straight to the missions, which were also a short list. Strangely so, for his rank, which left only the assumption that some had been removed. These were most likely his most recent. "Of the missions listed, subject has performed one D rank, three C ranks, two of which being what seems to be high level escort missions, and one B rank, in Sunagakure." he finished, handing the last of the file over to Sora. She would decide where to take things from there. Her, or the Raikage anyways. Falling silent once more, Shikaku didn't bother returning to his act of shame, or the foolish act he'd walked in with. The serious atmosphere of the room would cover for the seriousness he let pass over his face. This was about two men's lives, one already past. No place for jokes or fake smiles. A thought which drew his eyes to the other boy for a moment once more, before fixing on Sora.

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Shikaku listened in a surprised silence as Sora focused her description of her plan on him. And placed him in a position he could work well in at that. Had they discussed his skill set before he entered the room, making his entire act pointless? Or perhaps, was she simply placing an unknown quantity where it was least likely to be harmed? Either way it worked satisfactorily. He nodded silently as she stated that she and Laxus, as the other boy's name was finally revealed to be, would keep Kensei's attention with raiton ninjutsu. It might have seemed to some like he was given a lot of information there, by simply being told that they were raiton users, but it made perfect sense to him. The boy had mentioned in his report that he was able to manipulate metal. That implied a bloodline of some sort, most likely elemental combination. Raiton was an obvious assumption. And for her? Well, nobody else in the room had extreme static hair, and that energy had to have come from somewhere.

"I can do that." Shikaku answered, nodding again as Sora finished detailing her plan. His eyes strayed to Laxus again as the boy spoke out, and narrowed slightly. Enemy. The word clicked into place with disturbing clarity. Laxus had stared at him the entire time he was reading, without any of the false amiability on his features anymore, and then refused to look at him at ever ever since. An honestly impressive feat considering their positioning as Sora spoke. And then when he finally spoke to him again, he did so looking in almost the opposite direction, arms crossed as if he was dealing with an ant, or cockroach he'd rather step on and crush than look at.

Frowning, Shikaku filed that away in the back of his mind and attempted instead to focus his thoughts on the mission. They would be hunting a rogue chuunin, in a forest... He would need to find cover long before they made contact, or losing himself again would be nearly impossible... Well, setting traps would be easy enough with all the underbrush and trees. For now, he would keep his silence and wait for one of the others to bring up what happened next.

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Shikaku bowed to the Raikage as they were dismissed, and taking two steps backwards, turned around to walk to the door, just in time to see Laxus, who had moved that little bit faster open it and blatantly mock their team leader. A surge of anger rose deep inside of him at that. He may not have been the best in the academy, but he had read all the books. Respect for your superiors was nestled at the heart of every text on team dynamics and strategy. Even the village laws held that respect in high regard, as it was what held the village together, and kept individuals from leaving and going rogue, as so many had in the past.

Forcing the anger down though, as he was in no place to call it out, Shikaku kept to his act, cocking his head to the side as a thought came to mind. "I think I understand him now..." he said quietly, staring directly at Laxus. The others in the room would almost definitely miss the vague reference, as only he and Laxus were aware of Shikaku's reading his mission report. If the boy had acted this way in the presence of the Kazekage, it would certainly explain the actions he had written about.

Leaving Laxus with that reminder that he held information the boy, evidently from their previous meeting didn't want made public, Shikaku quickly stepped through the open door and headed to the stairs, slowing down halfway there as he remembered that Sora had mentioned discussing further details on the way. He had all of his equipment on him, so he had no need to head home before the mission, so there was no reason to run very far ahead.

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