Over the next couple of days things seemed relaxed; at times Eri wondered what was so challenging about this… A team would come in every few hours with a few scuffs and scratches at most so she would give them a check over to make sure there was no internal damage. There was a team from the Sound village were the tall boy needed medical attention to his arms. Eri managed to heal his broken shoulder blades and repair the tissue damage in his arms. Curiously enough there were tubes in his arms, but figuring it had to do with his jutsu Eri didn't question them. She then bandaged the arms and putting a sling around his neck so he could take the weight of his arms off his sore shoulders. She told him she had done all she could then told him to not move his arms more than necessary and keep them in the sling to aid the healing process. She left them without even receiving a thank you from the rude contestant, but she decided not to let it bother her.

Her supervisor, Jin, was a bit of a quiet fellow, unless Eri asked a question he rarely spoke. When Eri did ask him about something he would usually blush before replying which Eri found to be a bit odd. He would give her nods of approval and would watch her like a hawk when she was giving a contestant a look-over to make sure she was doing it correctly. So far she seemed to impress him, especially with how she handled the Sound ninja's injuries.

Within the final hour of the second exam coming to a close she walked out of the room where she had been spending her free time over the last couple of days. She was a bit surprised that she hadn't seen Anko or any of the other instructors for the exams but she hadn't really explored the tower in case another team came in. Again she had to look professional, medical ninjas don't go wondering off like a toddler, they stay put for when they are needed. As she walked she bumped into a familiar face.

"Iruka-sensei?" Eri asked looking at the Chunin with the scar across his nose and a high brown ponytail.

The man blinked and looked at her for a minute, "My god, Eri Sincera is that you?"

"Yes," she smiled, "It's nice seeing you again sensei"

"Well look at you, you're in the medical corps?" Iruka asked.

Eri shook her head, "No actually I'm here to kinda earn the title of Chunin by demonstrating my medical skills since I don't have a team or missions…" she admitted, "I only have the clothes since the head of the corps didn't like my old clothes."

"I was kind of wondering how that would work out for you when Kayo-san told me you wouldn't need to be put on a team…" Iruka said remembering back when the girl was one of his graduating students, "Well it was nice to see you again, I have to get going, say hello to your brother for me. Oh and if you can a team just arrived in the seventh room so if you can give them a look over that would be appreciated."

"Thanks Iruka-sensei and I will," Eri smiled then continued on her way to inspect the new comers.

Upon entering the room she was greeted with the sight of two more familiar faces, and one not so familiar. The first was a blonde boy she only knew through bumping into him at the ramen stand, Naruto Uzumaki was his name. He was a very hyper boy but seemed like a nice kid. Whenever she talked with him he was usually very upbeat but a bit of a loud mouth, her mother would say he never learned how to use an 'inside voice'. Eri's first memory of him was a bit funny…

She was about eleven years old and her brother was treating her to ramen after an afternoon training session. They were both chatting away when a little boy came into the stand and ordered some ramen as well. The siblings paid him no mind until Yoichi noticed he was eating his ramen… with a fork.

"Excuse me but don't you know how to use chopsticks?" Yoichi asked looking at the kid.

The blonde boy looked at him and frowned, "What's it to you what I eat with?"

"Because… ramen noodles deserve being honored with the mighty chopsticks of skill," Yoichi said twirling his set of chopsticks in his fingers.

"Who cares? They don't taste any different…"

Yoichi narrowed his eyes at the boy, "You… you disgrace the mighty ramen noodles with a mere fork!" he claimed pointing at the boy. Eri being use to her brother just sighed and continued eating her bowl. Yoichi made a scene of the smallest things…

"So? It's not like anybody cares what I do," young Naruto huffed.

"Fine little sassy pants," Yoichi countered stealing the boy's fork.

"Hey! Give that back!" Naruto yelled trying to reach for it, but Yoichi kept it out of his reach.

"Try… the… chop… sticks…" Yoichi insisted. Naruto huffed and took a pair from the cup of them and broke them apart. After seeing the boy struggle Yoichi softened a little.

"No one ever taught you? They are actually pretty simple…" he said.

"No! No one has! Now give me back my fork you ass!"

"How about I show you how to use them?" Yoichi suggested. The boy looked at him.

"And why would you do that?"

"Because… everyone should know how to use them," Yoichi said. The boy kept questioning Yoichi on his reasoning to care about such a simple little thing until Eri finally huffed.

"Look he's going to keep insisting till you let him show you, it's best to shut up and let him. Believe me I have to live with him," she said.

"Eri that was cruel…" Yoichi pouted.

"Whatever just do it then, I'm hungry," Naruto huffed. Yoichi smiled and showed him the proper way to hold the chopsticks in his own hand. After seeing Naruto struggle with it he only smiled and held the boys hand in the correct position. After his first slurp of ramen using the chopsticks Naruto smiled a bit. "It does… kinda taste better…" he admitted.

"There we go champ," Yoichi smiled patting his back, "Say you're a growing boy, I'll treat you to another one if you're still hungry after this."

"Seriously? Thanks mister!"

"Call me Yoichi, Yoichi Sincera, and that's my little sister Eri," Yoichi smiled pointed at her.

"I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki," the boy grinned.

Eri smiled a bit seeing Naruto again; it had been a while since she had seen him. But she wasn't exactly thrilled seeing the raven haired lad that was in the group. Sasuke Uchiha… Eri had plenty of memories for this boy, hell she had known him since the day he was born, and none of the memories were exactly pleasant. Sasuke had always been a discourteous little boy to her. Once he threw a bowl of baby food at the girl and laughed when it got all over her. Eri tried dismissing it as him being a baby until the boy was older and was just plain rude to her and only her, then he would just completely ignore her if she was chatting with his older brother, Itachi. Even if he wasn't the one that killed his own clan, she still preferred Itachi to him. Itachi tried being civil around her at least. The third member of their group was a girl who Eri hadn't seen before, a pink haired girl with green eyes…

"Eri onee-chan!" Naruto called with a grin. Eri looked back at Naruto and offered a smile.

"Been a while hasn't it?" she asked.

"Not long enough…" Sasuke muttered. Eri rolled her eyes at the boy.

"Wait… you guys know this woman…?" the girl asked.

"I donno how Sasuke knows her, but I meet onee-chan at the Ichraku Ramen stand sometimes, she's really nice and her older brother is so cool!"

"You only say that because he likes to treat you," Eri laughed.

"So?" Naruto grinned, "So wait Sasuke how do you know her?" he asked turning to the other boy.

"Oh you can say our families were friends so we'd see each other," Eri said knowing Sasuke wouldn't tell them.

"You can say," Sasuke mumbled. Eri glanced at the girl and saw she was tensing a little. Did she think Eri was some sort of threat?

"Anyways I need to give you guys a quick check over to make sure you don't need any immediate medical attention before joining the others," the Sincera said to explain why she was there.

"Well I'm fine!" Naruto claimed.

"Of course you'll say that," Eri sighed, "I just need to see for myself alright?"

Naruto only shrugged so Eri came over and removed his headband, then pressed her palm to his forehead. Sending out her chakra she could feel that the boy was physically fine, but something she felt bothered her a bit. Could she be imagining him having two chakras? None the less she pulled her hand away and replaced his band. "You're fine."

"Like I told you," he chuckled.

Eri only shook her head slightly then turned her attention to the girl, "Your turn, come here."

The pink haired girl seemed hesitant but she walked over and still in front of the older girl. Eri pressed her palm to the girl's forehead and sent out her chakra again. "Nothing wrong," she commented, "just exhaustion."

"You can tell that just by touching my forehead?" she asked.

"Yup," Eri said turning to Sasuke.

"How?" the girl inquired.

"I send out my chakra into your body in pulses, I've been trained to feel any abnormalities in a person's physical being and in their chakra network by deciphering what my chakra pulses pick up on," Eri explained sounding bored, "You and Naruto have no abnormalities that I could sense so you're both fine as far as I can tell."

"Oh…"

"Your turn Sasuke," Eri said.

"You keep your hands to yourself," Sasuke replied. Eri frowned at him then saw a design on the back of his neck.

"Well that's a weird looking bruise," she commented. "How'd you get that?"

"None of your business," he retorted.

"Well I need to make sure you're alright," Eri countered reaching to get a better view of the mark but Sasuke slapped her hand away.

"I see you still have the need to poke your nose into other people's business," Sasuke muttered.

"I see you still have that stick up your ass," Eri countered ignoring the sting. Sasuke glared at her and looked away keeping his hand over the mark on her neck while Naruto laughed.

"She really told you Sasuke," he snickered. Eri only smirked slightly then looked at the pink haired girl who didn't look so pleased with her comment.

"Shut up Naruto!" she yelled at the laughing blonde then she looked at Eri with a slight glare. "I thought you were supposed to be helping us, not making Sasuke feel worse," she accused.

"Sorry but if he still has the strength to slap my hand, refuse treatment and on top of that make snide comments then he's going to live," Eri explained seeming a bit off that the girl took such offense to a little remark that wasn't even meant for her.

"Sasuke just let her see it!" Sakura insisted.

"That's not going to happen," Sasuke replied stubbornly.

Eri sighed, "Fine, I can't force you then… Guess I'll go make my report, you guys can leave for the arena where everyone is gathering just follow the hallway and it's through a huge set of double doors on your right, see ya," she said then left the team alone. It only took a few minutes before she heard the girl chasing her and calling her again. Already annoyed with her Eri stopped in her tracks "Look pinky I-" but when she turned to see the girl was fighting back tears she froze. Did she really make her cry?

"Pl-Please… Eri-san… Sasuke's hurt… that mark or bruise or whatever it is has been hurting him ever since he got it and I don't want him to suffer with it… Is there a way to get you to examine him…?" she begged.

Eri stared at the girl for a minute. "I-I'm sorry, but I probably know that boy better then you do. It will take nothing short of strapping him to a table for me to be able to examine him," she said, but seeing that wasn't comforting the girl she sighed. "But… I guess… I can… talk with the officials if that mark is such a concern…" she offered.

"You would?" she asked.

"Yeah…"

"Thank you!" she said letting her eyes clear of the tears that were threatening to fall.

"It's no problem… I guess," Eri muttered as the girl went back to her team. Once she turned to keep walking she bumped into a silver haired boy that looked about her age.

"Well hello maybe you can help us?" he said with a gentle smile. Eri only looked at him and who she guessed were his teammates since they all wore similar clothing, she hadn't seen them before.

"I might…"

"Where are the genin gathering? I'm afraid we're lost," he admitted.

"Um back where you came, there's a large double door on your right," Eri said, "Um were you checked by any of the medical corps?"

"Thank you and no we weren't, but thank you for your concern, you see I'm practiced in the medical arts myself so we are taken care of," he smiled.

"Al-Alright then…" Eri said blushing slightly. With a wave he followed his teammates back according to Eri's instructions. Sighing Eri made her way back to the medical corps room to see what else would be needed of her.

"Eri!"

The kunoichi turned to the purple haired woman that was calling her name, any greeting Eri would have come up with was caught in her throat once she saw how serious the special Jounin was. "Y-Yes Anko-san?" she asked worried she had made some sort of error.

"Did you treat a boy by the name of Uchiha Sasuke?" Anko demanded gripping the younger woman's shoulders.

"I-I took a look at him, b-but he refused to let me examine him" Eri replied nervous about Anko's apparent unease.

"Was there anything unusual about him? Did you see a mark on him when you saw him?" Anko asked quickly.

"H-He didn't let me examine him…" Eri repeated. Anko made a frustrated sigh and let the medical ninja go. "But he did have a strange mark near the back of his neck, when I tried to look at it he slapped my hand away and refused to let me take another glance…" Eri added.

"Can you describe it to me? Eri this is very important so please tell me what it looked like," the purple haired woman pleaded.

"Well…" Eri didn't know how she could describe it so she asked for a minute then glanced inside the closest room. Finding a pad of paper with a pencil she went back to Anko then used the best of her ability to do a quick sketch of the mark she had seen. Anko cursed under her breath seeing what the girl had drawn.

"He really did do it…" she muttered before she hurried off.

"Anko-san! What is it!" Eri called after her, but the elder kunoichi had already disappeared around a corner. Eri sighed to herself, worried she had blown her chances at being a Chunin by not examining the Uchiha boy. A hand gripped her shoulder and she looked to see Jin's serious demeanor. "I blew it didn't I?" she asked sounding crestfallen.

Jin blinked at her then shook his head. "It's nothing you would have known about," he replied.

"What's going on then?"

"That is classified, be on stand-by at the arena. It seems they are going through with the preliminaries so you'll be needed."

"The preliminaries?" Eri asked.

"You'll find out when you get there." And with that Jin left.

Confused by the change in the examiners Eri made her way to the arena in time for the Hokage to start addressing the candidates. Eri sighed and leaned against the wall as she listened to the speech through the creak in the door next to her. She blinked and looked at it when the talking has ceased and she heard someone coming towards the door. The silver haired boy from before came through the doors with an odd expression on his face, once he saw her though he smiled.

"Well hello there, didn't expect to see you again," he said.

"Well, same here," Eri replied blushing slightly. Kabuto gave her a look that seemed almost sweet. "Um so… why aren't you in there with the other Genin?"

"Oh that," Kabuto said sounding disinterested, "Well the preliminaries are a bit tough and I'm simply not at my best currently, so best be on the safe side."

"You gave up?" Eri stated.

Kabuto chuckled a bit, "You make it sound like it was a cowardly thing to do."

"Well…"

"Is it a wise chose to go running into a life and death battle when you're at a complete disadvantage?"

"I suppose that makes sense…"

Kabuto gave her another smile, "I'm glad you see things my way. Oh how rude of me, my name is Kabuto Yakushi. What might yours be?"

Eri blushed a bit deeper, "Oh I'm sorry it slipped my mind as well. My name is Eri, Eri Sincera."

"Eri Sincera? I see. Well I hope to be seeing you around, it's not often I see other talented medical ninja that are of my own age."

The comment made Eri blush again, "W-Well I didn't examine you or your comrades so I don't know how you can be calling me talented without seeing what I can do…"

Kabuto looked at her like he was amused. "I can sense the talent in you, though it would be nice to see what you can do. I must be going now, but again I hope to bump into you at another time," he said with a wave then went on his way down the hall.

"Same here…" Eri whispered as she watched him leave. With a blush Eri shook her head and smacked her cheeks a bit with the palms of her hands. "Keep it together Sincera, it was just some guy that happens to be nice and in the same profession as you," she muttered to herself realizing her conversation with Kabuto had distracted her from her assignment. She glanced into the room where all the Genin were and saw that the first battle must have begun since only Sasuke and one of Kabuto's companions were in the middle while everyone else were up on the second level observing the battle. Hearing footsteps she looked away and saw other medics had arrived so they could provide a quick response in case the battle got ugly and someone was in need of medical assistance.

A minute later Jin arrived so Eri walked over to him to further inquire on her duties involving the preliminaries. He explained that she would be responsible for being the first on the scene once the battle was declared over and then give orders to the other medics accordingly. After he finished explaining two medics went into the room with a stretcher, he looked at the medics then gave Eri a nod of dismissal. Eri nodded back then went into the room and went over to the body where the other medics were standing; it seemed that Kabuto's companion was the loser in this battle. After using her pulse technique Eri concluded his life was not in danger and was simply unconscious, the other medics nodded and took him away by stretcher. Eri glanced at Sasuke as another medic went to talk with him and a man with a mask and spiky silver hair. Eri faintly recognized the man since he seemed to be around her brother when she was younger. After insisting that he'd care for Sasuke the man glanced at her in mild interest then lead the boy though the doors. Sasuke seemed to have his hand over where she had seen the mark. Eri frowned a bit watching them go, what was up with that strange mark?

With the two competitors cleared of the arena Eri decided to leave so she wouldn't be in the way of the next battle, but she continued to wonder about what had to have happened, why was some strange bruise causing such a commotion? She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't even noticed the familiar presence behind her until an arm wrapped around her neck and she felt pain in her scalp.

"Heya sis, how many ninja have you accidently killed so far?" Yoichi asked with a grin as he gave his beloved sister a noogie.

"Yoichi!" Eri protested trying to pull away from him. Yoichi chuckled and let Eri out of his grasp. Eri coughed a bit and rubbed her neck, "Jerk, what are you doing here?"

"Hmmm… I don't feel like telling you," he smiled poking her leaf-band.

"Why not?" Eri pouted.

"Cause you have stuff you need to do and I just came over to say hi," he said then he noticed how tired his sister looked, but his carefree grin never left his face, "Don't worry after the preliminaries everyone gets a month before the final exam so you'll get a break as well… maybe…"

"Maybe?" his sister asked.

"Only maybe," he repeated in a sing songy voice.

"Great…" Eri muttered. Yoichi smiled and messed with her hair.

"Hey just get through today alright? I'll see you at home I really gotta get going."

"What for?" she asked.

"Why? Do you want me to stick around?" Yoichi teased. Eri stared at him for a minute.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Yoichi chuckled and nodded, "Good luck to you," he said before putting his hands in his pockets and walking off. Eri smiled a bit watching her elder brother walk off. Yoichi might be a pain in the ass, but he always means well. The declaration of another winner signaled the medic that it was time to go on and check on the loser of the battle.

The outcome of the next couple of battles was of no real interest to her. The sound ninja she had patched up prior to the preliminaries had been defeated in his battle, and then there was an exceedingly long battle between the pink haired girl from team 7 and some blonde girl. A young brunette in a pink shirt who had lost her battle did take some damage to her back and side but Eri was able to sort her out before the next battle came to a close, her patient was another girl who was from the sound village but she was only knocked out. Naruto gave her a grin as she picked up the puppy that had been fighting Naruto along with his master. Eri returned the grin and gave him a small thumbs up before she went with the other medics. Before she did a young girl possessing eyes that Eri had learned to associate with the Hyuuga clan came forth with a small container of healing ointment for her comrade. Eri was a bit touched that the girl had so much concern for her teammate so she took it and wished her luck for her exams, oddly the girl blushed and stammered before going back into the stands. Eri shrugged it off then went to take the pup to where they were helping the injured so she could return in time for the outcome of the next battle.

The next two battles made Eri realize that some of these Genin were not above killing an opponent. When she came in to assess the outcome of the battle she saw the shy girl from before sprawled out on her back and coughing up blood. Other medics followed her and Eri quickly used her pulse technique to see the cause of the younger girl's distress. Her heart sunk when she felt all the damage that was inside the Hyuuga. Not even taking time to take a breath she began using her healing chakra to stabilize the girl enough to move her while the other medics crowded around her. Then following her orders they quickly took her to the emergency room but Jin stopped Eri from following them.

"Jin what are you doing?" she demanded.

"Eri your place is first response and nothing more, she is in more experienced hands now so get back there and wait for the outcome of the next battles," he ordered. Eri was about to argue but Jin gave her a glare that made her stand in place. Who knew this guy who had originally blushed whenever he spoke could command with such authority? Unable to think of an argument Eri muttered an apology then returned to the arena. The next one to go through the doors on the stretcher was a young boy with a bowl cut. Eri was almost sickened with the amount of damage that was done to him; it was unlikely he would ever be able to continue being a shinobi. She stabilized the boy then called one of the medics over to tell them the severity of the injuries. The man nodded then called the boy's sensei over to talk to him. The final battle was nothing serious; the loser was just knocked out, though he mumbled about food on the way out… Funny though, it made Eri laugh a little…

It was enough to say that Eri was mentally and physically exhausted when she finally made it home early in the morning the following day. Not even wanting to make the trip up the stairs she collapsed on the sofa and fell into a dreamless sleep. It felt like only a few minutes later that someone was nudging her, when she opened her eyes she saw Yoichi looking at her with a soft smile. Eri's body ached as she slowly sat up and saw it was past noon. Yoichi told her the only reason he woke her up was so she could shower and put more comfortable clothes on to sleep in. When Eri looked herself over she realized she was still in the medical corps uniform that had some blood spattered on it. She managed to drag herself up to her room and wash off all the blood and dirt that had been clinging to her skin since she had started in the Forest of Death.

Feeling better now that she was clean Eri felt her mind starting to work again. Throwing on a t-shirt and lounge pants she flopped down on her bed as something began nagging at the back of her mind. It didn't matter that she still felt tired; her mind was nagging at her and keeping her from being able to drift off again. Sighing in annoyance Eri rolled onto her stomach as she tried to figure out why she was feeling uneasy with something. For some reason Kenshin and Kikki flashed through her subconscious… did it have something to do with them? Eri thought about her encounter with the wolves, they did bring to light why her bloodline was how it was… but what was this ritual they spoke of?

Huffing a bit Eri sat up and bit her thumb until it bled, it wouldn't hurt to ask right? Taking her bleeding thumb she pulled up her shirt and rubbed her birthmark. "Alright Kikki… lets see what you know…" she muttered thinking of the female as she sent chakra to her birthmark.

With a poof of smoke the wolf appeared next to her bed making Eri jump back in surprise. Kikki took up more room then Eri thought she would… not that Eri actually expected her to come.

"You summoned me my lady?" Kikki asked looking at the surprised girl. The bright yellow eyes that stood out from her white fur coat glittered in amusement seeing the medical ninja so shocked.

"I-I didn't expect it to work…" Eri said feeling the need to explain herself as she got off her bed.

"We told you what to and it seems you did as you were told, so why wouldn't it work?" Kikki asked. Eri blushed looking embarrassed.

"W-Well I just didn't know if I was doing it right!" she replied. Kikki seemed to chuckle a bit.

"So you only summoned me to see if you were able to summon correctly?" she asked.

"Not exactly…"

"Then tell me of how I can be of assistance."

"Tell me about the ritual, the one my parents did to restrengthen the Sincera bloodline in me, when… Mom was pregnant with me…"

Kikki stared at her for a minute before she replied, "I'm afraid I cannot…"

Eri looked at her a bit shocked, "But… why not?

"We are forbidden to talk of it," Kikki said as if she was stating a fact.

"But I'm your master; I can command you to tell me, right?"

Again with the wolfish chuckle. "My apologies my lady but the information you seek is something that shouldn't be known, your own father forbade us from ever telling you on the day of the ritual," Kikki explained.

"What does my father have to do with anything? I want to know so I order you to tell me Kikki," Eri demanded. The wolf's demeanor did not change.

"We are your summons, not your slaves dear girl; I suggest you learn that before you cause any friction between us. Now as I have said before, we are forbidden to speak of the ritual so unfortunately you will never learn the information you seek from me or Kenshin."

"Why is it forbidden?" Eri asked.

"Your father didn't want you to know I imagine," Kikki mused.

"What didn't he want me to know? Can you give me a hint? Anything?" Eri pleaded.

Kikki gazed that the girl still looking amused, "Very well, tell me what your feelings on riddles are?"

Eri looked at her looking slightly confused. "They're tricky I guess…"

"Well here is one for you, I'll only tell you it once so listen carefully."

Eri leaned in a bit, "Alright…"

"How can one bathe in one's own life blood… and live?"

With that Kikki disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a bewildered Eri to ponder on her riddle.

[Wow another update in how long folks? _ and before any one asks 'where's tobi?' you can hopefully see that this is the longest chapter I've ever written so he WILL be in the next chapter just be patient with me guys ^_^ thanks for favoriteing this story and all the reviews~!]