An offer of repentance

A few minutes prior…

Kabuto smirked under his mask as he stepped to the controls of the scoreboard. It was truly laughable how easy this had been. At first, he was alarmed when he found out that the Hidden Leaf had somehow learned about Lord Orochimaru's plans, but his worries were quickly quenched. Their intel was so vague they practically knew nothing.

Actually, that wasn't true. Had they known nothing, he might've had more trouble. Yes, the bolstered security was annoying at times, but since they seemingly couldn't even fathom Lord Orochimaru's plans, they used it completely wrong. So much manpower spent on guarding the arena, and for what, to guard the children? As if they could do anything with the Hokage right there. Not yet at least, that part of the plan would still need a while. But in the room behind the scoreboard? One solitary Chūnin who hadn't even known what had hit him.

Now he only needed to wait until he heard the proctor announce the first match. Once Yoroi sapped Sasuke's chakra out of him, he would have no choice but to use the curse mark, and Lord Orochimaru would be one step closer to his ideal body. The best would be to have that fight first, just in case anyone noticed something was wrong. Then, he would test the girl who he suspected to be a surviving pureblood Uzumaki.

Who would be good for her? he thought, mentally checking all the info he had gathered on his cards. Maybe her own teammates? They didn't have the best dynamic, to put it mildly.

With Gaara, it didn't matter who he fought against as long as it wasn't Sasuke. He would win against anyone. The other children didn't matter. Although, having the two Hyūga fight each other could be interesting to watch. If he could get his hands on-

He whipped around as he noticed someone behind him. His face under the mask turned into a scowl when he saw a certain golden-haired girl glare at him from the doorframe.

"I think you took a wrong turn there, Kabuto Yakushi," she stated dryly. "Will you surrender peacefully?"

Kabuto put the clearly useless mask away, revealing his grin to the much younger girl.

"Aren't you underestimating me a bit too much?" he asked and drew his unique, curved kunai. He would've preferred to avoid this matchup. Famous as the young girl was, his intel on her was annoyingly lacking. There were things known about here, sure, but most were retellings and very little of those were reliable data.

"Likewise," Tanya answered as she drew closer. She then raised her own kunai and swung it… down?

Kabuto's eyes widened in realization. She wasn't attacking the corpse he had made to look like him and then puppeteered through his Dead Soul Technique. She was attacking him, the real him, who was lying on the floor pretending to be the dead Chūnin!

Kabuto quickly rolled to the side to dodge, but at the last moment, her blade changed course, piercing the three snakes that tried to attack the Pixie and pinning them against the wall. Kabuto used the moment to get distance, joining his Master at the door.

"You've made yourself rare, Mister Kobura," Tanya commented with her back turned at them. "Or should I call you Orochimaru?"

She then turned around, the ice-blue eyes narrowing.

"I don't mind getting informal," Orochimaru smirked. "It seems you had a little hiccup there, Kabuto."

Kabut shrugged.

"What can I say? Sensors are annoying."

"Well, our little gold piece is impressive," he chuckled, directing her gaze back at her. "But do you think you are enough to stop me?"

"I don't need to."

That caused him to raise an eyebrow, and Kabuto was a bit confused as well.

"You have failed already," she continued. "Jiraiya figured out what you are up to, and you won't succeed."

"Oh, but I will. I know Sasuke's type. He will seek me out. And don't you think you are standing quite high and mighty here when even that pervert Jiraiya can make you kowtow?"

"Rank demands respect," Tanya countered. "Treason demands only death!"

Something wasn't right. While his data on her wasn't very reliable, going by what he had heard, it seemed atypical for the Pixie of the Hidden Leaf to talk this much instead of attacking immediately. Unless… was she biding time? It would make sense, she wouldn't be arrogant enough to think you could win this, right? Surely Lord Orochimaru had to have noticed it as well.

"Death, huh?" he repeated with a smirk. "Then why don't you give it a try?"

Cold sweat ran down Kabuto's body as Orochimaru released his full killing intent, and he wasn't even the target. That was it then. Kid genius or not, even Jōnin were nothing before his Master's true self. The only question now was whether he would kill her or humor her a bit longer.

"Sasuke will soon see the difference between us. What I can give him, you cannot offer."

So it would be the latter.

"So lost on the wrong path, now you're trying to lead another down there with you as none made you see the way out."

Tanya's sudden, seemingly nonsensical answer caught the two off-guard. Not only could she still face him, but her speech pattern had completely changed. She raised her head and opened her eyes, golden shimmering irises looking at them. A gentle smile decorated her usually hardened face, and a strange warmth radiated from her. Not a soothing one, no, to Kabuto, it felt eerie, unnatural, and… wrong.

"Child who has lost his way, heinous sins taint your soul. But even you are not beyond saving. Repent, seek the Lord's forgiveness, and salvation may still await you. Your…ARGH!"

With a pained outcry, Tanya grabbed her head, her features distorting into a grimace. It reminded Kabuto of some of their test subjects when they tried to fight against a Genjutsu they weren't able to release. Her body jerked, and through her fingers, an icy-blue eye fixated on the two with a gaze of pure hatred.

"Would you look at that," Orochimaru, after having been seemingly speechless for a while, finally mused. "Kabuto, I think it is time for us to leave."

Kabuto turned his head in surprise.

"Lord Orochimaru, we haven't yet-"

"It's fine," he interrupted him. With his hands in his pockets, he turned around. "There will be other chances, and I was able to see something interesting."

He wasn't wrong, if they stayed too long, someone else might see them and alarm the Hokage before they could retreat, and his Master wasn't ready to face him yet. But still… what had they just seen?

I was pissed. Probably more than I had ever been in this third life of mine. I knew it. I fucking knew it!

When signs appeared that some things might go wrong with the Chūnin exam, I first thought this was once more a ploy of the accursed Being X to throw a wrench into my plans. It seemed to be the only thing this self-proclaimed god was doing with his life - or whatever else was an apt description for his twisted existence. But once I gave it a second thought, it seemed unlikely. Back in my second life, things like Mary Sue, or in this life, the Ninetails or Itachi Uchiha made clear that Being X preferred to be blunt with his methods and messages. It had always been obvious when he was intervening. Using Orochimaru to almost cancel the exam and then almost have Sasuke taken out of it… it would've hurt my plans, sure, but it was too subtle. If Being X schemed, it was for something big, not just a minor annoyance. It appeared as though this was indeed just a very annoying coincidence.

But then, for the first time in my third life, Being X had decided to finally go mask-off. Actually, no, that wasn't completely true. Back during my own Chūnin exams, there had been this feeling I had brushed off as imagination. In hindsight, this might've been his doing after all. Either way, this time he hadn't pulled any punches. With gross familiarity, I had felt his power overcome me, just like the times when I had been under to corrupting influence of the Elenium Type 95. And then, similar to occasions like the selection of the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion, my memory went dark. By the time I became aware of myself again, Orochimaru was gone. Even his chakra signature, which I now knew, couldn't be felt in the tower. The traitor Kabuto had fled with him. Thinking of his smug face made me even angrier. He really had what would've been called an 'Ohrfeigengesicht' back in the empire.

When I alarmed the Hokage he immediately sent out the Anbu, but I didn't need to wait for their report that they would return empty-handed, and he likely did so, too. It was decided that the preliminaries would continue as planned. Why Orochimaru had wanted to manipulate the matchups one could only guess.

Then, there was the question of whether Kabuto's teammates were in cahoots with him as well. They hadn't been a team the same way Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were though. They had simply all been part of the Genin Corps and joined together for this exam without much prior shared background. For the same reason, they didn't have a Jōnin-sensei.

I, of course, still suggested detaining and interrogating them immediately, but the Hokage decided to allow them to continue the test under close surveillance instead. He quietly ordered us to keep an eye out for them and take them for interrogation once the preliminaries were over. Was this supposed to be the trick of the false sense of security? Well, either way, orders were orders, so I told Hayate to continue as planned.

As it turned out, one of the suspects, Misumi Tsurugi, was the first to be called for battle, against the red-haired girl from the Hidden Grass Village. I was only watching the fight with one eye though as most of my focus was spent on keeping my facial expression under control. I couldn't allow my face to show my anger, not with the Hokage watching. Shinobi were supposed to always have perfect control over their emotions, and after all the other disturbances of my plan, being seen by my superior as unprofessional was the last thing I needed right now. I was already furious enough as it was.

How the hell had Being X even done it?! I wasn't wearing the Elenium Type 95 anymore, it didn't exist in this world! Nor had I spoken any prayer! Had he found a way to corrupt my mind without it?! Even at times when, during my second life, it had reached the point where I had blackouts in my memory, it had been after a gradual build-up due to overusing the cursed item! But all of a sudden and like this? And why now of all times? Orochimaru had been about to say something, and then it was suddenly there without any warning. I was able to fight it off, but too late it seemed.

Had I dropped my guard? Had I been too sure that Being X was limited to corporeal threats like Kaijus and new Mary Sues in this third life of mine?

But still, how? Chakra itself would need to-

"COME ON, KARIN! YOU GOT THIS!"

The sudden increase in decibels from the so-far rather quiet fight tore me out of my thoughts. As a good sensei, I was of course with my team as we watched the fights, but unfortunately, that also meant standing next to Naruto. This was the second time the boy almost blew my eardrums with his voice.

And why the hell was he cheering for a ninja from another village to defeat a comrade of his?! Sure, said comrade might've been a suspect at the moment, but he didn't know that. Panicking, I glanced over to the Hokage, but the old man was smiling for some reason. Was he fine with this? Didn't he himself say that this exam was a substitute for the war? Why would he be fine with one of his own soldiers cheering for a - substitute - enemy? It had been clear ever since his subtle message after the bell test that he was giving Naruto and Sasuke special treatment, but this seemed a bit much. Well, at least for now it meant my student wasn't making me look bad, so I would let him be. He would still get an earful once we were alone again. At least he was distracting enough that I could finally push down my anger. There was nothing I could do right now, so it would be best to just do my job and think of potential countermeasures while I was at it.

"Why aren't you cheering for our guy, you airhead?" Kiba asked in my stead.

"Huh? Because I don't know that guy and Karin is a friend! KICK HIS ASS, KARIN! SHOW US WHAT YOU CAN DO!"

What the hell was he even talking about? Well, as I said, he would get an earful later. Just then, the redhead decided to end the fight in a rather spectacular manner. My eyes got wide. I had never seen this technique before, but I had read written reports, and if this was what I thought it was…

"Unbelievable…" I heard Gai, whose team stood left of us, say. "They are… just like Kushina's. Damn, if Kakashi hears this…"

So I was right. That certainly explained the absurd amounts of chakra I could feel in her. I glanced over to her teammates who just stared at her in shock. Considering she was only registered under her first name, Grass likely wanted to keep her heritage a secret, but that was out of the window now.

After a few seconds of silence, the chains disappeared and Misumi fell to the ground. The girl hectically tore the veil from his face and pushed her arm into his mouth. I could feel her chakra going into him… a form of medical ninjutsu, perhaps?

Shortly after, Medical-nin rushed into the arena and carried him away. Two of the assistant proctors discreetly followed.

"The battle is over!" Hayate called, breaking the silence. "Karin wins!"

With that, he had opened the floodgate and wild murmuring began all over the stands.

"Oh, crap," Naruto gasped. "Do you think he'll survive?"

"Maybe, depends on where exactly she pierced him." Misumi was a good bit older than the kids, twenty-three already, so he could hardly be called a child soldier at this point. His death would, of course, still be a waste. If he was a traitor he had valuable information, and if he wasn't, then his survival would be the preferable outcome for obvious reasons. While no one would hold his death against the girl, this was the reality of these exams after all, they still tried to minimize the mortality rate. Well, time would tell.

"What was that jutsu, by the way?" Sakura asked.

"Adamantine Sealing Chains," I explained. "I myself only read about it, but apparently, they are an incredibly rare ability of the Uzumaki clan."

"Uzumaki?!" all three kids called in unison. Scratch that, it wasn't just them. To our right stood Team 8, and Kurenai's students had joined in on the surprise.

"Yes, Uzumaki," Kurenai affirmed, her crimson eyes fixated on the girl who stood in the arena in her blood-soaked clothes with seemingly no idea where to go. "She's likely Naruto's distant cousin or something like that."

I nodded in agreement. The question now was how the Hokage would handle the situation. It wasn't like Grass had done anything wrong, if she lived there it was perfectly fine to make her a shinobi if she wanted to become one - by the standards of this world, at least - but I still doubted the Hokage would simply ignore her. I unfortunately only had third-hand accounts about the Leaf's relationship with the Uzumaki clan, so it was difficult for me the gauge the exact impact her presence had.

Hayate exchanged some words with the girl and with shaky steps, she walked up to the balcony opposite of ours. He then jumped up to the middle stands where the Hokage stood.

"I… I didn't know there was an Uzumaki clan…" Naruto stammered.

"That's because they aren't anymore," I recalled. "The surviving Uzumaki got scattered all over the continent. At least one made it to the Hidden Grass Village it seems."

"Huh, would you look at that," Kiba grinned. "Well, you know what they say, even separated the pack will always find each other."

"I… I need to talk to her!"

"You can do that later," I stopped Naruto before he could rush off. "She isn't going to run away, concern yourself with your battle for now."

The look on his face made clear how much he wanted to do it now. Damn it, what if he was too distracted and underperformed? Looking to the other side of the stands, I could see that, strangely enough, she just stayed close to the stairs and wasn't regrouping with her team. The two boys didn't walk over to her, either.

"Look, she seems exhausted. Why don't you give her some time to recover?" I asked him. Not the way I would usually approach things, but I couldn't risk some fleeting surge of emotions killing his will to compete, not now. "Once you had your round, you'll have all the time in the world to talk with her."

Naruto took a deep breath.

"Yeah, you're right, Tanya-sensei." He raised his arms into the air. "Alright let's go! Let my fight be the next one!" he shouted much too loudly again. Ouch. Well, at least he was motivated now.

"No, let mine be the next!" a boy from Gai's team shouted, Rock Lee if I recalled correctly.

"Oh, such fighting spirit! This is the power of the youth!" Gai joined in. Why was everybody shouting now?!

"Better hope you won't go against me, Naruto," Kiba remarked.

"True," Naruto countered. "I wouldn't want this to be too easy, after all!"

That started another bickering match between the two, but at least they weren't shouting anymore. Kurenai decided to leave the two alone when she addressed me.

"Do you think some from our teams will fight each other?"

"They will in the finals at the latest," I answered honestly. I knew first-hand that Kurenai was an excellent teacher so her team would likely make it. But I had also given my all when it came to training the kids. "Let's see how they will do then."

Kurenai's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, let's," she said with a stern face. Wow, I didn't recall her being this competitive. Oh well, nothing spoke against some friendly rivalry.

"Sor- *cough* sorry for the delay," Hayate announced, jumping back down into the arena. "We will now continue."

The scoreboard lit up again.

Temari

vs.

Chōji Akimichi

"Damn it!" Naruto shouted while merely Lee hung his head dejectedly.

The girl from Sand jumped down into the arena, while the son of the Akimichi clan was apparently getting some encouraging words from his teammates. I didn't know what they were saying to him, but it seemed to work, and he stomped down the stairs with fire in his eyes.

"Really?" the girl mocked with a fake yawn. "First the rubber guy and now you, is that all Leaf Ninja has to offer?"

"Start!" Hayate called before they could continue to banter and Chōji instantly formed a hand sign.

'Baika no Jutsu!' [Multi-Size Jutsu]

Using the secret technique of the Akimichi clan, he inflated his body into a two-meter wide ball.

'Nikudan Sensha!' [Human Bullet Tank]

He then started rolling, closing in on his opponent, but the girl simply jumped to the side and drew the large, beam-like object she wore on her back. Before she could use it, however, Chōji rolled a curve and was now once again barreling at her.

"You won't get away!" he shouted, his voice slightly distorted from the rolling.

"Not trying," she answered with a smirk and opened her weapon, revealing it to be a fan, and swung it at her opponent. A howling gale blasted toward Chōji to intercept him.

"Won't work," Sakura commented shortly, and just as she said, Chōji simply barreled through the wind without slowing down. Surprised, Temari folded her fan and used it to push herself off the ground to leap to the side at the last moment.

"Close one! How did you know it wouldn't work?" Naruto wondered.

"It already didn't in the forest," Sakura responded. "This is a bad matchup for her."

"Huh. Whatever, GO CHŌJI!" he cheered, joining in with Ino on the other side who did the same. I could see the gears in the wind user's head turning, trying to find a way out of this. In a smaller arena where Chōji didn't have as much space to turn, things would be easier for her. But her arsenal seemed limited, and I doubted she would bet on being able to dodge longer than Chōji could keep up his jutsu.

She barely evaded another attack, now standing close to the arena wall.

Ah, so that's her plan.

"Crush her, Chōji!" Ino shouted. As Temari was about to get sandwiched between him and the wall, she jumped up. She likely expected him to crash into the wall and finally stop so she could attack him. Her eyes widened in surprise when he, still a ball, jumped as well. Having no time for a Ninjutsu she extended her folded fan. This caught her in Chōji's momentum and the rotation pushed her downward so she slammed into the ground, but she at least avoided getting flattened against the wall. Considering how deep the Akimichi had buried himself into the concrete, the fight definitely would've been over if Temari had gotten hit by that. She scrambled to her feet and opened her fan, firing a wind blast at the finally halted Chōji so strong that she propelled herself backward.

Hm, was that a drawback or intentional? I wondered.

She didn't have any luck though as Chōji canceled his jutsu and reverted back to his normal size. No longer stuck in the wall he fell down, causing the wind to miss him. Temari readied herself for another attack, but she appeared to now stand a bit more hunched over than before.

"I… urks!" Chōji heaved as he got up, seemingly having a hard time not throwing up. Was he not used to rolling for this long? Had Asuma not trained that with him?!

"You're kidding," Temari scoffed and swung her fan again. Chōji frantically tried to jump to the side but still got grazed by the wind and knocked backward. Temari didn't leave him any time to recover. The next windblast hit him square in the chest and his back hit the wall.

"I've had enough of your antics, you stupid fatso. This ends now," she flouted and swung her fan three times in rapid succession.

"I-" was all Chōji managed to get out before the first blast hit him, knocking the air out of him.

"I-"

The second windblast hit.

"I'm n-"

The third blast slammed him into the wall once more. Temari then swung her fan in a wide arc, readying - judging by the movement of the chakra - her biggest wind attack yet.

"I'M NOT FAT!" Chōji screamed back at her. "I'M JUST CHUBBY! PLEASANTLY PLUMP!"

'Baika no Jutsu!' [Multi-Size Jutsu]

Inflating again, he managed to jump high enough to evade the attack. As soon as he landed he began rolling again, picking up speed before she could use her wind again.

"Heh, now she's in the middle of the arena!" Naruto smirked. "She can't pull the same trick again!"

"She doesn't need to," Sasuke responded, and I silently agreed.

As she was about to get hit again she jumped once more, and Chōji again did the same. A smirk appeared on Temari's face. She quickly opened her fan again and swung it upwards.

'Fūton: Kiryū Ranbu!' [Wind Release: Air Current Wild Dance]

A howling turbulence rose, pushing Chōji high up into the air and herself to the ground. As soon as she landed she twisted her fan; the whirlwind snaked to the left, then curved and swallowed the still airborne Chōji from the side, spinning in the opposite direction as he was. The wind and his rotation canceled each other out and both stopped.

"Huh? …oh-oh!"

He began to flail wildly, but there wasn't much he could do as he helplessly plummeted to the ground. Temari swung her folded fan like a baseball bat and struck him square in the head. Chōji was knocked unconscious and his jutsu was canceled. He also was a bit thinner now than before the fight.

"Told you," Sasuke shrugged, and I gave him an approving nod.

"The battle is over! Tema- *cough* Temari wins!"

The Sand Kunoichi put her fan into its sheath on her back, casually stretched her arms over her head, and walked back up the stands while two Medical-nin carried Chōji away.

Ino crossed her arms and made an annoyed face.

"I can't believe he lost." What was even more annoying was that the bitch from Sand was so smug about it, and it was exacerbated by the fact that Ino had been annoyed from the start. She wanted to watch the fights next to her beloved Sasuke! But when they had cleared the arena, she had noticed too late that he was on the other side of the balcony. She didn't even get the chance to talk to him since the start of the exam. Sakura was hogging him all to herself, it was so unfair!

"Oh well," Asuma shrugged. "I guess we can still take him to eat some steaks later."

"You could at least try to sound like you think we have a shot," Shikamaru countered and rolled his eyes.

"Nah, don't worry so much. I'm sure you two will do great."

"Well, I certainly would've won against her!" Ino announced.

"Yeah, yeah, because you are amazing," Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "How about you show that right now?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Her teammate wordlessly pointed at the scoreboard.

Ino Yamanaka

vs.

Sakura Haruno

"Oh!"

Ino balled her hand into a fist before relaxing again. After a deep breath, she walked to the stairs and down into the arena. Sakura did the same.

"What a coincidence, huh?" Ino asked, no smile on her face this time. Sakura didn't answer immediately, taking off her headband instead.

"This is not a fight over Sasuke," she finally said. "And I have no intentions of making it one."

Ino crossed her arms.

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?!"

But then, a smirk appeared on her face as she thought back to the forest. The Sakura she had witnessed was clearly different from the crybaby she had met in the academy. That she had beheaded the guy from Sound had taken her aback at first, but she later learned about the circumstances and had to give it to her. Sasuke's words might have also helped with that.

Has the little bud finally bloomed? Well, we'll see.

She took her headband off her hip.

"I get it," she stated and tied the headband onto her forehead, just like Sakura was doing. "Then let's go all out!"

Both went into fighting positions.

"Begin!"

Sakura closed the distance between them faster than she had anticipated and threw the first punch. Ino raised her arms to block, but instead of her rival's fist, a strange concussive force hit her and sent her flying. She had a hard landing and slid over the concrete floor. When she finally managed to catch herself and get to her feet, Sakura already stood in front of her again. Ino didn't know what the pinkette had done just now, but until she found out, she would be at a disadvantage while on the defense.

She quickly tried to retaliate, but Sakura ducked under her fist and struck her in the stomach. The weird concussive force appeared again, but this time it was much worse. Ino was flung backward, crashed into the wall, and crumpled to the ground. Sitting on the floor and limply leaning against the stone she tried to gasp for air, but she almost couldn't do it. What had just happened? This was nothing like the Sakura she had seen in the forest!

Weakly raising her head, she noticed the pinkette had begun to weave hand signs. She tried to scramble to her feet in panic, but she felt like she had no strength left. Her limbs didn't obey and her head was spinning. How had a single hit messed her up this badly?!

Sakura didn't continue with whatever jutsu she had tried to start and tilted her head.

"What are you doing?! Get serious, Ino!"

"I-," Ino croaked but got thrown into a painful coughing fit. She felt blood trickle out of the corner of her mouth. All tension seemed to leave Sakura's body and she dropped her fighting stance.

"Come on Ino, this… this can't be all!"

She was right, this wasn't all. Or at least, it shouldn't have been. And yet, as much as she wanted, she couldn't do more than sit on the arena floor and gasp for air. Didn't even have the strength to lift her arms. All of that from just one punch! How? This wasn't how this was supposed to be!

After a few seconds, Sakura sighed, took off her headband, and put it back on the way it was before.

"If that is all our promise meant to you, then this is pointless. I guess I was the idiot for taking it seriously."

"No…" Ino managed to get out. "It… it's just as important to me! I am… taking it seriously!"

Sakura blinked.

"Then… what have you been doing?"

There was no mockery or malice in her words. Had it been, they would've hurt a lot less. But it was nothing of the like. No, Sakura genuinely couldn't comprehend the difference between them.

Ino didn't give her supposed rival an answer. She didn't have one.

A/N: I felt a bit bad for Ino here, but considering she didn't get much of Tanya's butterfly effect, this is still more or less the same Ino that tied with canon part one Sakura so… yeah. The fight will still have important ramifications for the two, just different ones.

As much fun as I have writing fights, I plan on finishing the remaining seven in the next chapter and wrap up the Chūnin exam arc. "What do you mean, the exams aren't done yet!" Yes, but from the way they are paced and the mental break the month before the third task gives us, plus the fact that the tournament seamlessly goes into Orochimaru's attack, I always considered the preliminaries the end of the Chūnin exam arc and the third task part of the Konoha Crush arc. But in the end, that's largely semantics.

Addition: Now that the first comments are in, it seems like I should clarify something: What happened with Orochimaru was neither a deus ex machina nor was I railroading Tanya there. It was the result of a very specific sequence of events as well as a setup for later, which I won't spoil here. But I know Being X can be a dangerous pitfall and I have no intentions of falling into it