Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, not claim to.
Chapter Seventeen: The First Day at School:
"And I wish I could know if the directions that I take, and the choices that I make, won't end up all for nothing." Hoobastank: Crawling in the Dark
Sakura gazed out over the vast plains. The sky was a dark night, but the millions of stars and the bright full moon lit up the whole area like a gray, rainy day. She stood alone, surrounded by waist high grasses, fluttering gently in a cool breeze, dressed in a plain white martial arts gi. Her hair was undone, flowing around in the wind, occasionally wisping into her face.
She was set on top of a small hill, if it could be called that, being only a hundred feet or so higher than the rest of the area, the gentle sloping ground leveling off only a short distance away. She looked for some sign of civilization, or even something different from the rest. But all around, the horizon was simply more grass. It was empty and desolate all around. Nowhere to turn, nowhere to go, that wouldn't be the same as everywhere else.
Continuing to spin, though, something caught her eye. Looking carefully, she recognized the shapes as something familiar: people! There was a large group of people out there, and upon closer inspection, she could see they were waving to her. Not just a "Hello!" wave, but a "Come here!" wave.
Glancing around again, she saw nothing else but those people and more endless grass. Making up her mind, she turned back to the people, and set off walking. She would go and meet them, and then figure out where to go next once she got there. Suddenly, she stopped.
Not because she wanted to stop, though. Something was holding her back. Whatever it was, it was pulling at her right sleeve, and pulling back desperately. Sakura spun her head, her hair fluttering in her face before back out of the way in the wind. And there she saw it.
A deep gray wolf, just hidden underneath the grass, its mouth clenched tightly onto her sleeve, and a body that was leaning back to put more force behind its pull. The ears were pricked forward, listening ahead, its eyes focused squarely into Sakura's. The tail swished slowly, keeping the beast balanced. Pulling harder, it slid the arm deeply under the grass, out of sight of anyone but Sakura.
"Stupid wolf!" Sakura grumbled, shaking her arm. "Come on, leggo'!" The wolf simply pulled more. "Just let go!" she shouted, swinging her arm madly to get the dog loose. The dog clenched its teeth more. When a large pull from the wolf caused her to stumble, Sakura glowered at it. "Forget it!" Sakura grumbled, sounding as if she had given up.
Dropping her free hand to her waist, she freed the jacket half of the gi from the belt, letting it sway in the breeze for a moment. Pulling her left arm out of the sleeve, she snatched the jacket to keep the dog from falling away. She took a few steps out, pulling on the jacket, while sliding her other arm free. Taking a few more steps, putting several feet between herself and the wolf, Sakura continued to pull on the jacket.
It was cold standing there with only a sports bra as a top, but the seventeen year old martial artist girl knew how to just keep going. Her body shivered once, but she gained control of it. The skin of her body, perfectly smooth and clean except for the small, black kanji at the base of her ribs, began pricking up, covered in goosebumps in the wind, but it did not distract her. She knew how to focus, clamping onto determination at a level of almost insane focus.
So, escaping the wolf was priority number one. Stepping back again, she turned sideways to the wolf, still tugging at her jacket. Pausing, she took a deep breath. "Want the coat? Fine, . . . take it!"
Throwing the coat, she bolted down the side of the hill as fast as she could. The jacket snapped away from her, and there was a whimper as the wolf fell over. Sakura ignored it all, making a mad dash for the people. She had to make it.
SNAP! Sakura almost collapsed to the ground when something got caught again. Turning back immediately, she saw the wolf had already caught up to her, and had now sunk its teeth into her pant leg. "Dammit! You stupid wolf! Let GO!" she shouted, kicking her leg to try to escape. But the wolf held firm. And the more Sakura snapped her leg, the tighter the teeth drew together.
There was no hesitation this time. In an instant, the belt was untied and tossed on the ground. Taking the elastic waistband, she slipped her left leg out first, before hopping out of the right leg, and stumbling to the ground. Fortunately, she held the pants firmly the whole time, and the wolf didn't shift or release. Standing up, she brushed some dirt off her white cotton panties, before pulling hard on the pants. It was freezing outside, and leaving that behind was not on her list of smart ideas. But when the wolf refused to let go, she sighed and resigned to her fate.
Stepping back as far as she could go, she turned so she was facing directly to the crowd. Most of them were staring at her, probably since she was only in her underwear by now, but Sakura ignored that. She had to get away from the wolf first. She took a deep breath.
The cloth slid through her hands as the girl took off running. Her feet dashed over the dirt and trampled the grass. There was a yelp from the wolf again, and remembering how fast he caught up, Sakura focused her mind and released an aura of almost twenty times her size. The giant blue flame trailed the girl as she sprinted down the hill towards the people, her only chance of salvation. The only thing that stopped her was the feeling of her arm being pulled out of her socket.
Snapping to a stop, Sakura spun her head around to look back. And there it was again. That same wolf, staring up at her. The teeth were dug into her arm, faint trails of blood rolling out of its mouth. And not just any old ordinary blood. It was her blood, from the wounds in her arm where the canine fangs dug in. Her head told her that there was no pain, no wound, but she could see it. That meant it had to be real, right?
The only thing that kept the girl standing was the self-preservation instinct. If she fell, the wolf might drop its grip and come in for a more serious bite. So, she simply kept pulling, staring fearfully at the wolf. "Can't you just let me go?"
The wolf looked up, keeping its teeth firmly in her arm, tugging at it gently. Sakura looked down, and saw the dog's eyes. They weren't cold or angry, but afraid. The wolf was afraid, and the whimpers emanating from it only further accentuated that point. The dog kept tugging, trying to pull the girl back up the hill, which Sakura responded to by pulling back towards down the hill.
"Please, just let me go." Sakura muttered.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Chise ducked down at her desk, staring at Sakura. "Wha . . . what was the banging noise? Was it ghosts? Or monsters?" came the fearful voice from the girl.
Sakura shook her head. "Nah, it was just my mother, father, aunt, and uncle banging on the door to get me to wake up."
"Dang." Akemi replied, shaking her head. "It was finally starting to get good."
"I know." Hinata continued, shaking her head as well. "I wonder what happens next."
"I don't know." Sakura returned. "Every time, it always ends around there. Nowhere else."
"You mean you've had this dream before?!"
"But it's so scary!" Chise said suddenly.
The other three girls looked at her. "Scary?"
"She's running from a big wolf! How is that not scary?!"
Akemi paused, before sighing and dropping back into her desk chair. "Aw, what difference does it make? It's just a dream anyway."
"I wonder what it means." Hinata muttered.
Sakura glanced at her. "What does it mean?"
Akemi sat back up in her seat, glaring at Hinata. "It doesn't mean anything. Dreams don't mean things, they're just there to give your brain something to do while you sleep. They don't symbolize stuff or anything like that."
"Hey, a lot of people believe that dreams mean things! This could be something, you know." Hinata sat back, thinking over everything Sakura had mentioned.
"Oh, yeah right. It's just a dream, Sakura." Akemi brushed her hair behind her ear, glaring at Hinata. "Maybe you ought to spend your time analyzing the phone book or something for subliminal messaging instead of trying to get symbols and stuff out of people's heads."
"All right, everyone, settle down." The teacher said as he entered the room. Everyone scurried back to their seats, sitting down, and sliding up to their desks. "We have a new student starting today, who just transferred from China."
Sakura glanced up. She already knew who this person would be related to. She just hoped Aki was not in the same grade as her.
- - -
Sauske was going out of his mind. Class was supposed to be the one place where nothing else would have to matter. Now, it was a death zone.
They had just gotten two new transfer students. Both were from China, they were brother and sister, they had the same birthday, and one was engaged to be married to him. And the look Aki gave him when she walked past to her seat was definitely not settling. Something was on her mind, and it wasn't a nice thought.
Sauske warped back to three days ago. That was the last time he had seen Aki, when he walked away from her as she sat on the roof. Then, she threw the umbrella at him, and appeared as the lynx he had been so desperately trying to figure out. Since then, though, they hadn't seen each other. Sure, he had gone to visit Keira at Ucchan's, but not back to that Chinese restaurant. It was odd being separated from someone who you're engaged to and don't know anything about.
Now, she was sitting behind and to the left of him, which was even more unsettling. He could feel her eyes staring at him. How did he know? Because it wasn't constant. She would stare for a while, then glance away to see what the class was about, before turning back to him. It was getting more chilling every time she looked away and turned back.
Not to mention Keira was sitting behind him and to the right. She had been acting really weird since that fight with Aki, and with her out of sight just made things worse. Plus, Sauske never had much support from his other friends in class. He hadn't needed it until now, but he quickly realized that with them on the other side of the room in a clump, there was nobody around who he knew was still making sense.
Then there was Aki's brother, Chii. A very quiet, smiling person. He hadn't said anything since classes had begun, and he seemed very relaxed. The boy was a very unknown element in the entire group. So, of course, he was in the seat directly behind Sauske. And since all the desks in the room were now filled, nobody would be moving around anymore. The three people with the highest chance of inflicting bodily harm onto him were now safely hidden behind his back.
So, if you were wondering, he did fail his Japanese history quiz that day.
- - -
"Finally!" Sauske said happily, leaning against the tree and opening his lunch before placing it on the ground in front of himself. "It's lunch time."
Hojo nodded. Ganko placed her bento box on the ground, opening it up. "Well, Sauske, you seemed to be the center of attention today."
"Huh?"
"Come on, those two transfer students were staring at you almost the entire class. And Keira, too." Ganko grabbed her chopsticks up, placing the box on her lap. "Don't tell me you didn't notice?"
"I'm surprised you did." Sauske muttered, before speaking louder. "Yeah, I noticed them."
There was a pause. "Well, are you going to explain what happened or not?"
Sauske opened his mouth to say something, when, to his advantage, Mayu came up, placing her bento box on the ground next to Sauske's. "Hi, everybody. What's new?"
"Where have you been? You missed Sensei verbally shred Hojo when he got to school late." Ganko muttered.
"It wasn't my fault!" Hojo protested.
Ganko glanced over at him through the side of her glasses. "Oh, and your excuse so proved that. Who else could forget about the bus coming early to your house?"
"See, it's just like I said."
Sauske sighed. "Hojo, what she means is that that doesn't work when you live across the street from the school."
Mayu's eyes widened. "Oh man, I missed Hojo using that excuse again? Drat."
"Where were you? We just got two new Chinese transfer students today."
"Really?" Mayu asked, looking around. "I had to go to the doctor's office for a check-up. Where are they?"
Sauske, Hojo, and Ganko glanced around. "Over there!" Sauske said loudly, pointing to a small group of three people.
Mayu glanced over, and saw a girl and two boys sitting together eating. One of the boys had on a pair of thick glasses, wearing a white, robe-like shirt and the uniform pants, with long, black hair. Then, there was a girl, with dark blue hair, and a very well-fit school uniform.
"Wow, she's way hotter than Keira and . . . " Hojo was heard to say, before there was a loud CRACK! and the boy went sailing off behind the tree. The other three turned to see where he landed, a empty space on the ground, where he was lying unconscious, before turning to find the source of the stone.
Keira was glaring at the boy, flushed in the face with anger, before turning back to her own circle of friends.
Sauske sighed, leaning back. "Well, she's mad." He thought to himself.
Mayu leaned back over the group center to get a better look at the three new Chinese students. The third boy she couldn't really see yet, but after leaning over the food, suddenly, he came into view.
He was a bit shorter and a bit stockier built than Sauske, with an emphasis on a bit. They were very similar otherwise. He wore the same style uniform as almost every other male in the school, except slightly less presentable compared to the average student. The edges were rumpled and not completely tucked in, the top button on the shirt was already gone from the first day of wear, and even from this distance Mayu could see his belt was missing. He seemed quite talkative and cheerful, the only one of the three who was always smiling and laughing, and from what she could hear, his voice matched that appearance.
His face was clean, slightly rounded, and much, dare she say it, cuter than anyone else she had seen. But it wasn't the face that got to her. It was his hair, a beautiful, silver locks pulled gently back into a thin ponytail stretching fluidly down his back, with other strands dangling down along his head and along his shoulders just a little bit. Mayu watched, or stared, if you prefer, for a length of time she had no idea was. The world seemed to melt away, as she focused solely on the boy.
Sauske and Ganko, however, knew exactly how long it had been, and except for directly hitting her, nothing had worked to snap her out of her daze. Sauske glanced down. "Uh, Mayu, you do know you're drooling on my food, right?"
Apparently, that message got through, and the girl wiped her mouth, grabbed her bento box, and shoved it into Sauske's hands, saying "Take." Her eyes never wavered however.
Since his mother had prepared his lunch, Sauske did not hesitate, taking the box, thanking his friend, and began to eat before she realized what she had just done. Ganko stared at Mayu, surprised she had just done that. But Mayu paid them no mind.
After a moment, though, when the silver-haired boy turned to look in their direction, and Mayu immediately turned away, grabbing the other bento box from the ground. Snatching up a pair of chopsticks, she began to eat with a renewed fury that Ranma himself would not have been able to keep up with.
It was about halfway through the food, though, as Mayu stuffed another pile of rice into her mouth, that she suddenly irked and stopped eating, the chopsticks stuck between her teeth. She convulsed a bit, snapped the chopsticks out of her mouth, and suddenly jumped up and ran.
"Mayu, what's wrong?!" Ganko asked, as she and Sauske leaned out to see where she was running to. When the girl stepped at a nearby trashcan, throwing the lid aside, and dropping her head down into it, they had a good idea what was wrong, even without the sounds of vomiting.
The only two conscious, healthy people from their original group of four settled back to where they were before. "Well, she's never been good at keeping down your mother's cooking." Ganko said after a minute.
Sauske nodded. "Do you think she'll have to go back to the doctor?"
Ganko laughed. "Probably."
There was a long pause, as they continued to eat.
"It's kind of odd, just the two of us." Ganko said suddenly.
Sauske thought back, then nodded. "Yeah, just like all those old times."
"Yep, before Mayu moved here."
"Before we met Hojo."
"It's kind of peaceful, don't you think?"
"Yeah, it is." Sauske smiled, sighing. "I wish it could happen more often."
"Hojo's an idiot, so Keira will always be around to beat him up." Ganko glanced over at the three new students. "And it looks like Mayu has fallen head-over-heels for that kid over there in the silver hair. I have a good feeling this will happen a lot."
"Good. Because this is just . . . perfect, something a bit different from the average lunch?"
Ganko smiled; not an ordinary smile, but a content, peaceful smile. "Yeah, it is."
- - -
Sauske waved goodbye to his sister as he walked out through the halls. She waved and smiled back, before heading down to Kendo practice. The boy slung his bag over his shoulder the rest of the way, before pushing the door and walking outside.
A blur whooshed by; Sauske waved. "See you later, Keira!" he shouted, and the blur slowed a bit, turned, jumped backwards and waved before spinning around and sprinting away along a fence railing.
A voice called out. "Bye, Sauske!" The boy spun back to see Ganko, Mayu, and Hojo waving goodbye as the three separated and headed for home. He waved back, before continuing out the gate.
Sauske looked up to the sky, smiling. This was such an odd feeling. He was just going to walk home, and had nothing he needed to do or to be at or anything. Plus, he wasn't grounded. It was just a peaceful day.
Sauske stumbled a bit when he bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry." He instantly stated apologetically.
"What are . . . you doing here?!" the girl shouted.
"Huh?" Sauske looked at her face. "Aki-san? What are you doing here?"
"I asked first!"
"What?"
"What are you . . . doing here?"
Sauske scratched his head. "This is the way I always go home. I've walked this way since I started high school. Why are you going this way? Isn't the building you live at that way?"
"I'm not trying . . . to get home!" Aki shouted, before continuing to walk down the street, glancing around constantly. "I'm trying to find . . .a bus stop."
"Huh? A bus stop?" Sauske asked, following her. "What for? Are you going on a trip?"
"No." she snapped back. "I am walking Pai . . . home from school . . . She takes a bus home . . . so I'm going to meet her."
"Oh." Sauske continued walking with her for a moment, before speaking up again. "Who's Pai?"
"My sister." Aki deadpanned.
"Where's the bus stop?"
"In front of the . . . museum on Main street."
"I know where that is."
"Congratulations."
Sauske stepped up next to her. "Want me to show you the way?"
"If you did, . . . it would be January . . . before we got there." Aki huffed, and picked up the pace.
"Why are you so angry with me again?" he asked calmly. "Go right here." He added quietly, pointing down the street.
"Because . . . every time we meet, . . . you hide something! . . . And every time . . . what you hide makes me . . . so much angrier!" She glared at him, and began to walk away.
"What did I do?!" Sauske asked, completely shocked by her answer.
"What did you do?! . . . You . . ." Aki was cut off by another voice.
"HELLO, SAUSKE-KUN!" Keira shouted happily, bounding over a nearby fence, and landing softly on the ground in front of him. She was dressed in her full ninja gear, minus the kunai bracer. The sword was still there, however.
"Hi Keira." He replied, unsure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
"What's wrong, Sauske-kun? You seem awfully quiet right . . ." her eyes noticed the Chinese girl next to him. Keira scowled in her direction. "Hello, Aki." She muttered quietly, and obviously angrily.
Aki merely nodded in reply, before continuing with, "Hello, Fast-girl." And then she began walking again.
"Excuse me?" Keira muttered, before stepping in front of her, placing her hand menacingly on her sword hilt. "What did you just call me?"
"Fast-girl." Aki replied, as if not knowing what the problem was. "You are a girl . . .you run fast . . . so, you are Fast-girl."
Keira glared at her. "Oh, how very touching. I sure hope you aren't planning on trying to kill Sauske-kun again."
"I wasn't trying to kill him!" Aki shouted almost immediately, glaring down at the slightly shorter girl.
Keira didn't blink. "Oh, sorry, is maim a better word? Or mutilate?!"
Sauske was wishing for anything in the world to interrupt things. And he got just that. "SAOTOME!" The boy turned, along with the two girls. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?! WE HAVE A DUEL, REMEMBER?!"
"Naruto!" Sauske said almost joyously, having heard the argument behind him suddenly settle. "Sorry, just trying to help a friend get to where they are going."
"I don't need . . . your help!" Aki shouted behind him, but another voice rose higher.
"Well, you're going to have to beat me first! You can't just keep running away!" Naruto shouted, pointing his finger at the boy.
Aki was suddenly very interested. Taking a step to the side, she got a better look at the new boy. He had blond hair, made into some sort of spiky hairstyle, with a few whiskers trailing off from under his nose out to the side. He had a dusty orange shirt on with black pants, and his fists were clenched almost as tight as his scowl, the gloves tight on his hands.
"So, I take it you want to fight now?" Sauske asked calmly, smirking, while running his fingers through his hair.
"You bet!" Naruto shouted, grinning. "I am not afraid of you, Sauske! Not now, not EVER!"
Aki leaned over to Keira. "Who is he?" she asked quietly, never turning away.
Keira glanced at her. "Hibiki Naruto. He's been trying to prove he's a better fighter than Sauske-kun since . . . well, forever."
Aki leaned back to see the blond boy again. Naruto kept shouting. "So, what are you so afraid of Sauske?! Aren't you going to come after me?!" She smiled at the corners of her mouth.
There was a slight hum and a general happy sigh from the Chinese girl. "Hmm . . . Naruto . . . kun." She murmured to herself quietly.
Keira glanced over at Aki after hearing her words. The small curl of a smile was spreading.
"All right, Naruto. If you want me to." Sauske said with a smile. The argument behind him was over. To escape from what that might lead to would be worth pounding on Naruto again. Plus, it was good practice.
Sauske shot forward, running along while sliding off his school bag. Dropping it down to one hand, he swung the bag around, hurtling it at his opponent. Naruto grinned. "I am NOT falling for that again, Sauske!" Naruto flung his left hand to his side, flinging the bag into the wall, and immediately punched with his right hand to hit Sauske before he hit him.
But Sauske wasn't there.
Sliding along the ground, his fingers waiting to dig in, he snapped to a stop. Swinging out his leg, he clutched the edge of a sidewalk tile, and used it to spin his body. And then, Naruto was falling to the ground, his legs floating in the air.
Aki's arms dropped and her eyes widened as she saw the boy fall to the ground. Some of her enthusiasm returned when the boy immediately jumped up.
"That was cheap!" Naruto shouted, but charged anyway, swinging his arm back openly to strike. Swinging out, he punched straight for Sauske.
The other boy caught his hand by the wrist, and pulled it back behind his head. Dropping down, he landed roughly on his back, dragging Naruto down with him. Rolling, he placed his feet onto the blond boy's stomach, before shoving him up and away. Naruto tumbled away, floating in the air before crashing down loudly and rolling a few times.
Aki sighed loudly, even as Naruto rose again, obviously still ready to fight.
"That all you got, Sauske?" the spiky haired boy asked, wiping his mouth with his hand.
Keira sighed, shaking her head. "God, Naruto, do you ever get it?! The fight's over. Just let it go!"
Naruto, just noticing Keira standing there, paused a moment, blushing and smiling in her direction, before shaking his head. "No! I can't give up! I'm going to beat you, Sauske!"
Charging again, Naruto swung his arms wildly to sprint at his absolute max speed. He leapt, swinging out his foot to kick Sauske.
And Sauske didn't flinch. He waited for Naruto to close the gap. Sidestepping to his right and landing softly on his left foot, Sauske spun with a renewed power, snapping his right foot out at the exact moment Naruto passed in front of himself. And so, as the top of his foot contacted Naruto's back, the assailant was sent tumbling away much farther than before, before he dropped to the ground and rolled along the sidewalk, a good fifteen meters away. And there, he stopped.
"Well, Sauske-kun," Keira began, grabbing his bag from the ground and handing it to her friend, "I guess that takes care of everything. Ready to go?"
Sauske nodded, taking his bag. "Oh, wait. Aki." The girl looked up at him. "Do you want me to show you where that bus stop is?"
Aki shook her head. "I can find it myself. . . . You should go." She was calmer than last time she was asked, but her eyes were still glaring at him.
Sauske stared for a moment, before sighing, nodding, and then walked off with Keira.
Aki walked down the sidewalk towards the fallen form of Naruto. By the time she reached him, he began to stir again. Glancing back over her shoulder, and noticing that Sauske and Keira were looking away, Aki dropped down next to the boy. Seeing him about to shout something, she slapped her hand over his mouth.
"Mwuhut agglableh huble nooblegeh?!" Naruto mumbled though her hand.
"If you are quiet, . . . I will let you talk. . . understand?" Aki said slowly, making sure he understood. Naruto nodded slowly.
Aki gently pulled her hand back. "Ow. Did you have to slap me so hard? That hurt!" Naruto rubbed his cheek. "What do you need me to be quiet for? I ought to be going after Sauske!"
"I have an . . . offer for you." Aki said with a sly smile.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Oh god, not another one." Aki tilted her head at that. "Everybody wants to train me. Look, I'm going to beat Sauske myself. I don't need you to spend all your time trying to help me win. I fight Sauske for myself; I'm not going to break that dream because somebody wants to help. I'll win on my own."
Naruto leaned up, before standing. Aki stood with him. "Fine, but I need . . . you to fight him better."
"Excuse me?" Naruto asked, turning to face this girl. She had a dark blue hair color, a pair of bandannas tied around her arms, one on each set between her elbow and shoulder, and a dead-serious look that had him on edge quite quickly. "Why do you need me to fight better?"
Aki smiled. "I do not care if you . . . win or lose against Sauske. . . . what I want is for you to . . . make him fight a different way."
"Okay, you lost me. You want to help me lose? Now why would I want that?"
"I am not saying . . . you will lose . . . But I know . . . Sauske has hidden some power . . . which he refuses . . . to explain to me . . . I want to know what it is . . . Which is where . . . you come in."
Naruto paused. She said Sauske had some hidden power. That was not good. He was holding back on him? Nobody holds back on Hibiki Naruto! "And I do what?"
"I teach you to fight better . . . you make Sauske draw out his aura . . . That way, you know him better . . . you fight better . . . and I finally learn his aura." She leaned in closer to him, smiling. "Do we have a . . . deal?"
"Look, if you just want to know some secret about him, just go get Haku. He can spy on him for you if you really need to know something. But I'm no spy."
"I don't want you to spy on him . . . you have to fight him! . . . I will help you get strong enough to . . . force out his aura . . . You're tough, but have . . . poor technique . . . I cannot get him to fight me . . . so I need someone he does not expect . . . to be much stronger . . . Since he sees you as weak, . . . we can catch him off guard."
Sauske though he was weak?! Naruto was angry now. Sauske was going to pay for this!
"Do we have a deal?" Aki asked again, her face only a few inches away.
Naruto stared back, unmoving, before smiling. "What's the plan?"
Next Chapter: Humans are creatures of habit, and when habits change suddenly, people notice very quickly, even if they don't understand why.
Well, that's chapter seventeen. I hope all you reader's have enjoyed it. And that you didn't actually think it would be that easy for Sauske and Aki to be real friends, now did you?
Since nobody has come back again, I still have no bios left to do right now. There aren't many more characters to go over that I can really think of, but I'll save them for when they return. So, it's time for the reviews:
The Liz: Good, the explanation made sense. Hopefully, too, it helps people start to figure out what the other curses are. I'm not saying I'll tell anyone what they are if they guess, but you might just be able to figure them out before I tell you in the story.
Shinjku: Yay! Another person who likes my story! As for whether it will be with Sauske and Aki as the final couple, I don't know. I start writing, and my mind keeps changing. It all depends on how things turn out. But, if I did know, I couldn't tell you anyway. All the people asking me for the rest of the curses would probably get mad if I did.