Mesa no own Naruto. (READ NOTES FIRST! FORGIVE ALL RANDOM CHAOS MIXED IN WITH IT. THE IMPORTANT STUFF IS BOLDED!)
Seito: Are we allowed to do this?
Seika: I don't know.
Seito: Some help you are. =sticks tongue at Seika=
Seika: =Grin=
Seito: =Sigh= Don't mind my Muse/OC. She's stupid (Seika: HEY!) and weird (Seika: YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S WEIRD!) and has plenty of sarcasm and also plotting my death. (Seika: You better believe it!!!) Don't worry she doesn't appear in the story. Okay. There are something that are needed to be said here. First. This is a joint fic between myself (Seito) and The La/=/er. The La/=/er isn't here right now. We take turns writing the chapters.
=The La/=/er pops up=
Seito: ACK! When did you get here.
La/=/er: Just now. (Seito: But... but... but...) =smile=
Seito: And you say people are going to sent you to an early grave. Anyways because this is a joint fic, chapters will take a while to come out. (Seika: What are you talking about!!! You're just lazy. You can have the chapter typed out and ready to go in under a week with some inspiration. =heads towards La/=/er to start there too. Seito tackles her before she gets there= La/=/er: Thank you. Seito: Welcome to inside my head, literally.) Writing styles maybe different (two people writing here) just bare with it please.
La/=/er: Is it normally this chaotic in your mind?
Seito: Yeah. What else? Oh, all OC characters either belong to myself or The La/=/er. Just don't mind Seika. She's my permanent muse and doesn't appear in the story (hopefully). I need to work on 'Kagau waku wa hana no shita ni te'.
La/=/er: Somehow I don't think she's going to let you do that. =points to Seika=
Seito: Eh? =Seika locked the door, boarded it up, locked it with chains, ect=
La/=/er: I think she's going to keep you locked up in here so that you can't work on 'Kagau waku wa hana no shita ni te'.
Seito: =sweat drop= Okay. My muse/OC is definably weird. This is the sequel to The La/=/er's 'His Arms', 'To Act As A Father' and 'Orochimaru's Wish'. I suggest you read those first. You don't have to but it offers much more detail on the reactions when Naruto to left. There are tidbits in the first part of the story but for the detail part you're better off reading La/=/er's stories. Well enjoy the story then.
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Without Life
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Summary: 5 years ago Naruto disappeared without a trace. The effects of his disappearance were devastating. Now a person named Shin appears in the middle of the Chuunin Exams. With him, he brings Death herself...
Prologue: Without a Trace...
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5 years ago...
Konoha was at war with Sound and Orochimaru. Soon, all the countries were dragged into this mess as well. War broke out everywhere. It was a bloody time for everyone. No one knew who to trust anymore. Blood spilled every day on the battlefield. Many tried to wash the blood off their hands, but the stench of death never left them. Enemies and friends were lost every single day, falling in battle. The death count rose and a few people began to fear.
Yet despite this, as strange as it seems, Konoha remained in somewhat peaceful times. People carried on with their business with little thought of the war. The only ones who thought of it were the shinobis. But even then an Uzumaki Naruto usually washed their fears away.
He didn't know it and the people didn't realize it, but Naruto had a positive effect on Konoha. He made things more... livelier, I guess. There was never a dull moment with his pranks and his determination to succeed was contagious to the newer genins and students. Even some of the adults, who used to scorn him, were affected by his bright attitude. He wormed his way into people's heart with his unique style and personality. True he may act like an idiot at times but it was his own way of life.
Then tragedy struck...
It was a cold night when it happened, shortly after Sasuke left Naruto at his house. That night was the last time Sasuke saw his friend. The next day Naruto didn't show up for training. Team 7 began to worry. Naruto never missed training. He would have made it there rain, snow, or shine, whether he was sick or not.
So after stopping at Iruka's house to pick up Naruto's spare key, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Iruka headed towards Naruto's house, full of worry. They were surprised to find the house empty and everything seemed untouched. The 4 took to the streets in search of their blond friend. The next day Tsunade was informed. She had everyone who was available search for Naruto. After a week of searching and with no answer found, 3 possibilities came up.
1 was that Naruto was killed.
2 was that Naruto was kidnapped
3 was that Naruto betrayed the village
Sakura protested greatly as she heard that last theory and she wasn't the only one. Everyone who knew Naruto knew that he would not abandon the town he grew up in just like that. (Jiraiya, Kakashi, Iruka, and Tsunade all thought it would have sounded more reasonable a few years ago before they met him.) Besides, there was nothing missing in Naruto's apartment that would have suggested that he did leave. All his clothes were in placed in the closets and dresser drawers. Not a single scroll, kunai and shuriken was missing. The cupboards were well stocked in food. The only things that seemed to be missing were whatever Naruto was wearing and had with him that day. Other then that, the house was untouched, as if Naruto was going home that day. Plus no ninja, who thinks ahead, would run away without rations and weapons if given the chance to pack before escaping.
The second and first theories were then looked upon. They actually made more sense then the third, although no one wanted to believe the first two. Those theories however accused Sasuke of these crimes. But the landlady saw Naruto enter his house that night and watched Sasuke leave but the next morning she didn't see nor hear the boy leave. That proved three things. One, Naruto was attacked sometime between the time he arrived home and the next morning. Two, Sasuke was innocent. Three, whoever attacked Naruto was most likely in the house when Naruto got home.
But from there it made little sense. There was no forced entry into the house and when the house was checked over, every door and window was locked. Because of what was sealed in Naruto (Kyuubi) there were various seals around the apartment that prevented ninjas from teleporting in or anything else. So how did the attacker did in? The house was neat and untouched. There were no signs of a fight. Of course they all knew that Naruto would have fought back if he was attacked. But there was always the possibility that he was knocked out just as he got in.
The only clues they had to this mystery were a piece of orange cloth from Naruto's jacket and a kunai. There was a black sticky substance on the kunai. It wasn't blood, tar, ink, or any other substance they could think of. The substance closely reminded them of blood, just the wrong color and gave off a smell like rotting bodies. No one knew where it had come from.
======
Finally everyone accepted the fact that Naruto was gone. While the people who didn't know the blond boy of energy, thought good riddance to that demon, those who knew Naruto took the fact hard. Sasuke took it the hardest.
Iruka always seemed depress. His classes were no longer filled with smiles. He trudged through out the day with a sad smile or frown. Sakura grew quiet. She missed arguing with her friend. Yes, Naruto was her friend even through all she did was hit him and ignore him. Hinata stopped smiling for long period of times, always going off alone to train. That alone damped everyone's mood around her. Neji felt an unspeakable anger. Naruto wasn't supposed to leave or disappear. Why would he disappear? Lee felt his determination waver many times and felt confused most of the time. He didn't understand any better then anyone else. Kakashi seemed the same on the outside but his students and Iruka knew better. Kakashi was blaming himself again for the supposed death/disappearance of one of his friends and students. Tsunade practically cried herself to sleep every night at the fact that she lost someone close to her again. When she wasn't doing that she was a daze trance until someone talked to her. Jiraiya disappeared again, wanting to isolate himself, but some suspected he went off to look for Naruto himself. Many thought that he didn't take the death of his student too well. Shikamaru actually spent more days lost in thought then sleeping or cloud watching. Chouji didn't eat as much for days. He didn't look any kinds of noodle type of food, especially ramen. Konohamaru was lost, he lost the first person to acknowledge who he was and not whose grandson he was. He was the one of the very few who took that sadness and used it as an excuse to grow even stronger. Even Kiba grew quiet.
Sasuke further had become enraged the first few weeks. After he came back from being sent away, he locked away his emotions and didn't even bother to show emotions like anger or annoyance. He just seemed to brush everything aside. It was like he completely detached himself from all of his emotions. No could blame him. He just lost his first friend and rival after losing his entire family. Without Naruto, everything seemed the same. With Naruto there were shades of black and white, without him there was only gray. Naruto was his light and without him everything was dark. Without Naruto, Sasuke was dead. Sasuke had no reason to truly get stronger; he had no one to challenge him to do so. He wasn't even able to push himself for the thought of revenge on his brother he yearned so long for. Without Naruto to tell him that he could do much more, that the revenge on the path he was walking on was not necessary, he lost the will to walk that path. It seemed that he couldn't reach for the path he was walking on, the path towards Orochimaru, without telling him not too. It was ironic that Sasuke only stopped when there was no one to tell him to stop.
Konoha underwent a change. The air suddenly seemed depressing. The town grew quiet, too quiet. Everything was peaceful, yet too peaceful. Colors weren't as vivid and vibrant. Everything seemed duller. The clouds weren't white, just shades of gray that hid the sun almost everyday. Birds and animals seemed to sensed this. A few animals disappeared and at one point birds even stopped singing. There was something missing and only a few people knew...
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Chapter I: A Boy Named Shin
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[[He's here.]]
You said that the last time.
[[I'm sure he is here.]]
Whatever you say, otouto. Whatever you say.
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Tsunade folded her arms, rested on the desk and then rested her head on her arms. Her tall piles of paperwork were forgotten. They could wait. Right now, she was tired. She felt older then she was. Everything had changed when Naruto disappeared. Right now the Chuunin Exams, third round was taking place. Tsunade didn't really want to watch it so she disappeared into her office with thoughts of finishing off a few papers. She didn't get very far.
She thought back to preliminaries rounds of the Chuunin exam. Once again there were too many people to advance to the final round. As she watched the preliminaries take place, Tsunade overheard a conversation take place between Gaara and his siblings. What they said was disturbingly true. She didn't want to believe those words, but she knew they were truth.
=Flashback=
Gaara watched the battle take place below. Lee verses some genin from grass country. He already knew that Lee would win. Lee was the stronger of the two from the beginning. Gaara had trouble with Lee and that was a lot to say. Lee would win against this weak genin. Yet he noticed that something seemed lacking. His siblings seemed to agree with him. "There's something wrong here," said Temari.
She too was watching the battle with great care. "Something has changed," she continued. "I agree," commented Kankurro. "And I haven't seen that loud- mouthed blond brat yet."
The three genins from Sand didn't spot Naruto as the Chuunin exam started. They knew he couldn't have become a Chuunin. This was the first exam since the war broke out. There was the thought that he was killed in battle, but Konoha didn't let their genins fight in the war.
"Yeah. Didja notice that this town is dead silent or the fact that everything here seems so duller, boring, almost dead," said Temari. Kankuro nodded. They all had noticed but they didn't know why. What had happened in this village that used to be so filled with life?
"This town has no life," Gaara suddenly said. "It's empty and dead." Temari and Kankuro nodded in agreement. Tsunade overheard the whole thing and strangely it sounded so true.
=End of Flashback=
Tsunade thought long and hard about this. It was true. Ever since Naruto disappeared everything just seemed dead. Ever since that day, she always felt tired no matter how much sleep she got. Gaara and his siblings spoke the truth. Konoha was a ghost town. Tsunade looked out the window. Everything seemed so quiet and the sky looked like it was ready to rain nearly everyday.
Tsunade peered the window, catching something strange. The dark clouds in the sky seem to disappear. They seemed whiter in fact. Even the sun seemed to shine brighter. How strange. Tsunade wasn't given much time to ponder at it, for at that moment, there was a knock on her door. Besides, it was probably just a trick of the light. "
KNOCK!!! KNOCK!!!"
"Come in," said Tsunade wondering who it was. A shinobi rushed in. "Hokage- sama," he started quickly. "There's someone outside the gates. He carries no passport, no identification, or symbol of a country, but he wishes to stay in the town. His name is Shin. What would you like me to do Hokage- sama?"
Tsunade stood up. What a wonderful excuse to leave the office. Besides, she was getting cramped in there. "Show me," she commanded, grabbing one of her coats. Everything seemed so tiring lately.
====
Tsunade looked at the visitor. 'Now why is someone visiting here? All missions have been put on halt. He can't be a genin for the Chuunin exams, it's already started, and it's rare for wanderers to just show up. The person had their back turn to her. All she saw was a black cloak with a black hood. "Hokage-sama," said one of the ninjas that were with the visitor.
The person looked back to see Tsunade. Tsunade was taken aback at the sharp sapphire eyes. She looked closer and saw tints of red mixed within them. A high tan scarf covered the bottom half of the face. Other then that, the black cloak hid the rest of the body and face. The person bowed to Tsunade. "It's a pleasure to meet the Hokage on my first visit here," said the person.
The first thing that came into Tsunade mind was the person was a boy. Second thing, which stunned her, was how familiar the voice sounded. 'It sounds so much like Naruto,' thought Tsunade. 'But it can't be.'
"I understand you want to enter into the village, but carry no passport or identification," said Tsunade. The boy smiled behind his scarf and nodded. "Yes, I do. If that's not too much trouble," he said politely.
'He can't be Naruto. Naruto would have called by obaasan already and the brat doesn't have blue eyes with red in them,' thought Tsunade sadly. Her hopes that had dashed at sound of this person's voice, died quickly. "Shin right? Come into my office. We need to talk," said Tsunade.
Shin nodded again and followed Tsunade back to her office. It didn't take them long to get back. Behind her desk once more and with Shin sitting in a chair in front of her, Tsunade began her paperwork once more, asking a few questions to Shin. "Why do you want to enter the village?"
Shin who watched quietly and patiently said, "I am searching for someone. I believe this person here in Konoha." Tsunade looked up from her paper work, slightly surprised at this. Why was this boy searching from someone? Was is for revenge or a missing family member/friend? "Who, may I ask," she said. There was a flicker of curiosity in her eyes. Shin laughed quietly noticing the flicker. "Curiosity often kills the cat, Hokage-sama. It's best I not tell you so you do not get mixed up in this mess. Besides, his true name is unknown, even to me," said Shin. "This man I'm searching for is very dangerous. He's cruel, cunning, sly, smart, and will use whatever dirty tricks he knows to get the job done. No offense or anything, but compared to a lot of your shinobis, this man makes them look like children's toys. He may be in this village or he may be not. You could say he's a killer."
Tsunade grew quiet. She thought about what Shin had just said. Was there really such a person wandering the streets of Konoha? Was this person as dangerous as Shin claimed he was? "Why are you looking for him then? You're not a shinobi hunter are? You carry no symbol of a village," asked Tsunade. She studied the boy (teenager) in front of her. There was something about this boy, but Tsunade couldn't put her finger on it. It was strange. It was like she knew who this boy was, but yet she didn't know.
Shin's sapphire and crimson eyes sparkled a bit. "You're right. I'm not a shinobi hunter. I'm not even qualified to be one I think. I'm a wanderer, looking for a man. I don't know for sure if he's here or not but give me at least a month to check around."
Tsunade eyed him. With those words, this person could be suspected to be a spy. "Take off your cloak and scarf please. It's getting annoying," she commanded. Surprisingly Shin complied. He drew down his hood and took off his cloak and then pulled down his scarf. What Tsunade saw stunned her speechless.
Underneath the black hood and tan scarf, was an all too familiar face. Spiky, unkempt yellow hair and tan skin with those whiskers that everyone hated so; Tsunade was looking at the mirror, older, image of Naruto. "Naruto," whispered Tsunade almost daring herself to say that name.
Shin looked at her confused. "No. I'm Shin," he said. 'Who was Naruto?' Tsunade sat down, that little flicker of hope dieing again. "Yes, of course. No, you just remind me of someone," she said. Shin looked at her completely confused.
Tsunade decided to change the subject there. She needed to get her mind off him. She pulled out a piece of paper, a temporary visitor's form. "So what village do you come from," she asked. She didn't meet Shin's confused eyes. "I don't know," said Shin finally answering. Tsunade frown but still didn't look up. "Okay how old are you?" Shin's answer surprised her again. "I think it's 17 but I'm not too sure about that." Tsunade noted that down on the paper. "Your birthday?" Shin thought about it. "I don't know that one for sure either, but I go by September 23rd."
Tsunade bit her lip. Okay this was getting really confusing. "Okay then. Full name." Shin paused. "Truthfully?" he asked. Tsunade looked up at him that time. "Yes," she said. Shin chewed on his lips as well. "I go by Shin, but my real name is also unknown." Tsunade's frown grew bigger. "What do you mean by all these unknowns, not sure, and I-don't-know, phrases," she asked.
Shin hesitated. "I really don't know," he said. His expression grew very serious. "You see Hokage-sama. The reason why I'm after this man is because he stole something very important to me. What he stole, Hokage-sama, was my memory." Dead silence engulfed the room quickly.
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Meanwhile
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Sasuke watched the fight down below. No signs of interest or boredom were shown. He just seemed to stare. The fight continued onward.
Down below, Kankuro and Lee were fighting. Sasuke was pretty sure Lee would win. After all Lee was the faster of the two and there's only so much that Kankuro do with his puppets against Lee's speed. This battle would be over soon. At least, that's what Sasuke thought. His battle for this round had already happened. Sasuke, of course, advanced. Now he was just waiting for the next round to occur.
Sakura watched her teammate from the audience. Once again she had failed to advance to the third part. She bit her lip. There was that look in Sasuke's eyes again. That look of a boy who was lost. She had only seen it a few times, but lately it had came too often. Sakura was worried. She had already lost Naruto, she didn't want to lose Sasuke too. She just hoped Sasuke didn't do anything stupid.
Sakura looked up. Tsunade was back from wherever she had left. Standing next to her was a person she had never seen before. The person was wearing a black cloak and high auburn scarf that covered his face. Sakura frowned. Who was the person? She saw no emblem of any village. The Hokage would not just let anyone into the village nor would she let just anyone stand by her during the Chuunin exams, where the risk of being assassinated was higher. She wondered who that person was. It must be someone important to be sitting next to Tsunade during the examination. ====
Shin looked down below. So this was a Chuunin Exam. If he remembered correctly this was the first Chuunin Exam that was being held ever since the war broke out all over the place. 'So this is how the shinobis advances to the next level. Always wondered how they determined that,' thought Shin.
Shin watched the battle with interest. This was the first time he got to watch a ninja battle up close. He had watched the war from afar. It was little too bloody for his taste. This, however, was very interesting and exciting too. Shin considered himself lucky that the Hokage was nice enough to allow him to watch with her. She seemed like a nice person.
'Eyebrows is pretty good. Fast too. That other guy is too, but not good enough. Eyebrows will win,' thought Shin. He paused. Somehow the nickname he gave the boy in green and bowl haircut seemed familiar. He didn't know why though.
Shin turned his attention back to the battle just in time to see Lee kick Kankuro across the field. All previous thoughts disappeared from his mind. Then Shin happened to look down.
=====
Sasuke looked up. There was someone sitting next to the Hokage. He frowned. It wasn't any of the Kages from the other countries. So who was it?
Then that very same person looked down, straight at him. Sasuke blinked as he locked eyes with the person. Obsidian black met sapphire blue and crimson red...
Somewhere in his near empty heart, Sasuke felt something. He wasn't sure what the feeling was but it felt good. Sasuke didn't know how to describe it. It was like he felt his heart begin to beat after so long of being frozen.
=====
Shin blinked as felt his own heart begin to beat faster. What a strange feeling. Did he know who this boy was?
Shin chewed on his lip, almost drawing blood. Who was this boy? He needed to know. "Hokage-sama," he asked quietly. Tsunade looked towards him. "Yes?" Shin pointed to someone down below. "Who is that boy?" he asked.
Tsunade looked down. A small piece of hope flared within her. "That's Uchiha Sasuke," said Tsunade quietly. She looked to see what kind of reaction Shin would have. Shin looked back down. "Uchiha Sasuke huh," he whispered to himself. There was a small smile on his face. There was something about that boy that Shin liked.
======
As predicted by Sasuke and Shin, Lee had won the fight. Kankuro put up a good fight, but in the end he was knocked unconscious. Lee trudged his way back up the stairs, looking tired and beat. Neji was there to help his friend. The boys had grown closer after Naruto disappeared.
The next round was between Gaara and Kiri, a short blue haired and pale blue-eyed shinobi from Mist Country. Kiri was the only member of his team to make it to the finals. During the preliminaries he overpowered Sakura easily using his Unsanmushou no Jutsu, which also was his main Jutsu (like Naruto and his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.)
Unlike Zabuza's Kirigakure no Jutsu, this jutsu enabled the user to completely to vanish into the mist instead of covering the user. The Byakugan and Sharingan would have a hard time following him because the body becomes exactly like the mist. From there it's just a matter of attacking. Because the body is almost like the mist itself, the user can attack from all side at once. Attacking the mist directly does nothing at all. But there is one weakness.
Gaara looked at his opponent. This fight wouldn't be as hard as Uchiha or Uzumaki, but he knew this opponent was also someone not to be taken lightly. Gaara had seen Kiri's Unsanmushou no Jutsu during the preliminaries. A very tricky and sly jutsu. Uchiha would have no problem. One of his fire attacks would burn the mist away thus hurting Kiri who was the mist itself.
Kiri studied Gaara closely. 'This boy is strong,' thought Kiri. 'But I should be able to take him down. His sand attacks won't have any effect on me.' Kiri sweated a bit. This boy was also the same boy who killed his preliminary opponent in over a span of 3 minutes. 2 minutes to let his opponent attack him, 30 seconds of taunting and the remaining 30 was to kill. Gaara's first opponent also happened to be Kiri's friend and teammate. 'I will avenge my teammate, Gaara of the Sand,' thought Kiri.
Gemna, who was again refereeing, started the match. Neither boy moved at first. They just seemed to stare each other down. Kiri decided to make the first move then. "Mizu Bunshin No Jutsu!!"
Instantly there were 10 copies of Kiri surrounding Gaara. 'So he didn't use Unsanmushou,' thought Gaara. The Bunshins attacked. Just as quick as they had appeared, the copies were gone as Gaara's sand protected him. Kiri bit his lip. So this was the absolute defense he had heard about.
'Damnit, this isn't good. I need the same speed as that Lee kid to get past though these defenses. Throwing kunais wouldn't work either. His sand just defends against anything. Even if I do use Unsanmushou against him, there's no guarantee that I can get pass his defense. I'll just be using up my Charka,' thought Kiri bitterly. Gaara just stared at him. 'He's going to Unsanmushou next,' thought Gaara. He was right.
"Unsanmushou no Jutsu!!" A mist appeared onto the field. Gaara still didn't move. 'The only way to beat this guy is to completely destroy the mist. That way it insures a world of hurt. Sabaku Kyuu and Sabaku SouSou won't work unless it can wrap around him. So I can either wait for him to burn out his Charka or just smother the mist,' thought Gaara. He grinned. He may not be as bloodthirsty as he was before, but that didn't mean he couldn't torture a few people.
Gaara started to perform that hand seals for the jutsu and forces his Charka. "Ryuusa Bakuryu!!" Lee's eyes widened as he heard that. He knew that Jutsu. From nowhere, tons of sand appeared. Gemna wisely got out of the way. Soon the field was covered in sand. Kiri was buried underneath. Gaara stood there, unharmed. He looked towards Gemna, waiting for him to declare the match was over. Gemna did that.
"Winner, Gaara," he said.
====
"That boy had to cover the field in sand, didn't he," asked Tsunade to herself. Shin just stared in wonder and slight shock. That was a fairly interesting fight. Ah, who was he kidding, that fight was wonderful, brilliant. Shin enjoyed himself.
"Hokage-sama, what would you like to have done? The sand that Gaara has filled the stadium with will take awhile to clear away," asked one of the shinobis who popped himself up to the Hokage. Tsunade thought about. She didn't really want to wait for them to clear away the sand. That could take days and they still had to find that mist shinobi who was buried underneath all that sand. "Inform everyone that the Chuunin Exams will be postponed until the sand is cleared away," said Tsunade. The shinobi disappeared to his Hokage's bidding.
"Is that all?" asked Shin. He looked at Tsunade to see her shaking her head. "No, it's just the beginning. That boy covered everything in sand. It will take awhile for them to move the sand out of here. They still have to find that mist ninja who is buried underneath that sand. Besides, why are you worrying? You'll be here for the next month," said Tsunade. Shin smiled and Tsunade grinned.
Then she stood up. "C'mon. I will personally show you the place you'll be staying for the next month, but first we have to get permission." Shin looked at her confused. "Huh?"
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Seito: Hoped everyone enjoyed. (Now I need to figure out how to get out of here.)
La/=/er: I'll see you people in the next chapter.
PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!
