Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto universe and everything included in said universe!

Enjoy!

Ghost and Micheru had wandered through the street looking for their target for the better part of three days. So far, they had come up with nothing and Ghost was starting to suspect that they would most likely have to wait until the actual exam.

That was until they rounded a corner and took a shortcut that led them through an alleyway. They softly conversed through one another until Ghost stopped dead in his track.

"Ghost?"

Leaning against a tree was a man with red robes and metal plating attached to his wrist, legs and shoulder. He had dark brown hair which was cut relatively short. Ghost looked at the man, taking in his features.

The man dressed in red looked back. "What...are you looking at?"

"You..." The Hunter replied. 'The descriptions match, this has to be him.'

"And why are you..." The man stopped midsentence as he came to a realization and smiled. "You two must be Hunters then, how very interesting...You have certainly become an annoyance to our plans."

"We aim to please." Ghost looked around and noticed no immediate Konoha-nin, not that it would last very long.

"What's your name Hunter? and what of the other? does she even speak, or is she afraid?"

Micheru stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "Afraid of you? We outmatch you two to one, your fleet is still weeks away."

Ghost let his hand slowly wander to his katana before abruptly turning, letting a kunai fly from his hand.

His kunai got deflected by a woman with black hair tied in a bun. She wore the same outfit and seemed to be around 26. "So, there are two of you...interesting."

The women leaned against the building. "Hunters? What are they doing here, Riadora?"

Riadora shrugged. " I don't know Sia, we didn't get to that part yet. But that doesn't matter, you know our orders; Kill anyone who stands in our way."

Ghost vanished and appeared next to Sia, grabbing her by the side of her head and slammed it into building she was leaning against. The Hunter vanished once more and appeared beside Riadora, this time slamming his knee in his opponent's stomach causing him to bend over in pain.

"You know how to use flashstep?" Sia growled as she regained her composure and charged forward.

Micheru in the meanwhile was hesitant about how she would react. 'I can't let Ghost fight on his own! He needs my help!'

Ghost grabbed Riadora by his wrist and threw him into the charging woman, unsheathing his katana whilst doing so.

The two Unknowns slammed into each other and fell in a heap to the ground. They instantly recovered and was about to charge once more until they were forcefully reminded that there were two Hunters.

Micheru came flying in from the side and planted both her feet in Sia's face crashing her straight through the back of the same building she was slammed in moments earlier.

Ghost nodded his approval and charged Riadora who had unsheathed his own blade. The two met and clashed blades, until Riadora gained the upper hand and overpowered the Hunter. He followed up with a hard blow to Ghost's face who jumped back to recover himself.

"What's your name, Hunter?"

Ghost smirked at him, wiping the blood off the corner of his mouth. "The name's Ghost." He glanced over the shoulder and saw that Sia had recovered herself and was now charging the petite blonde who in return held two kunai in a defensive posture.

He used flashstep once more and appeared beside Micheru, holding out his hand. "Ch-" but before he could finish his sentence his hand got grabbed by another. "What?!"

He snapped his gaze to his left and took a sharp intake of breath.

Standing beside him, preventing him from performing his jutsu was none other than Kakashi Hatake.

He lowered his hand and glared at the silver haired Jonin. He turned his attention to Sia and Riadora whom were being restricted by three other Konoha shinobi.

'That's...'

"What's going on here?" A young man with raven hair demanded as he stood in front of Riadora. He had roughly the same height as him and still had the same hairstyle he had back in the day. His outfit consisted of a standard issue Jonin vest with underneath a black shirt and black pants.

'Sasuke...Uchiha' Ghost sneered at him before abruptly snapping his head to one of the other Konoha-nin.

Standing there was Sakura Haruno. The years had changed her appearance a bit. She still had her hair short, but the edges were now ruffled and a bit messier, making her look more like a shinobi, rather than a girl who spent half her time wasting on her hair and make-up.

"He asked a question Ame-nin." Kakashi said as he released his grip on Ghost.

Ghost glanced to the last shinobi and saw that he was undoubtedly his replacement. He had his hair similar to his, slightly spiky but more slicked to the back. He had dark green eyes and smirk plastered on his face.

"Sumimasen, we were merely sparring with one another, but it got out of control." Sia bowed in an apologetic manner

Kakashi turned his gaze to Riadora. "You know the rules. fighting isn't allowed!"

Riadora snapped his eyes to Kakashi. "I'm sorry, it got out of hand, if you want to reprimand me, I completely understand. We merely forgot."

"That mistake cost severe structural damage to a building." The unknown Konoha-nin snapped back.

"What about you two? You aren't participants." Sakura asked, turning her focus back on the two incognito hunters.

"He just said that we were sparring, is there something wrong with your hearing, kunoichi?" Ghost grumbled. 'This is just great... What is this? a whole fucking reunion?'

"Be more respectful towards Konoha shinobi, stranger." His supposed replacement barked.

"Respect is not given freely, it's earned, and that pink haired monstrosity certainly hasn't earned it." The Hunter barked right back.

Riadora turned to leave, Sia following in his footsteps. "It fun while it lasted Hunter Ghost! I hope we'll meet again!"

Micheru looked at her companion whom merely smirked. "I doubt you'll like what the outcome will be." He gave one last glance at Sia, narrowing his eyes.

The two disappeared from his sight and he turned to leave. "Come on, let's get some food, Micheru."

Kakashi held up his hand, blocking the way. "I haven't said you could leave yet. Who are you, and what's your purpose in Konohagakure?"

Ghost rubbed his forehead in frustration. "My name's Orodochi Ghost," He then pointed at his partner. "Hers is Micheru Hadil. We're here to watch the finals of the exam."

"Liar" Sasuke scoffed as he stood next to Kakashi.

Ghost technically wasn't lying. He was merely skimping on the other part of his purpose. "Hatake, why don't you keep your pet on a leash? It's unbecoming of Konoha-nin to make accusations when they are wholeheartedly untrue."

"Wait...You're the one who was caused all that ruckus last night." The replacement spoke as he aimed his finger at Ghost.

"Wait, you did what?" Micheru asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"If you mean that I was attacked by your 'compadres' for having discussion...then, yeah I caused a ruckus last night." Stealing one of Hawke's most used terms.

"Are we free to leave?" Micheru asked politely, knowing that harsh words would get them nowhere.

Kakashi's eye settled upon the attractive blonde. Ghost could already imagine the mind of Hatake thinking at the speed of light. "First you'll be paying for the damage you have created to the building."

Micheru reached inside her cloak and pulled out a cheque book. she scribbled something down and handed it to the Jonin, whilst the former blonde was mumbling on the background. Something about the unfairness of it all.

Ghost glanced to his right and noticed the kunai he had thrown earlier and before he could walk over and pick it up, Sasuke had already strolled over and reached for it.

He momentarily looked at it before leisurely strolling over to the Hunter and handed it to him. "You showed some capable moves, but it's nothing to boast about, we'd have you flat on the ground in the blink of an eye."

'Orodochi Ghost' let the kunai twirl around his fingers. "Your brother certainly doesn't think so."

Everyone froze and turned to him. Sasuke was the first to speak up, his eyes narrowed and his jaw set. "You've met with Itachi?!"

Kakashi shoved the piece of paper in his breast pocket and turned to the two. "If you know where Itachi Uchiha is, you should tell us. There's a big reward for the one who gives us crucial information about his whereabouts."

Ghost glanced at Micheru before turning his attention fully to copy-nin. "Well, that surely is convenient...You are in need of information, and I'm in need of that cheque you just pocketed."

Without hesitation Kakashi pulled it back from his vest and held it out. but before the former blonde could grasp it, he pulled it back, holding it out of the reach of Orodochi.

"I spoke to him in Oto no Kuni." Ghost merely said, still holding out his hand.

The Copy-nin handed him the piece of paper, his head tilted slightly in curiosity. "Where exactly and how long ago?"

Ghost tore the cheque to piece. "It was in Otogakure...Three years ago."

"Three years?! what good will do that? he's long gone by now." Sakura exclaimed.

"A deal's a deal, Hatake. Micheru let's get going, if I'm going to stay here for a moment longer I might just kill myself."

The rude Ame-nin left behind a fuming Sasuke and an intrigued Kakashi. Sakura and Ridou just looked on with a combination of anger and surprise.

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Micheru and the brown haired missing-nin from Konoha sat down at a table on a terrace overlooking the market square. "You really should play along, Ghost. It will help us in the long run."

He merely shrugged and took a sip from his drinking, his eyes soaking in everything there was to see. Konoha had changed little since his departure. It still had its low wooden buildings that didn't go higher than a three-story building. The difference for him was that people didn't look at him in disgust. Surely, they were weary of him, but that was due to his affiliation with Ame, or so it appeared for them at least. "We'll be gone from here soon, don't see the point in playing nice with these tree huggers."

Micheru sighed, a small smile appearing on her face. "You've changed since I last saw you."

'Orodochi' turned his gaze the other away, looking slightly uncomfortable. "It's been five years since we last spoke, Micheru."

"What happened in those five years?"

"Mister? What's going on?"

"Ghost?" she placed a hand on his arm and gently shook it, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"I uh...I'm good." he let out a single cough before focusing his attention on his food, taking a bite from it.

Micheru decided to ignore his strange behavior and instead reached for the chopsticks and started inhaling her noodles.

"So, I must say, that kick you gave Sia was impressive, you waited for an opening and abused it." her teammate started.

She hesitated. "I got lucky, in a straight up fight I don't know if I'll be able to handle her."

"Don't worry, I can handle them both. You make sure that the moment Konoha arrives you keep them back," He took one last bite from his food before he set it aside. "You don't even have to fight them, just keep Konoha away from us.

"Are you sure you can take them both on? They didn't look like pushovers to me." She looked down at her hands, unsure what to do.

Ghost waved with his hand dismissively while giving her a grin "I got some tricks up my sleeve. You do your part, I'll do mine. I promised I'd keep you safe, and I will."

Micheru looked at him and actually took in his features. The man sitting in front her had brown hair slightly spiky but gravity slightly pulled it down. He had no markings on his face, completely unblemished. his blue eyes almost seemed to glow and held determination in them, not a shred of doubt crossed his mind. 'He's certainly attractive, I can't deny that...But he's got a presence that is very calming and yet at the same time…intimidating.'

"You sure you don't want to take a picture?" A smirk crawling on his face.

A small blush appeared on her face and quickly looked away. "Don't get any funny ideas!"

His smirk turned into a chuckle. "I wouldn't dream of it, Mrs Hadil."

In return she threw one of her chopsticks at him hitting him square in the face.

As the afternoon slowly turned into the evening Ghost found himself in front of a familiar building.

The building in front of him had been completely remodeled and looked like something that fit just right in the village 'Very interesting that when I lived here, the landlord wasn't in the slightest interested in cleaning this place up. The moment I leave it's all suddenly changed... Fuck this place.'

He walked past it and glanced at the Hokage monument. The head of the Yondaime. He had spent hours sitting on top of the man's head, pondering just who his parents were. only to realize he had been sitting atop it all that time. 'To think that he placed his own kid in such a situation. This village is messed up.'

He turned around and walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow would be the finals of the exam. He knew that Riadora and Sia would most likely strike then, inflict massive casualties along the way, what better way to do that when thousands upon thousands were watching.

His priority was clear. Kill them before they merged with the demon. If he failed to do that, he should most likely have to trigger his own powers 'I rather not do that though...Micheru would have a difficult time to understanding.'

He walked up the stairs and towards his hotel room. Glancing at the clock on the wall he realized with surprise that it was already close to midnight and that he had let his mind wander for far too long.

Entering the room, he already noticed that Micheru was fast asleep. He tip-toed past her bed and slowly pulled off his clothes. He gave her a glance and a soft smile tucked on his face that quickly turned into a frown. 'I should've done this alone, she isn't ready to face these opponents yet...But then again, in about three weeks all that doesn't matter anymore so maybe this will do her some good.'

He slid in bed and let his weariness consume him.

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Raipa and Hawke nodded at one another as they dashed towards their opponent Syks. He was wearing a red cloak and had a big battle-axe in his hands, befitting of a man his size

Hawke was the first to attack, he formed a series of hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" a large fire ball blasted towards the Unknown and help his hands in an attempt to block it.

"Now Raipa!"

Raipa made a circular movement with his hand before drawing it back and pumping it back forward. A long narrow bolt of lightning erupted from his hand and dashed forward.

Syks saw the attack coming and removed one hand from the Katon attack and tried to block this attack as well.

Raipa smirked and knew that this would turn the battle in their favor.

Instead of blocking the attack, the bolt snapped straight through his hand and pierced he left side of his chest. With a roar of pain Syks fell to one knee. With another, but this time determined roar he ignored the pain and used both hands to push the Katon jutsu aside, ramming into a nearby boulder.

Heavily panting the Unknown stood back up and charged Raipa, who grabbed his blades that were stabbed into the ground and met his attacker head on. He performed an overhead, downward slash with both blades but Syks blocked it with his own weapon. He pirouetted, effectively pushing Raipa aside and blocking Hawke's own incoming kunai.

Before the man could counter with his axe, Raipa had already planted his feet in the back of Syks who stumbled forward, straight into Hawke.

"Come to daddy!" Hawke shouted, a triumphant smile on his face. He rammed a kunai into the throat of his seemingly unstoppable foe. With a grunt he tore open the man's throat and let the blood-soaked kunai fall into the sand.

Six mouthed something as his legs started to give out. With one last grunt he swung his axe but Hawke saw it coming and dodged it.

"Nice try big guy, but you're done. Say hello to your friends down below!" Hawke walked past the dying man and stood next to Raipa. All in all, they had some minor wounds but that was well worth the price.

"You okay Raipa?"

The man with the odd accent nodded. "Noth'ing serious, let's go h'ome yes?"

Hawke nudge with his head and they managed with a steady pace to leave the desert of Suna and into the forest where the temperature was noticeably different.

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Orodochi Ghost and Micheru Hadil walked to the stadium, surrounded by hundreds of other people, intent on watching the finals with great interest.

The Jonin exam were apparently similar to that of the Chunin but in this case they had to showcase strength. With the Chunin exam you had to show the wit and intelligence necessary for that of a Chunin. These matches would come down to a simple yet fitting brutal one on one fight. Everyone had the chance to become Jonin, if they showed that they had the capabilities befitting of that rank.

He saw Micheru fidgeting with her nails, picking at it. doubt and worry were clearly visible on her face. He reached for her hands and softly squeezed.

She looked at him and returned the gesture. "How are you not freaking out right now?"

"Who says I'm not freaking out?" Ghost entered the arena, letting Micheru go through first. Beforehand they had stashed all their weapons in two scrolls who Micheru then hid inside the sleeves of her shirt. They also knew that Chunin would be thoroughly checking for any illegal substances or weapons. After the disastrous Chunin exam that happened all those years ago, they decided not to take any chances.

The downside to the security measures were the males in the detachment. Micheru merely twirled the scrolls around her sleeve, layered with a small but effective genjutsu. along with an alluring smile she managed to sneak the scrolls in easily, with the eyes of the Chunin still on her retreating figure.

"Ahum."

The Chunin snapped his attention back to the next person, which just so happened to be Ghost.

After Ghost was allowed through he met up with Micheru, who discreetly handed him the scroll. Ghost took the lead and led them up a set of stairs, packed with other visitors whom were excitedly talking about the upcoming fights.

Once they reached the top of the stairs the took a left and walked back into the open air. In front of them were rows upon rows of stairs. Looking down upon the fighting pit they could see that they were on the very top of the arena. And to make it even better, they were right next to the participation lounge, which was separated by a waist high wall. A couple of the Chunin whom were going to be fighting soon were chatting with one another or talking to their friends, seated right next to the lounge, where the hunters were situated.

Looking on the scoreboard he could see that Sakura Haruno and Niera Tsiku were the first contestants that would be fighting. 'So, Sakura hasn't even made Jonin yet...Pitiful.'

"When do you think they will strike?" Micheru softly asked as she sat down in their designated seats.

Ghost focused a small amount chakra on his eyes until they glowed red. Luckily for him this went unnoticed as his sunglasses obscured it. He could easily make out the dark chakra that flowed around the chakra tear. It looked like the ground had broken open and tiny amounts of chakra poured in.

"It's close. I think that one or two chakra induced fights will reach its breaking point. They will use a technique to tear it open. from there, the demon that comes through will latch itself to the nearest person with the biggest amount of chakra."

"Kami...this is crazy!" Micheru whispered, barely able to restrain her voice.

"Don't worry, it sounds crazier than it actually is," the Hunter glanced over his shoulder to the booth the participants were in. The two Unknowns had just walked in. "Two things! First; I have some extra tricks up my sleeves that will even the odds should one of them merge with a demon. If that happens, I want you to trust me okay?"

"What kind of tricks?" she asked, locking her eyes with his.

"Just trust me okay?"

She started fidgeting with her nails once more but nodded nonetheless. "What's the other thing?"

Giving one last glance at the newly arrived duo he turned his attention to Micheru once more. "If it should look like I'm about to lose. I want you flee-." Cheers and shouting erupted from the crowd as the first two contestant appeared down on the field.

"-I want you to make for Tuva and warn the others, okay?"

Micheru looked shocked. "What?! No! We do this together!"

Ghost narrowed his eyes, once more grabbing her hands to stop her from fidgeting. "This isn't up for debate. If I fall then that means that you'll be next, and I doubt you would be able to stop them both, you even said so yourself. Live to fight another day, alright?"

Micheru wanted to argue but he merely shook his head and stood up. "Don't worry alright? it's just a contingency." He walked towards the contestant's lounge and hopped over, walking towards Riadora.

"Maa, Orodochi-san, you know that's against the rules, right?" a voice behind him said.

Ghost turned around and saw Kakashi standing in the corner, the shadow obscuring him for the most part. "Copy-nin. I doubt you're a participant."

"Sakura certainly knows where to hit a guy where it hurts!" the announcer shouted as he continues to highlight the fight.

"Neither are you, yet here you are, breaking the rules once again. I begin to suspect that you're not here for the finals" Kakashi snapped his book shut and walked over.

"Actually, I am."

"I know who you are. You're not from Amegakure. You're 'the' Ghost that caused the Irosa massacre.""

Ghost sighed. "And how did you find that out?"

"It wasn't hard to figure out really, you can change the color of your hair and wear a cloak but you fit the description."

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

Kakashi looked at the ceiling for a couple of moments, seemingly thinking about his. "Well, I was planning on detaining you, but I have a feeling you wouldn't go down quietly...So I'd most likely just kill you."

Ghost quirked an eyebrow, not even in the slightest worried. "Well, rest assured that I'm not here to destroy your village or kill its inhabitants."

"Sakura advances to the next round, Niera is knocked out of the finals!"

"Then, what are you here for?"

"Will Kiba Inuzuka and Boku Tusa please come down! your match is about to begin!"

Another wave of cheers erupted from the crowd. Ghost glanced over the shoulder and saw Micheru worriedly looking at him. He winked at her in the hopes to ease her mind. "Hatake, I'm actually here to save your-. Ghost snapped his attention to Riadora as he suddenly strode towards the edge of the balcony. He instantly poured chakra into his eyes and noticed that the chakra tear was at its breaking point.

He saw Riadora and Sia jump over the edge, much to the surprise of the other attendants.

Ghost fully twirled around and started sprinting after the two, pushing two contestants roughly aside who stood in the way. "Micheru!" he shouted over his shoulder, not even sparing a glance. "It's time!"

"Hey!"

"Watch it, punk!"

"Ghost, what are you doing?!" Kakashi shouted after him, but to no avail.

The blonde undid the knot that held his cloak together and in one fluid motion as he vaulted over the edge while the brown cloth came loose and caught wind, momentarily floating before dropping on the ground in. Ghost used the momentum of his vault to slide at a ridiculous high speed down the wall. His dark hunter's outfit rippled as the wind slammed into him.

Micheru looked on from above and saw her teammate sliding down with grace. 'He's absolutely crazy!' She knew what she needed to do and sprinted across and dived into lounge, preventing Kakashi and the other Konoha shinobi from interfering. "Listen up! I'm Micheru Sun from the organization called The Hunters. We're here to prevent a tragedy from happening! I must implore you to wait until my partner's done!

Sasuke flickered into existence next to Kakashi. "What nonsense is this?"

"I assure you, this is in the best interest of your village!

Micheru glanced over the edge and down to the pit, seeing her teammate about to face off with two Unknowns.