Right, in case you didn't get the memo... THIS IS THIRD PERSON'S POV SO HEADS UP :D

Chapter Thirty: Battles Galore

Kakashi sauntered over to join his team as they leaned over the railings. The rest of the remaining candidates were already shuffling to settler by the stands. He smiled as the scamp waved him over, her canines gleaming. "Kakashi!", she greeted. Mononoke seemed pretty energetic. Even after the tiring second phase, she looks well rested.

After the little devil called out to him, it caught her teammates attention. Naruto and Sakura both grinned in relief at the sight of their nonchalant sensei. Although he didn't look like it, Kakashi could see that Sasuke relaxed when he saw him too.

Kakashi waved at his team, "Yo."

As he settled against the wall behind them, he watched in amusement as Naruto and Mononoke bickered over who might go first before Sakura punched both of their heads to shut them up. Sasuke just rolled his eyes when Mononoke giggled mischieviously at the Uchiha, still rubbing her sore head.

It looks like the four of them have gotten much closer, thanks to this exam. That's good. It's great for them to progress their teamwork.

The Copy Nin glanced around. The other Genins were worn out. He hopes this would be all over soon. All he wants to do is go home and take a nice long nap. Maybe the scamp can come over later? It's getting pretty chilly at night, even though its spring. His heater broke down, that's all. And it would be nice to cuddle his own little human heater.

Hayate coughed a fit again, causing all eyes to turn to him.

"Right, as we have an uneven number of remaining candidates, the last candidate will fight against a victor from the previous matches." he announced, before waving at the screen at the front of the hall.

"Your names will appear there to decide the fighters." Another harsh coughing fit escaped him, which is bad enough to make the others feel that his head would fly off his neck.

"So that means whoever is the last guy must be lucky, because you would know your opponents fighting style," Mononoke said in amusement, touching her jade earring. Kakashi smiled at her observation. And he just noticed her earring. He didn't realized she had the accessory. The scamp usually wore rings like the Nara clan or the silver paw-prints ones he got for her the year before.

Kakashi looked over to the hall. Although he doesn't look it, he can't wait to see how everyone's grown.

Sasuke was up first, facing off some guy from Kabuto's team. The Uchiha didn't feel much threat from his opponent, only that he's some cocky bastard. Tch. Guys like him makes him sick.

The moment the Uchiha stepped in the ring, the three idiots began whooping encouragements for him. As embarrassing as they are, Sasuke couldn't help but feel energized by their enthusiasm. It felt nice to have someone rooting for you. Naruto and Sakura were shouting and pumping their fists animatedly so much, even Kakashi had to look away from the cringing sight.

At least Mononoke proved herself to be a useful holler as she pointed out his opponent's death blow.

"Watch your back, Uchiha!" she had yelled and he managed to dodge the punch. If he didn't act quickly, he would've been the one on that stretcher right now. The man groaned after getting his arse whipped by his Lion Combo. Sasuke watched blankly as the medics herded the wounded Genin out of the hall.

And when he was pronounced the winner, Team Seven went wild.

Sakura clenched her fists and gritted her teeth at the names on the screen.

Yamanaka Ino vs Haruno Sakura

She was about to face her worst rival.

And ex-best friend.

It made her nerves shake. How was she going to face Ino? All the empty threats they threw each other were, well, empty. They didn't mean anything except to have a good catfight. But this a battle, a physical battle.

The pinkette felt a hand on her shoulder and turned. She saw the look on her teammate's face and mirrored Mononoke's smile. "Go get her, Sakura! Show her who's boss!" Naruto stepped up beside her left, giving her a toothy grin, "Yeah, Sakura-chan! You're going to win Ino for sure!" Sakura took a glance at Sasuke, and even he gave her an approving nod. Feeling pumped by their encouragement, Sakura lifted her fists up in determination.

"Hell yeah!"

Which, of course, in the end, resulted in a tie between both girls.

While Sakura was still a little wobbly from her fight, Lee and Naruto began bickering about who's going to go first in the next match. So obviously she had to take things in her hands. Mononoke just pulled both of their earlobes, earning pained yelps from both idiots, "Oh shut up, it's neither of you." The boys looked up at the screen, rubbing their sore ears and groaned at the sight.

Nara Shikamaru vs Tsuchi Kin

"Tch, looks like I'm up." Shikamaru mused as he stepped into the ring. Ino was already up and at it as he stood there lazily, shouting encouragements at her teammate. The Nara boy sighed and rubbed his neck, "Man, this is so troublesome." Ino is being such a drag. Isn't she supposed to be resting? Where did all her energy come from anyway?

"Oi, Shika! If you lose to her, I'm gonna kick your ass!" he heard another voice hollered but this time he couldn't help but snort in amusement as he looked sideways at Mononoke. She has that look in her eyes again. That damn determined look as she smiled at him. The kind of look that believed him fully.

The Nara boy just sighed and turned back to his opponent. Guess he can't let her down.

And there is no way is he going to lose to a girl.

Inuzuka Kiba vs Uzumaki Naruto

Mononoke stared dumbly at the screen. Well, what do you know? This is certainly a surprise.

She heard Naruto shuffling uncomfortably beside her and she sighed. The blond was already looking at her when she smiled at him.

"Guess I won't be on anyone's side this time around." She said with a shrug, before placing a firm squeeze on his shoulder, "Do your best, knuckle brain." Naruto gave her a dazzling grin before gripping her hand with determination."Believe it, dattebayo!"

Sasuke, who was beside her, just snorted at him, "Hmph, just don't screw up, idiot." Naruto blinked at the rare input by the Uchiha before giving his team a grin and a thumbs-up, "Sure thing!"

Sakura gave him a firm slap on his back, "Yeah, you can do it! Whip that dog boy's ass!"

Mononoke snickered at the pinkette, "Watch your potty mouth, flower girl."

"You're not any better, shorty." Sasuke butted in and earned himself a glare from said short-stuff. Mononoke then realized someone was watching her and looked over his shoulder to lock eyes with her best friend.

Kiba had an unreadable look on his face but Mononoke showed her canines, grinning at him before mouthing, "Knock 'em dead." The Inuzuka immediately broke into a smile and mirrored her grin.

Both boys leaped into the ring, meeting face to face.

As the match commenced, Mononoke slipped away from her team to stand beside Shikamaru. The Nara had his eyes so intent on the match, he didn't even realize she was beside him until their elbows touched. He startled at the unexpected physical touch but relaxed when he heard her laugh, "Don't worry, Shika. I don't bite."

He snorted at the comment before he looked back at the match.

"So, how're you taking this?" he asked her after awhile. Shikamaru knew Mononoke must be feeling conflicted about this match. Her best friend and her teammate in a life-or-death match. Judging by the Inuzuka's fighting capability, Naruto would most probably be wounded badly. But if Naruto, somehow, managed to turn the tables, Kiba won't get out of this unscathed either. But both results would break Mononoke's heart.

He knew how much both boys means to her.

The moonlight haired girl just shrugged, "Okay, I guess. It's uncomfortable but I've seen worse things."

She says that, but...

Shikamaru looked at her hands. Her fingers were clenched so tightly, her knuckles were white. He could even see her shivering slightly. The Nara didn't understand why but he felt a pang in his chest. Before he could stop himself, he placed a comforting hand on her shuddering ones. "Hey, it's okay. They'll both be fine." She nodded, her eyes still on the match but allowing him to convince her as she relaxed. At least she managed to breathe normally now.

But the Nara boy heard some snickering beside him and he turned. Ino was a few ways off, looking at them with a devilish smile and twinkling eyes. Chouji was looking at him too, a small smile on his lips. He rolled his eyes at the blonde and removed his hand from Mononoke, feeling a little flustered at his teammates' reactions.

Kami, why are they making him feel so uncomforable anyway? It's not like he's doing something illegal. Ugh. He suddenly felt like a child who got caught stuffing his face with cookies.

However, Mononoke didn't seemed to mind as she shifted her pose. She tucked her hands on the railings and jutted her elbows outwards, resting her chin on her arms. As Shikamaru settled beside her, trying to act as nonchalant as possible due to his teammates knowing looks, he noticed Mononoke's lack of vibrancy. He stole a glance at her. She was just watching the match with a hollow look.

The moment Naruto was hailed the winner, she immediately tore off, leaving Shikamaru standing there in surprise. Well, more surprised than he already was after watching Naruto give Kiba a solid beating. There she goes. He watched as she rushed across the side-lines and down the stairs, arriving by her best friend's side in a flash.

Kiba gave her a weak smile as she stood beside him, her eyes darting from his left eye to his right then back again, searching. "I'm fine, Mo." he said reassuringly, although he was a little tired. Okay, a whole lot of tired.

But ultimately, he didn't want her to worry. Kiba couldn't bear to see Mononoke feel bad. After all, it was her teammate that busted him and Akamaru so badly.

"Yeah, right. You look like hell." Mononoke countered, taking a battered hand gingerly, careful not to hurt him. "It's not as bad as it looks." he tried again but she looked at the unconscious Akamaru. Kiba felt his heart crack at the look on her face as she stroked the puppy's soft fur.

He decided to quickly change the subject and smirked at her, "You better win your match, or I'll kick your ass."

"Dream on, dog boy. You can never beat me." she retorted. Mononoke didn't realize she was tearing up until Kiba wiped away a single traitorous tear trailing down her cheek. "Let me have my fantasies, Momo." She just shook her head and rubbed her cheek against his hand. It pained her to smell him so weak and wounded. And even in this state, he's trying to cheer her up. What is she going to do with this buffoon?

"K-Kiba-kun?" The duo turned to see Hinata shyly coming towards them. She lifted a small bottle of medicine, "U-um, this is for your wounds..."

Kiba smiled at her, "Well, if I get such special attention like this every time I'm wounded, I don't think I mind getting beat up." Mononoke swatted his cheek half-heartedly and he chuckled, accepting the medicine. They exchanged a few words before the girls saw him off. Mononoke was comforted that Hinata was such a kind teammate to Kiba. And to see him care for the Hyuga as well, Mononoke felt relieved albeit a little jealous but she couldn't help it. What can she say? She's pretty protective.

As he was hauled out of the hall, Mononoke watched as the medics took her best friend away. A hand on her shoulder made her look up. Hinata smiled at her encouragingly, "Kiba-kun will be okay. H-he's pretty tough." Mononoke returned her a smile before turning back at the direction where he left.

"Yeah, I know."

Gekko Hayate coughed a few times before looking at the screen behind him,

The last fight was pretty intense, the taijutsu boy even had his arm and leg broken because of it.

"Alright, this is the last match. The last remaining candidate, please step forward."

Mononoke sighed and stretched, "Well, finally! I thought my chance would never come." She was ready! After watching everyone fight, it managed to boost her up. Even though the fight before hers was between Gaara and Lee, which made her quite uncomfortable when she saw the look in Gaara's eyes. Although he was unsure around her, he seemed pretty adamant in hurting everyone else. Looks like she's got her work cut out for her.

Somehow, Kitty Ears were standing with them now, becoming quite a buddy to Naruto as they discussed about the matches before. Naruto gave her two thumbs up, "Gambateh, Mononoke-chan!" She grinned at him and nodded. Even Kankuro gave her a encouraging smirk. He looks like he wanted to fight her instead, to see what's she got. Although she would want to fight him too, after seeing that he's a puppeteer. That ought to be fun.

Sakura stepped up and gave her smaller comrade a determined look, "You're going to blow them away!" Mononoke just scratched her ear, smiling, "That's too much but I guess I could try."

Sasuke was behind her and muttered softly enough for only her to hear, "Just don't push it too hard, dumbass." She just grinned at him, waving two fingers at him, "I'll be fine, Duckbutt. Don't sweat it." Mononoke looked behind him to meet Kakashi's gaze and he tilted his head at her before smiling, "Go get them, scamp."

The girl nodded before shooting one last smile at her team then leaping to the ring.

Hayate looked her over and dipped his head before turning back to the screen as it began spewing out the names of past victors. Before it finally froze to a stop, the name there mocking her.

Mononoke just smirked before looking at the bearer of the name.

"I guess it's time to settle our score from before, huh?" she couldn't help but grin at the pun. Man, it's so fun to rile them up.

Dosu glared at the girl but jumped off the railings, meeting her in the middle of the hall. When he stood up straighter, he just jeered at her, "This is going to be easy." Although he fought her before, he couldn't get cocky. She managed to handle Zaku and him pretty darn well, and she could've rendered them disabled for life. But she didn't. Either way, he could still remember those golden eyes that felt like they were staring into his very soul.

This girl is a monster.

"Love it. Love the confidence," Mononoke said as she lifted her hands up in mock surrender, flapping her baggy left sleeve nonchalantly. "Besides, what could you be afraid of? I'm just a little, lousy ninja."

Hayate coughed, a thought flashing through his mind. 'Either this kid has a death wish or she really has something to show.' Mononoke suddenly raised her hand, looking at him. Gekko raised an eyebrow at her, surprised, "Yes?"

She cleared her throat, "Well, if I win, will he still go on the finals?" Interesting question. He just shrugged, "Depends on the end result of this match. If he is disabled, he won't proceed to the final round." She nodded before grinning cutely at the Sound ninja, her eyes closing as her lips pulled up, canines poking out, "Well, we could take it easy and you could just surrender. Then it's a win-win situation, no?"

Dosu snorted, "Don't even dream about it. I'm finishing this fight here and now." Mononoke just sighed and lifted her shoulder, still smiling. At least she tried.

The sick looking Jonin coughed again before signalling, "Whenever you're ready, begin." The moment his hand chopped down, a whoosh passed him, sending his clothes flapping in the wind. His eyes widened as he turned to see the other Genin. She wastes no time, that's one thing.

Mononoke went in before Dosu was prepared. He only barely managed to block her first attack, a kick towards his ear. The impact was hard enough to send a cold breeze into his face. Cold? But he had to worry about something else.

She was fast!

He couldn't see her coming. And she definitely didn't show it the first time they fought.

Dropping down to the ground, she made a low sweep at his legs but he jumped, meeting her second jab with another arm block. She twirled around on the ground, before giving a upper roundhouse kick. He avoided it but felt the momentum of the swoop vibrating in the air. The clinking of metal echoed through the hushed room as kunai met metal arm. Mononoke twirled the kunai in her hand and struck his arm away, both of them shivering as they braced against each other. Dosu smirked, "Not bad, little girl."

"Thanks, mummy man." she returned the compliment as she raised her leg to kick his abdomen. He swerved aside, his clothes ruffling from the movement. Their battle was mostly action, and less wordy as the most of the others had been. Of course, save the empty taunts Mononoke threw at him a few times.

Everyone was watching on their tip toes, trying to get a sense of what was going on.

Dosu cursed inwardly as he deflected another shuriken thrown at him. The girl was adamant on attacking so much, he couldn't do anything but defend. Heck, he can't even think properly to make a sound wave. Mononoke flipped forwards, landing a kick on his arm and he felt a blast of icy wind on his face. It stung his eye for a moment but he quickly recovered, blocking another punch.

She was keeping him so busy with the lightning fast kicks and jabs that he didn't noticed where they were going.

Until he stumbled on a pile of rubble left by the previous match.

Once he was in the middle of the dent, Mononoke leaped back. He saw her smirk and immediately stiffened. What tricks has she got in her sleeve? The broken shards from the tile began floating up, surrounding him. He realized that they were coated with ice. As she made one quick motion, waving her arms down and sent the ice rocks to crush him, he was one step quicker.

The sound waves emitted from his arm crumbled the rocks into nothing but dirt and snow. He chuckled at this, "I know how you fight, and I know your ability to manipulate ice. But I can destroy them easily as I am going to do to you now."

"Well, you're not wrong."

Dosu stiffened at the amused voice behind him. A kunai rested against his neck in an almost mocking way. Then he felt something cold snaking up his legs. He dared himself to glance down and realized that ice was growing on him like some sort of relentless creature that wanted to swallow him whole.

"So, since you're in such an unfortunate position, how about we call it quits? I'm sure everyone here is tired and we would all like to go home." she said casually, as if she was talking about dinner.

A large puff of smoke obscured her view for a moment when he used a substitution jutsu and Mononoke leaped out of the way, flipping backwards a few times before landing on her feet. She barely missed the metal punch at her head. Ducking down, she packed an icy punch into his stomach, sending the Sound ninja flying. The girl sighed before standing up straighter, shaking her head in mock sadness, "Why can't we all just get along?"

Dosu pulled away his sleeve and growled angrily, "That's it. No more games." To which Mononoke just raised her arms out, smiling.

"Make my day."

Sakura was gripping the railing so hard, her fingers were white. "What is she doing?" she seethed. The pink haired kunoichi knew that her teammate was capable of breaking the stupid Sound ninja's limbs faster than you can say 'Boom'. So why is she holding back?

A large force of airwaves sounded out, cracking the floor as it rushed towards her.

But suddenly it stopped. Just like that.

The tiles were cracked halfway as if time was frozen and the wave suddenly just whirled into disappearance. Silence. Only silence filled the room now. Most onlookers didn't realize that they were actually holding their breaths. Everything happened so fast.

But that's when they heard the ugly sound.

The sickening crack of a limb getting dislocated.

All eyes travelled to Dosu, who was on the ground and staring in disbelief. Mononoke had her legs wrapped around his metal arm and had twisted it in a full circle.

There was no blood.

Her eyes were on him as she cocked her head, a dangerous, teasing lilt in her voice, "I told you you could have it easy. But I guess the moment you did that stupid thing of yours, everything just went out the window. Ah, well, everyone learns from their mistakes." She stepped off him but he didn't move, just staring blankly at his distorted arm.

He never saw it coming. Suddenly the pain settled in and he yelled in pain.

"Oh yeah, and there's ice inside your metal thing. It accidentally flew in the holes. And it might be growing inside, oh, I don't know, maybe for a few minutes? Don't worry, it's nothing harmful but it's going to hurt like a bitch." Mononoke said before touching her lips innocently, "Oh woops, language. Sorry about that. Like I said, it'll melt in a week or two so don't go trying to use that annoying thing again, kay?"

For obvious reasons, Dosu couldn't reply as he held on to his arm, yowling like a pained animal. Mononoke just clicked her tongue. What a joke. She just exaggerated a little and he went off like he was dying. The ice would melt in an hour. No biggie. But it's fun to watch him acting like a pussy.

"The winner of this match is Mononoke." Hayate coughed a few moments later. He was rather taken aback. Everyone else was. The entire fight only lasted six minutes.

As the winners gathered around, Mononoke stood beside Temari and grinned at the older girl, "Guess we might get a match, huh?"

The blonde smirked at her, "It won't be pretty." But the girl just shrug in reply, "This isn't a fashion show, Temari-chan. I doubt we need to look pretty." The Suna ninja just chuckled. She's starting to like this little Konoha brat.

Hayate coughed as he announced the results, "Right, after consideration, we have arrange the matches." He pulls up a slip of paper and the Genins leaned in to peer at it.

Mononoke groaned as her eyes skimmed the paper, "Are you kidding me? I have to wait last again?"

Yeah. She was going to fight either Shino or Kankuro, depending on whoever wins the match. The girl tilt her head back and lets out another groan, earning a chuckle from her friend from the Sand. "Well, I guess you have a chance to face my brother." Mononoke pricked up her ears as she looked over to Temari.

"Kitty boy is your brother? That's purr-fect." Temari found herself rolling her eyes at the pun as Mononoke gave her a stupid grin.

"Please don't make me hate you."

"Meowch. You wound me, Temari-chan."

"I'm going to kill you when this is over."

Mononoke turned her attention to the list again, "But hey, you're going against Shika. That's going to be fun." The Sand ninja followed her Leaf friend's gaze and snorted, "Who, the shadow guy? Sure, he's going to be a piece of cake."

The clanless girl just shrugged, unwilling to say anymore than that, "You never know." Knowing Shika, he'd hate to lose to a girl. Probably put some effort too, since Temari was such a ruthless fighter.

Soon, they were dismissed, the Genins all stretching and popping their muscles, relieved that the preliminaries phase was finally over. Mononoke yawned before cracking her fingers, earning an annoyed glare from Temari, "Heck, I'm going to hit the sack and hibernate for three days straight." The Sand ninja just gave a small chortle, "Yeah, how about a month so you can miss the exam?" Mononoke stuck her tongue out at the blonde kunoichi childishly, "In your dreams."

"Mononoke."

The kunoichi turned at the mention of her name and saw her ex-guardian with her teammates. "Well, duty calls," she turned back to her friend, whose eyes were on her team as well, "I'll see you around then, Temari-chan." The Sand ninja nodded, her lips upturned in a small smile.

She watched silently as Mononoke padded to her team, smiling. She can see why Gaara has taken a liking of the little one.

The kid's quite the charmer.

Mononoke groaned as she pushed the front doors opened.

Naruto just had to get them all to go for another round of ramen. Lucky for Kakashi, he managed to dodge a bullet, stating he had some business to do. Yeah, right. Probably catching up on his stupid book. Not that she's complaining, since it's Naruto's treat this time, but they were inside a darn forest for five days. And to have such a heavy meal after starving senseless in that shithole, it's a little nauseous. Mononoke doesn't want to puke out good food. It's going to be such a waste.

As she stumbled into the Nara's house, Mononoke noticed that Shikamaru's shoes were on the rack. Well, he's early. Arranging her own shoes beside his, the tired Genin literally crawled into the living room. She made a loud noise to announced her arrival but she was ignored. Groaning loud enough, Mononoke dragged herself inside before using her feet to kick the door shut.

"Oh, lay off the drama, Mononoke. Take a bath and get some rest." Yoshino scolded when she saw the girl rolling across the room. Shikaku, however, chuckled at the girl's theatrics, even kicking the human ball playfully as she rolled past while he read the newspaper.

"Where's Shika?" she asked, stopping in front of Yoshino, who was walking out of the kitchen. The woman frowned chidingly as she looked down at the girl, "He's in the bathroom, get your clothes and wait your turn, young lady." She kicked the girl lightly, getting a little yelp as the girl rolled obediently away. Wiping her hands on her apron, Yoshino just shook her head at her chuckling husband.

Shikaku just laughed, "Reminds you of the old times, don't it?" Yoshino snorted as she sat beside her husband, "Yeah, even though Daiten was the same as an adult." Suddenly, she grew quiet, worry creasing her face. The Nara leader wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders knowingly.

"I miss them too, Yoshino." he muttered gently as he placed a soft kiss on her temple. Yoshino allowed herself to relax in his embrace for a minute or two. Then she wiped her eyes before standing up, shaking off the grief before turning to her husband, hands on her hips, "Oh, get up already, lazy man! We've got work to do!" He chuckled before scratching his head, "Yes, dear."

Yoshino doesn't like to show weakness, especially in front of her husband. But he always managed to get glimpse of the soft spots under her armour. Another reason why he was smitten with her, as bossy as she may seem.

Shikamaru sighed as he stepped out of the shower. Wow, that felt great. A nice warm bath after all that drama, and now it's time to sleep. He turned into the corridor to his room and blinked in surprise when he arrived.

Mononoke was lying sprawled out on the open corridor, looking up at the ceiling. Her legs were lying unceremoniously against the wall. The Nara walked over to her and sighed, raising an eyebrow as an inquiry.

"Gravity." she replied when she saw the look on his face.

She turned her head slightly to look up at him, just in time to see him roll his eyes, "Take your bath, you're filthy." Mononoke snorted and crawled around to sit before lifting her arms to him, "Up."

He couldn't help but sigh as he took her hands and did as she requested. Once she came to a stand, she smiled at him, before padding into her room to get her clothes and shower.

The Nara boy just shook his head and went into his own room, flopping onto the bed when he came close enough. Pulling out his hairband, he settled to sleep. But after awhile, he drifted slightly awake and realized there was a new body warmth beside him. Cracking his eyes opened, he saw Mononoke's sleeping face snuggled into his pillow, pure bliss on her face as she dreamed. He smiled and closed his eyes, joining her to dreamland.

awww... So many sleeping scenes between these two because they're both lazy bums.

SO. Until the last phase of the Exam, there are going to be a lot of new stuff. I plan on doing something fun for Konoha so hang on, yeah? There might be more GaaraMono fluff because why not, and a lot more ShikaMono. (Maybe some extra KakaMono because it's fun too.) Oh and I will change the jutsus names in English, although it's a bit hard for me to adapt because I'm so used to watching the anime in japanese dub, but for you guys IMMA DO IT. Looks like I gotta do hella research

And would ya look at that, Team Seven get lots of screen time this chapter, and I LOVE IT! Such cuties~

I got a new fact for you guys though :3

Fact#23: Yoshino and Tenshi grandfathers' were cousins. (So some way or another, Shikamaru and Mononoke shares the same Nara ancestor. Because someone asked before if they were related. Well, strictly speaking, clan members usually marry those from the same clan to ensure pure bloodlines, but having a lifemate from another clan isn't rare either. After all, we can see in the Naruto universe, most of the characters have pure blood, not counting their children when they're adults. SO YEAH. And it means that Mononoke can actually do Kage Mane, since she has the bloodline from Tenshi. But strangely, hers is ice instead of shadow. Weird, huh? Thanks to Gintaro's gift, really.)

[Was that two facts? I dunno. Author-san's brain not working, yo. BUT DID YOU ENJOY IT? I HOPE SO.]