KAKASHI'S P.O.V

I can't believe the Hokage is letting an outsider into the village. How do we know she won't kill us all in our sleep? I'm not going to trust her until she's proven herself loyal to our village.

"Hey Hatake, wait up will ya!"

She called from behind me and I ground my teeth together. Normally I can deal with anything, normally I'm laid back and just go with things, but this, this is just suicidal on the Hokage's part. I opened the door to my apartment and walked inside. Rin followed after.

"Hatake, you could have slowed down."

"Quit calling me that!"

I snapped as I took off my ANBU mask and changed into my street clothes. I turned around and heard Rin gasp as she took in my actual appearance. I almost wanted to smile.

"Fine, then what should I call you?"

She asked and I sighed.

"Kakashi, only ANBU are allowed to call me Hatake."

I said and she nodded.

'At least she's somewhat obedient.'

"So, where do I sleep?"

She asked and I pointed down the hall to the guest room. She nodded, but didn't move.

"Look, I've got to be somewhere. Explore the village, but don't cause any trouble. Someone will be watching you the entire time so behave."

I said before leaving and heading for the preliminaries that were close to wrapping up. I know Naruto and the rest of the members from squad 7 will want me to be there. I sighed as I walked towards the building the Chunin Exams were being held in.

RIN'S P.O.V

'God, who does he think he is ordering me around like that?'

'He is an ANBU, and to him we are just outsiders. We have to prove ourselves loyal to this village before he can trust us.'

Kitsana said and I sighed as I realized the logic behind her words. I looked around the apartment and sighed as I walked around. I explored the kitchen, finding out where the pots, pans, knives, and dishes were before walking further into the apartment. I found Kakashi's room by his scent and walked down the hall towards the guest bedroom he had pointed at. Inside was a mat on the floor, that was it.

'You have got to be kidding me.'

I thought as I walked inside.

'At least there's a window.'

Kitsana said and I sighed as I sat on the ledge.

"Yeah. Hey Kitsana, how do you suppose I can earn his trust?"

I asked out loud since I was beginning to get a headache from talking through our link. There was a flash of bright red light before Kitsana appeared in front of me in the form of a small black and red fox. She looked similar to me when I transformed, but with small differences. She only had one tail, the two I had when transformed came from when we merged together. Also the color of her fur was switched. Her's was red and black, whereas mine was black and red.

"I'm not sure little one, you will just have to figure that out on your own."

I sighed and looked out the window. I saw a shadow below move to hide behind a tree.

'Do they really think I can't see them? And even if I couldn't I could still smell them.'

I thought before moving so that my feet dangled on the outside of the window. Kitsana jumped up so that she was sitting on the ledge beside me.

"Kakashi did say you could explore the village right?"

She asked and I hummed in response.

"Then why not do just that. Maybe you could find a place big enough for us to practice in without being seen."

She said and I smiled at the thought. In all truth I loved being in my fox form. It wasn't because the surge of power I got, or the fact of being an animal. But the feeling I got from being connected to Kitsana, the feeling of being connected with someone.

"Yeah, let's go."

I said before pushing off and landing on the street below in a crouch. I heard the soft thud of paws hitting the street beside me as Kitsana landed. I straightened back up before walking around. I sniffed the air and despite the several different scents, I caught the scent of trees within the village. I changed direction and headed towards it with Kitsana following at my heels like a puppy. It had been a while since she took that form. She normally preferred to stay within me. That's one of the benefits of being a willing host, Kitsana and I can separate at anytime, but still be connected.

'What are you thinking about little one?'

Kitsana asked as we passed by a few villagers who looked at us weird.

'Just how I never knew having a demon within me would be so….natural for me. I can't even remember a time when you weren't with me.'

I said honestly as we reached our destination.
My eyes widened as I saw the mass expanse of trees. I noticed that the bark of some was cut as if someone had been practicing with a dagger or throwing knives. I walked up to the area of trees only to be stopped by figures in black again.

'This is getting old quick.'

I thought and heard Kitsana snicker at my side.

"What are you doing in the training grounds?"

One of the ANBU asked and I glared at them.

"I was going to train before you guys showed up. What's your problem anyway? I haven't done anything."

I said and they all drew their weapons when they saw Kitsana beside me. One took a step towards her with their weapon drawn and I growled at them.

"What are you?"

One asked and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Someone you really don't want to piss off."

I said showing off my fangs that had come out with my anger. What was with these people and finding ways to piss me off.

'Calm down little one. There is no need to cause a scene.'

Kitsana said and I took a deep breath trying to calm down. The ANBU were all looking at me and I could tell by their aura that they wanted to get back at me for what I did to them on the rooftops.

"You know what, how 'bout we have a little fun?"

I said and the feel of their auras changed from angry to confused.

"What do you mean?"

One asked and I smiled.

"I mean let's have a training session. You guys verses me."

I said cracking my neck. They looked at each other before nodding.

"Kitsana, stay over there by the edge of the field and gauge my movements. When we get back to the apartment tell me how I can improve."

I said and she yipped in response, purposely choosing not to speak so as not to make a scene.

I crouched low, ready for the ANBU to make a move. They all charged at me at once. I rolled my eyes before jumping into the air, back flipping and landing behind all of them. I swept out with my leg and they all lost their footing. One swung out with their fist, but I jumped out of the way and landed on a tree branch a few feet away.

"Looks like I win again. Better luck next time. Kitsana!"

I said before using genko and appearing in the middle of town with Kitsana by my side.

'I saw only a few problems with your footing. When you go down to sweep your opponents' feet out from under them be sure to keep a sure footing yourself.'

Kitsana said and I nodded.

'I'll be sure to do that.'

I started to head towards the gate of the village, just walking around when I felt a sudden aura that rivaled my own.

'Kitsana…..'

I said as I stopped in my tracks.

'I fell it too little one. It's another host, but they are quite strong.'

She said and I nodded. I could feel their power too.

'As are we. Come on, we should go check it out.'

I said and she nodded before jumping at me and going back within me. I used genko and arrived at a building that was a few feet away from the Hokage building. I felt Kakashi's aura inside as well as many others including the Hokage.

'What are they all doing here?'

I wondered as I jumped up onto the roof. I looked down through the skylight and was shocked at what I saw.

Several ninjas were all standing around a huge arena where two figures stood. One had jet black hair, bushy eyebrows, and was wearing a green jumpsuit, but the other one I could tell was the host of the demon. He had red hair cut short and styled with spikes about his head. He had on a pair of loose black pants and a skin tight netted shirt beneath another solid black shirt. White sashes crossed from his left shoulder to the right side of his body, and he had a gourd on his back.

'Who is that?'

I wondered as I watched from my spot, hiding my aura so I wouldn't be spotted. The red haired boy did a bunch of hand signs that were too quick for me to see and suddenly sand poured out from the gourd on his back and encased the boy in the green jumpsuit.

'Die'

I heard a voice whisper that wasn't my own, nor Kitsana's and yet no one down below had said anything either. My eyes widened as I realized it was the young red head's beast that had said it. The sand tightened around the boy in the green jumpsuit and I heard his heart beat slow and smelled some of his blood on the air. Without thinking I jumped down from my spot straight down into the sand encasing the boy. I laced my power into my aura and wrapped it around me and the young boy before jumping out of the sand and up onto the second level where the other ninjas were watching the fight. I gently laid the boy in the green jumpsuit down just as a bigger man with bushy eyebrows and in a bigger green jumpsuit came running up.

"Lee!"

He yelled as he dropped down beside the young boy on the ground. I turned and jumped back into the arena, all eyes on me. I stared at the red headed boy before me, his face blank of all emotions as he called his sand back to him. It didn't go back into the gourd like I thought it would, but instead it stayed above him.

'How is he doing that?'

I wondered but didn't have much time to think about it before the sand was attacking me.

I jumped out of the way and glared at the red head before me. I looked him over and now that I was closer I noticed that his eyes were a teal color outlined with dark black makeup, and he had the word 'love' tattooed on his forehead in the same color as his hair. I saw a headband with the shape of an hourglass it looked like tied around the sash hanging down from his side.

'Just who is this guy?'

I wondered as I dodged another attack from his sand.

"How is she dodging his attacks? Even Lee wasn't able to get away from them."

I heard someone above me whisper. I looked up to see a pink haired girl with green eyes wearing a red dress split up the side talking to a yellow-orange haired boy with azure blue eyes, and what looked like whiskers on his cheeks wearing a blue, orange, and white jacket and a blue-black haired boy with black eyes wearing a blue shirt with a collar covering his neck. I noticed they all wore the same kind of headband and that the boy with the blue-black hair had a dagger attached to his thigh.

"Hey kid, toss me that dagger!"

I called up to him as I dodged another attack from the sand ninja. He looked at me confused for a moment and I sighed before using genko to get to the upper level, grab the dagger from his side, and move back to my spot before anyone else could see me even bat an eye. I twirled the dagger around in my hand and held it up and took defense as I evaluated my opponent.

"Rin! What are you doing! Get out of there!"

Kakashi yelled from his spot among the spectators and I heard Sarutobi laugh and I looked up at him. He had a knowing look in his eyes that confused me before I understood. He knew what I was, but wasn't saying anything. That's when I felt the presence of yet another host. I looked around and my eyes widened as I took in the yellow-orange haired kid's aura. He was the host of a fox spirit too.

'Pay attention to your fight little one!'

I tore my gaze away from the yellow-orange haired kid back to the sand ninja before me. His stoic face was still the same, but I could tell he was angry by the look in his teal colored eyes.

"What do you say we get serious?"

I asked with a smile and I heard a collective gasp from those watching and they all said the same thing in surprise.

"She wasn't being serious?"