So thanks to Juliedoo, my lone reviewer! Anyways this took awhile to write and for that I am sorry, I had like ten episodes to sift through in order to get what I wanted for this chapter. Now if you are enjoying the story, please review! I love reviews and they make me want to write! If you aren't enjoying it, for whatever reason, drop me a line and tell me why, there may be something I can do to make you enjoy it more. Also I can't wait to write the next couple of chapters, the final exams are going to be so much fun!

Day 9607

Ume swiped a hand down over her face, her eyes clouded and framed by dark circles, and sighed, leaning up against the desk behind her. Assembled around her were the ten ANBU teams that had been assigned to watch over the rest of the exam period. Looking up at the clock, she mused to herself, 4:00 AM, time to get started.

"It has been officially confirmed. Orochimaru is somewhere in or around Kohona." There was a slight murmur, most of the ninja here had known that, some had been yanked from their beds in order to fill the roster without any explanation of why. "His main goal, according to what he told Anko, is not to destroy our village... yet. Instead he wishes to abduct Sasuke Uchiha or have him defect to the Sound Village. Neither of these are acceptable end results. Our main goal is the safety of Sasuke Uchiha and the Hokage. On top of that we are are also to help ensure the safety of every foreign ninja in Kohona should something happen."

"There are some facts that you need to be made aware of: Orochimaru has threatened to destroy the village if we try to cancel the Chuunin Exams. So the Chuunin Exams will not be cancelled and will proceed as planned. Also, the Uchiha has been given a curse mark. He is a veritable massacre waiting to happen should that mark get out of hand. In most cases, the Jounin-sensei and the proctors will take care of it, but should they fail, we will step in."

She stood fully and paced towards the ranks. "This day marks the first time in five years we have had to hold a preliminary third exam. The same rules apply that have applied for the other to portions of the exam. No contact with the Genin, unless signaled to do so by the Hokage and stay out of sight and sense. There will be a month in between this prelim and the actual start of the third exam. We will be doing background checks and security details, on both the village and the Uchiha, for the entirety of this month."

She yawned. "I know that those of you who have been active duty for the last couple of weeks are as tired as I am. Because we have an awesome Hokage who cares about our safety and health, we have a duty schedule that will allow everyone time to sleep and rest, these are not optional. You will be split into two shifts, A and B for simplicity's sake. Each shift will be on two days and off two days. When on duty, the separate teams within each shift will spilt duties among themselves, these duties will include: patrols, guard details, information gathering, and searching for Orochimaru and his allies and followers."

She waved a red-headed man in. "Aikihiko Harada and myself will be leading these shifts, working two days on and two days off as well. We will be leading check-ins, making sure you have everything you need, acting as information hubs and personally guarding the Hokage."

"Everything sound good?" She yawned again. "The first shift will be Snake, Bull, Ox, Fish, and Tiger lead by me and the second will be Bird, Boar, Cat, Raccoon and Fox lead by Aikihiko. Second shift go get some sleep, see you at 4:00 AM, two days from now. First shift, you have your assignments, check in with your unit captain as soon as you get in place then unit captains will check-in with me. After that, check-ins on your unit frequency every fifteen minutes and then on my frequency every thirty. Report anything you see, even if it doesn't seem important. I will be with Hokage." She stood fully and looked at each one individually. "Stay safe."

The fact the she stood next to him to begin with, was surprising, making the fact that she wasn't in her ANBU uniform more so.

However that wasn't what was worrying him. Five days ago, she had been her normal self. She had looked strong, healthy, eyes bubbling with mirth.

The woman standing in between Gai and himself, was almost totally unrecognizable.

This woman was tense, perhaps more tense than she had ever been in his recent memory. She had her arms crossed over her chest, her fists clenched and unclenched in staccato rhythm causing the fabric of her sleeve to rub incessantly against her flack vest. Her skin was unnaturally pale set against the deep shadows under her dull blue eyes and Kakashi had the distinct impression that she hadn't been eating properly.

Catching Gai's worried eyes over Ume's blond head, Kakashi shrugged and glanced at the clock. Noticing that there were still a few minutes left before the Genin entered the prelim arena, he turned towards her and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth when she studiously avoided his eyes. Leaning over a little to get closer to her ear, he whispered quietly, "When was the last time you slept?"

She shrugged, her eyes forward, focused on the shadows of the arena. "I slept this morning."

He didn't buy it in the least. "For how long?"

"Thirty minutes."

Mentally cursing her stupidity, he prodded her again. "And when was the last time you had an actual meal?"

She glanced at him. "Five days ago when we went to lunch."

He gritted his teeth beneath the mask, of course the damn woman wouldn't take care of herself; that's what smart ninja do. "And since then, what have you eaten?"

"Water and dried fruit mostly."

He glared down at her. "You need to eat a protein bar when the prelims start."

"I'll get right on that."

Growling under his breath, he pulled a protein bar from his pack and handed it to her. "Scratch that, eat it now."

She rolled her eyes. "Really Kaka-"

"Now."

Turning to face him, she searched his visible eye and, huffing, snatched the ration bar from his hand. "I hate these stupid things."

She moved to leave the room, but Kakashi caught her elbow. "I want to see you eat it."

She was about to kick up a fuss, when more shadows fell over her. Looking up she caught Gai and Asuma's identical glowers. Asuma, smirked around his unlit cigarette. "Eat the ration bar, Brat."

She cursed and then blushed, catching the Hokage's disapproving stare. Opening the protein bar, she ate it quickly, glaring at Kakashi the entire time.

Hearing the Hokage's laughter, she blushed again. "Don't blame him, Ume. If you had been taking care of yourself, Kakashi wouldn't have to force feed you."

Pulling out another couple protein bars, he opened her weapons pack, deposited the protein bars and closed it again. "Eat those during the prelims, no arguments."

"You're ridiculous." Still, despite her protests, she was smiling now and already some color had returned to her face.

Kakashi watched as she walked to her place behind and slightly to the left of the Hokage. There was a clattering of doors and everyone turned to watch the Genin enter the room.

Ume made to follow the Hokage into his box as the prelim started, only to have him stop her. "Go with Kakashi. When this fight is over and that curse mark is sealed, I want you watching the Uchiha's every move."

"Yes sir." Ume nodded and jumped to the balcony, landing in between Gai and Kakashi's students. She smiled at Gai and shrugged, watching Kakashi ascend the stairs.

"Who are you?"

She stiffened and looked down at the blond boy, who sat peering up at her face. She made to answer and was cut off as Kakashi moved behind her. "A friend, Naruto." He glanced down at her. "A friend who should be eating."

She stuck out her tongue at him and then turned back to the kid. "Ume Nagaski." She shook his hand, smirking. Leaning over she crooked her finger at the suspicious blond boy. "I can tell you things about your sensei that might actually make him blush."

Naruto grinned. "Really? Like what?"

Kakashi coughed into his fist. "Ume. Eat."

She glared at him lightly, before pulling a protein bar from her pack and nibbling on it absently, her eyes now focused on the dark-haired boy in the ring. Turning her head over her shoulder she glanced at Kakashi. "You team has done impressively well, Kashi." She snuck a glance at Naruto's now mullish expression.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "What did you expect? With me on the team, we are destined for greatness."

She smiled and vaguely considered ruffling the kids hair. "My mistake."

Kakashi prodded her side. "Look."

Focusing back in on the fight, she bit her tongue to keep from cursing in front of the kids. "How did a Genin get that kind of power?"

Kakashi shrugged and watched as Sasuke's opponent turned his glowing, chakra-stealing hand on the boy.

Ume clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, she leaned over to whisper to Kakashi, "Call me paranoid, but if Orochimaru is watching, he was hoping to see that curse mark in this fight and Yoroi seems perfectly equipped to give it to him."

Kakashi nodded. "Let's hope that's not what this is."

"It's suspicious, that's all I'm saying." Ume shrugged and nibbled at the protein bar. Stepping back so she stood right next to Kakashi. "It wouldn't be the first or the last traitor the Leaf Village has seen. I'm not convinced all three are in on it. But this kid's abilities and Yakushi's sudden drop-out leave a bad taste in my mouth. Though that could be the protein bar." Making fake gagging noises, she munched on the bar and kept her eyes on the fight. "There aren't many ninja who go so far as to drop out of a refereed fight seven times."

Kakashi nodded. "Do you guys have eyes on Kabuto?"

Ume shook her head. "We did, but we lost him."

Kakashi sighed deeply through his nose. "Not many Genin can shake an ANBU tail."

"Not many ninja can shake Ox off of their trail. Hell I don't even know if I could shake Ox off of my trail as easily as that Genin did." She glanced up at him and smirked. "You see my point?"

Nodding, visible eye wide but still trained on the boy dodging glowing fists, Kakashi mused aloud. "This seems to be much bigger than we have been anticipating."

"Yep." She finished off the last of the protein bar and shoved the wrapper in her pocket. Whispering even lower than she had been, she took out another protein bar. "Where are you taking him when the fight is over?"

"Storage room six."

"I'll be coming with you to provide back-up. Lord Hokage wants ANBU eyes on Uchiha until at least the end of the Exams." She munched noisily covering the sound of the conversation.

"I'm going to need-"

"Hey Sasuke! Come on man, what was that? And you call yourself an Uchiha?" Ume stared at Naruto and Kakashi groaned lightly. "You're gonna let this goon walk all over you. Come on, stop messing around and get it in gear!"

Ume chortled. "I'm not sure that Uchiha is used to being spoken to that way."

Kakashi shook his head, rubbing a hand over his face. "This is normal."

Ume nodded. "Maybe I'm making it up but this rivalry seems oddly familiar."

"You're making it up."

Ume nodded, smiling hollowly. "Of course, Kashi, my mistake."

His voice low, his eyes watching the Uchiha's renewed attempts at dodging. "I don't...I don't-"

"I understand." She smiled. "You won't let it, so don't worry about it, 'kay?"

He nodded and she turned back to the fight, laughing.

"'Sides I'm not sure you really trained him. You been trading Genin with Gai?"

Kakashi didn't reply as all of the Leaf Jounin in the room held their breath as the curse mark spread. Ume cursed and made to call in the troops.

Kakashi stopped her. "I will take care of it."

Eyes still on the Uchiha, she nodded. "I know, but we don't know how he is going to react to that curse mark. You may need help."

He nodded abcently. "Just wait." There was a pregnant pause and the curse mark started to recede.

A few seconds later, Ume let out a low whistle and Sasuke slammed his opponent into the ground, completing the 'Lion's Barrage.' "Impressive. That's the match."

Forming a series of hand signs, he nodded to Ume. "See you there."

Ume nodded and watched as Kakashi reappeared in the ring, holding that book.

"You Ok?" Ume turned, smiling at Naruto. "Hey Sasuke! You won, but in such an uncool way. You came out looking like you were the one that got beat up."

Ume shook her head and watched as Kakashi argued briefly with the boy before dragging him from the room.

That's her cue.

"Who is she?"

Ume glared back at the boy glaring at her and turned to Kakashi. "The area is clear. The guard team is on stand-by. They are going to meet us in the infirmary, unless we have a problem." Then turning to Uchiha, she smiled. "Now all you have to do is keeping from fainting, kid."

Sasuke turned over his shoulder, watching as Kakashi traced another circle into the floor around him. "Who is she? And what problem do you think we're going to have?"

Kakashi sighed. "She is Ume Nagasaki, a Konoha Jounin, who deserves your respect," Kakashi paused and shot him a stern look, "And she is going to help me keep you safe. As for problems: do you really think that Orochimaru would bother putting a curse mark on someone he didn't plan to use?"

"No but, he's not here, is he?" The kid looked vaguely nervous.

Ume shrugged, keeping her eyes on the entrance. "Who knows? That's why I'm here." She passed Sasuke so she was between Kakashi and the door.

A couple of minutes later, Kakashi stood. "Okay. It'll be over quickly."

Ume chuckled. "That's a bad sign..." She winked at him over her shoulder. "That means it hurts a lot."

Kakashi ignored her. "You ready?"

Sasuke glared at her around Kakashi's legs then nodded at Kakashi. Kakashi formed the hand-signs and performed the jutsu to the tune of a boy's screams. When he was finished, he cautioned, "There, now next time that curse mark starts acting up, the seal should keep it in check. But remember: this curse sealing jutsu is only as strong as you are. It derives it's strength from the strength of your will. If that will ever weakens, if you ever begin to doubt yourself, the curse will be unleashed in all its fury." Sasuke fainted and Ume walked over to stand next to Kakashi, who chuckled. "Amazing. Too tired to even argue."

Ume nodded and stepped toward Sasuke.. "I'm going to take-"

"My, how you've grown." Both ninja stilled. "To think you've become strong enough to perform the curse sealing jutsu."

"You." Kakashi turned slowly to face Ororchimaru as Ume collected the unconscious boy and retreated ten feet. Placing the boy on the ground behind her, she turned and faced Orochimaru.

"Long time no see, Kakashi." Orochimaru took a couple threatening steps closer towards them.

Ume cursed and performed a quick set of hand-signs. "Earth Style: Earth Corridor." She slammed her hands into the ground, causing a dome of rock to form around Sasuke. Pulling out a kunai, she almost frantically called the guard team over her radio.

Orochimaru tutted, but ultimately ignored her. "No offense, Kakashi but I didn't come to see you. My business is with that boy. The one that girl is trying to shield with that flimsy jutsu."

Ume gritted her teeth but stayed quiet, best let Kakashi take care of this.

"What do you want with Sasuke?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "You've acquired something new, how I envy your good fortune." Kakashi visibly tensed. "I don't think you had it the last time we met. The gift... the Sharingan in your left eye. It's only fair that I should want it, too. The Uchiha power."

Kakashi forced himself to calm down. "What's your game?"

Orochimaru seemed delighted that he asked. "This Sound Village that everyone is curious about... It's mine, you see. I created it." There was a tense pause. "I think you understand without me saying anymore."

Chuckling mirthlessly, Kakashi replied. "You and your wild-eyed ambition."

"Oh, yes indeed... As always. But to play the game, as you put it, I need pieces on the chest board, willing pawns to do my bidding."

Kakashi tensed again, his voice deep with agitation. "And Sasuke is one of your pawns."

"Oh not at all, he's a much more valuable piece than that." He paused, still cool and composed. "But as for the others... well you know how it is in the game of chest, pieces must be sacrificed."

Ume gritted her teeth, whispering. "Sick fuck."

Orochimaru turned towards her. "You think so? I take it you're ANBU, you certainly move like you are. Maybe you're even a captain. You would never sacrifice a man to accomplish your goals?"

"Hell no."

Kakashi glanced at her over his shoulder. "Ume, stop."

Orochimaru grinned. "Ume? Ume Nagasaki?"

Ume tensed and took a step back towards the earth dome.

His grin widened. "Oh yes I know you. Sarutobi-sensei was quite excited about the little nine-year-old blond who became a chuunin on her first try. I remember him saying that you had an overwhelming proficiency for Earth Release jutsu. I believe he taught you a good deal before I left Kohona. Maybe that Earth Corridor isn't as flimsy as I originally thought."

Ume went pale, her knuckles nearly white around the kunai and Orochimaru took a couple steps closer to the pair.

Kakashi tensed and dropped into stance for Chidori, powering up as he growled, "Don't come any closer. I don't care if you are one of the Sannin, the three Shinobi of legend, I swear, take one more step towards Sasuke and one of us will die here."

Orochimaru laughed and Kakashi growled again. "Funny, is it?"

Grinning that sick maniacal grin, Orochimaru mused aloud, "Poor Kakashi, all of your noble efforts, all in vain..."

"What?"

"Do you really believe that the seal will hold? Do you think that you can keep him from what he truly desires? You know I'm right... a heart like his, that hungers for one thing, will not be denied. No matter what obstacles you put in his path, he is an avenger, isn't he?"

Energy crackling around his arm, Kakashi questioned him right back. "Do you think you can take advantage of that? Not Sasuke."

Orochimaru shrugged it off. "You cannot stop it. At some point he will come to me.. in search of power." Ororchimaru turned toward the exit and walked away and Kakashi let the Chidori dissipate. As he walked through the door way, Ororchimaru let one last warning echo through the room, "Unless of course, you carry out your threat to kill me. Take it, if you dare."

Ume sagged against the earth dome and sighed watching as Kakashi visibly shaked. "You idiot. You coulda been killed."

Sighing, Kakashi turned and walked toward her. "Yeah, speaking of 'coulda been killed,' insulting him wasn't a really intelligent thing to do either, was it?"

Ume shrugged and pushed off the dome, performing the hand signs to release the jutsu. "We both would've been killed if he had decided to fight." Ume rubbed a hand over her face. "So much for calling in the troops, they still aren't here."

Ume moved towards Sasuke, only to feel Kakashi's hand on the back of her neck, pulling her into him. She shook her head lightly and fisted a hand in his flack vest as Kakashi pressed his cheek into her hair.

After a few moments of silence, she smiled. "Let's get this kid to the infimary."

Kakashi nodded and let her go. As Ume stooped to pick up Sasuke, the six ANBU she had called showed up and took the boy from her hands.

Ume clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Better late than never I guess." She turned to smile at Kakashi. "You go ahead back to the arena, I'll get this kid settled in and then I'll come back."