Disclaimer: Naruto, and the poem below does not belong to me. I only own the plot and this fic. I'm not making any money off this. It's a hobby.

UPDATED: 11/3/10

Over time we've developed something extraordinary,
That will last forever because we're both unordinary.
I used to think that friends were the people that you could laugh and talk to.
Now I know that, Friends will be with you every step of the way
No matter what people say
They make you happy when you are feeling down
They make you smile instead of frown.
Friends always accept your past,
Support your present
And encourage your future.
A friendship isn't an opportunity it's a sweet responsibility.

-Nicole Blaiser

"I'm sorry Naruto, but the way you're doing now, you won't be able to pass the exam," Iruka gently put down the stack of files. "You are currently ranked the lowest in the class, and your ninjutsu isn't that great either. You need to up your work or I'm afraid you will not be able to graduate."

"What?" Naruto leapt up. "But I have to be Hokage! You can't just hold me back because of a few tests! There's more to being a great ninja than just bookwork and some basic jutsu, Iruka sensei," Naruto's voice dropped down to a soft whimper. "You have to let me pass."

Iruka looked unsure what to do. It was a fact that Naruto was smarter than he let on. Much, much smarter. He was just too lazy to take his tests seriously. However, Iruka knew that the one thing Naruto really had trouble with was the Bunshin no jutsu, no matter how hard he worked at it. He just couldn't control the amount of chakra that went into the technique. "Tell you what," he said finally. "if...if you can master a different type of Bunshin, and successfully do three clones on the test day, then I'll let you pass. Of course, the norm is that you can graduate if you pass five out of the six components of the test, but since your average grade isn't terribly high, you'd need to pass all six. Can you do that?"

Naruto's eyes burned with determination. "I will," he looked so serious that Iruka was surprised there was none of that goofy personality showing on his face. "I will pass! For sure! Thanks, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Unfortunately," he began. "I can't teach you anything other than the designated curriculum. Therefore you have to find another person to teach you the clone technique.."

Naruto grinned. "No worries! I'll manage. Thanks a lot, sensei. I'll be going now!"

"Naruto!" Iruka called after the blonde as the boy bounded out of the room. "Thanks for understanding! I'm sorry I can't be the one to teach you!"

"Yeah! It's okay!" Naruto waved back. He knew what his initial problem was. Chakra control. And he knew just the person to help him.

...

"Whaaaaat?" Naruto, flabbergasted, grabbed Sakura's arm. "Whaddya mean you can't teach me? I totally need your help right now, you know?"

Sakura sighed. Few feet away, Sasuke sighed too. Sitting together underneath the cool shades of the trees in a nearby training ground, Naruto had an adamant expression on his face while the other two simply looked exasperated. "Naruto," Sakura started. "I have been your friend for over six years. All this time, we've been training each other right? And if you still haven't gotten control over your chakra after six years...well there's little I can do."

"She's right." Sasuke folded his arms behind his head and leaned against the trunk. "We need to find a different solution. Considering your progress, I'd say it's pretty unrealistic for you to master chakra control in just a week. We need to find an alternative solution."

"But Iruka-sensei said I need to pass all six parts of the test!" Naruto whined. "If you guys aren't going to help me, who will?"

"I don't know," Sakura answered truthfully. "But for now, let's think. How can we make it so that you'd graduate, even without passing the ninjutsu portion?"

Sasuke rubbed his chin. "Should we bribe the teachers? I'm an Uchiha, they'd probably listen to me."

"Or, I can sneak in and put a genjutsu on the examiners? Make them think you pulled it off?" Sakura offered. "Though I'd rather you do this yourself, since this is your mess and all."

"You guys are mean," Naruto pouted. "If I don't graduate, you two are probably gonna have some idiot dork on your team. Why do you think I've been purposefully missing the tests? It's to increase the probability of us being together!"

"Don't blame us, we've been plenty helpful," Sakura retorted. "If you keep antagonizing us then we're not going to help you at all."

"Okay, okay." Naruto put up his hands in a placating gesture. He didn't want Sakura to get mad. It was like pulling nose hairs from a sleeping rhinoceros. "Well, I actually have an idea that might work..."

"Like what?" Sasuke yawned.

"...you know how Hokage-jiji has Icha Icha hidden in his drawers?"

…

Sarutobi was enjoying the last dregs of his coffee watching the sunset through the large window in the Hokage's office. He was finished with his paperwork, his files and stamps were neatly put away, and now he was getting ready to head home for dinner. He got up and stretched. When he relaxed, he saw a small form in front of him. "What are you doing here Naruto?"

"Oiroke no jutsu!"

"GYYYAAAH!" Sarutobi gasped as a voluptuous, beautiful blonde girl appeared, completely naked. Was this a dream come true? Could it be that he was actually seeing a girl from Icha Icha come to life? Just what has he done to deserve this?

Mind going into overdrive, Sarutobi spectacularly keeled backwards, two streams of blood issuing from his nose.

"Kekeke," Naruto clapped his hands in glee, returning to his original form. He reached into the man's drawers and pulled out his secret collection of porn. "I'll be taking this old man."

He quickly penned a letter addressed to Sarutobi (IF YOU DON'T MAKE ME A SHINOBI YOU'LL NEVER SEE YOUR ICHA ICHA BACK AGAIN). Proud of his work, Naruto stretched, content, and made his way for the door when he saw the bulky scroll in the corner of the room. It was frayed and ancient, and it looked important. He normally didn't care about scrolls; they were boring and had nothing interesting in them. But what caught his eye were the big fat words styled in fancy calligraphy: Legendary Jutsu Scroll. Now that was interesting. "Hehe," he smirked, rubbing his hands. "Life lesson #2, finders keepers! Thanks for the scroll old man!"

Naruto lugged the thing onto his shoulders, then thought better of it and sealed the entire thing into a sealing scroll along with the other books. Immensely pleased with himself, he pranced out the door.

Sarutobi would wake two hours later in the darkness, finding his precious books stolen, a blackmail letter on his desk, and the irreplaceable, world-class heritage jutsu scroll of the former Hokages missing. He groaned and put his face in his hands. As desperate as he was to get his scroll back, he simply could not ignore his frantic worry for his lovelies. First-edition, signed by the author himself. How could he have been so stupid as to keep them without any protection in his drawer? He should have put them under safety seals and ANBU guards... where were his guards anyway? Those incompetent fools... If there was a single mar on any page, he was going to fire them all. With his fear for them growing deeper, he called with a shaking hand for his secretary to bring the shinobi enlisting records. Normally he would have brushed this off as one of Naruto's pranks, but this was not a simple matter. His life, pride, and passion was in jeopardy.

If he couldn't get his books back, then he would cry his eyes out.

Naruto hooted with glee as he jumped into the air again, making his way for the hideout in the Forbidden forest. He had successfully trumped the old man, who was supposed to be the strongest shinobi in the village! Doesn't that make him candidate for Hokage? With a dramatic gasp, he hunched, jiggling his eyebrows, voice low, eyes wide.

"Uzumaki Naruto, twelve years old, becomes Hokage of Konohagakure! Boo-yeah!" He leaped again, landing onto the solid plank of their treehouse. To his surprise, Sasuke was there. He nearly fell off the branches. "Woah, Sasuke! Didn't know you were here! Whatcha doing?"

Sasuke yawned. "I was practicing my fire techniques. Sakura went to get some warm food. She said she didn't feel like eating cold today."

"That's great!" Naruto did feel like having some tasty fresh food. "Guess what?"
"What?"

"I took down the old man and forced him to make me a shinobi! Even if I don't pass the exam, I'll still be a ninja, ha!" He pumped his fist in the air.

Sasuke frowned. "You actually made him submit? You made sure the document he signed was authentic? He wasn't lying?"
"Well," Naruto's smile faltered. "I sorta left while he's unconscious..but he probably did enlist me as active shinobi! I left him a letter!"

Sasuke sighed, rubbing his forehead. Naruto could be so clever and yet so stupid sometimes. "Naruto, what makes you think you can get the strongest person in the village concede to your will? I highly doubt that he was even surprised by your attack."

At this Naruto shook his head vigorously. "Oh no. No, no. He was really surprised. I'm sure."

"How?"

"'cause he fainted."

? "He fainted?" Sasuke leaned in closer, now much more interested. "Just what did you do?"

Naruto smirked devilishly. "I used this little jutsu I came up with in my spare time, but you have to promise not to tell Sakura, or she'll pound the daylights out of me!"

Sasuke nodded solemnly. "I promise. Now what did you do?"

"I used a jutsu called Oiroke no jutsu..(sexy technique)...it makes me turn into a sexy babe with no clothes on. Then he fainted on his own. Then I stole his Icha Icha collection, wrote a letter threatening him with it, then for good measure, took this scroll with me too." Naruto pulled out his sealing scroll and unsealed the items inside. "See? I'm not lying."

Sasuke's eyes went wide. Was that...was that the Scroll of Sealing? The Legendary Jutsu Scroll? ...wait a minute... "Crap. Naruto! What have you done?" Panicked, he grabbed the giant scroll and stood up. The idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot!

Naruto cocked his head. "Huh? What did I do?"

"This is the Scroll of Sealing you moron! It's Konohagakure's ultimate compilation of extremely strong kinjutsu, all of which have been developed by our former -and current- Hokages! Do you know how much the other villages scramble around to steal this thing? You just committed a capital offense!" Sasuke wanted to kick the blonde idjit's head. "What are you smiling about? We need to give it back before they set ninja after us! Come on, let's go."

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke," Naruto tsked, shaking his head like he was about to explain an elementary concept to a little boy. "Calm down my friend. Let's think about this rationally."

"Do you really have the right to tell me that?" A vein throbbed in his forehead. He was the most rational one in their group!

Naruto wagged a finger. "Life lesson #2, finders keepers. The old man just had it right next to the door! How was I supposed to know how important it is?" Sasuke opened his mouth to argue back, but Naruto wagged his finger faster, bringing it up to Sasuke's face. "Ah ah ah, listen to me Sasuke. If we're going to give it back anyways, would it really hurt to take a teeny peek inside the scroll? Just the two of us? No one has to know. Just me and you. And once we're done," Naruto gave him an angelic smile, the epitome of innocence. "I'll go back and give it back, and no harm done. Just as long as we don't take too much time with it, we'll be fine. Waddaya say?"

Sasuke took his time thinking. The offer was rather tempting...after all, who knew how powerful these techniques were? It could help them jump boundaries as easily as swatting a fly. "Fine," he made up his mind. "But first, let's wait until Sakura gets here. I need to talk to the two of you about something. Something important." He looked down and walked away, hunched.

Naruto wondered just what could be so important that Sasuke would all of a sudden get all moody about it. Maybe his training didn't go as well as he thought it would? Hmph, he'll find out soon.

Taking his scroll back, he sat down on the planks with a sigh. He was getting really hungry. All that running and whooping through the entire village had its toll. Even he had his limits. He was a healthy growing boy, and he hadn't had any food since this morning. He was eating way better than he used to, before he met Sasuke and Sakura, but even now, he often went starving for a meal or two. It was not too bad. He learned to grow around it. Hunger sharpened his senses, and kept him on his toes. It was strange, but sometimes, he felt a pull of his own chakra respond to another chakra as far as a couple miles away, which was really weird. But what was scary about it was that he knew exactly where he/she was, the gender, and the race. It was like the second day of the Ninja Academy, when he had come to school hungry, and sensed Akamaru on the other side of the village. He didn't realize it was the same dog until he saw Kiba arrive to school late.

Sakura said that a common ninja's skill is to detect chakra signatures from far away, and to notice presences. But what he felt wasn't exactly like a chakra signature. It was just, chakra. Like it's just there, and he could feel it, but only if he chose to. Again, really weird. He was itching to talk about it, now that he had his mind full of thoughts on the topic, but Sasuke was, for some reason, brooding in the darker end of the treehouse, so Naruto left him alone. He reached out with his senses, feeling the chakra of the trees, the little insects and animals.

Suddenly, he felt the tug of a foreign chakra, entering the forest and charging toward them at high speed. It was a girl, his age, and she was definitely a ninja.

"Hey guys! Did you wait long?" The piping bright voice of Sakura filled the high treetops just moments later. "I got yakitori, sushi, some salad, meat sandwiches, and sorry, but no ramen Naruto. We ate that for the last two days." She looked up, and saw her friend's face staring at hers with an odd expression. Sasuke bustled out of his corner to grab some food. He looked off too. "What's wrong with you guys?"

Sasuke glanced at the blonde. "You talk. I'm not the cause for this remember?" He took the chopsticks and started eating. "Sakura, we're eating right now, so please don't blow up. It'll ruin the food."

"Al—right," she said, eying them suspiciously. What were they up to now? "What did you do?"

"To make things short, I sort of stole the Scroll of Sealing." Naruto picked up the sushi and shoved some into his mouth. "And Sasuke and I want the three of us to look at it before we give it back."

The boys paused, waiting for her reaction. Quietly, they put their food down. Sakura was frozen. Tense, they waited for her to defreeze.

When she came back, she came back with a shocked gasp. Coughing violently, she glared, her eyes brimming with tears, irritated that her coughing wouldn't stop. The boys didn't do anything to help her, secretly too afraid to go near her. Their fears were well founded. Once she was in control, Sakura exploded.

"You f***ing b***ches and stupid #$! with $!$%& and axxholes with f***ing d**ks I will take this chopstick and ^%*&#$ shove it up your nostril to see if you have any F^%$ing brains inside!" She breathed heavily, so angry that her face was going red. "How dare you f***ing..."

Life lesson #3, don't piss off Sakura.

It took her ten minutes to calm down once she was done with her rant. "So?" She held up her hand expectantly. "Where is it? Weren't we going to look at the contents?"

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look. Sakura was bipolar, no doubt about it. "It's here," Sasuke held it out. "What should we look at first?" They peeled the scroll open. The first jutsu they came across was: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

Naruto whined. "Eww. This is considered a kinjutsu? A cloning technique?" Sasuke and Sakura on the other hand, looked excited.

"Takes lots of chakra, stamina, determination, some level of chakra control..Naruto this is perfect for you," Sakura gushed. "Learn it! It shouldn't be too hard. It's just a cloning technique. This way you can legitimately become a ninja!"

Sasuke agreed. "I don't think I can use that technique, because it uses too much chakra. But you have a lot of chakra, so you should be fine."

"Come to think of it, all the other jutsus take up a lot of chakra too," Sakura scanned the rest of the scroll. "I don't think we're going to learn any of this guys. Except for you Naruto, you can learn the shadow clone technique. But other jutsus require absolute chakra control and elemental affinity... this is not for us." Sakura decided with a final nod and rolled the scroll back up. "We'll give this back first thing next morning."

Naruto, enthusiastically making the hand signs for Kage Bunshin, deflated a little. "Oh joy. After all my work."

Sakura giggled, but Sasuke's voice broke her out of her giddiness. "Now that the scroll issue is settled, let's talk. I have some serious issues."

"Yeah, you do have some issues," Naruto laughed at his own joke, but Sakura punched him in the head.

"Go on Sasuke," she urged kindly.

"I've been training. My fire techniques are coming out weird. I don't know why, but it feels different. It doesn't feel like the usual fire..do I make sense?" Sasuke had a glint of panic in his eyes. Sakura quirked her eyebrows. His fire was different?

"How different?" she asked.

Sasuke shifted unknowingly. "It's like, instead of flaring out to burn what I'm directing it to, it turns and tries to cover me, like..kinda like—it wants to hug me, you know? The color's different too..a deeper red."

"And you didn't do anything differently?" Sakura asked, her face lined in thought. "No new handseals, no difference in chakra control?"

"None." He made sure of that.
"Hmm," Naruto stroked his imaginary beard. "When it comes back at you, does it burn? You don't look hurt."

"Actually, that's the puzzling part. It doesn't burn me. It sort of just circles around me before going back to attack whatever it was supposed to have attacked. Almost as if- as if it has a mind of its own."

"Wait!" Sakura clapped her hands together. "If the fire doesn't hurt you, what about regular fire?" She pointed to the bonfire in the center of the clearing.

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know. I'll test it out." He jumped off the treehouse and landed next to the fire, Sasuke and Naruto landing right after him.

It was warm and comfortable..rather disorienting, but Sasuke felt drawn to the yellow orange depths. He couldn't pull his eyes away. The voices of his friends drifted off into the far background. And through instinct, he mindlessly reached out and placed his hand in the fire.

It felt nice, at least for the fleeting second that it had been inside the flames.

Naruto and Sakura, curiously watching Sasuke as he went into a semi-trance, rushed forward as Sasuke suddenly plunged his hand inside the fire. They yanked him away, adrenaline pumping.

Panting, Naruto kicked Sasuke in the legs. "Are you suicidal? I thought you grew out of that six years ago! What is wrong with you? Who would put his hand in fire?"

Sakura dashed forward and grabbed Sasuke's hand. "Are you burned? Show me your hand—..." her eyes popped out of her skull.

"What?" Naruto growled, seeing her reaction. "What?"

"He's, he's not burned at all," Sakura said breathlessly. "How..? Does the Uchiha clan have more than one kekkei genkai?"

"Not that I know of, no," Sasuke shook his head. A bloodline limit? Impossible. Such a thing was hard to grasp.

Naruto yelled, "What's up with this kekkei genkai talk? What does him not being burnt have to do with a limit?"

"If he wasn't hurt -can't be hurt- by fire, then he most likely has a physical kekkei genkai. But bodily bloodline limits are a mix of two elements.." Sakura trailed off. If this was really a bloodline limit, then Sasuke was born with two natural elements. Everyone went silent at the possibilities.

"No," Sasuke finally spoke up. "It's nearly impossible to have two kekkei genkais at once. If I inherited the Sharingan, then I shouldn't have another bloodline limit."

"Do you know if you have any other natural affinities?" Naruto pressed.

Sasuke shrugged. All Uchiha were fire elementals. His brother had been the sole exception. He had been raised with the expectation of being a fire user. He never took the element test.

"We can still find out more later," Sakura decided. "For now, let's look at it as a positive thing. Did you have anything you wanted to say Naruto?"

Naruto thought about the strange, chakra sensing experience he had, but thought better of it than to tell her. "No, nothing."

"Then we should help you with your new technique at least a few times before sleep. The exam's soon."

They all agreed, and for the rest of the night, helped Naruto on his Shadow Clone technique. Sasuke tried his best to keep his mind focused on Naruto's progress, which was moving rapidly, but he couldn't keep his heart out of his most pressing concern.

If he had another kekkei genkai, then what about the Sharingan?

"I congratulate every one of you for passing the graduation exam! May your paths be filled with vigor and success!" The booming voice of the Third Hokage filled the academy. The Hokage felt as if he could fly with all the lightness in his heart. His lovelies had been returned to him in perfect condition, he didn't need to oversee interviews for new ANBU guards, his scroll had been returned, and lastly: Naruto passed the exam on his own. Now he didn't need to forge the papers. Yes!

It had been quite impressive, to be honest. Iruka and Mizuki reported that Naruto made three excellent clones. No warpings, no half dead creature on the ground, but full clones. What's more, they were solid. Naruto obviously learned the jutsu from the scroll, but it was amazing that he had such chakra reserves, and that he was able to master it in one night.

"Now your teachers will announce your teams to you in due time. For now, go home and celebrate! I wish all of you luck!" Sarutobi stepped down from the podium and walked away, all too eager to get back to his office, and wary of Naruto. He would not fall for the same trick again.

"Awww man, now everything will just become more troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled. His parents looked flustered at his comment as everyone turned to look at him.

"Shikamaru, don't say that!" Yoshino clunked her son upside the head. Shikaku just gave a nervous laugh.

Chouji was eating chips. His father was eating a teriyaki bowl. Ino, who never got around to growing her hair quite as long ever again, stood next to her father, completing the Ino-shika-chou trio. The new one and the old one.

From a corner, Mizuki seethed as his plans were thwarted by the demon brat again. His plan to coerce Naruto into a desperate espionage with the Scroll of Sealing failed, as Naruto did, in fact manage to pass the exam, and because after the theft of the scroll a day ago, it was now in the highest maximum security possible, deep in ANBU headquarters. But, Shadow clones? Who would've thought the demon actually had any talent? Now that he knew he was possibly underestimating the brat, he had to lay low, and seek advantages.

To Mizuki's right, Iruka stood, proud of all his students, but knowing that most of them would return. He hoped he made the best decisions with their teams. It wasn't fair, but one team in particular he had high hopes for. He wasn't very old, but in his hard shinobi life, Iruka had seen and experienced many things. Call it a teacher's sixth sense. He knew they were going to be great. He just knew.

Meanwhile...

"Good to see that you're on time for once, Kakashi." Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, sitting in his plush chair in his office.

"You wished to see me sir?" Kakashi lazily hunched, but his attention was solely dedicated to the leader.

"Yes. You will be taking a team this year, and as we've discussed, you will be taking on Team Seven."

"I already know this. Why do you need me?" Kakashi respectfully asked. He was itching to read his favorite book, but Sarutobi was stalling.

Sarutobi took another puff. "I called you to warn you."

"About?"

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura. The lot of them. Just be careful."

Kakashi scratched his chin. Was there a sufficient reason why he, a S-class Jounin, had to watch out for a bunch of freshly minted Genin? "I will."

Sarutobi internally groaned. He could see the Jounin was not taking him seriously. Oh well, he warned him! "Then you are dismissed. Good luck." You'll need it. For that group of rascals.

"Yes sir." Kakashi disappeared in a teleportation jutsu. Less than a second later, he appeared in the academy, where there were still a group of students excitedly jabbering about their graduation. Any ninja worth their salt can do a little recon, just to be safe, right?

"Oh hey, Kakashi-san!" As he was walking down the halls, a fat Chuunin whose name he couldn't seem to recall waved at him. Absentmindedly he waved back, but still couldn't match a name with the face. The fat Chuunin -can such a fat person be a ninja? (other than Akimichis)- came up to him and started talking quickly. Kakashi tuned most of it out by whipping out his favorite orange book.

"...never knew that brat would pass..."

"What?" Kakashi peeled his eyes away from the pages. Something about Naruto? Sensei's son?

"That runt! Uzumaki Naruto! He's a useless one, no need to worry about him, he's coming straight back here." The fat Chuunin folded his arms.

"..." Kakashi certainly heard that his sensei's son didn't share his father's vast amount of talent, but to be considered absolutely worthless?

"Oh, and there's that Haruno girl. Sweet one, that is. Adorable and quick-witted, but other than that, nothing too special. Pretty average, I should say. Top Kunoichi though."

"I see."

"Sad thing lost her only mother six years ago. Been alone ever since. Just like the Uchiha heir. Hoo boy, that kid's a prodigy."

Did this guy know which team he was taking on? He just talked about all three of his students. "A prodigy, you say?"

"Yeah! But otherwise quiet and unnoticeable. Great skills, but not that dazzling. Wonder who Iruka and the Third will pair him up with. Someone strong, I hope. He's the last of the Uchiha."

"Hmm."

…

"Hello Kakashi-san! You look well! Are you taking on a team this year?" A vibrant, skinny Chuunin ran up to him. "None of this year's graduates are too remarkable, sorry to say. Except for the fact that almost all of the major clan's heirs are graduating at the same time, nothing too great."

"I heard the Uchiha is pretty good."

"He's okay. The standard genius. Too quiet, in my opinion. And there's that Naruto boy, he's either withdrawn or pranking. He's a funny one. I daresay he won't make it far into the shinobi world."

"Oh?"

"No one bested your record of graduating yet Kakashi-san!" the chuunin's eyes glimmered with admiration. "I know your students will be blessed with an amazing teacher!"

"Perhaps."

…

Kakashi walked into the orientation hall, to find it empty. Everyone had left, huh? Well, he still got plenty of info. Some people were biased, some weren't. Sadly, he wasn't able to catch their homeroom teacher before he left. Iruka was a good honest man and could have given him some quality information. But so far, from what he gathered...

Maybe Sarutobi's warning was a little unfounded, after all? Frankly, he didn't think they were very threatening.

Bah, another year of failures. What a bore.

Kakashi flipped open his book and poofed away.

Hey guys. I'm back with a longer chapter. This is my last prologue. But, I will remind you again that the real plot is meant to start once they're teenagers, so I will be moving fast through their childhood. So don't bash me on that.

Also, I'll remind you again that I have my own sense of humor and don't bash me for not being "drop dead on the floor" hilarious. If you flame me, I'll just point you to what Sakura says to the boys.

Lastly, I need reviews. Seriously. So far, this fic has so much attention compared to my other stories, and yet I still get menial amounts of reviews. Is this an insult to my writing skills? Hope not.

Again, the poem is not mine. It was something I took off the internet because it was so moving. I feel very strongly about all forms of friendship and that's one of the reasons why I'm writing this fic. Please don't mistake this story for romance. I do have some romance in mind, but don't actively endourse pairings. You can, and I'll consider it, but I'm still probably going to go with my idea.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review. I have benchmarks this week and next week, so if any of you are reading my other stories, then they might not be updated. This one, I'm not sure yet. I might, depending on how many reviews I get.

Thanks!

-Hulk.