A/n: I think I forgot to tell everyone where the title for this fic came from. It is from a song by a German group called E nomine. They are a very cool group and all it takes is one listen to understand why it is the title of the fic. You don't even have to speak German!
Rating: This chapter? PG Overall? M
A couple of weeks flew by and a routine was settled into. Naruto would ride his bike to school. He had managed to get quite the reaction when he had showed up on it. Everyone had wanted to come up and look at it and he had been late for English a second time. He followed the routine set out in the classes until lunch, when he sat with Sakura and company. He repeated the earlier routine until he got to honors biology. He and Sasuke had a little bit of a truce going on. They were snarky and mean to one another, but they never did anything that could cost them their grade. All in all, it was a good routine. That all changed, however, when Sakura mentioned Homecoming.
"Why don't you come down to Feller's Field and help build floats, Naruto?" Sakura asked with her bottom lip stuck out in an attempt to pout. Naruto rolled his eyes. He really wanted nothing to do with the building of floats for a parade that was going to take place four hours away. He had never done float building back home. But he wasn't about to tell Sakura no and come face to face with scary Sakura. He had seen her come out a couple times with Shikamaru and he never wanted to experience being the one she was focused on.
"When?" Naruto asked as he stuffed chips in his mouth. He had gotten smart and started preparing his own lunch before hand. Sakura seemed to think about it for a minute.
"We start right after school, but go till about midnight or one," Sakura said as she sipped what Naruto now knew was a high protein shake. Apparently, she thought that she would develop curves if she starved herself long enough. The last time scary Sakura had come out was when Shikamaru pointed out the flaw in that logic.
"I might be able to go for a couple of hours, but my dad wants me in before it gets dark. He's over protective like that," Naruto said with a shrug. All movement at the table stopped at his words. No one would meet his eyes. "What?"
"I didn't think that anyone still believed that," Ino said though it was clear she still believed. "A couple of years back a bunch of people were killed by a wild animal. It was really odd because it only struck at night and seemed to almost lure people to it. No one ever managed to figure out what was doing it and one day it just stopped." Naruto felt his eyebrows creep up towards his hairline. That was a hair raising tale. He had never heard anything about it, but was betting that was largely his father's doing. His mother never would've allowed him to visit with something like that going on.
"That seems kind of normal, though. A rabid animal comes through, kills, and moves on," Naruto said with a shrug and looking to Shikamaru for support. Oddly he seemed to be studying his food, deep in thought.
"That's not all though," Sakura said, leaning in as though sharing some great secret. "Old man Johnson claimed that he saw it. He said that it was some kind of creature and not an animal at all. He says that he saw a ten foot tall biped with all the animal-like features of a wolf." Naruto shook his head at Sakura. You didn't have to be the son of a sci-fi fanatic to know what she was alluding to.
"A werewolf, Sakura? You believe a werewolf killed all those people and then just left. I'm gullible, but not that gullible," Naruto said rolling his eyes. No one said anything after that and it was oddly quiet at the table for the rest of lunch. Naruto made it through math and gym, thinking about what the others had said. They really seemed to believe this nonsense about a werewolf. Naruto was relieved to be in biology. There would be no talk of werewolves in that class.
"Today class," Iruka said as he set up the overhead projector to indicate that they were going to spend the class taking notes, "We are going to discuss viruses and gene mutation. Can anyone tell me what a virus is?" Sasuke began talking before anyone could even raise their hands.
"Viruses are parasites that consist of nothing except a protein outer coating and DNA. They rely on another organism's cells to reproduce by interrupting the normal DNA replication process and making a cell create of more it instead," the venom in Sasuke's voice was surprising. The subject matter was hardly something most would take personally. Iruka looked a bit startled as he nodded and continued his lecture. Sasuke on the other hand was playing a mental game of tag with his beast. The full moon was three days away and he was not in good shape. His beast had not settled down in Naruto's presence, in fact it seemed to grow more agitated as time went on.
Sasuke watched Naruto out of the corner of his eye and noted how he seemed to be distracted by something on his mind. He had done a little bit of research on the other via the internet. He had found out about Naruto's mother and her death as well as the fact that his father was the local sheriff. He had also learned from his myspace page that he was an avid surfer. This all led to him wanting to ask the other questions, but knowing that it would go beyond the boundaries of their current truce. He was not ready to go out on a limb like that, yet. His beast chose that moment to give a particularly nasty swipe through his guts, claws extended. Sasuke just about doubled over from the pain, hissing before he could think about it. He looked around the room to find everyone looking at him. Even Naruto seemed to be concerned.
"I'm not feeling well. Can I be excused?" Sasuke asked through clenched teeth. His beast seemed very satisfied with itself. Iruka nodded and Sasuke grabbed his bag, all but running out of the classroom. This was the last thing he needed. He didn't even bother with the nurse's office, heading straight out to his truck. He needed to get home before he gave into his beast's urgings just to avoid the pain. He never noticed that he had left his notebook full of notes next to Naruto on the lab table.
Naruto finished up his last class worried about Sasuke. He had really seemed like he was in pain. He was in the process of putting his own things in his bag when he noticed Sasuke's notebook was still on the lab table. It was really none of his business, but it looked like Sasuke was really hurting. It couldn't hurt to take him his notebook and offer him the few notes Naruto had taken. Naruto grabbed the notebook and headed towards the front office. He had no clue where Sasuke lived, so he was going to have to butter Shizune up about it. Unfortunately, he ran into Sakura and company on the way.
"Hey, Naruto. We were fixing to head out to Feller's. Did you want to follow us?" Sakura asked with a smile. Naruto felt kind of bad for what he was about to do, but he didn't really want to spend his free time stuffing twirled napkins into chicken wire and he was really worried about Sasuke.
"I can't," Naruto said doing his best to sound devastated by the fact he wouldn't be able to come. "I have to drop this off at someone's house for Iruka." He waved the notebook around hoping he was fast enough that they wouldn't be able to catch the name printed neatly on the cover. Sakura pouted, but she was not one to go up against something that a teacher had asked Naruto to do. It was Friday so she knew that Naruto likely really needed to get the notebook to whomever it belonged to.
"Whose is it? Maybe we can give you directions," Ino said with a smile. Naruto knew that she was trying to help, but he really didn't want to tell her who the notebook belonged to. He had a feeling that she would do some not nice things if she found out where Sasuke lived. He could imagine her and Sakura hiding in the bushes outside the other's house and becoming full-fledged stalkers.
"Don't worry about it," Naruto said moving to walk around them. He had a feeling that the longer he stood there the closer they were going to come to figuring out who the notebook belonged to. "I was just going to ask Shizune." He practically fled in his haste to get away from them. Naturally, this left everyone except for Shikamaru puzzled. Shikamaru had seen the name printed on the corner and knew that Iruka would never ask one of his students to return something. Iruka was more likely to return it himself. The only reason he kept his mouth shut was the fact that it would require too much effort to tell his observations to the others.
Sasuke sat in the middle of his living room hands fisted in his hair. His beast was angry, pissed, at him. It kept swiping its claws along Sasuke's insides and trying to force the change. Sasuke had contained it by pure will power. He was unsure how he had managed to drive home with the way it was acting. While communication with your beast was limited he could get something off it. All he found when he asked why it was acting up was the repeated image of Naruto. His beast wanted Naruto; whether it was to kill him or not, Sasuke didn't know. And he couldn't take that chance. So he continued to eat his beast each time it came rushing up his throat.
He didn't know how long he stayed on the floor of his living room arguing with his beast about the change. But his inner turmoil was interrupted by knocking coming from his front door. The second that the sound echoed through the room his beast vanished. Sasuke blinked and stood on shaking legs for a second. This was decidedly odd. His beast had never just given up like that before. It was nearly as stubborn as he was. He had a feeling that the beast merged a little of it's personality into his. The knocking became more insistent and Sasuke made his way to the door. Like most people in a small town he didn't bother to see who it was that was behind the door before opening it. If he had he may not have opened the door.
Sasuke opened the door and came face to face with Naruto. His beast took advantage of the other's momentary shock and rushed through him, driving Sasuke to his knees in the agony of a rushed change. For a second the world around him exploded in millions of pinpoints of pain, and the next his world was so different than it was before. Color was sharper and harsher. Thousands of smells hit his nose, one stronger than the others. He was looking up at Naruto, who was looking at him opened mouthed. This was great. Wonderful. Exactly what he needed in his life. He didn't even stop to wonder at the odd purring coming from his own throat.
Naruto, for his part, wasn't sure what he should be feeling. He believed, reasonably, that he was in shock. He was covered head to toe in some kind of warm almost gelatinous substance. He was guessing that it was from when Sasuke had almost seemed to burst into the large, black panther that was currently licking the same substance from its fur on Sasuke's stoop. A loud rumbling purr could be heard coming from it, which Naruto took to mean that it wasn't interested in tearing his throat out. Which was a very good thing in his opinion.
"Like something you see, dumbass?" Sasuke asked, his voice an odd deep rumble in his throat. Naruto blinked once, twice before the spell of shock was disbursed. Naruto let out a whimper and started to slowly back up, the notebooks in his hands completely forgotten. "Don't," Sasuke said not liking the feeling of anticipation building in his gut. It was too similar to what he felt just before he rushed his prey. "I'm hanging on by a thread, Naruto. If you turn around, if you run, I will pounce." It was almost a physical pain for Sasuke to say that. So much of his ability to move, to hunt, came from the panther's instincts. But, you couldn't have the panther's instincts without the panther. It was there, filling the panther's body with Sasuke as almost a second presence to it. Had it been the full moon, Sasuke would have no control over what his beast wanted to do. That was the reason he always made sure he was out of town that night.
Naruto froze at those words. He knew common sense when he heard it. It was hard, however, not to move back as Sasuke walked forward, all feline grace. Everything about him screamed danger and the human body had two responses to danger: fight or flight. Neither of those was the smartest action at the moment. Sasuke let his beast creep forward, giving in a little to what it wanted in order to keep control. He butted his head against Naruto's legs, much like a house cat would to its owner. Unfortunately, Naruto's legs had been having a hard time holding him up with the fear coursing through him, so they buckled and Naruto ended up on his ass. Sasuke let out a rumbling laugh as he walked forward. The laugh helped Naruto cut through the shock and the fear with an emotion he was quite well acquainted with: anger. Naruto clung to it like a drowning man a life line.
"What's so funny?" Naruto snarled. Sasuke stopped laughing as he was overcome with a feeling of curiosity. The feeling was not really his, but in this form he and his beast shared a lot of the thought process. The large cat was trying to decide whether or not Naruto was prey. So far it didn't think so, but anything could tip the scales. Sasuke leaned over and ran his tongue over one fluid covered cheek.
"You're quite a sight," Sasuke said as he sat on his haunches next to Naruto. He continued to lick the substance off of the other, thinking nothing of it. Things were the clear and simple in a way that only this form could bring on. He wanted to clean the other off so he did. Naruto made a face at the continued attention. It wasn't terribly unpleasant. Sasuke's tongue was dry and rough, closer to fine grated sandpaper than what most would think a tongue should feel like.
"Yeah, well," Naruto said scrunching up his nose as Sasuke started on his ears. This situation was very surreal. "You're the one that covered me in this." Sasuke stopped cleaning as a noise in the bushes caught his attention. He was downwind and could tell it was an early deer. His panther was switching modes. It was hungry and deer smelled just right. He moved past Naruto, oddly silent for his size. He crouched low before turning around to look at Naruto over his shoulder.
"Don't be here when I get back," Sasuke said his eyes narrowing as he looked at the other. He had a secret to keep and he was uncertain the other could keep it. "It would be best if you just forgot this happened." He then turned around and leapt into the bushes without making the slightest sound. Naruto was left blinking at the sudden display of animal grace. It took a second before the warning caught up with him. He was up and moving towards his bike before he thought about it. He swung his leg over it and was about to kick up the kickstand when it hit him just what had happened. He had just seen a guy he sort of knew from school turn into a panther. A panther that could talk and that still had his mind behind it. Sasuke hadn't hurt him, just warned him off.
Naruto frowned as a glop of whatever the hell he was covered in plopped down onto the shiny paint of his bike. He glared at the substance like it was something evil. A thought began to creep into his mind. Sasuke wasn't here right now, hell, he could be gone for a long time. Surely, he wouldn't notice if Naruto took a shower and washed his clothes? Sasuke was the one responsible for the mess they were in anyway. Nodding, Naruto swung his leg back over his bike and walked into the wide open front door. Such carelessness.
The shower had been wonderful, and left Naruto with a new soap to try out. It smelled better than his current one he was sure. He was currently in his boxers, which had been spared the wraith of what Naruto decided to call the slime. He was washing his clothes for the tenth time. They still hadn't come clean. It seemed like the process that the washer was using to wash them was somehow making the slime mold itself to his clothes. It was getting dark outside, and he really needed to be leaving if he was planning on getting home before dark. His father had mentioned that he would be home around six and Naruto knew he would go ballistic if Naruto wasn't there and hadn't called. The washer dinged to show it was finished and Naruto lifted up the lid. He felt like screaming in frustration at the state of his clothes. The slime was evil. It was then that his phone, which had been in his backpack in one of his saddlebags and thus spared, rang. He knew the ringtone to be his father's. He prayed that he had not gotten home yet.
"Dad," Naruto said trying to sound cheerful. He heard radio in the background that told him his father was still in his truck. He thanked god for small miracles.
"Hey," his father said sounding cheerful. "I was on my way home and thought that you deserve a respite from cooking. How does Chinese sound?" Naruto frowned. He wondered just what his father had been doing for food without him. He was constantly trying to get Naruto to order out. But that was the least of his worries at the moment. He walked into the living room, where he had turned Sasuke's TV on. He had been bored and tired of watching his clothes go round.
"Actually," Naruto said thinking on the fly. "I'm at a friend's house right now." It wasn't a lie, but he hadn't exactly been invited in. There was pause on the other end of the phone.
"And just how were you planning on getting home before dark?" his father asked in a severe tone. He wasn't angry yet but he could be. Naruto closed his eyes and hoped he would never have to do this again.
"I wasn't watching the time," Naruto said. The statement was true. The house was surprisingly lacking in the way of a clock. "But that's okay. They've invited me to stay over for the night. I'll be back home tomorrow morning." The lie he had just told stung in his mouth. He felt awful for what he had done.
"Oh," his father said dragging the word out. He was back to being cheerful again. He had been getting worried that Naruto wasn't hanging out with any of the other kids from school. "That's fine. Don't stay up too late. I'll see you later," his father said. Naruto gave his goodbye and bit his lips, eyes still closed.
"And who, prêt ell, gave you permission to spend the night in my house?" Naruto straightened in shock as he turned around to see a very feline Sasuke watching him. He hadn't heard the other at all.
Sasuke ran back to his house at a reasonable pace. The movement was lopping and second nature to him in this state. He had taken down the deer from earlier after a nice little bit of stalking. It had felt wonderful to take all his frustration out on the deer. He had eaten his fill and both he and his beast were content for the moment. There had been no more weirdness over Naruto. Maybe this was some kind of curious phase on the part of his beast? He walked to his back door and pulled on the rope he had tied to it just in case. The door opened soundlessly and he sauntered in before it closed. The second he was back in his kitchen the scent hit him and his beast was back to its unsettled self. Naruto was still here. He was in his house and from the sound of it, washing something in his washer. He crept down the hallway to catch the tail end of a conversation Naruto was having. Much to Sasuke's surprise the other was in nothing except a pair of blue boxers. He decided to be a little cruel as he announced his presence.
Naruto winced as he looked everywhere but at the large cat who looked so out of place in the normal living room. How the hell was he supposed to get out of this? His mind kept clicking empty as he stared at those eyes. He hadn't noticed it before but they were a deep crimson color. They seemed so very out of place in the face of a panther.
"You have red eyes," Naruto said in his panic and immediately wished he had kept his mouth shut. The panther blinked up at him and somehow managed to look bewildered. "Big cats should have yellow, chartreuse, or green eyes. But yours are red." Sasuke wondered if he had broken something in the other's head when he had snuck up on him like that. Why on earth was he going on about his eyes? He shook his head and leapt onto the couch, where he sprawled as he watched Naruto.
"Give me one good reason not to kick you out of my house," Sasuke said as he began to lick his paws. He had some blood on them still and he didn't want it to go to waste. Naruto watched him warily. He held no illusions as to what would happen if he went up against the other. Man vs. panther did not have very good outcomes. He swallowed as he caught sight of Sasuke's long sharp teeth.
"Well, um…," Naruto was not at his most eloquent at the moment. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was just Sasuke, the asshole he worked with in biology. He had no trouble telling him anything. "I know that you're a wer…thing. I could go around telling everyone in the town about it if you don't let me stay." Sasuke stopped licking his paws amused. He stood from the couch and walked over to Naruto whose eyes were still closed. He nuzzled the other's thigh like he had before, only he didn't fall over this time. Naruto did the best he could to ignore it.
"And I could just deny it. Who the hell would believe something like that?" Sasuke snorted as he butted his head against one of Naruto's hands. He had an itch there that he had been trying to reach all night. Naruto peeked down at the other as his fingertips felt the brush of soft fur. He understood what Sasuke wanted very well. He ran his fingers through the fur and did his darnedest to pretend that it was a large dog. It was rather hard to do, though. No dog had fur this soft and short.
"There are people in this town who already do," Naruto said as he thought about Sakura and the others he ate lunch with. Sasuke clipped off the soft purr he had begun. It had been too low for Naruto to hear, but the feeling of the other's hand in his fur felt so good. Sasuke sat on his haunches, the entire side of his body against Naruto's leg.
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked. He was suddenly worried about his place in this town. Itachi and he had moved here because they wouldn't be known here. No one would no of the attack that sent both of them to the hospital or how their parents were found slaughtered in their own home. Here they had just been themselves. Naruto looked straight ahead as it hit him that he could potentially have the killer of all those people leaning against him.
"A few years ago, a bunch of people were killed by what the authorities thought was a wild animal. Apparently, one of the local farmers saw something else, something that he said was half-human and half-wolf," Naruto said as fear began making its way up his spine. If Sasuke really was this killer then he would have no qualms about killing Naruto to keep his secret. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier?
"I didn't know that," Sasuke said opening his eyes as his nose began to detect fear from the other. He could almost taste it, and, despite his having eaten, it woke the hunter part of him. "And, dumbass," Sasuke almost hissed as he tried to clamp down on his instincts, "It wasn't me or my brother. We're cats as you can clearly see." Naruto relaxed a little bit knowing that it wasn't the other. "I haven't noticed anything suggesting either another wer or something big enough to have done what you're talking about. So relax before I decide you're prey." Naruto stiffened at the other's words as he remembered something he had heard on one of the Shark Week specials on the Discovery Channel: some animals could detect your fear, and once they realized you were afraid you immediately went into the prey category.
"Right," Naruto said as he forced himself to relax. He closed his eyes again and began doing the yoga breaths his mom had taught him for when he was angry. "So, um, can I stay?" Naruto asked going back to the question at hand. Sasuke thought about his request for a moment. It couldn't hurt. It wasn't like Naruto was running from the place screaming or anything of the sort.
"Fine," Sasuke said as he walked away from Naruto to get back onto the couch. "You can stay as long as you promise to never tell anyone about this." Sasuke watched Naruto as the other opened his eyes. He seemed almost shocked for a second before a goofy grin lit up his face.
"Shit, yeah," Naruto said feeling a little bit of excitement over the situation. Now that it wasn't near as frightening as it was before his sense of adventure was coming into play. How many people could claim to have actually known something that should only exist in the minds of people like his mother? "I swear to never tell another living soul." Sasuke nodded, somewhat amused at the change in Naruto. One second he was battling down his fear the next he was as creepily cheerful as he was at school.
"Uh, Sasuke," Naruto said as the washer dinged for the eleventh time, "Do you how to get my clothes clean? I threw yours away because they were just rags, but I tried to wash mine and they won't come clean." Sasuke sighed and rested his head against the armrest of the couch. That helped to explain why Naruto was parading around his house in his underwear. He was so used to just having to throw away his clothes after a forced change he had never really given a thought to how you would clean them.
"The washer isn't working?" Sasuke asked and watched as Naruto nodded. "Then I haven't got a clue. I'll lend you something to wear for now though." Sasuke stood and jumped to the floor, before stretching. Naruto watched him and couldn't help but find the motion amusing. Sasuke started off to Itachi's room, Naruto trailing behind him. He would have to lend him his brother's clothes. They would fit him better through the shoulders than anything Sasuke owned.
An hour later found the two of them on the couch watching some movie that was on TV, a mostly empty box of pizza on the side table next to where Naruto was sitting. Sasuke had his head on Naruto's lap, eyes closed. The only indication that he was awake was the twitching that the end of his tail was doing. Naruto was absent-mindedly running his fingers through Sasuke's fur and enjoying the purr that the other was giving at the action. He was in a pair of black sweat pants that were really two sizes too big. Sasuke's brother must have been a bit taller than him.
"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto said more at ease feeling like Sasuke was a rather large kitty cat than a human who turned into a panther. Sasuke made a rumbling noise that was slightly different to that of his purr to let the other know that he was listening. It was odd to him how comfortable he felt in the other's presence. He supposed that it came from his beast. It clearly saw Naruto as being neither prey nor a threat. "Why are you still a panther? Can't you just change back? I mean, it's not even a full moon. Isn't that how this is supposed to work?" Naruto had been curious about this since he had started thinking about this in terms of one of his mother's stories. Sasuke let out a sigh.
"I can change back if I really have to, but it would be costly in terms of energy. I might not be able to move for several hours. I change back into a human after eight hours unless I choose to stay as my beast. I can call upon the change at any point in the lunar cycle; it's just that it is demanded of me during the full moon," Sasuke explained before letting out a yawn. He displayed each and every one of his teeth in the process and Naruto couldn't help but be a little nervous. Sasuke was clearly a predator. "I never did ask, but what were you doing here in the first place?"
"Uh," Naruto blinked at the change in subject, "You left your notes in class and I was going to bring them to you along with the ones you missed. We have the quiz on viruses Monday." Naruto gave a little nervous laugh. The excuse sounded a little lame to his own ears. He wasn't sure how Sakura and Ino had bought it. Sasuke found himself amused at the change in the other's scent. He wasn't afraid, but it was clear he was nervous about something.
"So then, you were just planning on doing a good deed for the person who annoys you the most at school? Tch," Sasuke said as he rolled over onto his back and displayed his stomach in the universal symbol for pet me. Naruto moved his hand down without thinking, rubbing the other's stomach. Sasuke closed his eyes in contentment until Naruto's hand hit one spot. He almost choked on his purr and his body's reaction. He was up an off the other in a flash. Naruto was left blinking at the other from the couch.
"Did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked. As far as he knew animals liked it when you ran your nails down their stomachs. Sasuke sat on the floor facing away from Naruto and evening out his breathing.
"No," Sasuke said once he had himself back under control. His beast had been all to eager to show him just what the touching could lead to and it had made sure to use images he would understand. Naruto underneath him. Dominance assured. Naruto had no clue that his petting could've triggered it. "My fault. I'm going to bed." Sasuke stood and moved to make his way up the stairs to his room. Naruto was just bewildered by the whole thing and decided to shrug it off.
"Where am I supposed to sleep?" Naruto asked getting up to follow the other. It was too early to turn in for him really, but he wanted to know where he was supposed to crash. Sasuke stopped in the hallway before his door to think. He couldn't put him on the couch, the good manners his mother had taught him shied away from the idea. He was supposed to put him in a bed. He couldn't put him in Itachi's room because of the fact that he hadn't any sheets on the bed. That left his room. Grumbling a little in irritation he nudged open his door.
"You can sleep on the bed. I'll take the floor," Sasuke said as he grabbed a throw from the single chair in the room in his mouth. He pulled it down onto the floor in order to make himself a nest. Naruto took the blanket off the floor and away from the other. Sasuke gave him a glare for the action. He was going to sleep on that, thank you very much.
"I'm the uninvited guest," Naruto told him, "I'll sleep on the floor." Sasuke did his best to shrug with the body he had as he jumped onto the bed. He began to adjust the covers and such so that the bed would be comfortable.
"Suit your self," Sasuke said as he lay down in a ball, tail tucked under his chin to be used as a pillow. Naruto nodded as he put the blanket back on the floor.
"Will do," he said as he made to walk out of the room. He paused in front of the doorway. "Good night, Sasuke." Sasuke, who was already half asleep, perked one ear towards the words. He let out a brief purr in reply. Naruto smiled a little as he closed the door and went downstairs to enjoy the rest of his movie.
Reviews:
Shounen-Ai: Still interesting? I'm glad you like it.
Rhinoae: Mrow! Glad you're enjoying it.
Shadowphoenix143: Still excited about reading more? I'm afraid that I might be being too brief.
Stoic Sol: lol. I'm glad you liked the way that I described Sakura. I totally see her as one of those cheerleader types who try to hard to fit the media's image of what a girl should look like. I'm glad that you think my idea is original. Sometimes I worry that it may end up too close to someone else's.
Icyhiei: Don't worry over the similarities. I actually put in the bit about the biology experiment because of the fact I want everyone to understand at least a little bit about genetics for when we get further on in the story. Sasuke is sitting with Suigetsu and company at lunch and they aren't wer.
Kairi and Cloud: I'm glad you're not having trouble understanding what I write. There is, believe it or not, a lot of theory that goes into my fantasy stories. So, never hesitate to ask if something doesn't make sense to you. More likely than not, it was something that I had to edit out because it was too much theory and not enough story.
HatakeKasumi: I'm kind of amused that the first chapter has reminded some many of Twilight. I think that the first chapter is likely to be were the similarity ends.
Astoroche: I think that a majority of my fics come out of the fact that I read someone's brilliant idea and then weep at the execution of it. So many good ideas that fall so flat. sighI'm glad you think that my fic is better. It makes my day.