p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"cite style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"4-5 years ago. Age: 12./cite/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Naruto was eating dinner at Ichiraku ramen while Iruka sensei was anxiously checking the inside of his wallet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Come on, easy, Naruto, I know I promised you dinner but come on…'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'A real ninja has to eat a lot to be strong, right, I'm terribly hungry!' Naruto interrupted him excitedly with a mouth full of noodles./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The day was warm and bright, with no signs of change, which was a relief for the people of Konoha after the recent rainy days. Taking advantage of some free time between missions, Naruto enjoyed his favorite ramen at Iruka sensei's expense after running errands for him all day./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Shortly later, the boy would join Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi for their afternoon training. The young Uzumaki slowed down momentarily, chewing the last piece of juicy beef, when a small turquoise flying insect sat on the edge of his bowl. Naruto looked at her for a moment with a strange feeling of remembering something familiar. He couldn't put his finger on it. He didn't think too much of it and whisked it away with a brush of his hand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Turquoise moth rose up into the air only to sit in his thick hair much to the boy's unawareness who went back to devouring his delicious ramen as if nothing else mattered in the world to him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"X/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Aaaaghhrrr!'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A girlish scream resounded through Konoha, scattering swarms of birds that flew out from the treetops, shaking green leaves to the ground. The morning heralded good weather for the rest of the day, which the genins would spend on exams. Gradually, the novice ninja gathered at the academy in Konoha Gakure./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Izumi, get out of there now or you'll get a beating! We have something important to do!' male voice added to the girly screams./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Naruto finally joined Sakura and Sasuke, apologizing for his classic tardiness, which didn't go unnoticed by the pink-haired girl. The girl did not miss the opportunity to accuse her companion of being unpunctual. However, their banter was interrupted by screams and noise coming from a parallel street./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'I'll spank you, you just wait! You'll get a beating from me as soon as-; aghh! Come on, don't scratch, you little…!' the girl interrupted with a lot of passion in her voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'We're on an important mission and you're fooling around, embarrassing us, and blowing the cover…' another male added trying to convince their comrade to cooperate./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'I'm not being a fool, I'm just saving a cat in distress! There are things important and importanter!'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'More important you meant…' sighed the first one dragging his palm across his face in resignation '... never mind'./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Team 7 didn't recognize any of the familiar voices of their academy classmates, which made them run to the source of the commotion in suspense./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Wait a minute... what's going on?' Naruto jumped forward, always attracted by any sort of commotion. He felt a strange twinge of instinct that told him that the owner of the girl's voice was not a stranger to him at all./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Whoops!' a girl with raven-black hair jumped nimbly from the lush crown of one of the trees growing on the corner of one of the streets. She was wrestling with an angry cat, and her arms were covered in red scratches. But he didn't seem to care much about it. Her hair was tied up in two thick ponytails high on her head. They flowed down to the middle of her back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her violet eyes flashed wildly as she wrestled with the cat, making no attempt to hide the fact that she was having fun at the same time. She was wearing a tight sleeveless top revealing her shapely stomach and a short skirt with slits on both sides to facilitate movement. Underneath, black mid-thigh shorts, basic shinobi accessories, and blue shoes like the others. The purple over-the-knee socks fit unevenly around her skinny legs, now even more in a mess. Her companions were dressed in similar clothes, typical of inhabitants of foreign villages. They turned to see Team 7 approaching. On the foreheads of the strangers under the tree were ninja headbands pointing to the Village of the Hidden Sound./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Oi!' Sasuke shouted in a firm tone towards the strangers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Two boys were covering the acrobat, who, however, at the sound of Sasuke's voice, released the cat from her hands and moved her companions apart to step forward decisively to greet the genin from the Leaf Village. With great relief, the animal freed itself from the girl's arms, hissing loudly, and ran in the opposite direction, knocking the dust off the dry path. The girl laughed and started fixing the torn bandages that were sticking out from under her purple gloves with steel protectors on the backs of her hands./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The girl, previously called Izumi by one of the comrades, stepped forward with her hands on her hips, confidently examining the three children in front of her. She smiled brightly and extended her hand in greeting, pointing it toward Naruto first./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'I'm Izumi Nanusake! And these are my sidekicks' she exclaimed enthusiastically, causing nervous grumbles from her companions by introducing them in this controversial way 'We came from the Sound Village for the chunnin exams as you might have already figured out' she blinked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Naruto stood still, slowly recognizing in Izumi that special girl from six years ago who appeared in Konoha as quickly as she later disappeared. The same one who, compared to everyone around him, never looked at him with hatred or disgust, never judged him, never treated him like a monster to be kept away from. The same Izumi who, out of sincere intentions, offered him friendship.../p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Several turquoise moths flapped their wings over the heads of those gathered, swirled, and sat gracefully on the girl's hair./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Izumi… Izumi!' Naruto shouted with unrestrained joy. 'You're alive!' he threw his arms around her neck, but the girl grimaced in confusion. She didn't push him away though./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Uhmmm… do we know each other?' she replied. Her face showed no signs of recognizing her old friends. This didn't go unnoticed by Sakura./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'It's me, Naruto, Uzumaki, Naruto, don't you remember me? You taught me how to skip stones, we ate dango together…'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Naruto, don't make a clown of yourself,' Sakura grimaced, feeling growing embarrassment./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Hmm, I don't remember. But it's nice to meet you now', Izumi replied with a forced smile./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sasuke watched the incident, feeling growing consternation. Izumi also waved to Sakura, finally approaching the black-haired Uchiha. She stood there for a moment, staring at him, returning his tense gaze. With wide eyes, Sasuke tried to read something from the young Nanusaka's violet look, but to no avail. Did she really not recognize him? So many years have passed... what happened to her during that time? She became a ninja... she represents the Village of the Hidden Sound... about which so little is known... more and more questions appeared in his head, so he did not notice how long the girl stood in front of him with her hand outstretched in greeting./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Eventually, he raised his right hand to take the girl's hand in a confident grip. It was at that moment that he noticed the glint of a red ribbon on one of her ponytails. Izumi grabbed his hand and with the tip of her finger pushed away his white sleeve that covered his wrists. Her eyes saw a piece of red material, a strap… a ribbon. Sasuke felt it and suddenly withdrew his hand, adjusting his sleeve and frowning. Izumi looked up at Sasuke's face, closely observing his reaction. He stayed silent despite the sea of words boiling at the surface./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The friends noticed the change in the atmosphere between the two of them and felt a sudden chill running through their bones./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was nice meeting you anyway. See you at the exams. Can't wait to face you there properly' she concluded bending almost indifferently to adjust her knee socks. Deep bloody scratches were already healing on her body making Sakura cover her mouth in astonishment./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"X/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Chunnin exams commenced and the tension between all teams heightened as the days progressed. Izumi kept herself at a safe distance focusing solely on the mission. She was there for Orochimaru and her and Kabuto's team were tasked with completing the mission. Nothing else mattered. The feeling of having new power, a growing amount of chakra, filled her with the desire to test her newfound strength in a confrontation. Her hands were itchy, so she clenched her fists until she could feel the skin under her nails cracking. Something was waking up inside her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The sun was setting lazily over the horizon as Kabuto made sure that apart from him and Izumi, there was no one around who could be eavesdropping. Orochimaru, disguised as a jounin from the Sound Village, listened patiently to the report given by both of his subordinates. He smiled nastily while leaning against the wall of the building. A delicate energy pulsed quietly deep inside Izumi, only to burst forth with a stronger beat at the sound of Sasuke's name./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'ARE YOU STARTING TO REMEMBER IT?' the Moth suddenly spoke, piercing Izumi's mind. The girl hissed, turning her head away from her companions so as not to let her companions notice anything./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Remind what?' She replied in her head, feeling as if familiar memories were trying to break through to the surface with a weak pulse, like a dream that faded away right after waking up./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'THAT RED STRING OF FATE…'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'My past doesn't define me. I'm not planning to remember anything. The mission comes first, you know it' Izumi suppressed the feeling by gritting her teeth in protest./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Is everything okay, little Moth?' Orochimaru turned to his charge, bringing her down to earth./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Yes, why?'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'You're not getting cold feet so early on, are you?' Kabuto smirked at the thought of the young Nanusake's first mission, which immediately earned him a fist under the ribs from the girl./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'We'll see who chickens out first' The twinkle in her deep purple eye made Kabuto immediately step away, holding back his tremors. He didn't want to feel her hand close to his body after what he had seen during Orochimaru's last ritual./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Are you sure?' Orochimaru asked sneakily 'Remember that you can only say the word and we will give you the medicine. Whenever…'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'NO! I can do perfectly fine without your stupid tea! You just wait and see' she stopped him with a firm frown./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Shortly after Orochimaru and Kabuto quickly dispersed, leaving Izumi alone. She was happy, she was no longer able to hide the symptoms she felt, although she had a distinct feeling that Orochimaru sensed everything. But he gave her a choice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The girl fell to her knees, coughing and tearing at the grass with her nails. Involuntarily, her hand went towards one of the ponytails to run her fingers along the red ribbon./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The events from many years ago have almost completely disappeared, buried in the depths of unconsciousness./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Huranaishi suddenly laughed mocking her young host deep down in the Abyss. She raised her burnt arms, thin as birch twigs, and made movements as if she were trying to claw the air above her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'ONCE A LITTLE GIRL CAME TO THE VILLAGE IN SEARCH OF LOVE THAT WOULD QUENCH HER FIRE OF LONELINESS'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Don't talk, please... I beg you. I don't wanna hear…' Izumi tried to drown out Huranaishi's words, now resounding more clearly inside her. The claws were cutting through the invisible ceiling of the Abyssal prison, and blood was beginning to drip onto Moth's burnt face, which only fueled her excitement. The snake-like tongue licked her black bloodied lips slowly putting on them a bit more flesh./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'BUT THE CHILD THAT IS NOT EMBRACED BY THE VILLAGE SCARED OF HER CURSE WILL ONLY BURN IT DOWN TO FEEL ITS WARMTH'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Izumi squeezed her eyes shut tightly, but the memories of the moonlit night flooded her and took away her breath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Naruto was eating dinner at Ichiraku ramen while Iruka sensei was anxiously checking the inside of his wallet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Come on, easy, Naruto, I know I promised you dinner but come on…'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'A real ninja has to eat a lot to be strong, right, I'm terribly hungry!' Naruto interrupted him excitedly with a mouth full of noodles./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The day was warm and bright, with no signs of change, which was a relief for the people of Konoha after the recent rainy days. Taking advantage of some free time between missions, Naruto enjoyed his favorite ramen at Iruka sensei's expense after running errands for him all day./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Shortly later, the boy would join Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi for their afternoon training. The young Uzumaki slowed down momentarily, chewing the last piece of juicy beef, when a small turquoise flying insect sat on the edge of his bowl. Naruto looked at her for a moment with a strange feeling of remembering something familiar. He couldn't put his finger on it. He didn't think too much of it and whisked it away with a brush of his hand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Turquoise moth rose up into the air only to sit in his thick hair much to the boy's unawareness who went back to devouring his delicious ramen as if nothing else mattered in the world to him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"X/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Aaaaghhrrr!'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A girlish scream resounded through Konoha, scattering swarms of birds that flew out from the treetops, shaking green leaves to the ground. The morning heralded good weather for the rest of the day, which the genins would spend on exams. Gradually, the novice ninja gathered at the academy in Konoha Gakure./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Izumi, get out of there now or you'll get a beating! We have something important to do!' male voice added to the girly screams./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Naruto finally joined Sakura and Sasuke, apologizing for his classic tardiness, which didn't go unnoticed by the pink-haired girl. The girl did not miss the opportunity to accuse her companion of being unpunctual. However, their banter was interrupted by screams and noise coming from a parallel street./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'I'll spank you, you just wait! You'll get a beating from me as soon as-; aghh! Come on, don't scratch, you little…!' the girl interrupted with a lot of passion in her voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'We're on an important mission and you're fooling around, embarrassing us, and blowing the cover…' another male added trying to convince their comrade to cooperate./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'I'm not being a fool, I'm just saving a cat in distress! There are things important and importanter!'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'More important you meant…' sighed the first one dragging his palm across his face in resignation '... never mind'./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Team 7 didn't recognize any of the familiar voices of their academy classmates, which made them run to the source of the commotion in suspense./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Wait a minute... what's going on?' Naruto jumped forward, always attracted by any sort of commotion. He felt a strange twinge of instinct that told him that the owner of the girl's voice was not a stranger to him at all./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Whoops!' a girl with raven-black hair jumped nimbly from the lush crown of one of the trees growing on the corner of one of the streets. She was wrestling with an angry cat, and her arms were covered in red scratches. But he didn't seem to care much about it. Her hair was tied up in two thick ponytails high on her head. They flowed down to the middle of her back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Her violet eyes flashed wildly as she wrestled with the cat, making no attempt to hide the fact that she was having fun at the same time. She was wearing a tight sleeveless top revealing her shapely stomach and a short skirt with slits on both sides to facilitate movement. Underneath, black mid-thigh shorts, basic shinobi accessories, and blue shoes like the others. The purple over-the-knee socks fit unevenly around her skinny legs, now even more in a mess. Her companions were dressed in similar clothes, typical of inhabitants of foreign villages. They turned to see Team 7 approaching. On the foreheads of the strangers under the tree were ninja headbands pointing to the Village of the Hidden Sound./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Oi!' Sasuke shouted in a firm tone towards the strangers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Two boys were covering the acrobat, who, however, at the sound of Sasuke's voice, released the cat from her hands and moved her companions apart to step forward decisively to greet the genin from the Leaf Village. With great relief, the animal freed itself from the girl's arms, hissing loudly, and ran in the opposite direction, knocking the dust off the dry path. The girl laughed and started fixing the torn bandages that were sticking out from under her purple gloves with steel protectors on the backs of her hands./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The girl, previously called Izumi by one of the comrades, stepped forward with her hands on her hips, confidently examining the three children in front of her. She smiled brightly and extended her hand in greeting, pointing it toward Naruto first./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'I'm Izumi Nanusake! And these are my sidekicks' she exclaimed enthusiastically, causing nervous grumbles from her companions by introducing them in this controversial way 'We came from the Sound Village for the chunnin exams as you might have already figured out' she blinked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Naruto stood still, slowly recognizing in Izumi that special girl from six years ago who appeared in Konoha as quickly as she later disappeared. The same one who, compared to everyone around him, never looked at him with hatred or disgust, never judged him, never treated him like a monster to be kept away from. The same Izumi who, out of sincere intentions, offered him friendship.../p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Several turquoise moths flapped their wings over the heads of those gathered, swirled, and sat gracefully on the girl's hair./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Izumi… Izumi!' Naruto shouted with unrestrained joy. 'You're alive!' he threw his arms around her neck, but the girl grimaced in confusion. She didn't push him away though./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Uhmmm… do we know each other?' she replied. Her face showed no signs of recognizing her old friends. This didn't go unnoticed by Sakura./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'It's me, Naruto, Uzumaki, Naruto, don't you remember me? You taught me how to skip stones, we ate dango together…'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Naruto, don't make a clown of yourself,' Sakura grimaced, feeling growing embarrassment./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Hmm, I don't remember. But it's nice to meet you now', Izumi replied with a forced smile./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sasuke watched the incident, feeling growing consternation. Izumi also waved to Sakura, finally approaching the black-haired Uchiha. She stood there for a moment, staring at him, returning his tense gaze. With wide eyes, Sasuke tried to read something from the young Nanusaka's violet look, but to no avail. Did she really not recognize him? So many years have passed... what happened to her during that time? She became a ninja... she represents the Village of the Hidden Sound... about which so little is known... more and more questions appeared in his head, so he did not notice how long the girl stood in front of him with her hand outstretched in greeting./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Eventually, he raised his right hand to take the girl's hand in a confident grip. It was at that moment that he noticed the glint of a red ribbon on one of her ponytails. Izumi grabbed his hand and with the tip of her finger pushed away his white sleeve that covered his wrists. Her eyes saw a piece of red material, a strap… a ribbon. Sasuke felt it and suddenly withdrew his hand, adjusting his sleeve and frowning. Izumi looked up at Sasuke's face, closely observing his reaction. He stayed silent despite the sea of words boiling at the surface./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The friends noticed the change in the atmosphere between the two of them and felt a sudden chill running through their bones./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was nice meeting you anyway. See you at the exams. Can't wait to face you there properly' she concluded bending almost indifferently to adjust her knee socks. Deep bloody scratches were already healing on her body making Sakura cover her mouth in astonishment./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"X/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Chunnin exams commenced and the tension between all teams heightened as the days progressed. Izumi kept herself at a safe distance focusing solely on the mission. She was there for Orochimaru and her and Kabuto's team were tasked with completing the mission. Nothing else mattered. The feeling of having new power, a growing amount of chakra, filled her with the desire to test her newfound strength in a confrontation. Her hands were itchy, so she clenched her fists until she could feel the skin under her nails cracking. Something was waking up inside her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The sun was setting lazily over the horizon as Kabuto made sure that apart from him and Izumi, there was no one around who could be eavesdropping. Orochimaru, disguised as a jounin from the Sound Village, listened patiently to the report given by both of his subordinates. He smiled nastily while leaning against the wall of the building. A delicate energy pulsed quietly deep inside Izumi, only to burst forth with a stronger beat at the sound of Sasuke's name./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'ARE YOU STARTING TO REMEMBER IT?' the Moth suddenly spoke, piercing Izumi's mind. The girl hissed, turning her head away from her companions so as not to let her companions notice anything./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Remind what?' She replied in her head, feeling as if familiar memories were trying to break through to the surface with a weak pulse, like a dream that faded away right after waking up./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'THAT RED STRING OF FATE…'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'My past doesn't define me. I'm not planning to remember anything. The mission comes first, you know it' Izumi suppressed the feeling by gritting her teeth in protest./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Is everything okay, little Moth?' Orochimaru turned to his charge, bringing her down to earth./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Yes, why?'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'You're not getting cold feet so early on, are you?' Kabuto smirked at the thought of the young Nanusake's first mission, which immediately earned him a fist under the ribs from the girl./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'We'll see who chickens out first' The twinkle in her deep purple eye made Kabuto immediately step away, holding back his tremors. He didn't want to feel her hand close to his body after what he had seen during Orochimaru's last ritual./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Are you sure?' Orochimaru asked sneakily 'Remember that you can only say the word and we will give you the medicine. Whenever…'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'NO! I can do perfectly fine without your stupid tea! You just wait and see' she stopped him with a firm frown./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Shortly after Orochimaru and Kabuto quickly dispersed, leaving Izumi alone. She was happy, she was no longer able to hide the symptoms she felt, although she had a distinct feeling that Orochimaru sensed everything. But he gave her a choice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The girl fell to her knees, coughing and tearing at the grass with her nails. Involuntarily, her hand went towards one of the ponytails to run her fingers along the red ribbon./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The events from many years ago have almost completely disappeared, buried in the depths of unconsciousness./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Huranaishi suddenly laughed mocking her young host deep down in the Abyss. She raised her burnt arms, thin as birch twigs, and made movements as if she were trying to claw the air above her./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'ONCE A LITTLE GIRL CAME TO THE VILLAGE IN SEARCH OF LOVE THAT WOULD QUENCH HER FIRE OF LONELINESS'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'Don't talk, please... I beg you. I don't wanna hear…' Izumi tried to drown out Huranaishi's words, now resounding more clearly inside her. The claws were cutting through the invisible ceiling of the Abyssal prison, and blood was beginning to drip onto Moth's burnt face, which only fueled her excitement. The snake-like tongue licked her black bloodied lips slowly putting on them a bit more flesh./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'BUT THE CHILD THAT IS NOT EMBRACED BY THE VILLAGE SCARED OF HER CURSE WILL ONLY BURN IT DOWN TO FEEL ITS WARMTH'/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Izumi squeezed her eyes shut tightly, but the memories of the moonlit night flooded her and took away her breath./p