Aaawoooo! Yeah, I don't know how an Owl can Howl. Getit? Howl? Owl? ... So... Thanks again to Howl's Owls for the revision; she be awesome!

I promise to make updates more often.

I was toying with a kunai waiting for Nen and his friend at the front gate. I remembered to prepare everything; I stocked up my pouch, I fetched Nen's amulet even though he may have not wanted me to do so, and I charged up my Javelin of Light and Darkness. I leaned against the left post while slightly spinning the kunai in my hand. I shouldn't have brought Nen's amulet, it's cherished to him but I wanted to see what he would do with it. Grr, I hate myself sometimes; I used Blink solely because I wanted to take his amulet from him. What kind of cousin am I? I sighed, oh well. Too late to put it back now; they're on their way.

"Hi Nen!" I exclamatorily greeted, he was accompanied by the green flak jacket guy.

"What are you hiding...?" H-How'd Nen know? Did I look too nervous?

"N-Nothing!" I responded hesitantly. I tried to keep a calm face. Nen scanned me thoroughly but he couldn't find anything.

"Maybe I can't find anything now but I will soon." Phew... He didn't see his amulet... Or maybe he's playing tricks and wants me to think that he couldn't find anything! Stay vigilant! Or not...

We started traveling to our destination, the green flak jacket guy who introduced himself to me as Shikamaru pointed us in the right direction. We headed through dozens of forests toward the south-east. We journeyed a fairly long distance. Shikamaru pointed out that we'll be heading to the country directly south of the Country of Waves so he suggested we get there in a hurry. He knew these woods really well, he almost reminds me of Arjen. Arjen, the day before he was murdered, succeeded his father in the clan's honorable Hunting position. He was only 19 when he had done so, but he was his father's apprentice for practically half his life. I was always amazed on how he would round and catch the wild animals surrounding our village; barely anyone else had that much experience.

We took a short rest at a comfortable natural spring and drank some of its waters. I knew I was really refreshed; this is almost as good as the natural spring a few kilometers from our clan base! Good memories right there...

If I go in the back secret entrance, they'll never even notice me sneaking by! Just gotta go it before day strikes.

Wait... Who do I hear...? Is that... Cheri? And... Aloisa? Lemme take a look...

"What are you doing Sironar?"

"Ack! Acacius-sensei! N-Nothing!"

"Don't worry; I won't do anything. I used to do that to the girl I had a crush on when I was your age."

"R-Really?"

"It was always fun to do, spying on the girls when they're in the spring."

"W-Why are you telling me this?"

"No reason; I wanted you to continue practicing on your rope dart techniques, instead of slacking off and taking a break to take a look at the girls."

"Sironar, let's go!" Damn...! I was daydreaming again wasn't I? Well, I'll show them "go!" I was dashing as much as my energy allowed me; I signaled that we should race to our destination.

"Ack, crap!" Shikamaru tripped me using his foot and I slid on the ground face-down gathering dirt on my clothing...

"Oww... Why did you do that for...?" I returned to my feet and tightened my bandanna.

"There's no need to rush, Sironar. Save your energy for when we get there." He responded.

"He has a point, Siren; we don't know if there's going to be a fight soon." Nen also said in defense. I guess that's true, we seem so close too. We paced ourselves afterward.

During our travel I was quite distracted by Nen. I hadn't even realized we crossed the Fire country's borders if it weren't for Shikamaru's announcement. I kept looking at Nen for some reason... Maybe I was trying to make sure I wasn't daydreaming about that orange number that was floating above him. And Zenaq's Syndrome as well, what if some after effect kicks in? Nen could be totally vulnerable. It's just not safe to think about the black scales on him; I'm worrying myself too much.

"We should be there in about 100 yards," Shikamaru declared. "I'll direct the statue once we get there." Statue? What statue? I was never told of a statue... We hopped tree to tree until we met our destination.

We jumped off and directly in front of us laid a tarnished bronze figure. It was around twice my size. The figure was a slim young-aged lady. Her hair was straight, combed and fell to around her waist. She wore a hanging oversized robe with no footwear. The statue must have been several years old already; the bronze that the statue was constructed from became discolored from a copper shade to a greenish-brown color. The statue was located in the middle of the dense forest; anyone could have stumbled upon it and thought: 'What is this doing out here?' It was built right next to an aged tree. I'm maybe curious, but I wasn't as this curious as before... Who was this lady; was she somebody great with honor? Why is this statue built in the middle of the woods? Is it this country's tradition to built random statues dedicated to unheard of people?

"Step back." Shikamaru commanded. I didn't know what he was going to do so I obediently followed his order. I tensed up a little; he reached and retrieved two kunai and string. Nen placed his hand on my shoulder; usually that meant that I should calm down. But, still, you never know...

Suddenly, Shikamaru threw the two kunai which was attached to each other by the white string toward the statue's hands. The hands were at the lady's side. The two kunai pierced the rusted stone and a faint clicking sound was heard from both hands. Unless I was hearing things I'm sure Nen also heard that triggering thud... Shikamaru then tugged on the string which bent the kunai on an acute angle.

Out of the blue, the statue moved.

BREAKING NEWS!

Dun-dun-dun-dun dun dun duuun.

This is now my news bar. (Otherwise known as Post Authors Notes.)

In other news...

So many ideas popping in my head, typing them down makes me lose what inspiration that I have when trying to type up the next chapter. Hopefully it doesn't go so rough, I tend to plan waay ahead, for example step 10, but I never plan step 1 first.