Through the heavy leaves of the 'forest of death,' I moved swiftly and easily, my zori padded just enough to make my light footsteps humanly inaudible. I was the member of my group sent ahead to scout the path.

Though I had been added onto a team of Konohagakure, I was an outsider, signified as such by the abnormal hitai-ate wrapped around my mouth. It held a jagged 'x' with a horizontal line running through. It was the mark of the village of Assassins, made up soley by my clan.

My brown eyes, accented with distinct slivers of green, glistened in concentration. Soon enough I found two teams fighting one another. The center of attention seemed to be a boy not much bigger than me, with firey red hair to rival my own, and startling seafoam green eyes outlined heavily.

Though none of the others in the groups seemed to notice my appearance, his dull eyes turned my way, watching from the corner of his eye. There was a faint sadistic glint in his eyes, reminding me of those in my village. It would seem I definately was not the only genin who didn't mind killing.

Suddenly, I noticed what seemed to be a strangely developed coffin of sand before him. His hand was outstretched toward it, slowly clenching. Without flinching, blinking or at all breaking the connected gaze, he balled his fist, a cry of fear and pain issued from the rapidly compacting ball of sand. Blood seeped through the grains, pooling on the earth, it splashed all around the area too, getting on the girl and boy standing next to the red-head

The girl had her blonde hair up in numerous tails, all bushy, yet rather short. Even from the distance I could make out dark blue eyes. She was looking uneasily at the boy. The Hitai-ate lined her up with him as the same team. The boy looked... different. Same village as the other two. He had a hood that reminded me of a cat, as well as purple facepaint. I looked back to the red-head, smirking beneath my hitai-ate. I bowed my head quickly, moving just as a spray of blood hit the tree.

I leapt easily from branch to branch, my balance better than most. I stopped as I came across the river, throwing a rock at the blue-haired girl of team 13. She turned with a faint glare, but it left when she realized it was me. I signaled to the silver-haired boy napping in the shade of the tree beside her. I jumped to the ground, starting along the river.

A few moments later, I heard footsteps joining my own silent trek. Nerome, the boy, quickly drew level with me, a large smile in play on his face as always. "Hey, Anary. How far are we from the tower?" I shrugged, not slowing down at all. Kanna stepped up between me and Nerome, giving me that oh-so-special look. I rolled my eyes, moving a bit closer to the river while she closed in on him.

I sighed, keeping my eyes pasted to the area before us. I knew that we were getting closer to the place I'd seen the team from the Village in the Sand; to where I'd seen that boy. I drifted back toward them, signalling to move westward. I continued to lead the way, easily skirting the clearing with quite a few meters of tree coverage. I could hear them speak, if only barely, and picked up the pace. We already had our scrolls and I didn't think it would be wise to even chance a fight. After all, I'd so far been the only one to do any fighting.

I glanced once around to see if they were approaching, though saw nothing nearby. When I turned my attention in front of me, I saw the base of a building in the distance, speeding up a bit more. I was eager to get out of this forest. We were only a few hours into the exam, not even a day, but I was already feeling tired.

I threw open the heavy door looking around carefully and quickly. When I sensed no danger, I entered, my teammates behind me. My hand drifted to the belt hidden beneath my skirt. The scrolls I had attatched were beginning to burn. I scowled and flung them off toward the wall opposite me. A woman burst forth from a quiet explosion of smoke.

I looked at the scroll on the wall, then to her. She must be here to explain that to Nerome and Kanna. I tuned out the jounin's words, thinking silently to myself instead of paying attention. My thoughts drifted to that boy. I'd seen him before. The girl and boy of his team as well. I got the distinct feeling they were related in someway, even though I couldn't entirely remember much about the meeting. Oh well. They were in the chunin exams, if I was ever around them, it would probably hit me sooner or later.

Just as the woman was finishing up, my eyes turned to the door. I heard more footsteps. She smiled, giving us a peace sign before performing a jutsu and disappearing. Finally it seemed Kanna heard the others, she turned to look in the direction of the door, open just a crack.

All of us stopped moving, eyes all turned to the creaking door. There stood the face-painted boy, looking downcast when his eyes fell on us. The blonde girl smirked, roughly shoving him. "What'd I say, Kankuro! Toldya we wouldn't be the first ones here. That's why the door was open, idiot."

Kankuro groaned, rolling his eyes to the girl. Kanna smiled to them all. "Hey--" she was cut off by an explosion of smoke and another Jounin. "Okay... after this..." she muttered, walking over to where I sat against the wall. She sat beside me and waited silently. Nerome was still standing by the door, he hadn't really moved at all.

I looked over to the boy again, a name drifting subconsciously through my mind. 'Gaara...' I blinked in surprise, locking gazes once more with the red-head. If that was his name... My eyes drifted to the kanji on his forehead, then returned to his pale green eyes. His arms were folded across his chest, mine across my stomach in a relaxed position.

The Jounin finished speaking, bowing as he departed much the same way as the woman we'd encountered had. Kanna stood, smiling again. "As I was saying... Hi! I'm Kanna. The silent one by the wall is Anary... who for some reason likes staring at strangers..." she followed my eyes to Gaara. "Oh... well, that guy is Nerome." she said with a slight bow to the team from the desert.

The blonde spoke up, smirking a bit, her eyes resting on me. Had she remembered me as well? "I'm Temari. The doofus with the facepaint is Kankuro, and that's Gaara. Both are my team and my brothers." she said, nodding her head toward me. I repeated the acknowledgement, eyes momentarily flicking toward her.

'So he is Gaara... I'm going to definately have to try and remember now. Kankuro... Temari... Both of those names mix... If they're siblings that would make sence that they connect in my mind...' I mentally sighed, my expression unchanged to my thoughts.

Suddenly, I stood up, not losing eye-contact. I silently made my way across the room, headed for the set of stairs I'd spied during the time the woman spoke to us. I finally looked away, disappearing from their view and accending some amount of flights.

I entered a room, knowing I wasn't far from the roof; maybe a flight or two. I liked being able to leave for the outside. Usually I couldn't sleep, let alone when I was on a mission like this. Yes, I treated the exam like a mission. You always have to be on your guard, and as Gaara demonstrated to that boy earlier, you could die at anytime.

I sighed once more, moving over to the wall the window was on. I sat in the corner, falling quickly into a light sleep. My thoughts were focused on Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro... If I was lucky, I'd be able to remember some part of how I knew them in my sleep...

::Flashback Dream::

A much younger version of myself (possibly around 6 or so) stood, eyes closed, over a terrible scene. At first, I saw nothing, then my little eyes slowly peered through the tears. I felt pain; both physical and, when I greeted what lay before me, mental. I screeched loudly, my hand shooting up over my mouth to keep it quieted. Beneath me was an ever-spreading pool of blood, most of it not directly from the limp figure it surrounded. I looked closer to the face before me, my mouth quivering in fear. There lay my father, arms torn, body lacerated. His once melting brown eyes faded and milky, few splashes of blood trickling down over the surface.

I screamed again, knowing nobody would hear me, nor care. We were in the cellar of my families home. My immediate family. For the longest time, I sobbed through the screams, the hours drifting by. Pain, fear, and sorrow fueled the tears. I fell to my knees, the flood of blood reaching at least two inches deep. I knew it wasn't from my father. It was from me. Before I had killed him, two wings entirely constructed of blood had seeped from my back.

For what seemed an eternity to me, though it was more likely just many hours, I cried my little eyes out. I couldn't stop, no matter it was improper for somebody of my clan to. The village of assassins, better known as the village hidden in blood. It very well may soon be. I blindly clenched at the choker around my neck. A simple black collar. My mother had passed it to me. It stretched over generations. Now out of tears, my screams alone penetrated the dank silence of my home. I had nobody there for me any longer...

The pain wouldn't subside at all, but in fact flared up everytime I attempted to move. I didn't move for a long time. As the walls of our house were extra thick, made to be soundproof, nobody of our extended family heard me. None came to find the little girl or her father that had been long before shunned from the community we were born into.

For a full day, I screamed, no matter my voice became hoarse. Finally, my voice faded, leaving me barely at all with the ability to speak. My hitai-ate, earned very recently, was around my neck, holding a bloody tint to it. I stood up, the flow of blood now reaching barely inches below my knees. I was begining to feel weak, but knew that I had to go where my father had told me to. The village hidden in sand.

As I entered the silent night of my village, I knew I was being watched. The family that had never excepted me, the head branch of the Onochi clan, were most active during this time. Glares and gasps greeted me, though I paid no mind. My feet blindly led me out of the village, nobody stopping me. Suddenly my great grandfather, the chikage, loomed over me, in my path. As I looked sullenly up at him, a staggering glare met me, causing me to draw back a few steps.

"If you ever return to this village, you will be slain before you can breathe our air..." he said, grabbing my arm and pulling down the back of my shirt. He thoroughly ignored the bloody wings still dripping around me, snatching up a kunai. My eyes widened in fear and I clenched my teeth. By the nape of my neck, he carved a kanji word. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. "This is to mark you as a traitor to any of our clan who may later meet you..." I knew what it was by that simple description. It said blood.

He thrusted me away from him, causing me to land roughly on the ground, eyes downcast. To have that word etched into your skin in our village... A few of the remaining tears fell from my eyes, sprinkling the rain-deprived earth. "Now leave, Pheonix..." he spat out the final word, causing me to glance back. Earth was kicked into my eyes. I stood shakily and ran as fast as I could in the direction of the village my father and I had visited so often.

I walked through the empty streets, stumbling and staggering every few steps. The loss of blood was really starting to get to me. I found my way to the building my father never let me enter, even though he payed frequent visits to it. The Kazekage's office. I knocked once on the door, my arm falling to my side as a shot of pain racked through my entire body.

The door opened, a younger version of Temari standing there. "Hello--" she gasped loudly, hand shooting up to her mouth. "Oh my--!! Daddy!!" she yelled back into the building, before returning her emotion clouded eyes back onto my shaking form. She lifted my young face to look her's in the eye. She stroked my chin softly, though I sensed her fear. "Are you... A fallen angel...?" she asked quietly, reaching out toward my bloody wings. I withdrew from her touch, nearly falling back. "Wait a minute... It's alright! I won't hurt you..." she said, pulling me by the wrist back toward her. I felt my remaining strength seep away, a tall man towering behind the curious little girl. "I won't let anyone hurt you..." she whispered, pulling my falling form toward her. The last thing I saw before I fell into a pained, fearful, and overly-confused sleep...were her concerned, warm ocean blue eyes...

"Onochi Anary, my fallen angel..." a voice said, stirring me from my horible dream.