Disclaimer: I am Adam's sister. So not only do I have no ownership of Naruto and its characters. I really don't own the Saruteru clan either. I am only writing on this story because he's in school and he asked me to write a couple of chapters till he came back. My penname is Alliedoll and this will be my second Naruto story even though it is collaboration.

Arishia got up early the next morning. She tried to be up first every morning so she could choose the best area for her morning training rituals. Good space was limited in family of so many ninjas.

The Saruteru clan lived close to the edge of town, so it was easy for her to slip into the wooded areas right outside the city. She knew these areas well, for this was where she and her siblings grew up.

The sun barely shone in the early morning sky. Arishia started with a few simple stretching exercises as a warm-up before beginning four or five hours of intense training. Ninjitsu had come easily to Arishia as a child. Her instructors had considered her extremely gifted when she was seven years old. However, she found herself at the peak of her power at the age of twenty-four. There wasn't much left to learn. Of course, she had shown that she was capable of further growth when they'd told her at 17 that she'd reached her full potential. She passed the Chunnin exam that year. It was the third time she'd taken it.

"I've got to get this right." She whispered. "Even Emirii has mastered this one." It was an illusionary technique that combined both speed and agility. The idea was to make your opponent believe you were coming at them from one side or the other. Most of the time in this particular technique, you dropped down on them from above. She was usually reasonably good at this, but lately she'd been losing her focus. She'd also begun withdrawing from her siblings more and more. More often than not, she chose to train alone.

"My teachers have said I'm already at Chunnin Level." She could hear Emirii's happy exclamation ringing in her head.

The boy in the tree above her stared with mild curiosity. At the moment, his master had told him he was more interested in the youngest sister because she had greater abilities. Her youth also gave a more impressionable mind. If he hadn't been following direct orders, Kabuto was inclined to believe this girl's jealousy of her family made her an easier target than Emirii.

"Emirii's really too young anyway. She'll come into her full power soon enough. In the meantime, why not pick them off one at a time?"

Arishia's parents really wanted her to retire.

"You really ought to focus on finding a nice boy to marry." Her mother always told her.

Arishia had interviewed for an elementary instructor position at the Konoha ninja academy. She was offered the job, but turned it down because it would give her little time to focus on furthering her career as an active ninja. The lead teacher at the academy, Iruka, he seemed like a nice guy, but he also had no life or goals of his own. He existed only to further the personal growth of his students. Arishia pitied him. She thought he might almost be cute if he had a little more going on in his life other than school. She shouldn't even entertain that thought for a second, however, because her mother loved him.

"Oh, he's such a nice boy." Shaariin had said one time. They'd merely spoken to him for five seconds in the marketplace. He'd offered to help them carry their bags home. It was obvious that he'd been trying to get Arishia's attention.

"Mom really needs to mind her own business. I don't see her trying to marry off the other girls." She ran backwards to build up her force and leapt at the tree in front of her. She flew at it kicking it as hard as she could.

The impact caught Kabuto entirely by surprise. He'd been lost in his own thoughts. All of a sudden, he was flat on his back on the ground. At least he'd fallen on the grass.

Arishia picked up the pair of glasses that had landed at her feet, and brought them to him. She couldn't stop laughing. "Serves you right for spying on me," she said.

He sat up. She came and sat next to him on the grass.

"I'm Ari. My family just moved to Konoha. We used to live out here in the woods, but my parents thought we were too isolated. Personally, I miss it. It's a lot quieter."

He smiled. The privilege of anonymity would work best here. She had no idea he worked for Orochimaru. The fact that he was currently stationed in a small dwelling in the woods also worked to his advantage. The girl might seek him out here.

"I'm Kabuto." He said. " I live not far from here. I'm alone. My family is dead."

They talked for a long time. He liked a lot of the same books that she did. He told her he'd meet her the next morning and they'd train together.

When she left, Arishia felt a little conflicted. He seemed like a really nice guy, but he was only 18 years old. Her brothers were 20 and 17, and they were extremely immature. Still there was no harm in seeing him again.

Kabuto didn't really feel he knew enough about the Saruteru clan to report anything just yet. He'd bide his time, and gain her trust. Besides maybe this girl knew enough to actually help him pass that damn chunnin exam. After the first couple of times, he'd pretty much just given up. The last time Orochimaru had told him to fail deliberately, but he doubted that he'd have passed anyway. If he actually took it again, this would be the fifth time he'd tried.

Arishia went home that afternoon and baked a loaf of strawberry bread. Matto saw it cooling on the counter. He picked a crumb off the corner. Arishia slapped his hand.

"That's not for you. I'm bringing it for breakfast tomorrow morning. I might train all day."

"Oh Arishia." Her mother said when she saw the bread. "You should take some of this to Iruka. He'll need his energy to grade that pile of essays on the history of Konoha his students wrote today."

"Mother!" She took the bread, wrapped it in blue cellophane, and placed it in her bag. She would get up in time tomorrow morning to brew a pot of tea before she left.

He was having trouble sleeping again. The cabin was too quiet. He felt like he was being watched. He thought he heard the hissing of snakes. He knew that Orochimaru sent familiars to keep up with his doings, but it didn't make it any less creepy. There was nothing more fun than waking up with a snake looking you in the eyes. It made him shiver just thinking about it.

The others told him they didn't think he'd cut it as a long-term player in Orochimaru's plans. "Snakes eat rats like you. They don't keep them as pets," they said.

It was spiraling out of his control. He thought he could ride along to the top with Orochimaru, and that maybe he could seize power of his own. It didn't take long for him to realize that any scrap Orochimaru gave cost more than it was worth.

"My pretty boy." Orochimaru had called him, as he'd run his fingers through Kabuto's hair. The snake tongue flicked on the back of his neck. He flinched, but he was afraid to move away lest he displease Orochimaru. That was it was far as it had gone thus far, but it was clear that more was expected.

Arishia got up before sunrise. She brewed a pot of tea and took two teacups from the cupboard. She checked to make sure Nikku and Matto hadn't stolen the bread out of her bag, and she left.

He wasn't at their meeting place yet. She poured herself a cup of tea, and she waited for almost half an hour. The tea was getting cold. He'd told her where he was living, so she thought she'd surprise him.

The cabin was small, but it was in a nice clearing. The area right outside was a really good spot for the training Ari wanted to do.

She knocked on the door. Nothing. It was unlocked. She walked in and placed the bread and tea on the table that was in the center of the room. On the other side of the room, there was a mattress on the floor. He lay there still asleep with the covers over his head to block out the encroaching sunlight.

Ari sat on the floor next to him. She lightly tapped him, but he didn't stir. Since the tea had gotten cold, she went through the cupboards to see it he had tea, so she could make another pot.

After she made the tea, she dumped the excess water from the pan. She grabbed a spoon and began banging on the pan. She sang a song that her mother used to sing to her and her siblings to wake them up for school in a loud cheery voice.

He sat up and threw his pillow at her, and then he lay back down.

" I made a pot of tea, and I brought strawberry bread. Now wake up."

He lay on his stomach with his hands resting under his chin. She saw a black mark on his left shoulder. It was a circle formed of strange writing. Arishia didn't know what it meant.

"Cool Tattoo."

"It's not a tattoo. It's a cursed seal." He said sleepily. As soon as he said it, he mentally cursed himself. So much for discretion. Fortunately, she didn't pry.

She put her hand on his shoulder where the seal lay. "Does it hurt?"

"No not really. Only when…." He realized he'd said too much. Should he tell her? He barely knew her.

She ran her hand down his back. He shivered lightly. He turned over, pulled her to him, and kissed her. She ran her fingers through his silver hair. After a moment she pulled away.

" I just met you." She said. "I'm not sure you're being entirely honest with me."

He agreed. He hadn't been entirely honest with her or with himself either. He'd been watching her since she moved to Konoha. He'd seen how determined she was, how passionate she was about ninjitsu, and how badly she wished to forge her own path for her life regardless of how her parents felt. He didn't report back to Orochimaru about her because he knew that Orochimaru would break her the same way he'd broken him. He didn't want that to happen.

Now wasn't the time to tell her, though. He had to make sure that he really wanted out for good.

"Just go." He said.

She started crying, but she left quickly. He picked up the teapot from the table and threw it against the wall.

"What just happened back there?" she whispered to herself. None of the pieces of that moment fit together. Maybe she should just go back. Whatever he was involved in sounded serious. It was highly possible he was in over his head, and he needed her help.

The best thing he could do right now was run. He didn't know where he could go, but he had created a false identity just in case he'd ever needed to make a quick escape. He'd chosen the name Xiophan Shian. It was the name of a spy in a novel he'd read. Somehow it was fitting, he thought.

He pulled his hair back into a low ponytail. He took one of his Kunai and cut clean across the top of it. His hair that had been down to the middle of his back now barely came below his ears. Tears ran down his face. Sixteen years of repressed emotion had come to surface with one stroke of a blade. However, now wasn't the time to break down. He had to follow through with the rest of his plans.

He dyed his hair jet black. He packed his things and left. The only thing he left behind was his forehead protector that displayed the symbol of the hidden village of the sound.

When Arishia got to the cabin, the only thing she found was the forehead protector. She decided to take it with her. It could give her insight to what might really be going on.

She ran into the village. She wasn't sure where she was going or whom she needed to talk to regarding Kabuto.

Kakashi was walking down the street, engrossed in one of his Come Come Paradise novels. Arishia crashed into him. The forehead protector fell out of her unzipped bag.

"Where did you get that?"

"Why should I tell you?"

" I hate to do this, but you leave me no choice. Saruteru Arishia, you are under arrest."