Hello! I've decided that I will not offer any excuses as to my lateness, instead I will merely go find a pleasant little corner some where.

And DIE.

But here is another chapter, so fresh and new, and I will be trying to get a new one to all of you at some point in the future.

"Nanami, what is it you wanted to show me?" Karin sighed, remembering fondly the bed she had been sleeping so peacefully in a few minutes ago. She would have still been there had it not been for her teammate tapping on her window to wake her up, insisting that she come with her. She knew that the girl at least owed her an explanation for where they were going and why, but instead of answering her very reasonable question the blonde just shook her head and continued to tug on her hand, leading the her through some training fields to get to their currently unknown destination.

As they got closer to one of the farther training grounds, the sounds of blows and metal whistling through the air to hit wood greeted their ears. Feeling a bit more curious and slightly less tired, Karin hurried to see who on earth would be practicing in the middle of the night, and when they got there she was surprised and a fair bit concerned.

"Rin?" She called out, "Why are you out here?"

The girl whirled around at the voice of her teammate and friend, and the sight of her nearly pulled a gasp from the pale haired Hatake.

Her long thick hair that was always restrained was for once loose, tangling around her face wildly. Tears streamed from her pale, swollen eyes, and her bare feet were dirty, her open robe showing that she only wore a short nightgown to combat with the chill of the night.

"Rin, are you okay?" Karin asked gently, walking forward a few steps to see if there was anything she could do. "Rin, honey?"

Rin shook her head and whirled away from the sight of her two teammates, facing the practice dummies that had been set up against the line of trees. She wished that there was someway for her to fight someone or something with her sword in the most violent way possible to better vent her frustrations, but she knew that to use her sword with so much anger and resentment and sorrow and rage bubbling up inside of her could never end well, especially in the dark, so she had to settle for kunai and straw dummies.

Biting her lip to muffle the sob that tried to break free, she grabbed another handful of kunai from where she had sat them on the ground and began to throw them furiously at the dummies. And though she was not the marksman her mother was, each and every one hit their intended target precisely. When she finally stopped she was panting raggedly, gripping the last few kunai tightly as she glared down at the ground in front of her.

"I hate..." Her breath caught and she paused, biting her lip to push back the sob she felt rising. "I hate them so much."

Karin took a hesitant step forward. "Who?"

There were a few still moments that were only filled with the sounds of Rin's tearful sniffles before she answered, her voice hoarse from the tears she had shed. "Boys."

Understanding filled the other girl as she slowly let out a breath, wondering what had happened this time. "Oh."

"I... It's just... Why does this always have to happen to me, you know? I know that there are good guys out there, but I just don't seem to attract them." She let out a ragged breath. "I thought things were actually going really well this time. He seemed nice, he didn't care that I trained so much or that I was strong, and acted like he listened, you know? But then when we met up last night he kept on trying to go to far, and I've told him no before and he seemed okay with it all those other time, but this time he pulled away and said that if he couldn't get anything exciting out of our relationship then there was really nothing I was good for."

Tears started pouring again, and Karin stepped forward again, hand reaching out in comfort, though before she could reach her another bright flare of anger filled her and she looked up, tears still falling as she growled and started to let loose the kunai on the unsuspecting dummies once more.

"What am I good for? What am I good for? I'm a lovely conversationalist!" She let a kunai loose and it tore through the dummy and into the wood of the tree behind it with a dull thud.

"I have a wonderful sense of humor!" Thud. "I'm fun to be around!" Thud. "I'm smart!" Thud. "And I'm interesting!" Thud.

The silence that followed was only filled with the hollow sounds of the forest waiting and the shallow and ragged breaths Rin took before she suddenly dropped to the ground, bringing her knees up to her chest as she she hid her face and the tears she was shedding in her hands.

"Hey now," Karin said gently and a bit uncertainly as she stepped forward to rest a hand on her back, not quite sure how to go about comforting her, "It'll be alright. If he said something like that then he's just not worth all of this."

"I know... I just... I feel so stupid." She hiccuped.

"I don't see why." Nanami said pleasantly as she stepped forward to stand beside the other girls, tilting her head as she studied the mangles dummies. "After all, he's the one who upset the girl who can hit such a small target so perfectly even in the dark while crying."

Karin, who had been focused on Rin this whole time and who hadn't looked at the targets her friend was taking her frustrations out on, looked towards them now and winced, biting her cheek to keep her laughter in check.

Some of the kunai were lodged in the regular places—throat, heart, stomach—but a great deal more had been thrown and had hit the crotches of the dummies, leaving no doubt as to where the girl's anger was directed.

"You're not the one that should be crying right now, he should, and he would if he knew." Nanami blinked as a thought sped through her mind, "Do you think we could deliver it to him?"

"No." Rin sighed, her voice slightly muffled from where she still hid her face, though Karin could tell the tears had stopped.

"We could put a bow on it, like a proper present. You've always enjoyed giving presents." Nanami's reply was pleasant and almost reasonable, and for just a moment Karin thought Rin was either considering it or was about to cry again.

But instead she laughed.

"No, Nanami. We are not sending an emasculated training dummy to my ex-boyfriend." She chuckled dryly and shook her head, wiping at the drying tracks of tears on her cheeks. "But... Thanks for the thought."

With a bracing breath, Rin closed her eyes momentarily to better compose herself, combing her fingers through her tangled hair before holding her hands out for her friends to take to help her stand up. They stood there for a moment, waiting, before Rin sighed.

"Guys, I think I've given up on boys." She declared, Karin nodding in understanding.

"We'll support you and you life decisions." Nanami said seriously, and it took Rin a moment to understand, but when she did she couldn't help the loud bark of laughter she let lose.

"No! No, I didn't mean I'm becoming a lesbian! I meant that I'm not going to date anymore. I'm sixteen, and I have better things to do than waste my time on immature boys. I'll wait until I'm older, and so are the boys." She smiled warmly at the other two girls, drawing them both into a hug, "But thanks for the thought."

Life... My life... What is life?...

I just... Life.

This is really all I can say at this moment.