A/N: One word right now: ...FREEEDOMMMM!

That's right, March Break is HERE! Hopefully you can expect a nice series of updates (Unless I get sidetracked which I probably will)

Also, I mentioned the creation of a new OC by the name of Light in my last chapter...Within 48 hours, I created his character... and thus... I can no longer resist... Light is coming into this story, and you will not complain :P I went back and edited Chapter 34 of TFE: OT (you figure out what that means) and mentioned him (however subtly) so just...go back and read chapter 34 for more information...but even so...Light's coming into the story...because I can.

This chapter is dedicated to: Katarina Wolffe, Dagiis, AnimeCrazd121, SakinaTheCursed, Deidara-Is-Beast, Waymirec, Angelwings228, The Puppet Lacking Chains, SparkDazzleDuez, nakimina (damn your one word reviews...), evil-tea

To those of you out there who still haven't noticed, I can't STAND one word reviews. Or reviews that are just like "Nice chapter. Update!" They irk me...really...irk...me... Like, Talk to me people! No amount of smileys added to one word reviews make up for the fact that it's still a one word review!

You know what else is dumb? I'm starting to run out of words for the chapter titles...I have to really think about it now :P this is bad...really bad...XD

Ah well. Enjoy the show!

Chapter 43: Kuchiki

Neji,

Nice hearing from you. I'm thrilled that you're pretty much here, and I've already figured out your riddle. Nice one. That had Byakuya stumped for a few minutes.

Just...beware. Rukia's going to have a cow when she finds out you're coming. And hell yeah you can stay. I've already checked with mom and dad. Rukia's birthday is on the 28th, so you guys will give her one hell of a birthday surprise. Would it be too much to ask for a rock version of happy birthday? You know what, on second thought, don't. Just you being there will be too much for her poor heart to handle. If you played happy birthday for her, she'd probably cry!

Sora's not going to be here until at least the 28th, so you're stuck without her for a day or so! Well I guess that depends on what day you get here. I'm just going to take a wild guess and say you're going to be here by then anyway.

Can't wait! See you when you actually get here! Well, e-mail me and I'll hunt you down. Haha, yes I meant that literally.

Later.

Dark.

Neji chuckled at the last line before clicking the reply button. He typed quickly and efficiently.

Dark,

We have arrived. I have one more riddle for you. This one will disclose our location:

In my sight,

Seats a thousand.

In my ear,

Screams abound.

Overpriced goods,

Overpriced foods,

What is this place?

So wherefore are we? That's for you to figure out. Just bang on the bus door when you get here (but don't break a window. Yamato will kill us.)

Later!

Neji.

Neji hit send. He sat by the laptop for not even two minutes when Dark's reply popped into his inbox. It had only one word:

Stadium?

Neji laughed.

Yup.

He hit send.

"Dark's coming to hunt us down, guys." Neji called out.

"We're still staying there?" Naruto asked.

"I think so."

"Awesome."

"Don't take it for granted, Naruto." Itachi stated. "Remember, there's a fan in the house, and we don't know how she'll react to us."

A knocking sound cut through the air.

"AYE! Geddoutta heah yeh pesky keds!" Yamato said as he opened the door.

"We're here for the party!" It was a girls voice.

"I know. Get in here!" Yamato stepped aside to allow the visitors in. A shady boy entered the bus with a girl with a ponytail behind him.

"Hey who told you we were here?" Itachi cried.

"Neji." Dark said with a grin. "He sent me a riddle."

"You made it easy for him, Neji." Itachi stated.

"Yeah it was kind of hard, but Byakuya took one look at it, and was like: Stadium." Sora seemed to imitate Byakuya's voice when she said 'stadium'.

"What was the riddle?" Shikamaru asked.

"In my sight, seats a thousand. In my ear, screams abound. Overpriced goods, Overpriced foods. Where is this?" Neji stated poetically.

Shikamaru snorted. "Yup. That's a stadium."

"So shall we go?"

"Heck yeah. Let's go before Rukia gets home." Dark laughed.

Sora grinned. "She's going to freak."

Dark laughed again. "I know."

The group filed off of the bus and began to follow Dark and Sora down the street.

"So what have you been doing lately?" Sora asked.

The group grumbled incoherent replies.

"Riding a bus." Sasuke's reply came through.

The group laughed.

"How far is your house, Dark?" Renji asked.

"Not far. Just a couple of blocks away." He replied.

Neji took that moment to look around and examine the city. It was quite modern. This was the first actual city-like place they had been to since Konoha. Towering skyscrapers pierced the sky, and glass glittered above in the light. A silent prayer for the tens of millions of birds who probably lost their lives in this city played through his mind.

As it turned out, Dark's house was no bigger, if not just as big as The Fifth Element's house back in Konoha.

"You guys are staying in the basement by the way." Dark stated. "We have no bedrooms for you, so you all get the basement."

"Your house looks no bigger than ours back in Konoha." Neji stated.

"Really? We have a big family, so...yeah." Dark shrugged.

At that moment, the group became aware of the sound of an electric guitar. And boy, whoever it was sure as heck was shredding.

Dark began leading the group towards the house. Everyone followed. Itachi seemed to be looking for the guitar shredder. As soon as they entered the house, it became apparent that the guitar shredder was in the building. Literally.

Scrrch "HEY!"

The guitar stopped abruptly.

"Byakuya! Give it back!" The voice was filled with laughter and remorse at the same time. Footsteps thudded on the floor above them.

"No. How many times have I told you not to play this damn thing while I'm studying!" Byakuya's familiar voice came from upstairs.

"But you're always studying, Byakuya! What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't care. You can have it back when I'm done."

"BYAKUYA!" The voice was irritated now.

"I think Dark's home. Just to let you know." Byakuya stated. Then a door slammed.

"Already? YO DARK! YOU THERE?"

Dark groaned and ran a hand through his hair.

Sora laughed.

Footsteps thudded again as the group entered the house. There was a whoop from the staircase just down the hall, and a boy literally just fell from the ceiling and landed on his feet with a thud on the tile floor. He got up just as fast and looked towards the group, his eyes open and genuinely curious, his lips parted slightly in a grin.

The first thing Neji noticed was his white hair. He then noticed his interesting sense of style. He didn't even have time to get a good look when the boy strutted towards them.

"Yo, Rukia's going to freak, you know that right?" The boy stated, his blue eyes dancing.

Itachi smirked and shook his head. The glint in the boys eyes reminded him of the very same glint in Azimora's eyes when she had a prank coming.

"Yeah. We've already established that." Dark sighed.

The boy seemed to study everyone in the group.

"Who are you?" Tenten finally asked.

The boy looked shocked, looking towards Dark. "You mean you never told them about me? You're so cruel!" He grinned, showing that he was being sarcastic.

Dark sighed. "This...is my brother. My other brother."

"I didn't know you had another brother." Renji stated. "Slipped your mind?"

Dark grumbled something incoherent.

The boy pouted, his eyes still glinting with sarcasm. "You're so mean, Dark."

"Why don't you tell us who you are?" Tenten asked.

The boy grinned and grabbed Dark and hauled him to his side. "I'm Light, Dark's brother." He left something hanging in the air for a moment.

Dark grumbled and looked innocently up at the group.

Neji realized there was a reason Light pulled Dark to his side. Neji looked at them both and realized something. Their faces were exactly identical.

"Stand up straight, Dark." Neji told him.

Dark sighed and did as he was told. Neji grinned. They were exactly the same height too.

"You're twins." Neji stated.

Light laughed. "Yup! It's so swag. My name is Light, and I have a twin brother named Dark."

Dark sniggered.

"You must be fraternal twins then." Tenten stated. "Your hair colour is different."

Light and Dark both shook their heads.

"Nope." Dark shrugged Light's arm off his shoulders. "The doctors thought so too."

"They did a whole bunch of tests and the fact that our hair and eye colour is different is purely coincidence." Light added.

"A funky mutation or something." Dark stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Did you just finish each other's sentences?" Itachi asked.

The twins shrugged in unison, their expressions matching perfectly, right down to the slight head tilt.

"Dude that's freaky." Shikamaru laughed.

"Well quit being a door stop and get in here." Dark stated, waving them deeper into the house.

Light grinned again, losing all of his formality, subbing it in for the hyper kid they had seen when he had fallen from the ceiling. The group walked through that area, and Neji looked up to see a landing with a railing above them. So Light had jumped from there.

The group scattered around the living room. Tenten gazed at the two twins with wonder. They were so different, yet they were the same. Dark had messy black hair and dark eyes. He wore dark clothes that fit him pretty well and a chain on his leg. There was a ring piercing in his right ear. When you compared that to Light, they were very different. Light wore clothes that looked like they were a size too big. His hair was slightly longer and tied back in a small ponytail. He had what looked like several piercings in his ears; a ring in each ear, and a dangling thing that looked suspiciously like a shark tooth. Around his neck was a chain, and on his fingers were a couple of gold rings. Just like Dark, Light had chains dangling from his pants.

Then there were the personalities. Dark was calm, cool and collected. If you were to walk into a room, you'd probably miss him in favour of looking towards Light. Light stood out. It wasn't because of his clothes either. He radiated this confidence that wasn't quite narcissistic, but at the same time held a sense of pride; that he could do anything he set his mind to. He held his head high, and his bright blue eyes reminded her of Naruto, though they held a sense of maturity that showed he knew his limits. Yes, the twins were very different. That much was certain.

"So, what do you want to do?" Dark asked.

"No idea." Itachi chuckled.

Light's lips curled into a smile again. "We could hold a surprise party for Rukia." He suggested.

"Nah, this is already too much of a surprise." Dark sighed.

Light groaned. "I wish Byakuya hadn't taken my guitar!"

"Yeah well you know better than to screw around when he's studying."

"You were the one playing guitar?" Itachi asked.

Light grinned. "Yeah."

"You're pretty good."

"Thanks. You're pretty swag too, though."

Itachi's brows creased for a moment. "Swag?"

The group laughed.

Dark shrugged. "I have no idea what it means."

"It means you've got swagger!" Light protested. "Like, super cool, or awesome. Like, you walk with swag."

"I still don't get it." Dark snorted.

"Jeeze, you're lame." Light groaned, a grin on his face as he leaned back on the couch.

The sound of thudding footsteps met their ears again. Byakuya's head poked into the room a few seconds later and he stepped in.

"Rukia's back."

Dark jumped up and headed for the door. He skidded to a stop and looked back into the room.

"Stay here, will you?" Dark ordered the group.

"Where will they go, Darkie?" Light chuckled. "Out the window?"

"That sounds splendid. Let's go." Itachi stood up and made a move towards the window before sitting down again with a smirk on his face.

The group laughed.

"I like you. You're funny." Light laughed, pointing casually at Itachi.

The front door opened. "I'm home!" A girl's voice called.

Neji and Itachi skittered away from the couch they were sitting on, realizing they were in full view of the girl who just walked in the front door.

"Hey! Rukia!" Dark called out.

"Why's the house so quiet? You guys didn't plan a surprise party, did you?" She sounded kind of hopeful.

"Well...no..." Dark said awkwardly. "But I...we I should say...have a surprise for you."

"Okay. Where is it?"

"Not so fast." Dark seemed to be keeping her from going towards the living room. "Just wait. There's a bit of a...story."

Byakuya snorted and shook his head. Light broke into hysterical laughter.

"WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?" Dark roared from the hallway.

Rukia's laughter hit their ears.

"Byakuya snorted!" Light laughed. "It was funny!"

"As I was saying..."

Light kept giggling.

"YOU NEED TO STOP LAUGHING!"

Light broke out into fits of laughter again.

Byakuya grabbed a pillow, shoved it into Light's face, and held it down. Light continued to laugh behind the pillow, though it was now muffled. The band had to fight to keep from laughing as well.

Dark took a breath and sighed. "Okay. So do you remember how awhile ago Dad and I went to Kona Farms because someone's bus broke down and they needed expertise?"

"Sure...that was a few weeks ago, right?"

"Yeah. While I was there, I met someone. Well it was more than just someone, it was several people."

Light shoved the pillow off his face, laughing fit over. He sniggered and covered his mouth. Byakuya cracked him in the back of the head with his hand.

"Stop it, you're going to make me laugh again." Light chuckled.

"And?" Rukia asked after a bit of a pause.

"How to go about this..." Dark murmured. "Let's just say that these...people...their bus broke down. So, I spent several days with them, and at the end of it, swapped e-mails with them. The thing is, they were coming here, so I stayed in contact with them."

"Okay?" Rukia seemed confused.

Dark clicked his tongue. "Let's just say...I got them to come here..."

"Why should I care?"

"Well technically you should."

"Why?"

"I'm trying to figure out what to say so you kind of figure it out on your own, because I know you'll totally freak out."

"What did you do?" Rukia's tone was suspicious now. "You didn't rig my room with something, did you?"

"No. Better."

"Okay, I'll play your game." Rukia sighed. "So they're people, and you got them to come here?"

"Well they were coming to Karakura anyway. I just got them to stay here until they're off again."

"And their bus broke down."

"Yeah awhile ago."

Rukia fell silent for a few seconds, processing the information. When she spoke up again, her voice seemed to tremble slightly.

"H-How many?"

"Busted." Shikamaru whispered.

Naruto hissed at him to be quiet.

"Well I suppose that depends. On the bus?"

There was a moment of silence in which the group assumed Rukia nodded her head.

"Thirteen I think."

"Thirteen?" Rukia sounded disbelieving.

The group in the living room began to shuffle around so the band had a whole couch to themselves.

"Um...okay..." Rukia fell into silence again. "Um, what do you mean by they were coming to Karakura, but are going to be off again?"

"Exactly what I said. They're going to be here, then they're going to go."

"Why are they here?"

"They are here...um..."

"DARK! QUIT DODGING THE QUESTIONS!" Light roared.

"They are here...to do something...music themed..."

"Oh jeeze." Neji snorted.

"Names?"

"That'll make it too easy, Rukia!" Dark protested.

"Okay, give me appearances then."

Dark chuckled. "Okay okay. Blonde, black, black, black, brown."

"What the hell?"

Everyone snapped their hands over Naruto's mouth.

"Shhh!" Sasuke hissed with a grin.

"So there's...five?" Rukia's voice was faint again.

"Oh, she knows." Light laughed.

"Um...give me another hint..." Rukia stated.

"Uh..."
"We should scream 'popcorn'." Naruto whispered.

"Popcorn?" Sasuke frowned.

"Pop Rocks is too obvious." Naruto said with a shrug.

"True." Sasuke sighed.

"Um..." Dark seemed to struggle to find a hint.

Naruto cupped his hands to his mouth. "POPCORN!" He roared.

The band held back chuckles.

"Oh..." Light's eyes lit up. "All of you, get behind the couch and do what you do on stage." He whispered. "You know...like a talk show. Just don't use names."

The band leapt over the backs of the couches and sat behind them.

"HEY HO!" Shikamaru called out. "Dark we've got it covered."

"Just chill, and...yeah." Naruto stated.

The band chuckled.

"So there I was a few days ago..." Neji began dramatically.

Tenten sat on the couch Neji was behind. Rukia and Dark strolled into the room. Rukia's eyes were wide.

"What were you doing?" Itachi asked.

"I can't remember."

The group laughed again.

"I do recall canoeing." Itachi stated. "I got shoved into the water. My iPod got soaked."

"Jeeze, I'm sorry!" Azimora cried.

"Sorry, Azimora. Didn't mean to offend you."

Azimora sighed. "I would SO give you away right now if I wasn't totally into this."

"You would too."

The group laughed.

"She so would!" Naruto cried.

"So, the question is..." Shikamaru began speaking dramatically this time. "Does the nice lady have any idea just what Dark's surprise is?"

Dead silence.

"Um..." Tenten thought Rukia looked completely freaked out. "I think I have an idea...b-but...no...I'm probably wrong."

Neji began to sing the Jeopardy theme.

The band howled with laugher.

"YES!" Itachi laughed.

There was a smack as two hands met in a high five.

"Should we give another hint?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah. But what?" Neji asked.

"Um...cheer?"
"Yeah maybe...or is that too obvious?" Sasuke asked.

"CHEESY POOFS!" Naruto cried.

"CHEESY POOFS?" Itachi cried. "For goodness sakes, what the heck are you eating?"

"Miso ramen..."

Rukia grabbed onto Dark's arm. "You didn't..." She gasped. She looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Ah, so the lady seems to be getting it..." Shikamaru stated. "But there has to be one more prompt..."

"So now we cheer?" Itachi asked.

"All in favour?"

"Let's be NASA again." Sasuke stated.

"Hell yeah!" Itachi cried.

"Checking in NASA style." Neji stated. "Spirit of Endeavour, set for launch?"

"Go flight." Itachi stated. "Engines set and ready?"

"Go flight." Sasuke called. "Flight deck clear?"

"Go flight!" Shikamaru whooped. "Cargo hold secure?"

"GO FLIGHT!" Naruto roared. "Air space clear?"

"Go flight." Neji finalized. "Ready for launch in T-minus ten seconds. Nine. Eight."

"Seven. Six." The rest of the band joined in.

"Five! Four! Three!" Light and the girls joined that time.

"TWO! ONE!" Everyone else joined in for the last two counts.

Behind the couch, the band crouched in their positions. Every last one of them made eye contact just before the last two seconds and the second the clock hit zero, all five boys leapt into the air at the same time with a whoop.

Rukia squealed and hid behind Dark. "Oh my god. Dark! You didn't! OH MY GOD!" She cried. Literally. She began crying.

"Aw, Rukia!" Dark patted her head. "Yeah I'm being dead serious. I met these guys, and I got them to stay here while they were in Karakura! Happy Birthday!"

Rukia screamed again, hiding behind Dark and clinging to his sweater.

The band flopped back down on the couch almost casually, waiting for the heyday to cease. Rukia kept relaxing, then looking out from behind Dark and screaming all over again.

"Okay, okay, you're excited." Dark stated, messing up Rukia's hair.

"I had the freakiest dream last night." Shikamaru piped up suddenly.

"Yeah? What was it?" Temari asked.

"I was told to go on an epic quest to save the world." Shikamaru stated. "Some random person gave me balloons to use as travel, and I was flying. Suddenly, I had this thought of 'what if these pop?' and the balloons start popping and I'm just like oh crap. Then I'm clinging onto one last balloon, and suddenly a pair of eyes appear on it, and the balloon starts talking to me." Shikamaru was laughing now. "I realize that it's the person who gave me the balloons in the first place. He turned himself into a balloon, and he was telling me that this balloon wouldn't pop because it was a person!"

"What?" Sasuke stared at Shikamaru incredulously.

"That so beats my flying monkey dream." Neji snorted.

"Do I even want to know?" Dark asked.

Neji shook his head. "No."

Byakuya left the room at that moment and returned upstairs. Now that Rukia had seen the group, it just wasn't worth watching anymore. She continued to hide behind Dark as if the band was some sort of murderous gang.

"So what do you guys do when you're bored?" Light asked. "Because I'm bored."

Itachi didn't miss the smirk that appeared on Azimora's face.

"No, Azimora." He stated.

"What?" She protested.

"I know what you were thinking. The answer is no."

Azimora pouted.

"What?" Dark asked.

"Don't ask. You'll only encourage her." Itachi added a smirk in Azimora's direction to show her it was all in good faith.

"Random question..." Sora piped up suddenly.

Neji blinked in surprise. She was sitting beside him, but he had forgotten she was even there.

"Shoot!" Naruto encouraged.

"Have any of you nearly drowned in a wave pool?"

"YES." Light said, his eyes wide.

Naruto laughed. "I so have."

"You would, Naruto." Sasuke snorted.

Naruto shrugged. "I love wave pools. And then I dove into one of the waves and couldn't find the surface again."

"Well obviously you did because you're alive right now." Sasuke pointed out.

"Shut up, Teme."

Sasuke snorted and shook his head.

"Light nearly died." Dark stated. "Seriously."

Light still had a petrified look on his face.

"What happened?" Itachi asked.

"You know how people in wave pools are often relaxing in those big tube things?" Light asked.

The group nodded.

"I jumped off mine and tried to go under everyone, but I didn't know that the waves had started going again, so first of all I couldn't get to the surface, and every time I tried, I would be blocked by everyone's tubes."

"Oh no..." Tenten whispered.

"Thank whatever deity exists up there that at that time Dark's twinstincts started tingling." Light sighed.

Dark laughed. "That's what you called it?"

Light smirked.

"What happened?" Shikamaru asked eagerly.

"I was floating on my tube and I suddenly realized that I couldn't see Light anywhere." Dark stated. "The waves were going really good, and it's like..." Dark frowned. "I can't really explain it. I just suddenly had this really strong feeling that Light was in trouble. So I jumped off my tube and dove under the water. I found him floating eerily towards the bottom and all I could think was 'holy [insert swearword of your choice here]'. I dragged him to the surface and freaking screamed for help."

"Have I told you how much I love you for saving my ass?" Light asked.

"No, but you haven't tormented me since, so I take that as a thank you."

"I have to get even with you at some point."

Dark laughed. "Good luck."

"I'm not sure whether or not it's possible for someone to get even with someone who saved their life." Itachi stated.

"Nope." Neji agreed. "Definitely not."

"Also, don't forget to hope that nobody sacrifices their life for you." Light stated. "If someone does that, it's impossible to get even."

"Because they're dead, right?" Sora asked.

Light shrugged. "Well yeah that's one thing. But I suppose giving your life is the ultimate sacrifice."

"No, like you can have your life back afterwards." Dark said sarcastically.

Light smirked and rolled his eyes.

A woman poked her head in the room at that moment.

"Oh, hello there." She said with a warm smile.

"Hi." The band said at different times.

The woman then turned to Dark, Light and Rukia in turn. "I'm about to get dinner started." She announced.

The three kids sighed and stood up as the woman left the room.

"Byakuya! I'm going to get dinner started!" She called.

"Okay!" Byakuya's voice called faintly from upstairs.

"Mom." Dark said before he walked out. "She insists that all of us need to know how to cook before we leave to live on our own."

Neji laughed. "Good call." He stood up. "I'll help too."

"Whaaaaat?" Light looked at Neji like he was insane.

Neji shrugged and followed Dark out of the room. Light looked back at the group, his face just screaming 'what the hell?'as he pointed out the living room door with his thumb.

The band shrugged innocently.

Light scoffed and shook his head before walking out of the room.

Mrs. Kuchiki was clearly surprised when Neji offered to help as well.

"I just don't want to sit around and be useless when you're giving us a place to stay for a few days." Neji said simply. So that was half of the truth. The other half of the reason was simply that...well...he wanted to help. He just liked cooking too much.

"Go help Rukia with the salad then." She told him.

Neji bit the tip of his tongue irritably. So she doubted him. Well, that wasn't so shocking. Neji was sure that most rock stars couldn't cook at all. They ordered pizza or ate fast food, or had their own personal chef. But Neji would never stoop that low. He could cook, and he would happily prove it.

He took his place beside Rukia who immediately seemed fan girlishly uncomfortable. She was shredding the lettuce.

"What should I do?" Neji asked her, knotting his hair into a tight ponytail at the back of his head to stop any loose hairs from falling in the food before washing his hands.

"Uh..." She stuttered. Neji could almost hear her frantic thoughts. "C-Carrots." She said finally.

"Do you peel them too?"

"Ah...Y-Yeah..." She nodded.

Neji nodded and grabbed the bag of carrots. He pulled several of them out and proceeded to wash them in the sink. He didn't want to look like he was showing off, but at the same time, he didn't want to ask too many questions, as if he was incompetent. He just wanted them to know that he could cook, and break the stereotype that famous people couldn't cook.

When he was done he looked around for the peeler. Rukia pushed it towards him.

"Thanks." Neji picked up the peeler. "Oh, do I peel it over the sink, or the garbage can?"

"Peel it over the sink, you clean it up afterwards." Mrs. Kuchiki stated.

Neji shrugged. "I do that anyway." He peeled it over the sink, ignoring the sharp look from Mrs. Kuchiki. Why did she doubt him so?

He peeled the carrots and scooped the peels out of the sink. "Do you have a compost bin?" He asked.

"Yes, it's outside." Dark stated. "Don't worry about it right now. Just throw it in the bucket by the trash can. It's under the sink."

Neji did as he was told before washing his hands again. He selected a knife from the nearby knife block and began cutting the carrots in sideways slices to make it look interesting. He got halfway through when Rukia cut in.

"How did you do that?" She asked.

"You just cut it sideways." Neji stated. He laid his eyes on the celery she was cutting. He grabbed a stalk. "You can do it with celery too." He sliced that sideways as well.

Rukia took the stalk back and tried it Neji's way. Neji returned to the carrots. He couldn't help it. Cooking was just another art, and to be honest, he was more tempted to eat something that looked good. Even kids did it. When he was younger, he did a bit of a cooking experiment where he cut a snack plate of various fruits and vegetables that Hanabi would barely touch had he simply just cut the vegetables and put them on a plate. He cut carrots into bite sized cubes and stuck toothpicks in them. He put cheese wiz on celery, and stuck a leaf of parsley on each one. He didn't do too much with the watermelon, because Hanabi liked that stuff anyway. Even so, she ate it all up. Carrots included. And she claimed to not like carrots.

The carrots and celery were thrown into the salad, and cucumber and broccoli was pulled out to throw in the salad as well. Neji took the broccoli and cut it into smaller pieces, simply because broccoli did have a slightly bitter taste when it was raw. It could mix in easily, and it wouldn't have that distinct taste of broccoli.

As soon as everything was in the bowl, Rukia tossed it and placed it on the table before going into the fridge for the dressing. Light took one look at the salad and immediately went in for a closer look.

"That actually looks delicious." Light stated, backing away from it. "I never thought I would say that about a salad."

Dark took a look at the salad as well, but didn't say anything. Byakuya threw stir fried vegetables into a bowl before covering it and putting it on the table.

"So what did you two do?" Neji asked.

The twins smirked and looked at each other. "We cut meat."

"Ew! Don't touch me!" Rukia cried, backing away from her brothers.

"Bleeeehhhhhh!" Light made a creepy monster noise and wiggled his fingers in Rukia's direction.

"We washed our hands." Dark stated, crossing his arms.

Mrs. Kuchiki placed stir fried meat on the table. "Dinners ready!" She called.

The rest of the group filed in as Byakuya was pulling plates out of the cupboard.

"Dark and Light, you're on dish duty tonight." Mrs. Kuchiki stated as everyone began piling food on their plate.

The twins groaned in sync, again, their expressions matching perfectly.

"I'm never going to get sick of that." Sora stated, a grin on her face.

"What?" Dark asked.

"How you and Light always match expressions."

The twins frowned.

"What?" Dark looked disbelieving.

"There's no way." Light stated. "We may be twins, but there's no way we match expressions."

"Oh you'd be surprised." Mr. Kuchiki came into the room with two extra chairs. Byakuya followed with two more chairs. They set them on the floor.

"We're going to need more chairs, aren't we?" Sora asked.

"Yeah probably." Dark laughed.

The family salvaged as many chairs from around the house as they could. Somehow, when they combined desk chairs, a computer chair, and the occasional stool from the virtually unused bar downstairs, they had enough chairs for everyone to sit at the table.

"Now check this out. It's so swag." Light pulled a few latches on the table and yanked on it. Another section slid straight out from underneath the tabletop. Dark pulled the other side in the same manner. The table's length was doubled in less than ten seconds. Rukia and Byakuya quickly filled the places in with place mats, forks, knives and plates. Finally, everyone sat down and began eating.

Mrs. Kuchiki made a sound of dissatisfaction as Light adjusted the tiny ponytail on the back of his head.

"Light, you're getting a haircut." She stated.

Light's eyes widened in horror.

Dark laughed at him.

"My hair is fine mom." Light stated, looking down at his plate and starting to eat so he wouldn't have to respond if his mom spoke.

"Light, it is not. If I can reach over, grab it in my fist and pull on it, it's too long."

Tenten giggled and reached over to Neji.

"Oops, Neji your hair is too long." Tenten stated, tugging on it.

"Ow, stop it." Neji shrugged off Tenten's hand.

Naruto grabbed Itachi's hair and pulled on it. "Uh oh. Someone else needs a haircut."

Itachi grabbed Naruto's hair. "Oh yes! Another one to the list!"

Light laughed. "See? I'm not the only one!"

Temari tugged on Shikamaru's hair.

"Go away, troublesome woman." Shikamaru shook his head.

Sakura pulled on Sasuke's hair as well. Sasuke barely reacted, instead just shooting an annoyed glare at her.

Rukia decided to hell with it and grabbed Byakuya's hair.

"Byakuya needs a haircut too."

Byakuya swatted Rukia's hand away.

Light yanked on Dark's hair. "What a glorious day."

"I think the rule is: if you can tie it in a ponytail, it needs to be cut." Dark stated.

"Yes, and if all of these boys were my children, I'd make them all get a haircut." Mrs. Kuchiki stated.

Itachi tucked his ponytail into his shirt as if to protect it from harm. Azimora broke into a fit of giggles, laughing at Itachi's antics.

That night, the band conked out by six o'clock. Most of the time, they're up until at least ten o'clock, but for the first time in what felt like forever, they actually had beds. Okay, so they were cots, but it was better than beanbag chairs and couches.

A/NL Meh...terrible ending...I lost track of what I was doing and just quickly ended it before I could screw up.

Oh Japan...That's all I'm going to say for that. You'll have a nice long speech if I go any further. I just wanted to mention Japan to tell you guys that it's on my mind.

Uh okay. In another news...I have posted a list of future stories on my profile page, plus descriptions. So if you don't mind, go check those out and vote on the poll that will be open until The Fifth Element is finished. Yeah...it's for my next story that I will be posting...Some of them probably won't be as long as The Fifth Element...I may have scrapped that Harry Potter esque story simply because I've got nothing. It's just not clicking with me like The Fifth Element did.

I'm working on Virtual Reality as well. I put some more work into the latest chapter. Hopefully I'll have that up before the end of the March Break.

Perfect...is coming along slowly.

Konoha Survivor...eh...do not expect another update anytime soon...if ever XD.

Phew. Okay...so now that all of that is of my chest, I think that's all.

Sayonara :)

~SilverEyeShinobi