Chapter 2:

"Is no one going to ask?"

Kyoske's voice cut through the air, rousing all of us from our thoughts and slowly we found our way back to reality. We were sitting in a ramyun shop near edge of the Land of Water, a shop that was slightly less rundown when compared to the part we had just been near. We had arrived with a mouthful of questions, firing one off after the other and while Megumi-sensei didn't bother to answer any of them, we interacted with each other. Question after question was either met with another question or hard evidence from the textbooks we had been forced to study back in the Academy.

"Alright, fine." Kyoske said, looking agitated as he glared at our sensei from across the table. "I'll be the odd one out and ask."

He slammed a fist on the table, making it wobble and we all looked at him, even sensei.

"How the hell do you know the White Fang?"

Megumi-sensei smirked and closed her eyes. "After everything that's what you ask?"

"Miyuki blew her cover because she got hit in the face. Her mask cracked right down the middle but you…you blew your cover on purpose and for what?" Kyoske continued.

I touched the side of my face and felt a distant burning. It hadn't been a direct hit which was good, but I could feel it starting to swell slightly.

"I'm sure we've got a lot more to ask to but you can start with those!" Kyoske growled.

"No I've got a better one." Hideki cut in and Megumi-sensei cut him a side-long look.

"What was this mission really about? Was it even about taking out Gato?"

"If you're implying I took this mission on because I knew the White Fang would be there, you're wrong." Megumi-sensei said with a hard glare.

"Alright, so why did you blow your cover?" Kyoske snapped.

Megumi-sensei sighed, running a hand through her black as night hair and I realized it had a slightly purple tint to it as it shined under the shop's lights. It was then that the White Fang's expression came back to me, the shock in his eye, well eyes as he took in my sensei. The shaky edge to his voice, his body half ready to run to us and the other ready to…ready what?

I looked at my sensei, at her long black hair, at the soft oval shape of her face, the smallness of her mouth and her eyes, seas of eternal blackness that seemed to sparkle thanks to the gray eye shadow she wore. She was beautiful and I knew she was a skilled kunoichi and a relatively new Jonin. She had risen to the ranks quickly, training day and night and was a far cry from the woman she had been just a little over eleven years ago.

Sensei never spoke about her past. Matter of fact she never spoke about life before we came into the picture period and while I had always assumed it was because it was too sad and dark to look back on, I now wondered if maybe it went even deeper than that. I had heard rumors of what she had been like and had faint memories of her myself, Priestess Akane's spoiled daughter who walked around as if she owned the place and everyone owed her a piece of the world. She had been vial and impossible, using her beauty to get what she wanted. But she was the daughter of our village's head power and as a result she was always made a target.

"I wanted to see his face when he saw mine." Sensei said.

"Because you know him?" Kyoske pressed.

Sensei glared at him with a look that said he was prying too much. Usually I would come to her rescue but I knew better than anyone that this had just reached whole new levels. Holding back information from us wasn't like her.

"He's from my past." Megumi-sensei sighed. She folded her arms as she stared into each of our faces, seeming to brace herself for something until she decided not to say anything at all. She leaned back in her seat and smiled as our server came to our table with our orders.

"You blew your cover because he's from your past? Because you saw him and you just wanted to see his expression?" Kyoske asked.

"Quite a recap." Megumi-sensei said dryly.

"Why was the White Fang there to begin with? Has the Leaf run out of powerful shinobi so they have to send him?" Hideki asked.

"Sounds like a question for the Leaf, not me." Megumi-sensei said as she lifted her cup of ramyun.

"You send people on missions based on their skill level. White Fang was an ANBU when Zabuza became rogue. I wouldn't be surprised if they crossed paths once or twice. That means the White Fang knows his moves." I explained.

"Yeah well it still doesn't make this whole situation any less frustrating." Kyoske growled, glaring down at his ramyun. "You're keeping things from us, sensei."

Megumi-sensei slammed her bowl down on the table and I watched as some of it sloshed down the sides. She fixed her hardest glare on Kyoske as he seemed to forget how to swallow.

"I don't owe you three anything, you hear me? I blew my cover? Big deal. You don't see me bringing things up about you three on our missions. So quit trying to grasp at facts you would never be able to understand and eat your damn food."

She lifted her bowl again, ignoring how the sides must have been because of the sloshing and began to sip at the edge. She sipped it like a pro, not even caring that her bowl was still steaming. I could imagine the hot liquid travelling down her throat and there was our tough as nails sensei so angry with us that she couldn't even feel the pain.

I looked at Kyoske who was too busy glaring down at his ramyun bowl to meet my stare and then over at Hideki who was adjusting his black sunglasses as a bead of sweat travelled down the side of his face. I looked down at my own bowl and blew at the rising steam. The silence weighed heavy at the table as little by little everyone began to eat.

I thought back to our departure from the bridge, all the stunned silence as the White Fang's words hung heavy in the air. Everyone had been blown away and as soon as Sensei had shot White Fang another smile she had vanished, fleeing almost instantly and before the rest of us could force out a reaction, we followed suit. It wasn't ideal, our departure, but it had happened nonetheless.

I looked up just as a messenger bird landed on the window ledge beside us. It's head twitched in each of our directions before it stared straight ahead, a note fastened to it's tiny leg. Hideki reached over and unfastened the message from the bird and the moment it was off, the bird took off just as quickly.

Hideki unfolded the message on the table and we all leaned over to get a look at it. The hand that had written it had been quick, urgent even.

"New mission. Report to the Village immediately. Code Yellow." Hideki read, his brow furrowing. He looked up at Kyoske and I who shrugged in response until we all turned to look at Megumi-sensei who put her bowl down and looked like she was going to be sick.

"Sensei?" I asked, extending a hand to cover one of hers.

"What the heck is Code Yellow?" Hideki asked.

"We have to go." Megumi-sensei said, rising from the table quickly, her hand sliding out from under mine as she motioned for our server. "Can we have the check?"

"Sensei, what's wrong?" Hideki asked.

"Is it that bad?" Kyoske asked. "Yellow isn't bad."

The server came with the check in hand and Megumi-sensei threw down a few bills which made Kyoske's eyes widen.

"Sensei! Are you insane?! The food wasn't even that good!" He gasped.

"Do you want us to count the right amount?" I asked, reaching for the money.

"Leave it!" Megumi snapped and I pulled my hand back to my chest as if she had struck me with something.

"Hurry up, let's go." Megumi said, heading for the front door.

"Wait up!" I said as I slid out of the booth while Kyoske practically climbed over the table. he ran after Megumi-sensei with Hideki and I was the last one out after giving our server a little bow, thanking her for our barely touched food.

"Sensei, wait!" I panted as I exited the small shop and found my team standing just outside, Kyoske blocking Megumi-sensei's path, his arms outstretched.

"What's Code Yellow?" He demanded. "I refuse to leave until you tell us."

"It's obviously urgent enough that you're willing to throw down any amount for a measly meal." Hideki said.

Megumi-sensei rubbed her fingers along the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"Just tell us. We can handle it." I said, my hands balling into tight fists at my sides.

She looked at me and looked down at the crumpled note in her hands. She looked back at us and I saw her shoulders sag.

"Code Yellow is the highest level or urgency in our village. We haven't had a Code Yellow since the time the White Fang came to our village." Megumi-sensei explained.

"The last time he came to the Village you were kidnapped weren't you?" Kyoske asked. "But it was bad, the worse of them all. They were going to kill you, and not just all talk either."

"They were torturing you and using all their resources even after White Fang saved you to capture you both. It was like cat and mouse and finally White Fang won." Hideki added.

"But not without losing his entire team and our entire village almost burning to the ground in the process." I finished with a shaky breath. "Is our village in danger?"

"Potentially." Megumi-sensei. "But what's important here isn't the situation surrounding Code Yellow but more so what it means for us."

"What?" Kyoske asked.

"Code Yellow is coming from our village. It's a mission coming from our village." Megumi-sensei said.

"Okay…" Kyoske said, still not getting it.

"No missions come from our village." Hideki breathed. "Our village doesn't have the ranking to dish out missions on their own."

"Which means it's top secret." I said, my eyes widening. "It's a top secret mission coming from our village."

"Which is why we need to get home." Megumi-sensei said, giving us her back. "Now."

The minute we touched down on our village, we were ushered to Priestess Akane's home at the center of our village, where her chakra radiated from every wall and grew stronger the closer we got to her.

When we reached her office, her nurses, dressed head to toe in white garbs, their hair's pulled back into tight chignons, they opened the door for us and we walked in. We were first greeted by the strong and thick smell of Priestess Akane's incense and then we saw her sitting at her desk with a nurse beside her, the nurse's hand pressed against the small of Akane's back.

Our priestess with her ankle length black as coal hair, tied at the end by a lavender hair tie. She wasn't wearing her usual sleeping robes but instead had managed to pull on an actual turtleneck shirt with her robes underneath. while her purple and green robes were falling off of her, exposing her bare shoulders, the burgundy tie held it all in place. Akane was running her fingers over her chanting beads, a collection she always had fastened in the sleeves of her robes. Her black fingernails worked over each bead as she let out quick, small chants when we entered.

"Milady." Megumi-sensei said, getting down to bow to our Priestess. We followed suit, getting on our knees shortly after. Akane stopped chanting and tucked her beads back in her sleeves. She turned to face us, her hard-lined face black lips and dark green eyes took us in.

"How was the mission?" She asked dryly.

"It went well." Megumi-sensei answered.

"I can see that. You four look like you didn't struggle at all." Akane said.

"You could say other shinobi struggled for us." Kyoske smirked.

"How kind of them." Akane said, sounding bored but I knew it was just that she was exhausted. She hid it well. Her chakra coated our entire village and as draining as it was, after everything our village had gone through over the years, her Genjutsu was needed to keep us safe.

"About this mission-" Megumi-sensei began but Akane lifted a hand, cutting her off.

"Gato's dead?" She asked.

"Zabuza took him out on the bridge." Hideki answered. "Pushed him right off the edge."

"Good." Akane said. "The Daimyō will be happy to hear that."

"Glad we could make him happy." Kyoske yawned.

"In exchange for completing the mission as I assured the Daimyō we would, he has graced us with some information I was led to believe would prove worth our while." Akane said, propping her head up with her hand, her elbow on the table.

"Was it worth it?" Hideki asked.

Akane nodded. "It's just a rumor of course but a few sources have confirmed it's possible."

"Alright, what is it then?" Kyoske asked.

"A new Hidden Village has risen between the Waterfall village and Hot Water village." Akane said. "It calls itself the Hidden Sound Village and it's just outside of the Leaf Village."

"Hidden Sound Village?" Kyoske repeated. "Sounds a load of nonsense."

"I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case but what makes this village all the more interesting is who was spotted in that area just a few days before it was formed."

"Who?" I asked.

"Orochimaru."

A cold chill shot through my body. Kyoske just stared at Akane, his mouth slightly open while Hideki seemed calm but his hands were clenched into tight fists at his sides. Megumi-sensei continued to stare straight ahead and if she was affected by the name currently settling in the air between Akane and us, she didn't show it. It was almost like she expected it.

"What does he have to do with us?" Kyoske asked, finally, the only one able to find his voice. It was hard for him, I knew it was. It brought back painful memories for both him and Hideki. My feelings were mixed when it came to the once great and legendary Sanin.

He was a snake of a man, slimy and full of tricks. I barely remembered when he came to our village but I do remember how happy everyone was to see him. No one had questioned why he was there, until the end, until the massacre happened and he showed up in my hospital room, saying that everyone hated me.

I shivered, feeling the distant tug of my memories bubbling and shook them away. I didn't have time to look back. I had to look forward. I had to stay focused. It didn't matter how I felt about Orochimaru. It wasn't about me. It was about my village and its safety. My village didn't like Orochimaru because he had played us all and taken from us, taken our youth for the sake of his twisted experiments that had more body counts than successes.

"The Chunin Exams are going to be held in Konoha this year." Akane said. "The Sound will be entering."

"We've been entered?" Megumi-sensei asked and watched as Akane slid a file toward us.

"Yes." She answered.

"But we're not competing?" Kyoske asked, sounding sad.

"You will go as far as the Sound goes." Akane said.

"So even if it means we have go to the final round, we're competing?" Kyoske asked.

"Kyoske." Megumi-sensei said her voice filled with warning.

"He's looking for clarification and rightfully so." Hideki piped in.

I nodded, folding my arms. "With all do respect Priestess Akane, we've fought in the Exams before."

"Actually, we never made it to any actual fighting." Kyoske said in a tone that matched Akane's dry one. "We've done that written part like eight times, been to at the Forest of Death gates like three times and actually in the forest maybe twice."

"Talk about exaggerating." I sighed.

"But it's true." Kyoske said, looking right at me, his gray eyes burning.

I nodded. "Yeah we never get to show off."

"But it's never been my fault. If it were up to me, you'd have been Chunin the moment you all graduated from the Academy." Akane said. "Regardless, this time you will follow the Sound and even if they leave you four will still be staying around to watch the exams unless directed otherwise."

"There's more." Hideki said, his eyes narrowing behind his dark sunglasses.

"My contact also told me that since Orochimaru was so close to the Konoha that he might be planning to attack it during the exams. It's already going to be hectic with all the nations present but it would be chaos of a threat as big as Orochimaru comes barging in."

"What do you want us to do if we find out the Sound is planning something? What do we do if Orochimaru appears?" Hideki asked. "What does the Daimyō want?"

"I think the Daimyō as well as every other leader across all the lands wouldn't mind if Orochimaru was gone." Megumi-sensei said. "But the Daimyō merely gave us this information."

"Exactly." Akane confirmed with a nod. "It's for us to do with it what we see fit."

"So if it is all true, if he does appear and he is planning something we fight to take him out." Megumi-sensei said.

"But we need to be the ones who deliver the final blow." Akane said. "If we can bring him to light before he does harm, that's the best option. If not and he reveals himself in a fight, we do whatever it takes to be the first to take him out."

"Sounds fair." Kyoske said.

"Why?" Hideki asked.

"Think about how much good it would do for our small village to be acknowledged by the other lands. We live near a Village that acknowledges our existence only when they need something bad done. Being known as the village who brought the Sound Village to light and took down Orochimaru gives us credit and gives a chance to show the nations just how serious we all are." Akane said. "In short we get respect that has been long overdue."

"But the Daimyō can't find out about these plans or he'll find a way to make it seem like he gave the order." Hideki said.

Akane nodded.

"Hiding from our own nation isn't the issue." I said. "We just have to be sure that we're the first to pull him out of the shadows. That's what's hard."

"Hard but possible." Akane noted.

We all nodded in agreement.

"Is that all?" Hideki asked. "If it is, we'll break away to plan our roles."

Akane smiled with no emotion and shifted in her seat. The nurse beside her placed her free hand on Akane's arm, as if to steady her.

"Actually, no. I have another request, more so an assumption." Akane said. "I believe Orochimaru is searching another host and I believe if he does in fact attack the village or even if he doesn't and is in the Leaf, he will be searching for that host."

"Host." Kyoske stiffened at the word.

It was a word we had all suffered through. Our pasts were jumbled and wound together so tightly, it was suffocating at times. We had all been in line to be Orochimaru's next host but a big part of the test was the curse mark and whether or not we'd survive it was the big question. What we learned after the fact was that there were many more tests which meant more suffering and all of us had failed it, but that didn't stop Orochimaru from continuing to use us.

"Who is it?" Hideki asked, sweat forming on his brow.

"It's all in the file but I believe his next target is Sasuke Uchiha." Akane explained.

"Uchiha? As in the lone survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre?" Kyoske gasped.

Akane nodded.

"It makes sense." Akane nodded. "Orochimaru has always wanted an Uchiha body."

"They've just proven too powerful for him to take." Hideki said.

"You want us to keep an eye on him, then?" I asked.

"Get him to trust you." Akane said. "If you have an Uchiha on your side, they'll come to you if they find any information."

"You think he's contacting Orochimaru?" Kyoske asked.

"I think he's more than capable of." Akane corrected. "After everything that boy has gone through, I wouldn't put it past him. He's the perfect target."

She had a strong point and I felt myself nod as Megumi-sensei reached for the file on Akane's desk. She flipped it open and stiffened.

"Something wrong?" Akane asked, her eyes narrowing.

We all looked at Megumi-sensei just as her body relaxed once more. She forced a tight smile onto her lips and passed the file over to me. Her eyes never left Akane, in fact strength burned behind her eyes, as she regarded our priestess.

I held the file in my hands, staring down at the first thing on the page, a photo of four shinobi. I tried to hide my surprise just as Kyoske inhaled his own. It was the four shinobi from the bridge, White Fang, the blond boy, pink girl, and fallen boy. The pink girl was smiling into the camera while the White Fang had his hands resting on the boy's heads. The blonde had his arms folded and was scowling at the fallen boy, the one with the onyx hair and according to the picture angry black as night eyes. In return the boy had not bothered to hide the expression on his face that said there were hundreds of places he'd rather have been.

"You're all mighty quiet now." Akane said, not bothering to hide her suspicions.

"Nothing is wrong." Megumi-sensei lied. "It just took a moment to recognize the Uchiha in the picture."

"They all look that capable? I think you'd better check your eyes before you leave." Akane said.

I flipped the photo over and found a picture of the onyx haired boy. At the bottom was his name. Sasuke Uchiha, 12. It was a photo copy of his ninja ID card.

"You've got to be kidding me." Kyoske groaned and when he saw the strange look Akane shot him along with a pins and needle one from Megumi-sensei, he held up his hands.

"I mean it's bad enough we have to watch out for Orochimaru and now we have to babysit a brat?" He said.

"I don't think I've ever heard you complaining about a mission, Kyoske." Akane said.

"He complains all the time, but it's not babysitting if we sit down and plan everything." Hideki said. "One person can watch Uchiha if anything."

Kyoske was about to say something when Megumi-sensei rose to her feet.

"We'll leave you now Milady. I'll have a mission debrief on your desk in the morning." She said. We rose to our feet right after and gave Priestess Akane a farewell bow before we shuffled out of her door.

"You leave in one week." Akane said. "That's a whole week before the exams are officially set to begin so it gives you time to get to know those shinobi."

Megumi-sensei nodded and shut the door behind her. We shuffled wordlessly down the hall and it was only when we were standing in the front yard that Kyoske put on the breaks.

"Are you not going to tell her?" Kyoske asked.

"Not now." Hideki growled.

"She doesn't need to know anything." Megumi-sensei snapped.

"What if she finds out that you know White Fang?" Kyoske asks. "Wouldn't it be like a conflict of interest?"

"What are you suggesting?" Megumi-sensei growled, her eyes narrowing.

"Nothing he's being stupid." I said, jumping between them. "What he meant to say sensei was just that maybe that was a good time to mention that technically we have met these shinobi, out on the bridge today."

"And why would we mention that?" Megumi-sensei said.

"Because not mentioning it makes it seem like we have something to hide." Hideki said.

"Yes well we're not hiding anything. It's not important to mention it." Megumi-sensei snapped. "Now go on and get to planning. I have a debrief to write."

She left us then, disappearing into the midday air, leaving us in Priestess Akane's nearly abandoned yet heavily floral front yard.