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Kankuro would never forget this Chuunin exam.
Sure, it wasn't his first, but someone there was. The old man who lead the village, the Sandaime, he ended up on Kankuro's mind a lot these days. Something about the wise and sorrowful, yet humouring look on his face, had stuck with Kankuro. The way that he looked at all of the contestants of the third test in turn, and had let his eyes linger on Kankuro for a moment.
Later, after the preliminaries, Kankuro encountered him on the way to the hotel he was staying in. "Boy!" he heard called after him, and when he turned around, he came face to face with the Hokage himself. "You fought well. But that wasn't what I wanted to say. I must ask, why do you wear so much makeup? Are you hiding your face?" the Sandaime questioned. "Why should I tell you?" Kankuro retaliated. "No reason, I was just curious," the Hokage said with a shrug as he passed Kankuro at a leisurely pace. "Wait! Um, I mean, I wear the makeup because then people will realize who I am when they see me, and when my expertise becomes well-known, demands for nin from my country will rise!" Kankuro called after him as he began to run to catch up, but then faltered and stopped. The Third Hokage turned back and smiled. "Well, that's a good idea. I hope it works for you." Kankuro could feel himself blushing. "Thank you, sir." He stood and watched the Sandaime as he headed home before beginning his trek again with only one thought in his head: Why did they have to kill this man?
After the war, Kankuro heard that the Hokage had been killed by Orochimaru, who was posing as the Kazekage. Kankuro didn't know why he had suddenly felt empty, or why he felt guilty. All he knew was that it had driven him to attend the funeral.
Kankuro took one long look at the picture of the Sandaime before asking the attendant if he could keep it.