A group of officers of Konoha's intelligence division had been inspecting a green area near some of the training grounds. It normally was a sort of park that led from the village itself to one of the locations of the many training grounds.

In this specific case, the little park was well known by the people of Konoha for its continued straight line of statues of the Sage of Six Paths. They were miniature representations showing him in deep meditation and with a symbol of Konoha on the forehead. However, said symbol had recently been painted over by a group of orthodox followers of Ninshu who disliked governments associating the Sage to them politically.

A local had reported a strange and very strong smell coming from the area, but was unable to find the source.

One of the officers had crawled to check behind the miniature statues of the Sage. In reality, they had already identified the source of the smell. Three corpses of Kusa-nin that had been brutally killed. However, there was something very odd about them.

"Starting out with a problem…" He scratched his head through his spiky hair. "I think we better report this to Lady Anko."

One of the trio nodded and immediately jumped into action. "Yessir!"

He headed as quickly as he could to the main entrance of the Forest of Death, where the chief examiner had been resting ever since the exam began. When he arrived, he found the violet-haired jounin calmly sitting on top of the stand where the piles of paper had previously been placed.

Anko seemed to be in her happy place, enjoying the silence while stuffing her face with dango rice dumplings and oshiruko bean soup. She occasionally threw nails at a nearby tree, slowly forming the symbol of Konoha.

Her content face expression ended, as did the swinging of her legs, when the officer of the Intelligence Division appeared from a cloud of smoke.

"Terrible news, Lady Anko!"

And that's when her smile dropped completely.

She finished swallowing her food before speaking. "What is it?"

"We've found dead bodies, but they're very weird!" Said the officer, while the examiner raised an eyebrow. "You must come see for yourself!"

When the officer arrived at the statues, he was being followed closely by the jounin. She was not especially worried about the situation, nor was she thinking much about it.

Until she saw the corpses, that was.

"Judging from their belongings and the few documents we found, they were shinobi from Kusagakure." Explained one of the three officers. "They were registered to take part in the Chunin Selection Exams."

Anko was completely frozen, though. Her eyes felt like they were shaking, while her stare was set on the blank faces of the corpses. But she was not afraid because of the unsettling sight of faceless corpses. She was afraid because she had seen such a thing before and knew what it meant.

"As you can see, their features are completely gone." Continued the officer. "Their faces are as smooth as though they melted away."

A series of memories flashed before her. She blinked, trying to snap herself back to reality. However, that could not stop her hands from shaking.

"Show me their ID photos," she swiftly turned around to look at the third officer, who was holding a bunch of papers. "At once!"

As she was handed the first photo, it immediately became evident. A young woman with pale skin and purple lipstick. The sweat began to build up on her cheeks as the weight of the situation finally fell on her.

"This is awful! Report this to Lord Hokage immediately and ask that he deploy two additional ANBU to the forest!" She yelled before turning back. By her posture it was clear that she was about to rush for the training ground. "Tell him Orochimaru has returned to the village!"

Before any questions could be asked, she vanished into thin air, as if she had never been there in the first place.

The sun had set and the darkness in the forest only got worse. The nights were usually the times in which the forest was the most inactive during the exams. Mostly because it was so dark that only those with a very trained eye could really take advantage of the lack of light.

Anko had been searching the entire forest as fast as she could, but in the hour and a half she had spent inside she had not been very successful. She swiftly jumped from one branch to the next one, dodging and squeezing through the very dense branches and roots of the massive trees.

She had been one of Orochimaru's students after she graduated. Certainly, she was her favorite of the three due to her superior talent. However, the man experimented on the three regardless of talent. That's how she got the mark on her neck, which her teammates could not survive.

She remained close to him until his lab was uncovered and he was forced to leave the village, only a couple of years after the attack of the Nine-Tails. Unlike most shinobi, she did not try to stop the man. Instead, she even aided his escape, still caring about who had been her teacher. And for the first few months, she was a spy for him from within Konoha.

Their relationship deteriorated very quickly, and Orochimaru disposed of her like she was nothing. After risking her life for him, she was quite hurt by the abandonment. Old man Hiruzen played a very important part in helping her, taking over the old role Orochimaru held for her. That way, she recovered her trust in Konoha, and Konoha recovered its trust in her.

But after all those years, she came to regret not having tried to stop him. With the information she had, she could have been key in the capture of Orochimaru. And for that sense of failure she now felt it was her responsibility to deal with the rogue Sannin.

He had become one of the most wanted criminals in the entire shinobi world, and reached the highest level of security risk in the bingo book. He was also one of Konoha's strongest shinobi in history. And yet, Anko was determined to take the man down all by herself. She had to be the one. Even if it cost her life.

Anko finally landed on a branch, and stood firmly while sharpening her senses.

That sense of responsibility was something he had learned from her master. To fight to the end, regardless of whether her life was on the line.

"That's what I learned from you, Orochimaru."

The man emerged from the trunk of the tree whose branch she was standing on.

"Impossible..!" He exclaimed. She quickly identified that his voice was coming from behind her, and turned around in the blink of an eye.

She pushed a set of four senbon out of her sleeve, and grabbed each one in between fingers. She jumped from the branch and aimed at the man, but he had already launched his tongue against her.

The tongue wrapped around her arm and squeezed her wrist so hard that she dropped her senbon. But far from scared, she pulled the tongue with her arm, and then used her other hand to grab it and pull even harder.

She yelled from the sheer amount of effort she was doing. Two twin snakes emerged from her sleeves and wrapped themselves around the tongue, while biting it multiple times.

Her pull managed to knock the man down, who was forced to retract his tongue. His face, however, showed excitement rather than anger or surprise. He used the same force she had been using to pull him in to then put his back first and hit her against the tree behind her.

The pain in her torso from the hit forced her to widen her eyes, and then she saw the opening. She grabbed his arm and switched positions, placing his body against the tree. Then, without letting go of his hand, she nailed both his and her own against the tree using a kunai.

With so much adrenaline in her body, she did not feel the stabbing on her hand at all. Once she had him at her mercy, pressed against the trunk of a tree and nailed to her own hand by a kunai, she confidently smirked. Though in that smile, there was also some relief.

She breathed heavily, while her face was covered in sweat. "Lend me a hand, will you?"

She began to make a combination of seals with her master's hand. For both of them, it was a very familiar combination. One of their ultimate jutsu for desperate moments, just like that one.

Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock, while Anko savored victory.

"That's right, we're going to die here together!"

But before she could make the final seal, she felt a stinging pain on her neck. She barely resisted the need to throw up.

"You mean commit suicide? How cute!" The echoing voice of the Sannin was followed by his characteristic giggles. "That's a shadow clone, dear."

Indeed, the Orochimaru she had been fighting exploded into a cloud of smoke. The shock followed by the intense pain coming from her cursed seal mark forced her to her knees.

"Since, for now, it seems you've become a jounin, you shouldn't just squander every secret I taught you."

She punched the branch she was on while moaning from pain. "Why now?!"

The Sannin grabbed onto the skin of his face and took it off like it was a mere mask. What came off was very similar to the old skin that came off reptiles who were shedding.

"For old times' sake, my dearest Anko!" He smirked. "But from your face, one could almost suspect you are not glad to see me again!"

Anko fought her hardest against the burning and expanding pain of the cursed seal and tried to stand up. So far, she had not been successful.

"What is it? An assassination attempt on Lord Third?"

Orochimaru cackled at her guesses. "I couldn't, my dear! I lack the resources and hubris to attempt something like that!"

She began to shake as she once again was forced down from the pain. The fight was over.

"I'm more scouting for young talent with extraordinary abilities! You know me!" His smile grew a little. "In fact, I already left a mark on one of the boys!"

Anko tried to rise once again, revealing her face completely dampened in sweat and with bags already formed around her eyes.

"You… monster…" She was driving her nails deep in her skin around the mark on her neck, trying to distract her nerves with another, newer pain. "Does the thought of him… give you a charge…?"

"Sadly, he didn't make it. In an hour or so he had died. I'm quite disappointed!" The man would have wanted to smile confidently, but he sighed instead. "You know, that kid was exceptional! He was one of the last of his bloodline, the Uchiha."

While her consciousness was beginning to give in, the news of the death of the heir of the Uchiha only made things worse.

"You…"

"Though, my dearest Anko, I have reason to suspect that somebody ruined him! His legs were injured and his equilibrium was lacking." His light-heartedness and smile were replaced by a frown of dissatisfaction. "I don't know if you, Konoha, purposely ruined my preferred vessel, but it was not a pleasant move to do. Your punishment, regardless, will be to have to respond for Sasuke Uchiha's death."

The drops of her sweat had already formed a small puddle on the branch. Her eyes just showed that she was about to pass out.

"Oh, and don't even think about ending the exam! I plan to enjoy this." He finally stood up, figuring it would not make sense to talk to his unconscious former student. "If you attempt anything to stop it, it will spell the end of Konoha!"

As he disappeared into a cloud of smoke, she collapsed on the branch. Due to her sweat, she slipped and fell all the way down to the ground.

A few days had passed ever since the Namekian disappeared out of nowhere. In that time, Gohan had been unable to find any clues or get a concrete idea as to why he could have left so suddenly. However, for as long as he had known his master, he had known that he could trust him. Therefore, he decided to give him space.

There were a couple of reasons why Gohan should stay regardless. Firstly, he had to take care of their new home in that strange world. Secondly, the senzu beans that were starting to grow from the plant. And thirdly, he had to take care of Sakura and help her with training.

That specific day went by normally. It rained a little early in the morning, but it stopped quite quickly and soon the sun shone over the forest. The two pre-teens ate their usual breakfast of fish and rested a little before jumping into the girl's training.

She had progressed impressively quickly. She could fly with relative ease, though not as fast as Gohan given she was weaker and still not at her hundred percent.

And her training to sense energies was not the exception. So far, she was already able to sense energy signals that were close to her.

The afternoon came by very quickly. The days had been flying ever since they found themselves in that new world. The sun began to set and it was time for the Saiyan to make the fire.

Sakura sat in front of the usual place while the boy threw a small Ki ball at the several branches and pieces of wood they had gathered. The fire emerged fiercely from the initial sparks caused by the small explosion.

"You know where Mr. Piccolo is, right?"

Gohan nodded while still looking at the fire.

"Any idea why he might've left for so long?"

The boy shrugged. "My guess is he went to meditate by himself. He did that a lot back home."

She thought about it for a few seconds, but ultimately decided it would be best to leave the topic alone. Sakura still did not know them well enough and felt it was not her place to pressure them too much. Plus, Gohan seemed comfortable with how the situation was unfolding, which meant there was no fixing to be done.

"And how did you meet him?"

"Well, he used to be my father's rival, but when my uncle attacked they joined forces." He finally sat down next to her. "Dad died in battle but Mr. Piccolo took me and trained me."

"I'm sorry…" Said Sakura, a bit saddened thinking she had asked about a tough topic.

However, a familiar deep voice coming from behind them was the one to reply.

"Don't be. His father came back and beat the bad guys."

The two pre-teens turned around and saw that the Namekian had returned. He wore the usual attire, but he was not alone. Grabbing onto Piccolo's legs were two small green hands, and a little head was peeking from behind them.

Gohan's eyes widened while Sakura rushed to the little thing as if it was a cute puppy. The older Namekian pet her in the head and pushed her back gently.

"Let's better avoid that." Said Piccolo while cringing.

"You had a son, Mr. Piccolo?!"

"Kami's idea."