Chapter 26: Unpleasant Discovery

"There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go." - Richard Bach

Groggily her eyes opened to the sights of the blurry world. Everything was out of focus for a while as she adjusted to waking. The back of her head was throbbing gently as she tried to rise to a seated position, but quickly gave up on the idea. At least until she got her bearings a bit. The entire left side of her face felt swollen and tight. Every movement of her tongue and shift in her mouth redoubled the sore feeling that made itself known since her waking. Focus returned to her eyes as she raised her head a little. Putting weight on her elbows her arms started to hoist her up inch by inch.

A kunai had sunk into the ground, not far from where her face had been upon waking. She didn't really remember much. Hanami recalled throwing a punch, trying to reach far beyond her range, and then everything went dark. That ninja had knocked her out, but what happened after that? 'I'm still alive,' she thought as she sat up and stretched aching muscles, 'So Yurushi or Kenshi-kun must have beaten that weird guy.'

There was a mound of upturned earth that began its incline right at her feet. It looked just like what happened when Sensei used a doton ninjutsu and the chakra used to hold its modified shape had been expended. There was so much of it just sitting there. Hanami twisted a strand of her hair around her finger as she sat thinking about who could have used a technique that strong. It made sense that Kenshi-kun had done it since that was his chakra nature, but the amount of rock, clay, and dirt that was gathered was absolutely massive. There was no way her secret crush could have enough chakra to do something like that.

A jolt of fear struck her like a hammer. 'The Kusa shiniobi,' she dreaded the possibility that it was his jutsu. Yurushi believed that he could have been a jinchūriki, and the bijū were supposed to be the living embodiments of chakra. If a demon container could possibly use the chakra of the beasts they hosted, then the power they could access would be near limitless. Quietly and carefully Hanami rose to her feet. If the mysterious villain was hanging around, she didn't need to draw any attention to herself.

She turned around and didn't see the tree that served as the team's camp anywhere. Violet eyes scanned for any sudden movement, any rock, twig, or bush that was out of place. The surroundings looked like the clearing the team had settled, so she concluded that the hovel was on the other side of the manmade mountain. Cautious feet tread along the base of the knoll, and in spite of her best efforts Hanami couldn't calm the storm raging in her heart. The fear seemed so much more manageable when Yurushi was there. Simply knowing someone who could help, someone who related, was nearby just made that crippling sensation easier to overcome.

Every crunch her sandals made as they shifted the soil beneath her echoed in her ear. If that shinobi was still around, he knew that someone was nearby. Nothing escaped his notice during their bout, and there was no reason to think he wasn't just as aware during the calm. The two attacks that she had made were sure fire. There was no way any genin, except for maybe Yurushi or Lee, had the speed to escape with nowhere to go and no time left to get there. It had to be a jōnin or a chūnin level ninja in disguise.

'We have experience fighting against a superior opponent,' Hanami reasoned as she inched around the gentle curve. 'We got the best of Sensei a few times the last couple of months, so Yurushi should have been able to take that guy. I hope.'

Rounding the bend she saw a tuft of brown hair. Stopping dead in her tracks, Hanami tried to collect her breath. She honestly didn't know whether or not to feel relieved or worried. It was Kenshi's hair. There was no doubt about that. The only issue was a simple question. Was he just laying down keeping vigil, or was he hurt and in need of medical attention. She wasn't even certain how she would react to either situation. Slowly, curiosity and dread drove her forward.

As he became more visible, she had more reasons to turn and hide. He was just lying there, perfectly still. There was no gentle rise and fall to his chest. There was no twitch in his right foot or steady thumping of his left hand when he was awake and bored. He was on his back, and not on his side, so he wasn't sleeping. The closer she got the worse the image became.

Underneath him was a large stain on the ground. The nearly black color made her hold out for hope that it could be anything. As Hanami drew nearer, that hope diminished. The collection of cuts, gashes, and marred flesh told the story of what the substance was. Kenshi's blood had been spilled. She was trembling. Hanami didn't want to take another step, but couldn't bring herself to stop.

Then she saw it. His eyes were open, but the life was gone. A small smirk graced his face. It was that same cocky grin he gave when he had gotten one over Yurushi or Sensei. Directly beneath that wry smile was the sum of all her fears. Caked all over his neck was a thick layer of the dried near black blood. All of it emerging from a deep and gaping wound. Hanami felt beside herself.

'This isn't real,' she told herself as she approached Kenshi's lifeless body. 'This can't be real.'

Closing her eyes, she began forming hand seals. Soon after, she expelled chakra in a pulse. The disturbance in her chakra flow righted itself quickly, but she was dawdling to open her eyes. It had to be a genjutsu. It had to be. Kenshi-kun couldn't really be dead. She opened her eyes, and let her gaze fall only to find that nothing had changed. Under the weight of her grief, Hanami collapsed.

'This isn't real! This can't be happening! This has to be a nightmare!' She kept chanting in her mind as the tears flooded her eyes.

She was dreaming. The nightmare would end. It had to. It was all too surreal to be the truth. But it wasn't a genjutsu, and she couldn't wake herself up. Crawling over to the body of her friend she hoped beyond hope that once her hands tried to grasp the image it would dissipate into the darkest corners of her mind. Reaching out to touch his arm was a prayer that this moment would endure only as a fear of what could come instead of what is. Kenshi's hands were cold. So very cold.

The crystalline image of her life shattered. All strength left and Hanami crumpled atop the corpse of the boy she had loved. Sobbing over the body of her fallen friend, she didn't know what to do. There was so much that had gone undone, and even more that was left unsaid. This wasn't supposed to happen. They would grow stronger together, become respected ninja, climb the ranks, and eventually she would work up the courage to tell him how she truly felt. Now it was gone, just like that.

Her mind was flooded with images of things that would never be. Team Thirteen being promoted to chūnin. Kenshi finally mastering Sensei's kenjutsu style. The three of them completing several missions together and becoming jōnin. Kenshi falling into a roll of a jōnin squad leader, her becoming a Jōnin Sensei. Her first date with Kenshi-kun. Their first kiss. His awkward, but utterly adorable proposal. Kenshi becoming Hokage, and with the rest of his team, leading Konoha to prosperity and peace. Even their children made an appearance in the phantom visions of a future they would never share.

She knew this were wisps of fantasy from perhaps the only place of innocence in her life. She had allowed these thoughts, given them life, let them take root in her vision of the future. It was one of the few desires she held. All that she really wanted in life was to succeed her father's stunted legacy, and to find the man she could build a life with. It wasn't much, but the past few years she had begun to believe that it could be possible. Now, it was as water seeping through her hands. Nothing that Hanami did could stop the flow. Her tears joined that lost future as they broke upon the lifeless body of a boy she admired more than anyone.

The world was crumbling, and nothing remained in its shattered wake. The void was bleak, with no hope or light. There was only a dull and uninspired existence. Nothing remained. Nothing of value was found. Kenshi-kun's smile was gone. His annoying laugh had disappeared. Her courage died with him. What was left for her now? Survival. A meager existence, persisting only because she was too weak to simply give up all together.

Crying was all she could do. Cry, and pray that she would somehow wake up from this false reality. Through the flow of tears she could see the dampened spots appearing on the fabric of Kenshi's shirt. Hanami wanted to wake up. She needed to wake up. Anything to avoid embracing the cold reality that Kenshi was dead.

Neji was annoyed. That really wasn't anything new though. Tenten was used to her teammate's sour moods. Since their time in the Academy she had known him to be kind of stuck up, very particular about things, and honestly more high maintenance than most girls she knew. It made her laugh at times. The Hyūga genius that so many girls fawned over was, unbeknownst to them, more of a diva than they were.

The first day of the second exam had been quiet and uneventful. They set up camp, Lee did a couple hundred sets of a dozen of different exercises, Neji kept watch, and she sharpened and polished all of her weapons. Then that evening they went scouting separate sections of the expansive training grounds. She stalked a team from Takigakure that was having difficulty adjusting to the change in terrain. They had the wrong scroll. Tenten needed one of the green scrolls.

The first evening ended and the second morning as a trade of information. Lee had found a cold water spring in the forest, but it was difficult to get to with all of the wood's creatures that flocked to it. It wasn't impossible, but they would probably have to go as a team. She was fed up with the restricted training area, everything inside the chain link fence wanted to kill her. It was getting old. There had been a dozen different berries or roots that Lee was going to eat until she or Neji realized that it was poisonous. Neji had found another team, but they also had the wrong scroll.

The rest of that day, Team Nine took things easy. Accomplishing their goals at night was an easier way of going about this exam. Other teams would want to make use of daylight because they were unsure of themselves, or they were unsure of where they were. It was always easier to win a fight when the opponent wasn't at their best, and most of their opponents would be tired and off balance at night. This was what they were looking for; an easy mark.

Studying the ground below didn't reveal anything special. Neji leapt to the next branch in front of her, he flicked a finger to the left showing that they needed to start veering that way. In spite of his less than charming personality, Neji was an invaluable teammate. His skill alone was amazing for someone of their age group, and when it was coupled with his kekkei genkai then he was shaping up to be a fearsome shinobi. Whatever he saw was off in the distance.

Breaking up the second night for another scouting expedition was less than productive. She hadn't found anything particularly interesting except for a strange plant that shot poisonous barbs if it was touched the wrong way. That wasn't fun. Neji had found another source of water and filled up enough to last the group for the remainder of the exam. The big problem that came from last night was the reason they were on the move today instead of resting. Lee hadn't come back yet. It was still early morning, and that weirdo could be trying to get a few more laps in.

'Knowing that idiot he's running around the entire training ground chanting that he'll do ten thousand of something if he can't,' the bun haired girl rolled her eyes. Of all the people their Sensei had taken interest in, she now understood why it was Lee. That kid had a work ethic that made her own training look like child's play. It almost made her sick to be honest, but it wasn't like Gai-sensei let the rest of the team off easy. She thought the man was way too over the top, but she was as strong as she was now because of his teachings.

Lee's absence this morning didn't really startle her, or her white-eyed partner. While it didn't bother her much, it only deepened Neji's disappointment. She could only guess at what he was aggravated at when he returned to camp this morning. If Tenten had to pin it on something it was probably the fact that they hadn't found Yurushi's team. Neji had been disappointed that he didn't feel up to that offer of a spar a few weeks back, so he was probably hoping to test his wits against his true rival. 'Boys,' Tenten groaned to herself. 'Why are they always trying to one up each other all the time? They're always trying to prove who can fight the best, eat the most, or fart the loudest.'

It wasn't as if she blamed them, but boys had a tendency to overdo the whole contests of superiority thing. The only reason that she overlooked it for the most part was because she had a similar goal. She was going to be the best kunoichi in the history of Konoha. Tenten was going to be a name for the ages just like Tsunade. Kids in the Academy would read about all of the amazing things that she had accomplished and just how influential her life had been for the sake of the village. Tsunade was a legendary ninja, and possibly the most powerful kunoichi in the world. Tenten couldn't help but try to emulate someone like that.

It didn't take long for emulation to evolve into something more. It was no longer enough to be like Tsunade, or as powerful as her. Now she had to be better than Tsunade in every way. Why? There were several reasons, but two were more important than the rest. As one of the Sannin, Tsunade was proof to the world that a kunoichi had to be taken seriously in combat. The second was that she was the best doctor in the world. Her advancement in medical ninjutsu was perhaps the sole reason why generations of families even existed today. Tsunade was more than powerful, she was brilliant on top of it, and all of it was used for the greater good of Konoha. Why wouldn't she want to try and be better than that?

As she leapt through the trees, the foliage began to glow with the rays of sunlight that trickled through. Dawn had come, and there was still no sign of Lee. 'Hopefully he didn't go try and start a fight he couldn't win,' Tenten shook off the bad thoughts. Neji might not admit it out loud, but their absentee partner could take care of himself just fine. He was more than capable in a fight, and so long as he stayed smart and didn't push himself beyond his limits, there wasn't too much Lee couldn't handle.

Neji stopped up ahead. This meant only one thing. He saw a problem and was assessing how he should approach it. Landing beside him, Tenten waited quietly. Asking questions now would only tick him off even more. She knew that the Hyūga was nothing if not professional, and he would make sure his team knew what he knew so nobody was going in blind.

"Up ahead there is another team," Neji's eyes focused on the horizon. His Byakugan was fully active, so there was no telling what he was really looking at. "I can see two of them, but the other may be waiting outside my range."

"Can we take them?" Tenten asked. She wasn't eager to fight without the whole team, but if they had an opportunity to get a scroll then they needed to take it.

"Yes," Neji answered, "one looks to be unconscious or worse, and the other seems to be beside herself."

"Is it anyone we know?" Tenten hoped that it wasn't. Whatever happened to this team was probably pretty bad, so hopefully it wasn't a friend. Neji released the power of his Byakugan and subtly shot her a glance out of the corner of his eye. It was as if he was gauging her reaction to something.

"It's Hanami," her partner answered sternly.

Without a second thought she took off in the direction that Neji had been leading her. Hanami was her best friend, and she wouldn't just sit around a let something terrible happen. Not if she could help. She could hear Neji's fading protests as she sped through the canopy. If Hanami or her team was seriously hurt, then they would need some help getting back to full strength. At the very least she could help watch over them while they rested. She was no medic, but she could do something.

Pushing from one branch to the next her legs began to burn. Tenten was far from tired, but the effort of moving at top speed so suddenly was making itself known. Fears and images of a bloody scene filled her mind. She didn't know what Neji had seen, but she could only hope that things weren't bad. Landing on another tree limb and driving herself forward was all she could do. There clicking noise of some sort to her side, and it sounded like some sort of mechanical devise. Almost like a kunai launcher.

'Stupid,' Tenten lamented the fact that in her haste she had overlooked the trap.

Reaching a hand into her utility pouch she retrieved a handful of shuriken. The speeding missiles were released in a wide spread pattern. Only three looked like they posed any threat to her, so she let the shuriken fly as she carried on. The few that she didn't need to target flew by harmlessly. One such kunai passed in front of her, and as she landed on a sturdy tree limb she noticed a small fire burning near the hilt of the kunai. Without thinking she launched herself in the direction that the knives came from. The shockwave of fire and air crashed into her and cause her to stumble in her landing.

Rattled a bit, but otherwise alright Tenten rose to find that she might have gotten away with one. That explosive tag was far more powerful than the standard fair she used, and it made her curse under her breath that she couldn't study the other one and compare the two. A more powerful explosion was always on her wish list. Cautious steps followed her careful scanning of the immediate area. Hanami was important to her, but getting killed by a trap wouldn't help anyone.

Spotting a snare hidden amongst the underbrush, the bun headed genin took to the trees once more. Moving with more confidence as she got closer and closer to her perceived goal, the self-proclaimed weapons expert shifted her gaze to the just above her. An entire limb, thick enough to hold several people comfortably, was little more than a stump. The real shock was that it had been cut through cleanly. Who, or what, could have cut through the branch of such a large tree with so little effort?

'It must have been some battle,' the steel eyed girl thought as she approached a small clearing.

Small wasn't the right word as she got a good look at the area. It was a pretty decent size, but the large mound of dirt seemed to clutter things up. She couldn't see anything directly, but she could hear gentle sobs and soft whispers. Hanami was here. Just as she was about to jump down a firm hand grabbed hold of her shoulder. Instinct took over and a kunai was drawn and leveled at the person who had grabbed her, only for Tenten to realize that it was Neji.

"Sorry," she muttered as she holstered her weapon.

"You shouldn't have run off like that," Neji scolded. "It could be a trap."

A withering gaze was leveled at her partner. No words were needed; he knew what she was saying with that look. Who did he think they were dealing with? Did he honestly believe that Hanami, Kenshi, and Yurushi would spring an ambush on a comrade? The nerve of this guy! She knew it was a competition, and she knew that they were competing against one another, but their friends weren't so low.

"Whether you like it or not Tenten, they are the enemy," Neji lectured. His dismissive attitude toward her thoughts on the matter was almost as infuriating as his actual suggestion.

"They're our friends, and I'm going to help them," Tenten answered.

Jumping down from the tree, the girl moved carefully toward the sounds of crying. It wasn't that she was worried about getting attacked, but she did want to give them a chance to identify her before making a move. Edging around the pile of upturned earth, the sobs turned into muttered words though a stream of tears.

"It isn't real," Hanami's voice whispered through her grief. "He isn't dead. It isn't real."

The chanting alone nearly broke her. Taking a deep breath, Tenten prepared for the worst and stepped out from behind her cover. Hanami sat with her back turned to Kenshi. Hands were buried in the once snow white hair, now caked with dried up mud and blood. A flow of tears ran from her violet eyes; eyes that were fixed on some point far off and unseen. Her knees were drawn up to her chest as she rocked back and forth. The chanting sounded more and more desperate as Tenten drew nearer. Crouching down beside her friend Tenten tried to snap her out of the world she wrapped herself in.

"Hanami," Tenten spoke softly hoping to carefully bring her best fired back from the edge of insanity. "Hanami, it's me."

There was no response, but the violet orbs snapped into focus. "Hey, um, what happened?" Tenten had spent her time training to fight, not to heal. She had no idea what she could say to make her feel better. No words were needed. Hanami practically threw herself onto the startled brunette, who simply allowed the hug.

"It's okay," Tenten proclaimed softly. It was a lie, and as she studied Kenshi's mangled body, she knew that it was far from okay. Still, she didn't know what else she could say. She had no idea what had happened, or why it had come to this. "I'm here now, so we'll figure this out."

Hanami simply cried. For minutes on end the girl weeped ceaselessly. Tenten did the only thing she knew to do. She held on to her friend and let herself become a support. Kenshi looked as though he had been in one hell of a fight. The blood that was long dried on the ground was an unnatural black color. It wasn't something that she had seen before, but she had heard of it. Blood that dark could mean a number of things but the one that stuck out in her mind was that the blood had not been well oxygenated.

The gash in his neck was probably the cause of death, but if Kenshi was not breathing well, then something else was involved in the attack. Hanami clung to her like the embrace kept her alive, but all that Tenten was trying to figure out was what had killed Kenshi. 'Poison?' She wondered. 'Maybe, but slitting his throat doesn't make much sense if the poison would have killed him.'

No easy answer came to that question. Especially not while her best friend was hanging on her, and there was no one else she could ask about the deadly encounter. The shift in thought made her realize something rather interesting. The nearby area was kind of obscured by the large mound of clay, but there should have been some evidence. She would need another pair of eyes for this one.

"Neji," Tenten called out. The shinobi in question appeared after a short while, but she wasn't going to let him to object to anything just yet. "Can you look around for Yurushi? He should be here, but I'm not seeing any sign of him."

"We shouldn't be here," Neji returned. "Friends or not, the exam has put us on opposite sides. For the moment, they are our opponents."

"Dammit Neji!" Tenten tried not to scream at the top of her lungs. "Have a heart! Don't you see what happened here?"

"It was their fate," Neji objected coldly. "There is nothing more that can be done."

"Just find Yurushi," she responded while disengaging from her friend. The girl panicked which scared the bun haired kunoichi senseless. She had never seen Hanami look so desperate. "Shh, It's alright, I'm not going anywhere. I just need to make Neji do some work for a change."

"Neji," Tenten addressed while keeping an eye on Hanami. The girl was utterly distraught. It was gut-wrenching. "Just look around and see if you can find him. Yurushi wouldn't just abandon his team, so he either went out on patrol or he's hurt."

"What has happened has happened," Neji dismissed the order. Tenten stood up and marched over to Neji. Face to face her challenge to his refusal would be more authoritative. She wasn't really in command, but she sure as hell wouldn't let him sit around and do nothing. "This is fate's decree."

"Find Yurushi and see if he needs help or Kami help you I'll-I'll-I'll," she was at a loss for a threat that was significate enough to motivate the Hyūga prodigy.

"You'll what Tenten?" Neji questioned. "There is nothing you can do that will make me help them. I may not like what happened, but they are not our friends in this exam. We have our own missing teammate to worry about."

"Go and do it or I'll tell Gai-sensei that you weren't willing to help comrades in need," Tenten intimidated him enough to make her partner tense up. "Just think about how unyouthful Sensei would consider that to be. Then think all of the training that you would need in order to ignite the flames of your youth."

"You wouldn't dare," Neji countered. He knew better than to think she wouldn't, but his eyes bore deeply into her own to test the idea. 'Checkmate,' Tenten thought as her partner turned to walk around the clearing.

Tenten grinned at her victory, but wiped it from her face as she returned her attentions to Hanami. Walking over, she took the girl's hand and hoisted her up. Hanami was still very shaky, so Tenten helped to prop the battle-worn girl up with an arm around the shoulder. Slowly she led her away from Kenshi, Tenten hoped that if she could separate her friend from the grizzly scene she would be more able to talk about what happened. Frantic eyes flitted toward the lifeless corpse, and the struggle began. Hanami wrestled to return to Kenshi's side.

"I can't!" Hanami's voice was desperate. Shoving the brunette away, the kunoichi of Team Thirteen fell in her attempt to get to her now dead crush. "I can't leave him!"

The bun haired teen put a hand to her temple to relieve the growing pressure. This wasn't going to be easy. With a sigh of exhaustion she walked back to see if she could get any sort of story from her best friend. Tenten wanted to piece together the mystery of what had happened here. Hopefully Neji would find the last member of this broken squad, and with any luck Yurushi would be in better shape than his friends.

The world around him was crisp and clear. Nothing was hidden from his sight, except for the side of a large tree, which was coated in chakra. Neji knew this to be only one thing, genjutsu. Approaching the area in question, he deactivated his Byakugan. The great tree appeared normal at first glance, but a closer inspection revealed the inconsistencies. The bark of the genjutsu was a hue darker than what surrounded it, the cracks and texture on the surface of the illusion was for a different species of tree, and finally the base of the trunk took an unnatural bend near the exposed roots.

Molding chakra and releasing it in a burst dispelled the farce. When the illusory camouflage fell apart it revealed a sheet hung up to create a barrier against the elements. Walking through the makeshift tent door illuminated a great many things. Yurushi was lying on a bed roll, drenched in sweat, tossing, turning, and moaning in pain. There looked to be a cold compress on his brow, but it seemed to have dried out long ago.

Sighing in defeat, Neji set to work helping his friend. The nature of the competition meant that they were enemies, but Tenten didn't care. 'Well, I suppose they aren't really competing anymore,' Neji corrected as he replaced the cool rag that had yet to break the fever. 'With Kenshi dead, the team is no longer eligible to continue.'

Having the redhead constantly moving in his pain was probably a bad thing. Neji activated his Byakugan once more to study Yurushi's chakra pathway system. Chaos, panic, and total anarchy was all that could be described from the image he received. The Uzumaki's chakra, which he could only describe as being an icy bluish color, seemed to be fighting with a smaller source of chakra of a dark violet color. The invader appeared to be coming from a seal on the right forearm.

The Hyūga narrowed his eyes at the sight. Fūinjutsu was an art that he despised, but begrudgingly respected. The power that such techniques carried warranted the utmost caution, but the things they were capable of could be monstrous. It had the power to protect against great evils, but it also could corrupt and destroy. That seemed to be the nature of the seal that was now on his friend. 'It doesn't like it was Yurushi's work,' Neji tried to troubleshoot the issue at hand. 'He should know enough about fūinjutsu to know when something is safe enough to use.'

Given all of the time he spent trying to ignore Yurushi's various lectures and Tenten's explanations on how her seals worked, Neji had learned a thing or two about fūinjutsu. This one was beyond his knowledge, but with all that he could see it seemed to be trying to introduce a foreign source of chakra into the redhead's system. There were several things that this could be. It could be a more permanent sort of genjutsu, but with the apparent victim resisting the hold the illusion is supposed to have that option seemed unlikely. Most likely it was a highly refined, chakra specific poison.

Neji had no experience in treating poisons, venoms, or infections. Introduce sealing techniques into the mix and the answer became infinitely more complex. The question at hand was a crucial one. Is this really a poison, or is it something else? If the seal on Yurushi's right arm was simply designed to hold and balance a foreign chakra with that of the host, then the seal was for his rival's benefit.

If that was indeed the case, then there was a method that Neji could help his friend, but it was a bit of a longshot. The chakra pathway system was similar to the cardiovascular network of veins that carried blood throughout the body. Chakra was utilized, molded, and shaped by careful and precise manipulation of one or more tenketsu. These chakra nodes regulated the natural flow of chakra through a person's system and kept the balance even. This way a person uses enough chakra to live and work, but doesn't accidently deplete themselves when getting out of the bed in the morning. The fighting style of the Hyūga targeted the tenketsu.

The overall purpose of Jūken was to disable the opponent. A Hyūga with enough mastery of the Byakugan and Jūken could aim for and shut down a number of these checkpoints. The effect would be to disrupt the internal and external flow of chakra to the point where actively molding chakra and even moving was impossible. Knocking out a few select pressure points could alter the flow of chakra. Doing so for Yurushi now could allow this foreign chakra to blend in and calm the chaos, or it would make the spread of any poison easier and kill the Uzumaki quicker.

Decision made, Neji struck with needle like precision he shut down several tenketsu. The desired effect took place. Yurushi was still, unable to move as much, his chakra still resisted the invader, but it did so less violently. The only thing that would be able to determine whether or not his actions had helped or hurt was time. 'Either way,' Neji thought as he stood to meet back up with Tenten. 'Your fate will be determined here.'

The walk to rejoin his partner was a solemn one. He had known that Yurushi was paired with mediocre shinobi. He had known that Kenshi would fail as a ninja. He had told his friend that his fate would mirror the fate of his clan. Viewing the scene, Hanami useless, Kenshi dead, and Yurushi struggling to survive, Neji ran and hand through his long black hair. He was right. He was always right. Normally it felt good and it justified his predilection to weigh a person's worth. Now, however, Neji wasn't sure.

Seeing the corpse of the brown haired blacksmith, his eyes set wide, smirk ever defiant, and fist clinched. Watching as Tenten tried to comfort the inconsolable girl nearby the fallen. Remembering the pitiful state his true rival and closest friend was in. All of this brought only one thought to his mind. 'I didn't want to be right. Not like this.'

"Tenten," Neji called. She turned and met his gaze. Whether she wanted to or not it didn't matter. They were done here. "Lee is waiting for us."

"Hanami," the bun haired girl eased her friend into the departure. "Neji and I have to leave now. Lee went on ahead and we have to meet up with him before he gets himself into trouble. Will you be okay for a while?"

Hanami shook her head and wiped her eyes free of tears. Shaking hands dug into her kunai pouch and pulled out a white scroll marked heaven and held it out to Tenten. "Here, you can take it if you want," the sniffling teen said. "We can't use it, so you can take it."

"Thank you Hanami," his partner took the scroll and softly hugged her friend. "This will let us enter the tower."

"Please," Hanami said quickly. "Find Hayate-sensei. Please tell him."

"I will," Neji agreed and began walking toward the edge of the clearing. Motioning for his teammate to follow, he waited as she took her time in doing so. Taking to the trees again was a quiet affair. They exchanged no words as they continued their search for their wayward partner, but Neji's thoughts were abuzz of activity. His focus had to be finding Lee and making it to the tower as soon as possible. The sooner that happened, the sooner his friend could get help. Perhaps this was Yurushi's fate, but the Uzumaki never agreed with that philosophy. Fighting against fate was fruitless, but he would help Yurushi try.

The third day of the exam came as quietly as the other two. A few teams were waiting inside the tower. Surprisingly enough, one of the rookie teams from Konoha had showed up on the first day. Kurenai's crew to be exact, but she hadn't won the bet just yet. Hayate suspected that the bulk of teams would arrive either today or tomorrow. If too many more showed up, then a preliminary round would be necessary.

He was plenty prepared for that. What he had not been prepared for was the team from Sunagakure. They passed the second exam after little more than an hour of elapsed time. None of them looked as though they had exerted any real effort. Careful study of the team over the past two days showed that the only real oddity of the group was the one named Gaara. He seemed entirely detached. The few moments the jōnin had witnessed where the boy even acknowledged the existence of another it was to threaten them with a painful death. The kid just reeked of unnatural vibes.

The doors to the main hall opened and Maito Gai's squad entered, and the kenjutsu expert immediately wanted to go and hide somewhere. It wouldn't be long until the obnoxious green clad elite arrived and began to pester him about the youthfulness of his students. It was enough to drive anyone insane. Hayate wanted to know how Kakashi was able to tune the man out, and wondered just how much it would cost him to learn that little secret. The brown haired jōnin didn't want to give up on the possibility of learning whatever technique is employed, but was certain that the former ANBU Captain would rather take it to his grave.

"Anko," Hayate called out from his position in the middle of the main hall. The woman had reported a confrontation with Orochimaru in the early hours of the second day, and had been on edge ever since. Honestly, everyone was on edge after hearing that, but there was work that needed doing and the Hokage was personally leading the search. Those assurances, however, did little to calm Anko. The woman hid it well, but she was disturbed by the unexpected arrival of her former Sensei. She had quite eagerly volunteered to aid with ANBU search teams, but the Hokage ordered her to finish the second round of the exams.

"What is it?" The perturbed voice answered over the PA system.

"Since you're in the control room can you open the video display door and set the match selector program to run a couple dozen times?" He was going to pay dearly for pestering her for what must have been the twelfth time that hour, but it did distract her from the big issue at the forefront of her mind, and deflected all of her pent up rage toward someone who could take it. Anko talked a big game, but she wasn't all that bad. That is unless you were Orochimaru, worked for him, were connected to him, or really had any mild affiliation with the infamous ninja. Then she would be sadistic. Those were the rumors at least.

"You want something done, then get your ass up here and do it!" She shot back with frustration. "I have to go and patrol sector five."

The motor that controlled the door hiding the large monitor hummed and Hayate grinned at her empty complaint. Coughing shortly after he reminded himself that somehow, someway, she would make him pay; probably by tricking Yūgao into making him rearrange their apartment for the third time in the past two months. That wouldn't be too bad as long as he didn't have to paint, again. Last time the colors didn't match the flow of the rooms and the time before was that the layout wasn't conducive to hosting larger gatherings, so Anko has to start getting creative if she wanted the third excuse to fly.

"Sensei," a young voice caught his attention. Turning, Hayate found Hyūga Neji waiting patiently. His face was stone, but from what he had heard Neji was pretty undemonstrative about most things. His khaki shirt and dark brown shorts showed that he had spent the past few days surviving the harsh environment of the deadly training ground. The teenager didn't look too worse for wear, so whatever their team had done to advance wasn't too great of a fight for the purported prodigy.

"What can I do for-" wheezing broke up the rest of the sentence, but the genin had likely gotten the gist of the question.

"Hayate-sensei," the stern expression meant that this was something serious. "During the second exam Tenten and I encountered your team."

"Oh," schooling his features was a habit. He was supposed to be a neutral party, but he was curious to see how his team would fair. If they encountered Gai's students in a combat setting that would have been an interesting confrontation to watch. "How are they doing?"

"It's bad. They have been," Neji seemed to be a bit lost for words. "Well, they are disqualified."

Hayate could feel his heart drop. There were only two ways to get disqualified. The first was to not have made it to the tower in the five day time limit. Even if Gai's team had taken their scroll there was plenty of time to find two more. No, that wasn't how they were disqualified. His throat dried up, and he felt himself drawing in shallow breaths. He forced himself to calm down. He needed to detach himself from the situation, figure out what caused this, and follow through with the appropriate response.

"Can you take me to them?" Hayate asked with a cold and clinical tone. One of his worst fears had become a reality. One of his genin, his students, the children entrusted into his care had died. He needed to know why that had happened, and he needed to know now.

"I can," the Hyūga nodded and turned around to lead the way.

"Anko," Hayate called up to the woman hidden away, probably still fuming about being volunteered to help him out. "I'm going on patrol with you. Something happened."

"I'll meet you outside," she replied in haste.

If another team was responsible for killing his student he wouldn't be happy, but the blame, the responsibility for that life lost would rest solely with him. It would be his failure, a failure he would have to find a way to live with. If there were external forces at work, such as Orochimaru, then his sword would drink the blood of the guilty.

Stepping outside the main hall, Hayate didn't speak to his guide. The teenager didn't try to strike up conversation. It didn't matter who the victim was, his entire team had suffered something horrific, and the ones who survived would surely be beside themselves in grief. He needed to be there and he needed to be there now. Sure, he was the proctor of the third exam, and he had duties to perform. However, he was the Sensei of Team Thirteen, and those duties came first. His students came first, and they always would.

The singing of birds was echoing through the silence. ANBU scurried about collecting evidence and taking notes. It wasn't a crime scene, not really, but at the same time crimes had been committed. There was no real telling exactly who would have to atone for this, but every Sensei takes the loss of a student perfectly. It still stung to know that his own student had a hand to play in this needless tragedy.

A puff of smoke escaped Sarutobi's lips as they marginally relaxed the grip they held on his pipe. Kenshi smiled. It wasn't the face of joy or happiness, but rather one of satisfaction. The boy's last moments were successful ones. The childe did what he had set out to do knowing exactly what it would cost him. It was a death worthy of a Hokage. A position for which the child may have vied for. He certainly had the right mindset for it, but it makes little difference now.

Mentally, the grizzled leader of Konohagakure began writing the letter which would serve as the formal casualty notification to Kenshi's family. A letter he would hand deliver. When the incident was reported he couldn't help but feel his cynicism bleeding through. Over the years he had personally hosted at least a half a dozen Chūnin Exams, and every time there were deaths. It was an understood reality of the system, but foreign nations always took offence to a genin's death on foreign soil. Sarutobi could help but hate himself for hoping that the death was someone from Konoha. It was less of a hassle, and there were never threats of war.

"I'm too old for this shit Kenshi," the man muttered under his breath as he withdrew the pipe for a moment. "Why couldn't it have been you burying me?"

"Sir," an agent approached from behind, "The medical examination confirms the initial evaluation. The fūinjutsu on the boy's arm is a variation of the design Jiraiya-sama had reported on."

"Excellent work Inu," the old man huffed as he began to take another drag. "See to it that Kenshi's body is taken to the Coroner's office. I want an autopsy done on the body and I want a preliminary report before the final stage of the exam. Then get in touch with Jiraiya's contact in the village he needs to return immediately."

"Yes Hokage-sama," and a passing moment Inu disappeared into the shadows, along with Kenshi's body.

Upon personal examination it was clear to him that Orochimaru didn't land the killing blow. Slashing a throat was quick and efficient. It left no time for gloating, no time to test the opponent's skills, no time to analyze their potential. Orochimaru would never kill a genin so directly. Only a true threat deserved the honor of not being studied or scrutinized, because the snake would have already done all his homework before facing off against someone who posed a real threat.

Orochimaru had been here. Yurushi's mark left no doubt about that. The question that remained was why. 'What are you scheming now? What are you playing at?'

The possibilities rattled around in Sarutobi's head as he prepared to leave the scene behind. There was work to do in regards to this mess, and he needed to find the resolution quickly before the wrong people became too interested in the situation. Releasing another plume of tobacco smoke did little to calm his mind. Especially since he was face to face with one of those wrong people just seconds before he was about to leave.

"Hokage-sama," the Jōnin Instructor addressed him tensely.

"Hayate," Sarutobi returned the greeting and waited. The man was here to ask questions, and the Hokage had every intention to answer them.

"With all due respect Hokage-sama, but what aren't you telling me?" The swordsman kept his seething anger in check remarkably well given the situation. "You said you weren't sure what that mark was, but I could see it in your eyes. You know something."

"I told you I don't know what the fūinjutsu's purpose is," Sarutobi answered. It was the truth, but not all of it. Hayate didn't need all of the details, because if the man had them he'd go storming off and solve the case on his own.

"Hokage-sama," the aggravation in the man's voice was becoming clearer. Hayate rarely had emotional outbursts, but the situation must be eating away the incredible self-control the jōnin possessed. "When you saw the fūinjutsu on Yurushi's arm there was recognition in your eyes. I deserve to know the truth. What the fuck is that mark?"

The Hokage sighed. Insubordination was unbecoming of Hayate. When a superior gives an answer it is implied to let the answer be just that, and the issue is laid to rest. It seemed, however, that Hayate needed something further or he would not be able to move forward and let it go. He didn't want to fight the issue, and he certainly didn't want to drop the full weight of his authority.

"It is a juinjutsu developed by Orochimaru," Sarutobi relented. "I do not know its purpose, but I believe it's called the Ten no Juin. Jiraiya had been studying it for a time and had to exfiltrate himself from Orochimaru's network before he could learn more details. I know nothing else about it."

"Is it supposed to kill him?" Hayate asked forcefully. A modicum of calm had returned to his voice, but the tension didn't ease up at all.

"I don't know," the Hokage answered. "I don't think that is the purpose, but the style of fūinjutsu that this is based on is foreign to me, so I can't be certain."

"And Kenshi's death is directly related to this seal, isn't it?" The question was posed and Hayate waited for the answer. Sarutobi knew that Orochimaru wasn't the one that killed Kenshi, but he likely had a hand in the situation.

"No, I don't think it is," The Hokage replied. "Hayate I know this will be difficult to hear, but you need to stay out of this case. ANBU will handle it. I have dozens of squads working non-stop to hunt down Orochimaru as we speak. The matter of Kenshi's death will also be investigated, but Orochimaru was not the one who killed Kenshi. The fatal stroke was made by someone else. Regardless of who is responsible you need to let me take care of this."

"Kenshi's death is tied into Orochimaru's plot somehow," the man's dark eyes narrowed. His voice spoke with absolute assurance "Orochimaru is at the heart of this. I know it."

"Hayate," the jōnin was becoming too belligerent. He was far too emotionally tied into this investigation for it to bring healthy results. "You will return to working the preliminary rounds for the time being. After which ANBU will consult with you about your students as needed while they conduct their investigation. You will not be involved any further without my express consent. Understood?"

"Yes Hokage-sama," Hayate nodded, but the begrudging attitude was plain as day. With a flick of the wrist and a quick burst of chakra, the man was gone in a puff of smoke. Well, that conversation was over with. For now at least. Sarutobi held no doubts that the Jōnin Instructor would make several dozen visits to the Hokage's office to listen for news.

"Yamaneko," he addressed the ANBU agent perched in the canopy to his right. Her patrol route today was supposed to be in the same district as the main gate of the village, but with all that happened he'll assume she was on her break. For now at least.

"Hokage-sama?" The black ops member awaited orders.

"Keep an eye on him for me," Sarutobi instructed. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Yes Hokage-sama." The vanished from her vantage point, leaving the worn down leader all alone.

It was just another shinobi who had died far too young. It was just another genin team broken and forever scarred by the memory of the one that they survived. It was just another family that had to bury a son and a brother. It was just another in a long, long list of reasons why he was fed up with this job years ago. 'At this rate,' Sarutobi thought as he watched sunlight cascade down from the sky through the thick blanket of leaves overhead, 'meeting the grave is the only way I'll be able to quit this damn job.'