As always whenever I upload a story I am quite pleased with the feedback I receive so thank you one and all to those enjoying the ride so far and I hope you all continue to do so! ^_^
As a small fun fact, if this were an anime just imagine the story with a combination of both One Piece and Part 1 Naruto OSTs playing since that's how it'd be like for example whenever the Next Episode Preview would play it'd be the OG Naruto Preview Soundtrack! XD
Okay but enough geeky fangirling, lemme just start the chapter already! XD
Unbeknownst to the group, Inari was watching the whole scenario play out from a nearby tree.
"No way…that little guy has so many forms?" Inari thought with wide eyes as he couldn't deny just how cool those forms were. Not to mention how powerful Chopper could be….
However, the young eight year old merely shook his head before scoffing.
"Just because those ninjas have some transforming freaky deer doesn't change anything. They're still nothing compared to Gato's men!" Inari glared at the backs of the group before slowly making his way home.
(Insert Naruto OST: Afternoon of Konoha)
Eventually the group made their way back to Tazuna's house after being amazed by Chopper's forms as it was now approaching Evening time.
To pass the time before dinner, the group, listened as Chopper recounted one of the adventures he experienced with his crew; their journey on the island of Skypiea.
"And so after riding up this really huge current, we entered Skypiea, the land that exists in the sky! Although there was a crazy god named Eneru who terrorized it, my captain Luffy handed that jerk his ass!" Chopper grinned broadly as he recounted the tale as the Straw Hats' adventure to Sky Island was definitely one of his favorites.
Team Seven, Tazuna and Tsunami were just awestruck as the tale.
"Amazing…to think there was an island in the sky…." Kakashi blinked, not believing he never experienced such an area during all of his years as an Anbu.
"Man that sounds so cool! To ride water all the water to the sky!" Naruto grinned, just imagining the experience. Who knows? Maybe in another universe he could actually be a Straw Hat Pirate.
"It sounds kinda scary…" Sakura muttered as she was honestly still somewhat scared of heights. Though how she could walk up a tree despite that fear was anyone's guess.
"It sounds like something out of a manga." Sasuke dismissed plainly as Naruto was quick to glare at the Uchiha.
"How about you get your head out of your ass and enjoy Chopper's story for what it is!?" Naruto got right in Sasuke's face who glared right back at him.
"How about you back off, dead last!?" Sasuke spat back as sweat dripped down Chopper's head as he imagined Zoro and Sanji in place of Sasuke and Naruto respectively.
"Good grief….these two argue just as much as Zoro and Sanji…I wonder if they're just as much of a pain…" Chopper muttered, not at all thrilled with another ZoSan argument if he could help it.
"Sorry about these two, Chopper." Kakashi nervously smiled under his mask as Chopper was quick to wave him off.
"It's fine…I'm used to it…" Chopper sighed as Tazuna could hardly wrap his head around what he was hearing.
"This captain sounds nothing such of an enigma…to think a pirate of all people would help to rebuild an ancient civilization…." Tazuna marveled as he never would have thought such a thing would be possible.
"…If Chopper here is anything to go by, I guess not all pirates should be viewed in a black and white setting…" Tsunami stated.
"I guess you're right." Tazuna agreed as Naruto and Sakura agreed, clearly supporting Chopper while Sasuke merely crossed his arms, not even bothering to comment or look remotely interested.
(Insert Naruto OST: Afternoon of Konoha)
Inari was silent as he finished his dinner as he looked as Chopper happily conversing with everyone before scoffing.
"Oh give me a break!" Inari spat, getting everyone's attention.
"What's your problem?" Chopper asked, already noticing Inari's lack of enthusiastic mood.
"Inari! Don't be rude with our new guests!" Tsunami scolded her son who merely looked at her.
"Why shouldn't I? Even if they have some reindeer that can transform, what difference will they make against Gato in his men?" Inari asked as Chopper's brow twitched.
"Hey, don't sell us short! We can show this jerk a thing or two!" Chopper angrily pointed out with Naruto agreeing whole-heartedly with him.
"That's right, you brat! Quit being so damn pessismistic!" Naruto growled, not liking this brat.
"Oh give me a break. Don't get me wrong, I don't give a damn whether you all die but don't regret things later when you all die!" Inari spat before leaving as Tsunami looked close to growling in anger.
"Inari!" Tsunami yelled, angry for her son's language as well as how rude he was being.
"I'm sorry for him, you all." Tsunami genuinely apologized as Kakashi was quick to smile back at the woman.
"It's fine….Mr. Tazuna explained the situation to us already so I understood what a shaken child is like…believe me…speaking from personal experience here…." Kakashi admitted as everyone was suddenly curious about what Kakashi actually meant by his words though Chopper could hardly believe someone could be so vengeful.
With that, Chopper went immediately after him.
"Chopper!" Sakura yelled as Sasuke shook his head.
"Just leave him." Sasuke told her.
As Chopper was about to give Inari a piece of his mind, he heard sobbing from what appeared to be from his room…
"D-daddy…." Inari sobbed onto a photograph of a man with an X-shaped scar on his chin.
Suddenly feeling reminded of his own father, Dr. Hiruluk, Chopper left feeling dejected.
As he walked down to the kitchen area, he felt a hand on his shoulder before he looked up to see it was none other than Kakashi.
"Mr. Kakashi?" Chopper asked.
"Hey, there. Listen, in the morning, be sure to come with us when we train tomorrow at Seven AM sharp." Kakashi smiled through what appeared to be his eye before he left a very confused reindeer.
"For what?" Chopper asked as Kakashi merely waved him off.
"See for yourself." Kakashi said as a puzzled Chopper merely raised an eyebrow.
"What could he be talking about?" Chopper asked.
The next morning, Chopper made his way over to where Team Seven walked as he followed after them.
"So what'd you want me to do?" Chopper asked as Kakashi smiled at him in greeting.
"I want to test your powers and try to get a good feel of your strength." Kakashi explained as Chopper raised an eyebrow.
"Okay…so…you want me to spar against you, Mister Kakashi?" Chopper asked as Kakashi merely rewarded the young reindeer with a chuckle.
"Oh no. Not against me. Although I wouldn't be against that in the near future, I want you to spare against my ninja….now…who to choose?" Kakashi mused as Naruto looked eager to train against Chopper.
"Oh me! Me! Me!" Naruto yelled as Sakura covered her ears.
"Would you shut up!?" Sakura yelled although she was inwardly praying that she wouldn't go against Chopper.
However…much to everyone's surprise….
(Insert Naruto OST: Sasuke Theme)
"I'll do it." Sasuke said with his hands shoved in his pocket.
"Huh? Seriously?" Chopper asked.
"Seriously, Sasuke!?" Naruto asked.
"Oh? What's brought this on?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'd just like to see just how strong Chopper is. There's no problem with that, right?" Sasuke asked as Sakura and Chopper looked worriedly at Sasuke, albeit for different reasons.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do, Sasuke?" Sakura asked her crush.
"Dead serious." Sasuke answered as Chopper frowned at the last Uchiha.
"I dunno, I don't wanna hurt you." Chopper honestly answered as Sasuke's cool expression didn't falter though inwardly he was seething. Who did this stuffed animal thing think he was? Thinking he was actually stronger than him?
"Haha that's just hilarious! Chopper can beat Sasuke's ass? I can believe it!" Naruto snickered as Sakura was quick to whack Naruto's noggin.
"Naruto! Don't be rude!" Sakura chided Naruto who rubbed his head with teary eyes.
"Sorry…" Naruto groaned as Sasuke kept his composure.
"Do not pity me. I want to test my skills against you." Sasuke said in a voice that let Chopper know he wouldn't be able to reason with Sasuke as he sighed in frustration while running a hoof over his hat.
"Well fine…if you say so…." Chopper conceded in defeat as the two combatants got a fair distance from each other.
(End Naruto OST: Sasuke's Theme)
"Okay…when you're ready begin!" Kakashi commanded the two as Sasuke threw a flurry of Shuriken as Chopper readied a Rumble Ball.
(Insert Naruto OST: Bad Situation)
"Rumble! Now Guard Point!" Chopper yelled as his fur and body expanded to where he resembled that of a reindeer beanbag chair.
Shockingly, as the metallic weapons touched Chopper's fur, rather than make him bust like a punctured balloon, the fur was actually able to catch and make the Shurikens stick to Chopper as he was in obviously no pain.
"Whoa! Holy crap! They just stuck to you!" Naruto pointed with raised eyebrows.
"How aren't you a pincushion!?" Sakura exclaimed although she was glad Chopper wasn't hurt as Chopper grinned.
"This form of mine is very durable!" Chopper grinned as Sasuke and Kakashi were left amazed at what they were hearing.
"How useful it'd be on the battlefield…." Kakashi rubbed his chin as Sasuke charged Chopper who immediately changed into his Heavy Point form.
Sasuke proceeded to try to attack Chopper with the same attacks he used against Kakashi but Chopper was easily able to catch his arms and legs before throwing him back as Sasuke caught himself on his feet.
"Tch!" Sasuke grunted.
"Like I said, I don't wanna hurt you!" Chopper warned Sasuke as he shook his head.
"No like I said, I wanted this!" Sasuke said as he charged at Chopper again who shifted into his Arm Point.
"Now Arm Point!" Chopper yelled as he charged right back at Sasuke before shifting his hooves back.
"Now Cloven….Roseo!" Chopper yelled as Sasuke was suddenly hit with such a force that caught him off guard where he was knocked unconscious.
(End Naruto OST: Bad Situation)
"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled as she was immediately at his side.
"Oh my god! Sasuke! I hope I didn't get carried away! I'm so sorry! Is he okay!?" Chopper immediately panicked returning to his normal form as Kakashi was immediately at his side before putting his finger on Sasuke's neck.
"…Don't worry, he's fine. You just knocked him out." Kakashi gave Chopper a smile of reassurance of Chopper sighed, relieved that he didn't do worse.
"Man that was awesome! I'd love to spar against you!" Naruto smacked Chopper's shoulder who laughed nervously.
"Haha, thanks! And yeah maybe!" Chopper grinned though inwardly as he vowed to manage his strength better.
It was around an hour later when Sasuke awoke in the futon bed he slept in at Tsunami's house.
"Ugh…where…am I?" Sasuke asked before turning his head to see Sakura watching him worriedly.
"Sakura?" Sasuke asked as she grinned.
"Sasuke! I knew you'd be up in no time!" Sakura beamed.
"What…happened…?" Sasuke asked as Sakura gulped.
"Uh….you spared against Chopper but…he knocked you out…." Sakura hesitantly answered as Sasuke's expression was stoic.
"…I….see…." Sasuke answered before getting up and making his way to the dinner table where everyone was sitting at.
"Glad to see you're up." Tsunami smiled as Kakashi nodded also smiling.
"Yeah." Sasuke answered as he sat down.
"Hehe, and here I thought you'd be out longer, bastard!" Naruto snorted, ignoring Sakura's protests of anger.
"Sasuke, you're up! Are you okay?" Chopper asked in concern, ready to rush to Sasuke's side who raised a hand in response.
"I'm fine." Sasuke answered, hoping Chopper would take the hint he was in no real mood to deal with him.
"…Okay…." Chopper gulped, hoping Sasuke wouldn't be too mad with him. He wasn't trying to hurt Sasuke after all…
Noticing Chopper's distressed look, Naruto put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about him, he's just a person with a stick on his ass!" Naruto snorted as Chopper laughed. Naruto really was like Luffy, after all!
"Okay, thanks!" Chopper laughed, feeling a little better.
Sasuke meanwhile was anything but cheerful as he clenched his white shorts as his mind went racing a million miles a second.
"It's bad enough Naruto is catching up to me but this stuffed animal reindeer thing being stronger than me!? No...if I'm to beat HIM I can't let anybody set me back…." Sasuke thought.
Kakashi noticed Sasuke's look but said nothing.
Eventually a week had passed since Chopper had literally fallen into the lives of the Leaf Village ninja. By now they had gotten as comfortable with him as they are with Tazuna and his family. Or rather, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi were while Sasuke made it a point to not really talk to Chopper unless he absolutely needed to. After all, the fact that a tiny person like Chopper was stronger with him was enough to really get under his skin. Though hurt by this, Chopper was happy that he at least had Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi to talk to.
Chopper found Kakashi to be a very badass ninja who he would tell countless stories of his past missions and battles to which of course Chopper found very cool while Kakashi was honored that Chopper was even more interested in his life than even his own team.
Chopper and Naruto were easily best friends with similar interest and personalities so the fact that they would get along is of little shock to anybody watching while Sakura would often try to cuddle and hug Chopper whenever she could. Whether she was successful or not in her endeavors was anyone's guess since despite his cute and cuddly appearance, he didn't really like people treating him like a stuffed animal. Though she was fairly sweet to him.
Even Tazuna and his family had grown accustomed to Chopper as Chopper would spend his time helping building the bridge he was building when he wasn't hanging with Team Seven. Tsunami was like another Robin to Chopper while Tazuna was somewhat of a grandfather figure to him like Brook was. Thankfully he wasn't as big of a pervert as the skeleton was.
Despite being freaked at first with Chopper's Heavy Point, Tazuna later grew to appreciate the transformation as it was very useful in carrying heavy products.
"I must say Chopper, you've been a huge help over the last couple of days." Tazuna praised the reindeer.
"Thanks! Yeah this is stuff my shipwright Franky does!" Chopper grinned.
Over the last couple of days, Chopper and Tazuna have come to a mutual understanding as a friendship had been formed between the two.
"Uh…Tazuna? I don't think I'll be working anymore." One of the bridge builders announced much to Tazuna's disbelief.
"What? Do you know how long we've had this planned?" Tazuna asked the bridge builder in disbelief.
"Yeah…but with Gato….maybe it'd be better if we don't do this after all…" The construction worker said as Tazuna narrowed his eyes at the worker in disgust as Chopper couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"That's enough. I'll see you tomorrow. Come on Chopper." Tazuna shook his head as Chopper shrunk down to his original height before following after the bridge builder.
As the two walked through town getting supplies, Chopper noticed the complete atmosphere, or lack thereof, of the townspeople.
"This place…it's just like….Alabasta or…Drum Village…." Chopper's eyes became downcast as he recalled how those places were ruled by Crocodile and Wapol respectively.
"They need hope…they need…a hero…" Chopper thought as his mind immediately went to Luffy.
Just where was Luffy when this place needed him?
Soon Chopper and Tazuna made their way home where Tsunami made everyone dinner.
Eventually Naruto and Sasuke pulled themselves through the door where they were now in an unofficial eating contest of sorts.
"Haha been a while since our table has been so lively!" Tazuna laughed at the energy the two displayed.
"More!" Naruto and Sasuke said.
"Uh…okay…" Tsunami reluctantly obliged as she served the two another bowl.
"More!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled again after finishing their bowls.
Tsunami did just that as Naruto and Sasuke finished quickly.
"More!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled again as Chopper and Kakashi deadpanned.
"Why do I know how this is gonna end…" Chopper deadpanned as Naruto and Sasuke shot each other death glares before vomiting on the floor.
"I knew it!" Chopper face desked as Naruto and Sasuke wiped their mess as they shot glares at each other.
"I have to eat…" Sasuke growled.
"And I have to eat more than him." Naruto growled back with a smirk.
"You'll only cause yourselves to choke." Chopper sighed thinking maybe he should work on his medicine for hopeless idiots.
Inari sat in silence noticing the pleasant mood at the table before he grit his teeth in frustration.
"…Why…why do you two continue to fight?" Inari asked getting the attention of everyone at the dinner table.
"Why what? Don't you know how strong we are?" Naruto asked in annoyance over this kid's attitude as he was seriously getting sick of it.
"Who cares!? You can all be monsters but Gato's unbeatable! It's a useless endeavor so just go home! You don't know about the pain and loneliness we all have to go through every single day!" Inari yelled before he found himself pinned to the wall with a hand around his neck as he looked up at a very irate Naruto.
"Naruto!" Chopper yelled as Sasuke stood his arm over the reindeer.
"You whiny little brat! You think you're the only one who's had it bad!? There're some people in this world who're born into really shitty situations! Get over yourself and learn to appreciate what you have!" Naruto yelled.
"Appreciate what!? There's no hope!" Inari yelled as Naruto raised a hand about to punch the boy before lowering it.
"Just forget it. You're a waste of space. Just stay out of our way for the rest of this mission." Naruto coolly said before leaving, ignoring the protests of Sakura.
Inari cried before running off to his room.
"…Well…that went well…" Sakura awkwardly tried to joke before giving a meek expression at the looks she received.
"I'm sorry for all of that…It's just…that since the death of his father…he hasn't been the same…." Tazuna apologized as Chopper's heart went out even more to the young boy.
"The death of his father?" Sasuke surprisingly asked as Tazuna solemnly nodded his head.
"Not his real father who passed away before Inari was born. The one who Inari called father was an amazing man named Kaiza with a heart of gold. Inari idolized his father….those were happy times with them camping and even fishing together…" Tazuna began nostalgically.
"However…it all changed with Gato appeared….Natrually he opposed him but….he was killed…right in front of Inari…" Tazuna explained as he wiped the tears leaving his eyes as Sakura was in tears herself.
"That's…so…horrible…" Sakura sniffled.
Sasuke's expression was stoic but he genuinely felt for the young boy as Kakashi also had similar feelings of sympathy.
Chopper wiped his eyes as he immediately thought of Hiruluk's sacrifice before composing himself.
"So…when he's acting like that…he's…secretly hurting inside. Please don't think too harshly of him…" Tazuna practically pleaded as everyone acknowledged his words. Little did everyone know Naruto heard the full story from outside. The blonde went to bed without another word.
Chopper was silent before leaving the kitchen as he looked for Inari looking out at the sea.
"Hi. Mind if I sit right next to you?" Chopper suggested as Inari silently agreed.
"What do you want?" Inari asked as Chopper sighed.
"Naruto didn't mean to be so mad." Chopper said as Inari merely scoffed.
"You know, I understand whole-heartedly what you're going through." Chopper said as Inari glared at him. How can this reindeer act like he understands his pain?
"How!?" Inari practically demanded as Chopper looked down.
"My dad died too." Chopper said as Inari lost his anger.
"W-what?" Inari gasped out.
"Yeah…like here…my land was ruled by a tyrannical ruler named Wapol…..my father stood against him and he even died…." Chopper teared up.
"But…how can you be so cheerful?" Inari asked as Chopper smiled.
"Because I still have people who are with people. People who have faith in me and people I can have faith in." Chopper grinned as he thought of the Straw Hats.
"Faith?" Inari asked.
"You're lucky, Inari. You have people who love and care about you. Don't just shut them out. You don't have to be alone!" Chopper said as Inari teared up before stopping himself.
"I don't wanna cry anymore. I'm so sick of crying." Inari said before suddenly Chopper hugged him.
"It's okay to cry. Just let it!" Chopper said as Inari was silent before tears started pooling from his eyes.
"It's okay…let it all out…" Chopper said as Inari sobbed while holding Chopper like he held one of his stuffed animals.
From behind a nearby wall, Kakashi smiled before taking his leave.
The next morning was a beautiful morning in the Land of Waves as Team Seven was on their way to continue helping Tazuna with bridgework.
"Thanks for looking after Naruto for us Chopper." Kakashi said before making his leave to the mansion alongside Sasuke and Sakura.
"Yeah no problem." Chopper replied as he looked over the unconscious Naruto whose slobber was starting to run down on the pillow beneath him.
Or what should be said is nearly half of Team Seven.
Wanting to get the edge over Sasuke in their Chakra Control training Naruto had taken the liberty of devoting all of his time to his tree walking training when not eating or sleeping.
Thus overexerting himself.
However Chopper chose to look the blonde ninja as he recovered.
Chopper looked over Naruto before sighing good-naturedly.
"Always pushing yourself too hard. I swear you can be just like Luffy." Chopper smiled at Naruto before he opened his blue eyes.
"Hey you're up!" Chopper smiled as he pounced on Naruto as the blonde ninja noticed something off.
"Where's….everyone?" Naruto asked as Chopper tensed knowing that Naruto would ask that.
"Well…since you worked yourself too hard, everyone thought you should take the day off and-Was all that Chopper could get out before Naruto was able to get himself dressed and run out of the house in less than thirty seconds.
"…Recover…" Chopper deadpanned before rolling his eyes.
"Yeah he's definitely like Luffy!" Chopper sighed in frustration before making his way outside too.
"Naruto! Hey Naruto!" Chopper yelled as he made his way to Naruto as he transformed into his Walking Point.
"No Chopper! Don't even try to stop me! Those guys just up and ditched me! I'm definitely gonna give them a piece of my mind!" Naruto yelled.
Chopper sighed in exasperation before noticing what resembled a dead boar on the edge of the road.
"Hey Naruto, look at that!" Chopper said as he pointed to the dead animal.
"Whoa talk about cold cuts." Naruto muttered as Chopper had a slight epiphany.
"Naruto, let's head back home!" Chopper said as Naruto seemed to agree with that notion.
Shortly after Naruto and Chopper had left home, Inari, who seemed to feel better after talking with Chopper, was helping his mother around the house before his house was ransacked by two of Gato's men, Waraji and Joji.
Fueled with Courage by words from Naruto and Chopper, Inari tried charging them head on.
"Heh looks like the kid wants to die." Waraji smirked as Joji pulled his swords.
"Annoying little brat." Joji was ready to decapitate the small kid before….
He and Waraji were kicked by none other than…
"Naruto!" Inari yelled in recognition.
"Yo!" Naruto grinned as Joji and Waraji glared at Naruto.
"Little brat! We'll slice you up!" Waraji glared at Naruto who shrugged.
"Watch out." Was all Naruto said before Joji and Waraji were slammed into the ground hard courtesy of Chopper's fists in his Heavy Point form.
"Both of you….you saved me…again…." Inari looked down as Naruto put a hand on his head before looking to the morning sun.
"If you wanna cry, cry." Naruto said as Inari looked up.
"Naruto?" Inari asked as Chopper smiled.
"Like I said, it's okay to cry!" Chopper reminded Inari.
"Yeah but…" Inari refused to let himself cry anymore before Naruto rubbed his head.
"Also I'm sorry for snapping at you the other night. You're not a crybaby but you're strong! Now look after your mom. We have a bridge to save!" Naruto declared as Chopper transformed into his Walking Point.
"Yeah!" Chopper cheered as Naruto jumped on before leaving.
"Later Inari!" Naruto waved as he rode away on Chopper.
"Believe it!" Naruto shouted in the distance.
"Believe it!" Inari grinned broadly.
However things weren't looking up for Team Seven on the bridge as they were "reunited", for a lack of better words with Zabuza and his protégé Haku, later revealed to not be on the side of the ninja as Kakashi had thought.
As such Kakashi and Sakura were fighting against Zabuza while protecting Tazuna as Sasuke was fighting Haku.
Although thanks to his Ice Kekkai Genkai and the use of his mirrors, Sasuke was having a very tough time.
"Ugh…" Sasuke groaned in pain as his back was practically littered in needles.
"Please don't resent me. This is all for the necessity of my master's plans." Haku said as Sasuke grunted in anger. What he wouldn't do to be on the winning side of this fight.
"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted in concern for her teammate wanting to rush to his side before remembering that she wouldn't be much help.
"Heh look at that Kakashi. Your brat in there is having a hard time with Haku. His death is only a matter of time." Zabuza gloated.
However before Kakashi could say anything…
"No way!" A familiar knuckle-head's voice cut off in a cloud of smoke that appeared.
(Insert One Piece OST: Luffy's Here!)
"Well I'll be damned…" Sasuke grunted though he had a small smile on his face.
"Naruto! Chopper!" Sakura exclaimed gleefully.
"About time those two got here." Tazuna grunted, though he was relieved that more help came to his aid.
"Well, well, better late to the party than never." Kakashi smiled through his eyes.
Once the smoke cleared it revealed none other than Naruto with Chopper on his shoulder.
"The future Fifth Hokage is here!" Naruto announced with a wide smile.
"And the future doctor who will cure all diseases in the world is here too!" Chopper smiled.
(End One Piece OST: Luffy's Here!)
And there's chapter two of the rewrite of Of Tanuki and Ninja!
I'm sorry this chapter was a day late but some unexpected things came up yesterday BUT being a day late is better than just abandoning the story all together, right? XD
Oh well, hopefully this chapter was worth the one day wait! XD
Now what is next?
Obviously Team Seven+Chopper vs Haku and Zabuza! How is that gonna go down?
VERY different from the last version but still a surprise regardless! ^_^
And you can find out how that'll go down NEXT Monday, March 2nd! XD
Til the 2nd of March, take care guys! ^_^