OK!

So, now that I've been spending the past 3 days writing Chpater 66 (and probably 67 and 68 once I cut everything down) and I realized that it'll actually be a little longer before I can upload anything… I wanted to take a break.

Not a break from writing, but to give you guys a break from waiting, as well as from all the drama going on right now.

SOOOooo…. This'll be another fun/interesting Side-Story Chapter.

BUT.

It'll stop half-way.

I'll be posting the rest of it on my sparkly new Tumblr account. As well as a SNEAK PEEK at the very beginning of Chapter 66.

Hopefully this'll take off the edge of any impatience of you might be feeling. And if you are perfectly fine waiting, then you really don't need to bother yourself with any of this, of course. :)

I just got the idea of using Tumblr so that I won't have to worry about making too many chapters and to also make the waits easier for you guys since they will be getting longer now that I've started college and need to take time to study and do homework.

SO YEAH.

Recap!:

Here's the first half of the fun Side-Story, you can find the rest following the link at the bottom, and if you do I'll also be posting a sneak peek of Chapter 66.

Please enjoy.

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SIDE-STORY:

'CLIFFHANGERS'

Part 1

(Takes place right after the Asaka Mission!)

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Research.

Research.

RESEARCH.

RESEARCH IS KEY.

AND I, THE GEAT JIRAIYA-SAMA, MUST FIND MORE OF IT.

Bathhouses, sadly, are still out of the question. This won't be like my previous novels. I won't be able to collect research the same way as before.

This novel will be about the tender hearts of teenage girls, the aged, experienced, hearts of their teachers, and the melting of the love that can be shared between them!

…

That was good, I need to write that down.

He scribbled into his little notebook for a moment before flipping it shut and stuffing it back into chest pocket of his haori frowning with closed eyes as he stomped down the street dramatically.

"Research…" He grumbled under his breath.

This novel was proving much more difficult than he anticpated… especially when it came to gathering data.

The gods curse my efforts.

Alas, it must be the price of writing such a forbidden and taboo-ridden piece!

Fate is even against me!

As if the gods and the fates had banded together to combat that mental cry of injustice just then, an epiphany hit him.

The perfect opportunity to test out some of his hard-earned material when he saw his student's student and main-character inpiration go walking by.

... … … … … … … …

"Look here, boy!" The older man nearly yelled with enthusiasm at the silver-haired 'boy' who wasn't a boy anymore in anyone eyes except this man's and the Hokage's. "This novel will become one of my greatest hits!" He boasted. "It's more than I could have hoped for as a writer. Something about it brings out a gentler side of my writing that I can't explain." The white-haired man ranted further, visibly moved by his own art, singing it's praises with more passion than Kakashi Hatake had seen him display for his other works. "Women, men, and girls will swoon for it all alike. My demographics will explode and I'll finally get the recognition of a romance writer that I deserve!"
Apparently selling hundreds of thousands of copies and signing into a big movie deal wasn't the recognition this man was all that satisfied with.

Kakashi nodded as he minded his feet, unsure how to feel since he, himelf, had just come from meeting with his 'student' inappropriately before Yamato had interrupted them with the news of the next mission. His teacher's teacher noticed Kakashi's hesitant attitude.

"What's the matter with you?" He piped up, "As my number one fan you're being rude for not sharing my vigor."

"Sorry." Kakashi tried to pardon himself, "I just got back from a... tiring mission."

Jiraiya jumped at the chance.

"Then, to help you rest, how about a sneak preview of my new novel!" He was already pulling out the messy array of scribbled papers that had been bound hurriedly from his pocket.

Kakashi couldn't refuse.

Either because he was curious about what his favorite author would do with his own life like this, or just because he didn't have the ability to say no to Jiraiya, he wasn't sure.

… … … … … … …

'"What do you want?"
"I just want to be able to be close to you without worrying about who can see us or what they might think." She spoke up to him, the music in the background loud enough to mask her voice from any of the dancing teenagers in the background.
"That's impossible for this relationship, Hanako." Katsumi argued down to her, feeling his agitation grow.'

Kakashi felt his own agitation grow as well.

She was only trying to find security in the relationship.
He pointed out mentally as he brought the paper closer to his face, leaning against the wall as he sat on his bed, reading further.

'"We thought this realationship was impossible. But we made it work." She retorted.
"I don't know if that's true anymore." He muttered as he turned away from her, losing the hostility in his voice. He could see the hurt paint her face only a moment later. He regretted saying that. He sighed and reached out to her shoulders hesitantly. "What do you really want?" He asked down to her.
"I just don't want to keep secrets like this."
He could feel the hurt inside of him now.
"You need to think twice about these things." He spoke up. "That's all we are. A secret."'

The reader grimaced to himself.

That reminded him of something he said once.

'I just can't stand secrets' Sakura had admitted, and what did he say?
'Then you're in the wrong relationship.'
His grimace deepened with the memory.

He was actually a lot like Katsumi wasn't he?…

That was annoying.

This guy was being such an idiot right now.

… Then again… he'd been one, too just recently hadn't he?

Right now Hanako and Katsumi had gotten into a fight during the school dance because they couldn't figure out how close they should be to each other in public, or at all anymore now that Katsumi was having a hard time deciding whether or not to keep this relationship alive… and just recently, he and Sakura had suffered similarly.

Kakashi sighed before continuing...

It was only a page longer before Katsumi left her at the party with the intention of pulling away from her until the school term was over, much like Kakashi remembered himself doing only recently but because of the mission, and Hanako found herself in the company of another that night when she found Nezumi-sensei still in his classroom catching up on work.
She had talked to him a little bit about what happened, but when Nezumi said something about how it was actually good that Katsumi left her, Hanako didn't seem all that comfortable anymore. Nezumi then said that there are others in her life that would like to be by her side.

'She took a step back. She held her arms against herself as if she was about to fall apart under his gaze. Her face was a bright shade of cherry blossom pink. Her dress was only a few shades darker. He could still hear the melodies of music and the sounds of young, excited voices muffled through the classroom door behind her.

Even if the moonlight poured in through the windows behind him the classroom was a blue-ish hue of darkness that seemed to turn her a fragile shade of violet.

He controlled his hands from reaching out to her by holding them together awkwardly. Even if she was several feet away, he knew that if he moved a single muscle that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from finding himself pressed against her, holding her to him.
Her high heels clicked on the spot when she made a small attempt to turn away from him.
"Uh... I guess I'll see you Monday, Nezumi-sensei." She was already leaving with those words.

That was the end of his internal struggles.

He couldn't stop himself now.

The idea of her walking out that door and leaving was more than he could stand.

Before he could think, he was standing in front of her, his hands on her shoulders pulling her forward. He leaned down.

'Nezumi-sensei?' She called his name, some confusion in her voice.

He couldn't help but wonder if this was the way she felt to that man. Katsumi. Her original affair. Her homeroom teacher. The one that abandoned her only an hour before.'

The reader looked away from the scribbling for a moment. He wasn't liking where this was going.
It was one thing to read something about a character based off of himself and a character based off of Sakura… but why would that old man give him a passage that was about Sakura's character with some other man?

The reader went back to the words, still interested in the plot that his favorite author had woven despite the distaste he felt for it at the same time.

'He wanted to hold her closer. He wanted to give her the closeness that she needed right now. He pulled out of the hug to look down to her face. His eyes focused on her lips.'

Kakashi was having some trouble reading further.

Even if this was 'Hanako', just knowing that it was written with Sakura in mind seemed to trigger some of the same possessiveness in Kakashi that he held for the real Sakura.
He found himself hoping Katsumi would walking into the scene, punch Nezumi, and grab her hand, pull her into the crowd of teenagers and forget how worried he was about everything and just enjoy the night with her.

But that wasn't happening right now...

... Right now Nezumi was dangerously close to Hanako, wanting to get closer to her. And Kakashi was frowning while reading it.

'"Hanako…" He said her name quietly as he leaned down, ignoring how her eyes were slightly wide with confusion.

It was like she had never thought about this before, that even though she had been in such a deep relationship with her homeroom teacher until minutes ago that she hadn't given one thought to any of the other teachers in her life, even him, the one that had been looking after her for the longest.

That thought saddened him but encouraged him as he leaned in closer, her lips only inches from his now, to show her why she should notice him.

Why she shouldn't be so confused.

His lips gazed hers as he spoke up again….'

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The second half of this and the Sneak Peek of Chapter 66 will be available here:

(remove the spaces, please)

http : / theedgybubble . tumblr . com /

You can also find the unspaced link on my Profile.

Anyways, hope you guys enjoy. Feel free to review here or comment on Tumblr if you'd like. :)

(P.S. I'm a NOT leaving FF . net! This is just a place to post random things I didn't want to publish here and take up a chapter, or a place to publish sneak previews. I'll still be updating here as usual, so don't worry.)