Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Glimpses of Fire ❯ The End of the Preliminaries ( Chapter 18 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Glimpses of FireAuthor: shattered-words

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, it'd be'Gaara'. So, isn't it a shame that I don't own it?

Summary: There were many things that shaped the plans of a certain Nukenin, and one was a shinobi that was as destructive as fire. AU/Mentions of Shounen-ai/Yaoi/Yurito 'Caught In The Rain']

AN: Sweet mother of God, I’m alive! I was really sick and this parasite was sticking to my stomach and my managers were being real jerks about me missing work, even if it was their fault! Yeah, I work at the restaurant I got food poisioning at and I’m so pissed that they didn’t do anything about it. Bastards are lucky it wasn’t a customer, blah. Watch out boys and girls, check your meat because you might have eaten at this place yourselves once or twice. Anyway, here is the long overdue chapter, ending the preliminaries! Enjoy. (PS: look for 'Omake 1!: Chance Meetings' soon. It’ll most likely be posted between chapters 19 and 20. Not sure if there will be any more after that...maybe in GoD. -shrug- Excuse the mispelling in this author note, I lost my beta T.T Please review! x.x)


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Chapter Eighteen: The End of the Preliminaries~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The fourth match had been surprising, since a lot of people hadn’t expected the blonde to be so strong. The people of his home village had thought him a screw up that wouldn’t ever be a good shinobi, but he’d proven them wrong. He’d defeated Inuzuka Kiba to proceed to the third part of the exam, and he’d exceeded the level of skill of a mere Genin.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. He knew that the blonde had improved but not this much. For a while Naruto had been skipping out early on training and the copy-ninja had thought that he’d been goofing off. He’d found out from Sasuke, or all people, that he’d been training with Haku.

Thinking of the raven-haired youth, he wondered where he had gone. The Hatake merely shrugged since he was confident that the Uchiha wouldn’t get in as much trouble as the Uzumaki usually did.

Said blonde was making his way toward them with that familiar grin plastered on his face. The Jonin had always pondered on how much of his cheerfulness was an act. After all, one didn’t live a childhood like Naruto’s without having a few scars.

The Genin probably opted to grin and bear the pain, but Kakashi wondered how much he could take until he reached his breaking point. It was likely that those few that accepted him were what kept him from giving up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So, you’re Orochimaru’s errand boy, huh?” she asked as her back met the wall. Eizan was literally trapped between the wall and the sword, since he’d backed her into a corner and her chakra reverses were too low to fight him. She didn’t see any other options opening up and now she had nowhere to go.

He chuckled softly as he rested a hand on his right hip and brushed a few long gray strands of hair from his smooth features. The band-aid that had crossed the bridge of his nose was gone, and there was no sign of a healing wound or that any had ever been inflicted. “More or less,” he admitted. “But right now I’m a delivery boy.”

Eizan narrowed her eyes and her hand moved toward her kunai holster. Her arms had been crossed but now she knew that she’d have to fight. She’d have to resort to plain taijutsu. “Reduced to handling his mail?”

“Not exactly,” he muttered with a laugh. He suddenly lunged at her and knocked over the table that separated them so the glass on top shattered on the ground. Even if she was fast, he proved to possess a greater speed.

Eizan cried out instinctively and tried to evade him, but his hands caught hold of her. A series of curses left her mouth as she fought against him, but a moment later she was being slammed harshly into the wall behind her. She couldn’t stop the whimper that slipped past her lips as pain gripped her.

“You’re the package I’ve been ordered to deliver, but he didn’t say I had to be careful of damage,” he growled as he pressed his face against her hair. “So, unless you like bleeding, then I suggest you come along quietly.”

She frowned and continued to struggle within the grip. “Like hell I will,” she snarled between clenched teeth. He had twisted her arm behind her back and now he lifted it higher until she thought it would break. She refused to cry out.

Yakushi Kabuto grinned and pressed his body against her back. “Why stay in the company of one who treats you so badly?” His grin widened when he felt her flinch. “He’s never going to change and you’ll continue to suffer with that unrequited love.”

The fire user’s body stiffened, and his words seemed to ring for several long seconds in her ears. “Urusei,” she whispered. She felt a tingling starting at the back of her head and then it spread over her entire body.

Suddenly, an outpour of chakra unlike anything she’d ever felt before infused every fiber of her being. She didn’t care at the moment where it was coming from and just used it. The pain of the curse seal vanished in the wake of this tremendous power.

The older ninja hissed in pain as he released Eizan and jumped back. He was stunned at the amount of chakra and killing intent that was flowing off the small girl like waves. In that instant he realized why Orochimaru wanted this girl. However, he knew that he wouldn’t have any chance in taking her. They’d have to rely on the Sannin’s other plan.

Kabuto quickly formed seals. “You will come to Orochimaru-sama, willingly or not.” Then he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Eizan collapsed to her knees when he was gone and tried to reign in the gargantuan chakra that threatened to consume her. She tried to stand but only crumpled to the floor in a sitting position and she took in deep breaths as her head rested against the wall.

She was so engrossed in calming down that she didn’t hear the door open. “You’re a kunoichi?” a confused voice startled her.

When she lifted her gaze it was to see a slightly stunned Sasuke. A smirk spread over her face as his eyes traveled the length of her uncertainly before glancing away.

She hadn’t replaced her shirt and thus he’d be able to see the curve of her breasts since the chain mail shirt was designed to fit her like a second skin. Also, the protective vest didn’t hide much.

“I’m a ninja,” she said as she stood. She recovered her discarded shirt and slipped it over her head. When she turned back to look at him she saw that he was fixing her with a glare. She sighed and pushed back her long bangs before readjusting her Suna hitai-ate. “You’re quite troublesome, Uchiha-san,” she muttered. “Hai, I’m a girl but I don’t think I ever said otherwise.”

Sasuke frowned and stuffed his hands into his pockets, and quickly looked her over again. He had noticed before that she had possessed some feminine qualities but since she’d been wearing guys’ clothing, he had assumed that she was a boy. “You don’t act like a girl,” he defended his error. She was completely different from the girls of his village.

Eizan laughed and shook her head. “Did you want me to drool over you and swoon every time you came near me?” she asked before snorting. “No thanks. I have self-respect.”

The Uchiha didn’t quite know how to respond to that. Ashikaga Eizan was definitely a strange person and so familiar. “What’s your real name?” he asked her. “Why is Orochimaru after you and me?” He was standing between her and the door so he’d ensure that she didn’t escape.

Eizan smirked as she plopped down on the single bed within the room. She rested her hands slightly behind and on either side of her, and leaned her weight against them as she crossed one leg over the other. “Why are you so interested in me, Sasuke-kun?” she asked as her voice took a taunting tone. “Have you got a crush on me?”

She grinned when she saw his left eye twitch in annoyance and continued on before he could say anything. “Or is it that nagging feeling that you’ve met me some where, but you just can’t remember where?” The widening of his eyes was all the answer she needed.

Sasuke took a single step forward. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded. He looked like he was prepared to force it out of her if he needed to.

Eizan was only amused by his reactions. “That’s too easy,” she sighed. “Finding out is half the fun!” Her hands started to form seals before he could react. “I will say one thing, the Itachi I knew would never have killed them.” She formed the last seal and vanished within the smoke that appeared around her, the smirk still on her features.

The Uchiha cursed vehemently and turned away. He paused and tilted his head in thought for a while before leaving the room. The kunochi’s words had increased his desire to know her identity, and for the first time he questioned his belief that his brother had killed his clan and parents.

While he had always been detached from everything around him, he had never thought Itachi to be cruel enough to slaughter his entire clan. That had been one of the main reasons that Sasuke had been so hurt by his betrayal.

‘Are her words a lie or the truth?’ he asked himself suddenly. The Sharingan user knew he wouldn’t be able to rest until he knew the answer.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eizan appeared just as the fifth match ended and held up a hand in greeting to her teammates before moving to stand in between them. “So, Kankurou won his match?” she asked and almost looked surprised as the wind user nodded.

Iwane rested her arms along the rail and leaned a bit forward. “You missed the blonde’s fight,” she commented with a grin. “He won, and the level of skill he showed was impressive.”

Eizan gave a nod and would take her word for it. After all, Iwane had the sharpest eyes out of the three of them and would have seen the details better.

Amane stuffed her hands in her pockets and looked toward the scoreboard. “You already knew he would win, didn’t you?” she asked suddenly.

The fire user didn’t even let her eyes move away from the front as her gaze switched to the scoreboard as well. “What ever gave you that idea?” she countered but didn’t refuse the claim.

A moment later, the sixth match was determined.

The two teammates glanced at each other and moved down the stairs to stand in front of Hayate. Haku was almost five inches taller than her and still growing, and one could tell by looking at them that they weren’t related. They had informed anyone that asked that he was a distant cousin by marriage and had been adopted when his parents had been killed by thieves. He had survived because he had been sent to buy supplies in the nearest town.

His skills had been explained by saying that his father had once been a ninja but had been injured and forced to retire. That’s how he’d learned the skills required to be made into a Genin.

Other than that, they hadn’t elaborated on his background or his parents’ murder, and people took it as a sign that it was a delicate subject for the boy. Not even Anzai and Sanako knew the truth but lately Haku had been debating with the idea of telling them. He trusted them, but he had no idea how they’d react.

They had already become two of his precious people, just like Naruto. The former nukenin wondered if perhaps the Uchiha would allow himself to become a friend to Haku as well. He was far too detached from everyone else for him to know for sure.

“Don’t even think of going easy on me, Take-kun,” the apprentice medic-nin told him. She slipped into her fighting stance with a practiced ease as she bent her knees and relaxed her entire body. Her left hand was open with the palm at her stomach and facing the ground as the other hovered closer to her shoulder with the palm facing forward.

Haku knew that Hideaki Akiko-san was an accomplished medical ninja and had been training her daughter for the last few years when she wasn’t on a mission or working at the hospital. So, he knew that even if she didn’t look it, Sanako was a formidable opponent.

The fact that she used her chakra to make her hands as sharp as a scalpel was one reason to not take her likely. As well as her knowledge of the human anatomy and the amount of damage her hands could make on his delicate insides. After all, one couldn’t strengthen their internal organs as one did to muscles.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Sanako-san,” he responded and slipped into his familiar stance. He had never been able to completely embrace the shinobi philosophy but would for the sake of those precious to him. So, he wondered how he could do that when he was facing one of them in this battle of a “synthetic” war.

He figured that he’d try to finish her right away so as not to prolong the fight. Of course he wouldn’t hurt her too badly because it was inevitable to avoid being hurt in a fight. The best bet would be to use his senbon to hit pressure points to numb or immobilize her limbs.

The Hideaki girl frowned slightly as she let her eyes move over her teammate’s stance. She had seen him train on several different occasions and she knew his aim and precision were sharp and infallible almost every time. This would be a difficult fight but she already knew the outcome. Even so, she’d give this fight her all. Her dream was to surpass her mother as a great medic-nin and make her proud.

“You may begin,” the proctor announced after he coughed once against his hand. Even though his sickly pallor indicated that he was ready to collapse, he was as capable as any other ninja.

Sanako had already started to perform her jutsu and gather chakra to her hands. ‘Shosen Jutsu!’ She lunged at him but not as wildly as her brother would have done. Her attacks and advances always had a purpose. When she thrust with her right hand he dodged to his right and she followed her attack with her left hand.

Haku jumped back as her left hand grazed his stomach and it cut almost completely through his clothing but he had managed to avoid it. He almost grinned as he realized that she was taking this fight seriously. Sanako was very serious about her dream to become a high level medic-nin and so would try to pass this exam with everything she had.

He let his sleeves cover his hands and flicked them forward as six senbon flew toward her. They were aimed so they would only stop and not kill her. It wasn’t surprising when she deflected them with her chakra-enhanced hands. As she was doing that he was using his speed to get closer to her.

She cursed as she turned at the last second and felt a senbon impale her body and thus numbing her right arm. If it would have been her left then she might have been far worse off since it was her dominant arm. She extracted three kunai and flung them as the boy approached and rushed after them.

He blocked and she struck with her left arm and it hit his left bicep at the same time that his own fist connected with her stomach. She clenched her teeth to keep from crying out as she stumbled back. After a moment she straightened and lifted her left arm and fell into her stance once more.

Haku was favoring his left arm as he tried not to move it. He was sure the muscle had been torn but he was only glad that she hadn’t attacked his vital organs or he’d be done for. Now he lunged at her at the same time that she came at him as well. His senbon and her kunai met with a resounding clash as the other ninja watched.

His strength was greater as she was forced back but she refused to lose as she channeled chakra to help her push back. He knew that if this went on then she’d be more hurt and so he let his hold loosen. When she became unbalanced he stepped back and used senbon to paralyze her other arm.

Sanako winced and moved back several steps before standing straight. She frowned before sighing and blowing a few strands of her hair with her breath. “I lose,” she said and bowed toward Haku before smirking. “Although, I already knew I would.”

Haku also stood out of his stance and smiled gently at his adoptive younger sister that acted more like his nee-san. “Gomen about your arms,” he said. “The feeling should return in an hour.”

They moved off to the gallery above as Hayate declared Takejiro the winner of the match. There was a cacophony of voices among the ninja gathered but they quieted when the seventh match was determined.

Sakura’s eyes widened as she saw her name but wondered who her opponent would be. She glanced around and saw the Suna team they had encountered while battling Orochimaru. The black haired ninja was grinning at the tallest member. Then he hopped over the railing and the kunoichi paled. ‘I have to fight him?’ she almost squeaked.

“Sakura,” Kakashi distracted her from staring at her opponent and glanced at her instructor. His face was serious and she knew that he rarely was, so that meant his words were not to be taken lightly. “The warriors of the sand are fearsome. Be very careful.”

The girl gulped and nodded before making her way down the stairs. She had been training hard and had improved, but knew she couldn’t win. Her experiences had proven over and over that male ninja were stronger than kunoichi.

Iwane faced the pink haired shinobi and grinned slightly at her. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite too hard,” she said and saw the startled look on the other’s face. She moved her head and popped her neck before spreading her feet into a very relaxed stance. “Ready when you are.”

It was with stiff movements that Sakura shifted into a basic taijutsu stance. The one her opponent had taken didn’t even seem like a stance and wondered how strong he was. She used her sharp mind to assess the situation and came out with the same conclusion: she was going to lose.

Lifting a hand, Iwane smirked and motioned for her to come at her as Hayate said they could start. “Come on,” she told her. Sakura started to form seals quickly.‘Bunshin,’ the earth user mused. The three figures ran at Iwane.

The taller girl smirked and formed seals. ‘Doton, Shichuro no Jutsu!’ She slammed her hands against the ground and it started to shake as the pink haired girl stopped. Four walls of earth rose around her and the clones, and then sealed at the top.

Iwane straightened and stepped close to the prison and tapped on it loud enough for her to hear. “You should give up unless you want to suffocate,” she chirped with a smile but her eyes were cold. She walked around the prison of dirt and stopped to press an ear against one of the walls.

“Don’t give up, Sakura-chan!” a voice yelled from overhead and the Suna-nin glanced up at the blonde. Emerald locked with blue as she grinned at him.

“You’re a loud one, aren’t ya?” she asked him. She heard Amane snort sardonically and glanced at her with a sheepish grin. “That’s not nice, Amane-kun... huh?” She was distracted as she heard something and turned to the prison of earth.

One of the walls exploded out to create a large hole and a figure jumped out. Iwane’s eyebrows lifted in slight surprise before she smirked. “Sou ka. She manipulated her chakra to give herself greater strength,” she muttered under her breath. “This might be more interesting than I first thought.”

They started to fight once again with the leaf-nin manipulating her chakra to give her greater speed and strength. Iwane wasn’t able to avoid one of the hits but she recovered easily since she was use to Eizan’s own enhanced punches during training.

“I’m getting bored,” she mused after a few minutes and quickly formed seals. She faded from sight as Sakura’s eyes widened, but she knew enough about Genjutsu to see through this. It was obvious that the next thing she saw would be an illusion.

The ground started to shake underneath her feet and she narrowed her eyes and glanced around but the room had also faded to be replaced by wall made of rock. Even if it was an illusion she couldn’t see through it. Then the ground rose to form a hand made of dirt and it lunged at her. She was shocked to realize that it was real.

Sakura jumped away to avoid it but she came into the grasp of another hand that clamped around her. She gasped as it tightened, but it only held her in place. It was clear that she had lost. “I give up,” she muttered and hung her head. “I should have known.”

Iwane materialized in front of her but the walls, which turned out to be real, didn’t fade from around them. There was a grin on the Suna shinobi’s face. “If you trained more you could be a formidable opponent. You have a sharp mind that makes Genjutsu useless against you.”

She flicked her wrist and the hand released her. When she stumbled, the other helped her stand. “But you have to work twice as hard since you’ve probably been fussing with your looks instead of training.” The leaf-nin pulled away and glared at her. “You can be a strong kunoichi, like me,” she boasted.

The earth user winked and turned away as the walls crumbled into dust and the rest of the room was visible once more. Iwane didn’t notice the stunned look on Haruno’s face. ‘She’s a girl?’ She blinked and looked her over and suddenly saw it. ‘An simple illusion against her skin. You couldn’t be able to detect it unless you were looking for it.’

“Winner is Erizawa Iwane!” Hayate called out. When the two ninja of the seventh match departed the floor, the eighth fight started to be determined.

The two opponents faced off as Gekkou Hayate announced that they could start. Ino shifted into a fighting stance and prepared to attack when she felt something crawling up her leg. She looked down to see several bugs on her as she screamed that she gave up. Shino called off his bugs as the blonde kunoichi stood completely still.

“Aburame Shino is the winner,” Hayate declared. It had been a smart move to quit, since otherwise it might have turned out badly for her. The two leaf-nin left the arena as the next match started to be determined.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Orochimaru was leaning against the outside wall of the tower when a figure appeared kneeling besides him. “Orochimaru-sama,” he muttered. His head was lowered and his left knee and hand touched the ground.

“Where is the girl, Kabuto?” he asked him but his voice was almost taunting. It was as if he already knew the answer and was merely playing with him. “Was she perhaps too much for you to handle?”

Kabuto clenched his hand and gritted his teeth in anger. “Sumimasen, but I didn’t expect her to be so powerful,” he confessed. “She didn’t seem that strong when I encountered her and yet she was able to release such massive chakra without the curse seal affecting her.”

The Sannin chuckled and continued to glance off into the forest that surrounded them. “I trust that you can get her to come with us?” he asked. He wanted to make sure he could before they made their move. “Are you sure you can break her?”

Kabuto nodded and pressed his lips into a thin bloodless line. “Hai, I can break her spirit and you’ll have control of her.”

A grin spread over Orochimaru’s pale features. “Good.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The ninth match against Temari and Tenten had ended rather quickly with the Suna-nin shutting down the other’s weapons attack and defeating her. And the tenth match with Shikamaru versus Kin Tsuchi of Oto hadn’t lasted too long either with the leaf-nin winning the match.

Now the eleventh match had just ended and it had been shocking to watch as Sabaku no Gaara had fought against Rock Lee of Konoha. Once again it had been the sand shinobi that had won but it had been difficult for him since he had had a formidable opponent. The red head had been shocked when Gai had stepped in to defend Lee even if it had meant he was immediately disqualified.

The boy’s body had become severely injured and his arm and leg were crushed, but even so he had gotten to his feet. Gai had been moved to tears with his determination and then the medical ninja had taken him away, but not before delivering some crushing news to the Jonin. Lee would never be able to be a ninja anymore since his injuries had been too severe.

The twelfth match was announced. There were only four more that hadn’t fought yet and so it was easy to determined the last two fights.

The two ninja faced each other and waited for Hayate to tell them they could begin and it soon came. Amane shifted into a fighting stance as her eyes drifted closed and she lifted her arms with her right curled into a fist at her chest, and the other palm forward parallel to her shoulder. The strands of her now shorter, even dark brown hair had been pulled into a ponytail, but a few of them fell into her calm features.

Yoroi was slightly confused but figured that it was to his advantage. When the proctor told them to begin he pulled out three shuriken and flung them in her direction as his right hand started to glow. He rushed forward with a smirk as he anticipated a quick ending to this match.

Amane’s ears picked up the sounds of the projectiles whizzing toward her as she withdrew three senbon and threw them forward so they cancelled each other out. Her head tilted to the left to avoid the leaf-nin’s hand and then she jumped back to slide a few feet as she threw several senbon at the same time.

He hissed as a needle impaled his left shoulder and abdomen. It had been quite surprising that she’d been able to block, dodge and successfully attack with her eyes closed. Akado realized that her hearing was extremely advanced and most likely surpassed most of the people in this room. He’d have to be careful since she could most likely hear his heartbeat, so any other moves he made she would easily hear.

A moment after he pulled out the senbon he lunged forward and swung his arm forward to attack, but it missed and he hit the ground as it cracked around his fingers. He winced as a kick connected with the side of his head and he flew to the side. A figure appeared beside him and kicked him into the air this time, and then she appeared above him and knocked him back down to the ground.

Amane came down with her knees on his midsection as he cried out and blood spilled from his mouth. She felt him go limp beneath her as she stood and opened her eyes before glancing at Hayate with a raised eyebrow.

‘I don’t even have to check,’ the Jonin thought as he still checked him over. “He’s finished. The winner is Itagaki Amane.” He motioned for the medic-nin to take him away as the kunoichi turned and walked back to her place.

As she came to stop beside Iwane, the earth user glanced at her and smirked. “You just had to show off, didn’t you?” she asked her, but the other merely smirked instead of responding. After all, she had defeated him without the use of any type of jutsu.

The leaf-nin glanced at the one that he was supposed to face and wondered just how good of a fighter he was. He had seen the other two Oto-nin fight, but he hadn’t noticed anything special since they had both lost against shinobi from Konoha.

A few minutes later and he was on the ground, beaten. He hadn’t expected him to be able to attack him while he was rolled up into his inflated body. It was just as well since the third exam would consist of the strongest fighters and he didn’t feel like facing anyone, especially that red head from Suna.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sanako had wanted to jump down into his match and help him but her arms had still been incapacitated. He’d lost but she knew that given the chance he could have given his opponent a run for his money. She strongly believed in his strength.

“He lost, no surprise there,” Anzai muttered as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. A moment later was sprawled on the floor, his head smoking from where he’d been knocked down by the enraged kunoichi, who had seemed to miraculously regain feeling back into her arms at that moment.

Take helped his teammate up with a sigh. “You should wear a gag when around Sanako,” he said quietly. The other couldn’t really respond since he was still disoriented.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The final matches for the third part of the exam were decided, and the paper that showed whom they would fight was held out for them to see. Eizan narrowed her eyes and just made them out.

Iwane grinned before she started laughing. It was loud and almost malicious so she drew everyone’s attention. “You and me are gonna duke it out!” she exclaimed as she turned to look at Amane. “I hope you can at least give me a good work out.”

The wind user smirked as her eyes narrowed slightly. “I’ve been waiting for this,” she merely responded.

Eizan shushed her two teammates down and looked over the rest of the matches.

Her gaze shifted toward her opponent and saw him turned his attention toward her. His light brown eyes locked with her crimson tinted orbs as she smirked slightly. She hadn’t seen him fight too long but she hoped he was a worthy adversary.

“We need to talk,” Eizan heard close to her ear as her eyes widened and her mouth parted in shock. She hadn’t even heard the scarlet haired ninja approach. “Tonight.”

“Hai, Gaara-dono,” she mumbled, too stunned to say anything else. When she turned he was already gone but she noticed both girls looking toward the doors at the right that had just closed. The fire user swallowed the lump in her throat before sighing.

She knew that whatever he had to tell her had to do with their plans with Otogakure, but there was a foreboding in the back of her mind. Something was going to happen, and she only wished she knew what her fate would be after it was all over.-

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Translations:
1. Urusei: shut up
2. Shosen Jutsu: lit. “Mystical Palm Technique”
3. Doton, Shichuro no Jutsu: lit. “Earth Release, Four Pillars Prison Technique”; it has the same name as Yamato’s jutsu, but this requires earth, of course.
4. Sou ka: I see
5. Ninpou, Earth Illusion: sorry, couldn’t find the damn translation, lol
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End Chapter Eighteen