Naruto – The Series

Disclaimer: Just to be sure, I don't own Naruto.

A/N: Well, still some parts of the Forest Trial, of course…  And thanks for the reviews!!! I appreciate them!

There Where When is Now

Chapter 11

- by TokehGecko

"Naruto…. Something is wrong…" Shigeru said as they were leaping from tree to tree, with a mumbling and very confused Sasuke on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto looked back at Shigeru. "What do you mean?"

Shigeru couldn't answer as he was suddenly hit by a Kunai in his leg and fell to the ground. Naruto stopped moving and watched Shigeru fall. 'What happened?'

As Shigeru looked up from the ground he saw who it was that hit him, standing on a tree branch not far from him. 'Sakura.. So, she used Genjutsu on me…'

Shigeru, being totally surprised, dropped his own Genjutsu skill and revealed his true identity. Sakura's eyes widened a bit and then turned to look at the blonde girl who was now Naruto, with Sasuke on his shoulder.

'Oh my God! I hit Sasuke-kun!!' Was the first thought that popped up in her head. 'They attacked us!! How could they?!' Was the second.

Ino was still out cold but Hinata was approaching them and soon landed next to Sakura. Naruto put Sasuke on the ground and landed next to Shigeru. "So… we fight them?"

Shigeru nodded. "We don't really have a choice, huh?"

Hinata nervously prepared to fight, but was still hesitant. "Na… Naruto-kun.."

Shigeru suddenly began to perform seals. A few seconds later, Sakura and Hinata had trouble just standing. Naruto looked puzzled and turned to Shigeru. "What did you do?"

Shigeru closed his eyes. "The girl, Sakura, knows Genjutsu, but seems hesitant to use it, or just doesn't have that many skills. The other girl is an opponent that will probably see through most of my tricks.. I truly dislike fighting Hyuga's.. But, to answer your question, I made it seem, to their eyes, that this entire area around them is spinning like crazy, making it impossible for them to move, since they're supposed to feel completely dizzy."

"Byakugan!!"

Shigeru sighed. "And there the Genjutsu ends for the Hyuga…" But he was surprised to see Sakura land in front of him and punch him right in the face. As he landed he frowned. 'Damn, It's clear I underestimated the pink-head, but her punch wasn't hard..'

After punching Shigeru, Sakura turned to Naruto. 'Damn, I didn't expect my Genjutsu to tire me down so quickly…'

Naruto looked straight in Sakura's eyes, and she looked back. "Uhh… Hi, Sakura-chan." He greeted, grinning.

"Naruto, you took our scrolls! Give them back!" Sakura was about to yell some more, until Sasuke appeared right beside Naruto. The effects of Sakura's attack were gone. He spoke up. "Sakura.. we'll be leaving.. If we fight here.. you will lose."

Sakura blinked in hesitation and she knew Sasuke was right. But she threw a kunai at him anyway. Her eyes widened as he didn't dodge or reflected it. To her and Naruto's surprise, the kunai went straight through him.

Sakura, after overcoming her confusion, smirked and turned to Shigeru. "Another one of your Genjutsu?" The Sasuke that was standing next to Naruto vanished. Naruto scratched his head in confusion.

Sakura suddenly ran towards Shigeru. 'I'll show him!! Now he's together with Sasuke-kun in the team!! I should be in Sasuke-kun's team!' Sakura began to form seals. Five Sakura's were now charging at him.

Shigeru frowned. 'A simple Bunshin? That's just not gonna cut it.' He grabbed five Kunai and attached explosion tags. He then threw a Kunai at each clone and at the real Sakura. The Kunai landed right in front of their feet and exploded. The real Sakura continued to charge at him, through the explosion. But Shigeru had already performed another attack. "Kyomou Kuikku Suna!"

Sakura's next step toward Shigeru was very hard to take, since her feet were now totally drowning in a pool of mud. 'Quick Sand?' Sakura thought as she was sinking further and further.

Shigeru smiled. 'People immediately believe what they see…. You just gotta love Genjutsu..'

Shigeru's eyes widened as he felt a kunai pressed to his back. It was Sakura. And then Shigeru realised the Sakura that was sinking was nothing more but an illusion created by Sakura. 'Shit… I fell in my own kinda trap.'

Sakura's kunai suddenly got hit out of her hand by another kunai. Sakura looked to her left to find out who had just thrown the kunai. 'Sasuke-kun!!'

Sasuke folded his arms as he stood on the tree branch where he was still recovering. "Sakura. Give it up. We will defeat you if you don't stop now."

Sakura noticed he didn't have his Sharingan activated. "Sasuke-kun! You…. You took our scrolls…. Why?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and shook his head. "Because… we have to advance to the next stage." His eyes widened as Hinata suddenly landed behind him and started attacking him with punches.

Sasuke did anything he could to dodge her attacks. 'If I get hit once, it's all over.' Sasuke somersaulted away and landed next to Naruto, who was still hesitating if he should fight them or not.

Shigeru rolled on his back, away from Sakura, and jumped towards Sasuke and Naruto.

"Sharingan!!" Sasuke said. "Ok, there's no Genjutsu deluding us here… we can leave.."

Sakura and Hinata looked at them. 'Damn it… They have our scrolls…. They're going to pay for this!' Sakura thought.

'Na.. Naruto-kun… At least… he didn't.. attack us..' Hinata thought.

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Morino Ibiki and Mitarashi Anko were standing face to face with three Sound Guards of Orochimaru.

"Don't tell me you're chasing after the Uchiha kid again.. Sometimes it's important to know when to stop." Ibiki said. "Well, suit yourselves, but it ends right here, I don't feel like wasting any more time." Ibiki glanced sideways at Anko. "Anko, please do not let your Curse Seal activate."

Anko nodded. "Let's begin!"

Sakon smirked and revealed that his second face, the head behind his head, was gone. Anko narrowed her eyes and checked her surroundings, Ibiki did the same. Jiroubou and Kidoumaru charged straight for them. First Kidoumaru used his webs to surround Ibiki, while Jiroubou performed a seal and put his hand on the ground. "Doton Kekkai Dorou Doumu!!"

Ibiki and Anko both quickly leaped away from the stones and earth that was about to swallow them. Ibiki and Anko snarled at the fact they were surrounded by webbings. That was, until they both performed the underground technique Doton Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu. Jiroubou and Kidoumaru jumped away from their hands under their feet.

Anko and Ibiki jumped up safely and immediately had to dodge several Kunai that were going straight for their heads. 'I see…. The head is a distance attacker, very sneaky..' Ibiki thought as he saw all three of them activate their Curse Seals. "Anko, now things will get more interesting…"

Anko smiled. "Ibiki, look, behind them."

As they both looked behind the Three Guards, the guards themselves briefly looked behind them, to see Konoha ANBU's….

"It ends here…"

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Their old teacher Iruka welcomed them as they arrived on the spot. Naruto, Sasuke and Shigeru were happy they made it.

As they entered the building they saw the other people that had also made it through. Naruto nodded towards Neji and Gaara and also saw Shino, Chouji and Kiba there. And another Stone Team was there. But that was all…. Strange..

"I see by your confused looks that you have noticed there aren't many people remaining here. It's because there were certain individuals in the Forest that have slain some Genins. We tried to stop them and we did, but a little too late.." Tsunade explained, wincing because of how she brought that. A slight pause. "Right now, Aoba shall explain to you how the Third Test will work.."

Aoba walked forward and glanced at the Genins before him. He knew all of their names, as it was his duty to know them.

'Uchiha Sasuke, Sarutobi Shigeru, Uzumaki Naruto… a promising team..' He pondered.

'Aburame Shino, Akamichi Chouji, Inuzuka Kiba…. By my guesses, they're the weakest of the teams here.. but still very strong..'

'Hyuga Neji, Rock Lee and Ten-Ten… The oldest Konoha Genins, they should be able to pass now..' Aoba thought as he watched the surviving Genins from The Second Test, that had failed it, enter the building.

'The Sand team… Gaara, Temari and Kankurou... A dangerous team, especially with Gaara and his little secret.. kind of similar to Uzumaki Naruto..'

'The Stone Team… Ageru Tsumi.. Seki Tanjou… and Dobei Heki.. Stone Genins, the best of their Village.. '

'The Genins that have failed this test…. Two teams from the Grass Village, a Team from the Mist Village, then there's our own team, consistent of Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino and Hyuga Hinata… Which means I'm missing three teams… One Stone Team and another from the Mist Village…'

"Well, let me explain the rules for the next and Final Test…"

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"Why did you let him live?"

"Indeed.. I would like to know the answer to that question as well."

Itachi briefly looked at Mokito and Dareda as they talked to him. "He is merely of use… later on. No need to know more."

Itachi turned and watched the sun sink into the sea before him. On the ground next to him, was Kisame, still unconscious. 'Orochimaru will make my little brother stronger. I will find out how two strong Sharingan users will fight each other.' He glanced sideways, going from one thought to another. 'Even the strongest Hyuga's strength will fade in comparison to that.' Itachi looked to the sun again. 'At least, I expect nothing less.'

"Itachi… what do we do now? Just continue our own missions?"

"I have a request… Kisame isn't as strong as you are.. I want you with me… you were chasing after a young strong Shinobi as well, right?"

Dareda nodded and motioned for him to continue. "Well, there are two…. In Leaf Village… The two of us can easily bring that village down…"

Dareda grinned. "I don't see why not." He turned towards his partner Sinobi. "Sinobi-kun, I'm leaving.. Till we meet again."

Sinobi Raidou nodded with a grin. 'As I expected, Dareda still holds a grudge against the Leaf Village.'

Mokito cringed as she saw the Uchiha and the Hyuga leave.. "Man… The Leaf Village is pretty screwed now…."

Sinobi nodded. "Indeed…. The two strongest Akatsuki members.."

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"Two of you have an extra match, and we already know who."

'It's completely the same as before.' Neji thought.

"The two Genins that have an extra match are…. Hyuga Neji… and Rock Lee.."

Neji and Lee both looked completely surprised.

Lee even looked a bit afraid.. 'Oh noo… I've been waiting for this for so long… But he has been training so much lately, while I… have done nothing at all… This month.. I will train like never before!! I… I have to!!'

Neji glanced at Lee, who stood next to him. 'Lee…. I'm sorry, but you're not fit to be my opponent. I will have to beat him as quick as possible.'

Aoba continued. "As for the other matches… The Left block:"

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|                                                                                                                                                                                | 

|  Uzumaki Naruto – Ageru Tsumi   Ten-Ten – Temari    Akamichi Chouji – Seki Tanjou     Kankurou – Dobei Heki  |                                                 

|                                                                                                                                                                                |              

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"And the right block:"

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|                                                                                             Uchiha Sasuke                                                           |

|   Gaara – Aburame Shino    Sarutobi Shigeru – Inuzuka Kiba   Rock Lee- Hyuga Neji                                             |

|                                                                                                                                                                                |

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'Hehe! So I'm in the first match!! A Stone Genin… I wonder how they fight?' Naruto thought as he glanced at his opponent.

'This time, I will beat her… It's definitely payback time!' Ten-Ten thought as she narrowed her eyes at Temari.

'Argh, against her again?! This will be so boring… again..' Temari thought.

'I'm hungry…' Chouji thought as his stomach echoed throughout the building.

'Hmmm… My matches seem pretty easy, until I have to fight Naruto..' Kankurou thought as he observed the Stone Genins, since he expected Chouji to lose from his Stone Genin opponent..

'How stupid…' Gaara thought.

'I have to fight Shigeru? I remember him from class, he didn't become Genin as fast as me… So I should feel ashamed if I lose…' Kiba thought.

'So…. I have to fight him….' Shino thought.

'Ack… I have to fight the wild one, ey?' Shigeru thought.

'Heh.. I have a match less…. ' Sasuke thought. 'That's too bad… But now I can learn moves from other people, by using my Sharingan..'

And then, the Genins left to train…

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"Ok, what happened to you guys in the Second Test?" Naruto asked Neji and Gaara as they were walking back toward the Forest of Death to train.

Neji smiled shortly as he glanced at Naruto for a moment. "Well, the first enemy we encountered already had the right scroll, the one we needed. We easily defeated them and passed the exam. It was really boring, actually. I don't expect our opponents to be strong."

"What about you Gaara?" Naruto asked enthusiastically.

Gaara seemed to hesitate in answering. "I killed."

Neji and Naruto frowned.

"It couldn't be helped. It was necessarily. Otherwise Kankurou or Temari would have been killed. I want to fight you two in the Exams." Gaara said. "The end more than justifies the means. I killed to save my siblings… But I also killed so I could fight you two."

"Well! Well! I had to fight numerous people to get the scroll! First we defeated three Genins, but they had the wrong scroll. We had to beat Sakura-chan's team to get the right one! It was very exciting! Sarutobi Shigeru is a real trickster!!"

"What do you mean?" Neji asked, interested in Sarutobi. "What are his specialties?"

"Genjutsu, he's real good in Genjutsu."

Neji groaned. "Genjutsu? How pathetic, I'm a Byakugan user, Genjutsu won't work on me… Jeezz, I'm utterly disappointed in the opponents in this Exam.."

"What about Uchiha Sasuke? Did he become stronger?" Gaara asked out of the blue.

"Yeah! He's pretty good, Kakashi has trained him well. But I don't know if he can match up against us.." Naruto wondered out loud. "He's got some good new moves."

Neji and Gaara both remained silent. 'My next match will be against the Uchiha… I will show everyone that a Hyuga is by far superior to an Uchiha..'

Gaara's expression almost pointed out he was sulking. Almost. 'Why do I get all the weak opponents?'

A short distance back towards the building, Sasuke and Sakura were watching Naruto, Neji and Gaara leave towards the Forest of Death.

'So, they always train together now.. Naruto has grown stronger, I could see so in the Forest. I wonder if he's stronger than me… My first match is against Rock Lee or Neji… I've never seen Neji fight.. But he's training with Naruto… So he should be strong as well…' Sasuke thought.

'Naruto..' Sakura thought, before turning towards Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun! Why did you take our scrolls?!"

Sasuke groaned, turned around and left, leaving Sakura there to stare after him.

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"So, they all died?"

"Yeah, as soon as they saw there was no escape and no way they could win, each of them swallowed a pill and died shortly after." Ibiki explained. "But it seems Orochimaru is still after the Uchiha kid."

"Indeed. I suggest we hunt Orochimaru down. Send our best Hunter-nin's, I'll accompany them."

"No. Right now, Orochimaru is not the only problem our Village has. Our biggest problem is the organization Akatsuki. They could attack us anytime and they're with many S-class Nin's. It's best if we keep our best Shinobi's right here. That includes you, Mitarashi-kun."

Anko snarled. "But Orochimaru probably already has made his move! If we don't stop him now, who knows what he'll do!"

"Orochimaru can't do anything in his current state. Besides, it's not like I didn't send no one behind him. I've sent two men.. and they're both capable of taking care of Orochimaru."

Anko looked puzzled, as did Ibiki. "Who?"

Tsunade paused. "Jiraiya and Hyuga Hiashi."

"Hyuga? It's been awhile since that guy has been given a mission." Ibiki stated.

Tsunade smiled. "Yes, he's a very difficult man. But he's one of the strongest people in the Leaf, surely he will accomplish this mission. Especially with Jiraiya. I want to solve the problems this Village has as soon as possible."

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"Ok, let's split up. During this full month, it's best if we train here. We can grow stronger fast. But it's also best if we don't train together, I want to see both your full power in the matches, not here. I'll keep my distance, since I have the Byakugan. I don't want to know your secrets. I'm leaving." Neji said, leaving the scenery.

Gaara exchanged a glance with Naruto and then walked away in a slow pace. 'I also still don't want to see both your full powers… I will grow stronger now..'

Naruto looked a bit dumbfounded as he was left alone right there. 'Well, since they are leaving, I will just stay here.' Naruto thought lazily. 'But I have to grow stronger… I want to beat Neji and Gaara…'

Naruto smiled as he released some Chakra around his body. 'Well… time to grow stronger…'

"Kyoubou Bunshin no Jutsu!!"

Naruto smiled as he was facing three clones who had red chakra whirling around them.. Naruto himself also created red chakra around him. 'Now, let's fight a bit harder…'

Gaara stood still with his hands folded and it seemed he was meditating. Until he suddenly performed a single had seal.. 'Time to test myself….'

"Suna Bakuhatsu!!" With a very slight pause. "Suna no Sekisho!! Suna no Soroi!!"

The area around him completely exploded. The gigantic dust clouds rose above the Forest of Death and could be seen in the Leaf village. Gaara had let all the sand around him in a radius of 25 meters explode. And the explosion was very hard.. Gaara had been blown away by the force and went straight through a tree. But judging from the explosion, he was much less damaged than should be expected.

'I see…. So, my defence still needs adjusting…' Gaara thought..

Neji arrived on a spot where he could not spot Naruto and Gaara with his Byakugan.

'Time to advance my Kaiten… I haven't concentrated at my defence at all. Jiraiya and Gai were all about attack power…'

"Taiyuu Bunshin no Jutsu!!"

This Bunshin no Jutsu was very similar to the Kage Bunshin, only that the Kage Bunshin bodies all have similar strength and speed, they were all even, even the Chakra within them. With the normal Bunshin, the user creates actual bodies that don't disappear with a clear hit since the opponent is fighting an illusion in this case, but the power within them is divided.. With Taiyuu Bunshin, the user creates bodies, but an attacker will note faze through it.

Neji smiled. 'Time for a battle… I will merely defend until my clones don't have any power left…'

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"Heh… It seems he's gotten a lot stronger…"

"He's even stronger than you think.." A sudden person said, as he appeared behind him.

"I see… and the other two?"

"Well, let's just say… they're exceeding me when I was as old as they were…"

"I see…. They're growing that rapidly, huh?"

"Do not worry, Kakashi… They all control their emotions well… They've gotten over their pasts… and they will control the power that they will gain.."

"Jiraiya-sama… I know why you're training them… but I still worry.. Especially when they're older… a lot can change in a person's lifetime… they might even turn their backs on us.."

"Heh, Naruto? You know the kid as well as I do.. he won't turn his back on this Village.. Although the other two also worry me… Let's just make sure that will not happen, huh?"

"Well, if I follow them in the Forest now.."

"Yes…. They will sense you easily… I've taught them that…" Jiraiya said with a grin.

"Oh well… I guess they can watch their selves."

"Yeah, no worries there.."

"He hasn't said a thing to me, since he came back.." Kakashi suddenly stated after a moment of silence.

"Well, I think it's because you chose to train Sasuke instead of him more than once.." Jiraiya said.

"Yeah…. That's my bad, huh?" Kakashi said. "Still, Sasuke needed me more than Naruto."

"It still doesn't excuse you.. But don't worry, he's fine, he's still the same as ever, even though he's a lot stronger now.." Jiraiya said. "And, you just have to see his new moves… a Sharingan won't copy them, since there's Kyuubi Chakra involved…"

Kakashi sighed. "He's going to win this Chuunin Exam, huh?"

Jiraiya closed his eyes and smiled. "Probably. His potential to grow stronger so fast puts him in front. But Gaara is quite the same. Those two are very close.. And then there's the genius.. Hyuga Neji, a true Byakugan master… He will probably exceed even the Legendary Missing-nin from the Hyuga's…"

Kakashi smiled. "Sasuke… he's grown stronger a lot as well… he might put up a good fight against the Hyuga genius…"

Jiraiya laughed. "So, you're expecting Neji to win against that bowl-head guy?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah.. but I think Neji will win against Sasuke as well…. At least, I assume as much…"

Jiraiya nodded. "This world is full of surprises, Kakashi-kun. But all in all, there will be good fights to watch… I for one wouldn't want to miss them… Unfortunately, I have to miss them. Tsunade gave me a mission, that whiny woman's gonna be the end of me one day… And I even have a partner in this mission.. You know that grouchy guy, right? Hyuga Hiashi?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Heh heh.. Good luck to you… So what's your mission about?"

"Well, we're supposed to assassinate Orochimaru… but that guy's so slippery.. it's really a pain…"

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"Oy, Itachi… I've heard there's a Chuunin Exam going on in the Leaf Village…"

"So it seems… Maybe we should watch… To see how strong the Leaf Genins are.." Itachi responded.

"Yes, I'd suggest the same thing. Besides, I expect the strongest Genin from the other villages to participate as well…"

Itachi and Dareda were moving forward in a slow pace. Behind them, was a small Village that seemed completely burned down…

"So.. how will we get those two nin's anyway, Itachi? We just grab them and run?"

"Hmm. I don't think we'll have to run…"

"Hey. You were a missing-nin from the Leaf Village, right? How did you handle those hunter-nin's the first time?" Dareda asked.

"I have the Sharingan.. I didn't need more.." A pause. "What about you?"

"I have the Byakugan." Dareda answered with a smirk.

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'Ok… If I do this…' Naruto thought as he performed several seals. 'I get fire…' He continued to perform seals. 'This.. for water… electricity... ice….'

Then he performed all elemental seals and tried to create a beam with all elements into one. But nothing happened. 'Damn… what went wrong?'

Naruto repeated the process. 'Katon.. Aisu.. Raidou... Mizu.. no Jutsu!!'

Nothing happened.

'Damn it! Why isn't it working?! What am I doing wrong?! Not enough Chakra?' Naruto thought as he increased the Chakra he was using and repeated himself.

……

Three hours later, Naruto still hadn't progressed. 'Ok, now what? I've evenly divided the amount of elements in the Chakra… the Seals are correct… I'm using a lot of Chaka… Are there more elements? Or shouldn't I be using one at all?'

Further away, Gaara had used his Suna Bakuhatsu dozens and dozens of times but still found he would be hit every time. Although he was getting hit less and less, he was getting hit nonetheless. And his Chakra was running out fast because of his Sand Barrier. 'New Technique.. I need a new Technique… '

Gaara suddenly smiled… 'Yes. This could be very handful…'

Gaara was folding his hands and closed his eyes to concentrate. For someone that was observing, it seemed nothing was happening. Suddenly, another Gaara was walking right next to a tree, and Gaara didn't use Bunshin, Kage Bunshin or Taiyuu Bunshin.

'Heh…. Through the sand, I can warp my entire body through the ground.. and leave this shell right here… after that, I move myself under the ground and appear somewhere else… My opponent will not know I have moved myself and will still be trying to attack my…. Decoy..'

Gaara smiled… 'This will be… Suna Otori..'

A far distance away, Neji was crouching, being quite exhausted. 'Wow… this is just the first day… and I'm training harder than I ever did when I'm alone… I guess I really want to beat Naruto or Gaara… I hope they're training hard as well…. But I'm a genius, and I will be stronger…'

Neji performed a seal. "Byakugan!!"

'Now what can I do to improve my Byakugan? I can already see a lot more now… ' Neji thought as he put his hand under his chin. 'I can see all… but I don't know all…. But I want to know all… how can I know all?'

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'Wow…. I didn't know you were this strong, my apprentice… Heh, I'm glad you sacrificed yourself… even though I forced you.. But now I am me again, I can use them again….'

The man chuckled out loud.

'Now…. It's time to take matters in my own hands, hehehe!!!!'

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A/N: Ok, I discussed my story with a friend of mine, and together we formed this huge master plan for later on… I hope you're going to enjoy it…. Anyway, if you have questions, or maybe even suggestions.. review! What do you think about the match-ups? I think they will be pretty exciting to write! In the next chapter, Ebisu enters the story! Together with a few fathers of a few characters, teehee…..

TBC