Ok, new update...

I was thinking about postponing this to tomorrow but I decided against it since I had nothing better to do and had no reason to do so...

Uhm... Besides the fact that we introduce our second heroine in this chapter, I got nothing to add... Oh actually, does the author notes look better centered? Just wondering cuz I kind of wanted to do this for a while now but always forgot...

Chapter 6: Competition, yōkai blood vs Uchiha blood...

*Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living* -ANAIS NIN

[By the way, I think I'm going to start posting random quotes... why? not sure... entertains me to a certain degree...]

I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha...

"…"

Hinata looked nervously around and then back at the one next to her.

"…" He was just lying there, doing nothing and if he didn't do something soon…

"*snore*…" Hinata flinched when she heard Naruto snore and she looked up to the front of the class to see Iruka glaring at Naruto. He cleared his throat, hoping to wake the sleeping hanyō but to no avail.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered and even kicked him from the side, but he still didn't wake up. She kicked him again, this time with more force but only caused him to mutter some incoherent words.

"Run Jerry… Tom's going to get you." Naruto muttered and everyone started to giggle, even Hinata who found his sleep talking cute and amusing. She snapped out of her gaze on him and noticed that Iruka was now standing over him with a ruler in his hands. Hinata's eyes widened when she saw the ruler.

'N-Not the ruler!' She thought in fear for Naruto who was blissfully unaware of Iruka and the ruler.

"Wake up; this is no time to be sleeping!" Iruka yelled as he raised the ruler over his head and brought it down over Naruto's head, causing the sounds of ruler smacking flesh fill the room. Everyone, including Sasuke, flinched as the sound entered their eardrums. Naruto woke up immediately and grabbed his head.

"Ah!" He yelled as he rubbed the spot on his head where he was just hit. He closed his left eye in pain and looked up at Iruka with his one remaining eye. "The hell was that about?!" Naruto yelled and quickly grabbed the ruler from Iruka's grasp. He started to apply pressure to it but then it disappeared. Naruto looked at his empty palm before looking up and seeing the ruler in Iruka's hands again.

"Naruto, do you even know what we're talking about?!" Iruka asked in annoyance. Naruto took in a deep breath and stood up.

"NO!" He said and made Iruka sweat drop. Naruto mumbled a few choice words and then sat down and went back to sleep. However, before he left the world of the waking, he saw Iruka preparing to smack him again and he smirked. A second before it made contact, Naruto jumped back and let the ruler smack the desk instead of his head. The impacting sound caused everyone to once again flinch. Naruto smirked and was about to taunt Iruka but Iruka threw the ruler and it hit Naruto dead on his forehead.

"AH!" Naruto shouted as he fell to the floor and held his head. "AH MY HEAD! THE HELL IS THAT RULER MADE OF?! IT HURTS EVEN MORE THAN THE FIRST HIT!" Naruto yelled as he slowly got up to his feet. He then pointed an accusing finger at Iruka. "That's child abuse ya jerk!" He continued but Iruka shrugged it off.

"If you weren't sleeping then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation." Iruka said as he grabbed the ruler and headed back to the front of the classroom. Naruto growled as he felt his genjutsu start to drop. He panicked and immediately sat down and hid under the desk. Hinata saw this and looked under and saw his hair start to shimmer. Before she could wonder what that was about, she saw that it momentarily flashed, showing his golden fox ears before it disappeared.

Naruto got out from under the desk and sat down on his chair. He growled at those who looked at him oddly and even put some killing intent to those who refused to look away. Naruto then put his head on his arms and sighed, he really hated the academy now. Through the genjutsu, his fox ears twitched at the clanging sounds coming from his neck. He looked down and smiled as he saw the necklace Hinata gave him yesterday. He looked at Hinata who was strangely enough looking at him before blushing and looking away.

"Yo, Hinata-chan." Naruto whispered as Iruka started to draw all twelve basic hand signs on the board. Hinata looked at him but didn't turn her head. "Thanks again for the necklace!" Hinata nodded her head and smiled. Naruto smiled back and started to fiddle with it.

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

"I didn't do it, you can't prove it!" Naruto yelled after being distracted. He looked down and saw Iruka glaring at him again. "Oh, Iruka-sensei, it's just you. For a second, I thought you were the ANBU." Naruto said as he leaned back on his chair with a sigh of relief.

"Why would… never mind. Anyways, why aren't you paying attention?" Iruka asked and Naruto shrugged.

"Maybe you're just not a good enough teacher. Maybe I'm a genius and need to have my own tutor." Naruto mocked as he continued to play with his necklace and Iruka walked up to him.

"Or maybe it's because you're playing with your necklace." Iruka said as he grabbed Naruto's necklace and was about to remove it but the thing wouldn't budge. He tried again but the beads suddenly shined and refused to leave Naruto's neck.

"Would you look at that, looks like the thing doesn't want to leave me." Naruto joked as Iruka continued to try to take it off. After five minutes of unsuccessful attempts, Iruka walked off, telling Naruto to focus. Naruto grunted as he played with his necklace, he didn't care what Iruka said, he could beat anyone here down without so much as breaking a sweat. Well, except for Hinata, she was too close to him for him to actually want to hurt. Maybe Shikamaru and Choji too.

Despite their attempts to not get involved with his pranks, he knew they considered him a friend just like he considered them friends. Kiba… well, when he'd drop his alpha male attitude, he was a pretty cool kid to hang around. Unfortunately, that was only when they would play dodgeball and Naruto was on Kiba's team. Also, when he joined Naruto on his pranks.

The last one he joined him on was placing an almost invisible tack on Iruka's chair. Naruto's most favorite prank was when Kiba agreed to distract Iruka early in the morning while Naruto replaced Iruka's usual dango with a similar looking bread baked with dirt and a dead mouth and also putting hot sauce in his coffee.

Iruka's face after eating the dirt and moth dango was hilarious but his reaction to drinking his hot sauce coffee was priceless.

Naruto scratched his head in confusion, what was he thinking about again… Kiba. Yeah, that kid needed to stop being a jerk and then maybe he'd be considered a true friend. Sakura; well, not exactly an enemy but not a friend either. While she didn't necessarily treat him like Ino does, she did have her fangirl side that really annoyed Naruto. Ino, well, same as Sakura except Ino had a higher degree of fangirlism.

Shino was more like an acquaintance, not one to talk but when he did, Naruto would barely understand his words or at least the way he used them. He was cool and all but sometimes, Naruto thought he had to throw himself out there and act like a normal kid his age. And Sasuke…

Naruto glared at his rival, he couldn't stand the stuck up Uchiha. Sasuke had always called him dobe and a loser and Naruto was already getting sick of it. It's only been a little over a month and already he wanted to leave. He might have been joking about the private tutor at first but now it wasn't sounding like a bad idea.

Sensing that someone was staring at him, Sasuke looked back and his eyes came in contact with Naruto's. Dark, emotionless ebony eyes stared back at deep, angered blue eyes. After a second, Sasuke grunted and turned his focus on Iruka, only to close his eyes and start to muse to himself. Naruto growled and left it at that; he couldn't do anything from here.

"Ok class, now we're going to go outside and practice some more kunai/shuriken throwing and Naruto, please wait for your turn. We don't want another repeat of what happened to Sasuke." Naruto chuckled as Sasuke and his fangirls glared at Naruto.

"What?! Come on, tell me that wasn't funny." Shikamaru and Choji, who did think that it was funny, stifled their laughs, not wanting to be subjected to the fangirl's rage. Hinata did the same. "Whatever, I won't do it again, I promise."

Outside, Takeo, the brown haired bully, was throwing five kunai knives and five shuriken at two bulls-eyes, stacked on top of each other and tied to a tree. He hit the target twice; the two were kunai and had missed the other three kunai and five shuriken. Each student was given five shuriken and five kunai and they were to hit each target to the best of their ability.

"Ha-ha, nice try princess, maybe next time!" Naruto mocked as Takeo glared at him and made his way to the back of the line. Naruto was eager to go up, wanting to show up the Uchiha prick. Right now, Shino was able to make an average throw, hitting one bulls-eye with a kunai and only missing the target by two shurkien.

As more started to test their accuracy, Naruto noticed that Hinata was a lot quieter than usual.

"Hinata-chan, what's wrong?" Hinata looked at him before looking at the ground while poking her two index fingers together.

"I-I don't think I can d-do this." She said and Naruto shook his head.

"Of course you can! Come on, you just have to believe in yourself." Naruto said and Hinata nodded her head with a smile, though Naruto saw that it was a false. "Hinata-chan, if you don't try your best, then you'll be proving Takeo and the other jerks right." Hinata looked into space, deep in thought and Naruto heard his name being called. He walked up to the line drawn for him to stand and he took five shuriken and kunai. Tossing them, he smiled at seeing two kunai hit the bulls-eye, one shuriken hit the bulls-eye under the kunai and the others at least hadn't miss the target.

Looking at Sasuke, he growled seeing him with a bored expression. He walked to the back of the line and Sasuke walked up to the line. Grabbing his shurikens, Naruto growled louder at seeing him hit the bulls-eyes with every kunai and shuriken except for two kunai and three shuriken. His fangirls applauded at his success but he ignored it, false worship was something he didn't appreciate.

After two other academy kids Naruto didn't know went, Hinata was called up and smiled nervously as she took her place behind the line.

"Go Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted with a raise of his arm. Some kids glared at them but Naruto glared at them right back. He was cheering for his friend and there was no way peer pressure was going to stop him. Hinata gulped nervously as her hand trembled to grab her kunai and shuriken. Iruka gave her a smile and she smiled back, though it was once again false.

Hinata let out a breath as she dropped to a stance and threw the first five kunai in one go. She was able to hit near the bulls-eye by a mere inch and Naruto smiled but Hinata was only saddened by this. She hated herself for not able to at least get one bulls-eye; her father expected her to be the best in the class but at the rate she was progressing…

"Good job Hinata-chan! Five more shuriken to go!" Hinata opened her eyes and looked back at Naruto who was giving her a thumbs up.

"Hey man, shut up already!" A boy said from inside the crowd. Hinata giggled when she saw Naruto walk up to the boy and grab him by his collar.

"What'd you say?!" Feeling a bit better, Hinata readied herself and threw the shurikens as accurately as she could. She was surprised when three of the shurikens hit its mark. "That's how you do it Hinata-chan!" Naruto cheered and Iruka smiled at her.

"Good job Hinata, you are tied with Naruto for second place." Hinata happily smiled and walked back to the end of the line where Naruto was waiting for her. He smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up again.

"You see, I told you you'd do it!" Hinata blushed at his praise and muttered a thank you. Naruto just kept smiling as the other kids went to on to throw kunai/shuriken.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto yawned as he walked home. It was only two in the afternoon and he just wanted to go to bed. The academy was pretty boring considering that Kiri's academy expected their kids to do hands-on practice instead of lecture listening crap Konoha had. Naruto made a mental note to talk to the old man about that one of these days.

Such pitiful techniques the school uses to teach them. Not only do words not help in battle but when they actually go out into the world, they won't have the right instincts or mind set to handle whatever situation rises. At least Kiri, though he didn't agree with the graduation exam, actually had their kids do something instead of just making them sit on their butts and have them listen to their sensei, who puts their class to sleep.

Speaking of which, Naruto felt like sleeping now. He closed his eyes as he felt another yawn coming. With his eyes closed, he didn't see the rock in front of him and when he stepped on it, it made him lose balance and fall on the side. Normally, this would be a problem but considering that he was at the top of a hill, there was a problem.

Naruto rolled all the way down to the bottom of the hill and landed just a few feet away from the lake. Standing, he saw his world spinning as he felt his equilibrium leave and return to him every few seconds. Finally regaining his composure, Naruto took in his surroundings.

He recognized the place immediately as the place he first saw Sasuke. Deciding that relaxing by the lake wasn't a bad idea, Naruto sat down on the grass and started to doze off. His last thoughts were that of how much he wanted to change the academy.

Naruto scrunched his face up as he felt a somewhat harsh kick land on his ribs. A second, much stronger kick woke him up and he stood up, holding his left ribs. His vision still blurry, Naruto squinted his eyes until he could make out a kid his age wearing a blue shirt, white shorts and black hair. After he rubbed away the sleep from his eyes, Naruto identified the blur as Sasuke.

"The hell you want teme?" Naruto asked and Sasuke glared at him.

"I want you to leave." He said in an annoyed tone. Naruto shook his head and sat back down.

"Well too bad, I like it here and I might just come here every day." Naruto said putting his hands behind his back. When he got no reply, Naruto looked at Sasuke who looked even angrier than before.

"Leave dobe before I make you."

"You know Sasuke I'm getting sick and tired of your attitude." Naruto got up to his feet as he spoke. "You're just some stuck up prick with everything he's ever wanted but still begs for more." Sasuke's eyes narrowed as Naruto continued his rant. "I barely have anything but I'm fine, I don't want anything I don't need. But you, you're only a glorified brat put on a pedestal for show." Naruto said as he walked up to Sasuke.

"Dobe, you have less than five seconds to leave before I beat you down." Sasuke said through clenched teeth.

"I'm not going anywhere! Why do you act like a prick Sasuke?! Tell me!" Sasuke pushed Naruto back and fell into a battle stance.

"I don't have to tell you anything." He said as he attacked Naruto. Naruto ducked under his fist and jumped back from a spinning heel kick. Naruto growled as Sasuke began to assault him. Naruto tried to punch him a couple of times but Sasuke was too quick to be hit. Deciding that the hit-and-run method was not going to work, Naruto ducked under a left hook and grabbed Sasuke's right leg right before it was able to connect with his sternum.

Naruto smiled as Sasuke's face contorted to one of surprise. Pushing his foot down, Naruto jumped up and kicked Sasuke's chest with the soles of his feet. Sasuke was sent reeling back and then skidded to a halt. He held his chest and felt his breathing become labored; that kick had knocked the wind out of him. Sasuke eyed Naruto as he flipped in midair from the kick and landed on his feet with a smile.

"What are you smiling about?" Sasuke asked, a little peeved about the smile.

"The supposedly great Uchiha took the first blow." Naruto taunted, angering Sasuke even more. Sasuke clamped his teeth together as he ran at Naruto and jumped in the air. Naruto threw his arms in front of his body in an "X" formation as Sasuke started to kick down on him before pushing him back with the soles of his feet. Naruto smirked as he felt his arms heal from Sasuke's kicks. For a human, he was pretty tough.

After Sasuke landed, he didn't waste any time charging at Naruto. Naruto ran at him, meeting him half way and both started to throw their punches and kicks. Naruto swerved past Sasuke's kicks and punches and Sasuke was able to do the same. Finally, Sasuke jumped high into the air and spun forward. Extending his left leg, he brought it down on Naruto who grabbed his left ankle with his right hand. Sasuke smirked as he threw a right hook at Naruto who grabbed it with his left hand.

With Naruto's hands full, Sasuke shifted his weight to his left side and was able to cock his right leg up before it connected sharply with Naruto's midsection. Naruto doubled over as he let go of Sasuke and took three steps back. Sasuke wasn't through as he went through some hand signs and took in a deep breath.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Naruto took in the words Sasuke spoke and looked up in awe as the fireball headed his way. He had no time to move as the fireball enveloped him and smoke was kicked up. Sasuke panted as he watched Naruto's figure disappeared in the fireball's explosion. He smirked, he knew he hadn't killed him but at least he'd be unconscious with some burns.

Sasuke wasn't counting on Naruto jumping out of the cloud of smoke with his right fist hiding behind his back. Sasuke gasped as Naruto threw his fist forward and it connected with Sasuke's left cheek. Sasuke faded into unconsciousness before the impact his head had colliding with the grassy ground woke him up again. He spun and rolled until he fell into the lake. Naruto was panting as well as his orange cloaked started to burn away. Naruto scoffed as he ripped off his cloak and threw it into the lake, watching the flames fizzle out of existence.

Naruto then noticed that Sasuke wasn't coming back up. He was either waiting for the perfect moment to strike or he was drowning. A sudden memory flashed in Naruto's mind as he remembered sinking into the bottom of a river almost eight years ago. He cursed his good and humane side as he ran up to the lake and jumped in after Sasuke.

Sasuke watched as the darkness of the lake was starting to overcome him. He felt his body fall deeper into the lake and he let out of few air bubbles out from cursing Naruto. It wasn't that he didn't know how to swim; it was that last hit Naruto delivered. It basically knocked him out and the only reason he was conscious now was because he hit his head against the ground, waking him up. Now, his appendages were refusing his command to swim and he could feel his lungs beginning to lose air.

What now? He was losing oxygen, his arms and legs weren't responding and no one knew he was drowning. No one except Naruto but Sasuke doubted he stayed after delivering that devastating right hook. Sasuke hated this, he wasn't meant to die, not yet, not until his brother perished by his hands. He would not die, he spat on the idea. But any means to kill his brother or surviving were shattered as soon as Sasuke fell into the lake.

His thoughts started to wander to the corners of his mind as he felt himself losing consciousness. Before he could completely lose consciousness, he thought he saw a dark blue and orange blur swimming towards him.

[*.*.*.*]

Sasuke sat up with sweat drenching his face and upper body. He looked around and found that he was in his room. How? Wasn't he drowning at the bottom of a lake? He pushed aside his covers and noticed that he was still wearing his normal clothes; in fact, they were even a little moist. He was snapped out of his observings when he heard glass break from the kitchen. He ran out of his room and into the kitchen to see a kid his age with a dark blue jacket and pants bending over and cleaning up the glass he broke.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked and was surprised to see Naruto standing up and rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry about the glass, I can fix it." Sasuke glared at him and then at the glass on the floor.

"Forget the glass, how did you know where I lived?" Sasuke asked. Naruto sighed and brushed all the glass to the corner with the yellow broom in his hands.

"You'd be surprised how many fangirls there are in this village who know where you live." Sasuke sweat dropped; he should've known. "Don't get me wrong, I still don't like you, but I don't hate you enough to let you drown at the bottom of the lake." He said as he walked past Sasuke and to the front door. He opened it but didn't leave right. "Oh and Sasuke…"

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"You might want to buy a new lock; the fangirls have their own keys now." Naruto closed the door and his words caused Sasuke to shiver in fear; now knowing where his towels and other possessions were disappearing to. A thought entered Sasuke's mind and he ran to open the front door. Outside, he spotted Naruto jumping down from the second floor of his apartment and land without a problem.

"Naruto," Naruto turned and look up at Sasuke who had an unreadable expression. "Don't expect me to owe you anything." Naruto smirked and then walked away; no words needed to be said. Sasuke watched him leave and went inside to change into fresh clothes and grab his money; he needed to buy a new lock and quick.

[*.*.*.*]

In a faraway place, a young woman with long midnight blue hair watched her peaceful town and its people from up in her room. She watched with bright, beige eyes as the people walked around town; running errands and the like to make a living. She faintly smiled as she saw a small child being held by her mother, cuddled against her mother's shoulder as she continued to suck on her thumb. She also saw a street vendor selling his ripe fruits to a young man with short brown hair.

Hojo, if she remembered correctly, was the young man's name. He had always had a crush on her ever since they first met. She liked him, but not the same way he does. The poor boy had deluded himself into thinking that he stood a chance with her.

In all honesty, she didn't think so highly of herself to think that no boy was worth her love and affection; just that she was in no position to be thinking about love. She had a job, an obligation to her village that she could not run away from, something she could not just ignore.

"Milady," The dark blue haired maiden turned to see her closest friend bowing in front of her. The only reason she was even considered her friend was because she was the one who was usually sent to her in times of need. "Your assistance is need up in Mount Hakurei; the demons are beginning to become restless again."

The young maiden stood and wrapped her black cloak around her.

"Ok, thank you." The maiden said and her closest friends bowed again and left the room. Grabbing her bow and arrow and sacred sutras, the young girl looked up at Mount Hakurei from her window. In the distance, a slithering demon could be seen flying into the sky. She took in a deep breath as she left the room.

Mount Hakurei was once a sacred mountain of absolute purity and divinity. Beautiful flowers skimmed the surface, from the earth to the mountain formation itself, a place where no demon dared to enter. However, that was before an evil entity made itself known, tainting the mountain and destroying all the wildlife in it.

Now, the only way to prevent the demons from destroying her peaceful village was to put up scared sutras around her village, in the mount's base and the entrances of its caves. As she stepped out of her home and into her village, taking note that many bowed to her or looked at her with lust, pride, joy or assurance. If it weren't for her, the demons on Mount Hakurei would've pillaged the place and killed everyone by now.

She faintly smiled at the little girls who dressed up like her; wearing a white jacket with cords through the sleeves and the open shoulders, a bright red hakama, which include the small board at the lower back, red obi, socks and rice straw sandals.

Following the trail that led to Mount Hakurei, the young woman was soon lost in thought.

Why? That was the question that plagued her minds from time to time. Why was she given a huge responsibility at such a young age? She was only fourteen yet her village had given her the task as the village's priestess; their miko. She sighed sadly; as much as she loved her village, she wished she could run away and live a normal life with the one she loved. However there were two problems with that.

The first was that she was the priestess; that meant that she had to stay in the village to make sure that no demon would ever threaten their safety. The only way she could be relieved of her duties is if a better, more experienced priest/priestess was found or if the village was destroyed. Since she would rather die than watch her precious village be destroyed and there was no priest/priestess as skilled as she was, she would never be relieved of her duties.

The second problem was that she had not find her true love yet. Of course the men in her village would continually shower her with affection and love but that is only because of her title; they do not see the real her. She only wanted someone who would look past the priestess and see the fun loving girl she really was. However, as the village's priestess, she was not allowed to show any signs of weakness, for fear that demons or evil men took advantage of her.

The roar of an injured fox was heard through the forest, removing the young priestess from her thoughts. She saw that she had made it half way up Mount Hakurei, right near the first of many caves and smiled a little. Taking out a few sacred sutras, the priestess placed them near the entrance and continued her way up the trail.

Unknown to her, a pair of eyes appeared from the cave and let out a faint chuckle.

"One day, I will leave this mountain and come after you young priestess; one day, but not now." A feminine voice said before retreating to the safety of the inner mountain.

[*.*.*.*]

Back in Konoha, Inuyasha struggled to remove the necklace given to him by Naruto, saying that it was a present from Hinata. He didn't exactly want to wear it but Naruto had forced it on him. He took note that with every attempt, the beads would light up and prevent him from removing the sacred rosary.

He groaned as he fell to the side from pulling on the rosary. He stood up and gave up, seeing as the rosary refused to leave his neck. He sat down on the couch behind him and looked for the remote to the tv. His anger quickly returned from not knowing where the remote was. He started to throw the cushions of the couch in random directions and let out a yell of frustration when he still hadn't found the control.

His silver dog ears twitched when he heard the front door's knob turn. He smirked as he hid behind the door and waited for his brother to enter. He was about to pounce his brother until he realized that the scent didn't belong to his brother. Looking from behind the door, Inuyasha saw that it was that odd girl they first met.

"Hey," Inuyasha smirked when the girl jumped at the sound of his voice. She looked up at him with her pupiless lavender eyes. "My otouto's not here right now. Actually, can you do me a favor and go look for the little pain, he was supposed to be here a couple of hours ago." Inuyasha said as he kept looking for the remote.

"A-Actually, I was l-looking for you." Hinata said as she closed the door. Inuyasha stopped searching for the remote and looked at her strangely.

"Were you now?" Inuyasha asked and Hinata nodded.

"I-It's about N-Naruto-kun… and y-you." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and put all the couch's cushions back into place. Hinata then sat down on the other side of the couch while Inuyasha sat in the lotus position. Hinata couldn't help but occasionally gaze at Inuyasha's twitching ears. Hinata took in a deep breath and accumulated the words in her mind.

"W-Why do you and N-Naruto-kun have a-animalistic traits?"

Hinata wants answers, she wants the truth but will Inuyasha be the one to give it to her? Naruto saved Sasuke's life, so will Sasuke's view of Naruto change? What awaits the young priestess in the near future?

Next Chapter: The truth among lies...

Preview:
[I know someone else has done this before and I really hope that person doesn't get mad at me for using their idea]

"Hold on, hold on, first, where the hell did you get the rosaries from and why give it to us?!"

"Hm, dobe."

"You better shape up Naruto because in the shinobi world, being unprepared could mean losing a life."

"Today, we will spar; everyone partner up!"

"I won't lose to you today."

"Old man, we need to talk!"

Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!