Fanfic / Your Heart a Haven of Thorns (Naruto)

They didn't give her any chance to rest. Sakura didn't even have time to set up camp before the Sound-nin found her, pursuing her ever deeper into the Forest of Death as she struggled beneath the weight of her unconscious teammates. But perhaps they should have been more mindful of the warnings, for the forest was aptly named, filled with all manner of predators... including one who was willing to help a little girl with a surprisingly loud roar find the core of steel hidden in her chest and forge it into something great.

Your Heart a Haven of Thorns is a Naruto fanfic by DeviousRaptor which diverges heavily from canon during the Chuunin Exams. Sakura finds an unexpected mentor in Kikyō, a giant tiger who makes a contract with her to serve as her summons... in exchange for a sacrifice.

The series also has a collection of side stories in The Bramble, The Thicket, It Pulls You In which explores alternate perspectives and some of the things various other characters experience.

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This fanfic contains examples of:

• Accusation Fic: Has elements of this; the story takes a rather dim view of Kakashi and Hiruzen, calling out the former for being a bad teacher and the latter as a poor leader. Kakashi accepts being taken to task for his failings with far more grace than the Sandaime.
• Achievements in Ignorance: Kakashi's less-than-stellar teaching style results in this, as it turns out that the method Sakura had been using for her tree-walking was not actually how it's meant to be done. The discrepency is only discovered after Sakura builds upon this lesson in an effort to flare her chakra that winds up blowing a hole straight through Kabuto's chest. Whoopsie-daisy.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: This story follows the common Fandom-Specific Plot of having Sakura come from a purely civilian background, adapting the anime-invented Mebuki and Kizashi accordingly.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Not only are Hiruzen's failures brought out and highlighted, it's revealed that his grandfatherly persona is something that Hiruzen himself regards as nothing more than a facade he adopted for his second reign. Sasuke also reveals that Hiruzen didn't just turn a blind eye towards how Naruto was being treated, but actively worked to KEEP him isolated.
• Adaptational Relationship Change: As Sakura bluntly informs Sasuke in Chapter 7, her fangirling over him before was entirely an act. And it was the same for most of the girls as well:
  Sakura: Besides, our Kunoichi teacher promoted gossip as undercover intelligence-gathering, so a lot of our crazier stuff in school was an act to get into character or get information. Most of the girls in the Academy were pretty neutral towards you. Some of them even hated your guts.
  Kikyō: Silly little cub, you did not truly believe that her mask was all of her character?
  Sasuke: (scoffing to mask his embarrassment) That's the only way she ever acted, how was I supposed to know?
  Kikyō: (snorting) Clearly Sakura will make an expert infiltration artist, if even her teammates cannot see through her facade.
• Adaptational Sexuality: The story's tags make clear that Sakura and Ino will eventually become a couple in the future.
• All Animals Are Dogs: Referenced when Sakura privately muses that with how much Kikyō herds her and her teammates around, it feels as though she'd gotten a giant dog summon rather than a tiger. However, she doesn't admit this out loud, knowing she'd likely get cuffed for it.
• An Arm and a Leg: In order to demonstrate her willingness to sacrifice herself for the sake of gaining the strength necessary to protect her loved ones, Sakura surrenders her left arm to Kikyō, letting the giant tiger sever it.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • When the Sandaime refuses to cancel the Chuunin Exams, Kikyō sardonically observes that he doesn't care about the safety of Sakura or her teammates before deciding to make the threat more personal... following up with two more questions that strike deeper than he wants to admit:
    Kikyō: You are also a summoner. Tell me, little human, how attached are you to your summoning contract?
    Hiruzen: (expression briefly cracking) You're threatening me?
    Kikyō: Your life is not on the line by any of my choices, though I cannot say the same for the people in this forest. You are jeopardizing your beloved village with your inane decisions. You have already made up your mind to continue with these examinations, despite the danger.
    Hiruzen: It is a calculated risk in order to promote village strength and lure out Orochimaru.
    Kikyō: (snarling) Lure him into an arena full of children? How noble of you to make that sacrifice for them.
    Hiruzen: We have ANBU on full alert. They will interfere at the slightest hint of the Sannin.
    Kikyō: Ah yes, your elite ninja. Tell me, when you sent these ANBU after the snake, how many engaged in combat with him and came back alive?
    (the Sandaime refuses to answer)
    Kikyo: You are also blatantly assuming that he works alone, when it was relayed that the snake ordered an entire team to attack my cub. Even if this Sound village wasn't suspect, Orochimaru is still a summoner: he has a veritable army of serpents at his disposal. Tell me, how well prepared are you for your village to be overrun with snakes?
    Hiruzen: (following another damning silence) I fail to see how my summoning contract with the monkeys plays into this.
    Kikyō: (chuckles unkindly) You will call off these exams or I will gather my siblings and hunt down your personal summons. You seem to care not for the lives of your villagers, so what are a few more lives to add to your growing dead?
  • Genma unintentionally does this when he asks Sakura if she's decided whether or not she intends to get a prosthetic arm, as she hadn't given any thought to the matter before then and finds herself falling into a spiral of what-ifs.
  • Sakura gets one when she asks Sasuke how they know that the Mangekyo must be activated by witnessing the death of a loved one.
• Asshole Victim: In order to make the demise of Monkey King Enma easier to stomach, it's revealed that he previously tricked the Tiger clan into sacrificing one of their cubs in order to satisfy the terms of a deal that Enma had intentionally brokered in bad faith. He displays absolutely no remorse for this act; in fact, he wears the proof of his deception proudly, and only falters upon learning that his Karma Houdini Warranty has expired.
• Beneath the Mask: Sakura explains to Sasuke that her former fangirling over him was all an act in order to fit in with her classmates, and that their kunoichi teacher actively encouraged them to act shallow and gossipy as a form of intelligence gathering. Sasuke in turn admits that all of the fangirling added to the pressure he feels as the last Uchiha to live up to everyone's impossible standards.
• Brick Joke: Before the Internal Reveal about Jiraiya in Chapter 11, Sasuke and Naruto argue about where they should go to eat, with Sasuke insisting that he should get to choose since his seal took longer to deal with. After the drama bomb is dropped and dealt with, Sasuke breaks the tension by declaring "I don't know about you guys, but I feel like getting ramen."
• Cat/Dog Dichotomy:
  • Naturally set up between Kikyō and Kakashi; she dismissively refers to him as a "dog". Also seen with Kiba immediately giving her a wide berth upon their introduction.
  • Averted with Kakashi's actual ninken, as Kikyō immediately hits things off with Pakkun, much to Kakashi's dismay.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror:
  • Naruto is accustomed to the dismissive and scornful treatment he receives from most of the village, much to Sakura's annoyance.
  • Sakura herself also falls into this. When Kikyō apologizes for dismissing her concerns about Team Seven's planned slumber party, the girl is left at a loss: she doesn't understand why the tiger is apologizing when she's used to her parents being much harsher in brushing off her thoughts and opinions as unimportant and never saw fit to apologize.
• Death by Adaptation: Thanks to Hiruzen ignoring Kikyō's warnings, Enma is slain by the Tiger clan, with his pelt presented to Sakura as a gift.
• Didn't Think This Through: While trying to avoid an angry Kikyō, Kakashi declares that he's leaving her in charge of Team Seven while he goes to get food. Kikyō then invokes the Konoha Guide Rules and Regulations of Chains of Command, declaring that she still finds him unfit to lead and refuses to cede the position back to him. His attempt to attack her doesn't do him any favors, either.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: The Sound trio of Dosu, Kin and Zaku get killed by Kikyō in the Forest of Death.
• Failed a Spot Check: Played for Drama when Team Ten encounters Team Seven for the first time after the Forest of Death, as Ino doesn't immediately notice that Sakura is missing an arm. Justified in that Sakura is partially hidden behind her teammates at the time.
• False Friend: Naruto eventually realizes that Hiruzen was a massive Hypocrite who set himself up as one of these for him. Especially given the revelation that Sasuke was ordered to stay away from Naruto so that he wouldn't 'form any alliances' with other clans.
• Family of Choice:
  • Kikyō refers to Naruto and Sasuke as Sakura's 'littermates', stating that "You are all cubs around the same age. Perhaps not of the same brood, but I find that most humans tend to pick and choose their own families. These are your littermates, yes?"
  • Sakura also makes clear early on that she still considers Kakashi to be part of Team Seven's found family despite his past mistakes.
• Fatal Flaw: Hiruzen and his personal summons Enma share one: arrogance. Specifically, the arrogant belief that they are above the consequences of their own actions due to their lofty positions as the Hokage and the son of the Monkey clan head, respectively. This belief costs them both dearly, to the point that Hiruzen is personally responsible for the other's Karma Houdini Warranty expiring, much to their mutual horror.
• Foil:
  • Kakashi and Hiruzen both failed to protect Team Seven in different ways; Kakashi's inexperience and reluctance to risk getting too attached to his charges made him a poor teacher, while Hiruzen turned a blind eye towards all of their problems. Yet despite his mistakes, Kakashi sincerely cares about his genin, becoming The Atoner and a proper member of their Family of Choice after getting taken to task for his failings. Hiruzen proves much more arrogant, doubling down on his poor decisions, and Naruto soon realizes that his 'Saru-jiji' was a False Friend who only pretended to care about him as a way of manipulating him.
  • Naruto immediately recognizes the gravity of what Sakura sacrificed in order to protect her teammates, praising her bravery and strength when she doesn't think she was either of those at all. Sasuke, by contrast, reacts with complete disbelief, Dramatically Missing the Point and complaining about how she saved them. While Naruto built her up, Sasuke attempts to tear her down, only for Sakura to stand up for herself and call him out on being an Ungrateful Bastard.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Kikyō makes clear that Kakashi's past trauma and reluctance to risk getting too attached to the new Team Seven does not excuse his poor teaching methods. As she bluntly spells out, all he's doing is creating a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy by not providing his students with the skills they need to survive the shinobi world.
• Groin Attack: Sakura introduces herself to Jiraiya in this fashion after Team Seven catches him peeping on the women's onsen.
• Harmful Healing: During Kabuto's match with Sakura, he uses his med-nin skills to "heal" her in a fashion that robs her of her voice.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Kabuto deliberately draws out his preliminary fight with Sakura, using one of his techniques to prevent her from being able to stop the match by calling out, and pressing the offensive whenever he sees her attempting to do so regardless. In toying with her, he inadvertently gives Sakura time to figure out an alternative, trying a technique she wouldn't have attempted otherwise if he hadn't cut off her ability to speak. This results in her accidentally blowing a hole straight through his chest. And just to twist the knife further, the fact that he survives this immediately makes everyone who witnesses the match suspicious of him.
• Hypocrite: The Sandaime's flagrant Moral Myopia and other flaws and failings are highlighted and drawn out into the harsh light of day. Such as attempting to justify his refusal to cancel the Chuunin Exams by claiming that he's putting the safety of Konohagakure and all its residents first and foremost while fully aware that continuing the Exams is endangering everyone in the village.
• I'm Standing Right Here: Pakkun and Kikyō casually discuss how the former's summoner "could use some work" while Kakashi is right next to them.
• Immediate Self-Contradiction: Played for Laughs when Ino reassures Sakura that her initial reaction to her Important Haircut was a lie:
  Ino: I was totally lying earlier, this hairstyle looks so cute on you! And it's really well done! Did you do this yourself?
  Sakura: No, Kakashi-sensei did it.
  Ino: (eying Kakashi) You could have feathered it a bit more.
  Kakashi: I didn't have any scissors with me to—
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Sakura still gets her Important Haircut, though its significance is slightly altered: she asks Kakashi to cut it for her, symbolizing both her leaving her past self behind and how she still regards him as part of her found family despite the strain between them.
  • Despite Kikyō advising against it, the Sandaime chooses to continue the Chuunin Exams. While several matches are changed around to account for the absence of Dosu's team, most remain the same.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Chapter 5 has Kikyō accidentally reveal Naruto's status as the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki to Sakura, unaware that it was being kept secret. Upon learning this, she gets permission from Naruto before explaining what that means to Sakura, before informing them that eight other jinchuuriki exist.
  • Sasuke gets brought up to speed on things once he finally awakens in Chapter 6.
  • Chapter 6 also has the rest of Team Seven learning about the existence of Kakashi's contrast with his ninken pack, thanks in part to Kikyō once again assuming they were already aware. She also reveals to Kakashi that he has been Graced — that at some point, the dogs merged their chakra with his in order to heal him.
  • Sasuke reveals the existence of the Mangekyo Sharingan, as well as his understanding of how he's supposed to obtain this higher level, to the rest of Team Seven in Chapter 7.
  • Chapter 10 has Sasuke learn that Naruto had been Locked Out of the Loop regarding his jinchuuriki status, along with how Naruto graduated. He also reveals that his father had informed him to avoid Naruto because of said status, as the Sandaime didn't want the jinchuuriki forming an alliance with any of the clans.
  • In Chapter 11, Kikyō once again accidentally reveals another jinchuuriki's status as such with an idle remark about Gaara. Team Seven also learns that Jiraiya is Naruto's godfather, much to their shared outrage.
  • Chapter 12 has Sakura learn about the long-standing feud between the Tiger and Monkey clans.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: In the Backstory, Monkey King Enma proved that he was more than happy to get a child killed as part of a malicious trick played upon the Tiger clan. He openly brags about how he was able to avoid the consequences of his actions, only to learn that they've caught up to him courtesy of Hiruzen's own thoughtlessness and arrogance. As a result, he gets Killed Offscreen, with his pelt presented to Sakura as thanks for the part she played in his downfall.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Kikyō and Kakashi stress the importance of this to Team Seven after realizing that the Sunan shinobi Kikyō ate in the Forest of Death were already Chuunin-level.
• Loophole Abuse:
  • As Kikyō explains to a flabbergasted Kakashi, there is no mention in Konoha's guidebook regarding the chain of commander that said commander must always be human. Thus, after he temporarily leaves her in charge of Team Seven, she refuses to give said command back upon his return, as she doesn't trust him as a teacher.
  • Later, while visiting the Tiger clan's homelands, Kikyō reviews a copy of the guidebook as well as the contract she made with the Nidaime in order to ensure that everything is in order and that the Sandaime can't twist his way out of things in this fashion.
• Missing Time: Downplayed when Genma inadvertently sends Sakura into a thought spiral by asking whether she's decided to get a prosthetic arm or not. She gets so absorbed in said thoughts that she stops paying attention to her surroundings, and isn't sure how much time has passed when she finally comes back to herself.
• More Insulting than Intended: Played With when Sakura runs into Ino for the first time following the Forest of Death. Unaware of everything her rival went through and not noticing her missing arm, Ino immediately insults her "tacky new haircut"; Sakura promptly bursts into tears motivated less by Ino's callousness and more her own fears that she can't be considered "beautiful" anymore. Ino's initial aggression melts away the instant she actually sees that her former friend turned rival is missing an arm.
• Not Helping Your Case:
  • After inadvertently ceding command of Team Seven to Kikyō, Kakashi attempts to attack the giant tiger. This results in the pair getting locked in a Mexican Standoff, with Kikyō summoning a bunshin so that she can berate him for not thinking things through and unintentionally proving just how poor his judgment is.
  • Jiraiya sincerely thinks that revealing he's Naruto's godfather will give him an 'in' with the kid and his teammates. Instead, he just sends Naruto into a Heroic BSoD. Making matters worse, he then attempts to defend himself from Kakashi's rage by declaring that he'd known the Sandaime would look after Naruto, blissfully unaware of how the man in question actually treated the Uzumaki.
• Oh, Crap!: Hiruzen gets one such moment upon noticing that his personal summons, Enma, wears a tiger pelt. His horror only deepens as Enma explains how he came about such a prize. After having recent events explained to him, Enma reacts similarly.
• Outside-Context Problem: Kikyō is a member of the Tiger clan who had claimed the Forest of Death as her personal territory. While the Sandaime was aware of this arrangement, he didn't foresee the possibility of her making a contract with anyone, and she promptly proves to be a curveball nobody saw coming.
• Plot Parallel: In the past, Enma's arrogance cost his clan the loyalty of several of their vassals. Rather than attempting to repair those broken bonds, he exploited them, earning the ire of the Tiger clan in the process with his trickery. The consequences of his actions catch up with him around the same time that his summoner Hiruzen finds himself losing the loyalty of several of Konoha's clans due to his poor decisions and arrogance. To drive the parallel home, the offense involved Enma demanding the pelt of an innocent child, much like how Hiruzen refused to consider the safety of Sakura or any of the other young genin involved in the Exams.
• Point of Divergence:
  • The central "nail" is that Dosu and his teammates don't give Sakura a chance to set up camp before attacking, driving her deeper into the Forest of Death... until she stumbles across Kikyō and ends up making a contract with her.
  • Thanks to Dosu's team dying in the Forest of Death, several of the preliminary matches of the Chuunin Exams are different:
    • Shino faces Chouji, using his kikaichu's chakra draining to swiftly secure the win.
    • Ino is pitted against a mysterious Sound-nin that Sakura doesn't recognize, Jiinsen Yakori.
    • Sakura finds herself fighting Kabuto, as he didn't opt to concede in this 'verse.
  • This also results in a mostly different roster of fights for the finals: Neji vs. Sakura, Shikamaru vs. Naruto, Gaara vs. Sasuke, Kankuro vs. Yakori, and Shino vs. Temari.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • When Kakashi taught his students how to tree-walk, he didn't explain precisely how they were meant to use their chakra to make themselves stick. So Sakura went for what seemed like the most logical way of doing so: projecting her chakra out in hooks to latch onto the surface. Thanks to Kakashi's lack of instruction, neither one of them realized she was going about it all wrong until she applies that same logic in a fashion that inadvertently blows Kabuto's chest apart. Kikyō finds the whole matter hilarious; Kakashi rather less so.
  • Hiruzen ignores all of Kikyō's warnings about continuing the Chuunin Exams, including her declaration of hunting down his personal summons if he insisted upon continuing. He does all this while blissfully unaware that there is already a deep grudge between the monkeys and tigers due to Enma's own arrogance. By the time he is finally informed of this, it is already too late.
  • Time and again, Kikyō incorrectly assumes that the members of Team Seven are already aware of pertinent information, only to learn otherwise after making a remark that unintentionally causes an Internal Reveal. For instance, she presumes that the rest of Team Seven is already aware of Naruto's jinchuuriki status, and is outraged to learn that not even Naruto knew that until recently.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Sakura uses these on Kikyō to try and convince her not to kill Kakashi after accidentally revealing how much he neglected their training.
  Kikyō: (covering her face gently with one paw) Stop making me feel bad, I'm trying to plan how best to eat him.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • While calling Hiruzen out on his Skewed Priorities, Kikyō threatens the lives of his personal summons in order to underscore his Hypocrisy: despite supposedly caring about the safety of Konohagakure and everyone under his command, he's more than willing to risk their lives needlessly, so what are a few more lives, hmm?
  • Kikyō lectures Kakashi in this fashion when he attempts to forcibly regain control of Team Seven:
    Kikyō: Listen to me, and listen well. If I hadn't seen how you behaved with the cubs last night, I would assume you wanted them all dead. They don't have the slightest clue how to work together, how to play to each other's strengths, cover for their weaknesses. They don't even know their damned elemental types. You have set them all up for slaughter by not giving them the skills to survive. You have a team composed of a civilian girl, a jinchuuriki, and an Uchiha. Every single one of them fits into the category of 'ends up dead sooner rather than later', and I will not stand by and let you throw them aside. I'm sure you've got some convoluted reasoning you tell yourself at night to help you sleep, but the truth is that you have proactively mourned for their loss and dug their graves. I will not let these children's deaths happen because you couldn't be bothered to put in the effort. You are going to pull your head out of your ass and stop looking at these children like they're already dead. You may be a dog, but I will not sit here and let you roll belly-up because you were afraid to get attached. Now, are you going to pull yourself together and help teach these cubs, or am I going to have to escort you out of this building?
  • Sakura reads Sasuke the riot act for being an Ungrateful Bastard upon awakening:
    Sakura: I was attacked and chased and hurt for hours so I could get you to safety. I carried you through this whole damned forest. I let Kikyō eat my arm so that you could live! And now you're telling me that you don't need my help? You think I'm still weak? I'm your teammate, whether you like it or not! And even though you're mean to me, I'm gonna look out for you. I know you got hurt really bad, and that your brother did a bunch of terrible things and you're really angry about it, but that doesn't mean you get to treat me like garbage just because you're mad.
  • Kakashi hits Jiraiya with one after learning that he was supposed to be Naruto's godfather, but neglected his responsibility out of the mistaken assumption that Hiruzen would take care of him instead.
• Secret Test: Discussed; as Kikyō explains, all summoning contracts require the prospective summoner to pass some kind of test. She dismisses the style that Kakashi is used to as a more domesticated form, stating that "Though some might believe there was no test, I guarantee that it was simply a test they did not know was being taken."
• Shared Fate Ultimatum: When Hiruzen refuses to cancel the Chuunin Exams, Kikyō declares that if he doesn't do so, she'll ensure that his personal summons will join the ranks of those who wind up dying as a result of his foolish decision.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: Kikyō takes Kakashi to task for this, berating him for being too scared of getting attached to his genin for fear of eventually losing them.
• The Tell: Sakura notices that Kakashi's fingers twitch when he's agitated, realizing that this likely factors into how frequently he keeps his hands hidden inside his pockets.
• Torso with a View: During one of the preliminary matches of the Chuunin Exams, Sakura accidentally inflicts this upon Kabuto. Only his Healing Factor prevents this from being fatal.
• Tranquil Fury:
  • The moment Ino finally notices that Sakura is missing her left arm, she enters one of these.
    Ino: (in a light, calm tone) Sakura, who did this to you? Point them out to me and I'll make sure that the Yamanaka know who to look out for. They'll know no safety or rest here in Konoha.
  • Downplayed when Kakashi learns that Gaara is a jinchuuriki, as he barely manages to rein in his outrage as the news — and all its implications — sinks in.
• Transferable Memory: The Yamanaka possess techniques that let them share memories with others in this fashion. Inoichi guides Ino through this so that she can share the memory of watching Sakura's preliminary match with Kabuto with the older generation of Ino-Shika-Chou.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Unlike Naruto, Sasuke completely fails to understand why Sakura sacrificed so much to protect them and proceeds to complain about it, in utter disbelief that somebody he wrote off as "weak" accomplished so much. He gets better after Sakura chews him out for it.
• Villain Takes an Interest: Danzo takes an immediate interest in Sakura after learning about Kikyō, musing that "a lowly pawn on the board had suddenly been upgraded to a queen".
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Kikyō is deeply displeased to hear how Kakashi conducted Team Seven's training (or general lack thereof), encouraging Sakura to hold him more responsible for his neglect.
  • Kikyō also calls out the Sandaime on his Skewed Priorities regarding the Chuunin Exams, spelling out that he is risking the lives of genin like Sakura and the rest of the Rookie Twelve out of a reluctance to acknowledge the threat Orochimaru poses.
• Would Hurt a Child:
  • Kikyō calls Hiruzen out on his lack of concern for his younger charges, taking him to task on his willingness to risk their lives by continuing the Chuunin Exams.
  • This also plays a critical role in the backstory: in the past, Enma tricked the Elder of the Tiger clan, Shin'ya, into a bad bargain, demanding the pelt of his granddaughter Yume in exchange for the vassals they'd agreed to trade... vassals that the Monkey clan no longer had any claim to, meaning he sacrificed Yume's life for nothing.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
  • Naruto praises Sakura's bravery after learning what happened, reassuring her that she's already much stronger than she gives herself credit for:
    Naruto: You're really brave, Sakura. Way braver than me or Sasuke.
    Sakura: No I'm not. I couldn't fight off those Sound ninjas and I cried so much after my arm got taken.
    Naruto: But you still did it. You still gave up something real important and you kept me and the bastard alive even though you don't like me very much and Sasuke is really mean to you. I think that's pretty brave of you. To do all that for someone who's really mean and someone you hate.
  • Ino gives Sakura a pep talk after her More Insulting than Intended moment, embracing her while talking about all of her strengths and reassuring her that she's "so incredibly beautiful".

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