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Kakashi is not anything like Naruto-Kakashi. He's a sadistic taskmaster who doesn't know human limits. For the six months under his leadership, he ran us into the ground. Drills, memorization, endurance training, sparring, tracking, mock battles against his friends and ANBU teammates. Everything he could think of and then some. He was a good teacher, though. He had us well-rounded with everything but let us excel in a few things of our choosing. Itachi and I stuck with our medicine while our teammate Hayato was our heavy hitter focused on hand-to-hand and his spiked knuckle gloves. I was long-range support with a bow and arrows and was certified as a medic. Itachi was mid-range with his shuriken, kunai tricks, and his ninjutsu.

Hayato was a great third teammate. He was down to earth and listened to us when we talked while playing our ninja kiddy games. With how intense our training was, we often crashed at his place with his girlfriend and soulmate, Sanyo. We only did that since his place was the closest to the training grounds. The few times we had days off, we separated, and I spent the whole day with Daichi and occasionally Naruto when his sitter for the day caved to his tantrums.

That addition was odd but not unpleasant. The blonde ball of sunshine trailed me the entire day. I let him help me clean and cook. Even taught him how to count out change when I worked in the shop. Daichi and I taught the little sponge our trade and about the quality of the supplies we sell. He even lets me cuddle him the entire time. After grueling training where the only physical contact I get is a punch or kick, Naruto's teddy bear qualities are a welcome balm.

With the Chunin Exams coming in quickly, so did Itachi and I's tenth birthdays meaning our soul marks. With the stress of passing the Chunin Exams hanging over our heads, the last thing on our minds was our Soulmates. At least it was until Itachi got excused for a day of training to celebrate his birthday with his family.

He returned the next day and informed us that his soulmate was a girl from his clan, and a betrothal had already been established. In the privacy of our room in Hayato's apartment, he showed me his mark. Itachi removed the bandage from his right forearm, revealing a beautiful sparrow with the words written in rose petals.

After his mark appeared, nothing changed like I thought it would have. He didn't suddenly want to be with his mate for every waking second. If anything, he seemed more relaxed. I held back my questions until we were on the road to Kiri for the Chunin Exams, with my tenth birthday set for the end of the second phase of the Exam.

"Should I be prepared for pain or some kind of metal shift?" My question drew my teammates' eyes to me.

"It's not pain, more like a tickling feeling. It's nothing big. The mark is just showing you what you already know. It's more like, 'Oh, yeah, I know this already'." Hayato answered for them as we finished setting up our camp.

I nodded slightly, my nerves easing, but new questions came to mind. Questions that poked at me even as we entered the hidden village and passed the written portion of the exam. The second part was a labyrinth in a newly made dome in the middle of the village. It was made of water, rock, and ice.

Once we made it in, we had to be one of the first three teams to make it to the middle without losing a teammate. We had a two-day time limit, and the place had traps and competitors that wanted one of those three spots.

"I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad Kakashi was such a sadist. Otherwise, we couldn't keep a fast pace like this for so long." I commented as I led them past another set of pressure plates.

"You really shouldn't call him that. And how many teams have we eliminated already?" Hayato followed behind me with his bloody gloves at the ready.

"Five out of the eighteen within the past three hours. If we keep hunting them down like this, we could finish them by the first day. Take a left up here." Itachi said, and I immediately picked up the sound of shoes on the rock down the left tunnel.

Hayato jumped first at the Kiri group. Itachi and I came in seconds after tackling the other members. With a quick scuffle, we had them knocked out and hanging from the ceiling.

"Six out of Eighteen." Itachi corrected himself as we turned around and went right.

"How are we doing on the map?" Hayato asked as we passed another trapped hallway.

"With how big this place is and how spread out we are, there should be multiple passages to the center. Each tunnel is a meter wide, and as we move closer to the center, more traps appear. There's a pattern to how it's set up. I just need more data before I know for sure." Itachi had a good spatial awareness, so he was tasked with tracking where we had been and where the center could be.

"We're moving through the night with small breaks for rest. I don't want to take the chance of having one of those teams taking the slot." It would be pushing our limits, but I was more worried about not making it.

We kept moving for hours. We slowed down once nightfall came since the light from the ceiling went out, but I used a chakra wave as a sonar so we could still 'see'. We came across four more sleeping teams this way.

With my sonar technique, I pushed it as far as possible and helped Itachi map out the place. It helped a lot with finding dead ends and avoiding traps. But it used up my chakra, so I had to be cautious and minimize its usage.

It was barely morning the next day when we came upon a door. We cautiously opened it, only to be met with the Jounin leaders of the Genin groups in some kind of lounge. Kakashi was up on his feet and dragging us into the room within seconds.

"Congratulations, minions. You're the first team to make it out." He pushed us from the room into another tunnel.

"We're the first? What about the other teams?" I asked as we followed our team leader.

"Well, you knocked them out. And the ones you didn't knock out got hit with a trap. Right now, they will be announcing your passing, and the others will be scrambling to get to the finish. You three get to rest until the time runs out." At the end of the tunnel, he opened the door, and I was blinded for a second before adjusting.

Beyond the door was a building hallway. Our teacher led us to the room that said one. Opening it showed a studio apartment with a large bed next to a window that looked over Kiri. I raced to the bathroom, locking it behind me as I quickly stripped and showered.

Once I got out, a tingling feeling started from my left thigh to the back of my neck. It kinda felt like the entire area was going numb. Once it started to fade, I wiped the condensation off the mirror and dropped my towel, turning around. Over my entire back and down my left butt cheek and front of my upper left thigh was a beautiful mural. My lower back and thigh were covered in a churning sea with a white and blue dragon emerging from the sea. From the back of my neck to the bottom of my shoulder blades was a thunderstorm with a golden Thunderbird emerging from the dark clouds.

Both creatures were so beautiful and powerful, but it looked as if they were going to fight, ready to strike the other down. Then I noticed the backward words written in the two parts. My mind shut off, and I silently changed into the spare clothes I had in my bag.

'Are you supposed to be looking through that?' Stood proudly written in lighting above the Thunderbird. And I was sure my words were branded onto the Yondaime Hokage's body somewhere.