The next morning, Anko stopped by my apartment to wake me up so we wouldn't be late. She was rushing me the entire time I did my makeup and then I finally finished. I grabbed a granola bar since I didn't have time to eat.

"Also, Lord Hokage told me that some students wanted to do an interview for the newspaper. Remind me later," Anko said as we walked down to the Forest of Death. 

"Okay, I will," I replied and finished my granola bar. I shoved the wrapper in my pouch to throw away later and we finally arrived at the forest. 

We had to wait on a couple of jounin who were coming with the heaven and earth scrolls. While we waited, I could see the excitement in her eyes. I knew she was looking forward to torturing the genin. 

"This is going to be very fun," She smirked.

"I just hope they don't die out there," I said.

"Oh, they won't die," She chuckled. "Killing isn't even allowed in the exams. I just like scaring them,"

The jounin who was supposed to help us finally arrived and handed me a few of the scrolls.

The genin started meeting us at the gate and I saw a few of them looking slightly terrified at the Forest of Death.

I saw Asuma and Kakashi's teams were already here. Then there was a creepy grass kunoichi who went by the name "Shiore". I wanted to tell her to stop staring, but I didn't. 

She then glanced over at Sasuke, which made me a little suspicious. What is her deal?

I started to explain to the kids what they were supposed to do and I knew Anko wanted to scare them, so I let her do most of the talking.

"This is the location for the second phase of the exam," I said. "It's our 44th battle training zone, but we call it the 'Forest of Death'," 

I saw a few of the genin shuddering at the name. 

"This whole place just creeps me out," Sakura said.

Anko smirked. "It should since it's the 'Forest of Death' and soon enough, you're gonna find out why,"

Sakura widened her eyes a little and Naruto snorted loudly. 

"They call it the Forest of Death and you're gonna find out why," He mocked, with this hands on his hips.

Oh Anko, please have mercy on that kid.

Anko closed her eyes and smiled. I sweated nervously, watching her.

"So, we've got ourselves a tough guy," She said and in the blink of an eye, she pulled a kunai out from her sleeve and threw it, causing it to cut Naruto on the cheek. She then quickly appeared behind Naruto.

I looked at the spot where she was in and then back at Naruto. How the hell did she get there so quickly?

"You tough enough to handle this?" Anko whispered to him. "You're not afraid, are you?"

Naruto was too stunned to speak to her. The cut on his face was bleeding and she continued to scare him.

"Tough guys like you usually leave their blood all over this forest," Anko smirked.

I saw that same grass kunoichi, Shiore, walking behind Anko while holding that kunai she threw at Naruto with her long tongue. I found that incredibly weird and I only knew one person who had a tongue that long.

Anko was alarmed since she couldn't tell who it was and was prepared to grab another kunai, but then realized it was just Shiore. 

"I was just returning your kunai," The woman spoke.

I wasn't even participating in the exams and that woman was creepy. 

"Why, thank you, grass ninja," Anko smiled. "You know, I recommend you stay this close behind me...if you wish to reach a premature end,"

The grass ninja backed up and pulled her tongue back into her mouth.

"My pardon," Shiore said. "With the sight of blood in your blade slicing through my hair, I'm afraid I became a little excited. I meant you no harm."

Naruto started sticking his tongue out as if he was trying to imitate Shiore, making me chuckle quietly. 

It wasn't that I was scared of Shiore. She's just weird and acts suspicious. It reminds me of a certain someone. 

I suddenly felt another pair of eyes on me and I looked. It was another genin. He had dark green hair and piercing brown eyes. The look he was giving me was unsettling, but I brushed it off. 

What is with the weird candidates this year?

The boy staring me down looked at his expression that I couldn't decipher, but it definitely wasn't friendly. 

Anko handed everyone consent forms and then explained everything to them. I added a few things here and there, but I let her do the talking because I didn't really like public speaking. 

The jounin who here helping us earlier handed out the scrolls and I helped them. Just as we were about to start the exams, we were interrupted by Naruto shouting at a square-shaped rock. I was confused and then the square rock was revealed to be Konohamaru.

What is he doing here?

"I'm Moegi, the fastest kunoichi in preschool. Check me out!" The girl with Konohamaru introduced.

"I love algebra, call me Udon!" The nerdy-looking boy added.

"And I'm the number one ninja in the village, Konohamaru! Together, we're the Konohamaru Ninja Squad!" Konohamaru shouted.

I'm pretty sure he's not supposed to be here. 

"Hey, you over there!" Anko shouted, irritated. "You're holding up exams!"

"Sorry, but Konohamaru here told me something about the academy newspaper." Naruto apologized.

Anko and I exchanged looks. We both completely forgot and I was supposed to remind her. Whoops. 

"Oh! Lord Hokage did tell me about something about them interviewing. Alright, everyone, we are taking a twenty-minute break, and please be respectful to the reporters!" Anko shouted and everyone groaned because they wanted the exams to start.

"Isn't that your nephew?" Anko asks as we both sat down.

"Yup," I replied. "I don't like that he's here, because I don't trust that Grass ninja or that Sand ninja," 

I pointed out the Sand ninja who was talking to some of his teammates.

"I think you're overthinking the Sand ninja, but I do agree about the Grass ninja. Something seems off about her," She said. 

The twenty-minute break ended and Konohamaru left with his friends. Now it was time for the second part of the exams to start. 

Anko explained to them how many days they had in there and Choji wasn't happy about it because he was concerned about food. 

We opened the gates and the genin walked through. After they were all in, we shut the gates and now it was just Anko and I again. We just sat there and caught up since we haven't seen each other in a while, not counting yesterday.

After talking, it was lunchtime and we decided to go to a shop to grab a quick lunch and come back.

She bought soup and I bought stir-fry.

We came back and sat down on the stands where the scrolls were handed off to the genin and ate our lunch.

"So, are you going to finish telling me about that guy?" Anko asked while eating her soup.

"Anko, he's not important and I've decided to get a cat anyway, so I'll be fine," I shrugged while eating my stir-fry.

"So, Kasumi, you're telling me that you've completely turned into a crazy cat lady?" Anko chuckled while eating some of her lunch.

"Yup," I replied. 

"Alright then..." 

Anko was now enjoying the last bit of her soup, dropping the subject to my relief. 

"Nothing makes dumplings go down like a little sweet red bean soup!" Anko remarked out loud. "It's almost that time, so we should probably go check and see how the kiddies are doing and the quicker ones are probably finished, so let's go greet them at the tower instead,"

I nodded and finished my stir-fry. 

Anko threw her sticks from the dango she was eating and threw them on the tree, forming a perfect symbol of the Leaf Village. I threw my garbage away in the trash nearby.

A puff of smoke suddenly appeared in front of us and we saw it was Mozuku. I didn't know him that well, so I didn't say anything.

"Pardon m'am, there's a problem," He said.

"Hm? What sort of problem?" Anko asked, slightly annoyed.

"Problem?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow.

"Corpses m'am," Mozuku replied. "Three of them,"

"Come on, I'm trying to eat here," Anko replied while chewing her food.

Corpses? I thought Anko said no one dies here. 

"I think you want to see them, there's something strange about them," Mozuku replied.

Anko finished swallowing her food, "Besides being dead?"

I chuckled at her sarcasm. 

Mozuku brought us to a graveyard and I saw Izumo and Kotetsu were there and then there were dead bodies lying on the ground. 

"I went through their belongings, found their identifications," Kotetsu said. "Ninjas from the Hidden Grass Village, they were registered for the Chunin Exams. They weren't just killed,"

Anko and I looked down.

I was horrified to see these corpses because they had no face. What the hell?!

"All of their faces...they're gone..." Anko remarked as if she already knew what happened.

"Yeah, there's nothing where their faces used to be. Like they melted or something." Kotetsu replied.

I still couldn't get over how horrifying the sight looked. I looked over at Anko, who started to clench her teeth angrily and she touched the back of her neck. 

Anko turned around. "Okay, I need photos of what these three used to look like. Where are their I.D.'s?"

"Right here, ma'am," Mozuku said and handed them over to Anko. 

We both looked at the pictures and I realized one of them was that creepy lady from the Grass Village. Anko looked almost frightened and I was confused and a little freaked out at the same time. What is going on? Is Anko going to explain to me what's happening?

"We've got big trouble!" Anko said and turned around. "Okay get moving! Tell Lord Hokage exactly what happened here and while you're at it, tell ANBU Black Ops they better get a couple of convoys to the Forest of Death,

"Meanwhile, Kasumi and I are going to head after these guys. Now go!" She said.

"Right!" Izumo, Kotetsu, and Mozuku replied and left.

Anko stood there for a moment, touching the back of her neck, and then turned to me.

"We have no time to waste, let's go Kasumi," She said.

I nodded and we both ran into the Forest of Death, traveling quickly.

"Anko, can you tell me what's going on?" I ask.

"Do you remember Orochimaru?" She asks.

Of course, I do. He tried to kidnap me not too long ago and now it makes sense why that Grass ninja seemed familiar. 

"Yes," 

"He's after something here. He killed those Grass ninjas and used their faces to disguise himself to get in here and we need to stop him before he gets what he's after," She explained.

What is he after now? First, he kidnapped me to use me as a hostage against my father, and now he's in the Chunin Exams. I remember he mentioned something that he had planned here, is this what he's talking about? 

I noticed the sun was setting and Anko stopped.

I'm sure she's wondering the same thing I am. What is he after? We left again and continued searching. 

"He's here somewhere," Anko spoke "I can feel him," 

She touched the back of her neck again and now I can't help but wonder why she's touching her neck. 

Anko stopped at another branch and she stood there, staring at the branch in front of us. There was a body emerging and I saw the familiar long black hair. It was definitely him.

He noticed us and turned around. 

"Well, well," He spoke. "Anko, Kasumi, it's been a while,"

Anko glanced over at me questioningly and then looked back at Orochimaru.

"There's no time to reminisce," She snapped. "You're an S-class criminal, top of the 'most wanted list'. You've got to be taken down, and it's only fitting that I'm the one to do it," 

I got in a battle stance, but she motioned for me to stay back. She took needles out of her sleeve and looked at him. 

"Cause, after all, you're the one who taught me everything. Right, Sensei?"

"Not quite," Orochimaru smiled at her and then turned to me. "Kasumi, there's someone who wants to meet you."

I tensed as the green-haired boy stepped out from the shadows. 

It was the boy from earlier. He lunged towards me and grabbed me with a surprising amount of strength. 

"Kasumi!" Anko shouted in alarm.

It all happened so quickly. He ran to a spot that was far away from Anko and Orochimaru. He dropped me to the ground and smirked at me.

"Now I've got you where I want," He said.

His body changed and my heart sped up when I recognized the grey cloak from when I was attacked the night Itachi came with me on my mission. 

"Just who the hell are you?" I ask, trying to cover the fact that I was shaken up.

He took the cloak off and suddenly the whole world felt like it halted. My hands immediately felt like pins and needles and I could feel the blood draining from my face. 

"Missed me, Kasumi?" He smirked.

I was at loss for words. 

Why did it have to be HIM of all people?

It could've even been Orochimaru, but no. It was my psycho ex-boyfriend, Gin Moriyama. 

The feeling of an impending sense of doom was suddenly overwhelming me and I started shaking. 

~~~~~~~~

I know some of the things in this chapter are mixed up, but I'm just gonna leave it because I have to go through this arc so many times for other stories lol.