Sakura stared up at the older genin, heart hammering in her chest. Naruto had been this close to opening their scroll when the silver haired man grabbed his wrist, appearing out of nowhere. After their fight with the Oto nin, she'd kept her guard up—their obsession with Sasuke rivaled her own and it wasn't ok—but he managed to pop up completely undetected. Naruto fell over onto his butt and grimaced as Sasuke ran over to them.

"What are you doing?" Kabuto demanded. "Don't you remember the rules?"

Sakura watched as Sasuke looked from Kabuto to Naruto and the scroll. His dark eyes were filled with exasperation as he shook his head, sighing heavily through his mask, the black fabric torn from combat with Zaku and revealing a tantalizing extra inch of skin.

"I can't take my eyes off you two for a second, can I?"

Naruto braced his hands behind his head, not the least bit apologetic. "With a view like this, why would you want to?"

Sasuke looked away sharply and Sakura smacked the goofy blond on the shoulder. "Stupid, go put your clothes on!"

He grumbled and trudged over to the pile of clothes, discarded so he could fish without getting get them wet.

Hanako's cute little dog came running out of the bushes, her long haired ears pinned back in annoyance.

"Where's Hana?"

Tch. Sasuke's normally even voice was thick with concern. Sakura looked around for the younger kunoichi, but there was no sign of her.

Kabuto ducked his head sheepishly. "Ah, about that. We were separated. We followed her trail to a cliff down river, but it cut off there. Momiji and I decided to continue looking for her while Yoroi and two other dogs head to the tower and wait just in case she heads there."

Oh? She was out there alone?

The idea that the girl who'd monopolized Sasuke's attention might not make it to the next round of the exam was exhilarating. She was always so perfect—so smart, so talented, so little and cute, ugh—that kind of failure would surely knock her down a peg or two.

"Don't worry, teme," Naruto drawled, draping an arm around Sasuke's shoulders with a smile. "Hana-chan's super strong, believe it!"

Sasuke's expression softened a little. "Hn."

Hmmph, clearly not strong enough not to be separated from her teammates. It was about time she got what she deserved, shannaro!

"Oh? So, this is why my ears were burning."

Everyone turned around in shock. There, leaning heavily against a tree, was Hanako Hatake. Sakura's mood soured instantly, but she took a grim sort of satisfaction from the other girl's disheveled state. She looked like something swallowed her.

She stumbled over to them, two brown puppies running amok beneath her feet. One of them yelped as she tripped over it, and Kabuto reached out to catch her.

"Thank the gods you're alright," he said with a kind smile. "We were worried."

She scoffed into his chest. "Uhuh, sure you were."

Uh, rude much?

"Wow, Hanako. That's no way to talk to your teammate after he came all this way looking for you."

Sakura didn't flinch when Hanako leveled her too black eyes on her, expression tired and devoid of emotion.

"He would have been here, anyway." She pushed him away from her, falling to her knees beside the fire Sasuke had set. "Some things can't be changed."

Um, what?

Being a genius didn't give her permission to be confusing!

"I don't know what's wrong," Kabuto said tentatively as he came to sit beside her. "But I'm glad you're ok. We found signs of combat, but no traces of people or the snake that took you. Can I ask what happened?"

Sakura blanched when Hanako responded by pulling her grime covered mask down. There was a clear line of demarcation between the muddy top half of her face and the slightly smudged bottom. Sakura took in her face with all the zeal of a lioness on the hunt, only to be left wanting.

There was nothing wrong!

Why the heck would anyone cover their face unless there was something they didn't want people to see? All her theories—hairy moles, buck teeth, an ugly scar—came to nothing! It wasn't fair, shannaro! How could she be so normal?

Hanako ran a filthy hand over her face. "You know that chick with the tongue?"

"The Kusa lady?" Naruto supplied from his spot on the other side of the fire.

"That's the bitch." Hanako seemed oblivious to everyone's scandalized reactions. "It turns out the snake that ate me was her summons. She got me alone and tried to goad me into conversation. She didn't even try to attack me until I made a move. Her team was nowhere in sight, and she didn't try for the scroll." She shook her head. "Whatever she was trying to accomplish, she clearly didn't think it through."

Wait.

"You were eaten?" Sakura asked, aghast.

Hanako chuckled dryly. "I don't recommend it."

Ugh, gross.

"Ah, Hatake-chan," Kabuto reached into his hip pouch, bringing out a Heaven scroll. "Momiji and I managed to find this. The team it belonged to had apparently been killed."

What?

A chill fell over Sakura's body. Who would kill a team just to leave their scroll? That didn't make sense.

Hanako accepted the scroll and put in in her thigh pouch. Her eyes glowed and Sakura knew she'd used that icky seal of hers. Ugh, she hated watching her use it. It gave her the worst kind of goosebumps.

"You said Yoroi and the boys are waiting at the tower, right? Are Sano and Tetsu disguised as us?" At Kabuto's nod, Hanako pushed herself to her feet with a groan. "Alrighty, then. I'm not going anywhere until I've had a nap and washed the snake gunk from my hair. Oh! And I have a head wound you should probably look at." She started walking away from the little makeshift camp.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke called after her, looking for all the world like he might follow. Hmph.

"To take a bath," that stopped him in his tracks. "Like I said, this stuff is gross."

Sasuke looked really torn, and Sakura sensed an opportunity.

"She shouldn't go off on her own," she said with a smile. "I'll go with her."

Sasuke nodded, expression easing.

Yes! Take that, Hanako!

Sakura practically skipped after the shorter girl only to stop in her tracks.

There, standing barely out of Sasuke's sight, was a half-naked Hanako. And she was getting more naked!

"What are you doing?" Sakura demanded, rushing to her side. "Someone might see you!"

Hanako huffed as she kicked off her boots. "Right, because eleven year old girls are so attractive."

Sakura inhaled, totally prepared to scold her sensei's daughter with all the might her one year's seniority gave her, when she noticed the bruises. Bright red blotches covered Hanako's skinny body, contrasting horribly with her pale skin and black tattoos. As she undressed, she revealed more bruise than skin.

"Gods, Hanako," Sakura whispered. "What happened?"

The small girl pulled a bottle out of her seal, blue light fading from her eyes as she met Sakura's worried gaze. "I might have taken a tumble of a cliff into the rapids downstream."

What?

"Hanako, that's horrible! How can you say it so simply?"

She shrugged, dunking her head in the frigid river water. "I'm still kind of in shock, to be honest. It'll be a miracle if I even remember this conversation."

She poured the contents of the bottle onto her head and began to scrub with concerning fervor.

Sakura wasn't sure what to say to that. Sure, she'd never really liked her sensei's kid, but she didn't want to hurt her—no matter how much Inner Sakura said otherwise. She wanted her out of the way, yeah, but not dead. Seeing someone as small as her, so young and bird boned, with so many bruises was disconcerting to say the least.

Hanako dunked her head back under the water, rinsing the shampoo from her hair. "Do you want some," she asked, holding the bottle out to Sakura with her eyes closed. "I see you joined the short-hair club. It looks good."

"Ah, thanks." Sakura awkwardly accepted the shampoo, biting her lip in consideration. Her hair was feeling awful greasy, and it would be nice to wash out any errant pieces of hair still clinging to her after her impromptu makeover. The memory of Kin's hand in her hair had her shuddering and she was once again grateful Sasuke and Naruto managed to get her out of there before she could be seriously hurt.

Like Hanako.

Whatever. She wasn't going to remember this, anyway.

"Keep a watch out for perverts," she told the other girl as she untied her hitai-ate. "You may be an exhibitionist, but I have morals."