The next day Miyako stealthily followed Sasuke to the Forty-Fourth Training Ground (which also happened to be known as The Forest of Death). She watched as Mitarashi Anko – a sadistic Jōnin with purple hair who worked in the Torture and Interrogation Unit – explained the exam, and then as some pre-academy kids came to do interviews for the Academy Newspaper.
Miyako watched as Anko gave out some consent forms – which the prospective chūnin's had to sign to say that they accepted the fact that they could die and the Konohagakure was not to be blamed for their death. Once the teams signed the forms, they got their scrolls and went to their assigned gates.
Miyako waited for the teams to have been in The Forest of Death for one hour and thirty minutes before following after Team Seven. She easily located Team Seven, sensing their chakra and thoughts to guide her way to them. She found Naruto first, stuck inside a giant snake that she suspected was a summoning. Miyako went to get Naruto out, but stopped when the snake burst, blood, guts, and shadow clones shooting out of it and around the clearing.
"Oh Gods, that's gross," Miyako muttered in disgust before jumping in front of Naruto.
Naruto, who was still freaked out about being eaten by a giant snake, attacked Miyako with a punch. The Jōnin easily dodged the attack and held Naruto's fist when he moved to attack her again. When Naruto recognised the teen in front of him, he stopped, relaxing a little bit.
"You're Sakura-chan's cousin, right?" Naruto questioned the teen.
"That's right," Miyako nodded. "Where are your teammates?" Worry was starting to fill her as she started to have a hard time locating the duo.
"I don't know," Naruto muttered before his blue eyes widened. "I was separated from them, swallowed by this giant snake. We have to find them!"
Miyako nodded in agreement, not liking the feeling that something was wrong sitting in her gut. She gestured for the genin to follow her as she still had a slight sense on the whereabout of the two missing genin.
Naruto and Miyako shot through the forest, spotting the duo standing in fear on a branch. Naruto overheard Sasuke giving up the scroll and jumped ahead of a surprised Miyako, snatching the scroll from the air. Miyako sighed as she jumped next to Naruto, Sasuke's onyx eyes widening as Sakura cheered in relief at the sight of her cousin.
"Mi-chan!" Sakura exclaimed, grinning as she felt hope fill her at the thought of being safe from the Grass genin in front of them.
"Miyako," Sasuke muttered, hope also filling his chest at the sight of his guardian.
Miyako ignored the two brightly dressed genin and face the Grass genin, reaching into her mind, only to hear a male voice.
'A Jōnin? What's she doing here? My plan has just become more complicated.'
Miyako frowned. "Orochimaru, I presume?"
The Grass-nin let out a smirk. "You saw through my disguise. And quite easily at that. How is that? You're too young to remember me."
"The how doesn't matter. What matters is what are you planning on doing to Sasuke?"
Sasuke's eyes widened at Miyako's statement. He never understood it, but he knew she had an uncanny ability to guess what one was thinking. Sometimes he thought she had the ability to read minds, though he was sure that that was an ability that was impossible.
"You even know what I'm here for. Interesting," Orochimaru replied, looking the girl up and down in interest. "If I didn't know any better, I would've said you were a Shinjitsu Clan member. But they're supposably extinct."
"Of course she isn't! She's my cousin!" Sakura announced proudly. "And she'll kick your arse!"
"Sakura," Miyako stated, and the girl looked to her cousin in interest, "Shut up." Sakura flinched at the harsh words, and at the glare she hadn't seen for a long, long time.
"Wait a minute. You are a Shinjitsu Clan member. I remember now. You were five years old when we last met. I see you've become a Jōnin since then. Tell me, how many levels of your kekkei genkai have you activated?" Orochimaru questioned with a grin, finally recognising the girl that had gotten away from his grasp all those years ago. He had always wondered what became of her.
"No she's not! She's my cousin! A Haruno! Haruno Miyako!" Sakura exclaimed, not liking the words spouting out of Orochimaru's mouth.
"Oh, do they not know? Kept it from you dear 'cousin'?" Orochimaru teased. "Remember that day, Miyako-chan? You fought me to protect her. And yet, you're not even related," Orochimaru stated with a chuckle, Sakura looking between him and Miyako, fear filling her at the idea of having been lied to her whole life.
"It's confidential information, Orochimaru. In other words, a need to know. And Team Seven don't need to know," Miyako stated with a sneer as she tried to reach into Orochimaru's thoughts, only to come up a blank, making the girl frown in frustration. "Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto, get out of here. Run as far and fast as you can. I'll hold this snake off."
"But–" Sasuke went to argue, but a glare from Miyako shut him up. He clenched his teeth but nodded. "Ok, Sakura, Naruto, let's get out of here."
"What the hell? We can't just leave her here!" Sakura shouted in anger, glaring at the Uchiha for the first time in her life. Her love for her cousin outweighed her infatuation with the Uchiha. At least, temporarily. "I'm staying."
"You'll only get in my way. Leave. Now," Miyako ordered as she pulled out her ninjato.
Orochimaru smirked as the girl charged towards him. He easily dodged her attack, not underestimating her like he did when she was a mere child. Miyako spun around, aiming her ninjato towards Orochimaru's throat with the intentions of slicing his head clean off. He dodged the attack and shot towards her, aiming a punch towards her face. Miyako dodged the attack – barely – and jumped back a few paces, watching Orochimaru wearily. She noted in the back of her mind the Team Seven were gone.
Orochimaru sighed in exasperation. "It seems Sasuke-kun is gone. I'll have to deal with you before going after him."
Orochimaru summoned a katana and charged towards Miyako. Miyako's ninjato came up to meet the blade in a flurry of sparks. Orochimaru was heavier than Miyako and used his weight against her to push hear back. Miyako dropped her ninjato and dodged the katana's swipe, though it nicked her on the cheek. Miyako weaved some hand signs.
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique," Miyako muttered, shooting the Genjutsu towards Orochimaru.
Orochimaru – having not expected the attack – found himself surrounded by leaves. The leaves fell away and he watched as another him appeared. This one dead on the ground. Fear coursed through Orochimaru, but he managed to break the Genjutsu (after all, it was only a D-Rank jutsu). As the Genjutsu faded, Orochimaru found himself face to face with a lightning hound. The jutsu struck Orochimaru, making him fall backwards into some trees, some of his skin peeling off due to the damage.
Orochimaru chuckled as he pushed himself up to a stand. "I see you're a strategist. Distract me with a low level Genjutsu to line up a high level Ninjutsu. Very clever. But, you'll have to do more than that if you expect to defeat me." Orochimaru rushed through hand signs before drawing blood from his finger. "Binding Snake Glare Spell!"
Two snakes shot out of Orochimaru's sleeves, shooting towards Miyako. She went to dodge them, but they separated, making one come from the top, and the other from the bottom. She quickly found herself trapped by both the snakes, the snakes constricting her breath.
Orochimaru chuckled again. "You fought well, but I have a Uchiha to mark. These snakes should keep you constricted until I'm done. Who knows, I may be back to mark you as well." With that, Orochimaru vanished, leaving Miyako to fight against the snakes, who only tightened their bodies around her.
She quickly found herself losing consciousness as she couldn't breath properly. Her last thought were 'I hope Team Seven got away.'
...
The beeping of medical machines is what woke Miyako up. She found herself in the hospital, taped to multiple monitoring devices. In the room, Hiruzen sat, watching the girl, a grim look on his face. When he saw that she was awake, his grim look turned into a kind, grandfatherly smile. "He didn't get the chance to mark you with the curse seal."
Miyako sighed in relief. "What happened?"
"He got to Sasuke. You've been out for a week. When Anko found you, you were on the verge of death from those snakes of his. Sasuke is in here too," Hiruzen explained, gesturing to the bed on the other side of the room, where Sasuke slept.
"Damn it! I was useless," Miyako muttered, starting at the young Uchiha and the mark on his neck.
"Even I would have trouble fighting him. The only person I know of who could even stand a chance of killing him alone, without losing their life in the process, is probably Itachi," Hiruzen stated, making Miyako flinch at the mention of the man who had given her the necklace she currently wore around her neck.
"You trained him well," Miyako stated with a bitter laugh as she sat up, reaching for the pitcher of water and a glass. She poured herself some water before taking slow sips of the drink. "What will happen to Sasuke now?"
"Sasuke made it into the finals of the chunin exams. He will be training with Kakashi. The seal we put on the curse mark will hold as long as Sasuke's resolution holds. If it wavers, the seal will break," Hiruzen explained, and Miyako nodded in understanding.
"Did Naruto or Sakura make it to the final exams?"
"Naruto did. Sakura tied with Ino," Hiruzen explained with a sigh. "They told me what happened. I explained to all three of them about your heritage. Sakura was shocked. I think that may be why she lost against Ino. She was confused and worried about you and Sasuke. What will you do for the next month?"
"I'll see if Sakura would like to continue her training. We need to talk after what happened in the forest. I'll also keep an ear out for anything to do with Orochimaru," Miyako replied and Hiruzen nodded in understanding, before standing up.
"I'll go and inform the doctor that you're awake. With luck, you will be in the all clear to leave the hospital by the end of the day," Hiruzen explained before leaving Miyako to her thoughts.