Another Nine-Tails?!

Preliminaries Are Over

Akiko appeared a little ways away from the building, noticing Kabuto wasn't there. She looked around, suddenly feeling a presence behind her. She spun around, holding a kunai to their throat. Her eyes widened when she realized it was Kabuto. "S-Sorry." She stepped back a few feet.

The boy shook off her attack. "Good reflexes." He chuckled. "Now come on, we have to keep an eye one the preliminaries before reporting to Lord Orochimaru. So far, there have been two fights. This being the third. Sasuke fought Akado after you left, and he won. After that was Shino Aburame and a guy from the Sound team from the beginning, Zaku. Right now, Misumi is fighting against a Sand shinobi named Kankuro."

Akiko grinned when Kankuro won his match. Right off the bat, she didn't like Misumi. He talked a big game, but had nothing to back it up. All bark, no bite.

Next up were Sakura and Ino. Now, these two she had mixed feelings about. On one hand, Sakura was a smart one. But on the other hand, she was obsessed with Sasuke and was always up his ass. And she claimed to love him, they both did really. They knocked each other out in the end, neither of them moving on.

Kankuro's teammate, Temari, fought against Tenten. Their match wasn't long, and the Sand girl won almost effortlessly. Shikamaru fought against the female Sound genin, but their fight wasn't too long either. Naruto fought Kiba and Akamaru, winning by a hair. Hinata fought against her cousin, Neji. In the end, it took multiple jonin to stop the boy from killing her. The most dangerous was between the two genin Sasuke wanted information on; Rock Lee and Gaara. At the end of their fight, Lee's left arm and leg were crushed by his opponents sand. The only reason he wasn't dead was because his sensei stepped in, but Gaara won his match. The last fight was Choji against the final Sound genin. He won against the plump boy without much, if any, effort.

"Well, that was fun." Akiko murmured, standing up and stretching. Her back popped. "How long were we there, Kabu?"

His head snapped towards her at the shortened version of his name. He stared at her for a moment, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "A hour. Maybe an hour and a half. I didn't really keep track."

"Don't we have to report now?"

"Yep! Let's go."

-:-

"The preliminaries have safely concluded. They will now proceed onto the finals." Kabuto kneeled before their master, Akiko standing behind him. She watched the male stare at something in the distance. Or maybe he was just deep in thought.

"How tranquil or rather... how naively peaceful this nation has become while all the other countries are busy with expanding their militaries."

"So if we strike now?"

"Well, yes. Although I doubt it would be any fun to kill that feeble old geezer." It took the redhead a moment to understand what he meant, but she figured it out quickly.

"Are you so sure of yourself?" Kabuto's question earned a glare from Orochimaru. "To me, it still seems like you're faltering. Soon the powers of each Hidden Village will collide and enter a fierce, lengthy conflict. And the Hidden Sound Village, will be one of those involved. You plan to be the trigger of that? And Sasuke's the bullet, right?"

"Heh, your insights are so dangerously accurate."

"Well, obviously not. Because I didn't know about Dosu and his team."

"Dosu is the one who attacked you, right?"

"Yes. When I was assigned to gather intel on Sasuke, I wanted to understand the power of those three. I made a foolish tactical error and I even provoked them into attacking me, unfortunately overestimating my own defenses."

"Obviously." Akiko got a stern look from her boyfriend while Orochimaru smirked, watching their interaction. "Though, it could have ended up worse. You should always look ahead. And make sure you don't underestimate your opponent again. That mistake could end up being deadly."

"It seems that neither of you have put your full trust in me. Isn't that right?"

"Those 3 Sound children are so inconsequential. Is it really necessary for me to tell you of such trivialities? You're my right-hand, isn't that evidence enough of my trust in you?"

"I trust you. It's just that you shouldn't underestimate your opponents, that's all." The redhead shrugged, looking off to the side.

"Kabuto, I was thinking of entrusting Sasuke to you. The curse mark I put on has been sealed by that pesky Kakashi, not that it's of much consequence. But before the darkness in his soul is extinguished, I want you to kidnap him."

"How unlike you. You're worried!"

"There is something that's causing me a bit of concern."

"You mean Naruto?"

"Why does my brother concern you?" Akiko looked at Orochimaru, confusion clouding her eyes.

"Sasuke lives for the sole purpose of killing his brother in revenge. He's a child who will never die until he attains this goal. But when he fought me, he came at me without fear of death even though he knew he wouldn't be able to defeat me. I didn't think he that he was a child who rushed to die like that. Much like you, my dear Akiko. Kabuto tells me you jumped into harms way to protect him and your brothers."

She opened her mouth but caught her words. "I did not jump at the chance to die. I just... didn't think my options through very well." Her face grew pink in embarrassment.

"What did you say just a second ago. 'Don't underestimate your opponent', I believe is what it was." He gave her a smirk.

"Shut up!" She grumbled, her cheeks turning from pink to red.

Orochimaru chuckled at the pair before speaking. "According to Kabuto's data, it looks as if his contact with your brother is changing Sasuke's goals and heart. He's a child who has that much of an influence on Sasuke so the faster we tear them apart, the better. I must dye him with my colors soon." Akiko became uncomfortable, though she tried not to show it. Her boyfriend stood up, turning the opposite direction. "Kabuto," he paused. "If you want to stop me," he looked at him form the corner of his eyes. "You'll have to kill Sasuke right now. You likely can't kill me. You're strong, but only about the same level as Kakashi." The redhead thought back to her conversation with the man.

'I assumed he died too, but, now I'm thinking I was wrong. Maybe... just maybe...'

Her thoughts were cut off when their master laughed. "I'm only joking. All right then, go on now. Akiko, go with."

'Why on earth would you joke about something like that?!'