Part 2.3: Love's Labors Lost

A heavy snow storm was settling upon the Leaf/Sand encampment now, covering the entire clearing in thick white matting. Makeshift tents seemed little more than hills as the snow piled on top of everything in inches and inches. Sakura sat with her sensei and teammates, huddled closely around a glowing fire in the middle of the tent. The wind howled outside, rippling the sides of the tent around them, distorting the shadows the fire made as the images danced upon the sides of the tent.

Sakura stared into the yellow-orange glow of the fire, her mind wandering. They had just arrived at the base of Mt. Raiden; halfway up the mountain lay Thunder Capital, containing Hidden Cloud Village, their destination. Her thoughts wondered again to Sasuke as they were so close to him now. She stared deeper into the fire, her thoughts drifting again...

"Begin," shouted Asuma while Chouji watched from the side, sneaking in snacks whenever he believed no one was watching.

Sakura and Ino charged at each other, creating seals while they were both running. "Bunshin no jutsu," they both shouted, as three illusions appeared on either side of the other, moving in perfect unison with the original. Sakura reached into her belt and pulled out three shuriken, one between each finger, and flung all three at the bunshins in front of her.

Ino's illusions disappeared in a puff of smoke, along with Ino herself, who was replaced with a log.

Sakura's eyes quickly scanned the area to find any signs of her rival. She arranged herself and her illusions in a tight, triangle formation, covering herself from all sides.

Suddenly, a kunai came out from behind a bush, straight towards her, towards the illusion behind her. Sakura smiled to herself and jumped into the air, aiming her remaining shuriken towards the bush. Ino stood up, the shuriken pierced through her, until a log replaced itself where Ino was.

Sakura stood wide-eyed as she landed and surveyed the area once again. "Shintenshin no Jutsu," came a sound behind her, and then her mind went blank.

When she came to she was hurtling herself towards a tree. She rammed into it face first, leaving a nasty welt on her forehead. Ino laughed at this, "Looks like I just made that big forehead of yours a little bigger," she said in between fits of laughter.

Sakura stood back up on her feet, she was burning with anger now, despite the wind that whipped around her, she burned as if she was on fire herself. 'I'll show you just what I'm made of you pig,' she thought to herself.

Suddenly, Sakura began to form a variety of seals, confusing Ino as she had never seen them before. She suddenly finished and took in a deep breath.

"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu," she yelled, as fire streamed forth from her mouth, erupting like a volcano.

Ino yelled in surprise and quickly moved out of the way, the flames singeing her outfit. Now it was Sakura's turn to laugh as Ino tried desperately to put out the flames around the edge of her skirt.

"Excellent Sakura," yelled her sensei Asuma, laughing out loud, "you've done pretty well with that jutsu." He got up and lit a cigarette on a singed plant nearby. "Though your capacity is still too small to use it repeatedly."

What Asuma said hit Sakura full force as she collapsed to her knees in exhaustion. Smoke was still issuing from her mouth, causing her to cough and gag as her lungs tried desperately to take in clean air.

"Still, nice job," continued Asuma, "why did you want to learn that jutsu anyway?"

Sakura's brain froze, desperate to find an excuse, but instead, she just remained silent. Ino eyed her suspiciously, while Chouji tried shoveling as much food into his mouth as possible before Ino swatted the snacks out of his hand again.

'Sasuke,' she thought, watching the flames dance in the fire. 'Its red, like his eyes,' she thought idly. Her mind drifted off into thoughts of Sasuke until a crinkling sound reverted her attention to the present.

She looked around the tent and discovered that the sound was coming from Chouji. He was eyeing the tent suspiciously, his eyes moving from left to right, his hands behind his back.

The crinkling sound was quite slow now, as Chouji was attempting to hide the sound amidst the crackling of the fire, even though the tent was quite silent. Ino raised an eyebrow at him while Asuma lit a cigarette on the fire, filling the tent with smoke as he exhaled. Ino and Chouji eyed each other suspiciously.

Suddenly, Chouji made his move, ripping the candy bar from behind his back and quickly trying to shove the entire thing into his mouth.

Ino quickly leapt into action, snatching the candy from Chouji's hand before he even had a chance to respond. She quickly threw it into the fire, and it was quickly consumed amidst the crackling wood. Chouji looked longingly into the fire as his delicious treat slowly melted before his eyes.

Chouji was standing on his feet now, yelling down at Ino with the same fury he had whenever people called him a fatass, though the term didn't apply now. "Why the HELL do you keep doing that!?"

Ino was on her feet as well now, yelling at Chouji with the same fervor. "Well, I just thought that maybe you would want to retain your new appearance. You know, you don't have to be so chubby and be the odd man out."

"I AM the odd man out," replied Chouji, his voice still thundering, "everyone in my clan is like that; I'm the only one that's skinny. If I don't eat, I won't be able to perform the family moves well. Is that what you want!?"

"Well, no," replied Ino, her tone turning very shy now as she began twirling her hair nervously, "I was just thinking that... you know, you might want to keep the way you look now for other reasons, you know?" She was blushing slightly at this, but Chouji just looked at her with a very confused expression on his face.

Sakura chuckled slightly at this; she had to admit, whenever Chouji had returned from the mission four months ago, he looked nothing like he did when he left. She never considered Chouji attractive, but without the added girth, he was quite handsome, and had been the new prize the girls chased after. Just like...him.

Suddenly, the tent flap opened, allowing the howling wind and snow outside to chill the inside of the tent, making the fire move faster. When the flap finally closed, Shikamaru was standing there covered in snow, looking very cold. He seemed to have a small, rectangular box tucked under his arm.

Asuma stood straight up and looked at Shikamaru, a concerned expression on his face. "What is it Shikamaru, is something wrong?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah," replied Shikamaru lazily, "I'm bored as hell. You'd think that since we're in the Hidden CLOUD country that there'd be some clouds to look at rather than some dark, grey mass overhead." He began shaking the snow off of him, which melted quickly as it hit the warm ground. He took the box from under his arm and brushed the snow off of it as well and held it out towards Asuma.

Asuma sighed deeply, "Why do you want to play that game again; you always win anyways?"

"I'm just trying to kill some time," replied Shikamaru, "besides; I don't have much time to play anymore. Being a Chuunin sucks, if I'm not running errands for that bossy, old woman, I'm doing some other menial chore. I just don't have the time to watch the clouds or play chess anymore."

Asuma chuckled at this, "That's part of what growing ups all about Shikamaru," he lectured, "new responsibilities and new people who depend upon you."

"Do you want to play or not?" asked Shikamaru hastily. Asuma simply shook his head 'no'. He turned to Chouji, "I don't suppose you play this game eh Chouji?"

Chouji laughed as well, "You know I don't like your old man games Shikamaru, but we'll do something when we get to the Thunder Capital. I hear the cuisines are like divine ambrosia from the heavens," he said longingly, drooling slightly while Ino looked on in disgust.

Shikamaru turned to Ino, but thought better of it and turned to Sakura, "Hey, Sakura, you're a bright girl, how's about a game or two eh?" he said with a tone of desperation in his voice.

Sakura was staring into the fire, paying little attention to Shikamaru. She finally turned and said, "Oh, Shikamaru, when did you get here?"

Shikamaru sighed heavily, allowing his head to droop past his shoulders. "Never mind." He said as he exited again, going back out into the cold.

Sakura's thoughts turned back to Sasuke; they were so close now to the Hidden Cloud that rarely did she think of anything else but Sasuke. 'I'm sure,' she thought, 'no I'm positive, if I can just talk to him, even once, I can turn him back. Surely the Leaf would welcome him back. Yes, Tsunade would understand; after all, Sasuke was the last of the Uchiha, and he was a very important part of the Leaf's history. Surely they'll let Sasuke come back, and then...'

She looked up at the roof of the tent, watching the shadows dance as she slowly fell asleep.

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Neji stared deeply into the fire as the snow storm raged around them outside. The cold weather did not matter to him as his mind was meditating over his current situation. Only half a year ago, any thought of being taught by Hiashi sickened him to the core of his being. However, things were different now, and Hiashi actually considered Neji to be the real progeny of the Hyuuga bloodline.

'I wonder what this means,' he thought, 'after all, I am a branch house member. Can I really be the prodigy of this clan? Just how much has Hiashi changed these past few months?"

Hiashi was sitting across from him on the other side of the fire, his eyes closed in deep meditation. 'I still can't trust him,' thought Neji, 'too much has happened for me to forgive him so easily, even if my father's death was not his doing.' Neji sighed deeply at the thought of his father, who had chosen death as a way of freeing himself from the Hyuuga fate.

"What's wrong," said Hiashi, his voice cold and stoic as always, but his eyes still unopened. Neji looked up at him. He was wearing Hizashi's old uniform; it was morbid seeing a man who looked identical to his father sitting across from him when he knew full well his father was long dead. He had never seen Hiashi wear a leaf forehead protector before, and seeing Hiashi like this made him feel nostalgic.

"Nothing," he replied in a voice just as cold. There was silence again between them until a nagging question made Neji speak. "How far down does our hatred for the Hidden Cloud run?"

Hiashi opened his pale eyes and stared at Neji for a few moments before answering. "Very deep," he said, "they were responsible for your father's death after all."

"I know," said Neji, his voice unwavering, although his heart panged with longing every time his father was mentioned.

There was a slight pause before Hiashi continued, "But it runs far deeper than that, on both sides."

Neji looked straight at Hiashi, intrigued by the last comment. "What do they have against us, rather than the fact that we tricked them and gave them a different body than they asked for?" asked Neji, his voice showing a hint of anger in it.

"It's not just us," replied Hiashi, not even noticing the anger in Neji's voice, "The Cloud hates all Leaf eye bloodlines." Neji raised an eyebrow at this as if to ask 'why', and Hiashi continued, "Before the fifty years war we had with them, many prominent bloodline clans existed in the Hidden Cloud, more than the Leaf I would say. When war finally broke out, these clans were the main striking force against the Leaf to counteract our own bloodlines. That combined with the Cloud's already massive military force spelled doom for us; it was near the end of the war that a plan was enacted by the Leaf to put a final stop to the Cloud's attacking forces."

Neji listened intently now; he had never heard this story told before, not even by the elders.

"All of the fighting members of the Leaf's two most prominent bloodlines, The Hyuuga and the Uchiha, were gathered together to form a single strike party. This party's job was to eliminate the Cloud's clan bloodlines. Despite the war, the clans were still divided amongst themselves and could be picked off if not accompanied by the Hidden Cloud's main forces. However, this had to be done quickly, faster than word could travel so that the Cloud would not realize its main weapons were being dealt with. My father, your grandfather, led the main strike on the bloodline villages. It was a very gruesome ordeal, to slaughter every person in these villages. However, we were very successful in our strike as no single clan could stand up to the combined forces of the Hyuuga and Uchiha. In three days time, we had eliminated 90 of all the bloodlines in the Hidden Cloud. What was left banned together in a desperate retaliatory strike. It was a horrific battle and many on both sides fell that day, but we arrived victorious, our mission complete. In ten years time, the tides of the battle turned and the Cloud wished for a cease-fire.

"So that's why they attempted to steal Hinata," said Neji.

Hiashi nodded and continued, "Even though they hated the eye bloodlines, they knew that our clan was very powerful, and deciphering the secrets of the Byakugan would reinstill a hope in the resurrection of a Cloud bloodline. However, I put a stop to that, which leads us to today." He now looked at Neji very seriously, "That is why we must stay alert on this mission, and the Cloud no doubt still harbors a vendetta against us and will probably attempt to steal our clan's secret again. Hinata will be their most likely target as you will be of no use to them, and they will not think I will be of any either. This mission was done with the utmost secrecy and only the two clans and Sarutobi knew about it, and he took the secret to his grave."

Neji looked away for a moment, as if contemplating another question, "So why are you telling me this now?"

"Because you need to understand just what our clan is risking coming here," replied Hiashi. "The Hidden Cloud will no doubt harbor deep feelings of revenge for us, and despite what out illustrious Hokage says," Neji noticed quite a bit of malice behind the last comment, "we are not safe there. So stay alert."

Neji nodded at this, realizing the importance of the mission to their clan. He stared back into the fire, his thoughts now filled with images of the upcoming exam and wondering exactly what the Hidden Cloud would try.

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Shikamaru returned to his tent, completely drenched in snow. He pulled back the flap and quickly stepped inside. His fire was dwindling down to embers now, as he was too lazy to stoke it properly, leaving the tent quite dark. He pulled the bundle out form under his arm and closed the tent flap. He shook the snow off of himself and tried to get dry next to his dieing fire.

"What are you doing here," came a voice from the back of the tent.

Shikamaru turned around suddenly and stared into the darkness. Temari of the Hidden Sand stepped forward into the dull light of the tent, the light showing only half of her face and body.

"I could ask you the same question," replied Shikamaru in an accusing tone.

"The sand encampment was getting crowded so I went to find a vacant tent. If I had known you were staying here I wouldn't have stayed," Temari replied nonchalantly.

"Well I am," said Shikamaru coolly, "so you can go now if you want."

Temari snorted indignantly and got up to leave. She stopped suddenly and looked at the bundle in Shikamaru's hand. "What's that," she asked.

"Chess set. You play?"

Temari laughed a little at this, "I'm probably the best in the village, along with the best person here."

"Really," said Shikamaru, eyeing her suspiciously, "care to back up your bark then."

Temari looked at him serenely. "Set it up," she replied.

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Raan stood outside the apartment building dressed in a much neater version of his usual attire. His black bodysuit had been replaced by a two piece black sweater and pants that clung to his body like they were a few sizes too small. He still wore his Chuunin vest and black boots, as his position required him to be on call at all times. His long ponytail had been punched up considerably and stuffed inside the back of his shirt, in a desperate attempt to look somewhat clean. He still wore the bandages from his experience yesterday as his wounds had not yet healed. As good as the Thunder medics were, Set always managed to give him quite a trouncing, and the wounds took time to heal completely. It was snowing very lightly today, enough to make the little light that shone through bounce off the snowflakes and reflect the radiance everywhere, giving the country a very brilliant shine. This was Raan's favorite weather, as it made the country almost come alive in a vibrant display of light rather than the dead and dreary look it usually had.

He was leaning against a brick wall on a street corner, having agreed to wait for Kimiko at their usual spot. He opened the gold watch attached to his vest and opened it. 'I'm early,' he thought to himself, 'first time for everything I guess.' He reached inside his front vest pocket and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. He lit the cigarette and took in a deep drag, embracing the warm feeling it gave him throughout his body. He exhaled through his nose, shoving the smoke to the ground where it hovered around his waist before disappearing into the air. He put the cigarette to his lips and allowed it to rest there as he absentmindedly inhaled and exhaled its rich fumes.

"Those things are going to kill you ya know," came a very smooth and playful voice from beside him. A pair of long, dainty fingers came into his view to pull the cigarette from his lips and flick it into the snow, causing a small hiss to emanate from it. He exhaled the last of the smoke slowly into the air through his mouth as it whipped back around him. He casually looked to his right and replied, "The same could be said about you."

Kimiko was standing next to him, looking up at him with a disapproving gaze. She looked like something from a dream that had somehow wondered into reality. She wore a dark, ocean blue dress that almost complemented her eyes perfectly. She wore a light zippered overcoat that covered her arms and went down to her waist. Her hair was allowed to flow down her back as it softly rippled with the wind passing through it. She wore very elegant, high-heeled shoes, despite the snow outside, 'She does love to keep up her appearance, despite what conditions there might be,' thought Raan. Even in such light garments she seemed unfazed by the cold, as she slowly shook her head in a critical manner.

"You know, what wouldn't kill you," she said sardonically, "dressing up once in a while. You are a respected member of the community after all," she continued as she began to attack his appearance, straightening up his coat and brushing the snow from his hair, pulling out his long ponytail in the process. Kimiko rolled her eyes at this, "I swear, I never know why from behind you want to look like more of a girl than me."

Raan merely shrugged at this. 'She's teasing me,' he thought, 'means she's in a good mood.' He smiled at her and Kimiko returned the gesture. Even though she was considerably shorter than him, it was obvious for anyone to see who the dominant one was in the relationship. She took hold of his hand and placed his arm behind her back, as they walked on towards the restaurant.

They walked on in silence, merely enjoying each others company until Raan decided to make idle conversation, "So how was your mission?" he asked.

"Oh you know," she said in a bored tone, "basic ANBU stuff, just an espionage mission this time over in the surrounding villages. The Raikage seems really paranoid about that area as of late." She turned her head up to look at him, "How about you, you do anything exciting since I've been away?"

Raan's mind froze for a moment; he didn't want her to know exactly what had happened just yesterday. 'That'll only worry her,' he thought. "Oh, nothing really," he added hastily.

Kimiko raised an eyebrow at him. "Honest, nothing out of the ordinary," Raan said quickly, "just another day in the life of your typical peacekeeper."

"Right," said Kimiko eyeing him suspiciously.

Raan knew she was not satisfied with this answer, but thankfully she dropped the subject and continued on in silence. It was another few minutes before Raan again made the mistake to break the quiet between them, "Aren't you cold," he asked.

She looked up at him, a devious smile on her face. "No," she said, "I mean after all, I've got you," she said, as she quickly lifted up his shirt and stuck an icy hand on his back.

The reaction was instant as Raan recoiled his back from the cold, laughing out loud, "Don't do that," he said jokingly. He looked down at her, expecting to see the same playful grin on her face but instead only saw a look of horror. 'Oh no,' he thought.

Kimiko quickly lifted up what shirt she could that was not under the vest to find the bandages, cuts, and abrasions Raan had done his best to hide earlier in the day.

Raan looked away nervously. 'She must not have seen the extent of the damage in the hospital,' he thought, 'I was pretty well covered.'

She looked up at him, her face full of concern, "What happened to you?" she asked, her voice quaking.

Raan ran through his brain quickly for an answer, but when he could not come up with anything plausible, stuck with the same story he had told the nurse earlier on. "I fell," he replied, "...from a window," he added far too quickly.

Kimiko looked visibly angry now, "You 'fell'? Yeah right Raan, what really happened to you?" she asked impatiently. Her eyes, which normally felt very comforting to look at, were staring daggers into him.

"That is what happened," he replied, rubbing his neck nervously.

"Any idiot can tell when you're lieing Raan," Kimiko said, her patience wearing thing, "you never were any good at it."

Raan quickly removed his hand from his neck, and laid it back down to his side. He refused to look at Kimiko, her gaze piercing him down to his soul. He wanted to tell her about Set and Julius, about how the Raikage had chosen him to play keeper to the malicious bastards. He wanted to spill his guts then and there, anything so that someone else would know, and he wouldn't have to bear the burden alone.

'But what then,' he thought, 'The Raikage would look upon my actions as treason, but what's worse, Set and Julius want to remain in secret. There's no telling what they'll do if I told someone, anyone about them. For her sake if no one else's, I have to bear this burden alone. He sighed deeply, 'I just fell,' he said.

Kimiko shook with fury. She was yelling now, loud enough so that passers by stopped and stared at them, "You know Raan, it wouldn't hurt to just open up once in a while! You're not that tough, and it doesn't hurt to depend on people! But you know what, since you're so dead set on being alone on this, fine I won't bother you!" and with that stormed off in the other direction.

Raan barely had time to realize the situation before he noticed Kimiko storming off. "WAIT!" he yelled, and he chased after her. His movements were still too stiff and his body shuddered under the pain as he collapsed, watching her move farther away from him until she was gone.

Raan buried his face in the snow, trying to dull the overwhelming emotions he was feeling. He slowly made it to his feet, and chased after her, wincing with every step. "Damn Set," he said under his breath as his legs ached under the strain of running, "Damn Julius." His legs finally gave out, and he clawed his way to a nearby alley, out of sight. He leaned up against the wall and waited for his legs to recover. The pain was overwhelming, every part of his body, every emotion he felt, hurt more than any single moment he had ever experienced.

"Oh, now that was entertaining," came a dark, laughing voice above him.

Raan looked up to see Set looking down from the roof above him. He quickly jumped from wall to wall and scaled down to land in front of Raan with a dull thud. Raan looked up at him. Raan's first reaction to ever seeing Set was that he was like no shinobi he had ever seen before. Set was quite tall for his age, around 5 feet 10 inches tall at only fourteen years old. He wore a very odd looking blood, red jumpsuit. The suit itself conformed perfectly to his body, which was quite muscular, without ever stretching, and to the look, looked almost like a suit of scaly armor rather than any shinobi suit. On his hands he wore gloves of a matching material that only left his very long fingers exposed. His boots were dark red as well, with a metallic shine in the front and on the toe of the boot. A black metal covered his shoulders, and snaked in a very thin line across his abdomen, around his sides, and finally ending in a loop on his back. It was very ornate and obviously custom made. Set's face is what scared Raan more than anything. If he had never met Set in his life, he might consider him handsome, but he knew the true demon that he was. Set's face was very chiseled and thin, showing a strong chin and cheekbones. His nose was had a slight curve to it and was turned slightly upward, giving him an air of dignity about him. His hair was streaked black and red, and came to form a 'W' in the back of his head that never moved as if it was part of his body.

He looked down at Raan, a sardonic smile plastered across his face in amusement, revealing two rows of very sharp teeth. "You never cease to amuse me swine," he added, his eyes staring a hole straight through Raan.

Even though fear was pumping through his body, Raan was far too angry to care about Set's insults. He wanted to hurt him, somehow; anything that would make him feel his pain. But inside, his mind was sending too many alerts to his body for him to act on his emotions. All he could do was scowl at Set, while he attempted to block out the overwhelming ache that was enveloping him.

"Surely, you don't blame me for your tragedy?" said Set. Raan's eyes betrayed his emotions, and Set placed his hand on his chest in mock surprise, "Ah, I'm aghast. To think you would judge me so shoddily after all we've been through together, I truly am hurt," he added with sarcastically.

Set looked beyond Raan, to the entrance to the alley. "She really is quite beautiful you know," he said, his voice with a sense of longing in it, "perhaps I could keep her company while you recuperate?"

Raan lunged at him with what little strength he had in him, only succeeding to hurt himself further. He grabbed at Set's ankle, only for Set to crush his hand with the heel of his boot. Raan almost screamed in pain but bit his tongue so hard no sound emerged from him.

Set laughed horribly at Raan's attempt to attack him. "My, aren't we feeling impudent today," said Set, still chuckling at Raan's predicament. "I'm beginning to think that you need another lesson in humility." He approached Raan and delivered a hard kick to his chest, forcing Raan to spurt up blood that landed in an arc on Set's clothes. Set observed Raan's plight nonchalantly, forcing his foot deeper into Raan's chest.

"Stop it Set," said a very cool voice from above them, "You're going to kill him if you go any farther." Julius jumped straight down from the roofs above and landed with barely a sound, only a scattering of dust marked his appearance.

Raan looked lazily over at Julius; he was a stark contrast to Set. He was dressed in a loose fitting white robe with a gold trim. His long pants went down past his ankles to over lap two large white boots under them. The whole ensemble gave him a rather skinny appearance. His face was not nearly as cut as Set's; he had a very strong chin though, but the rest of his face was without any blemish, mark, or bone protruding on it. He looked just as old as Set, even though Raan was told he was one year younger. However, he was two inches shorter than set as well, standing at 5'8 at thirteen years of age. His pale-green eyes were always half-closed, giving him a rather lazy expression. His mouth was always in a tight frown, as he was constantly emotionless. His hair was streaked white and black, neck length and cascaded down in a middle part on his head

"Why?" asked Set, still increasing the pressure on Raan, "You hate this dog just as much as I do."

"True," replied Julius, "but the Raikage has summoned us. He has a mission that must be done tonight."

Set relinquished his hold on Raan and turned to Julius, "Like the ones before?" he asked.

Julius simply nodded, eliciting a hyena laugh from Set. "Good," he said.

"I'll meet you there," said Julius, "but don't kill this one, the Raikage needs him further." Julius bounded away in the same direction he came in.

Set almost followed, but then turned around suddenly to face Raan again, "Ah yes," he said, "I almost forgot about that talk you wanted to have earlier. What did you want to talk about anyway?"

Raan forced himself to speak, even though every breath he took felt like knives were stabbing his insides. "I... don't want you to kill anyone...in the village at least...until the Chuunin exam is over."

Set glared at him maliciously, "I will do as I damn well please dog. If I feel like ripping that saucy bitch of yours head off and placing it on your doorstep I will do just that. However, since I am going to be getting an opportunity to create an all new masterpiece with this upcoming mission, I will respect your wishes. But the Chuunin exam, oh that will be a most assured work of art," he added slowly, letting each word sink into Raan.

And with those parting words, bounded off to join his brother.

A/N: Sorry this took a little longer than usual; I've got stuff that needs doing. I'll still update frequently though, at least four or five times a week as these things are usually pretty fun and therefore easy to write.