Another Nine-Tails?!

3rd Exam

After the incident with Jiraiya, Kabuto had kept Akiko on a short leash. He didn't want her to stumble upon the older man by herself and potentially get captured. Today was different though. He left her in the hotel room while he met up with Orochimaru so they could discuss the final stage of the plan. However: he didn't leave anything with her to entertain herself.

After at least 3 hours of never-ending boredom, Akiko was just about done with being in that room. She groaned loudly and walked over to the window. Just as she placed her hands on the only thing keeping her from freedom, she felt someone behind her. "I just wanna go out." She whined, turning around. Gaara stood in front of the door. "Uh, hi?"

"You haven't moved for the last 4 hours. Why?"

"There's a powerful man after me and my partner doesn't want me to be taken away." The boy let out a small hum, holding out his hand. A shiver went up Akiko's spine as she felt something moving on her back. A small amount of sand floated over to Gaara, swirling in his palm for a moment.

"Are you going to be participating in the final Exam?"

"No. I didn't participate in the preliminaries."

"Why?" She sat down on the bed in the room.

"I didn't want to kill anyone. Especially not my brothers." She said the last part quietly to herself.

"Are you going to watch the final round?"

"Honestly: I don't know. I don't really want to see my students or family killed. But the choice isn't really up to me." She simply shrugged and scratched the nape of her neck. Gaara looked to the side, nodding slightly.

"I'll see you there." He said before disappearing.

The redhead looked up only to find him gone. "Okay. That was a short interrogation." Blinking twice, she shook her head.

"We'll both be going to the finals." Kabuto said as he appeared in the room. He was wearing a black coat that covered most of his body, the hood over his head with a white cat mask was in his hand. "We'll be watching from the sidelines."

"Okay." Akiko stood up, rolling her shoulders. Excitement flowed through her veins. Finally, she wouldn't be sitting in this damn room for eternity. "Let's get going." He nodded and put the mask on.

-:-

The girl watched from the sidelines as people, both shinobi and non-shinobi, entered the arena. Each of the candidates entered as well. She nodded at Kankuro as he and his team walked past and he returned the gesture.

"We should head in too. It's almost time for the final round to start." Kabuto muttered to her before they both joined the crowd of people. He found a spot by a bunch of normal people while Uta stood further down. A lot of shinobi asked her if she would like to sit down and take their spot, but she respectfully declined. Some might've been hitting on her too.

She heard some barking and looked over at the noise. Kiba was trying to find a seat with Hinata. The redhead smiled slightly, warmth filling her heart. She truly missed helping the younger kids with their training and studies.

Kabuto noticed the smile his girlfriend grew at the sight of the genin. She might not have liked the village very much, but she cared deeply about the students she taught, and he knew this. Looking up, he watched the Hokage and Kazekage exchange words, although he was unable to hear the words. 'He doesn't know who he's truly facing. That'll be the end of him.' He thought before looking down at the candidates. Naruto had shown up just in time, but he was chased there by a herd of bulls. Neji Hyuga, Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara, the three siblings from the Sand all stood there, listening to what the proctor was telling them. Sasuke Uchiha was missing, however.