Nue's POV

"Why doessss the cat have to be here?" Kiyoshi hissed out of annoyance. I shrugged. "Iri said she wanted me to bring her. That she could be good luck." I said as I petted Misaki's head. She purred as Kiyoshi hissed.

"Kiyoshi, you're not jealous, are you?" I asked. "Why would I be jealoussss of that furball?" Kiyoshi said with a frown. Misaki hissed at him. "I think she heard you." I said. I continued to walk to where Anko told us to meet.

Maria said she was gonna meet me there and Iri just left. "You seem cheerful this morning." I heard someone say. I turned my head and saw Sasuke walking behind me. I ignored him and pulled on my hood. "You're not gonna say thank you?" He asked.

I stopped walking and turned around to face him. "Thank you? For what?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. "For getting you that cat." Sasuke said. "Well, aren't you generous... Wait a minute, that was you?!" I asked.

"Yeah. Surprised?"

"Yeah! But why would you get me a cat? That's way too nice of you." Misaki hopped on my head and made herself comfortable.

"I know you haven't been sleeping and I've noticed your training has been getting a little sloppy. So, I thought maybe you could use a friend to sleep with you. It's like you said; it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the team if one of us is weakened." Sasuke said as he walked beside me.

I looked at him, a little shocked. "Have you been stalking me?" I asked. "I'd like to think of it as watching over you." He said.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, but that's kind of creepy. But why would you care about me? I thought you were that type that wanted to be left alone?" I asked. "That was only because of... my brother," He mumbled.

"And I think of you as a little sister." Sasuke added. "That's sweet. But what about your brother?" I asked. "My brother... was the reason why I'm distant. I promised myself I'd get stronger so I could defeat him." Sasuke said.

"Where is your brother? Where is he now?" I asked. He frowned and looked at the ground. "Never mind. I can tell you don't wanna talk about it, so forget I asked." I said. We stayed quiet for the rest of the walk to the second part of the exam.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something." Sasuke said as we were halfway there.

"Fire away."

"Why do you wear that cloak?"

I stopped walking when he asked that question. "Hmm?" Sasuke looked at me when he noticed I stopped walking. My eyes widened as I looked at the ground. "Next question." I said, quickly as I started walking beside him again.

Sasuke raised a brow at me. "Okay. About that symbol on your cloak. What clan are you from?" he asked. "I'm from he Houjuu Clan." I answered. "What kind of special jutsu do they develop?" Sasuke asked me.

"I'm not sure. I don't know much about my clan. I don't even know where it is. But I think I might be the last of the Houjuu Clan." I said with a fake smile. "Why do you sound so happy when you say that?" Sasuke asked. I just shrugged.

"Because if I don't smile, people will start to worry about me, and I don't want them to. But enough about that. Let's just enjoy the walk in silence for now, okay?" I suggested. Sasuke stared at me for a moment before looking ahead as we stayed silent for the rest of the walk.

It didn't bother me that I was the last of my clan. But what did bother me was that how come I was the only one that survived. Why was I only one that fought? No, I can't be the only one who fought. I'm sure my people fought as well. They tried their hardest to protect everyone.

When we finally got to the second part of the exam, I saw Sakura glaring at me. I raised my hands up in surrender, getting the message, and walked away from Sakura, going over to Maria, who I think was annoying the crap out of Anko.

"Has anyone told you that you're scary when you're angry?" Maria said as she poked Anko's cheek repeatedly. I saw an anime vein appear on Anko's head. "Keep poking my cheek and you'll see how scary I can be." Anko warned.

I do not want to see how Anko is when she's angry. I walked away from them before Anko could blow up. Misaki must've known she was going to blow up too so she hid herself in my cloak. I walked past some grass ninja.

I glanced back at them with the corner of my eye. "Is that her?" I heard one of the ninjas whisper. "Yeah, that's her. She's our target." The other ninja whispered back. How was I able to hear that? I have no idea. Were they talking about me? I hope not.

Because I wasn't looking where I was going, I accidentally bumped into someone and landed on my behind. "I'm sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention." I said as I rubbed my head. I looked up to see who I bumped into, and it was another grass ninja.

He, or she, wore a straw hat and his clothing.... doesn't Orochimaru-san wear that kind of clothing? It looks familiar. "You should be more careful, child, or else you could get hurt. Now, we wouldn't want that now, now would we?" The grass ninja said.

"Uh..?" I raised a brow at him. He held out his hand so he could help me up. I hesitantly took his hand and he helped me up. "Thank you. I'm sorry for bumping into you. I hope I didn't hurt you." I apologized. "Don't worry about it. I'm quite all right." He said.

The ninja petted my head before walking over to his team. I took a couple of steps forward before going to my team. "Alright, you maggots! The second part of the exam is about to begin! Everyone line up at your gates immediately!" Anko announced.

"Maria, why don't you stay here? I'll be fine, I promise." I told her. "Hai, Nue-sama." She replied, bowing. I was spacing out as images appeared in my mind again. But this time, I saw a girl fighting. She looked to at least be four or five years old.

I could see fire everywhere, people screaming, and... blood. "Hey, Nue-chan, snap out of it." Naruto said. I blinked my eyes and looked at him. "Sorry. I must've spaced out." I said, scratching the back of my head sheepishly.

He grinned at me before giving me a thumbs up as I gave him a closed eye smile. "Go!" Anko shouted. The gates opened and we took off.

We haven't been here for ten minutes and we were already started to hear screams. "I don't like this. This is pretty scary." Sakura said. "It's called the Forest of Death. Not the Forest of Rainbows and Kittens." I said, sarcastically.

"Shut up, Nue! You'll never be as smart as Sasuke-kun!" She shouted at me. "I didn't even mention Sasuke." I said with a deadpan expression. Good grief. Stupid fangirl.

Naruto said he had to use the bathroom, so he went behind a bush. He came back with a smug look on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him. What's up with him? "That'ssss not Naruto." Kiyoshi hissed. I looked at Kiyoshi, then at Naruto.

He's right. The scratch on his cheek from Anko isn't there. I kicked the fake Naruto and began to fight him. "Nue, what's gotten into you?" The fake Naruto asked. "Where's my friend, bastard!" I demanded. The fake Naruto laughed and turned into a rain ninja.

"Nue, go find Naruto. We'll take care of him." Sasuke said. I gave him a nod and began to search for Naruto. "Hey, Nue-chan! Down here!" Naruto called. He was tied up from head to toe. I jumped down and cut him loose with my kunai knife.

"Thanks, Nue-chan." Naruto thanked. I helped him up and walked him back to Sasuke and Sakura. "We need to come up with a password." Sasuke said. "A password?" Naruto repeated, confused. "Yes. One that only the four of us will know." Sasuke continued.

Sasuke told us the password and it was basically something Iruka taught us, which was when a ninja should strike. "Got anything shorter?" Naruto asked. "Oh, come on. I remembered it easy." Sakura bragged.

"I know, I know. I just thought it was gonna be a password, not a pass-speech." Naruto said. I chuckled and pet his head. "I'm sure you'll remember the password. Naruto. I believe in you." I said, cheering him up.

Once we went over the password one more time, we stood up from where we were sitting. I felt my wings twitch under my cloak. "Something's coming." I informed everyone. I shielded myself as a huge wind picked up. I screamed as I flew back somewhere and hit something hard. I blacked out.

I struggled to open my eyes when I felt a tongue licking my cheek. I groaned in pain before shakily sitting up. Misaki meowed. So, she was the one licking my face. "It's okay. I'm fine." I said. I noticed Kiyoshi wasn't around my waist.

I looked around, trying to see if he was near me. "Kiyoshi?" I called. Looks like we got separated during the blast. I stood to my feet and dusted myself off. "Naruto?" I called, but there was no answer. "Sakura? Sasuke? Where are you guys?" I called out.

No one answered. I sighed and began to walk forward. As I was walking, a shadow loomed over me. I turned around and saw... a huge snake! It hissed at me and I frowned. "Stand down." I ordered. It stopped hissing at me and lowered its head.

I rested my hand on its head and gentle petted it. "That's strange." I muttered. "You are a fool." The snake spoke. "I think you're the fool for falling to me so easily." I replied. "I only did that becaussse of your eyesss. They're demanding." It commented.

"I think I'm going to take that as a compliment." I told it. I removed my hand from its head and it sat up a bit. "You should go hide before you get hurt." I said. I was expecting it to argue with me. But instead, he did as I said and slithered away.

"That seemed easier than I thought." I said aloud. "You think so?" I gasped and turned around to see who said that. "Hello? Who said that?" I called. "Down here." I looked down and saw the same yin yang, wolf-like creature I saw when I was in the Land of Waves.

"You're that creature I saw back in the Land of Waves." I said. "That is correct." He spoke. "Who are you?" I asked. "I am the one who knows everything about you and the Houjuu Clan." He said. I raised a brow at him.

"I also know why you can't remember the clan." He added. Now that got my attention. "Tell me everything you know. Please." I said. I sensed someone's presence behind me so I turned around. "Who are you? Come out." I commanded.

"It appears you are lost." A grass ninja stepped out from the shadows, revealing himself. "Because we are in this forest and come from different villages, that makes you my enemy." I said as I summoned my katana.

"And with that, I must defeat you. Forgive me." I said to him. "Such a polite girl with such confidence in herself." The ninja said. I closed my eyes as I aimed my blade at him. "Turn on my soul, my awareness. Help me confirm his infinity. May the first god grant me wisdom. May the land god grant me strength." I prayed.

I know Haku and Uncle Zabuza are watching me right now. I shall not fail them. For I had made them a promise. I opened my eyes and looked at my opponent. "Misaki. Go hide." I told her. She nodded her head and she ran off to go hide somewhere.

I grabbed the handle of my katana with both hands. "I will defeat you!" I said to the grass ninja.

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Things are about to go down in here. How will the fight turn out? Next chapter soon to come. Vote and Comment. Until next time. Sayonara!!!

Kureiji out~