Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto

Author's notes: I blame a combination of Slyfer 101 and Prince Charon on the TFF forums. It's their entire fault. This takes at the selection where it would have been Kin Vs. Shikamaru. Basically Shikamaru and Naruto have switched opponents… Which leads to a whole slew of changes, plus… well… Heh, you'll see.

It took me well over 3 years to finish this, working on it on and off in between other fics. Which is why it's now even more AU from canon. But, as I'm using fanfiction for practice, I didn't start posting it until I had the whole thing completed. I promised myself that I would complete it though.

-o-o-o-

In the tower at the center of the so called Forest of Death, everyone's eyes turned towards the board, as the next set of names flashed into place.

-Kin Tsuchi Vs. Naruto Uzumaki-

"Huh, it's that Sound girl." Naruto frowned slightly as he looked over to his teammate Sakura Haruno. "You fought her, right, Sakura-chan?"

"Well, everyone else fought their team." Sakura admitted slowly. "All I really know is that she uses senbon."

"Don't worry about it!" Naruto grinned brightly as he stuck his thumb up at the girl. "I'll beat her, no problem!"

"Just... be careful, ok, Naruto?" Sakura spoke up, her eyes watching her teammate's opponent. "Her teammates were both really strong, so she's probably no push over."

"Gotcha!" The boy grinned before standing up and practically bouncing down onto the tower floor.

"So, I get the braggart from the first part. Well, at least I didn't have to face the Uchiha." Kin hissed softly under her breath as she quickly checked over her equipment. "Though, I wish I was going against that little body stealing bitch. Shame she was already eliminated."

"Just get down there and crush the fool." Dosu, Kin's teammate, hissed back at her, glaring with his one, good eye. "Or Orochimaru-sama will make you wish that you'd suffered Zaku's fate."

"I know, I know," The girl waved him off before frowning slightly. "I just wish I knew what kind of tricks he likes to use."

"And he's probably thinking the same about you." Dosu grunted. "Now Go!"

"I'm going already." Kin snapped back as she gracefully darted down to the tower floor before studying the orange clad boy in front of her, one hand boredly resting on a cocked hip. "So, you're the loser I gotta beat to advance huh? Well, I had been hoping to get that little wanna-be ninja, body stealing blonde bitch, but she had to go and get herself eliminated against that pathetic pink haired slut of a teammate of yours."

"What... did... you... call... Sakura-chan?" Naruto was glaring at the girl now, his fists clenching into tight fists as an angry pulse of Killer Intent leaked out onto her.

"You heard me!" Kin shot back, ignoring the way the hairs on the back of her neck shot up in warning. Some part of her, knew this was a colossally stupid idea, but, the rational part of her mind argued it away as a silly concern.

"I'm going to beat you," Naruto said with a fire in his eyes as he glared at the girl, then growled in a voice that only she could hear. "And then, I'm going to make you tell me about Orochimaru, and what he wants with Sasuke."

"Psh!" Kin waved off the boy's proclamation as she settled into a ready stance. "Keep dreaming! Last time you just slept all the way through the fight! Talk about lame!"

"I'll show you!" Naruto slid into a ready stance and then yelled over towards an amused looking Hayate. "You gonna stand there smiling all day, or you gonna start the match?"

"Girl..." Hayate smirked slightly at the sound nin before coughing slightly into his hand. "You really shouldn't have done that." Giving the confused girl a wink, he then looked more serious. "Ready? BEGIN!"

And with that, suddenly where there was one Naruto, Kin found herself facing 15, swarming at her, quickly pulling out her senbon, the girl sneered at the figures rushing at her and threw her senbon at one of the clones. "What, you think some clone illusions are going to help you out?! Ha!"

"Illusions?" One of the clones smirked as he dodged the senbon as they moved to circle around the girl.

"We're no illusion clones." Another shot in as they suddenly surged in at the girl, whose eyes widened as she could actually HEAR the footfalls, the breathing of each of the clones, and with a sudden, panicked look started to throw her senbon rapidly at the figures.

"We're SHADOW clones!" Another Naruto spoke up, directly behind her as she could feel how it suddenly grabbed hold of her collar and started to yank her back, even as a clone on either side of her swept out her legs.

As gravity took hold, she moved to twist her way out from underneath the clone's grip on her, before she could feel a pair of heel kicks slamming into her gut and chest, sending her crashing down to the earth below. Then, the clone gripping her spotted collar, lifted her up immediately after and tossed her into the air. As she gasped for breath, she quickly attempted to twist away, bringing up her arm to block a knee to her ribs, only to miss the elbow to her head.

Even further dazed, her motions grew sluggish as she was bounced between the clones via momentum and gravity, before finally one more spinning heel kick sent her crashing back into an unconscious heap.

Hayate Gekko, the stage's examiner and referee, coughed slightly as the dust settled, before crouching down, examining the girl carefully. "Mah, winner: Naruto Uzumaki."

Several cheers came through the Konoha nin as Naruto turned around and grinned back at them, offering a thumbs up to Sakura as he watched the medic nin come to haul Kin's unconscious body away. To the surprise of Sakura and a number of other nin, Naruto followed them instead of heading back up to the rest of the group. Somehow catching the inquiring look the Hokage sent him, Naruto glanced back at the old man with a shallow grin, the one that always meant he knew he'd have to explain himself.

Nodding slightly, the Hokage turn his attention back to the selection board and settled in as the next match came up.

Kiba Inuzuka Vs. Shikamaru Nara

-o-o-o-

In a virtually abandoned portion of the tower, Kakashi Hatake stood over his student, Sasuke Uchiha and examined the cursed seal Orochimaru had inflicted warily.

"Mah, you know, Sasuke, you'd better drop the genjutsu for now, not a good idea to keep it up when you're like this." Kakashi noted as he smiled down at his student, even as he carefully slit his finger and studied the young nin.

Sasuke's body, underneath the loose, baggy shirt he wore, was far more slender than a boy his age should have been, his waist, indented slightly, while his hips flared out a bit more than a boy would be comfortable with. The Uchiha grunted slightly as a slight ripple melted across his face, before it softened, becoming completely feminine. The now completely female Uchiha grumbled as 'he' began to feel Kakashi carefully writing away in blood around the cursed seal.

"Happy, Kakashi-sensei?" Even Sasuke's voice was different, as it hissed angrily back at the jounin while slender fingers clenched back against their palms.

"I still don't see why you're so focused on pretending." Kakashi made a face, before grinning back down at his student. "I mean, really how're you planning on rebuilding your clan, if…?"

"Itachi first." Sasuke shot back stubbornly as she sat rigidly against the cool floor.

"You know, that could be taken in a bad way, don't you, Sasuke-chan?" Kakashi teased lightly as he watched his student flush with anger as he scrawled down her back and carefully moved it along the floor, up one of the pillars.

"You know what I meant!" She growled slightly as she clenched her fingers tighter against her palm.

"Mah, mah." Kakashi ignored the pulse of anger as he teased his student, finishing his way up the pillar before moving back to start the next path of seal work. "Well, considering how jealous you get of Sakura-chan, I suppose I do."

"Jealous?!" Sasuke almost squeaked with outrage as angry eyes glared up at her teacher. "I have NOTHING to be jealous of that pink haired little fan girl!"

"Oh?" Kakashi grinned wickedly as he moved the next thread of seal work towards the next pillar. "Then I suppose you won't mind that I've planned for Naruto to help her with her seduction training."

Sasuke flinched visibly, but made no further reaction to her instructor's comment, grateful that for the moment, he couldn't see the violent twitch that had taken up residence on her right eye before she slowly, forced out a response. "Why would I care?"

"Of course you wouldn't." Kakashi agreed amiably as he worked his finger up the pillar. "Of course then I'll have to have her work with Naruto on his counter seduction skills… I might just have them locked away for a few weeks doing nothing but… Well, you know."

A vein began to slowly throb on Sasuke's delicate forehead as her eye's twitching turned into a visible spasm, her fingers clenching reflexively in time. "I… see…"

"Really, Sasuke," Kakashi said cheerfully. "Would it be so horrible for you to admit you like him?"

"That idiot?" Sasuke immediately glared back at her instructor, growling slightly.

"You're lucky your teammates are such heavy sleepers." Kakashi responded with a happy little eye smile. "You… talk… rather loudly, in your sleep."

Sasuke immediately blushed bright red as she opened her mouth like a gaping fish as she struggled to come up with a response to the man. Finally, she just whimpered and hung her head, saying nothing as she just let her teacher finish up his seal work.

-o-o-o-

Naruto had followed the medic nin as they laid girl in an empty room, on one of two empty beds, the curtain between them already drawn. Crossing his arms about his chest, he looked her over and frowned slightly. He had no idea how long it'd be until the girl woke up so he could question her about what that snake bastard had planned for Sasuke. Grumbling he shifted over to the bed next to her, and huffed as he noticed it didn't have a pillow like the girl's.

A moment later, he heard the door being opened, and suddenly years of pranking instincts took over, as he quickly transformed himself into the one thing he knew was missing from the scene, the bed's pillow. Quickly suppressing his presence as much as he possibly could, he was aware of a creepily familiar figure entering the room, to chuckle over the girl. Grinning with a merry, predatory smirk the man had leaned down to whisper an audible hiss to the girl.

"Fufufufu… Wake up, little Kin-chan." His eyes gleamed gold as he watched the girl, slowly rouse to wakefulness before her eyes split open and wide in fear.

"O-O-Orochimaru-sama!" The girl trembled visibly as she stared up at her supposed jounin instructor and went white as a sheet.

"Now, Kin-chan, I'm very disappointed in you." The man's smile never dampened as he leaned back up, grinning merrily at her as he would lightly brush his fingers through her hair. "All that time and training, and tsk tsk… Eliminated by a loudmouthed brat?"

"I… I…" Kin stumbled over a response, trying desperately to think of something, anything she could say to make it up to the man, her eyes watering in fear as she trembled like a mouse before a snake.

"Fortunately, I understand there's more to that particular loud mouthed brat than meets the eye." Orochimaru chuckled again, a cold, haunting thing. "I had thought the seal I placed on him would have left him helpless… Fufufufufu… So, my little Kin-chan… I'll offer you a chance to… redeem yourself."

"Wh-what… what must I do, Orochimaru-sama?" Kin spoke up, her eyes still glistening as she trembled, watching the man.

"Kill the brat before anyone undoes what I did to him." Orochimaru said with a casual wave of his hand before smiling sweetly at the girl. "Still… if you fail, and still live, I suppose… I can find a use for you still."

"Y-yes, Orochimaru-sama." Kin nodded quickly, her voice still trembling with fear as she shivered where she sat.

"Good girl." Orochimaru chuckled again, lightly brushing her hair one moment longer before turning and leaving the trembling girl to compose herself. "Don't… disappoint me again, Kin-chan."

And with that, the snake sannin just… smiled as he closed the door behind him, his cold chuckling laugh echoing through Kin's mind. For a moment, she just sat there, staring at the door the man had left through, slowly processing what he'd said, what he'd meant. Then, slowly she curled her legs back up against her chest, and buried her face in her knees as she began to sob uncontrollably. She was dead, or worse, and she knew it.

She never heard the slight sound of a transformation jutsu ending, nor did she see the orange and blue clad form of her target studying her wordlessly from across the room. Kin was simply in her own world, not caring that she was in the middle of what was technically enemy territory, she knew what Orochimaru did to those that failed him, and she had no illusions that she'd be one of the lucky ones to simply die a quick, merciful death. He always had a use for them. One way or another, he always had a use for them. As her throat hitched, she suddenly felt a warm arm wrapping around her, and her being pulled against a comforting chest.

Not even caring who it was, she turned her face and buried it into figure's chest, and simply cried as she felt the warm arms encircling her. Fingers gently, soothingly stroked her hair, as he made soft, soothing sounds into her ear. Finally, as her sobs slowly died down, she slowly opened her red rimmed, dark eyes, and saw the orange jacket she'd clutched so tightly. It was then a feeling of dread rippled through her, as she looked up, to see the quiet blue eyes of her target looking down at her as he still held her against his chest.

"Y-y-you!" She cursed herself mentally as she squeaked, actually squeaked her stammered statement. "Wh-what…"

Naruto shrugged slightly, before grinning a bit at her. "What's the guy who you're supposed to kill doing here?"

"You… heard?" She squeaked again, staring at the boy for a moment, as she felt the heavy lump in her chest drop down to her stomach. Any chance she'd had was gone now, she was screwed, completely and utterly screwed.

"Yup." Naruto nodded his head before looking down at her seriously. "He's a real snake bastard, isn't he?"

Kin laughed dully and nodded her head, before she glared lightly up at him. "So, gonna kill me now?"

Naruto blinked, dully at her for a moment, before jerking back as he stared at her, "What?! NO! Why would I do that?!"

"Um, because I'm supposed to kill you?" Kin offered as she stared at the boy for a moment, before shrugging slightly. "And it's better than the alternative?"

Naruto blinked a moment, before looking down at the broken girl in front him, before her face was replaced by another, and he shivered slightly. For a moment, he shut his eyes, forcing down the memories of Haku's final moments, the calm, almost eager acceptance of death on his face. Frowning then, he opened his eyes and glared down at her as he crossed his arms about his chest. "I'm not going to kill you."

"So, what, you're going to send me back to Orochimaru?" She growled back at him, glaring slightly as she hissed, fists clenching. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?! Comforting a girl just so you can turn around and push her off to… to…" She couldn't even finish her sentence as she glared back at the boy, her eyes suddenly filled with hatred and venom.

"I'm not killing you and I'm not sending you back to that snake bastard," Naruto said firmly as he looked into her eyes. "But, you are telling me what he's planning to do with Sasuke."

"Oh? And if I say no?" Kin shot back, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she snarled at him, knowing in truth that she wouldn't really, and hating herself for it. "What're you gonna do, spank me until I do?"

Naruto stared at her for a moment, his jaw hanging open as he stared at her, before finally it clicked shut as he blushed brightly. "What're you, some kind of pervert?!"

Fighting down her own blush at the boy's accusation, Kin sneered back at her. "Bah, what kind of ninja are you then, if you can't even do something as simple as give a girl a spanking! How're you ever gonna stomach interrogating a real prisoner in the field huh?"

"I'm going to be Hokage someday!" Naruto shot back, growling angry as he met her eyes with his own brilliant blue orbs. "I will do whatever I have to, to protest this village!"

Shivering slightly, Kin couldn't help but wonder what the FUCK she was doing she stood up and glared down at the boy, her hand on her hip as she snarled. "Yeah, right! You want the information so badly? MAKE me give it to you!"

"You know what?! FINE!" Naruto snapped back as suddenly, she was surrounded a group of Narutos and found herself suddenly overwhelmed and bound up tightly by the boy.

In some part of her mind, the girl wondered where the hell a kid as apparently innocent as the blonde had learned such good shibari techniques, as she struggled against the ropes that ground into her through her clothes. As she opened her mouth to unleash another barrage of scathing words, she found it stuffed with a bit of clothe and then tied into place as she let out a muffled cry of outrage. "MMPH!"

"Like the ropes?" Naruto smirked smugly down at the girl. "After Sasuke got out of my old ones so easily, I went and read up on the best way to tie someone up. Kakashi-sensei gave me a great book on this stuff. Not sure why they were all about tying up women, or why he kept giggling like he did when I talked to him about tying Sasuke up so he couldn't get away, but… They work!"

Kin stared up at the boy, unsure whether she should be impressed, or outraged at the blonde. "Mmphmph!"

"Boys?" Naruto glanced at his clones. "Get her back to the base and stand guard! Don't let her escape! I'm gonna go watch the rest of the matches so I know what's going on."

"Right, Boss!" The clones quickly agreed, as they hauled the indignantly squawking Kin up and immediately proceeded to vanish out the window, as they raced across Konoha.

Nodding in satisfaction, Naruto turned and walked out of the room, contemplating what he'd over heard from Orochimaru about what'd been done to him.

-o-o-o-

"What'd I miss, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he sat down next to his teammate just as Lee jumped up onto the statue and began to remove his weights.

"Where have you been?!" Sakura growled slightly at her teammate before sighing just a bit as she huffed and crossed her arms about her chest. "You missed Kiba and Akamaru beating Shikamaru, and Hinata pretty much forfeiting against her cousin at Kiba's urging."

"So, it's bushy-brows versus no brows now?" Naruto asked as he felt the whole tower tremble slightly at the after effects of the released weights. "Wow… That's… a lot of weight."

"Yeah." Sakura agreed in slight awe as she watched how Lee suddenly seemed to blink around Gaara. "Oh wow… he's fast."

"Really fast." Naruto agreed and stared in slight awe as he watched Lee go to work.

"So, where have you been!?" Sakura growled slightly as she rounded in on her teammate again, glaring angrily at him.

"Eh? Oh, I went to the medical wing." He responded simply with a shrug before looking back at the fight. "KICK HIS ASS FUZZY BROWS!"

"Oh." Sakura blinked slightly, before studying the boy. "Did you see Sasuke-kun?"

"Huh? Oh." Naruto shrugged neutrally as he slumped slightly in his seat as he realized he hadn't even bothered to look at his teammate. "No, I didn't."

Taking his dejection the wrong way, Sakura smiled slightly to her blonde teammate. "I'm sure Kakashi-sensei just took him to another part of the tower. I'm sure he's fine."

"Right." Naruto agreed as he turned his attention away from the match for a short bit. "Say, Sakura-chan? Those Sound ninja… What do you think that creepy snake guy wants with Sasuke?"

"I don't know." Sakura admitted softly as she reached up and lightly hugged herself as her gaze left the fight in front of her. "But whatever it is, it can't be good."

"I'm gonna find out," Naruto said with a soft vow. "No matter what, I'm gonna find out!"

Sakura stared at the boy for a moment, before slowly and carefully nodding her head. "Ok."

While their attentions had been focused on their conversation, the match ended with as Gai intervened to save his badly beaten student. Seeing this, Naruto's eyes widened in shock, staring at the almost petulant rage Gaara exhibited at being denied the death of his opponent. Shaking his head with a growl, he turned his head and instead studied the way the final member of the sound ninja was acting.

The one eyed Dosu seemed fascinated by Gaara's display, before he turned his head, catching Naruto's stare and glaring angrily back at the blonde before flicking his one eye to Chouji. Naruto followed that glance and frowned as he realized that Akimichi was the only remaining ninja left to fight. As the final match flashed across the board, and Asuma worked on bribing his student into taking part, Dosu hissed lightly as he walked past Naruto.

"Something you want, brat?" That single eye glared down at the boy, who stared back defiantly at the Sound Nin.

"Yeah, you can tell that snake bastard that she failed, and I'm going to find out what he wants Sasuke for." Naruto shot back.

"What're you talking about?" Dosu paused, genuinely confused as he stared at the boy. "Of course she failed, you already beat her."

"He'll know what I mean," Naruto said with a stubborn glint in his eyes.

"Whatever." Dosu snorted dismissively as he moved down to the tower floor while Sakura stared curiously at Naruto.

"What were you talking about, Naruto?" Sakura's face was strangely concerned as she looked over at her oddly serious teammate.

"Mah, nothing to worry about Sakura-chan." Naruto waved off her question with a sudden, bright grin on his face, before he winced quickly when he watched Chouji slam into the wall. "Ouch that had to hurt…"

"That even more so." Sakura agreed as she watched Dosu use his melody arm on Chouji's body, knocking the boy quickly out. "Poor Chouji… and poor Ino, her whole team got eliminated."

"Yeah." Naruto nodded his agreement as he remained in his subdued mood, his thoughts racing over just what he'd have to do to get the information out of Kin. "The only team in our age group that made it this far that doesn't have at least one person advancing."

"All right, I need all the winners to come down here and draw numbers for the final stage!" Hayate called out quickly, prompting Naruto to nod to Sakura before plastering a grin on his face again and jumping down as he quickly pulled out a number from the offered bag.

Once everyone had drawn, the matches for the third stage were displayed:

Temari of the Desert Vs. Naruto Uzumaki

Shino Aburame Vs. Kankuro of the Desert

Kiba Inuzuka Vs. Dosu Kinuta

Gaara of the Desert Vs. Neji Hyuuga

1st round Buy- Sasuke Uchiha

Naruto looked over to where his opponent sneered back at him and shook his head. "Mah… why is it I keep having to fight girls?"

"Tsk, better you than me." Shikamaru snapped, before shrugging slightly. "Ah well, at least I don't have to worry about any extra training."

"Training…" Naruto frowned slightly before looking over at where the Hokage nodded down to the participants then began to walk away. Coming to a decision, Naruto waved to his comrades, then raced off after the old man.

"Hey, old man!" Naruto called out as he quickly caught up to Sarutobi. "I need to talk to you!"

"Yes, Naruto?" The Hokage smiled down at the boy, before blinking slightly as he saw the serious expression on his face. "I can't do anything about the matches if that's what you want to talk about."

"Nah, I might ask if there's anyone in the village who can help me train against wind attacks like that girl uses, but, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about." Naruto replied quickly as he looked carefully around them. "Something… well, I'm pretty sure it's important."

"Oh? What?" The humor in the man's tone was gentle as it touched Naruto's ears.

"Orochimaru."

Instantly all traces of humor left the Hokage's face, as a grim look set on his features. "Yes… I heard about your team's encounter with him during the second stage. Don't worry about your teammate, Kakashi is taking care of him, and what was done to him."

"That snake bastard didn't just do something to Sasuke," Naruto said with a soft frown. "The last thing I remember before I blacked out was him hitting my stomach… right where you-know-what is, and a lot of pain. Then he said he put some kinda seal on me."

"What?" Sarutobi instantly froze as he looked down at Naruto, his voice like steel as he spoke. "Naruto, are you telling me you encountered him again?"

"He didn't know I was there, but yeah." Naruto spoke up. "I had gone to try and find out about what the bastard wanted from Sasuke from Kin, when I heard someone coming and reflexively transformed like I used to, to hide from the ANBU."

The Hokage chuckled a bit at that and offered a knowing nod. "Go on, what did he tell her?"

"That he was disappointed in her, she was really, really scared at that, but impressed with me... Surprised I was able to do what I did with the seal he used on me." Naruto paused a moment, thinking carefully before he continued. "Oh, and he then told her that the only way she could redeem herself was to kill me before anyone found out what he'd done to me."

"What?!" Sarutobi's eyes widened in surprise before he snapped out an order. "ANBU!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" A pair of masked nin immediately appeared, kneeling before the Hokage.

"I need you to locate the sound nin Kin Tsuchi, she has…." The old man quickly began before Naruto cut him off.

"Relax, old man." Naruto cut in with an amused grin on his lips. "She's not gonna try and kill me."

"And how do you know that, Naruto?" Those eyes had narrowed into slits as he regarded the boy he'd been so protective of for so long.

"Um, because I've got her tied up and gagged at my apartment?" The blonde offered up a sheepish grin to the village leader. "We kinda sorta… well, she thought I was gonna kill her at first." Naruto began to babble as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Then she thought I was going to send her back to Orochimaru, lemme tell you, she was pissed and I think kinda scared at that. Then when I told her I wasn't going to do that, but that she was gonna tell me what the snake bastard wanted Sasuke for… Um, w-well…" He blushed, brightly and trailed off.

"Well what, Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi asked gently as he looked down at the stammering, embarrassed boy.

"I… kinda sorta… well…" Naruto blushed even brighter before a rush of words streamed out of his mouth. "AgreedI'dspankitouttaher!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Professor, stared down at young Naruto Uzumaki as he slowly worked his mind through what the boy'd just said, before slowly and carefully repeating it back to him. "You…. Agreed, to spank it out of her?"

The purple haired ANBU could be heard to snort in amusement as a soft, obviously feminine whisper slipped out. "Kinky girl."

Naruto only blushed brighter as he nodded in answer, before reluctantly explaining. "Well, you see, it started out with her asking me an 'or what, you'll spank it out of me?' when I said she was gonna tell me what Orochimaru wanted from Sasuke, and well…"

"You, being you, refused to back down, and accepted her challenge." Palming his face to hide the amusement he found in the situation, the man slowly shook his head. "Only you, Naruto, only you."

"Um, old man? What'll happen to her after she tells me stuff?" Naruto shifted uneasily again as he looked up at the man.

"Well, Naruto, typically an enemy nin sent to assassinate one of our own, is interrogated, then put to death." Sarutobi said with a firmness to his face, before his eyes twinkled slightly. "But, you could also claim her as a spoil."

"A spoil?" The confusion was evident as the boy asked his question.

"Short for spoil of war." The purple haired ANBU woman spoke up in way of explanation. "Basically, she becomes your tool, your property, your slave, and your responsibility. You can do anything you want with her, she has no rights at all. But, you're responsible for whatever she does." The woman shrugged slightly. "It's only rarely done, because of that reason. Most shinobi don't want to take the chance that a captured enemy nin won't eventually turn on them."

"Though, I'm sure Jiraiya might be able to come up with something to mitigate that…" Sarutobi noted with a curling smile on his lips. "We just couldn't let it become widely known."

"So… I either I kill her, or make her my property?" Naruto sighed slightly, his shoulders slumping just a bit. "Great."

"Well, Jiraiya is in town anyway." The Hokage commented, instantly causing the purple haired ANBU's head to snap up. "I'll have him stop by your apartment to take a look at what Orochimaru might've done to your seal, and possibly what can be done with the girl."

"Ah, right." Naruto said, shifting slightly. "Um, is there… um, anyone I can… err… Talk to, about the um… you know?"

"Well, since ANBU-chan here is so knowledgeable." The Hokage grinned down at the suddenly worried looking woman. "I'm sure she'd be HAPPY to help you, Naruto."

Casting the old man a dirty, if resigned look from beneath her mask, the ANBU woman then noted the hopeful look on the boy's face as he spoke up. "Really?"

"Anko-san might be a better choice, sir." The woman put forth hedgingly. "I'm certain…"

"You'd leave me alone with crazy examiner lady!?" Naruto stared in horror at the woman.

"I can see the wisdom in your words, ANBU-chan." The woman instantly felt her heart drop into her stomach at the Third's words, a feeling of grim expectation washing over her. "But, then again, Naruto does have a point as well… So, I'm assigning you the task of escorting Anko to Naruto's apartment, and chaperoning her… Aid in the girl's interrogation."

Yuugao Uzuki fought down the urge to bang her head against the nearby wall as she acknowledged the Third's command, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Tied up in Naruto's apartment, Kin felt a shiver of pure dread race down her spine and instinctively knew that she was in trouble.