Bijuu's Prerogative

Dying is a lot harder to do when your lover is a nine-tailed demon fox that can bend the fabric of space and time to save you. KyuNaru and Naruto x Shion, sort of a threesome

x

The blade was still plunged through his chest, Naruto realized distractedly. It had broken through his ribs- a rather impressive way to kill him, even if maneuvering through his sides would have been easier…

Dying, Naruto thought, the fuzzy black edges of his vision closing around his irises, Oh Kami, he was dying, wasn't he? He had never come this close before. Not since Sasuke sent a Chidori through his chest.

Sasuke… Sasuke was dead too, wasn't he? Naruto had been forced to put the Last Uchiha down like a rabid dog... Sakura had never forgiven him, but she was dead, too… and so was everyone else, except Kurama…

Kurama… where was he… Naruto wanted to say goodbye…

As the bloodied young man fell closer to the ground, eyes slowly closing, a loud roar ripped through the ground. It was cruel, and furious, and desperate, as a flash of red chakra enveloped Naruto for the last time.

x

By the time Naruto was fifteen, he had developed a twitchy sort of fury at the suddenness of an alarm clock- not unlike many of his comrades at ANBU. Therefore, it should have been expected that once this one went off in his apartment, it would received a wind-chakra laced kunai through its delicate workings.

What Naruto had not expected, once he had jumped off of his bed that is- a bed?! That revelation had the blonde pausing, stunned, at the small, messy child's bed laying below a large, sunny window. Not only was the size far too small for someone of Naruto's height, but as far as he knew, the Resistance didn't have any more comforts like beds.

"What the fuck?" Naruto asked aloud, still in the state of marveling over this bed.

The high-pitched adolescent sound of his own voice, only drew him back even further. With the fox-like reflexes Naruto had often been teased over, he looked around the room he was in. A bit small, cluttered with dirty neon clothing (this person really needs to get a hamper, he thought briefly), an old set of dented kunai, a pile of books, and a chair to the side.

No one else was present, except for himself. With that in mind, Naruto looked down on his body, and gave a- very manly- shriek.

He had fucking well shrunk! His hands were smaller, softer, with only the beginnings of the calluses that he would develop later on. A bright orange jumpsuit covered a short body of only 5'2. Placing his fingers against his face, Naruto could feel the light uprisings of his whisker marks. Well, that ruled out genjutsu.

It was a little known fact that while a jinchuuriki was trapped in a genjutsu, the chakra laden marks of their bijuu would be disrupted and would emit a sliver of demonic energy. For Naruto, it was his whisker marks, for Gaara, the dark circles around his eyes, and for Fu, her rare orange coloured irises. Han had the most annoying trait out of all of them, with poisonous steam emitting from his body at all times.

Once Naruto had accidentally discovered this odd quirk of their Bijuu, Han had almost crushed him in his joy to finally be able to touch another human being. The jinchuuriki of Kokuo had placed a minor self-induced genjutsu on himself before hesitantly reaching for his brother, Roshi's, hand. He had only gone so far as to interact with the other jinchuuriki, Naruto remembered fondly, but just seeing the reserved man slowly come out of his armour- both figuratively and literally- had bolstered the eight 'human sacrifices' spirits.

Fu was another one of those jinchuuriki who only felt comfortable with her "kind", never mind the fact that they were all human. She had latched on to him like a limpet since they had first met, and the only person more determined to heal Fu than Naruto himself, was Yugito. One day, she had claimed that it was a "girl's bonding" night, and then kicked all of the male jinchuuriki out of their shared quarters. Fu had tried to sneak out in Gaara's gourd but the young Kazekage had no intention to humor the girl when he, himself, would have to sleep out in the rain for the night.

Utakata had tried to repeat the incident with a "male bonding" night a few weeks later on, but it turned out that Yugito- being the container of the Nibi CAT- hated rain even more than Gaara. After she nearly beat Utakata to death, it was wisely decided by the males that they were more than sufficiently bonded as it was.

With a sheepish smile, Naruto broke himself free of his memories, and regarded the room with decidedly mischievous eyes. Being extremely adaptable, once Naruto had ruled out genjutsu, the idea of "time travel" was relatively easy to accept. After all, hadn't Kurama mentioned this tactic to him once in one of their late night talks…?

Kurama! Naruto shifted guiltily, he had forgotten all about his Bijuu since he had gotten here. Lifting his shirt, Naruto channelled in a little chakra to his stomach, and barely kept himself from whooping in joy when the seal appeared. Grinning even more widely now, Naruto plopped down on the ground, and began to meditate.

It took a little longer than usual, but Naruto soon found himself in the sewer room that used to be Kurama's jail cell. Crinkling his nose distastefully, Naruto made his way over to where he remembered the bar cells were to be. For each step that he took towards his friend, his confidence dimmed slightly.

Would Kurama remember him? Would the entity that he considered his most precious person hate him all over again? If he did, Naruto determined, than he would just have to prove himself worthy again and again, if need be. Kurama was more than worth it.

"So my foolish human cage decides to grace me with his presence," a cold, darkly amused voice said, as Naruto came within sight of the cell. The boy's heart plummeted as malevolent red eyes regarded him furiously from the humongous beast that laid before him.

"Lost for words, boy?" the fox sneered, as Naruto failed to speak, "Then I suppose you will be unable to have a final wish! I had planned to torture you for my imprisonment, but I am capable of mercy. For opening my cage, I shall grant you a swift death!"

Then, to Naruto's shock, the fox pounced through the cage, the bars passing through his body as though they were mere illusion, and red-gold chakra enveloping its dark red fur like a second skin. The blond had closed his eyes, waiting for death, and so was unable to see the huge fox's form changing and growing smaller until…

"Oof!" Naruto gasped, as he was bowled over by a slender, human-shaped, naked form. The boy's arms automatically wrapped itself around the wiggling body pressed against his chest, as his mouth opened and closed without a word escaping his lips. The figure before him had delicate, almost feminine, beauty with wine red hair even darker than Gaara's and golden eyes with flecks of red scattered throughout. It was only when he saw the glint of mischief in those achingly familiar eyes, that Naruto spoke.

"Kurama?" he asked, pushing himself up, but refusing to let go of the other boy, "I- You're… did you do this?"

The boy grinned- insufferably smug as usual, Naruto noted with exasperated affection- as he wriggled his body into a more comfortable position.

"Who else would have enough power to change the very fabric of space and time?" he bragged, "One of my more impressive feats, I admit-"

The self-declared praise was cut short as Naruto took the chance to cover Kurama's mouth with his own. The chakra entity eagerly returned the kiss, pressing himself, if possible, even closer to Naruto's body, as he tugged on the blonde's locks of hair. The boy moved his mouth away when he had become pressed for air, much to Kurama's clear irritation, before Naruto turned to pressing open-mouthed kisses across his neck and shoulder.

"You are absolutely brilliant," Naruto gasped out, between applying his kisses, "A Shiki Fuujin- Kurama that was incredible- and risky…"

The blonde paused, and moved his head away from the red-faced Kurama, as he frowned. "Kurama," Naruto said softly, "The Shiki Fuujin in a one-time deal. Even a Bijuu like you wouldn't survive if you couldn't channel that much divine energy. If it had gone wrong…"

The Bijuu gave him a look that was a cross between shame and defiance, "It didn't go wrong."

Naruto growled. "That's not the point," he shouted, springing to his feet, and releasing the chagrined demon. "You could have died. Actually died, Kurama! I know you're used to your immortality, but that wouldn't have saved you! A demon channeling divine energy? And if that demon was the nine-tailed fox... Are you insane?"

The fox looked even more embarrassed yet determined, as he also sprang to his feet. "You died!" Kurama shouted at him, "You promised that you wouldn't leave, and then you did!"

"That doesn't matter!" Naruto replied angrily, "You would have still been alive!"

"It does to me," the golden-eyed boy claimed softly, looking down, "I'd have been alone. Shion nearly killed herself too after you'd been kidnapped. The pressure made the baby arrive early. She- I- it was a stillborn."

Naruto stopped cold, his hands falling down to his sides uselessly. "A stillborn," he repeated, swallowing, "I- oh Kami, Kurama, I'm so sorry."

"You should be," Kurama hissed, still furious, "Going into that fight even when you knew it was an ambush! I warned you! Shion begged you not to go! But, you had to be that perfect Rokudaime Hokage, didn't you? Despite the fact that Konoha was gone, everyone had died-"

Kurama's voice tapered off slightly, and he launched himself back into Naruto's arms. The fox was still so unused to the experiences of human emotion. For all his brilliance or power or experience, he was still merely a child in terms of emotion, not a bit unlike Kakashi really. The only person he had really ever been close to was Naruto, and then slowly began to interact with each of his siblings and their Hosts. He had even become somewhat fond of Shion in his own way, especially after she had purified some of the demonic energy out of him, leaving him with the golden eyes his father- the Sage of the Six Paths- had first given him.

His relationship with Shion was probably because of their shared understanding. Unlike those irritatingly weak kunoichi like Hinata Hyuuga, Shion was perfectly aware that Naruto belonged to Kurama, and that her relationship with the blond would be something of a business arrangement between two close friends. Her willingness to have the Kyuubi's chakra infused into her womb where, thanks to her own divine chakra, it would be purified and integrated into the baby, had earned her the status of a friend to the fox. Despite their odd arrangement though, there was no doubt that Shion was a cherished member of the small Uzumaki family.

Still, when Kurama wanted to be comforted- which was very, very rarely- he went to Naruto.

"A girl," the redhead said quietly, his face buried into Naruto's neck, "She had dark red hair and Shion's light grey eyes. She had wanted to name the baby Kushina before…"

Naruto's arms closed around him tightly. The blond felt a deep, suffocating sorrow within him. Sorrow for all that could have been and should have been, and anger for all that was taken away from him- from them- and also a rising determination.

"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered, quietly vowing to one day see his baby girl grow up happy and safe, "I'm so, so sorry. That will never happen again. I promise."

Kurama nodded jerkily, and moved away a little, "I know."

The two stayed silent for a few minutes, each grieving what they had both lost, before Kurama shook his head slightly, and smiled.

"Now, what do you think of my new body?" Kurama asked, hands held out to gesture towards himself. Naruto blinked, looked at him, and then abruptly turned away.

"Kurama, you're not wearing any clothes!" the blonde loudly deduced.

The fox looked nonplussed, "Well yeah… what's the point? Don't you like me better this way?"

The blonde twitched, "Humans wear clothing, Kyu." Naruto had forgotten how difficult it was to deal with the fox's lack of morals or modesty.

Most of the time, his knowledge of human customs and general disposition made people forget that he was technically a genderless chakra entity without anything approaching real ethics. The closest Kurama had gotten towards human feelings were his undeveloped fox instincts that prioritized protecting his mate and family over everything else. Which, incidentally, might have been another factor that explained how easily he had come to accept Shion after her unborn child became suffused with Kyuubi's chakra.

"For protection against nature," Kyuubi said, dismissively, "I am incapable of feeling temperature and do not need to be protected against natural forces. I shall be fine."

Naruto twitched again, "That's not really my point. It's just… er, we're not really old enough to… ah, mate, and seeing you without clothes isn't helping my developed mind much."

"You're still a kit," Kurama looked genuinely surprised and displeased by that revelation, "Ah, I had forgotten that small tidbit. You can't mate until you go through that puberty process, can you? I really should have thought this through."

A blushing Naruto nodded, and a snap of Kurama's fingers had him dressed in a miniature form of his clothing from the future. A brown and gold tunic, leggings of a darker brown, and a thin sash of wine red wrapped around his right forearm.

"We'll have to discuss what we'll do to change the timeline now," Naruto said, frowning, once Kurama had clothed himself, "We're the only ones who know how badly-"

"Shion came along," Kurama interrupted. When Naruto jerked back in surprise, he smiled sheepishly. "She insisted that she be part of the ritual."

"Well then, where is she now?" Naruto asked, looking around the sewers as though Kurama had hidden her away in his mind somewhere.

The fox shrugged, "In her old body, I suppose. She said something about wanting to change her mother's future."

Naruto recalled one of many conversations he and Shion had, and smiled, "That's good for her. She had been devastated by her mother's death before."

The blonde's eyes focused back on the demonic entity and he thought aloud, "I don't suppose we could tell the Hokage...? Beyond the fact that we'd have to prove ourselves, I don't think he'll take to you very well. And we'll have to contact Shino again... and reform the Uzumaki Clan. Do you think I could get into contact with Karin?"

"The redhaired girl with the glasses?" Kurama questioned, "Why would you want her?"

"She's my cousin," Naruto reminded him, "She isn't an evil person. She just used to work with Orochimaru and Sasuke. If I contact her in the Chuunin Exams before Sasuke has a chance to save her, than she'll probably be loyal to her Clan Head instead. It helps that she was only a Kusa genin before; we can probably make a case for extraction and assimilation."

"Do you intend to kill that snake bastard during the Invasion this time around?" Kurama asked. Naruto's eyes lit up, and a wicked grin crossed his face.

"Even if I didn't change anything else about this time, just killing Oro-teme would have made all this work worth it," Naruto rubbed his hands together eagerly, eerily resembling the child he was supposed to be as if he was planning a particularly vindictive prank.

"What else do you want to do?" Kurama inquired, back to using Naruto as a glorified cushion.

"Getting stronger than I am now is a definite requirement," Naruto grimaced, gesturing towards his young, undeveloped body, "Getting into contact with the jinchuuriki, convincing Tsunade to come back, possibly befriending Danzo-"

"-Killing Sasuke Uchiha," Kurama interjected, receiving a nod in return.

"And his banshee cheerleader," Naruto agreed, "The girl died so quickly in her shinobi career that it wasn't even funny. To be fair, I'd probably have been more sympathetic if she hadn't nearly dragged Kakashi and me along with her."

"I'm glad we have an idea of what we're going to do, then," Kurama said, reluctantly standing up, and stretching. The far too mentally developed blond tracked his movements with a keen eye, and then shook his head to prevent himself from getting distracted.

"You should get back to the real world," Kurama informed him, "Some time has already passed since we entered your mindscape, and you need training. I refuse to have a weak Host, or more importantly, a weak Mate."

"Your wish is my command," Naruto grinned, and then closed his eyes.

A minute later, he had returned to his bedroom, and Kurama's sewer had transformed into a wooded glen filled with serpentine brooks and sunny clearings perfect for a midday nap. The seal now took the form of a collar around the fox's neck, allowing him to move throughout the mindscape.

The blonde looked down at his clothing, and resisted the urge to gag. How on Earth could he have been so stupid as to wear neon orange clothing as a ninja? Actually, it was probably better not to answer that, he reflected, as he looked through his closet for some proper clothes. A black T-shirt with the red Uzumaki spiral, a dark blue wifebeater, and dark blue pants were his final choices. Strapping his kunai and shuriken pouch to his thigh,- he would really have to refill that later- Naruto looked at the calendar to see what time Kurama had dropped him in.

It was the day right before team placements, Naruto realized, which meant that he had already fought Mizuki and... aha, there was his headband! Rather than tie it in the classical position on his forehead, where it would make his hair even spikier than normal, Naruto wrapped it around his forearm. Naruto even took the time to brush down his hair. He would have to remember to grow it out later, since that would emphasize his relation to his father.

After he- or rather Kurama from the mental link he had formed with the fox- had deemed himself presentable, the blonde stepped outside , and headed to the Hokage Tower. Thanks to his long familiarity with the leader of the Hidden Leaf, he didn't need to bother with such pesky things as appointments or secretaries, as he sidestepped the most recent one, and walked into the office.

"Jiji!" Naruto declared, making his presence known as he walked up to the Hokage's desk.

The Sandaime looked up at him, and smiled warmly, "Hello Naruto-kun, what brings you here today?"

"I have come here to beg, jiji," Naruto answered, before flopping unceremoniously on one of the gestured chairs. The slight rise of the Hokage's eyebrow indicated his surprise.

"Oh? And what are you here to beg about, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked, amused.

"I wanted to figure out what teammates I was going to be stuck with, so I- ah, hypothetically stumbled across some loud mouthed Chunin," Naruto improvised, "Said hypothetical Chunin may have implied that team tradition means that the lowest ranked student is paired with the two top ranked ones. Imagine my surprise, hypothetical of course, when I realized that despite my A-rank jutsu, Kage Bunshin, I was ranked the lowest in my class, and therefore, have to pair up with an Emo and a Banshee."

He paused, and affixed the man with a hurtful look, "Naturally, I knew that my wonderful, kind, beloved jiji wouldn't inflict that kind of torture on to me, but- and this is in spite of my unwavering faith in your compassion- my more diabolical nature has urged me to arrive here and get a confirmation of my belief. Incidentally, had this all not been hypothetical, I would have admitted to having practiced this speech beforehand."

The Sandaime Hokage only began to laugh, "Oh, Naruto-kun, you never cease to surprise me. However, you can't expect me to confirm or deny those beliefs of years. As the reigning Hokage of the Village, I can't just throw away years of tradition and precedents to satisfy your idle curiosity."

He leaned closer and conspiratorily lowered his voice, "Of course, your hypothetical teammates are in fact Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno."

Naruto groaned, not entirely faking it. "Jiji, you can't do this to me! He's a bastard and she's a weakling and- who's our sensei, anyway? It's not going to be Hatake, is it?"

"Good to know that my Chuunin aren't revealing everything then," the Sandaime muttered sarcastically, "Yes, Naruto, Kakashi will be your sensei. Do you know anything about him?"

"I know that he failed the last six teams that you gave him because he has an issue with taking on children," Naruto pointed out, "Is there any reason why I got stuck with the sensei with a guarantee failure rate, jiji? I thought it might be because of- well, you know- but then I learned that Teme was on the same team, and I doubt they'd kick him out of the ninja program."

The old man winced, "Naruto I assure you that you were not given to Kakashi because of your burden. In fact, he specifically requested you for his team. I have a feeling that his failure rate is going to change."

The blonde was not impressed. "I've never met this guy before, and my Academy files say I'm a truant deadlast and yet Copycat Kakashi wants me for his team? ...This has to do with him, doesn't it?"

Sarutobi took in Naruto's dissatisfied expression and sighed again, this time with a little regret. "Naruto-kun, I promise you that Kakashi didn't want you because of the Kyuubi."

"No, not the Kyuubi, I meant him," Naruto waved his hand, stressing on the last word, "You know, my father?"

Had the Sandaime's pipe been in his mouth, then he would have spit it out in shock and horror. Trying to find the limits of his honorary grandson's knowledge, he ventured forth, "What do you mean by your father, Naruto-kun?"

"My father," Naruto said slowly, frowning, "The pretty boy who stuck a demon in his kid? Minato Namikaze?"

The Hokage's first reaction may have understated the severity of that statement, "You shouldn't disparage his looks, Naruto-kun, since you look exactly like him."

"I do not!" the genin was clearly offended by such a comparison to the greatest ninja Konoha had ever produced, "My colouring may be the same, but I favor my Uzumaki heritage. I have my mom's chin, nose, and bone structure. Not to mention her personality."

"That's true," Hiruzen acknowledged, with a small, regretful smile, "How did you find out about this information, my boy?"

"Well, somewhere in between my sixth and seventh major prank, I realized that the ANBU never catch me when I'm running away from them," Naruto began, "I know that I'm completely awesome jiji, but these ninja are supposed to be the best of the best. They've trained for years to gain their skills and they can't catch a random Academy student to drag him into the civilian courts? That was just too unlikely."

"I tried to think about why they might keep letting me go, and my first reaction was to think that you told them to do it. To prove my point, I decided to turn my pranks on you," the Hokage shuddered as he remembered that week of all-encompassing horror, "But the ANBU were still letting me go, even after I burned your entire porn collection. So I decided to move on my next conclusion, they were letting me get away because they liked me. Only, I've never met of the ANBU, and random snacks kept popping up in my kitchen, so I decided that while they indulged me, they didn't do it because of me."

"I realized that the ANBU- and honestly most higher level ninja like the Clan Heads- treated me a little like the civilian population treated Teme. Since they only like the bastard cause he's an Uchiha, I figured that they only liked me, because of my parents. Most of the people who were nice to me were high-level ninja or retired ninja, so it had to be someone powerful. Then, I tried to prove that I was the bastard child of Yamanaka Inoichi, but Ino ratted me out to her father, and he ended up sitting me down and explaining very nicely that he had never had an extramarital affair, that I didn't have the Yamanaka shade of blonde, and could I please maybe not mention this to his wife?"

Over at the corner, one of the blatantly eavesdropping ANBU guards- Yamanaka Hiroshi- snorted.

"My next conclusion was that I was the bastard child of Tsunade Senju, which only got stronger once I realized that her grandmother was an Uzumaki and her brother looked just like me," Naruto paused in his chronicling, as Sarutobi listened, impressed by the boy's initiative and resourcefulness, "So I decided to prove my point by sneaking into the Uchiha Clan, but the Teme's mom ended up giving me a lollipop. I was all set to give up before I realized that I could have been the child of a famous person instead of a famous clan- though by then, I knew about the Uzumaki Clan and knew that I was descended from them- so I checked the history books for famous ninja with civilian backgrounds. I found three, and the only blonde one was Minato Namikaze."

"If you know who your father is, then why wouldn't you want Kakashi Hatake to be your sensei?" Sarutobi asked, "He would treat you well, and be happy to teach you."

"Because of the bastard who became my father?" Naruto scoffed, "No thanks, I'd rather be liked because of my own accomplishments. This is why I never told anyone who my parents were."

"I can't say I don't understand your reasons," the Hokage's expression only showed just how old he had become, "Do you really hate your father so much, Naruto?"

"...I resent him for giving up his life to seal the Kyuubi away," the boy finally said, "I read about other jinchuuriki, and since they could be sealed away without taking the life of the sealer, I knew that other options were open to him. At the same time… I got into contact with the Kyuubi once-"

He saw the Sandaime's face quickly morph into worry, and hurriedly reassured the old man, "The seal is still going strong! I just saw the last few minutes of my father's life… Do you know what his last words were? They were: 'Naruto… This is your dad. Listen… to your motor-mouth mother.'"

The young boy lowered his face in a hopeless attempt to hide the tears gathering in his eyes. The Sandaime lowered his face as well, sharing in the sorrow for the remarkable young man who had died too young for his time.

"He thought that I would have had at least one parent," Naruto whispered, "He never knew that Mom had died just a few minutes earlier. I still resent him for making me a jinchuuriki and leaving me an orphan, but how can I be mad at him? He gave up his soul to give me the best protection from a tailed beast that it was possible to give, and he did it with the understanding that at least Mom would be there to look after me. I- he loved me I think-"

"He did love you," Sarutobi interrupted, his voice firm and reassuring, "Naruto… you have no idea how much pride and joy you brought him before you were even born. The day he learned that he was going to be a father was the happiest day of his life. It damn near killed him not to be able to tell anyone who would listen and everyone who wouldn't about your birth. If we weren't at war, I have no doubt that he would have shouted the news from the rooftops."

Naruto listened to those words and smiled, "Thank you, jiji."

"You shouldn't be," the Hokage said sadly, "I may have done it for your own protection, but that doesn't erase the pain you must have felt for not knowing your parent's identity. I'm surprised that you're not shouting at me right now."

"I was mad with you at first," Naruto admitted, and in truth he truly had been furious when he found out his parent's identity for the first time. But at that time, the Sandaime was dead, and he could only release his pent-up frustration at the surrounding trees and mountains. In the end, he had fallen to the ground in bitter tears and cried his pain out.

Since then, he had made peace with his past, and while he still wished the Sandaime had done things differently, Naruto missed the old man too much to mar what could be their last few precious months before the Sandaime died. Though, if he had his way, Orochimaru would get his ass kick six ways till Sunday, and the Old Man could have a peaceful death in bed with Konohamaru chattering into his ear until the very end.

"I guess that it's been long enough for me to mostly get over it," Naruto said, grinning at the Hokage, "I'm still a little conflicted over being the Yondaime's only son, but I'm not going to blame you for it. But jiji…"

The Hokage sensed the blonde boy's uncharacteristic hesitation, and motioned for him to continue.

Naruto spoke quickly, before he lost his nerve. "I know that you're really busy and all, but I think you must have known at least one of my parents and- I don't really know much about them- so maybe you could tell me some stories? If you have any time for it, of course."

Sarutobi looked at the anxious boy, and privately thought that for all Naruto wanted to be seen only through Kushina's genes, he had more than just a few of Minato's traits. He could easily see himself passing on the torch for the will of fire to this bright, energetic, and kind boy, just like he had done long before for the boy's father.

'Naruto-kun, you truly never cease to surprise me,' Sarutobi thought once again, before saying, "I would be happy to tell you about your family, my boy."

Naruto gave him a brilliant smile, and while the face may have been Kushina's, the joy that lit him up was all Minato.

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