Kin had family problems that no one knew about. Even I didn't know about them at that time. Anything I learned about it was after the incident. After everything happened. I still can't thoroughly understand why Kin did that. I don't understand how her family could've caused it. Her family seemed so… Perfect. But perfect things have always been fragile. All of the things I've learned about Kin were all from others, from past friends, Dosu, and from her parents. I think they regret doing some things…

Zaku sighed and stared down at the two who were still sleeping. It was amazing, that these two still hadn't gotten up yet… He glared at the clock he kept in the living room and then shrugged. He might as well cook a breakfast… Hadn't done that in a while…

He frowned at the door to the kitchen, before slowly walking through the swinging door and turning on the stove.

Dosu was the first of the still sleeping to stir. He groaned slightly, rubbing at his hair, then looked furtively around. A hand slowly made it's what to his long sleeved shirt where he lifted up the sleeve, then winced at the bruises already forming. He shook his head, and slowly got out of the sheets that had been draped carelessly around him. Tugging down his shirt, he sniffed the air before pushing through the door to Zaku's kitchen. "Hey."

Zaku looked up from the bacon sizzling in his pan, then grinned, "Yo, go get some eggs from the fridge, and makes some scrambled eggs."

The other boy just shrugged, slowly making his way towards the fridge, his movements still sluggish from sleep.

"Kin's such a slob, she always sleeps in…" Zaku yawned and continued to watch his bacon carefully.

Dosu looked at Zaku, then looked away, "She hasn't told you, huh?"

"… What?"

"Her parents want her to switch out of Oto. They want her to go to Konoha. Something about it being more prestigious…"

"… Are you shitting me?"

"No."

There was silence, and only the sound of eggs being scrambled and the quiet sizzling of bacon filled the small kitchen.

"… Aren't you gonna tell me more?"

Dosu sighed, a hand was brought to his forehead from his imaginary headache as he said, "Kin refused, and they got in a fight. They said she shouldn't be hanging out with delinquents like us," Dosu winced at the word 'delinquents' before continuing, "Her dad… He threw stuff at her… Not big stuff, just small stuff. A couple of pens, a tissue box… But… You know her… She gets her feelings hurt easily…"

Pondering the story for a second Zaku then quietly replied, "… Do you think it's gonna get worse?"

"What?"

"… What if her dad, y'know, gets angrier? You know about Chiaki's dad, right? He started with small things… And then, well, you remember when he beat her, right?"

Silence filled the kitchen again. Zaku quietly flipped the bacon onto a nearby plate.

"I don't think Kin's dad would do that… He wouldn't… right?" There was a pleading in Dosu's voice as he asked that. He seemed to hesitate, as if to say something, then stopped. "She's too fragile for that to happen. She might end up like Akio…"

Silence again.

The two boys stiffened slightly as Kin opened the door to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "I smell bacon" a smile spread across her face as she bent to sniff the aromas of the still-steaming bacon in the plate next to Zaku. She then frowned at the eggs that Dosu was still scrambling, "… Those look like they're well-mixed… Dosu… Don't need to beat them to a pulp…"

Zaku and Dosu winced at the analogy. "Errr… Yeah, Dosu, get me those eggs… Before you… Beat them… Hehehehe," Zaku snatched the eggs away as nervous laughter filled the room.

Kin frowned, then shrugged, going out the kitchen door as she called over her shoulder, "You guys are so weird…"

As a silence filled the room again, Zaku quickly cooked the eggs and Dosu sat on the nearby counter in silence. They heard the static of a television being turned on in the living room.

Dosu was the first one to get up, "I'll help you with the food."

Dosu was always the first at everything. He was the first to finish a test, the first to finish eating, the first to do just about everything but get up in the morning. I wonder if that was a sign for what would come to pass… Was everything just a premonition of what was going to happen? Could we really expect so much to happen so fast? Why did everything so easily fall apart? … Wow, I used big words…

"The results are out!" it was a shriek more than an exclamation through the hallways as silence brushed through the hall.

All head turned towards the bulletin, and of the chosen few that walked up, Dosu was the first to read it out loud in an unsteady voice, "Abumi Zaku, Kinuta Dosu, and Tsuchi Kin. Congratulations on your test scores and be prepared to represent Oto in the Academic Tournament. Make us proud!"

Students clambered to congratulate and shake hands with the mentioned three, and the friends took the slaps on their backs and grins with silence. They stared at each other for a second, before shrugging. The mob slowly dimmed down to four or three people, and as a bell rang in the distance, others rushed to their rooms. The trio slowly marched their way to math, pondering on what sort of fate could've gotten them into the Academic Tournament, and what was laid ahead for them.

Orochimaru grinned at his subordinate from his comfy leather chair, his white hands were planted upon his desk as he heard the report of Kabuto.

Kabuto cleared his throat, pushing up his glasses slightly, "I've just gotten myself a place in the Academic Tournament. It seems that a lot from Konoha have tried and gotten in with perfect scores…"

Orochimaru nodded, "And the scores of the chosen three?"

A small smirk rose on Kabuto's face, "Just as you expected. They are merely mediocre. But well above average. Some of the others had better test grades, but I chose those three. Your judgement has always been right."

Orochimaru chuckled slightly, "You flatter me, Kabuto. Now, go off and see to it that your infiltration of Konoha is a success. I'm counting on you."

"Of course, Orochimaru."

"So, if you'll just fill out these forms, we'll get you to meeting your faculty mentor," the woman handed three sheets of paper to Kin, Dosu, and Zaku before leaving.

Dosu frowned slightly at the form, before quickly filling out all of the information.

"Awww man, more forms? What do they think we're gonna do, have a heart attack while doing the debate?!" Zaku groaned to himself, but kept on filling in the forms, "I mean, look at this shit! 'We are not liable for any injuries that will happen within this tournament.' It's a freakin' academics test, not a military obstacle!"

Dosu sighed, "Just fill out the forms…" He stole a glance back at Kin, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet since they entered the room. He shrugged and went onto his sheet of paper. Maybe her mood swing was some weird girly hormone thing…

The trio looked up as the door to their room creaked open. In stepped a young man. He smiled down at the three teenagers in front of him and nodded, "Hello, I'm Otoshi, I'll be your teacher mentor throughout this tournament."

The three nodded, and Zaku whispered noisily to Kin, "He looks sorta like Orochimaru, huh?"

Otoshi picked up on the noisy whisper and smiled slightly, "Haha, lots of people say that. I'm distantly related to him."

Silence filled the room as everyone absorbed the information before Dosu spoke up, "I've never heard of you before… What class do you teach at Oto High?"

Otoshi laughed, "Ah, ever the inquisitive one, hm, Dosu? Well, I teach the classes for the 'special' students. The ones that need more practice and that are rather suffering in grades. You don't hear of me because, as you know, it's rather shameful to be taking those type of classes."

Dosu nodded at the answer, but didn't look very pleased with the answer. However, before he could get any more out of Otoshi, the teacher was already getting up to leave, "I have an appointment to take care of, so if you all don't mind, I'll be off. It was a pleasure to meet you all. I hope to see you all improving in the tournament!"

As the teacher left the room, Dosu turned towards the others, "… I don't trust that guy."

"Eh? I thought he was pretty nice…." Kin murmured back, eyes narrowed in confusion.

Dosu shrugged, "It's just a feeling… I dunno… Maybe I'm just a little paranoid."

"Although… Dosu… Zaku…" Kin looked down, a concerned frown upon her face.

The other two turned to face her, Zaku tilting his head in questioning as he asked, "What?"

"You know how they said we had the highest scores on the test?"

Dosu and Zaku nodded.

"… I skipped a whole section on the test…. The answers aren't even filled in… So… How could I've been in the final three?"

Silence filled the room once again.

"How was it?"

Orochimaru turned towards his subordinate, a small chuckle emitting from his throat, "To tell the truth, I'm sure they were quite suspicious… Zaku was able to tell my resemblance to the disguise, and Dosu was more than suspicious to know that I was an actual teacher…"

Kabuto smiled slightly at the man standing in front of him. He watched as 'Otoshi' quickly wiped off loads of make-up from his face to reveal the principal.

"I hope your side of the plan was much more successful," Orochimaru looked disdainfully at his sleeve covered in the rubbed-off makeup.

Smiling to the other man, Kabuto nodded, "The students, as expected by you, Orochimaru, are much weaker than we expected. However, here are some you might want to be aware of."

Kabuto slid photographs onto Orochimaru's desk, pointing each corresponding picture as he said the individuals' names, "Uchiha Sasuke, brother of the infamous Uchiha Itachi who was your colleague in the human-testing facilities…"

Kabuto then pointed to another picture, "Gaara, the son of the principal at Sunaga High. Hyuuga Neji, prodigy of the Hyuuga family."

"And…" Kabuto frowned slightly, then pointed out the last picture of a blonde boy, "Uzumaki Naruto… He's obnoxious, noisy, and hated by generally all of the kids in the school. Frankly, I'm not sure how he even got into this competition. I say it's just dumb luck he was able to get placed on a team with two relatively strong teammates. But… there's something about him."

Orochimaru picked up the picture, then tossed it aside, "Hm… Well, I'm more interested in this one…" he picked up the first picture Kabuto had shown him, of Uchiha Sasuke, "I'd like to see if he wants to join Oto anytime soon… After all, I was a rather close fried to his brother…"

Kabuto just smiled and nodded, "I'll see if I can get more information on him."

A/N: This chapter remained half-written within my computer for quite a while. After browsing through my story stats, I was surprised at how much reviews, favorites, and all the other wonderful stuff this fic has gotten. That influenced me quite a bit to continue on with the story.

With that in mind, thank you all for supporting me! 