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"So, I don't really know what to do about it..."

I was sitting cross-legged by a small stream with Tic the crab at my foot and Sakura laying on her stomach facing me. They were both examining my bare shoulder with the mouse contract and my knee with the new eagle contract. Both tattoos had somehow seeped through the bandages to mark my skin, like all the others had. I told Sakura because she's become a pretty good friend of mine, and she knows everything. Tic was just here for moral support/his excellent listening skills.

"Hm..." Sakura was rubbing the tattoo of the contract with the keeper of the Fish. Well, the keeper's assistant anyway. It was kinda weird... The fish didn't speak the whole time, just ate the little square of dried salted seaweed we brought and nicked my wrist with one of his scales. The fish then proceeded to pull said scale from his body and place it in my hand before swimming off. I put the scale on my necklace, as a reminder I guess. Sasuke had suggested it.

Sasuke...

"Well they don't hurt, right?" she continued, her brow furrowed in concentration. "And they've been doing this consistently about an hour after they're applied?"

I nodded my head sadly, letting out a sigh. "They themselves aren't bad, I guess... It's just freaky to know I made permanent life decisions without knowing it? I just... wasn't prepared, is all." I rubbed the tattoo on my knee thoughtfully for a minute, tracing the little letters and symbols mingling together. "Thanks for trying to help me out Sakura," I said, smiling at her while I began covering the tattoos with the bandages. "And thanks, Tic, for listening to me ramble on about my problems."

"Hey, don't worry, ok?" Sakura knelt beside me and hugged me comfortingly over my bandages. "I'll be thinking over everything tonight, and maybe we'll figure out something soon, alright? At least why it's happened. Because I've never heard of this happening." She twirled a piece of her hair nervously, before giving me a reassuring smile. "We'll find out something, don't worry."

"You'll be fine, I'm sure," Tic assured, giving me a tap on my foot with his jagged red claw. "I can feel it, that this isn't harmful."

After a few more helpful and encouraging phrases from them, Tic jumped into the sandy river beside us and Sakura started her journey back to the village. I was left in the peace of dappled sunlight and cool, grassy shade to re-wrap my arms and legs slowly. Do I really have to do this anymore? There's no point in the bandages now. I might as well just leave them off. I let out a heavy sigh and played with the edges of the faded bandages remorsefully. Man this sucks.

I don't know how long I sat there, but it was late by the time I surfaced from my thoughts. For a moment I just sat there in the quiet of the lanky shadows cast by the sun, trying to forget what I had to tell Sasuke. To go meet Sakura and Tic secretly, I'd let him take care of Gyunyu back at his house.

Hmm, how to break it to him... Maybe I could bake him a cake that says "I'm forever marked with permanent contracts on my flesh! And I don't know what effect they'll have in the long run!" Yeah, I like that one. But I'm pretty sure that won't all fit on one cake. I could get two. Yummy. One vanilla and one icecream. Then I'd need to get syrup, maybe some multicolour sprinkles-

Sniff...

I looked up, swept from my trance, and suddenly from between the tree trunks I could see a small boy, only waist up, shirtless with shaggy black hair that could use a good scrubbing. He had tanned skin the colour of bark. But what held my gaze was on his onyx purple-y black eyes. Full of fear and curiosity and shock, and all these emotions kind of took over my brain while I looked at him.

"What're you doing?"

I jumped and turned around to see Sasuke standing about two yards away from me, his arms crossed loosely over his chest and his eyes on me. I noticed they held some emotion for once... Annoyance? Anger?

When I looked back the boy had gone.

"What's happened to your arms?"

Shucks, I didn't think this part through. Pretty much all the tattoos were showing. "Uh..." I racked what few neurons were contained in my head for a way to calmly give him the explanation. I guess the cake idea is no longer an option. Darn. "Well, you see... I just check the new contracts and by an hour after getting them they're on my skin. I guess they work the same way, you know? Nothing should be different-"

"But doesn't it bother you to know you've put a permanent marking on your skin?" he interrupted, coming to kneel by me. I heard Gyunyu's lumbering gait shuffling through the leaves and grass behind me, past Sasuke. His eyes raked over my body, taking in the solid black marks that looked like ash driven into my skin.

"Well, yeah..." I muttered, self consciously picking at my nails. "But nothing I can do about it now, yeah? I can't take it as too big a deal, otherwise I'll just freak out about something I can't fix. Now that you know I can finally stop wearing these tight, hot bandages." A smile erupted on my face as I threw the subject of my sentence dramatically into the air, falling back into the grass to watch it float for a few beautiful moments.

He let out a low chuckle, and then I felt his fingers pulling softly at strands of my hair.

For a second I tensed, unsure what to do about the situation. But then I thought... why does anything have to be done? So I closed my eyes, letting his soothing fingers and invisible presence and slow breathing and the calm wind and quiet of the darkening forest lull me into a secure peace.

When I next opened my eyes, it's quite dark, so that all I can see is the large, rounded, hairy shape of Gyunyu against me, the comforting smell of his milky brown fur hanging in the air. The forest trees seem to stretch impossibly high above me, the leaves distant rustles and movements in the thin moonlight. Pressed against my back I can feel hard bone and warm flesh, shielding me against the cold. A pale arm reflecting the moonlight is draped over my own. Light, sleepy breath warms my neck. I'm sandwiched between my two favourite people.

So I snuggle happily further into the warmth, turning slightly. Sasuke stirred for a moment, before I see his lids pull smoothly back over his eyes to gaze at me in a sleepy haze. "Go back to sleep," I heard his hushed whisper in my ear, feeling his nose rub lightly against mine in a soothing manner. And I giggled, my tired state having rid me of embarrassment, and rubbed my nose back against his before drifting off into sleep again.

I realized this was the first time I'd slept in years.