The three had been with Tsunade and Shizune for nearly a year when something changed. When they arrived at a new town Tsunade got them a room at the local gambling hall. That wasn't surprising. But what was surprising was that instead of hitting the tables the moment the room was taken care of, Tsunade came up to the room with them.

Haku, Kimimaro, and Suzume exchanged surprised glances at that, but didn't say anything. They just went about settling into the room as they normally would, dropping their packs and examining the place.

"Take a seat," Tsunade said, nodding to the low table in the middle of the room. She dropped cross-legged onto one of the cushions next to it, Shizune sitting beside her. Again, the three exchanged surprised looks, but they didn't question Tsunade, just sat down opposite her and waited for her to explain.

"You brats have been with me for a year now," Tsunade began. "And in that time you've gotten even better than I expected." She looked over the three of them proudly. "But the time has come for you to test yourselves."

"Test ourselves how?" Haku asked, placing one hand on the table and leaning closer to Tsunade. "What do you want us to do?"

"If you had been assigned to me out of the Academy, I'd have put you three in a chunin exam long before now," Tsuande explained. "But it's finally happening in Konoha, which means that I have strings I can pull. I've gotten you in," Tsunade said smugly, pulling several sheets of paper out of her jacket and slapping them on the table.

Suzume took the papers. They were three sets of two, one for each of them. The first paper was a standard waiver – any harm that befell them wasn't Konoha's fault, if they died their families wouldn't take legal action. The second was a travel pass that would get them in to the village, with their pictures and information on them.

"You want us to compete in this chunin exam?" Kimimaro repeated as Suzume passed the papers to their owners.

"Can't you tell how good we are without it?" Suzume asked curiously, scanning her own travel pass. It was a bit odd to see herself reduced to a series of stats. Suzume Kugeki, purple hair, purple eyes, five feet two inches tall.

Tsunade snorted. "I know exactly what you three are capable of – probably better than you do."

"What my lady means is that this is more to let you test yourselves against opponents other than the ones you're used to," Shizune explained. "To meet new people and see new techniques."

Suzume nodded slightly. "And when the test is over, what should we do? Can we even reach chunin rank? We've never technically become genin."

Tsunade shrugged carelessly. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I just want you three to focus on doing as well as you can. You're there representing me and Shizune," she said sternly. "Don't make me have to finger-flick you through a wall."

"When the exam is over, where can we find you?" Haku asked.

Tsunade waved a hand. "I'll be around," she said mysteriously. "You'll find me, or I've wasted my time on you."

"When do you intend for us to leave?" he pressed.

Tsunade grinned. "I was thinking now. Why do you think I only got one room?"

It was strange, Suzume thought, to be on the road again without Tsunade and Shizune. Sure, they'd slit for a day or two every now and then, Tsunade occasionally going to handle her own business or meet up with old acquaintances. But they had separated at the very edge of the Land of Fire, nearly in the Land of Hot Water. It would take them almost a week to get to Konoha.

"Do you think we'll do well in this exam?" Haku asked curiously as they walked along the road.

"I think we'll do reasonably well. We'll be better than some, not as good as others," Suzume said philosophically. "Tsunade wouldn't have sent us if she doesn't think we'll do well though."

"She said we're representing her," Kimimaro recalled. "If she expected us to do poorly she wouldn't have sent us."

"This will be the first time we've been in a shinobi village, Haku," Suzume said excitedly, giving a little skip. "What do you think it will be like?" she asked the boys on either side of her curiously.

"This will be the first time I've been to one I didn't plan to attack," Kimimaro agreed. Suzume winced slightly at the memory of what the Kaguya had done to Kirigakure.

"I've asked Tsunade about her home once or twice," she recalled. "Tsunade said it was a nice place. She talked about how the Hokage taught her when she was a kid."

"I bet that's the string she pulled," Haku guessed. Suzume nodded in agreement.

"How about some music?" Kimimaro requested. Suzume looked at Haku, who nodded in agreement. She pulled her flute from her pack with a dramatic twirl.

"If my audience commands," she said, and brought the instrument to her lips.

It ended up taking them longer than they expected to get to Konoha. They spent at least four hours a day stopped in a clearing or an empty field and sparring against each other to keep their abilities sharp. They didn't want to walk into the chunin exams on a week of no practice.

They'd been on the road for nine days when they arrived at the gates of Konoha. Two men lounged in a guard's stall to the side. One had spiky hair and a bandage across his nose and the other wore his hitai-ate on a bandana, his hair covering his right eye. They both looked incredibly bored.

Their eyes lit with interest and curiosity as the trio approached. Suzume was familiar with that look. It had increased the older they got. She and Kimimaro in particular stood out wherever they went thanks to their hair and markings, and her sword didn't help. Haku drew his own stares, but for another reason – people struggled to tell if he was a boy or a girl.

"Stop right there," said the spiky-haired man, standing up. He and his partner stood up, probably trying to look more official. Considering Suzume had seen them both playing a game of rock, paper, scissors before they realized the three shinobi were approaching, it didn't really work.

"State your names and business here," said the one with his eye covered.

"Yeah, what's your name, pretty girl?" flirted the one with the spiky hair, leaning n the counter and winking at Haku, who kept his face carefully blank. Suzume bit her lip to restrain chuckles. She glanced sideways and saw Kimimaro's eyes glimmer in amusement, his version of a chuckle.

"Suzume Kugeki, Haku Yuki, and Kimimaro Kaguya, here for the chunin exams," Suzume said. She'd been voted to carry all of their paperwork for the trip. She pulled the three travel passes out of a special pocket inside her wide jacket collar and set them on the counter in front of the guards.

"I'm not a girl," Haku said bluntly in response to the man's surprised expression. His soft, sweet voice didn't exactly help his case but the shortness of it made the spiky-haired man rear back.

"S-S-So I see," he said weakly as his partner laughed at him.

"You're not living this one down for at least a month," he teased as he combed through their passes. "Everything seems to be in order," he said, then he paused and frowned. "What village are you from?" he asked, his eyes combing over them for a village symbol.

"We have no village," Suzume said with a shrug. "We're wanderers."

The spiky-haired man frowned at his partner. "Is that even allowed?" he asked. The man with the bandana shrugged.

"I dunno. Their papers are all in order though."

"I don't think it normally is," Suzume admitted, "but our teacher pulled some strings to allow us to test ourselves against new opponents."

They both nodded in understanding. "Old man Third," muttered the spiky-haired man fondly. His friend elbowed him in the side.

"Show some more respect for the Hokage," he chided as he passed back their forms. "The exams don't start for another couple of days," he explained to them. "Go down the main road, hang a left at the Yamanaka flower shop and take the third right. There's a hotel down there where you should be able to find a room."

"Thank you for your help," Suzume said, bowing slightly as she tucked the papers away. She gestured to Kimimaro and Haku excitedly and said, "Let's go!"

Konoha was a large place bustling with civilians and shinobi. They passed several civilian-run restaurants along the road. A few had shinobi lounging at tables inside, but most of the people on the streets were normal. Every now and then a blur leaping from one roof to the next would signal the brief presence of a shinobi going about their day.

"Do you want to look around?" Haku asked, tilting his head curiously at a small tea house.

"Kimi?" Suzume asked curiously. Kimimaro shook his head.

"I don't mind."

Suzume looped her arms through the boys' as they turned at the Yamanaka flower shop. She took a deep breath, smiling at the floral scent, and said, "Let's get a room and then we'll get lost for a few hours, shall we?"

Haku nodded. "Sounds good."

The hotel was easy to find thanks to the guard's directions. It was on the small side, but it was clean the staff were polite when the trio entered. They didn't even blink at the weapons like they did in most of the towns they'd passed through on their travels.

"Perhaps we should stay in shinobi villages more often," Suzume mused as they opened the door to their room. It was small, just big enough for a large bed and a small sitting area with the bathroom attached. They'd have to go downstairs or go out to get meals, which none of them minded.

"How about we find a place to eat?" Haku suggested, squinting out the window at the sun high in the sky. It was afternoon and they hadn't eaten since breakfast. They were all getting hungry so they agreed quickly, shucking their packs haphazardly and stringing up a couple traps around the door and window before heading out.

"Some of those restaurants closer to the gate looked good," Haku recalled.

They headed back in the direction of the gate, pausing every now and then when something caught the eye of one of them. Haku dragged them into a weapon store to look over their selection of senbon while Kimimaro was distracted by a book store. Suzume had insisted they at least poke their heads into the Yamanaka flower shop. Haku and Kimimaro ended up buying her a couple of wildflowers and tucking them into her braid, much to the amusement of the woman behind the counter and to Suzume's embarrassment.

"That was sweet," Suzume said for the fourth time, fingering the end of her braid as they settled themselves into one of the restaurants. She adjusted a slightly drooping dogwood blossom before abandoning her hair and looking over the menu.

They spent a long, leisurely lunch sampling random foods specific to the Land of Fire and Konoha. Suzume, the friendliest of the three, asked their waiter what they should see while they were in town. He told them about the Hokage faces, the library, and a couple of parks that were within the city's walls.

"One of those parks isn't far from here," Kimimaro mused when they left the restaurant, bellies full.

"Up for a walk?" Suzume asked Haku brightly. He nodded and they started down the road once again, window shopping their way down the streets and taking Konoha in. They left the main roads and moved into a less-populated part of the city.

They'd been walking for about twenty minutes when Suzume felt it.

"Wait," she said quietly, placing her hands on the boys' shoulders.

"I feel it too," Haku said.

"Listen."

Chakra was flaring about a block over and they could dimly hear the sound of raised voices carried to them on the wind.

"Should we interfere?" Haku asked curiously, turning his head in the direction of the chakra surges.

"It's not our village," Kimimaro countered.

"It won't hurt to see what's going on, at least," Suzume pointed out. Kimimaro relented and they picked up the pace, hurrying around the block towards the raised voices.

They rounded the corner and it was easy to pick out where the problem was. Two groups of shinobi were facing off. Closest was a boy and a girl, the boy in a black suit with a cat-ear hat and the girl with a huge fan across her back. The boy in black was holding a younger boy in a long scarf, whose feet were thrashing wildly several feet off the ground.

The other group was larger. A blonde-haired boy with whisker markings and an orange jumpsuit was sitting on his rear next to a pink-haired girl in a red top. Standing with them were a younger boy and girl, about the same age as the boy in the scarf. The girl had orange hair and the boy had glasses. They looked to be about Academy age.

"Stop it, it hurts!" begged the boy with the scarf.

Suzume's eyes flicked up as another presence joined the scene. Crouched in a nearby tree whose branches hung close to the sidewalk was a dark-haired boy in a blue shirt and white shorts. He observed the scene below with cold, glittering black eyes.

"He's new," Kimimaro said quietly, having seen the boy arrive.

"I recognize the crest on the back of his shirt," Haku hissed. "Uchiha."

Suzume blinked, surprised. "I thought they were all wiped out?"

Haku shrugged. "Maybe one survived?"

"That's it!" shouted the blonde, and Suzume recognized his voice as the one that had been doing most of the yelling. "You drop him now or I take you apart, you got that?" he shouted at the boy in black.

His pink-haired friend lunged at him, her expression furious as she put the blonde in a brutal head-lock, snapping, "Making threats isn't going to help, Naruto!"

The boy in black spoke for the first time. "You're annoying," he announced. "I don't like runts or scrawny weaklings, so when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth…" he tightened his grip on the boy, who cried out.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto shouted worriedly.

"I just want to break him in half," the boy in black finished ominously.

The Uchiha in the tree tossed something up in the air thoughtfully, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes at the boy in black below. He caught the decent-sized rock in his hand when it came down and looked it over.

"Fine," sighed the blonde girl with the big fan. "But I'm not involved in this, okay Kankuro?"

The boy in black, Kankuro, gave the boy in his grip a menacing, close-eyed grin. "First I'll take care of this little squirt, then I'll waste the other one." He pulled back his free fist to hit the kid, and that's when Naruto snapped.

"No!" he roared, charging forward.

The Uchiha had apparently had enough too, because he pulled back the hand with the pebble and chucked it at the boy in black, the tiny projectile whizzing through the air with ease.

Suzume felt brown and green eyes flick to her. She raised her hands and flicked them. A void appeared for a brief instant near Kankuro's hand. The pebble soared into it and popped out another void, striking the wooden fence lining the sidewalk with a loud crack! Surprise made Kankuro drop Konohamaru, who scrambled back to his friends.

"What the-?" Kankuro stared at the pebble incredulously.

Suzume stepped forward with Haku and Kimimaro flanking her.

"When two powerful enemies confront each other, violence should be a last resort, not a statement," she said, drawing all eyes to them. The boy in black and the girl with the fan whipped around. The Uchiha in the tree stared at them intently.

"I would never underestimate Suna's genin," Suzume said, casting a glance at the symbol on the boy's headdress. While it was true, it was also a bit of flattery. Her eyes flicked up to the boy in the tree. "And I do not think an Uchiha can ever be called weak."

The others didn't seem to have realized the Uchiha was in the tree. They all looked up sharply to see him crouching there, casually tossing another pebble.

"Sasuke!" cried the pink-haired girl in delight. The younger children seemed equally delighted to see the boy in the tree. Kankuro snarled in annoyance while Temari looked Sasuke over like a piece of meat. Naruto looked incredibly put out.

"You're a long way from home and you're out of your league," Sasuke called down to Kankuro.

"Oh great," Kankuro grumbled. "Another wimp to tick me off."

Sasuke crushed the second pebble in his fist and let the dust blow away pointedly. "Get lost," he ordered coldly.

"So cool!" the pinkette gushed.

"Hey punk!" Kankuro shouted up to Sasuke. "Get down here! You're the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most, all attitude and nothing to back it up!"

On Kankuro's back there was what looked like a mummy – a vaguely human shape wrapped in bandages. With a tug he pulled it off his shoulder and set it on the ground next to him, holding it upright with a hand.

The blonde with the fan gasped. "You're not seriously going to use the Crow for this?" she demanded incredulously.

Suzume sighed, shaking her head. "I really wouldn't start anything, Kankuro," she chided. "This isn't your village after all. Not only that, but you've already assaulted the Hokage's grandson, if I'm not mistaken?" Suzume said, looking at Konohamaru, who nodded. His jaw was loose in surprise. "Going after their last Uchiha wouldn't be a wise choice either."

Suzume felt something brush against her senses.

"Listen to her, Kankuro. Back off."

Everyone else jerked. A boy had appeared dangling from the branch on the opposite side of the trunk from Sasuke. He was red-haired, with sea foam eyes and a gourd of some kind on his back. Dark rings made his eyes seemed sunken and ominous, and the kanji for love was tattooed in red on his forehead. Suzume had to resist the urge to shiver. The aura of death surrounded this boy the same way it had shrouded the campsite after her band was massacred.

But it was his eyes that caught her, held her still. She knew those eyes intimately. It was the same eyes that had drawn her to Haku and later to Kimimaro, eyes or loneliness and neglect. They were almost swallowed, though, by the raging bloodlust that was barely held back. Sasuke had them too, but his were clouded with rage. Naruto even held the faded remnants of that look in his eyes.

What had brought us all together here? Suzume wondered.

"You're an embarrassment to our village," the redhead continued. Kankuro visibly shrank. He seemed utterly terrified by the redhead.

"Uh… I-I… H-Hey, Gaara," he stammered weakly.

"Have you forgotten the reason we're here?" Gaara asked dangerously. His voice was a rasp, like the sound of the whetstone against her sword's edge. The memory of her uncle sharpening his sword in the evening comforted her, made her relax around the redhead.

"I-I know!" Kankuro replied quickly. "I-I mean, they challenged us! See, here's what happened-"

"Shut up." Gaara's voice cut through the stammers brutally. Kankuro recoiled. "Or I'll kill you."

The threat was very real, Suzume knew it. Despite the Suna headband that was tied to the strap holding his gourd in place, she didn't doubt that Gaara would kill the two Suna-nin below him.

"Who is this guy?" Haku murmured, his hand sliding into his sleeve. Suzume saw the glint of senbon appear between his fingers. She reached out and placed a hand on his arm.

"Don't make this any more tense," she advised.

"S-Sorry Gaara," Kankuro stammered. "I was totally out of line."

Gaara's head turned towards the knot of Konoha-nin. "I'm sorry for any trouble he caused." The apology was absolutely apathetic. He couldn't care less.

There was a rush of something around him – Suzume squinted. Sand? – and Gaara vanished. He reappeared in a crouch in front of Kankuro. He straightened up and ordered, "Let's go. We didn't come here to play games."

The two other Suna-nin turned and obediently followed Gaara, trailing at least a foot behind him at all times and eyeing him nervously. Suzume stepped aside into the street with Haku and Kimimaro as they approached, clearing the sidewalk for them.

"Hold on!" yelled the pinkette, rushing a few steps forwards. "Hey!"

Gaara and his team paused, turning back to face her. Suzume raised an eyebrow. The girl was clearly afraid of Gaara –as she probably should be, she didn't seem very strong – but she held her head high and didn't flinch when the blonde snapped, "What?"

"I can tell from your headband that you're Sand shinobi. The Land of Fire and the Land of Wind are allies, but no shinobi may enter another's village without permission, so state your purpose, and it better be good!" She finished smugly, confident that she was right.

The three turned to face her. "Have you been living under a rock or what?" the blonde sneered. "You don't know what's going on, do you?" She dug in her pocket, pulling out a travel pass identical to the ones Suzume had presented at the gate earlier that day. "We have permission.

"You're correct, we are Suna genin," she admitted. "Our home is the Land of the Wind. And we're here for the chunin exams."

"Chunin exams?" Naruto said blankly. "I've never heard of any chunin exams, believe it!" Suzume and her team stared at him blankly.

"I believe it all right… that you're totally clueless!" the blonde laughed.

Konohamaru spoke up. "Boss, those are the exams every ninja has to take to become a chunin!"

Naruto grinned widely. "Awesome, sign me up! I'm so there!"

The pink-haired girl was clearly scrambling to try and hold on to her smug attitude from earlier. She turned on Suzume's group, pointing at them sternly.

"And what about you?" she demanded. "What are you doing here? Where are you from?"

"We are here for the chunin exams as well," Kimimaro answered.

"We come from the Land of Waves," Haku added.

The pink-haired girl seemed to have regained her earlier confidence, because she crossed her arms and continued. "Well, I don't see any Kirigakure symbols. You don't dress like Kiri-nin either."

Suzume shook her head. "You didn't listen," she chided. "We are from the Land of Waves. We have no ties to Kirigakure, or any village really. We are mercenary shinobi."

There was a moment of incredulous silence as eyes lingered on her sword. The pinkette slumped, defeated. Gaara scoffed and turned away, starting down the sidewalk again. Sasuke leaped down from the tree, landing lightly. He stared at the retreating backs of the Suna-nin.

"Hey, you!" he shouted. "Identify yourself!"

The blonde turned and smiled coyly. "Who, me?"

"No, him. The guy with the gourd on his back."

Kankuro made a sound of surprise as they stopped. Gaara turned back to face Sasuke.

"My name is Gaara of the Desert," he replied. "I'm curious about you as well. Who are you?"

"I am Sasuke Uchiha."

For a moment the two boys stood, staring each other down. And then, like they'd practiced a hundred times, their heads turned towards Suzume and her group in perfect sync, their eyes asking her the same question.

"Who are you?" Gaara was the one to actually ask it, probably simply because he was closer.

Suzume tilted her head. "You want to know my name?" she raised her eyebrows. She smiled slightly. "No."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "No?" he repeated.

Suzume's smile widened. "No," she said again. "My boys and I are here for the chunin exams as well. Our teacher told us to do as well as we possibly could. In that case, any advantage, however small, should be kept. Even something so small as a name could make a difference later. So you may not have my name."

"Or mine," Haku said.

"Or mine," Kimimaro echoed.

Naruto leaped forward. "I bet you're dying to know my name, right?" he asked brightly.

"I couldn't care less," Gaara deadpanned. He turned and crouched. His eyes flicked briefly to Suzume before he and his team shot off.

"You really won't tell us your name?" Sasuke asked grimly once they were gone.

Suzume shook her head and chuckled. "No, I won't. But I know yours, Sasuke Uchiha," she added teasingly, watching his eyes narrow.

"Do you want to know my name?" Naruto asked her hopefully. Suzume shook her head.

"I already know it, Naruto. She called you that earlier," she said, nodding to the pinkette. She turned to Haku and Kimimaro, placing her hands on their shoulders. "Come on, I think that's enough excitement for one day, eh? Let's get back home."