Chapter 1

(A/N : Just a reminder that the POV is now in 3rd Person.)

~

[3 Years Later]

Inside one of the great shinobi villages named Konohagakure, many shinobi from various villages gathered there for the Chunin exam.

 In a random side alley, a Genin team from Sunagakure was in a confrontation with a Konoha shinobi. The Suna team had been bullying a young boy from Konoha, and one of his friends had run away to bring back a yellow-haired, loud-mouthed shinobi named Naruto Uzumaki.

Before one of the Suna shinobi could do anything, another Konoha shinobi named Sasuke Uchiha showed up and acted arrogantly. The tension was palpable, but nothing occurred beyond words being thrown around.

In the far distance atop a building, someone else watched this little show play out while leaning on the rails. It was a Kusagakure shinobi, as indicated by the grass symbol on his headband, though his black hair partially covered it. He looked quite young and feeble to be a shinobi with his thin frame and short stature, but he was one.

Besides his eyes, no other feature was visible as he wore a black cloth mask covering the bottom half of his face. His eyes seemed lifeless, with visible bags underneath making him look tired.

The only reason he was there was to see if this scene would match up to the one from his memories. He was too far away to hear any conversations, but he recognized everyone he saw, even though they had never met.

Once a Suna shinobi named Gaara showed up, the situation de-escalated, and they all went their separate ways. Yuro stopped his gaze on Gaara. The unstable and bloodthirsty killer was just as he remembered. The thought of his past made Yuro realize he should avoid this person at all costs for now, but Gaara suddenly looked right at him, their eyes locking.

'Ah, did this weirdo somehow sense me staring at him? I'm so far away, though.'

He was about to leave, but now that Gaara looked over, he decided to give the Suna shinobi a little wave of his hand before walking off, hoping to not meet again.

—

"Gaara, what are you looking at?" Kankuro asked, walking next to his little brother and also looking in the same direction, though seeing nothing there.

"Someone was staring at me," Gaara responded coolly.

"Huh?" Temari sounded out, looking at Gaara with a serious expression. "Could it be Konoha's Anbu? Do they already suspect us?"

Gaara shook his head, looking at his sister. "It was just some kid. He waved at me when I saw him and left," he explained without much interest.

"Really? What a weirdo," Kankuro said, also without worry, although it was only because Gaara wasn't worried.

Seeing them both unbothered made Temari relax and not care about the random kid as well. "Alright then, let's go to the exam room and get this over with."

Kankuro nodded, while Gaara began to walk off, the three of them headed towards the start of the Chunin Exam.

—

Konohagakure's Chunin Exam was about to begin, but Yuro wouldn't be a part of the first test. He was waiting until the second test before Orochimaru would drag him along for whatever purpose he was needed for.

The second test in the Chunin Exam was set inside Konoha's training ground 44, commonly named The Forest of Death. Everyone gathered outside a large forest surrounded by metal fencing and multiple locks set on each entrance. This was when Yuro met up with the other two Kusagakure shinobi who wore the same bamboo hat as himself. He knew they were not actual Kusagakure shinobi like him, since the real team had been butchered and left out in the open to be easily discovered.

Yuro didn't greet them as they waited silently for the test instructions to be revealed. When the speech of what was in store for them started, the one and only bundle of positivity known as Naruto went and made a scene.

"Ooo, You're about to find out firsthand why they call this the 'Forest of Death'. Like that's really gonna scare us! You're trying to psych us out, and I'm not gonna fall for it!"

"Oh, really? You're pretty cocky, huh?"

The proctor then made another dramatic scene, throwing a kunai at the unsuspecting Naruto. The thing passed by him, only scratching his cheek. By the time Naruto figured out what had just happened, the proctor already appeared behind him and, for some reason, began licking the blood that seeped out of Naruto's fresh wound.

"Spilling all that rich, red, lovely, luscious blood…"

The disguised Orochimaru, who was nearby, decided to also be a creep and suddenly appeared behind the proctor to return her previously thrown kunai. To make it even stranger, he did it by holding the kunai with his long tongue.

"Your kunai knife, I believe you dropped it."

This entire scene was completely unnecessary for both the proctor and Orochimaru, but given the fact that the proctor used to be Orochimaru's student, it would suddenly make sense. She got her weird side from him.

Back to the exam, each team was given a heaven or earth scroll in secret. The goal was for teams to obtain one of each scroll using any means necessary. This was to be done while all teams were heading towards the forest's central tower. Not having both scrolls would mean no entry to the tower, and opening a scroll before inside would result in immediate disqualification.

Five total days were given to complete this test. Five days to survive inside a hostile environment with enemy teams appearing at any moment. And there was no prep time, as everyone had come here immediately after the first round.

Yuro went to obtain his team's scroll by going inside the tent at the front to grab a scroll. He got the Earth scroll. When every team had received their scroll and was waiting at their respective entrance, the exam was about to begin.

Right before then, Orochimaru turned towards Yuro. "Yuro-kun, during this, I have my own plans. You will take the test normally. Don't show that the time I spent on you was wasted."

Yuro looked back at Orochimaru and imagined himself stabbing the man in the throat, watching how he suffocated on his own blood. "Yes, Orochimaru-sama."

The signal was given, and the third person of the group who hadn't spoken at all so far dispelled itself. Orochimaru immediately shot out into the forest, taking the Earth scroll with him. Yuro was left in the dust, without a scroll at that too. It seemed like he was only here to show Orochimaru how far he has come in these few years. Instead of this being a test to become a Chunin, it was a test to see if he was worth keeping around.

Yuro began his trek into the forest in a different direction than Orochimaru went. He hoped to get this done as soon as possible, but not too fast. The knowledge that Gaara and his siblings were going to finish all of this in an hour and a half made him want to take this just a little slow to not run into them.

After some travel, Yuro heard a battle occurring nearby. He changed his trajectory, and by the time he got to the location, the fight was already nearing its end. A team from Takigakure, the Hidden Waterfall Village, was facing off against a team from Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village.