It wasn’t until the last day of the test that Kabuto returned to the tower. Once again, he wasn’t alone, but with a team of Konoha genin. As he waved goodbye to them and turned towards one of the doors leading into the tower, his own team following suit, a certain sense of satisfaction flooded through him. It didn’t fade, only grew, as he stepped through the tower door and caught sight of the tall, black-haired man with snake like yellow eyes waiting for him.

“How was the harvest?” the man questioned.

“It was above expectations,” Kabuto replied as the door fell shut behind his teammates.

His lips twisting into a smirk that betrayed his feelings on the matter, he held a card up for the man to see.

“I’ve written down all of his data from the second test. You want this, right?”

The man simply held out his hand expectantly. Without hesitation, Kabuto handed the card over and slipped his hand back into his pocket, fingering the other addition to his deck.

“So how was it?”

Chuckling, Kabuto studied the man curiously.

“So you’re that interested, Orochimaru-sama.”

The man never looked up from the card.

“I want to know your opinion as our spy,” he replied easily.

“That’s unnecessary,” Kabuto informed him, taking the hand that wasn’t touching his other card and swiping it over the bridge of his nose, healing the scratch crossing his face. It’d been acquired shortly before arriving at the tower, when he and the three genin had run into a bit of trouble with Mist-nin. “Since everything will be decided by you.”

“Heh, I like that intelligence of yours…” Orochimaru commented, then paused when he’d lifted his eyes from the card. “What is it?”

Kabuto was silent for a moment, then shrugged, tugging the other card from his pocket and launching it in the man’s direction much like one might throw a kunai. Without hesitation, Orochimaru plucked the card from the air and glanced at the information displayed. His lips twisted up slightly, his eyes flickering back to the other male.

“I think this one would be useful,” Kabuto explained, his expression unchanging from the simple smirk he’d been wearing ever since first entering the room.

“So this is what you were doing for all that time,” Orochimaru mused, tucking the card behind the other he’d been given. “It isn’t in your personality to play with nothings.”

“You recognize the potential, don’t you?” Kabuto questioned.

“You have a nasty personality.”

“It’ll solve the problem of the bodies,” he countered.

Slowly, Orochimaru nodded, shifting away from the wall he’d been leaning against.

“It will be your responsibility.”

“Of course.”

__________________________________________

“Hey, Kazue-chan, I’m not going crazy, right?”

“Shut up!”

“But Kazue-chan,” Jun whined, peering past the genin around them. “What are those three doing here?”

“It doesn’t matter, the hokage going to speak soon, baka!”

With a frown, Jun pulled his eyes away from the three Getsugakure shinobi and forced himself to pay attention to what the third was saying. Unable to completely help herself, Kazue snuck a glance at the three genin. Catching her eyes, Raiden grinned and waved. Behind him, their female teammate hit him over the head, scolding him much like she’d done Jun. His grin never wavering, the genin returned his attention to the front of the room.

“We took their scroll,” Jun complained. “How come they’re here? Does that mean we might end up fighting them again? I don’t want to.”

Kazue simply shook her head, checking Noriaki’s reaction to the Moon-nin’s presence. To her surprise, however, her cousin was studying the front of the room with a small frown. Following his line-of-sight, she spotted Miki situated between Guy and Kakashi. Their sensei was lightly rubbing the back of her neck with one hand, muttering something that Kazue couldn’t catch. She did, however, notice that both of the male shinobi at the woman’s side glanced at her, Guy’s frown obvious. Miki must have caught this as well, because she dropped her hand and said something else, a slight smile appearing on her lips. Kakashi’s expression didn’t change, but Guy sudden grinned, clenching a fist and speaking loudly enough that even Kazue could hear him.

“Your team may not be doing bad, Miki-chan, but this is as far as both of yours get! With my team around, getting any further is impossible. Since from now on, it’s all about real ability. Well, with youth there are sweet times and there are sour times, eh, Kakashi?”

Catching his name, Kakashi glanced over at Guy, having obviously paid no attention to what the man had been saying. Kazue simply shook her head, turning her attention back to her own team.

“He’s right,” she commented quietly. “No more slacking off, Jun. From here on out, it only gets harder.”

Jun snorted, twisting around to look at her.

“Even if I was slacking off, I doubt I’ll have to work that hard,” he retorted. “I’m-”

“Yes, I know, the star of the team,” she cut in, sighing. “If you make us fail…”

“Please, like I’d fail.”

“Us, I said us, Jun.”

“True, but ‘us’ includes me.”

“No, us only contains ‘us’. Meaning, all three members, not just you.”

“If anyone will fail,” Noriaki commented quietly, startling both of them. “It would be Jun.”

“Ha!”

“Nori-kun!”

“Hokage-sama will now explain the third test. Listen carefully,” Anko called out. “Now, Hokage-sama, please.”

“Yes. I’m here to tell you about the upcoming third test… but before I explain that… there is something I’d like you to know. It concerns the true reason for this exam,” the third began, pausing to let that part sink in. “Why do we have all the alliances countries taking the exam together? ‘To promote friendship among the countries.’ ‘To raise the level of shinobi.’ I don’t want you to be confused about the true meaning… this exam is…”

“Full of annoyingly long explanations…” Jun commented under his breath, causing Noriaki to slug him in the small of his back, effectively shutting him up.

“A replacement for war among the allied countries,” the hokage finished.

“What does that mean?” Tenten questioned instantly.

“War?” Kazue echoed.

“If you go back in time, the current allies were enemies who fought each other over who would rule. In order to prevent wasteful fighting, the state that these countries chose fro battle...that is the origins of this Chuunin Selection Exam.”

“Why the hell do we have to do that crap?” Naruto demanded. “Isn’t this thing for deciding who’s a chuunin?”

Kazue bit back the sarcastic retort to his words that almost came out. Of course it was, the title of the exam was ‘Chuunin Selection’.

“It is in fact that this exam decides which shinobis have what it takes to become a chuunin. But on the other hand, this exam has another side.. where each county’s shinobi’s risk their own life to protect their land’s prestige.”

“Prestige?” Sakura asked.

Jun opened his mouth to say something, but this time Noriaki slugged him before the comment even came out. The smaller boy stumbled slightly, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

“Watching the third exam will be leaders and influential individuals from many countries who make up the clients of the shinobi. And the leaders of the countries will be there to watch each of your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, that country will receive more clients and conversely, if seen as weak, they will lose clients. This will signal to potential enemy countries that ‘our village has this much power.’ So it will send a political message to the outsiders.”

“Yeah, but why?” a loud-mouthed genin that Kazue recognized as the one who sat by Jun in the first test demanded. “Why do we have to risk our lives in battle?”

“The strength of the country is the strength of the village. The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi. And a shinobi’s true strength is only born through life-risking battle.”

All of the genin stayed silent this time around.

“This exam is a place to see each country’s strength and to show off your own strength. It only has meaning because lives are at risk and that’s why those that have come before you have fought in the Chuunin exam for this dream that is meaningful. It only has meaning because lives are at risk.”

“But then… why do you say stuff about it being for ‘friendship?’” Tenten braved to ask.

“If it’s only about gaining prestige, where does that come in?” Kazue agreed.

“Long-ass explanations,” Jun grumbled. “Can’t we just get to the life-risking battles?”

Luckily, no one but the few closest genin caught his words.

“I said it in the beginning, I don’t want you to confuse the purpose of this. By losing life and establishing balance. This is the shape of friendship in the world of the shinobi.”

Kazue frowned, rolling that idea over in her mind. That was how friendship formed in their position? Did that mean the friends they had now, the ones from before all of this, might not withstand the test of being introduced into this world they were entering? Or was he referring to the fact that not all of them would survive to old age, that missions were dangerous and lives often lost.

She shuddered at the thought. As much as Jun got on her nerves, she couldn’t imagine him dying. Nor Noriaki, but he was another matter entirely. She couldn’t picture being away from him for longer than a few days, let alone a lifetime. They’d grown up together, it was an unspoken agreement between them that they’d never be separated. It was one of the reasons they didn’t keep secrets between each other- secrets would only lead to problems in the long run.

“Before we begin the third test, I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test… this is a life-risking battle. With your dreams and your country’s prestige on the line.”

“I get it,” Naruto announced.

“Of course you do, we all get it after hearing it that many times,” Jun grumbled, obviously annoyed by being forced to listen to it all.

“I don’t care what it is… just hurry up and tell us what this life-risking battle entails,” another kid added.

Kazue glanced over, realizing the voice wasn’t one she completely recognized. The owner was a red-haired boy with a scar that read ‘love’ above one of his eyes. Unsettled, she instantly turned her attention back to the front of the room, just as the third was interrupted by the arrival of another figure. One that all three genin could recognize. Miki’s brother, Hayate.

Miki’s lips twisted up in pleasure at the sight, despite the tense mood she’d been in for several days by this point. Within a few moments Hayate, between coughs and words, had announced the preliminaries. She wasn’t surprised to see the startled expressions that covered most genin’s expressions. What did surprise her, however, was that Noriaki looked anything but surprised. A second later she reconsidered this, recalling the strange tendency Noriaki had to pick up on little details that people ignored. Most likely he’d noticed that there were a large number of people left, too many for the sort of test that the third had been discussing.

“So, anyway.. those who are not feeling well.. those who feel like quitting after these explanations… please come forward now. Since we will be starting the preliminary immediately.”

As could be expected, there was a commotion with the news. Two of the Getsugakure genin exchanged expressions, then the girl sighed, thrusting her hand into the air.

“My brother and I, we’re quitting. Our injuries from the exam are pretty bad.”

The red-headed boy looked annoyed, but nodded his agreement. Kazue studied them, surprised. She hadn’t injured him, nor Jun the girl, so they must have obtained those when fighting to recover the two scrolls that got them this far.

“It’s not like we’re the ones who have to pass this test, anyways,” she heard Raiden grumble.

Her eyes flickered to their other teammate, who didn’t look like he planned on comment on the matter. She took that moment to study him, realizing she hadn’t gotten a good look earlier when he’d confronted Noriaki. His black-hair hung barely long enough to reach his ears and was kept securely out of his face due to the forehead protector displayed directly in the center. Two, simple blades were attached to the side of his pants, his black tank-top doing nothing to hide the openly-displayed weapons. What drew the majority of her attention, however, was the strap crossing over the tank-top, with several vials secured in place, and a pouch settled on it just above his hip where the strap curled around his side.

No one said anything as Hayate nodded, glancing at the papers he held in his hand.

“Akaike Raiden and Akaike Kaede from the Moon, correct?” he questioned, glancing up at them and continuing when they nodded their agreement with the statement. “You may go.”

As the two turned away, another figure raised his hand, one that drew the attention of majority of participating genin.

“Um.. I’m quitting as well.”

“What?”

“Kabuto-san?” Kazue demanded, staring at him. “What are you…”

With a faint smile, he discreetly put a finger to his lips, causing her to fall silent.

“You’re Yakushi Kabuto from the Leaf, right?” Hayate asked, once again consulting his papers. “You may leave. Does anyone else want to retire? I forgot to tell you that from now on it will be individual battling. You may raise your hand based on your own judgement.”

As Naruto began questioning Kabuto about his decision, Kazue simply studied him, slightly confused as the boy announced that he just wasn’t up to continuing. The longer he spoke, the less sure she became. He’d seemed fine the last time she’d seen him. When he’d shaken off Naruto and was passing them on his way to the exit, she put out a hand, making him pause for a moment.

“Why?” she asked simply.

He shrugged, that simple smile still on his lips.

“Didn’t you hear what I told him?” he countered.

She nodded.

“I did.”

“And?”

“I don’t believe it.”

He rose a brow, studying her for a moment, then shrugged and side-stepped her arm.

“Perhaps we’ll run into each other again, Kazue-chan.”

As she watched him go, Noriaki simply narrowed his eyes slightly, obviously not keen on the idea of them meeting again. No matter how hard he searched his uneasy feeling about the shinobi, however, he couldn’t place exactly what there was about him that made him uneasy. Perhaps it was how interested he was in Kazue, or how effortlessly he seemed to get by, while still seeming to have struggled. It just didn’t add up.

Whatever it was, he’d rather it stayed away from them, Noriaki doubted they needed to be around when whatever was going to happen with that person, happened.

Kazue was still musing over Kabuto’s words when a commotion a short distance away caught her attention. Miki’s as well, the jounin’s eyes settled on where Sasuke’s hand was clamped down on his neck. It wasn’t the argument that interested her, but just the idea of the mark. Orochimaru really was here. She’d heard the reports, of course, and about how Anko had confronted him. None of it made the idea any easier to accept.

As she mused this, Anko took the chance to speak up about her opinion on the boy’s participation.

“We should remove him from the exam and have the ANBU watching over and protecting him,” she was arguing.

“He’s the type that wouldn’t easily agree to that,” Kakashi interrupted. “Since he’s from that Uchiha clan after all.”

“Don’t be foolish, we will forcing him to quit!” Anko argued.

“Then what?” Miki broke in, her voice quiet, but effective. Those around her paused and glanced at the small red-head. “Shall we tell everyone present why he was forced to quit after it was made clear that whether or not to continue was one’s choice? Let’s not forget that it’s Orochimaru you’re suggesting guarding him from. Do you really think a few ANBU would keep him from getting to Sasuke if he wanted to?”

“You of all people should understand why I’m saying that we should try,” Anko retorted instantly. “You who just had to have your curse mark sealed because of how close that man is! If you and I can’t handle it, how is a kid his size supposed to be able to?”

“it’s amazing that this child is still standing,” the hokage agreed, his tone just as simple as Miki’s had been. “He should be dead.”

“Hokage-sama?”  Anko sputtered, spinning to face him.

“What Orochimaru said is on my mind. Miki is right. Let’s let Sasuke continue and watch over the situation.”

“Ho-hokage-sama!” she protested once again.

“But if the curse begins opening and releasing power, then jump in and stop him.”

“Yes,” Ibiki agreed.

Miki nodded, stepping back in between Guy and Kakashi. The white-haired jounin glanced down at her, studying her quietly. Feeling his gaze, she glanced up, her expression even.

“You had never had it sealed?”

She shook her head.

“There was never a reason. It was meant to stabilize my bloodline limit, nothing else. The hokage determined that it was too risky to take that away.”

“And now?”

“I don’t know.”

Silence fell between them and for the first time, he noticed how pale she seemed in comparison to usual and that the area beneath her eyes seemed slightly darker than the usual marks betraying how little sleep the girl got. Was she having nightmares? What about the mark, was she having difficulties keeping her bloodline limit under control?

It wouldn’t be hard to imagine that all of this was stirring up memories better left forgotten.

“Um.. now… let’s begin the preliminary,” Hayate was announcing, causing Kakashi to force himself to pay attention. This preliminary will consist of one-on-one fighting. you will basically fight as if in a real life confrontation. Since we now have exactly twenty-four entrants, we will conduct twelve matches and… um.. the wintners will advance to the third test.”

He paused to cough, causing a small frown to tug onto Miki’s lips. Absently, she wondered if his girlfriend was making sure he took his medicine. Nowadays, it seemed that he was almost always with her, so she was probably the only one who could make him do it. His mother, Kaminari, was always complaining that she rarely saw the two of them anymore. As Miki pondered this, Hayate continued to explain the rules, only pausing to occasionally cough.

“This electric score-board will show the match-ups for each battle. Now, this is sudden, but let’s announce the two names of the first fight.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the score-board as the first names were revealed- Sasuke and a genin from Kabuto’s team named Akado Yoroi. As everyone else filed up into the balcony, the two genin met each other in the middle of the floor. Jun, relieved not to have to stand in a line anymore, quickly joined Tenten, Neji, and Lee, his two teammates slowly trailing up behind him.

“Hey, you guys survived,” Jun greeted.

Tenten rolled her eyes as Lee began enthusiastically retelling their adventure in the woods, his eyes still watching the events of the fight starting to take place beneath them. Noriaki leaned his arms on the railing, watching each exchange with interest. Whomever won would be in the next test, it would be a waste not to study their fighting style. Kazue, on the other hand, was only paying a bit of attention, her mind skimming over who else was left in the preliminaries, pondering who she might end up facing.

It wasn’t until the Uchiha used a move that she instantly recognized as one of Lee’s that she focused. Her hands gripped the railing as she leaned forward, watching his movements with unmet interest.

Hey, Lee…” she began, then realized that his eyes were glued on the scene like everyone elses.

Unlike her genin, Miki’s eyes focused elsewhere, on the mark making its way across his skin. Her eyes narrowed slightly, faint memories stirring of figures reacting similarly in the past. One figure in-particular came to mind, something that she instantly dismissed from her thoughts. That had nothing to do with the present.

“Should we…” she began, then cut off when the mark suddenly began to recede.

Within moments, Sasuke had finished the fight, pounding his opponent into the concrete without the curse mark making as much as a peep. When Kakashi moved to join Sasuke in on the floor, Miki instantly launched herself over the railing and joined him. He glanced at her, book in hand, and simply shook his head. She shrugged in return, obviously not planning on backing down.

“Well, good job,” he informed Sasuke, deciding not to press the matter of her for now.

Instead, when the medical team offered to treat Sasuke’s injuries, he waved them off.

“We’ll take care of him,” he announced, snapping his book shut and leaning down to place a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder. “I’m going to take you to the back and seal up that curse.”

“Wait till after the prelims,” Sasuke protested. “I want to watch the other matches.”

“Don’t be a brat,” Miki muttered, backing off when Kakashi shook his head, indicating he would handle it.

“Don’t get so mad,” he ordered. “If we don’t take care of it now, it will be too late. I won’t listen to your selfishness anymore.”

“He’s right,” Miki agreed. “You can’t afford to wait.”

Sasuke frowned, but allowed them to escort him out of the room. Once they’d found an appropriate spot, Kakashi deposited Sasuke in the center of the room and handed over several kunai to Miki.

“You know the placements, right?” he questioned.

She nodded, beginning to put them out as he began drawing the characters needed for the seal. It took quite a bit of time, but they eventually had it ready. As Kakashi prepared to begin, Sasuke’s eyes strayed to where Miki had moved to the side.

“Why are you here?”

She studied him silently, not volunteering an answer right away. Seeming to come to some decision, however, she shifted her hair over her shoulder, turning so he could see the mark at the base of her neck that was now encircled by a seal.

“You could say I’m rather invested in how this turns out,” she informed him.

With narrowed eyes, Sasuke didn’t say anything else. Kakashi began forming the needed signs, eyes flickering over the signs.

“Hang in there just a little longer,” he ordered, then finished the last sign, slamming his fist into the mark on Sasuke’s shoulder.

Miki simply watched, her entire figure tense as the seal was pulled into the boy’s body. Her hands clenched behind her back, her body easily remembering the pain that came with the procedure. When it was finished, Kakashi eyed it for a moment, then nodded to himself.

“The next time that curse tries to become active, this new seal should contain the power. But… Sasuke, this new seal… relies on the strength of your will. If you lose belief in yourself and your will weakens, the curse will become wild again.”

“Kakashi,” Miki interrupted, pulling his gaze to her. “He probably can’t hear you.”

At that same moment, Sasuke collapsed. Kakashi blinked, then his lips twisted up slightly.

“He’s totally drained. Looks like it’s time to rest,” he agreed, then glanced to her. “... that looked like it hurt.”

“It’s not horrible,” she muttered in response, the froze. “Kakashi…”

“So, you can even use the sealing jutsu, now… You’ve grown, Kakashi.”

Miki’s eyes stuck on the one who’d spoken as he slowly walked into view. Noting her attention, the man simply smiled, hands clasped behind his back. She shuddered as the faint, unwelcome thought passed through her mind that perhaps that’s where the habit had come from.

“And you, you wouldn’t be Maemi, now would you?” he questioned, his expression saying he already knew the answer. “You’ve grown wonderfully. Despite all of Yukio’s complains, perhaps leaving you here was worth it, hm?”

“You are…” Kakashi began, his visible eye wide.

“Long time no see.. Kakashi-kun, Maemi-chan.”

“...Orochimaru,” Kakashi finished.

“I don’t go by that,” Miki found herself saying.

Orochimaru paused, that smile of his growing just slightly as he focused on her for just a moment.

“You spoke, how interesting. What was it… Yukio included that in his complaints. Miki, perhaps?”

She simply studied him, her entire frame trembling. Her words may have sounded calm, but she was far from it. When it was clear she wasn’t going to answer, he took her answer as agreement and turned his attention to Kakashi again.

“I’m sorry. I’m not here to see you, Kakashi-kun. I’m here for the boy behind you.”

“Why are you after Sasuke?” Kakashi demanded as Miki instantly moved up to join him.

Orochimaru began talking, but her attention focused on the boy on the ground behind them. If Orochimaru was after him, then perhaps she’d be able to do something about that. Sasuke was unconscious, but she could always attempt to carry him. It’d be difficult for someone as small as she was, but she did have a decent amount of muscle from training, and Kakashi would no doubt protect her from any attacks as she escaped. As if reading her thoughts, Kakashi shifted his position, clasping his arm with one hand. Recognizing the stance, she quickly spun and knelt down to tug the unconscious Uchiha into her arms.

“If you get any closer to Sasuke…” Kakashi began, startling her.

Orochimaru must have moved in response to her actions. Her eyes flickered to the person in question, who was watching her with interesting.

“Even though you are one of those three shinobi,” Kakashi continued. “Right now, I can at least compete with you.”

A shiver racked down her spine as Orochimaru began chuckling. His eyes never shifted away from where she was knelt, as if challenging her to move.

“What’s so funny?” Kakashi demanded.

“What you say… what you do… It’s all off.”

“What?”

“That seal you did is meaningless. You understand, to achieve a goal, the heart will accept even the most evil power. That is the type he is, an avenger. Miki-chan understands those feelings, don’t you?”

She stiffened.

“No doubt you’d do whatever you could to kill Yukio right now,” he continued, seemingly encouraged by her reaction. “He will eventually seek me out. To seek the power.”

He chuckled again, turning his back to the scene and glancing over his shoulder.

“Were you going to kill me? Why don’t you try? It’d put a lot of minds at ease, I’m sure. Such as Miki-chan’s there, she’s trembling rather hard, isn’t she? Well, if you can, that is…”

Kakashi shuddered, the feeling of Orochimaru’s bloodlust simply freezing him place. He could only watch as the figure walked away, still chuckling to himself.

‘Compete with him?’ he wondered to himself. ‘Am I an idiot?’

“I’ll be seeing you, Miki-chan. I hope you haven’t forgotten that you aren’t here permanently.”

A/N: So, this chapter had a lot, and I do mean a lot, of just directly managa stuff, but now that that's out of the way, we can contiue with the fun! What do you guys think about how things are developing? Interestingly? :D