Author's Note: Hello, I know everyone probably lost hope in this ever being updated again, but I am determined to finish this fanfiction, because that is my writer's way!

(I don't own Okami-San and Her Seven Companions. Or Naruto.)

Chapter 3:

I checked everywhere my hands could fit: Under rocks, benches, little crevices in the dirt. No luck, though. It felt as if we had been searching for hours before I eventually felt something cold drop onto my face.

Uh oh, I thought, feeling another one. Please, no. I looked up, seeing the thick grey clouds that had made their way above the park. Soon enough, the rain was pouring. I looked around, trying to find a place to take cover from the downpour.

THUD

I jumped slightly from the abrupt noise, turning quickly. To my surprise, I saw Ryoshi on the ground, grimacing in pain. Worried, I wasted no time in running to his side.

"Liszt! Ryoko! Taro! Anyone, help!" I yelled, thoughts and heart racing.

"I-I'm fine, I think it's just—ack!" His attempt to get up was hindered by a discouraging crack from his leg.

"Oh, my goodness, Ryoshi, I'm so sorry," I wrapped my arm underneath his shoulders to help him up.

"I can't—no! Ah, stop!" He exclaimed, causing me to drop his weight back on the ground. He gasped in pain again.

"I'm sorry!" I yelled.

"Hey, what's going on?" Alice's monotone voice sounded like the call of an angel at this point; someone to help.

"Ryoshi's hurt! He… um, I think he fell out of this tree and his leg is all crackly!"

'Crackly?' I winced at my juvenile description of an injured leg, but let it go. It wasn't important as long as I got the point across.

I lost track of what they were saying as the rain picked up, but Ryoshi was obviously in pain, and Alice was taking great strides to get him some help. Eventually, the others filtered over, and soon after that an ambulance arrived. The back of the white van closed and started its trek to the hospital. I sighed.

"So, now, if you don't mind explaining…?" Liszt inquired.

Flustered, I flailed my arms as I attempted to explain.

"Well, the rain started and I was looking for shelter, and… and then I just heard something fall and there he was!" Said flailing hands connected abruptly with something.

Whack

"My nose!"

I hadn't noticed Taro standing behind me, at just the right angle for my fist to connect with his face.

"Taro, my darling!" Otohime cried.

"Oh, dear. This is turning out to be quite eventful." Liszt hummed.

What happened between this and the hospital isn't really important… that, and I can't exactly remember. As I stated before, I have a bad memory. (I said that, right?)

We all stood around the hospital room that had conveniently agreed to take both Taro and Ryoshi, because, according to Liszt, they were there a lot and had a lot of "connections."

"Oh, Liszt, I'm so sorry about what happened. I understand if," I paused briefly, thinking through what I was going to say. "If you don't want to help me anymore."

"It'll be hard, but, we'll find a way to work around it," He muttered to himself, deep in thought.

"Liszt... you don't have to help me anymore," I said quietly. He continued to mutter on about some new plan, making my guilt rise.

"Liszt. You don't need to help me anymore. I've done enough to your team," I said firmly, standing up straight to seem more serious. He looked at me with a blank expression before smiling again.

"We don't cancel requests," he simply stated and patted me on the shoulder. Looking down, I assessed the facts; His whole team was slowly withering with this request, and he still wanted to help me. "We'll just work around it. It won't be too hard. We're only missing 2-"

"3," I cut him off. "Otohime won't be joining without Taro, correct?"

"Er, right. We're only missing 3 allies- We still have Ringo, Ryoko, Alice, me, and You. We'll make it work." He smiled at me.

I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all of them, even if I didn't know them well.

"I can't even begin to… Thank you all. Really."

"Don't thank us yet; We still haven't found your notebook!" Ringo pointed out. "But, if history says anything, we will!"

"Even if it's in shambles," Otohime chimed in and I shivered.

I didn't deserve it, but their kindness soothed me. It felt almost like having friends watching my back.

Outside of the hospital, Liszt made note of the weather.

"It looks like the clouds cleared up enough, we still have time to go and look some more," he said.

"Yeah, okay." I nodded.

Back at the park, we searched through the marshy grass. I knew my notebook had no chance of surviving the storm, but I wasn't ready to give up.

After all… We'd find it even if it was in shambles.

A/N: All's well that ends well.