• Broken Hearts, Shattered Dreams 2 - A Legend is Born

    Chapter 1: Some Kind of Prologue

    "Come on Hikaru - hurry up or you're gonna be late!!"

    Sakura's loud voice came up from the first floor as she dealt with Juugo and Karin, getting them prepped and ready for the first day of their last year of class. Spikey, pink-tipped neon-yellow hair brushed slightly when the boy turned over, and was accompanied by a groan as Hikaru rose up out of bed and pivoted on his butt, heaving himself forward and onto his feet as he looked out this world yet again through unusual, deep blue eyes that had sprinkles of green, resting at half mast. He would've liked a few more hours of sleep, but that was not meant to be. He carried himself over to his wooden dresser sleepily, and opened up the top-most drawer with a slight sigh.

    Unfortunately for Naruto, things had gotten progressively worse for Hikaru because he rarely ever got to see his father anymore, seeing as he and Queen Ino were tied up dealing with a war between summons, which he knew not much about yet, nor did anyone else for that matter.

    Mikomi had grown quite well, but he didn't get to see her often - the times he did, she was either spending time with other girls or else training in the mortal realm.

    Sakura's voice rang up yet again to his semi-messy room as Hikaru pulled out a pair of pants and a t-shirt. the pants were dark-blue, water-resistant, baggy sweatpants that fit snuggly and comfortably around his waist, while the t-shirt was nothing more than a simple, large, white t-shirt with a pink spiral on the front surrounded by a purple ring (purple courtesy of Ino).

    "I mean it Hikaru! If you don't hurry up I'm coming up there and dragging you down!!"

    Sakura sounded as angry as she could possibly be, but was tied up with getting the other two children ready at the moment. The boy had been having some trouble with punctuality as of late, but to him it wasn't that big a deal.

    With a slight 'shoosh' noise, Hikaru closed the top drawer and ducked down, pulling out the bottom-most drawer and pulling out a pair of long white socks and a pair of plain, white boxers. He slipped on the clothes quickly, starting with the boxers and socks, moving to the shirt and finishing with the pants.

    Ever since Sasuke-'sama' had been killed and devoured by the shinigami, Hikaru had ended up getting split up from his half-brother and half-sister in school after they’d been told they should redo their final two academy years; although they were now repeating their final. Hikaru never told anyone, but truth be told, he got picked on a lot because of his whisker marks and odd fighting style, among many other things, but told no one because he didn't want to look weak, and didn't want to cause trouble for anyone; yet he was constantly getting picked on when no one was around. He had not yet met Shika’s son or the odd one. Nor any of the other main children that would become a big part of his life this year.

    Regarding the free-form taijutsu style Hikaru had developed (mixing Goken and Bestial)… He'd recently given it a name, calling it Miyabita Yajuu style.

    Juugo and Karin had continued training the fighting techniques which they'd first been introduced to - Muay Thai and Capoeira respectively, and were definitely a force to be reckoned with - more so than normal, even though they still never showed it at school.

    As soon as he had all his clothes on, Hikaru quickly darts out through the door, runs down the hallway with loud ‘thump’ sounds on the floor as he makes his way across, and proceeds to jump up while ducking and land on the railing as he floods chakra into his feet, sticking to the ramp and gliding down smoothly and with ease. When he reaches the bottom, he times his jump improperly and slips, falling to the ground in a tumble, just like his father’s own klutziness.

    The boy giggles slightly before picking himself up, obviously thrilled with the experience and slightly embarrassed that one such as he had failed so miserably.

    “Where the hell have you been, Hikaru!?”

    “Uh, sorry.”

    Hikaru grins sheepishly, really embarrassed, after Sakura picks him up by his collar and screams into his face, obviously ticked at having to wait for her son. Striding up to greet them was a familiar kitsune no akurei face, Genmaki, trying to diffuse the situation.

    “We can deal with that later, Sakura-san, right now we have to get them off to the academy.”

    Genmaki bows slightly, trying to appeal to Sakura’s more dominant side, and Sakura buys it easily, grinning slightly. Over the time he’d spent here, especially seeing as he was the senior, had come to learn how to deal with Sakura’s dangerous fury, and how to get on her good side, even if he still wasn’t entirely keen on doing what he needed to do. In this case, it was for Hikaru’s well-being after all, even if the fox demon felt he deserved some of it for his tardiness.

    “Alright, but hurry up.”

    Sakura was quite hard on the kids when they did something wrong, and every one of them were scared of her wrath - even the foxes at times - but like father, like son. Even if manners had been drilled into Hikaru’s head when he was real young. With deft movement, she released her hold on Hikaru, letting him drop to the ground with a slight thud and grunt. He wasn’t really expecting the movement, but nonetheless, he recovered quickly, and forced a cheery face onto his exterior.

    “Well come on guys, let’s go!”

    With that, and Hikaru was up and running for the door, throwing it open and running outside followed by his brother and sister, Juugo and Karin, and their own familiars, Gin and Shin respectively, and Hikaru’s own familiar, Genmaki.

    Sakura called out after them, obviously caring about all three of them despite her momentary anger.

    Constantly when the kids got in trouble, especially the one with the pink-tipped hair, she had to remind herself that Hikaru was not yet as strong as Naruto, specifically physically, and she was much stronger than she was in the past, so that made it even worse. She had to constantly force herself not to send them through walls. Thankfully Hikaru had more manners than Naruto did at his age, and more control, in more than one way - even if that had been lacking as of late due to Naruto’s absence, or so they thought was the case. It was possible he was just growing up or something.

    Juugo was still quite rambunctious, and taken up a bit of an obnoxious streak that garnered attention like Sasuke had, but not through being broody like he had.

    Karin had come quite a-ways with her familiar Shin, and had opened up quite a bit more, and, believe it or not, had some fan boys now because of what she was like. It amused her, and she kept up the act that seemed to keep some of them magnetized to her, and Shin actually enjoyed it. Karin wasn’t as quiet anymore, but she still tended to keep to herself, though thankfully she wasn’t insane or broody like her father Sasuke had been, or so they thought. They were quite sure that was the case. But only Karin knew for sure, and maybe even Shin.

    No matter what though, Sakura loved them all, and it was pretty easy since they were all her children biologically. The pink-haired kunoichi called out to them as they ran off, to have a good day and to make sure they kept up their grades and their ninja skills.

    Sometimes Juugo and Hikaru, along with Shin and Genmaki (though he was the one who helped keep some semblance of control on the pranks, lest they be much more dangerous), came up with pranks for the school and sometimes the people of Konoha. But no one could ever prove it, seeing as they were so damned crafty. Gin and Karin were often left out; although they sometimes joined in on occasion to give their own little spice to the tricks and pranks, but they tended to hold the others back more often than not, and thus were left out as said prior. Genmaki tried to hold them back using logic, and subtle pushes.

    Hopefully soon they would grow out of it to some extent, even though Genmaki actually enjoyed matching wits against Hikaru. They were all just kids at the moment, after all.

    End of Chapter 1

    Chapter 2: An Interesting Day (Part 1)

    Hikaru was in the lead as they raced down the street headed for the academy, his happy expression fading for a moment until Genmaki and the rest strode up. Juugo was the first one to speak up.

    “Hey, Hikaru, what do you think they’re going to teach us this year?”

    Unlike Karin, Juugo wasn’t using the term ‘big brother’ yet, because Juugo tended to look at the whiskered boy as a rival, but loved his big brother as family nonetheless.

    By the way… Both Karin and Juugo - especially as they got older and both of them had heard more stories about Naruto and everyone else in the past, from Sakura-sama - had pretty much vowed not to use the term dobe.

    Hikaru looked back after shifting his expression back to the happy one, and responded accordingly. Everybody knew that standards had changed slightly, partially due to Naruto’s meddling - Naruto’s suggestions to the new hokage that was currently being trained by Tsunade. Nobody had any idea what the new standards would be like. And apparently there had also been some new teachers added to the roster.

    “I have no clue, Juugo.”

    Hikaru gives a small forced chuckle before continuing, looking back to the front every now and then to make sure he doesn’t fall over or run into something.

    “But judging by the fact that Nara-san’s the new hokage…”

    Honestly, no one had ever imagined that Shikamaru Nara would become the Shichidaime, especially those who knew him best. But it was Tsunade’s choice since she was the only living ex-hokage - and after what happened with Sasuke-‘sama,’ the council wasn’t really interfering much with the decision-making. Apparently the lazy nin had the qualifications for hokage, as well as some behind-the-scenes influencing from one kitsune no akurei known as Penni - Tsunade’s familiar, but not many people knew of this. Tsunade’s first lesson teaching the motivation-zero shinobi was kage bunshin technique, so as to instill some more assurance that things would actually get done around hokage tower. Shizune, of course, was still the hokage’s assistant, and was helping Shika get accustomed to hokage life.

    “… I’m going to guess that he’s going to make us learn some strategies and do Shougi.”

    Juugo gave a loud groan as Hikaru chuckled at his half-joke, while Gin looked slightly excited, but mostly impassive. Genmaki just rolled his eyes.

    Juugo played a lot of Shougi and Go with Gin - true - but he didn’t like it too much. Or at least that’s how he acted.

    Too bad there was a chance the familiars wouldn’t be allowed in now that Sasuke-‘sama’ was dead and no longer a threat, or, at least, that’s what was thought seeing as his soul was supposedly eaten by the shinigami. A lot of the young kunoichis-to-be tended to get distracted by the familiars’ presence, especially by Shin and his youthful outbursts from his fountain of youth. They always thought he and the troublesome-ridden Gin were just oh-so adorable!

    Hikaru felt a bit nervous as they walked toward the academy - probably because he felt like he was being watched. Due to this, every now and then he’d cast a glance over his shoulder, making sure his happy expression didn’t drop. Nobody else felt it, since whatever it was - maybe killing intent, maybe just hatred or loathing - wasn’t directed at them.

    After a few times of this, Karin spoke up about it.

    “Hey, ani-san, why d’y’keep looking over your shoulder like that?”

    Karin-chan cocked her head to the side a little as she asked her question with a curious tone.

    “Huh…? Oh, yeah! No reason, Karin-chan. Something just feels off - no worries though!”

    Hikaru gives this and a sheepish grin along with an eye-smile in response to Karin-chan’s question. This helps Karin-chan to relax slightly, seeing as she’s satisfied with the response, to an extent. Even though the rest (including the familiars) felt quite reassured too, they stared at Hikaru’s back curiously for a moment.

    Despite the fact that Karin liked to look tough and somewhat stoic, especially in front of others, she actually enjoyed being babied and pampered. Perhaps she refused to show it because she was afraid the attention from the other boys would cease, or maybe it was ‘cause she was still something of a shy child, even though she hid it well. Who knew? Only time would tell.

    Even though the rest couldn’t see it since Hikaru was turned around, nor sense it, the blonde and pink-haired boy’s expression looked troubled. He tried to push to the back of his mind though and think of what the school day would bring as they neared the entrance, potential shinobis already starting to file into the academy as classes readied to begin.

    Hikaru couldn’t help but look over to his side as he passed by the rotting swing near the academy as it was caressed slightly by the wind, the old ropes giving off sounds of stress. The situation seemed very profound in Hikaru’s mind, and time seemed to slow down for him for a moment. Maybe it was an omen of some sort? The yellow and pink-tipped haired boy had doubts about it though.

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    Hikaru & Genmaki

    After parting ways with the others at the entrance, following wishes of good luck, Hikaru and Genmaki had started off toward where they needed to go. The whiskered one had already studied his map before-hand, and knew exactly where to go. Up two small sets of stairs toward a recently-added section of the building which housed quite a few new classrooms. The smell of new paint and wood finishing, as well as polished floors and new metal lockers, permeated the area the most.

    The two walked on in silence, feeling comfortable and secure just by being in each other’s company for the moment - after all, neither could think of anything new to say. As they neared the doorway, and readied to part, loud footsteps resounded down the hallway, obviously in a rush, which caused both to turn around and stare in curious wonder. The newcomer continued barreling down the hallway while muttering profanity and about how troublesome all this was under his breath. Apparently the kid wasn’t paying much attention seeing as Hikaru and Genmaki barely managed to jump out of the way before being rammed into.

    As he sprinted up toward the door, the part that stuck out the most about this boy was his neon-red, long hair that was pulled up and tied so that it looked pineapple-shaped, very similar, if not exactly like, Shikamaru’s. His skin was a dark brown, and his eyes were, strangely, a piercing yellow color. This unusual boy wore thin, dark-red, fingerless rubber gloves and dark-red, baggy cargo shorts held up by a leather belt, as well as a large mesh tank-top shirt. For footgear, like Hikaru, he wore sandals; although whereas the whiskered one’s sandals were dark-blue, this strange boy wore dark-red.

    When the one with Shikamaru-style hair reached the door that Genmaki and Hikaru were heading to, he slid to the halt, almost missing his mark. The red-head quickly threw the door open and burst through, leaving a bewildered and wide-eyed Hikaru and Genmaki as a very loud voice spilled out of the classroom. It took a few minutes for them to gather their wits and head into the classroom.

    ‘What an odd day this is turning out to be…’

    Hikaru’s thoughts centered around this before moving toward wondering how his little brother and sister were doing so far, while Genmaki just tried not to snicker toward the commotion that the boy raised.

    After a moment of introspection, both would hurry on into the classroom.

    And that’s also when Hikaru realized he’d forgotten his sealing scroll at home.

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    Juugo ‘n’ Gin, & Karin ‘n’ Shin

    Juugo had been wandering for some time now, trying to find their classroom, refusing to look at the map or ask anyone despite the fact that Karin and Gin kept trying to convince him to do so - Gin in a bored tone, Karin in a worried and yet slightly monotonous tone. Juugo was being damned stubborn, and Shin wasn’t helping - just going around looking in all of the windows checking out the students and teachers while talking about how youthful everyone was as his tails darted back and forth excitedly.

    Sometimes people wondered if Shin talked about youth so much just to piss people off in certain situations, but this didn’t seem like one of those times.

    In one of rectangular windows Shin caught a glimpse of people performing jutsu’s for their sensei, which he assumed to be a test to see where everyone was at.

    In another window, Shin saw Penni, Tsunade, and Shikamaru standing in front of the class with another one of the teachers, and Shika looked to be giving a speech.

    After awhile, Juugo finally gave in and took out a scroll from one of the pockets in his baggy, jet-black cargo pants with the pink, metal lining in it where the knees were. He quickly swiped his hand over the seal, causing a folded up piece of paper to appear in a poof of smoke. Juugo quickly grabbed it, as Gin closed his eyes and thanked Kami-sama in a bored voice, while Karin tried to remain stoic but cheered on the inside. Shin had finally caught up and waited patiently (amazingly enough) for the group to continue moving; although he did offer one comment.

    “YOSH! What’s the hold-up, yo!?”

    Rock Lee, the new toad yonnin (though it’d been at least two years since he received the title), had been spending more time with, and visiting more frequently, Sakura-san. At first, Sakura had gotten angry in response to being embarrased - especially in public - because of how Lee acted sometimes.

    Shin’s speaking, despite the on-the-spot laws Naruto had put into place, had been getting even more ‘youthful’ the more time he spent around Lee; although he still had some of his own ways of speech.

    Shin had also once asked Lee if he could fashion the fur on his head so it was a bowl-cut like the toad yonnin’s. After which, Sakura promptly and unhesitatingly knocked both of them out cold before Lee and Shin knew what hit them. In the end, for two or so weeks afterward, they had bumps the size of baseballs on their heads - and afterward, a very slight indentation in their skulls.

    Neither Lee nor Shin forgot this encounter. Ever.

    After a brief moment of scanning over the map, Juugo looked up and forward, glancing at the area before speaking.

    “Alright, we’re nearly there! Just past that corner and two doors down, then we’ll be there.”

    Juugo’s declaration of position was accompanied by a grin and a pointing finger down the hallway.

    Gin’s response was to repeatedly thank Kami-sama inside his head - while Karin, despite herself, let out a sigh of relief, but quickly picked up her stoic act again; although her lips were curved into a smile now. Shin went ballistic while jumping into the air.

    “YOSH! WE’LL HAVE SO MUCH YOUTHFUL FUN!”

    Shin was grinning from ear to ear until a teacher with closed eyes poked their double-bun-haired head out of green, double doors that had a white sign hanging over it saying “Gym” in black, easy-to-see lettering.

    “SHUT THE ******** UP LEE! PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO CONCENTRATE!!”

    And with that, a loud slam was heard that seemed as though it’d rattle the previously opened door off it’s hinges. Everybody there except Shin cringed - he was looking behind him at the door that’d just gotten slammed with wide eyes and a gaping maw. Juugo was the first to completely recover and speak to Shin before turning around and heading toward the classroom.

    “You’re just lucky she didn’t throw a weapon at you…”

    Remembering a particular bad memory where he’d almost been caught as well as beheaded after one of the pranks he performed alone in a competition of who could do the best ones, Juugo continued.

    “Yikes…”

    The continuation was also accompanied by another small cringe and a shudder on Juugo’s part before he started toward the classroom with the others in tow, Shin still gaping.

    Juugo overheard Gin mutter boredly under his breath as he gave a light sigh and tried not to lapse into a fit of uncontrollable giggling. Apparently Gin had made quite a bit of progress with Juugo.

    “Idiot…”

    ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
    Shika, Tsuna, and Penni

    After finishing delivering his speech to another classroom, Shikamaru came out the door of the classroom Shin had just seen him in, followed by Tsunade and Penni. Tsunade grinned and put her left hand on his left shoulder as Shika moped about how many more classrooms he had to do.

    “You’re doing great Shika, especially for someone like you.”

    Tsunade’s grin turned mischievous after this, and Penni stifled a giggle toward her Shougi rival while Shika shrugged the front to his person off.

    Regarding the day Penni and Shika finally played Go…

    It was that day he realized he was into bestiality.

    It had been a loooong game - Shikamaru had to use his thinking position more than twenty times that match, and had also found out that Penni had developed one of her own which she used more than twenty times as well. And actually, the motivation-zero nin had considered letting Penni win, especially after she finally got him into a position where she thought she’d won all the territory, which couldn’t be gotten back. She was focused the entire game, but had started getting cocky again, especially when she thought she had him beat. Unfortunately for her, Penni had missed a critical area that she needed to block up, and Shikamaru had also used that damned thinking position again and, without showing what he’d come up with through his expression, debated with himself about what course of action to take.

    Honestly, if the lazy nin hadn’t already been married, he would’ve easily married this fox demon and even had children with her if he hadn’t also already had a child of his own. Despite what the people of Konoha may’ve thought or said. Fortunately, he was actually happy with his relationship at the time, and continued being happy with it, as well as with his intended son whom he named Asuma junior in honor of his old sensei.

    When he had first given his child the name, and his wife Miku (her last name before being married was Hinasaki) had agreed, Kurenai was elated by Shika’s choice. And made it her priority and personal responsibility to teach the boy everything about genjutsu that she could, while Miku taught him her abilities and passed down to him her late friend Rei’s old camera a few days before she died. Shikamaru, meanwhile, had taught the boy Nara-style shadow manipulation and strategy games, while Penni decided she’d help out and teach the boy a feral style of taijutsu, which, amazingly enough, he had taken to like a natural. Because of this feral taijutsu, on his birthday before he started at the ninja academy, he was given a pair of practical wrist-claws/wrist-talons which could transfer spiritual energy and chakra through the blades. The blades actually weren’t as long as the traditional form of the weapon, but that turned out to actually suit him better in battle.

    Chouji, Shikamaru’s friend, had actually taught Asuma all about food, and because of that, the kid had become a young chef in his spare time that was almost to the point where he could be considered professional. What he inherited from Shika in regards to brains, he was able to use to come up with unique recipes and ingredients that made his food taste all the better. Unfortunately he lacked in presentation appeal, seeing as he wasn’t all too creative, but he seemed to have a knack for mixing things together to come up with awesome textures and tastes. It also helped that he wasn’t too afraid to experiment with his own food.

    Ultimately, Shikamaru had decided to not show any mercy, so, instead of folding in his cards so to speak, decided to play it through, and ended up winning. After that day, Penni was officially his rival in both Shougi and Go. They made quite the pair.

    Unfortunately for the lazy nin and the special child, around the time Asuma junior had started at the academy, Miku had died through suicide. She’d hung herself in their backyard; although thankfully Asuma was in school at the time and didn’t see his mother hanging from the tree he enjoyed climbing on. The only thing Asuma had seen was her body in the casket, and got to say his final good-byes, even if it was to a corpse. They both prayed for her, as well as those who knew her; although there weren’t many.

    Even though Shikamaru acted very resilient toward the death of the one he loved, and helped Asuma to cope, he was being eaten up inside. Partly due to guilt at not having been able to save Miku - he knew why she had done what she did, even though she hadn’t told him, nor left a suicide note. Miku had shared a lot with him, and also because of that knew what he could possibly expect from Asuma. Miku had also shown Shika some of the pictures…

    Penni felt very sorry for Shika, and tried to help out any way she could when she wasn’t with the children or Tsunade. When Tsunade had started training Shikamaru in depth for being hokage, she’d tried to help him through it as well. Penni played a lot of games with Shikamaru, trying to help him cope because she could tell that he was suffering greatly. She tried to be there for him as much as she could, and tried to help out with raising Asuma more than just teaching him feral taijutsu.

    Getting back to the present moment…

    Shikamaru stared blankly as Tsunade, Penni, and he made their way toward the next classroom while Shika thought about the past. Meanwhile, Penni was rubbing up against his leg sensually…

    When the trio heard the violent, murderous scream come from below the stairs they’d gone up, all three stopped and looked down the stairs (Shika was the last to stop, and stopped lazily at that). Penni looked down with wide eyes while Tsunade had a smirk on her face, and Shikamaru’s lips had curved upward into a slight smile while he supported his head by folding his hands in back of his head.

    After a moment, all three turned back around and started going back up the steps, Penni still wearing eyes that were as wide as dinner plates. Tsunade was the first to vocalize her opinion with a smirk.

    “Sounds like Tenten just let out some frustration… Heh.”

    Shikamaru just gave a quiet, bored chuckle in response to Tsunade’s opinion as he watched with a tired, vague interest, Hikaru and Genmaki hurrying into one of the classes which he would be giving his speech. After the whiskered one seemed to stiffen slightly - they hurried into the classroom, that is. At this, the lazy nin gave a small, mischievous grin - he was the one who had set up Naruto’s son’s classroom. He spent the most time setting that one up.

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    Sakura, Lee, and Megumi

    Sakura had just turned around to walk inside after seeing the three children off, and jumped and gasped (as well as nearly screamed) out of surprise when she saw a familiar ninja with a bowl-cut. He was dressed in a familiar, nice green suit (not the spandex, amazingly enough) with a black tie and black dress shoes. Around his neck was a leather necklace that sported a metal figurine that resembled a poisonous toad which Sakura had given to him as a present. The figurine was beautiful; it was colorful (as one would expect from a poisonous toad), thin, but decent in size, and the eyes were facing upward. It was Rock Lee, the toad yonnin.

    “Yosh, Sakura-chan, I am ready for our date. Are you?”

    Sakura merely shook her head no as she took in Lee’s appearance, which had taken away the anger which had risen due to being surprised. No matter how many times she saw his muscular body in this suit, it never ceased to attract her.

    “Yosh, then I’ll just wait here until you are.”

    Lee nodded once as he smiled broadly, his white teeth glinting in the sun coming through the windows. Sakura responded quickly, and proceeded to hurry up the stairs to her room with small ‘thup‘ noises as her red slug slippers, with the fuzzy insides for warmth, padded against the wooden steps.

    “Alright, thank you.”

    Lee felt so happy and excited - no matter how many dates he went on with her, he always felt this way. In fact, it seemed to increase every time. It was magical, in a way. He had been trying, for Sakura, to act a bit calmer even though he was always bursting at the seams with energy and spirit.

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    Sakura stepped inside the door into her neat and tidy room, which she allowed no one in except for Lee and Megumi, lest they wish to suffer her wrath.

    The walls were adorned with a framed photo or two of her with Tsunade and Katsuya, as well as some posters of some very sexy slugs, in her opinion (she had a thing for slugs, and she was suspicious that Tsunade did too). Decorating the headboard of her bed were a framed photo of Lee and Sakura on their first date - a framed photo of both her marriage to Naruto and her marriage to Sasuke (she felt the reminders necessary, even if they made her feel bad; although Lee felt different about it). There were quite a few other photos of her and her friends and family - including one where the entire family (including familiars) and all their friends and all their friends’ families were in.

    As Sakura, lord of the slugs, walked into the room, the first thing she saw was Megumi starting to sit up and give a large yet quiet yawn before she spoke.

    “Good morning my lady. Getting ready for your date I presume?”

    Sakura, instead of answering right away, immediately hurried to her dressers and started to sort through clothing during her response.

    “Hai. I take it you remember the drill?”

    “Indeed I do, my lady. There’s a possibility I might take the children to the park after school while you’re with Lee - is that alright?”

    “I don’t mind, Megumi. They’ll probably actually enjoy that a lot. Especially Hikaru - I’ve noticed he seems to be a bit distant lately.”

    “Indeed he has, my lady - I’ve noticed it too.”

    Sakura had just finished getting out the clothes she intended to wear on their date, having pulled out a red silk dress whose design favored her right side over her left, and had a large white ring on the back, which held within it a small picture of Katsuya. She quickly slipped on the clothing as well as red, high-heeled boots that had the tips cut off so as not to harm her toes. She quickly turned around after brushing her long, pink hair a bit and skipping putting on make-up, seeing as Lee liked her better that way.

    “So, how do I look Megumi?”

    “Spectacular, my lady.”

    Megumi’s tone was genuine yet calm, and Sakura smiled in response, her lively green eyes shimmering from the sunlight filtering in through closed curtains. Sakura then quickly hurried out the door but stopped and turned back before she got to the stairs.

    “Oh, Megumi, would you please make dinner for the children tonight in case I’m late?”

    “Why certainly, my lady. I will gladly do it even if you are not late, is that alright? I love seeing their smiling faces when I cook for them.”

    Megumi grinned broadly at this, and Sakura grinned back equally. The pink-haired kunoichi knew that Megumi enjoyed spending time with children, and she liked to be wherever children were. She’d make a good care-taker. Even with out kage bunshin, she seemed to be in all places at once if things got too hectic, and her calm demeanor seemed to fade even if her voice still sounded calm.

    “Yeah, Megumi, I don’t mind. I’d appreciate it too, actually. Thanks again.”

    “You’re welcome my lady, and thank you.”

    With a small wave good-bye of her hand from Sakura and a small wave good-bye from one of Megumi’s five tails (as well as a slight bow of her head), and Sakura was off hurrying down the stairs to go and enjoy her date with the number two surprising ninja in Konohogakure.

    It had been awhile, but Megumi and Sakura had come up with a system to balance the workload out, even though each liked to sometimes take a dip into each other’s time because they both enjoyed being a mother, even if one was violent and dominant while the other was patient and submissive, while sometimes dominating and a bit scary if things got out of hand. After all, Megumi was no push-over. Both were equally very protective of children, as well as compassionate and caring.

    The system worked like this - whenever Sakura went out on dates with Lee, that would be Megumi’s day to do what she wanted to do with the children - while other days Sakura took care of everything. Although as said prior, they both enjoyed dipping into each other’s time and help each other out in some way - the reasons being that they both enjoyed children and they both wanted to help each other out.

    End of 2-1

    A/N: I wanted to show this to you as it is here - because I’m quite proud of it, even though I’m unsure if it’s any good. XD Lol. I just hope you guys enjoyed and that I didn’t make any seriously bad mistakes. X) There was much more I wanted to say regarding this chapter/part, but I can’t remember it at the moment. >,> Lol. I really hope this is an improvement from last chapter - and if you have any questions or comments or critiques, feel free to leave them in a review. I’m also afraid I might’ve forgotten to mention some things in this piece. <,< Ah well. Lol. X) I’ll probably be switching this chapter out for the complete version of this when I finish it. :3 Again, hoped you enjoyed, and understood everything that happened, and I hope I didn’t make any mistakes regarding characters and whatnot. >,> Lol. I hope to go into even more detail later on with even more characters, and go into even more detail about the characters’ days and whatnot. X) Oh, and I’m telling you now I’m sure as hell not going through each and every single day with this much detail. XD Lol. I’m tired enough as it is. smile And I don’t think people want to constantly hear some repeated things. >,> Oh, another thing, I also hope I didn’t give too much away, while still giving enough information to… Yeah, you know. ;P Lol. Tell me how I did! biggrin Catch y’later!! ^,^

    A/N: Sorry if this next piece doesn’t do in the beginning. XD I’m kind o’tired at the moment, so it makes things more difficult. X) Lol. I’m trying though. smile Also, just to let you know, I’m a description fiend. razz Lol.

    Chapter 2: An Interesting Day (Part 2)

    Hikaru & Genmaki

    ‘Damnit… I forgot my sealing scroll at home.’

    With this thought hanging in his head like a limp; the weight of it causes him to stiffen and grit his teeth, his hands clenching into fists momentarily before relaxing oh, so slightly. He takes a few cautious steps into the room after Genmaki, worried about what would be found waiting within.

    The classroom was at first shocked about the student’s sudden outburst into the classroom. Freaky stuff… But when a certain kitsune no akurei showed it’s foxy little face as he plodded through, all the girls went absolutely stupid. They squealed with delight when they saw his cute whiskers and features, making others’ ears throb. Especially Genmaki - who was the target of it all, and also had far superior hearing.

    As the screams of bewitched little girls cried out and pierced the air like tiny banshees, little (not so little) Genmaki cringed, folding his ears back, especially to try and keep them from bursting. He was actually quite sure his ears were already bleeding, but he wasn’t completely certain.

    Hikaru, with only slightly superior hearing capabilities, winced as he took in the screams. The next thing Hikaru knew was that his foxy companion; his familiar, was being man-handled by a bunch of young kunoichi-to-be’s as screams of how cute he was rained down upon his sensitive ears. One of the girls had jumped on top of Genmaki, and tried to ride him like a horse - what the hell? Another few were rubbing their bodies up against the poor kitsune no akurei as he laid on the ground with paws atop his head trying to protect against all the squealing. One of the girls was also fondling his paw pads while another was - like Hikaru used to do - yanking on one of his fuzzy tails, eliciting small whines from the pained fox demon. Yet another of the girls was playing with his whiskers while he shut his eyes tight.

    Genmaki was trying - to the best of his ability - to remain calm, cool, and collected. But it was getting really hard, especially with all the ‘screeching bats’ around his ears. His eyes were starting to tear up until a loud, booming voice was heard above all the ruckus after someone used the ‘big head’ ninja technique.

    “URUSAI NE!!!”

    It was Konohamaru’s voice that raised above all squealing. Immediately, all the children (specifically the girls) shut up and ran to their seats as the boys uncovered their ears (Genmaki and Hikaru included) - this was their sensei’s first show of anger this year, and he sounded really pissed.

    “I’m sorry, Genmaki, but it might be for the best if you’re not around while the girls are here.”

    Konohamaru released the big-head technique as he spoke calmly to Genmaki; yet with a slight tone of energy and enthusiasm to his voice - even though it was obvious it wasn’t toward the situation.

    Genmaki responded quickly - a little too quickly, as a trickle of blood began to leak out of both of his ears.

    “No apologies necessary, Sarutobi-san. I’d probably prefer it.”

    And with that a wide-eyed, agitated and shaken Genmaki turned around and walked back out the door as the girls shook, obviously due to the physical effort of trying to contain themselves. Meanwhile, the pineapple-shaped red-head was standing in the corner across from the painted green, metal, smoothly sliding door, apparently a bit ticked by all the noise and impatient about the situation. Hikaru was the first one to talk, a bit bluntly and abruptly at that.

    “How do you know Genmaki, sensei? And there’s another Sarutobi??”

    Konohamaru gave a dissatisfied expression as he answered with energy.

    “Your father introduced me to him, Hikaru. Now that’s all the information you’re getting for now - go sit up there next to the Aburame twins.”

    With that Konohamaru pointed up and to the right at two empty seats in one desk next to an open window with his right index finger, and proceeded to turn to the red-head.

    “You, Asuma-kun, go up there as well.”

    Shikamaru, Naruto, and he had conversed earlier that year before the academy had started up again to decide how everything would work. They’d come to the conclusion that it would be helpful for Asuma and Hikaru to get to know one another, especially considering recent occurrences.

    Asuma Nara sauntered up to his seat slowly, while Hikaru ran on up to his, the whiskered one looking around the classroom at some of the students, taking in their appearances, noticing that there were around twenty to twenty-five students there.

    Juugo ‘n’ Gin, & Karin ‘n’ Shin

    Gin and Shin had decided to wait outside the classroom, after a little convincing from the normally impassive kitsune no akurei. Karin was a bit saddened that she wouldn’t have her familiar’s company to help her feel safe and secure, but she had come a long way, so she might not need it completely, unlike the other academy years. The familiars were finally starting to get a little lax in protecting their charges - and they also didn’t want to have to deal with squealing girls.

    Juugo entered the door first; pushing the metal, easily-sliding green door (with the rectangular window in the middle) to the side. First he looked left, to where the students were, and then he looked straight forward, scoping out the female sensei staring at him as he leaned in through the doorway while hanging on the sides.

    “Intend to come in sometime today?”

    That was the sensei’s voice. It was cold, harsh, monotonous, but definitely not a drawl - and was obviously a female’s. This teacher had pale, purple eyes, and a soft yet tough face containing a tone of seriousness. Her hair was long, straight and black, which seemed to demand seriousness as well. There was a forehead protector with a black headband; a hitai-ate, on her forehead. She wore a linen skirt that went down past her knees but gave her excellent mobility due to the slits in the material that went all the way down in the sides that were between her legs. She had on a black mesh shirt and pale, purple rubber boots that went up to where her skirt ended. They were actually quite comfortable on her, and fit nicely. It was Hanabi of the Hyuuga clan. Hanabi Hyuuga.

    Eyeing the serious teacher over, and noticing, with a light blush, that he could see her panties very slightly. They were jet-black. He grinned slightly, but not from perversion - from thinking, “I’m going to have soooo much fun with her!” And indeed he would, more than likely - his head already concocting various devious schemes and pranks with which to use on her.

    Hanabi, noticing the mischievous grin on Juugo’s face, made her tone all the harsher and more serious. It also came out as something of a snap at him.

    “Get in here now unless you want me to count you as tardy!”

    Juugo’s grin dropped and he immediately lunged through, and looked back over the seats, checking for an empty one, as Karin walked in slowly with feminine grace and quiet demeanor, not looking around too awful much - just intending to follow Juugo and keep her face expressionless despite her being nervous.

    The two fox demons peered in behind them, just scoping out the place as their two charges walked over the threshold, keeping sure not to be noticed by the girls. Hanabi saw them, but thankfully she had more control and more seriousness (much like her father Hiashi, except she was serious in private as well) with which to contain herself. Hiashi might not’ve done such a great job raising her. Or maybe he did? She was able to perform expertly.

    During the times Juugo had been scoping out his new classmates, but there was one that caught most of his interest. Even though there were about twenty kids there.

    The being that caught his interest had exotic, long brown hair that was messy and spiky, and had patches of greasy, blood-red scales on his cheeks and a small one on his chin. There was another, larger patch of greasy blood-red scales on his forehead, and the patch had a thin strip that stretched down to the tip of his human nose. His lips were human too.

    Wherever skin and scale connected, was a smooth transition between the two that made it look very natural, and quite cool. The lizard-human’s teeth were very clean, despite looking absolutely carnivorous; although unfortunately his breath wasn’t so hot, and the person next to him was trying to contain his disgust at the smell of raw flesh. There were deep, dark rings around his eyes that were much like Gaara’s, except they were more noticeable on the bottoms where they splayed out slightly.

    This particular individual was placed up near the front of the classroom, much to his chagrin, and looked bored beyond compare, as well as slightly uncomfortable for multiple reasons.

    After Juugo (quickly) and Karin (gracefully and at normal speed) had seated themselves together in one of those two-in-one desks located near the middle, but more toward the front of the room, Hanabi spoke. Juugo was already leaning his body forward, his head propped up into his right hand, causing the right side of his face to stretch upward, while his left arm lay across the desk. Juugo had his seat backed up a ways, while Karin had hers pulled up to the desk and was sitting nice and quietly, staring attentively to her new sensei.

    Hyuuga Hanabi had just closed the door and had started speaking in a loud voice, but in a serious tone, as she made her way back to the middle with an unintentional feminine sway of her hips. Meanwhile, Gin, the nearly impassive one, had gone to sleep outside the door with his body curled up and laying comfortably on the clean and tidy, wooden floor of the hallway. Shin was standing up on his hind legs and leaning on the door, causing it to push inward slightly while he looked through the door with curious, hyper eyes. Karin noticed it, and though didn’t pay much attention, seemed to relax ever so slightly from the sight.

    “Now then. For those of you who’ve just come in, and also missed Nara-sama’s speech…”

    Hanabi gave a withering glare toward the two, and leaked a slight amount of killing intent at the two Uchihas, which caused them both to shudder slightly; although Karin less seeing as she was more calm and reserved.

    “We were just about to show the class our favorite techniques, and they do not necessarily have to be your best - I just feel that you will get to know your classmates as ninja better through this activity. And will thus be able to effectively gain some before-hand experience, and maybe develop counters and bonds, as well as stir the creativity in some of your minds to come up with plans. You can get to know yourselves as friends during lunch - that is what it is meant for.”

    Hanabi stopped speaking, and then looked over the crowd of students, pretending to be interested in all of them, and settled her gaze on the lizard boy, already having intended to start with him. She tried not to show it, but her expression was actually slightly devious and curious. It was also possible she had a thing for the boy’s submissiveness. Wow…

    The lizard boy, despite his shyness and nervousness, gathered up his nerves quickly, and despite still shaking, readied to speak after slowly walking up to the front of the room.

    Juugo watched with interest, and Karin showed a small amount of interest as well, as the boy walked up there slowly, gradually gaining in pace. The lizard boy’s body was pretty muscular, but not so much so that he was rippling. Thank God, that would’ve been disgusting. It was just so much muscel that it was obvious he was in shape. He wore a large white t-shirt, and the skin that was there and showed, which was mainly on the front half of his body, was pale like a caucasion. The blood-red, greasy scales that manifested themselves were mainly located on the backs of his hands and arms, as well as the back of his neck and on his back in particular. There was definitely a system to how the scales were placed, and that was also obvious. They seemed to cling to his body from the back like something alive. He wore baggy, yellow, nylon sweatpants that were loose around his ankles yet tight around his waist. The pants had a hole in the back that made comfortable room for his blood-red, reptilian tail that had what looked to be a fan-like end to it, which was shifting about nervously. His feet were bare, and were much like a human’s except had pretty long, sharp claws on his feet, and actually, the same kind of claws were on his hands too. Hanabi spoke just as the lizard boy was about to speak while she tried not to grin.

    “Don’t forget to state your name, too.”

    The lizard boy looked back over his shoulder, and nodded, while trying to gather up his courage and then speaking.

    “My name is Andoryu Kioku Akuomakatsu…”

    Andoryu’s voice seemed to grow in confidence as he spoke, and was quite loud to begin with, despite his nervousness.

    “My favorite technique isn’t much of a technique at all. It just requires substantial chakra, and extreme amounts of energy. It’s possible to starve while doing it too... But that’s all I’m going to say. My other favorite is the forced-sleep technique.”

    A chuckle was heard through the crowd of students, and even Hanabi gave a slight, womanly, chuckle. Andoryu would have ignored it, had Juugo not piped up to voice his opinions, saying the first insult that came to mind while quickly standing.

    “DOBE! How can that possibly be anyone’s favorite!?”

    Juugo quickly slapped his hands over his mouth after realizing what he’d just said after Karin snapped her head to him so quick after hearing him say ‘dobe’ while her eyes widened exponentially, that it was amazing her neck didn’t crack (descriptive language courtesy of pudgypudge). Meanwhile, people had started to burst into laughter, bu