Orochimaru sat at his desk, surrounded by dozens of monitors plastered to every single wall in the small surveillance building. Each one showed one of the designated zones, and most of them had tiny red dots moving across the map. Since last night, a good number of those red dots had disappeared, replaced with a black x for every body that had to be picked up. He sighed, leaning back in his chair and taking a sip of the steaming hot coffee that one of his right hand men had just dashed off to get. If he'd taken 5 more seconds, Orochimaru would've had to kill him for being such a lazy bastard. A pity.

"Sir, Madara is on the phone. He needs to speak with you about that boy." One of his men stationed at another desk called out, holding out a cell phone. Orochimaru heaved another heavy sigh, before stretching out his hand and taking the phone, letting a small hiss slip past his tongue when he heard the man on the line.

"Yes?" With his slimy, slick, and nasty voice, it was no wonder Madara sounded harsh when he heard Orochimaru speak. A gruff 'tch' was heard, prior to the man actually getting to the point.

"How many are left? Is he still alive?" Madara barked, his tone making Orochimaru wince on the other side.

"30, as of a few moments ago. He is injured, but alive. Better than dead, I presume?" Orochimaru leaned back and propped his feet on his desk, watching his protégée from the monitor. Asleep, of course. "The Hyuga heir that we placed bets on died, unfortunately. We're at a loss in this gamble thus far, but as long as Sasuke wins, we'll reap the reward and gain a new test subject at that."

"You better make sure that boy lives, Orochimaru. I bet most of the Uchiha corporation's stock on that kid, and he better win by tomorrow night, got it?"

"Don't worry Madara," He tapped his long, pointed fingernails against his chair, holding back an oily laugh under his breath. "He's in excellent hands."

"Hmph." Then the line went dead, leaving only a dial tone in Madara's wake.

"Such a disgusting man. Reminds me of myself, actually." Orochimaru laughed dryly. No one else in the office dared laugh in return, each going back to their individual computers and tapping away noisily. The room lapsed into a predictable silence, since most of the kids were either walking around or sleeping. These were the most boring parts of Ocohimaru's day, since there was no action going on, and they would lose a considerable amount of viewers during that period. Something caught his eye, and he quickly switched his monitor to a different zone of the island where a group was gathered around on the beach, huddled in a circle on one of the large rocks in the tide.

"Tayuya, what's this all about?" A meek girl questioned. Orochimaru had to check his file to find out her name. Rin, it was. Her small legs were trembling in anxiety, and her nails were dug into the arm of another girl, just as terrified and paralyzed as the last. The other girl whimpered, pointing a wobbly finger at the terror ahead of them.

"We girls gotta stick together, right? This retard Kidomaru is good for nothing. If you come with me, we'll have this whole thing in the bag. All you gotta do is hand over your bags and weapons, and I won't hurt ya." In the evening dusk stood Tayuya- taller than most girls her age, six feet to be exact. Her hair was the color of sunset, various shades of pink mixed together, and all tied up in a ponytail that hung down near her shoulders. She'd been the top music student in their class, one of the best in the country if only she'd had a future ahead of her. Compared to the girls in front of her, she was a warrior, a lion in a pack of kittens.

"Y-Yeah, that's right." The girl next to Rin, called Ayame, stuttered in a panic. She was far more afraid of Tayuya than she was of her companion, Kidomaru.

"What are you saying?" Mei whispered, her squinted eyes fixed on Tayuya the entire time. "We can't just hand our stuff over."

"We don't have a choice!" Sari insisted. The harsh tide crashed against the rock, causing all four girls to jump and squeal in unison. Tayuya only giggled, and her harsh expression did nothing to remedy their concern.

"What's it gonna be girls?" Tayuya raised her crossbow, pointing an arrow straight at Aron's forehead. She was in the front, so there was no doubt she'd be first to go. "Are ya coming or going?"

"I say.. No! You'll kill us no matter what we do!" Mei shouted. In terror, all the girls grabbed hold of her jacket and tried to pull her back, knowing that those words would be her last. From her skirt pocket, she pulled out a stun gun, which she pointed straight at Tayuya.

"Oh, man." She had to bite down on one of her perfectly manicured and polished nails to keep from bursting into a fit of giggles again. Every single one of the girls had wide eyes, and we're all backing away towards the jagged ocean full of sharp rocks and police boats on the horizon. "I just HATE women like you lot. Can't do nothing for yourselves. All you do is whine and squeal like a bunch of pigs, and I hate it!" A quick squeeze, and the arrow went flying through the cool night air. Rin could do nothing but squeeze her eyes shut and cover her face, but nothing ever came towards her forehead. Instead, a single arrow pierced through her jacket, and with precision, straight into her heart.

Everyone else began to scream, darting around on the rock to avoid being hit. They hadn't picked the best place to be cornered, since the rock was only a few feet wide, and they could just as easily fall off into the murky depths to their death. None of them knew that Tayuya had also been a member of the archery club, and picked them off like flies. Mei took a shot to the head, and tumbled right into the ocean like a limp ragdoll. Ayame liked to run around too much, and ended up being grazed in the thigh with an arrow before landing another strike to the chest. Sari was much simpler, she came to her senses soon enough and dived headfirst into the ocean, her mangled body quickly floating to the surface in a few short seconds.

"That was too easy, Kido." The boy nodded in agreement, while Tayuya hummed and began collecting all of the girl's things. All of them but that Mei girl had been out of luck and ended up with common household items as their weapons. Oh well, she'd take their food and their makeup and be on her way.

"Where do you plan on going now, sweetheart?" Kidomaru picked the wrong time to flirt, as Tayuya had already retrieved her quiver of arrows, and shot him right where he needed it the most, his heart. She did it without hesitation, and was fast enough that he didn't catch on until she had turned around, and it was far too late.

"I told you, I don't your goddamn pet names! You're even more of a nuisance!" Her pretty face wore a scowl, so she wasted no time gathering up everything she needed and dumping it into her bag. Her mood was sour now, even though she was coming fairly close to her goal. A little more, just a little more, and she'd be home in her warm bed. All she had to do was clean this place up of all the scum that inhabited it. She hopped back unto the sandy shores, making sure to cover up her tracks as she walked along the beach. A smart girl, Orochimaru duly noted. Still, he expected no less from someone who had been through the system, more specifically the system he created.

There was a population spike in the Land of fire in the past few years, which meant there would be more children born that would be without homes. There were always those ragtag orphanages scattered across the country, usually full of sniveling brats that had no hope for a good life, since the majority of the population was poor and thus, adoptions rarely happened. Science was a large factor in the country, and since the government's rule was absolute, they decided that younger people's lives were of no value, unless they were trained up to be good soldiers or test subjects. That was Orochimaru's job, to experiment with and train teenagers. High unethical, and he certainly loved it. Tayuya had passed through when she was 13, and came out ready for the cruel world.

She had been a weak little girl when she came in, and came out a prodigal woman when she departed. Sometimes at night she broke out in a terrible rash from all the testing and various drugs that were tried on her, and for the first few months, she cried nightly. Orochimaru quickly put a stop to that. For every tear, she would get a strike, because she knew better than to disrespect her elders. He often reminded her that this was for the good of the people, and someday scientific advantages would advance enough that this wouldn't be necessary. That wasn't true though, as long as the government funded it, Orochimaru would continue to break the boundaries that were set.

His laboratories were a secret, of course, and very few people knew about them. What he was doing wouldn't be seen as illegal, since everyone who came into his labs were either about to be eligible for the program, or already were. Tayuya was only one of many that he'd trained and experimented on. Kabuto had been one of his assistants, and another one of his test subjects had been in the same grade as Tayuya. Anko, was it? He switched the monitor elsewhere, and softly chuckled to himself. Perhaps, it was a bad omen if one of his guinea pigs won, but he was sure Tayuya wouldn't make it too far ahead . Madara would certainly be unpleased if the victor was anyone but his prized pick.

His eyes drifted to the clock, nearly six o clock on the dot. That only meant it was time for him to torture their poor little souls even worse, how fun.

"Good evening. It isn't a good evening for you all, I suppose, but mine has been rather.. satisfying. You all aren't here to hear about my evening though, so we'll move right along to what you really want to hear." He paused, making a quick adjustment on his computer before reading off the deaths. "Female 11 Chujitsuna Sari, Female 12 Nohara Rin, Female 19 Terumi Mei, Female 20 Ichiraku Ayame, Male 1 Hyuga Neji. My, my, you all are getting busy out there. Stay out of zones 3A and 2B, or you'll be swimming with the fishes- quite literally. That's all for tonight, children."

When the broadcast is over, Orochimaru goes back to the usual task of monitoring security, yet he can't keep his eye off a certain someone. Sasuke's serene sleeping face gives him waves of excitement, all that untapped potential. Even more exciting is that Sasuke has decided to play for the other team, lying with another man instead of a woman. It should be all over the news, should he win. A huge scandal, very taboo, and very profitable. Orochimaru might have to keep that his little secret though, or else Sasuke will be spending his homecoming locked up in prison. So, he makes sure to broadcast the other contestants more. Most of them are asleep or settling down for the night, leaving no room for action. The cicadas outside are chirping, and the sun has already set, making the room dark except for the glow of the monitors.

The second night has begun.


Shikamaru Nara, head of the class and head of the student council. Both were tedious positions, almost as troublesome as things got. However, the situation he was in now was far more of a pain. He hadn't even gotten to spend his final days alone, because Chojj had found him first thing, and insisted on following him around like a small child instead of a 16 year old who was larger than most of the class. To be honest, Choji just didn't know what to and looked up to Shikamaru like some kind of treated authority. He didn't understand why, but maybe he didn't need to. People found comfort in leadership, so as half assed as his leadership may have been, he let Choji tag along while they were there.

Their current base of operations, if you could call it that, was an old technology building. Before, this must've been one of the island's biggest workplaces, but now all the lights were broken, desks were turned over, and several chairs had been thrown out the window or simply destroyed. The employees that worked here must have gone crazy once they realized there were giving up their home and their jobs for this program. If he looked hard enough, Shikamaru could see traces of blood coating some of the chairs and other furniture. Whatever happened here, he didn't want to know about it.

"I don't like this place.." Choji said hesitantly, looking around the darkened room with only faint traces of moonlight coming from the outside. "Too creepy, too dark."

"That makes it perfect." Shikamaru wasted no time in trying to salvage a chair, and a desk with only three legs left.

"What do you mean?" Choji asked, his eyes going to the chair that he knew he wouldn't be able to fit in, not like he had time to rest anyway, Somehow, he knew he had a greater purpose right now. Shikamaru always had a plan, and his palm was resting on his cheek, his eyes off in space. He was thinking hard, hopefully of a plan. If he was daydreaming at a time like this, Chouji would definitely be pissed off.

"Come here." Chouji did what he was told, while Shikamaru retrieved a notepad and pen from the desk. The edges were singed, but it would do. Hurriedly, he began scrawling a list of things down, followed by some instructions. The list was short, yet full of a bunch of stuff Chouji would never dream going after. Still, those were his orders, and Shikamaru had to know what he was doing. His other instructions were to take Shikamaru's collar tracker and go after everyone they could trust. Kiba, Shino, Naruto. Choji read over it slowly, as Shikamaru set the rest of the plan in motion. He had one thumb on the edge of his collar, and his free hand was dragging a generator.

"Before you leave, bring me one of those computers monitors and all of the hardware from the back. Something has to be salvageable, and I'm not gang to give up just because there's some cracks in the screen." Shikamaru proclaimed. Chouji only shrugged and went out where the old computers were, and dragged one over to Shikamaru's desk. A few odd noises and shifting of wires later, the computer sprung back to life. The keyboard was missing a few keys, and the monitor did have some cracks, all that didn't seem to phase Shikamaru, and his fingers flew across the keyboard anyway. Choji tried to do the same thing that Shikamaru did, and covered up the inside part of his collar with a couple fingers.

"So uh, what are you gonna do with that computer? There's no internet out here."

"There's no internet out here for us, they said. Those guys sitting in the office must have some kind of connection, otherwise they wouldn't be able to watch it. They have a network somewhere, and I'm going to find and break into it. That should spare us some time."

"Geez, I didn't know you were that smart..."

Shikamaru smirked at him, akin to a Cheshire Cat. "My uncle Asuma was a good guy. Not by most people's standards, but he taught me everything I know. Some big shot in a technology company, till he got fired and came to stay with us. He was in the war too, you know. I've been coding for a long time, but I've never went full scale on my programming. It always seemed like too much trouble. This time, though... I have an idea. You'll have to get the things I asked you for first, before we can go on."

"Okay." Choji saluted and grinned, beginning to leave.

"Try to get back before morning. We don't have much time." Shikamaru stretched back in his chair and went back to typing, his eyes completely focused on the screen.

"Okay."

"And try not to get yourself killed, that's much too troublesome for me to deal with right now."

"Uh, I'll try, boss."

Shikamaru hoped that Choji would come back safely, otherwise his plan would never work. He needed more than one person. Just like a machine, only one part couldn't make the engine run. He had to have a system of people just as dedicated as he was to this. When the door slammed shut and his friend was long gone, he took out a cigarette from his school bag and a lighter, gently flicking before the flame set fire to the tip. He inhaled, sending a waft of smoke drifting through the air.

"I know you hate smoking Asuma, but it keeps me calm, passes the time. If there's any right time to smoke, it's now."

So the smoke flickered through the air, sending gray coils out into the night, maybe his last night ever. The moon was full, crickets were perched in the grass, chirping in a smooth symphony. Not a cloud was in the sky anymore, only the occasional cool night breeze that drafted in through the boarded windows.

This could be his last night, he only hoped it wasn't.


Tayuya brushed her long hair, strands of pink curling around her shoulders and framing her face perfectly. A small compact mirror sat in front of her, where she carefully plucked every eyebrow and lengthened any lash. A splash of cherry across her perfectly rounded lips, and just the slightest tinge of blush coated her rounded cheeks. It was perfect- no, she was perfect. Any man's dream, any woman's dream. She was beautiful, a real diamond in the rough. Too bad most people didn't see that. They simply had shit taste.

She'd changed out of those filthy clothes, and into shorts and a low cut bikini top that barely covered her up, and made her feel absolutely gorgeous. The seaside house she'd holed up in had a large window, giving her a perfect view of the ocean. Sure, it was trained with all kinds of scum now, but she could appreciate the golden sand and gentle surf, and the lapping of waves that accompanied the smell of fresh salt. It was perfect rhapsody for her. She hummed to herself, and with a small pop opened a bottle of nail polish, grooming and painting each nail to perfection.

This was the sort of peace and quiet she didn't get at home, and she liked it. Hopefully no one would disturb her, right when she was getting all pretty and ready to rest again. She smiled happily, swirling a finger in between her lips. Oh yes, she was perfect. Her figure, her mind, her features, she was a goddess. In the middle of her self indulgence, the screen door creaked open. Her lips curled in a giddy smile, with both a taser in her short pockets, and a gun hidden behind her back, she was unstoppable.

"Who's there?" She called out in a singsong voice. "It's too late for visitors."

"We know you're in here. Come out!" Oh, it was a girl? With two other pairs of footsteps behind her.

"What do you mean? I can't have any beauty sleep." She giggled, not moving an inch.

"Cut the shit!"

"Kin, don't go in there! Are you insane?"

Too late. The woman stormed in the room, ready to fight, with Isarabi's trident in hand. She had long brown hair, and a dirty little smirk on her face. Tayuya rolled her eyes.

"I'm not one for fencing. It's kinda dumb if you ask me."

"Shut up and fight, unless you're too big of a pussy to!" Kin sneered, and the two boys came running in behind her. They both had puny little knives in their hands. In one swift motion, Tayuya grabbed the thin sword she'd stolen from one of the corpses and stood up, looking more unamused and bored than anything. She lunged forward, swinging her blade in the direction of Dosu. His blade clattered to the floor, leaving him dumbstruck. Kin swung the furthest right tip at her, trying to graze her arm, but Tayuya quickly parried it and stepped back on her heel to knock away Zaku's knife and send it clattering to he other side of the room with her sword as well.

The two boys went chasing after their weapons, which gave the two only a small window of opportunity for a fair fight.

"Let's go. Just us, okay? I like playing fair."

Kin jumped forward, her eyes full of fury and her swing and stance full of foolish pride. Tayuya could easily block her attack.

It looked like Tayuya wasn't going to ever get a good opponent after all.


25 students remaining


author's note: I feel like my writing has been completely shit lately. Also fuck Kishi for ruining Anko in chapter 700, she deserves a place in this story and I want to do his female characters justice. will I ever stop being salty about the Naruto ending? Nope.