Kakashi had kept a respectful distance from the ginger throughout the entire meeting. It was clear that Hitoshi was uncomfortable with the idea of being adopted, so the jonin kept the topic far away from anything family-related. Kakashi knew that it had to do with the ginger's previous family. The Nara's.

He knew Yamiko and Shikage only because they knew his sensei, Minato. Minato didn't like the pair very much as far as Kakashi could remember. But everyone else seemed to adore the couple. Kakashi wondered what had possibly changed.

The silver-haired jonin was now walking back to his apartment, as a light rain fell onto the brightly lit streets of Konoha. The Chunnin Exams began the next day, and he could only hope his genin were up to it.

::

"Hokage-sama." Sarutobi looked up to see Hitoshi standing in front of his desk.

"Yes?" The man answered, peering down at the boy.

"Why am I taking the Chuunin Exams by myself?" Hitoshi inquired, tilting his head in curiosity.

"The Chuunin Exams are taken in teams of three. Team Seven, unfortunately, is a team of four. Given that you are the most capable of your team members, I decided that you would be the best suited to take the exam by yourself." The Hokage explained, and Hitoshi nodded.

"That makes sense. I was pretty confused." The ginger laughed awkwardly, before waving to the Hokage. "Well, I'll go now. Thanks for explaining..."

The Sandaime laughed to himself as the ginger exited the room quite awkwardly.

::

Hitoshi was tired.

He was tired of being around people that only pitied him. The ginger knew that telling his team about his past was a bad idea, but went along with it anyways. Hitoshi saw it in their eyes, even if they didn't realize it was so visible. He had finally escaped his imprisonment, but everyone was acting like he was still locked in that cold basement.

The ginger sighed and finished getting dressed. He wrapped his new cloak around him and leapt out of the building, heading towards the building the first part of the exams were taking place in. As he walked through the halls, he noticed a crowd of people gathered around a door. Two kids were guarding one of the doors, room 201.

Lee was getting his ass kicked by one of the kids, and Hitoshi was very confused. His friend wasn't even trying to get through the doors. Hitoshi shrugged inwardly and walked over to the group.

"Why is everyone gathering here?" Hitoshi questioned. "Is there food or something?"

The other participants glanced at him in confusion. "We're here to take the Chuunin Exams." One said, and Hitoshi tilted his head.

"This is room 201, and the exams are in 301." Hitoshi said, pointing at the sign that very obviously said 201.

Everyone glanced up and their eyes widened. "What?" The same guy questioned. "How... It said 301 a moment ago."

The ginger shrugged. "Genjutsu, perhaps?"

The crowd accepted this explanation, and everyone filed off up to the real room 301. Keen eyes followed the ginger's bright hair with interest. A girl walked up to Hitoshi as they entered 301. "Hi, there!" The girl said, smiling.

Hitoshi turned to see a short girl with shoulder-length blue hair and inquisitive golden eyes smiling at him. "Are... are you talking to me?" The ginger questioned, and the girl laughed.

"Yep!" She nodded. The girl was wearing her village's hitai-ate like Sakura, and Hitoshi was tall enough to see the symbol. It was four vertical lines, with one horizontal slash through them. "My name is Kona!" The blue-haired girl grinned, sticking her hand out.

Hitoshi gave the girl a small smile. "I'm Hitoshi." He shook her hand. Another boy came over, this one with ginger hair like Hitoshi's.

"Kona, who are you talking to?" The boy asked. He was almost as tall as Hitoshi and had brown eyes.

"Oh! This is Hitoshi!" Kona smiled at her friend, before turning to Hitoshi. "Hitoshi, this is my teammate, Yahiko. We're from Amegakure."

"Amegakure? Oh, I've heard of that village!" Hitoshi smiled. "It's always sounded super interesting to me. I heard you guys have a super-strong leader, and a guardian angel too!"

Kona grinned. "Yep! They're super awesome and strong! We're really lucky!"

Hitoshi nodded, and another kid came over. This one was very familiar looking to Hitoshi, though he knew he had never met the kid. He had spiky blonde hair like Naruto and red eyes, contrasting with his tan skin. His brain came up with an answer that didn't make any sense.

"Kona, Yahiko." The kid said in a monotone. "Who is this?"

Kona grinned widely. "This is Hitoshi!"

The kid glanced at him over. "I'm Shisui." The boy said, and Hitoshi nodded.

"It's nice to meet you three." He said, giving 'Shisui' a suspicious glance. He knew that it couldn't possibly be who he thought it was...

Wait.

Things like the henge jutsu exist.

This changed Hitoshi's mind immediately. He knew who this 'Shisui' kid was, but it didn't make sense. Why would he return to the village? Especially when...

"Oi, Hitoshi." A voice called to the ginger. 'Shisui' stiffened, giving Hitoshi further evidence. Hitoshi looked behind him to see Sasuke walking over. The Uchiha glanced at the three Ame nin. "Oh, I didn't realize you were busy."

Kona waved him off. "No, no it's fine!" She gave the Uchiha a polite smile. "We needed to go talk anyways. Bye Hitoshi!" She grinned widely at the ginger before pulling her two teammates over to a corner of the room.

Sasuke gave them a suspicious glance. "Well, that was weird." He turned to Hitoshi, who was deep in thought. "Hitoshi?"

The ginger glanced up. "Sorry, I got lost in thought." The pair glanced over to where a silver-haired teen was telling Naruto about his information cards. A light went off in Hitoshi's head, and he walked over to the pair.

"Oh, and who might you be?" The silver-haired boy questioned.

"I'm Nara Hitoshi." The ginger nodded in greeting. "I couldn't help but overhear that you have info cards on the candidates this year."

The teen pushed up his glasses and smirked. "I do indeed. Is there someone specific you want info on?" He questioned, and Hitoshi nodded.

"Three Ame nin. Kona, Yahiko, and Shisui." Hitoshi said, and the silver-haired teen raised an eyebrow. He drew three cards and laid them out on the floor. Hitoshi glanced at the information and sighed. Like he had suspected, this 'Shisui' person had a very high Genjutsu rating.

"What?" The teen asked. "Not who you were looking for?"

"No, this is them," Hitoshi told him. "I just needed to check something."

"Oh? Do you know them?" The bespectacled teen inquired, and Hitoshi shrugged.

"Maybe." He answered. "Thanks."

The teen waved it off. "Eh, it's nothing."

Sasuke began asking the male about some other people, and Hitoshi gave the blonde from Ame another glance before groaning inwardly. The ginger walked back over to the three. "Hey, Shisui. You mind if I talk to you for a sec?"

The blonde looked at him, and with a glance at his other teammates, he followed Hitoshi to a secluded part of the room. "What is it?" 'Shisui' questioned.

"Are you fucking insane?!" The ginger hissed. "I honestly want to know."

"What are you talking about?" 'Shisui' questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"I don't know how I recognized you," Hitoshi began, and 'Shisui' flinched, "but I know goddamn well that you shouldn't be here!"

"I don't know you-"

"Itachi." Hitoshi hissed quietly, and the blonde sighed.

"Look, I don't want to be here either." Itachi relented after a moment. "It's really annoying that this is the village you chose to live in."

"Well, excuse me for going to the same village you lived in. I missed you, y'know? Also, what does me living here have to do with you being here?!"

The Uchiha sighed. "I'm not sure if I can tell you, but trust me, you'll find out soon. You... You won't say anything to Sasuke, will you?"

"Of course not." Hitoshi promised. "Though you should know, he's unlocked his Sharingan and he remembers the actual events of that night."

Itachi's eyes widened. "Do you mean...?"

Hitoshi nodded. "Yeah, he saw you crying."

The older sibling winced. "Dammit." The Uchiha sighed. "Okay... Just... don't say anything."

"I won't." The ginger reassured. "Though if you somehow give yourself away, don't expect me to help dig you out of that hole."

Itachi rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly. "Yeah, yeah."

The two shared a small smile before walking back to their respective groups. Naruto and Sasuke were looking at the disguised Uchiha. "I've never seen you so... relaxed." Sasuke noted. "Do you know him?" He questioned.

Hitoshi smiled fondly to himself. "We were friends a while ago." The ginger shrugged. "We haven't seen each other in a long time though. That's why it took me a while to recognize him."

The pair seemed to accept this explanation, and they resumed chatting with Sakura and that silver-haired teen.

"Alright now!" A large man shouted from the front of the classroom. "Everyone quiet down! It is time to begin the exam!"