Disclaimer: Me equals own nothing but the slow, slow moving plot.

Chapter 23
Not Quite Picture Perfect

Out in the hall, two people were extremely quiet. This was usual for one, but unusual for the other. They sat across from each other, staring down at the floor. Actually, it was more of the objet on the floor, what they were looking at.

A white envelope. It was addressed to Uzumaki Naruto.

With a shaking hand, the blond picked it up. It was like he was eyeing it; seeing if there was a way to read it without opening. No such luck. He took a deep breath. With his index finger, he opened the top. "I can't do it… I can't do it!"

Hinata looked at the boy in front of her. "N-Naruto-kun…" her words were quiet, but he looked up. She gave him a nervous smile.

"Thanks, Hinata." He pulled the sheet of perfect white paper out. It was folded in three. "Here goes nothing." Unfolding it slowly, his eyes scanned over the page. The girl waited patiently, though she was nervous. He'd been talking about this for awhile. His university acceptance letter. She could see those deep blue eyes widen, and watched his fists tighten.

"Oh…Naruto-kun…" she tried to begin, perhaps thinking of a way to cheer him up.

"Yatta! I made it! I made it!" he jumped to his feet and pumped a fist into the air.

The blue haired teen smiled brightly. "That's w-wonderful, Naruto-kun!" she was pulled to her feet, as the blond teen began to dance around in a circle.

"Ha! Kiba, that bastard, thought I wouldn't make it! I showed him!" once again he punched the air. He was a rather happy person to begin with, but it was still slightly unusual to see him like this. "Oh, I'm so going to rub this in his face next time I see him…"

The applications for schools had to be in a long time ago. Ever since then, she'd worked with the two boys to help bring their marks up a bit more. She prayed every night (okay, so almost every night…) that they'd make it in. she was also happy that he'd be with her next year, and hopefully a couple after that as well. She thoughts were temporarily interrupted by her being lifted off the ground. "Ah! N-Na-Na…" She turned a shade of dark red.

"I don't know what I would have done without you. You have to be the biggest lifesaver ever!" Naruto spoke twirling the girl around. He was oblivious to her beet-red face. Before making himself dizzy, he set the girl in his arms down. "Oh God, I haven't been able to sleep for days because I knew this was coming. You don't know how much I owe you, Hinata!"

She felt his cool (within respect to hers of course) face rub against hers. If it was humanly possible, she'd have gone redder. It was rather similar to the way a cat would rub against someone. This was a gesture showing affection, though it wasn't all the time he did that, ever since Sakura had slapped him because of it. "Na-Na-Naru…" She'd been doing well with removing the stuttering from her speech. Somehow she feared that this would bring it back.

The blond's eyes opened back up. His face was still firmly against Hinata's. Something irked him though. Maybe it was that murderous aura he was sensing. Strange…

"Naruto, you know better then to cuddle up to Neji's cousin within his field of vision," a girly voice piped up. He recognized it as Tenten's.

Separating from the Hyuuga in question, he turned around to find her very peeved-looking older cousin. His arms were folded plainly over his chest, and both eyebrows were down in a deep frown. "Naruto…" his growl was dangerously low.

The blue-eyed one began to laugh nervously. "Ah, sorry, sorry. I was happy that I got accepted, you know?" Judging by the look he got in return, the male Hyuuga didn't share the same enthusiasm. "Oh lighten up a bit."

"Naruto, just drop it. I don't want to have to clean up blood with Hinata after this," the brunette sighed, shaking her head.

"What have I said about displaying affection, especially physically, in this household? At least if it must be, make it somewhere where no one else may see or hear you. But for you, I'm not so sure how possible that would be."

Naruto decided to challenge the glare he was getting. "Oh please. It was hardly physical. Then again a tap on the shoulder is 'physical' to you. You're nothing but a hypocrite with a large vocabulary."

"Fuuny. I didn't know someone like you even knew what the word 'hypocrite' meant," Neji sneered.

"Would you like me to explain it for you then?" the blond snarled, taking a threatening step closer. "That's when you say one thing, but go against it. Like for instance, you say you hate all this physical interaction crap, and what's that? You're in the lounge all alone except for your girlfriend over there. But of course you're so focused on what's in front of you, you don't manage to see the horrified look I have on, standing at the door."

Unknown to the ranting Naruto, Neji's eye began to twitch. Tenten shook her head half from embarrassment, half from imagining all the blood that was going to be spilt in a second. "N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata tried to stop her friend, but he was too busy trying to tell the other off to heed her warning.

"Then you sort of lean into her while she plays with your hair. And what's this? Hyuuga Neji, human ice cube along with Sasuke, actually likes it? Has the sky fallen yet? Not only that, he has the nerve to kiss her. Now if that isn't physical affection of any kind, I'll eat my foot."

"You won't need to in a second, since I'm going to detach it from your leg and feed it to you," Neji said. One could almost see the steam radiating off him.

"And…wait…Hinata, did you know that there was more? Yes, more then that! After they finally break apart for what must have been something like thirty seconds, he bends down to her ear—" the blond wasn't able to finish, as a punch to the face sent him flying down the slippery tilled floors. "Y-you bastard!"

"N-Neji nii-san!" she gave him a look. So Naruto had pushed to many wrong buttons there, but he'd gone a little over the top with the punch. She ran over to her friend. "Are you okay, Naruto-kun?"

"If you're still in this house in the next twenty seconds, your jaw is going to be the least of your worries," he said angrily with a small flip of his long dark hair.

"Don't forget I've beaten you in a fight before," muttered the blond, still rubbing the side of his face. Though, upon feeling the murderous aura of the Hyuuga once again, he decided that now probably wasn't the best time to pick a fight. "Fine Mr. I-always-must-have-my-way. I'm leaving."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered, "I-I think it should be fast." With a quick glance over her shoulder, the two left for the main foyer.

Silence loomed between the two that remained. "That…" Tenten began, growing slightly red, "was rather embarrassing. So much for a secret relationship."

"Honestly, one day, I'm going to wring his neck," Neji continued to frown where his cousin and her obnoxious friend had left.

She placed both her hands upon his shoulders, attempting to massage some of the tension from them. "Don't worry about it so much, Neji-kun," she practically sang out. "Let's get you're mind off it." He looked at her, as if reading her through those pale orbs. But he made no signs of objecting.

Sometimes there are signs that a day is either going to be really good, or really bad. Today, for instance, was one of those. Though, she wasn't sure whether or not to place it under 'start of good day' or 'start of bad day'. This morning, she woke up and stared out the window to find Naruto and Hinata walking leisurely down the path. It was like they'd always done it. That was how natural it seemed.

Not really knowing what prompted her after that, she decided to use the microwave to defrost some bread. Surprisingly enough, everything went without a flaw. She could use a microwave without breaking it! Really, this was definitely a sign.

Sakura didn't see the point of doing her homework any more. She'd been accepted into the school of her choice. What was there really to work for anymore? It seemed everything was slowly falling into place. Well, more or less everything. Sighing, she flopped down onto the bed. Something…

Her parents had gone out for the day. They'd gone to see her aunt who lived the next town over, just for the sake of seeing her. She hadn't felt like going. Recently, she'd been drained of energy. Perhaps it was all worry. No, she was sure it was worry. She hadn't visited him in a week. She vaguely wondered if he was still there, or he'd gone home and decided to ditch the rest of the school week.

Naruto, or any of the others for that matter, didn't even seem to even take great notice that Sasuke was gone. Perhaps since he was only a new member to their little group. Well, new meaning now he was somewhat sociable. Everyone seemed preoccupied nowadays.

Reaching under her bed, she pulled out her notebooks from last semester. Stuffed in one of them was something she completely forgot she'd had. She smiled at the memory. Haruno Sakura's List of What Must Be Accomplished paper, that is. Now that the end of the year was near, perhaps she could check some things off.

The first point, about cleaning her room. She glanced around. It was spotless, well sort of. "Good enough," she muttered, checking it off. Second point…get over 85 in all subjects. That had been an easy task, so she ticked that one off as well.

The pink haired girl paused at the next point. Get a steady boyfriend. Frowning at it, she moved on. Honestly, it was embarrassing how far she'd taken that 'get a boyfriend' thing to heart. She wasn't the same annoying and slightly hyperactive girl she was at the start of year.

She checked off the fourth point, since she was already part of the tennis team. The fifth…

Sasuke certainly wasn't like that anymore. Well, for the most part. If she was the main cause of it, only he knew. She checked it off anyway. "Sasuke-kun…" Shaking her head, she continued.

Get over fear of bugs? Like hell that was going to happen.

Well, that had killed a good ten minutes of her life. "What's wrong with me?" she asked her mirror after splashing water onto her face. "Since when have I been all silent and gloomy?" It was the truth. Even her crazed inner-self seemed to have quieted down, or in fact, disappeared completely. It was all to quiet in her mind.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the doorbell rang. Odd. Her parents shouldn't have been home for at least another day and a bit. Other then them, no one used the bell. Then again, no one really came to her house.

Not even bothering to look through the peephole, she unlocked the door and opened it. Her green orbs widened.

The person outside made a face. "I'm not an alien, you know. Aren't you going to invite me in?"

She remained speechless and watched him enter her house without further question. He closed the door behind him, and placed a hand upon his head of dark hair. He was still slightly dizzy after walking so far. Seeing how unresponsive the pink haired teen was being, he frowned. "What's wrong with you? Are you sick?"

"Sasuke-kun!" she finally managed to say, quite loudly at that. He stepped back slightly. Wow, was she ever on some serious mood swings. "How dare you not even bother to check up on me or the others. I was worried sick for the past week, only to have you casually drop in as if it was nothing! You'd better have a mighty darn good excuse, Uchiha Sasuke!"

Now it was his turn to be speechless. Where…had that just come from?

Taking a deep breath, her voice went back to normal. She also put on a very small smile. "I'm sorry. I've been so frustrated lately. It just felt good to yell at someone again. How are you feeling now, Sasuke-kun?"

Yes, mood swings indeed. "Fine," he replied curtly, "I've been at home for awhile, but something just irked me. So I came here, for some reason."

"So, your head is fine now?"

"Pretty much. But I can't do any training for awhile."

She reached up to stroke some dark strands of raven hair. It was soft…just like it was before. "I really want to slap you right now. But I think that can wait until you're 100 percent healed." They both sat down on opposite ends of the kitchen table. "A drink?" she offered as a good hostess.

"Sure, what do you have?" While asking this, he gazed around the room. It'd actually been the first time he'd been in her house.

Opening the refrigerator, she shifted some foods. "Let's see. There's always water, orange juice, milk, some coke… and hard lemonade. But I don't think you want that," she said with a tiny grin stretching across her lips.

He weighed the possibilities for a moment. "No, I think I will have the lemonade."

She raised an eyebrow. "You sure? I'll split it with you. Me being eighteen after all, I'm technically legal drinking age. You, on the other hand…"

"Oh, I think I'll live," Sasuke said accepting the glass she poured. She took the other and raised it slightly. He stared, onyx orbs not quite comprehending her strange actions. Cheers for what? To humor her, he also raised his glass slightly and began to swallow the lemony drink. It was most certainly lemonade with a buzz. This was probably against all 'recovering patients code', but really, you only lived this life once. Perhaps he'd regret it later. Who knew?

Light was really too bright sometimes. Squinting slightly, he only managed to open his eyes part way. The other senses had to adjust first. Like, around him felt soft, sort of like a bed. And his head; was it ever throbbing. Opening his dark eyes a little further, he noted the presence of another figure.

Feeling the weight shift around on her bed, Sakura looked back. "Fully awake there, sleepy-head?" her voice was soft and melodic.

He vaguely remembered things. It was sort of a blur, the coming to her house, drinking the alcohol, and just talking freely with her. How he'd gotten upstairs and totally crashed was a blank. "What time is it?" he asked still somewhat drowsily.

"Seven. You've been out for over three hours. Did you know you look awfully cute when you sleep?" she said, shutting her chemistry textbook. She watched him sit up and look around her room. He still seemed somewhat dazed. "Want something for the pain? Like some NAC or something?"

With another shake of his head, Sasuke stood up. "You keep hangover drugs in your house?"

She frowned slightly. "It isn't a hangover drug. There's no such thing. I'll have you know it's a vitamin supplement, of sorts. I take it when I have a cold. It can reduce your headache, though. It's in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom in the hall." She watched him leave the room, and turned back to her chemistry homework. Somehow knowing he was back to himself (or, sort of) calmed her nerves a little bit.

Opening the mirrored cabinet, Sasuke couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. Were they running a drug store or something? He suspected it'd be grouped with the other cold and flu medicines. Sure enough, he pulled out a well-sized white bottle. He turned the cold water knob, so after swallowing the fairly large tablet, he could take a handful of water.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He placed the bottle back in its precise location. Just before closing the cabinet, though, something caught his eye.

Her parents would be home in a couple hours. She'd most likely have to shoo her friend from the house before then. They didn't really live her having people over when they were gone. But her mother was rather fond of the Uchiha boy, apparently. Her mother had been close with his.

"Found everything okay?" she asked upon hearing the squeaking cabinet close. Since he hadn't said anything in reply, she took that as a yes. She tried to look at revising her questions. Ah… but that wouldn't work. She could still feel those churns in her stomach, which made it rather hard to concentrate. 'Guess I can't really hold my liquor either.'

"What's this?" Sasuke's voice seeped into her ears. She raised her eyes to see what he had in his possession. Upon realizing what it was, her face colored slightly, but then it turned back to serious.

"Can't you read?"

He had the urge to roll his eyes. "Let me word that differently for you then. Is this yours?"

"Yeah, it is. So what?"

He threw the small box to her bed. She could see the slight annoyance in his dark eyes. He'd probably want the story that had to go with this one. "Well, I didn't really expect a kid from high school to be carrying Alesse, if you know what I mean. I think you know what I'm going to say."

Sakura sighed, taking up the prescription drug, and setting it beside her. "It's not what you think. It's just a safety precaution. It's…a long story, really."

He came and sat next to her on the bed. "Well? I have time."

"Okay, okay," the pink haired girl said, looking up to the ceiling. "It was few years ago, when I was still back in Sunagakure. There was this place where they were having a party…"

Temari and Sakura walked in before the blonde's two brothers. This certainly looked like the place. One of the upperclassmen's fathers owned the bar, and permitted his son to use the place for the big party he planned on having.

"Ah, I've never been to a party before," Sakura said nervously, fiddling with her straight pink hair. She wore a knee-length black skirt and a pale green sleeveless top. She looked up to her blonde friend who was busy observing the place.

"It's pretty crowded already," the other commented over the noise of the music. There was a DJ who had just put on some music until he was ready to get the party started. "Hey, Gaara, cover Pinky's back. We don't want her to do something stupid, right?"

"Hey! That's mean! Just because I'm not always one that thinks things through doesn't mean I need a personal bodyguard," the pink haired one protested.

"I was going to without you telling me," replied the redhead. Sakura gave up in trying to convince him otherwise. Once Gaara's mind was made up, there certainly was no changing it.

The place started to get into the swing of things. It really was a tame kind of party. There were free drinks (non-alcoholic of course) that the foursome totally took advantage of. Sakura had met a bunch of new people from the next town over, that had been invited. They seemed quite friendly. Though, her unofficial bodyguard had sent them extremely murderous looks before they left.

"You could try to be a little nicer, Gaara nii-chan. What's wrong with these people?" she asked after getting another Shirley Temple.

"It's because they look at you in 'that' way," Kankuro replied for his younger brother.

"No they don't. Trust me. I could tell. Women's intuition, you know?" she replied childishly. Gaara just continued to look impassively at the pink haired teen. "Anyway, I'm going to talk to them," she said, pointing to a table where one of the men whom she'd recently met was waving.

As instructed, the redhead followed behind, while the older brother went off to find his sister. Sakura bumped into a girl on her way over. "Oh, excuse me," she apologized politely.

"Hey, Sakura," the girl was a classmate of hers, Namie, "have you seen my sister? She was here a second ago…" The voice of the brunette was partially panicky. Her twin sister, Naomi, always seemed to be getting lost somewhere.

"Nope, sorry. I'll let you know if I do though." The girl thanked her, and continued on her way, calling out the name of her sister. The emerald eyed one continued on her way to the table where four males sat. Two were from her school, the others from another. "Hey guys!"

"Nice to see you again, Haruno-san," one of the ones from her class said with a tiny wave.

"You too, Kosuke-kun," she replied with a smile. She set her drink down on the table, being slightly pressed against it due to the congestion of the place. She felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hello, fancy meeting you here, Sakura-san," another boy from her class, Ken greeted. His smile was warm, and his pale blue hair was perfect as always. That was so like him.

"Yes, a small world, isn't it?" she turned to him, as he tried to spark up a conversation. In the mean time, Gaara was silently looking around. He noticed one of the boy's sitting at the table slip something out of his pocket. Supposing that no one was looking (the redhead was hidden well behind the two who were currently conversing) he slipped some powder inside Sakura's drink. Being a rather opaque drink, nothing was noticeable.

Gaara caught the eye of his sister, who'd just walked up with a slight wave. She gave him an understanding nod. She cut into the two's conversation. "Heeeey there, Ken. You aren't trying to con my friend into another date, are you?" The male laughed nervously, then excused himself. Temari and Ken didn't exactly get along, after all.

The blonde picked up her friend's drink. "You know, Sakura, it's never wise to leave your glass unattended. Who knows what losers like this will put in it." With a frown, she dumped the contents on the man's head. He yelped in surprise, wiping the liquid from his eyes.

"You bitch!" he said, standing up, face flaming red partially from embarrassment and partly from anger, "How dare you spill something on me purposely. Do you know who I am?"

"Not a clue," she replied truthfully, stepping in front of the pink haired girl so she couldn't try and stop her. "But anyone who tried to drug my friend deserves more punishment then just getting their hair wet. I should have fed it to you and see what would have happened. Now get out of here before I send my brother to kill you, oh, and he'll do it."

Gaara cracked his knuckles, and continued to glare menacingly at the guy who'd tried to pull that trick. He just growled, and motioned to his friend to stand up. "Let's get out of here. This party blows anyway."

"Bye, don't come back now," Temari told their backs.

"Um…" Sakura, who'd stayed quiet during the small fight spoke up, "Thanks. I don't know what I'd have done without you guys."

"That's why little bro is here," the blonde said, placing both hands on the shoulders of her brother, who was significantly shorter then she was. The females laughed.

"Okay, guys, not funny anymore. I honestly can't find her," Namie came running up to the four of them (Kankuro had magically appeared). "I have this super bad feeling…really I do."

"Whoa, whoa, calm down a second," Temari tried to soothe the close-to hyperventilating teenager. "One, she could be anywhere moving around like you are. I'm sure she's fine."

"No, no she's not. Chris said she saw her leave with a man. Someone from elsewhere, around twenty in age, or something. We have this kind of bond, you know. When one feels sad, so is the other, type-thing." Her face was starting to sweat, and that's when she kneeled over in pain. "Naomi…she's hurting. Really badly."

"We'll look for her!" Sakura said in determination. "This is important to you. We'll find her. And if no one's backing me up, I'll look myself."

"We didn't say we weren't coming, Sakura-san," Kankuro replied.

"Yeah! Obviously we're going to help. What kind of friends would we be if we didn't help someone in dire need?" Temari replied heroically, marching for the door. She was followed by her twin, then Sakura who was comforting Namie some more, then Gaara who followed wordlessly, and arms crossed.

Outside smelt of fresh rain. The ground was wet, and a thin fog hung over the area. It was dark out, and there were three ways they could go. "I'll go with Namie," Temari announced, taking the right, "Kankuro, you go straight, and Sakura and Gaara shall go left."

"Got it Sis. Just yell if you find anything," the brunet said, running off down the darkened street. The remaining four split off after that.

Some of the buildings were still full of life. They made sure to check every alley in between them. They were simply greeted with trashcans every time. They must have been at it for a good five minutes, and where about seven buildings down. "This doesn't look good, nii-chan," the pink haired girl commented, stepping out of the alley. "They could be anywhere."

Moving over to the next passageway, the redhead spoke up. "Stop," he commanded. She did as was told. "Something's moving down there." With a tiny 'meep', Sakura ran behind her appointed bodyguard, and followed him like glue. She could see something by the dumpsters moving. Oh God…could it be…

Gaara moved a bag of trash away. There was a raccoon, little beady eyes reflecting whatever light shone in its eyes. It scurried off after about five seconds. Sakura let out a sigh. So it hadn't been Naomi. She was partly disappointed and relieved. "I'm sort of glad it wasn't her…"

"Shh!" he hushed. He could have sworn he'd heard something just then.

Listening carefully, something sounded like, "Hey! I think I found something!" off in the distance. "Is that Kankuro-san's voice?" she wondered aloud. "Let's go."

The two of them retraced their steps and found their way back to the bar. Apparently Temari and Namie has also heard the other's voice, since they cam running at the same time. "Hey, Kankuro! Where are you?" the blonde one called out for her brother.

"Here," he replied from somewhere a little further down. They found him standing in front of an alleyway. "Hey, glad you heard me alright. I saw two people, one being dragged. When I called out, they went in here, and one jumped over that wall. You think…"

Before he could finish his verbal thoughts, Namie was already moving some trash bags around. "Naomi! Naomi! Hey, answer me, sis!" Moving a little further in, she felt something odd under her foot. Almost like an arm, or something. "Oh…God…"

The other two females were already over. "Here, take my sweater," Temari said, untying the black garment from her waist. She lay it over the unconscious female. Sakura checked for a pulse, which thankfully was still there. "One of you, call an ambulance or something!"

"Already done," Gaara said, looking back.

"Nee-san," a voice called weakly. The injured girl's eyes opened part way. Namie gripped her sister's hand, which she tried to extend as best she could. "I'm…sorry for…worrying you. Nee-san…" and she slipped into unconsciousness once more.

"So cutting out the details that my oh so innocent ears heard after that, she was fine for the most part. But, it turns out she was rapped by one of those upperclassmen. She'd been drugged so to this day she still doesn't know," Sakura said, putting a finger thoughtfully to her lips. "It…sounds rather stupid to have told you the whole story. But you know…she did end up pregnant."

At this, Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Certainly he knew such things happened in the world (like there were about ten shows on television every day about this type of thing) but it didn't really seem possible until he'd heard it from someone who'd experienced it firsthand. Well, firsthand to the point of it being someone she knew.

"You don't realize what a big scare that gave all of us, Sasuke-kun. I wasn't the only one…" she said, glancing at the tablet box on her bed once more. "But I think you can figure out the rest."

The Uchiha, who'd been sitting on the floor for the length of her story, stood up, back facing her. "Get rid of them," he said flatly.

"Eh?" Her emerald eyes blinked once.

He turned his face to her. "I said get rid of them. You don't need it anymore. Because you have everyone here who'll protect you. When it's needed, of course."

"Oh?" Sakura asked, standing up, "how can you be certain of that?" She'd noticed his eyes had been black. Perhaps his sharingan was activated behind the contact lenses. It must have been hurting his eyes.

Sasuke gently placed his hands over her petite shoulders. "I can't be certain. The only thing I can be certain of, is that…I'll always be there. When you need it."

Her face flushed a little bit at hearing his words. She placed a hand against his forehead, brushing away some raven colored hair. "Are you feeling well?"

"Never felt better," he replied rather softly, well aware that they were mere centimeters apart.

This, Sakura thought, was the time for something to happen. Come on, telephone! Ring, or something. Though, unlike last time, nothing did. Their lips met. Her body told her brain…this is what it'd been longing for awhile now. Uchiha Sasuke.

They stood there, both caught in the moment, and both equally not totally sure of what to do next. They hadn't yet broken away from the kiss.

Well, until there was a knock on the door. "Sakura, are you in there?" a voice that sounded like her mother's was heard through the door. Both rather surprised, they jumped apart. Her mom had spectacular timing.

Sakura took a quick look at Sasuke, who'd opened the window and had half his body already outside. "Bye," he mouthed and slipped onto the tree branch. He was engulfed in darkness, and she couldn't see his shadow very well either.

As she continued to look where the boy had disappeared, her room door opened. "Ah, Sakura, you should answer me when I talk to you," her mother scolded. "What are you looking at?"

"Hmm? Nothing." The pink haired teen walked over to her bed. "Welcome home, Mom." Her mother just looked at her daughter. Certainly she was a strange little thing. With a shake of her head, she exited the room. 'Close call,' Sakura thought, putting her hand to her mouth. She'd imagined that the setting would have been a little more romantic if she'd ever kissed the Uchiha boy. But one can't be picky, right?

Perhaps she'd throw them away. After all, Sasuke was a very persuading person.

Get a steady boyfriend.

Maybe she'd check that off.

AN: -dies at OOC-ness- Ah well. It's the second last chapter. I can't be picky. Sorry it was so late, by the way. In the past month I've had a final exam, about 3 huge English projects (which I probably did horrible on, since English is a load of crap) and I've been away for over a week. So that is my sad little life story that no one cares about. Point being, the chapter came eventually.

I honestly don't know what I was thinking while writing that flashback. I've watched too many Law & Order SVU episodes. I think everyone knows (or could figure out) what Alesse is. Anyway, it's not that important. I just needed something to put there.

Well, next chapter is the last one. Yup. Abrupt ending I know. I'm really bad at ending long stories…I find. Must work on that. There's really no plot left anyway. So I'm just going to wrap it all up in a nice little package next time. So onward to the review button!