A/N: ow, ow, owowow... x.x wrists, et tu?

exams, yes, that's why... also helping out Wishstone up here and her amazing stories... and some crack with DBZ... yep... now reads?

ENJOY!


Yorihi stared.

There was something wrong with having senses heightened to compensate for a sense that isn't missing. There was something wrong with having eyes that were constantly active and able to see everything that was going on around her despite the headband meant to hinder and hide them. There was something wrong with a mind adapted to process all these things at lightning speed, comprehend them, and trained to react.

It meant she heard the exchange between her comrades, and already her mind was running scenarios on what it meant based on tone, position, pressure, body temperature, facial expressions, anything and every bit of data her enhanced senses were feeding her.

There was something her mind kept running into as the conclusion… but she couldn't accept it, couldn't comprehend it and couldn't believe it. There was no way such a thing happened, not to her friend, not someone she cared about, it was impossible.

Gripping her hand into a fist her senses finally registered what was going on around her besides her comrades.

The Konoha girl was outside the hollow, the boy next to her had thrown up at his feet, and some stranger was nearby, looking away from the carnage of three bodies created by the gentlest person she had ever known.

Biting her lip to bring herself back into the real world Yorihi spun around, grabbing the top mesh of Naruto's shirt and standing him up, dazed blue eyes level with her headband, "Snap out of it!" a shake, "Go take care of your teammate then clean yourself up," focus seemed to return to his eyes momentarily before she all but threw him towards his teammate, "Go!"

She didn't bother to pay attention to him after that, feeling he'd stared at her a moment more before turning towards his teammate, likely saying something and only getting a catatonic response. Yorihi didn't care, it wasn't her problem. She turned on the redhead next her, "You!"

The red haired glasses wearing girl jumped, finally looking up from the ground to stare with wide off-red eyes behind thick brown rimmed glasses at the girl with the headband over her eyes, squeaking, "S-sorry!"

Yorihi just frowned, grabbing the front of her shirt, "Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"

Karin squeaked again, nearly crying as she clinched her eyes expecting something, "N-nothing! K-Karin! I-I-I j-just-" her eyes opened long enough to look at her senpai. She could taste it, the lightning was dim, something was off, something was wrong and she couldn't do anything again and something was going to happen and she was-

Suddenly a pale hand went across the Kusa-girl's face, forcing her to abruptly end her obviously catatonic thoughts and look at the blind girl again, "I'll ask again, what the hell are you doing here?" Yorihi practically growled, she needed to handle this girl quickly, she didn't have time to be babysitting these other genin, she needed to know now what the hell was going on with her comrades!

"S-Sorry!" Karin squeaked again, closing her eyes, "Xiao-senpai just saved me and I asked she bring me along! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't do anything!"

Yorihi just growled, tossing the girl towards the Konoha genin, "Help them out if you can, otherwise sit still and don't get in the way…" when she let go of her Karin paused, staring at the stern blind girl. She looked confused, about to say something but having no idea what to do or say, Yorihi just growled over her shoulder in response, sending out a pulse of angry chakra, "You heard me!"

Karin dropped to the ground as if physically struck, quickly taking a bowing position, "S-sorry! Y-yes! I'll do as told! I'm sorry!" and practically crawled over to the Konoha genin who were looking at the Kumo girl surprised.

Yorihi didn't care, she had other business to attend to…

Stalking up to the pair still embracing, Yorihi halted only a few feet away, gripping one of her swords tightly and facing the two as seriously as she could, "Tell me what happened." It was an order.

Oku just glared at the younger girl, it was the first time Yorihi had seen such a thing aimed at her and had she not been so riled up from her own thoughts probably would have balked under that gaze. The dusky-pink haired girl wrapped protectively in the boy's grasp simply shook her head, not even looking at their superior.

This caused a low growl in the dark haired girl's chest and she felt chakra brush along her shoulders, "Xiao," she spoke low, addressing her friend, the young woman she cared about, "Tell me what happened," her voice nearly cracked at the end before she waved her hand out, referencing the bodies Oku had strewn about the field, "Tell me something that will make this make sense!"

Dark hands tightened around her partner's shirt as Xiao slowly opened her eyes, "Don't make me tell you, Yorihi…" she could practically hear her friend's hand and jaw clinch, she knew the younger girl cared but this wasn't the time or the place to explain anything. With a deep sigh Xiao took one last moment to savor the comfort of her partner's arms before pushing back, staring at his chest, then his eyes, and finally turning to her younger friend, "Just please, believe me when I say I'm fine…"

"You call this fine?!" Yorihi waved her other hand, now both hands out clearly referencing what had just happened, "Oku-kun doesn't just do something like this because you're fine!" tattooed brows lowered, angry that her friend wouldn't tell her.

A fire rose in those crimson eyes as Xiao stepped away from her partner, "Leave it alone, Princess!"

The outburst only caused the blind girl to grit her teeth harder, "Why the hell should I?" she stepped forward, threateningly, challengingly, she didn't know she just needed to, "One friend just executed a foreign team without care or mercy," angrily she pointed at the older pink clad girl, "And the other practically breaks down in his arms at the end? What the fuck do you expect me to think? To act?!"

Xiao stepped forward, fists tight enough to shake as those red eyes glared down into the plate the girl wore over her eyes. So many things ran across Xiao's eyes that she wished her friend could see, anger, rage, shame, guilt, loss, sadness, but none of it she could convey properly to the blind girl. Momentarily her red eyes glanced past Yorihi, spotting the three foreign genin watching them, the two Konoha genin terrified by the display obviously, but Karin was staring at her, not quite terrified but with a look almost like even from this distance she could see it, see everything and understood. Xiao growled before releasing her hands, the tension leaving her body as she closed her eyes, taking a breath and releasing it, "Not now," red eyes cracked open, staring at the blind girl almost serenely, "But later, when we're alone…" the blind girl seemed to visibly calm down, giving a shallow nod. A smirk picked at dark lips and Xiao couldn't help throwing in, "But you're explaining a few things as well…"

A snort as the blind girl moved pasted her friend, "Very well…"

Xiao watched her walk past, something comforting as she watched the girl's braid swish this way and that as she moved to seemingly inspect one of the bodies. Red eyes shifted to her partner, and Oku obviously had his eyes closed again, looking far calmer than he had been. He only shrugged, accepting her decision.

A dark hand moved through dusky-pink hair, trying to decide if this was a good thing or not…

Yorihi stepped towards the body of the Oto-nin that had his limbs removed, keeping her senses on her comrades to make sure they were 'fine' enough to finish this mission. Xiao looked angry and tired, as far as she could tell, and while Oku watched his partner an extra second he turned towards Yorihi to see what she was doing. Crouching, pale hands reached out and took one of the dismembered hands, she'd felt a buildup of chakra before he'd been cut apart and she was curious what it was about. Examining the severed arm she felt around, feeling something unnatural about the weight. Flipping it over so it was palm up Yorihi found what looked to be a metal hole, tilting her head she felt it over, there was definitely a reason for this apparatus. Putting it down she reached out and pulled up the severed elbow, finding another tube near the bone. It was a crude insertion but it was tied into the chakra network, "This must be some kind of weapon…"

"Find anything interesting?" Oku had walked up behind her, glancing at his kill with no emotion, only curious what his comrade was doing.

Yorihi snorted, holding up the severed forearm to the boy, "There's some device installed in his palm, I'd say you're lucky you cut through it before he could get a shot off…"

"Hrm," the dirty blonde boy just shrugged, putting the hand down with the rest. He would have tossed it without care but the way Yorihi was examining the thing told him she wouldn't approve of such carelessness, "So what are you doing?"

"Examining the body," she spoke flatly, trailing two fingers along the severed arm towards the torso, "It seems he had some extensive modifications for this weapon, crudely done though…" it was strange, the internal structure looked to have been shoved inside, as if the operator didn't care whether it was effective or not. –It's almost like someone just seeing if they could do it… not caring for the subject or the effects…- pulling out a scroll she set it beside the body.

A dirty blonde brow rose under the boy's silly, "What're you doing?"

After several signs and a poof! Yorihi sealed up the corpse, standing and facing her friend, "My job, R&D will want to see these modifications, see if there's any use to them…" she frowned as the boy next to her just snorted, "Did any of the other ones have modifications like this?"

Oku shrugged, stepping aside and nodding towards the one with the amplifier, "Dunno if that one had any mods, but he had this weird stereo on his arm…" then nodded to the girl that was impaled, "Also, she tried to pull something, if you're collecting corpses, might be worth taking…"

Yorihi nodded, moving to look over the headless corpse first.

Oku glanced around with narrow eyes, Xiao was trying to look at the Konoha girl with help from that red head and the blonde boy, they were being difficult, as usual. The blonde boy momentarily looked at him, stiffened and looked away, and the red head wouldn't look his way. Oku didn't care what they thought, they were just children if they thought this was something worth balking at. Yorihi seemed upset at him, though he could tell it was more that she didn't know what was going on, not so much that he'd killed the Oto-nin. If she knew, she'd have done the same with every one of them she came across.

"Cockroaches," he said under his breath with a frown, turning to the female Oto-nin, figuring he could remove the spikes and make it easier for Yorihi to retrieve the body.


Dark fingers snapped in front of dull green eyes.

"I'm telling you Xi-nee-chan, Sakura-chan's out cold," Naruto frowned next to the older Kumo girl, "Even-even if her eyes are still open…"

"Hrm," the dusky-pinkette grunted, reaching out and grabbing the pale pink haired girl by her chin and moving her head this way and that to get the appropriate amount of sunlight in them to test their reaction, "She's not completely unconscious, in shock probably, catatonic…" satisfied that her pupils still reacted and she didn't see any extensive internal damage she lowered her hand to the girl's throat, her heartbeat was surprisingly low, likely a result of her catatonic state. Xiao sighed, "Well suppose it's a good thing she's quiet, can't damage herself any more than necessary…"

"Mmhh…" next to her Naruto scratched his head, both he and Karin were leaning over her shoulders uncomfortably close, giving the medic next to no room to really move. All she could do was sigh and roll her red eyes, literally feeling on her neck the younger Konoha boy turn her way and seeming to have difficulty getting his words out, "Ne… Xi-nee-chan… 'bout Oraka-bou-"

"Na-chan," her voice was crisp and calm as those vibrant red eyes met his scared blue ones, "Don't ask," She turned back to her patient, reaching out to unzip the boy's orange jacket around his teammate, wanting to give the girl's wound another look, "If I'm not going to tell Yorihi, I'm not telling you, I'm sorry…"

Naruto backed off by standing up, scratching the back of his head with a sad pout, "R-right… s-sorry… village stuff, right…"

There was a huff from the medic as she continued her work.

"Ah, Senpai! Let me help!" Karin quickly maneuvered around the older girl, pushing the blonde Konoha boy out of the way to help hold her senpai's patient. Between the two of them they got off the frail girl's jacket and bandages, Xiao letting her lean against Karin as she checked to make sure none of the sutures ripped with her movement nor any other developments.

Naruto had turned around again, frown still on his face and obviously not liking the situation he found himself in. Idly his eyes moved from the blind girl moving about, having sealed the… headless corpse and moving over to where Oraka-bou was waiting with the last one. The pouting frown on Naruto's face may have deepened when he noticed how despite what happened, Yorihi wasn't fazed, still close with the sick bastard, even comfortable enough around him as she… did whatever she was doing with the bodies…

"You're really not used to dead bodies are you, Konoha?" a light voice asked from behind, causing the boy to turn enough to see the weird Kusa girl with the red hair and eyes gazing at him from behind her glasses.

A foxish pout spread on the boy's face, "What of it?"

Those off-red eyes rolled behind her glasses before Karin turned back to watching what her senpai was doing over the patient's shoulder, "Nothing, just seems strange for someone like you, given your chakra and the fact you're in a test like this…"

There was an angry spike from the boy but oddly it was Xiao that responded to the Kusa girl's words, "You can sense it through his chakra can't you?" there was only a momentary glance as serious crimson eyes faced the pale girl, causing Karin to blush and nod to her senpai. Xiao went back to her work, "Don't mention it out loud, the Konoha-nin are very weird about it and never mention it…"

"Eeh?!" Karin blinked several times before glancing between the pouting boy and her senpai several times before giving the blonde boy a good once-over before turning to her senpai with a frown, "Why? He's got a LOT more raw power then even that other girl's black fire? Why would they limit such-"

Sharp red eyes cut her off causing the girl to squeak, "Don't mention Yorihi's either," she nodded over to where her two teammates were standing, "Her cat's weird but imagine how they'd act if the really knew what it was…"

Blushing further, Karin pressed her lips together and nodded vigorously, agreeing to keep all the things she felt about the two secret.

Too bad this just left the floor open for Naruto to crouch next to them, specifically looking directly at Karin with his suspicious fox face, "What's she talkin' about? What about Yorihi and a cat? Huh?"

This did not result in anything Naruto would have expected, at least from someone other than Sakura, "BAKA!" Karin reached over and punched him to the ground, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING! THERE'S A HALF-NAKED GIRL HERE! TURN AROUND YOU PERV! HENTAI! HENTAI!" accented quite nicely with various kicks and punches yet Karin still managed to hold Sakura up with one arm.

"EEEaaah!" Naruto quickly rolled away from the furious onslaught, ducking around in a crouch and covering his head, "AAAAHHHH! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I SWEAR I DIDN'T SEE NOTHING!"

Karin continued to fume, kicking the air next to her, "DOUBLE NEGATIVE JACKASS! THAT MEANS YOU DID SEE SOMETHING! HENTAI! HENTAI!" Just for effort she threw her shoe at him, hitting him square in the back of the head causing the boy to meet face to ground.

Xiao had to bit her lip and physically keep her attention on her re-bandaging the wound, having seen no further damage, to keep herself from breaking down into serious laughter. With all the stress of the day so far, she really needed the laugh.

This was the scene Yorihi and Oku walked over too, Yorihi holding the scroll Oku got from the sound team in one hand and cocking her head at the sight before her, "What the hell is going on?"

"N-nothing Princess," Xiao pressed her lips together, fighting the urge to laugh, her eyes only on her work, "Just a… uh, heh, minor difference of opinion…"

Karin was visibly growling at the blonde boy, glaring murder his way, while Naruto was huddled in a ball, facing away, and muttering how he wasn't a pervert.

Yorihi just rolled her brows while Oku chuckled behind her, "Tch, whatever," she reached behind her and pulled out the Heaven scroll she'd been carrying, "Here, Naruto-kun, as promised, a scroll set for your team…"

"Eh?" that got Naruto's attention. Bright blue eyes opened to see a pair of scrolls at his feet. Shakily he lowered his hands and reached out to touch them, only pulling back last second before turning to stare at the blind girl and her murderous companion, "Y-you mean it? W-we c-can use these?"

A dismissive snort from the Kumo leader as she waved her hand nonchalant, "It'll be easy to find another on our own, its best we get you three out of here and into custody," she nodded to the pale boy in the silly hat smiling like everything was normal behind her, "Oku-kun suggested it," she shrugged her shoulder behind her, referencing the blood stains and traps, "As you can see, it's easy enough for us to get another on our own…"

For a moment Naruto's eyes trailed the expanse around them, noticing the myriad of activated traps the Kumo boy had used… even the bloodstains, the only remains of his kills on the field. He swallowed hard. –She wasn't kidding when she said it wouldn't be hard for them to handle another team…- clear blue eyes trailed to the badger tamer, still smiling like his normal self, as if he hadn't just executed a team of highly trained genin moments ago. –If Oraka-bou-teme could do THAT in a matter of minutes…- his eyes trailed to the blind girl next to the silly hat wearing boy. –What could she do… she is their leader after all…- he gulped again for good measure, turning to the scrolls and quickly picking them up and putting them in his pouch before standing up and nodding to the two Kumo-nin, embarrassed for everything, "T-thank you… seriously," his eyes raised, looking directly at the blind girl's headband, "Thank you."

Yorihi just snorted, facing away from him, "Consider it a debt, I expect to be repaid one day, understand." The boy just gave a nervous laugh but nodded anyway, sealing the deal. Having that done with Yorihi turned towards her other teammate, "How's she looking Xiao-chan?"

The medic didn't even bother looking up at the question, "The sutures are holding, I'm hesitant to give her another dose of sedatives, seeing as the last batch didn't work as well as I'd hoped…" red eyes glanced to her comrades, "She's stable enough to travel, so we can leave at any time…" pointing a thumb behind her the dark skinned girl grinned, "The Uchiha hasn't moved this whole time, so I'm sure he's fine~"

"Heh," crossing her arms smugly, Yorihi smirked, "Guess that means we only need to pick up another scroll and we're out of here-" the girl cut herself off when she noticed the wide grin on her friend's face, "Why do you suddenly feel so happy?"

"Hehehe," Xiao finished up Sakura, pulling up the orange jacket and leaning her against Karin without care before turning to her comrades and pulling out the Earth scroll she'd acquired from the bear, "Oh, let's just say I already handled that little issue~" at the continued frown on the blind girl's face, Xiao couldn't help but chuckle, "I know you can't see it Princess, but I'm holding the Earth scroll we need!"

Yorihi continued frowning, "I figured as much…" then a smirk picked up on her lips as she turned slightly towards the blonde Konoha boy, "Hey, Naruto-kun," when the boy looked her way she pointed at her friend holding the needed Earth scroll, "That's how long it takes to get two scrolls."

An angry foxish pout spread on the boy's face as he grumbled to himself, namely things about 'cocky Kumo-nin' and 'blind girls' and other such things, causing the three Kumo genin to laugh at his grumpiness.

As soon as the laughing ended Yorihi shook her head, still having a smug grin under her headband, "Alright, get those two prepped for transport, we're getting the hell out of this forest…"

Xiao just smirked, tucking the Earth scroll away in her pack along with their original Heaven scroll. When she turned she noticed Karin looking at her with a pensive face and fidgeting, "What's wrong?"

"Ah… Uhm…" the pale red head bit her lip a moment, her eyes flitting from the girl she was holding to her senpai in front of her, "I-ah… I c-can he-help… h-heal… um-this-girl… eep!" she all but mumbled the last part, squeaking when a dark hand came down on her shoulder causing the girl to clinch her eyes shut. When nothing came she slowly cracked open her own eyes and saw Xiao looking at her seriously.

"What can you do?" the question was short, concise and commanding.

Karin fidgeted a moment before biting her lip, "M-my chakra…" she swallowed, "I-I can feed her m-my chakra… it speeds up healing…" off-red eyes went down, not wanting to see the intense way her senpai was looking at her, "I-it's not the same as the mystic palm healing, b-but its… it's what my mother did in Kusa before she died… and…" she clinched her eyes tightly, she needed to get this out, her senpai needed to know she was good for something and worth keeping around! Red eyes behind brown glasses shot up and looked similar colored eyes right in the eye, "And that responsibility was left to me, I'm the closest thing Kusa had to a proper medic because of my ability!"

A tattooed and dirty blonde brow went up, both Kumo-nin noticing the intense confession from the Kusa girl.

Xiao looked at her in shock, then quickly closed her mouth and looked at the girl seriously, "This deals with your chakra manipulation and detection from earlier doesn't it?" a nod from the Kusa girl, "It's not the same as the mystic hands? How? Is it a chakra transfer?" another nod, shallower this time as the girl was obviously getting nervous under the medic's intense gaze, "It'll only enhance her natural healing factor correct? No lasting damage or age alteration?"

"I-no?" Karin blinked at her, she'd never heard of such a thing, "All I do is offer my chakra, their body uses it, speeds up natural healing, nothing more…"

For a long moment harsh red eyes just stared at the younger Kusa girl, before closing her eyes and sighing deeply, "No point saying no…" intense red eyes opened, staring at the younger girl, "Do it quickly, and if you can we try it on the Uchiha, see if it can stabilize his chakra, alright?"

Karin numbly nodded, pulling off her wrist cover, showing a distinct human shaped bite mark, "I-um," she blushed and looked away, "I… need her to… bite me…" instead of the responses she expected all she noticed was a short exchange between the Kumo-nin; Xiao raising a brow looking at her comrades, the boy poking the blind girl, who only seemed to snort and shrug, then her senpai stared back at her and gave a sharp nod, reaching around to move the catatonic girl's jaw, and Karin placed her wrist in the girl's mouth. Xiao moved Sakura's jaw, forcing the konoichi to bite down and Karin simply winced, a blush rushing across her cheeks for some reason, "Nngh!"

Both medics felt the distinct transfer of chakra, causing Xiao to blink surprised, she'd never seen or felt anything like it. Then she noticed Karin started to sweat and removed her wrist from Sakura's mouth and put the Konoha girl down. Xiao reached over her to stabilize the Kusa girl and inspect her wrist, "Are you alright?" when the only response she got was deep labored breathing, Xiao shook her, "Karin!"

Hearing her name snapped the redhead out of the mild euphoria and rush from transferring her chakra. Dazed red eyes blinked and tried to focus past her glasses at the bright lightning in front of her, showing off a blushing dopy smile, "S-Senpai… said my… name…!"

Xiao shook her again, concerned by the girl's sudden change, "Karin, snap out of it!" she had to snap her fingers in front of the girl to get her attention, this was certainly a strange technique, "Do you… do you think you can do that again?"

The dopy grin spread and the girl's face was little more than a shameless blush, "Anything… for you… Senpai!" and latched herself around the older Kumo girl's neck, "Just… take me… where you… need me! Karin will do her best!"

Slightly panicked from the new hanger-on, Xiao glanced from the girl to her partner and friend, "Uh…?"

Mercilessly Yorihi just waved her hand, "Well go on, get her to do that with the Uchiha, it might be more beneficial to have those two up, even if that one's incapacitated," a devious smirk, "You might just have to carry her all the way to the tower, Xiao-senpai~"

Red eyes narrowed on the blind girl, "Oh fuck off, Princess!" and with a huff turned into the hollow, hanger-on and all, and tried to untangle the girl to work on the shirtless Uchiha. There was some ominous squeal moments later.

Yorihi couldn't help but snicker.

Next to her Oku just sighed, shaking his head, "That was mean Yorihi-hime…"

The evil cat smirk didn't leave the blind girl's face, "She deserved it…" –For all the times she insinuated something pervy with me… payback is sweet…-

Ignoring the Kumo-nin, Naruto crouched next to his teammate, checking her over, "Ne, Sakura-chan?"

"Nnngh…" there was a grunt from the girl, at least she wasn't non-responsive anymore.

Naruto shook her shoulder, then remembered one was injured and let go, squeaking, "Sorry!" he flitted about not sure what to do but wanting to 'wake her up', "C'mon, Sakura-chan~ time to get up!" then he heard a groan inside the hollow, taking a glance inside and saw the weird red-haired girl pass out as Xiao seemed to be removing Sasuke's jaw from her wrist. With a frown Naruto got an idea that would likely wake up his teammate, and get him punched. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered directly to her ear, "Ne, there's some foreign girl with Sasuke-teme and he's got his shirt off, it looks like-"

"WHERE'S THAT HUSSY I'LL KILL HER! CHA!" it was amazing really just how fast Sakura could move when properly motivated. Even if only one of her arms was fully responsive, she'd still kill any bitches trying to move in on her man!

Naruto got thrown a good distance and was groaning, rubbing his head and pouting at his teammate, "Sakura-chan~"

The Kumo-nin looked less than impressed. Oku and Yorihi were, for the lack of a better word, staring flatly at the girl, and from inside the hollow Xiao was giving the other pink haired girl an incredulous look as she moved Karin, who was unconscious and moaning, to a more comfortable position to carry. Once finished the Kumo medic looked over the Uchiha, lightly kicking him in the side to see he reacted even if he didn't seem fully conscious, before turning to exit the hollow, Karin unconscious on her back, and stepped out past the Konoha girl with a straight face, "He's all yours…"

There was a squeal of, "SASUKE-KUN!" and more grunting but the rest mostly ignored it.

When Xiao made it to her team she stared at them flatly, "What?"

Oku had a frown on his face, scratching under his hat, "See Xiao-chan, this is why I say we should just let things die or kill them ourselves, then there's none of this babysitting…" they all winced at the high pitched squealing coming from the hollow.

"Shut up, Oku," Xiao frowned, adjusting her now drooling charge, "At least mine's actually useful…"

Yorihi just gave a snort, her tattooed brows giving that motion like she was rolling her eyes. She momentarily glanced at the now-relatively-upright Konoha genin along with her own team, nodding her head towards the central tower, "Let's just go…"


"I can't believe these guys tried to attack us…" Xiao kicked one of the masked Ame-nin that had tried, and failed miserably, to stop them and steal their scrolls. They'd been traveling for relatively an hour and only now ran into any kind of opposition, weak at best and only a few feet from the tower entrance.

"Pfft," Yorihi was wiping her hands, looking more annoyed then the rest of them as she was the one that had knocked the three pathetic attempts at shinobi out before anyone else could get serious, "it was just a bad match…" they'd attempted to trap them in genjutsu along with a vapor poison, she had no idea if either affected anyone else in their motley crew but neither of those things affected her at all. The second her seals activated and she tasted something funny she was off tracking the bastards from their chakra and heartbeats, knocking them out of the trees with her rods before any of the others could so much as question.

Noted best by the pink haired Konoha girl shaking next to her teammates and now looking at her scared.

On the other hand, Naruto, who was holding a surprisingly still unconscious Uchiha on his back, just grinned at her, "That was pretty sweet, Yorihi, but I could'a taken 'em! Dattebayou!"

Against her will the boy's comment caused the blind girl to smirk in his direction before turning towards the tower, "Sure you could have, Naruto-kun…"

"Hehe," the fox boy just chuckled, carrying his teammate and leading the other towards them.

Oku took up the rear with Lior on his shoulder, both looking unimpressed, "Ne, Yorihi-hime, should we take their scroll?"

While this caused the others to quirk a brow at the boy, Yorihi just shrugged, "Nah, they may be weak, but I'd honestly like someone better to beat them, giving us more of a challenge in the coming test…" really she just wanted to leave this place, get this done with, hand over the Uchiha, get her message out back home, a hot bath then maybe coming back and burning this place to the ground. –Though, I bet it'd just grow back fire proof…- she snorted and walked towards the tower, the others mostly following.

The badger tamer just held out his hands nonchalant, "Whatever you say, Yorihi-hime." Stepping over one of the Ame-nin the boy didn't do anything. The Konoha-nin had been giving him a wide berth since the incident with the Oto-nin and personally Oku didn't mind, their opinion didn't matter, and so long as Yorihi didn't reject him before hearing him out he didn't quite care. One look at his partner and her slight smile was all he needed.

Xiao just shook her head, heading towards the tower with the unconscious Kusa girl still on her back, "Shut up, Oku…"

The silly hat wearing boy just gave a wide grin, following the rest while Lior snorted his disinterest.


Upon entering the tower all present chuunin hopefuls found themselves staring at some large scroll hanging from the ceiling.

"Man, what now?!" of course, Naruto was the first to complain.

With a snort, Yorihi tilted her head, "Either that's the most oddly placed wall hanging I've ever felt or its some bullshit clue to opening this door," she nodded her chin towards her female teammate, "Xiao-chan, what's it say?"

After gently placing Karin on the ground, Xiao rolled her eyes and looked at the scroll hanging, "Something about combining mind and body," she pulled out the Heaven and Earth scroll and stared at them for a good second, "If I had to guess, it means to open the scrolls together now…" maneuvering her hand to pull the lip of the scrolls open simultaneously, "Move back!" she yelled, mostly at the Konoha genin, before flinging both scrolls, opening them at once and setting them on the ground.

At the sudden explosive poof! Of white smoke all three Kumo genin jumped back with weapons drawn, Yorihi with her rods, Xiao standing in front of Karin with a kunai, and Oku in front of the Konoha genin holding a scroll in each hand.

There was sudden coughing from within the smoke, "Goddamnit! Who the hell set this thing up!" with a wide wave a short figure made their way out of the smoke. The second she was clear Yugito cracked open one iron black eye to see her students alive and well her face split into a wide Cheshire grin, "Hey guys! About time you showed up! I was getting antsy waiting!"

The Konoha genin stared having never seen a person summoned before.

The Kumo genin just raised their respective brows, until Oku chuckled and Xiao sighed heavily.

Yorihi was the one to actually comment flatly, "We ran into some complications along the way…"

Off to the side Sakura snuck closer to Sasuke, who happened to be on Naruto's back, hiding partially behind the blonde boy, "W-who is that?" the headband obviously meant this blonde woman was another Kumo-nin, but what did that mean?! Why would scrolls from her village summon a foreigner!

Naruto just tilted his head, "Yu… Yugi… oh I know I know this!" he grumbled to himself practically ignoring Sakura's whining.

"Yugito!" the blonde woman called out, causing all to look at the awkwardly standing Konoha-nin. She gave a wide smile and waved at the blonde boy, "It's good to you see you again Naruto-chan!"

"Eheh," the boy tried to do his normal I'm-embarrassed-scratch behind his head, but realized he couldn't while holding the teme, "Er, sorry about that, Yugito-nee-chan…"

"Fufufu," a conspirator cat grin crossed the pale woman's face, as she looked between the shirtless team and her own, "Want to explain something, Yori-chan~"

There was a grunt matching the frown on the blind girl's face, "Like I said, complications…"

Yugito tapped her chin while glancing back at the Konoha team, almost innocently, "Actually I was wondering why no one on Naruto-chan's team is wearing a shirt, fufufufu…"

There may have been a snicker from the badger tamer…

"Medical necessity," Xiao said flatly, waving her hand nonchalant, "I had to perform surgery and repeatedly care to their bandages," a snort made its way through the veneer, "As a medical professional I can't be held responsible for others being ill prepared in such situations…" that was her line and she was sticking to it. Also fighting to keep the snickers away from her straight face.

Thin iron black eye turned to the young medic-wannabe, "Medical professional, huh?" an evil cat grin rose, "I'll be sure to tell Anago-taichou all about that~"

The dark skinned girl visibly paled.

Not that Yugito was paying her student any mind, turning back to Yorihi with a mild grin, "So, complications?"

Professionally the blind girl nodded her head, giving her report, "After challenging Gaara of the sand and escaping, we retreated and came across this Konoha team being attacked by a high level missing-nin," cyan tattooed brows lowered seriously, "After observing, it was easy to tell he was after the Uchiha, when we tried to leave unnoticed he attacked us subtly, provoking us into a situation where we had to get involved…"

Xiao lowered her head, remembering how they got split up and the bastard went after Yorihi, forcing her out of hiding, "He wanted us there for a reason Sensei…"

Momentarily those iron black eyes were serious and glanced at the red eyed girl, nodding that she heard her.

Yorihi simply continued, "He was taunting us, and the Uchiha, provoking the boy to attack us after failing to bribe his way out…"

"You did kinda push all his buttons at once, dattebayou…" Naruto threw in from his corner. He knew it wasn't his place to interrupt their briefing a superior, but he wanted the record straight. That snake bastard did a lot to mess with Sasuke-teme's head, but Yorihi had been the one to put the final nail in the coffin.

There was no verbal response to his statement but Yorihi had turned slightly his way, almost making the blonde think she was telling him to shut up.

"As I was saying," Yorihi turned back to her superior, "The Uchiha attacked us. He had activated his Sharingan…"

"You sure?" blonde brows on the Kumo jounin lowered, that wasn't good.

There was a nod from the blind girl but Xiao was the one to answer, "I saw it Sensei, the bastard's cheap changing red eyes, but not only that he was moving differently than before, and if I could sense the sudden surge of chakra to his eyes then the Princess could as she was the first one he went after…"

A pensive look came over Yugito's face as she held her chin, "How much did he get?"

"A little bit of Xiao's style, enough to dodge an attack from the missing-nin, and perhaps some of my right handed style, but it was obvious his body wasn't used to it. The moment his eyes turned off he was drained and practically dead weight," there was a grunt of disapproval but at the same time Yorihi couldn't argue the value of such a bloodline. In a single battle the boy grabbed portions of a unique fist fighting style and probably some of her own swordsmanship, if he ever learned to use such a thing outside using his eyes and for more than just evasion he could be quite formidable. –If he survives that thing on his shoulder, that is…- She gave her Aunt a moment to process that information before continuing, "That's not even the worst of it, after displaying such improvement, the missing-nin pursued the Uchiha, apparently intent to put some seal on him, and after various bouts of interference, both from us and the remaining Konoha team, he succeeded… sort of..."

There was a frown on the cat woman's face, not liking such ambiguity, "Sort of? How?"

Yorihi frowned, "Despite our retreat, and knocking the rest of us aside, he attempted to seal him… only 'bit' the pink haired Konoha girl," she nudged her head towards Sakura who jumped at the mention of her, "He seemed quite agitated by this, wounding her severely to try and undo the procedure then threw her at a tree full force," she faced her Aunt again, "And just to say, he had been previously just toying with us, only using a fraction of his real strength…"

Yugito nodded, she trusted her weird little niece to not be lying about such a thing, though it sparked its own bout of questions. Snapping up quickly, iron black eyes narrowed on Sakura, "Konoha girl, do you have any idea how you survived such an attack?"

Sakura squeaked, not used to being addressed so seriously, let alone by a foreign jounin, "N-no m-ma'am…"

There was a momentary soft smile on the older woman's face before she turned seriously towards her female student, "Xiao?"

The dusky-pink haired girl nodded firmly, "I had to perform surgery on her shoulder, removing a lot of tissue, some that even looked necrotized as it was black from the puncture wound, something was definitely injected into her, but not nearly as much as the Uchiha who was the intended target," there was a defeated sigh from the medic, "I tried what I could Sensei, but I doubt I got it all," red eyes flared, "Hell, she wouldn't even be standing there if it weren't for Karin's strange chakra transfer technique!"

Blonde brow quirked higher as Yugito's head tilted a bit, "Karin?"

A slight blush may or may not have passed over Xiao's face, as she crossed her arms and nodded towards the red head drooling on the floor, "A Kusa girl I found in the woods being attacked by a bear…" shoulders slumped, "That… ate… her entire… team…"

"Is that where you got that bear meat you fed us?" a tattooed brow rose as Yorihi couldn't help but question. It tasted good, who was she to argue with bear meat, zap-heated and handed to her when she was starving in the Forest of Death? –Does this mean I've technically eaten people?- it was a strange thought, and her finicky feline had no answers for her.

Yugito's brow remained up, "Ooookay?" iron black eyes turned back to the red eyed medic, "Why is she here? Let alone them?" she pointed at the Konoha genin with her thumb, "As technically without a set of scrolls they're all supposed to still be in the forest…?"

Yorihi just snorted, turning towards the Konoha genin, "Naruto-kun, you might want to summon your instructor as well…" when she felt her Aunt's questioning gaze on her the blind girl simply shrugged, "We had a deal…"

A wry smirk came over Yugito's face, "Hope it was worth it…" then dropped with a long sigh when she realized none of her students got the added subtext.

"Ah-uh, r-right! Dattebayou…" the boy grumbled a moment before setting down Sasuke-teme, then reaching behind him and pulling out their scrolls.

Yorihi turned back, ignoring as there was a Poof! And various shouts of joy and excitement next to them, noticing the flat look on her Aunt's face, "What?"

Yugito's face soured, "You didn't think it would have been better to have had them summon whoever was chosen as their representative, from Konoha, before you gave me your report, then neither of us have to repeat this?"

A frown, not a pout, passed the blind girl's face as she turned succinctly towards the Konoha group, Naruto apparently hugging a very confused man with dark skin and a scar across his nose, "Your team was attacked by a Sannin level Missing-nin, most likely Orochimaru, both Sakura and the Uchiha were wounded, Sakura severely, treated by our medic, and now the Uchiha has a seal on his shoulder you all should do something about…" ignoring the dumb looking faces on the three standing she turned back to her superior, "Happy?"

Iron black eyes rolled, "I'll have more to deal with because I'm your superior now you realize," the pout on the girl's face morphed into a small smirk and Yugito couldn't help but be proud of her. So her justified response was giving her a noogie, "I hope you're proud!"

"NEE-CHAN!" it was probably the first instance this entire trip Yorihi reverted back to her childish nature. She'd been so professional this whole time they'd almost forgotten she was the youngest one of their group.

Xiao tried not to snort as the girl managed to get her Aunt's hand off and was now meticulously trying to fix her rough hair. Red eyes turned to her jounin instructor, "Sensei, what about her?" she nodded back to Karin, "She helped us, and I promised to protect her and that once we're out of the forest she would be too…"

A pale hand scratched behind blonde locks, "Hrm, that is tricky, I'm sure she signed the legality waiver like the rest of you, meaning as a shinobi she shouldn't be able to leave the forest…"

"Ah-uhm, sorry, Miss, but… what's going on?" the scared Konoha shinobi that had been summoned was now approaching them, obviously about to ask questions.

Yugito ignored him along with the rest of her team, thinking long and hard over something before holding out her hand, "Give me her headband…"

"Sensei?" Oku was the one to ask with similar confusion written on the girls' faces though Xiao quickly did as told.

Once Yugito had Karin's headband in her hand she crushed it, balling it up into a fine powder then incinerating it with burning chakra, opening her hands to reveal only ash and specks of metal, "There, now she's not a shinobi and no longer bound by that contract!" a cat who ate the cannery grin spread on the woman's face as she turned to the stunned looking scarred Konoha shinobi, "Am I right?"

"Ah-uh… well, that's…" Umino Iruka frantically looked from the foreign girl on the ground to the ones standing in front of him. He had just been summoned by his former students in Team 7, having taken their sensei's place as Kakashi likely wouldn't have shown up for another three hours and after getting through the Forest of Death at an impressive time, only spending one night in, he wanted to congratulate Naruto and his team. Now he was faced with a situation he was completely unprepared for. Naruto had of course completely glomped him immediately upon arrival and then he noticed the Kumo team… whom Naruto said were okay, and caught their discussion about someone not theirs or from Konoha. Then the display from their jounin instructor. He would never say it out loud, nor even think it, because he liked having positive karma, but what in the world was this woman doing?! Thinking that just destroying a headband could negate a legally binding document! "Uhh…"

Yugito simply patted the man on the shoulder, her grin unchanging, "Good! So glad we understand one another! By the way…" something vicious entered that grin as she leaned in uncomfortably close, "You're not a Jounin, you're not from my village, and you pale in comparison to the things I could do, so my advice to you is to simply nod and look pretty, okay?"

Iruka just gulped, doing just that.

"Good!" the scary Kumo-jounin patted his shoulder again, grabbing it this time, "I'll be taking this guy with me and informing him and his superiors of what happened, you…" she pointed at all of them, quickly counting, "Seven, get a room in the tower, prep and relax, you're going to be stuck here for the next…" quick calculations, "three and a half days, so you might as well get comfy, kay?"

The Konoha team looked shocked, Sasuke and Karin drooled on the floor, and the Kumo genin just sighed.

"More waiting?" Oku scratched the back of his head.

"Well that gives us time to discuss a few things," Xiao's sharp red eyes turned to their leader.

Who was approaching the Kumo jounin before she left, "Nee-chan, before you leave," she pulled out a scroll and handed it to her, "Send this to my father, he'll want to know how our progress has been…"

Momentarily iron black eyes looked from the girl's face to the scroll in her hand. From his position Iruka could have sworn the two were having some other conversation before the jounin finally took the scroll, "Alright, I'll see what I can do, in the meantime take care of that girl, she's your responsibility until I can come back and fetch her, understand."

"Understood," with a clipped nod Yorihi watched as her Aunt and the Konoha shinobi disappeared with Shunshin, hopefully to report as necessary the details they knew so proper actions could be taken. –Now that just leaves us until more orders are sent…- she turned around, not that it was necessary, and observed those she was in charge of. Yugito may have only mentioned Karin as their charge, but Yorihi knew it was also the Konoha genin she was responsible for. –I have to keep an eye on them until something is done about the Uchiha and that seal…- the longer he had it the more it seemed to give off a familiar dark chakra, one she hadn't witnessed in almost a year. Whoever came to fetch him and hopefully seal it off would need to know what she did. –It wouldn't do well to hand them over someone with such abilities, if this is the same seal…-

Stepping forward Yorihi approached the Konoha genin, her own comrades eyeing her oddly, "Naruto-kun, which way to the medical facilities?"

"Eh?" the boy gave a confused foxish look, "Why ya askin' Yorihi?" despite his question he looked around the room they were in as if that'd answer the question, "Hrm, I dunno myself, was gonna walk around with Sakura-chan to find it and drop the Teme off, dattebayou!"

"Very well," her voice cut deeply, "I'll be joining you as well-"

"Now hold on a damn minute, Princess," a dark hand came down on the shorter girl's shoulder. Xiao was frowning down at her friend, "You're not trying to get out of our talk are you?"

Tattooed brows lowered, annoyed, "I would never be so presumptuous," she flicked Xiao's hand off her shoulder, stepping forward, intent to take the lead and continue on, "I merely want to ensure nothing happens to the Uchiha while he's being handed off from our care," tilting her head over her shoulder slightly, not that she was eyeing her female comrade, "Besides, wouldn't you want to make sure your patients got handed over properly?"

There was a deep huff as the dusky-pink haired girl strode up confidently to where she was standing next to her 'friend', glaring at her with red eyes, "I was going to do that anyway once Sensei dismissed us, just wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten…"

An annoyed snort from the blind girl, who may have been glaring at her female friend, before turning slightly to address their final member, "Oku-kun?"

"I'm good!" he waved his hand cheerily, adjusting Karin on his back who seemed to start drooling making Lior happy he was on the other side, "I'll find us someone where safe to spend the night and watch over this one like Sensei said! You guys be safe!"

Despite herself Yorihi couldn't help the smirk at the unusual boy in the silly hat's enthusiasm, despite what had already happened that day, "Alright, we'll find you when we're done," the pale boy just gave a clipped nod and turned to the opposite exit from the room. Once he was out Yorihi turned to face Xiao, who as usual had followed her partner out with her eyes, "So, we ready to go?"

It was Xiao's turn to snort, turning and walking past the two stunned Konoha-nin, "Yea, whatever," she sniffed around, "This way, I can smell the antiseptic…"

"Hey Sakura-chan," Naruto leaned over to his teammate, trying to whisper, "What's antiseptic?"

The light pink haired girl just rolled her eyes, ignoring the boy's question and following the way the older girl went, holding her right arm and hoping they found the real medics soon.

Naruto just made a face at being ignored.

"It's a medical chemical used for sterilizing," Yorihi spoke dryly as she came up to the blonde, she could feel his mouth open to ask further and cut him off, "It's used to clean…" and walked pasted him like the rest.

"Oh…" taking a moment to think and give a foxish pout, Naruto took off after the girls, "Why didn't ya just say that! Dattebayou!"

There was a slight groan on the blonde's shoulder followed by drooling from the mostly unconscious Uchiha.


The group of Kumo girls and Team 7 final found the medical wing after passing through a wide open room with an ostentacious statute of the Ram seal.

Yorihi and Xiao too a second to take the thing in, voiced best by Xiao, "What the hell is with this village and bigass versions of mundane things?" Yorihi's only response was to shrug.

Taking the side door the mobile quartet found a wing with various rooms, all looking rather medical in nature.

Xiao sniffed again, "This definitely smells like a hospital," confidently the young medic walked forward with the others following her

Naruto sniffed not far behind the older girl, "Really? I never really been to the hospital so I dunno what it smells like," after another sniff he decided he didn't like it, sticking out his tongue, "Bleh…"

"You get used to it," Yorihi mumbled, crossing her arms. Hospitals were never a good sign, even the private on in the ANBU quarters was sterile, white, cold and gave no impression of being a nice place to be. If this place was a medical wing for this building it was strangely… humane. The walls weren't stark white, just the regular stone of the rest of the building, and while the obvious smell of medical chemicals were all over the place it didn't seem overpowering, like they were rarely used. Even the rooms had windows in them showing two or three beds with drawn curtains. If this was a medical wing, it wasn't in use right now. –But prepped in case? They're expecting to use it soon…-

With a light growl Xiao took off down the dark corridor.

"Ah! Xi-nee-chan!" Naruto shouted after her, about to sprint.

Until Yorihi grabbed his arm, "She's just going to try to find someone, no need to panic."

"Uh-oh… okay," the boy grumbled, shifting the weight of his teammate again wanting to scratch his head like normal, "Ne, Yorihi?" a whisker marked face turned to the blind girl, "How long you think this'll take?"

A tattooed brow rose slightly, "For us? It shouldn't be too long, enough time to inform your superiors and medics what happened and the details of your teammate's injuries, then we'll likely be requested to leave…"

"Oh," with a foxish pout the boy's face lowered, "Was actually wondering how much longer I have to carry Sasuke-teme, cause he sure ain't as light as he looks, dattebayou…"

"Narutoooo!" Sakura futilely tried to shake her fist but her arm was too weak to really rise.

Yorihi just rolled her brows, choosing to take the step forward instead of getting involved with their team squabbles.

"Hey, wait Yorihi!" of course Naruto ignored the upcoming fight to follow her.

The growl behind him told the Kumo konoichi that Sakura was following as well. They moved along in relative silence as Yorihi followed what was most likely Xiao yelling down the hall.

"I'm sorry, Miss, without the patient here-"

A crackling slam, "I'm telling you what's wrong! Deep thoracic lacerations! A sutured skin graph! Torn trapezius! An entire skeletal structure full of hairline fractures, likely to evolve into greenstick or spiral if continued pressure-"

They finally came into view as the trio rounded a corner, the nondescript Konoha med-nin clad in all sterile white jumpsuit, goggles, holding up a gloved hand as Xiao was angrily leaning over the counter, "Look kid, I get you read a book but leave this to professionals and don't waste our time with-"

"SHE'S RIGHT THERE YOU MORON!" without even looking a dark hand pointed behind her, directly at Sakura who jumped at being mentioned, "Now if you'll let me finish giving a full briefing of her injuries and treatment I can-"

"Save it kid," again that dismissive hand came up as the med-nin stood up from behind the desk, going over to Sakura and calling over another one, "We'll handle it from here and fix whatever first aid was administered by her team…"

Another crackling slam as Xiao hit the counter, that being the only sign of her true discomfort, "I was the one to administer treatment, therefore it is I you want to speak with!"

While Sakura was being placed in a wheel chair by the other med-nin the one Xiao had been speaking with turned around with only a visible frown, "Kid, that's enough, leave it to professionals, now go about your business…"

Xiao clinched both her hands into fists and walked up to the man, her red eyes nearly glowing with her held rage, "I am a professional," she didn't touch the man, didn't poke or prod or any other show of anger, simply stood glaring at him with her hands tight, "If you gave any kind of damn about treating that girl properly you'd have me in there with you to oversee the procedure."

The man's face was mostly covered, but even from her position Yorihi could feel the contempt, "Move, Kumo, or I'll have you removed from this facility by force and that means out of this building and out of this exam…"

It was the only threat that could keep Xiao rooted long enough for the man to pass. She snarled at him as he went, bearing her teeth.

"Xi-nee-chan?" Naruto called out to her, but the red eyed girl didn't respond, simply staring at the door the med-nin and Sakura disappeared behind.

"Xiao." Yorihi's voice was crisp and clean, garnering the older girl's attention, "If they plan to do anything they still need time to dose her," she nudged her head towards Naruto, "We need to get him to someone first, understand."

There was a growl as the older girl simply crossed her arms and faced the door, "You've got fifteen minutes. I'm staying here, and if you're not back by then I'm going in."

Yorihi simply gave a courteous nod before reaching out and grabbing Naruto's arm, "Let's go."

"Wait-what?!" Naruto and his charge were dragged down another hall, leaving the boy very confused by this turn of events.


They returned to the room with the ostentatious statue…

"Hey, what're we doing back here?" Naruto gripped, tugging his arm, looking around. He was worried Sakura. He knew he shouldn't be, she was with medics so she was alright, right? But the way Xiao had acted made him nervous.

After a long silent moment Yorihi finally let him go, walking a few steps forward so she was in the center of the room. Then without warning she gathered a large amount of chakra and concentrated it on her hand, forming small dense sphere.

"Y-Yorihi?" Naruto could feel the energy. He knew he wasn't the best when it came to sensing chakra or understanding the finer points of how it worked, so he knew if he could feel it that was some pretty powerful stuff in the girl's hand.

Instead of answering him she simply crushed it, causing a pulse that shot through the building and likely further out.

"W-Wha-wha?! What was that for!?" the blonde couldn't help but shout. That thing shot through him and it set all of his hairs on end!

The blind girl tilted her head up, quietly answering the boy even if she didn't seem to be paying him any attention, "Just a request for an audience," her head lowered and tilted enough over her shoulder for Naruto to think she was talking to him, "Hatake Kakashi is your jounin instructor, correct?"

A confused fox face passed over the boy, "Uh, yea? You met him and he said so, dattebayou?"

"Hmp," the girl dismissively turned ahead, "just making sure, this would have been much simpler if he had shown up when summoned instead of that other Konoha shinobi…"

"Iruka-sensei," the boy automatically corrected, though frowning, "And yea, he said he came cause Kakashi-sensei is always late…"

"Now, now, Naruto-kun," a hand came down on the blonde boy's head, patting lightly, "I'm not always late~"

With a growling pout Naruto didn't even bother trying to remove the hand, "You're late, Kakashi-sensei…" ending with a punkish snort.

Yorihi just turned on the tall grey haired man, "I would have expected more to come for a distress signal."

The man's insufferable upside-down 'U' eye smile was her immediate response, "Oh but there's no trouble I can't handle here~" he patted Naruto again, "Unless there's something to be said about a girl taking my team's shirts, but I'm not sure that counts as trouble~"

Tattooed brows lowered in a glare, "Are you actually capable of doing something about the seal placed on the Uchiha?"

"Possibly," finally the smug jounin's eye opened as he leaned over his students, tugging the edge of the bandage around Sasuke's shoulder down to get a look at this thing, "Hmm…"

"Hmm… what? Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto shifted Sasuke again, being annoyed he was little more than a pack mule at this point.

"Hmm… as in this seal is incomplete," rubbing his masked chin Kakashi moved around his students to get a better angle, "I've seen this seal, or one like it, before, and it had a triple design, this one is missing a piece…"

A tattooed brow rose, "Xiao mentioned there was this black substance in Sakura's wound, considering the delivery method was like a poison, could she have been affected? Had a portion of the seal put into her?"

Kakashi finally stood straight and looked at the Kumo girl, his eye appearing a bit more serious than a moment ago before smiling again, "Thank you for your help, Tenkyuu-chan, I'll handle it from here."

Yorihi gripped her sword, "I don't think so Hatake-san, I'll join you to ensure this thing is dealt with properly…"

The masked man's awkwardly charming smile never falter, though he picked up his unconscious student effortlessly, putting him on his own shoulder, "Are you sure, Tenkyuu-chan~ it'll be dangerous, and I'm not sure my superiors would be pleased of a foreign shinobi, especially only a genin, risking themselves in such a manner~"

There was a soft scoff, "Trust me, Hatake-san, it'll be no issue, I can't see what you do directly nor am I an average genin," she nudged her head away, signaling they move, "Besides, I've come across this seal as well, or something like it, so I know what its effects are." Cyan tattooed brows lowered seriously, "There's no reason for you to try to hide anything from me…"

He gave that irritating 'U' eye smile and tapped the plate covering her eyes as he passed, "Oh, I think there's one good reason…" as he passed with a light chuckle he threw over his shoulder, "Oh, by the way, you might want to check on that comrade of yours, I fear she'll do something that'll get her kicked out soon…"

"Even if it's in defense of your student," Yorihi bit out bitterly, gripping her sword tightly before reigning herself in enough to address Naruto who had so far been unusually quiet, "Naruto-kun, please check on Xiao-chan, I fear your sensei may be right…"

"Uh-y-yea, sure, Yorihi," now finally free of the burden of his teammate he scratched the back of his head, "But… uh, what about you?" blue eyes traveled from the blind girl to his own sensei, wondering if it was a good idea to leave the two alone.

Yorihi gave the barest of smirks, hoping he could see it, "Don't worry, I'm trusting Xiao-chan with you, trust me to not do anything… adverse to your team." She turned facing the masked man who seemed to watch blankly, "If this is what I think it is, you'll want my presence just in case… Kakashi-san."

The veteran jounin's sole black eye stared at the girl a moment flatly. She was proving more stubborn then he'd initially assumed, and there was something eerily familiar about her stance and form, something he used to see in the mirror when he was her age. He blinked, before nodding his head at Naruto, "Go on, Naruto-kun, I'm sure Sakura-chan will enjoy your familiar company!"

The boy blushed a moment before pouting foxishly, "You sure, Kakashi-sensei? I mean…" he looked between the two, feeling he was missing something huge, like a gulf had spread between him and the other two who were facing off on the other side. He couldn't do anything, not that he didn't want to…

Yorihi just made a huffing noise, stepping ahead towards Kakashi while the older man just gave his trademark eye-smile. The next second had the two disappearing.

Naruto's jaw dropped, surprised Yorihi could pull off Shunshin like Kakashi-sensei… before his anger showed its, "AW THAT'S NOT FAIR! DATTEBAYOU!"


Despite his raving and grumbling the boy did turn around and do as he was told, worried what his other Kumo friend was getting up to and how Sakura-chan was doing.

When Naruto made it back to where he and Yorihi had left Xiao, the girl was nowhere in sight. In fact NO ONE was anywhere in sight.

"… dattebayou?" confused the boy tilted his head and looked around… noticing the doors Sakura had been previously taken were blown open with obvious scorch marks on the metal handles of the door, "Er, guess Xi-nee-chan didn't feel like waiting?" quickly he ran down the hall.

Only to hear some shouting and Xiao get thrown out a set of double doors.

"XI-NEE-CHAN!" Naruto picked up his pace and knelt by the older girl intent to help her up.

Xiao simply pushed his hands out of the way, growling as her red eyes were focused on the swinging doors in front of her and wiping the blood from her lip, "Those fucking idiots!" growling she got up and stomped towards the doors.

Naruto quickly jumped in front of her, not so much trying to stop her as get what the hell was going on, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Xi-nee-chan! You just got tossed outta there like nothing, take a second and check yourself over, and tell me what's going on-"

"Get out of my way Naruto…" lightly she put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him aside, her voice eerily low as she kept her sight forward, "Though to put it simply they're trying to kill your teammate…"

"WHAT?!" Now it was Naruto's chance to growl and get pumped up ready for a fight, "They try anything I'll kick their asses! Dattebayou!"

Xiao pushed the door opened to reveal a half prepped operating room, Sakura on the table already unconscious from some anesthetic with one med-nin holding scissors snipping at the sutures Xiao had put on the girl and quickly working to remove them.

The red eyed girl growled, fists clinched as sparks of lightning chakra formed around her, "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

The second med-nin moved quickly to stand in front of the foreign girl, intent to remove her, "We told you before, we have this handled, now get out of here! Security has already been called and you'll be removed from the Tower, failing this exam!"

"Fuck your exam!" the dusky-pink haired girl headbutt the med-nin trying to remove her, throwing him off towards Naruto where he reflexively grabbed the guy, and headed towards the table, pointing threateningly, "What the fuck do you think you're doing!" when she finally got to the man she grabbed him over the table and around the collar nearly strangling him, "it hasn't finished healing yet! To remove it now could result in more damage! You fucking idiot!"

The med-nin quickly swiped at the Kumo girl's arm with a scalpel, forcing her to relent, "We're undoing the butchery you caused!" he stood up glaring at the girl, "I don't know what barbarian forms of medicine your village practices but we heal here!"

"Heal my ass!" Xiao yelled back, holding the cut on her wrist with one hand while the other quickly reached into her pack pulling out a pad and began wrapping the wound without even looking at it, "All you bastards do its throw chakra at it! Like that'll fucking fix everything!" bringing her arm up she ripped the bandage and quickly tied it off, red eyes never leaving the bastard's in front of her, "Do you have ANY IDEA what that cheap version of the mystic hands you employ do in the long run? How many shinobi you're 'healing' into an early grave with rampant growths and compounding issues such as muscular dystrophy, bone spurs, arthritis, all these a result from over-healing certain areas? Not to mention the deteriorating effects of using the wrong type of chakra on someone?!" her eyes were burning as she leaned in, nearly pressing her forehead to this so-called-med-nin's face as she pressed further, "You bastards don't even realize there's chakra typing like blood! The effects this has on the cells! The shear LEVEL of control required to fully remove the activating energy to PREVENT overgrowths and cells going out of control!" she took a deep breath, "NO! YOU ONLY CARE THAT IT HEALS THEM NOW! FUCK HOW MUCH DAMAGE IT DOES TO THEM LATER!"

"XIAO!"

The building tension in the room dropped as Xiao stilled, hearing that commanding voice. Slowly the Kumo konoichi dropped to her heels to the ground, not realizing she'd gotten on the balls of her feet to yell further at this med-nin nor how much she was squeezing her fists, causing the new cut in her arm to bleed through the quick bandage she'd put on it. Slowly, the red eyed girl turned around, looking somewhere between admonished and wanting to press further, knowing she couldn't, "But, sensei…"

Hard iron black eyes stared down at the girl, stern more than anything, perhaps a bit disappointed but not disapproving, "Stand down, we're guests here remember," with her hands on her hips and no Cheshire smile in sight, Nii Yugito was an intimidating woman, "You did your part to save that girl's life in the forest, she's now in the hands of her village's medics, we can't argue with their practices…"

Xiao clinched her teeth and looked down.

"Ohoh," a grizzled voice popped up behind the Kumo Jinchuuriki, "I didn't expect to come across this when called down here," the old man rubbed his beard with a grandfatherly smile, "It reminds me of my student..."

There was a flash of anger as red eyes flicked to the old man but one glance from Yugito put an end to that, "Hokage-sama, I apologize for the conduct of one of my students," a pale hand waved to Xiao as she turned, allowing the old village leader a clearer view, "This is Utsurabon Xiao, her family has been a driving force in our village's medical practices since before the founding," a slight smirk rose on Yugito's lips as she gave her red eyed student a sympathetic look, "so she may come off a little rough, but trust me when I say she knows more about medicine at this age then most jounin."

Xiao seemed to bulk under the praise, looking away and trying to get her fists to unclench, "I know a thing or two about healing, that's all Hokage-sama…"

"My, quite humble I see," again with that odd grandfatherly smile as he walked further into the operating room, taking a quick glance over the work done on one of his subordinates, "This stitching is quite confident, well-practiced, though I am unfamiliar with this… procedure," he ran a finger over the strange green skin sewn into the girl's shoulder. He could tell the sides were cut cleanly, obviously by someone skilled with a scalpel and designed to fit this strange piece of skin for whatever reason.

"It's a graph, Hokage-sama," Xiao ignored the look her sensei gave her, still looking hard at the old man, "I had no other means to fix such a wound right now, so I used that to bridge the wound, removed all broken pieces and anything affected by the attack and covered it with that," she pointed, stepping closer and getting slightly more comfortable, "I know it's… unusual outside of my village, but given time, this graph will encourage the muscle growth underneath, theoretically even neural regeneration, if not it replaces it, allowing for full recovery and range of motion for the muscle," nervously she rubbed the back of her neck, "e-eventually the body will 'out-heal' it, replacing the skin naturally, or it can be removed at a later date once the muscle underneath is healed properly…"

She tried to ignore the way the med-nin rolled his eyes, "Hokage-sama, such barbaric work may work in her village, but we can simply heal the wound like normal with the mystic palm technique Tsunade-sama perfected…"

"Perfected but never taught anyone," those red eyes were glaring back at the jackass, "If she were here I'd have no qualms, but we've seen the work you pass off as her technique; it's cheap, broken, and incomplete compared to hers… resulting in more scar tissue and overgrowths than anything else! it's dangerous!"

"Xiao," there was a low growl in Yugito's voice as she grabbed her student's shoulder and lightly pulled her back.

The girl just bit her lip and stepped back. She didn't want to but it seemed she had no choice.

"Xi-nee-chan," Naruto mumbled to himself, watching as this girl he looked up to getting put down by every adult in the room. He recalled how she looked him over when they first met; she didn't care who or what he was, just that he might be hurt so she helped him, even yelled at Sakura for hurting him. And in the forest she made no qualms about healing his team, just did it… she was nice, in her own way, and obviously cared about getting people better. He'd never had much experience with hospitals, they usually ignored him and really scared him, Katsu-chan had tried to take him to a clinic once and the second they pulled out needles he ran for the hills, the place was creepy and the people more so.

But not Xiao-nee-chan, she'd never seemed that way to him.

"Ne, old man," the blonde boy spoke up, "Anything you can do?" blue eyes glanced from the elderly Hokage to Xiao's red ones, "If Xi-nee-chan says there's something up then I believe her! She helped out Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan in the forest, even that weird girl with red hair and glasses! She knows what she's doing!"

The Hokage seemed to give a sympathetic smile to the boy, but noticed the disapproving looks from the two med-nin, "I'm sorry Naruto, medical affairs are handled by the professionals, these two are qualified medical specialists, I'll trust their judgement in this matter," completely ignoring the boy's gaping he turned to the Kumo girl, "Now I'm sorry they don't feel your methods are going to work, but I'm sure they'll take the utmost care with Haruno-san here, I thank you for your concern and patience in this matter…"

Xiao pressed her lips into a tight frown, nodding to the old man without looking him in the eye, "I understand, Hokage-sama…" and quickly wrenched her shoulder out of her sensei's grip and exited the room without another word.

"W-wait! Xi-nee…" Naruto tried going after her only to stop at the door, watching her sternly walk down the hall. –This… this doesn't seem right…-

There was a deep sigh next to him as the Hokage had apparently given the med-nin's the go-ahead to continue their work and went to the boy's side, "It'll be alright Naruto, you'll see, Sakura will be fine and you'll be able to see her before the next test."

The blonde boy's shoulders slumped, glancing to the side as Yugito stepped forward, closing the doors behind her, "Ne, will she be alright? Xi-nee-chan, I mean?"

Iron black eyes glanced from the boy to the old man momentarily before returning to Naruto, "She'll be fine, she just gets very protective of her patients…" a small grin from the Kumo Jinchuuriki, "I'd call it a family trait."

That didn't really answer Naruto's question but he felt he had nothing else to say.

The Third Hokage put his hand on the boy's shoulder, trying to cheer him up, while turning to the foreign jounin, "I thank you for the information earlier, even if our meeting was interrupted, another time perhaps?"

A strange Cheshire grin passed Yugito's face as she began walking backwards the way Xiao went, waving with a wink, "No problem, Hokage-sama, I have a few errands to run anyway; family letters to deliver, reports to send, that kind of thing," she turned with a skip, "I'll be back later to finish that meeting~"

The Hokage just gave a curt nod, pulling Naruto along as they went the opposite way, "Very well, come Naruto, let's find you somewhere you can comfortably wait for your teammates…"

"U-uh… y-yea, right, old man," despite his agreement, Naruto kept glancing over his shoulder, watching the blonde woman going down the opposite hall.


While Xiao was getting into an argument with the medical staff Yorihi was instructed to wait patiently on the floor as Kakashi prepped Sasuke's body for the sealing. The unconscious boy was lying face down in the center of several intricate circles as Kakashi moved about writing seals.

Yorihi was a good distance away from the seal and seated with her back to them, more for her companies' sake then any way of actually hindering her ability to watch. She sat in a meditative position, knuckles on the ground near her swords in case they were needed and slowly watched and waited.

Kakashi had been silent the rest of the way to this room, seemingly in his own thoughts, probably considering how best to seal Sasuke. She had wanted to tell him what she had seen nearly a year ago, with the Kusa girl and… but that would require saying too much right now. So they had walked in silence.

From her observations of the man on the way here and now as he diligently wrote the seals he was far different from the man with the smiling eye and double mask she'd first met with his team. –He must hide who he truly is…- in some ways she supposed it made sense. According to her Bingo Book Hatake Kakashi was an A level jounin, former ANBU Black Ops. Captain, and had the potential to go far beyond his current abilities but was held back either by psychological issues or lack of drive. He was the sole remaining member of a team trained under the 4th Hokage, the only person alive that may know the man's signature techniques that decimated Iwa forces during the Third Great Shinobi War and the only known person to possess a Sharingan that was functional outside of an Uchiha, officially, and capable enough with it to gain the title of 'Copycat-nin' or the 'Man without over a thousand Techniques'. Just his background alone made him out to be a fearsome opponent… yet nothing save for the past few minutes that she'd been near him showed any of that.

The man had many masks, and she wasn't sure which was the true one.

There was a swishing behind her and she noticed him moving her way, not bothering to move until the man nudged her, "Sorry, Yorihi-chan~ mind moving?"

She didn't give him a response, simply standing up and moving further away into the darkness. The room was vast, underneath the stone tower and the only light were the candles near the sealing circle. If anything those candles were more of a hindrance to her perception, but she kept up her Chakra Field and all of her senses. The Fool side of Kakashi may have found it useless, but she couldn't shake the feeling something wasn't right here.

Behind her Kakashi sighed a moment, stepping to the center and repositioning Sasuke, "Hmm…" he looked his pupil over, and while the boy squirmed and grunted in his lucid state he'd yet to fully awaken and with Xiao's drugs wearing off it was obvious he was in a new form of pain. But the problem was he wouldn't remain sitting long enough to seal the curse on his neck. Tapping his chin Kakashi eye-smiled at nothing before addressing the darkness around him, "Oh, Yorihi-chan, seems I do need you a moment," the girl seemed to teleport to his side, not a word as he pointed at Sasuke, "Mind holding him still, I need to finish on his front before the seal can be complete."

She gave that dismissive snort of hers that reminded him of a cat –I wonder if she got it from that sensei of hers?- to which he only gave his charming smile and continued his work.

After a moment the girl seemed to finally speak, keeping still, holding Sasuke more by his head as that was the only place the seal wasn't written, "What does this seal do exactly?"

He gave an eye-smile to the work in front of him, not bothering to look her way as it was somewhat useless, "Wouldn't you like to know~?"

"Tch," that gesture like she was rolling her eyes that a normal person would make, "I wouldn't ask otherwise…" she was silent a moment, facing away, as if thinking of her next words, "As I said, I've come across a seal like this before… the recipient was violent and crazed…"

His eye-smile slipped a little, becoming more genuine, "That seems to happen when it goes wild," he made a few more marks, "Tell me, did this person transform at all?"

Some dismissive snort from the girl, "She didn't have the chance… but I saw the massacre she caused, right before we got there…"

"You saw? Ooh?" finishing the last mark on Sasuke's chest he moved to another line on his shoulder, "I thought you were blind, Yorihi-chan~"

"Tch," now it seemed she growled, "I am blind, though I have a… friend that can send me images… it was brutal, the amount of bodies and torn to so many pieces…"

Kakashi stopped. Her words triggering an image from years ago… of a young girl fighting herself to not lose it and lashing out at everyone nearby, "It's a terrible sight, the monsters this seal makes of people…"

"We're already monsters," the young girl spoke bitterly, "It's just the difference of how much of that we accept…"

Silence filled the space between them for a long time.

As Kakashi finished that last bit on the shoulder and moved to the last line he needed to complete, for some reason he heard his voice speak, "You're a lot like me at your age…" he heard her stiffen and looked up enough to eye-smile at the girl, "You've been training to lead since you were very young, got used to the things we do as shinobi very early, it makes you hard to get close to and now at this age where you're thinking things through more and more, where everything starts to seem so different and nothings as clear cut as it was before… you're kind of lost, aren't you?"

Cyan tattooed brows lowered over the insignia of Kumo.

Her silence made Kakashi's smile widen a little bit, but it was much sadder then before, not that anyone could see it, "Konoha had the excuse of a war going on with me," he turned back to Sasuke, working on the next chain, "What's Kumo's excuse for you? As far as I'm concerned there hasn't been a big war in about ten years…"

"Hmp," the girl snorted, not facing his way again, letting nothing of her continence show how right he was, "No excuses needed, so long as you're prepared for the next one…"

Idly Kakashi nodded, finishing the rest of the seal in silence.

With the writing complete he moved to switch places with Yorihi, instructing her to the edge of the circle as he held Sasuke at mark. Quickly running through a few seals he pushed his palm on the mark, causing the writing to light up and seemingly crawl up to the mark and under his hand. The process was over in moments, one where Sasuke seemed almost conscious enough to scream before passing out again and dropping to the ground face first.

Kakashi panted, his hand burning from the seal but let it go. He looked up to see the Kumo girl standing at the edge of the circles, tense with both hands on a sword as if ready to jump at any moment. He gave her a smile and waved his hand, not sure why, "Don't worry, we caught it before it could fully manifest, he should be fine now, so long as his will holds out!"

Still tense, Yorihi slowly rose from her lower position, keeping her hands on her swords, "So long as his will holds out?"

Lowering his hands to his hips Kakashi just took a deep breath, "It's a seal the Hokage came up with, and seeing as its worked so well with one person who has this thing, I figured it would work on Sasuke too," he looked down at his unconscious and drooling student, "So long as he has the will to fight, this thing will never have a chance to overcome him…"

"Feh," it almost sounded like the Kumo girl spit, disgusted, "What a foolish notion," the frown on her face grew, "Did it ever occur to you that he might want the power this thing offers? No matter the price?" her head lowered, as if looking at the boy, "Nothing about him suggests he would give that up for the sake of his 'will' or someone telling him such…" she shook her head turning, "This was such a waste of time…"

"Oh-hohohoho, you agree, Yorihi-kun~" a slithery voice called out from the darkness.

In an instant the girl turned around, teeth bared and tense, ready for a fight.

Kakashi moved much slower, turning to spot the slim form of a man with a white face, purple marks around his eyes and long black hair dressed like a jounin from Oto, "Oh, Orochimaru, it's been a long time…"

"Kukukuku," the man raised his white hand to chuckle behind as his golden snake eyes looked directly at the masked jounin, "Indeed it has, Kakashi-kun~ it seems you've learned to seal since the last time we met…"

"Hmp, a little," the grey haired man gave a lazy shrug. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the Kumo girl moving.

Yorihi moved, reaching her right hand over to her left shoulder, a poof! And something appeared that actually surprised Kakashi in her hand. As the girl moved the white mask over with an elegant ease she set it properly in place while drawing the Ninjato in her left hand, "It seems we have not been properly introduce, Orochimaru-sama," moving her hands out wide, never releasing her Ninjato from its reverse grip, the now masked girl bowed her head, "Tenkyuu Yorihi, or 'Fukurou' if it pleases you…" then took up an odd stance with the Ninjato blade out and if Kakashi wasn't seeing things a spark danced along the blade as the girl's killing intent and chakra spiked through the roof.

"Kukukuku," the white snake smirked behind his hand, "Quite the display, so polite and how appropriate, a silent hunter for my secondary target compared to the brimming hawk fledgling I am currently after~" there was a pleased hiss from the man, but he made no move to take up a stance to fight the girl.

Kakashi could only stare. He knew that mask, he had seen it before… in Wave… the one that summoned some black monster to subdue the Kiri-Hunter-nin that was with Zabuza… -But if she's… then… what is she doing here?!- He knew the ANBU at the time had been small but he never assumed it was a girl this young? –And that other one… who was she…- the blonde Jinchuuriki acting as the girl's sensei couldn't have been it, she didn't move the same… but…

"Kakashi," even her voice was different, holding a sharper edge, "Get Sasuke out of here," she lowered in her stance, "You're in the way…"

Orochimaru just grinned.

Kakashi slid between the girl and his student and the monster after them both apparently, "Not on your life, you're no match for him and he's not here to actually take anyone, are you, Orochimaru?"

The white snake's smile became more smug, enjoying the show, "Kukuku, no, you're right Kakashi-kun, I was just curious what you were doing down here in the dark with such precious gems…" those gold snake eyes zeroed in on the cyclopic man, though he knew it was more his eye than anything else, "You've already tasted it, that power that comes with the Uchiha blood, kukuku," his eyes shifted to the girl in the white mask, "And you," his grin widened, "You know all about it too don't you, though not quite the same, hm?"

The white owl mask lowered, ready to strike given the chance…

Gold eyes shifted again, back to the cyclopse, "Oh, don't worry, I'll be leaving now, I hope to enjoy the next rounds after all," licking his lips to freak them both out, "Even if my team was already killed, I'm intrigued to see more from the one that wiped them out… Kukuku…"

There was a deep growl and something truly monsterous formed behind the small girl in the ANBU mask, "You stay the hell away from MY team!" large flaming bright blue slitted eyes formed behind the girl along with a row of threateningly sharp teeth, as if the shadows themselves became a monster at her beck and call.

Orochimaru didn't seem fazed, only more amused by the display, chucking to himself and idly waving his fingers at the Konoha jounin present, "Ta ta for now, Kakashi-kun, Yorihi-kun~"

… and the bastard just disappeared.

There was a deep growl behind Kakashi as he watched the girl sheath her sword, the creature behind her seeming to disappear… or shrink as a blue-black cat appeared on her shoulders glaring with those same vibrant blue slit eyes. Slowly the girl reached up and removed the mask, her face as placid as it was before the snake showed up.

Kakashi just stared flatly as he watched her put the mask away in a hidden seal, "So, you were one of the ANBU back in Wave, the other killing Zabuza while you captured the target I assume…"

"My missions are no concern of yours, Hatake," the shift was more scathing then either realized.

Behind his mask the man frowned, looking down at his student, "You know I'll have to report this…"

"Doesn't matter," the girl turned, heading into the darkness, "Everyone will find out eventually…"

With that last cryptic message Kakashi let her go. She knew more than she was letting on. Worse, she was an ANBU, a Kumo ANBU. She had no place in this exam but was here for something. He knew about as much about Kumo's 'Bloodhunters' as anyone, they showed up took who and what they wanted and left, no one the wiser, if you weren't on their list they didn't care because they weren't afraid of being caught, charged or followed. They operated with impunity and always, always got what they wanted. –But what does she want is the question?- there were two options he could think of and both were on his team.

-The better question…- Kakashi leaned down to pick up Sasuke, intent to put him to bed in a secure medical wing and give him 24hr watch until this thing was over. –Why did she reveal herself to me…- part of him wanted to assume it was because she had some agenda, wanting to rile both him and Orochimaru up for one reason or another to get them overthinking things to such an extreme they don't realize what she's really doing.

Another part of him, one that was still part of a little grey haired boy long ago with a dog mask of his own… told him she had just been scared of an overwhelming enemy and wanted to show how big she really was before dying.

Like he always had.

Unconsciously Kakashi reached up and pushed the top of his mask up just a little bit more up his nose, making sure it was in its proper place.


When Yorihi found her way to the room her team had claimed, on the fourth floor and mostly with Bachiko's help, she opened the door to find an… unusual… sight.

The room was sparse, small for four people, with only two beds. Oku was sitting on the one to her left, Karin nowhere in sight, and Lior bundled up next to him. Xiao was sitting on the floor directly across from the door, one leg up supporting one hand twirling a scalpel while the other was out and stretched on the ground. the look on her face was anything but pleasant and neither reacted when the blind girl closed the door behind her, reactivating the traps Oku had in place.

"So," Yorihi started slow, sensing the dower mood of her teammates, "First things first, Oku-kun," she turned to him, leaning on the door, "Where's Karin?"

The boy gave a pleasant smile like normal, "Sensei stopped by, wondering where you were by the way, and took her off our hands. Said she wanted to watch over her to make sure Konoha didn't try anything."

"Tch," came from across the room.

Yorihi ignored it, for now, "She say anything else?"

The blonde boy in the silly hat just shook his head, "Not really, mentioned she'd send that scroll soon as she could."

"Good," the blind girl finally kicked off the door, heading towards the bed opposite Oku, and dropping unceremoniously on it, "The sooner that stuff is sent off the better," adjusting her seat for her swords her head lifted, her plate covered eyes facing Oku with a nudge, "We secure?"

The boy gave a curt nod, "Traps, bugs removed, Xiao-chan even sent a pulse to fry anything Lior or I didn't catch…"

"Shut up, Oku…" it was a halfhearted attempt and all three of them knew it.

Yorihi's lips tugged downward, facing towards her female teammate momentarily before returning forward, "I take it this has been an as 'successful' day for you as it was for me?" a disgruntled huff and shrug were her only responses. With a deep sigh the blind girl deflated, "Still up for that talk?" she was facing Oku but it was obvious to all of them it was directed more towards Xiao.

The older girl gave a halfhearted shrug, leaning her head back and staring at the blank concrete ceiling, "Why not, best way to end this miserable day," she hit her head on the wall, "Talking about things none of us want to…"

"I don't mind," Oku piped in, though Yorihi could tell he wasn't nearly as cheery as he normally was, tense, pensive and tapping his fingertips together, "I just never want to say anything for your sake, Xiao-chan…"

"Shut up, Oku…" accented by her hitting her head on the wall again.

Yorihi just frowned, deflating and accepting her fate, "Fine, I'll start," she raised her head enough to look at the boy across from her, "What do you want to know?"

"Is this going to be quid pro quo?" unsurprisingly Xiao was the first to ask.

It brought an edge up to Yorihi's lips, "If you want." She nodded her head to the boy in the silly hat, "Oku-kun?"

Sitting up straight the boy crossed his arms, staring at his friend with closed eyes and seemed to tilt his head, "Where'd you get those scars?"

Yorihi froze and Xiao quirked a brow, giving them both a strange look, "What scars?"

Releasing one hand, Oku pointed at the girl across from him, "When I gave Yorihi-hime her headband after the test, she was so excited she swapped it right there with that bandana she used to wear," he put his arm back and shrugged, "I saw these lines under closed eyes, and the second she realized she got nervous, and when I asked then you said you'd tell me later, so I'm asking now."

"Heh," Yorihi's shoulders slumped, "That feels like so long ago…" watching the two she noticed a nostalgic look on both of them. It'd been a year and a half since they graduated and it felt so long because of everything that had happened since. So many missions, so many places… so much pain… -And its only been a year and a half…- at the thought she looked up, wondering if she could handle it, before bringing her focus back down to the boy across from her, giving him a slight smile, "The truth is I don't really remember…" reaching up she slid her headband up enough to show the purple scars under her eyes, feeling to make sure her eyes were closed as she showed enough to get a response out of Xiao, telling her she'd seen before putting it back, "But it's the same with most of my memories as a child, most of it hurts and is tinged with… regrets, for things I don't really remember… things I lost…"

"What'd you lose," the question was out before Xiao even realized it was her voice speaking.

Yorihi's head tilted down, taking a moment to consider her words carefully, "My sight for one, my memories for another," she gripped her hand tightly, the fist shaking, "My mother…"

To the side Yorihi could see the look that came over Xiao's face; something mixed with sympathy, sorrow, and a kind of pain she couldn't recognize.

"That's how you lost your sight, isn't it?" the voice across from her was stern and surprising to come from Oku, "You were attacked, she died, either a wound or the trauma forcing you to lose your sight and its how you got those scars, right?"

Yorihi just faced him, mouth slightly open as if she were staring at him before she regained enough of herself to nod, "I'm told it was Konoha, along with what they did after I was brought to my Father…" as far as she cared to remember, that wasn't a lie.

"What do you mean 'what they did after'…" something like fire entered Xiao's eyes as the older girl's brows lowered, "What did they do?"

There was a gruff laugh, not really funny but escaped her nonetheless, "I heard you question why I attacked that Hyuuga," her smirk spread, "Let's just say I… detest… them most out of Konoha." Unconsciously she gripped one of her swords beside her on the bed, "Konoha may have taken my mother and my sight, but they tried to take me from the only family I had left…" by the end she was seething; the idea, the memory haunting her since she came to this damn place. Everything she was, everything she gained, how easily it could have been taken away… -How easily I could have been one of them-

It was silent for a moment, Xiao tapping her finger on the floor being the only thing for a long while before she finally spoke, "You want to know what happened?"

Yorihi turned to face her with a serious look, while Oku turned with a kind of stoney sympathy.

Xiao tapped her finger again, swallowing hard before starting, "it was about a year ago, we were given a mission, contracted to Kusa as they had been having problems with this new village showing up in the nearby country…" she had to close her eyes and take a breath, anger rising quicker then she anticipated, likely influenced from the events of the day, "We were meant to blow open the gates of an Oto base so Kusa forces could invade, they don't have demolition specialists like Oku and I've always just been there to provide backup and keep him in one piece…"

"Xiao-chan-" the boy started indignantly, stopping only because she raised a hand.

"Shut up, Oku," when she raised her head her eyes were a burning bloody crimson, "I don't care what happened, it happened, and it's the truth, I've always just been a diversion so you could set your bombs," a kind of broken smile turned to the blind girl, partly glad she couldn't see it, "This is also why he got so good at setting traps in record time, so I'd never have to do this again…"

"This…?" Yorihi questioned lowly, her mind already knowing the answer.

Xiao took another deep breath, closing her eyes and letting it out, "While he set the bombs I ran around causing as much chaos and destruction as I could," a smirk suddenly appeared, "Heh, I wasn't nearly as good as I am now, I wasted so much energy then…" her eyes opened and they were dull, "I ran out of chakra and I got caught, these Oto-nin weren't like anything we'd face before, anything we knew… they were, some kind of monsters…" when she shook neither of her teammates made any motion like they saw it, "They were going to torture me, not for information, for the fun of it," those red eyes glanced at Yorihi, something in them the blind girl couldn't decipher, "They started by tying me down, cutting in places, expecting me to fight back…" now her eyes grew hard, "I didn't."

There was a growl from the boy and the badger.

While tattooed brows just lowered, confused, "You didn't? Why?" the way Oku and Lior reacted told her they didn't approve and the story was only riling them up.

That's when Xiao looked at her friend directly, not with fear, not with shame, just a kind of sternness the blind girl had come to expect from her friend, "Because it wasn't worth it," she spoke flatly, "They were going to rape me either way then torture me and finally kill me, in that order if I was lucky, and my job wasn't to fight back, but to distract them, and if… if…" her voice caught in her throat and it took her a second to calm down, clinching one of her fists, "If they fucked me then they'd be worn out and I'd have an opportunity to kill them."

The red eyes that stared at the blind girl were deadly, meaning every word.

It took Yorihi a moment to realize the implication of that sentence, "But… Xiao-chan, you never… you don't…" those merciless eyes didn't relent and Yorihi understood, dropping her question and nodding her head, "I understand."

Nobody said anything as Oku slammed his fist behind him, cracking the concrete wall and causing his hand to bleed.

"Oku," Xiao said softly, her demeanor changing as she got to her feet and crossed the distance to sit next to her partner, quickly treating his hand, "I've told you a thousand times, it's not your fault and that I'm fine…"

"How far did they get?"

In the echoing silence, as Xiao wrapped his hand, Oku raised his head to look at Yorihi, his eyes opened enough to show her his deadly gaze, "Far enough."

That was all that needed to be said. Yorihi nodded, accepting that answer.

Once she was finished Xiao didn't move, instead holding her partner's hand in her lap and looking at the ground.

"What happened afterwards…" she could guess, but part of Yorihi wanted to hear it from one of them.

The pale boy gripped his uninjured hand, "I cut them to pieces, and destroyed that base," his fist shook and already they could see blood dripping from the cracks. Quickly Xiao moved to tend to that hand as well, frowning slightly but not seeming nearly as upset as she normally was.

A curt nod was Yorihi's response, "Good." She didn't care if that meant they failed that mission, hell she didn't care if that incident had started a war, if she ever came across something like that… willingly, planned or not, she would burn the place to the ground that condoned such to anyone she cared about.

In the tense silence that followed Xiao just sighed, "Both of you, I swear," she glared from one then the other, even Lior, "I'm fine and such tactics are used all the time, what do you think Company S does?" when the only response she got was simultaneous growls she could only roll her eyes, "Shut up, all of you!"

That brought about a whole new kind of silence.

"Wait," Yorihi turned to her friend, pointing at herself confused, "Did I just get drawn into your harem?"

Xiao's only response was to pout, close her eyes and not respond.

Oku on the other hand chuckled, "Well, it is her way of showing she cares," a fist suddenly went into his shoulder, "Ah, ow, Xiao-chan~"

"Shut up, Oku!" abruptly she stood up and faced the door, tired of the two of them and their childishness.

"I think she's blushing," a smirk started to pick on the pale girl's lips, "I can feel it from here~"

Oku's chuckle grew.

And after a few minutes, growling to herself and turning on the blind girl the words were out of her mouth before Xiao even realized it, "Shut up, Yorihi!"

The blind girl actually 'eep'ed and jumped back, grabbing a pillow to hide behind, "Damnit! I am now part of your harem aren't I?!"

"It's okay," Oku's cheery placid voice caused both girls to look at him, "More girls is never a problem!" he got two pillows in the face for that. Lior simply rolled his beady little eyes at his master.

Still standing, Xiao huffed, putting one hand on her hip and frowning down at her partner. She loved the guy, there was no two ways about it having gone through the things she had with him… and what he did for her… but he could be a real dumbass at times.

Yorihi just sat up with a smile, feeling as if the tense atmosphere they'd all felt since they got her suddenly vanished, "Ne, Xiao-chan," she turned to her friend, hoping to show as much appreciation as she could to the older girl, "Is there anything else you wanna know?" a light shrug and smile, "Otherwise I say we spend the next few days just relaxing as much as possible…"

Despite the frown still on the red eyed medic's face she didn't seem truly upset, "Yea, just a little thing," she turned to stand in front of Yorihi with both hands on her hips and level her red glare with the girl's plate covered eyes, "What was with you attacking Gaara? And what've you been doing for the past six months," she tapped the girl's cute button nose, smirk rising as she pouted, "I know they're related…"

With a frown Yorihi deflated but relented, reaching over to her left shoulder and activating the seal there, pulling out her mask and Bingo Book. Without saying a word she knew they recognized the mask and the book, but she felt she should tell them anyway, "I've been training in Company 5 since… since Uenkai died…" the looks they gave her held sympathy, not pity and she was grateful, "I actually just got my official rank, right after you asked me to join you for the exams…"

Xiao smirked, proud of her friend as she took the mask to examine it more closely, passing the book on to Oku. It was a simple thing, all white with accented eyes and feathered horns, "Suits you," she handed it back as her smirk grew, remembering something from long ago, "See, told you, you'd be snatched up by ANBU in no time."

Yorihi actually laughed at that, having forgotten that conversation long ago.

"Oh, he's a target of yours," Oku spoke up, flipping through the little black book his partner handed him. When Xiao gave him a funny look he handed it to her, flipped to a certain page, "She's a hunter, and Gaara's a Jinchuuriki, that makes him a prime target!"

With a shrug Yorihi accepted the book as Xiao handed it back to her, "Pretty much," at the skeptically raised brow the dusky-pinkette was still sending her, the blind girl couldn't help but grin, "I try to convince my targets to come willingly before capturing," a shrug, "besides, he's a Jinchuuriki, I doubt I could capture him on my own if I tired…"

"What if we helped!" suddenly the boy in the silly hat was pumped! Fists raised and everything as ideas for traps and explosions went off in his head.

Of course he was halted as Xiao simply reached out and pushed the center of the plate on his hat, forcing him to lay down, "Not today, and not right now…"

The boy's only response was to give an innocent smile.

Xiao just shook her head, crossing her arms as she took a seat next to him on the bed, giving her female comrade a look, "That everything?"

Yorihi just smirked, resealing her Bingo Book and mask, "For now."

A smirk rose on the dark skinned girl, "Good," and she laid down, pushing Oku further towards the wall, "Then I'm going to sleep, today's been stressful enough…"

Yorihi didn't say anything as she watched the older girl reach around Oku and pull him close. They may have been smiling now and known more about one another that they were more comfortable, more of a team, but their pains still haunted them… still hurt them. Yorihi remained awake a while longer, watching her comrades, making sure everything was safe for them.

It may have been her mission to come here and capture a demon, but first and foremost she would protect these two people, perhaps the most precious friends she ever had. She'd already missed once, she wasn't going to let it happen ever again.


Anko barged into the Hokage's office, not caring that it was late or that he was busy or any of that other bullshit… she was angry, and Anko being angry was never a good thing.

"Anko, what's the meaning of thi-" was as far as the old man got before a scroll was thrown in front of him.

"Tell me it isn't true," her voice was low and harsh, glaring at him directly.

Confused the Hokage grabbed the scroll, opening it up and reading it. He recognized it as one of those scroll her information gathering snakes created, to translate what they heard from however it was they gathered information. He could tell very little from the wording until certain phrases popped up, describing a certain blind girl and experiences she and her team had gone through.

The grandfatherly mask dropped and the old man rolled up the scroll and looked at his subordinate with steely eyes, "what part do you want me do deny?"

Her fists tightened and it seemed she was holding back seething, "We don't do this," she pointed at the scroll, furious, "We're Konoha, we don't do this! We don't kill a girl's mother in front of her and leave her blind! Only to try kidnapping her a short time later!"

Hiruzen's frown spread. He had a good idea who this girl was but even he couldn't admit that, not now, "How do you even know she was telling the truth?"

"Because I could feel it!" she slammed her hands on the desk, looking the old man in the eye, "Her heart rate was even, her blood was pumping, everything about the reaction was genuine, this is real to her!"

The frown grew. Maybe he was wrong, this could be another girl, and this could be true… the old man tented his hands, considering his words carefully, "What do you want me to say, Anko?" his eyes were hard when they opened and faced the woman, "If the timing is correct, this happened near the end of the last war… after Minato died and we were left barely standing after the Kyuubi's attack… after Orochimaru left with you…" he kept his voice eerily calm as he looked the young woman in the eye, "We were down all the Sannin, half our forces gone and our walls destroyed and the Third Raikage attacked us while we were weak!" now it was his turn to slam his fist on the desk.

He'd never admit to how satisfying it was watching the woman jump away with fright.

A snarl almost picked at the old monkey's face, "I had thought we were lucky when the man was killed by his son, only he turned out to be a better tactician then his father," while he spoke Hiruzen pulled out his pipe, stuffing it, lighting it with a snap and put it in his mouth, needed then moment to calm himself, "We were losing a war with a village half our size to begin with…" his dark eyes pinned the child in front of him, "I did what I had to, to force that man to sue for peace, even if that was only another ploy to weaken us further…"

That girl had to be… just had to…

He took a long drag then sighed, breathing out smoke, "It doesn't matter," he removed his pipe and leaned back in his chair, "I warned Hiashi to not retaliate until we were strong enough, but he didn't listen and lost three of his best for no damn reason, and all the Raikage did was laugh at us." When he opened his eyes there were sharp and deadly as obsidian, "So ask me again, to deny any of that…"

Anko just stood there for a long time staring at the man she had believed to be good, better than the one that left her. Now…

"I always wondered how a bastard like him could have ever been your student," chocolate eyes rose, empty, "Now I know," her hands clinched and she wanted nothing more than to snarl but she held it back, staring him directly in the eye, "You're just like him…"

And she left, leaving Hiruzen with something significant to think about.

Despite whatever happened in the past, he had enjoyed these last few years of peace. Enjoyed being able to smile at his grandson without having to worry about spies targeting him. Enjoyed being able to walk down the street without wearing his full battle regalia. Enjoyed not having to look over his shoulder this whole time.

Spinning around in his chair the old man stood up, looking out the window to the darkened city below.

"Seems it's time for that idyllic peace to end," he replaced his pipe and sighed. Whoever that girl used to be no longer existed, he'd have to end his plans to try and bring her back, instead focusing on garnering as much information as he could out of her team about her village and their defenses. Whatever Kumo's reason for coming, whether to side with Orochimaru or not didn't matter. They were scoping out for another war.

And this time he'd be the one to crush them and laugh.


Fuseii – insincere, fraudulent, dishonest (two-faced)


A/N: why is it all the things i want to name these chaps don't have a direct translation now? -.- tht's as close as i could get...

I'd like to thank FlameRaven for helping me work out the kinks on which direction this was suposed to go, love ya Ravy! :3

and I LOVE MY REVIWERS! :D

now i'm going to end this as my keyboard is failing, or this site, one of th ewhich!

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury

Ps: random stats:

this chap put me over 1k pages... yes PAGES! :D its 40 pages itself~

i thought to split Part 2 (starting with Matchmaking) from Part 1... turns out Part 1 is 744 pages, and the rest up to current 1016 is all Part 2 (or Arc 6)...

which i started back in MAY of this year...

that's over 220k words in... 7mos! that's a major leap for me :D

as of this its 14 chaps posted this year... my resolution was 1 per month relatively... kinda beat that even if i didn't post each month...

this realization helped me get through this today~ yay! :D