A/N: I am very sorry for the pause, bad case of writer's block.

Also, before we start, I want to rectify a misunderstanding: I do NOT do bulk uploads. If it looked like that for you, it's because FFN didn't notify you. FFN had some issues with the email notifications. It seems as if they have fixed the issue now, but just in case things get worse again, remember that this fic is also on AO3.

Aftermath

A slightly tickling sensation on his skin made Sasuke's consciousness slowly drift back into reality. He was lying on grass. As he tried to move, a stinging pain shot through the side of his neck. Right, that guy… 'Orochimaru' had bitten him and left that weird mark. Sasuke mentally cursed. All this training and preparation with Tanya-sensei and yet, they hadn't been able to do anything against him.

Someone shouted something in the distance. From his lying position, Sasuke began moving his limbs to wake up his muscles. Suddenly, a noise echoed through the forest. Something flew over him, crashing into the trees with so much destructive force that wood was torn apart left and right. His eyes instantly shot open and he jumped to his feet. In the same movement, he tried to draw a kunai, only to realize that his weapon pouch wasn't on his hip.

With his Sharingan active he looked around, trying to quickly assess the situation. First, he spotted two members of Team 10, both seemingly injured. Had they attacked them while he was out?

His question was answered when he spotted a beheaded corpse of a boy he wasn't familiar with that was just in the process of falling to the ground. Behind him stood Sakura, looking beaten up and very exhausted. Two more Genin with the same headband as the dead one were a bit further away on the ground, alive but clearly in no condition to fight.

"Sakura!" he called out and rushed over to her. Taking note of his presence, his teammate sported a relieved smile before collapsing to her knees. Sasuke reached her just in time to catch her.

"Sasuke…," she panted, and Sasuke noticed the dark rings under her eyes as well as the telltale signs of chakra exhaustion. "Are you… okay?" Then, all the tension seemed to leave her body, and before he could answer, she fell asleep in his arms.

Carefully, he laid her on the ground, far enough away from the forming pool of blood so it wouldn't reach her. He then stood up and faced the other two, eyes focused on the music notes on their foreheads. It was the same as Orochimaru had worn.

"I take it you are the ones responsible for this," he growled at the sound ninja.

Sensing the hostility in his voice the black-haired girl tried to stand up but appeared to have trouble with her balance and went back down to her knees, gritting her teeth in frustration. The bandaged boy didn't give Sasuke more than a side glance, but it seemed like that was all he was currently able to do. But before either of them could speak, another voice echoed from the treetops.

"Yes, I was about to ask the same thing."

Sasuke looked up. A boy with empty, white eyes similar to Hinata and a girl with twin buns, both sporting leaf headbands, glared at the sound ninja with contempt. Sasuke remembered seeing the two briefly during the written test.

"I do not take kindly to people mistreating my teammates," the boy continued in a calm, yet threatening voice. Both he and the girl hopped down from their branch.

"Although it appears that whatever I could do to you, someone already beat me to it. And I am above bullying some beaten weaklings." He then addressed Sasuke. "However, if you aren't, then by all means, go ahead. I had hoped for a chance to test my Byakugan against your Sharingan but in light of the current situation, this doesn't seem to be the right place."

"Wait!"

About to go back to his teammate, he stopped and gave Sasuke a shoulder glance.

"Yes?"

"You are a Hyūga, aren't you?"

"I am. My name is Neji. So mark my words, Sasuke Uchiha…" The veins around his eyes bulged out the same way Hinata's had done during training. "... when we meet for the next time in this exam, I shall prove that my eyes are superior."

His eyes went back to normal and he rejoined with the girl with twin buns who was currently looking after the unconscious Lee away. Sasuke returned his attention to the two Sound Ninja. The girl had slung the boy's arm over her shoulder and together, the two tried to stand up. The Sound Kunoichi gave Sasuke a defiant look, but the bandaged boy held her back.

"Leave it be, Kin," he said. He then used his free hand to pull something out of his pocket and let it fall to the ground. It was an 'Earth' scroll.

"Take it. Now please let us leave."

Sasuke took a few seconds before he gave them a response.

"Fine," he said and picked up the scroll. "But only if you answer me a question."

He pulled his collar to the side and showed them the strange mark, surrounded by the five-pronged seal. Judging by their reaction, they seemed shocked to see it.

"Why… why do you have this?!" Kin exclaimed. "Is that why Pink over there knew about Lord Orochimaru?!"

"I am the one asking questions," Sasuke growled, but it was good to know that his guess about their allegiance was correct. "Now tell me what this is!"

"... I don't know the stuff around it, but the mark in the middle is called 'Juin', the cursed seal," the boy explained. "I don't know how it works. I only know that it is one of Lord Orochimaru's creations and that it grants power to those who have it. If they survive getting it, that is."

It grants power?

"And what is he planning?"

"No one but himself knows that."

That wasn't very helpful. Then again, he didn't really feel anything coming from the mark aside from the bite wound, so the seal they had copied did its job. He needed to know more, but it didn't seem like the Sound Genin had any useful information.

"Then leave. But should I see either of you again in this trial-"

"LEE! SNAP OUT OF IT!"

A sudden shout interrupted him, and he could see the girl with the twin buns violently shake the unconscious Lee. Surprisingly, that did indeed wake him up.

"Uuh… huh? Wha… um, Tenten? What are you doing here? Where is… ah, Sakura!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but Lee was already hearing about the situation from Tenten and he elected to ignore them. Shortly after, however, a now calmed-down Lee came hobbling over.

"Sasuke. Could you tell Sakura something when she wakes up?"

He gestured for him to continue.

"Please tell her that I'm sorry I couldn't do more. But the lotus of the Hidden Leaf Village blooms twice, and the next we meet, I will be stronger."

After that, Lee, Tenten, and Neji left. Taking their chance, the Sound Genin left as well, and Sasuke didn't stop them. Instead, he went over to Sakura to make sure she was indeed fine besides her exhaustion, but he then noticed movement from the bushes.

"Is he gone?" Ino asked as she entered the clearing, leaning onto Shikamaru.

"Why were you hiding?"

"Well, we had a run-in with that Neji-guy earlier that almost ended badly," Shikamaru explained. "Oi, Choji, how are you?!"

A voice from the pile of large branches answered.

"I… urks… I'll manage, I just..," was all Choji could get out before he threw up on the ground. "Hungry…"

"More importantly," Ino took the word again. "How are you feeling, Sasuke? You were out cold!"

Sasuke looked from Ino to Sakura and back at Ino.

"Really? That is the most important question right now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. A question that seemed to make Ino uncomfortable.

"Oh, um… uh… b-by the way, are we going to ignore that she just BEHEADED that guy?"

He threw a glance at the corpse of the spiky-haired boy. By now, a rather large pool of blood had formed from the severed neck.

After that fateful night, Sasuke had promised himself that the first man he'd kill was his brother. But that was a promise he had already broken the evening before the exam in the T&I department.

"Tanya-sensei," Sakura had asked before they did the deed, "If I may: how many did you kill so far?"

The golden-haired girl had gotten uncharacteristically dismissive in her response.

"It's hard to keep track of the unconfirmed ones and I don't like to pad my numbers."

That had been quite the wake-up call for Sasuke. He knew Shinobi took lives in combat. But accomplished Jōnin or not, Tanya-sensei was still roughly his age and only had a couple of years of service to her name. And yet, she had already killed enough to lose track of it. How many could it be? Dozens? Hundreds even? Had she fought in the war it would've been a different story, after all, the Fourth Hokage had famously killed a thousand enemy shinobi in a single battle. But during peacetime?

"As you correctly pointed out," Sasuke responded, "I was unconscious. But if Sakura did this, it means she deemed it necessary. What else is there to say?"

Ino didn't answer. In the end, Team 10 opted to keep going, as they still needed to complete the task. They also had an 'Earth' scroll, so at least that wasn't a point of contention. Before they left, Sasuke quickly asked them for the time, learning that it was the morning of the second day. He took another look at Sakura.

So it is still fairly early in the exam. We can afford to take a day to recover.

The tower in the center of the forest was quite the big structure, sporting a large arena, an expansive infirmary, multiple quarters, as well as other rooms. It was still rather early into the second task, and only two teams had arrived so far. Which was still a rather promising start, after all, only three to four teams passed the second test on average.

Kurenai seemed rather proud when her team entered the tower last night. And she had all right to be, Team 8 had been close to beating the old record. Even if their results were overshadowed by one team from Sand setting the absurd new record of ninety-seven minutes, it was still a noteworthy achievement.

To compensate for that, their fight for the other scroll must have been all the more brutal, judging by how distressed the trio looked upon arrival. I knew they were skilled, so this meant the exam had more than just a few talented participants. Not that I would complain. The stronger the competition, the more Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto could stand out during the third test. And as their sensei, their accomplishments would naturally reflect back on me.

I was in the middle of my morning exercise when someone knocked on my door.

"One moment, please!" I called as I quickly grabbed my flak jacket and my headband. Currently, the only people in the tower were the proctors, the two teams who passed, and the Jōnin-sensei of all teams that made it into the second test. In other words, there was a chance that there was someone from outside on the other side of the door, and there was, I, as a member of the Leaf's elite, needed to be presentable.

As I opened the door I was greeted by a tall man with slanted eyes and long hair that he wore in a ponytail paired with two long side bangs. The music note on his forehead proved that I had made the right call.

"Good morning. You are Tanya Umino, correct?"

"I am, good morning. You must be Kobura Hebiō, I assume?"

Surprised, Kobura raised his eyebrows.

"Oh? I did not expect my name to be known here."

"Knowing the names of one's guests is just common sense in my opinion. Just because you come from a less influential country doesn't give me the right to place myself above you," I said with a smile. It wasn't the complete truth since because of Orochimaru's threat, the guests were screened much more thoroughly. I still believed what I said though.

Plus, they weren't even that irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It had only been a few years since the Land of Rice Fields had founded its own Hidden Village and renamed itself the Land of Sound. Not much was known about them except for the fact that they had a rather large amount of capable ninja for such a small nation, part of the reason why they got recognized so quickly. Now was their first time participating in the joint Chūnin exams, so being diplomatic about this meeting was imperative.

"Then I guess there is no need to introduce myself. If it is fine with you, I would like to converse with you a bit. Though the doorframe is no place for that I guess, would you join me for a cup of tea in the kitchen?"

'No' would have been my honest answer, which was why I did not answer honestly.

"It would be my pleasure."

We went downstairs into the kitchen area where a couple of people were currently having breakfast. I didn't see Kurenai or her team, but since the kids had arrived late at night, they likely were still asleep. Kobura made some tea on the stove while I looked for a free table. Shortly after, he put a steaming cup in front of me before taking a seat himself.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, nothing in particular. It's just that the last Uchiha is quite the name in this exam, so naturally, my interest was piqued."

Out of courtesy, I took a sip from my cup. Ginseng tea. Blech.

"It would seem my student is quite famous."

"Absolutely. At least if we are talking in terms of this exam, otherwise you yourself are no less interesting if I may say so."

Low-grade flattery mixed with the subtle implication that despite all, he is still the older one. At least if you only count this life. Let's see where he is trying to get with this.

"But let's stay on the topic of Sasuke for now. He, as well as Gaara from the Hidden Sand, are basically the stars of this exam. I already heard people say that if these two are not in the third exam, they won't bother showing up, because seeing Sasuke and Gaara fight is all they care about."

Gaara. Right, he was on the Sand team that had bested the record.

"Sounds like the bookmakers are going to have a field day."

"No doubt, but I personally am more interested in their skills. In fact, my team was quite eager to test their skills against him."

Ah, so that was what he wanted to achieve with this conversation. Well, you can't really blame newcomers for a bit of self-promotion. Responding to his competitive spirit, I gave him a friendly, challenging grin.

"If that is their attitude, they will have a problem. Sasuke is not alone, and his teammates are nothing to scoff at." I made sure of that.

"Ah, yes, I heard the proctors talk about them. A Genin not only being able to use Shadow clones but doing so as proficiently as him is not something I encountered before. And the same can be said about that girl being able to use both Genjutsu and a bit of Nature Transformation."

Did Sakura use that in the first part? Weird, I couldn't recall reading about that in the report of the first test. However, the one Ibiki gave me was an early draft, so maybe they hadn't compiled all the notes yet.

Suddenly, a smell entered my nose. A smell I had sorely missed for a long time. Coffee. Not the cheap instant coffee you could get in the Leaf, but real, high-quality roast. But how? With a side glance, I spotted Baki, the Jōnin-sensei of Gaara's Team, standing at the kitchenette. Him, I had actually known beforehand, having met him briefly during a mission a few years ago. He seemed to be in the process of heating a kettle, and next to him on the sideboard stood a small bag and, no doubt about it, a manual coffee grinder.

The grin that now appeared on my face was not fake. But obviously, I couldn't just walk out of a conversation, and Kobura wasn't done.

"I also heard they seem quite fond of explosive tags."

"Well, that is only natural," I answered without hesitation. "They are strong, yet accessible and simple to use. At the same time, they are easy and safe to carry and work against any type of opponent. There really is no reason for a shinobi to at any time have less than as much as they fit in their bag on them."

Kobura blinked.

"Well, I can see where they got it from. But while most shinobi do have them as part of their arsenal, they usually see them more as situational tools and prefer to rely on their own skill as their main strategy."

"That's like saying 'I can walk on my own so I don't need shoes'. Outside of missions that require secrecy, explosions are great against any type of opponent no matter what other Ninjutsu one knows."

"An interesting take for sure. But I have claimed enough of your time for now. Maybe we can continue talking another day."

The way he ended the conversation seemed a bit abrupt, but I wouldn't complain about it. Now I could finally see if Baki was willing to share some of his- wait. Sakura's Genjutsu was one thing, but how did he know about the explosive tags?

Spewing a small flame, Sasuke ignited the dry leaves he had collected before putting them between the pieces of timber. It didn't take long before a small bonfire burned. Maybe she was sensing the warmth, because shortly after, Sakura began to wake up. Slowly at first, but as soon as she noticed him, she jumped up.

"Ah, Sasuke! What is… where are…"

"Calm down, there is no need to be loud. The battle is over."

The pinkette let out a relieved breath and sat back down.

"Is Ino gone already? I wanted to see if I could heal her ear. It would've been difficult for me if they hadn't shown up, I owe them for that. Although I guess healing cuts and healing eardrums aren't exactly the same and I only know some basics. What if I'd make things worse? Ah, right, what about you? Is that seal causing you any issues?"

"Well, it certainly does its job keeping that strange mark in check. Besides that, I feel like it impedes the chakra flow into my left arm a bit, but as far as I can tell, that's it."

"What do you mean, 'that's it'? Aren't you left-handed? Having the chakra in your main arm partially blocked is a big deal! I… I'm sorry that I couldn't do more."

"You did enough," Sasuke countered and held up the 'Earth' scroll, causing Sakura's eyes to light up a bit. "Speaking off, what exactly did we miss while-"

"Hey! Check this out!"

A drenched, half-naked Naruto joined them. With the help of two shadow clones, he carried a fish over two meters long.

"That's gotta be the biggest tuna I've ever seen! Feels like two hundred pounds or something like that! Seems like insects aren't the only big things here. Ah, nice, the fire's already going!"

"Tunas live in the sea, idiot," Sasuke mocked him. "That's a catfish."

"If you're so smart, why don't you jump into the river next time?!" Naruto angrily responded, dissolved the shadow clones, and threw the fish to the ground. For just a moment, Sasuke thought he saw something in Naruto's belly, but it vanished basically instantly. Rolling his eyes, he took out his kunai and began gutting the catch.

"Actually, Naruto, there is something I wanted to ask," Sakura interjected with audible concern in her voice.

The blonde, who had just finished putting his pants back on, turned around.

"Sure, what's up?"

"During the fight with Orochimaru… close to the end, you suddenly… I mean, I know you have huge chakra reserves. No other adult I've met since Tanya-sensei taught me how to sense chakra came even close, not even Jōnin. But right before Orochimaru put that seal on you, it felt like your chakra had suddenly increased a hundredfold. And not just that, your chakra somehow felt… vile. Almost inhuman. What… what was that?"

Sasuke, who had only been listening with one ear, perked up. What was she talking about? It wasn't like he didn't trust her, but she sounded almost scared. What she was describing should be impossible.

He noticed how uncomfortable Naruto suddenly looked. The blonde looked back and forth between the two, clearly conflicted. Sasuke knew how it was to have something you didn't want to talk about, but something like this was different.

"Naruto," Sasuke said with a sigh. "Remember what Tanya-sensei said. Don't withhold information from your team that could be detrimental!"

His words didn't seem to convince him at first, but in the end he sight.

"I guess you would've learned it sooner or later anyway. While I don't exactly know what happened there, thinking about it, there really is only one thing it could be. You know the story of how twelve years ago, the village was attacked by a gigantic, nine-tailed fox, and how the Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself to slay it?"

The two nodded.

"Well, that story isn't completely true. The Fourth wasn't able to kill the fox; he could only seal it… inside of me."

Sasuke felt as if the forest air had just gotten notably colder. He had no idea how to react to this. Naruto's last sentence hung in the air for a while until Sakura found her words again.

"So… what I felt… that was the fox?"

"I guess. Sometimes, when I'm very sad, or very angry, I hear this voice inside my head. It's hard to understand, but I can feel the unbound rage within it. And when it looked like Orochimaru was about to kill you, that rage boiled over. It… it… how do I explain that? Um, you see, if normal chakra is blue, then this felt like… red chakra? Does that make sense? To be honest, I don't know how I never connected the dots. But in retrospect, it has to be the Ninetails."

"Could you mold some chakra?"

Naruto blinked.

"Hm? Um… sure."

He formed a 'ram' seal, and shortly after, two patterns appeared on his stomach. The inner one was a whirl-like structure, while the outer one was the same one that held the mark on Sasuke's shoulder in check.

So that's what I saw earlier. I guess Sakura noticed it as well.

"I think I get it," Sasuke concluded. "Your anger for Orochimaru made this… 'red chakra' leak out, that's what Sakura felt. And then Orochimaru sealed it away."

"Oh, that's what he did? Is that why my chakra feels a bit harder to control? If I see that bastard again… wait, is that all you two have to say about that?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, unsure what his teammate meant.

"I mean, what else is there? None of us are proficient with seals, so we can't do anything about this right now. Which is probably better, if that scribble is all that's holding back the Demon Fox, we need a sealing master to have a look at it."

"Hang on," Sakura chimed in, "could THAT be the reason why the village shuns you?"

"YES, damn it! It's supposed to be an S-rank secret, but somehow, all the adults know it! I myself only learned it a few months ago! Why are you guys so casual about it?!"

"I always thought people were just annoyed by your constant pranks!"

"Yeah, that makes no sense," Sasuke stated. "You're not the fox, you're its prison. If a dangerous criminal were incarcerated, no one would hate the warden."

Why was Naruto now staring at Sasuke with his mouth agape? What he had said was just common sense.

"I mean," Sakura began, "not saying I agree with the villagers, but I can kind of understand where they are coming from. They lost loved ones to the Ninetails. They wanted to hate the fox for what he did, but the fox was no longer there. Naruto, on the other hand… was."

"So? From what I heard, Tanya-sensei lost her parents that night, and I don't recall her treating Naruto any different!"

"She was a baby back then, just like us. Maybe she doesn't know?"

"It's Tanya-sensei, of course, she knows!" Sasuke could feel himself getting increasingly angry. "This is bullshit!"

"Yes, obviously," Sakura quickly said. "From a rational standpoint, I completely agree with you. It's just… grief doesn't exactly encourage rational thinking."

"That's maybe an excuse for a month, not for TWELVE DAMN YEARS!"

"I'm not trying to excuse it! It IS messed up! But all of this is a lot to comprehend, I'm just trying to make sense of it!"

Make sense? There was no sense in this. Was that how Naruto's life had been until now? Hated by everyone, blamed for deaths he had nothing to do with?

And I used to call him weak. How many people would have had the strength to endure like he did?

Their heated discussion was interrupted by a quiet snivel. As the two looked over to Naruto they noticed tears forming in his eyes, and his lower lip began to quake. Then, he started crying.

They patiently waited for their teammate to let it all out. When he had his emotions under control again, he thanked both of them lengthily. They then grilled the fish, and Sasuke had Sakura bring the two boys up to speed with everything that had happened while they were out. Suddenly, Naruto's cocked his head.

"Is something wrong?" Sakura inquired.

"I had some shadow clones scout the area. One of them found another team."

"Then we should go," Sasuke decided. "Let's finish this task and get to the tower!"

In the shadow of an outgrown root, a bespectacled, red-haired girl sat in hiding. She could feel her heart in her throat as she anxiously waited for her teammates to return. What if someone found her while they were away? She was a ninja only on paper, she had no idea how to fight! The headband with the grass insignia still felt foreign on her forehead.

A noise made her look up, and a loud shriek escaped her when she stared into the face of a gigantic centipede. As she jumped back, a kunai whisked past her, piercing the arthropod's head and killing it.

"Quiet, useless! Do you want to tell the entire forest where we are?"

The insult meant little to her compared to the relief of knowing that Shigeri and Wara were back and she was no longer alone. When they stepped into her field of view, she noticed that the two boys were bleeding, sporting multiple cuts each.

"W-what happened? D-did you find another team?" She asked with the faint hope that they had acquired a scroll so they could leave this frightening place.

"Just some overgrown cat. This forest is a mess!" Shigeri grumbled. He then grabbed her wrist, ungently yanked her to her feet, and pushed back her sleeve. A pained outcry left the girl's mouth as his teeth sank into her skin, adding to the uncountable number of bite marks that riddled her body.

"Quit whining and do the one thing you are good for!" Wara reprimanded her and bit her as well. The girl's special ability allowed the two to suck out part of her chakra and slowly, their wounds close.

"This isn't working," Shigeri noted once both were healed. "This forest is too vast, looking just in the vicinity of our camp and playing it safe won't get us anywhere unless we get lucky."

"Then what should we do? We can't take her to fight, she'll just die from a stray shuriken!"

"Let's relocate. Maybe we have better chances if we get closer to the tower. Everyone has to go there, after all."

They packed their stuff and departed. The girl followed, but something was off. Sometimes, she got this strange feeling, telling her that someone was nearby. She didn't know what it was, but right now, she felt it stronger than ever before. Startled, she turned around and looked up, but no one was there. And the feeling was gone as well.

A/N: So, just so nobody gets confused, Kobura Hebiō is supposed to be Orochimaru's alter ego as Jōnin-sensei of the Sound Trio. You can see him wear this disguise at the start of the preliminaries (Just type "Orochimaru Preliminaries" into Google image search if you need a reminder). The name is from me since I couldn't find one, feel free to tell me if I missed it. Since Orochimaru didn't leave the corpses out in the open this time the village didn't get alarmed about him entering the exam, so he and Anko didn't meet (yet).