No More Dead Heroes
Chapter 13: Haze
It's war now, and yes, it's hell. Oh how the times have changed; there aren't many smiles in this hidden village anymore. People are being separated from their loved ones left and right, either by death or duty, and some are starting to lose what hope they had left. But some are still holding out for that better day, whether it's ever going to come or not.
This time when Hinata entered the Hokage's office, it was at a reasonable pace, she could still breathe, and she had at least fifteen minutes to spare. Oh, and she was being shadowed by two twelve year-olds. She had anticipated the three of them having to wait in the hallway for Tsunade to finish with Team Four, but they had been shown right in when they arrived, Team Four apparently long gone by now.
The Godaime was staring out a window when they entered, hands crossed behind her back. Her desk was overflowing with mission reports, maps, and charts. A pile of messages was piled on the top left corner, threatening to slide right onto the floor if touched. A list, the Shinobi registers, was dead center on the table, with red lines through more than a few names. Hinata flinched when one name in particular caught her eye "Yuuhi Kurenai". She had known the night she returned from the Jounin camp that her former teacher had been killed, and she couldn't exactly say she was surprised, people were always dying, but the wound was still sore. And then there was the line through Shino's name…
"Hokage-sama?" Hinata said hesitantly, flinching as Tsunade did. It worried her to see the Godaime so shaken, so jumpy. The worry only increased as the kunoichi turned around to face the Chuunin and Genins, dark circles under her eyes, which were more tired than Hinata had ever seen them before and hoped to ever see again.
"Hyuuga-san." Tsunade replied wearily, not even acknowledging the two younger shinobi standing behind Hinata. "Inuzuka Kiba has been here everyday since his return, for news." Hinata furrowed her eyebrows, why was Tsunade telling her this? The Godaime continued: "I've run out of things to tell him, but he keeps coming back. He-he wants to go out on missions, and he yells when I don't let him. He's breaking Hyuuga-san. Breaking. Like he did, just like he did." Tsunade's voice was quiet, but not quite a whisper. Hinata wasn't sure what to make of this, and she could hear Kin's whispered question to Takumi, asking him the same thing Hinata herself was wondering: who was the Godaime talking about? It could have been Neji, but, for some reason, she doubted it; she wasn't even sure she wanted to know who. "But you aren't here for that, are you?" The Godaime's lips had twisted into a bitter smile. "You're here for your mission."
Hinata nodded, and gestured for Takumi and Kin to step forward. They did, warily, the nervous looks on their faces only making the bags under their eyes more pronounced. Maybe it hadn't been her best idea to date, but she had had to know what they could do, what they could handle. So she had worked them hard after the meeting in Tsunade's office, and through the night, continuing the next day, stopping only for lunch, and then she had them back at it for the rest of the day and again through the night. She had allowed them to go home, shower, eat breakfast, pack for their mission, and say goodbye to their families at seven o'clock this morning, under strict orders to meet her by the stairs to the Hokage's office at eight thirty.
They had been on time, which had been nice, and they were each carrying a small bag, presumably packed by their mothers, which both of whom were lucky enough to still have. Both were wearing a different set of the same clothes they had been wearing yesterday, and the day before, and probably most days before that, much in the same way Hinata herself was. They each had a shuriken pouch on one leg, Takumi's on the left, Kin's on the right. They had looked, still looked, tired, but ready for anything. "Yes Hokage-sama, that is why we're here. Are we too early? Because we can come back later if you would like, there is still something I would like to test these two on." A hand over Kin's mouth stopped whatever complaint she had been about to voice in its tracks.
Tsunade sighed. "No, no. I'm sorry Hinata; this job's just getting to me is all. I've had to call off the attack on the Hidden Sound, I'm not sure if you heard?" Hinata shook her head once, curious. "I've had to split up the force I had down there, because the Jounins that were supposed to rendezvous with them and help disappeared. But I'm getting off topic again, your mission is a little different from the ones I gave the other four teams, but I'm hoping you can handle it. I need you to follow the blue line on this map here," The Godaime gestured at her desk, where a map lay on top of a pile of mission reports, a thick blue line winding back and forth across it. "The blue is a river, I need you three to go along the river until you get back to Konoha, and blow up every single bridge you pass."
"What?" Hinata asked, unable to understand what good this was going to do anyone. "Hokage-sama, if we destroy the bridges, the enemy will just find another way across the river, and our own shinobi will have to do the same." She could see it in her head, enemy shinobi wading across little streams before storming into the village, and it wasn't a pretty picture; she just couldn't see what good it would do.
"Hinata, this river isn't just some brook through a meadow. It's somewhere close to a hundred meters from the riverbanks to the bottom, where the riverbed actually is, and about thirty meters wide. They won't be able to jump across, or wade through it. And I've given all of our shinobi who have already left an alternate way across, which I will also give to you and anyone else leaving the village after you." The Sannin smiled reassuringly, before digging through a pile on her desk. Pulling out a scroll pouch, she handed it to Hinata. "There are four scrolls in there; you need only one each time you want to cross. All you have to do is open it, facing the opposite bank. Once you're all across, just burn one end of it somehow, with a match, or a jutsu, even chakra will do just fine."
"Ah, Hokage-sama, how many bridges are there on this river?" Hinata took the offered pouch, looping it easily around her belt so that it was resting against the small of her back. "And how would you like us to destroy them?"
Tsunade shrugged. "Dynamite. You will only need one stick per bridge, so you'll have no problem carrying enough as well as a few extras. And there are about fifteen bridges, why? If you move quickly you should be back in less than two weeks, assuming you don't run into any trouble."
"Trouble?" Hinata asked, glancing at the two Genins beside her, both of whom looked decidedly more nervous than they had a few moments ago. Her lips twitched and she turned back to the kunoichi, to answer her question, though, it was likely she already knew the answer, and had asked for the sake of pretenses. She shouldn't have bothered; Hinata would have been insulted if she had enough energy left for such a violent emotion. "Ah, I just want to be here when Neji-san returns is all. I worry about him, as you know Hokage-sama."
"I know." Tsunade said levelly, the smile leaving her face. "And there shouldn't be too much trouble, just that you may run into enemy shinobi that are trying to use the same bridges you're trying to destroy. It's doubtful that you'll be there are the exact same time, what you have to worry about is if they have already crossed, or if you must cross to the other side for any reason. Again, I think you can handle it Hinata, and I've needed someone for this job for a long time."
The Hyuuga sighed, biting her lip, worrying away at it. "We will leave immediately of course, Hokage-sama. And, ah, if you don't mind me asking, what sort of missions were the other teams given?" Hinata wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer, if she wanted to hear how much trust Tsunade was placing in them. It was no secret to anyone in the village that their Hokage was getting desperate, who wouldn't be if they were in a situation like hers?
"Supply detail, why?" The Sannin's voice was flat, and Hinata would have said emotionless if she didn't know that it was the overload of emotion that left the Godaime feeling so empty. She flinched as Tsunade's hand shook when it handed her the map and the scroll that would allow her to requisition the dynamite; it hurt almost more than she could bear to see such a woman breaking down.
Hinata felt as though she might cry, for a reason she couldn't see or even begin to understand. She just felt so hopeless, like the village was collapsing from the inside and there was nothing at all she could do stop its downward slide. It was an emotion she had felt before, that they had all felt before, and one that wasn't missed when it finally went away. This time though, she wasn't so sure it was going to disappear again, and it took a lot not to scream.
"No reason, sorry to have bothered you Hokage-sama. We will go now."
It was a groan that roused Neji from his uneasy sleep. Only when he had to shake his head to get the hair out of his eyes did he notice that both his forehead protector and the bandage that covered the Hyuuga Curse Seal, not to mention his hair tie, were missing. He was also left in only his black t-shirt, shorts, and gloves, the rest of his ANBU gear having been confiscated. Feeling naked without his armor, cloak or forehead protector, Neji drew his knees to his chest, glancing around the small room curiously; even after all he'd been through it wasn't his nature to be nervous.
Tucking a strand of black hair behind one ear, Neji quickly estimated the size of the cell, which was clearly what it was. He would say it was about eight yards square, probably a little less, and entirely empty except for himself and… Well, that was what had woken him up then. Shikamaru was still unconscious, lying flat out on the concrete floor. He too had been stripped off his weapons and his outer layer of clothes, leaving him in just gray shorts and a fishnet shirt. The shirt was stained with blood, as there appeared to be a diagonal slash across the Jounin's chest. Neji winced, noticing the angry red color of the skin around the cut; it had to be quite painful.
He crawled over to where Shikamaru was lying, poking the other boy in the shoulder tentatively. Getting no response, Neji considered him for a moment; noticing how he shivered, which wasn't surprising, it was so dark down here, not to mention cold and damp, that he wouldn't be surprised if it was underground. Shrugging slightly, and making a face as muscles that were stiff from lying on a cold floor, the ANBU gathered Shikamaru in his arms, pulling him off the concrete easily, telling himself it wouldn't do for both of them to be sore.
Leaning against the wall, Neji sighed, ignoring the pain that shot through his lungs when he did so. Time to take stock of what had happened, and, more importantly, how the hell they were going to get out of here. He was an ANBU after all, and it was about time he started to think like one. They had been walking across that field, about parallel to the forest, Shikamaru had heard something, he had seen it, they had both known what it was and had still decided to meet the enemy on their own turf, one might say they had walked directly into the trap. They had fought with the enemy shinobi, and had been doing fairly well, until they had been drugged, which had, understandably, shot the whole thing down.
And then, he had woken up here. Not quite the amazing success he had expected from his first mission as an ANBU, actually, not even close. He had ended up getting both himself and his teammate captured, drugged, and injured, if the cut on Shikamaru's chest was anything to judge by, not to mention how is felt like he had been kicked in the ribs by a cart horse. Hopefully the next one wouldn't be quite the failure this one was; Neji refused to admit to himself that there might not be a next one if he didn't start thinking of a way out. Wasn't he supposed to be a genius?
He glanced at the Jounin in his arms; compared to Shikamaru, he was practically Naruto-esque. But that wasn't really fair, was it? Naruto was a Jounin as well, and a damn good one. The only reason he hadn't been made an ANBU was because Tsunade liked him in the team he was in now. Not to mention that being an ANBU would give him more freedom, which was the last thing the Godaime wanted him to have. No one said it out loud, but everyone who knew Naruto also knew that, if given the chance, he would chase down Uchiha without a second thought.
Neji straightened out one of his gloves, wondering why he had been left with them. They did have a steel plate across the back of the hand, but it wasn't like he really needed to use that for a weapon. If he was going to get close enough to actually hit one of his captures, it would be with concentrated chakra, and it would hurt a hell of a lot more than if they had been backhanded with a thin slab of metal. He hated to think they knew that though, and that that was why his gloves hadn't been taken along with his armor, cloak, and mask. He shouldn't have been questioning it though, they kept him a little warmer, which was something to be thankful for at least. And then there was the warm body flush against his, which was also better than freezing to death by himself in the corner.
A breeze blew through the small cell, which was strange as his previous investigation had yielded the information that there were no windows to be found, and only the one door. Neji looked up, Byakugan already activated when he heard the first footsteps on the concrete. Approaching them, easily discernable from the gray backdrop in his bright blue clothes, (their blatant un-ninja-ness made him think immediately of Naruto and his ridiculous orange jacket), was a Rain-nin, identifiable as such from the umbrella slung over his shoulder and the forehead protector tied around his upper arm. The door had been closed behind him, thankfully cutting off the draft of cold air. Neji was ashamed to find that he just wanted to close his eyes, curl up into a ball, hide behind Shikamaru and let him take care of this. Of course, this plan had several flaws; one rather important one being that Shikamaru was still unconscious.
"Awake now Hyuuga-san?" The shinobi's tone was mocking, as was the way he twirled his irritatingly bright umbrella as he spoke. Neji tightened his grip on Shikamaru, staring defiantly at the Rain-nin. "That's a nice tattoo you have there, it's about time we caught ourselves an ANBU." Neji flinched; glad it hadn't been the Hyuuga Curse Seal he had been referring to. Though, he hadn't realized his ANBU tattoo was visible below his shirt sleeve. Oh… That would explain that then. His sleeve, the one covering the arm with the tattoo, was in tatters, sliced up the crease to the shoulder with a knife. "Just wanted to see what it looked like, and that shirt is rather tight Hyuuga-san."
"Stop calling me that." Neji growled, staring at the man straight on, his white eyes cold. The Rain-nin's lips twisted into a smirk, and he considered the ANBU for a moment. When Neji didn't look away, he gave a little half shrug, and turned his attention to Shikamaru, looking the unconscious shinobi over, pausing every now and then to glance back up at Neji, the smirk never fading even for a second.
"But it's your name, no? Must be with those pretty eyes of yours." He tilted his head to the side a bit, looking directly at the seal above Neji's eyes, the one he tried so hard to keep covered. Damn them for taking his forehead protector, there was nothing he could do to them with that. He guessed, and correctly too, that they were trying to make the Leaf-nins feel as vulnerable as possible. He hated to admit it, but it was working. "Alright Hyuuga-san, what's your other name then?"
Neji glared at him for a second, as though he was trying to bore a hole through the man's head with his gaze. It might have worked to, if he had stayed at it long enough. "Neji." The Rain-nin repeated it, thinking for a second. He furrowed his eyebrows, rolling the word over his tongue a few times, apparently considering something, hopefully something he was planning on sharing, as Neji hated being left in the dark.
At last, the other shinobi smirked, leaning against the bars that separated them. The umbrella was twirling inconsequently on his shoulder, making a nerve rattling clanking noise every time it completed a full rotation. "So that's what Orochimaru-sama has planned." Neji jerked his head slightly, trying to keep control over himself, even though all he wanted to do was lunge for the man, though there were steel bars between them that he would never be able to squeeze through, not even if his life depended on it, and an unconscious Jounin in his lap. This was not going to work; now all he would be able to think about was what it was Orochimaru was going to do. Apparently the Rain-nin had seen his frustration, or just felt like rubbing it in, because his next words were: "No, I'm not going to share the knowledge, Neji-san. Dreadfully sorry about that."
"What do you want?" Neji snarled, annoyed by the other shinobi's games. His hands were going numb from being clenched so tightly, despite the long gloves covering them. When the man leaned forward, a wicked smile on his face, Neji was suddenly all too glad for the bars that separated them, although just minutes before he had wished they would vanish so that he could tear the Rain-nin's throat out. He shivered slightly, but not from the cold that was slowly working its way under his skin and towards his heart. They were on their own here, that was for sure, Tsunade wasn't expecting them back for another three weeks at least. And then they would be given a week's leeway before people started to get worried, so it wasn't like they could count on being rescued.
"Cold are we Neji-san? Pity we couldn't have left you with your cloak, but who knows what you could have had hiding in that thing?" The smirk was back, and as infuriating as ever. And that umbrella… It was distracting enough that it was bright blue and made noise, did he have to make it glow with chakra as well? Again, they must have been trying to make them as uncomfortable as possible; the gloves had either been overlooked, or meant to make him feel even more vulnerable. If it was the second, it was damn well working; there was nothing like a pair of gloves that came to the middle of the upper arm to make a person feel delicate. "And in response to your question, who says I want anything with you? I'm just following orders Neji-san, the same way you are. Or were; I suppose."
Neji bit his lip to stop himself for refuting the Rain-nin's claim that they were similar. It was enough that he knew they weren't, it wasn't like the other shinobi really cared what he had to say, unless it was the secrets of Konoha he was spilling out of his mouth. Which was not going to happen, so there wasn't any point in him opening his mouth, who knew what he might say by accident, what they might use against him later? Only when the metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth did Neji realize just how hard he had bit down. Gasping slightly, he raised one gloved hand to his mouth, wiping the blood onto the thumb. Well, at least they weren't white then. Lifting his head again to face the other shinobi, he clenched his teeth as a few strands of hair stuck to his blood soaked lips. "I don't suppose you have a hair tie-?"
The sound of the Rain-nin's laughter grated on his nerves, making him wish he had just kept his mouth shut. The elastic that dropped to his feet made the noise a little more bearable, but not by much. Reaching around Shikamaru, Neji's fingers grasped at the tie, trying to get a hold of it. Finally feeling his numb fingers close around it, he pulled himself back up, trying to regain his balance. His hand first trying to tie his hair in its normal place, Neji sighed. That would require two hands, which he didn't currently have the use of. Making a face, he tied his hair into a traditional ponytail, looping the elastic around it tightly so that it wouldn't fall out. "What no thank you?" The Rain-nin asked, a mock look of hurt on his face, the umbrella still spinning casually on his shoulder. Neji just raised an eyebrow, his arm returning to its original position around Shikamaru. "I suppose that's too much to ask." The shinobi conceded, smirk back in place as he watched Neji's possessive hold on Shikamaru.
"It is." Neji agreed, trying to ignore the feeling of blood soaking through his glove to rest against his skin. The dampness was just adding to the overall chill in the cell, which was bitter enough in only shorts and a tee-shirt. If they were going to take his clothes, they might as well leave a blanket behind. Okay, he was being irrational now. Why would their captors want them to be warm and comfortable? While it made for happy prisoners, it didn't help their cause at all. Unconsciously, Neji pulled Shikamaru closer still, trying to steal some of the Jounin's warmth. He didn't hear the soft whimper as the other boy's air supply was cut off, which, depending on whose point of view you looked at it from, could be a good thing or a bad thing. From Shikamaru's side, it was very, very bad, because he suddenly couldn't breathe. From Neji's, it was good, because in his struggle for oxygen, Shikamaru woke up, which meant Neji didn't have to face the Rain-nin all by his lonesome.
Waking up choking is never a good way to start your day, as Shikamaru soon learned. Fortunately, as soon as the Jounin woke up, Neji loosened his arms so that they were just draped around the other boy, and in no way impeding his breathing. "Neji?" Shikamaru managed to gasp out between coughs, his entire body convulsing with each one. Neji flinched when he saw the spray of blood that came with the last cough. "Where are we?"
Neji glanced at the Rain-nin, who didn't offer anything but a shrug. "In a cell, probably underground." He said softly, wishing he had something to offer the other boy for the cut on his chest, which had to be burning painfully right about now. He'd offer one of his gloves, but it wouldn't do much good. It wasn't long enough to be tied around, and they had nothing to use to stick it in place. Unless you counted dried blood of course, but he doubted Shikamaru would appreciate that. It wasn't like he didn't have an exorbitant amount of the stuff on him now anyway.
Groaning, and putting one hand to his head, Shikamaru straightened up a bit. It was then that he noticed the pain in his chest, which quickly became almost crippling. Gasping, he leaned back, resting against Neji, once again trying to catch his breath. His only thoughts were about how damn painful this was, and how cold it was in their cell. Of course, that was probably because he was only wearing a tee-shirt and a pair of shorts. Even Neji had more than that on, though, he wasn't really sure how much good the gloves were doing him, because as far as he could tell, they were soaked in blood. Once he could breathe easily once again, he followed Neji's eyes to a Rain-nin standing on the other side of the bars.
"I see somebody is finally awake then? I'm afraid I must confess I don't know your name, unlike Neji-san here, it isn't so painfully obvious which clan you are from." The Rain-nin said, removing his umbrella from his shoulder in one swift movement, and thudding the tip down onto the concrete floor, spinning it all the while. Neji flinched, afraid that it would open and start spewing needles at them when it was knocked against the floor. When he didn't feel metal slivers slicing through his skin, he looked back at the man, a frustrated scowl on his face. The Rain-nin laughed again, his eyes never leaving Neji's face. "Are we getting jumpy Neji-san? I admit, I did not expect you to be so unaccustomed to being caged."
It was Shikamaru who responded to the other shinobi's jab at Neji and the Hyuuga family, but in an off handed way. "Hey, I thought you were talking to me. It's Nara Shikamaru by the way." He hadn't missed the way Neji's entire body had tightened at the casual mention of the Hyuuga Curse Seal. It was kind of hard to when he was this close to the other boy, and he knew the Rain-nin had to have seen it as well. But that was what he wanted apparently, to wind them up slowly, slowly enough so that they wouldn't notice they were being wound up, and then have some fun with them with they exploded. Every once and a while it was nice not to be famous, not to be known from village to village. Because every once and a while it allowed him to get the upper hand.
"Pleased to meet you Shikamaru-san. Pleased to meet you. I do hope you enjoy your stay in our… establishment." The Rain-nin had stopped laughing, but his tone was amused, like he had them exactly where he wanted them. Well, Shikamaru supposed that he did. Things might have been different if he was full up on chakra, he could have caught the man with the kage mane, and gone through trial and error until he got him to unlock the door. But with as low a level of chakra as he had now, he would be lucky if he could even stretch his shadow halfway to the man.
He sighed; they were stuck here until they had their chakra back, or until their captors decided to move them. Lazy as he was, he hated to be at the whim of another. And he couldn't exactly stare at the clouds from underground, if Neji was correct and that was indeed where they were. Even if they were above ground, there were no windows, and only the one door, as he had noticed even in his current condition. "Don't suppose you're going to tell us your name then?"
"No." That umbrella was intoxicating, with its bright blue, the color of the sky Shikamaru noted happily, and the chakra streaming off it. His head tilted to the side as he watched it spin, and his eyes started to slide closed. Until Neji noticed that the Jounin on top of him's breathing was slowing down, evening out, and he jabbed an elbow in Shikamaru's stomach. Shikamaru's head shot back up and he doubled over in pain. The Rain-nin smirked, watching the two Konoha shinobi's antics with enjoyment. "Careful now, don't want to hurt each other before I get a chance to."
"Sorry." Neji mumbled quietly to Shikamaru, ignoring the Rain-nin easily. "You were… Falling asleep again I guess, staring at his umbrella." Shivering as the cloth of his tee-shirt grated across his chest when Shikamaru turned slightly so that he could see him, Neji twisted his lips into a feeble imitation of a smile. A hand, not his, as it was bare and not bloodstained, ghosted across one of his cheeks, tracing a cut carefully. When the hand came away again, a streak of blood only accented how pale it was, and made the trembling more noticeable.
Shikamaru considered the ANBU for a moment, his eyes carefully avoiding the Hyuuga Curse Seal scrawled across his forehead, something Neji tried so hard to keep hidden. His hair had been put into a normal ponytail, and a slightly messy one at that, with a few strands of black hair falling loose of the elastic here and there. He was as pale as Shikamaru knew he himself must look, and there was an angry cut slashing across one of his cheekbones towards his mouth. All in all he looked quite vulnerable, especially when he turned his head away slightly. And those gloves… "S'alright." He jerked his head in the direction of the Rain-nin for a moment. "You think he'd go away if we asked politely?"
"Again, no." The man said, interrupting them carelessly. "I did come down here for a reason you two, so if we could regain focus for just I moment, I will be on my way." He had their attention immediately, Shikamaru twisting back around so that he could see the Rain-nin easily, and Neji tilting his own head so that he could see past Shikamaru's. "First thing I needed was your names, which I now have, second was whether or not either of you would be willing to co-operate now instead of making us force you to later, but I don't believe that question is exactly necessary." He turned to go, leaving both Konoha shinobi wondering why he had bothered to get their attention in the first place, when he could have easily just left as soon as he had Shikamaru's name. Not point in questioning it now though, the sooner he was gone, the better. The Rain-nin turned back, umbrella still spinning wildly against the concrete, chakra bouncing off of it like sunspots. Shikamaru tried not to focus on that and instead on the hand resting on the small of his back. The Rain-nin smirked, his face looking quite vicious, and extremely amused. "Thanks ever so much for the show boys. You've just made this much easier for us."
a/n: AHHH! I'm so sorry! It won't happen again, I swear! Things just kept happening and I never had a chance to write and all sorts of bad stuff like that. Hopefully this is long enough to make up for the five day sojourn. If not, again, I'm soooo sorry! I hope you like this chapter by the way… Oh, and I meant to have another scene in this one, but then it got to 5295 words, so I decided to put that scene into the next chapter instead, and just post this one already. I can't believe I went four days without updating, I'm so ashamed… –sigh– It won't happen again. Next chapter should be up tomorrow, because my March Break starts then… (today was my last day, even though I haven't been to school since Monday…) Might even get you two tomorrow, to make up for the big lull…
Starry096: Umm… Is this what you meant by soon? I think not… Sorry! (And thanks!)
AvaStar: Very stupid question indeed… Of course I enjoy torturing characters. Uh, sorry it took so long… Kill me if you must. TT
Smoking Panda: Here's your next update… Hope it didn't take too long. Well, you don't have to worry about having missed this one… And again, yes, I like torturing the characters, which is probably why you found it sad… Hopefully this one is slightly more upbeat. Hell, what am I saying!
Bunch-o-Nuts: I didn't end up studying for more than about eight minutes… Bad me. Thanks though! I'm afraid I don't have an excuse like studying for the lateness of this chapter… –sigh– I enjoyed it muchly… Went to school on Monday for an hour, came home, and haven't been back since. And March Break started today, so no more school for me until March 29th. Yay .
Angstluver: Glad you liked it! –winks– You'll just have to read and find out… Again, sorry this took so damn long!
AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUJIN! BECAUSE TODAY WAS MAY 8th IN THE NMDH UNIVERSE!