Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Just my OCs.


She and her team arrived on the outskirts of the village that had a row of Buddha statues where ANBU members and a few Chūnin were already examining the area.

Pulling on a pair of gloves, they started to examine the bodies one by one. She started on the body that was leaning against one of the statues. His head was bowed to his chest before carefully tilting it back up. But she retracted her hands in surprise as she gasped.

'No faces?!'

"This one too, Jai-san."

"Same for the third."

In her line of work, there wasn't much that surprised her, but she could say that this situation did.

'Never seen anything like this before'

"Were you able to identify them?" Jai asked.

There was blood splatter on a few of the statues around them, but most of it was found on the corpses' clothing.

Kotetsu nodded and showed her their registration forms. "We searched through their belongings and saw their papers. They were all from Kusagakure. What are your thoughts, Lee-san?"

"They were most likely killed before their faces were… stolen."

It was the most appropriate word she could think of. But the big question was why someone would steal their faces.

"But nothing is conclusive until we perform the autopsies." She motioned for her team to bag the bodies to be taken to the morgue. "We will let you know what we find."

Kotetsu nodded. "Hokage-sama has made this investigation a top priority. Deliver your findings to the tower in the middle of the Forest of Death."

"Understood.


It took her all night and a good bit of the following morning, but they finished examining the bodies. Now at the tower in the center of The Forest of Death, Jai stood in the observation room, tending to Anko's hand.

After her encounter with her former master, Anko was escorted to the tower by two ANBU Black Ops members.

"Because the kunai went all the way through, it will take some time before the tissues in your hand will be fully healed."

"Thank you, Lee-san…" she said with a defeated tone from her place on the blue sofa. "Were you able to find out anything?"

"Their carotid arteries were severed; a quick death. Other than that, they were in good health. Hokage-sama has been made aware of the incident and will be here shortly."

"I see… and the bodies?"

"They are being properly taken care of."

Anko sighed. "It's becoming a real disaster, but we can't cancel this test."

"What do you mean?" one of the ANBU asked.

Before Anko could explain, she was interrupted when a proctor slid open the door to the room with a video to show them. They all watched the monitor before he indicated the time that was displayed on the upper right corner of the screen.

Even Jai couldn't help the look of surprise on her face at what she saw.

'An hour and 37 minutes'

The first team to finish the second exam was the Genin from Sunagakure, beating the record by four hours. Even more shocking was the fact that there were no scrapes or bruises on them.

'Even their clothes are clean'

"These guys are not Genin level," the proctor added.

It was only a recording, but the look on the Genin's face that carried the large gourd on his back was frightening.

"After a long time, a promising guy has appeared," the other ANBU said. "even though he's got evil eyes."

"Not evil…" Jai muttered to herself.

"What was that, Jai?"

She knew that look as she continued to stare at the monitor because she used to bare that same face. "He must have been very lonely…" she muttered again. She mildly wondered what he endured throughout his short young life to harbor such a cold and lifeless stare.

"Lonely?"

She shook her head; telling them to disregard her. "It is nothing." No longer needed, Jai gathered her supplies and put them back into her medical bag before excusing herself; there were still reports that needed to be filled out. "I will be back at the morgue should you need me, Anko-san."

"Thanks again."


Everyone had now gathered in the arena of the tower in Training Field 44 with the second test being officially over. Only 21 applicants remained after a grueling five days of surviving in the Forest of Death. All the Jōnin leaders stood tall behind the Hokage as they looked out to the crowd of Genin while Jai and her team stood on the opposite end of the large room; waiting to treat the injured and making sure to keep a close eye on Sasuke per Hiruzen's orders.

With the number of teams passing the second exam, a preliminary match consisting of one-on-one fights before the actual third exam was necessary. The decision was made on the second to last day of the second exam, where Jai received notice that she and a team of medics would be needed.

There was no time for the Genin to rest and recuperate, but individuals were given the courtesy of forfeiting if they felt they could no longer progress. And only one person took it.

All eyes were on him when his hand raised. Long silver-grey hair that was tied into a low ponytail, wide circular framed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, and a Konoha hitai-ate covered his forehead: Yakushi Kabuto. Six failed attempts for the Chūnin Selection Exams, three attempts to graduate from the Academy, and only two C-ranked and fourteen D-ranked missions.

With no one else wanting to dismiss themselves, the preliminaries for the third exam began. And the first match was Uchiha Sasuke versus Akado Yoroi. At the start of it, Yoroi had the upper hand thanks to his ability to absorb chakra, but Sasuke persevered and surprised everyone by ending it using Lee's Lotus attack. It was almost foiled when the Curse Mark activated itself, leaving everyone on edge, but, in an amazing feat, he was able to control it and revert it to its original form before dealing the finishing blow.

With the fight over, the Uchiha was beyond exhausted. Akado Yoroi was laid on his back on the floor in defeat and unresponsive. Attempting to get back to his feet, Sasuke lost his balance and started to fall back, but never met the hard floor's surface thanks to his sensei keeping him propped by pressing his knee against his back.

"Well, good job," Kakashi praised while reading his novel.

After the match was officially over, Jai and her medical team approached with a stretcher for Yoroi. As she helped Yoroi onto the stretcher, another medic made his way over to Sasuke and Kakashi.

"Uchiha Sasuke, we must escort you too, and put you under the care of the Medical Corps. so you can get the best possible treatment," he offered.

Kakashi peered over his book. "You have no idea what you'd be getting yourselves into," Kakashi commented. "I'll handle him."

"Huh?" the medic wasn't sure if he needed to insist before looking over to his superior for guidance.

"It is alright, Omi-san." She looked to Kakashi, their eyes locking as she followed her medics back to the medical rooms. "If he needs us, he knows where to find us."

"Hai."

Omi regrouped with his team with Jai bringing up the end of their line. She suddenly stopped walking when a flash of green dropped down from above and landed directly in front of her. Her vision was only seeing green and her hand was quickly gripped and lifted.

"If it isn't Konoha's most beautiful flower and the woman of my dreams!" Gai exclaimed, his hand holding hers tightly as he winked and flashed her one of his trademarked flashy smiles.

She stepped back from his overwhelming presence and bold personality, causing him to lose his hold of her hand. "Hello, Gai-san…" she awkwardly greeted.

She could feel everyone's eyes on them now.

"Whoa! Gai-sensei is that your girlfriend?!" Lee shouted from the upper level. "Ooh! She's so pretty!"

Naruto burst out laughing at Lee's comment. "GAHAHAHAHA! There's no way those two are an item!"

The older Genin quickly turned and gave the blonde a heated stare. "And why wouldn't they be?! Gai-sensei is the greatest! It's only natural for him to be with someone just as great!"

Gai looked to his miniature doppelganger, a blush on his face. "ISN'T SHE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL?!" he cried. His excitement turned to despair. "But sadly, she is not yet mine!" a waterfall of tears poured from the Green Beast's tear ducts. "BUT…!" he turned to face Jai again, his tears gone and his face dramatically serious. "One day, Jai, with the power of youth, I will win your heart!"

"Um, Gai-san, you should know that-" she began.
"You can do it, Gai-sensei!" Lee encouraged. "The power of youth and love is on your side!"

"Lee! Knowing that I have your support gives me strength and fuels my determination!"

While master and disciple went back and forth with their encouragement for each other, Jai made to side-step him to get back to her duties, but he quickly turned his attention back to her; causing her to halt her steps once more.

"I must return to my students, my lovely hana…" he said. "… but keep this as a memento." He puckered his lips and blew her a kiss. "Until we meet again."

His kiss took the shape of an animated heart and floated itself to Jai; its destination: her lips. It fluttered its way quickly and was about to land itself on her full red lips. But the sudden appearance of a gloved hand closing around the memento of affection made Gai's face fall in defeat.

His kiss's expedition never made it to its target when the gloved hand grabbed and crushed it to the point where the material of the glove could be heard rubbing against itself as the hand added as much pressure it could muster to crush it.

"NOOOO!" Gai cried. His eyes trailed the length of the arm and instantly turned into a look of annoyance when he saw who the appendage belonged to.

"Hmmm…" Kakashi hummed in a friendly tone. "…that was a close one, ne Jai?" His exposed eye was closed as an innocent smile formed beneath his mask. Just in case it wasn't enough, he applied even more pressure to the small heart-shaped kiss in his tightly clenched fist; making sure to crush it into the smallest form of life.

She had no words to say. Instead, she lowered her head and walked away in silence.

"CURSE YOU, MY RIVAL KAKASHI!" Gai growled.

"Hmm?' Kakashi innocently tilted his head. "What did I do?" he asked while feigning innocence.

"You crushed my sweet token to Jai with your brute-like hand!" Gai yelled as he pointed an accusing finger to the silver-haired Jōnin.

Kakashi looked at his clenched fist and opened it. The crushed kiss fell out of his hand as pink-colored debris of dust. "Hmm? So, I did…" Kakashi said with mock surprise. "Gomen, Gai-kun," he apologized with fake sincerity. After dusting his hands off, he rubbed the back of his head. "I thought it was a fly," he lied.

"Damn you, Kakashi! Are you trying to compete with me for Jai's heart?! Know that I will do whatever it takes to win it!"

"Not at all, Gai. I don't need to since she's-"
"Ahem! Gai-san, Kakashi-san…" Hayate coughed. "Perhaps you two can settle this some other time. I would like to start the next match."

Kakashi shrugged. "Of course, let's go Sasuke."

A fire of determination brightly blazed in Gai's eyes as he watched Kakashi and his student walk away. "This isn't over, my rival!"

"I'm embarrassed for her…" Tenten mumbled as she shook her head. Her other teammate, Neji, just had a hand over his face and nodded his head in agreement with Tenten's comment.

"Not sure who should be more embarrassed… her or us?"


When Kakashi entered the infirmary with an unconscious Sasuke in his arms, Jai and her medics were in the process stabilizing Abumi Zaku to transport him to the village's hospital for emergency surgery.

After his fight with Aburame Shino, his right forearm was no longer attached after the hollow tubes in his arms became clogged by his opponent's beetles. A lot of pressure was applied and a tourniquet was used to stop the bleeding, but the bloodstains were unavoidable.

She removed her bloodied smock and made her way to Kakashi after Zaku was considered stable. "How is he?"

"He's fine," Kakashi assured as he laid the Uchiha down on one of the beds. "With everything that's happened, the exhaustion finally caught up to him. We can leave him be for now."

She gave his pupil a quick inspection. "Minor scrapes and abrasions along the arms…" she stopped her analyzing when Kakashi leaned in.

"I need to talk to you."

When he whispered into her ear, she could hear the urgency despite using an even tone. Her brows narrowed in concern when she noticed his tense demeanor. After excusing herself, she and Kakashi left the room to stand in the empty hallway.

"What is wrong?"

He leaned his back against the wall and took a deep, calming breath. "Orochimaru is after Sasuke." He started to tell what transpired after he placed the seal on his Genin's curse mark. He beat his head against the wall with a frustrated grunt. "Me kill him… what was I thinking?"

"You did what any one of us would have done."

"I guess…" he sighed again. His mind was still shaken after his encounter with one of the legendary Sannin. "I need you to do something for me."

"Anything."

"I've arranged for Sasuke to be taken back to the village with an ANBU escort and I need you to go with them and look after him. I'd go myself, but I can't leave here just yet."

"I cannot just abandon my duties here, Kakashi. I already have to get him…" she indicated to Zaku who was resting on one of the beds until it was time to transfer him. "… back to Konoha for surgery. Is the ANBU escort not enough."

"I would be more at ease if you were there too. Please," he begged when he saw that she still had a look of apprehension. "I need someone there that I trust – and that someone is you. I need you to do this for me, Jai."

She sighed in defeat. "Alright." She wondered why she even bothered trying to deny him since it never worked.


After arriving at the hospital, Jai arranged for the Sasuke to be placed in a secure and private room with the ANBU members standing guard outside the door after making sure Zaku was prepped for emergency surgery.

While Jai prepared for surgery, her assistant looked after Sasuke until the surgery was complete. Three hours later, Zaku's forearm was successfully reattached. But the worst was yet to come. The physical therapy and rehabilitation would be long and difficult, and there was no guarantee that he would regain full mobility of the limb.

With Zaku out of surgery and stable, Jai cleaned herself up and made her way to Sasuke. She spoke the password before entering the room. It was circular and open with the bed in the center. She checked his medical chart but suddenly stopped when she heard one of the ANBU-nin call out.

"Oi! This floor is restricted. Only authorized personnel are allowed-"

His words were cut off and she heard the unmistakable sound of metal clashing against metal. Before she knew it, three of the ANBU shinobi were pushed back into the room.

"Jai get him out-" his words suddenly died off and he fell to the ground.

"Akito!" Jai ran to his collapsed form to try and help. From her knelt place, she attempted to heal his wound but stopped when the sharp point of a kunai was pointed at her. Her eyes looked up and fell upon the Genin named Kabuto. "You…"

"You're the only one left," he said in a taunting voice and a smug smirk on his face while looking down at her.

Officially, his title is Genin, but his skills were at least Jonin level, maybe even higher. She had to be cautious.

"Such a pretty face. It's almost a shame that I have to kill you too."

She remained silent and waited for him to strike before making a move. But her actions had to be quick and precise; Sasuke's safety depended on her. Kabuto moved to stab the kunai into her forehead, but she ducked down at the last second and made to slice at his ankle with a knife that she always kept hidden on her person.

Kabuto managed to pull his leg away in time but barely had time to tilt his head back when she threw the knife upwards. Taking advantage of his temporary distraction, Jai quickly stood from her place on the floor and built up chakra into her fist before landing her punch into his chest; releasing the chakra pressure as soon as she made contact.

Kabuto suddenly found himself winded and dented into the wall opposing her and Sasuke with the air knocked out of him. Despite the pain, he chuckled through it. "Interesting skill you have. You're not the typical medic, are you?"

She unclenched her fist to flex, cracking her knuckles when she clenched them again. "The next time I hit you I will make sure to rupture all your organs."

He laughed again. "That's assuming you'll get the opportunity again." The smug look returned when he saw her eyes widen in surprise as he healed himself.

Jai didn't want to fight here of all places. This battle was going to be challenging and she didn't want to risk endangering anyone else.

'This needs to end quickly'

He was a lot faster than he looked. Jai managed to block his punch by crossing her arms over her face. She quickly retaliated by grabbing his outstretched arm and tugged downwards before slamming her fists down against his back. Now hunched over, she kneed him in his abdomen before twisting her body to kick him away from herself and Sasuke; all the while building up her chakra and releasing it with every blow.

Having thought she had the upper hand, she let out a slight yelp of pain. Her arm involuntarily fell in a limp state to her side.

A haughty laugh mixed with wheezing came from Kabuto as he raised himself back onto his feet. "I damaged the muscles in your forearm," he said while spitting out the blood that pooled into his mouth. "You did rupture my organs with those last blows but…" he healed himself once more. "… you'll have to do better than that."

'Yin and Yang release and he knew where to cut the muscles in my arms'

Just from their short encounter, she already knew that he was very skilled in Iryō Ninjutsu and the art of espionage. And even though he was quick on his feet, and his strike was strong, she could tell that Taijutsu was not his strongest skill.

She watched in silent satisfaction as the smug look on his face fell when a light green aura enveloped her left arm. After her chakra dissipated, she flexed and moved her arm around to show that it was healed. "You will have to do better than that," she taunted back his own words back to him.

Kabuto clenched his jaw in agitation. "You're already more of a hassle than the ANBU." He sneered while shrouding his arms in a cloak of chakra.

She deflected one of his hands, causing her to leave her body open. Taking the opportunity, Kabuto brought up his other hand and sliced her from left to right.

'POOF'

The clouds of white smoke quickly cleared to reveal an I.V. pole.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu?!" he made to turn around but froze when he felt the cool metal of her knife being pressed against the back of his neck.

"Do not move," she warned. "It is over. Surrender yourself."

He smirked. "Are you so sure about that?"

Before she could question his meaning, she was tackled from the side. Her body twisted while she was pinned to the ground and looked into the hollow eyes of a deceased ANBU-nin.

'But he's dead!'

She managed to get an arm free and elbowed the corpse in the face, causing the mask to crack then repeated the action three more times. The ANBU-nin rolled off her and shot to his feet while Jai did the same, but the reanimated corpse was faster and lunged at her before she could get her bearings. One hand gripped around her head and slammed it against the wall.

A cry of pain came out of her lips as her vision started to blur, but that was the least of her worries when she felt his hands wrap around her neck and squeeze. She started to panic as it became harder to breathe.

Every moment she wasted fighting with the corpse meant that Kabuto was a moment closer to getting to Sasuke. An idea came to her and she gripped his forearms. "… Gomen…" After her hands were engulfed in chakra, she raised them then brought them down with as much force she could muster in her current state.

Blood splattered onto her face after having severed both arms. Immediately it was already easier for her to breathe. Ripping the appendages off her neck, she took deep and desperate inhales of air. Bringing her right hand back, she punched the masked face of the reanimated ANBU, causing the crack to spread even more. She punched him again and watched his body collide into the opposite wall of the room.

She turned her attention back to Kabuto and saw that he had fully approached Sasuke. Not wasting another second, she charged at the intruder and tackled him into the wall. Her arm pressed into his throat, obstructing airflow while her other was pulled back, ready to plunge the kunai into his chest.

"Tch… and here I thought… I was done playing with you…"

"I am not done with you," she spat back.

"This won't take long," he replied with a wicked smile. "I've decided that I'm going to kill you slowly, so I can see all the different expressions you make on your pretty face."

"You are in no position to be making any threats." She added more pressure to his trachea.

"Actually…" he slid a hidden kunai from his right arm wrap and plunged it into her abdomen. "… you're the one who's in no position."

Her purple eyes were wide in surprise as he pulled the kunai out. He brought up his right leg and kicked her away.

"Urgh…" her hands applied pressure to her wound as she started to heal herself.

"Ah, ah, ah…" Kabuto 'tsk-ed'. His finger moved side-to-side as he approached her. He gave her a harsh kick to her lower back that she tried to block.

She cried out as she tried to roll away from his kicks, doing her best to ignore the pain. He brought his leg back to kick her once more, but she managed to catch his foot; twisting and pulling him down to the ground.

The two grappled with each other before Jai managed to straddle him down. Hand flat and raised; chakra engulfed around it as she readied to bring it down to his head but the confident look on his face made her momentarily pause. She suddenly was pulled off Kabuto and held in a position that restricted her movement.

She managed to angle her head and saw that another ANBU-nin had been reanimated.

'Again?'

She struggled and flailed, but the corpse had a tight hold on her. Kabuto approached her once more to strike at her wound. The pain was sharp and stabbing and it traveled throughout her body, but she held in her scream and opted in tightly clenching her jaw. Quick and deep breaths were her only comfort.

"I know that hurt, yet you didn't make much noise. How about this?" he mocked while landing another blow to her wound. But he was only granted a very faint groan. "Still nothing, huh?" he nodded his head to the ANBU corpse where he threw Jai down to the floor.

Kabuto followed and straddled her down before pinning her hands to the floor with two kunai. With that, she cried louder but managed to muffle it with a clenched jaw and tight lips.

"I've decided that I want to play with you some more after I deal with Sasuke. Something about you is intriguing." He brought his hand to stroke the side of her face but quickly pulled it back when she attempted to bite his fingers off. "You're a feisty one. I'm definitely going to have fun with you, but first things first."

Knowing that Jai wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon, Kabuto deactivated his Jutsu on the ANBU corpse and made his way back to Sasuke's unconscious form. There was nothing Jai could do in her condition. The wound on her abdomen had widened and the blood was seeping out of her faster. Her breathing started to lessen into shallow pants while her vision started to blur.

It was only a matter of time now. She failed Sasuke and Kakashi, and she was going to slowly die at the hands of a spy.

'I'm sorry, Kakashi…'

Her last thoughts before losing consciousness was that of Takeru and Kakashi. Her two most precious people.

Kabuto was now standing over Sasuke. "We were both unfortunate to catch the eye of Orochimaru-sama." He said while pulling out his scalpel. He gave the Uchiha one final stare before thrusting it down. But it never penetrated the unconscious boy.

"Just what I'd expect of you, Kakashi-san – foiling my plan by attacking me from my blind spot."

Kakashi ignored his comment and quickly assessed the room where he immediately noticed Jai sprawled out on the floor, lying in a small pool of her blood. There were multiple kunai protruding from her figure and he could barely make out the rise and fall of her chest. "Jai!" he almost ran to her but stopped himself.

"She's still alive, Kakashi-san – for now at least."

The Jonin glared menacingly at Kabuto. "You… you're no ordinary Genin, are you? Noticing my presence and immediately attacking with your weapon. You're quite the guy."

"No, not really."

"What do you want with Sasuke? Finding you like this; I'll have to capture and interrogate you."

"Can that be done…?" Kabuto turned around. "… by the likes of you? She tried to do the same thing and look where that got her – they all did." He motioned to the bodies that were scattered around the floor of the room.

"You want to try me? Who the hell are you?" Kakashi challenged, his hands clenched by his sides.

'To easily kill all the ANBU that I prepared and incapacitate Jai…'

He could barely see her chest rise and fall. "You… weren't you the son of a Konoha shinobi doctor…? Wasn't your name Kabuto – a bottom-feeding, no-good shinobi?"

A small frown briefly crossed his face before he brushed off Kakashi's comment. "Next time, you better prepare at least 10. She was the only one that gave me any sort of entertainment – feisty till the end. Judging by your reaction when you saw her – and how you keep looking over at her – I take it she means something to you. A dear friend, perhaps…? Hmm… no, I think it's more intimate than that."

"Just shut up and answer the questions," Kakashi demanded – not taking Kabuto's bait.

"What if I say, "no"?"

"I'm the one doing the questioning, so answer the question." Even though he was enraged, Kakashi still managed to keep his tone even. "Are you connected to Orochimaru?"

"If you capture me here, you might not be able to prove my connections with Orochimaru. I won't talk no matter what sort of torture or illusions you try on me, and I don't really like to fight. If you let me swim away, you'll eventually find out. So, won't you let me go this time?"

"You're a very spoiled brat, aren't you?" Kakashi retrieved a kunai and pointed it at Kabuto. "Oi, don't mess with an adult. Even if I can't prove your connection to Orochimaru, I can still hold you accountable for three murders and attempted murder on four Konoha shinobis. That alone will have you executed."

"I guess you're not going to just let me go then. Shame… all the time that was spent talking could have been spent saving her life." Kabuto pulled out his kunai with a curved tip.

"You know the laws of the village, don't you? What happens to spies?"

"Please stop acting so superior, I'm at the advantage right now…" the Genin brought his kunai to hover over Sasuke. He brought the blade down, but Kakashi moved.

Using his kunai, Kakashi knocked Kabuto's kunai out of his hand. He grabbed the back of the Genin's knee with the other hand and swung his leg, knocking and pulling him down to the ground. Kneeling over Kabuto, Kakashi restrained him but was surprised to see one ANBU body rise and bolt for the door.

'I see!'

The reanimated shinobi stopped when he saw Kakashi's shadow clone standing on the other side, waiting with his arms crossed. The clone moved in until the spy was stuck between the original Kakashi and his clone. While Kakashi and his clones were distracted, the third ANBU body rose and threw kunai at the windows and jumped through it.

Kakashi rushed to the window and saw the figure remove their mask as they fell. Kabuto arrogantly smiled up at Kakashi as he fell.

'Damn! I let him escape.'

The ANBU-nin that kept him distracted fell over, the Ninjutsu no longer in effect. "He's really something." With Kabuto escaping, he quickly ran back to Jai. Pulling the kunai out of her hands and shoulder, he checked her pulse.

'It's faint, but it's there'

"Jai!" he shook her. "C'mon… wake up!" He cut the end of her medical coat and used it as a makeshift bandage for the wound on her abdomen. "Get Sasuke," he told his clone. "He can't stay in this room."

Wrapping her arm around his neck, he picked her up off the ground.

'Hang on, Jai!'