"Are you two alright?" Haru asked, holding out his hand to take Usagi's. He smirked, making her blush as she was helped to her feet. Yoshi helped Kioko up as well. Her eyes lowered. He almost looks like Ronin-sensei, except younger and without the scar, she noted.

"We're fine," Kioko answered sometime later, turning to Usagi. Neither one of them had any serious injuries.

"Good." Yoshi smiled, relieved. Usagi and Kioko looked around, but Kaiya and the third member of the Taki team were nowhere to be seen. "Looking for your friend?" Yoshi questioned. The girls nodded. He pointed into the deeper part of the forest, where Team 11 had come from trying to escape the Kusa woman lying before them. "She's being treated by Sora in a secluded area outside the barrier." He turned to his brother, giving him a nod. "Alright bro, release the barricade." Haru frowned for a moment, before raising his arms, lowering them again. The lightning dissipated, and once again, it was quiet.

"We should go, just in case," Haru suggested. Yoshi nodded. They turned to Kioko and Usagi, who shared a look. They turned back to the other two, and the four of them disappeared.

"Why'd you guys save us?" Usagi wondered, after getting over the shock of the past few minutes. "We don't even know you." Haru nodded, a small smile on his face.

He turned to Yoshi. "Brother, why don't you explain?" The boy shrugged.

"I guess I'll have to, since it was my idea," he decided, rubbing the back of his neck as he chuckled. "Well, we just happened to come across this fight looking for a team to take a scroll from. When we realized it was between you guys and those creepy Grass ninjas, we decided to help… Well, I proposed that we should, anyway. We saw the interaction between that woman and the proctor before the Exam started. We made a decision to be wary of her and her team should we cross them. But I wasn't about to stand by and watch her kill some defenseless team, especially since you guys looked so young—besides that, what's the harm in saving a few damsels in distress?" He smirked playfully, making Kioko frown. "I talked Haru and Sora into it, and they agreed because…well, it didn't seem like they were trying to take your scrolls from you."

Usagi nodded. She honestly didn't care why they helped; she was just thankful they had.

"Well, thank you, regardless of the reason," she said. "But even so…there are no rules out here; everyone is an enemy. Why would it matter to someone like you if they were after our scroll or not?" Yoshi smirked.

"You sure ask a lot of questions," he pointed out. They came to a stop as they caught sight of a square, blue barrier a few feet away. Inside were Kaiya and Sora, who seemed to be treating her with medical ninjutsu.

"A medical ninja?" Kioko inquired. Yoshi nodded.

"Yep. Sora here is one of the best medical ninjas in Taki. I'm glad she's with us on this mission." Usagi's eyes narrowed.

"Mission?" she repeated suspiciously. Haru glared at his brother for speaking out. Yoshi blushed, giving his brother a nervous chuckle as he held up his hands.

"Sorry, bro. Guess I let it slip." Haru sighed, shaking his head.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you two, since you've heard part of it already." They stood by the roots of the large tree next to Sora's barrier. "Yoshi and I have been assigned a very important mission from an anonymous source," he explained. "In reality, we are both Jonin from the Cloud. Our mission was to masquerade as Waterfall ninja and enter the Chunin Exams. This was in order to infiltrate the Hidden Leaf." Usagi and Kioko reached for their weapons. Yoshi and Haru reached out and grabbed each girl's wrist before they could. Yoshi laughed when he saw the surprise on their faces.

"What's wrong? Did our speed surprise you?" he asked sardonically. "But you guys were pretty quick to act. That's impressive." Usagi frowned.

"Just what the hell do you guys want from the Leaf?" Yoshi looked at the headband wrapped around her waist and Kioko's left arm. He nodded.

"Hmm, I see why you two are so alarmed—you're Leaf ninja. Well…that's good then." He chuckled. Usagi's stomach was in knots; she was distressed, tired, and confused. These guys didn't seem like they were serious about attacking Konoha. So what was their aim? "You guys should relax," he suggested, loosening his grip on Kioko. "We're here to help the Leaf, not to harm it. We're on your side." At hearing this, Usagi and Kioko's nerves calmed slightly. Yoshi and Haru released their grasps. Kioko pulled away from Yoshi, contemplating whether she should punch him in the face or not.

"So, are you gonna explain yourself?" she snapped, crossing her arms. "We can't wait all day for you to beat around the bush. We're in the middle of the damn Chunin Exams! You may already be Jonin, but we—"

"You're a feisty one," Yoshi stated, still smirking. Kioko stopped, snarling.

"Shut the hell up and answer the question!"

"Ok, ok," he said, holding up his hands in defense. "We can't give you too many details, since this is supposed to be a classified mission. But basically, we're watching for any suspicious behavior between the villages during the Exam. That's all you need to know. This anonymous source has Intel on all the participants and villages in the Chunin Exams. They find some of these participants suspicious, such as those Sound Village guys." Kioko's eyes lowered.

"Some guy named Ryoichi, who worked for Orochimaru, followed me. He said he was from the Sound Village, wherever that is."

"Hold the hell up," Kioko said, sticking her palm in Yoshi's face. He blinked. "We noticed those guys before the First Exam, but we didn't think anything of it. But forget about that…how does your anonymous source have access to all of our information?" Yoshi chuckled, taking Kioko's hand and lowering it back down. She frowned.

"Like I said before," he murmured, "you guys ask a lot of questions. Just think for a moment: If we're working for an anonymous source, do you think we have all the details? Even as Jonin, we don't know everything about the missions we're assigned. There's a reason this person stayed anonymous. As for what they reason is, it's probably because they know more than they should about all of the contestants for the Exam," he clarified. "Anyway, don't make me repeat myself again—this is a classified mission. We don't owe you any explanations. Just be thankful we saved your asses and move on."

"That's not the point," Usagi interceded, holding back Kioko as she tried to lunge at Yoshi's throat. "As shinobi of this village, we're entitled to protect it—Genin or not. We're very thankful you saved us and are helping our teammate, but you should at least tell us the suspicions about these Sound shinobi." She glanced at Kaiya, who was still being healed by Sora. "Kaiya was attacked and kidnapped by a Sound shinobi not too long ago," she told them. "He was taking her to a man named Orochimaru, but for what reason we don't know. And then, those Kusa ninjas attacked us twice and attempted to take off with Kaiya before the three of you intervened. If not the fact that our village is in danger—then at least for the fact that our teammate is—you should tell us what's going on."

Yoshi gave them a sympathetic look, turning back to his brother. Haru rolled his eyes and looked away, but nodded. Yoshi sighed.

"Fine, fine." His eyes lowered as he spoke. "You may not have noticed, but there is only one team from the Sound," he began. "That's highly unusual, even for a small village such as Taki or Kusa or Ame."

"Kabuto told us that the Sound appeared out of nowhere," she said. "It's a new village or something like that." Yoshi nodded.

"Yeah, the Sound is a small village just north of the Fire Country. How it was formed, who it was formed by, and what kind of people live there are still a mystery. We witnessed the fight between that Kabuto guy and the Sound shinobi earlier, which confirmed that they were definitely suspicious. Not only that, but the fact that your teammate was attacked and kidnapped by a Sound shinobi is alarming. But…the Sound isn't the only village raising suspicions, as you've learned firsthand." He turned back to look at Kaiya. Sora was almost done with her treatment, and he could see that she was beginning to twitch. She would be awake soon. "Tell me, what's this girl's name?" he wondered. "Well…what are all of your names?"

"I'm Kioko Saito. This is Usagi, and that girl in there is Kaiya Umachi." Yoshi's eyes lowered.

"I see," he muttered, closing his eyes for a moment. Haru lowered his head, pressing his lips together. "And you said those Kusa ninjas were after her as well?" Usagi and Kioko nodded. "In that case, it's worse than we thought, Brother." Haru nodded.

"What should we do?"

"We must report this to Katsu-sensei," he instructed. "She must be protected." Kioko's eyes lowered. A nauseating feeling in her stomach left her unsettled.

"Protected?" she repeated. "Who does Kaiya need protecting from?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Haru questioned. "Now stop with the questions. We cannot reveal any more of our mission to you." Usagi clenched her fists.

"You're here for Kaiya, aren't you?" she presumed. "You're here to make sure no one takes her. That's the real reason you saved us, isn't it?" Yoshi and Haru remained silent for a few moments.

"You're very intuitive," Yoshi pointed out, turning away. Usagi grabbed Yoshi's arm as he attempted to walk away. He looked back. "What is it?"

"Why are people after her? What does she have that they want?" Yoshi's eyes narrowed.

"Your friend's pretty special," he answered. "And so are you guys. Just watch your back from now on, got it? We'll be seeing you guys later." He reached into his bag and pulled out an Earth scroll. "Here…this'll make things easier for you." Kioko gritted her teeth.

"Wait…hold on a second! You guys are just giving us—"

"Don't worry about us. We have plenty," Haru explained, watching as Sora's barrier dissipated. She stood to her feet, joining her teammates. She was able to hear everything through the barrier, remaining silent. "We stocked up early on, so you don't have to concern yourselves with it. We're Jonin, remember?" Kioko frowned, turning to Kaiya, who was stirring.

"Your teammate should be your first priority," Yoshi recommended. "Don't let your guard down for anything, even after this Exam. Got it?" Usagi let out a sigh, nodding.

"You saved us, so I guess we really don't have a choice but to trust you," she remarked. "Thank you again." Haru, Yoshi, and Sora grinned, waving as they jumped into the treetops.

"It's our pleasure," Yoshi told her. "Oh, and by the way…" He turned to head toward the tower that would ensure they passed the Exam. "We didn't save you because of our mission." Usagi and Kioko smiled, and then the Taki team disappeared.

When they were gone, Kaiya groaned, struggling to sit up. Kioko and Usagi kneeled on either side of her. When she opened her eyes, she saw her teammates next to her.

Smiling, she said, "Hey, guys. What happened while I was out?" All she remembered was another headache and then blackness. Usagi let out a breath of relief.

"Don't worry about it; we'll explain later. Let's just get to the tower." Kaiya raised an eyebrow.

"Tower?" she repeated. "But don't we have to get an Ear—" Kioko held up the scroll Yoshi had given them. She smirked, waving it in her teammate's face.

"Done and done." Kaiya smiled.

"Sorry I couldn't be much of a help to you guys," she apologized, standing to her feet. "I've got to talk to Kakashi about these headaches. They appear at really inconvenient times." Usagi's eyebrows furrowed. So she has no idea what happened? Then she doesn't know what she is…looks like we won't be getting any answers from her.

"Forget about that. Let's just get to a gate before anything else happens."

…

"Crap…" Kioko groaned as they unfortunately stumbled upon a fight between two other teams. They were going to go around them, but after being saved by a team from another village, their guilt got to them. Not only that, but Kaiya thought she sensed Sasuke's and Naruto's chakras nearby. Her suspicions were confirmed when they spotted Sakura getting her ass handed to her by three older shinobi. So there they were, standing between Sakura and some kid with a distasteful bowl haircut, extremely bushy eyebrows, and a green jumpsuit—surrounded by three Sound ninjas.

Sound ninjas.

Crap! Not them! Usagi thought, biting her lip. She turned to Kaiya, who was only staring down at them with an expressionless look on her face. Come to think of it, she didn't say anything about them in the waiting room, when they attacked Kabuto.

"My name is Ryoichi. I am from the Hidden Sound Village, and I'm here to take you to my master."

Kaiya gritted her teeth, pulling out a kunai. The three foreign shinobi smirked sharing a look.

"She's the one," the bandaged man stated. "Which mission should we complete? Kill the boy, or take the girl?" The other male chuckled.

"How about both?" he suggested. "We can kill the rest of them right here, and when we're done, we can take the girl." Kaiya's eyes lowered, and she scoffed.

"Whatever the hell you're planning on doing, you can just forget it!" she shouted.

Sakura, who was caught in the Sound girl's grasp, grabbed at the dirt with her hands. Kaiya noticed it, waiting to see if she would do anything. She'd never thought of Sakura as strong. She had potential, and was far better than Kaiya at understanding and controlling chakra. But her goal was never to be a strong shinobi; her eyes had always been on Sasuke, and therefore she had never strived to be anything more than his girlfriend. For that reason—along with her bullying—Kaiya had never held her in high regard.

"Hn." The girl that kept Sakura at bay glowered at her. "Zaku, kill Sasuke in front of this girl," she told him. Zaku, the younger-looking male with the brown, spiky hair, smirked.

"So…let's do it, then. But first…" He raised his palms up to Usagi, Kioko, and Kaiya, who were waiting for him to move. All of a sudden, a high pitched sound invaded their ears, causing them to grit their teeth and squeeze their eyes shut.

Kaiya slammed her palms over her ears, as if that would keep the sound out. However, it just became worse, and she let out a cry of pain as she fell to her knees; her teammates shortly followed. Zaku smirked, stepping on Kaiya's back and pushing her body into the dirt. Her ears were bleeding.

"I don't know what makes Lord Orochimaru think you're so strong," he taunted. Kaiya wanted to say something, but the pain in her ears was unbearable; she was surprised she could even hear him speak over the high-pitched noise vibrating against her skull. "From what I've heard, you can't even protect yourself; someone's always coming to your rescue. Heh." He lowered his arm, and the noise finally ceased. However, Usagi, Kioko, and Kaiya were lying on the ground, defeated.

"Hmm. You should be more careful with Lord Orochimaru's merchandise," the other male suggested. "You could've killed her if you went on for another minute." Zaku scoffed.

"Yeah, right." He turned back to Sasuke and Naruto, who were unconscious. "Let's deal with this Sasuke guy first." He strolled over to his unconscious body, an evil smirk on his face. Sakura looked at Kaiya and her team's unconscious bodies, then back over to Zaku, who was inching his way toward her own teammates. She bit her lip, then pulled a kunai out of her weapons pouch.

The girl that held onto her hair laughed. "You won't be able to hurt me with that thing," she told her. Sakura grinned, averting her eyes to her captor.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, holding the kunai up. "Who said it was for you?" The Sound kunoichi's eyebrows creased in confusion, but before she had a chance to do anything, Sakura cut her hair with the kunai, releasing herself from her clench, knocking her backwards. She then stood to her feet and clenched her fists.

Everyone…I want to become like you guys. This time…get a good look at my back!

"Kin, kill her!" Zaku shouted, turning around. The said girl jumped into action as Sakura made hand seals. When Kin collided with Sakura, it turned out to be a substitution. Zaku scoffed and prepared to attack her.

As Sakura battled the Sound shinobi by herself, Kaiya, who wasn't yet fully unconscious, managed to open her eyes. She watched as Sakura did what she could to protect her comrades. Even though she didn't have much skill, she was holding up well against Zaku. And if the situation hadn't been as serious as it was, Kaiya would've laughed when Sakura tackled him to the ground and gripped onto his arm with her teeth.

Sakura…you're such an idiot. But…a brave idiot. Kaiya grinned, trying to find the strength to get up.

"Damn it, let go!" Zaku shouted, shaking Sakura as hard as he could, punching her consistently in the face. She wouldn't budge. She was getting her ass beat, but she was still holding on. Kaiya struggled even more to stand. Got to help…Sakura, she thought, gritting her teeth. Can't let these guys hurt her…can't…let her die!

At last, Sakura couldn't hold on anymore. Zaku finally managed to break loose of her hold on his arm, thrashing her into the ground. Kaiya's eyes widened when Sakura managed to push herself to her knees. That was it. If Sakura could do it, then Kaiya wasn't going to lose to her.

"Aah!" Kaiya's eyes changed from green to gold, and an outburst of chakra exploded from within her. Only this time, there was no headache, and she was still conscious. She felt her strength slowly returning as she pushed herself to her feet. Breathing heavily, she straightened up to stare at the Sound ninjas as her eyes returned to their normal color. She smirked at the surprise on their faces.

"You work for that bastard Orochimaru, don't you?" she questioned. Her tone was dangerously low. Zaku and Kin chuckled.

"Yeah, what of it?"

Ignoring them, Kaiya turned her head to look back at Sakura, who was on the ground glancing up at her. Sakura lowered her eyes, but Kaiya smiled.

"Sakura…" Her gaze averted back up to the brunette hesitantly. "What I said to you before…" The pink-haired kunoichi closed her eyes. Kaiya let out a sigh. "I was wrong." A surprised Sakura opened her eyes in shock.

"W-what…?" she murmured. Kaiya clenched her fists.

"I know you're not that strong…"

"It's true we've never gotten along, and it's true that you haven't put as much focus into your training as you should, but…" Kaiya chuckled, thinking of what she had just witnessed. "You're pretty damn brave when you consider all of that." Sakura let Kaiya's words soak in. She had never complimented her before, and might not ever do it again. She had to savor this moment, even in the midst of turmoil.

"Kaiya…what—"

"Now watch what happens when a trained kunoichi battles." Kaiya smirked again before turning her back to her comrade. "Take care of Sasuke and Naruto, alright?" Sakura smiled after a few moments, nodding.

"Yeah…" she agreed, as Kaiya stepped forward.

"I want you to do something for me," Kaiya told the Sound shinobi. Zaku lowered her eyes.

"Yeah?" he asked. "What's that?" Kaiya snarled.

"I want you to give Orochimaru a message: If he wants me, he can come for me himself…or else he can stay the hell away."

"Hn." Zaku chuckled. "Don't you know shinobi operate from the shadows?" he questioned. "Only a fool exposes himself." Kaiya stopped, clenching a kunai in her palm.

"Oh yeah?" she snapped. "Well I say only cowards hide and manipulate puppets to do their bidding." She twirled the throwing knife around her index finger, then threw it at Zaku. It was fast, but he managed to deflect it easily with his sound ninjutsu.

"Ha!" he taunted. "What exactly was that supposed to d—" Zaku's eyes widened as what he thought was a rock collided with his cheek, sending him flying several yards before rolling to a painful stop. He stood to his feet, looking around frantically. "What the hell was that?! Earth-style…? Who—"

"You're not very bright, are you?" Kaiya asked him, standing in the place he had been only seconds before. She blew on her knuckles, indicating that she had been the one to knock him off his feet. Zaku growled.

"Impossible!" he declared. "You were just right in front of me. How could you have…?" He thought back to when Kaiya threw the kunai. That must've been a distraction, he reasoned. Was it a clone or something? And she didn't hit me with an earth-style attack; she hit me with her fist. Damn…she's tougher than I thought. And she's fast…she's not like that other one. "Tch. You little brat."

Zaku stood again and raised his arm in Kaiya's direction. She could see the hole in his palm. Her eyes widened. Before she could blink, she was slammed back-first into the trunk of a tree so hard she dented the bark at least three inches in. Blood trickled down the sides of her mouth; her vision faltered. As her head slumped over, the last thing she saw was three figures jumping in-between her and the Sound ninjas. Then, everything went black.