Chapter FIVE
The moment the Quaffle was released, the players shot forward. Sakura rose into the air, the location of the Snitch already known to her. She didn't have to rush, or anything. Instead, she made a general scan of the situation. It was a shinobi habit, and it let her focus on her task once she knew what exactly was going on.
Sakura knew nothing would get past Itachi, but she doubted those on the Gryffindor team knew that. Shikamaru and Neji would, but it wasn't like they could follow.
The first few moves wasn't anything significant, until Ginny got her hands on the Quaffle and tossed it to Shikamaru.
The Nara made a dramatic movement to stop the Quaffle from hitting his face, but he shot out an arm and hooked it before it could fly past him.
Unlike his lazy appearance, he seemed to be pretty good at Quidditch, dodging and dancing around the attempts the Slytherin players made to try and take it.
However, no matter how much of an advantage Shikamaru had over the normal wizard players, unless he was allowed to use techniques and somehow manage to outsmart Itachi and lead him into a trap, he would not be able to get the Quaffle past the Uchiha and his Sharingan.
Shikamaru seemed to know this too. The moment he had slipped past the last of the Slytherin defenses, and there was nobody between him and Itachi, he passed the Quaffle to Ginny.
The girl seemed a little surprised, but simply took it and shot forward. Her throw was good. It was accurate and powerful, and had the goalkeeper been anyone but Itachi, it probably would have gone in. However, unfortunately for her, the keeper was Itachi, and he caught the Quaffle in his hand as if he were catching the practice shuriken a three year old Sasuke had tossed in his direction.
A chorus of cheers went up in the Slytherin side of the stands.
Sakura shot a smug look down, directed at no one in particular, before deciding that she had wasted enough time.
Harry Potter was hovering over the court opposite her, and he was keeping an eye on her while he searched for the Snitch.
Sakura, on the other hand, made sure to keep an eye on Neji, for he was the only one who had both the skills and the permission in the game who could stop her, and she knew he wouldn't hesitate to take her head off with the bludger he was hitting around the court like he owned it. The Slytherin Beaters didn't look like they could keep up, and Sakura knew that it wouldn't be long before they completely broke down and Neji came after her.
Sakura noted the location of the Snitch, which was flying above the Gryffindor stands, then shot off in its general direction. Harry caught her move and shot off right after her, his eye moving frantically as he looked for the gold Snitch.
She risked a glance down and noted that something was wrong with Ron. Not wrong wrong, but different. He seemed to be blocking the Quaffles as well.
For a second, she didn't know what to think, for she knew that in practice, he hadn't been doing well.
However, just then, she noticed Itachi shooting forward, the Quaffle he had just caught in hand, and knew she had nothing to worry about. She could see Urquhart hovering back, and knew he must have said something. Itachi flashed past the Gryffindor players. Though they were hidden by a genjutsu, Sakura knew that Itachi's Sharingan was blazing beneath his usual onyx. He threw the Quaffle with so much strength, that though Ron caught up to it, he couldn't stop it. It went through one of the hoops.
Itachi, who had used the momentum of his dash forward to throw, then used the rotation the strength of his throw gave him to make a sharp turn, back at his post before the Quaffle was even brought back.
Sakura had an endless list of things she could do to get to the Snitch. However, she knew that Neji would know the moment she used one technique or another, and it wouldn't mean anything unless she beat him on fair grounds.
'Fair Grounds' included the Byakugan, for the Hyuuga was using his too.
Sakura saw the bludger through her Byakugan, way before it was actually a threat. She came to a sudden stop, and the bludger flew up a bit more, right in front of her, before it flew back down.
"That's dangerous! What if it actually hit me?" She called down.
Neji just tilted his head, then readied the bat again.
Sakura moved so that she put Harry between them.
She decided the location the Snitch would be in a few seconds time, having calculated through its current speed, the direction it was headed, and all the other small things that may affect it.
She saw Harry speed up in his broom, and she knew he had seen it.
"Che."
Sakura sped up too, and shot towards the Snitch. Suddenly, it dived downward. Sakura chased after it without hesitating.
If she had added change of direction into her calculation, the possibilities would have been too many.
She could see Harry catching up.
The Snitch had moved to the left. Keeping an eye on it, Sakura stood up on her broom, using chakra to make sure she didn't fall.
Harry swooped in from the side and the Snitch moved back towards her.
Waiting another second, Sakura jumped.
She could hear gasps and calls of shock coming from below. She was pretty high up, but she knew she would survive the fall.
She took advantage of Harry's shock and grabbed the Snitch from the air. She then flipped herself so that she was falling headfirst. Once the floor felt close enough to be dangerous, she kicked out, twisting herself, just in time to land on her feet.
She felt the shock on her landing vibrating through her, but she barely felt it. Getting to her feet, she held up the gold Snitch in triumph.
There was a shocked silence, before a roaring cheer went up in the Slytherin stands.
The Slytherin players landed near by one by one, grinning.
She saw the Gryffindor players landing too, gathering into groups.
She preened under Itachi's hair ruffling and accepted the pat on the backs from her teammates, before she slipped through them and headed towards the Gryffindor players. The others followed, clearly thinking she was going to go mock them.
The Gryffindor players probably through the same, for they crowded even further together and shot them glares.
Sakura ignored them.
Instead, she marched up to Neji and shoved the Snitch in his face. She smirked triumphantly.
Neji scoffed and crossed his arms. "It's just this once, Haruno."
Sakura twirled the snitch around in her hand. "Whatever lets you sleep at night, Hyuuga."
Neji stayed still for a few more seconds, before he sighed and ran his hand calmingly through Sakura's hair. "Well done."
Sakura grinned. The two of them then turned to watch Itachi and Shikamaru, who were having a...conversation.
She didn't understand how they managed to understand each other.
Itachi had been passed on the lack of words all Uchiha seemed to have, while Shikamaru was always too lazy to say something unless he felt it was important.
They're 'conversation' consisted of one word replies and grunts of agreement and disagreement.
She glanced at Neji, who shrugged. Sakura raised her shoulders in return, then turned to face Harry.
"What'd you want?" Ginny asked suspiciously.
'That was fun, I think.'
'I think so too.'
'Next time, jutsus should be allowed.'
'That'll give us an unfair advantage.'
Her Inner let out a huff before going silent.
Sakura shook her head to clear her thoughts. People back at home knew of her Inner. They no longer though it was strange when she just started talking to herself out of nowhere, or just randomly blanked out and stood in the middle of the street for minutes without moving.
However, she knew people who didn't found if slightly disturbing and creepy.
"Anyways." She smiled. "Good game."
Ginny looked a little surprised. Harry just nodded firmly. "Yeah."
The next major event on the calendars of the Hogwarts students was 'Christmas'. Decorations were put up, and Sakura and Neji had to resort to using their Byakugans to lead Shikamaru and Itachi through the empty corridors.
A certain party being held by Slughorn was also a hot topic.
All four of the shinobi had received invitations to Slughorn's Christmas party. They were allowed to bring a date, and many people were suddenly very kind and helpful, no doubt wanting to be picked by them as their date.
After a while of discussion, Team Riki had decided to wear the formal kimonos they had brought with them. Though Narcissa had bought them dresses for occasions such as this, they decided that it was too impractical. It was events such as these where enemies made their move. It wasn't hard to stay unnoticed when everything was a mess.
The night of the party, Neji and Shikamaru waited for the other two outside the Slytherin dorms. They were both dressed in the hakama they had brought along, and their clothing were drawing a lot of attention. The two of them ignored the muttering, though.
A while later, Itachi appeared, but Sakura didn't follow.
"The Malfoy has come in contact with us." Itachi said. "Sakura is talking to him."
Neji and Shikamaru shared a glance.
Sakura sat on the couch opposite Draco, waiting patiently for him to gather his thoughts.
After a while, he opened his mouth.
"What's with those clothes?" He asked.
Sakura gestured to herself. She was wearing her clan clothing. She had worn her battle attire when she had first arrive, and Draco hadn't seen her standard clan clothes yet.
"This is what I usually wear back at home. It's formal enough for occasions such as these. Though we are grateful for the dresses your mother bought us, it is slightly impractical and hard to move around in."
There was another moment of silence, before Draco broke it, his voice even more quiet than before. "Before, you said..." He trailed off. He shook his head to clear his thoughts again. "During Christmas. The holidays. You're staying in the manor, right?"
Sakura nodded. "Yeah." She said softly. "I can tell you are a part of something big, Dragon." Sakura said after a while of silence. "My team and I will back you up, okay?"
Draco slowly looked up. "Back me up..."
Sakura nodded. "We won't ask what you're trying to do. This is like a rule. However, we're ready to listen when you want to speak, and ready to help should you ever need aid."
She then stood up. "Come, Dragon. Why don't we head to the party?"
Draco looked at her in surprise and looked ready to complain, but bit his tongue when Sakura suddenly appeared in front of him, a hand raised towards his face.
At his look of shock, she smiled. "We're mystery mercenaries with cool powers, remember?"
She then reached out and touched his cheek.
Draco flinched when a soft green glow appeared on her hand, but instantly relaxed when he began to feel a little less tired. "What's this?" He asked.
"I can heal." Sakura told him. "Though sleep is the best medication for fatigue, it should make you feel better."
"Now, why don't you go get dressed, Dragon. It's important to refresh once in awhile and I'm sure no one will mind if you come along with me."
None of the three males said anything when Sakura joined them with Draco at her side.
They just nodded politely at him with faint smile on their faces, and after a while, Draco returned it.
They made their way towards Slughorn's office, where the party was being held. They squeezed in through the door to be met with a room full of crowded people. Their entrance, as well as their appearance, instantly caused a commotion. Slughorn noticed them and he happily trotted over.
He greeted them happily, grinning widely. He wandered off after a while of chattering and vanished into the crowd.
"Would you like anything?" Sakura asked Draco.
The Malfoy frowned a little, then slowly shook his head.
"Mkay, then." She looked up when she sensed someone approaching them. She glanced between Draco and Harry, the hostility levels rising between them.
"Hello, Harry." Neji said. "You too, Luna."
"Hi Neji, Shikamaru." He then turned to Sakura and Itachi. "Hey Sakura, Itachi."
He tensed, before nodding at Draco. "Malfoy."
Draco glared right back, and Sakura elbowed him. He turned his glare at her, but didn't say anything. "Potter."
Sakura crossed her arms, looking pleased.
Just then, Slughorn bore down on them, Snape in tow. "Harry, m'boy!"
Harry Potter shuffled uncertainly on his feet and Draco seemed to be feeling a little better, for him mean snake smirk was present on his face.
Slughorn then went on rambling to Snape about Harry's brilliance in Potions. Draco was once again shuffling around and Snape kept glancing at Harry in mock fascination, once in awhile shooting split second looks at Draco.
Luna broke the tense atmosphere with one of her comments, and Shikamaru shot the her, then Sakura, a look. "You guys are alike." He said.
Sakura tilted her head, then glanced at Luna, who was also looking at her. "Really?"
Shikamaru nodded, but didn't say anything. Sakura grinned at Luna, then turned back to the conversation.
"What are you doing here, Draco?" Snape suddenly asked. "You don't look too well."
Indeed, Draco did look sick. Sakura had fixed his appearance a little, but there only so much she could do.
"I invited him." Sakura said. "He's been trying to teach Tachi and I the stuff we missed out on, but it's so boring and I decided that he needed to refresh."
Itachi hummed faintly. "I believe everyone would feel like pulling their hair out with you questioning everything."
Sakura turned to look at him, a hand placed on her chest in mock pain. "They are very valid questions."
"Yes, valid, but unnecessary all the same." Itachi replied, not missing a beat.
"You also like pulling apart fixed theories and breathing down on them with your glares of doom until they rearrange themselves to your liking." Sakura accused.
"Technically, it is impossible to 'breath down' with 'glares'." Itachi replied.
"You-"
Neji let out a loud sigh, and the two came to a stop.
"We are in front of our host and fellow guests." He said, his tone posh and formal, like how he had been brought up.
Instantly, the bickering two straightened. "Yes. My apologies." Itachi dipped his head with Sakura.
"Oh, no, no!" Slughorn chuckled goodnaturedly. "Now, why don't you tell me a little about your clothing? They seem to be attracting a lot of attention."
All four of them were used to mindless chatter that was common in things such as this. Clan gatherings were similar. And so, they fell into the routine that they had been brought up with, taking turns flattering the professor.
Soon, it was getting late. With a well timed comment about school and the time, Itachi withdrew his team, along with Draco, from the Potions professor's company.
For the Christmas holidays, Team Riki returned to the Malfoy Manor with Draco. They were...'introduced' to Bellatrix's husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, and his brother, Rastaban.
They treated them formally, then quickly excused themselves before they could pull their thoughts together and say something.
Draco seemed kind of impressed.
They kept a careful grasp on their thoughts, keeping their mind blank with the efficiency of an ANBU. The spell they had heard about when they had first arrived in this world, Legilimency, was a danger to those in their profession, especially due to village and clan secrets they may be carrying.
Their report on Harry Potter, which included nothing but pure observations, seemed to please Voldemort, as well as amuse him. He then asked them what they thought, his tone very curious, and after sharing a glance, Itachi spoke up.
"He can sense something." He said slowly. "He knows something is coming, but he isn't aware of the dangers or the scale. Truthfully, I believe he will not be able to hold out."
"Oh? And why is that?" Voldemort leaned in.
"His...side. His side isn't united." Itachi replied. "They aren't ready. They don't have an image of what they are attempting to fight. They don't have that one person that everyone follows. I can see that they are expecting Harry Potter to take on this role, but it is obvious that he isn't ready. He lacks experience, but most of all, he's too soft. He hasn't ever gotten his hands truly dirty, and doesn't have what it takes to kill even when necessary."
Voldemort didn't say anything else. He just nodded at them once in dismissal, and Team Riki left the room without being told twice.
Team Riki spent most of holidays cramped up in the guest room they had been offered. Actually, they had all been given a room, but no one said anything when they dragged over blankets and decided to use Itachi's room as their HQ.
What they were doing was something no one knew, but none of them could complain, for they still completed the tasks given to them by Voldemort.
The truth was, none of Team Riki had actually questioned their missions before.
The Hokage assigned them a mission, and they followed the requirements word for word.
However, this time round, everything was vague, and the contents could change simply due to Voldemort's thoughts.
And they had to be prepared for everything that could come.
Including a possible black mark in their so far perfect mission records.
The word 'Horcrux' was something that they had come across once. It had been as though the word was banned, or something.
That had been enough to perk Sakura's interest.
This research project had first started due to Sakura's curiosity, but it had soon escalated from that.
A power to grant one immortality was something a few known shinobi was looking for, and considering technical ease in which Team Riki had traveled over to the Wizarding world, they would have to be very careful with this knowledge.
Itachi decided that a few things in the Wizarding world had to be kept away from their own dimension at all cost, but all plans were best made around a ground knowledge.
"The easiest way would be to block off the contact between the two." Shikamaru said. "But I have no idea how this whole dimension-jump thing works, and so, I bet it's not as easy as it sounds."
"Compared to the power of the wizards in this world, our techniques are ahead by a countless number of steps." Neji said. "There is a possibility that Voldemort may request more aid."
"We don't know how contact was made in the first place." Sakura pointed out. "It's possible that it was simple luck that Voldemort's request reached Konoha."
"If that's the case, then it's not guaranteed that Voldemort is the only one with a way of coming in contact with our world." Shikamaru said. "Who knows who else can do the same? We'll have to consider the possibility that we may come in contact with shinobi of other villages."
"Maybe." Sakura sounded doubtful. "But I don't think so. Voldemort requested our service, and even if he got us because he asked for the most powerful team, or something, he didn't ask for us in numbers. That means he was either very confident in his skills and we're just to make sure things goes as he planned, or he's sure that this small number would still give him an advantage."
"We will send Hokage-sama a report about this." Itachi decided. "Though it may be breaching the rule of client confidentiality, the safety of the village must come first." He narrowed his eyes just a little. "I believe we have the right to be wary of a client who keeps so much to himself."
He received a series of nods.
"However, for now, we will keep an eye on things on our own." Itachi continued. "Back up from Konoha isn't something we can hope for. Hokage-sama sent us because he believes that we can deal with the unexpected to come. After all, he could have simply denied the mission if he didn't think we were capable."
"Where are we going to start?" Neji asked.
Itachi glanced at Shikamaru.
No matter what, on paper, the Nara was the strategist of their team.
"Information." Shikamaru said. At least he knew when to be serious. "We need more firm knowledge on the conflict going on between the two sides. We need more knowledge on everything."
Itachi nodded. "We will spend this 'holiday' to scout around."
"How are we going to do this without anyone realizing? Sakura asked. "I'm sure no one will like it if they found out we're plotting on ways to take them down in case something does wrong."
Itachi shot her a look. He almost looked offended. "We are not plotting their demise."
Sakura just giggled, and a gentle smile appeared on Itachi's face.
Neji simply sighed. "We always do have the clone advantage."
"So we leave clones?" Sakura asked.
"That Bellatrix woman is out to get us. If she actually manages to get us, the clones will vanish." Shikamaru said. "If that happens, they'll notice, and it will be more suspicious if we try to hide what we are doing."
Sakura hummed, nodding slowly.
"We could send out clones." Neji said. "They can conceal themselves with an easy genjutsu, and we can keep a lookout with our Byakugans. If anything occurs, they can always disperse themselves."
"Poof." Sakura said airily.
Neji simply nodded.
Itachi nodded as well. "We shall go with that. Neji and I, then Shikamaru and Sakura." Itachi said. "Cast a henge. We don't know exactly who is on which side."
The issue of Draco was something they had put aside in order to put together several plans, all weighing on chance.
However, they all noticed the change the boy was going through. They knew that he was doing some project or another, most likely under the orders of Voldemort, and they had already noticed the physical strain it was putting him under.
Itachi hinted that they would have to approach the blond, but they had to be careful about it, for they didn't know where exactly his loyalty lay.
Itachi gave Sakura the side mission of keeping an eye on the boy, and she spent a lot of time with him, babbling away in a way that she knew amused people. It never failed to summon a smile on Konoha's most well known ice-cubes, after all.
Draco seemed to like her company too.
He rarely spoke of what was actually troubling him, but he did contribute to a few of Sakura's self conversations and she decided that for now, it was enough to get his mind off whatever was troubling him.
They had told Draco that they would help him should he ever need aid, and now, it was up to the blond to decided whether or not he could trust them.
And one day, when he finally seemed to break under the pressure of the job that had been thrust upon him, he opened up. "I have to fix it...a Vanishing Cabinet"
Sakura eyed him for a few seconds, before a gentle smile bloomed on her face.
"Why didn't you say so sooner?" She asked gently.
"You...you don't understand!" Draco burst out. "I...I have to fix it...you can't apparate in or out of Hogwarts. I need a way to bring them in..." He trailed off and buried his head into his hands.
"I take that something is coming?" Sakura asked.
Draco nodded stiffly.
"We promised aid." Sakura said. "This cabinet is at Hogwarts, yes?"
Draco nodded again.
"We'll help you once school term starts." Sakura said. "For now..."
She then proceeded to dump a whole load of knowledge she had read about someplace or another onto the poor boy.
Sakura had done a little research on this 'Christmas' thing as well, and on Christmas day, Draco woke up to find a small veil amongst other gifts.
If Itachi noticed the lack of his half of the Felix potion, he didn't say anything.
The rest of their holiday was spent researching, report writing, and everything else in between.
Once in a while, Voldemort would send them out on a spying mission or some scout mission, or something, and they use that time to slip in a little interrogation consisting of Itachi's genjutsu.
Sakura said that Itachi just wanted to show off.
Itachi denied this, then back it up with a list on why a genjutsu interrogation was best, mostly due to the fact that he could seal away the target's memories of their whole encounter.
Sakura would spend a lot of time in the library, hammering knowledge of their research subjects into her head for future references.
Itachi sent his summons out often to keep an eye on their actual target, Harry Potter, who was spending his Christmas over at Ron Weasley's house.
However, their research seemed to bring more and more aspects into their current problem.
Finally, Itachi gathered the team together for another official meeting.
"We are going to have to look at this from all possible angles." Itachi said. He then sighed. "First, why don't we all share the information we were scouting around for." Itachi paused. "Including the extra research we were all doing behind each other's backs."
Sakura grinned sheepishly, and she was the first to summon out a few scrolls.
Everyone followed.
Itachi just shook his head, but they all could see the small smile present on his face.
Though Itachi had only given them a vague background to look into, he had known that it wouldn't be a problem. After all, none of them were afraid to go beyond orders and take a little initiative.
When the new term started, they could take lessons on something called 'Apparition'.
"It says seventeen." Sakura said with a frown. "Does that literally mean age, or year?"
"It's probably age." Neji said. "But we're anomalies."
Shikamaru yawned. "What is apparition anyways?"
Sakura opened her mouth, but Hermione, who had been hovering around the signup sheet with Ron and Harry, spoke first.
"It's basically like a magic version of teleportation." She said. "It's hard to pull off and disastrous if you mess it up, but it lets you get to whichever location is in your mind, and is the fastest way to travel."
"Do you think it's like a shunshin?" Neji asked curiously.
Hermione frowned at the change in language, but she didn't say anything.
"I don't think so." Sakura said. "This apparition thing is teleportation. It's more like a Jikuukan ninjutsu. Shunshin is just a burst of speed." She then turned to Hermione. "It's similar to a technique we know from back home called the body flicker technique."
"I don't know what this technique is like, but Harry's already apparated. You can ask him?"
True enough, Harry was surrounded by a few of his friends, and he was describing how uncomfortable it was to tag along when someone else was apparating.
"So what's the body flicker technique like?" Hermione asked.
Harry paused, curious.
Sakura blinked, then turned to look at Itachi. The Uchiha shrugged a little.
It was not like the wizards, who couldn't control chakra, could use it.
Sakura made the tiger hand seal and pulsed chakra through herself. There was a puff of smoke, and Sakura reappeared behind Harry.
"Boo!"
The boy jumped and whirled around.
Sakura grinned and body flickered back to her original location.
"Woah! How'd you do that?" Seamus, one of the guys who had been listening to Harry, burst out.
"Put simply, we temporarily vitalize our body and it allows us to move at extreme speeds." Sakura said. "So it's not really teleporting. We just move super fast."
Dean mimicked the tiger hand sign. "That was amazing."
Sakura and Itachi soon departed for their dorm room, leaving Neji and Shikamaru to answer all the questions thrown their way.
Harry then said something about a library book and withdrew from the group. Neji understood the swift look Shikamaru sent him.
With a vague excuse about school that seemed to convince everyone there, they pulled away.
Neji activated his Byakugan even before they had entered their room.
No matter how prodigious they were, sometimes, Team Riki had trouble overcoming the fact that they were learning with a language they didn't know existed.
Slughorn chattered on about poisons and antidotes, and it was obvious that no one apart from Hermione understood what he was saying.
Whether the shinobi understood, no one could tell, so that didn't count.
However, there was one major problem when it came to creating an antidote.
"The names of the ingredients are different to what I know." Sakura murmured. "Maybe it's just the name that's different, but that doesn't change anything."
"I've heard that antidote making requires ground knowledge on the counter for each plant or herb used." Itachi said.
"So we're doomed?" Shikamaru asked. He yawned.
Sakura shrugged. "It's almost impossible to come up with an antidote on the field." She said. "The best way to treat someone in a situation like that is to directly extract the poison. When making an antidote, not a single mistake can be made or it wouldn't work." She looked over the list of ingredients used in the poison they were to make an antidote for. "But the extraction, the Saikan Chūshutsu no Jutsu, will only work on the poison that hasn't been absorbed by the organs and whatnot." Sakura sighed. "I really want a scroll and a brush."
Minato's reply to Itachi's report came to them only a few days later.
Iroha's screech once again brought everyone's attention to the air. The hawk's entry was dramatic as always. Raining feathers accompanied the bloodcurdling cry. The messenger bird's wings sent out gusts of wind.
It landed on Itachi's outstretched arm, claws surprisingly not drawing blood.
Itachi's eyes were blank when he read over the scroll attached to it's back. Not even Sakura could pick out what he was thinking. However, Sakura knew from this unreadable expression alone, that the Hokage had cast his judgement on how they were to deal with the situation.
So, here's chapter five!
The battle of the astronomy tower will be in the next chapter~
We've thought through this a little...actually, we've thought about it a lot, and we've decided that this story will cover the sixth year, then the seventh year.
The Harry Potter series was going through the 'rise to climax' thing during the sixth book, and it feels really forced and rushed if we try to cut it off and make our own conclusion somewhere in the middle...
Meh...
Yeah...
Okay...
We hope you all have a Happy New Year, and that you keep on supporting our stories. May this new year be better than the last (Regardless for what it was like. If you got a Nokia as your first mobile phone, you could hope for an Sony smartphone this year, right?)
Bai~
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