The Twisted Reality 7

The crossroads stand in front of him, yet the choice is not the single road. Nine roads stand, but the tenth hidden is his to take: the way back.

Konohagakure no Sato – Katsu Uzuki

She slowly opened her eyes to stare at the white pearly teeth of Sakura, who was looking at her with a nice fond smile. Sakura's pink hair had been tied in braids, and her green jaded eyes looked positively happy. She didn't scream only because she was used to this, but at the same time she knew she had yet a long way to go, before even hoping to 'defeat' the girl.

Right about then Sakura decided that she wouldn't speak at all, instead merely walking towards the door and opening it, before slowly closing it behind her when she left. One last meaningful look was cast her way, one that made her shiver, and then the girl was out.

The door clicked close a second later, and she was on her feet scrambling to get washed and dressed. The last term had been hellish. She had finally managed to get out of the 'Uzumaki Horror' Mansion, head back to the orphan apartment and to be on her own…and then the morning hellos had started.

The first time Sakura had done this, she had tried to scream only for her to clamp a hand on her mouth and press a Kunai at her throat, hissing at her to be quiet or die. Slowly it had become a normal thing, but with that…with that came the fact that she wasn't at all happy with the situation.

Maybe she could get out of Konoha, and sleep for good without the psychotic pink haired girl on her tail. Maybe being the case if she could actually get promoted, have a Jounin-sensei who loved far away missions, and that of course didn't want to stay in Konoha.

Even then she had no doubt that she wasn't to become complacent: all it took was a single slip-up, a single glance at Taifuu…and she'd be punished. It wouldn't be something overt, but she knew it would be grave indeed.

"You can do it." She whispered to herself, looking at the mirror of the bathroom where her face came back deathly pale and haunted. Her eyes held rings from the lack of good sleep, and her figure was something that the Yamanaka kept on babbling about. No breasts yet, but a slim waist to make the blond haired girl envy her…and decide the two would be worthy friends.

She'd rather die than be a 'puke-friend' with the blue eyed girl, but she needed someone to talk to at least. She couldn't speak to the clan children, but Ino was obnoxious, and Sakura didn't like obnoxious. So she could speak with the 'Obnoxious bee-queen' as much as she wanted…because it was a punishment.

Sometimes her normality came to her when Fukuyo or Benika came by to say hello, or when they wrote letters. She had written back a couple of times, but in the end had to stop that too: they kept on pressing on why she was ignoring Taifuu, and by consequences the other boys, and her reply had been a curt 'Not your business'.

When she got down to the common hall, she grabbed a bowlful of rice from the common fridge and proceeded to cook it, before eating it white without anything else added to it. She had to buy her ninja equipment after all.

If she had been even a bit enterprising, she might have woken up at two in the morning and have headed over to the training grounds to look for discarded weapons. The only problem with that was that she'd have to fight with the people who were up at one o'clock in the morning, and the metal scrappers, and require written permission from the Hokage.

She had nothing of the sort, and getting one was the least of her thoughts. Still…when she was finally done with her breakfast, she headed off towards the academy with the most quiet and submissive posture ever.

"I say you should stand up!" The nasal-like voice that came from in front of her made her wince for a second, before she slowly lifted her head to meet the blond haired Kunoichi to be.

"See? It wasn't that difficult! You've got wonderful eyes, you just need to relax and loosen up." She added helpfully, before moving next to her as they kept on walking.

"Did you read the last fashion magazine I lent you? Have you seen how much that model let her loose? I swear: she turned out to be a fat slob in the latest issue…no, no need to ask, I've already read it so I'll lend it to you." If she knew half of the vocabulary of Ino, then 'fat slob' meant one gram more than one gram less.

"I've got some mascara and some lipstick you should try," Ino kept on babbling, "I'm sure they'd make your eyes stand out…and your hair, well…are you sure you want to keep it white?"

"Yes." She replied quietly, "I'll cover it with a scarf if I need to go on a mission, but I'm keeping it white." The purple dye did cost quite a bit of Ryos…like any other fashion product.

"Uhm…Then we'll definitively need a pretty scarf. Something dark but…mysterious."

How could a scarf, of all things, be dark and mysterious? It was a scarf! She bit back the intention of yelling at the girl, and soon as they entered the classroom Ino was back to speaking about fashion.

The students entered a bit at a time, all early and visibly excited. The only one who didn't was Taifuu, as she saw with the corner of her eye his pale face and complexion, albeit just slightly. Maybe he had a nightmare? She had known he hadn't come back alright from the missing-nins that had kidnapped him, but the boy had no recollection of what had happened. The official story that circulated around was that Taifuu was the sole survivor of the academy student team that had to pass a survival test, and that he had been kidnapped during it and brought into imprisonment for one year. Having freed himself, he had returned to Konoha as fast as possible.

Of course stories on how he had unlocked the Sandaime's strong spirit, on how he had been as wicked as a true shinobi, or things like that made him some sort of hero in the eyes of the population, much to the displeasure of Sasuke Uchiha, who had been the 'king' of the school till then.

The first Taijutsu practice had seen the Uchiha smashed on the ground. A single punch had been all that Taifuu had used. No forms, no maneuvers, no strange or out of the line Katas or things like that. Only a single punch and Sasuke had been on the ground holding his ribs with pain and coughing out blood.

It hadn't stopped there though. In ninjutsu, Taifuu demonstrated all basic academy jutsu to be known without as much as breaking a sweat, and his shuriken and kunai throwing was far above the average of the class. For all that she knew, in that one year of fighting off his captors Taifuu had become a ruthless shinobi, albeit the teachers had talked it off with him simply having been forced to adapt for survival.

Survival, they said, is the best motivator to become stronger.

She keenly waited for their Chuunin-sensei, Iruka Umino, to walk in and start reading off the team assignments. She just hoped she wouldn't end up with either Ino or Sakura. Actually, she would have been fine failing this term once.

"Well then class…the team assignments are as follow." Iruka Umino was the scarred chuunin-sensei that had taught class B all the way till the very last term, before being switched towards class-A because of Kushina-sensei's important business troubles. Of course the official story was that, at least for the graduation ceremony, there couldn't be favoritism shown to her daughter.

A few names and teams rolled by, until she finally caught her name being called.

"Team six, under the command of Anko Yashagoro, will be composed of Katsu Uzuki, Sai and Yakumo Kurama." She gave a little sigh of relief. There was no-one in there that she hated. Lucky her…

"Team seven, under the command of Kakashi Hatake, will be composed of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Kiba Inuzuka." It was then that she felt the temperature in the room lower itself tremendously, as she gulped in fright. She knew where this sheer pressure was coming from, and she had half an idea someone wasn't, at all, happy with this specific arrangement. The chuunin-sensei appeared to stall for a moment, his eyes looking around the classroom before settling back on the paper, the pressure dropping significantly in less than a blink.

She knew however that Sakura wasn't, at all, happy with the arrangement.

"Team eight, under the command of Yuhi Kurenai, will be composed of Hinata Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi." There was a strange cough, coming from the back seats, as a hand lifted itself up in the air.

"Yes Shikamaru-kun?"

The voice that came bore all the underlying laziness of the tone that was probably possible to show out.

"Are the specifics of why a team is built secret information?"

"I'm afraid they are." Iruka replied a bit uneasily, his eyes moving sideways.

"Then I have no questions." The boy replied quietly, and so the Chuunin-sensei kept on giving the list. She couldn't help but start asking herself the very same question: who made the teams anyway? The Hokage? Wait a moment…wasn't the Hokage's surname…Yashagoro? She paled, visibly starting to shiver. Anko Yashagoro could be the daughter of the Hokage, or even the granddaughter for all that she knew, but still…that meant she was a high level target for enemy shinobi, which in turn meant that she was a really strong Kunoichi. That meant…that if she played her cards right, she might just as well become a strong enough Kunoichi to fight off Sakura…and survive!

"Team nine, under the command of…" Iruka stopped for a second, his eyes bugging out before slowly steadying himself, "Ibiki Morino, will be composed of Taifuu Shimura, Shino Aburame and Ino Yamanaka." The pressure returned double in its intensity, but this time it wasn't directed at her. No, she could feel the twin jaded eyes direct themselves at someone else entirely, and she saw the effects even though Ino didn't apparently realize who was looking at her with murder in mind.

The Yamanaka girl was strangely sweating, and slightly twitchy, but she didn't realize what the reason was. Her hands began to flex with nervousness as Iruka ended up the roll call, before exclaiming.

"Listen to me: from this day hence, you are all shinobi of the leaf." He began, "From this day, you are adults. From this day, you will be tasked with responsibilities. From this day, you are no longer kids, or children…but fellow comrades. Let the will of fire burn brightly in you…"

She swore she had just heard a loud yelling 'Yosh' echo from outside the window, but that couldn't be possible.

"But remember, Konoha wasn't built by a single leaf. Konoha is the village hidden by leafs, by all of us: help each other, become true comrades, and nothing will stand on your way towards your objectives." The speech was probably the type that was rehearsed every year with the graduating class: it smelled of naivety and kindness…things that weren't needed in their world.

There was a chorus of Hai's and cheers, except for the murderous stare that was still on Ino, nothing appeared out of the ordinary as the Jounin-sensei slowly but surely began to enter the classroom. She watched as a purple haired woman, clad in what could be described as an obscene trench coat and a fishnet shirt, with a terribly short skirt yelled out loud with a cheerful tone.

"My little toys of team Six! I'm Mita…ehm, Yashagoro Anko! Move your skinny asses over and follow me!" As the Jounin-sensei said that, she stood up quickly, as too did a seemingly normal black haired boy with black eyes and a pale complexion.

A girl with hazel hair and one of those old purple clothes for archaic shinobis quickly scampered to her feet behind him, and soon they left the premises of the classroom.

The fact that she distinctively heard one of the other Jounin-sensei, a guy with silver hair, drawl out a 'Don't kill them' in a not-so whispered tone didn't make her feel any better.

It was unsettling then when the woman brought the three of them to a Dango stall, sitting down with a cheerful exclamation.

"Alright! Sit down, order some dango and let's have a nice talk you brats!"

She looked to her right and to her left, and it was then that she discovered that indeed, the other two were waiting for her to sit down first. Kind of wanting to see if she actually trusted the woman not to kill them…it was just a Dango Stall for heaven's sakes!

She sat down without saying a word, and so too did her 'teammates'. Why they had decided to have her as a leader was something she couldn't understand, but still…

The woman called Anko smiled with a predator-like smirk filled with blood lust…at least she hoped it was blood lust, before sweetly and coyly saying.

"Well then…tell me your likes, dislikes and things like that…"

Konohagakure no Sato – Taifuu Shimura

Their instructor, Ibiki Morino, was a tall and stern man that gave 'serious' and 'gruff' an all new definition in the vocabulary. He knew the man was some sort of big shot in the interrogation and torture department. He knew because said man had been called, the day he had returned to Konoha, to investigate him. The scarf-head man with the black trench coat and the underneath grey vest had asked all the questions he could have had, and he had answered all that he could. Considering he was in a hospital bed, being tended to, didn't mean any less. The man was first and foremost an information expert, a ruthless torturer, and only finally a Jounin. He had been placed as the team leader for a reason, and the fact that the Yamanaka was present too didn't mean a thing. This wasn't a normal team.

The fact they were currently sitting on uncomfortable looking chairs within the inner workings of the torture and interrogation department, their wrists locked down by strong metallic bonds and facing the diabolical grin of said man meant nothing once more. This was a test probably, and if it was, then somebody should have warned them in advance...but life is never fair after all.

The spiky haired boy that was Aburame Shino wasn't even flinching: albeit considering the never-ending crawling sensation of bugs within one's own body he was probably thinking this was just 'mildly' uncomfortable. He on the other hand was looking with vivid interest at their female teammate…who was the picture of wracking nervousness.

"We're going to die." She kept on whispering and whispering with sweat falling from every single one of her pores.

He rolled his eyes, how could she be scared of this? There wasn't even a torture device outside. None of them were actually criminals, or convicted of having done something illegal. There was nothing to fear from the man, except his grin.

That grin had to be faked and laced with a mild Genjutsu: there was no way they could make one so scary. He snapped his eyes closed, slowly draining his Chakra away from his head, before releasing it once more. As his eyes opened slowly, he realized he was face to face once more with the grinning white teeth of his maybe Jounin-sensei, who was now at least appearing visibly amused.

"This is not a Genjutsu, brats." He began in a low and coarse voice, before turning around and grabbing something from within a cabinet of the green walled room they were in.

"I suppose you're asking yourself 'Is this the Jounin test?' or maybe something along the lines of 'You can't do this to us!' well…the answers are 'It isn't' and 'I can'." Ibiki's voice seemed positively thrilled as he turned around wielding what seemed to be a tattoo-like needle.

"First off, as I am the head of the Torture and Interrogation department, T&I for short, half the stuff I know are highly classified, and the other halves are off-limits to who doesn't belong to the department. This is a good thing, because it means that there is no need for a Jounin test: you were selected specifically because you'd be good at the job."

The needle began to spin and click furiously, and he couldn't help but sweat a little. He could only hope the man wouldn't imprint a tattoo on his the left arm. There was a reason for it, if only he could remember what it was though.

"Now then…where do you want the tattoo?" The man queried with a predator-like smile, "If you're good enough, I might even try and make it painless."

"I would inquire if the tattoo has some sort of seal-like properties, and if such what the extents of the seals are." Shino clipped in quickly, the first words he muttered were precisely those: efficient and to the point.

"It's needed to recognize you as members in training of the Torture and Interrogation department, thus having the seals in place around the area not send off alarms of sorts for intruders. It will also enable me to effectively start teaching you the skills you need, because unless you're a member much of what I know is classified and the very same seal prevents to speak of things classified unless there's another member." At least he was being eager in replying.

"Right shoulder." He immediately muttered. "Pretty please make it painless? Thy art thou grievous beseech me to cast thou trust and bemusement."

"What the hell was that?" Ino's remark was snarky at best, "What are you, a poet boy? How can you two be so calm! He's going to brand us like cattle!"

"Yamanaka-san, it is logical to assume that the moment we put on our forehead protector we would be asked to do things for the village. The village assumes that under the guide of Morino-san we will grow and flourish, thus it is logical to consider this nothing more than an initiation and since there appears to be no significant harmful condition or negative side-effects, I will comply with the proposition explicated by Shimura-san."

"Oh Kami no." The girl whined, "I ended up with two tongue-nerds."

"I take affront of that!" Taifuu exclaimed, "It's not every word of mine that showcases the irregular inflexion of the terms to a more archaic and harmonic wording."

"This is torture!" Ino yelled, "Morino-sensei! Get them to shut up please!"

"Sensei? So you will be taking the tattoo too young girl?" The man asked with a nice grin, "I assume you are all going to hate this moment, but worry not: they say I'm good at my job for a reason."

In truth, a few seconds later Ibiki dropped the needle, starting to go through a set of hand signs and gestures that seemingly flowed one into the other, until he finally united both of his index fingers and touched the right shoulders of all three of them.

The burning sensation that came a little bit later wasn't even enough to make him grit his teeth: it just stung. Ino Yamanaka had a different opinion, as she complained loudly about it, while Shino simply raised an eyebrow. That was the most expressiveness he had managed to see from the boy till that moment...he was starting to like him.

"Well, now we can begin introducing ourselves." Ibiki smiled, before removing the clasps from their wrists and letting them sit more comfortably now. "I am Ibiki Morino, head of the Torture and Interrogation department. I hate traitors, betrayers and backstabbers. I like to hear the truth or get it out from the whimpering messes that are the people I hate once I'm done working with them. My favorite food is Enokitake and any type of meat. My greatest wish is to fight and bring to justice all betrayers and liars."

As he said that, his eyes sharpened themselves on him for a second. It was like he was kind of accusing him to be a liar, but he wasn't lying at all! He had yet to lie…and those eyes instead appeared to be giving him the fault. At fault until proven innocent, it appeared, was going to be how this Jounin-sensei worked.

"Your turn." The man basically ordered, locking eyes with him.

"My name is Taifuu Shimura, Genin of Konohagakure no Sato. I like to take things seriously and to spend time at the cemetery talking to those I couldn't protect." He didn't miss the slightly perplexed face of Ino at that, stupid girl living a fantasy world. "I dislike noises, bright colors, people claiming stupid things out loud and idiocy." At that there was a light smirk of amusement coming from Ibiki. Probably because Ino had turned a sour face and a murderous gaze at him? Shino remained instead quiet, waiting for him to finish.

"I have no dream of my own, but I promised I would carry on that of those I failed to protect," he murmured, "I eat anything that is comestible, and my greatest wish is to make amend for my past mistakes."

"Very well." Ibiki curtly said, before looking at Shino who swiftly proceeded to speak.

"My name is Shino Aburame, I am a Genin as of now it appears, I enjoy Entomology and collecting insects, I like wild grass salad and winter melon, while I dislike anything with a strong odor. My wish is to constantly prove myself by fighting stronger opponents. I hope this team will proficiently and efficiently reach the height of its potential."

"I hope that too kid." Ibiki replied with a smirk, before finally turning his eyes to Ino, "Your turn Goldylocks." If looks could kill, Ino's narrowed eyes would have reduced to smithereens the head of the torture and interrogation department in a second.

"My name is Ino Yamanaka: I'm a Genin and the one with the best grades in my class too! I like shopping and the way flowers work to give out meanings. I like eating cherry tomatoes," more like the only thing she ate if her waist was of any indication, "And I dislike putting up weight." There was some sort of feeble snort coming from his throat that he tried, hard, to suppress. It didn't escape Ibiki's ears, although the man did not comment on it…but the gaze flickered for a second to him before returning on the girl.

"My wish is to become the most beautiful and powerful kunoichi there is!"

"Oh Kami kill me now." He muttered, not being able to withstand this any longer. Luckily his mutter came at the same time as Ino's exclamation, so it went probably unheard.

"I see…" Ibiki drawled, before snapping his right finger while standing up, "On your feet team! We're going outside." That said, he finally opened the door of the cell they had been brought into blindfolded, and out they walked…to stare at a perfectly normal and average hallway. A hallway that Taifuu knew was kind of familiar.

"Oh hell no." He muttered. "You're telling me that the…the department is hidden…"

"Indeed." Ibiki remarked, "We are five floors beneath the common lounge of the orphan apartments." With a sadistic grin he began walking towards the elevator at the end of the hallway, pressing the button to start rising up. "Who would think to look for us here after all?"

"Interesting." Shino remarked. "Is it safe to assume we cannot divulge the information outside?"

"More like you can't." Ibiki commented, "Mind you: you can try…but you'll start feeling a sharp pain on your shoulder immediately…keep it up and the seal might just…explode, so to say."

"Would circumstance behavior affect it too?" Shino piped in, earning a snort from Ino.

"What are you speaking about?"

"He is asking if merely pointing the finger and saying 'five fleet beneath' counts or not." He commented, for once finding that if he had to actually work with someone, Shino was actually not a bad alternative. Not that he'd trust the boy with his back unless he had proven so, of course.

"The intention is what the seals looks for." Ibiki said without missing a second, "As long as you intend to say something you shouldn't, it will start burning up."

"Well…so we have to find a way to make it non-intentional?" He asked making his eyes as wide as possible and as childish as possible, "Maybe sleep-talking? Can someone be trained into sleep-talking?"

As the doors of the elevator pinged to an open, they exited through the lounge towards the exit of the apartment complex, only for him to stop and stare at the climbing upstairs form of Katsu, who seemed to be apparently filled with discomfort.

At first, he raised his hand to try and say something to her, but the words died in his mouth as Ino saw the very same figure of the girl in question.

"Katsu-chan!" She chirped, waving at his old friend, "How's your sensei!?" The screech practically echoed through the entire hall, making him wince and stare with a sour look at the blond haired girl. He had said that he hated loud noises, right?

He turned to look at Shino, who was quietly standing behind a slightly irate Ibiki. He did his best understanding of the situation and swiftly kept on walking until he was right next to the Aburame. The Sensei had given an order, and Ino had of course stopped to chat. Luckily for her Katsu didn't hear the screech or if she did she ignored it, because she quickly reached upstairs and disappeared from view.

"Oh well. I'll talk to the girl later on." Ino cheerfully grinned as she turned and came face to face with Ibiki's most terrifying angered face.

"I said to follow girl!" The man snarled, the eyes of the common room looking straight at the scene, forcing the girl to whimper lightly. "When your instructor tells you to follow, you follow! You don't stop and turn around to wave hello to someone. Did I make myself clear!?"

"But she was…"

If there was one thing he knew, it was to never retort back. I do not care for your opinion. You are weaker than me, thus your words do not matter.

He blinked for a second: those voices…it kind of felt like someone had given a jab to one of his memories, before he shook his head slowly, returning to gaze at the public execution of the Yamanaka.

"Did I say you could speak back girl?" The man sneered in disgust, "You will follow my orders to the letter, in silence, and you will comply or I will make sure to get you removed from the program altogether!" As he said that, a look of betrayal and shock passed over the blond haired girl, who paled and gulped down nervously.

"Did I make myself clear?"

"Y-Yes."

"Yes what!?"

"Yes sir." She whispered, biting her lower lip in fright and looking down at the floor.

"Then get moving and follow!" with that, he turned around quickly, beginning to move out of the common room, and along the street.

Needless to say, he and Shino followed as fast as they could, with Ino catching up to them slowly.

Maybe…maybe nothing was lost after all: this seemed like quite a good team to begin with.

Konohagakure no Sato – Katsu Uzuki

She was gasping for breath by the time she reached her room. Her knees were buckling under her very own weight, and she felt the need to fall down and lay face down on her bed. She just wanted to sleep away all her worries and fatigue. At least, she thought it was fatigue. She doubled over after a few moments, holding her hands against her stomach while at the same time groaning out in pain. Had she been poisoned? Or was she allergic to dangos?

She didn't know what it was, but she sure as hell didn't want it any longer in her stomach. She crawled down from her bed, and towards the door, but stopped short from reaching it as someone opened it.

A gleam of those jade eyes was all that it took for her to understand: she had indeed been poisoned…by her.

At least, she thought that was the case, until she felt herself being hoisted upwards, and being pushed towards the bathroom by the girl.

"No dying on me. You can die for me. You have to die for me, but not now. No. Too soon." Sakura's murmurs were frantic, as she literally pulled her face against the bathroom's toilet, flinging two of her fingers deep within her mouth to make her retch.

"You were poisoned: probably a low acting type of venom." She hissed, "Why they would do this, I don't know."

"Please…" no more. Please, stop this.

"Oh no. Keep this up." The pink haired girl snarled, her vicious grip not letting go of her, "You will be ready for tomorrow's test with your sensei, and you will pass it. Do you hear me?" The girl murmured, "If you won't…I might just have to kill you myself for wasting space."

"Wh…Why?" She was in tears as the words escaped her lips slowly, the sour taste of puke lingering in her mouth.

"Why? Because I say so. You are worth nothing, do you hear me? You are my tool, my instrument." A quiet hiss soon reached her ears a second later, "You are mine."

And then the pressure relented, and she was left there alone, to cry her tears and stifle her sobs. Why was this happening? Why to her, of all people? Why couldn't she just…just leave?

Maybe she could. She was just a Genin: they wouldn't even look for her so actively...but she had to escape somehow, and the only way out of the gates for her now would be on a mission…and how could she get one, if she didn't pass?

In any case, she had to pass the Jounin-sensei's test the next day. Who could have poisoned her though? She had been careful all around it…Her sensei? Maybe she had administered a test…

Slowly she managed to stand back up and flush the toilet, before wobbling towards the sink and wash her mouth of the bitter taste of vomit. Few minutes later, and she was once more in her room, falling asleep as fast as she could.

Maybe she should have eaten something?

Maybe she should have, if she wasn't actually thinking that yet more white rice was going to be the death of her. Even the poisoned Dangos had some kind of goodness in them.

She slept, without even remembering when precisely she had fallen asleep, and in her sleep she recalled her two teammates. A sickly Genjutsu user and a monotone boy who spoke like a machine were her two 'friends' and 'teammates' with whom she would have to work with.

When her eyes flicked open, two hazel colored eyes looked at her with faint amusement, a tight grin etched on her face. Her Jounin-sensei was positively scary in the dim light of the dying sun.

"Well…you're still alive." She pointed out with a sarcastic undertone, "Good."

"Wh…why?"

"Test. You see, I don't usually take apprentices, but this year I was kind of bored with nothing to do. Father's being a prick and a worrywart, so I told myself: let's try and be a teacher for once, help someone else become something more than a no-name orphan."

"You…You bitch!" She yelled, fury overtaking her fatigue just that long for her hands to rise and try and choke the living hell out of the woman, only for them to fall down weighting like lead a few seconds later.

"Oh! Fighting spirit! Good!" Anko was positively cheerful, or so she seemed to appear, that sarcastic grin etched on her face like it had been done with a permanent marker. "Anyway…" she sing-sung, "You just won yourself an apprenticeship with me…you can start by calling be Supremely Beautiful and Sexy Anko Sensei!"

Then she was grabbed quickly by the purple haired kunoichi, who, without batting an eyelid, dropped her down on the floor a few seconds later.

"Scramble to your feet girl! Come on! Show me some more of that fighting spirit!"

She growled in frustration, as she tried to move her fingers and make pressure against the wooden bark of the floor: she didn't have a carpet after all. Slowly, her arms pushed, but just as she was reaching the level where she could put her knees down for a more firm rise…she was suddenly kicked down once more.

She choked on her breath, exhaling painfully as she tried to reach for some air. She tried to claw at the other leg of her sensei, but the pressure just increase.

"When I give you an order, girl…I expect you to reply with a Yes Supremely Beautiful and Sexy Anko-sensei...understood?" The question wasn't even said with the playful mirth of the past words: it held a slight amount of bloodlust that she couldn't believe was anything less but the sheer desire of making her suffer.

She pitifully whined, at least in her opinion, as she tried to mutter those words.

"Y…Yes…" It wasn't embarrassment, at least she thought it wasn't, but her pride didn't want to give to…to this woman any quarter. "S…Supreme…Bitch!"

The second that word came out, a kick landed straight on her face, the sharp crack noise that echoed meant only one thing, if considered together with the incredible pain she was feeling.

"I just broke your nose with a sharp kick to the face. Next thing I do after rearranging your face is breaking your teeth…want me to try and make you prettier?"

Tears streaked down her cheeks, mixed with the blood that was positively pooling down her face and into her lips and throat. Every breath was hurting her, but she had no choice did she?

"No…please…no." The pressure on her back lowered, making her gasp in relief, until a sharp kick reached her sides forcing her to literally be flung in the air before landing on her back groaning from the pain.

Now she knew what it meant to be kicked on the side.

"Last chance: I understand, Supremely Beautiful and Sexy Anko-sensei…you are clearly the best teacher ever."

It took her few minutes, to actually murmur each and every single word of that sentence, holding her arms closer like she was cradling herself in the meantime. By the time the last word came out, she slumped down, her entire frame shivering from the effort.

"Good!" The woman said cheerfully, "Now then…I want you to be ready, for tomorrow at ten in the morning, near training ground forty-four! Bring nothing but a kunai and don't worry, I'll teach you everything that you will need to know to make it to Jounin like a breeze!" With those cheerful words, the woman left her alone in the room.

She began to sob, uncontrollably, closing herself into a fetal position as her mind tried to find ways to make this situation seem less bad than it was.

She had a psychopathic girl who was stronger than her and wanted her dead. There was a psychopathic teacher who was stronger than her and would kill her while training her. She was without friends, allies, or any other things like that.

Why did she have to fight through this?

Was there any reason, any bare scrape of a reason why she had to do this?

The door opened slowly, maybe a few minutes or hours later, and she could see between tears a blurry figure move closer to her and gently push her up.

"Who did this?" The voice hissed in a voice that held all the possible anger in the world. It was so…so different she didn't even recognize it.

"No…No-one." She whimpered back, "Nothing…I fell…"

"Who. Did. This?" The voice insisted. It was a male's voice, but she couldn't pinpoint it.

"You will not tell? Then I will find out on my one." With those words, she was gently lowered on her bed, before the blur turned around and left.

"I will warn Taifuu." The boy added, and with those words, now devoid of emotion, she realized just who had found her there: Chikao.

"No!" She screeched, but the boy was already gone. She was going to die if she stayed there! Chikao…he shouldn't tell. If he did, then she was going to die, everything was going to be hushed down and…no, she couldn't do it…she had to leave.

The disappearance of adrenaline from her system, however, brought her eyes to close and finally give in to rest. She had to set the clock…she had to wake up at ten…she had to go to the training.

That day passed like a blur, half awake and half asleep, but when her eyes fluttered open once more, her nose had been set by someone. There also were no green jaded eyes greeting her that morning, and the clock rang at eight o'clock, but had she set it?

She didn't recall setting it.

Next to her, face down on the side of her bed, Taifuu Shimura was peacefully sleeping while holding in his right hand a pair of tweezers and some medical utilities. Had he nursed her? Even after having flipped him off, after having distanced herself from him? Why did he insist on coming back to her every time?

It was then that, of course, the door had to silently creak open once more.

In the agonizingly bright light of the early morning, those haunting jade eyes looked straight at her, and then down below at Taifuu's hair. It was then that a stupid idea, a really stupid idea, reached the back of her mind.

Quietly, her right hand moved slowly, while her gaze never left those twin orbs of green that fixed her, towards Taifuu's hair.

Ever so slowly the hand reached his hair, and gently began to caress it, eliciting a light mumbling and a distinctive purr of pleasure from the boy. The gaze that she cast back was one filled with determination and anger. If she was going to die anyway because of the psycho-sensei…then she was going to die with at least a friend at her side.

The dark murderous gaze that the pink haired girl sent her back was just then starting to make her change her decision…but then Taifuu woke up, groaning slightly at the minute gesture of her ruffling his hair gently. As she broke eye contact she heard her door creak to a close, but not before a meaningful last glance towards her situation made her shiver.

Oh Kami…just what had she done? Why had she decided to start thinking like that?

She was going to die anyway…right? Better to die happy then.

Konohagakure no Sato – Taifuu Shimura

He felt soft fingers on his head as he stirred from his sleep. Chikao had waited for him after his 'first day' of Jounin-sensei training, which had consisted in nothing more than testing their prowess with jutsus, physical activities and quick thinking tactics. Nothing out of the extraordinary, just to know what strong points one had and what he had to work on. He had thought he'd get to shower and go to sleep, then complete the transfer to his father's house the next day, and yet here he was.

He shouldn't have been there actually, not after the way Katsu had treated him at his return…yet here he was, because Chikao had asked him and he had accepted. Somehow he knew something was wrong with his friend, but he had always been so busy that he hadn't had the time to check on her any better than a passing glance or inquiry.

He knew he could mop the floor with any cadet that left the academy, and he knew full well he could probably devastate a Chuunin…the problem was that he didn't know why. He had this…this feeling, this sixth sense that moved his actions. He didn't think he knew how to set a broken nose, and then he just did that on reflex, like it was a common thing, something he did routinely.

He wouldn't stall any longer. He would get his answers that day, without delays.

"What happened?" He asked, cautiously stirring to feel if all of his muscles were sore from the uncomfortable position he had been in for most of the day.

The wincing of Katsu made him curious, especially when the girl didn't reply immediately, instead preferring to avert her gaze to the window. He narrowed his eyes when the girl's complexion paled for a moment, before they moved to look at her hands that appeared to have clenched. Signs of emotions should be adequately killed.

He jerked his head to the side violently, trying to catch a glimpse of what Katsu herself had been seeing, but found nothing and thus his head drifted to another thought: where had that sentence come from?

"Noth…" Katsu caught the words in her mouth, before murmuring, "Promise me…you'll believe my words?"

It was strange, but he stared at her perplexed, not actually expecting that question. She was asking him if he'd believe her words? Of course he would. Trust is something fickle and unneeded. Rulers with power do not need it.

That voice again…it kept popping inside his head, but usually it had intervals. Two in such a short time had never happened before, there had to be a reason for it.

"I promise." He whispered back. Maybe he'd get some sort of truth from Katsu. Maybe not all of it, but a good part would be more than enough to stick together the rest.

"I…I'm being…" Then the window crashed, as a volley of kunais soared through the air straight at the bed, straight at Katsu. He didn't think, but maybe in retrospect he should have: in the blink of a second he had grasped the girl by her arm and flung her straight out against the wooden door, breaking the door to splinters as he dashed out of the apartment behind her.

That had to hurt of course, but it was the quickest way to leave that room, especially if the attacker was outside. He quickly got on his knees near Katsu, who appeared to be gasping for breath and moaning from the pain. In retrospect, sending girls flying through doors wasn't a good way of keeping up a friendship.

"Targeted." Katsu whimpered, clenching her teeth as she spoke, "Uzumaki…Sakura. She's…mad, she..."

"Alright, calm down." He murmured cradling his friend's body, not daring to move her in case she actually had something broken. "I'm going to check up on you alright?" He quietly added, before slowly pushing some of his chakra through the girl's body.

The basic of a chakra diagnostic jutsu wasn't, as one might expect, the mere plopping of chakra through a body and expecting some sort of shiny letter to appear somewhere in the medic-nin's brain, like a sort of text bubble with the diagnose ready. The basic of the diagnostic jutsu was that a body naturally repels chakra that does not belong to that body, except in the areas where there isn't chakra to begin with. Considering that chakra is used subconsciously by the body to mend its wounds, the chakra diagnostic jutsu is a mere 'sonar' that gives off an echo of the non-damaged areas.

The principle behind the usage of some sort of 'healing' jutsu however was far more complex.

Listen: you have chakra alright? Loads of it. Then learn how to use it! You can't have a cannonball as silent as an arrow, but if you did have a cannonball arrow, wouldn't that be cool?

Climbing a metal wall with only chakra at his feet came as a flash in the back of his mind. When had he done that? How had he done that to begin with?

He had been…wandering, escaping. Why did he know of Iwa's plains? He had been imprisoned, hadn't he?

The soft groan that once more came to Katsu's lips forced his concentration back at work, as his own chakra retreated from her body.

"You've got nothing broken in your spine…I'm moving you to the hospital." He added softly. "Nice first day of Genin-hood." He whispered as his arms surrounded Katsu, lifting her up before moving out, towards the hospital.

Maybe he'd unpack his stuff back to his home later on…and if someone was targeting Katsu, then why was nothing being done about it? Maybe…maybe the girl had decided not to talk about it? Why though? He needed the complete picture, and to have it, he needed to have Katsu alive and well.

"Thank you." Raven haired.

"Why?" Black eyes.

Had he already carried someone like that before? If he had done that, then why couldn't he remember?The hospital's doors came into view a few seconds later, and as he literally slammed into them his thoughts entered a state of pure chaos he couldn't come to terms with: flashes came and left, his head felt like a hammer was pounding on it repeatedly, and all in all he felt as nauseous as if he were the one sick, not Katsu.

The medics were hovering on him in a second, his back appeared to have been hit by a kunai while performing the flinging of Katsu out of harm's way, and he hadn't even noticed. A short brown haired woman came quickly, snapping orders to the right and to the left, calling for a certain 'Tsunade', but he didn't leave. He stood there numbly, his eyes not moving from Katsu's body as finally something different from fear and apprehension settled in.

Somebody had tried to kill one of his friends.

Again, he had barely been able to save them.

"There will always be someone stronger in the world…good for us that we're shinobi brat! Cunningness, chance, backstabbing…those do not require strength…they require a quick mind and nimble thinking."

An old man, that was who had spoken to him. He vaguely remembered a large nose…it was a predominant feature after all. He blinked as he could hear the voice of the female doctor speak while hovering over him.

"He appears to be in shock Tsunade-sama, and the girl he brought in had various signs of poisoning and bruises…" A twin pony-tailed blond woman with amber eyes was looking at his side with a determined gaze. At least, he hoped it was determined because the nimble fingers worked themselves around his wound with little to no hesitation. The kunai plopped out in a second, pain not even filtering within his brain as the woman had probably given him some form of painkiller.

He wasn't watching the wound however, but he was instead looking at the hallway where they had been in the process of pulling Katsu through, the interest in his eyes apparently had been vivid enough for the brown haired assistant to notice it, because she immediately tried to soothe him, like he was some sort of worried child, that everything was fine now.

"I'm going." He muttered, decision taken to follow Katsu to her room or die trying. His second step took him down, his face landing neatly with the ground, as a groan and a fit of pain came to him from the back of his neck.

"What…What was that for!?" He yelled, rolling on his back to try and get back up.

"Im…Impossible." The blond woman murmured, her eyes suddenly narrowing. "You have a neck protection around your pressure points, right?"

His eyes narrowed back in reply.

"Good thing I do then." His right hand moved to his kunai, "Why were you trying to knock me out?"

"That's not the point." She hissed, "I looked for obtrusions in your body, and the chakra passed through you without a hitch: had that been a normal metallic neck protection, or even a wooden one, I would have felt it."

"Trade secret." His hand slowly came to grip the handle of his kunai. The rest of the lounge was watching the scene unfold without moving, conscious probably that he was clearly the one overstepping his strengths. He really doubted he'd survive a Sannin of all things, but he'd be damned if he wouldn't get to the end of this with Katsu still alive!

"Your friend got attacked, and you were losing it: knocking you out was a good solution that would have left me to work more at ease."

"I didn't snap from imprisonment or interrogation: this is nothing." His shoulders squared themselves upwards, as he tried to appear confident and maybe –no, definitively- arrogant. He didn't expect the senbons to the side of the shoulder though. He saw them coming from the assistant in a moment, but he couldn't move and dodge them fast enough: with a set of convincing chinks, he felt his entire body fall down on the ground, lights going out as darkness claimed him. The voices deadened down to a mere buzz, before silence descended on him.

When he came back to his senses, it was in a hospital room. In the bed next to him, Katsu appeared to be sleeping peacefully, while standing guard on the seat between the two beds was a concentrated Chikao, who immediately snapped his head to his side once he realized he was awake.

"Who?" The boy asked without as much as using an inflexion in his tone.

"Nice to see you…"

"Who?" The boy queried once more, insisting.

"I don't know." He replied truthfully. His head was still half-split from the previous hours, and he felt strangely euphoric, like he had just gone through some sort of happiness drug dosage.

"It's not the first time Katsu was attacked." Chikao pointed out, "It's reiterated." The boy's hand moved to point at the door outside. "I was meant to call a nurse when one of you woke up. Before that…what do I need to know?"

"There's nothing." He whispered, "I…I think Katsu was going to tell me, but she couldn't manage…she said something about Sakura, I think…the pink haired girl of Class-A."

"I understand." Chikao nodded, "I'll ask around if I'll get the chance."

"How's your team?" He asked, trying to change argument and avoid an embarrassing silence.

"Normal." The boy's eyes moved back to look at the sleeping form of Katsu, "Genin Division: Team fifty-nine. I'm leaving tomorrow for long-term assignment to the Land of Fire and Land of Lightning border."

"And then those fucking frigging pricks decided we were a menace. WE! Lost good friends that day, shit like you wouldn't imagine. So yeah, fucking hate that village..."

He winced slowly, before humming out a tune.

"Be careful."

"I am." Another small nod from the boy, and then he stood up, "I'll warn the nurse."

"Thank you."

Konohagakure no Sato – Katsu Uzuki

"Raiu-chan! Raiu-chan!"

"Huh?"

"I got sur…surname!"

"Yeah! Cool!"

"Raiu-chan? Where is…" Green eyes, pink hair… How can hair be naturally pink?

"There!" The corner, the girl is always crying isn't she?

"Let's play!" Always the kind hearted offering a hand…she likes that in him.

"Momma…Daddy…" She got in later. She remembers her parents, and that's bad: she's not thinking like her younger self who merely didn't understand the cry-baby girl, she's thinking like her adult self. Orphans who remember their parents wilt away in guilt even if they find a family…or in sorrow and hatred if they don't, blaming the cause.

"Come on! Let's play!" She insisted on playing.

"Katsu…mi." Katsumi? Was that her complete name? Of course it was. She had gone with Katsu, right? Why had she gone with Katsu? Because it was shorter, and Raiu had troubles with her full name.

"We'll be your family now!" The boy says that, but why does he?

Doesn't he know that…

A small groan brought her back to the world of the living.

She was starting to get tired of being knocked off every half a day: she had signed in to do missions, not to spend most of her time knocked off or thrown against things. She winced as she remembered what had happened. Looking around, she found the telltale signs of where she had ended up in: a hospital room.

Next to her, Taifuu's body was suddenly relaxing, as his face showed up a bright smile that appeared to have come down from only heaven knew where.

"I knew you didn't hate me." The boy whispered, his cerulean blue eyes looking at her with a positive note of happiness.

"I…"

"I know. You're not staying in your apartment any longer." Taifuu began again, and as she looked at him shocked, the boy added swiftly, "You'll be coming home with me."

"What." She croaked out.

"I'll give you a copy of the keys: you passed your test and so did I, we're officially shinobi, so the stuff in my house can be read by both of us. We'll keep an eye out on each other and my father's house got some pretty awesome security around." The raven haired teen began to ramble, saying word after word that make her smile slowly at first, hesitantly, until in the end she's giggling at his antiques.

"Thy lady appears mirthful?" The question earned back only a louder giggle, before she finally calmed down enough to reply.

"Indeed, though hardship berates us at every turn, thy offer is most kind and I would be honored to accept."

"Good. We're fam…friends, we stick with each other." The boy blushed lightly, before she finally realized what he had been implying.

"You remembered?" She whispered barely holding her breath in.

"Huh?"

"Nothing." She was quick in her reply, "I'm…I'm going to need to pack my things. You think they'll let us go before tomorrow? My sensei's a sadist."

A snort followed by a mad chuckle escaped from the throat of a dreadful woman that made its way in the room.

"A sadist? Little sexy me?" Anko's turn was mock-hurt as her light hazel eyes flicked from one figure to the other, "So…somebody told me my only apprentice got hurt on the very first day…and that somebody told me that I should treat you better…now, I admit the poison might have been a bit excessive…but it wasn't like you died from it!"

"Is she?" Taifuu's question hung in the air, as she quickly replied.

"She's my…Supremely Beautiful and Sexy Anko-sensei." The embarrassment that she felt drowning into was more than enough to make her shut her eyes close, as she could just imagine the look of surprise on Taifuu's face.

"A fast learner! I might just decide not to kill you for now, if you start telling me what happened…you're barely a squirt: who'd want you dead huh? A hail of kunais, all those falls down the stairs…tsk, tsk."

"You wouldn't believe me." She replied, "And there's nothing you can do."

"Try me." Anko shrugged, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "I know that whoever the fucker is I'll end up having to postpone our good training in the forest of Death for at least a day, and I'm getting bored."

"Sakura Uzumaki is madly in love with Taifuu, and thinks I want to steal him away: so she tried to get me to help her shag him," at that Taifuu's face that had distorted into utter shock turned slightly red in embarrassment, "and menaced to violently get her displeasure known if I spoke about it."

"Well…" Anko rolled her eyes, "Let's say I believe you…you sure it was the girl?"

"Huh?"

"I mean…there are illusions out there, now I don't know you, but are you sure it was her and not, let's say, an enemy Nin?"

"No! She…She had this entire pile of used stuff of Taifuu, and I saw her handwork in remodeling Taifuu's room! I mean, I don't know why she hates Taifuu's father, but I know it's her!" She knew this was a lost cause, but at least, if she died, they'd have to check on the girl, right?

"Fine then, I believe you." Anko replied.

"And let's not…huh?"

"I said: I believe you."

"Why?"

"Because…because I'm your supremely sexy and beautiful sensei, that's why! Sleep tight and get some rest: you're safe here…I'll go and have a look around." But as the Jounin turned to leave, she couldn't help but feel a slight bit of worry. Maybe it had been her imagination, but then why had the woman apparently…smiled, after giving her back at her?

A voyage, no matter how great, always starts small. No man may run before walking, and no warrior can fight untrained. Growth is the key to everything, even in one's skills.

Author's notes

Another chapter rolls by.

*swoosh*

The teams assignments were changed, because of course I needed more pandemonium. Next chapter will have the missions! (and the training)