WOO! THIS IS LONG. I love it~ ;D

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES. I also do not own any of the OCs that are introduced in this fan fiction, except the following:

Tsukuyomi Clan

Nero

Daiki

Botan

Miyuki

Hajin (and his puppets)

Kishiko (even though she's dead. ;D)

A/N: This is in Ruriko's point of view, but then it switches to Nero's point of view. Pardon if the beginning is rushed! I got nervous since someone was watching me type that. O.o I have trouble writing when people are peering over my shoulder. T.T

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Chapter Eight: The Deal is Struck! Goodbye, Pet!

Standing there face-to-face with the enemy was making me uncomfortable. Daiki didn't give off a friendly aura at all, even if he was smiling. He looked ready to tear everyone apart if they got in the way of his sick sadistic plans to torture my brother and kidnap my friend. Daiki thrust both his hands out, smiling the whole time.

"Miyuki, Botan. Take both of them away. I have to discuss some things with my little niece." He ordered.

"Yes, Daiki-sama!" Botan beamed and gripped Nero tightly, shooting up into the trees. Miyuki grabbed Akira and hoisted him over her shoulder before shooting up as well. I jerked my head up, then looked at Daisuke.

"Daisuke-"

"I'll take spider boy here and go after Nero-"

"And Akira?"

"Sora and Mai!" Daisuke beamed. I blinked and just as he spoke, Sora and Mai came flashing down onto the tree branch.

"That's nifty." I murmured. Daisuke smirked, then glanced toward Daiki, before looking back at me.

"If you need any help, holler. There should be more back up coming." He told me and shot off, Hajin rolling his eyes and shooting after. Sora and Mai shared looks, then Sora looked at me.

"Good luck." Sora told me. I caught her sleeve before she could move.

"Sora… Please, help my brother." I said quietly. Sora blinked, then smiled.

"I will… Promise." With that, she whipped around with Mai and they were off. I looked at Daiki, who smiled calmly.

"It's nice of you to give us some privacy so we can talk… I have a deal to make with you." He stated. I glared, clenching my fists at my sides.

"Screw you! I wouldn't make a deal with someone who's pestering my teammates." I snapped angrily, reaching for a kunai. Daiki chuckled, folding his arms over his chest.

"Then I guess you don't want information on the 'certain' criminals for this portion of the exams?" He asked. I frowned, pausing and clenching my fist over my kunai.

"What kind of information?" I demanded. Daiki smirked and gestured his arms out.

"There are several different criminals that you need information on. Three of those I can help you out with. Akatsuki, Orochimaru, and of course, the Silver Moon." He replied. I glared at him, tensing up. I know I shouldn't even begin to consider the deal. The fact that he probably wanted Nero and Akira in exchange for the information.

"I can't accept your deal," I retorted, "I need my teammates to pass the exams." Daiki smiled.

"That's why the deal is… If I give you all the information I have on those three criminal organizations, you give me Nero and Akira by the end of the exams, whether you all make Chuunin rank or not." He explained. I paused, standing up straight. I'd probably be smacked for considering this, but the deal was very interesting. Very convincing… Of course, I wouldn't give up Nero and Akira, but there had to be a way around that.

Loopholes.

It's one of those times that I wish Akira was here. He was good with loopholes. Hioshi was too, having taught Akira most of what he knows. I frowned at my feet, trying to think it over. Maybe I should agree to the deal, then tell Akira about it and hopefully he'll find someway around it. Oh, but if he heard I agreed to the deal, he'd have my head. There had to be a way to do this. I looked up at him.

"All right. Let's do this," I stated, making Daiki's smile fade slightly, "I challenge you to a fight. If I can stay alive and have you on the ground below us first, I get the information and my teammates. But if you pin me down below, then we'll strike that deal. How's that sound?" Daiki's smile twisted into a sadistic grin.

"You have no idea whom you just challenged, little niece… I won't go easy on you." He stated and held up his hands in a fighting stance. I smirked.

"And you have no idea who you just struck a deal with." I replied tauntingly. Daiki smirked, then held his hands together in a hand sign that I didn't recognize at all! He closed his eyes and the air around him seemed to pulse before he vanished! I blinked and jumped back at the sound of shoes crunching on the branch beneath us.

I yelped when a fist connected with my jaw, sending me flying backwards onto my back on the tree branch. I sat upright, holding my bloody lip.

"What the hell?" I barked. I heard laughter from somewhere and flung a kunai in that direction, but it hit a tree.

"I forgot to mention," Daiki's voice mocked, "I have a unique Kekkei Genkai in which I can change my body to match that of my surroundings… Much like a lizard, but much more effective. Good luck trying to find me… And fight off my friend." With that, Daiki reappeared across the clearing, his hands moving quickly in a hand sign. I winced and scrambled to my feet, just as he placed a summoning jutsu.

Right away, Daiki vanished again as a large lizard took his place. The thing was as big as a house, its scales a deep shade of green to match the vines and leaves around it. It opened its jaws to reveal rows and rows of sharp teeth and a long, slimy purple tongue. Its claws dug into the branches around it as it roared.

It lunged forward, its tongue whipping out and knocking the branch out from under me. I yelped and pushed off the falling branch into the air, taking out my kunai and digging it into the first thing I could… Which conveniently happened to be the lizard's webbed front foot. It roared at me and jerked its foot up. I yelled, but mostly out of excitement. Yea, bad time to start loving the feeling of floating, but it was fun! I managed to use my chakra to connect my feet to a branch up above, looking down at the lizard, who looked up at me, roaring as its tongue whipped around ahead of me.

"Stick that tongue back in your head, dumbass!" I yelled and crouched down, whipping out some paper bombs and hooking them onto my kunai. I flung them downwards, just as the great thing roared again. This time, it was pretty stupid to roar because the kunai flew right in and exploded.

The slimy purple tongue flew off in a spray of blood. I winced and covered my face, peeking down to see the creature scuttle along the branch, whining loudly and lashing out blindly. I smirked, then yelped when I felt someone grab a hold of my vest. I whipped around to kick, losing my balance. I yelled as my feet disconnected, sending me crashing downwards. The huge lizard heard my yell and whipped around, charging right at me. I gasped.

Shit! I was going to die already? No way! I wasn't even that far into the fight!

I yelped when I felt someone catch me quickly, just in time to avoid the lizard's huge jaws. I looked up as Osamu landed on a crunched tree branch below.

"Didn't I say I was coming back?" Osamu demanded, setting me down. I scowled.

"I coulda-"

"No, you were falling to your death. You couldn't stop your own fall." Osamu replied with a smug smirk. I rolled my eyes, then glared.

"Why did you just do that? You coulda let me die and gone to find Nero and get our scroll." I demanded. Osamu frowned, folding his arms over his chest. He was quiet for a second, looking pretty peeved before smirking.

"Because. I wouldn't be able to find Nero if I didn't have you." He retorted.

"You…!"

"Look out!" Osamu barked and grabbed my hand, jerking me off my feet and shooting upwards, grabbing onto a vine just in time for us to miss being hit with a huge explosion of flames. I stared down, and whipped my other hand up to grab onto Osamu's hand.

"Okay, never mind! Thanks!" I called up to him. He smirked, then winced when he jerked his head up. Up above, the vine was slowly being cut by a kunai that was stuck in place beside its dangling form.

"Get ready for a fall." Osamu muttered and the vine snapped. I winced as I watched the lizard down below shrieked and bounded toward where we were going to fall. I let go of Osamu's hand quickly to make a few hand signs.

"Are you suicidal?" Osamu yelled at me.

"More like homicidal! Grab something and hold on!" I ordered, watching him catch another vine that was hanging from above. I still fell downwards, but only for a split second before Osamu caught my ankle with one hand. I winced as he jerked on my ankle, but I finished the jutsu just in time to release an explosion of electrical shocks that zoomed downwards, piercing the lizard so badly he disappeared in a huge cloud of smoke. I smirked.

"Ha! I did it!" I shouted.

"Great, wonderful," Osamu groaned, still holding onto my ankle, "But how the hell are you going to get back up?"

"… You could always let go and we can fall, hoping someone else will catch us."

"Fat chance! Gods, what do you eat?"

"Hey! You jackass!" I yelled angrily, thrusting myself upwards in an attempt to smack at him, but Osamu yelped and his grip let go. I flailed my hands and caught his ankle, making him bark in pain.

"Ow!"

"Ha!" I taunted. Osamu glared at me. I smirked, then winced as I saw Daiki reappear up above, at the top of the vine that Osamu and I were dangling from. He smirked, making hands signs.

"Osamu, let go!"

"Are you crazy?"

"LOOK UP!" I yelled, thrusting a finger upwards. Osamu jerked his head up and cursed loudly, then let go of the vine. I let go of his ankle, making hand signs in return. I used the only thing that came to mind. Within moments, Daiki had to stop his hand signs because the entire clearing filled with a thick, heavy black fog. I hit the ground below, groaning in pain. I reached up to touch my forehead, feeling blood trickling down from a cut somewhere on my head. I rolled over on my gut, grimacing.

"Osamu… Osamu, where are you?" I whispered into the blackness. I heard a little groan from somewhere in front of me and I crawled along the busted branch until I found Osamu on his knees, holding his arm, which was gushing blood from his bicep area. I winced, seeing that his shoulder had dislocated, a bone jutting upwards from his arm.

"Ow." I stated when I saw it. Osamu jerked his head up, then glared.

"Nice job. Now we're both injured."

"Hey, I used one of my only water techniques… It's a perfect getaway thing… But don't yell or else he'll find us. Got it? There's no way you can go on fighting. Here…" I reached into my pocket, pulling out the scroll. Osamu stared.

"I thought Nero-"

"I tore it off him when we were attacked by a huge spider. Take it. I don't need it." I said, tossing it. Osamu caught it with his only available hand, frowning at it before looking at me.

"You can't fight this guy on your own, Ruriko-"

"I know," I sighed, "But I have to get him on the ground below. If I can do that, then I win our deal."

"Deal?"

"Don't ask. I just need to get him on the ground… Do me a favor and just take that thing and go, as far away as you can. Find your teammates and get to the tower… I'll see ya there!" I beamed, flashing him two fingers before I pushed up off the ground into a standing position, then shot off. I managed to find the tree trunk on my way up and started to run along it, ignoring the loud tak tak tak sounds my shoes made as I went up. I whipped out my kunai pouch, crouching down after a bit, digging through it.

I had four paper bombs left and three kunai. I frowned, then sighed and whipped out the kunai, tying paper bombs to it and sticking one in the tree trunk at my feet. I pushed off and managed to catch a vine in the thick fog. I was about to swing off it and find another one, but I heard a loud growling sound and looked up to see a huge tornado of flames, hurling through the fog and whipping it up like a blender.

I flinched and swung off the vine quickly, sailing downwards. I landed on my feet below, then started running along the branch quickly as I heard someone coming up behind me. I whipped around, but I didn't see anything, suspecting Daiki. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw something strange… It looked like one of Daiki's feet. It was running…

Then it clicked. He was running out of chakra. It meant that his blending in thing didn't last long if he kept using strong attacks, like summonings. I smirked and quickly made hand signs. I saw the foot move off to the side and I thrust my hand outwards, electricity crackling around my fingers and wrist before shooting outwards.

Right on target. I heard Daiki yell and his little nifty power shut off to reveal him getting shocked. His clothes and skin scorched before he bolted after me. I yelped and whipped back around, taking off. I caught a vine that was hanging down and swung forward, my feet hitting a tree trunk. I kept my feet to the trunk, running upwards as fast as I could to avoid a harsh lashing wind jutsu that chopped at the tree trunk. The tree creaked and groaned, shifting slightly under my feet. I cursed and quickly slammed a kunai with a paper bomb into it before pushing off and doing a back flip, landing on the tree branch below.

I could only pray Osamu had moved somewhere else as I listened to the gentle sound of the paper bombs hissing. I heard Daiki cursing at me, moving through the dense fog as I squeezed my eyes shut, grabbing onto a vine nearby.

Tssshhh…

CRACKABOOM!

I yelped as the tree branches below my feet broke apart immediately. I felt the vine I was hanging onto slacken in my hands. I looked up to see the trees jolting and jerking, vines whipping around and leaves screeching. I groaned, then yelled as I found myself falling with all the rubble. I let go of the vine and pushed off on the first piece of rubble I could. I started uselessly climbing up on the falling rubble. I had to stay off the ground below. Daiki was probably thinking the same thing. I had to find him in the mess and hit him with another attack to throw him off balance.

He was thinking the same thing I realized as I heard a loud screaming and lashing sound behind me. I whipped around in time to get thrown into a whirlwind of rubble, crashing downwards.

Within moments, I hit the ground, hard. Pain exploded in every part of my body, my teeth chattering and my head aching horribly. I felt a glob of metallic liquid bubble in my mouth and I coughed it up painfully, letting it dribble down the sides of my mouth. I sucked in a huge gulp of air, wincing as my lungs ached. I forced myself to roll over and spit up the rest of the blood in my mouth.

I propped myself up on my elbows, my entire body shaking from the amount of pain that was coursing through my body. I panted harshly, practically wheezing. I jerked my head up as a pair of shoes made their appearance. Daiki looked down at me, a deep gash across his face, also cutting into his lip. His clothes were torn and scorched. His expression was pained, but slightly amused at the same time.

"That was fun," Daiki murmured to me, his arms folded, "You made some smart moves… And some dumb moves… But in the end, you can't beat someone who is almost ranked as powerful as the Hokage… Looks like I won our bargain." I glared up at him angrily. Daiki then smiled and got down into a sitting position, folding his legs.

"Get up and look at me when I'm talking to you." He ordered. I spat blood at him, but did as he said, forcing myself into a sitting position where I sat on my knees.

"You didn't just fall like 500 feet." I muttered.

"True…" Daiki murmured. I rolled my eyes, then waved my hand, wincing a little at the pain in my wrist.

"All right. Spill. Akatsuki, Orochimaru… And you." I ordered. Daiki smirked.

"You're impatient… Like your mother." He mused. I frowned.

"And tell me about them too… I want to know more about my parents…"

"I see. That I would do for free."

NERO'S POV~

My heart was pounding in my throat as I squirmed, Botan still hanging onto me. He had stopped in a tree that was eaten away at the bottom. He was laughing the whole time, hugging me like I was a puppy or something!

"So cute, co cute! Daiki-sama makes Botan so happy," Botan was cooing, picking up a fruit he'd found, "He finally got him a pet… Botan was asking and asking forever, but Daiki-sama told him to wait… And now Botan has his pretty pet…" I squirmed a little and Botan whined at me for it and with his mouth right on my ear, I stopped due to his annoying voice.

"When we all get back," Botan cooed, "Botan's going to bathe you and fix all your wounds… Look! Your rib is broken!" I cried out in pain when his fingers bumped the rib that was poking out of my skin. Botan smirked and pushed on it, probably trying to get it back into place. I screamed in pain and instinct made me grab onto the arm Botan had around my neck. Pain rocketed in my chest as I gasped, wincing. Botan laughed.

"M'so sorry. It'll be all better once Miyuki fixes you." He crooned and nuzzled the side of my head, making me flinch. Botan suddenly sighed, relaxing.

"Now Daiki-sama and Miyuki will leave me alone… You know, we've been together ever since we were put into teams… But they act more like a pair. Daiki-sama only treats me like his pet." He said softly, his grip tightening slightly. I blinked, surprised at how fast his personality seemed to change. I glanced back at Botan, who's expression changed to somewhat sad.

"I'm very grateful, that Miyuki and Daiki-sama saved me… But they probably only did it because sensei would beat them if they didn't. Now that I think about it… Maybe I should have stayed with that creepy man… Even Daiki-sama, who's so nice to Miyuki and about his baby sister, treats me like a pet…" Botan muttered.

"W-Who're you talking about?" I managed to ask at last. He looked at me, then smiled and held onto me tightly, making me wince slightly. I blinked in surprise, when I felt hot salty tears on the side of my face where Botan was burying his face.

"Orochimaru," Botan groaned, "He's a very bad guy… Pretty pet, don't ever, ever fight that man… Don't go near him. Even if your little friends are near him, don't go near him. He acts nice at first, like Daiki-sama, but when you get to know him, he's nasty and cruel… It's because of him that I'm not normal…"

I started to feel sorry for him. Botan apparently hadn't always been this weird, from what he was saying. I think Botan just wanted someone who was smaller than him so he could push them around, since he's always being pushed around himself. He probably wanted the company too, possibly getting abandoned by Daiki and Miyuki. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I really didn't know what to say… So I just let him hug on me a little more before Botan shot upright into a sitting position, his eyes flashing.

"No! No, no, no!" He cried and looked around toward the trees across from the one we were in. Botan looked panicky and dug into his kunai pouch, ripping out a roll of wire.

"Sorry, sorry, pet," Botan barked out his trademark laughter as he whipped the wire around my wrists tightly, making me wince, "But those meanies are coming to take you away! If they do that, Botan will be all alone again and he won't let that happen, nope, nope, nope! You're Botan's! Not theirs!" I yelped when Botan shoved me back into the tree opening after smacking a strip of tape across my mouth, shoving everything back into his pouch before he ducked out of the tree. From my position, I watched as Daisuke and Hajin made their appearance.

"Hand Nero over!" Daisuke ordered. Botan laughed out loud, throwing his arms out his sides.

"Ne, ne~ You're very cute too~ Ah, but no! Nero is Botan's! He comes and stays with Botan… Forever." He added with an evil grin. Hajin frowned, folding his arms over his chest.

"Maruyama Botan. I'm pretty surprised you're even alive… Someone like you usually doesn't make their living after being experimented on." He retorted. Botan pouted.

"You're such a jerk. No wonder Hajin has no friends… Hehe, no wonder Uchiha doesn't like you very much!" He giggled. Hajin paled. Daisuke stared at him.

"Uchiha? I hope you don't mean Sasuke." He muttered. Hajin grimaced and shook his head.

"Ignore that. Botan, you shut your mouth!" He barked and swung a kunai out. The kunai hurdled at Botan's face and Botan grinned, swinging his hands up, catching the kunai between his hands, even if they're covered by his sleeves. He smirked, then dropped the kunai and shot forward. Daisuke jumped off to the side, swinging out a kunai. Hajin bolted to the other side, doing the same. Botan laughed and swung his hands outwards, catching both the kunai after moving his sleeves down to reveal bandaged hands.

He took the kunai and flung them forward and did a back flip, landing in front of the tree opening again before Daisuke or Hajin could get to it. I looked away for a split second to jerk at the wire, then winced as they cut into my wrists. I stared as blood dripped from my wrists. I jerked my head up and tried to speak past the tape, but my voice was muffled.

Daisuke moved first, running for me. Botan went to block him, but Hajin moved for me too. Botan whined, then smirked and whipped around as Daisuke made it to the opening first. Botan made hand signs quickly, his hands moving in a blur.

In a flash, thick globs of water seeped up from the ground and caught both Daisuke and Hajin by their feet, keeping them in place.

"Hey! What the heck?" Daisuke exclaimed.

"Shit," Hajin cursed, "I fucking hate his water jutsu." Botan smiled, tilting his head as he clapped his hands together.

"Ne, ne, aren't you two cute? Botan would love to take you two with Nero and him, but Daiki-sama only said one pet at a time… Too bad. This means Botan has to kill you~" He cooed and went to make hand signs, but Hajin whipped around, swinging a kunai out. This time, it caught Botan off guard and the kunai hit the top of his hood, ripping it off.

Botan screamed. Big time. And I could see why!

Sticking up from Botan's head were a pair of cat ears, a slightly darker teal then his hair with white tips. Daisuke stared.

"What…?"

"Botan," Hajin muttered, "Was experimented on by Orochimaru and the side effects created that." I stared as well, watching Botan clasp his hands over the ears.

"Nooo! Jerk! Asshole! Fucking brat! Botan will slaughter you!" Botan screamed and dropped his hands, grabbing a kunai and rushing forward. I lunged forward at this point, scrambling out and almost tripping. I managed to get in front of Hajin just as Botan swung the kunai down.

Blood splashed up into the air before splattering onto the ground. The kunai had cut through both the wire on my wrists and my chest. I gasped as a numbing pain burst along the gash. I felt blood coming up my throat and I let it bubble out and drip out before I coughed it up, shaking. I looked up past my hair, breathing hard as I watched Botan stumble back, crying out.

"No! No, I didn't want to hurt you! Why did you do that? Why did you get in my way?" Botan cried, his eyes welling up with visible tears.

"Good question," Hajin seethed behind me, "You should have let him." I smirked a little.

"I don't want you getting hurt on my accord… Besides, I still have more questions for you… You can't say you know Akatsuki personally and get away with it." I told him. Daisuke winced.

"Akatsuki? You know them?" He demanded Hajin, who flinched.

"It's none of your concern-"

"Bullcrap!" Daisuke interrupted angrily. I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to tell them to shut up when pain shot up my spine. I gasped and collapsed to my knees, trembling as I coughed up globs of blood. I shuddered, my vision blurring.

"Don't just stand there," Daisuke yelled at Botan, "Get rid of this jutsu so we can help him! If you care about him so much, you'd help him!" I looked up to see Botan's eyes flickering. His fingers released the kunai and he flexed his fingers, causing the bubbles of water around Daisuke's and Hajin's feet to burst. Both of them got beside me.

"Damn," Hajin cursed, "He's cut deeply. He needs a medical ninja and fast… He's losing a lot of blood."

"But, I don't know any medical ninjutsu." Daisuke managed, tearing off a strip of clothe from his jumpsuit to wrap around my wrists, which were still bleeding from the tightly bound wire. Hajin jerked his head up, glaring at Botan, who was still staring at us in a teary eyed shock.

"Daisuke's right, fool! Get a medical ninja or try and stop the bleeding so I can!" He ordered. Botan seemed to snap out of his shock.

"B-Botan doesn't know any medical ninja who will help… Hajin can go find one. Botan has more clothes on and can help stop the bleeding." He finally said and came up to me. Hajin nodded and shot off quickly. My vision was still blurring slightly, things growing dark around the edges. Botan took off the rest of his hood, tearing it up slightly to wrap around my other wrist.

"It's all right, Nero," Daisuke was telling me, his voice faint, "Keep breathing. Don't close your eyes! Keep them open!" I felt his fingers pull on my eyelids, making me open them back up again. I blinked weakly, coughing.

"This kinda hurts…" I managed. I could see Daisuke grimace slightly out the corner of my eye.

"Lie him down," I heard Botan tell him, "And get out as many bandages as you have so we can try and help." Daisuke nodded and I found myself lying on my back, wincing in pain. I kept trying to lift my hands up, but Daisuke held them back down.

"Nero, can you hear me?" I heard Daisuke ask at one point. I tilted my head slightly.

"Hn?" I asked. Daisuke sighed.

"Just making sure you're still awake… That guy is so weird, but by the way he's trying to help you, I think we can trust him." He said quietly. I smiled faintly.

"It's okay… He's just lonely, that's why he didn't want to let me go… He said something about… His teammates being total jerks to him…"

"Tch. He doesn't seem all that evil right now. In fact, he's making us something to eat and trying to rip off the bottoms of his pants for more bandages…" Daisuke murmured. I nodded a little, wincing and sighing.

"I really hope Akira and Ruriko are all right…" I groaned. Daisuke smiled.

"Ruriko's cocky, I'll admit," He replied, making me roll my eyes -pot calling the kettle black-, "But she'll be fine, I assure you. And Sora and Mai will definitely save Akira. If I know them, they'll probably make the battle quick and have that lady on her face in a split second."

"I hope so…" I muttered, then heard the sound of feet hitting the ground, making me sit up quickly, then yelp in pain. Daisuke sighed and helped me stay sitting up as Hajin approached with Osamu and his team.

"What the hell…?" I asked flatly, glaring at Osamu, who stuck his tongue out in return. Hajin rolled his eyes, then jabbed his thumb at Kishi, who winced a little, as if expecting him to smack at her.

"She's a medical ninja. She can try making your wounds a little better." He retorted. Kishi blinked at me when she came over, grimacing a little.

"That's a lot of blood… I'm surprised you're not unconscious." She murmured, making a few hand signs. I sighed.

"Same here…" I murmured, then winced when she placed her hands on my chest. Osamu and Eiji took a seat by Daisuke, who was huffing.

"These exams turned out to be harder than I thought." He muttered.

"I'll say." Osamu muttered, holding his arm, which was wrapped up with bandages. I frowned.

"What happened there?" I asked. Osamu smirked a little bitterly.

"Your stupid girlfriend happened." He replied, earning a little sigh from Eiji, who looked away. I stared.

"Ruriko? Is she okay? What happened?" I demanded, then yelped when I moved.

"You need to stay still," Kishi advised softly, "This is going to sting a little." I nodded a little and went still, glancing back at Osamu, who snorted, folding his arms over his chest.

"Are you kidding me? See, I really don't know why I even bothered. I saw her, you know, falling to her death into a giant lizard's mouth-"

"What?" Daisuke and I cried in unison.

"Osamu." Kishi scolded. Osamu sighed, rolling his eyes.

"She needed help. I went in, with intentions on making her tell me where you were, so I could get your scroll… We hit the ground and my shoulder broke. She hit her head pretty hard, but she was still up and around. She told me to get outta there pretty fast. Good thing I did. She blew up the entire area. I found out she had the scroll the entire time." He muttered. I blinked and went for my pocket, wincing slightly, before finding it empty.

She stole it, the little brat.

I cursed, then looked up as Osamu took the scroll out.

"She gave it to you?" I demanded, clenching my fists and wincing a little when I shifted. Osamu huffed.

"Shut up, of course she did. She said she wouldn't need it." He snapped, then rolled his eyes. I sighed.

"Great…" I muttered. Osamu frowned a little and looked in the other direction.

"I think she's okay, though," He replied, making Kishi and Eiji look at him, "She doesn't look like she's going to lose." The way he said it told me he was just saying it to make me less worried. I smiled faintly, but nodded in response.

"Food!" I heard Botan yell, making everyone jump and look up. Botan pushed a bunch of fruits at us, but stayed back behind me, resting his head on my shoulder with a little smile.

"Th-That…" Osamu didn't even know what to say. Eiji blinked, tilting his head curiously and Kishi stared, not knowing what to say either.

"Maruyama Botan," I told them quickly, "He's a good guy… Well, for now." Botan pouted a little and hugged me shamelessly in front of everyone, nuzzling my ear.

"If Botan can't take Nero, then Nero can take Botan… He doesn't want to go back with Daiki-sama or Miyuki…" He mumbled.

"Daiki?" Osamu demanded. I looked up.

"You know of him?" I asked. Osamu scowled.

"That's the guy that was chasing Ruriko around the clearing…" He muttered. I frowned. Botan frowned too and let go of me, looking the other way.

"Daiki-sama wouldn't kill Ruriko-sama," He murmured, "Daiki-sama loves his niece… Ruriko-sama reminds him of Kishiko-sama… I shouldn't be here. If Ruriko-sama injured Daiki-sama, he'll need help… And I'll be in trouble if I'm not there."

"But… Botan, you can't go back with people like that." I protested, earning odd stares from everyone. Botan smiled at me and patted my head, ruffling up my hair, which normally would've pissed me off.

"Can't… I want to stay with you. Your friends are very funny, very nice," He beamed, then it melted to show a sad expression, "But I'm afraid Daiki-sama will hurt you and them. Besides, I'm indebted to Daiki-sama, to his clan for rescuing me from Orochimaru. I have no choice, no matter how much I want to stay."

"Orochimaru?" Daisuke, Osamu, and Kishi all asked at the same time in horror. Botan yelped at their surprise.

"Yes. And to all of you too," He said quickly, frantically as if he were afraid he'd be heard, "Orochimaru is very bad. Very, very bad… He likes to take anyone who he thinks is interesting. He'll take them and lock them up and do painful experiments. It's what he does, it's what he loves. If you, any of you, ever see him, you have to run away. Run away as fast as you can and hide. I don't care if ninja aren't supposed to do that, but only a real ninja would run away from Orochimaru."

"But…! Orochimaru has Sasuke!" Kishi and Osamu said together. Botan smiled slowly.

"Yes, but not for long… I know of Uchiha Sasuke. He's a very bad, bad shinobi. Orochimaru will have a lot of fun hurting him…" He replied sadistically.

"You can't-"

"All right," Hajin cut Daisuke off, frowning, "Botan. Get ready. I will go back with you to find Daiki. I also have a few questions for him."

"What? Why the hell…?" Osamu's voice trailed, then blinked. Hajin smirked, getting to his feet.

"I'm an agent of the Rain Village. I am under the command of Akatsuki and my job is to find out as much as I can about my enemies and allies… I'm sorry. If they ask where I am, tell them I fled the exams at the last moment." He replied, then nodded to Botan, who nodded back.

"Wait!" I protested. Hajin glanced back at me. I frowned.

"If you stumble upon Ruriko or Akira, please help them." I stated. Hajin nodded, then smirked.

"Tell Ruriko I still want to fight her… And that I'd like to take her out to dinner sometime." With that, Hajin shot off with Botan. I glared after him, tensing up and feeling my face grow hot. Osamu's team stared at me, Daisuke along with them.

"Asshole," I yelled after him, "Paws off!"

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A/N: So, we learn a bit more about Botan. C: He's so cute. Anyway… I have plans for the next chapter and I will get work to it as soon as I post this one. I think I have enough time to write it before I have to go to bed since I already packed for my vacation! WOO! So, thanks so very, very much for reading, hope the characters are all in character, and your reviews are loved and appreciated! ;D