AN:
Again, just to be thorough: beyond the usual emphasized words and expressions, italicized segments usually are 'the mysterious voice' (or Inner Sakura) speaking, while (bracketed) segments signify 'active thought', non-vocalized or 'private' speech, sometimes an emotional echo or associative thought.
And of course I don't own Naruto, Sasuke or anyone else native to the series, be it manga or anime.
oOo
During the chuunin exam, in the Forest of Death, Orochimaru gives Sasuke the Cursed Seal. So far, so bad and a familiar story.
But when Sasuke wakes, why does he hear a voice that tries to undermine the sannin's influence? And knows things?
oOo
Raven Chatter
The Raven is large and powerful, but still mostly a carrion eater. He symbolizes death on the battlefield.
Part Two: Fangirl Surprise (or: Tower Fight, Part One)
oOo
"Iruka, I need to talk to Kakashi, quickly," Sasuke tried to interrupt.
"I'll see what I can do, but first get in here, you were almost too late, we don't have the time now," Iruka answered while practically shoving Team Seven through the door.
Damn.
"Nothing we can do now, unless you want to make a scene."
No. Even if the snake has infiltrated, I want to do the exam and show what I can do.
"Sigh. Very well, but you really need to work on that pride of yours."
Hrn.
With a final shove, they entered the hall where all the other chuunin hopefuls who were left after the forest were waiting. They took their places and listened to the Hokage's speech.
"I wish we could make them listen now," Sakura murmured. "With that undetectable face-changing technique of his Orochimaru could be anyone here we don't know good enough to notice a fake."
"I could make them listen, y'know," Naruto grumbled under his breath.
"And bust the whole exam whether necessary or not. No thanks, slacker, causing a scene would hurt more than help," Sasuke hissed. "I'm not willing to blow my chance at becoming chuunin yet."
(I need to know (and show) where I stand.)
(Good, he's focused on that now as a way to prove his abilities instead on blind revenge.)
"... hell yeah," Sakura cursed halfheartedly, not even rising to Naruto's protest. "And we have no proof either, just very strong suspicions."
"Nothing we can do now about that. I hate it, but let's just go with the flow for now," Sasuke ended their whispered conversation.
The short talk to Naruto just before they opened the scrolls had worked surprisingly well. Staying serious and not exchanging insults had been impossibly hard, but rewarding. It made him guess whether the slacker actually had noticed some of the wrongness too? No, he probably was just as tired as they all were and too beat to act up. Rare but possible.
Kabuto is quitting? Damn, I really wanted to kick his butt, too...
Soon the speeches were over and the match-ups started.
("Okay, the first actual changes in the events – less vocal complaints, and I have successfully distracted Sasuke from brooding over Itachi and his revenge. He hasn't droned about being an 'Avenger' to Sakura, Kakashi didn't come to warn him of the seal – okay, we were a minute later than the first time, but it seems the ripples have started,") the voice mused, unnoticed by its host.
oOo
"First Match: Uchiha Sasuke..." as the first display stopped.
("Well, no change there...")
Then the second display stopped too, but not as expected.
"... versus Yamanaka Ino!"
"Yeehaw!" the voice cheered after a second of shocked silence.
"What? Okay, an easy win for me, but why so excited?" Sasuke muttered mentally.
"Oops. Well, I just got proof of something important. And don't underestimate Blondie, her family techniques can mess up your 'easy win' easily. Now get ready, and just look at her face." The voice literally oozed an evil grin.
Ino just stood there, petrified, a terror-stricken expression on her face.
Sasuke smirked, while Sakura, hurrying upstairs to the viewer's balcony, tried to contain her laughter.
"Hey, Ino," Sasuke said, keeping his smirk and decided to give her a chance. "Are you giving up?"
"B-b-but... Sasuke-kun...," Ino stammered.
"You can just give up, Ino-pig, if you don't want to get bitch-slapped by Sasuke-kun," Sakura yelled.
"So much for dropping the fangirl behavior," Sasuke thought, looking at her in annoyance, only to be surprised when Sakura gave him a sly wink and a smirk worthy of himself, accompanied by an air-punch. "What the hell...?"
"Or you can try to prove you can do more than care for your hair and clothes," she added, still amused, but without her usual rancor.
"Oh, that's how it is, is it? Verry interresting," the voice purred, confusing Sasuke. "I hadn't expected her to go that far that fast."
Wait, what?
"*Cough* Ready?" the announcer and referee asked just before Ino could explode with an agitated 'Forehead!' yell. Still shocked, she flinched and took a step backwards.
"But... You can't want to fight me, Sasuke-kun..." she whispered, looking at him imploringly, eyes almost tearing up.
"Oh? Are you giving up then?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, willing to let her if she couldn't be serious.
"Hey, Ino-pig! If you actually manage to beat Sasuke-kun I'll let you go out with him!"
"Bwahaha! Oh, that's great," laughed the voice as Sasuke sweatdropped and most of the onlookers, including Hayate, followed suit. Gai and Lee instead yelled something about youth being the greatest motivator.
Which actually seemed to work – or maybe Ino decided to take Sakura literally.
"Yes! I'll show you how much I love you by proving I'm worthy to be your true and only love! Get ready, Sasuke-kun, and afterwards we'll live in eternal bliss forever!" Ino yelled, flames flaring up in her eyes and a crazed grin in her face that actually managed to stun Sasuke enough to make him miss Hayate's command: "Then *cough* Start!"
With unexpected speed, Ino shot forwards, hands outstretched in grasping claws.
Sasuke, having completely underestimated Ino's energy, almost froze as she grabbed his shirt and apparently tried to force a kiss on him. The prospect galvanized the last Uchiha into action, quickly breaking her hold and clumsily leaping away from her, still dazed a bit from the surprise.
"Sasuuuukeee!" Ino yelled, a heartbroken expression on her face, actually scaring the boy with her intensity, which surpassed her usual fangirlish behavior notably.
(Damn, that really can cause an honest fangirlphobia... how would that be called professionally, anyway?)
Confused and weirded out he tried to clear his mind. While he didn't really care for the blonde, he still was a bit reluctant to take her physically serious and just hit the girl. Also he was still tired from the grueling events during the forest test and being called out for the very first fight didn't help. So he almost completely missed as Ino dropped her crazed expression and leapt back just as the small powder clouds exploded from his shirt, exactly where she had grabbed his shirt, and he involuntary took a short breath.
He instantly stopped and exhaled again, forcefully, but didn't actually move fast enough as the action caused him to flinch from the pain in his lungs and diaphragm, self-inflicted by suppressing his cough reflex. Ino had a hint of regret on her face as she used his momentary paralysis to hurry through her seals and triggered her mindswitch technique: "Shintenshin no Jutsu!"
The Konoha genin in the audience gasped in surprise.
"Oh Sh..."
oOo
Ino and Sasuke stood motionless.
Sasuke held his head low, before starting to chuckle.
"He he he he... Shintenshin no Jutsu – success! Sasuke-kun, we'll have so much fun together..." he muttered in girlish excitement.
The audience held a shocked silence. Their thoughts raced.
The blonde fangirl had ensnared the Uchiha? She would win? How was that possible?
These and similar thoughts seemed to run through most of the genin's minds, while some of the teachers and older shinobi nodded in slight disappointment and acknowledged Ino making great use of her acting abilities and capitalizing on Sasuke's overconfidence and distraction.
Sasuke, or rather Ino controlling him, let out a satisfied sigh and hugged him- or herself.
"Well, only one thing left to do. Announcer, Uchiha Sasuke – glark!"
He (she) suddenly retched. Sasuke raised his head and strode forward towards Ino's figure. He raised his hand and pushed the girl's forehead, toppling her like a mannequin.
"... has won, since his opponent can't fight anymore," he stated firmly before raising his face and showing his blazing sharingan eyes to the repeated gasp of the audience.
On the balcony, the Sound team's leader smirked.
Hayate coughed in slight surprise, before evaluating the girl lying limply on the floor. A few heartbeats passed, before he stated: "Fine. Winner: Uchiha Sasuke."
The boy let out a short breath before inhaling deeply and calming his still sore lungs. He let go of the sharingan and Ino, at his feet, twitched.
Several members of the audience sweatdropped, as she rolled over and moaned: "Sasuke-kuun... so strong... so forward... mmmm..."
Sasuke froze, eyes bulging and gasping like a fish for a moment, before he flinched, trying to slip on his familiar uncaring mask and quickly made his way up to the gallery and his team, while some believed to see a slight embarrassed flush on his face.
Sakura met him with a glare. "Sasuke-kuun..."
Naruto, uncharacteristically, only raised an eyebrow - before he lost it and dropped in howling laughter, only broken up by a few indefinite words of pervert fangirls or bastards.
Kakashi seemed to look approvingly at Sasuke before breaking out in giggles.
And Sasuke now held a visible blush – not comparable to Hinata's a few groups away, of course – and muttered: "... not supposed to react that way..."
The Oto jounin just shook his head in disappointment, unnoticed by anyone else.
oOo
Thanks a lot, Sasuke thought darkly.
"Umm, I'm just as surprised as you there." Even the voice seemed embarrassed.
What did you do, exactly?
"Er, I just distracted her as she controlled you and jump-started your sharingan with a chakra pulse, effectively just pushing her out roughly. A second longer and she would have moved before Gekko declared the win."
Distracted her – how? Sasuke thought darkly.
"Ehehe... a metaphorical and virtual slap on her rear... nothing more."
Both presences decided simultaneously not to ponder the implications of the resulting consequences.
oOo
The laughter and teasing would have continued, had not the next match been announced right now: "Second Match: Uzumaki Naruto versus Zaku Abumi!"
"Ne, Sakura-chan, that was one of the guys who attacked you and hurt you while we were out, ne?" Naruto's mood instantly went from hilarity to murderous.
"Y-yeah, and the one Sasuke barely stopped himself from breaking his arms."
"From ripping his arms out, I'd rather say."
And why did you stop me from doing that anyway?
"Naruto...," Sasuke murmured aloud, staring at the Oto blowhard, "rip him a new one."
Naruto looked at him, barely believing what he just heard, before grinning widely.
"Ohh yeah, I'll make him regret that. Believe it."
Then he just jumped down and let the announcer start the match.
oOo
The match was, at least to Sasuke and Sakura, not very surprising, but deeply satisfying. After getting blown around a bit by Zaku's air techniques Naruto summoned a few shadow clones – less than a dozen – and simply dominated the rest of the fight, finishing with his personalized 'U-zu-ma-ki Na-ru-to' Rendan combo and leaving Zaku unconscious with the definite outlook of being colored in painful shades of red and blue for the next few weeks - and maybe a couple of broken bones. Though it had seemed, about halfway through, that the Oto nin was going to pull out a few surprises, that had also been the moment he had talked trash about Sakura, and that had set Naruto off enough that Zaku never got a chance to show more than his basic air cannon blasts.
Needless to say, Sakura felt rightfully vindicated and actually thanked Naruto and congratulated him on his win, while Hinata, blushing fiercely, came shyly over – with a heartening shove from her sensei – and offered Naruto a small jar of healing salve, apologizing for not managing to do it before his match.
Naruto dismissed her apology and thanked her enthusiastically, causing her to almost explode from the semi-hug he gave her. Sakura, suppressing a giggle, saved her and helped her return to her team. The Hyuuga girl almost floated.
Then it was time for the next match.
"Third Match: Haruno Sakura - will face... Nara Shikamaru!"
oOo
"Maaan, that's soo unfair," Naruto complained. "We were the last who returned, had no time to rest and now we all are the very first who have to fight? I can't believe it!"
"Maa, Naruto, that's life as a ninja. Sometimes you can't choose when or how to fight, and sometimes the fights don't stop coming just because you're tired. If you're lucky you still have the ressources left to pull out a victory, but if not, that is the time you lose and maybe die," Kakashi commented.
"Kakashi," Sasuke interrupted. "We need to talk. Quickly."
"Oh? What's so important?" the masked ninja asked.
"A snake in the woods," Sasuke drily stated, causing Kakashi to fixate on him with his uncovered eye.
"I see. Well, watch Sakura's fight while I prepare a proper location."
"Hrn."
"Well, if he applies his usual sense of timing we'll probably get to see all the other fights before he gets back to us."
Hrn, affirmed Sasuke mentally.
oOo
Sakura stood there annoyed, facing Shikamaru.
"Drat, I really don't want to fight you. I still owe you thanks for your help back in the forest."
"Well," Shikamaru drawled, "if you are thankful enough to just forfeit..."
"Hell no! I want my chance at becoming chuunin, too," Sakura exclaimed.
"Well, in that case I could...," began the boy, joining his hands behind his head, before being interrupted from the balcony.
"Don't you dare, Nara Shikamaru! If you just give her a free pass I'll hound you till your death!"
That yell came from Ino, of course, who had finally recovered from whatever the Uchiha had done to her and her mindswitch technique but still sported an intermittent blush amplified by occasional catcalls from Tenten.
"Shikamaru, if you don't do your best to win I'll cancel the barbecue I had planned afterwards," his sensei stated, causing Chouji to exclaim: "NOOOOOO!"
"Tch. Troublesome. I don't know whether I'd die from hemorrhaging eardrums or being buried alive," Shikamaru quipped, "so the simple way out is gone, sorry."
"Oh, no problem, I wouldn't really want that either," Sakura dismissed the notion. "But you know what? I guess Ino wouldn't be too happy either if you just caught me in your clan technique and took the easy way out, don't you think?" she aked with an incredibly sweet but evil smile.
"So you think about it, what is worse: having to work at it a bit or having to deal with a pissed Ino-pig for the rest of the month?"
"So troublesome...," Shikamaru moaned as Hayate, on a gesture by Sakura and a questioning look at the Nara boy, started the match and Sakura immediately forced him to dodge with a hail of kunai.
Trying to confuse him she quickly started creating a few bunshin and charged, moving through the illusions to conceal her true location.
Shikamaru honestly was surprised a bit by her tactics, which didn't mesh with the profile he had constructed of the pink-haired kunoichi, and frantically blocked and dodged, all the time furiously thinking, forming and discarding plans by the dozens. Sakura actually was at most adequate in taijutsu, but to be honest, so was he himself, being used to rely on Chouji's support and his own shadow techniques; he was probably quite a bit better and stronger, but her sudden aggression was unexpected and even he could not compensate mid-combat that easily, yet.
"Whoah, what brought that on?" he asked mid-block, having successfully determined where the real attack came from.
"I don't think," footsweep, "you'd be surprised," high block, "if I told you," low punch getting through, ouch, "it was something Sasuke said?"
"Just a bit," grab – damn, a clone – counter, "but it seems," dodge, leap, dodge, "to have had an impact."
'Which actually surprises me more,' he didn't say.
oOo
The gallery, once again, was mostly silent in astonishment.
"I see," muttered Asuma. "She managed to discourage him from using his clan technique and pressured him into a taijitsu battle, which actually isn't his strongest point. And now she keeps the pressure up to deny him the possibility to come up with a winning strategy as well as keeping him unable to change his mind and catch her shadow by moving too fast and unpredictably. Amazing, I thought the girl would never learn to use the brains her academy scores indicated."
"But I thought Shikamaru is a literal genius, just too laid back to work at it?" Kurenai asked from the side, causing Chouji and Ino, both open-mouthed, to nod wordlessly but affirmatively.
"Yes, but the Haruno girl isn't that far behind. She found a strategy which has promise and capitalizes on it. Shikamarus genius is no help if he has no time to plan, and she does her best to deny him that. She just has to keep it up, and Shikamaru's best hope is she can't."
oOo
"What exactly did you say to her, Sasuke?" Naruto asked suspiciously.
"Nothing she shouldn't have thought of herself for a long time, I thought," Sasuke answered absently, but without true dismissal.
Naruto sent him a doubtful look, but it seemed the exhaustion had finally set in and made him just watch silently.
oOo
Sakura, down in the arena, thought feverishly herself.
"Hell yeah, kick his ass!" Sidestep the clone, block the kick, sidestep again, pull a kunai, make the clones follow suit, threaten the flank. I have to keep it up, don't give him time to think. Footsweep, grab, damn he rolled away, leap to follow, press the attack, dodge not block, now block not dodge, damn I don't know how long I can keep it up - "Do it!" – No, don't overthink it, grab - "Yes" – throw, tumble, keep the hold –
At the same time, Shikamaru had his solution.
Damn, she has me, no, go with the flow, roll, break free, an opening - now!
With a burst of strength and speed, he rolled over, using the momentum to break the hold, and the moment his neck and upper back could give him the leverage, exploded in a triple attack, both of his legs and one fist striking each Sakura surrounding him simultaneously. Two were the clones, of course, and popped right out of existence, but the third was the real one and got a very solid hit in the solarplexus, shoving her a good distance away and allowing him to use his other arm to resume his roll and get up quickly.
Sakura, gasping for air, could not avoid his finally onrushing shadow.
"Kagemane no jutsu – success," the boy tiredly stated. "Damn, girl, what have you been eating? That actually was much closer than I ever expected."
Sakura gulped for air, but finally recovered.
"Heh – thought I had you – tried to get you - into a - coup de grace position," she glanced at her kunai, "to make you quit," she panted. "And I would have had you – if you hadn't broken – the last hold."
"That you would have," he admitted. "*Pant* Ready to quit now yourself?"
"Hell noooo!"
"Heh – not much of a choice, have I?" Her kunai dropped on the ground. He had only held her yet, so she could do at lest open her hand.
A few seconds passed.
"Very well. Winner: Nara Shikamaru," Hayate finally announced.
The audience went wild.
"Yosh! Never have I seen her flames of youth burning so brightly! Sakura-san, let's celebrate that great fight afterwards, together!" "Hell no!" "Ooooh..."
"Good fight, Forehea- Sakura."
"Yeah! The barbecue is saved!"
"Sakura-chaan!"
"Tch. There is hope yet."
"That was... unexpected."
"Wow."
"Whoa."
"Baw, baw! Whine."
"Um," Shikamaru wondered, "why does everyone cheer for Sakura if I am the one who won? Troublesome..."
oOo
Holding a hand on her stomach, Sakura made her way upstairs to her teammates.
"That was amazing, Sakura-chan," cheered the yellow-orange explosion, pumping his fist in the air.
"Heh. Thanks, but I still lost," she replied wistfully.
"But you gave a good fight," Sasuke commented, almost triggering a fangirl relapse.
No, no... no useless fawning... as much as I want to... but the praise feels good...
"Hey, this time even Naruto's cheering felt good," Inner Sakura wondered.
Hey, that's right... probably because I really earned that praise, ne?
"Hell right! And if we work at it, we will truly deserve even more!"
For a few seconds, Sakura basked in the feeling.
oOo
"Heh, not an easy win, eh, pineapple-head?"
Shikamaru almost pouted. "She had a point, you know, bleach-head," he fired back. Chouji almost choked on his chips, as Ino's eyes widened.
"Whoa! Sore winner?" she asked, backing off a bit.
"Naah, nothing that troublesome. She just reminded me these fights are intended to also show off our abilities, not just to win. Actually, that's even more troublesome," Shikamaru elaborated reluctantly. "If this had been a finals fight, Sakura would have had a good chance to get considered for promotion. Am I wrong, Asuma-sensei?"
"No, you are completely correct. She showed psychology, tactics, decisiveness and judgement, including the way she gave up. Good qualities for a chuunin to have," Asuma confirmed. "I'm just amazed she did that at all, according to Kakashi's stories I never would have expected that from her."
"Me neither, that's why she got me that way," the Nara admitted, already rolling back the fight mentally and looking for hints to Sakura's sudden change.
"I guess the sound team really shook her up... I remember she sacrificed her hair for a momentary advantage...," Ino mused, fondling her own ponytail absently.
"I guess having someone seriously trying to kill you does that," Chouji stated in surprising maturity.
"That it does, that it does...," Asuma murmured, remembering old times and bygone friends.
"Oh, right, sensei said before, Sakura might almost be in your league regarding brains, Shika," Ino teased. "So I decided. Unless either of you has found someone until the first of us makes jounin or turns twenty, whatever happens first," she said with a demonic grin, "I'll be talking to your and her parents and get them to arrange a marriage between you both. Can't go these Nara brains go to waste, can we?"
This time, Chouji did choke on his chips, Asuma sweatdropped, losing his cigarette, and Shikamaru ignored all of it and took a nap.
Or he fainted, for his mother actually might go for just that. She liked pink.
The difference is sometimes hard to tell.
oOo
Kakashi, not unexpected, had not yet returned when it was time for the next match to start.
"Fourth Match: Dosu Kinuta against Gaara of the *cough* Sand," Hayate announced.
Sasuke leaned forward, interested. Dosu had been one of the Sound nin who had attacked them just before he woke up, and Gaara... he was curious about the boy. Even the forest test had left him unmarked, and he seemed unfazed by anything happening around.
"Gaara...," Naruto muttered. "As much as I hate it, this time I'm almost happy that creep has to face him."
"Yeah," murmured Sakura, "he almost slaughtered Lee, you remember? I told you, didn't I? And he treated even his teammates like crap..."
"He's sooo dead... literally..." Sasuke's still unnamed inner voice murmured.
"What do you know about this Gaara anyway?" Sasuke directed the query to the voice as well as his teammates.
"He must be powerful, if the data given by Kabuto is true," Sakura stated.
"I knew that look in his eyes...," Naruto said quietly, as if in thought.
What does the slacker mean by this?
"It is not my place to tell yet, but Naruto and Gaara have a lot in common."
"Hm?" Sasuke's querying sound was quickly droned out by the sounds of the audience.
oOo
"Then start," Hayate quickly stepped back, unwilling to stay in the cones of killing intent emanating from both the Sand and the Sound boys.
"Yes, mother, you will feast on his blood soon," Gaara mumbled. "Yes... we'll play with him a while, yes, yes, as you desire, mother..."
"Ha, don't act so high and mighty, I'll show you," Dosu exclaimed, swinging his gauntleted arm dismissively – and producing a silent hum.
Akamaru, up on the balcony, whined. Kiba let him crawl down into the safety of his jacket, looking concerned and irritated rubbing his ear.
Gaara took a single step forward.
That minor move incited Dosu to charge madly, building momentum for a supposedly devastating attack. Just as he reached Gaara's position and struck, a whip of sand rose from behind the Sand boy and blocked the strike effortlessly. Dosu, in an apparent frenzy, struck and struck, each of his attacks futile until...
Gaara screamed and lashed out with his sand, whipping tentacles almost bisecting the Sound nin, who had leaped back out of easy reach. Gaara raised his hands and clasped his head, his ears, red tracks running down the holes.
"Hah, you forgot, didn't you," Dosu crowed in glee. "My ultrasound strike can bypass all your protections and attack your inner ear directly! Your sand may be a great defense, but against me, it's useless! Useless I say! Bwahaha," he laughed maniacally.
oOo
From the gallery, a shocked Temari watched, an equally shocked Kankuro beside her.
"Gaara has been hurt... actually hurt... this is bad, really bad...," she whispered.
"That Dosu boy seems to have forgotten everything...," Kankuro added quietly.
Baki, their sensei, shushed them. "We'll have to hope he remains in control."
The Oto team's jounin gritted his teeth watching.
Team Seven, on their side, clutched the railing.
"What is he doing there to Gaara? He didn't even touch him," Naruto complained.
"Right, he does that," Sakura reminded them, somewhat concerned with the Sand boy's reaction, and quickly explained the sound nins techniques again.
Naruto actually could be excused this time – during the Sound attack he had been unconscious, and the event in the exam room had been short and a week ago.
Sasuke didn't mention that he also would not have been sure to recall that attack in time.
"Uh oh... this could be bad, very bad... if Gaara loses control, all hell could break loose."
He's that powerful?
"Yes," the voice stated simply. "But his power also is hard to control. The only one safe from Gaara is Gaara. If he really goes berserk, not even his siblings are safe."
They are siblings?
"Yes, but... it's complicated."
oOo
With a triumphant yell, Dosu charged again, melody arm humming and building up vibrations. His next, special strikes would set up a chain reaction that would make that creepy monster's cold eyes burst and liquefy his brain! Who cared about plans anymore? His leader had betrayed them! He would kill the Sand boy and then, later, the Uchiha...
He completely missed Gaara's trembling, his sand beginning to circle in an agitated twister while staring with widened eyes at his blood-reddened palms. "My blood..."
Dosu yelled.
Gaara screamed.
Chakra flared. The sand seemed to act on its own. Tendrils shot up, blindly searching, probing - and making contact.
Before Dosu could react, all available sand shot along the few tendrils that had made successful contact and enveloped him completely.
Gaara just whispered in pain: "Die. Sabaku Sousou – Sand Waterfall Burial," and closed his fists.
The preliminaries were suspended for a while.
oOo
oOo
AN: I actually rolled a die to determine the fights. Only one substitution was made, to avoid a Kankuro vs. Temari fight, which neither I nor them did want ^^
And I had a lot of fun to make the two fangirl-fights fun and at least halfway interesting. Did I succeed? Tell me what you think!
Oh, and should you have noticed: Yes, Gaara's announcements hint at that joke I didn't want to actually put into a mostly canon background. Logging off... (27. Aug. 2013 - Minor Edits)
oOo
Next: Raven Chatter Part Three: Intermission
The Raven knows the value of patience. For if you wait long enough, wisdom, change and death all come looking for you.
Sakura grabbed the blond by the ear and pulled him along, making him squeal in pain. "Sakura-chaaan... lemme gooo..."
oOo