The Johnson Brothers

Chapter 2

"Man I'm bored," said Tom.

Jared perked up. "You? Bored?! That's my line idiot," he said defensively.

"Yeah? Well get over it," Tom replied. "The impossible has happened. I'm bored. Whoopty fuckin doo. I can't help it. It's been over a week since the Killzone 2 servers were 'temporarily' shut down and still nothing. Not even a slight sign of coming back online. I mean Warhawk is good and all, but that can only last so long. I need Killzone 2."

Jared gave him a flat look. "Man, what is it with you and Killzone 2? Ever since it came out, that's all you've been thinking about. That's all you ever play and you sit there on the Killzone 2 website hitting the refresh button every five second waiting for a new update on the Steel and Titanium pack. Christ, what is it that you see in Killzone 2 that you absolutely need to survive?" he finished, almost out of breath.

"How should I put this?" Tom thought for a moment, "Ah I got it! Ok, you know how much you like hash with hot sauce?"

Jared slowly nodded, "Ok then, imagine a world without hot sauce. Then you'd be forced to eat only the hash instead of fattening it up with the tasty Tabasco sauce you love so much."

Jared's eyes widened. His breathing quickened. The look on his face changed from perplexed to fearful. Meanwhile, Tom's eyebrows were raised, waiting for an answer.

He finally caved, "Ok ok, I get it."

Tom laid back on the couch, a big hearty grin on his face. "Second time I got em this week... maybe this day dosen't totally suck," he thought to himself, enjoying another harassment victory over Jared.

"Wow, it's so beautiful. Are you sure it's the right place Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.

"Yes Sakura, this is the right one," replied Kakashi. When Team 7 had volunteered for the exchange program between the UEF and the Shinobi Nations, they knew that they would be going to a city, but they never imagined something like this.

The UEF had discovered the Five Great Shinobi Nations 10 years ago by complete accident. A recon team had accidently stumbled into an unmarked area on the world map that was never able to be analyzed due to a mysterious interference from within the area itself. The Federation had deemed this the work of the Helghast and had strongly advised avoiding travel there.

The recon team on the other hand, had accidently taken a wrong turn on their patrol path and had wandered into the area. Realizing they had taken a wrong turn, an attempt was made to contact their outpost for directions. Being unable to radio for assistance due to the interference, the team became lost inside a dense, ever-changing forest and soon stumbled across a group of shinobi training. Before being discovered by a passing patrol, they witnessed all sorts of fighting styles and ninjutsu being used. When discovered though, immediate reactions from the shinobi were hostile. The shinobi of Konohagakure had mistaken the lost recon team for sound ninja spies and immediately attacked, killing two of the six-man recon team. The team returned fire, killing a few shinobi and fled the way they came. Only one man was able to make it out.

When questioned about the events pertaining to the mysterious zone as well as the attack on his recon team, he spoke of people that could jump from tree to tree, even run up trees, stand on water, and create fire and lightning out of thin air by merely making hand signs. He also explained that when his team returned fire, it seemed as though the attackers were completely taken by surprise when fired upon, like they had never even seen a gun before. He was also unaware of happened to the rest of his squad but was sure they were killed.

At first he was perceived as crazy. The only thing that made sense was the possibility of human life. The Federation decided to chance it and sent in a recon APC with another team to confirm the presence of other human life and to find the rest of the recon team. The APC entered the unknown sector, establishing a communication beacon inside and outside the border of the area, and connecting the two with a fiber-optic cable in hopes of penetrating whatever was blocking the communication signal. In short, it worked. The APC when sending a transmission sent it to the inside beacon. The data was then transferred to the outside beacon via the fiber-optic cable and sent to the outpost. The second recon team was able to communicate with the outpost perfectly. However, aside of a transmission to confirm their entry into the sector, no other communication was obtained or received. Two days later, both communication beacons went offline as well.

In response, a battle group was assembled, consisting of X-66 Mammoth tanks and Orca Gunships. Unfortunately for the Federation, word of this new threat had already reached Konoha and Hiruzen Sarutobi, the current and third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village at the time. By the time the battle group had arrived, the shinobi had prepared for them. Unfortunately for the shinobi, they knew little about combating Federation infantry, let alone heavily armored tanks and air support. Still, the same could be said for the Federation forces. While the kunai, shuriken and even the explosive kunai did little against the tanks and heavy gunships, the more powerful ninjutsu were able to heavily damage and even destroy some of the Federation forces. As for the shinobi, they were woefully unprepared to face the raw, tree/rock shredding power of the Orca's 30mm Chain-gun or the immense blast radius of the 4.75-inch missile pods mounted on every Mammoth tank. In the end, Federation casualties were light but for the shinobi, only one person out of the 30 man platoon had survived and an entire acre of forest had been leveled.

News of the battle had reached both sides. The Hokage himself had visited the site shortly after and the Federation commanders had personally taken a look at the footage from the battle. News of this new contact had also reached the general population on both sides. Moods were nervous, anxious, and fearful. The nightmare of another war was emerging and many back in the Federation territories were against another war. Some stated that their current situation made it impossible to fight a war on two fronts, while others feared that if Helghast found out in even the remotest way, that opened up a massive fuel to source for re-building their numbers quickly as it was unknown if the people living had experienced any contact with them. However, just as the two sides were preparing to go all-out against each-other, the Hokage stepped forward. He explained who he was, who the shinobi were and that all these events were caused by a mere misidentification on the shinobi's part. He also said that he wanted to meet with the Federation commanders in an attempt to resolve the current issues before they grew out of hand and a war was started.

Both the brass and the President of the Federation met to vote on it. In due time, they reluctantly agreed, believing it was best to avoid making a new enemy and a possible new ally for the Helghast. The meeting location was a make-shift set-up on the area where the previous battle had taken place. Both sides had protection lurking in the shadows, ready to tear the place apart in case either side got out of hand.

At the meeting, tension levels were high. Despite this though, war was averted. Both sides settled their grievances. Konoha, believing themselves to have caused all this, even if by accident, they agreed to turn over the survivors of the first recon team taken captive, as well as the entire second recon team and all the technology Konoha had collected from the battles. They were also not to continue research on any of the Federation weapons or technology they had collected and were to turn over what little research they had done so far. That was it. After that, the Federation surprisingly left the five Great Shinobi Nations alone.

Still, certain people didn't wish to see it end there. Some felt as though the Federation should seek an alliance with the five Great Shinobi Nations as they could prove a useful ally in the war against the Helghast. Other saw it as a way to learn their secrets and techniques and that alone could prove invaluable against the Helghast. Nevertheless, two such people who thought and alliance would help were Randall and Mary Johnson, the Johnson brothers parents. Although their reasons for desiring an alliance were unclear, they held great influence in the Federation. Still, even this wasn't enough to persuade the brass to let them into Federation territory, at least on a large scale. That's when they suggested a very small co-habit of sorts, like a foreign exchange student program only on a very miniscule scale. Their plan was to allow only a small group of shinobi come and live in Federation territory for a short while in a heavily monitored environment. At first, their time in the Federation would be brief and they would only be allowed to stay in the major cities where they could be closely monitored. After taking all the possibilities and drawback into consideration, as well as years of negotiations that led almost nowhere, the Federation finally accepted their proposal.

Konoha on the other hand wasn't so sure how to proceed. The Federation would only allow one four man team to enter and they were to only enter Federation City. The Third Hokage wouldn't force anyone to go, so he ultimately decided to leave it to the element of volunteering. Thanks to Naruto's big mouth however, it was Team 7 who half willingly, half unwillingly went. The two scientists had arranged for transportation to take them there. They were given instructions on how to get to the Federation outpost the Johnson couple was there to personally greet them when the plane came to pick them up. On their way there, Team 7 had been given a complete description on where they were going, where they'd be staying, the whole nine yards. Team 7 was stunned. The plane, the flight, the cityscape, it was unlike anything they had ever experienced. Even Sasuke couldn't dismiss the intrigue he felt by the whole experience. Team 7 was then given a ride to where they would be staying: The Johnson Brothers house. The couple told them they believed that it would be a wonderful, compelling experience to have "A whole new culture" at their house. They even ran it by Harold who saw no problems with it. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell Tom and Jared that.

Tom, having achieved yet another victory over Jared, was just about to go to the roof when he heard the front door open. He froze mid-stride. That meant one thing: Their parents were home, something they never do unless there's a serious problem or they had guests.

"Jared...any idea why our parents are home?" asked Tom

"Not a clue," replied Jared starting at the entertainment room door. "Either there was another problem with Dillon or-"

"Yo Tom, Jared, come down here. We got guests," shouted Harold, cutting Jared off.

This never happened. Tom and Jared couldn't remember the last time they were called to meet guests. This was something entirely different. The two brothers exchanged glances quickly then walked onto the outer stairway to see Harold and four oddly dressed people standing there. Three of them guys and one girl. The tallest one, who seemed to be the leader of the group had grey hair, a mask over the bottom half of his face, and headband that covered one of his eyes, and sported a blue pair of pants and shirt while wearing a green vest and was reading a book of sorts. The rest of them were kids, no older than Tom. One of them sported an orange outfit, and had bright blond hair, while the one standing next to him had raven black hair, and was wearing beige colored shorts with a light blue shirt. The girl however, sported long, pink hair, a red qipao dress with white circular designs and dark green shorts.

"Tom, Jared, this is Shinobi Team 7 from Konohagakure in the Land of Fire in the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Sorry I forgot to tell you guys, but the folks and I kind of agreed to this "cohabitating" plan of sorts…so for the next couple of months…we got guests."

They walked down to where Harold and Team 7 were and just stood there, speechless at the fact that they had a group of people from a completely foreign in their house who would be staying with them and at the fact that it all happened without them knowing until now.

Still, that didn't stop Jared from saying "You sure these are the actual ninja's and not some guys heading for a costume party at tech-noir?"

Tom's quickly tossed glances back and forth between Jared and Team 7, trying to give the impression that it wasn't his idea to say that. Harold put his hand over his forehead, fully expecting, yet in disbelief at what Jared said. The orange-haired kid tilted his head to the right with an odd, curios expression on his face while the black-haired kid just shot Jared a thin face. The girl looked at what she was wearing and seemed both embarrassed and insulted while the grey-haired man showed no change in expression.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence, the orange-haired kid scream "OOH! OHH! A COSTUME PARTY?! WHERE?! I WANNA GO!"

Everyone just started at the orange-haired kid in total disbelief that he actually took what Jared said seriously. The black-haired kid then said "Naruto, you're an idiot, you know that?"

Naruto? Tom thought, That's an odd name…

Naruto simply shot him a stupid glare, tempting the black-haired kid to call him an idiot again. That's when Jared, once again, said "You guys sure you're not going to-" Before he could finish, Tom conked him over the head.

"Shut-up idiot," he said. He then turned his attention toward Team 7 and said "My my, where are my manners? The name's Thomas Calvin Johnson but you can all call me Tom," he said proudly.

The first person to step forward was the pink haired girl. For some reason, Tom's full attention was immediately turned to the girl. He wasn't quite expecting that.

"Hi there, I'm Sakura Haruno. Nice to meet you Tom." Tom was going to say something back but found himself unable to speak. He just stood there, his focus gazing into here green emerald eyes. It wasn't the beauty of her physical appearance that had him mesmerized; it was something else, something completely different. It was the way she had just greeted him. Not since as far back as he could remember could he recall being greeted in such a kind, genuine way. Her tone wasn't exactly the most warming, but as he started into her eyes he saw that her greeting was kind, genuine, something he had never seen before.

Time seemed to freeze as he started into her eyes. He was desperately searching for something, anything to say. He couldn't. Despite all his knowledge, he was unable to think of a way to return the kindness he had just been given…at least until the orange-haired kid bumped her out of the way, accidently sending her crashing to the floor before belting out, "The name's Naruto Uzumaki, believe it!"

Only then, did Naruto realize that he had pushed Sakura to the ground and just as he was about to try and help her up when she bolted up from the ground and delivered a haymaker to his face, sending him flying into the far wall.

"Naruto, you jerk!" she screamed as she delivered the blow. Tom and Harold were completely shocked by this, while Jared burst out laughing.

"Wow…" said Tom in total shock. "That…was…awesome! Sakura you rock!" he finished, amazed. Sakura looked at him and blushed a little. She wasn't used to people giving her compliments for stunts like that.

Just then, the black-haired kid walked towards Tom and held out his hand. "Sasuke Uchiha," he said. Tom shook his hand but it wasn't the same as Sakura's greeting. It was almost as if Sasuke was trying to analyze him in a way. Trying to see whether he was down to earth or not. No, it wasn't that, it was…damn it! Tom couldn't figure this guy out. It was a personality, a past far more complex than his own and it wasn't his lack of understanding of people either. The best understanding of people in the world wouldn't have done him any good in this situation. This Sasuke kid was far too complicated for Tom. However, there was one thing that stood out: Pain. This kid had a lot of it built up inside and it was a time bomb just begging to explode.

Sasuke let go and Tom turned his attention toward the grey-haired man. "You can call me Kakashi" he said in a calm, cool tone, the bulk of his attention focused in his book.

Before Tom could say anything, Sakura quickly pulled him aside. "He's not one to show much emotion, if at all, just to letcha know ahead of time."

"Ah...ok, thanks," replied Tom.

Finally, Harold spoke up, "Uh…hey, everyone. Sorry to interrupt but I gotta go again."

"Again?" Tom said flatly.

"Yeah, my girlfriend's car still isn't fixed so I gotta play chauffer again. Well, see ya later," he said as he walked out the door.

"Expect to hear that excuse a lot. His girlfriend's car ALWAYS seems to break down."

"You do know that he's telling the truth, right?" asked Kakashi.

Tom looked at the door before saying "Man that must be one un-reliable car…"

Jared finally spoke up, "So, you want me and Tom to show you around?

"Sure," replied Sakura.

Tom looked at his younger brother. This was quite unusual for Jared. Normally, it was Tom who made that offer. That's when he knew something was very different about these new guests. Jared wouldn't make that offer to just anyone.

Despite having Jared's help, it took a full hour to give a complete tour of the house-minus their parent's private office and the attic-thanks to the massive outdoor area. The house itself was so massive, there was a 25-foot solid stone wall built around the entire complex with a massive iron gate out in the front. Since their parents were high-ranking scientists of the Federation (almost too busy to even come home,) this was done to insure privacy and protection for the whole complex. There was even a laser grid system covering the grass outside the walls as well as the gate when closed. When the grid was tripped by any sizeable mass, it automatically alerted the nearby Federation police. Luckily, to avoid bringing the whole department down in the event of a squirrel tripping it, there were security camera's as well military base-grade weapon detectors of all kinds built into the wall. In short, the wall itself acted like a smart protective bubble all in its own with the only blind-spots being the directly above the complex and the possible existence of an old pre-war abandoned sewer tunnel that ran right underneath the house. Attempts to locate it were unsuccessful.

Adding to that were the massive woodland areas and gardens contained and maintained within the perimeter, including a full hedge maze almost as tall as the wall itself. Tom and Jared had heard a few really bizarre and downright creepy rumors about the maze. They had heard everything ranging from guests disappearing in the maze and never being found to the possibility of some kind of switch in the underground portion of the center of the maze that when activated, opened a door in the main hall that lead to the basement to which They were forbidden to go unless it were the most extreme of circumstances. Tom had tried to find this mysterious switch many times, but turned up unsuccessful in finding even a whisper of its existence. He still knew it existed though. The door, located on the right tunnel of the main hall which lead into the ballroom was always locked, heavily fortified and sound-proof. Whenever he knocked on the door, he heard no sound. The door had to be at least ¼ of a meter thick. That all but confirmed there was something down there.

The house itself was huge, spanning three massive levels, four if you included the locked basement. The exterior was made out of brick while the inside materials ranged from solid mahogany to medieval-style décor with eighteenth century Persian-style carpeting. When you first walked through the front door, you entered the main hall. Oh either side was a staircase which lead all the way up to a walkway which outlined the whole of the main hall, with doors leading to various rooms on the second level and one door leading to the attic. Directly ahead, there were two tunnels directly underneath where the two staircases met. The right side led into a ball-room/library/"living room" which had two doors, the right leading to a giant swimming pool, and the left leading to the dining room. The left tunnel lead directly to the dining room, while a door on the left lead into the kitchen. Aside of this, there were numerous bookshelves, antiques, statues and all other sorts of odds and ends scattered about the house.

However, despite what may have seemed like a family living in a castle, Tom and Jared knew that it was only meant for all the rich and powerful guests who came over on rare occasions for fancy dinners, which the Johnson brothers were routinely banned from. It was a cover-up and there was something much more shady going on in the background. At times, they even felt liked they were being watched by someone or something, sometimes even too scared to move around. As the tour was underway, Tom could sense that Sasuke had definitely picked up on something while Naruto's full attention was focused on the exquisite cover-up; as everyone else in Team 7 had predicted. Tom couldn't figure Kakashi out though, as he showed no signs of change in his facial expressions (What little of his face was showing) or tone of voice. In fact, he showed no interest in the tour at all. His main center of focus was in his book, which was in a language Tom couldn't read. Guess Sakura's advice was spot-on. As for Sakura though, she was the hardest to figure. While he wasn't definite, he could tell there was a solid chance she had picked up on something, but even if she was acting, she was doing a very convincing job at hiding, with only a couple minor slip-ups.

Despite this, the tour went well. After that, Tom and Jared showed Team 7 to the guest area where they set up their respective bedrooms. Kakashi disappeared shortly after and the five kids were seemingly left to their own devices. Jared immediately ran off with Naruto, but Tom was a different story. He knew that he wanted to show Sakura what his daily life was like and teach her all about life in Federation City but was still unsure of how to say it.

"Uhh…Sakura?" he asked.

"Yea, what is it?" she replied.

"Umm…I was wondering if…you…umm…uhh…wanted to go and…look at…uhh…that thing," he said pointing to a massive wall of books with a statue next to it. "…and then I could…uhh…damn it, what's the word I'm looking for?" he continued, struggling to think of what he wanted to say.

"Ok, let me get this straight," she said. "You want to teach me pretty much everything there is to know about your life and culture here, is that right?"

"Yes! That's right! That's exactly what I wanted to say," he finished, trying to dismiss his stuttering. As he started to walk towards the massive bookshelf in the library section of the living room, Tom thought to himself "Damn it! Why can't I talk to her? What is it about her that makes me stutter so much?"

Sakura however had asked Sasuke if he wanted to join them to which Sasuke agreed. Much to Tom surprise, that made everything so much easier. He suddenly found himself able to speak clearly without stuttering. He was able to focus on the topics at hand without becoming distracted, even when Sakura asked him a question. He found himself able to talk with her during the whole session. It completely bewildered him but he was grateful nonetheless. The rest of the day was spent with Tom education Sasuke and Sakura about the lifestyle in Federation City, everything ranging from daily activities, to hobbies, to traditions of their culture, as well as what being a citizen in Federation City was like. He also explained what the law and military systems were like as best he could, despite lacking-what he considered-sufficient knowledge of both systems, as well as the school systems.

He did not however, mention the Helghast or the current state of the world, as talking about them was virtually forbidden thanks to a few false scares and pranks a couple of mindless jokers had pulled in the last few years. It wasn't illegal yet but anyone who spoke of them outside an assembly or a news outlet didn't receive good reception from the surrounding locals. Tom personally thought it was not only complete bullshit but that it gave the Helghast a moral advantage. If people were scared of just talking about them, what would happen once they attacked? He wondered if people would have the courage to fight back, or if they would easily submit.

Sasuke and Sakura found the lecture very educating and informative. Kakashi even stopped by a few times to listen in. They frequently compared life in Federation City to their own, exchanging the functions of their society with Tom but questioned the school and military systems. They found it puzzling that kids remained in school until age eighteen and that being a soldier in the military wasn't passed down from generation to generation. They also found it odd that kids weren't trained to fight from day one. Tom simply explained that the military wasn't something that was heavily integrated into their society and the military was seen almost as a separate world by many. There was no obligation to go into the military and he had no plans of going in himself.

By the end of the lecture, it was already late at night, and they all decided to call it a night. Once again, Tom tried to say something to Sakura, but found himself speechless once again. The thing that hurt the most though, was that he knew Sakura was fully aware of it. He also knew that she was infatuated with Sasuke and feared that he would lose his chance with her. He also knew he had time though, as Sasuke wasn't the least bit interested in Sakura…but he wondered just how long that would last.

Before Tom went to bed, he decided to check one last time if the Killzone 2 servers had been brought back online. He checked: no avail.

"Jesus," he thought. "When are these damn servers going to be back online?"

Just then, he heard the door open. "Hey Tom, you still up?" said Jared.

"Yeah, just wanting to see if the Killzone 2 servers were back up but I guess not…what a surprise…" replied Tom.

Jared sat down on the couch while Tom turned the TV and console off.

"Hey Tom,"

"Yeah what's up?"

"What do you think of our new guests?"

"Well I can definitely say it came as a complete surprise. Of course what can you expect with folks like ours?" said Tom.

"True. I sometimes wonder if they're even our real parents," replied Jared.

"You know, I wonder about that a lot myself. I mean think about it, we look nothing like them, or even Harold for that matter. Yet you and I are almost carbon copies of each-other. I don't know about you, but it keeps me up at night."

They were silent for a few minutes, deep in thought, until Jared spoke up. "So, what did you teach Sasuke and Sakura in that super-uber-long lecture you gave them?"

Tom shot him a thin face, "Everything you could ever want to know about life here…to best of my knowledge. You?"

"Oh, Naruto and I shared a few things. I showed him some of my music, tried teaching him how to skateboard which didn't go over so well," he said laughing. "Then we talked about what we do in our various lives and I learned some interesting things about his hometown called Konohagakure which means 'The Village Hidden in the Leaves' and we also talked about our various goals and dreams for the future. He's got some interesting ones. He wants to become the leader of the village someday."

"So you guys shared personal stuff eh? That's something I never got around to doing," said Tom. "So what do you think of them?"

'Well…Naruto and I are a perfect match personality-wise," said Jared.

"Ditto," replied Tom

"Sasuke however is very different. He's distant, anti-social and just plain creepy. I don't why Sakura's infatuated with him. Just the way she looks at him. She follows him like the pied piper and worships everything he says as if he a god of sorts. I'm amazed that with all her smarts, she can't see him for who he really is."

"I do find that strange myself," said Tom. "Ah well, maybe it's just a girl thing. One thing's for sure though, I don't trust Sasuke a fucking inch."

"And Naruto?" asked Jared.

"Naruto's a good kid at heart but it's covered by a layer of stupidity. If he could just get rid of that, he'd be a really decent person someday."

"What about Sakura?"

Tom froze for a minute. "That's the only one of them I'm having trouble with."

"What do you mean?" Jared asked perplexed.

"I don't know why but every time I try and simply talk to her, I can't. I end up stuttering and sometimes I can't even mouth a coherent word. I just don't get it. When Sasuke was there, it was fine but as soon as he left, it happened again. I just don't fucking understand! Why am I like this? Ever since she greeted me it's been like this…"

Jared thought about it for a few minutes: Stutters whenever attempting to communicate. Able to speak when other people present, can't explain why these actions are triggered, dosen't understand it himself…then it clicked. Jared calmly looked at Tom. He knew what he was about to say would change his way of thinking forever and he didn't care. Maybe it could get him to stop obsessing over Killzone 2 for five minutes.

"You like her. That's what it is," said Jared.

Tom froze, an utter look of shock on his face. He felt his heart rate shoot up like a rocket. Was it real? Did he actually genuinely like someone? Did he have actual feelings for someone aside of himself?

"I…can't believe it…" he finally managed to say.

"Well you should," said Jared reassuringly. "She's the first person outside the immediate family to show you genuine kindness. You've never met anyone like this before. It comes as a complete shock as you're not used to this kind of behavior portrayed towards you. But deep down inside, whether you know it or not, it's what your soul has been searching for all along: Someone to care for you, to love you, someone you can share happiness and sadness with, someone to share you true thoughts and feelings with." He paused for a minute:

Tom slumped back on the couch, humbled by what just came over him. He finally knew the source of his inner loneliness, why he was never able to make friends, what he had spent so much time longing for. All he wanted was for someone who would care for him, who he could care for. He wanted someone whom he could open up to. A person that he wouldn't have to distance himself from.

"Someone to love," Jared finally said.

Tom looked at his younger brother. The chances of Jared showing slight signs of maturity were slim to none. The chances of him displaying it were like combing the chances of seeing Sally's comet and a full solar eclipse in the same year. You almost never saw it, but when you did, it changed you forever, for the better.

"Jared I…" he was about to say something but Jared stopped him short.

"Tom just shut-up and reflect on what I said, ok?"

Tom slowly nodded. Jared turned and walked to the door. He stopped as he opened it. "One more thing; don't rush it. Start off as friends and see where it goes from there. Just because you have these feelings now, dosen't mean you always will. It could change in an instant tomorrow and not always for the better."

With that he strode out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Tom fell sideways on the couch. He didn't sleep a wink that night. He just sat there, reflecting on what Jared had said. As he lay there deep in thought, he knew that there would be major changes coming in his life soon. The one thing that was gripping at his conscience though was the question of whether these changes would be for better or for worse. However, the one question he did have an answer to was what he would ask Sakura the next morning…

Elsewhere, up on the roof of the Johnson brothers mansion, Kakashi watched the starts, wondering how and why he wound up in this situation. The stars contained no answers to his question. He was unsure of whether it was fate that brought him here or whether it was a carefully planned setup. Just someone aching to start a world war between his kind and theirs. One thing he was sure of however, was that he was being watched…and not just by the Federation.

Their surveillance cameras didn't sport a pair of glowing red eyes.