Title: Affirmation

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Katon Ryuka no Jutsu!"

Her initiation was hesitant. Her execution was slow. The delivery was sloppy. Yet, the amount of Chakra was properly channelled through her body as the fire technique successfully tore away at the tree with maximum impact. Hatake Kakashi watched in stifled bewilderment as his new pupil fell back against the grass, looking ill as she clutched her throat with both hands and gasped hoarsely for breath.

This was all very…

Strange. That was the ideal word.

His junior pupil, Sakura Haruno, was an exceptional talent. She knew all about the theory—she knew each step, each twist, and each seal—yet she couldn't execute moves like this. Her comrade, Sasuke Uchiha, had the physical qualifications and motive to execute the moves, but knew little about the proper concentration of Chakra in his body. So seeing this seemingly frail novice, Aya, operate the ninjutsu was metaphorically watching her blindly throw a dart and seeing it hit a target ten yards away.

"Expelling bursts of fire from your throat hurts, doesn't it?" Squatting down in front of her, Kakashi extended out a glass of water. Reminiscent of the majority of amateur Genin that had come under his eye, she jerked up into a sitting position. Definitely feeling the pain worse than years of bulimia, she grabbed the glass.

Usually, he was thoroughly unimpressed by the lack of spunk, skills, or both of his new students, but he let a sliver of pleasure arise from watching her.

But of course, he'd rather break an arm than tell her that.

"You need work. You would do well to measure the intensity of your attack. Look at this tree; this was definitely overkill. Still, Iruka taught you well." Refusing to inflate her ego by praising her, Kakashi turned his back.

Regaining her composure, Aya got back to her legs and smiled politely. "Yes, that is true. Although Iruka was not my mentor; I was not even trained in this village." She was about to say something further when she caught glance of the village Uchiha not ten meters from where she was training, watching her as he passed.

No way! She didn't expect to see him so quickly. Feeling her heart skip a beat with excitement, Aya picked up her belongings off the grass. "Thank you for helping me train today, sir." Bowing politely, she straightened and extended her hand to him.

She was still something of an enigma, and part of him did want to ask who trained her and where. But deciding against its level of appropriateness, Kakashi shook her hand and watched her leave as she took off across the field. A chuckle sounding from behind him caught his attention, and he turned around to see Gai standing there, looking mildly amused.

"She's an interesting girl, isn't she?" He asked with a wide grin. "Frankly, I'm surprised you agreed to take her on as your student."

"A promise is a promise. I told her if she could get a bell from me, then I would train her for the Chuunin exam." Kakashi replied. "I'm not a judge, nor am I an examiner, so it wouldn't be a conflict of interest."

"You're joking. A Genin managed to get a bell from a Jounin?" Gai asked, cocking his head to the side quizzically. "Is that even possible?"

Kakashi looked up at the sky and shook his head. "No, normally it's not. But she caught me off guard. She showed me the water shadow clone technique, Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu. So I dropped it for her on purpose. She's someone to keep an eye out for."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He didn't know who she was. But regardless of whether or not she was a familiar face, it didn't stop him from watching the skill being displayed amidst a show of amateurishly-executed moves. She was young, around fifteen like him, and he hadn't seen her around the academy among their graduates so she must have graduated late.

Uninterested in "late bloomers" who were usually lower on the talent rungs, Sasuke kept going on his way when he noticed her take off towards him.

Even without looking around her, Aya had absolutely no doubt that he was being followed by one or both of those mindless cohorts that called themselves Sasuke's teammates. She'd done her homework: ostracized Naruto Uzumaki and mousy intellectual Sakura Haruno. As far as she knew, one was a pseudo-failure and slave of unrealistic ambition, whereas the other could easily pass with perfect scores on any academic standardized test but choke when it came to the easiest of applications.

Leaning against the nearby wall and crossing his arms in his, "I'm mysterious, but at least I'm hot" way and watched her intently. She was about to actually walk right past him when she caught his glance and stopped.

"Um, hello." She said with uncertainty, as if he was being a creep for simply standing there and staring at her. Which, to be honest, was sort of how he was beginning to feel. Feeling his neck heat up underneath his blue shirt, Sasuke cleared his throat.

"I thought you… nothing. Sorry."

Aya grinned, and extended her hand out to him. "My name is Aya, I'm new in town."

Sasuke eyed her hand as if assessing its toxin levels. Perhaps she was just being friendly,

Sasuke merely looked down at her hand as if it were a vat of poison. Was she always this friendly, or did she know him somehow? The awkward silence caused Aya's smile to falter, and her hand lowered for a second before his grasped hers and shook it confidently.

"Good, I didn't think we were acquainted." Sasuke prodded gently. He looked her up and down. There was nothing very spectacular about her. She had long, dark-blue hair, and she was very pale. But her eyes were absolutely mesmerizing—so dark they were almost black. It was almost scary, but too weirdly pretty to be scary. She looked like a porcelain doll.

"Say, you must have done a Rank-B mission in the past. Are they particularly difficult?" Aya asked, perching herself on top of a metal railing that hugged the road.

Sasuke hesitated for a second. Not only did this random girl waltz up to him and start talking to him, but now she was trying to carry on a full conversation. Was she up to something, or did she really just want to get to know a stranger?

"Yes," he said finally, "The Jounin responsible for our mission is your current teacher: Kakashi. He was barely able to handle the mission, as were we."

"What? Really? Just the three of you and Kakashi?" Aya looked puzzled for a moment. "The leader from my village has allowed for me to be commissioned to a do a Rank B-mission here, with permission from the Hokage, but I'll have at least two other Chuunin and one Jounin with me."

Earlier that morning, she'd spoken with the Hokage and he had described her Rank D missions. They were pathetic on all accounts; they didn't suit a ninja at all. To her surprise—and Kakashi's—the Hokage conceded and allowed for her to do a higher rank mission. All the Jounins who caught wind of this opportunity were astounded, and the idea abhorred.

Which was understandable. This was a display of unfairness and bias at its best. No student, no matter how talented, should be given opportunities that other Genin were not given equal opportunity to earn. However, being given specific request by the Village of Sand Kazekage to have her perform this mission… it was difficult to ignore.

Sasuke's mouth dropped open, and his eyebrows knitted together in confusion and almost disgust. "What? Why would that old geezer let you do a mission made for the elites? Our team had undertaken one just by fluke, and all of us nearly died!"

He'd hardly even spoken this many words to anybody, much less somebody he just met. But he'd seen her train. And although she could pull off some moves that were impressive for an amateur, she was only an amateur compared to the people you face on a higher rank mission.

Aya's expression faltered, and her shoulders slumped. "So you don't think it's a good idea for me to do it then." She flattened out the last of her sentence, not allowing it to turn into a question. Of course she was going to do the mission regardless, but above all else she wanted to gauge his reactions.

He didn't know her, and he shouldn't care what became of her. But maybe it was because she was a girl, or maybe it was because she was so annoyingly mysterious, but he felt somewhat compelled to her. "It's not my place to discourage you, but nor is it my obligation to do the contrary. I don't know you. But…" he stepped forward towards her and leaned in close. "On my mission, I spent an entire day being tortured close to death by one boy. Not even a man, just a boy. I had thick needles embedded deep into my body. Kakashi couldn't even help us defeat him."

Aya looked thoughtful. "You may not know me… but I'm sure you are plenty acquainted with my teacher: Itachi." She drew back so she could watch how the name affected Sasuke. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she knew it she was whirled around and slammed against the wall.

"Where is he?" Sasuke shouted out furiously. Aya opened her eyes and was about to scream at him when her heart stopped in her chest.

The Sharingan. So, without Itachi's help, he had managed to attain them. Not bad.

"I don't want to hurt you, but if you don't tell me where he is I swear—"

Aya grabbed his arm, and gave him a terse stare. Then, in less than a second, she surprisingly managed to nonchalantly manoeuvre herself away from Sasuke's death grasp and slide away from the wall. It took Sasuke a second to mull this over. He'd had a pretty tight grip on her, how'd she wrestle free?

"That hurt."

What a lie. She didn't look hurt at all. Her back was all scratched and her elbows were bleeding from scraping against the rocky wall, but she didn't look like it was even a pinch to her. What was going on?

He was about to say something else, when he followed her gaze to see Naruto and Sakura loudly walking up the hill and bickering like always. "I… should go." She said quickly, backing away. "But I look forward to seeing you again."

Sasuke's body had been tense from hearing Itachi's name, but the innocent look in her eyes relaxed him somewhat. She was not the bad guy. If anything, one day she may be able to help him find that sick bastard who was.

"I apologize… for that." He said quietly. "Your name is Aya, right? I will remember the name."

She nodded, turned, and briskly walked around the corner as the footsteps of his teammates approached who were arguing something about the merits of different ramen flavors.

"Who was that girl, Sasuke?" Sakura asked, raising her perfectly plucked eyebrows.

Sasuke tensed again. What was he supposed to feel? He should feel destructively angered—this girl had only dangled hints that she may know his whereabouts and nothing else. She may have the key to his final mission as an avenger. Yet he didn't hate her. He wasn't angry at her. It was actually a little annoying that he wasn't.

"Her name… is Aya." He said bluntly. "She knew something about Itachi." There was definitely something very off about her. If she really was a new Genin, why didn't she have a team of three?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Doton Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!"

Filling out the remainder of the mission assessment form, Hatake lay down his pen and stared at the filled form. There were so many thoughts he had about Aya that he couldn't possibly begin to critique given the restricted parameters of the form.

One move. It had taken her only one move to complete her first B-rank mission.

She was only supposed to shadow the Chuunin and himself—perform introductory to intermediate moves in order to protect herself or contribute as she saw fit. But not only was she forced into the foreground of battle when reinforcements came and attacked her from the back, but she held her ground and moved swiftly and confidently as her one move was sufficient in dodging their blows and knocking them out.

Moreover, she had not been harmed whatsoever during this endeavour, and that shocked the living hell out of him. She was scared, but considering the circumstances, her initial fear was insignificant. In fact, it would've been worrisome and unhealthy of she hadn't shown fear at all.

This situation was probably more serious than even the Hokage knew about. Not only did she evenly match the Chuunin in terms of contribution and speed for this mission, but she completed it without being harmed and with one, perfectly-executed, above-intermediate level ninjutsu. No Genin should be able to be so conscious of her Chakra as to execute technqiues like that. She should be using the basics.

Clearing his throat, Kakashi stepped out of the door and his eyes focused on the slim, delicate-looking blue-haired girl sitting on top of one of the planters, swinging her legs against the side of the wooden platform. Despite not being nominated as one from whichever village she comes from, she falls in step beside all the highest scoring rookies this year, no doubt.

Still, he found it his duty to make all the authority members of the academy and the village wary of her peculiar growth and to keep a close eye on her. The week after, there was still no more suspicious activity from Aya. She was demoted back to regular D-rank missions like the rest of the Genin, only done solo rather than with a team.

Then came the day of the Chuunin exam.

"We're being assigned a fourth member?" He shouted in awe, his jaw dropping almost to the ground. "Is that even allowed? Doesn't that violate anything?"

Anko gave him an exasperated expression. "Yes, during the course of this second portion of the Chuunin exam, you will have one additional team member. Her name is Ayame, and she tells me Sasuke already knows her."

"I met her… briefly." Sasuke replied, glancing over to look at the person in question. "Did she request to be in our group?"

"The Hokage was the one who initially suggested the grouping, and it was met with overwhelming agreement from Aya so that was the final decision." Anko replied, and waved Aya over. "Be nice. She's new."

Sasuke watched as she approached, his hand fidgeting in his pocket uncomfortably. Even when he first met her she did seem vaguely familiar, with that long dark hair, that priceless smile, those eerily blank eyes. She wasn't what he'd even call pretty, but there was something that just screamed for attention.

"Okay." Sasuke replied, "I understand."

On the other hand, Sakura was visibly upset. Clearly, she'd thought she'd have some upper hand for being the only one with oestrogen in the group. She looked just as agitated and unimpressed by the newcomer as she felt. "Wait a minute! Anko said you're new, right? That means you haven't even been trained! If even one member of our team is fatally wounded, we are automatically disqualified!"

Anko looked at Sakura silently for a moment, and smiled. "Hokage's orders. I'll gather the rest of those who are taking the second exam. Please gather your first scroll and meet at the entrance of the forest."

"I'm just glad we all passed that first test." Aya said, putting a hand against her chest. "I thought I was going to stay a Genin for the rest of my life."

"Of course we all passed!" Naruto pronounced loudly. "That exam was far too easy for me, but what do you expect from your future Hokage?"

Aya giggled. "Future Hokage, huh? Best of luck to you. I don't think I could handle all that responsibility."

Naruto gave her a whole-hearted, 100 megawatt smile and threw his arm around her shoulders. "I like you! Welcome to Team Awesome!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Gaara's jaw tightened, the corner of his mouth twitching spasmodically. He had just spotted Sasuke Uchiha, and it was all within his intention to fight him at least once during this exam. There was just something about the way he looked at people that was incredibly irritating. As his siblings went ahead, he jumped down from the treetops and was immediately detected first by Naruto, who'd unsurprisingly hadn't been paying attention to something Sasuke was telling the group.

"Hey! It's that no-brow guy from the desert!" He yelled loudly, shattering the tense silence around the forest.

"An enemy?" Aya got to her feet excitedly, before catching a glimpse of him. Shutting her mouth, she shrunk back against a nearby tree.

"I'm not interested in either of you," Gaara snapped coldly, flicking his eyes in Naruto's direction when his eyes laid on Aya. It was meant to be a brief glance, but he did a quick double-take. Something about her seemed oddly… familiar. Rather, something about her seemed rather off in general.

Studying her, he realized that despite how powerless she looked, a nagging feeling inside him told him otherwise. "Actually, I am interested in you." He narrowed his eyes into little slits. "Girl, identify yourself."

"My name is Aya." She replied coolly. "I've heard of you… Gaara of the Desert. Large gourd on his back, 'Love' on his forehead."

"Very perceptive. But I do not know you." Gaara spat back bitterly, when the name echoed through his mind. "—Aya. You're the one who defeated the renegade ninja in the mountains with that Chuunin squad."

"True." Aya responded.

Sasuke watched Aya intently. From what he remembered, she was also from the Village of Sand, if the Kazekage had sent her to this village. How could it be that two ninja who were clearly very well-trained did not know of each other?

"You're quite well-informed." Gaara complimented, and introduced a seal to her. "But knowledge won't save you. Let's start."

Well, she'd certainly heard of Gaara before. She'd watched him train once while she was still under Itachi's watchful eye. Nevertheless, she hadn't intended on fighting him, but if he was calling her out how could she say no?

Stepping forward, Sakura grabbed hold of Aya's wrist. She didn't like the girl, but she definitely did not desire for her to be sliced and diced—especially if that meant immediate expulsion from the exam. "You'd better not go," she said quietly, her eyes focused on Gaara lest he make any sudden movements. "He's the best student prodigy from the Village of Sand."

"He asked for me. If I don't do it, who will? You?" Gently removing Sakura's hand from her own, Aya gave her a consoling smile. "Don't worry about me. I can handle this."

She turned and approached Gaara, standing three or four meters away. She was watching him, clearly allowing for him to make the first move. Of course, it was roughly at this point where Sasuke began to question her sanity.

Considering Gaara's physique, it didn't look like speed was his forte. That meant he depended on his power, and long range attacks. If this was the case, any logical person should have ambushed him with taijutsu. That would've been the reasonable move for someone who wanted to stay alive.

Within seconds, thousands of—what was it, sand particles?—floated through his gourd and rose in the air, before flying toward Aya at a frightening speed. Grabbing a fistful of sand from the ground for no reason in particular, Sasuke thrust it in Aya's direction as if it would knock her to her senses. "Damn it, Aya, live!"

This was it. They'd fail if one of their team mates were fatally wounded.

Without a moment's hesitation, the sand obliged Gaara's will and pierced straight through Aya's body with surprising ease. Despite her resolution not to, Sakura let out a loud scream and covered her eyes with her hands. Peeking through her fingers, her heart feeling like it could be detected through her shirt, Sakura's eyebrows furrowed at the seemingly familiarity of it all.

This was…

"Kakashi's Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" She shouted out, just in time for Aya's figure to disappear in a wave of water. She'd recognized this against Kakashi's fight with Zabusa on their Rank-B mission. How'd she manage to learn that, much less pull it off?

Gaara allowed a small smirk and rotatedto let her know that she was busted. She was quick, he'd give her that. But as expected, her speed was no match for that of his sand barrier. It deflected every physical move she threw at him, and after another series of seals, a fistful of sand caught hold of her foot.

"No!" For the first time since the start of the battle, Aya's terror was clearly reflected in her eyes and all over her face. Her body was visibly trembling, the poor thing. In that one time she'd watch this boy train, she'd seen exactly the move that he was bound to perform on her next. This was quite… satisfying for Gaara. She showed fear that she did not show even during her higher rank mission.

"Abaku—"

"Mokudon Hikutsu Judai Koudan!"

Her surprisingly confident shout broke his concentration and like an expert, she blocked the rest of the sand from latching onto her body by methodical tosses of ninja stars before grabbing your everyday kunai and slicing the tie between her and the sand. Normally her strategy would have failed, but he was a) in a mild state of shock, b) the sand that had grabbed her was not of his own but of the land nearby therefore had no will of its own, and c) his focus had been broken, or else he would have executed his sand technique and blown up her foot into liquid flesh milliseconds ago.

Relieved the sand wasn't immediately giving her any more hell, Aya scrambled away until she was a fair distance again. Scowling, refusing to believe that she was going to emerge from a battle with him unharmed, Gaara commanded the rest of the sand to flow from his guard and he readied the same attack once more. He would not fail again.

"Gaara, what are you doing?" Of all things, that stupid boy should know better than to pull such a stunt and reveal his movies in a place like this. Jumping down from the trees, his sister grabbed hold of his hand which broke it from a seal formation. "Stop it. This is an order."

"They're not going to just let us go." Gaara snapped coldly. "I might as well just kill them."

Touching as this lovely sibling connection was in a way that's not really, Aya fell backwards, trying her best to catch her breath or at least steady her nerves. Quickly running up to her, Naruto dragged her back onto her feet. She was quivering like a wounded puppy—yet all the while she had sustained such good techniques in self-defence. She was horrified, yet…

His first battle had been absolutely terrifying. He hadn't even been able to move.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked, stepping beside them. Aya nodded, taking a slow swallow, before releasing her clutch on Naruto's shirt. Raising his hands in a seal of his own, Sasuke turned back to the opposing members. "I'll finish them off."

"Stop, this fight is over. We'll give you our scroll. That's what you want, isn't it?" Taking the coveted item from her pocket, she flung it generously in their direction. "We'll see you at the tower."

Correctly reading the look of relief that had crossed on Aya's face by the offer, Sasuke picked up the scroll and handed it to her. "Carry it. You've earned it. Besides, it'd be trouble if I was caught and we lost both scrolls."

"Wait just a second!" Sakura yelled out, almost angrily. "Am I the only one who noticed how the impossibility factor of that fight? How could you have done the Water Clone technique when you've just graduated? This is ludicrous!"

"Contrary to your belief, impossibilities are mere opinions. I'd think by witnessing this sight you'd understand that." Sasuke replied without even a trace of warmth. Aya couldn't help but feel her neck heat up. Them basing their philosophies off of her was almost like cheating. She was no amateur at all, but they didn't know that.

"There's just always an exception to the rule." Aya said, shrugging. Putting a hand on her shoulder and massaging it gently, Sasuke used the other to gesture for them to all move forward. "You handled your first fight great." He complimented in a brotherly fashion. "I was impressed."

Just then, a piercing scream echoed through the forest and nothing less than a gigantic mutant reptile burst through the ground and nearly flattened them right then and there.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Anko felt her heart pound harder and faster than she'd ever felt as she raced through the Forest of Death. She leapt from tree to tree, and searched any open areas. She had to find Orochimaru; she wouldn't allow that scheming bastard to target yet another innocent group.

A loud rumbling caught her attention, and she immediately slid from the treetops onto the ground. Peering through the bushes, her breath caught in her throat as she saw a boy on top of a large snake. Orochimaru's snake. The boy must have been his disguise from the group he had killed. If he was fighting a group of four, that meant it had to be group seven.

She began to descend upon the battlefield, taking out her shuriken when she hesitated. Sasuke had been knocked down, which meant trouble considering his potential and that this was Orochimaru. Sakura was, unsurprisingly, at his side, while Naruto was pinned against the side of a tree. But the new Genin was standing there looking like she was about to wet her pants—but without a scratch on her body. Perhaps she just came up to bat. Perhaps she was fighting him all along. Who knew? One way or another, this wouldn't take long.

It couldn't do all that more damage for her to be the hero arriving late. Even if it was Orochimaru who was her opponent, Anko couldn't help but be sceptical about Aya's powers and of what the Hokage saw in her. She thought the same as the rest: this girl was inexperienced, and girls of her ninja status should be working on D missions. They were a rite of passage. Yet, the Hokage had granted her as an exception and allowed her to perform a mission where the potency of one move served sufficient in completing it.

Yes. She'd wait.

"…Cute." Orochimaru peeled away his mask and licked one sharp tongue over his lips. He could smell his opponent's fear. He could see her trembling. Yet there was a silent confidence emitting from her small frame so reminiscent of someone powerful. It was all very, very exciting.

"You're… you're not a sex predator, are you?"

So, she was either very confident or just incredibly stupid. Anko began recounting how many throwing knives she had left. It wouldn't take long before she'd have to come to the scene with guns blazing, so she needed a strategy to keep all five of them alive.

"Who are you, girl? How rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Orochimaru."

"I'm… Aya…" Aya said quietly. Get a hold of yourself! She mentally counselled herself harshly. Itachi trained you to be fearless, or don't you remember? "You wouldn't know me. I just became a Genin."

She "just" became a Genin. The implications of that meant she was what they called a "late-bloomer," or a late graduate. No Genin, especially not one of the late bloomers, should possess this type of Chakra. It felt strong… it felt delicious. Only people with her level of Chakra should have at least four or five years of in-battle experience. Three, if you're lucky. Two, if you wre him.

His nature to flatter his victims were usually reserved for his marked victims, such as Anko or Sasuke, but even as an omnipotent criminal he couldn't help but feel intrigued by this power force.

"The boy had much potential… as to be expected, as the brother of Uchiha Itachi. But you, dear girl, you will be a pet project of mine." Raising his arms, he smiled coyly to himself. "Juin Jutsu!" An ominous song began playing in the background that nearly made her vomit from its drama, and his head lifted and extended an abnormal length, springing towards her in an attempt to bite her neck. After having seen the move perfectly while being performed on Sasuke, the move was easily predictable.

To Orochimaru's—and Anko's—surprise, she jolted to the side at the last second without a second's hesitation or novice's fear and lifted her knife up, effectively slashing his neck with annoying precision.

Not bad.

Had he been just a normal person, she wouldn't sliced right through his jugular. But this was his highest quality Shadow Clone—it would take far more than a cut to subdue it. Grinning, feeling terribly anxious to test her abilities further after witnessing her quick reflexes, Orochimaru resummoned his snake and charged it at her. Squeaking like a little girl at the sight of the reptile, at least twice the size of what she'd seen before, Aya immediately went into a habitual seal.

"Doton Shinjuu Zanshuu no Jutsu!"

This is it! Feeling the surge of adrenaline burst throughout her body, Aya felt a burst of power once more. My Chakra points are connecting! With surprising ease and underestimated power, she plunged deep into the Earth, successfully taking the gargantuan snake with her. Orochimaru quickly transported up onto the thick branch one of the trees and looked down at the gaping hole in shock, his heart pounding at the overlooked Chakra capacity of such a young, petite being.

Before he could expect any more, Aya quickly sprang up and practically jumped Orochimaru with her last attack. It was unlike anything any of them had ever seen before—a dark purple, almost black sphere of energy pulsed hungrily within the palm of her heart, with small blue swirls of recognizable Chakra surrounding it. She yelled out with extra conviction as she plunged her fist into Orochimaru's torso.

"Hotaru no Jutsu!"

What was this technique? Surely someone of her standards couldn't have possibly had the skill to create her own jutsu at this stage, given her age alone. Which meant someone must have taught it to her, but who could have?

The puppet disappeared immediately from the attack, and she seemed surprised to see the small wooden instrument that had been the puppet lying there in its place. Her development with the connection to her Chakra point was weak, thus her technique wasn't nearly as strong as it should have been. One way or another, he was gone.

From his spot a fair distance back, Orochimaru stood. What was that technique?

Disappearing in a wave of dead leaves, he disappeared and Aya fell back, stopping herself from passing out. Immediately, she caught sight of Anko and leaned forward on her knees. "Anko-sensei!"

Anko stared into the distance, but couldn't sense Orochimaru's presence anywhere. It wouldn't hurt to stay and describe her situation to the peculiar girl. Leaping delicately to the ground, Anko looked Aya up and down. The girl was… no longer visibly scared, but she was tired. Her major concern was the fact, however, that she was not at all harmed. A bit muddy from her own technique, but…

Looking at Sasuke, she quickly confirmed that he had the cursed seal on him, and that he'd have to be brought in to the Hokage immediately.

"Aya," Anko mumbled, looking to Aya's clear eyes. Once again, the fear was gone, but she couldn't stand as she was too exhausted. "That man you fought. His name is Orochimaru. He is an S-rank criminal, and is wanted for everything under the sun." She paused for a moment. "We've been trying to catch—or kill—him for decades, but we've had trouble just holding him off." Her eyes narrowed into suspicious slits, and she turned away. "How a Genin, like you, could hold him off for so long without sustaining damage escapes me."

Deciding to let the uncomfortable subject slip, Anko quickly rushed over to Sakura, who was still shaking Sasuke as if there were no tomorrow. Already, the seal was beginning to spread, and the purple wave of power came rushing through his body.

"I need to bring him to the Fourth." Anko mumbled, picking him up. "He'll be in trouble if we don't. You—Sakura. Bring Naruto over here, and follow me. You may get the scrolls some other time. Since you faced that monster, just to get both scrolls would be enough reason to have you pass. You won't be penalized for their hospitalization."

"We already have both scrolls."

It actually hadn't even been three hours since the start of the exam, but Anko just shrugged, feigning indifference. "You two head to the tower, and I'll bring these two back to the Hokage. They'll meet up with you on the fifth day at the tower. In the meantime, take Sasuke's scroll, and guard it."

The two of them watched Anko slung one boy over each shoulder like rag dolls and take off across the forest like a jackrabbit. It didn't take a genius for them to figure out she must have been watching the fight if she could move that quickly.

Turning, Aya looked at Sakura sheepishly. "You don't like me very much, do you?"

Looking surprised, Sakura raised an eyebrow. "No, I never said that." And true it was. She had absolutely no reason to feel upset with Aya, only her uselessness was far more apparent with her around.

As the two of them began their lovely walk of terse awkwardness towards the castle, Aya felt the compulsive need to shatter the silence. "I sure hope Sasuke's going to be okay. You like him, huh?"

Her head jerking up in surprise, Sakura gave her a shocked look. "What? –Oh, and you're going the wrong way."

"Well, the way I see it, I have no choice but to come to that conclusion. Sure, you saved Naruto, but you stayed glued onto Sasuke when he fell, which was far from a fatal fall in comparison."

Sakura's cheeks burned with embarrassment, and she was gratified that Aya looked ahead and not at her. "I won't deny it. Ino and I have been fighting tooth and nail to get into his good graces for as long as I can remember."

"Ino? The blonde that Shikamaru's always talking about?" Aya asked. "I know her. She's very pretty. That boy sure knows his girls."

After engaging in more nominal chitchat a while further, Sakura couldn't help but a) point out that Aya was consistently going straight when the tower was clearly another direction, and b) ask: "Do you like Sasuke?"

A surprising volume of laughter greeted her question.

"Me?" Aya giggled. "Sasuke? Trust me, I'm far from a groupie."

"But you two seem to get along well. And forgive my asking, but…" Sakura hesitated. "How do you know Itachi?"

Stopping, Aya turned and stared Sakura directly in the eyes. The look was so piercing that Sakura felt the need to look away—yet didn't. She genuinely wanted to know.

"He's my brother. You're the only one in Konoha who knows."