Yeah, it's been a while. Trust me, there is no one more keenly aware of such than I. But, after having taken far longer on this chapter than should have been possible, it is finally complete and ready to post.

I'm not sure when the next one will be out, as I've been quite busy as of late, but with any luck not nearly as far away as this one has been.

Thanks, as always, goes to ncpfan for his help.

It's been delayed enough, raise the curtains!

He paid no mind to those milling about. Too cautious to be anything but insular within the groups they had arrived but too nervous and excited to keep completely still or pay attention to the level of their voices, they were fools. Some were smarter than there fellows- whether that be groups as a whole or simply certain individuals who were actually going to take this seriously.

Previously, seeing such competence would have made him excited, not because he too took things 'seriously' but because they were the closest thing to a threat he would be encountering and would therefore be more valuable as proof of his existence.

But now there was a threat, an actual danger to his life that threatened to erase his existence.

A god of flesh with skin of the moon and hair of the freshest blood. He was war, he was death, he was someone whose very presence sent his mother into terrified shivering deep within his mind.

One day, in order to protect his existence from fading, he was one who would lie dead at his feet.

It would be the greatest proof of his existence that could ever be.

But he was not ready.

Not yet, perhaps not even in the next decade or two, but, one day, he would be.

He just needed to make sure he advanced faster than the god could gain more strength.

That, of course, led to a problem-

How did the god he had met gain his strength? Was he born to it, as he himself had been, or was there something he had to do to get where he was despite his obvious divinity?

He needed to know more of this 'Naruto-Sama'. Yes, Naruto-Sama was appropriate; for it was evident he was currently greater, much greater, than he was. That, he had decided one night as he sat upon the roof of their hotel, was deserving of respect, even if he had never before shown respect to anybody in his life.

His eyes left the groups that filled the room and briefly darted to his siblings. Both were nervous but they weren't yet panicked.

Good, he hadn't shown up yet.

When they had first arrived they both had scanned the room for his presence and then took turns scanning the room again and keeping close attention to the entryway, swapping between themselves just in case one of them missed something. Satisfied they had not overlooked his presence- not that he thought it would be possible after having met with him even once before- they both kept steadfast watch over the door.

His brother's puppet clicked and clacked almost too quietly to hear but much more loudly than the usual silence it kept while upon his brother's back wrapped tight in long strips of fabric. Fingers, long and dexterous, twitched irritably as nerves and adrenaline at a threat he fully believed to be only a few steps away at any moment coursed through his body. There had been little thought given to his siblings before he was confronted with the living god but now he paid enough attention to know that even with shaking hands Kankurō's control would be incredibly impressive by puppetry standards.

His sister, on his other side and probably not aware that she and Kankurō had both moved to flank their younger brother as opposed to the previously preferred method of standing together some distance from him, had her fan planted firmly before her, hands resting atop it and beating a constantly changing tattoo he was sure reflected the beating of her heart as she kept desperate lookout for the potential opponent who had had made a Biju submit to him in absolute terror.

One who also happened to be associated with an up and coming group of mercenaries who had recently come into possession of an entire country and a position within the Imperial Fire Court. Going against that, be it alone or with the backing of her entire country, was nothing short of political- and quite likely very literal-suicide.

Being more politically aware than both her brothers combined, the thought that they were outmatched both on and off the battlefield had her just a little on edge. That Naruto was out of their league in every possible way and he might be part of this very exam- an exam in which she would be part of his competition, if it could be called that.

She was fairly certain that the young man who could make a Biju tremble at his feet was more than a match for any Genin who might be unfortunate- and foolish- enough to go against him.

She'd pity any bastard ion that case if it didn't have the additional benefit of keeping her out of his attention.

She would very much like to remain completely invisible to the one who scares Shukaku, thank you.

Of course, the fact that Gaara- even though he was now paying more attention- was able to notice such and was well aware of how his siblings felt told one just how obvious it was.

Moving his attention from his nervous siblings- he would know well enough if the man entered were they to suddenly move into more defensive positions and, if the others in the room had any common sense- everybody else reacting to the living god's presence.

Once again his eyes traveled over the various groups that were scattered across the room in- for the most part- tight groups. Many of them made an attempt to stay serious and focused in preparation for whatever tests they would soon be put through. One group- by far the largest- did not.

Not appearing any older than him- or, rather, not looking like they were any older than his age, as he looked a bit young compared to some of his peers- they were obviously rookies. The size alone indicated they were local, as no foreign village would send such a large group of what appeared to be largely mediocre young Shinobi, and the Konohagakure headbands only confirmed. Evidently, they were taking advantage of the opportunity to get more experience and measure themselves against where they needed to be to succeed in their Shinobi careers. The fact that it increased the odds of Konoha having new Chuunin was a bonus he couldn't' fault the village for, especially not with his newfound appreciation of strategy. After all, brute force was unlikely to help him defeat a god of flesh when he was already strong enough to terrify mother.

One part of the group, however, did catch his attention. Just as energetic as their fellows, they seemed more prepared for what was going to happen. Or, at the very least, more aware of what they were getting themselves into.

The dark haired one was checking his equipment again and again, making sure every piece was easily accessible yet secure enough not to be lost. Next to him the pink one kept watch over all those around them, even her fellow Konoha Genin.

For a moment, he almost thought she was scared out of her mind but it was obvious she was trembling in anticipation from the way her eyes were taking in her future opponents.

The blonde girl, however, was the most interesting. With a pair of baggy pants littered with pockets and attritional pouches strapped to wherever she could manage to find room she was obviously taking preparation to a whole new level. A slim backpack covered in hard plating was open by her feet as she sorted through the scrolls she kept inside.

Having a puppeteer brother, he was familiar with the uses of scrolls though he rarely made use of them. If he had stuff to bring his siblings were the ones who were carrying it.

Like today.

But that wasn't important right now, what was important was the sheer volume of scrolls in the girls possession. An average Shinobi could make do pretty well with one, an exceptionally well prepared Shinobi carried two or three. Five was considered an arsenal.

This girl had at least a dozen.

Either she was really bad at packing or she was packing.

As the contents of one scroll was revealed to be massive stacks of explosive notes which she divvied up to her teammates he determined it was the latter.

He could not fathom anything that would need so many but it certainly begged the question- what were in those other scrolls? More notes? Different supplies in similar quantities?

It was this curiosity that kept him watching that particular group of three.

He was glad it did.

"Do you think He'll be here?" Asked the pink one to the only male of the group. He could practically hear the capitalization, and that spiked further interest.

The boy grunted but his eyes darted to the entrance, as if expecting the mere mention of Him to make Him appear. The similarities between those two and his siblings was astounding and his suspicions grew.

The blonde one, likewise, briefly glanced in that direction, but she quickly turned back to her scrolls seemingly unconcerned.

"I wouldn't be too surprised if Naruto-Nii somehow managed to enter the exams, but I don't know if they would let him without a team. He knows Jounin, yeah, but I don't think he knows enough Genin to get himself a team of his own."

The dark one snorted.

"With the way Kakashi-Sensei praises him, I would be surprised if they let him do this solo."

The name had confirmed the identity but the fact that one of the Jounin Sensei praised Him assured him his suspicions were correct. These three, somehow they knew the god he had encountered. Honestly, that should be obvious. The god lived here in Konoha, how could they not be aware of a divine being walking amongst them every day?

And they were right to be worried about his possible appearance, there was no way they could ever hope to stand against him.

The fact that he was a Genin, however, was strange.

Very strange.

Perhaps Konoha just wanted to be able to use him to destroy the competition.

Of course, that begged the question- where was he?

Was the blonde one right and he wasn't participating simply because he didn't have a team? That was absurd. If anyone should be part of these it was he, what did it matter if they give him two temporary teammates stolen from another team or two when he was a fucking god? These Genin were nothing compared to him, their situation was meaningless in the long run.

Perhaps Konoha was just going soft.

The girl looked back to the door. "Maybe." She muttered, just loud enough for him to be able to hear her. She sounded distinctly hopeful that he would be part of the exam but at the same time almost hesitant.

Not in such a way that pointed to her fearing him, but rather that she'd like him to be their but his presence would change something she felt important.

How odd.

That did not, however, change the fact that she had referred to the living god as Naruto-Nii. Either she felt close enough to him to call him her brother or they really were of the same blood.

It took him a moment to determine what the feeling was, but the thought of being part of an exam where he would go against that being's sister made him uneasy

He had been tempted for the briefest of moments to crush her immediately, before she had a chance to show she was a threat like her brother but what if she really was such a threat? Was he anywhere near strong enough to even attempt such an attack? He didn't know how she compared to her brother, not in the slightest, and he wasn't about to risk his existence- not when he realized it might also bring down his anger upon him.

He was uncertain when it came to the girl, but he knew for a fact her brother was far out of his league and that without adequate planning would not be taken down by one such as himself.

He hadn't even determined the true extent of his powers, let alone come up with a viable way to overcome them.

No, he'd hold off for now, there was far too much risk. Perhaps later, after he had seen her in action, he might reconsider, but for now she was off limits.

Not feeling generous but also not about to chance them unknowingly going against his wishes he turned to his siblings, his raspy voice barely more than a whisper.

"The blonde one," he said, terrifying them with the sudden breaking of his silence. "Is off limits. I will not anger him by harming his sister." As she was currently the only blonde, it was easy to identify who their brother was talking about.

She didn't look like much but the very thought of who their brother said she was related to had the color draining from their faces. Just being in his presence had been bad enough, but to actively anger him? Oh no, they weren't that stupid.

Swallowing nervously, the puppeteer nodded, his eyes not leaving the newly identified sister of the young man who had Shukaku terrified. The dead were only useful in one aspect of puppeteering and he had no intention of being anything less than the puppetmaster. "Understood."

His sister, while sharing the same thoughts, was a little more thorough in her response.

"And the team?" She asked. Her youngest brother looked thoughtful upon hearing her question, carefully pondering the decision. Admittedly, it was far more terrifying then when he was simply a raving, bloodthirsty killer. At least then it was as simple as don't piss him off and don't try to stop him if he's found another target.

Now, though, he was plotting, scheming, and she hadn't the faintest clue what was going on in his head.

That, she had come to realize, was much worse than knowing how much of a monster he was.

"Leave them be, for now." He decided. "Observe them carefully. If she proves not to be a direct threat then you are free to attack at your own discretion."

That was another thing they weren't used to. Since when had he allowed them any choice in anything? Previously it had been nothing more than following in the wake of his destruction as he led on unheeding of them or their needs. Now, however, he was giving them the freedom to make their own actions.

Neither wanted to think about what reasons he might have for that.

He sat by, not exactly close, but present.

He was Hatake fucking Kakashi, after all, and it wouldn't do well to perform in a way that would mar his image. Trying to get closer to the rookie Jounin Sensei and the Tokubetsu Jounin as they spoke with a Genin- no matter how much better he was than his peers- was not conductive to the image he liked to portray.

Still, he was close enough to observe them easily enough and his hearing was sharp enough that he didn't need to worry about missing any words spoken.

Not that he was spying on them or anything, and he definitely wasn't listening in on their conversation- any more than what was to be expected, anyway.

They were, after all, a strange group of three speaking within the Jounin lounge during the Chuunin exams in the presence of foreign representatives. There was also that little fact that only one of them was actually supposed to be here at all.

No one was going to try to kick out the other two though. Mainly because no one really cared and only further dissuaded by the fact that one of them was Mitarashi fucking Anko- one of the few others allowed to use the 'fucking' between her names- and she seemed quite close to the other.

If it bothered ay of the foreign Jounin they made no mention of it, knowing better than to do such in someone else's village. Not only was it likely to be ignored but they would probably be allowed to stay out of sheer spite.

Never should one underestimate the pettiness of Shinobi.

Kakashi was not a little surprised, then, when the Genin excused himself from the presence of the two attractive woman to sit by him. Fortunately, none of this surprise showed on his face. Thank the gods for half-masks.

"So you've let them into the exam already, you must be very proud of their progress." A little forwards, perhaps, but it also cut straight to the chase, for which Kakashi was appreciative. He had never been one for small talk.

"They do well enough." The man shrugged. "It would be a pity to deny them this opportunity."

The young redhead raised an inquiring brow.

"So you don't think they've made proper progress, then?"

Kakashi took a moment to think before giving a nod. "They've made very little progress for themselves, though two of them are able to make use of advantages they've been gifted. Only one of my students seems to have made much progress, and it's only because she doesn't share with them anything that would allow her to operate above the work she's put into training. Even then. The progress is still minimal. They aren't able to get much from my attempts at teaching and I'm not good at it in the first place. Were it not for their special abilities I'd be certain they would never go anywhere."

His new companion didn't seem to react any more than becoming thoughtful but those close enough to hear them did. Not because of what the son of the White Fang had said- though that was of substantial note- but due to the simple fact that Kakashi had spoken so much with minimal prompting.

Kakashi had always been a man of few words, and those words he did speak fit his nature perfectly. A thought out response was not what people had come to expect from him, and certainly not to a question that could have been answered so casually.

"If that's the case, I expect this could serve as a proper learning experience for them."

This time- aware of the attention they were receiving- Kakashi kept it short and simple, answering with a shrug and a quiet 'Maybe'.

The Genin didn't seem bothered at all be the shorter answer, settling in comfortably enough to wait for the screens to be properly set up. The Hokage's office was already prepared to allow him to watch over the proceedings, which had the added bonus of assuring proper recording devices had already been set up, but they had to wait on the less than tech-savvy Eternal Chuunin, as they were so often called.

Fortunately, in the case of anything going wrong, this would mean the Hokage would see things going on as they happened whereas they, the Jounin- or the group that was supposed to be composed exclusively of them, at any rate- who were watching would always be behind, playing a constant game of catch-up to watch the success- or failure- of those they had trained.

By the time they realized something was wrong the Hokage could have already responded to the issue and found a resolution. The past had proven this to be quite effective at stopping possible confrontations short.

With that in mind, one had to wonder if the two Chuunin in the room were taking so long on purpose or if the Hokage, knowing how bad they were, had placed them there just because it would serve to buy him time in a most natural of manners.

After all, there was little that could be considered more human than incompetence.

It was something quite a few people even seemed to excel at.

These two served as a prime example.

So much that it was actually a bit irritating, honestly .

Of course, he didn't have much time to dwell on that before they were joined by the sole Tokubetsu Jounin in the room, the woman squeezing up next to the young man like an over-affectionate pet greeting their owner after a long vacation.

It was quite strange but, then again, it was Anko.

He personally felt that pretty much summed up any necessary explanation and he certainly wasn't the only one.

He was, however, Hatake Motherfucking Kakashi, so that opinion registered as little more than a raised eyebrow at her antics. Normally he'd make some sort of comment but Naruto was involved and he didn't want to say anything that might in some way insult him – even indirectly- or give him a reason to dislike him.

He was rather fond of the boy, after all.

You didn't think he hid bodies for just anyone, did you?

Oddly enough, the purple-haired woman was rather subdued, seemingly content to just be snuggled- for there were few other words that could be used to accurately describe her current position, not that he would utter any of them- up to the young man.

There was that young one, what, a year ago? Two? It didn't really matter he supposed, the important thing was that his little brother seemed to be good with the ladies.

The other girl had been older, but this was an older Kunoichi.

He was so proud.

Turning back to check the progress of the Chuunin- they seemed farther behind than when he last checked- he couldn't help but notice Kurenai was back where the migrating group had started. She didn't seem all that happy to have been left behind, but she also seemed a bit hesitant to join in.

Not that it stopped her in the end.

With swift strides that hid her discomfort she positioned herself next to Anko. Far away from Kakashi, separated from Naruto, but still close enough to be a part of this new group.

It was rather odd, Kakashi would admit.

Unless, of course, his little brother was more of a ladies' man than he had ever expected.

Go Naruto!

She tried valiantly to ignore the stares, she had enough to worry about with the exam alone. She was definitely further along her training than most of her peers but never had her mother covered anything these questions were requiring from her. Kakashi, too, was not the kind of person to teach cryptology or any sort of physics beyond 'hit hard and they gt hit hard'.

Come to think of it, she really couldn't see someone like Kiba being taught this by Kurenai, either. Even Asuma didn't strike her as the type to cover something so specialized as to have its own division-one that never saw the light of day, either- or something that was more theoretical than any practical Shinobi would ever need.

Who cared what the exact amount was, so long as muscle memory allowed you to make the proper throw?

It didn't make any damn sense and the eyes constantly on her certainly weren't doing her any favors.

The worst part was it wasn't a single set of eyes, either. One set would look at her for a moment or two and then be replaced by another, over and over again. She had only managed to catch their gaze a few times each and the only constant seemed to be an anxious trepidation with a hint of suspicion, as if they somehow knew her or what she contained and were wary because of it.

But that was ridiculous, for none but a few knew the secret and she hadn't done anything- that she knew of, at least- to warrant such a reaction from anybody.

Of course, there was a distance in their eyes, as if they were looking at her but seeing someone else. But who could they be seeing? She looked nothing like her mother and the closest person to her looks that was infamous was the Yondaime Hokage, who was long dead.

She had visited Kaze no Kuni- where these Shinobi hailed from, judging by the Suna headbands- but back then she had been just a child trying to learn the way of the Kunoichi, nothing worth any real mention.

Now if Kakashi was to be believed, the only Genin of mention would be-

Naruto.

Could they know her brother somehow?

He was certainly off on missions often enough with that Tokubetsu Jounin that had taken a shine to him. Maybe he had met them during one of them? No, that didn't sound quite right. They didn't seem angry or resentful, nor did they seem to look at her in any way that would indicate them as being possible allies during the competition.

Obviously, her brother did not have a strong positive or negative impact on them, at least, not one large enough to transfer over to her. Considering how rare it was for two Shinobi to meet during a mission that did not in some way conflict she was pretty confident any interaction between them wouldn't have been in such a situation.

Of course, were that to be the case why would they be looking at her?

They could have met her brother in the days before the exam but what might he have done to leave an impression that had them looking at her with hesitant suspicion, as if they were trying to determine how much of a threat she was.

She'd like to believe they just thought she was more capable than some of the competition- and they weren't exactly wrong considering that she had training her comrades didn't- but two of them were older and all three came across has having a surplus of field experience.

She could also swear the younger one with short hair the same color as her brother's had an odor of dried blood and dust that permeated the air around him with its muted metallic tang.

She doubted very much that it was from an injury he had sustained for he didn't have so much as a scratch on him from what she could see, even his hands were without the callouses shared by his teammates.

Not a physical fighter then, and certainly one skilled enough to avoid those who were. There was also far less fear- no, wariness- in his questioning gaze, instead a puzzled calculation that tried to figure everything out about her it possibly could.

And if all else didn't point to their looks being sent because of another there was still the way their eyes seemed drawn to her right arm, searching the skin for something that wasn't there.

Has her brother not covered his arm in bandages? Were they not present both when she returned to Konoha and when they had met for a spar that went so horribly wrong? An injury was possible, but many should have been healed pretty easily in that time frame at the Konoha hospital.

They also didn't strike her as the type dumb enough to believe whatever injury he carried there would be present on his sister's flesh. That meant that if it was a scar it was a very specific - and undoubtedly deliberate – symbol that was easy to recognize. More than likely it was a tattoo or he had experimented with seals- something rather dangerous- and placed one upon himself.

If it was the latter case he was either a damn prodigy, very lucky, or both, considering Konoha's only seal master had been busy trying to stabilize his spy network after the Kyuubi attack all those years ago.

Mito- Kyuubi, she reminded herself – really had made quite a lot of trouble for them, almost more than she felt a Jinchuriki was worth.

Regardless, the fact that they kept looking despite her arm quite plainly being completely bare was a bit strange. Did they honestly expect some sort of symbol to just appear on her arm while they were looking at her? Actually, The Uchiha clan was famous for spitting miniature suns at people and the Akimichi could turn themselves into giants rivaling the Biju in size. Perhaps mysteriously appearing symbols on her arm wasn't such a strange expectation.

And she also couldn't dismiss the possibility that these three held something close to Kakashi's opinion on her brother, in that he immediately surpassed all expectations one could ever set before him.

She wanted to resent him for it sometimes, but excluding one spar she hadn't really interacted with him.

The chance, too, that Kakashi was just using it to annoy them was also too high for her to risk forming any opinion or making any plans based on his words.

A particularly loud scrape of a pencil brought her out of her thoughts and made her keenly aware of the remaining time or, more specifically, the lack of it.

With hurried strokes of her pencil she half-assed decoding the message before writing 'If you need to calculate how hard to throw it you shouldn't be in the field.' Under the picture of a Shinobi in a tree.

It would have to do as with a bellow their examiner called for the writing to stop.

Hopefully what she did would be enough, it would be rather pathetic for her plans to both aid and get closer to her brother were ended by one lousy paper test.

Then again, that's exactly the kind of thing Kakashi would sign them up for.

Sadistic bastard.

Said Sadistic bastard was suddenly, for reasons he did not know, filled with the content feeling of a job well done. But that was absolutely ridiculous, he hadn't actually worked in quite some time now. No, all he did these days were watch over the Mini Ninjas and call it training. It was far too cushy- and often amusing- to be called work.

Hs attention was quickly pulled from the brief, unexplainable, feeling when his red-haired companion spoke.

"Hey, Anko, don't you have Genin to torment right about now?"

She looked like she might stay where she was, practically fused to his side, but eventually the idea of scaring the piss from a room full of brats won over.

With a noticeable pout she broke away from him and jumped from the nearest window, most of the room shaking their heads at her.

Everyone knew that Shinobi entered through windows and left through the front door.

Usually because by then there was no one in the building to stop them.