"Hayate," she whispered, rocking back and forth, her eyes wide but unseeing.

She remembered how many days she had spent with him as he taught her the five dances. She had never eally paid much attention to his lessons, but he was patient and she had eventually begun to learn them.

"Hayate," she whispered again.

When the Sand had brought her back after rescuing her from the Akatsuki, he had been out, looking for her. They told her he had been out every free day he had, constantly searching for her. He was the only person who thought she was still alive, the only one who hadn't givin up on her. When he came back on the weekend to find her at her father's house, he had almost passed out. The doctors said that his efforts had taken almost a year off of his life, that he had spent too much energy over the space of a year, over-working his body just to look for her.

"Hayate..."

He had been the one to teach her the forbidden Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

"Hayate..."

He had been the one to encourage her to continue her training to become a better ninja.

"Hayate..."

He had visited her every day whenever she was in the hospital for treatment.

"Hayate..."

He had been. He used to be. He was. Rikou curled up tighter. Past-tense, had, used to, was. He was gone now. She had been out here for two days, curled up in approximately the same spot, her stomach growling loudly every once and a while as she remained curled up against the same tree.

Get up, she thought mildly. I need to get up.

The sun had set hours ago, and it was almost midnight, meaning she had almost been here for three days. She shifted her legs slightly, her head throbbing. She had been crying for the whole time she had sat there, and now her eyes and throat hurt. Her lips were dry and cracked, the scratches from the branches when she had run there had scabbed over, the blood drying on her face when the tears had run out.

She moved her legs more, shaking as she pushed her dehydrated and energy-deficient body up, leaning on the tree for support as she looked back the way she had come, the branches snapped and showing her the path.

Taking a step forwards and leaving her support, stumbling forwards and back towards Konoha. They didn't even send out someone to look for me, she thought as she stumbled through the darkness. There were two days until the third exam. After a few moments of blind stumbling, she removed the ninja-to from across her back, using it for support as she trudged forwards.

She stumbled on erractically for hours, until the sky lightened, the sun slowly rising and lighting the world once more. The soft sound of chirping birds reached her ears as she continued towards the village, doing nothing to raise her spirits. She slumped to the ground after awhile, catching her breath.

There was a rustling nearby, and her head spun around. She drew her ninja-to, suddenly alert as the noise came again.

"Who's there?" she croaked out, her voice cracked and scratchy.

"Rikou!?"

Kanzu stepped from the trees to her left, another jounin at his side. His face was pale and the bandages around his arms had been removed. He stepped forwards, kneeling down and hugging her, sighing.

"Geez, don't run off like that, Rikou. We spent every day looking for you."

Rikou said nothing, her throat to dry to force out any more words. She sheathed her sword with shaking hands and Kanzu slipped his arms under her, lifting her easily.

"Let's go," he said to the other jounin, who nodded. Rikou slipped away as her sensei carried her back to the village, his strong legs pumping hard as they dashed past the trees at an amazing speed.

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Rikou opened her eyes slowly, glancing around the hospital room she was in. She felt so tired...

"Rikou?" came Kankuro's voice. She glanced to her left, where he sat alone in one of two chair.

"Kankuro..." Her voice was still dry and cracked. She swallowed.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded slightly, pushing herself up and gazing at him absent-mindedly. Her mind suddenly snapped back to reality as she remembered.

"How many days until the exam...?"

"It's tomorrow," he said. He shifted slightly, glancing aside for a moment.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"...It's nothing," he said, turning back to her. "Just... I don't want anything to happen to you... something is happening and I don't want you to get caught in it..."

"What are you talking about?"

Kankuro shifted nervously again, before standing. "Nevermind... I have to go and fix up the Karasu."

Rikou watched as he turned and walked quietly out of the room, wondering what was going on. She looked out the window, her heart jumping. The sun was setting, the exam was tomorrow. She looked down at her arm and noticed an I.V. drip taped to the underside.

Lifting her other hand, she gently removed the tape, cautiously poking it to see if it hurt before slowly sliding it out. She rubbed her arm for a moment before pulling away the covers, timidly placing her feet on the floor and standing. She noticed she wasn't wearing her trenchcoat, but as she cast around, she spotted it folded neatly on one of the chairs along with her ninja-to.

After grabbing the sword and replacing her trenchcoat, she slipped out the door, leaving the hospital after checking out, heading back to her house. There was a single crow sitting on the roof, the same one that was usually there, and she headed up the stairs as it cawed loudly.

The door was still unlocked, so she opened the door easily, removing her shoes as she closed it behind her. She moved into the living room, sitting back on the couch and looking at the writing on the wall as she thought about tomorrow.

Should I still go? Kanzu-sensei told me I should... But what weapon would I take? My kamas or Hayate's Ninja-to? ...I should take both, these matches won't be easy. I can just hide my kamas inside my coat again. Yeah, that sounds good...

She fell back onto the couch, stretching out her legs and turning away from the wall. She closed her aching eyes, slipping back into darkness once again.

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She woke late the next day, something unusual for her, and glanced up at the clock on the wall. She had an hour until the exam. She quickly slipped off the couch, shuffling up the stairs to her room and pulling out a new black trenchcoat, black tanktop and black pants. She opened a drawer, pulling out her kamas and a full, black weapons pouch.

She carried her suplies over to the spotless washroom across the hall, stepping into the shower for a moment and letting the hot water burn across her skin soothingly before stepping back out and getting into her new outfit.

She looked in the mirror as she picked up her hair brush, quickly drying her hair and brushing it quickly. When it was wet, it came down to her shoulders, curling elegantly under her chin. She wrapped her weapon around her body, tucking the actual blade part under her armpits before slipping on her trenchcoat.

She moved back downstairs, strapping on her brother's ninja-to and glancing up at the clock, gasping. She had five minutes to get there.

Rikou was out the door in a flash, slamming it quickly behind her. The ever-present crow flew to her shoulder as she sped through the streets towards the stadium. The town was unusually busy today, many people lining the streets and slowing her down further.

The crow croaked softly on her shoulder as she approached the stadium, out of breath. She fell into a walk as she entered, the crow shifting slightly as it looked around at the large crowd in the stands. Rikou hung her head to avoid looking at anyone, her trenchcoat blowing behind her as she moved towards the assembled gennin, who were all facing away, and fell into place beside Ken.

"Rikou!? You came!" he said happily, smiling at her. She said nothing, instead looking up at the new examiner.

They remained facing the crowd for a few minutes until the Hokage stood and the stadium went silent. He cleared his throat, moving towards the railing as he adressed them.

"Thaks to everyone who came to the Hidden Leaf's Chuunin Selection Exam! We will now begin the main tournament matches between the eleven participants who made it through the preliminaries, so please stay until the end!"

The examiner held up a sheet of paper that showed the match pairings in a chart, holing it up for all the gennin to see clearly. Rikou scanned it a few times.

First match was Uzumaki Naruto versus Hyuga Neji. Second match was Uchiha Sasuke versus Gaara. Third match was Aburame Shino versus Kankuro. Fourth match was Gekkou Rikou versus Hikari Ken. Fifth match was Temari versus Nara Shikamaru. Kirema was the odd man out. Rikou turned to Ken in silence, examining his expression as he read the chart.

"Oh shit," he muttered, looking over at her. She blinked a few times.

"I'm fighting you," she stated simply.

"Damnit, why me? Where's that other guy, the Sound guy?" hissed Kirema. "Why am I the odd one out!?"

There were scattered mutterings as the other gennin finished reading the chart as well, and the jounin, Genma, replaced it. He turned to face them as everyone, except Rikou, looked up, listening to their cheering.

"In this main tournament," said Genma, adressing them. "You guys are the stars."

"Hey! Hey!" shouted Naruto, waving his hand in the air.

"What?" asked Genma, his eyes half-closed. He had a long toothpick in his mouth which he bobbed up and down every once and a while.

"Sasuke isn't here yet, what are you going to do?"

Rikou looked down the row of gennin of which she was at the end of. Sasuke was indeed missing, she remembered him from before, he was almost as dark as her. There was another gennin missing as well, the only Sound-nin who had made it this far, Dosu Kinuta.

'If he doesn't appear by the time his match starts, then he will recieve a default loss," said Genma simply, his toothpick bobbing up and down ad he spoke. It glinted in the sun and Rikou noticed it was not actually a toothpick, but a needle, a senbon needle.

"Alright guys, this is the final test. The arena is different, but the rules are the same as in the prelims, in other words, there are none. You fight until one of you dies or acknowledges defeat. But if I determine that a fight is over, I'll step in and stop it, got that?"

The gennin nodded, the crow on Rikou's shoulder croaking softly. She looked around the arena, noting the different terrain. There were trees and bushes along the edges of the cement walls, some in the middle, and the ground was made of packed dirt, dusty from days of no rain.

"Now for the first match, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Neji. Those two stay here, the rest of you, head to the waiting room," said Genma, his toothpick bobbing annoyingly. She stepped away, following the others towards one of the doors.

Rikou moved up onto a seperate balcony, away from the crowd, an leaned against the wall, not bothering to watch the fight. The crow on her shoulder flew off, landing on the railing and watching the battle between the two Leafs. Rikou sighed, slumping down and sitting on the cold cement, bringing her knees up and burying her face in her arms.

"Aren't you going to watch, Rikou" asked Ken, turning to her.

"Wake me up when it's our turn," she said blandly, her voice quiet. The ninja-to dug into her back uncomfortably, but she didn't care, she was tired. Her smooth, black hair fell loosely over her arms as she drifted off to sleep.

But her sleep lasted for what seemed to her only a few short minutes before she was awoken by the sound of cheering. She moved over to the banister and looked down upon a blonde in an orange suit running around in circles as a number of medical-nin attended to the other boy, the Hyuga. She smiled faintly.

This guy... He sure has alot of energy. As Naruto calmed down and headed up top to rejoin them, she paused. The crow that had come with her was flying in a wide circle over the stadium. She held out her hand, calling it towards her where it landed, cawing loudly.

"What is it?" she asked the black bird. It cawed again, turning towards the stands. She squinted at the people, up past them, behind them, where she saw..

"Anbu? What are they doing here?"

"What? Where?" asked Ken, following her gaze.

So something id going on here, she thought. Why is the security so tight?

The crowd was booing loudly, causing her to turn her gaze back to the jounin, Genma, where he stood looking up at the Hokage and the Kazekage, where they sat watching the tournament. The crowd began yelling at the poor jounin to get on with the next match, it was obviously one they wnted to see.

It was around ten more minutes before anything happened. Another jounin, one Rikou didn't recognize, appeared in a puff of smoke beside Genma, speaking quietly with him for a moment before disappearing again. Are they going to fail him?

"Ladies and gentlemen, the contestant for the next match has not arrived yet, so we are pushing the match back and moving onto the next one," called out Genma from the middle of the arena.

"And now, the next match, Aburame Shino and Kankuro! Come down!"

Rikou looked over towards Kankuro, but was suprised at what she saw. He was glancing around and biting his lip nervously, beads of sweat forming on his forhead as he turned to his sister, Temari. This is...not like him. What's going on?

Kankuro stepped forwards slightly, resting his hands on the railing and calling down the the examiner.

"...I forfeit!"

"What!?" called out Rikou, causing a few of the gennin to look her way. She covered her mouth, stepping back and sitting againt the wall again. What is he doing!?

"... Alright, then the next two contestants please come down!"

Rikou closed her eyes, ready to go back to sleep until she felt Ken shaking her.

"What?"

"It's our turn," he said quietly. She opened her eyes and could see the fear in his eyes, he did not want to fight her. She pushed herself up, the crow flying to her shoulder as she walked beside Ken down to the arena, down the stairs and on to the ground level. There's no way I can beat him, she thought, looking at Ken. But... Kanzu-sensei told me to fight, so I guess I have to...

They stepped out into the sunlight, Rikou blinking a few times as they headed towards the examiner. She stopped a few feet away and Ken continued past her, moving to face her. She held up her hand, letting the crow hop onto it before raising it higher and letting the crow fly off into the sky, back up to the railing. This battle was no place for a bird.

"Are you two ready?" asked the examiner. When he got no reply, he jumped back. "Begin!"