The preliminaries had seemed so far away, but now they just look like reality. Hanako stood in line with the other Jounin tutors of the Genin who made it through the second test. Kakashi stood beside her, with his hands inside his pockets. He had tried a few times to start a conversation with the brunette but every time she would ignore him.

When he had come that morning to her apartment to let her know about the preliminaries, she was a mess. She had arranged her hair into a bun, without combing it, letting some stray hairs fall around her face. There were dark bags under her eyes, dry tears down her cheeks. She had taken off her ninja clothes, and put on a simple t-shirt and baggy pants.

She was staring off the window when Kakashi opened the door. She didn't bother to look at him, and even now in front of so many people, she still refused to look at him.

"Hanako, are you okay?" he had asked, but she ignored him. Kakashi bit his lip, entered the apartment and locked the door behind him. Hanako heard the lock, but didn't do anything about it. The Jounin stood in front of the brunette. Hanako didn't make eye contact. It was as if she had zoned out, like the trances she would often get into when Amane controlled her body; but her hair was chocolate and her eyes were pit black. It was Hanako. "Hey," Kakashi placed a hand on her cheek and retreated it immediately. She was freezing cold. The Uchiha didn't even react to the touch. "Hanako," Kakashi's voice was downed in concern as he crouched in front of her. His face was in front of her but her eyes were still lost. "Tell me what's wrong," he ushered. But Hanako didn't respond. She barely blinked.

Giving up, Kakashi sighed and stood up. "There are going to be preliminaries," he walked away from her. Hanako's eyes finally moved and skimmed towards his location, but the Jounin didn't notice. She was seeing his back as he picked up her clothes, which were scattered around the room. "We have to be there to watch the matches."

Preliminaries, there was a sour taste in her mouth. Hanako clenched her fists, remembering Shun's death on her behalf. His blood tainting her hands.

She didn't say anything.

Kakashi approached her and placed her ninja stuff beside her. "Can you change or do I have to change you?" he asked tiredly. Hanako's eyes were fixed on the floor, she remained silent. Kakashi reached to take her shirt off but in a moment she had picked up her clothes and rushed towards the bathroom. She locked herself in. Hanako had hoped he would leave her alone, that he wouldn't care what was going on with her. But she was wrong again. Kakashi was concerned. He cared about her, and that just made it all more difficult.

Behind the door, Hanako could feel tears threatening her eyes again. She fell to her knees and sobbed quietly. From the other side, Kakashi listened to her as he leaned on the door.

He walked away, Hanako needed her space, and he would give it to her. He didn't mind being late anyway. He lay on the bed and closed his eyes. Whatever was wrong with Hanako, whatever was she hiding from everyone that had her in this condition: Did Itachi know, or was he the reason of her behavior?

Inside the room, Hanako couldn't stop sobbing. She tried her best to prevent Kakashi from hearing her. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, the girl stood up, and walked towards the mirror and looked at her reflection. Hanako flinched at the black bags under her eyes and at the exhausted look on her irises.

Hanako sighed and sought among her things for the small eye drop container Orochimaru had given her. She pressed her lips into a thin line as her grasp around the plastic tightened. Hanako looked at herself through the mirror. She needed those drops, they were the only thing that kept her from suddenly screaming out in pain from the constant burning in her eyes.

She carefully placed a few drops on her eyes, two-three on each and blinked a couple of times. A lost drop fell from her left eye and Hanako observed it rolling down her cheek and into her chin. The drop stayed there, leaving a trail behind that soon dried off. The dry drop camouflaged with the rest of her dry tears.

The Uchiha frowned and splashed water into her face, washing all the dirt off.

After a few minutes, Hanako came out of the bathroom. Kakashi looked at her and his heart clenched. She had her ninja clothes on and she had washed her face, making herself look fresh. But her hair was still a mess. He kind of liked it like that, though. It made her look casual, but he missed her cheesy smile. Hanako's frame now was gloomy.

She picked up her hairbrush and started to comb it slowly. Kakashi stood from the bed and approached her. He took the brush from her --the Uchiha let him-- and he started to comb her hair. He would so often place small kisses on her scalp, expecting her to smile. But she didn't, instead, her eyes became teary.

When he was done, he placed the brush back down. While pulling his hand back, he caressed her forearm slowly as he moved upwards until he reached her shoulder, and stayed there. He ran his fingers through her soft hair, pulling it back, and kissed her neck through his mask. "Tell me what's wrong..." he muttered against her soft skin. Hanako ignored him.

The Genin were all lined up in their teams. Naruto was at the head of Team 7, followed by Sasuke and at last was Sakura. Hanako's eyes met the blond's and he grinned at her happily. There was a ghost of a smile in the Uchiha's lips. Naruto realized there was something wrong with her and his smile was substituted with a frown. She looked away.

"Now that we have everyone here," Hayate spoke with a low voice before he coughed. He cleared his throat and continued, "There are too much of you to continue for the third test, so we will be forced to have preliminaries."

The Genin were against it. "Why? You already made half of us drop out! You need to cut even more?"

"Let us just continue on, what's the problem?!" someone else yelled.

"The problem is," Gekko waited for everyone to quiet themselves before he said, "there are too many of you, I said so. The third test would take too long and we have important guests. We can show them only the best, not bore them with easy fights."

"So, we're fighting each other?!" the same Genin questioned.

"If you're worthy enough, you wouldn't be so worried about losing, would you?" Hayate replied. The Genin all fell silent. "Yes, you'll be fighting each other so at least half of you will get cut. Loser drops out, winner continues onto the third test. Any questions or do I make myself clear?" Nobody said anything. "All right, I take it everyone agrees, then." He coughed again. "Sorry... So, you will fight each other. But there are 21 of you, meaning someone will get to fight twice."

"That's unfair!" exclaimed one person.

"Wait a moment," Ino suddenly spoke. "We are going to fight...right now?"

"I'm surprised by the level of stupidity of some of these Genin," beside Hanako, another Jounin commented. She looked at him and her blood ran cold. Orochimaru, in disguise. His skin was a little tanned and his eyes were gray instead of bright green. His purple marks around his eyes were gone and his hair was tied up into a high ponytail. He looked at her and smiled.

Kakashi seemed to notice Hanako's tense muscles and took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together. The Uchiha looked at the Hatake for the first time, the look he dedicated to her was assuring. Hanako could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks and looked away. Orochimaru chuckled slightly, turning back to the Genin. Hanako pressed her lips.

Hayate nodded. "That's right."

"We just finished the second test," she continued. "Most of us are still exhausted or injured, not in a condition to fight. Much less twice!"

"Do you think an enemy would care about your condition when they attack?" Gekko raised an eyebrow before coughing again.

"Well, you're not in a pretty good condition yourself, Hayate," Kakashi muttered under his breath, but Hanako heard him. She chuckled slightly, which made the Hatake smile. She seemed to be getting better.

"Well, it would be unfair for only one of you to fight twice so maybe we can do something about that," Anko suggested, looking at the Hokage. He nodded in agreement. Hanako looked sideways at Kakashi, and he looked back at her. He started rubbing circles into her palm with his thumb, which she found relaxing. "Uchiha!" Hanako jumped slightly and let go of Kakashi. He placed his hand in his pocket once again as he chuckled slightly at the girl's embarrassment. "You're the closest Shinobi we have to their age, you wouldn't mind participating in the prelims, would you? Just go easy on them, okay? Don't--"

"Anko," Kakashi interrupted her before she finished what she was about to say. That would've probably disturbed Hanako more than she needed. Don't kill them.

Hanako remembered Shun and took a deep breath. "Thanks Anko..." she muttered lowly. "I'll do my best."

Anko laughed. "I'm already sorry for the poor soul that gets to face you," she commented. The Genin started to gossip among themselves, Hanako was famous for being the first Genin to kill an opponent during preliminaries so dryly. They were worried to face her. The chosen one would probably forfeit before the fight begun, so the Uchiha was already convinced she wouldn't fight anybody at the moment.

"I'll be waiting for that fight," Orochimaru muttered. Hanako rolled her eyes.

"Would anyone like to drop out now, voluntarily?" Hayate asked. "Does anyone consider they're not in the right condition to fight? This is your last chance."

At first, no one said anything. Hayate readied to speak again when a Genin took a few steps forward. Yakushi Kabuto. "I would like to forfeit," he said.

"Down to 20," Hanako commented. "Guess I'm free," she sighed relieved.

"Too bad," Orochimaru snickered.

"All right," Hayate nodded before bursting into another coughing fit. "You may go."

Kabuto walked out of the arena and left through the door. Everybody else remained silent as they watched him go. "Yakushi Kabuto," Anko read his file. "Fourth year, seventh shot. Seems like he always forfeits before the third test..."

Hanako narrowed her eyes at the information Anko revealed, then her eyes focused on the boy leaving. He was older than she was, and not every year the exams were taken in Konoha. At least, this was his first time in the Leaf. No, Hanako frowned. She considered his round glasses and way of walking. They seemed familiar to her, but from where?

Hanako's eyes widened when a memory struck her.

"Orochimaru," Hanako said. "Who is that?"

"An old subordinate I wanted to introduce to you." The Uchiha just remained silent while she watched Orochimaru and the other figure make their way towards her. "His name is Yakushi Kabuto, he's a medical-nin, I thought he could be useful for you. Especially given that your eyes are becoming troublesome." Hanako glared at Orochimaru as he said that.

"Kabuto..." Hanako glared at Orochimaru from the tip of her eyes. Of course, he had someone inside from the beginning. She could bet everything that the information on the files Anko had about him was false, and Danzou helped in it.

"Anyone else?" Hayate asked again. No one moved as he coughed. "Let's start then," he coughed again. "Your names will appear randomly in the screen behind me. When you see your names, it's your turn to fight. The first two people stay here please, the others please go to the elevated platform. Your Jounin tutors will join you there."

Hanako noticed that Sasuke was grasping his left shoulder. His mark was hurting. She clenched her fists and glared even more at Orochimaru. "I don't see why couldn't you keep your fangs to yourself," she commented so low that only the snake man could hear her. He chuckled.

"Jealous?" he looked at her sideways.

"Of course, I secretly dream of you biting me."

"You have no idea how many times I've dreamed of biting you." He smirked.

"That's why you'll die single," she scoffed.

"First match," Hayate announced. Hanako and Orochimaru stopped their chat and focused on the proctor. Hanako looked back at the screen and her eyes widened.

AKADO YOROI

VS.

UCHIHA SASUKE

Kakashi's expression was neutral. Orochimaru was pleased, he wouldn't have to wait for what he wanted to see. Hanako bit her lips. Yoroi was in Kabuto's team, so there was a high probability he worked for Orochimaru as well.

After the match had been selected, everyone walked towards the elevated platform in the back of the arena. Hanako observed that Kakashi stopped right next to Sasuke, as if he meant to tell him something. The girl let out a sigh and shook her thoughts away. "Hanako-neechan?" She looked at Naruto, who stood right beside her leaning against the railing. "Are you okay?"

Hanako closed her eyes. No, she wasn't. But she couldn't tell him that or he would worry, he already had the Chuunin Exams to worry about. "Yeah, I am. Just... a little tired, that's all." She smiled as she opened her eyes to look at him.

Naruto wasn't at all convinced, he knew there was something wrong. "I've heard people talking," he said. "In the Forest of Death, about you." Hanako drew air and exhaled it softly. "Even Kabuto-niichan told us about you."

Hanako crunched her face as if she had eaten something sour. "Kabuto-niichan?" she asked, "since when are you acquainted to him?" She didn't remember ever introducing Kabuto to any of them, and she would never have. But then again, Kabuto had pretended to be a Genin enrolled into the Exams. At some point he would have met them, as a fellow Konoha participant, during the exam. Maybe that was the main reason for him to participate as Orochimaru's pawn, when he thought too high of himself for that.

Hanako's eyes glued to Sasuke as he stood in the middle of the arena, in front of Akado Yoroi. Kabuto participated in the exams to get close to Sasuke. Orochimaru didn't, precisely, need someone inside the Village. He already had someone, Danzou. He needed someone to become close to Sasuke, because Hanako had refused to help him.

The Uchiha looked at the small group of Sound Genin. Orochimaru was looking down at Sasuke with hungry eyes, power hungry eyes. Hanako felt the need to throw up at the look in his entire face, as if he were having some kind orgasmic excitement.

"Nee-chan, are you listening to me?" Hanako shook her head, and turned to look at Naruto. He was pulling at her shirt with a frown. "You weren't listening," he accused.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Hanako looked once more at Orochimaru. He was looking at her again, this time with a victorious smirk. One that said: 'I won and you didn't', but he didn't know how wrong he was. He hadn't won yet, and he wouldn't. Her eyes returned to the blond. He stood with his arms crossed in front of his chest and puffed cheeks. If she hadn't felt so exhausted, she would have probably laughed at his tantrum, but she only stared hardly at him. "What did you say?" The question had come much colder than she had expected.

Sakura flinched beside Naruto, and Hanako's eyes flickered towards her. She hadn't noticed she was there, and Kakashi was too. Beside Sakura, Hanako's eyes moved upwards upon seeing Kakashi's signature calmness in his posture. Kakashi knew Orochimaru was there, that Hanako and he had been exchanging glances ever since they were lined up in front of the Genin. She was already expecting him to pull her apart from the group and ask her all about it, but he didn't. And she was thankful for it.

To begin to explain about Orochimaru, she would have to tell him her story about the five years she was gone. And it was a long story, she hoped she could leave it for another time, for another book. Maybe she should write a journal. People tend to trust more on written things than oral speech. She even hoped she never get to talk about it, but that was hoping for too much.

"I was just asking how did you know Kabuto-niichan," Naruto repeated his question. "He told us a lot about you, and the only way he could've known that much... is because he knows you."

Hanako's muscles tensed notably. "Why do you suggest I personally know him?" she asked back. Her eyes were fixed in Naruto's blue ones. None of them dared to look away.

"He knew things," Naruto said, slowly, "that I didn't even know myself. Not even Sasuke knew." Hanako smirked at that.

"What could you possibly know about me, Naruto?" she wondered out loud. "We knew each other for what? An afternoon? A ceremony I attended with you out of pity?" Naruto's eyes widened, he looked at Hanako with hurt. Hanako felt her heart break at the look in his eyes. But deep inside a voice told her to say those things, even if she didn't want to. She wanted to make them hate her, all of them. So, none of them would follow her when she left. When she abandoned them, again.

"Out of pity?" Naruto repeated, completely taken aback.

"Of course," Hanako shrugged. "Who wouldn't feel pity? Seeing a kid with no parents, with no relatives, watching the other kids getting enrolled in school and you're just sitting there alone, crying. I would have felt bad if I hadn't helped you." She looked back at the arena. "I already have little brothers to take care of, why would I want another one?"

"You're lying..." Naruto was enraged, he curled his hands into fists. "YOU ARE LYING!" he snapped even louder, gaining the attention of the other people in the platform. Sasuke's fight hadn't begun yet, Hayate was staring at Naruto and Hanako. He exchanged glances with Kakashi, mutely asking if everything was alright.

"Why would I lie about it?" Hanako looked calmly at him. "Naruto, I'm not your sister, and we can both see that. You were a kid back then, but you have grown and you can understand. I did what I did because I felt bad for you, and that's it. Don't feel bad for not knowing me, you don't have a reason to." She turned her head away from him, and closed her eyes. She could feel them burning with tears, but she couldn't cry there, in front of everyone.

Hayate shook his head, and called everyone's attention. Sasuke's fight was about to begin. "But I do," Naruto continued speaking, this time with barely a murmur that only Hanako could hear. "I know you, Hanako-neechan, even though if you say I don't. I know that you didn't escort me out of pity, you did out of kindness," he looked at Hanako but Hanako was looking at the match taking place in the arena. "If you didn't care about me, you wouldn't have come to see me when you got here. I wouldn't have been in your mind, even. But I was," he smiled. "That's why I know that you care for me. That you love me, as a little brother, and you can't just take it back. You can't, because I love you, too."

Hanako's hands tightened around the railing. When had Naruto grown up that much? He made it impossible to argue with him, he wasn't malleable like Sasuke was. If she had spoken to Sasuke like that, he would've turned his back on her, he would have believed every single word. But Naruto didn't, and he would never do it. Hanako smiled softly, laying her head down. Naruto would never turn his back on her, and it made her happy but sad at the same time. Sad because he would have to hurt him, at some point, or he would never let her go. "I'm not kind," she said, her voice breaking. "I'm the opposite of kind." A single tear rolled down her cheek, but no one saw it because her face was hidden under her hair.