Harry Potter/Naruto Crossover
In Naruto's World:
"Hello" speaking in Japanese
" Hello " speaking in English
In Harry's World:
"Hello" speaking in English
" Hello " speaking in Japanese
'Hello' thinking in either language
CHAPTER 4
HARRY'S WORLD
"I hate you. Seriously." Harry said in an irritated voice as he tries to loosen the neckline of his new shirt. It feels like he was being choked.
"Oh, stop that. Your clothes actually fit you, for once." Hermione admonish as the two of them walked along downtown London. "Besides, you don't really expect to be inconspicuous wearing those tents you called hand-me-down clothes, do you?"
"I don't see why we have to be inconspicuous at all." He muttered grouchily. At least she let him keep his stylish green and black bandanna on. "Worse, I had to pay for these things with my own money, which I could have spent with new training manuals."
His female companion huffed and said, "Japanese manga and anime videos are not training manual!"
"Says PAPERMASTER HERMOINE GRANGER!" He said with a grin stretching from ear to ear.
The girl groaned. She really should have known better than to lecture him for three hours straight about the impossibility of using fictional techniques from said manga and anime in actual charka manipulation, and then have him caught her creating an actual technique based on a "Read or Die" anime movie. Although he helped her refined the techniques (mostly buying her several graphic novels of 'R.O.D. the series'), he never failed to use it as an excuse whenever he tries out new techniques using the said anime and manga, like the Baikusai Tenketsu from the Ranma ½ series. If it weren't for that secondary charka reserves (which the both of them were still trying to figure out what it is) that he has that enhances his healing ability, he would have been either dead right now or crippled for life. Although, he did managed to master the Katchu Tenshi Amaguriken technique.
After taking several calming breathes, she says, "Anyway, I have to get you to meet my parents one of these days. My parents are getting very suspicious about where I go every other day. They're getting more curious about our research, which, as you know, I can't exactly tell them. They're starting to doubt about my excuse on meeting my research partner, namely you."
"Now what does that supposed to mean?"
"It means that my parents are starting to think that you're not real, that I made you up just so I can spend my solitude in the library. And worse of all, they are starting to set up a few private diner parties for our neighbors, preferably with children close to my age, in an off chance that they could get their daughter to meet some real friends."
"And that is bad because?"
"You wouldn't say that if you saw some of the girls my neighbors had. If they weren't talking about make-up, they're talking about boys." She shuddered at the thought. It's quite clear she hadn't hit puberty yet.
"Sounds normal." Harry said absent-mindedly.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked in a malevolent voice, taking off her sunglasses momentarily to give him a Byakugan glare.
"Nothing! Nothing!" He said immediately, backing away slightly.
She gave him one last glare before saying, "Anyway, once they see you are not a pigment of my imagination, I could get them to back off. Also, we're here." She said, looking at the medieval-looking bar across the street called the Leaky Cauldron. "Do you notice something about it?"
When Harry turned to look at it, he first noticed that it does look medieval. After several minutes of observation, he noticed that most people merely pass by it as if it doesn't exist. Those people that actually comes and goes inside the place seems to have a higher concentration of secondary charka source within them.
"I still don't see what's so special about them that we have to spy on them. So what if they also have a secondary chakra source like us. You said it yourself, there are several other people within your neighborhood alone who have the same secondary chakra source that we have."
"Yes. But none of them have short wooden sticks as their chakra's focal point." She said, remembering that time she passed by this place with an active Byakugan during a shopping trip with her parents. At first she didn't think about it too much since she have already seen several other people, particularly kids, from their neighborhood which have the same kind of chakra. What draw her to them are the pieces of wooden sticks hidden within the clothes of almost every adult that come into the place that actually emit a concentrated amount of their charka, as well as the highly concentrated film of thin charka surrounding the outside wall of the establishment.
"I still don't think that a simple piece of wood would allow anyone an active control of that secondary chakra. I mean, if we can't consciously control it, what makes you think they can? Remember your neighbor, Dean Thomas? You said he had as much secondary chakra as you and we spied on him for a couple of days but all we found out is that he's a football fan and that he snores when he sleeps."
"That may be the case but Dean still doesn't have a focal point for his secondary chakra source like most of the people that comes to this place. That alone is worth spying on them for a couple of days. So suck it up, Potter, and take it like a man." She said with finality, earning a resigned groan from the bespectacled boy.
A few minutes later, after both of them put on baseball caps and dark sunglasses; they entered the pub as inconspicuous as they can. As soon as they entered, both teen almost gasped at the concentration of charka emitting all over the place. The walls, the chairs, the windows. People inside were using their wands to do all sorts of things. It's like they stepped into another world entirely.
"Damn. They do have active control of their secondary chakra." Harry whispered to her as both of them walk towards the bar.
"Shush! We have to be inconspicuous." Hermione whispered back before turning to the bartender with a sunny smile. "Hello, sir. Me and my brother are going shopping today but we got kind of lost."
"First time in Daigon Alley, lass?" the bartender asked.
"Yes, sir." She said in her most innocent voice.
Tom, the bartender, nodded and said, "Come on then. I'll show you the entrance to Daigon Alley." He then came out of the bar and walked towards the side door with both kids following him. When he came to the brick wall, he tapped it several times.
Tom had to smile at the awe he saw on both the kids' face and said, "Welcome, to Daigon Alley, Wizarding Britain's central marketing district."
Several hours of exploring later, both kids find themselves walking silently down the street towards Hermione's house deeply lost on their own thoughts about the day. Of coarse, such silence didn't last when Hermione said in a still awed voice, "This is big."
Harry, who was pretty much still lost in thought, gave her the briefest of attention to nod in affirmative before going back to thinking once more.
The young girl, still quite awed, didn't notice her partner's lack of attention and continued, "I mean, an entire society of wizards and witches hidden right under our noses. It's like, a totally different world, totally independent of ours."
"You know what this means, don't you?" Harry suddenly asked. When she gave him a questioning look, he elaborated and said, "Our secondary chakra, they're not chakra at all. It's our magic. We are either part of their world or we've accidentally managed to create a magical core somehow. I'm leaning more on the former."
"I don't know. I mean, my parents would have told me about me being a witch. They couldn't have hidden this from me."
"Did your parents have a secondary chakra source as well?"
"I don't know. I've never used my Byakugan inside the house for courtesy."
"Use it on them tonight." He said to her, who gave him a nod, as well as a glare for insinuating that her parents have been lying to her. If they don't have them, then it might mean we could have accidentally developed magical cores while developing our primary chakra. "By the way, how is your grasp on the Henge no Jutsu? I have a feeling we would be using it quit a lot the next few days."
"I could only hold it solidly for three hours before it starts to fluctuate."
"You need more training to hold it longer since we'll be needing it to gather as much info on the Wizarding World as we can."
"I think we should also try to pool our allowances. I think I saw a bookstore in Daigon Alley. We could buy a few books on Wizarding History or something." She said the last part a bit excitedly.
Harry groaned when she mentioned a bookstore. Knowing her, they would be spending quite a lot of more time there compared to anywhere else in Daigon Alley.
But not all they found out about the wizarding world was wonderful. A week later, thanks to a book entitled 'Dark Wars Through the Ages', Harry found out why he became an orphan.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"YOU KNEW, DIDN'T YOU?" was the first thing he said to the surprised Dursleys the moment he returned to Number 4 Privet Drive.
All three of them, who were currently in the middle of dinner, paused at the amount of killer intent pouring out of him.
Being the first to recover his wits, Vernon Dursley tried his best to look unaffected, and failed miserably, "W-w-what the b-bloody hell are you t-talking about, b-boy?"
"MY PARENTS! HOW THEY DIED! WHAT I REALLY AM!" He shouted as he stomped towards his quivering relatives.
Petunia gasped loudly when the words her nephew had said finally sunk in. "H-how did you know? H-he said y-you're not allowed to k-know until its time?"
"Who's he?" he asked silently, but the threat in his voice is unmistakable.
"L-listen, boy! You will not speak like that to," Vernon tried to say but was immediately silenced by the huge amount of killer intent sent towards him.
"Who is he?" he asked her again, more forceful this time.
Petunia Dursley fidgeted, struggling internally whether to tell her nephew the truth or not. Fear over her nephew over-riding her fear of the old man, she finally said, "It was the same man who forced you into our care, Albus Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore?" He asked in surprised.
"Yes. That freak threatened to curse us if we didn't take you in. He told us that you are not allowed to learn about those freakish powers of yours until he sends someone to get you out of our hair!" She babbled in fear as each of her words seems to just make the green eyed boy angrier.
Harry tried his best to reel in his anger, but finding out that his blood relatives was forced into taking you in by a manipulative icon of Wizarding Society are making it quite difficult.
Not wanting to do anything he would regret later on, he stepped out of the house to find a place to let out some steam, not even realizing Hermoine's figure hiding behind a nearby tree, watching him intently until he was out of her sight.
Knowing he won't be very approachable for the next couple of days, Hermoine Granger did the most sensible thing she could do at the moment; gather as much information she can about Dumbledore, Harry's home life, and the Wizarding world in general. After she gathered all she needed information, she would present them to him, and then let him decide their next course of action.
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Six Days Later…
"Did you find him?" asked a near hysterical Molly Weasley to her three older sons, namely George, Fred, and Percy.
"Sorry, mum but," Fred begun.
"we couldn't find him," George added.
"anywhere." The twins finished together.
"Don't worry mother. I'm sure he's going to be fine. Daigon Alley is relatively safe for a boy his age and he had been here on several occasions to know how to get back on his own." Percy said diplomatically, hoping the sensibility of his statement was enough to calm his mother down.
"Right you are, scholastic brother of mine! Our little Ronnikiens,"
"knows the Alley like the back of his hand. So no worries, mum."
"He'll be fine." All three boys said in unison, feeling confident that their argument would get them free reign at the Alley, that is, until their mother turned a hard glare on them.
"O-of coarse, it wouldn't be responsible for us to stop looking for him, right, men?" Percy blurted out nervously under his mother's silent glare and the twin's terrified nods. "I'mgoingtolookforhimagainattheLeakyCauldron!"
"We'lljoinyou!"
As soon as the three boys left as if the hounds of hell were at their heels, Mrs. Weasly immediately left to find her lost son as well.
Ron Weasley sighed in relief as he saw her mother walking away from the large crate he's currently hiding at. Don't get him wrong, he loves his mother deeply and really hates worrying her like this, but after several weeks of being smothered by her was suffocating him too much that he got to sneak away to get a breather. Besides, all the doctors and specialists that they visited told them that despite being bitten by a werewolf, the amount of silver present in that cauldron of liquefied special metal in the Department of Mysteries that fell on him nullified the Lycanthropy curse in his body before it was able to turn him into a werewolf. The only thing different about him is a heightened sense of smell, hearing, and taste as well as an uncontrollable increase of strength every now and then.
Sniffing the air a few times, Ron made sure that his mom was at least several blocks away before he stepped out from his hiding place, only to meet the stern look of his younger sister in front of him. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was impatiently tapping her foot on the concrete.
"What?" he asked in irritation. Even with his enhanced senses, his sister has an uncanny ability to hide her presence from anyone when she wants to.
She gave him a pout with a raised eyebrow before saying, "You do realize that mum would be on your case three times worse once we get home?"
Ron whined at the thought and gave his sister a glare before saying, "Why don't I sic mum on you and see how you handle three weeks of being smothered after being kept at Saint Mungos for possible Lycanthropy?"
Ginny shivered at the thought. Molly Weasley could be quite paranoid when her children's safety is concerned. And being cooped up at Saint Mungos for a week to make sure you will never turn into a werewolf despite being bitten by one is no picnic either. She gave her brother a sigh of defeat before saying, "Okay, fine, you win. So what do you plan on doing, anyway?"
"Don't know yet. I was planning on visiting the Quidditch shop before . . ." he stopped suddenly and turned his sight across the street. When Ginny turned to look, she saw an old man with a large beard walking towards Knockturn Alley.
"What are you looking at, Ron? That's just an old man." Ginny said.
Ron stared at the old man and sniffed the air a few times before saying, "That's funny. He doesn't smell old. He doesn't smell like a man either."
That caught the girl's curiosity. She knew his brother's sense of smell is rarely wrong ever since the incident, and it just keeps getting better ever since. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. She seems to be about our age. She smells of paper, not parchment so I think she's a muggle. I can't smell any magical wood on her so she doesn't have a wand, nor she got near any wand at all so the illusion covering her isn't cast by a wand spell."
"What makes you so sure she's our age?"
Ron's cheek sported a blush. He was a bit reluctant to say that he knew these because the girl doesn't have the smell of a girl who had gone through PMS. The female body emits a unique smell before, during, and after a girl's period that stays with them for a very long time.
"Never mind that. Let's go." He said immediately before heading towards Knockturn Alley himself, followed by his bewildered sister. When she asked why he's going there, he said, "Because there are a few creatures there that wouldn't bat an eye before killing her."
"Like what?"
"Vampires." He said simply before walking towards the alley once more.
The young girl hissed at that. It was no secret how much their family detested vampires ever since she was almost killed by one a few years ago. Her hand unconsciously went to the old scar on her left shoulder, where the vampire had scratched her. After she was rescued, her father made it mandatory for their entire family to learn as much as they can on how to stop, sense, and sometimes even kill a vampire. Fingering the wooden stakes hidden inside her robes, she followed her brother inside the dark alley, never realizing that her eyes turned a brilliant red for a split second before turning back to brown.
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Julius is a young vampire, barely a century old. He was turned at an early age of seventeen and hadn't aged since then. His master, a five hundred years old vampire named Marcus turned him so his mater could gained control of his wealth he inherited when his father died and because his master needed another soldier when one of his master's subordinate was killed by a Slayer.
His master was a war general before he was turned himself, and it carried over when he became a vampire. Marcus formed a group of mercenaries composed of a dozen vampires that he calls 'The Fangs'. It became quite famous at assassination missions and had been sought after by those wealthy enough to pay for their services. Their last job would have settled them down financially for a bit, and the job itself sounded quite simple. . .kill the Boy-Who-Lived, but complications arose that they weren't expecting, particularly about the target himself.
FLASHBACK
"I see the target." Julius said as he spotted the young raven haired, green eyed boy walking down the almost empty street below from his perch on top of the building. With him are three other vampires just itching to jump down there and get the job over with.
"Seems like an easy job. A bit too easy." Silvia, one of the three female members of The Fangs said while looking at the target.
"Doesn't matter. It's just easy money for us." The gruff voice of Angus, a huge black man, said.
"Yes. That Mulciber fellow have done all the scouting for us. Parkinson and Malfoy's already paid the full amount in gold today so all we have to do is jump down there and kill the boy." Aurelius said, eyeing the boy hungrily.
Julius was about to say something when he spotted something a few blocks away. After identifying what, or rather who it is, he smiled and said, "Seems we get to have an extra kill tonight."
When the others looked to see, they saw a young blond boy following their target.
"Is that the Malfoy brat?" Silvia asked.
"Yes. By the looks of it, those two must have been talking a bit." Julius said as we watch the two boys arguing for a bit before the two of them started speaking normally. He arched an eyebrow when both boys shook each others hand in companionship as if they finally agreed on something.
"Doesn't really matter. The Malfoy boy just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It wouldn't be proper if we didn't took advantage of it." Aurelius said, his fangs bared before jumping off the building.
Silvia and Angus followed a split second later. Julius shook his head at his companions' impatience. He was about to jump down himself when he noticed the sudden shift of something from the raven haired boy below. Before he saw what happened, Aurelius screamed as he was stabbed in the chest with a couple of pencils, one of which hit his heart, turning him to dust.
Everyone stopped dead on their tracks upon seeing what happened. They all looked at the young boy and saw him crouched in an attack position, several pencils already in his hands. "Vampires. This is going to be so much fun."
Then, everything went to hell. Harry Potter battled three vampires with his smile never leaving his face. Using magic Julius have never seen before, all three of his companions were dusted and he himself had several closed calls with those magically enhanced pencils, while the boy sported a broken arm as well as several bruises and cuts all over his body.
END FLASHBACK
Julius would have killed the boy if the Malfoy heir didn't managed to blind side him and escape with the almost unconscious Boy-Who-Lived. Muggle police were already on the way so he himself escaped the scene before they arrived.
So here he is now, making his way through Knockturn Alley waiting for any poor sap he could use to replenish the blood he lost during the fight. Seeing an old man exiting Burkin and Burk's Shop, he scanned the alley first. When he saw that there was no one else there, he bared his fangs and jumped to strike faster than the eyes could see, so it came as a great surprised to him when the old man managed to jump away at the last second, avoiding him but not completely, if the wound on the old man's arm is any indication.
Julius snarled at his failed attack and was about to continue when the old man suddenly turned into a young, bushy haired, pale-eyed girl. He was even more surprised when the girl suddenly took out three pieces of paper from her pockets and threw them at him like throwing knives. Sensing the magic emanating from them, he jumped out of the way, just in time to see all three papers stab themselves deeply on the concrete wall behind him.
Bearing his fangs, he was about to attack the girl once more when he felt several objects stabbing his chest. Looking down, he saw two pieces of wooden stakes lodge deeply on his chest.
He didn't even manage to utter a scream before his entire body turned to dust.
Once the vampire was gone, the girl turned around and put herself in a defensive stance just in case. She saw a young red haired boy and a young red haired girl at the end of the alley. For a moment, she saw two distinctive red markings on the boy's cheeks while the girl beside him sported red eyes, but the features were gone a split second later.
"You're hurt." Came the concern voice of the red headed girl as she approached her immediately while taking something out from her pockets. When the pale eyed girl saw that it was just a vile of liquid, she relaxed and let them approach.
"Don't worry. It's just a scratch." She said neutrally.
"Don't be stupid! Even a small scratch from a vampire is dangerous. It may not kill or turn you but it would act as a homing signal for other vampires to know where you are all the time unless you know how to get rid of the scent." The red headed girl lectured fiercely as she poured a small amount of liquid onto the wound. The other girl hissed a bit when the liquid made contact with her skin. "Sorry about that. It stings a bit but it's better to get the vampire's scent off of you as soon as possible. The longer it lingers the longer it takes for the scent to disappear, and the better the chance that the rest of his coven to track you down." As she was cleaning her wounds, the red head couldn't help but notice the book the other girl held in her uninjured arm, particularly its title, 'Making Your Own Wand', since she was sure such books are illegal to those under the age of seventeen.
"You should listen to her. Vampires tend to retaliate when a member of their clan is slain." The boy said as he retrieve his wooden stake from the pile of ashes that used to be a vampire. He also started going through the vampire's clothes. Sniffing the air a few times, he said, "This guy was already injured before he got here. There's human blood on his clothes but no scent of magical wood so he must have fought a muggle. And what's this? Looks like one of those Muggle pencils?"
Turning quickly, the pale eyed girl saw the boy raising a pencil to show the red headed girl.
"What the heck?" The boy and the red headed girl asked in surprised upon seeing the veins surrounding the girl's eyes.
Seeing the remnants of chakra on the pencil, the bushy haired girl started cursing up a storm, at the bewilderment of the two red heads. "Of all the idiotic, suicidal, moronic, dunder headed ways to let out some steam, the jerk just had to get into a fight with VAMPIRES!" The next couple of words that came out of her mouth almost scarred the two red heads for life. So it wasn't a big surprised when both of them cringed in fear when the raving girl finally turned her scary white eyes at them and said, "Tell me what else you see!"
"Why should we tell you anything?" The red headed girl asked defiantly.
The pale eyed girl knows a bargain when she sees one, so she asked, "What do you want in return?"
"Our own wands." The girl said immediately, eyeing the book the other girl was holding for a brief second.
"Fine! But only after I find my friend."
"Um, don't I get to have any say in this?" The red headed boy asked timidly.
"NO!" shouted both girls at him.
The red headed girl then said, "We help you track your friend down and you include teaching us that paper trick."
"And what makes you think I can't find him on my own?"
"Because my brother could find him by the end of the day."
The pale eyed girl thought about it for several minutes before finally saying, "Fine. It's a deal. But if he can't find him by the end of the day, then the deal is off."
"Agreed." She said immediately before extending her hand, which the other girl took. "The name's Ginny Weasley by the way. And that there is my brother Ron."
"Hermoine Granger." The other girl said. "Now take me to my friend."
Ron merely grumbled out at the background but still did what he was told. That paper trick, as well as being able to make his own wand two years before entering school would be cool.
It took them two hours of walking through the back alleys of London before they arrived at the scene of the fight. Hermione was quite impressed when Ron managed to give a description on the fight that occurred by just the scent around the site. It took them another hour before they finally came into a halt in front of a small residential office by the Eastern side of London. The sign says, 'Tonks Accounting Firm'.
"He's inside with a witch." Ron said.
"Are you sure? Doesn't seem like a wizard's home to me."
"I'm sure. There's a scent of magical wood in there and a couple of wizarding trinkets, but everything else are non-magical."
Hermione nodded her head and pushed the doorbell. It didn't take long before a kind-looking, raven-haired woman opened the door and asked, "Can I help you, children?"
"Yes. Good evening, ma'am." Hermione said politely before continuing, "I'm looking for my friend who got injured in a fight last night. Is he perhaps here?"
"Oh, you must be Hermione Granger that Harry was talking about. My name is Andromeda Tonks. Please come in. And, oh, you brought some friends with you. If the preckles and red hair are any indication, I'm guessing they're both Weasleys. Please, come in all of you." She ushered them all inside and took them to the guest room, where a young, raven-haired, green-eyes, lightning-bolt-shaped-scar-on-his-forehead boy was sitting on a bed with his left arm on a sling.
"Hey there, Mione!" greeted Harry enthusiastically.
Hermione was just about to unleash one hell of a scolding on the injured boy when Ginny Weasley beat her to the punch and gasped in shock. "It's-it's-it's . . . IT'S HARRY POTTER!" she squealed before passing out on the floor, her brother too stunned himself to catch her.
"Y-Y-y-you're friends with THE Harry 'Boy-Who-Lived' Potter?" Ron asked in awe, staring at the boy's famous scar.
"I don't see what the big deal is." She said sarcastically to the two Weasleys before turning a Byakugan glare to the injured boy who gulped in fear. "Considering he won't be living long after I'm through with him."
Thinking fast, Harry Potter did what a real man would do in a situation that involves any female's righteous fury, he jumped off the bed and hid behind Mrs. Tonks hoping she could shield him from Hermione's wrath.
But Andromeda Tonks merely gave him a mischievous smile as she step aside to give the angry girl a direct path to the cowering boy before she said in sweet tone, "Now, now, Harry-dear. I'm quite grateful to you for reuniting me with my long lost nephew but you need to understand the consequences of picking a fight with dangerous Dark Creatures like vampires to take your frustrations on. Besides, I'm sure Miss Granger wouldn't aggravate your injuries in your current state, much."
Harry Potter gave the older woman a pout and said in a deadpan, "You're an evil, evil woman."
Andromeda couldn't help but laugh and said before leaving the room, "I aim to please, Mister Potter."
The next few minutes were one of the most physically painful event Harry Potter had ever experienced in his young life, if his cries of pain were any indication. Ron, who couldn't help but watch the devastation before him, vowed never, ever to piss off that girl. Ever.
Several minutes, and a trashed room later, Hermione finally spent all her frustrations on his friend and settled down beside his moaning form on the floor panting heavily.
"Bloody hell, mate. That was brutal." Ron commented in awe, his sister blissfully unaware of her idol's devastation since she was still in her Harry Potter-induced coma.
"Yeah. Tell me about it." Harry moaned in response.
After several minutes of silence, Hermione finally asked seriously, "So, are you okay now?"
"Yeah." He said honestly. "Got some great advice from the most unlikely source."
"Really?" she asked, quite curious this time.
"Yeah."
When he didn't seem inclined to answer anymore, Herrmione asked again, "So what now?"
Harry's answer was a smirk, and five words that would have a devastating effect on the entire Wizarding World in the years to come. "We'll plan. Then . . . we'll conquer."
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NARUTO'S WORLD
"So let me get this straight, you want me to spy on Konoha's Number One Bad Boy, find out what got him pissed off at the world in general, and talk him back to his old self just so you could go back into having breakfast at his flat again?" Shikamaru asked with a half-lidded, lazy-eyed, this-is-gonna-be-so-troublesome stare.
It was quite hard for Ino to reveal her secrets just so she could ask the help of the laziest, yet smartest, person she knows, but she and Sakura were getting desperate. It's been a week since Naruto started acting as if the entire world is out to get him. Although it wasn't killing intent, he was still radiating enough anger to drown the entire ninja academy.
"Yes." Ino whispered meekly, which, for Shikamaru, was ten times worst than having her screeching his ear off. A screeching Ino bossing him around is one thing, but a meek Ino actually asking for his help, of all people, is quite another.
"Why me?" he asked.
She pouted a bit, internally debating whether or not to admit her next words, but ended up giving off a defeated sigh and said, "Because you're a closet-genius. If anyone can figure out what's wrong with him, it would be you and your IQ of 200." Then she added silently, almost too silently that he almost missed it, "And because you're the only one I could trust with this."
Shikamaru actually raised an eyebrow at the last thing she said. It has been quite a long time since he'd seen a timid Ino. He also would have smirk at her praise if it weren't too troublesome. So instead, he said, "Tell me what you know."
"That's just it. I don't know why but last week he just woke up totally pissed off. He warned us to stay away for a while and when we tried to ask what was wrong, he, um, well, he told us off."
"What exactly did he say?"
"He said, 'You're just like everyone else in this God-forsaken village, using me as an outlet for your frustrations, your grieves, just because it's convenient for you'. After that, he told us to get out and don't come back ever." She said with a pout, confusion evident in her eyes.
"What else?"
She fidgeted a bit, which actually raised his genuine curiosity. She's hesitating, which he concluded that she's having an internal debate whether or not to reveal another one of Uzumaki's secrets. He waited patiently and soon enough, she said, "He started talking in a foreign language."
The lazy boy raised an eyebrow at that. "What language?"
"I think he called it ingirishu (English). Forehead and I hear him speak it a couple of times, particularly after he wakes up. We also found a few of his personal notes done in a totally different language as well."
"Where do you think he learned of it?"
"I don't know. But he'd been able to speak it fluently as far as I can remember."
Shikamaru pondered things for as moment. As far as he knows, no one else in the entire village is bilingual, and he had never heard of a language called ingirishu. Either Naruto had created his own language, or he had been in contact with a foreigner for quite some time. Either way, it just adds to the mysteries surrounding one Uzumaki Naruto.
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Uchiha Sasuke sighed in annoyance as he browsed through the Uchiha Clan Library. He wouldn't usually go here if he could help it but he really needed to find some scrolls on advance chakra-control exercises.
He knows he could just ask Ino about it, since he accidentally saw both her and Sakura practicing the said move in a rarely used training ground a couple of weeks ago. Uchiha-pride aside, he just couldn't help but shiver at the thought of owing the aggressively amorous blond fan girl a favor. Who knows what perverted games she could have him participate in if he do?
He was just about to give up when he heard a soft sound from the other end of the library. Thinking it was a burglar, he took out a kunai and silently moved towards the source of the sound. He was a bit surprised at seeing a familiar pink-haired girl, sneakily reading through several books, immersed in some kind of research or something. By the looks of things, she must have just gotten there and had been too immersed on her reading to even notice anyone else was there with her. If she had been going through jutsu scrolls on the restricted section of the library, then he could easily apprehend her for trying to steal Uchiha techniques, but the girl was browsing through history scrolls and foreign studies. As far as he knows, that section of the library had been open to public before the Uchiha massacre happened. People just stopped going here because, as sole owner of the entire Uchiha Estate, he had closed off the entire estate from everyone, including himself. It's just less painful that way.
Putting his kunai back on its holster, he sneakily walked behind her before asking, "What are you doing here, Haruno?"
"EEPPP!" Sakura jumped at the sudden voice and whirled around, breathing quite heavily and holding a hand to her chest. When she stood face to face with an annoyed looking Sasuke, she almost shouted once more if it hand for his him holding a hand against her mouth.
"Don't shout. Your normal voice is already annoying as it is." He deadpanned.
Finally getting her bearings, Sakura swipe away his hand from her mouth and said in an aggravated voice, "Damn you, Uchiha! What were you trying to do, give me a heart attack?"
"If only things like that could get you to dropped dead." He said with an infuriating smirked reserved only for her.
"I wished you'd dropped dead." She snapped furiously, giving him a glare. Why, oh why, does the little trollop had to be so different when nobody else but the two of them are around?
"I'm sure you do. But that aint happening anytime soon." Another smirk.
Sasuke doesn't really know why, but pissing off the said pink haired girl has always been therapeutic for him since they were kids. She used to visit this library quite a lot before the incident. Considering she was one of the very few kids his age that frequently visits the Uchiha compound at the time, his mother inconspicuously pushes him to befriend her. But being merely six years old, he ended up teasing her. Then she teases back. Neither kids ever got over their first impression of the other, even now.
Giving off a huff, she asked, "What the hell are you doing here, anyway?"
"I could ask you the same thing. This library is within the Uchiha District, which, I distinctly remember, is still restricted from all non-Uchiha. I could easily report you as trespassing on private property."
"And I still say you're a jerk for closing this place up. You know perfectly well this place used to be my favorite hang-out."
"There's nothing else in this place but a reminder of death and sorrow." At this he went deathly serious, his mind going back to the night of the massacre, and the one person responsible.
Noticing the look on the young Uchiha's face, Sakura said in a deadpan voice, "Please don't start going emo on me. It's bad enough dealing with a jack-ass like you already when you're in your public brooding mood."
Annoyance replacing his grief, he huffed at her and asked, "What exactly are you doing here going through those type of books? Considering I'm still thinking of either pressing charges or not, I think it's in your best interest to answer me."
Fidgeting a bit, Sakura tried to bluff her way out and said, "Um, I just needed, ah, some specialized books for a, um, term paper I'm doing for, ah, Iruka-sensei?" She then gave him the best innocent-looking smile she could muster.
He gave her a half-lidded stare, telling her that he aint buying that bullsht for a second. And that smile is simply too fake, as well as creepy.
After a minute of silence, Sasuke turned around to walk away as he said, "I'll have the police drop by your house later."
Sakura panicked. Either she tells him why she's there or put a blemish on her perfect record. Hard choice, but one she made easily. "Fine! I'll tell you."
Sasuke gave her a smirk and turned to face her. She fidgeted a bit before sighing in defeat as she took out a piece of paper from her kunai pouch and handed it to him.
The young Uchiha's eyebrow rose when he opened the note and found that everything written inside is total gibberish to him. "What is this?"
"It's a copy of my secret instructor's journal entry." She whispered slowly.
"You mean Uzumaki?"
She gasped and asked, "How did you know?"
"I didn't. But you just confirmed my suspicions. Besides, the entire class already knows you and that Yamanaka girl are getting some training outside of the academy." 'And no one can't help noticing how much you two improved at such a short time.' He added mentally. "So anyway, this symbols seems familiar. What does the note say?"
Pushing away the thoughts of torture she would have to endure if Naruto finds out she failed to keep his secret aside, she said, "I don't know. That's why I'm here, actually. I'm looking for notes through the Uchiha library that could help me translate what's written here because I know I've seen symbols like these here years ago. This is the last entry Naruto had written on his journal after he started acting all angsty. If I could somehow translate what written here, then me and Ino could find out what's making him act like that so we could fix it."
Sasuke nodded at that. The entire school, heck the entire village, seems to be walking on eggshell ever since the dobe started acting like a wounded wolverine a week ago.
Looking at the note again, he nodded at himself at remembering where he had seen those symbols before. He turned around, started walking out of the library, stopped at the door to turn around and ask the pink haired girl, "Well, aren't you coming?"
Surprised at the gesture, Sakura followed silently after the raven haired Uchiha. Both ended up in front of the Uchiha Clan's Main Building. Instead of entering the said building, Sasuke walked around it until he reached a smaller building attached to it. He bit his thumb, drawing blood, and smeared that blood on the right panel of the door.
"A blood seal?" Sakura asked in awe as she heard several clicking sounds from behind the door.
When the clicks stopped, Sasuke pushed the door open and entered, Sakura following closely behind.
She gasped upon entering the place. It looks like a miniature library, shelves of books filling up all three walls of the room. There's a small desk in the middle of the room with a comfortable looking chair beside it. "I-I think I've been here before, a long time ago." She said in a whisper.
"I don't think so. This is my mother's personal library. Not even my father could enter here without her permission."
Instead of replying, the girl walks towards the desk. As soon as she was behind it, she dropped to her knees and extended one arm under it. "Aha!" she exclaimed excitedly before pulling out an old, folded piece of paper. "I knew I've been here before." She beamed, unfolding the paper.
Sasuke walked behind her to see what was written inside. His face knotted in annoyance when he saw a crude crayon cartoon drawing of himself being bashed in the head by a similarly crude crayon cartoon drawing of Sakura. Written right under his picture was the words 'loser', 'jerk', and 'jack-ass'.
Sakura was giggling quite hard as she handed the paper to the annoyed looking boy before walking towards one of the shelves and taking out a small book. She held it by the spine and started shaking it with one hand while the other was placed underneath it, preparing to catch something. Soon enough, an old looking photograph dropped into her hand.
After placing the book carefully back into place, she looked into the photograph with a fond looking smile on her face.
"What is it?" he asked.
Sakura contemplated whether or not to show it to him, but in the end she relented and handed him the picture.
The young Uchiha's eyes almost bulged out at seeing the content of the picture. In it was a five years old Sakura sitting on his mother's lap, both girls reading a book inside this very mini library. What captured his attention most was the smiles both females plastered on their faces, particularly on her mother. It was a smile his mother usually shows only to her family, particularly to him and his brother, no one else. And now, he finds out that the girl in front of him had not only been the only outsider she had allowed into her haven (her personal library), but also had been a recipient of the same smile.
"I remember that day." She said, reminiscing on the past. "You tricked me into playing hide and seek with you. I ended up here trying to hide from you. When I saw all the books I began to read. I was so into my reading and was talking out loud about having trouble with understanding a particular word. I was surprised when Auntie Matoko suddenly spoke up explaining what it means. She said she'd never saw anyone my age so fascinated with literature. The book was a bit advance for me at the time so she helped explained to contents of the book to me. We didn't even realize someone had taken a picture of us as we read. I've been her regular visitor since then."
"Hey, I remember that day. I spent two hours searching for you." He also remembered thinking she got lost or got kidnapped that day and had asked several members of the clan do a village-wide search for the girl. Three hours later, when the search for the girl turned fruitless, he was just about to tell the Hokage when his mother told him that the girl had just went home a few minutes prior. He endures several days of teasing from the same clan members for losing his supposed girlfriend.
When he turned back towards the girl, she was already busy browsing through the shelves of books looking for something in particular. Soon enough, she took out a fairly thick tome and carried it to the desk.
After sitting on the only chair in the room, she took out some paper and pencil from inside the hidden compartment on the desk with nary a thought and started reading the huge translation book on 'Old Language', comparing it with Uzumaki's notes.
Looking at her working diligently, he could help but notice how much she seems to belong there. It seems that she was telling the truth about being a regular visitor to this place, if her knowledge of hidden stuff in the room was any indication. He didn't even know there's a hidden compartment on that desk.
She was to immersed in her reading that she didn't even noticed him leave the room, only to return two hours later with a tray of tea and biscuits. He saw that she manage to translate at least half of the notes, and each time she translate more of it, her facial expression keeps turning into frowns and confusion.
"Well?" he asked as he handed her a cup of tea, which she absentmindedly took.
"The notes are written in Old Language, very, very old."
"How old exactly?" He asked with genuine curiosity.
"According to historians, this particular language was considered to be the universal language before the Great Rebirth."
Sasuke's eyebrow arched at this. The Great Rebirth pertains to the time when man's weapon of mass destruction rained down upon the world, almost resetting history back to its Stone Age. The survivors barely manage to initiate the Great Rebuilding, thus creating the Shinobi Continent what it is today.
"So, the dobe knows an ancient language no one else in the continent uses. Big deal." He scoffed.
"Knowing an ancient language isn't what concerns me. It's what he'd written using it does." She almost whispered so silently that he almost missed it.
Raising an eyebrow, he took a look at the translated notes and read it. A few minutes later, he put down the notes with narrowed eyes before walking out of the room. He was already by the door when Sakura caught up to him and said, "Where are you going?"
Instead of answering, he suddenly took hold of her hand, used his fingernail to make a cut on her thumb drawing blood, and smeared her blood on the center of the seal on the door. The seal flared up immediately as her blood was siphoned into the seal.
"W-what . . .?" She asked in surprise.
When the process on the seal was done, Sasuke let go of her hand and started walking away. "You are attuned to the locking seal on the door."
"Wha . . . when . . .why . . .?" She stuttered in awe.
"Take care of the place. It's half-yours now."
"Why?" Sakura asked as soon as she gathered enough wits after her shock to build coherent words.
Saskuke was silent for a moment. Then, he looked at her and said, "My mother trusted you enough to share this place with you. That's enough for me." Then he started to walk away.
Sakura stood there dumbfounded at the great responsibility Sasuke had unwittingly entrusted on her. Having unlimited access to Aunt Matoko's private library is a wonderful thing, but how could he just give away his own mother's personal place like that?
Whatever his reason is, she couldn't help but smile appreciatively. She was about to say thank you when he suddenly stopped, turned his head to her, and said with a half-lidded stare, "By the way, break anything in there, and you'll be paying for it, with interests."
"ASSHOLE!" She shouted in rage, but he had already left.
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'Troublesome blondes' thought the irritated Shikamaru while watching Konoha's Number One Bad Boy trying to beat himself to death, literally. Hiding behind some thick bushes, the young Nara watched as Naruto battle against ten of his own Kage Bushins in a very brutal full out spar in that particular well-hidden training area.
By the looks of all the devastation around the blond, the young Nara could guess that the still angry-at-the-world boy had been at it for a while, as if he was intentionally trying to exhaust himself to death.
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes when one of the remaining six clones suddenly grunted in pain from a kunai stab from behind before bursting into smoke to reveal a crouching figure of Uchiha Sasuke with his kunai still extended from stabbing the said clone.
Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke looked around his surrounding but not commenting on the destruction around him. He then turned an arrogant look at the panting blond and said, "Hard at work, Uzumaki?"
Dispelling his clones, Naruto gave the arrogant Uchiha an annoyed look before saying, "Now is not the time, teme. I'm not in the mood."
The blond merely receive a smirk as a reply from the young Uchiha. "Hn. I know." Suddenly, that smirk turned into a glare and a split second later, three kunais were flying straight for Naruto.
CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
After managing to block all three with his own kunai, Naruto jumped to the side to avoid a flying kick from the suddenly aggressive boy, but as soon as Sasuke hit the ground, he gave the blond a powerful heel kick that pushed Naruto several feet despite having able to block the said kick.
Naruto cursed inwardly as he immediately tried to put feelings back to his slightly numbed arms. That kick was chakra enforced, making it four times stronger than a regular kick.
Sasuke gave him a superior smirk as he puts himself in an attack stance.
Naruto gave him a snarl before saying, "What the hell do you want, teme?"
"Isn't it obvious? I want a fight."
"Then go find it somewhere else! I have no time for your shit!"
Instead of answering, Sasuke rushed towards him with a kunai held in each hand. Naruto barely managed to dodge the sudden attack and had put some distance between them before dropping into a defensive stance with his own set of kunais. He gave the Uchiha another snarl as he said, "Fine! If that's the way you like it, I'll give you a fight!"
Sasuke merely gave off a smirk before both of them charged at the same time. Sparks fly as kunai met kunai. Punches and kicks with occasional elbow and knee jabs were exchanged in this pure taijutsu match.
From his hiding place, Shikamaru couldn't help but be impressed by the two. Their speed, strength, and viciousness seems to be at least mid-chunin level. But still, why would Uchiha Sasuke suddenly provoke a fight with Uzumaki. By the looks of how the two were trying their best to analyze each others move during the battle, it's quite clear that they rarely goes into sparring match this intense with the other, if at all.
After a few minutes into the fight, Sasuke managed to connect with a right hook to Naruto's jaw, giving the Uchiha a few seconds breathing room as he said, "You whine too much, Uzumaki!"
As soon as he managed to land on his feet, the blond snarled at the Uchiha as he charged once more. "What the heck are you talking about, teme?"
After dodging a left jab to the face, he gave the snarling boy another kick to the ribs, which was blocked. But the second kick managed to connect, pushing the blond away. "LET ME REMIND YOU!"
Suddenly, the fight turned one-sided. With a sudden burst of speed, Sasuke rushed towards the angry blond with a left jab to the face, which, despite being blocked, managed to stun Naruto long enough to give Sasuke enough of an opening to pummel the blond where he stands.
"SO WHAT IF THE ENTIRE VILLAGE DOESN'T SEE YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE?" Right jab, left jab, and a knee to the ribs. "SO WHAT IF THE USE YOU AS AN OUTLET FOR THEIR OWN SELFISHNESS!" A punch to the face and an elbow to the side. "SO WHAT IF NO ONE SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH!" A right hook to the jaw. "YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO WENT THROUGH A SHITTY EXPERIENCE LIKE THAT!" Another right hook to the jaw, plus a kick to the midsection. "THAT'S NO EXCUSE TO TAKE IT OUT ON THOSE THAT DOESN'T DESERVE IT!" A straight punch to the face, which the battered Naruto managed to catch with his hand at the last moment.
Sasuke scowled at the sudden spike of killing intent before his midsection was hit by a chakra enforced kick, sending him several feet away. Standing up quickly, he turned to see the blond boy glaring daggers at him with blue eyes that promises extreme future pains.
"Who do you think you are?" Naruto was breathing hard and quite battered, and the smirk on the Uchiha's face just enraged him more. Suddenly, he was in Sasuke's face, having to travel 10 feet in a split second. The raven haired boy was too stunned to stop the brutal fist that got buried into his midsection. Stunned by the pain, he was hit by a right hook as well as an elbow jab to the ribs. Too stunned by the initial blows to protect himself, Sasuke's body was rained upon hits after hits by the angry blond.
A minute of being a punching bag later, Sasuke finally managed to endure the hits enough to get a desperation hit against his opponent. Chakra enhanced fist to both their faces, the too flew apart from each other to land painfully on the ground separated with at least fifteen feet of space.
Taking time to stand on their feet, both boys glared at the other with their swollen and bruised body swaying.
Breathing heavily, Naruto managed another snarl as he said, "What makes you think you know anything about me, teme? You, this village's precious Uchiha? What makes you think you know anything about what I've gone through my entire life? You have the entire village pampering you just because of your name! Everything you want you get in a silver platter! You don't have to endure the hate of this entire place the moment you were born because of reasons entirely out of your hands! So don't go saying you know anything about me! Because YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT ME!" He roared at the end of his speech and attacked the Uchiha with renewed vigor, making sure to get several hits in before Sasuke gets the chance to recover.
"DON'T KNOW SHIT? DO YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE BEING USED BY THIS PLACE FOR THEIR OWN SELFISHNESS!" He said after finally being able to counter with an elbow jab to the ribs after the fifth consecutive hit on him by an enraged blond boy.
"SHUT UP!" Naruto responded in kind with another punch.
An hour later, their spar turned into a slugging match, taking turns in punching the other into submission, trying to see which one of them have enough will to stay standing.
Nara Shikamaru sighed internally at these turns of events. Both those guys have their own issues to deal with, and both seems to find beating each other senseless is a good way to forget about them.
Leaping away from one another to give themselves several seconds of breathing room, both prepared themselves for one last attack. With a war cry, both boys ran at each other with their fists held back. As soon as the distance between then came within striking distance of each other, both of them drived their fist to the face of the other with all their might.
For several seconds, everything in the clearing was still, including both fighters, whose fists are buried in each other's faces. Soon enough, both finally fell back first to the ground.
Breathing heavily, both of them lay there on the ground staring at the sky. The fight was over so there wasn't any hurry to get back up. For a few minutes, both were silent, each deep in thought. That is, until Sasuke started doing something un-Uchiha-like, he started snickering. Soon, his snickering turned to laughter.
At first, Naruto looked at him as if he was crazy. But moments later, he started laughing himself.
When their laughter finally died down, Sasuke was the first to speak and said, "It's been a while since I've got beaten like this. Ever since that night, everyone treated me like a prince, someone too important to lay their fingers on. They all kept saying that because of what happened, I had to be an Avenger, that it was my duty to seek out my brother and kill him, as well as revive my clan. They say it's my duty as the last Uchiha. Heh. A bunch of morons, the bunch of them."
Naruto's answer came in a form of a snicker and a few bouts of laughter before he said, "For someone who usually only talks by means of a grunt, you sure are talkative today. I wonder what your fangirls would say about that."
"Probably the same thing your fangirls would say if they ever get their hands on your journal."
Both boys shivered at the thought of those creatures known as fangirls. Both have a significant numbers of those after their hides, considering their reputations. One is Konoha's Bad Boy, sought after because of his blatant disregard of authority and refusal to take any crap from anybody, thus is considered as a perfect boyfriend material for any girl who wants excitement in their life or to those with even a small amount of rebellious nature in them.
The other is the Uchiha Prince, a lone survivor of a massacre, sole heir of one of the noblest clans in the country, a young tragic prince who has closed off his heart until the time he avenge his clan's death. To most girls, to warm their way into his heart would be the ultimate triumph of their femininity, and his good looks, money, and fame is quite an incentive.
After another few minutes of silence, Naruto asked, "So, did Haruno put you up to this?"
"Not quite. I caught her trespassing on my property trying to decipher your notes. She managed to translate it in three hours."
"Heh. I should have assigned several clones as guards to my place. Ino got a knack for disabling traps, and Sakura had a knack for figuring things out." Naruto said, internally feeling proud about his two temporary students, despite the fact that they violated his privacy by stealing his journal.
"Tell me about it." Sasuke said, thinking back to all the times the Yamanaka girl had managed to disable his booby traps on his locker at the academy.
"Those two are a pain in the ass." Naruto said flatly.
"Agreed. But then again, they're real, unlike the rest of the fools you've been whining about."
Silence reined once more, both boys deep in thought.
A few moments later, Naruto started laughing once more. Sasuke looked at the hysterical blond thinking he had finally snapped. He was about to comment on his sanity when Naruto said, "Why the heck didn't I thought of it before. Those two are real. The others are not. So why the hell did I thought I give a damn about what the others thought." He laughed once more, louder this time.
"So you finally got it, huh, dobe? Took you long enough." The Uchiha smirked at the glare he received from the blond, before finally losing consciousness due to his injuries, as well as chakra exhaustion.
"Screw you, teme." Naruto said, succumbing to unconsciousness himself a few seconds later after some last few thoughts. 'Harry's got the right idea. For now, I'll plan. Then, I'll conquer.'
Moments later, Shikamaru came out of his hiding spot to look over at the two. He shook his head at the amount of damaged they received from each other and tried his best to tend to them with his limited knowledge of medical skills, all the while thinking of the events that transpired.
He couldn't help but see the similarities between them. Both orphans seem to hold most of the village in contempt. One is the village's pariah, hated for something for some reason or the other. The other is the village's tragic prince, being manipulated to suit the village's needs. The two of them would be quite powerful someday, that he was certain. In the shinobi world, trouble always follows power. Always. And his childhood friend, Ino, is intertwined with both of them.
Right there and then, Nara Shikamaru made a decision. He would, no, he must keep up with both Naruto and Sasuke. If he cannot keep up with them in strength, then he would keep up with them by other means, probably with his greatest arsenal, his mind. Like Ino said, he's a closet genius with an IQ points of 200. Maybe it's time he started using that genius for something more practical in the ninja world, even if it's just to make sure he could be there to help his childhood friend.
Once he have both of them laying comfortably under the shade of a nearby tree, he left muttering, "Troublesome."
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INSIDE THE SEAL
The Kyuubi no Kitsune couldn't help but grin at the events of the past week with both his charge and his jailor. At first he was a bit afraid that their recklessness would put them at an early grave, but things turned out better than he had expected. Not only did they managed to gained several more allies to their cause, but both have finally found their resolves on which path to take.
'To conquer', such a magnificent phrase. Both children of destiny would change their respective world. They will either nourish it, or destroy it. The great demon fox doesn't care either way, but he would make sure they achieve such heights in power.
Then later, when both are at the peak of their power, the fox would reveal himself, showing them all that he had done to help them reach their dreams. They would be indebted to him and he would request his freedom and roam the world once more as the most powerful being on the planet.
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A/N: Hi there. I know it's been a while so as soory, I made this chapter longer than the others. Hope you enjoyued it cause I've started writing again after a long absense. And watch out for my other stories. They'll get updated pretty soon too.