Chapter Seven: Information Gathering

A/N: I've never actually seen the First Exam episodes all the way through, so I apologize in advance for any errors.

If anyone guesses who the mysterious observer is, I'll give them a cookie.

Hint: He's already shown up once in this story, but didn't have all that many lines.

As for the Sound trio, I'll tell you straight out that I hate Kin. She's a sadist, and we never understand why she serves Orochimaru, who later kills her to summon the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages. Zaku I kind of feel sorry for, but I'm not predisposed to letting him off the hook. Oro needs a sacrifice or two, you know. As for Dosu, I'm mildly impressed by his and Zaku's loyalty to each other, even if they don't care if Kin dies.

All of Shippou's children can produce the crystal flower, but none of them can hold a single crystal for a full hour. It takes too much concentration and, let's face it; twelve-year-old killing machines only have an attention span as long as it takes to kill something.

Each OC boy plays with a different weapon. Inuki's fighting style is called soujutsu, the Japanese art of spear-wielding, even though he tends to whack people with it as if it were a rokushakubou (a six-foot bamboo staff, better known as simply a bo). He just hasn't been seen with it yet. Haruko depends on basic taijutsu and several fire-based or wood-based ninjutsus. Keitaro usually uses a kusarigama, which is a slightly larger version of Kohaku's chain scythe (Isshin-ryuu is the style). Sanyu uses a katana with no distinctive style.

The OC girls use kunai, ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu with little to no specialization. Nariko may be recorded as a genjutsu specialist, but she is balanced in each ninja category (For example, when startled she may summon a massive flesh-eating tree). Umeko can and will use every trick that her father or any other fox youkai is capable of doing.

I just noticed an oversight on my part – Umeko thinks 'half-brother' when it's supposed to be 'father'. I blame it on a muse from another story.

And just why the hell do I have over two-and-a-half thousand hits, yet only have nine reviews? You readers are such a lazy lot. What do I have to do, reach forty thousand words before you pay attention to the little purple button in the corner?

Recap: Konoha's genins have managed to piss off the most dangerous of Suna's, Haruko is obviously not smart enough to avoid irritating people, and youki can be used to oppress those whose youki is weaker than your own. Some mysterious man who's not Orochimaru has entered the village, and we're coming up on the most influential part of the Naruto plotline, etc. That would be it.

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"Well, we managed to make enemies with Sabaku no Gaara and his teammates," Umeko said after a long silence between the genin. "I hope that a Sound nin gets to fight him, not us."

Keitaro wasn't quite sure that he agreed, but it didn't really matter. Gaara wasn't really an issue, in his opinion. Suna had only sent one team, and the Konoha rookies had already gotten on bad terms with them.

"All right, explain why you want the Sound's fighters to die so damn bad." It was Naruto and his slightly high voice, again.

"I think we already explained that. If we didn't, just know that the Sound has been unpredictable since the start." Keitaro muttered, counting ceiling tiles. "It can be assumed that all of their attacks have something to do with sound and the auditory system, but other than that, no one knows what they've got up their sleeves."

All the daiyoukai genius got in response was a confused, "Eh?"

"In other words," Sanyu said almost waspishly, "don't trust Sound nins any farther than you can throw them."

The black-haired Inutaisho brother noticed the Sound nins in the corner glaring at Sanyu rather venomously.

Keitaro grunted his assent. That was all he'd ever give. Never a full-out 'yes', since Sanyu didn't deserve it. His brother was such a suck-up to their father, always acting as if he was an attention-deprived runt. And then he had the gall to say that Keitaro was a show-off during their Academy days! Ha, as if!

Inuki, their cousin and Keitaro's teammate, looked from brother to brother with some trepidation, as if he expected them to try and maul each other at any minute. While Sanyu and him were hardly buddy-buddy like most twins were, they knew when to call off the sibling rivalry. If only during dire times.

Inuki had worn off most of his rough personality by trying to stay in the middle of any dispute that Sesshoumaru's twins sons got into. As their mother had said, their fights were quite tiresome to deal with for extended periods of time.

Inuki sighed, adjusting his hitai-ate so it would pin his ears, which sat on the top of his head and were dog-like, to his head. Then he said, "Anyway, there's got to be a practical during this type of exam. Dad says that Konoha usually has the practical in the Forest of Death, or Training Ground 44. The wildlife there is usually about fifty times larger than it should be, so it'd be good idea to have someone carry explosive tags or something." Inuki lowered his voice so only the Leaf rookies could hear, "Finally, if you don't want to be randomly turned into centipede-chow or a bloody stain on the ground, you stay high in the trees, move fast, and don't stop running unless you're about to die of exhaustion. And if you need to stop, use a genjutsu to make sure no one finds you resting."

Keitaro had almost been certain that only a whale could have that much lung capacity.

"Short and sweet, Inuki-kun. Remember that next time," Umeko muttered, tapping Inuki's shoulder as the hanyou finally realized how much he'd said.

Huh, he hadn't known that Umeko had a crush on Inuki. Keitaro stored that bit of information in his brain, in the place where blackmail material went.

"While that's all probably going to be useful, why are you helping us?" Shino asked, the normally quiet bug-user speaking up for once.

It was Nariko who jumped on the chance to answer. "We're rookies, duh. We're going to be targeted way more than a bunch of genin that are in their early twenties. It's like…being allies in a war zone, you know?"

Thankfully, Nariko didn't have to dig herself any deeper because a scar-faced jounin popped into the room. Accompanying him were several chuunins.

There were a few that Keitaro could recognize, but he couldn't identify the extremely feminine-looking boy (only realized by scent) or the brown-eyed man with a huge sword strapped to his back.

"Who the hell are–?" Kiba began, but was silenced by Shikamaru clapping a hand over his mouth. Normally, Shino would have, but it was a nice change of pace. Clearly, Kiba didn't know who the two new chuunins were, either.

Apparently, though, Team Seven did.

"Whoa, Zabuza and Haku got turned into Leaf chuunins!" Naruto exclaimed to Sasuke and Sakura, who both looked at the newly-identified pair with varying degrees of surprise.

Naruto waved at the pair, and the androgynous boy waved back with a smile that broke the tense mood.

"Alright you brats, listen up!" shouted the scar-faced jounin. Instantly, the rowdy foreigners quieted. "I am the proctor of the First Exam, Morino Ibiki!"

Haruko was disappointed to realize that the First Exam was a written test. Damn his luck! He'd hated the Academy tests and had flunked some of them on purpose, even.

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Haruko was sitting way in front, almost nose-to-nose with one of the chuunins who were supposed to be preventing cheating. The boy was about fifteen or so, and was only distinguishable as a male due to his scent, but even that was stretching it.

Keitaro was three rows back and four seats to the left, Sanyu directly one row back, Nariko two seats to the right and five rows back, Inuki was on his left, and Umeko was way in the back right corner.

Ino was in the fourth row out of a total of nine, giving her a perfect view of the mirrors attached to the ceiling. Shikamaru was in the same row as Chouji (the sixth) but eight seats apart. Team Gai's members were all in the same approximate area, the front right section. Hinata was diagonal from him, sitting next to Naruto on her other side. Sasuke and Shino were somewhere behind Haruko, at an angle that he couldn't see easily. Sakura seemed to be in the middle somewhere, perhaps five rows back. Kiba was in the middle left section, in Haruko's blind spot.

Well, it seemed as if everything was ready. If only the examiner wasn't Ibiki…Haruko sighed inwardly, almost wishing that Kagome-sensei hadn't told him about ANBU's Torture and Interrogation department.

As Ibiki began stating the rules for the test, (get questions wrong and get docked points, get caught cheating and get docked points) Haruko stared at the test's first question.

What the hell is this? Haruko thought blankly. While only chuunins were supposed to be able to answer this kind of questions, he was sure that even Sesshoumaru wouldn't be able to understand a word of it. I suppose there's only one thing for it. Crystal flowers it is.

He supposed that Umeko felt the same way, as he suddenly felt her use a bit of youki to grow the plant at a phenomenal rate. She probably wasn't going for theatrics, since she used the non-glowing version and grew it under her section of the desk.

A few desks back, Nariko was using her brain and churning out answers. She was simply much more attentive in classes than her siblings, and was now quite happy about that. They would have to cheat, while she wouldn't.

Sakura was not at the top of her class for nothing. Ten minutes in, she was almost done. The last question on her sheet, number four, was a bit tougher. And suddenly, after about thirty seconds of muddling through her thoughts, she found the problem. She'd forgotten to carry the two. Smiling to herself, Sakura filled in the last answer in the test.

Ten minutes after Sakura finished, Keitaro did too. He wasn't at the top of the class during the Academy in written tests, but he was fairly clever in his own right. It was just that his knowledge was based more on common sense than textbook info.

Haruko and Umeko were using their crystal flowers in a modified form. For one, there was only a single, poinsettia-sized blossom with a glasslike screen in the center. The blossom's image was the same as what its spores could see while floating about the room. To get a clear image, one had to use almost a handful of the yellow pollen per two-hundred cubic-feet of enclosed space. That made this type of reconnaissance almost useless outdoors.

Sanyu was simply sitting there, seeming to not be spying at all. However, he was using the mirrors on the ceiling to their fullest. All he had to do was seem as if he was merely daydreaming and glance up. Or he could lay his favorite katana on the desk and stare at it at a certain angle to see the mirrors on the ceiling.

Inuki had had the forethought to bring his primary weapon, a seven-foot spear with an overly large head, and was using the reflection in the metal to see the papers of those behind him.

Hinata and Neji were using their Byakugan to see other people's papers, their blood limits coming in handy. It was probably the best tactic that any of the genin had come up with.

Sasuke used his Sharingan on a rock genin who seemed a mite too calm in such a tense atmosphere and was rewarded with all nine answers, which he hastily copied down. Naruto and Sakura had better not be screwing around.

Ino used her Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Technique) to possess the Grass ninja in front of her, before popping back into her own body to scribble the answers down. Once she was ready, she used her family's technique again on Shikamaru to give him the answers. Shikamaru promptly used his Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique) on Chouji and gave the last member of their team the much-needed answers.

Kiba was using Akamaru's presence on the top of his head to have the dog spy on the opponent's papers. The dog barked the answers into his owner's ear, which Kiba wrote out with a grin. Kiba was the only one in the room who could understand the dog, so there was no fear of accidentally telling others the answers.

Shino was using his kikai insects to spy on other people's papers using his bond with the bugs. Even if a single insect had a rather horrible memory, the kikai bug could simply memorize one answer before returning to its perch on Shino's finger.

Tenten and Lee depended upon the same tactic as Sanyu, though Tenten had taken to manipulating one of the large mirrors with chakra strings. In that way, she was helping both herself and her teammate.

By the time the thirty-minute mark had passed, around half of the genin teams had been kicked out of the exam for cheating. That number included everyone in Shikamaru's row besides himself and Chouji, several genin around Team Gai, and a few teams from both Grass and Mist. All but two of the Rain teams were out. The Sand and Sound teams, however, stayed.

And then, after the allotted hour was up, Ibiki dropped the bomb. The Tenth Question.

Behind folded arms and a bored expression, Keitaro smirked at the many genin who were giving up and quitting the exams. Really, humans had such little sense… If it came down to it, he could simply sneak his less-intelligent teammates the answer to the tenth question.

Sanyu barely refrained from strangling his elder twin just to get that damned smirk off his face. He settled for gouging holes in the desk with his claws. Nonetheless, he knew that Nariko could answer all nine if she so pleased, while Haruko may have had to cheat.

Umeko stared at the inspector thoughtfully. Should she take the question and risk being a genin forever, or not accept it and take her teammates down with her? Wait a minute…who cares about being stuck a genin forever? It's not like I'd stop getting stronger if I answer wrong. If anything, I can just get Mom to teach me new stuff later. Grinning to herself, Umeko lowered her half-raised hand and settled down to watch the cowards fail.

Nariko disregarded the choice aspect of the Tenth Question. She'd answered all nine of the others, hadn't she? She would answer this last question correctly and move on to the next part of the Chuunin Exams.

Inuki watched the examiner with mild apprehension. He had used mostly cheating skills to get this far, and wasn't really sure he'd be able to answer something with such high stakes. But then, with Keitaro and Umeko so determined, what choice did he have?

Haruko barely listened as Ibiki declared the tenth question. He had all nine answers, and wasn't about to kick his sister and his other teammate out of the exams for his own sake. Not like he mentioned that to anyone else, though.

However, the fox was mildly taken aback when Naruto shakily raised his hand. He had thought Sakura was going to do the self-sacrifice thing for Naruto's sake…

And the blonde stunned him yet again by slamming his raised hand into his desk.

"You think you're going to make me give up?" Naruto snarled. "Like hell, bastard! I'm gonna be Hokage even if I stay genin forever!"

Inuki beamed. Naruto was right. "And an enemy's not gonna care if you're a genin, a jounin, or an Academy student. Rank's gonna mean shit to him."

"So bring on the damn question already!" Kiba seconded.

The remaining genin received a major confidence boost. If a bunch of Leaf rookies had the guts to take on that kind of risk, so did they. The room erupted with cheers of 'You got that right!' and 'Hell yeah!'

No one but the chuunins in the room and Neji noticed, but Ibiki suddenly grinned, as if he found the genin amusing. If Neji had been anyone but Neji, he probably would have used some super-cool taijutsu and genjutsu to force the reason for amusement out of Ibiki.

But he wasn't, so he didn't.

Mildly irritated by the time the examiner was taking to announce the tenth question, Inuki flicked an ear under his headband. Or tried to. Anyway, Ibiki was getting quite annoying and was soon to be dealt with. Some of us have places to be, jerk.

Ibiki chuckled as he mentally counted how many students were still in the exam. Sixty kids, twenty teams. Boy, was Anko ever going to be pissed. She'd spent so long trying to make the First Exam as hellish as possible.

"Ah, the Tenth Question…well, congratulations, all sixty of you. You've just passed the First Exam!"

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"Just what the hell was that supposed to be?" Inuki demanded of Sanyu crossly.

Both boys, and their teams, were outside the examination building. Specifically, right next to a book store. Thankfully, it wasn't the notorious Pink Book Store, or one would have thought something very wrong was going on. It was, in fact, the Yukitaro Book Store, where Nariko liked to buy adventure novels. Said girl was inside, purchasing a particular favorite of hers, about a female dragon in love, a hotheaded exiled prince, and a calculating young lord.

"Weren't you listening to Ibiki? Or to that freaky lady who busted the window?" Sanyu shot back. Irritants, that's what the world was made of.

"I don't listen to sadists and freaky people."

Sanyu sighed, knowing that his cousin rarely let topics pass unresolved. "That was the first of the three-part Chuunin Exam. Anko-san, the freaky lady, was the examiner for the practical."

Inuki gave Sanyu an apprehensive look. "Y'know, I'm not looking forward to the practical so much anymore."

Sanyu felt the figurative sweatdrop form on the back of his head. "Neither am I."

"At least it can't get any worse." Haruko muttered, looking up from some Sci-Fi book he'd bought. With Sanyu and Inuki looking at him expectantly (and Keitaro only half-listening), he continued, "I mean, it's not as if Orochimaru will show…up…dammit, I think I jinxed myself."

And the other boys nodded, agreeing completely.

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On their way back to the meeting place for chuunins and the potential chuunins, Haruko was noticed staring at Keitaro very intently. Eventually, the black-haired boy grunted and grabbed the front of Haruko's vest.

If there was one thing besides his brother that Keitaro hated, it was being stared at. Damn those red eyes!

"Just why are you staring at me?" he growled. Haruko grinned sheepishly as the other demon genins noticed the situation.

Nariko spoke up first. "Keitaro, let go of him before I kill you."

"Not until he tells me why the hell he was staring at me for five minutes!"

Haruko made a timid sort of noise, as if he suddenly wasn't enjoying the attention.

"W-Well…it's just that…um…" Haruko stammered.

"Spit it out, fox." Keitaro snapped. "Before I get impatient."

Haruko didn't look like he was really afraid in the way that he feared for his life, but rather his relationship with Keitaro, as unsteady as it already was.

"I-I read up a bit on the sannin, and you look a lot like Orochimaru!" With that, Haruko yanked himself out of Keitaro's loosened grip and backed away cautiously.

There was a long silence, filled with an awkwardness that was thick enough to cut with a kunai.

"You know, Keitaro, he's right." Umeko said after a time. "Yellow eyes with slits for pupils, pale skin, and black hair. Only differences are that your hair is way shorter and you have those facial markings like Sesshoumaru-sensei, instead of Orochimaru's freakier ones."

There was an even longer silence, broken only by their footsteps as they trudged towards Anko's predetermined meeting place.

"…Haruko."

"What, Keitaro?"

"You just lost nine respect points. You've got forty left."

"That's not a lot, is it?"

"…No."

"Man, I hate you."

Watching the squabbling pair, Nariko finally had enough. She grabbed both boys by their pointy ears and knocked their heads together.

"Get over it! Men are such babies!" she snapped. Little did she know that the boys were already plotting revenge…too bad it would have to wait until after the exams.

As the irritated (and injured) three genins walked to the meeting point, splitting up along the way, Keitaro going one way, Nariko and Haruko going another.

There was a pause between those who remained.

"And they passed the genin test, how?" Inuki asked no one in particular.

"Like hell if I know." Sanyu muttered in return.

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In another part of Konoha, Souten was scanning the rooftops of the village. She knew that something, or someone, had been following her for about an hour. And whoever it was, they were stronger than the sannin. And yet, they were still a good deal weaker than her.

She was technically off-duty, so she wore a civilian outfit. Not that the average person's outfit was so much different from what she usually wore, but that was beside the point. Souten liked dark blue and several shades of red and so wore jeans with a deep red sweater. Kouryuu clung to her shoulder like a stuffed toy, and hardly moved aside from blinking.

Sending a withering glance in direction of her stalker, she continued down the street.

"Souten-sama…?" Kouryuu began anxiously. He'd probably never seen his mistress so worried before. Actually, Souten couldn't recall being so nervous since she was a child and didn't know any techniques.

"Someone's been following us. They're not close enough for me to tell exactly who they are, but he or she is stronger than any of the sannin, though weaker than myself or any of us." Souten explained. She knew that Kouryuu would know who she meant by 'us'. Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, Souten, Sesshoumaru, and Rin.

"Will the children be in danger if he strikes?" Kouryuu whispered.

Souten abruptly stopped walking. "Yes." Instantly, she leaped onto a nearby roof and looked around for her mystery pursuer. And, with her sharp red eyes, she found him. Right across the street from her.

Arashi-kun? Just what in hell's name would he be doing following her?

"Souten-sama, that isn't the Yondaime." Kouryuu said, as if he had read her mind. He was watching the man closely.

Souten narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing her chosen opponent.

He was basically a carbon copy of the Yondaime. Except for the fact that Arashi didn't have an ounce of youki in him. This person was all youki, no ordinary chakra. And then he locked eyes with her. And the Yondaime was coming up on forty while this man seemed to be younger than twenty.

Red with slits for pupils. He had deep whisker-mark lines on his face, three on each side. Actually, he seemed more like Naruto when possessed by all of that fox youki.

Then Souten realized where she'd seen those eyes before. They were her own, her children's…and Komaru's. In other words, the Kyuubi's.

"It's Komaru." Instantly, the man looked up as if he had heard her. Yes, those were Komaru's eyes and his facial markings…but this was impossible! Half-youkai like Komaru shouldn't have been able to change form like that. Especially not so drastically. Where had the three hundred-foot fox gone?

"Should we tell Shippou-sama?" Kouryuu asked softly.

"No. Leave him be." If Kouryuu was surprised by her answer, he hid it well. Souten continued, "Perhaps Komaru-kun has changed his ways from the last time we saw him."

Her cool tone told nothing of the pain that she had gone through last time she'd seen him.

Flashback

Her dearest stepson was leaving. If only he had been more cautious!

A human had told him of a beautiful place to watch the stars, and Komaru was planning to bring his love, a kitsune named Tomoyo, there. Surely, they would be happy there, underneath the silver moon and with no one but themselves.

But alas, it was not to be. No sooner had the pair of foxes become at ease than the ninjas had attacked. Komaru fended off the attacks easily due to his youki, but Tomoyo…She'd succumbed to her injuries as they had tried to escape.

Komaru had come back to the palace a broken man. It was horrible watching her stepson tear himself apart from the inside. Sometimes, when his father was out handling border disputes with the many nekomata in Cloud, Komaru would simply leave and not come back for many weeks. His father worried, as did Souten, but there was hardly anything they could do. And Souten was pregnant, so she was much less able than usual.

Then, October 10th the next year, Komaru and Shippou both left. Shippou was heading out to kill a group of lizard youkai that were making themselves nuisances along the Fire border, while Komaru did not reveal his destination.

It was obvious where he'd gone within a few hours.

Shippou had returned, looking as if he'd run his emotions through a crop thresher. Komaru had been nowhere to be found.

Then Shippou had told her of Komaru's seemingly sudden hatred of Konoha. Komaru had tried to attack during the night, but Shippou had been in the area and stopped him, defending the Yondaime Hokage and his ninjas. Shippou had no idea of the reasoning behind the attack and had said something to that effect to Komaru, but he'd been forced to severely scold Komaru and banish him from Fire forever.

Souten had protested Shippou's decision, but her mate was adamant that it was the only solution. She had almost stopped protesting when the perfect idea hit her. Why didn't they move to Konoha and simply defend the village more directly? Her mate had been stunned by the request, but she insisted. After a half-hearted debate, they agreed to a deal. If they moved to Konoha and Komaru didn't attack for one Zodiac cycle, they would allow Komaru to return.

Besides, Komaru would have to be suicidal to try anything with them in the village.

And Souten hadn't heard from Komaru since.

But, in honor of the heartbroken young bijuu, Souten had named her three new children using one of the kanji from his name. Thus they were known as Haruko, Nariko, and Umeko.

Flashback Over

Until now, she thought darkly. What would Komaru do if he left her sight? Slaughter the villagers? Raze it to the ground? Maul the children?

"Komaru. You have had your warning." Souten hissed. No doubt the half-youkai could hear her over the townsfolk's chatter.

Komaru narrowed those eyes at her. "I am not here for these fools. There are far bigger fish to fry."

Souten's eyes widened slightly. Komaru had always considered humans to be rather insignificant, if sometimes useful. It was exactly that attitude that had gotten him in trouble with his father in the first place. "Who?" was all that was necessary.

"You may have heard of the bastard." Komaru's eyes closed with suppressed rage. "He goes by Orochimaru."

Souten didn't gasp at the snake sannin's name. Rather, she grunted an acknowledgement. That damn bastard made everyone's lives miserable. Then realization hit her like a load of bricks. "He was the one, wasn't he?"

Komaru nodded. He leaped over from his perch to hers, never removing his eyes from her face. "Orochimaru tricked me. He wanted my power, since I was a bijuu." Komaru gave a sort of pained grin. "You know that only bijuu can be sealed."

Souten evaluated her stepson carefully, and replayed what he'd said in her mind. "You used 'bijuu' in past tense." Komaru nodded. She continued, "You found the Shikon no Tama and wished to be a youkai, didn't you?"

"How did you know?"

"Half-youkai, no matter what the other half is, can't change shape. You would still be towering over our heads if you were a bijuu."

Komaru was silent for a long time. Finally, he asked the most pressing question on his mind: "Are you going to tell Father about this?"

Souten considered it. Shippou's exiling of his son ended about three months ago. Her mate was undoubtedly still irritated about the whole business, but he wasn't as infamous for his temper as Inuyasha was. If he heard about Orochimaru's involvement, Komaru may just be forgiven. Of course, that would also start a clan-wide manhunt for the sannin, but that was neither here nor there.

"Souten-sama said earlier that we wouldn't, but there may be a benefit to telling Shippou-sama, Komaru-kun." Kouryuu put in. Souten had almost forgotten about the minimized dragon youkai.

"When you come up with it, tell me." Komaru said, turning away from them both. "But for now, I'm going to make sure that Orochimaru's main scheme doesn't succeed." And he was gone in a swirl of leaves.

Souten and Kouryuu were left in silence for a moment or two.

And then Souten felt a flash of irritation.

"That brat." Souten snarled in a frustrated manner. "He didn't even tell us what Orochimaru's plan was!"

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A/N: Stay tuned for the next chapter, which should come out sometime in October.

Thanks goes out to Crystal Inferno and animerincheetah for reviewing. It was the oddest thing to see these two come back, especially since I sort of expected them to be gone or something.

Other notes:

1) I am sorry to say that the Sound trio barely made a cameo in this chapter, but it sort of worked out that way.

2) It would be appreciated if animerincheetah and Crystal Inferno would tell me if they found any errors. I don't have anyone lined up for beta duty, so I may have missed some.

3) "You just lost nine respect points." That's a bit from FFX-2. Paine said it to Rikku. Rikku had forty-seven remaining.

4) I switched this chapter with another, since I didn't like how the Author's Notes weren't up-to-date.

Special note (only for my cousin, who may or may not read this): If Michelle is reading this, it would be appreciated if she'd call me just to say hi, since you're too shy for your own good. Be assertive.