"Allow me to introduce your third teammate, Hanako Hatake."

Kabuto smiled at the girl in front of him, bowing slightly.

"It's nice to meet you, Hatake-chan. I'm Kabuto Yakushi and this is my friend and teammate, Yoroi Akadou. Thanks so much for teaming up with us. I know you probably wanted to team up with people your own age."

He put on a show of bashfulness, rubbing at the back of his head with a wry grin.

Her expression—what little of it he could see—did not change, black eyes boring into his soul. Then, she bowed.

"Thank you, senpais, for taking a chance on someone as young as me. I'll do my best."

Sarutobi watched the interaction with a fond smile, puffing on his pipe as he leaned back in his chair. "I don't normally interfere with teams for the Exams, but Hanako-chan's circumstances are a bit unique. Thank you for being so flexible."

Unique was one way of putting it. Kabuto had very little trouble finding information on the girl—most of it was public knowledge, after all—and he had a pretty good grasp of her life thus far. After her—top secret—adoption, she'd proven herself worthy of the Hatake legacy, graduating at seven and jumping right into an apprenticeship with the most feared strategist in the Five Great Nations. That, coupled with an ever growing mastery of fuinjutsu fueled by the Second Hokage's notes and her own kekkei genkai, made her a threat to a lot of people.

And a fixation.

Kabuto smiled again. "It's no trouble, Hokage-sama. Lot's of genin switch up their teams. Besides, I'm pretty sure we're the lucky ones, here."

The old man chuckled. "I won't keep you. Go on and get acquainted. There's not much time left before the Exams."

The three of them bowed in sync to the leader of the village. Standing together in the hallway, Kabuto took the lead.

"So," he began. "It looks like I'm the odd one out." He mimed placing a mask on his face. "Should I get one, too? For team unity?"

Yoroi didn't respond, his sunglasses working with his mask to hide all expression. Hanako was little better, looking up at him with irreflective eyes, expression somehow just as blank as Yoroi's.

"Mah, I don't know," she said, her voice lilting with a surprising amount of humor. "This way, people know you're team leader."

Kabuto put on his bashful act again. "Oh, you think so?"

Her eyes softened fractionally. "Un."

They were outside, now, and the sun was setting behind Hokage Mountain. The village was full to bursting with foreign shinobi, and Kabuto had to keep his hackles from rising.

"What do you two say we go get something to eat? We can discuss our specialties and plan a training schedule."

Hanako nodded. "That sounds smart."

Yoroi chuckled. "Don't say that. He has a big enough head as it is."

Thus began a bout of carefully crafted banter, the two older shinobi building up the characters they had designed for themselves. Well, Kabuto had designed. Yoroi was just like that.

He watched the younger genin from the corner of his eyes, and he knew Yoroi was, too. She fit Orochimaru's description exactly—short, brown hair, those black, black eyes—and he wondered just what his master had in store for her. Her kekkei genkei was not like the Uchiha's Sharingan, which could easily be removed and implanted at will. Kabuto had never even seen the seal in action, so could not form an accurate image in his mind. Perhaps that was part of the draw. Unanswered questions were Orochimaru's drug of choice, after all. Having a new and interesting mystery to solve might keep him busy for the next decade, at least.

"Is barbeque alright?" He asked, rubbing his neck in false embarrassment for nth time that day. "They have plenty of options, there."

Hanako nodded and Yoroi voiced his agreement. Loudly.

The three of them stepped into Yakiniku Q and Kabuto asked the hostess for a table for three.

"Hana-chan! What brings you here?"

Just as suspected, Asuma Sarutobi's genin team were seated in their regular booth, right by the entrance. This was a prime opportunity to observe how the Hatake heir interacted with people she was on friendly terms with.

"Oh, Ino-chan. Hello. Hey, guys, Asuma-sensei."

The Nara boy raised a hand in a lazy wave and the Akimichi simply nodded before digging back into his meal. The Yamanaka got up out of her seat and wrapped an arm around the smaller girl.

"Don't you 'Ino-chan', me. Who are these guys, huh? You hitting up the older boys while your dad can't see?"

Ahem.

Kabuto turned his genuine surprise into yet another display of embarrassment while Yoroi guffawed outright. Before he could say anything, Hanako huffed loudly through her mask.

"Ino-chan. I'm eleven. I'm pretty sure that would be illegal." The blonde pouted as Hanako turned abysmally dark eyes onto the men behind her. "These are my teammates for the Chunin Exams, Kabuto Yakushi and Yoroi Akadou. We're having a team meeting."

The Hokage's son perked up a bit at that. "Oh? What a coincidence. I signed these brats up this morning."

"This isn't fair," Ino whined. "How come Hana-chan gets older teammates?"

"It's not like we'd stand a chance even if she didn't," the Nara boy said with a long, drawn out sigh. "She'd cream us all on her own."

Interesting.

Shikaku Nara was the current head of the Nara clan and, as his student, Hanako would have spent a great deal of time among his people. It wouldn't be remiss to say they had fostered her, though that practice had long fallen out of favor among the shinobi clans of Konoha. If this boy—clearly the clan heir—spoke so highly of her, it was probably true. The Nara didn't mince words.

"Whatever. You have to say that because she's your girlfriend. Anything that comes out of your mouth is biased."

Or not.

Both the Nara and Hanako wore identical put upon expressions. "We're not dating, Ino-chan."

"Uh-uh, sure you're not."

"Mah, I hate to cut this short, but I think our table is ready."

It was. Lucky them.

Hanako bowed her head once they were seated. "I'm sorry about my friends. They can be a little much, sometimes."

Kabuto raised his hands placatingly. "Don't worry about it, Hatake-chan. My friends can be like that, too."

Yoroi snorted into his drink.

Hanako smiled beneath her mask, the expression softening the intensity of her gaze, though not by much. "Thank you for understanding."

"What kind of meat do you want, Hatake-chan? It's on me, this time."

The implied next time established a foot hold for further contact.

"Oh, just tofu, for me. I'm a vegetarian."

Ho. That was unexpected. The Hatake were one of two dog clans in the village, and the Inuzuka often bore more resemblance to their ninken than their fellow shinobi. Although Kabuto had never interacted directly with Kakashi, he had assumed there might be some similarities if only because of the history of intermarriage between the two clans.

Perhaps this was a remnant of her life before the village? Little was known about her before the Hokage all but forced her onto Kakashi, and nothing she said could be verified.

"Oh, really?" He said with a polite smile. "Can I ask why?"

"Mah, there's not really any special reason," she replied, looking down and away in what could only be a deliberate show of discomfort. "I just think that, when I have the option, I shouldn't choose to end a life." Her eyes widened in theatrical realization. "Ah, not that I care if you do it. Feel free to order whatever you want."

Hmm.

If he hadn't been vigorously trained—first by Danzo in Root, then by Orochimaru—he might have been fooled by her animated display. But he could tell she was faking it, even with the mask.

Those eyes never changed.

"Well, that's good to know," he said kindly. "And it's a nice worldview to have."

And a surprisingly naïve one. Her little speech on extending hands before raising them was recorded in her file, of course, but to think it went so far.

Less surprising was how quickly she'd realized he was assessing her.

Yoroi, having lost patience with their conversation, hailed the waitress and rattled off an order.

"Tell us, Hatake-chan," Kabuto said once their food arrived. "What are your specialties?"

He already knew, of course, but knowing what she thought they were would be useful.

"Mah, well, I'm pretty good at fuinjutsu," an understatement. "My taijutsu is focused on taking people down as quickly and as cleanly as possible, though I don't typically use sharp weapons." Yes, that was on file. "Um, I have a summoning contract with ninken and have heightened senses because of that, so, even without my dogs, I can track pretty well." Ah, so she did have canine characteristics. Interesting. "I also have a seal...on my body. As far as I can tell, it functions like any other storage seal, but it can't be stolen."

Ah, the seal. One of the main reasons he was even taking the Exams.

"That sounds useful," Yoroi said, taking the initiative for the first time. "I'm pretty proficient in suiton techniques and I can cast a few reliable genjutsu. I'm also partially resistant to chakra based attacks."

Hn, a good downplay of his actual abilities.

"I specialize more in information gathering, I'm afraid," though he had a feeling she knew that. "I do have some training in iryo ninjutsu, so, please, don't hesitate to come to me with any injuries you may sustain." A prime opportunity to get up close and personal with the seal. "And I also have a few suiton techniques under my belt."

"Mah, what a coincidence. I'm also suiton natured." She smiled—for real this time, inky eyes glowing with a light from within. "We're a water trio."

Indeed. That had not been in her file.