Something I wanted to mention, just cuz it's somewhat relevant to the story: right after the Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc in the anime, the Pain arc starts. Now, I personally want to develop more of the Lina/Kakashi/rest of the gang's relationships, so I'm stretching the time frame just a bit. Pain invasion won't come for a few chapters.

As always, please review, comment, write something! I'm dying to know what you guys think. Ja ne! ;)

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I do, however, own any original ideas or characters (such as Sasaki Lina) that I have created.

Oh and one more thing to note: Kakashi is 31, the rookie nine are 17, and team Gai are 18. Sasaki Lina is 29. Please don't dispute the numbers, I got them from Naruto wikia, and just added the differences. Also: the Pain arc is still going to happen, I'm making Sasuke come back too, but Shinobi Alliance arc is still going to happen, as well as anything that didn't directly involve him in the anime/manga. I'll make the necessary changes to story line, but whoever dies/gets injured in the original will remain so in my story (except the OC character cuz...well, she's OC, what do you expect?)

PLEASE REVIEW! COMMENT, ANYTHING! THANKS :D

***Please note that this is a darker chapter. It contains torture and rape scenes, although not in the reality of the story. You'll get what I mean when you get there. It's pretty graphic, but it's also a very short scene.***

Chapter 27

Lina eventually forgave Kakashi, after a few days of puppy-dog eyes that ended up making her grin wryly at the growing ridiculousness of his ever-growing pout. But she had one condition.

"You need to apologize to Raidou." Lina said firmly, and Kakashi sighed. He knew this was coming, but he still didn't like it.

"I know…" Lina's gaze softened as she heard him say that resignedly, and she kissed him softly.

The next day, Kakashi went with Lina to pay the man a visit. Standing in the doorway, Kakashi ignored Lina's pointed stare and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, his gaze away from Raidou.

"Soo…ehehe…" He laughed nervously. After a few moments of silence, Raidou sighed and shook his head. "It's already been forgotten." He understood why any normal man would get jealous, seeing as they really had been spending a lot of time together, but seeing Kakashi act like a normal man was a little unnerving. Still, it was a misunderstanding.

Kakashi smiled, giving him an eye crinkle, and Lina rolled her eyes. "Boys."

"What? This is how we men fix our problems." Kakashi defended, and Lina raised an eyebrow at him.

"Right. You grunt your way through life." She stuck her tongue out at him, daring him to do what he would normally do; take her tongue into his mouth and kiss her senseless. But they were in public(well, relatively public), and if he didn't want to show his face to anyone, he'd keep his mouth to himself. She grinned as she watched him fix her with a hard stare that said only one thing. 'When we get home we're going to have some rough sex.'

Raidou watched his two friends tease each other and he smiled. It was good to see Kakashi so open, so much so that he almost forgot how he used to be. Oh, he was still aloof and all that to everyone else, but when he was with Lina, everyone noticed a subtle warmth radiating between the two. Lina was good for him. And he was definitely good for her. She was becoming closer to the girl he'd first met all those months ago, Hana. She was confident, constantly smiling, and a light shone in her eyes every time she and Kakashi were together. He was happy for them.

XXX

Several weeks after the 'Birthday fiasco', Lina found herself realizing that the jounin exams were quickly approaching.

"Oh my Kages. Kashi, did you know that the exams are in 3 weeks?" Lina turned to Kakashi in his bed, taking a pause from eating the breakfast she'd made for them. Kakashi put down his fork, pausing from picking scrambled eggs off of her plate, and looked up at her.

"You just realized that?"

"It just hit me. Three weeks...that's crazy!" Sure, she'd perfected her self-created Chidori, and she'd trained hard, but she still didn't feel...ready.

"That's just until the mental portion of the exams. After that, you've got the physical part. The actual fights."

"Right...wow. The exams really crept on me, huh?" Lina laid her head down on the pillows propped up behind her back. Kakashi's hand that was attached to the arm around her shoulders softly traced down her upper arm.

"You're ready. You'll be great." Lina turned to look at him and smiled. "Thanks." Kakashi smiled back and bent down to peck her on the lips, his hands expertly moving the plates away and onto the beside table. Lina giggled and spoke into the kiss, "Mmm, I should make breakfast more often."

"I agree." Kakashi murmured back, grinning as he continued to kiss her chastely. He pushed her onto the bed and felt her roll off of her side onto her back before he began to kiss her cheek, sucking on her pulse as he moved onto her neck. He heard her laugh as he tickled her somehow, and he smiled into her skin. His hair always found some new way of tickling her, as they both found out relatively early. Laughing, Lina twisted away as Kakashi's hair touched a sensitive spot just under her ear, but she found herself on her back as she twisted a little too much.

Kakashi reached down and trailed his hand down her spine as he whispered into her neck, "So you want it like that, do you?"

Lina giggled but shook her head, trying to get away. "Kashi, no. We can't."

"Why not?" Kakashi licked her neck teasingly, and she lost her motivation for a second.

"A-ah, because...because it's my time of the month." Lina spoke softly, blushing lightly. They'd never actually done it around her time of the month, although several times they'd cut it pretty close, but Kakashi still didn't know when it was. Well, she figured that he must have realized the pattern, but judging by his lack of movement and surprised aura, he hadn't.

"What? No it's not." Kakashi raised himself to watch Lina turn and give him a raised eyebrow.

"Uhh, yes it is. I thought you were supposed to have a dog's level in smelling abilities."

"But I don't smell anything." He could normally tell when a girl's time was just based off of her pheromones in the weeks leading up to it(which he was especially prone to) and her period itself. But he couldn't smell anything from Lina except her normal scent that admittedly intoxicated him already, since it immediately reminded him of their nights together. No smell of blood either.

It was now Lina's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You can't smell the blood?" Kakashi shook his head, and Lina smiled. "Wow, I can't believe it actually worked."

"What worked?"

"I was trying to cover up the smell as much as possible since your nose is so sensitive. Mine is too, but to a much lesser degree than yours of course." Kakashi blinked at her before he bent down to kiss her deeply.

"Well, you did a good job. But I think I'd like to check just in case." Kakashi smirked as Lina laughed into him again, smacking his back lightly.

"In case what, exactly? In case I'm lying because I don't want to have sex with you? Jeez, Ka-kun. I'm not letting you 'check' anything. Now get off me." She giggled at the thought of Kakashi 'checking' her. He brought her inner wrist to his lips, kissing it softly and watching her moan and wiggle as he hit a sensitive nerve, but she shook her head. "Kashi, no. In this one case, I really mean it. Off, now." She made her voice more serious, and Kakashi grudgingly let her go, rolling off of her and throwing his arm over his eyes.

"Ugh, so how long do I need to suffer this torture?" Kakashi groaned, and Lina grinned, rolling towards him.

"Torture?"

"No sex. You know that's torture for me." Their last big argument, deemed the 'Birthday Fiasco', had led them to no sex for nearly a week, and Lina had even stopped him from touching her as punishment for overreacting so deeply. That time, being near her but not being able to so much as hold her hand or kiss her cheek had hurt him too. Now, knowing that he wouldn't be able to have sex with her again until she was done bleeding, he groaned at the thought of enduring that again. At least this time, he wasn't in the doghouse. He could hold her, and touch her, and kiss her. That was something.

Lina giggled at the thought of him feeling tortured when he couldn't do it with her. She reached sideways to him and softly stroked his chest as she teasingly said, "Aw, poor baby." Kakashi's eye twinkled as he grinned at her and nodded. "I am, aren't I?" They laughed, laying on his bed, their arms loosely around each other. Just then, Kakashi remembered something.

"Hang on…if you're on your period...is THAT why you're always so sensitive around this time?" Kakashi had suspected that her time of the month was around this time, but he'd never had proof since there was always some reason for them not to have sex for a week or so.

Lina looked up at him and looked away, blushing. It was embarrassing to say, but yes, she was always much more sensitive in the week leading up to her period. Kakashi watched her blush and he reached over to kiss her.

"Mm, you smell good. I don't know if it's knowing that you're not going to let me do anything that makes me want you more, or if it's you blushing like a little girl that makes me want to tease you like crazy."

Lina's face lit up as she heard him speak, and she rolled her eyes at him. "Oh Kashi-kun, ever the pervert." She loved hearing him talk like that. He smirked down at her and kissed her again. "Mhm. You know it."

XXX

Three weeks later marked the beginning of the mental portion of the exam. The day before, Lina received a scroll delivered silently by an ANBU shinobi. Opening it, it read:

'To Candidate,

Your mental examination with take place on October 11 at: 9:00 am in the Jounin Headquarters. Do not bring anything. Do not be late. All late candidates will be unable to proceed onto the physical examinations.'

The next day, she quickly made her way to the jounin headquarters, a building she'd only really passed by until now, maybe venturing in a few times. Walking into the jounin missions room (which was different from the one in the missions office), she saw several familiar faces, Aoba and Ino's father (Inoichi?) being the two more prominent ones. Smiling at them, she was about to talk to them when she saw what they were wearing. Rather than wearing their usual clothing, they, along with several other jounin, were dressed in plain black uniforms with the word EXAMINER written on their backs. Realizing, she was about to say something when a throat cleared and silenced the room entirely.

"Line up, brats." Ibiki's harsh voice spoke quietly while emanating authority, and all of the chuunin immediately stood in a straight line. "Listen up. This is what's going to happen. You will be taken to separate rooms individually. You will be put through mental stress exams multiple times, changing room and examiners with each time. The more times you take the exams, the harder they will be, and the closer you will be to passing. Your last examiner will be me. If I pass you, you'll be put through to take the physical exams. Any questions?"

One chuunin, a rather muscular boy that Lina remembered was named Asai raised his hand. "How long is this going to take?" He spoke arrogantly, as if he were already sure he was going to be a jounin. Ibiki paused for a moment, looking him up and down before he strode up to the boy and asked, "Why, do you have a date, pretty boy?" The rest of the examiners tittered as the chuunin stilled, face red. He quickly shook his head, stuttering "N-no. I-I-I…"

Ibiki ignored him, walking back to his original spot, and took out a scroll. "First person, Asaba Souchiro. Room 1. Next, Sena Hideaki, Room 2…" He went on, and Lina slowly relaxed as her name wasn't called.

Eventually, her name was called, and she proceeded to go into a room. She'd been in the waiting area long enough to see several chuunin come out traumatized, some after only two sessions! She knew what they would probe her with, especially since her becoming a leader was so publicized in the Konoha shinobi community. She had no doubt that the examiners were all familiar with her family's losses, and Ibiki was definitely familiar with her more hidden secrets.

Walking into the first room, Lina found herself placed under a genjutsu where she was to watch herself give a bad order to her team that resulted in a massacre. The team was made up of children, genin, and she saw herself as the sensei leading them. It was their first mission away from the village, they were thrown into a battle unsuspectingly, and Lina's bad order caused each child to die in front of her eyes, begging for her to do something as she was held down by enemies. The genjutsu was harsh, cruel, and so raw against her nerves, but Lina persevered. Crying tears for the imaginary children, Lina did not break when she was later 'interrogated' by the enemies in the genjutsu, in a separate room, with different examiners.

In another room, she found herself being tortured, whipped, struck by enemies as they too tried to gather information about Konoha. It was nothing compared to the faceless jounin who had hurt her on that horrible mission with Souta, so Lina remained calm, her mind focusing on reality. She was in an exam. She was in a genjutsu. She was not hurt in the least. Mind over matter. When she finally came out of the room, she was breathing hard, the imaginary wounds still stinging against her flesh. She hobbled onto the next one, cursing the examiners for not giving any of the candidates any time to rest.

In yet another room, Lina found herself slowly recognizing the people around her. Her parents' and grandmother's deaths. As she began to relive parts of it, Lina knew that she was nearing the end of her examination. This was where it got really horrible. She watched her family die in front of her, Katsumi and Kei joining the fire with her parents, and she felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. She was alone. She had no one. As she cried, she heard a voice in her head, the examiner's voice, who spoke calmly to her. "Tell us what we want to know. Where is the Amaterasu-sealing scroll hidden?"

"I don't know." Lina spoke harshly, crying out when she felt burning all over her body. She looked down and saw the Amaterasu flames dancing on her, burning her skin. Terror went through her as all five of her senses were assaulted. She could even taste the smell of burning flesh in the back of her mouth as she breathed in. Screaming, Lina heard the voice again.

"Tell us where it is. The pain will stop." The voice sounded as if the wielder was smiling, and Lina's resolve grew.

"I. Don't. Know." She gritted her teeth and lied, crying out as the pain grew. She could see her skin peeling away, her muscles slowly exposed, and she knew that there was no way she was actually feeling the pain she would be feeling if this were are real. By now, in reality, she'd have long fainted and slowly died, yet she was still awake and struggling. Knowing this just kept her strong.

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, fuck yes." She growled, and the genjutsu was immediately lifted. Before her stood Aoba, his hand still on her head as he finished extracting himself from her head. Looking up at him, she panted and shook. 'Well? How'd I do?' Aoba looked down at the girl in front of him and he gave her a small smile. She'd done great. Passed with flying colors. It was now time to meet the last examiner, also, the hardest one to crack. Morino Ibiki.

Lina shakily tried to get up out of her seat that she'd sat in the moment she'd entered the room to take the exam, but Aoba shook his head.

"You won't be moving to another room. You will take your final exam here." Ibiki stepped out of the shadows, his long trench coat flowing as he walked. Lina stared up at him, sweating slightly, and she took several deep breaths. From the corner of her eye, she could see Inoichi coming back into the room, his blue-green eyes wide as if he were surprised that she'd lasted so long.

Ibiki surveyed the girl sitting in front of him, and he smirked inwardly. She was a tough little cookie, good. He'd seen some of that strength in their earlier therapy sessions together, but seeing her hold strong through a simulated interrogation, it was refreshing. There were only so few shinobi who were capable of handling the mental strain placed on them during the exam, and only a small handful of them were women. It was nice to know there were still some strong ones out there just waiting to be discovered.

He said sternly, "This is your final mental exam. I will have Inoichi probe your mind, further than Aoba did. After we have the information we need, Aoba will place you under a genjutsu while Inoichi stays inside your mind to guide you, and the test will begin. While under the genjutsu, you will also feel pain and emotions, as you did before. These are not real. This final exam is designed to test your limits. We will push you to the end, but no further. Understood?"

Lina nodded and steadied herself. This was going to be the big one. She had no doubt that they would bring up her team mates, Souta, everyone. Inoichi laid a hand softly on the girl's shoulder and said reassuringly, "Don't worry. We won't be too hard on you. Ibiki knows exactly how far to push a person." Lina turned her head to give him a small smile before she nodded and straightened herself again. She wanted to say that it was a small comfort to know that, considering she'd heard the rumors about the torture expert, but at the same time it was. Knowing that he knew exactly how much she could take made her have faith that he wouldn't push her too hard. Inoichi looked over at Ibiki, both of them exchanging a look, and Lina felt a now-familiar pressure on her brain as Inoichi began to probe her. After he was done, Aoba began weaving the genjutsu, and the final test began.

She found herself in blackness, nothing around her. She couldn't see, hear, or smell anything. She couldn't even see her own hands and feet. Then suddenly, she saw a tiny white spot in front of her, as if it were nearly a mile away. Slowly, she tried walking to it, and found that she could. She walked closer and closer, the white spot getting nearer until she saw that it was white light, as if it were the end of a dark tunnel. Stepping into the bright light, she looked around. For a few moments, there was nothing. Then…

"Lina-chan." She whipped her head around to see who was calling her, immediately recognizing the voice. A 17 year old brunette stared at her, round blue eyes shone beneath a straight fringe.

"Hanaki-chan." Lina walked over to her and they hugged, Lina's heart clenching as she struggled to remember that this wasn't reality. After a few seconds, Lina felt something wet sliding down her front. She pulled away and saw Hanaki the way she'd seen her last, broken, bleeding, tattered, near death.

"L-Lina-cha-an…" Hanaki whispered brokenly, and Lina's eyes widened as she remembered.

"Li-ina...chan…" Another voice spoke and Lina turned to see Aoi limping towards her, short purple hair matted down by blood, her right eye slashed with a line that went through her nose as well, blood coming out of her torso too.

"Aoi-chan...no…" Lina's eyes began to blur as tears formed yet again, and she sank to the ground, watching Aoi take her place beside Hanaki, both of them collapsing on the ground the way they had on that dreadful day. But instead of dying, they stared up at her and chanted, "You killed us…you let us die…"

"No...no…" Lina began to moan, tears flowing rapidly. She felt another presence behind her, and she turned her head, screaming in shock. There stood Souta, tortured beyond recognition the way he'd been carried home, but he was alive.

"Lina…why did you let them take me?" Souta whispered, and Lina's head spun. She watched him walk to meet her team mates, all of them staring at her with emptiness in their eyes that still somehow looked at her accusingly.

"Why, Lina-chan? Why did you kill us?" They asked, their voices melding into one. Lina began to shake. This was her worst nightmare. The one she dreamed of for so many nights. The one that Kakashi had soothed her- 'Kashi. That's it.'

"It wasn't my fault. You all know that." Lina slowly stopped her crying, concentrating on the words Kakashi said to her over and over, the words that she'd now memorized, and were ingrained in her head. "Those missions weren't my fault. Your deaths weren't my fault. I warned all of you not to henge into me. Aki-chan, Aoi-chan, we were new chuunin when you two died, and you were killed by jounin. You know that I wasn't at fault. I couldn't do anything, I had to protect the scroll. Sou-kun, we were ambushed, and you were taken in my placed. For that…" Lina struggled with her words, faltering.

"For that, I am sorry. I should have pushed you to not henge into me. I'm sorry I didn't push harder. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that you were hurt. I never meant to hurt you. I'm sorry. I loved you, Sou. We should never have been assigned that mission together. In the end, we were far too outnumbered and outranked, you know that. I'm sorry that it wasn't me. If I could change anything, I would. I'm sorry." Lina's voice grew stronger as she continued to speak, her hands reaching out to touch each one of her loved ones. Feeling their skin under her fingers, as if they were really there, she began to cry again, but held strong. This was an exam, one that she would not fail. She was stable again. After months of Kakashi slowly healing her, even if she wasn't completely healed, she could fake it long enough to pass this exam. She just had to wait.

Her heart stung as she watched them staring at her blankly, their eyes drilling holes into her as they silently judged her. Swallowing hard, Lina lifted her head, and said. "Enough. If you were real, you would not blame me, that much I know."

"Oh? You're that sure of yourself, eh?" Ibiki's voice rang through her head and Lina stiffened. His voice somehow had a way of ruining her at the drop of a hat, but this time, she used it to remind herself that this wasn't real. Lips trembling she swallowed again and nodded. "I am. We're done here."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" She heard an amused chuckle before the scene changed.

She was in a dark room, similar to the one she was in for her exam. She was tied up on a wall, chakra blockers on her arms and legs, a collar on her neck to hold her even more still. She felt hands all over her, jabbing her with needles, torturing her with liquids that seared in her veins, and she screamed.

"Tell us where to find the Hokage." In this genjutsu, Lina was fed information through what had to be Inoichi's connection to her. They were at war with Kiri again. Everyone had been killed, except her. Tsunade was in hiding, and she knew where she was. Her torturers sent out a spark of electricity through her and she screamed again, twisting and turning in her restraints as they laughed all around her. She couldn't see them, but she knew there were at least 5 surrounding her. All of the sudden, she felt a lone finger on her forehead, and she felt herself get manipulated into another genjutsu (within the genjutsu).

They were in a large battlefield. There were fires, bomb blasts, screams echoing in her head. Vaguely she felt as if she were in a war, and she realized in the genjutsu that she was reliving a part of her past. In this genjutsu, she'd already lived through this war. Her interrogators were just torturing her with old scenes. All around her, she saw bodies, all bloody and tattered. Looking down at herself, she saw blood all over her, her hair caked down by the dirt and blood mixture. She stumbled towards the nearest body, intent on helping whoever it was, only to scream in shock when she recognized the body. Kiba, with Akamaru laying not far away, both of them just barely breathing.

"Kiba! Oh God, Kiba, hang on!" Lina reached into her pack and tried to help him, but no sooner had she started treatment, he was dead, Akamaru letting out a low whine before he too died. Blinking back tears, Lina got up to try and find others, spotting them not too far ahead. But as soon as she got to them, she realized that it was too late for them too. All of them…dead. Tenten, Hinata, Katsumi, Kei, everyone, gone. She began to run, desperately hoping the few milliseconds she gained with speed would help her comrades, but it was the same story each time. Raidou, Genma, Shizune, Aoba, Izumo, Kotetsu, Shino, all dead. Gai laid broken, his legs at odd angles as he panted harshly before he finally died, and Lina began to lose herself in the genjutsu within a genjutsu.

Sobbing, she saw one last figure. Of course, in the back of her head, she knew who it would be, but that didn't lessen the shock any.

"Kashi...no...no, please…" Lina cried, her hands fumbling on his chest as he stared up at her bleakly. Bending her head down, she heard him whisper something incoherent before he finally died, and Lina lost herself. Sobbing, she wailed as she threw her head on his chest, clutching onto it as she felt his warmth begin to fade a little too quickly for this to be reality.

"Tell us where Tsunade-hime is." Lina heard her 'interrogators' speak from within her mind, his voice grotesquely destroying the title of her Hokage, and she lifted herself up from the now half-cold corpse that was Hatake Kakashi.

"Fuck you." She tried to break the genjutsu, but she had no way of do it when she was bound and her chakra was restrained in the reality of the exam's genjutsu. She heard them laugh, and the battlefield swam out of her vision, bringing her back to the dark room. All at once, she felt all the pain in the world flare up on her body, as if she were on fire while being stabbed. As she screamed, she faintly felt her restrains loosen, and she fell to the ground. She tried to struggle, but she was far too weak from the pain. She found herself laid on a table, her hands and feet restrained by sets of hands as other roamed her body, removing her clothing and touching her in ways that made her skin crawl. She tried to scream, only to be muffled when they shoved cloth into her mouth. In a matter of seconds, her clothes were gone, and she was raped. Pounded through both her vagina and her ass, Lina screamed as she felt pain sear through her insides again, tears no longer forming from overexertion. After what felt like dozens of pairs switching (but she knew it was all sped up for the purpose of the exam), Lina finally felt empty, and she was asked again.

"Tell us, bitch, or we'll use your cunt until its so loose you'll be begging for our fists." The original torturer's voice spoke into her ear, as if he were right beside her. She couldn't see anything. The room was pitch black. Not even her own body was visible to her. But she smelled them. Their vile odors that made her want to vomit. But no, she wouldn't do that. Vomiting on herself would do her no good. Save it for when she was free.

"And your ass'll be so full you won't be able to eat anything for days." Another voice rang out from beneath her and Lina steadied herself, her tongue pushing the cloth out of her mouth.

"You'd better kill me when you're done with me, because the moment you let me go, I'm coming after all of you bastards." She snarled, hating herself for not being able to put more punch into her words. She heard them laugh and she closed her eyes as another round of disgusting, useless meat was shoved into her.

She felt the genjutsu shift. She was still in the same room and she was still being fucked by countless men, but she knew that she had been here for several days. Nearly at her wits end, she began to execute her plan. Carefully timing herself so that it wasn't exact, but not too quick, Lina forced herself to begin to submit. Slowly, she began to stop her skin from crawling at their touch. Her screams turned into moans, her inner walls began to clamp down on their pathetic excuses for manhoods.

"Would you look at that? She's finally cracking." A voice above her head, probably the person holding her hands up, said the words she was waiting for.

"About fucking time." Another voice rang out before the bastard groaned and released on her chest. Lina forced herself not to flinch or growl, instead faking an orgasm as another one released into her.

"Look, look, she's finally starting to enjoy herself!" A high pitched voice giggled and Lina bit back a retort. Who the fuck would enjoy themselves when they were getting raped by that skinny thing?

After a few more men, Lina let out a loud moan and a plead, "Ohhh, please. Moooore…" She heard the men laugh, their hands finally loosening around her legs, and she wrapped her legs around the fucker's back, as if she was urging him on. She tried to lift herself up, and found herself actually able to. The morons were loosening their grip on her hands too, and she was slowly regaining her energy as she concentrated on her plan. A few more thrusts and she forced out another fake orgasm, throwing her head back and arching her back up as she raised her hips to meet the bastard pounding into her. And then she heard it.

"Flip her over." The original interrogator said, and she was immediately unsheathed from both her front and her back and flipped onto her hands and knees. Her hands met muscle and she felt herself pushed down again, pierced twice yet again. She threw her head back and faked a moan, her hands clenching not from want but from disgust. As she moaned, she felt it. There was a man standing in front of her, and he wanted to be sucked. She took it in, giving it a few quick licks so that they would relax their hold on her head.

"The bitch's so into it that she's giving me a blowjob. Fuck, her mouth is so tiny." Lina waited for her moment. As soon as she felt everyone relax, she bit down.

"ARGH!" She listened in satisfaction as the man who's length she'd just chewed on screamed. She bit harder, and his hands dropped their hold on her own. Taking the opportunity, Lina spit out the disgusting thing and elbowed the man still humping her from behind. At the same time, she kicked him away, balancing herself on her knee that, oops, also happened to be pressed right on top of the man's lower abdomen who was beneath her as she raised herself off his disgusting body. Hearing the screams was music to her ears, and she heightened her hearing to gauge how many people she had to take down. No time to stop and think, Lina whipped her head down as she felt an oncoming punch. How the heck were her attackers able to see? 'Fuck it.'

She fumbled along her wrists, dodging the punches and blows as she felt them appear, and she finally unclasped the chakra holders. A surge of chakra came through her, and she flew through familiar seals. Closing her eyes, she opened her mouth and shrieked, her fingers intertwined and perpendicularly crossing each other. A wave of chakra went through her, and she felt a sudden rumble as all the enemies around her collapsed from what she knew was bleeding eardrums. In a second, it was over. She felt her sight begin to come back, and she realized that she'd been placed under a blinding jutsu that died with its user. Looking around, she saw 10 bodies, all men, all with blood coming out of their ears, except one, which she saw also had a piece of his thing hanging from the rest of it. Looking at herself, she saw that her body was ruined, so dirty and disgusting that she really did want to puke. But there would be time for that later.

She noticed a door, and she slowly walked to it, not caring about being naked. Opening it, she was hit by a bright light. Blinking it away, Lina found herself out of the genjutsu, sitting in the room of her jounin mental exam, with Inoichi, Ibiki, and Aoba staring at her with amazement, Aoba looking slightly green and Inoichi's face very pale while Ibiki stared down at her with mild approval on his face. Lina looked down at herself, relieved to see that she was not actually hurt, despite the residual pain she felt. Everywhere. She looked up as she felt Ibiki move closer to her. She saw him carrying a needle and she immediately stilled, her senses on high alert.

"Relax. It's for the pain." Ibiki said, watching the little girl stare at him accusingly. He was definitely surprised at how much she was able to handle. He'd pushed her so far past the border of right and wrong that Inoichi, the man who rarely spoke, had asked if they were going too far. But she'd succeeded in surpassing all expectations.

Lina watched warily as Ibiki stabbed her arm with the needle, and in a few seconds she felt herself not feeling any more pain. Sighing, she slumped forwards, her face in her hands. "So? Do I pass?"

Ibiki grinned down at her, something Inoichi had only ever seen him do a handful to times, and he too smiled, not that she could see any of this. "You pass." Of course she passed. She'd just gone through some ANBU-level mental stress, and lived to see the end of it. She was definitely one tough cookie.

Lina nodded, hearing Ibiki speak. "Good. Then am I done here?" She heard him chuckle and she let out a low growl. Saying that he was a sadist was an understatement.

"Yeah, you're done."

Lina stood up, hearing those words. Glaring up at him, she spat out, "Good. You're one sick bastard." She stormed out of the room, not looking at either Inoichi or Aoba. She heard Ibiki bark out a laugh as he said behind her, "Your physical exams are in a week. All candidates get a half hour session with Tsunade immediately after their mental exams. Yours starts in 5 minutes. Come back by 5 pm today. I have an announcement to make to all successful candidates." Lina strode out of the room, riding on adrenaline as much as she could before she collapsed on the ground of the main waiting area. Faintly, she saw that there were still several shinobi who had not gone into rooms just yet, and others who were shaking as they sat in folded chairs, their eyes wide. 'Looks like I'm not the only one. Good. I wouldn't want to feel weak.'

Lina felt a pair of hands straighten her from her slump on the floor, and she looked up to see Aoba staring down at her, concerned. "Lina, are you alright?" She smiled weakly and nodded. "Yeah, just saying hi to the floor." She let out a small giggle, her legs too weak to hold her weight for the moment, and she felt Aoba lift her up to place her on the chair.

"Here, sit here for a bit." Aoba tried to keep her still, but Lina shook her head. "I can't, I have a session with Tsunade-sama. I'm going to be late." She tried to stand up, but failed miserably. Aoba shook his head at her and said, "You don't need to worry about that. There's someone over here that, by the looks of it, has been worried sick about you." He watched Lina's face light up as she turned and saw Kakashi standing beside her.

Kakashi saw Lina collapsed, and he practically ran towards her. Looking down at her, he could see that she was shaking. Had the jounin exams been that difficult back in his day? He remembered being put under strain, but definitely not this much. He shot Aoba a look, who shot him another one, but he couldn't tell what it was supposed to convey. Aoba opened his mouth and said, "She was given the OTHER exam." Finally, he understood. That's why she took so long in that last exam.

"Other exam? What other exam?" Lina looked between the two men, confused. Hadn't she been given the jounin mental exam?

"The ANBU mental test. Ibiki…" Aoba paused as he heard Kakashi let out a growl. "Ibiki gave you a harder exam to test your abilities. Since you passed, it means that you have the same mental qualifications as an ANBU candidate would need to get admitted into their ranks."

"…What the fuck…?" Lina whispered. She didn't know whether she should feel proud or furious. So she felt both. It was an honor, to be sure, but what the hell?! She tried to stand up, but was still too weak. Turning to Kakashi, she said, "Kashi, I need to get to my session with Tsunade." Kakashi nodded down at her, his eyes still dark with anger at her having to endure this without her knowledge or consent. He picked her up swiftly and body flickered away.

XXX

"Well, it looks like you have no lasting injuries. You get a week to rest up, and that should be enough to heal you." Tsunade said, watching Lina sit up carefully. Leaning in, she said conspiratorially, "So, I heard you got the ANBU test."

"Hokage-sama, you didn't know?" Lina was stunned that Ibiki had the balls to do that without consulting her first. Tsunade shrugged. "I trust his judgement. And he wasn't wrong about you. You've got some real strength in you." Lina's eyes widened at the compliment and she blushed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade nodded in appreciation. Looking up at Kakashi, she said, "You can take her home now, but don't forget to go to that meeting with Ibiki. She's going to need lots of bed rest, and it's normal to get sick after your mind's processed everything. So no sex, you two." She watched in satisfaction as the couple blushed deeply; although she could only see the upper part of Kakashi's cheekbones, it was bright red.

"T-T-Tsunade-sama!" Lina stuttered, mortified. She felt Tsunade laugh, an arm on her shoulder, and the older woman shook her head. "Ahh, to be young and in love."

Lina took in a sharp breath. In love? They weren't- "Tsunade-sama, we're not-" She never got to finish her sentence as Tsunade left the room still laughing. Blushing, she couldn't even look at Kakashi, so she stared into her lap. After a few moments (that felt like hours to her), she felt Kakashi walk over and place a hand under her chin. He bent down to kiss her, his mask hanging low on his neck, and he murmured, "Ignore her." Lina's blush increased slightly (if that was possible), but she nodded and kissed him back.

Kakashi wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up into his body before he teleported them back to his apartment, collapsing on the bed on top of her, his hands already wandering. They couldn't have sex, but that didn't mean they couldn't have some light fun.

XXX

Several days later, Lina was still on bed rest, although now she'd migrated back over to her own apartment, letting her siblings be the ones to care for her. Not that there was much to do. Aside from eating and going to the bathroom, Lina pretty much stayed in bed, reading Icha Icha, or watched a movie on the TV set. Bliss. In the evenings, Kakashi stopped by, making sure she was resting.

"Honestly, Kakashi, I'm fine. You worry too much." Lina grumbled as she half-smiled. Kakashi smirked down at her, not saying anything. They were in her bed, her legs lying over his thighs as she curled into his chest. He tightened his arm around her and said, "As if you don't love it."

Lina giggled and nodded. "True." Kakashi smiled and said, shifting slightly, "Besides, you're chakra's still a mess. What did Ibiki do?" He watched in dismay as Lina shook her head yet again. "I don't want to talk about it. It was...stressful."

"Lina-"

"Kashi, don't." She placed a hand on his chest and said, "Thank you." Kakashi looked down at her, surprised.

"For what?"

"For...for being here. For telling me that I'm worth something. When I was in that exam, I felt…" Lina shuddered, remembering, but continued. "I felt hopeless, useless, everything I used to feel, and still feel sometimes. But then, I remembered what you tell me. I'm worth something. I'm not nothing. And it helped me get through it."

Kakashi watched her speak, and he pulled her so that she was straddling him. He remembered how they hadn't even been able to make out because Lina was shaking so badly after her mind got around to actually processing what had happened, and she was sick several times before her meeting with Ibiki later that day. Now, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, long and slow. He pulled away and softly but firmly said, "You are worth something. You are...incredible, I always knew that, but to pass an ANBU level mental stress exam, that is extraordinary for a chuunin. Then again, you're no ordinary chuunin." True, chuunin were capable of joining the ANBU ranks, but it was extremely rare. To be able to pass the mental stress was one of the main reasons for admitting a chuunin into that elite crowd. Physical training could come later. Mental, not so much.

Lina smiled and gave him an Eskimo kiss before she pecked him sweetly on the lips. His confidence in her was what kept her going, she knew that. And she had the perfect idea of how to thank him. She wasn't sure if it would work, but she had to try. But she'd need Sakura (and probably Shizune and Tsunade) to help her.

Kakashi looked at her, noticing that her thoughts were elsewhere, and he let out a questioning sound. "Mm?"

Lina snapped back to reality and out of her mind, halting the plans for his 'gift'. "What?"

"You tell me. What were you thinking about?"

Lina shook her head, quirking up a smile. "Nothing." Kakashi snorted, raising an eyebrow, and Lina raised one in return, challenging him. She'd passed the ANBU level mental stress exam. Did he really think he could get information out of her that easily? Kakashi shook his head, pursing his lips. Damn, Ibiki had just raised her self esteem by making her take that test. Not that that was a bad thing, but now he'd have to work so much harder.

Lina's mind went into a flashback of Ibiki's little 'speech' to all the successful candidates who would take the physical exam.

xxx

They were seated in the large waiting area. As Lina looked around, she could see that there were only 5 other applicants who had passed. Out of over 20, only 5 had made it to the physical. Who knew how many would make it to jounin status?

'No wonder there are so few jounin in Konoha.' Lina thought to herself. She wondered if anyone else had taken the ANBU exam like she had.

"You six are the ones who passed the mental exam. You have all completed your half hour session with Tsunade, and have all been ordered to be on bed rest. You will have one week of resting time before you physical exams. The jounin exams are different from the chuunin ones. You won't be fighting each other. You'll be fighting other jounin from the village. I will put up a list of names of the people who will be battling all of you. You will notice certain people grouped together. They will be battling you alone. No partners. The objective here, is to win or draw within an hour-long battle. If you lose, you will be penalized, and unable to move onto the next person you will battle. Meet in the Konoha Stadium on October 18 at 10am sharp."

"How is that going to work?" A boy raised his hand questioningly. Ibiki turned his attention to him. "If we're all going to have an hour-long battle, and we're fighting multiple people, how are we going to finish it all in one day?" Ibiki grinned crudely at him. "Who said that you're all going to pass?" The chuunin stilled, and everyone shut up. That was very true.

xxx

Lina sighed. "I have to fight other jounin, huh?" Kakashi looked at her, not saying anything. She looked at him and asked resignedly, "I'll have to fight you, won't I?" He still remained silent, but the look he gave her told her everything she needed to know. Nodding, she closed her eyes and leaned her head down so that it was resting on his shoulder, her hands and arms resting on his chest as she continued to straddle him. She felt Kakashi's arms come around her hesitantly, and she smiled.

"Well, at least that's one battle I know I'll win." Kakashi's eye widened and he let a slow grin form on his lips. "Oh, confident, are we?" He felt her nod into him, her voice muffled into his chest. "Of course. With all our training, you don't think I've been letting the opportunity to watch you work slip away, do you?" Lina giggled, and Kakashi chuckled, bringing her back down to the bed.

"Good. But I'm warning you, it's not going to be an easy fight."

Lina smirked. "I wouldn't have it any other way." She pulled him into a kiss, both of them smirking stupidly at each other.

XXX

"How was she?"

"She was given the ANBU mental exam, Danzo-sama."

"...Oh?"

"Yes, sir. She passed. As she left the room, Yamanaka Inoichi and Yamashiro Aoba commented on her mental strength to partake in that test."

"Good. The device is still active?"

"Yes sir."

"Bring me Dajimu."

"Yes sir." The masked ANBU ROOT shinobi vanished, another one appearing several minutes later.

"Dajimu."

"Yes sir."

"Go find Sasaki Katsumi again. Charm your way into her sister's apartment. When you find an opening, place this device into Sasaki Lina's bedroom." Danzo held out yet another wireless microphone in his hand, and Dajimu took it silently.

"Yes, Danzo-sama." He vanished without a trace. Danzo walked out of the communion hall in the basement of the ANBU ROOT base. Yamanaka Fuu and Aburame Torune stayed within the shadows for several minutes until they could not hear his cane any longer before they took a few steps into the stream of light that highlighted several metres in the middle of the communion hall.

'What's he planning?' 'What is he going to do to that family?' 'Why are they so important?' These questions were beginning to run through the two shinobis' heads, but they remained silent. In ANBU ROOT, even the walls had ears.

XXX

"Ahhh! That feels soooo good!" Lina moaned as she sank into the onsen, the girls around her giggling.

"You sound like an old lady, Lina-nee." Tenten laughed as Lina splashed her.

"Hey! You try training like crazy, with Gai and Lee too, then taking that insane mental exam, and see how you feel after!" Lina complained half-heartedly, and Tenten nodded her head, chortling.

"I do train with them! I know they're tough, but I'm sure they helped you, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm still going to complain about it." Lina retorted, and they all relaxed.

"Wow, Lina, your boobs look big on your body. I mean, I know you're not big, but wow, you look bigger than Forehead. I'll bet Kakashi-sensei loves playing with those." Ino said crudely, and Lina slapped a hand over her own face, the other one wrapping around her chest.

"Ino-pig, you pervert!" Sakura splashed her best friend, blushing, and Lina shot her a thankful look.

"Oh come on, Forehead, it's true! Gosh, I still can't believe you guys are together. What's he like?" Ino asked conspiratorially, and the other girls stilled. It was a good thing that there were no other female patrons, but Lina had a feeling that a few men on the other side were eavesdropping on their rather loudly broadcasted conversation.

Lina smiled as she thought about Kakashi. "He's…unbelievable." Ino let out a squeal, Tenten following her, while Hinata blushed and Sakura groaned, saying "Ew!" Lina giggled, loving that her boyfriend's ex-student found it 'gross' that he was just that good. Her mind drifted off as she thought of him, losing track of what was happening in front of her.

"Oh my God." Ino said softly. Lina snapped back to reality.

"What?"

"You love him."

"What?" Lina's heart dropped as she heard the words, although she didn't have time to comprehend why. Ino nodded furiously. "Oh my God, I'm right! You do!"

"What? No I don't!" Lina shook her head furiously, a blush forming. She'd been thinking about her feelings for a while, and after Tsunade's comments just days ago, she was starting to think maybe…

"Oh my Gods, nee-chan, is this true?" Tenten squealed, wading over to take Lina's hand. She watched her sister blush, and she grinned. "Waaah!" Lina began to giggle, slowly turning it into a full blown laugh as the girls all began 'Awww!' ing at her.

"Ne, ne, so does he know?" Lina's expression immediately melted away and she shook her head vehemently. "No, Gods no!"

"Why not?" Sakura asked, curiously. She was happy that Lina was happy, although she STILL couldn't figure out what she and nearly all the women in Konoha found so attractive about her lazy, tardy, enigma of a sensei.

Lina looked away from the girls and thought for a moment before she spoke. "Because...he's so amazing. Of course I'd fall in love with him. But if I tell him...I don't know. It means that…"

"It means that things have to change." Hinata said quietly, and Lina turned to look at the girl, smiling sadly as she nodded. The bluenette knew exactly how Lina felt. How could she not, after years of pining after Naruto?

"So what if things change? Change can be a good thing, you know." Ino said, and Tenten nodded in agreement. Lina shrugged. "I don't mind things the way they are."

"Wait...so you're not going to tell him?" Sakura asked, and Lina shook her head. "No. Right now, I'm fine with being casual." She raised an eyebrow as Sakura snorted.

"Sorry, but you guys are not casual at all. When it comes to casual relationships, Pig is the queen."

Ino nodded, and Lina smiled. Remembering her plan, she turned to Sakura. "Sakura, I have something I'd like you to help me with. Could you come by my apartment sometime soon? It's sort of private." Sakura looked at the older woman and nodded. "Sure. I'll drop by tomorrow." Lina nodded.

On the men's side of the onsen, Kakashi sat listening to the girls talk, a small frown on his face. She loved him? 'Really?' What about him? Did he love her? He had a lot to think about…

-end

Author's Note: Sooo, another chapter done! Next chapter will be the physical part of the exam, and it's gonna be a long one. I was gonna put the two together, but the two exams have their own sets of emotions that need to be conveyed, and having the two put together would sort of muddle it all up.

By the way, this is sort of weird, I don't know if any of you ever feel like this, but when you read a story, and you see it in your head, the bed scenes. If it's not specified, do you see the characters sleeping on a certain side (eg, Kakashi on the left, Lina on the right) etc? Well, while I write their bed scenes, I always somehow picture Lina ending up on the left, and Kakashi on the right, if you're looking at the bed from the foot of the bed. I don't know why, I just feel like that's how they'd sleep. What do you guys think? Oh and by the way, is anyone else feeling déjà vu here? I swear I wrote an author's note or something on bed sleeping positions, but I can't find it. Maybe it's just me...

And the exams begin! That 'gift' that Lina is gonna give him. It's not going to come until the very end, so don't even ask. I'm just going to keep dropping little hints to remind you that it's there, but you won't find out anything until the very last chapter (or the second last, if I put in an epilogue chapter).

Ooh, how was that last little onsen scene? Love is in the air, eh? And now Kakashi has something to think about.

By the way, I'm so sorry for being so late in posting this! But I wanted to hold off, because I wasn't satisfied. In fact, I'm still not sure I'm completely happy with how this chapter turned out. I mean, it had everything that I wanted, but somehow it feels like something is missing...I dunno. If I end up thinking of it before I post the next chapter, it'll be in a tiny one-shot type chapter within this story (e.g. it'll be my next post, but it won't necessarily have anything to do with the exams, because I've pretty much covered everything I wanted on that.)