UPDATE!: The sequel is now available! Sandstorms and Falling Leaves. Please check it out if you liked this one! Hopefully this will alert those of you who have this story on alert...
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. I had a little trouble with it. It also came out much longer than I originally intended, but I didn't want to break it in two so, bonus extra long chapter for you guys. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! 51/52 Positive reviews! *does a happy dance.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Shinta and Sena. Everyone else belongs to somebody else and I make no profit off any of them, even the ones I did make up. *thumping in the background* Pay no attention to the ninjas in my closet. I'll return them eventually and I promise to feed them at least once a week in the meantime. *smiles brightly* Yay! On with the final chapter of Desert Flower.
Desert Flower
Chapter 7: Decisions and Departures
The next morning, Gaara was showing Matsuri out of her office when the news came. The council had reached a decision. The younger girl balked and begged to be allowed to accompany the redhead as far as the hall outside the council chamber. When they arrived, Gaara was mildly surprised to find her siblings and all three leaf ninjas already waiting.
She shot Kakashi a puzzled look. 'Does the jonin know what this is all about? Naruto didn't ask me whether he could tell him...'
Kakashi shrugged and smiled with his one visible eye, "The guest rooms have thin walls, and I have good ears." He explained simply.
Gaara frowned, "I see. I'm sure I can trust your discretion."
Kakashi grew serious and nodded firmly, "Of course, Kazekage-sama. I just thought I should be here to ensure that the Hokage receives an accurate report. You are a powerful ally in our peace treaty with Sunagakure. Tsunade-sama needs to know of any shifts in power here."
Gaara nodded, 'That makes sense. I would probably send a spy if I heard the Hokage's power was unstable. They don't even have to be circumspect about it, since they are my guests.'
Matsuri suddenly hugged her tightly, disrupting her thoughts, "Good luck, Gaara-sama." She whispered nervously, "Just know, you have my support. I don't care what the council has decided to do." She let go just as quickly and stepped back, embarrassed by her outburst.
The redhead squeezed the younger girl's arm and managed a small smile. "Thank you, Matsuri."
"I hope they decide in your favor, Kazekage-sama." Sakura bowed deeply, knowing Gaara could lose that title at any moment.
"Come on, Lil' Sis." Kankuro said grimly, waiting by the door.
"Yeah, let's go see if any of these old men need to be kicked in the head." Temari said, only half joking.
Naruto caught her hand and gave it a quick squeeze, flashing her a bright smile. "You're a great Kazekage, Gaara. They'd have to be stupid to get rid of you."
She smirked at his logic; feeling oddly comforted by it just the same. Finally, she turned towards the doors and her features slipped back into the mask of apathy that she had cultivated for years.
"Kankuro, open it."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
Her siblings filtered in behind her and the doors swung silently shut behind them, leaving the Konoha ninjas and the Sand genin to wait anxiously.
By the time the door opened an hour later, Naruto had walked nearly four miles in that hallway. He froze as soon as Gaara and her older siblings stepped out of the room and pounced once the doors had shut them off from the chamber.
"So, what did they say?" The blonde boy asked eagerly, unable to guess from her pensive expression.
Gaara frowned at the assembled group, "Matsuri, Sena should be in the mission room right now. Go get her and bring her to my office immediately."
The genin nodded and hurried off. 'What does she want with my other sensei?' She worried her lower lip between her teeth. 'This could be bad, but she said her office, which means she is still Kazekage, right?' The girl sped up, knowing she would only get her answers after she returned with the jonin woman who had replaced Gaara as her sensei when he...er...she became Kazekage.
Gaara ushered the others into her office, sweeping up Shinta on the way. The twenty-two year old chunin was more than a little confused by his inclusion in the meeting, but he asked no questions. He sat stiffly in the chair he had been pointed to and nervously smoothed his strawberry blonde ponytail. His blue eyes darted surreptitiously to each ninja in the room, clearly waiting for someone to explain what the hell was going on. Naruto was practically bouncing in his seat but bit his tongue because he wasn't sure what Shinta knew. Thankfully, they only had to wait a few minutes before Matsuri returned with a tall, darkly-tanned woman of around twenty years old. She had short, curly, black hair and laughing, brown eyes.
"Sena, sit." Gaara had replaced her vocal disguise before they had reached her office. It struck her how strange the masculine voice sounded, now that she had had a few days to get used to her real voice, "You too, Matsuri."
Sena flopped into a chair, seemingly uncaring of the other ninja in the room. Matsuri sat more properly next to Shinta.
"A mission has come up and I am giving you a choice in whether or not you take it." She told them simply.
The three Sand ninjas' eyes widened; Suna was always short handed so only the most dangerous missions were optional. Most S class missions didn't even qualify.
"Before you decide, I can tell you it will be a long mission. If you take it on, you will be away from the village for at least two years. It could become very dangerous; you'll be charged with protecting a woman who has many enemies."
Matsuri shot Gaara a sharp look and the redhead nodded slightly, to confirm her suspicions. "I'm in." The genin said firmly. 'I don't know what's going on, but I'm not just going to sit around while Gaara-sensei leaves the village for years.'
Shinta stood, "I accept the mission, Kazekage-sama. It is my honor to serve the village."
Sena snorted and stretched fluidly, "Since my student has already agreed to go, I guess I don't have much choice. I'm in too." She said, eyeing Matsuri suspiciously. She turned her attention back to the young Kazekage. "So, who's the client?"
"I am," Gaara admitted.
"Wait. I thought you said it was a woman?" Shinta frowned, running his hand over his long ponytail out of habit.
"I did, allow me to explain." Gaara quickly told the two older Suna shinobi the same story she had told the council. Halfway through, she dropped her vocal disguise and that seemed to help quell their disbelief. "This morning, the council informed me of their decision."
The Leaf ninjas perked up at that. Kakashi didn't move from where he was leaning against the wall, but Gaara would have bet the jonin wasn't actually reading the dirty book he was holding. Naruto leaned forward eagerly and Sakura sat up a little straighter.
"The council decreed that I am not strong enough at this time to serve as Kazekage." She held up a hand to forestall the outbursts that came from a surprising number of the room's occupants. "They are right. The loss of Shukaku has weakened my jutsus greatly. However, the council decided to give me time to recover before they force me to retire."
"Two years?" Sena asked incredulously, "The best Kazekage we've ever had and they want you to retire at seventeen years old!? Are they stupid?!"
Gaara blinked, shocked at the feeling in the older woman's words. She'd picked Sena for the mission primarily because she was Matsuri's new teacher; she hadn't expected the woman to be so vehemently on her side.
"Hopefully not. The two year leave of absence should allow me to train and regain my strength. If I can prove myself worthy at the end of that time, I keep the position." She explained calmly, pleased that she sounded more confident than she felt. She hadn't controlled more than a handful of sand since the one-tail was ripped out of her, and that effort had left her chakra drained far more than it should have.
"Why do you have to leave to train?" Matsuri asked hesitantly.
"I have a lot of enemies. When word gets out that I am weakened..." She didn't have to finish that sentence. "It is best if I'm not where assassins expect me to be."
"Oh, yeah. That makes sense."
"Who will rule Suna while you're gone?" Sena questioned, "The village can't be left without a Kage for two years. The council tried to rule without one when the fourth died and the village nearly fell apart before you stepped up."
"I have appointed Baki to act as my regent. He is trustworthy, and powerful enough to not be pressured by the council."
Sena nodded slowly, it was a good choice. Baki was already a member of the council too, so they would have had no reason to protest the choice.
"Any other questions?" Gaara asked formally. When none were forthcoming, she pressed on. "The council granted me five ninjas of my choice, to serve as my guard and to aid in my training. I chose you three to act as one team. Sena will lead. Temari, Kankuro and I will serve as the other team and you take your cues from us. You have a couple days to prepare for our departure. I'll contact you when I decide upon a time to leave. I should not have to mention that this is a highly classified mission. The council will announce my departure after we leave and there is to be no whisper of it outside this room before then."
The three sand ninjas nodded their understanding.
"Good. Dismissed."
All three blurred out of the room, only then did Gaara return her attention to the foreign shinobi team. Kakashi was still looking at his book, unreadable behind his mask. Sakura was frowning and Naruto looked very thoughtful.
"Where will you go?" The orange-clad ninja asked.
"I haven't decided yet." She admitted. "Most of the desert is too inhospitable for long term inhabitance. The few places with water already have villages around them and I don't want to draw enemies into a civilian village. A nomadic lifestyle is an option, we can survive in the desert indefinitely if necessary, but it wouldn't leave much time for training."
"Do you have to train in the desert?" Naruto frowned, obviously hinting at something.
"No, not really." The redhead shrugged a little, "But I don't know where else we could go. Wind country is pretty much all desert."
The blonde grinned, "But fire country isn't." He said happily. "You could come stay in Konoha."
Gaara balked, "Naruto, I-I don't think that is a good idea."
"Sure it is! Suna is our ally and you had a lot to do with keeping it that way. You just write a letter, explain everything to the old lady and ask if you can come stay in our village for a couple of years." Naruto made it clear he really thought it should be that simple.
"Being our ally is one thing, asking the Hokage to allow six foreign ninjas to live and train in Konoha for two years is something else completely."
"Actually, if the Hokage agrees, it could be the best choice we've got." Temari spoke up, cutting off Naruto's protest before it could reach his mouth.
"How so?" The redhead frowned.
"I'm well acquainted with Konohagakure." Temari explained calmly, "They have excellent training grounds, strong security, it is far enough from Sunagakure to throw off some of the less determined enemies, and big enough that we can disappear into the woodwork if the need arises."
"Plus, her boyfriend is there." Kankuro grumbled under his breath, but he had to admit her other points were valid.
Gaara thought over the suggestion for a few moments. "Kakashi-san."
The silver haired jonin tucked his book away and met her eyes squarely, "Yes, Kazekage-sama."
"What do you think, as the ranking leaf ninja in attendance?" Gaara asked him seriously.
"Hmm..." The jonin pondered the question. "The Fifth Hokage keeps her own counsel. It is hard to say what she'll do. I think the only way to find out would be to ask her."
"The birds are too easy to intercept and their letters go through too many hands. I'd like for this to stay quiet if possible." The young Kazekage frowned.
"I have a way, if you need to get a letter through securely." Kakashi swiftly summoned Pakkun and deposited him on the Kazekage's desk.
The redhead thought the dog looked vaguely familiar. "Oh, he was with Naruto when we fought during the chunin exams.' she remembered suddenly.
"Hm, it's you again." The little brown dog sniffed at Gaara for a minute, obviously taking in the changes in her scent since he'd last seen her, before turning back to his master, "Yo, Kakashi. What do you need?"
"I need you to deliver a top secret correspondence from the Kazekage to the Hokage, and bring back a reply." Kakashi smiled at the ninja hound.
Gaara pulled out a scroll and started writing, trying to ignore the stage whisper from the dog.
"Kazekage? Really?" The dog eyed her speculatively, "Things sure do change fast for you humans, ne. You need to keep me more up to date, Kakashi."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry, Pakkun."
Half an hour later the dog was on his way.
"You need anything else, Kazekage-sama?" The masked ninja drawled lazily.
"No. Just let me know the minute he returns."
"Sure." Kakashi pulled out his worn copy of Make Out Paradise and wandered out of the room with his nose buried in the perverted book.
Temari suddenly stood and grinned, "Come on, sis. We have to get you some things for the trip."
"Huh?" Gaara's brow furrowed at her sister's words. 'I don't need any travel supplies.'
"If you are planning to travel as a woman, you'll need some clothes." The blonde girl explained happily.
"Temari, I-"
"First, we'll disguise you, then we're going shopping. You can't just keep wearing your old things. They're all way too big. Nobody can even tell you're a woman. Wanna' come, Sakura?" The blonde was steadily dragged the stunned redhead towards the door.
"Sure." The pink haired girl jumped up to help. "You'll need to get some proper underwear too, Gaara-sama. Women's clothes just don't fit well if you don't wear a bra."
The girls had managed to move the little redhead into the hall but at that she balked.
"No." She growled.
"Gaara, as your older sister, I have to insist. It will reflect badly on me and Kankuro if you go around indecently dressed. Not to mention how it would look for Suna if the Kazekage looks all disheveled all the time."
Gaara frowned, she knew her sister was manipulating her but, damn it, the older girl had a point. They had no mother, and she still blamed herself for that sometimes, so it fell to Temari to teach her womanly things. If Temari said she needed women's clothes, even women's underthings, she was obligated to go along with it for her family's sake. She didn't want to do anything else to sully their reputation, her father had done enough of that and she'd done some herself before she met Naruto.
"Fine. Just get it over with." She acquiesced gracelessly.
Naruto and Kankuro were soon left completely alone as the girl's dragged the sulking redhead away.
"I'm so glad to be a guy right now." Naruto mumbled.
"Ain't that the truth." Kankuro agreed immediately.
Pakkun arrived back in Suna four days later, in the middle of the night, bearing both the reply for Gaara and a letter for Kakashi's team. He sniffed out his master and patted him awake. Kakashi took the two scrolls from the exhausted ninja hound.
"Good work." The jonin briefly scratched the little dog behind the ears, "Go home and get some rest." He released the summoning jutsu and Pakkun disappeared with a pop. "Oi, Naruto." He kicked the sleeping blonde awake."
"Ow!" The jinchuriki sat up and rubbed his side and his eyes, "What was that for?"
Kakashi held up the reply scroll, "Do you know where the Kazekage might be at this time of night?"
Naruto nodded, "Probably in her rooms..." He stood and grabbed his pants and jacket hastily. "I know where they are so I'll take it to her."
The silver haired man handed the hyperactive genin the scroll as soon as the boy was dressed. The blonde was out the door in a flash.
"I wonder if I should've told him to take his sleeping cap off." Kakashi grinned to himself, "Nah."
Naruto banged on the wall in the area he was fairly certain contained Gaara's hidden door. After a few minutes, the wall a few feet to his left slid away, revealing the redhead wearing a black tee shirt and shorts.
She glared at him tiredly, having been just falling asleep when he started making all that racket. "What is it, and what is that thing eating your head?" She crossed her arms and leaned in the doorframe.
Naruto blushed and snatched his black and white nightcap off before running a hand through his messy yellow spikes. 'Wow, she looks cute when she's sleepy.' His mind blanked for just a second before he remembered what had brought him to her door at two am. "Pakkun got back with the reply." He held out the sealed scroll, "Kakashi-sensei sent me to deliver it to you."
She wordlessly took the scroll and stepped back to let him in. Naruto followed her, feeling oddly self-conscious about being in her rooms so late at night. He just felt like it was wrong for him to be there unchaperoned now that they were dating.
Gaara stifled a yawn as she made her ay to her worn leather couch. Naruto sat down in the chair across from her and watched as she released the seal on the scroll and opened it. Naruto allowed her about ten seconds to read it before his patience ran out.
"So, what did she say?" He asked eagerly.
Gaara fought the urge to sigh, "So far all I've gotten to is, 'To the fifth Kazekage, Gaara of the Desert.' Stop interrupting and let me read."
"Right. Sorry." Naruto smiled sheepishly. He was silent for a few seconds. "Would you mind reading out loud?" He asked hopefully.
This time the redhead did let out a small sigh.
"To the fifth Kazekage, Gaara of the Desert." She read, knowing the hyperactive blonde wasn't going to shut up until she did. "In response to your situation and your request for sanctuary: On behalf of the people of Konohagakure and myself, I would like to extend this offer of hospitality."
"Yes!" Naruto exploded, jumping to his feet with a grin. "I told you she'd say yes."
Gaara raised an eyebrow at him, "Yes, you did. Now, did you want me to keep reading or not?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." The blonde scratched his head and sat back down, but his grin never wavered.
"Lodging is being secured for your party and you will be under the full protection of the village and myself for the duration of your stay. I will assign you and your group a guide when you arrive. See you soon. We'll have a drink. No wait; you're still under age, aren't you? How the hell do you deal with this job if you can't drink? Nevermind, we'll just talk. Sincerely, the fifth Hokage, Tsunade." She finished reading and rolled the scroll back up. Her expression was pensive, "The council have changed their minds and asked me to tell the villagers I'm leaving before I go. They seem to be afraid there will be riots if anyone gets the idea that I didn't leave of my own free will." She informed the leaf ninja.
"There might be, you didn't see how upset everyone as when you were taken." Naruto told her confidently.
"It would be a lot safer for us if we could wait to announce our departure the day after we leave, but that would require me to be in two places at..." She trailed off, eyeing the orange and black ninja thoughtfully.
"What?" Naruto frowned in confusion.
"How far away can you get from your shadow clones?"
"Huh? I don't really know, several miles I guess."
She nodded, "That could be enough. How long does it take to learn? I would only need one clone."
Naruto shrugged, "It isn't that hard. I learned it in just a couple of hours. How would cloning yourself help?"
"I want to leave at dusk, but wait until morning to announce that I'm leaving." She explained.
"Oh, I see. To give you a head start, ne?" Naruto nodded, it was a good plan if they could pull it off. "Do you want to start now or wait until morning?" The blonde fought back a yawn as he spoke.
Gaara paused, but realized that not everyone functioned on as little sleep as she could, "We'll wait for morning, but we'll need to start early. If you like you can stay here." She offered without thinking.
Naruto's eyes widened and he felt his face turn beet red. "Uh...um..."
Gaara blushed also as she registered her mistake. "On the couch." She clarified quickly.
"Oh." Naruto laughed nervously, "Yeah, of course. I guess that would be a smart thing to do. Um...sorry for thinking..."
"Don't mention it." She snapped hastily and the blonde had the feeling she meant that literally. "I'll get you a blanket."
She returned a few minutes later and shoved a brown fuzzy blanket into his arms.
"Thanks." Naruto smiled. "Goodnight, Gaara-chan." He leaned in and kissed her forehead before she could move away.
The redhead blinked, unsure of how to react, "Yes, goodnight, Naruto." She turned and made her way quickly down the hall to her room.
Naruto shrugged out of his jacket and put on his nightcap before he stretched out on the couch.
'How does one person manage to be blunt and shy and beautiful and awkward and deadly and innocent all at the same time?' He fell asleep with a grin on his face, still pondering the many mysteries of Gaara.
The next day started at dawn for Naruto. Gaara woke him with a plate of toast and a cup of tea to make up for waking him so early after the late night. They passed the whole morning training in the privacy of Gaara's living room. By noon, Gaara could make and hold a single clone indefinitely. She'd never be the natural shadow clone user that Naruto was, but it would serve her purpose.
She made them a quick, stir-fried noodle dish for lunch. Naruto was very impressed with her cooking, but then, he only knew how to make instant ramen and cold cereal so it wasn't hard to beat that.
The blonde finally returned to his room in mid afternoon. Kakashi was out but the jonin had left him a note and a cream colored cloak.
"Meet at the gate at dusk, night travel is cooler. Wear the cloak and hide you leaf emblem. We will be traveling with the others and don't want the attention such a large group of ninjas would draw. See you there. Kakashi."
When Naruto reached the gate a few hours later, there were already several people waiting. Matsuri waved cheerfully at him from where she leaned in the shade of the canyon walls. Shinta eyed him warily, no doubt remembering their unfortunate first meeting. It took Naruto a minute to recognize the young man standing near them with the hood of his cloak pulled up, holding the lead rope of a heavily laden camel.
"Kankuro? Is that you?" The leaf genin sputtered in disbelief. Without his unique, pointy eared hat and kabuki face paint, the puppet master looked like a different person. 'He looks so normal, why does he wear all that weird stuff anyway?'
"Yeah, who did you think it was?" The older boy's tone was hostile and Naruto backed off, getting the distinct impression that he'd hit a nerve without meaning to.
"Nobody, you just looked different. That's all." He waved his hands in a placating manner before going to sit against the wall next to Matsuri.
The sun had just touched the horizon when Gaara, Temari, and Sakura arrived. Gaara wore her cloak's hood pulled down over her forehead and she had on a pair of goggles to further cover her features. Temari was leading a second camel, just as loaded down as her brother's.
Gaara looked around, 'Someone is missing.'
"Where is Kakashi?" Temari asked, eyeing the setting sun.
Sakura and Naruto exchanged alarmed glances.
"You don't think he would..." Naruto muttered.
"Not with the Kaze-with everyone waiting." Sakura caught herself before she could mention the girl at her side, fighting a feeling of dread. Inner Sakura was fuming and threatening death and dismemberment for the silver haired jonin if he embarrassed them with his tardiness in front of the Kazekage.
"We'll give him until the sun sets." Kankuro spoke up, "Then he'll just have to catch up."
The two leaf ninjas spent an anxious few minutes, watching the sun slip further and further over the horizon. Finally, just as the last sliver of sunlight was disappearing, Kakashi strolled into the other end of the canyon. He was wearing a travel cloak like the rest and a red scarf was tied around his mouth and nose. He had switched out his crooked headband for a simple black eye patch.
He grinned at them with his one visible eye. "Sorry, there was this old lady-"
"You're lying!" Sakura and Naruto snapped simultaneously.
Kakashi sighed and shook his head, "I see you two still haven't learned any patience."
Gaara decided to interrupt, "Let's go. I want to be as far away as possible before dawn, and we have to travel slowly for the camels."
She started walking and the group fell in around her. They were nearly a mile away, at the crest of a particularly high dune, when she turned to look back at Sunagakure. She'd pulled off the annoying goggles and if she looked carefully she could just make out the tops of some of the buildings within the hollowed out mesa. In that moment she was swamped with doubt, 'How am I going to become as strong as I was with Shukaku? How will I protect my precious people? If I can't protect them, then what good am I? What will my purpose be-?'
Something of her thoughts must have shown in her eyes, because Naruto suddenly took her by the hand. He leaned in close to her ear.
"You're like those sand flowers, you know?" he whispered, almost too softly to hear, "The roots are still there, you just need to water them a little bit."
Gaara felt the panic in her heart ease a little. It was stupid. She wasn't a flower, and getting her sand jutsus back up to strength might very well be impossible without Shukaku, but hearing Naruto say it, she could almost believe it might be that easy. After all, the blonde was a terrible liar.
"So, Naruto," Kakashi cut in, grinning wickedly. "You never came back last night after I sent you to the Kazekage's room with that letter. Where did you end up sleeping?"
Naruto blushed at the innuendo implied in the jonin's question; Kankuro took that blush the wrong way.
"I'll kill him!" The puppet master roared, lunging at the blonde genin.
Naruto dodged and, because he didn't want Gaara to be pissed at him for hurting her brother, he turned and ran down the far side of the dune. All the while trying to explain, "It's not what you think! I just slept! It was late and we had to get up early! Nothing happened!"
The orange clad ninja tripped and Kankuro might have caught up, but the sand under the puppet master's feet suddenly gave way and he sank in up to his neck before he stopped.
All eyes snapped back to the redheaded ex-jinchuriki. She was kneeling, with both palms pressed flat on the sand in front of her. Her eyes locked on her brother's and he blanched, she hadn't looked that pissed at him in a very long time. The sand around him was soft, he couldn't gain any foothold to burrow out, but she wasn't trying to hurt him. In fact it seemed like she was keeping the sand from settling in around him, but he still felt a trickle of uneasiness at being at his little sister's mercy.
"Maybe you should reconsider you hasty accusations." The redhead practically growled as she struggled to maintain her hold on the sand around her brother. She hadn't tried to control more than a handful of sand since her rescue. She had simply acted on instinct to stop her brother, loosening the sand and letting gravity do the rest, except now she had to hold Kankuro up because if she relaxed he'd sink further into the soft sand. Her control needed work but she wasn't about to let her brother know how close she was to accidentally smothering him with sand.
"Yeah, sorry Uzumaki. I should have remembered my little sister can take care of herself. Sorry, Sis." The older ninja said quickly, shooting an apologetic at the sister in question.
"Damn right I can." Gaara snapped as she extricated her elder brother from the deathtrap she had inadvertently made. Only when he was standing firmly on ground that wasn't about to swallow him whole, did she release her hold on the sand and let it settle back with a soft whump. She stood, ignoring the wave of dizziness that washed over her and fighting to keep her breathing even. She hoped she hadn't screwed up her shadow clone.
Fighting off the chakra drain symptoms, she started walking, suddenly glad for the slow pace they were maintaining. Naruto was the first to join her, catching her arm so she could lean on him surreptitiously.
"Are you okay?" He asked quietly, not wanting to be overheard by the others who were just starting to move behind them.
"I will be." Gaara assured him. A content expression settled on her face as she realized she really meant that. Shukaku was gone, but she still had control over sand and the raw power would come back with training and time. 'The roots are still there.' Naruto's earlier words echoed in her mind and she smirked, 'We'll just water them and see what comes up.'
THE END for now....
Author's Note: Oh, thank God that is done. I had so much difficulty with this chapter. I'm still not entirely happy with it but, I've rewritten it twice already and I promised all my lovely reviewers they'd get it soon, so here it is. I hope it isn't as terrible as I think it is. I feel like I tried to put too much in but I just couldn't break it up. I had to put in description of my two original characters (because I forgot to describe poor Shinta before and Sena is of course new). I hope neither of them is mary-sue-ish because I will have to kill them if they try to be. I cut out large chunks and streamlined as much as I could, because the original draft was repetitive oddly worded garbage that I wrote very late at night. Then, it went very weird on me at the end, but that part I liked and couldn't bear to part with.*sigh* I think my brain has already moved on to the sequel, which will be starting soon. Keep an eye out for it and the Shino/Hinata side story I have in the works. Nobody guessed the cameos last chapter? Komui and his sister Lenalee (Lenari, get it, 'cause in Japanese it is the same character) from D. Gray Man. I thought that anime was more popular...*shrug* Oh well, no problem. I'm off to work on the sequel. I'm also planning to post some other stories in other categories. Check out my profile for more info. Okay, I'm done now. Thanks for reading! Please review my first complete story on ffn!