Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Lost Soul ❯ The Hunted ( Chapter 14 )

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me, but I do claim the Yominokunis, Yakubyougami and the Tekigougan for myself!

 

A Note from Katana Haibane: I'd like to thank everyone who had reviewed my fic! And holy crap it's late! I can't believe that I stayed up until almost 5 in the morning to finish the chapter!

 

Chapter 14: The Hunted

 

“Oh fuck me!” Kiba exclaimed as the trio of Grass Nins began to split up and close the gap between the two teams, “How many people did you piss off before you were finally able to escape from the Sound Mikomi?”

 

Mikomi started to slowly back away from the furious Grass Nins with Kiba and Shino before she spoke, “I'm starting to think that I pissed off a hell of a lot of people. I get the feeling that I pissed off than more people than is exactly good for my prolonged health.”

 

When the Whip Nin started to reach for the whips at his side Mikomi was finally jarred into action. Instinctively pumping chakra into her leg muscles Mikomi burst forward and locked an iron grip around the Whip Nin's hands just as they closed over the two whips at his side. She locked the Whip Nin's eyes that were burning with hatred for a moment before hell broke loose.

 

The two Grass Nins on either side of the Whip Nin sprang forward and tried to stab a kunai into Mikomi's sides. Mikomi went to spring away from the Whip Nin when she felt something coil around her wrists and lock into place. Without thinking, Mikomi used her strength to lift the Whip Nin off his feet and swung him into one of the onrushing Grass Nins as the other slammed their kunai into her back. Mikomi snapped her head back into the face of the shocked Grass Nin as he stared at the kunai that had failed to even penetrate Mikomi's shirt due to her chakra reinforcement. After feeling the satisfying thud against the Nin behind her, Mikomi swung her head forward into the face of the Whip Nin, brutally head butting him. The coils around her wrists slackened Mikomi realized that the Whip Nin had coiled his whips around her wrists as he was knocked backwards away from her.

 

When the three Grass Nins leapt at Mikomi again, Kiba and Shino stopped gawking and started helping Mikomi out. Akamaru shot forward and tripped up the Grass Nin that Mikomi had knocked away with the Whip Nin as Kiba gave him a kick to the chest that sent him flipping back over the bushes. Shino was able to tackle the other Nin out of the air only to get flipped off of him once they hit the ground. Now only having to deal with the Whip Nin, Mikomi was able to catch one of his whips as the other struck a stinging blow to the left side of her head. Mikomi spun and threw the Whip Nin into the same bushes that Kiba had knocked.

 

“Shit!” Mikomi cursed as she spotted the lack of flags on Shino's belt, “Shino that ass stole your flags.” She quickly pulled one of the two flags off of her belt and slapped it onto Shino's belt, “Kiba, Shino, you get those flags! I'll deal with these two since only the Whip Guy seems to be any good at Taijutsu.”

 

The Grass Nin who had stolen the two flags took one look at Shino, Akamaru and Kiba charging at him and took off into the trees. Growling in anger Akamaru tore the cuff of the Grass Nin's pants right off of his ankle before he lost his grip and fell back in step with Kiba and Shino. Kiba reached into his hip pack and cursed as he realized that he was really low on both shuriken and kunai. Kiba pulled out a length of wire and a kunai out of his hip pack and tied them together. Looping the wire around his wrist Kiba hurled the kunai at the retreating figure of the Grass Nin. It missed and embedded itself in a tree only to have Kiba reel it back in and continue to give chase.

 

The Whip Nin and the other Grass Nin leapt back into the clearing and began to split up to either side of Mikomi. Mikomi watched their movements calmly and got ready to react the second that they had her trapped between the two of them. Occasionally the Whip Nin would crack his whips very close to Mikomi in order to keep her attention. Mikomi smirked as she saw the Whip Nin tense as the two Grass Nins finally had her positioned between the two of them.

 

They charged Mikomi at exactly the same time.

 

Mikomi bent backwards underneath the twin whips that cracked just above her head before performing a handspring backwards. The Grass Nin behind Mikomi received a close up inspection of Mikomi's feet as they crashed into his face. Using the Grass Nin's face as a springboard Mikomi leapt up into the air and brought her right leg up in preparation for an axe kick.

 

“NICE TRY ASSHOLE!” Mikomi screamed at the Whip Nin as she swung her leg downwards, fully intending to crush him beneath her heel.

 

The Whip Nin's hands blurred as he latched his two whips around Mikomi's descending leg and swung her around into a tree. “You don't have anything grip onto when you're in midair bitch!” The Whip Nin made sure that Mikomi was still locked in the grip of his whips and swung Mikomi around into the trunk of another tree.

 

Feeling slightly winded from the blows Mikomi dug one hand into the bark of the tree and used her chakra to strengthen her grip. With her other hand she reached down to try and pull the whips from her right leg when the Whip Nin tried to swing her around again. Now that Mikomi was stretched out the other Grass Nin through a cluster of eight shuriken at Mikomi. Mikomi released her grip on the tree and allowed the surprised Whip Nin to pull her out of harms way. This time as Mikomi hit the ground the Whip Nin pulled his whips out of Mikomi's reached and started snapping them at her head and stomach, forcing her to retreat across the clearing.

 

The other Grass Nin pulled out a pair of kunai and slapped an explosive tag on each of them the second that Mikomi put her back to the tree. Mikomi now had a pair of kunai out and was trying to deflect the blows from the whip that were raining down on her as the kunai struck the tree just above her head. Hearing the hiss of the exploding notes, Mikomi leapt to the side and took a blow from the whips on her left arm that finally drew blood.

 

Then the exploding notes detonated.

 

Unfortunately for Mikomi she hadn't been able to completely escape the explosion and it flung her straight through a patch of thorns. She was lucky enough to have kept her bodily reinforcement up and avoided being cut to ribbons by the three inch thorns and escaped with only a few minor scratches down her arms.

 

Shino, Kiba and Akamaru had been steadily gaining on the fleeing Grass Nin for the last five minutes and the Grass Nin was starting to get desperate. Kiba had been swinging around his kunai-on-a-wire as if it was an extendible sword, nearly cutting the Grass Nin over a dozen times. The Grass Nin grimly decided that it was time to take a gamble and quickly caught the trunk of a larger tree and began to run around it. Once the Grass Nin was about half way around he slapped an explosive note on the tree and activated its fuse.

 

Shino and Akamaru had decided to take the same path as the Grass Nin and ran right into the path of the explosion.

 

“AMAKARU! SHINO!” Kiba yelled as he stumbled on the branches as he tried to cut the Grass Nin off as he rounded the tree.

 

Akamaru was in the middle of a jump when the explosion went off and was able to right the blast of air out and escape with only a bit of singed fur. Shino on the other hand, took the brunt of the blast. His normally grey coat had been singed almost entirely black. Also, his body was covered in nicks and cuts from the explosion of wood chunks. Then there was the left side of Shino's torso. There was a long spear of wood stuck through the very edge of his left side just below his ribs.

 

“Oh hell Shino, can you walk?” Kiba asked as he landed beside his wounded friend. Akamaru quickly joined them a whimpered slightly as he smelt Shino's blood.

 

Pulling out a roll of bandages Shino grimaced and handed them to Kiba, “Pull out the wood and wrap me. I'll be fine for now.”

 

Shino grunted and hissed in pain as Kiba yanked the chunk of wood from his side and quickly started to wrap the wound. The bandages were already starting to turn red with blood but Kiba kept wrapping the wound until he ran out of bandages. “Shino, if you're up for running we've got to make it back to Mikomi. That guy who took your flags headed back in her direction.”

 

Nodded quietly before he pulled himself back onto his feet, Shino started to leap back towards the clearing the Grass Nin had fled from. Kiba had a worried look on his face. The fact that Shino was injured and moving much slower than usual, along with Mikomi possibly getting triple teamed was more stress than he needed right now.

 

Mikomi had finally been able to knock out the Grass Nin who had been chucking kunai at her the entire fight, but hadn't been able to pull the flag from his belt before getting attacked again by the Whip Nin. Throwing a kunai at the Whip Nin to force him to block she was able to put a little more space between them to consider her options.

 

Then the Grass Nin that Kiba and Shino had been chasing showed up without Shino or Kiba following him.

 

He brushed himself off briefly before he sneered at Mikomi, “Those two guys with you weren't even a challenge. They fell to one pathetic explosive note stuck on a tree. Let's see you get out of this one now you fucking cunt!”

 

At the news of Kiba, Akamaru and Shino's death, Mikomi started seeing red. Tears started running down her eyes as rage and grief started to course through her mind and body. The two Grass Nins were taken aback when Mikomi's chakra flared up and around her body as her mind went into a state of enraged shock. Mikomi could feel her conscious mind retreating until she could feel nothing anymore, couldn't think anymore. In her mind Mikomi could feel herself slowly retreating until a mental shell surrounded her and nothing could get through. Then Mikomi let loose a scream born of renewed fury and pain, memories of the horrors that she had experienced in sound mixing with the anguish that she felt at losing two people who had become close friends of hers.”

 

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Mikomi's scream echoed off the trees and resounded throughout the entire Forest of Death. Her anguished cry spooked more than one team that heard it, and several other people were questioning how wise it was to enter a place that had the name `Forest of Death.' Kiba and Shino tried to pick the pace up a bit, frantically trying to get back to Mikomi and find out what was going on.

 

Acting on autopilot Mikomi's snapped open once again and stared right into the eyes of the Whip Nin. The Whip Nin could only look back in surprise as he felt fear creeping up his spin. He could never forget the terrifying red eyes of the man who had taken the place of the great Muteki Bara. Mikomi's eyes were whirring with a fully activated Sharingan. Then she began to attack like a berserker.

 

Mikomi leapt towards the Whip Nin, her body easily weaving in and around the wildly slashing whips and got in close. Snapping her right fist back she drove it into the Whip Nin's stomach as hard as she could. Whipping around she slid beneath the trio of shuriken the other Grass Nin had thrown and then began to seal for technique. When her body realized that she couldn't perform the technique at all she began to charge the other Grass Nin. The Grass Nin's eyes widened in fear and he flinched throwing up his hands as if to ward Mikomi away. However, the Whip Nin recovered enough to wrap both of his whips around Mikomi's neck, drawing her attention towards him once again. Mikomi's hands snapped up and grabbed hold of the whips at the same time the Whip Nin yanked as hard as he could, trying to choke Mikomi to death.

 

Realizing that he couldn't get his whips to wrap any tighter around Mikomi's neck while she held onto the whips, the Whip Nin tried to throw Mikomi once again only to find that she had stuck her feet onto the ground using chakra. This time when Mikomi went to throw the Whip Nin he let go of his whips and hurled three kunai at Mikomi.

 

Calmly sidestepping the three kunai, Mikomi's body continued to move on autopilot. She solidly punched the ground, causing it to buckle and explode out towards the Grass Nin and knock him back across the clearing. Hardly glancing down Mikomi kicked the two whips the Whip Nin had dropped up into her hands and snapped them out and around his throat. With a flick of her wrist she sent him flying across the clearing with the whip ends trailing from his neck as she released them. Mikomi suddenly spun in the direction of the Grass Nin she had sent flying to find a swarm of shuriken flying at her and crossed her arms in front of her face and jumped into a tight ball as they struck. Fifteen of the twenty-four shuriken struck her with four sticking into her arms and three sticking into her legs despite the reinforcement her body had preformed.

 

When Mikomi landed on the ground and sprang back up Kiba's voice snapped her out of her berserker state, “MIKOMI! Shit, are you alright!” Kiba, Akamaru and a bleeding Shino leapt into the clearing to join her.

 

“K-k-kiba?” Mikomi said as she gave Kiba a blank stare.

 

“Shino, Mikomi's totally out of it!” Kiba said as he snatched a few smoke bombs from his hip pack, “We've got to get out of here!” Throwing them onto the ground Kiba snatched Mikomi off her feet and started to boot it through the woods away from the coughing Grass Nins.

 

 

Forest of Death: Near the Central Tower

 

“This exam was just too damn easy,” Sanjuu chuckled as she started to walk towards the tower, “I can't believe that Orochimaru wanted us to go through this boring test just to capture one pathetic little bitch.”

 

As Sanjuu made that last comment Kinniku's hand shot out and clamped down hard on Sanjuu's shoulder. “It would be wise not to under estimate her,” Kinniku said quietly as he spun Sanjuu around to face him, “She was trained by Sasuke-sama. Even you should know how powerful he was despite being relatively new to the elite program. What makes you think his apprentice will be any different? The last time that I fought that…her she didn't go all out and was able to drive me off.”

 

Sanjuu just smirked, “HA! You're pathetic! And Orochimaru assigned you as the leader? You don't deserve to tell me what to do you weakl-.”

 

Kinniku's hand shot out and he picked Sanjuu up by her throat, effectively silencing her. “Still think I'm weak? Another word and I snap you neck like a twig.” Kinniku Tossed Sanjuu away and caused her to have a coughing fit, “She is able to reinforce her body with chakra to the point where her entire body is as hard as steel. I don't know why but she hasn't been using it at full strength the whole time that she's been in Konoha.” Kinniku's face darkened, “Mikomi may be a traitorous little cunt fucking whore, but I still have to give her credit for being strong. I was able to steal a glance at her profile and it had her ranking somewhere near the top of the list in terms of sheer chakra power. Capacity wise Mikomi only had Orochimaru outstripping her. Her control was shit, and the number of techniques was limited. That's why she was classified as being between Chuunin and Jounin.”

 

“That little twat?” Sanjuu said while she rubbed her neck, “Yeah fucking right. There's no way in hell she could ever be by equal. Hell, she probably couldn't even take Teion in a fight. Kinniku just shut your trap `cause I don't care how good you think she is she hadn't shown anything that could make me believe she's worth my time.”

 

Shaking his head slightly Kinniku gave Sanjuu a disgusted look, “I don't care what you think, you're just gonna get your ass handed to you if you fight her.” When Sanjuu started to head for the tower again Kinniku grabbed her once again, “Were NOT going into the tower yet. Idiot. We're going to wait here and ambush any team that tries to get inside the tower, got it? After the third day comes to a close and Mikomi's team hasn't shown up, then we can finish this pathetic excuse for an exam.”

 

“I'm getting more food,” Teion said, speaking for the first time since they entered Konoha. His voice sounded like a very low rumble, almost as if it was a bass speaker trying to play speech.

 

“Fine,” Sanjuu spat, “We'll camp out here. Get the wood and water. Anything else you want done do it your self Kinniku.”

 

“I had every intention of doing that Sanjuu.”

 

 

By the time that Kiba had located the hollowed out base of a tree where they were hiding Mikomi had finally come back to here senses. She felt more drained that usual from the fight and couldn't figure out why her eyes felt kind of itchy. However, she pushed how her eyes and body were feeling aside for the moment to concentrate on Shino's wound. When she had first seen the half an inch round hole in Shino's side Mikomi could hard believe that he had been able to move under his own power for such a long time and not faint from either pain or blood loss. Mikomi had tried several times to call her healing jutsu into use but found that she failed to focus her chakra properly during every attempt.

 

“Aw shit Shino, I'm really sorry,” Mikomi apologized, “This damn belt is blocking off my chakra completely. I can't heal you with my jutsu at all.” Mikomi flipped open the bottom section of her hip pack before pulling out two vials: one filled with pain killers and the other filled with blood pills. “Shino, I need you to take these right not. Three blood pills and a couple pain killers should be enough.”

 

Shino nodded with a strained look on his normally stoic face, “Fine. Could you redo the bandages to further stop the bleeding?”

 

Mikomi nodded as she pulled out a fresh roll of bandages and set them beside Shino. She carefully began to unwrap the bandage as quickly as she possibly could. She already knew that Shino's jacket was going to be horribly stained from the blood. “I need you to take you jacket off Shino. The bandages will work better if they go directly on the skin.”

 

Slipping his jacket from his body Shino tried his best to relax and slow down the beating of his heart at the same time. Mikomi pulled out a small flask of water and poured it over the wound, cleansing it of most of the blood that obscured it on either side. Blood quickly continued to flow out of the wound despite Mikomi's best efforts to clean it up. Wiping it down and as blood free as possible, Mikomi quickly pressed the bandage in place and pulled it tight around him to close up the hole. Shino grunted slightly as Mikomi continued to tightly wrap the wound. Finally reaching the end of the bandage she tied it off to avoid any chance of it coming loose.

 

“That should be fine for now,” Mikomi said with a frown, “Although I get the feeling that those guys are gonna keep coming after us. Because of me anyway. I'm sorry that I've been attracting so much trouble you guys.”

 

Kiba just waved his hand in front of his face, “Nah, don't worry about it Mikomi. This is just makin' things more interesting. I mean, we only know of two teams that are trying to track us down and that's just enough to give us a little bit of a thrill.”

 

Mikomi gave a weak smile in thanks to Kiba's words, “Yeah, but I guess I'll have time for apologies later. We have to think of a plan. Do we take the chance that those Grass Nins have had enough and try to search for another team to take out? Or should we lay in wait for them and lay a few traps for them to try and handle? What'll it be guys?”

 

“They'll be back” Shino said as he slipped his jacket gingerly back onto his body, “Trap them.”

 

“Hell yeah,” Kiba said with a smirk, “We have to pay them back for that attack. I especially want to pay back that little brat that nearly killed Shino. As you said, they'll be coming after you since they seem so dead set on killing you. Lets turn the situation to our advantage rather than start running scared from them.”

 

Nodding once again, Mikomi look outside the cave to get a firm grasp on her surroundings and the options that they could take in setting an ambush, “We have to make sure that Shino doesn't have to worry too much about over straining his would to start things off. I'm thinking that we should design the main trap around this hollowed trunk or just inside of it. Any ideas on how to attract them towards this place in particular?”

 

“Smoke,” Shino replied as he leaned back against the wall to take as much strain off of his wound as he possibly could.

 

“That's perfect,” Kiba exclaimed as Akamaru gave a quiet `woof' of approval, “We just need to get some wet wood and get a fire started underneath it. Instant smoke signal for those guys to home in on.”

 

“Sounds good to me,” Mikomi said as she began to carefully study her surroundings for potential trap locations, “Do we want the fire inside or outside the trunk? We'll need to set up different traps depending on where we position the fire. I'm thinking that we should put the fire right inside the trunk as it will draw the Grass Nins further in before the traps go off and we can attack them.”

 

As Team Eight continued to discuss plans for their future ambush rain started to fall. For a moment none of them noticed what was going on until the subject of gathering the wood for a fire came up. Mikomi just groaned when she saw the rain starting to make its way down through the canopy.

 

“Come on guys. Guess we'll have to finish planning things later. Let's get some firewood and supplies before we get soaked to the bone. I doubt those Grass Nins will be coming after us in this rain.”

 

 

Shinigami's Realm

 

Sasuke was panting and practically keeling over on the bed that was in the room Shinigami had provided for him. He had truly pushed himself to his limits. He had pushed himself so far, in fact, that his spiritual body was almost completely transparent and on the verge of fading out completely. With a groan Sasuke rolled over and sat up on the bed, looking over at the table where Shinigami had conjured another meal for him. Hauling his body from the bed Sasuke went over to the table, grabbed the chopsticks and started to eat with a vengeance.

 

He couldn't believe how much his strength and power had deteriorated after the cursed seal had been removed from his soul. While he was still able to retain every technique he had ever learn it didn't mean that he could actually perform it. His control was not even in the same category as it had become while he was training Mikomi in the sound. His chakra capacity had been reduced to the amount he had just before they left for the Wave Country. His physical strength wasn't much better either. All of the hard work that he had done to gain his strength and power had been completely undone. It was demeaning how much difficulty he was having with fighting his classmates. The first round had been pathetically easy as they were only as strong as when they had just graduated, but the second time around they fought just as well as they did in the months before the Chuunin Exams. And he hadn't even face Haku or Naruto for the second time either.

 

Sasuke grit his teeth in frustration for a moment before yelled to try and get Shinigami's attention, “HEY, SHINIGAMI! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!” Shinigami's rumbling laugh came from all around him as it had the first time he had awoken and Shinigami suddenly took shape in the middle of the room.

 

“I take it you need something from me Sasuke? And so soon as well,” the amused figure of Shinigami said as he looked at the recovering Sasuke, “What is it you want young one?”

 

A growl escaped from Sasuke's throat at the `young one comment.' Shinigami was seriously pissing him off, but Sasuke had the presence of mind to realize that his only chance at life was also through Shinigami, “You've set up a door so that I could access the dojo to complete the fighting challenges that you have set out for me already. I need you to do the same thing except have the door open to a training area so that I can practice tree climbing and water walking to perfect my control and allow me to regain my lost ground.”

 

Shinigami just stared directly into Sasuke's eyes, sending a chill down his spine. Sasuke realized that if he wasn't already a spirit, then Shinigami would be looking straight down into the depths of his soul. “No. You have not earned the right to a training ground yet you arrogant brat. The second task is laid out before you. Use that to get stronger and I may consider giving you access to a training ground. Right now you have no time to spare if you want to finish my challenge.”

 

Sasuke had to focus very hard on keeping his self control in place. Not getting what he wanted was pissing him off to no end and he was very used to getting what he wanted. His eyes widened slightly when he realized what he was thinking, `I'm getting pissed off because I'm not getting what I want? Damn, I sound like a petulant, whiney brat. Huh, I wonder how long I've sounded like this. Shit, I'm going to get nowhere with Shinigami if I keep this up.'

 

Giving himself a shake, Sasuke tried a different tactic to get a space that he could train a little bit in, “Hnn. Would you mind making the ceiling of this room a little taller then? I'm feeling claustrophobic.”

 

Another rumbling chuckle shook the room, “Admitting a weakness boy? Amusing. I believed that you would be far too stubborn to even consider voicing such a fear to anyone, let alone a person who can look inside you soul should I ever feel the need. Fine Sasuke, I'll raise the ceilings a little.”

 

The walls of the room suddenly just started to grow. Sasuke watched the event stoically, without showing any expression but couldn't help but be impressed by the Shinigami's power. He cursed inwardly when the ceiling stopped growing at the twenty food height.

 

“Enjoy Sasuke. Don't bother calling me again unless it is for an important reason.” As Shinigami started to fade from the room he cast another amused glance at Sasuke, `Did he truly believe that he could deceive me with his words? I can see inside his very soul, even easier while it is laid bare, as it is in this realm. I wonder if he will realize that the third task that I have assigned for him is one of self refection and change as I have no use for him as he is now. If he doesn't then he will surely fail…'

 

 

The Forest of Death - The Next Morning

 

Mikomi, Kiba and Shino were busily stringing wires all around the clearing while following Mikomi's explicit instructions. Wire after wire was being run along the ground and curling around tree limbs, hidden from sight by having grass or ash from an earlier smokeless fire rubbed into them. By the time only half the wires were up Kiba's head was starting to spin from trying to remember where all of the other wires were laid out.

 

“Jeez Mikomi, how the hell are you keeping track of where all of these wires strung around the clearing? Shino's stopped me from triggering a wire almost seven times now.”

 

A surprised look passed over Mikomi's face. Scratching her head, she thought about how she was able to do it, “Actually, I'm not really sure. It's more instinctive than anything else, for now anyway. I remember being involved in a few situations where I was setting traps up with somebody else but I don't remember learning how to set them up in the first place. I just know how to do it.”

 

Laughing, Kiba pulled the wire he was stringing along tight and tied it to the ring that Mikomi had placed in the tree, “You really must be having a strange time of things if you're memory is as spotty as it seems. It's damn useful that you still remember how to set up traps as complicated as these ones seem to be.”

 

“Yeah, that does help to give me confidence,” Mikomi said as she set up one of the four trap scrolls that she had on her to the wire links, “That, and the fact that I've been slowly regaining my memories. I still have the feeling as if I'm forgetting something rather important. Beyond that I think that I have most of them back.”

 

A quite woof from Akamaru got Kiba's attention very quickly, “Akamaru says that he picked up something on the wind. He says it's faint, but definitely smells like those Grass Nins that decided they wanted to kill Mikomi yesterday. They're heading this way so we better hurry up!”

 

Mikomi nodded as she picked up the `buckets' of rocks that she had made by carving out a few little sections of a tree. She leapt up into the trees and quickly strung them up and into place, making sure that they would trigger in whatever direction the wires were triggered from. Kiba and Shino were tossing reeds onto the dry logs and were starting the fire by tossing a couple of matches onto the reeds. Now burning nicely, the two of them threw several damp logs onto the fire along with some more reeds and smoke started to billow out of the hollow trunk. The two of them exited the smoke crevasse and leap up into the leafy overhead branches and into place as they got ready to ambush the Grass Nins. Mikomi finished stringing up the traps around the clearing and then stood near the entrance to the smoky hollow.

 

Picking up the bucket of water beside the entrance, Mikomi waited for a few more minutes. Catching a flash of movement near the edges of the tiny clearing that they had laid their trap in she smirked and she picked up the bucket. Mikomi started cursing the smoke billowing out of the hole as she pretended to get ready to put the fire out via the bucket of water that she was clutching in her hands when she heard the slight `twang' of one of the wires being tripped. A yelp of pain resounded throughout the clearing as one of the Grass Nins to her right received two baskets of rocks to the head. Hearing a rustling in the bushes to her left, Mikomi spun and threw the bucket of water into the face of the Grass Nin who had stolen the flags from them. He went knocked off balance and triggered one of her kunai scrolls and went down under a shower of kunai.

 

Pulling a kunai out of her hip pack, Mikomi was getting ready to finish the job when a series of rapid cracks sounded from directly in front of the hollow's entrance. Mikomi had to dive out of the way as her traps suddenly started to trigger themselves almost at random as the Whip Nin lashed out and triggered the trap wires that had been hastily erected.

 

Leaping from the trees at last, Shino dropped down beside the body of the Grass Nin who was moaning in pain from ten kunai sticking out of his body. Kiba dropped down and immediately tackled the stunned Grass Nin who was recovering from the rocks getting dropped on his head. Shino pulled the lone flag off his Nin's belt and stuck it on his own while Kiba snatched one of the two flags of the other Grass Nins belt before he was able to leap away and rejoin the Whip Nin at the head of the clearing. Kiba quickly handed the flag to Mikomi who stuck it on her bed as she eyed the two Grass Nins carefully.

 

“You're at the disadvantage this time,” Mikomi snarled as she made sure to keep watching the slithering movements of whips. She vaguely wondered why it felt like she knew how he wielded the whips before she focused on the Whip Nin himself, “You hand us your flags this time and we'll be the ones letting you get away without being hurt.”

 

“Never,” the Whip Nin growled. He leapt backwards, heading outside the clearing as he swung one of his whips backwards, directly into the final wire that had been strung up. The force with which the Whip Nin struck the wire caused the last kunai trap scroll to spin towards the clearing and fire off at the charging Mikomi.

 

Mikomi didn't bother to slow down as she pumped chakra into her body to reinforce it, a smirk crossing her face as she realized that she had done it perfectly for the first time since she had come to Konoha. Crossing her arms in front of her face Mikomi blasted through the storm of forty kunai.

 

Not a single one of them even scratched her.

 

With the kunai scattering in her wake, Mikomi uncrossed her arms and got a good look at the incoming end of a whip. Mikomi's head was snapped backwards slightly as the whip impacted with her chin, but she only grinned savagely as it barely caused her any pain at all. Like a juggernaut, Mikomi hardly faltered in her charge as she barreled straight into the surprised Whip Nin and grabbed his shoulders in a crushing grip. Still being in mid-air, the Whip Nin could do nothing as Mikomi's momentum carried him crashing into a tree. The Whip Nin gasped as the air was force from his lungs before he was thrown back into the clearing.

 

Kiba, Shino and Akamaru fell upon the other Grass Nin before he had a chance to escape. The Grass Nin was able to throw Akamaru off of him and take the brunt of Kiba's punch, but he failed to notice Shino's hand slip in close and pull the flag from his belt. Shino tucked the flag in his coat pocket as he turned away to help Mikomi. Kiba and Akamaru made sure to keep the Grass Nin too occupied to notice his flag was missing as every time one of them backed off, the other would take their place. Kiba barked out a laugh at the shocked expression on the Grass Nin's face as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. That done, Kiba and Akamaru joined Shino and Mikomi in surrounding the Whip Nin.

 

“You're teammates are out of the running,” Kiba growled as the Whip Nin frantically flailed at the four of them with his whips, “Give it up before we have to hurt you any more than Mikomi already has.”

 

The entire left side of the Whip Nin's face was starting to bruise up already and that was from only one solid punch to his head. It was amazing he was still standing from that alone even though he had three of his ribs cracked from being smashed into the tree by Mikomi. His breath came out in sharp wheezes and his clothing was torn but he refused to back down.

 

“N-no way in h-h-hell!” The Whip Nin snarled, “I'd rather die than back down from that bitch!” With that said he tried to wrap his whips around Mikomi's neck as he had done so earlier, only to have her hands come up and prevent the whips from strangling her.

 

Mikomi held onto the whips tightly as she looked right into the eyes of the now terrified ninja, “Game over.”

 

Kiba, Akamaru and Shino slammed into the Whip Nin with as much strength as they could muster. Shino drove his right hand into the stomach of the Whip Nin as Akamaru slammed his head into the spin of the Whip Nin. Kiba had come in from above and landed a solid drop kick to the chin of the Whip Nin. As the three of them broke away from the Whip Nin they were startled to find him still standing. However, he wasn't moving.

 

Finally, after a couple of seconds went by, the Whip Nin's eyes rolled up into his head and he passed out on the ground.

 

Kiba whooped as he pulled the two remaining flags off of the Whip Nin and tossed one to Mikomi, “Nobody can stop us! Two teams we've taken out, TWO FREAKIN' TEAMS!” Kiba stopped cheering for a moment as the adrenaline rush finally left his system, “And damn am I tired. How about we find some place to rest before heading for the tower in the morning?”

 

 

Kinniku looked at the bodies of the dead Konoha Nins around him in disgust before he pulled one of their flags off, “No wonder these weaklings wanted to get her and set a trap for another team. They couldn't even put up a decent fight. If I wanted to be put to sleep I try and sit through one of Kabuto-sama's medical jutsu lectures.” Kinniku decided to take out his frustrations about the exam by kicking the dead Konoha Nin's body into a tree, “Sanjuu, Teion, both of you should take a flag for yourselves. I'm through with waiting, at sunrise, if Mikomi's team doesn't show up, we're just gonna finish this part of the exam and meet here in the finals. I hope by then the weaklings are weeded out.”

 

“What if your precious Mikomi doesn't make it past this round,” Sanjuu scoffed as she attached a second flag to her belt, “'Cause she sure as hell didn't look strong enough to make it past this part of the exam.”

 

Teion also pulled a flag off of the Konoha Nin at his feet, the blood pooling out of her ears a testament to how she died. “She's strong,” Teion rumbled, “I sensed that in the hallway.”

 

“Straight from the living radar's mouth,” Kinniku growled, “And there is no way you can argue with that. He's better than anyone I know at sensing the strength of a person. Come on, let's get back to work.”

 

With the bodies of the Konoha ninja transported away via the seals in the belts the Sound Nins started to rebuild their camp. Several traps were set up, along with proximity sensitive exploding notes. However, the main system of defense that the sound team set up was a series of ultra thin, ultra sensitive wires or strings that were attached to various leaves and plant stems. They were divided into ten areas surrounding where they were camping out and those ten sections all joined together in ten rings. The person designated as being on guard duty would slip the rings onto their hands and be able to pick up another teams approach using the pull and vibrations that would be sent back along the rings.

 

“Sanjuu, you're taking the first watch,” Kinniku said as he double checked the order the rings were to be placed on their fingers, “Teion will take the midnight watch and I'll take the early bird.”

 

Sanjuu looked a little peevish as she carefully slid the rings onto her hands and settled in to take her watch shift, “Man, you know that nothing ever happens during the first watch. Why did you have to give me such a boring time to stand watch?”

 

 

The Forest of Death - Day Three

 

Mikomi was having a rather enjoyable dream where she had Orochimaru chained down and at her mercy as she slowly tortured him to death when sudden vibrations turned the dream horribly wrong. Suddenly, rather than a scalpel that she was using to slowly peel the flesh from Orochimaru's disgusting body, Mikomi was tickling the man with a feather. As her dream started to shake and vibrate worse and worse, the dream twisted into a nightmare. The slab that Orochimaru was chained to turned into a bed and the chains became handcuffs. When Mikomi glanced around again and realized that the two of them had suddenly become naked and Orochimaru seemed to writhing in pleasure she started screaming and jerked awake.

 

When Mikomi jerked upwards her head smashed into something rather hard. Since her chakra circulation hadn't started flowing as fast as when she was awake, her body wasn't reinforced and the blow caused her to see stars.

 

“YEEEOOOOWWWW!” were the twin cries of Kiba and Mikomi in the early morning.

 

Shino watched Kiba and Mikomi mutter curses and rub the spot where their head connected together with an eyebrow raised in amusement. He stroked Akamaru's head for a moment before the big dog went over and started licking Kiba's forehead and knocked him over to the ground.

 

Pushing Akamaru off of him Kiba glared at Mikomi. “What's the deal Mikomi?” Kiba groused as he rubbed his forehead once again, “You start screaming when I try to wake you up and then you give me one hell of a head butt! What's up with that?”

 

A giggle escaped from Mikomi as she slowly felt the disgust and fear leave her body, “Hehe, sorry about that Kiba. Let's just say that your shaking me turned a good dream into one hell of a snaky nightmare.” Mikomi shuddered one more time before she stood up and stretched, “I'm sorry about the head butt Kiba. I just kinda tore myself out of the nightmare. I assure you that almost any sane person would have been terrified by it.”

 

Kiba gave Mikomi a strange look before he shrugged his shoulders, “Okay, fine. We should start heading for the central tower anyway. We've got nine points now and all that's left is to turn them in.”

 

Once again a low warning growl came from Akamaru that set Kiba on edge, “Looks like yet another team is closing in on our location, probably because of the shout we gave when our heads collided. We've got to move right now. Shino, what direction is it to the central tower?”

 

“Two point four kilometers to the southeast,” Shino said as the stood up and tried to stretch out the best he could, “Follow me. I'll need Akamaru beside me to warn about teams up ahead.”

 

Shino took off into the canopy, still moving slightly slower than he normally could with Akamaru beside him. In this instance the slower movement was a good thing as it gave Akamaru a better chance to smell if there were people up ahead.

 

Team Eight had been running through the woods for a good hour, doubling back several times and waving a confusing path through the trees. No matter how turned around Kiba or Mikomi got from Shino's run through the trees they always found themselves eventually heading back towards the central tower. Several times Mikomi could have sworn that she saw the fleeting glimpse of another team running through the forest along side them but nobody ever jumped out to intercept them.

 

However, when Shino finally decide to head straight for the Central Tower, Akamaru caught the back of Shino's jacket in his mouth, stopping him. He gave Kiba a low growl jerked his head towards the tree line.

 

“What the…” Kiba exclaimed as he looked ahead through the trees, “Akamaru is telling me that it smells like a group of people are all throughout the trees ahead of us. Apparently he can smell them as if they are still hiding there instead of having just passed through.”

 

The three of them sat down for a second to try and puzzle out what Akamaru was telling them when it finally clicked for Mikomi. She looked over at a twig a branch over that seemed to be pulled in the direction of the Central Tower and took a closer look. A faint glimmer of light seemed to be moving away from the twig towards the Central Tower and it dawned on her.

 

“Looks like somebody has set a field of traps throughout this entire area leading up to the Tower,” Mikomi said with a frown on her face, “We're going to have to head lower through the trees and avoid the triggers. I don't think they could be anything too major as the lines being used to set the traps looked rather flimsy.”

 

“Take the lead Mikomi,” Shino said as he moved behind Mikomi, “You're the trap expert on our team. You'll know what to look for.”

 

Heading for the lower branches and the forest floor Mikomi finally found an opening through the maze of wires. They seemed to be everywhere she looked now that she knew what to look for. They crisscrossed and stretched a good ten meters into the woods, seriously slowing down their movement for the last stretch of ground. Mikomi finally had made her way to the edge of the forest and was going to part the final bushes when her hand froze. The bushes were filled with the wires she had seen lacing the forest. However, the sounds of commotion on the other side of the bushes peaked Mikomi's curiosity enough to push the bushes apart and take a look.

 

 

The Sound team was in the middle of their second watch rotation during the third day and Kinniku was manning the wires one last time before they went into the tower and ended the `boring' second exam. He was getting ready to call it a day and just end this exam when he felt a jerk coming from the ring on his left index finger. Kinniku grinned. It looked like they might be getting a little bit of action before they ended this exam. Hopefully with Mikomi's team. Another couple tugs confirmed

 

Now Kinniku was glad that Teion had given him one of his flags the night before. Now he had a collection or six of the orange flags decorating his belt. “Guys, it looks like we're going to be getting a little bit of action before we end this thing. There's a team that's coming in from behind and to the right of me.”

 

Sanjuu just started to crack her knuckles, “That's good to hear. I was starting to get really board waiting around here.” Both Sanjuu and Teion crouched down near the edge of the rocky outcropping where they were hiding.

 

Kinniku turned himself around to face the direction the team he was picking up would be coming through. He slowly released all of the other rings so that he could concentrate on the one ring alone and be able to judge when they would be coming out into the open. He smirked as he watched a pair of ninja stumble out into the clearing. Looking closely he noticed that they were from the Village Hidden in Sand. “Take them out,” Kinniku whispered as the two Sand Nins, followed by a third approached their hiding spot.

 

The sudden appearance of both Teion and Sanjuu had the two leading Sand Nins shocked enough for Teion and Sanjuu to land the first hit on them, knocking them off their feet. However, the third and trailing Sand Nin reacted without a hint of being surprised at all. In a burst of speed he shot forward and was able to pull a flag from both Sanjuu's and Teion's belts, leaving Teion flagless.

 

As the speedy Sand Nin started to leap over the rocky outcropping that Kinniku was still hiding in, he was on the receiving end of a massive uppercut. While Teion was scrambling to get a flag back for himself, Kinniku had leapt up in the air after the Sand Nin he had sent flying. With a sharp twist of his body, Kinniku flipped around into a spinning roundhouse kick that sent the Sand Nin crashing to the ground. Amazingly enough, the Sand Nin was able to not only hold onto both of the flags that he had stolen, but also throw himself out of the way of Kinniku's follow up punch.

 

Sanjuu's arms were once again vibrating as she chased down a Sand Nin that was wearing the shoulder armour many of their shinobi wore. She frowned as she felt the Sand Nin roll with another one of her sonic punches for the third time in as many seconds. Stepping things up Sanjuu went into a sweeping kick as she vibrated her leg as well. The armoured Sand Nin leapt up and over the sweep only to be met with a double footed donkey kick that sent shockwaves through his entire body.

 

Teion wasn't fairing as well since the much faster Sand Nin he was chasing was able to stay out of his reach. He tried to maneuver the Sand Nin into a position where he could take advantage of his strength and force the Sand Nin to let go of the flag that was attached to his belt. No matter how hard he tried Teion couldn't find the speed to corner the Sand Nin in time and began to feel an odd sensation washing over his body. A cloud of smoke burst up and around Teion and he felt himself suddenly get pulled in the opposite direction of the central tower in the Forest of Death.

 

With the Sound team now short one of their members, the trio from the Sand was able to regroup and surround the remaining pair. They slowly began to circle the two Sound Nins as they prepared for their attack.

 

Looking completely unfazed, Sanjuu and Kinniku stood back to back on the rise the rocky outcropping where they had been hiding provided. Looking down Kinniku smirked when he realized that the two flags that the speedy Sand Nin he had nearly taken out completed the required six flags they needed to advance.

 

The Sand team leapt into action as one, charging in on the Sound pair in an attempt to take the two of them out before their advantage could be overcome. Kinniku had just spun around and grabbed Sanjuu by her arms. He picked her up and swung her around in an arching kick as she vibrated her legs to ensure the maximum damage. Two members of the Sand team was sent flying backwards clutching their chests in pain while the armoured Sand Nin had the front of his chest piece nearly break away from the rest of the armour. As Kinniku set Sanjuu down he saw three kunais coming for him, courtesy of he Armoured Sand Nin.

 

Kinniku's hands shot out and caught two of the kunai flying for him and used their tips to snag the ring on the end of the third. With a flick of his wrists Kinniku sent the kunai back at the Armoured Nin, adding to the already impressive momentum of the kunai. The kunai buried itself into the armour of the Armoured Nin, deep enough to draw blood. As the Armoured Nin peeled off and faltered in his attacks, the other two Sand Nins took his place.

 

The speedy Sand Nin tried to catch Kinniku off guard as he swung a kunai at Kinniku's head. With a sweeping motion Kinniku knocked the Sand Nin's arm away from his body and retaliated with a return stab from the kunai in his other hand. The Sand Nin was able to twist around and away from him, only to get a kunai that Sanjuu threw stuck in his right leg.

 

While the speedy Sand Nin was attacking Kinniku the other one had charged Sanjuu. He too tried to come in with a punch but was knocked away by a snap kick that ended up breaking his collar bone. While that Sand Nin rolled away Sanjuu was able to throw a kunai at the Sand Nin that flew past her.

 

The Armoured Sand Nin ignored the kunai stuck in his armour and hurled three smoke bombs at the feet of Kinniku and Sanjuu causing them to have a brief coughing fit. “Retreat! Head for the Central Tower! We've got enough flags to pass anyway!” The entire Sand team turned about and made a beeline for double doors that led into the tower.

 

Kinniku heard the call for retreat that the Sand Nin had called and burst from the smoke screen followed closely by Sanjuu. Despite the lead that the Sand team had on Kinniku and Sanjuu the gap between the two teams was closing quickly. The Sand team burst through the double doors with the two from the Sound right on their tail. Both Kinniku and Sanjuu went to attack the Sand Team before they could turn in their six flags when something stopped them.

 

A green blur flashed in front of their eyes when suddenly the two of them took a kick to the chest that felt like being hit with a runaway boulder. Kinniku and Sanjuu both slammed into the wall on either side of the door causing their bodies to leave an imprint in the wall. Sanjuu let loose a few bloody cough and slumped forward onto the floor. Kinniku, on the other hand, peeled himself from the wall and went to attack the green clad figure before he pulled himself up short.

 

Standing there in front of him was Maito Gai, the head proctor for the second section of the Chuunin Exams. “I admire your youthful enthusiasm!” Gai shouted as he preformed his trademark `nice guy' pose and nearly blinded Kinniku with it, “But there is a time and place for everything! The Sand Team successfully passed the second part of the Chuunin Exams the second they entered this building!”

 

“I don't care,” Kinniku snarled, “Until they've handed in their flags, they're free game to me!”

 

Anger creased Gai's brow for a second before he yelled as loudly as he could right in Kinniku's face, “YOU PASSED! THERE IS NO NEED TO FIGHT! CONGRATULATIONS ON SHOWING THE GREAT FIRE OF YOUTH THAT BURNS WITHIN YOU!”

 

Kinniku suddenly found himself on the ground in a daze from the volume of Gai's shouts. The only other time he had felt this disoriented was when he had been hit with a weak version of the `Scream of the Banshee Jutsu.' He suddenly found himself being pulled onto his feet and into a very vigorous handshake. “Now if the two of you'll just follow me this way I can have your friend brought here to the Central Tower. There are a few rooms that you can relax in. There just over here if you'll follow me please.”

 

All Kinniku could do was pick up Sanjuu and follow behind Gai with a confused expression on his face. This was the first time anyone had every disregarded his threats as much as Gai had.

 

 

After the fight was over Mikomi, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru crawled through the gap in the bushes and into the open. “Those two Sound Nins were really good,” Kiba commented as he absentmindedly scratched behind Akamaru's ears, “They could be trouble in the finals if the number of flags on their belts gets them through.”

 

Mikomi just frowned. `I really had been hoping that team from the Sound would,' She thought, `They might try to get me kicked out of Konoha. Or worse, try to force me to work for Orochimaru-sama again.' Mikomi mentally kicked herself when she realized how she had addressed Orochimaru in her thoughts, `Damn. That snake fucker has poisoned my thoughts worse than I thought!'

 

“Let's get inside and complete this exam,” Shino said as he started to jog across the open field, “I'd also like to get my wound properly treated.”

 

Shrugging, Mikomi, Kiba and Akamaru followed Shino up to the large double doors and pushed them open. Team Eight made their way inside only to end up being greeted by a smiling Hinata, “Congratulations you guys!” Hinata said, happiness filling her voice, “I'm so glad to see that you made it through the second part of these exams!”

 

“Alright!” Kiba shouted after Hinata congratulated them, “We're going to catch up to you soon for sure Hinata!”

 

Hinata just continued smiling as she held out her hands and collected the three belts Kiba, Shino and Mikomi handed her, “I'll take those flag belts for you to prove that you passed. I'm amazed that you were able to get your hands on nine flags you guys.”

 

“Hehehe,” Mikomi gave a strained laugh as scratched the scar beside her left eye, “Well, we got nine flags cause we were attacked by two different teams.” Mikomi's eyes widened as she remembered Shino's wound, “Hinata, Shino needs medical attention right away. He got a piece of wood stuck into his left side and it's been bleeding ever since. I was able to tie a bandage around the wound tightly enough to stop most of the bleeding but I don't think that it's stopped.”

 

A shocked look passed over Hinata's face, “You'd better come with me right now Shino. I'll take you to the medical wing and get you fixed up pronto. Kiba, Mikomi, just head down that hall to your left and it will take you to the dormitory section of the tower. I'm sure someone there will give the two of you a room to rest in for the next couple of days.”

 

As Shino was dragged off to the medical wing by a worried Hinata, Mikomi and Kiba started to slowly make their way down the hallway Mikomi had pointed out to them. A lazy smile made its way across Mikomi's face as she glanced over at Kiba, “I'm glad we passed this exam. You did an amazing job out there Kiba. Too bad you couldn't fight to your full potential though.”

 

Kiba just waved a hand in front of his face, “Meh, who cares. We passed didn't we? Hell, that's cause enough to celebrate, especially since we had one team chase us down and try to kill us. We kicked as this…exam…”

 

Kiba's voice faded off as they rounded the corner in the hallway and came face to face with Sanjuu and Kinniku. “You,” Kinniku glared, “Did you follow us in here?”

 

“Yeah.” Kiba said as he glared right back at Kinniku for Mikomi, “What's it too you? We passé and we're going to be seeing you in the finals. I'm looking forward to wiping the arena floor with your face!”

 

Before Kiba could react Kinniku's hand had shot forward and connected with his chin, sending him reeling backwards. Kinniku was about to turn her attention on Mikomi when he felt something wrap very tightly around his arms and torso. He glanced at his arms and discovered them wrapped in snakes. Glancing over to find Sanjuu in a similar state he traced the snakes back to the sleeves of Mitarashi Anko.

 

“What do you kids think you're doing?” Anko sneered as she forced her snakes to tighten their hold on the Sanjuu's and Kinniku's bodies, “You were already told once there's to be no fighting in here unless the exam dictates otherwise.” Anko pulled the pair off their feet and threw them down the corridor, “Just for that stunt I'm gonna lock you in your assigned room until your pal Teion shows up. NOW SCRAM!”

 

Shooting Anko a very dirty look, Kinniku and Sanjuu got to their feet and headed into their assigned room and Anko locked the door behind them. Mikomi and Kiba continued down the hallway for a little bit more before Anko's voice stopped them.

 

“Your room is over here,” Anko said holding open the door to a dormitory room, “It's yours to do whatever in until these five days are up. Just don't mess the room up too badly. No way am I going to be cleaning it.”

 

 

The Forest of Death - Inside the Central Tower

 

By the time the five allotted days for the second part of the Chuunin Exam had ended only one other team had made it to the tower. A team from Kumo had made it close to midday on the fifth day. The second that the test had ended, the four passing teams were called into the large reception hall in the tower.

 

When Mikomi entered the reception hall she immediately recognized the face of the Tsunade amongst the gathered Jounin. She grinned and got into the front of the line as the four teams lined up to be addressed by Tsunade.

 

“I'd like to congratulate the twelve of you for getting to the finals of this Chuunin Exam,” Tsunade began, “I'll be brief as I'm sure all of you want to get out of here. That, and I'm sure your Jounin instructors will be able to tell you why we hold the Chuunin Exams. Now, there will be a one moth training period between now and the final round of this Chuunin Exam. The Exam will now consist solely of one on one battles so I suggest you train your hardest. Now, before we select who is going to be fighting who in the final part of the Chuunin Exam I need to know if anyone wants to drop out of the competition.”

 

Nobody bothered to raise their hands.

 

Tsunade grinned, “That's good to see. Alright then, starting with the team from Konoha, I want you all to come up here and pull a number out of this box to determine who you'll be fighting against in the final part of the Exam.”

 

Once everyone had drawn their number, they were written down into a ladder style fighting tournament. The match ups for the fights were:

 

Group 1 Group 2

Kiba Vs. Tenkuu Mikon Vs. Gufuu

Mikomi Vs. Teion Shino Vs. Hari

Sanjuu Vs. Hekireki Kinniku Vs. Tenpi

 

“I wish you all the best of luck for the finals. Train hard and I'm sure the judges will see great things in every one of you.”

 

 

A/N: I'm finished at last! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to the Chuunin Exam Finals. Oh, and for those of you who have been missing him, Naruto is going to make his first appearance in my next chapter!