All three of us were sitting on the stone just outside of the forest, Orochimaru in front of us with a hand on his hip, "Now, before we start, how about some introductions from everyone? Your aspirations, dreams," he paused, "fears."

How encouraging.

"We'll start with Anko, as she seems to be about ready to blow."

I turned to Anko, she did, in fact, look like if she didn't talk soon, her larynx would implode. She immediately stood up, "Yes, I am Anko Mitara-."

"Anko, we've all been friends since we were eight, why don't you skip that," I cut in.

Hayate nodded next to me while Anko glared at me, "Fine, my dream is to become an amazingly sexy kunoichi that'll surpass even Tsunade!"

Orochimaru giggled. Actual schoolgirl like giggling.

Could he not?

"A fine goal indeed Anko, I'm sure you'll achieve it, but how about your fears?"

Anko puffed out her chest, a smug grin on her face, "I have no fears!"

Deadpanning, I faced Orochimaru, "She's terrified of spiders and disappointing you."

"I'M GONNA MAIM YOU TON!"

I rolled my eyes.

A mirthful grin on his face, Orochimaru turned to Hayate, "It's your turn, my little swordsman."

After blanching at our teacher, Hayate sat up straight, "O-of course Orochimaru, my dream is to become more skilled in kenjutsu than my parents," shuffling uncomfortably, he steeled his nerves, looking Orochimaru in the eye, "And my fears are stagnating in growth, spiders, and losing my friends."

I looked at Hayate.

Heh, I knew he was a big softie.

Finally, Orochimaru set his sights on me, yellow meeting grey, an impregnable silence following for what felt like an eternity.

"And you, Ton? Are you afraid of spiders?"

Pausing, I propped my head up on my hand closing my eyes.

What do I want?

Taking a few more seconds, I started, "My aspiration is to lead a life that doesn't bore me, and I fear my own death."

Orochimaru paused at that, it was almost unnoticeable, but I saw him falter. He recovered almost instantly though, leaning forward with his hands on his hips, "With that type of goal your life will be boring, why don't you give me something more exciting?"

Sighing I leaned forward, "Fine, then how about, "I opened my eyes, looking around, thinking of my skills, "How about becoming the greatest genjutsu user in the lands, is that contrived enough for you?"

His smirk grew almost predatory, "Now that's more like it Ton'neru, a goal worth reaching."

Completely ignored my tone, but at least we're done.

He glanced back at the forest, "Now, contrary to what you were told at the academy," He leveled his gaze on each of us, "You all are yet to be fully fledged genin."

You have got to be kidding me.

Hayate led his head fall, a defeated sigh escaping him, Anko paled, apparently not liking the idea of missing out on learning more from Orochimaru. I, however, only rose a brow.

As much as this sucks, I expected something like this.

"But we all made it through the academy with high scores!"

He only smiled, "As true as that is, that only qualifies you to be cadets, I and the other teachers are to test you to see if you can become genin."

I sighed, rubbing my eyes, "Alright," bringing my head up I turned to my friends, "All we have to do is make it through his test, right? Then, lets pass, simple as that."

Hayate brought his head up with a hopeful smile. Meanwhile, Anko still seemed disheartened, but she hid it well behind her boisterous attitude, "Y-yeah, we got this! Easy!"

Orochimaru practically bared his teeth with a smile, "And what makes you think you can pass?"

My eyes rose to meet his, a resolute fire behind my leer.

"Because if I have to sit through one more damn lecture on chakra theory, I'm going to kill someone."

He stared at me with a surprised look, a grin creeping its way onto his face, "I see."

Anko looked at me, her eyes wide as plates.

Rolling my eyes, I stood up, looking to Orochimaru, "So what's our test?"

"You three," He pointed into the forest, "Are to search through the forest looking for an extremely rare species of snake. Its colors differ; However, they all share the unique trait of being rather large, as well as having a lime green diamond just on the top of their head."

How unexpected, a snake in Orochimaru's test.

Hayate spoke up, confused, "I don't mean offend, but that sounds pretty easy, with everything considered."

Orochimaru smirked, "Don't worry about that Hayate, I'm confident you three will have your hands full," he faced the forest, "You have until the end of today, starting now."

I started off immediately towards the forest, calling out over my shoulder, "Come on guys, let's get this over with."

~6 hours later~

"C'mon guys! Carry your own weight!"

I'm going to kill her.

I leered at Anko, "Maybe we could if you'd stop nagging every ten seconds, Anko."

She glared over her shoulder, "I don't nag, Ton'neru."

Hayate cut in, a tired look on his face, "Can't we just calm down and finish the mission guys," He looked up at us pleadingly, "Please?"

Sighing, I faced forward, Anko huffing out much more vocally, "FIIINE."

The sounds of the forest overtook us once more, animals disrupting our silence every few minutes. Turning my attention towards our surroundings, the remaining foliage around us colored in vivid yellow hues, some a darker brown.

Fall is ending soon then I suppose. A shame, the yellows are rather nice to look at… is…is that the snake?

Taking a second look, that was definitely the snake, its forehead adorned a lime green diamond, it's scales a pale brown, almost white.

How'd I miss that?

"Guys," I whispered.

They continued rummaging in their spots, ignoring me.

My eyes narrowed, and I tried again, a bit more forcefully, "Guys."

Hayate was the first to hear me, noticing the snake. He reached out, getting Anko's attention, "Hey..."

She turned, seeing what we saw through the brush, "Ohhh!"

Anko, you insufferable-.

The snake started slithering away at high speeds, "Damn it!"

I gave chase, Anko passing me to reach the snake, and Hayate matching my speed, "Kami! How long is this thing!?"

Offering a shrug mid-sprint in reply, we heard Anko yelling, "Slow down you-!"

She fell silent.

That's not good.

Looking to Hayate, he had a worried look on his face, I sped up through the woods, pushing branches out of the way and jumping clear over fallen trees.

The sight I held before me was one almost from myth, or fairy tales. Almost forty feet in length and a foot in diameter, a beige snake- no, serpent, was wrapped around Anko's whole body, except for her right arm, a muffled screaming coming from the mass of scales. It's head easily twice the size of our own.

Yeah, rather large my ass. Pedophilic imbecile…

I took a deep breath in, and without turning, I yelled to Hayate, "Focus on its main body, specifically around Anko! See if you can get it to loosen its grip!"

He only nodded, jumping forward, sword at the ready.

Now, what the hell can I do to this thing? I'm not Might Duy or his son so definitely not taijutsu, my ninjutsu is limited to mud clones, and an extremely unrefined Golem technique, so my only choice is genjutsu if its brain is even sophisticated enough for it to work.

Readying a genjutsu to make it unable to see or hear us, I circled the beast, attempting to draw its attention, "HEY!"

Its monstrous head swiveled around to meet my gaze.

There we go…

I started sprinting around it, casting the genjutsu on it, sprinting up to Anko's arm, still writhing trying to scratch at its scales.

Like that'll work.

Drawing a kunai, I placed it in her hands, hoping she wouldn't pass out for at least a few more minutes. Almost immediately after getting a hold on the kunai, she started stabbing the snake's body, going hilt deep with each attack.

Its massive tail swung around towards me, prompting me to transform into smoke, the appendage swinging through me. I floated backward as fast as possible, preparing another illusion. One that without their distractions, more than likely would end with my violent end through blunt force.

Hayate's refined swordsmanship allowed him to weave through the monster's attacks, slicing at whatever piece of exposed snake he could.

Let's hope this doesn't fuck up.

Practically stabbing the serpent with my chakra, I forced my genjutsu to its central nervous system, overriding any and all commands being sent.

Sleep.

The thrashing and destruction of the forest slowed, its hold on Anko visibly weakening as its head lulled from side to side. Pulling herself away from the loose, scarred scales, Anko jumped towards the ground outside, heaving on the ground, taking in gasps of what I could only assume to her, was precious air.

With one final hiss, the serpent collapsed onto the forest floor, crushing everything beneath it. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, and jogged up to Anko, "Are you alright Anko?"

She took in a few more labored breaths, "Y-yeah," placing her hands on her knees, she looked to the sky, "T-thanks for the h-help."

No way she's fine, especially with the way she's breathing.

I reached down, and lifted her up to her feet, making her lean on me, "Your ribs are probably damaged from the constriction, especially with its weight."

Anko tried to pull away, but I didn't let her, she's in no condition to refuse help.

"Just work with me Anko, the quicker we get back to Orochimaru, the quicker we can get you medical attention."

Huffing, she leaned into my side, arm wrapped over my shoulder.

A shout came from the snake's body, Hayate sitting on it, "How're we going to bring this back?"

I froze.

Damn it.

Orochimaru was still where we left him, on the rock. He was sporting his usual twisted grin, his legs crossed, "I assume you three were unsuccessful?"

Hayate pulled a bloody scrap of skin from his back pocket, a lime green diamond colored into the slightly discolored skin.

He seemed pleasantly surprised if his cackling was any indicator.

"Oh, the poor serpent, you three our ruthless."

Bringing up his hand into a hand seal, a large puff came from the forest behind us, the diamond leaving with it.

It was a summon.

Maintaining a stone face, I looked to Orochimaru, "You sent us in there with a high level summon?"

He smirked, "High level? Just be grateful it wasn't Manda."

The giant snake you used in the war? Gee thanks for not using it. On FRESH GENIN.

I felt Anko slip a little, so I readjusted, "Alright, well Anko was injured during the fight, so if we could get her some help, I'm sure it would be much appreciated."

At that, he frowned, noticing Anko's injured form. He nodded, motioning for me to hand her over to him. After getting her in his arms, he body flickered away, leaving Hayate and me in his literal dust.

Wow.

My eye twitched, but I ignored that, and turned to Hayate, who still had a worried look plastered on his face, "She'll be fine, "I rubbed my eyes, and gave him a small grin, "Feel like getting some food?"

"S-sure."

We were in the Konoha streets at a food stand, nothing special. I didn't grab a snack whilst Hayate just got himself some ramen. Eh, not my kind of food.

He finished slurping from his bowl, "So," He burped, flushing slightly, "Excuse me, so when do you think Anko will be back?"

Propping my head up on my hand, I closed my eyes, "With her tenacity and the skill of Konoha's medics, she'll be fine before the days even over."

"And what makes you so sure abou-."

"YOU GUYS ARE EATING WITHOUT ME!"

Bingo.

Opening my eyes, I glanced at Anko, "Hello."

She was literally fuming, "After my valiant sacrifice-."

I threw a full box of dango at her face to shut her up, but she caught it, "What's this?"

A smile wormed its way onto my usually stoic face, "A congratulations on passing the test."

Any semblance of rage that was once on her face fell away as she opened the box, "O-oh, thanks then, I guess."

Closing my eyes again, I leaned my head back, "Let me know when you have my gift ready."

"W-wait what! I have to give you a gift now!" She spluttered.

"It's only common courtesy Anko."

She huffed, "Did Hayate give you a gift?"

I opened one of my eyes, "Nope, but I didn't get him one, so he's not obligated."

Puffing up her cheeks, she glared at me. Eventually, she let out a defeated sigh, "Alright, I'll get you a gift at some point, but right now, Orochimaru wants to see us."

Tilting my head, my eyes widened ever so slightly, while Hayate paused to look to Anko.

"Do we go now?"

She crossed her arms, "Well, not right now, but in a few hours."

I leaned back in my seat, "Then we can go then," I pat a seat at the table, "Why don't you sit with us?"

As she usually did whenever I talked, she huffed but took her seat at the table.

Hayate stood up, evidently finished with his bowl, "I just remembered, my dad wanted me home early for training, sorry guys."

You choose now to leave? Right when she gets here? …traitor…

I waved to him as he left, Anko settling with a muffled bye.

Propping my head back up, I closed my eyes.

Maybe I can get some shuteye before we go?

However, my attempted nap was interrupted by Anko pushing my arm out from beneath me.

SHI-.

My thought was cut off by the thud my forehead made on contact with the table. I left my head down, "Yes Anko?"

"Get up you sloth!"

I brought my head up to look her in the eye, "Well ouch, that almost hurt my feelings."

She simply glared at me, "We need to talk."

For the third time I propped my head up while maintaining eye contact, "And what would you like to talk about?"

She looked away, "I, uh, I appreciate the help you gave me. It means a lot."

Now she's all adorable 'n shit. Of course... did I just call her adorable?

Tilting my head, I looked at her inquisitively, "For what? The leaning thing? Don't worry about it, you and Hayate are my only friends really, so it's a given that I'd help you, you're important to me."

Lighting up red, she squirmed in her seat, "Uhhhmm."

I smirked, "Although to be honest, the main reason was that losing a teammate so early on would've been annoying to deal with."

Immediately her embarrassment turned to anger, and she lunged over the table for my throat. Leaning back, I accepted my fate.

That's more like it.

"If what I've been told is true, then you two showed great promise in your respective fields."

All of us were in his room if you could call it that, it looked more like a personal lab to me.

He turned to Anko with a slightly disappointed look, "However, due to Anko's eagerness, she didn't get to properly exercise her skills. Is that correct?"

She flinched at his gaze but nodded.

"I see," he placed a hand to his chin, "I suppose that means extra training for you Anko."

Anko Looked at the floor meekly, "Yes Orochimaru."

His look morphed to an almost excited appraisal, "On the other hand, Hayate and Ton seemed exceptional in their skills. Hayate, your kenjutsu is already extremely refined, and to fight off one of my larger serpents is no easy feat; Ton, the prowess in your genjutsu skills is already easily high chunin level, I don't know how you train, but keep it up and you might just reach your goal."

That's probably the result of years of playing with the sanity of Konoha's civilians and low chunin guards.

I let a small grin on my face, "Thank you Orochimaru."

Hayate parroted me with a slight stutter, "Y-yes, thank you."

His smirk died down to a small smile, that seemed almost looked proud, "I've brought you all here to let you know that you've passed and that I'm looking forward to teaching you all."

He put his hand on Anko's shoulder, "Especially you, Anko."

Favoritism much? Probably should've expected this, with him being her tutor for two years.

Anko brightened, standing up straighter.

Orochimaru stepped back, turning his attention to some documents on a table behind him, "You all are free to go home for today, dismissed."

I was on my way home, taking the scenic route over the old apartment flats roofs, the cicadas buzz soothing me as I walked. No people around to ruin this rare moment of respite from people's trivial discussions, no people to distract me from my own thoughts, no one-.

"Hey! What're you doin' up there!"

I keep forgetting the damn rule…

Peeking over the edge of the roof, I was met with the sight of boy about my age, maybe slightly older with a blue coat with orange highlights, goggles hanging around his neck.

My fingers twitched.

Might as well.

Standing up, I casually walked down the edge of the building. He seemed a bit on edge at my silence, "W-why aren't you answering?"

I deadpanned, "My social battery is sort of fucked right now, so it's hard to hold a conversation. Sorry if I seem rude."

He relaxed at that, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile, "Man, you kinda had me going for a minute, with the roof watching thing you were doin'."

Shrugging, I put my hands in my pocket.

Huh, I wonder if I can swipe something of his…

An awkward silence followed before he shifted uncomfortably, "So, uh, my name's Obito Uchiha! What's yours?"

I cast a quick genjutsu on him, "My names Ton'neru Iburi, weren't you that kid in the academy that was always yelling about becoming Hokage and surpassing someone named Kakashi?"

Chuckling sheepishly, the newly dubbed Obito rubbed the back of his head again, "Y-yeah, that's me. And those things are definitely gonna happen!"

Strolling up to his side, he continued staring at where I was, holding a conversation with 'me'. My fingers rose to his head, deftly untying his headband, and catching it as it fell from his forehead. Luckily for me, I accounted for the sensation of his headband in the genjutsu.

Releasing the illusion, I leaned on his shoulder, my arm draped over his shoulders, "Nice headband."

Immediately he jumped back, a scared look on his face, "W-WHAT THE-," He cut himself off before he woke up all his neighbors. Placing a hand to his chest, he heaved, "How did you do- never mind, just, can I get my headband back. Please?"

Smirking, I threw it to him, "Well you're definitely not boring," Placing my hands in my pockets quickly, I looked him in the eye, "Feel free to come over if you see me anywhere, you seem fun to talk with."

He looked back at me confused, "Al-alright, sure Ton'neru." Turning away from me, he strolled off, mumbling about how crazy I was.

Well, I don't really want this, sooo…

"Hey! Obito!"

Pivoting back towards me, he seemed frustrated, "Yeah?"

I pulled one of my hands out of its pocket, throwing him something, "Catch."

True to his ninja training, he caught it mid-air, inspecting it, his eyes widening before he started to feel his face, "You nabbed my goggles too!"

Smirking once more, I turned to lamp-lit streets of Konoha, waving behind me, "Stay safe Obito."