AN: To those of you who have been reading this story, I say thank you. To those who have read but not reviewed, I ask you to please review. The opinions of my readers are impotant to me and I try to take them into consideration as I write. So again I ask that you R&R. I took a couple of liberties with one particular character in this chapter, but I'll let you read for yourself. Enjoy.

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Kosuke sat up abruptly in the bed he was laying in, hopeing it had all been a bad dream. He was breathing heavy and his heart was racing. "Woah, calm down." a voice said. As Kosuke's eyes completely focused, he turned his head in the direction of the voice with a look of genuine fear on his face. "Kakashi..."

"How are you feeling? I heard it was a hard battle. Was it your brother?" he asked. Kosuke simply nodded. "So it wasn't a dream, it was a nightmare come true." he remarked. "True. Though you lost, were you able to tell who was with your brother?" Kosuke shook his head. He wondered about that himself, but he still couldn't figure out who it was.

"Well, can you stand up, can you move? Lord Hokage wants to speake to you as soon as you can move." Kosuke nodded and stood up, a little wobbly at first, but he could stand. Less than half an hour later, Kosuke stood before Sarutobi. "So, explain to me in detail about last night's events." Kosuke took a moment to recollect the events of the night prior and decided what to tell and what not to tell.

He decided his little scuffle with Neji wasn't of importance. "I was on my way home last night when I saw a figure dressed in black bridge the gap between two roof tops. He was torching Konoha. When I finally caught up to him, he was preparing to take the head of his target, who was a young genin." Sarutobi nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"I urged him not to do it. He glanced up at me, then turned his head to see whom I believe was my brother. In that briefe moment where my brother's new apprentice seemed torn between a concept of right and wrong, the genin retaliated, trying to escape. But my brother's apprentice lashed back with a swift slash to the genin's neck."

"So they collected the head and made off then?" Sarutobi asked. "Yes, and I would have caught them but my seal was activated." Kosuke replied, pointing to the seal on his forehead with a thumb. "You must understand. Given your status, we had no way of knowing whether or not you were involved. I ordered Hiashi Hyuga to activate your seal."

"I understand." Kosuke said in a defeated tone. "But didn't you leave something out?" Sarutobi asked. Kosuke jerked his head upward to face Sarutobi and tried to keep his eyes from widening. "What do you mean, Lord Hokage?" he asked. "Apparently, Neji is prejudiced against you for what you have done in the past. Gai knew this, and when Neji confided to him that he knew the truth of your past, Gai began to question him.

"Eventually Neji admitted that you and him had had a fight last night, is that correct?" Sarutobi asked. "Yes sir, absolutely." Kosuke replied in shame. "Why did you omit that from you report?" he asked. "First I didn't think it was that important to mention or that it had anything to do with my brother and what he's doing. I also didn't want to get Neji in trouble."

"Neji is already in a bit of trouble because he acted on prejudice and never thought to leave it to the proper authorities. While it is admirable that you would think of the livelihood of a fellow ninja, you omitted information on your report. It's almost the same as lying and can cause distrust. It would be in your best interest to avoid doing it again."

"Lord Hokage, while I understand how you must feel on the situation, this time around, Neji beat me because I had no knowledge of his techniques. Now, I know how he fights. And if he comes at me again in vindication, I will defend myself." Sarutobi narrowed his eyes almost into a glare. "Listen Kosuke, just because he attacks does not give you the right to defend. He is only a genin. You are a former ANBU operative.

"Do you honestly think it would be a fair fight?" Kosuke nodded his head. "But even you must know how talented Neji is. If I let my guard down around him, he could kill me. Of course that's not to say I wouldn't use my jutsu to help him heal faster, but as I said before, if he attacks, I will do everything in my power to defend myself without harming him."

Sarutobi sighed audibly. "You are quite stubborn aren't you?" he asked rhetorically. "Forgive my insolence. But unfortunately, the only person in Konoha who could defeat Kosuke is me. I can't say with certainty that the Black Zodiac is the deadliest art in all the world, but I can say that it far surpasses anything this village has to offer.

Also, please don't take offense to that statement. There are certainly some great ninja in Konoha. When the time comes that Kosuke attacks again, I will count on the ninja of this village for back up and support." Sarutobi let that hang in the air for a moment before speaking again.

"Can you say for certain that your brother will attack again?" he asked. "No, I can't. But if there is something he wants here, it is certain. If we can find out what his motives and objectives are, we will be better equipped to deal with him. The only problem is I don't know where he got to."

"Very well. I'll order ANBU patrols to cover areas of the forest surrounding Konoha. In the meantime, an itemized list of the Black Zodiac's techniques would be quite handy. Write them down and deliver them to me at our next meeting. Understood?" Kosuke nodded and bowed deeply to show his respect. "Yes, Lord Hokage."

"Dismissed." Kosuke turned to leave, as did Kakashi, but Sarutobi waited until Kosuke was out of earshot to call him back. "Kakashi, I would like your take on all of this. What do you think of everything thus far?" he asked.

"Well, if you want my honest opinion, I don't think Kosuke had anything to do with last night's attack. The evidence strongly points to his brother and a few of the villagers whitnessed Kosuke battle with a ninja in black. That supports Kosuke's theory."

Sarutobi nodded his agreement and paused for a brief moment before continuing. "Still, I want Kosuke to be kept under close watch. Is that understood?" he asked. "Uh, well, I sort of anticipated training Sasuke for the Chunin exam finals. He is after all one of our best ninja." Sarutobi nodded. "Very well then. I'll get someone else to work on it."

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Sasuke awoke from the nightmare he was having with a deep sense of fear. Jinta, who was already awake, was a bit peaved by it. "Calm down, would you?" he said. "I can't help it. I keep seeing those damn monsters!" Sasuke retorted. "Those damn monsters will give you the power you so crave. Don't forget that."

Sasuke stood up and streatched with a yawn. "I know that. But still, it was incredibly disturbing, seeing them in person. They are fearsome, and I am certain their techniques are equally fearsome. The Black Zodiac will make me one of the most feared ninjas around."

"Not if you don't study, it woun't. Just remember, there will come a time when I will need your help." Jinta said. "I don't know I'm still confused. I don't completely understand my role in all of this." Sasuke replied. "You will know in time. Just remember to keep studying that book I gave you. And don't forget to study in solitude.

"Should anyone, especially Kosuke, learn that you are now a student of the Black Zodiac, my plans will all be ruined. Now, what will you do today?" he asked. "I was useless in the Chunin exam preliminaries thanks to Orochimaru's curse seal. I'll just have to see what Kakashi might have for me."

Jinta smirked sadistically. "Yes, go to your sensei and become as strong as you possibly can. I will need you to be as strong as possible." Sasuke scoffed. "I know that already." he replied. "Then get going." Sasuke nodded and headed off deeper into the woods in search of Kakashi.

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As Kakashi was climbing up an almost vertical rock face he looked up to stare into the eyes of Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke offered him a hand to help him up and Kakashi pulled himself up. "Well, I must say, I was expecting you to come looking for me much sooner." Kakashi remarked. "I was busy. And these damn wounds didn't make things any better." Sasuke replied.

"I can understand that. And how's the curse seal?" Kakashi asked. "Has it been acting up sense I sealed it for you?" Sasuke shook his head. "No. I haven't had any trouble with it lately." he replied. "Excelent. Because you're going to need your Sharingan for this training.

While Sasuke trained with Kakashi, Kosuke returned to Naruto's appartment to shower and change his clothes. When he was done with his shower, he dressed in his red yukata, tied his hair back with his headband, and strapped his sword onto his back. He decided he would write the list of Black Zodiac techniques Sarutobi had asked for then leave to find Naruto.

As he finished with the list, Kosuke was suddenly overwhelmed by hunger. Then, he realized hadn't eaten since lunch the day before. He went into the kitchen to find something to eat, but all he found was Ramen and energy drinks. "He really needs to broaden his tastes." Kosuke mumbled as he prepared a bowl of instant Ramen then sat down to enjoy his brunch before leaving the appartment.

Anko watched with less enthusiasm then Shikamaru as Kosuke left the appartment. "Damn that old goat, why did he have to choose me to fill in for Kakashi?" she remarked to herself. She resigned herself to her feelings with a sigh, thinking at least it beat boredom. True she was the only other Jounin not on a mission at the moment and she didn't have a squad.

She logged in her note book the time Kosuke left below the time he arrived at the appartment, tucked it away in her pocket, then followed after Kosuke. Kosuke moved through the forest, searching for the spot where Naruto and Jiraiya had been training. "You got it wrong again!" Jiraiya scolded.

"You can stop spying on me." Kosuke remarked. Anko jumped, fearing her cover had been blown, but then she saw Neji step out from the shadows. "The old man told me about this situation." She remarked as she took note of the event that was about to unfold. "I don't want a fight." Kosuke said. "It is in my best interest to avoid any conflicts."

"Shut up! I still can't forget about what you have done. Last time we got a bit distracted with that attack. And by the way, how can we be sure you didn't orchestate that attack and then act as though you were defending the village?" Kosuke sighed. "Neji, you can think what you want, but the bottom line is this: the Hokage trusts me, and I trust him."

Also, as I have already stated, I don't want to fight, but if you leave me with no choice, I must defend. And before you act without thinking, also consider that I have seen your technique. You will be easier to read." Neji clenched his fist in frustration. "Damn you, you think you're so smart. I don't care if you want to avoid a fight or not. For what you have done, you can only attone in blood."

Neji attacked, using the Gentle Fist. Kosuke could see it coming from a mile away. Kosuke fell back into the stance of the Lotus style to block the oncoming attack. But Neji still managed to strike a point that shut off chakra flow to his right arm. "There, now you can't for hand seals." He remarked with a smug look.

Kosuke brought up his left hand and formed half of the seal for the the Pilgrimess while a hand of chakra seemed to appear from just below his right arm to complete the seal. "Black Zodiac, Pilgrimess." Neji watched in shock as the chakra flow on Kosuke's right arm suddenly returned. "How did you do that? That has to be a kekei genkai."

Kosuke had a blank look on his face, surprised that a genin of Neji's abilities didn't know. "It's not a kekei genkai. Anyone with good enough chakra control can do it. You are good Neji, but no genin could do that. And since you're so fast..." Kosuke flew through a few hand seals and activated a ninjutsu he hadn't used in quite a wile.

"Time Restrainment Jutsu." Neji could feel himself slow significantly. "What the hell is wrong with me?" he thought. "This technique is intended to slow you down. Neji, I will give you the option again to walk away. I don't want to fight." Neji tried to push through the ninjutsu that was slowing him down and attacked, striking with his left hand.

Kosuke blocked the attack, ducking under the arm and inverting the elbow with a single strike. Neji screamed in pain. "I have inverted your elbow in self defense. I say again, I do not wish to fight you." Neji turned and attacked in anger. Kosuke first took control of his wrist then his shoulder, inverting his right elbow with a single strike and then ducking under the arm for a takedown.

"I didn't want to do this, but you forced me to defend myself. Now if you will lie still, I will fix those elbows and heal any other damage." Neji simply nodded. "I personally have nothing against you, so maybe if you can set aside your differences, we can get along." Neji screamed in pain as Kosuke fixed the right elbow. "I just have one question." Neji said.

"What's that?" Kosuke asked as he fixed the left elbow. Again Neji screamed in pain. "What was it that you did that they would have wanted to execute you for?" Kosuke then healed him with the Pilgrimess technique. "I was doing what I was told to do. You see, at the time, I was to be the next head of my clan. Part of the requirements for that is that I had to be a Black Zodiac master.

"Part of the training for the Black Zodiac was to visit each of the hidden villages, set fire to them, and take one life. When I was younger, I actually enjoyed killing. But I got tired of killing just because someone else said that person needed to die. That's why I turned my back on my village. In hindsight, I actually fed them to the wolf."

"Your brother you mean?" Neji asked. "Yes. My brother was powerful and blood thirsty, and he was also jealous of my position as heir. He thought I was weak, but I was the older brother, and because of that I had the first rights to the position." Neji paused for a moment, then said "Your point?"

"My point is, I don't know what my brother wants to do, or what he has done in my absence the last year." Kosuke explained. "I don't know if it means anything to you, but I did some looking into it, and the name of the woman you killed was Kushina Uzumaki. The name doesn't really ring a bell for me." Neji sighed. "Well, I'll get going then."

It took a moment for it to sink in, but Kosuke came to the realization that he had probably killed Naruto's mother. This brought a great deal of guilt to him, but he still knew he couldn't tell Naruto. It wasn't his place. Besides, if Naruto found out that his mother had been murdered, he would release the full rath of the nine-tailed fox.

Deciding to push passed the guilt, he leapt into the tree, crashing into Anko and knocking her out of the tree. As soon as he came to his senses, he realized his head was burried in her chest and leaned up for air. He then realized he was stradling her hips. "Gah sorry, sorry!" he said rolling off of her and standing up. "Oh you are a dirty boy." Anko teased.

"Wait a second, you were spying on me? So I guess Kakashi must have the day off, eh?" Anko scoffed. "More like I was forced into this task because he had a student to train for the chunin exams." Then something occoured to Kosuke. "Wait a second. If I could sense Kakashi, why couldn't I sense you?" he asked. "All women have a certain subltety that men simply can't match."

"You're about as subtle as Naruto." he remarked. "Oh like you're any more subtle than me. You should be ashamed of yourself, touching one of your students like that." Kosuke had a blank expression on his face. "And I suppose you're going to tell me what you mean by that?" Anko grabbed one of his hand and pressed the palm against one of her breasts.

Automatically Kosuke's fingers twitched and wrapped around Anko's breast. "Heh heh...Soft..." Then it hit him like a sledge hammer. "Wait a second you were spying on us while we were training? I thought only Kakakshi was there." Anko smiled. "I got bored, so I decided to spy on Kakashi." she explained. "What the hell is with all this racket?"

Jiraiya came walking through the brush with Naruto just a few feet behind him. Jiraiya's eyes had widened into large pupiless orbs. "Anko, can I join too please?" he asked, his fingers wigling in front of him as he drew closer. Anko took Kosuke's hand from her breast, gripping his wrist almost tight enough to crush it. "That's enough" she said.

"And you get away from me, you old geezer." she yelled at Jiraiya. "Ah, Anko, don't be so mean." Naruto, at that moment came up with a really funny prank and transformed into Sexy. "Ooh Kosuke, why are you cheating on me?" Anko scoffed. "Ugh, you guys are perverts, I'm outa here." Naruto's sexy jutsu gave her the oprotunity to get away.

Naruto transformed back into his normal form after seeing Kosuke and Jiraiya's reactions to his sexy jutsu. "She's right. You guys are pathetic." he turned around and went back to his training. Kosuke and Jiraiya glanced at eachother and shrugged.

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At the end of the day, Sasuke and Kakashi had finished their training. "So, you limit is two. You can only use the Chidori twice in a single day. Remember, don't try to push it passed that. You could end up dead." Kakashi cautioned. "Yeah, I know. Well, perhaps we should call it a night." Sasuke suggested.

"Well I thought about meeting back up with the rest of the team for dinner. If I know Naruto, he want to go to Iciraku's. Ramen sounds pretty good right now." Kakashi replied. "I don't know...I do still have to finish up with my training for the evening." he said. "But you just said we should stop for the night."

"Sometimes I like to work on the basics in the evening. But come to think of it, yeah ramen does sound pretty good. One hour, Ichiraku's. See you there." Meanwhile, Naruto and Jiraiya were just finishing their training as well. "Aww man am I wiped. I can't believe I summoned Gamabunta." Jiraiya's face paled. "Yeah I can't believe it either.

Kosuke had been content to simply sit and watch, offering help whenever he could. The passed almost entirely without incident (The appearances of Anko and Gamabunta being the only exceptions). "Yeah! Time for a piping hot bowl of Ichiraku ramen. "Does this kid ever think about anything besides Ramen?" Kosuke and Jiraiya asked out loud in unison.

On the way back to the village, Sasuke stopped at a secluded spot and waited patiently for about ten minuets. "Does he suspect you?" a voiced finally asked. It was Jinta. "No, I don't think so. I've made plans to get together with my team for dinner. After that, I'm going to go home and train." Sasuke explained. "Excellent. We must remain hidden until the right time."

"But I believe the Hokage suspects you." Jinta lifted his eyebrows in response. "I suspected he would after the little scuffle with my brother last night. Not to worry though, Lord Orochimaru will take care of him. That is a battle neither of us can get involved in. Lord Orochimaru, his sound ninja, and Kabuto will all handle that task.

"Very well then. I leave you to your training." Sasuke nodded and continued along the path he was traveling. Meanwhile, Kakashi managed to find the spot where Naruto and Jiraiya had been training and realized something big had gone down from the looks of it. "Looks like they just left. Great, I should be able to catch them." he mumbled to himself before heading on.

About ten minuets later, Kakashi could see he was gaining on them. "Naruto!" He called out. "Oh, hey Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto greeted. "So where are you three heading to?" he asked. "The pervy sage and I were just about to get something to eat from Ichiraku's." he replied. "Well what a coincidence. So am I. Sasuke said he would meet us there."

"Man, I hope Sakura will be there." Naruto said. He knew it was wishful thinking. Sakura had been depressed about not having anyone to train with. But then she didn't really need to train. Her and Ino had faught eachother to a draw and were both eliminated. To kill her depression, she had spent the day helping Ino at the Yamanaka flower shop.

"Hey Ino, that's the last of them." Sakura said as she set the flower pot down. "All right. I'm locking up." Ino responded. Sakura helped Ino clean up and lock up the shop before following her out. "Aww man, I'm starving." Ino said. "Yeah, me too." Sakura responded. "I kind of wanted to go eat with my team. They're probably eating at Ichiraku's tonight."

Ino thought about that for a moment then said "Actually, ramen does sound pretty good." Naruto and the others were the first to arive at the ramen shop. The four of them took a seat and began going over the menu as Ayame went to get their orders. "Good evening. What can I get you to drink?" she asked. Naruto ordered tea while the adults ordered sake, Jiraiya taking his hot.

About that time, Sasuke showed up. "Sasuke!" Sakura said as she caught sight of him. Sasuke sighed. He could tell by her tone what she had on her mind. Of course, Sakura's voice caught Naruto's attention. "Hey Sakura, what's going on?" Naruto greeted. "Hey Naruto." Sakura replied. Maybe she was in a better mood than normal.

Sakura, clinging to Sasuke as usual, took a seat next to him. Ino, on the other hand, decided to sit next to Kosuke. She still couldn't figure out why, but she felt herself drawn to him, despite the fact that he was three years older than her. "Hey Kosuke." She greeted with a smile. Kosuke returned the smile and said "Ino, right?"

"Yup." Kosuke took a sip of his sake and asked "So what did you do today?" Ino sighed. "Work." she said. "Wasn't anything else I could do. My team didn't have any missions and I didn't have to train for the exam since I was eliminated." Kosuke nodded, took another drink, and said "What do you do for work?" A brief moment passed as Ino drank from her glass of tea.

"I work at my family's flower shop." she answered. "I see. So your a flourist." Ino giggled at how professional he made her job sound. "It's really not such a big deal. People order arrangements and I put them together. It's all pretty simple." she explained. "Really? I heard that there are meanings behind certain flowers."

"Well, that's true. There are also meanings in the arrangements. For instance, red roses usually mean love." she explained. "So which are your favorite?" he asked. "Flowers you mean? I really like lillies." Kosuke smiled, downed what was left of his sake, held up his cup and said "Hey Ayame, when you get a chance, please?"

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By the time dinner had been served and everyone had eaten their fill, an ANBU approached the noodle stand and spoke to Kosuke. "Lord Hokage wishes to speak with you immediately. Naruto stood up as if he were going to follow but the ANBU stopped him. "Kosuke only. No one else." he said. "Oh, ok. Hey Kosuke, I'll see you when you get home." Kosuke nodded and the two ninja flashed away.

A few minuets later, Kosuke stood in front of the Hokage. Counted amoung present company were Hiashi and Neji Hyuga. Anko was also present. "I'm willing to bet you know what this is about. Don't you Kosuke?" the Hokage asked. Kosuke nodded. "Then perhaps we could get your account." Kosuke nodded and began with the start of his day.

"I got up this morning, ate, and went to see how Naruto was doing on his training. But before I got there, I realized I was being followed. I knew it was Neji. I told him he could stop spying on me and come out of hiding. Neji insisted on fighting. I tried to avoid it. Inevitably, he attacked, I defended. In the end, Neji ended up with two inverted elbows. I healed him of course."

Sarutobi nodded. "And has the feud finally been settled?" he asked. "With all due respect, Lord Hokage, that is up to Neji." Neji said "Lord Hokage, I have come to the conclusion that I was acting out of line. Perhaps I was too prideful, but whatever happens to Kosuke is not my business. You can consider this grudge I had with him settled."

"Excellent. Then now we have to look forward to the Chunin exam finals. Neji, perhaps you may want to take some time to train with Kosuke if you so choose. Kakashi claims he makes an excellent Taijutsu tutor." Sarutobi suggested. "Perhaps I will. Thank you, Lord Hokage." Neji replied. "Dismissed." The three of them turned to leave but Sarutobi called Kosuke back.

"Yes Lord Hokage?" he asked. "Aren't forgeting something?" Sarutobi asked. Kosuke nodded and handed Sarutobi the scroll with the list of techniques from the Black Zodiac. "Excellent. Maybe some of these can be countered. We'll have to look into it. And then there's the matter of Anko's claim of sexual harassment."

Kosuke's eyes bulged out. "What?! No, that's not it. She took my hand and put it on...her..." Sarutobi narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Uh, she made me touch her." he responded. "Yeah, but you didn't let go either." Anko remarked. "Yeah, but...uh..." Anko and Sarutobi started laughing hysterically at Kosuke's reaction.

"Relax. I'm not really claiming sexual harassment Kosuke. Man you're so dense. Ha ha...That was hillarious." Kosuke suddenly put on an exhausted look. "Glad you two could enjoy a laugh at my expense. I suppose I could consider this my punishment for fighting with Neji, huh?" Sarutobi laughed again. "Indeed. Both of you are dismissed."