Warning: Some readers may find descriptions of severe injury to be graphic.
Chapter 4
The stew proved to be most excellent, though Lee, in his modesty, assured them that hunger was the best spice. It was deemed most fortunate that they had discovered a host to whom they were familiar, and most particularly their appetites, for Naruto and Inari each devoured three considerable helpings, and there would not have been enough for the rest of the company had Lee not reckoned for it. But though there was not a drop left standing in the black pot by the fire, all had had their fill, and seemed now more determined than ever to fall to sleep. After all, just as hunger is the best spice, there is no more powerful sleeping potion than a long day of labor, followed by a warm meal, a warm fire, and the company of warm friends. Inari did not long resist the call of his bed, with Naruto following him shortly thereafter, and Sakura politely excusing herself for the same. Sasuke withstood the heaviness of his eyes long enough to tell the hospitalier of their mission, before dozing off upon the sheepskin couch, leaving the paladin and attendant knight to speak alone.
"So that is the nature of your quest," Lee said, considering Sasuke's words. "The rescue of a Brother in Arms from vile magicians of unknown purposes."
"You spin it as a very heroic endeavor," Kakashi noted. "Perhaps you will compose it into song upon our return?"
"Why upon your return? I may compose as we travel. Such thoughts are a worthy distraction from the long miles between here and the Court of Sands." At the masked man's questioning eye, the knight smiled widely. "Did you think a disciple of Lord Gai would turn down the opportunity to join in such a cause? Of course I mean to follow you!"
"What of your penance?"
Lee seemed somewhat dismayed by this argument, but was not unprepared for it. "Other errant knights pass this hospice each day. I shall take the branch from the door, so they will know to attend here in my absence. It will be necessary, I think, to serve additional penance, having failed to complete the terms of this one, but, by youth, a knight who shirks the call of chivalry for the demands of penance is no knight!"
The silver-haired paladin considered the disciple of his old friend. Though Kakashi and Gai shared little in mannerism, they were men after the same heart, raised in times of turmoil and upheaval, and under the brilliant light of Grand Master Minato Namikaze. A Holy Knight was at times torn between his oath to uphold the laws of the Church and his king, and his oath to oppose evil at every call. Those who followed the late Lord Namikaze were most often inclined to place the latter above the former, much to the frustrations of the clergy, who were obliged to assign penance for each violation of Church law, whether or no they believed it wholly justified. Naturally, the most regular cause for penance for such knights, was a breach of penance.
Yet Kakashi was hesitant to accept the aid of the younger knight, for despite the welcome strength and companionship of Lee, the company was in haste, and only by the miracle of the Myoboku Oil could they hope to reach the object of their quest in time to be of aid. He said as much to the man.
"Ah, so that was the nature of your miracle!" Lee said. "I had not thought it possible, save for the Grand Master of the Order of Lightning, to whom the sky is a road. Yet surely you have enough to spare? The Lord Jiraiya is no miser of his potions."
"True enough," Kakashi assented. "But the sacred oil sustains only our mounts, and we are forced to draw upon Naruto's legendary spirit. Would you place the burden of another rider upon him?"
The knight smiled as his eyes shone with pride and determination. "Fear not of that. Surrendering humility for the sake of the argument, I am the strongest of Lord Gai's disciples! I will not burden young Naruto with weakness, by youth!"
The paladin fixed a keen eye upon him, taking the measure of the exuberant man, and after a moment's time nodded sharply his assent. Lee's smile widened, and, suddenly stirred by the prospect of heroic adventure, excused himself to prepare and rest for the morning journey. The silver-haired knight waved him away, sitting for a moment in quiet contemplation, before joining his former pupils in sleep.
Sasuke awoke some hours before morning, his senses alerted, even through his dreams, to some call he could not name with certainty. The hospice was dark, the fire having been allowed to burn to embers, and the only light now shone from a small lamp that hung in the window, but it sufficed for him to recognize the shape of Naruto sitting in meditation against the thick wooden door. He rose softly from where he had lain upon the couch, concern for the younger knight growing in him as he toed his way across the chamber. The gold-haired young man had hardly slept the night before their journey, and, though meditation might sustain a knight in its own way, it was no substitute for proper sleep. Kneeling before his friend, Sasuke placed a hand upon the other's shoulder, and when the knight did not at once stir, whispered, "Naruto."
Naruto's eyes opened slowly, and he seemed at first not to recall his surroundings, glancing across Sasuke's features before his eyes cleared with recognition. "Sasuke," he said softly. "You should be asleep. Is something wrong, faith?"
"I might say the same to you," the raven whispered. "Have you come upon some secret of meditation, that it is now more wholesome to you than sleep?"
Naruto sighed. "I would not call it more wholesome. Rather, sleep has become less, faith."
"The demon," Sasuke guessed, and Naruto nodded wearily, as if weighed more heavily by the cause if his restlessness than by the lack of sleep itself.
"Should I fall more deeply than into a doze, faith, it may stir itself to cause mischief in my dreams. And so I have taken to meditations as my only recourse."
Sasuke looked down in thought, tightening his hold upon his friend's shoulder in a silent sign of understanding and compassion, before raising his head again to meet his eyes. "Lay your head in my lap, Brother, and I will keep the demon at bay as your rest."
Naruto at once refused. "You need rest more than I, Sasuke. I have the arts of the sage to sustain me."
"The strength of the earth is not your own strength, Naruto," the other argued. "How long since you have had sufficient spirit to draw upon yourself?"
Blue eyes were uneasy at this, and when Sasuke moved to lay Naruto's head in his lap, he met with no resistance. Slowly he stroked the golden head, even as he dipped within himself to draw forth the power to overcome the creature that tormented his friend. A whisper from the young knight brought the hint of a smile to the raven's lips.
"Thank you, Sasuke..."
"You overreach yourself, child. Do you believe you might truly contend with our will, and not suffer your own to be cast into the void? We are of the Pillar and the Maelstrom, the God and the Beast. We are Lord of Plots, Exarch of Dominion. We are the Invocation of Command, Guardian of Power, King. Witness the number of our authority, and it is Nine."
Black eyes opened wide, for the suddenness of the trance that had seized upon the raven knight left him for a moment unguarded and disadvantaged against the oppressive spirit of the demon fox. In that instant, all that filled his vision were the crimson eyes, cruel, slitted, and enthralling, filled with an arrogance and authority that compelled subservience from the mightiest of emperors. In that instant, his breath and heart were frozen in awe and terror, and Sasuke was stripped of courage, pride, and hatred, until all that remained was a vessel to the will of the Demon Lord, and Sasuke Uchiha was lost. Yet in the next he had returned to himself, and he now beheld the Gate of Souls which rose into darkness to bar the beast from the world, and he believed, for the length of the thought, that he had resisted.
The fox laughed, curling its tails about itself and gazing upon the knight with that idle curiosity, reserved for those who have spared an insect on a whim, deciding it's life to be more compelling than its death. "No, you are not safe, child," the demon said. "Not here. Not as you are. The hatred in your blood once devoured us, but that was long ago, and you have not nurtured it as others have."
"Silence, beast," Sasuke demanded, resolute even against the overwhelming force that threatened to cast him aside. The mouth of the demon twitched, and by the gift of insight which defined his lineage, the knight knew it to be a symptom at once of irritation and amusement. The raven did not permit himself to imagine that he might resist the will of the creature, should it be bent upon him a second time, even were he to steel himself with all his strength against it. Yet he was a knight, an Uchiha, and the sworn brother of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, his dearest friend, and no matter the power arrayed against him, he would resist for the sake of that bond. "I am not here to deal and barter with you, nor listen to your arrogant tongue tempt me with knowledge," he declared.
"It is so," the demon agreed. "You sought to overwhelm us, thinking you possessed some power over us through the curse of your lineage, recalling, no doubt, our withdrawal from the latest contest. We have cured you of your delusion."
"Why, then, did you withdraw?" the knight asked, his brilliant mind now consumed by curiosity, though his voice remained prideful and demanding. An awareness of his greater surroundings slowly dawned upon him, and he realized he stood now in the darkest and most sinister reaches of his Brother's soul. He was beset with dismay for the illusion he had suffered under, that Naruto was an unshadowed beacon of purity and light, and also that he himself had not seen to the depths of the truth, even as compassion and pity warred in him with violent indignation, that such a man as Naruto should be afflicted by these torments. Yet his voice betrayed none of this.
It was not necessary that it did, for within this dark prison the will of the demon held dominion, and the knight's heart was laid bare. The beast ignored his question, looking first with mild interest down upon him, then upon the haunted crypt about them, and then once more upon him. "You think harshly of us, child," it said, "though rumor and superstition are your only argument, and were your thoughts of such material as to require pardon, it would be granted by reason of your ignorance. But immaterial as your judgments are, we do not concern ourself with them, any more than you concern yourself with the judgments of flies and worms. But we shall tell you, for it delights us to witness your dismay, that the corruption of the child is not by our workings, but those of your own kind." The demon laughed harshly, and the sound of it set the shadows astir. "Never underestimate the darkness of a mortal's heart, which, like a plague, inflicts itself upon all it touches."
"I will not believe your are blameless in Naruto's torment," Sasuke said. "Have you not afflicted his dreams so viciously the he must draw upon the very earth for sustenance?"
"It is so," the beast said carelessly, allowing itself a yawn of disinterest as it stretched itself languidly across the floor of its cell. "And now that you have failed to oust us by force, how do you intend to proceed? We are not uncharitable, and will bargain for the child's peace, if you are inclined to amend your obstinacy."
"The bargains of demons ever turn to the worse for those who make them," Sasuke argued, though a small part of him clung to the offer, despite his resolution.
"Again you think harshly of us," the fox answered, "though in this you will find yourself once more mistaken. All those who have dealt with us have ever been grateful, and found our price to be well aligned with the value of our aid. Indeed, were it not for the fear of our wrath, we might even be mocked as charitable by our lesser kin."
"Why?" the knight demanded. "Why offer aid to those who oppose you?"
"There are many forces at work in this world, child, not merely Good and Evil. Indeed, it might astonish you to know that, in the arrangement of certain conflicts, we are together with you aligned in purpose and endeavor." The demon paused, as if to consider the character of the man before it, and determine its words accordingly. "We will offer you a most charitable bargain," it said then. "In exchange for the peace of the child, you will return to us each hour of midnight. Our engagements with the child have grown rote and dull, and so you shall suffice to entertain us in his stead."
Sasuke sneered at the beast, and its eyes flashed with amusement as it observed his resistance, knowing the knight had already agreed to the bargain. "What manner of entertainment might I offer a demon?" he asked, his voice sour.
The demon grinned cruelly, then laughed. "That is not a matter for your consideration. Accept the terms, child, as we know you will, and we will release you from this meditation."
The raven was silent, then ground through gritted teeth his assent, and the laughter of the demon rang in his ears even as he found himself suddenly returned to awareness, a hand resting upon the golden head in his lap.
Naruto awoke an hour before dawn, and, eager to continue the journey without delay, wasted no time in rousing the others with an exuberance most unwholesome to the early morning. Sakura, being the least appreciative from among the assembly, smacked him soundly across the face when he shook her awake. This, though generally accepted to be a suitable preventative against Naruto's more inelegant tendencies, did not seem to greatly deter the young knight in his efforts to be underway. Not willing to sacrifice the time necessary to rekindle the fire, they downed a simple, though not at all dissatisfying breakfast of brown bread and raspberry jelly, and departed the hospice in the gray, pale light of a sun only just beginning to emerge from the shadow of the horizon. Naruto had only seemed to gain more energy when he had discovered that Lee would be joining them, and the lady knight was torn between her own happiness for the occasion and the irritability inspired by the unceasing clamor that now issued from the golden-haired young man.
Yet she was not so irritable as to fail to observe, with a silent relief, that her friend seemed that morning more himself than he had upon their reunion and the previous day. His eyes were brighter, his movements surer, and he smiled more easily and more naturally than before. Naruto might at some times be flighty, and at others, single-minded, but she had rarely seen him in a state of absent disconnection, his eyes glazed and his face expressionless, as if he had been stripped of will and spirit and was left empty. The times when he suffered such moments distressed her greatly, and it was no small comfort to see him return to his usual mannerisms.
She likewise did not fail to observe the subtle glances he cast at Sasuke, which, though indecipherable, were clearly meaningful. This knowledge she neatly stored away for future consideration, deeming it a suitably appealing mystery to pursue in the future, and wondering if any others had witnessed the stolen looks. Sasuke, at least, was aware of them, the hint of a smile dancing across his lips each time blue eyes met black. It was then that the lady knight began to feel terribly left out.
Naruto pressed them as hard that day as he had before, though it seemed his resurgent mannerisms also heralded his resurgent strength, and the party found themselves far less exhausted by the long hours when they at last halted some time after midday. The hospice where they rested was not attended at the time, though a branch above the door signified the guardianship of a knight, for it was not an uncommon practice among hospitaliers to travel forth as temporary stewards of the nearby lands which surrounded their shelters. Therefore the party did not pay it any mind, until, preparing to set off once again, the paladin Kakashi paused by his horse and raised his head, as if to scent the wind like a hound.
"Naruto," he said to the knight, his voice light, as if speaking of niceties and nonsense, "what do you make of the air hereabouts?"
The young knight looked at his former Master curiously, then also lifted his head to pull a deep breath, searching for a trace of some thing he was not yet sure existed. But the paladin would not have spoken without purpose, and so the blue-eyed knight obliged him with only the slightest of hesitation. At once he frowned, catching the scent of smoke, and was suddenly torn between a desire to investigate and a desire to press forward on their quest. "I smell smoke," he admitted, "but doubt it is more than a woodsman's fire or village kiln. We should-"
He was silenced by the sounds of quick movement from the underbrush, and the party reached for their weapons in preparation for whatever it was that approached, alert despite Naruto's casual dismissal. Yet they calmed when the body of a small boy tumbled from the bushes and weeds, and would have soon laughed at their worry had they not quickly realized the state of the boy. His feet and arms were bloodied and his breath came in shallow gasps from his desperate sprint through the forest, and his face and body were splattered with fresh gore, which stank. Seeing the assembly of knights, the boy collapsed, his small limbs trembling under the combined force of relief and exertion.
Lee was at once at his side, the disciples of Lord Gai being especially reverent and protective of children, and in the span of a moment he was joined by Sakura, the lady knight running a gentle hand across sweaty and blood-smeared skin, looking for any injury beyond the apparent. The boy began to stutter unintelligibly.
"Hush, child," Sakura said soothingly, laying a hand upon his brow as Lee held him in strong and comforting arms. A pale light twined about her fingers, and the boy seemed to calm at her touch. "Water," she demanded firmly, and it was Sasuke who dismounted quickly and offered his own skin, which the boy at first struggled against, being humble before the generosity of a knight, until at Sakura's urging he accepting it gratefully. When he had downed a few mouthfuls he struggled to speak again.
"F-Forgive me," he said. "O-Our village is - is under attack. L-Lord Osake needs help! Please! W-We need help!"
"And you shall have it!" Lee said at once, then seemed to recall his place within the company and turned expectantly to Naruto, though what he saw in the knight's eyes dismayed him. Emotion warred across his friend's face, torn between his inherent desire to aid another, and the inherent desire to rescue a friend.
"We do not have much time, faith..." Naruto objected weakly. The company looked at him in astonishment, and Inari seemed stricken by his Master's seeming abandonment of the boy and his village. "They are already under the protection of a knight of the Order," he went on, and seemed about to work himself into obstinacy when he was interrupted by a firm voice.
"Naruto."
It was Sasuke who spoke, and his eyes looked upon the younger knight with admonishment and disappointment. "Gaara accepted his death with his knighthood," the raven said. "These are the very people he has pledged his life to protect. Would you profane his oath by placing them beneath him?"
Blue eyes seemed to waver, then grew resolute. With a growl of frustration Naruto kicked his horse forward, leaning from the saddle to pluck the wounded boy from Lee's arms and sitting the peasant before him. "Where's your village, faith?" he demanded quickly, already cantering through the underbrush and away from the others, who had not yet had time to react. The boy seemed too astonished to form an answer at once, and Naruto barked the question again.
"A-Ah! Just along the track, less than a mile, Lord Knight!"
Naruto gave a grunt of acknowledgement, but his mood was already brightening now that the conflict of choice had been resolved for him, and he urged his mount into a gallop as they reached a smoother track, realizing belatedly that it was not his warhorse, but the common steed from Myoboku. He pushed this thought from his mind, and prepared himself for battle. Sasuke had merely forced the path Naruto had truly desired; he would thank the raven knight for it later.
They broke from the forest into a wide pasture, and the knight nearly gagged upon the scent of ash and gore that hung in the air. Before them was a village, numbering perhaps a dozen huts of mud brick and thatch, and burning violently, as screams of terror and suffering rent the air, punctuated by the battle cries of marauding bandits. Naruto felt the boy stiffen, and lifted him from the saddle to place him on the ground, where he stood in silent horror.
"Wait here, faith," Naruto said firmly, before turning to the scene of slaughter and kicking his horse into a charge, raising the Rasengan high above his head. At once the knight and his steed burst into blue flame, and Naruto raised his voice so that it thundered across the field with the release of holy power. "Host of Heaven!"
Twelve figures sprang from the fire, joining in his charge as he bore down upon the village, each mounted and wielding the powerful weapon of the Namikaze, shrouded in azure fire and raising their own voices towards the clamor of battle.
The bandits that assaulted the hamlet had time only to turn and cry their dismay before the ghostly knights crashed upon them with a terrible violence. They fell one after another beneath the oppressive strikes of the mounted warriors, each blow shattering sword and stave as easily as arm and shoulder. Naruto wheeled about the field, sending men flying with every swing of his legendary weapon, and he had soon routed the assailants. The bandits fled the ring of huts, abandoning what remained of their honor as they dashed to the safety of the forest. Yet again they were suddenly beset, for Sasuke rode out from the shadows of the trees to intercept them, and raising the Chidori to the sky called out in a penetrating voice, "Divine Judgment, Glory of Storms!"
At once the sky grew dark, and swirling clouds cascaded across the face of the sun, and with all the violence of nature a thunderbolt struck down before him with a deafening crash. This was followed by another, and another, until all the field about him crackled with arcing light. Some of the outlaws, having abandoned sense as well as honor, made to traverse the fence of lightning, only to be struck at once to the ground. This demonstration of power sufficed to shatter the hopes of those following them, and they gave up their flight to cast themselves down in submission, begging for mercy.
Sasuke and Naruto were soon joined by the remainder of the company, and Sakura at once moved towards the fallen bodies of the villagers as the others rounded up the marauding bandits and set a guard about them.
The lady knight quickly discovered that few of the bodies that lay about the field of battle were those of the villagers, and was about to turn to her companions when a particularly large hut, the fire having weakened its supporting timbers, collapsed inwards with a shuddering crack. Had this been the only sound to emerge from the wreckage, Sakura would have not paid it more than a cursory glance, hurrying as she was from one hut to another in search of survivors. Yet there also sounded out a peculiar ring, must unusual for a burning hut, but quite common among the protective barriers raised by priests and holy knights. Whirling upon the rubble then, Sakura espied the golden glow of a magical shield, which held the fire at bay even as it deflected the shattered timbers and glowing embers that caved down upon it, and with a cry of urgency she rushed to lend what aid she could. She was joined by one of Naruto's conjured ghosts, and between them the debris was swiftly cast away and the fire scattered, revealing the frightened faces of the villagers, or at least those who had not been quick enough to vanish into the forest during the attack. In their midst was a mailed knight, kneeling upon the dirt floor of the hut with his hands clasped and head bowed in prayer.
"Sir Knight!" Sakura called to him, taking him to be the hospitalier Osake that the peasant boy had spoken of. The knight raised his head and, seeing the fellow members of his Order, released the magic shield that surrounded his charges with visible relief.
"Lady Haruno," he greeted, his voice weary but grateful. "What miracle has brought you to us in our desperate hour?" He moved to stand, but the cost of his prayers seemed to weigh down on him, and he stumbled once more to his knee.
"The miracle of misfortune, I fear," Sakura told him. "Are there any here in need of healing?" Already she had begun to remove the villagers from the remains of the large hut, searching them quickly for signs of injury as they passed, thankful to find that none had suffered grievous wounds or burns. They would need aid, and quickly, but none were in peril of their life.
"Three," Osake said, "though not all of the peasants were gathered here. Search the other huts!"
Sakura nodded to the ghost of Naruto, who moved at once to obey, while she in turn approached the bodies laid about the hospitalier, a golden light twining about her fingers as she called upon the healing spirit within herself. All three peasants would clearly die without aid, but, looking upon their injuries, Sakura wondered if they would not prefer death. The youngest of them, a boy perhaps a little younger than Inari, had suffered the most horribly: fire had consumed his back, head, and right arm, so that all that remained was a skeletal limb, and the flesh of his face looked as if it had melted like wax. It was a small comfort, perhaps, that he felt no pain from the wounds, but the violence and horror of the injury had left him in a kind of motionless panic, and his heart thudded erratically against his chest. Knowing it was this panic which was his most immediate danger, the lady knight passed her hand before his eyes, and the boy stilled, his eyes growing unfocused and his heart slowing its frenzied pulse.
She turned to the next victim, a woman some few years older than herself, and heavy with child. Sakura forced away the sorrow which rose like a tide within her as she beheld the woman, for her swelling womb had been hacked across its width and deeply torn. There was no chance that her child would survive, or that she might come to bear another. Here, too, the most present danger was the violent panic of her heart, and the blood that ran from her body like a river, and therefore Sakura once more passed a hand before the peasant's eyes, calming her and soothing the pain of the wound, before weaving the light in her hands across the gaping flesh to stem the bloodloss.
The last victim was an elderly man, who seemed to have attempted some resistance against his assailants, and for his trouble had been pierced through the chest by what the knight guessed had been a poorly sharpened sword, for the wound was jagged. Yet even as the lady knight moved to aid him he resisted her, coughing blood in place of words, and gesturing wildly to the boy and woman.
"Peace, old man," Sakura told him, laying a hand upon his arm and meeting his eyes, even as she began to work her magic upon his wound. "They shall not die while I am here."
It was then that the ghost of Naruto returned to her, carrying a small girl, her dirty skin reddened by fire, but suffering no worse burn, though her eyes were closed and she was not breathing. Two more of the ghosts joined them, one carrying a man and woman, the other an infant child.
"Make her breath," Sakura said to the first ghost, then turned to the others, eyes aglow with a faint light as she searched for the spirit in the bodies they had brought. "The woman is dead, Naruto," she told him firmly, freezing her own tears with a cold heart, for sorrow and desperation could not be allowed to cloud her judgment now. "The man is bleeding away; bind up his wounds. Bring me the infant."
She ceased her healing of the old man and raised her arms to accept the bundle of wool cloth. It was hot to the touch, and to her dismay she found that its foot had caught fire, and even now still glowed with dying embers. She checked the spirit of the child, but by some miracle it still clung to life, though its heart struggled to beat, and it was not breathing. As she had with the others, Sakura passed a hand before the child's eyes, and its heart stopped for a moment before starting again, still faint, but now at least steady. Even as Naruto's ghost bent its mouth over the dying girl and whispered holy prayers across her lips, the lady knight did the same, urging clean air into the infant's chest. This she continued to do as she unwrapped the blanket carefully, clenching her jaw when she had nearly finished, for the cloth had melted and fused with the pads of the child's feet.
"Naruto," she said to one of the ghosts, "rush to the hospice and return here with as much clean linen as can be carried, and also the silver bowl." The ghost nodded mutely before dashing away in a trail of blue fire. "Osake," she said to the hospitalier who still knelt nearby, forgoing the use of title, "take this one and ensure it continues to breath. Do not wrap it in the cloth again, and do not touch its feet!" She handed the infant to the other knight, who at once began to murmur the same prayer over it as Sakura had. The lady knight turned once more to the old man on the floor, drawing deeply from her own spirit as she worked to preserve his. In the depth of her thoughts, she forgave Naruto his initial hesitancy to offer aid; they had indeed lost precious time, and would now lose yet more.
Author's Note:
PLEASE! IF ANYONE IS A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL, AND I HAVE MADE A MISTAKE WHILE DESCRIBING INJURIES OR THEIR TREATMENT, INFORM ME SO I CAN CORRECT IT!
So, hopefully the descriptions weren't too graphic, or just graphic enough to properly relay how horrible the injuries are (and, actually, I hope they were graphic enough). Was the combat sufficiently described (for a random encounter), or would you all prefer something more detailed? This was actually supposed to just break the monotony of travel with a bit of easy battle, and display how I've interpreted some of Naruto and Sasuke's abilities, but it actually seems to have focused more on Sakura. Good? Bad? On any of those?
Have you noticed a change in style? If so, what do you like or dislike about it? Do you agree with how I've portrayed the characters? Is there too little or too much: dialogue, environment description, character description, internal monologue, or exposition? How do you predict the story and characters will develop, or how I'll interpret certain components of the original into this? Very important: am I taking too long to move through the plot of the manga?
Thanks for reading, and please review!
