Hey guys! Sorry for the delay….for no good reason other than the fact that I let time slip away due to my laziness. So, I've been beating myself up over it since I know the next chapter of TJ, TB, ATDOW has been long overdue since I promised it would come out soon. I really do have a little less than about half the chapter saved, but I swear that it'll come out after this chapter! No exceptions of excuses! A small part of why this chapter took so long is because of the method I use to get inspiration to write for Thirteen. I have a general plot idea somewhat constructed, but to connect the different events, I usually let where I left off kind just sit in my head and see if my imagination kicks off and sort of writes for me. It took a LOT longer for this one to come around, but even after it did, I got really lazy about it haha! Enough of that, here we go!
Disclaimer: I own nothing
"Speaking"
Thinking
Chapter 7: Pair of Queens
Chronicles of Thirteen
If you have the motivation, I don't think anything in the world is impossible. First, you have to start moving. If you move, something will begin.
Hyuuga Hinata
"So, Danzo is really okay with you just adding anyone on the team whenever you want?" Asked Shino as he walked alongside Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sasuke.
"Well…he did say the team was handpicked by me and nobody else….I would assume so," shrugged Sasuke as they strolled through the halls of the academy.
"What makes Hinata so talented for this exactly?" Questioned Naruto with a rather puzzled look.
"She has a talent I think will prove most useful in discrete assassination," responded Sasuke rather cryptically as they approached the front of the gate of the academy.
"…..Where are we going?" asked Shikamaru.
"Hinata doesn't use the training area to hone her skills….she trains by a river just a short distance from here," explained Sasuke as they exited the academy.
"Hmmm…how peculiar, is there something special about the river?" Inquired Shino.
"No, I think she just prefers the seclusion," surmised Sasuke.
"You know this because….?" Trailed off Shikamaru with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm a stalker," responded Sasuke sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.
"I know the sarcasm was present….but I have no other conclusion to reach then that one, given the information you have provided," murmured Shino as he adjusted his sunglasses.
Sasuke rolled his eyes before he gestured for the other three to follow him as he turned off the main road and walked down a narrow path alongside some shrubs. After a few moments of walking in silence, the distance sound of running water began present to their ears. The sound became louder and clearer as the group cleared outside of the woods and reached a rather large riverbank with Hinata sitting cross-legged by the edge. The four stood still for a moment before Naruto took a step forward and was about to call out Hinata's name before Sasuke lightly struck Naruto over the forehead with his index and middle finger.
"Ow, what was that for?" grumbled Naruto as he lightly rubbed the spot that Sasuke had struck.
"You wanted to see what made Hinata so well-suited for this mission," responded Sasuke as he simply pointed at Hinata without making a sound.
Hinata slowly stood up from her sitting position and activated her Byakugan before turning and delivering a palm strike to a trunk of a nearby medium-sized tree. The force of the attack caused the tree to shake off a rather large amount of leaves that slowly began drifting towards the ground. Hinata then jumped up and began swing both her arms rather gracefully and delivering swift strikes to each falling leaf before they managed to touch the floor. As Hinata landed on the ground, she deliver a swift horizontal chop with her hand across the tree trunk and held her stance for a moment almost as if she were waiting for something.
"What's she…," began Naruto before being shushed by Sasuke.
The top half of the tree slowly began to tip over displaying the fact that it was cut cleanly in half. Hinata then flipped back and landed on top of the water before moving her body in a form of a seemingly traditional dance. Tendrils of water slowly formed around Hinata and then darted outward and began to rapidly tear through the falling upper half of the tree causing even more of the leaves to be blasted off the branches. Hinata then jumped up once more and began her previous practice of swinging at each swaying leaf before landed back onto the water and exhaling as she deactivated her Byakugan.
"What….was that protruding from her hand?" Asked Shikamaru rather curiously.
"Truly remarkable," commented Shino.
"I've never asked, but it is quite the feat," agreed Sasuke.
"That…was….AMAZING! HINATA, YOU ARE SO COOL!" Screamed out Naruto which shocked Hinata as she finally took notice of her audience causing her to panic and shriek as she lost control of her Chakra and began wildly swinging her arms before plummeting into the river.
"AH-CHOO!" Sneezed Hinata as she wrapped a towel around her head in an attempt to dry her hair.
"Sorry for our idiot teammate who startled you," muttered Sasuke as he glared at Naruto who could only grin sheepishly.
"Sorry about that….but what you did…it was just so cool! It was hard to contain my excitement," chuckled Naruto.
"T-t-thank you…..b-but w-what're you f-four doing h-h-here?" Stuttered Hinata as her cheeks turned a light tinge of pink from the praise.
"We actually came here looking for you, I have a proposition for you," explained Sasuke. "But why don't you get cleaned up first so you don't get sick."
"I-I-I actually h-have a s-s-spare change of c-c-clothes, if y-y-you four wouldn't m-mind," murmured Hinata as she made a small gesture for the four to walk away and turn their attention from her.
The four got the messaged before each nodding and strolling away from Hinata as rustling was heard while she dried herself off and changed into a dry set of clothes.
"Why do you have a spare change of clothes out here anyway?" Asked Naruto as Hinata finally gave them the okay that she was presentable again.
"I-I-I try and p-plant m-m-more trees out h-h-here after I f-finish my t-training," explained Hinata. "I f-f-feel b-bad for c-constantly d-d-destroying nature. My clothes g-g-get d-dirty f-from kneeling in d-d-dirt."
"Woah…..how'd you….manage this while unarmed?" Asked Naruto as he looked at the clean cut through the tree trunk that Hinata made earlier.
"W-well…I'm n-n-never really e-e-ever u-unarmed," stated Hinata as she lifted up her middle and index finger and the tip began to glow white before forming what could only be described as a tiny blade of a dagger made of pure white.
"Remarkable…..what exactly is that?" Asked Shino.
"I'm n-not sure….I f-f-found this o-old s-s-scroll at h-home w-when I w-w-was young and it d-described this o-o-old fighting s-style m-my p-p-people o-once used," murmured Hinata.
"What exactly….is it?" Questioned Shikamaru.
"It appears that utilizing very fine-tuned control, she concentrates her Chakra into a singular point and gently forms the shape while condensing it so that it is as hard as diamond," explained Sasuke as he looked at Hinata's technique with his Sharingan active.
The other three looked to Hinata who slowly nodded in confirmation as she exhaled and relaxed her posture before releasing her technique.
"So, can everyone in your clan do this?" Asked Naruto.
"N-no….t-t-these days, m-m-my p-p-people primarily u-use the G-gentle f-f-fist style….t-t-this s-style is a b-bit o-o-outdated," explained Hinata.
"But why? It seems to have so many applications," pointed out Naruto.
"Most likely natural selection at its finest," explained Shikamaru. "The Hyuuga were used as a defensive buffer zone for Fire Country in battles that were fought many years ago due to strategic geographical placement. This meant that rigid defensive techniques and styles were prioritized which probably spearheaded many developments and growth of fighters that predominantly relied on Earth based techniques and styles. This is exactly how the Gentle Fist was developed in the first place; the nature of this lost style seems predicated on gentle and very fluid control and movements which would make me guess that you have an affinity for water."
"Y-yeah, t-t-this o-old s-s-style is a-actually b-b-based on an o-o-old Eastern s-style c-c-called the Fujian W-white Crane," revealed Hinata. "T-t-the Gentle F-f-fist is a-actually d-d-derived from the E-e-empty F-Fist."
"I'm starting to see why you suggested her in the first place," noted Shino as he lightly nodded in Shikamaru's direction.
"S-s-s-suggest me? W-what i-is going o-on?" Asked Hinata with a rather bewildered look.
"We have an upcoming assignment….and we could use someone with your skillset," explained Sasuke as he lifted his arm and began digging through his Leafpoint device.
"….and that's the gist of it so far…..obviously there will be more details if you choose to accept this," explained Sasuke as he closed the program on his device and looked towards Hinata for her answer.
"…..W-why me? T-t-this team y-you h-have seems so s-skilled and h-have t-t-to undertake s-s-such difficult covert m-missions. I'm n-not s-s-sure if I'm u-up to the t-task," murmured Hinata as she casted her gaze towards the ground.
"To be honest, you were one of the individuals I was going to ask regardless in the near future….it just so happens that a mission has come up where your abilities will prove most useful so I chose to expedite my invitation to you," revealed Sasuke.
"….What could y-you n-need me to d-do that n-nobody else c-can?" Asked Hinata with a rather puzzled look.
"I need you…..to end someone else's life," stated Sasuke as he crossed his arms
"Hmmmmmm, interesting choice….but I could see this potentially working out," noted Danzo as he scratched his chin and looked over Hinata's files.
"I-I-I s-still….d-don't understand w-what exactly is b-being a-a-asked of me," stuttered Hinata as she focused on the ground in front of her.
"You will be assigned to seek out and assassinate an individual whose managed to sneak under the radar….he's a defector who seemingly vanished several years ago and we've now just barely caught wind that he's trying to re-enter society," explained Danzo.
"Why's it so important that he be killed?" Questioned Sasuke.
"This is a special case, he has stolen something of value and I do not want this to come to the attention of anyone else which is why I'm asking for this to be done discreetly," explained Danzo.
"Who is this guy?" Inquired Shino.
"His name is Rokusho Aoi….was a standard run-of-the-mill operative who tried to get inducted into our Special Task Force three times. He failed the initiation test every time and shortly before the Third Great War began heating up, he stole some valuable artifacts and seemed to vanish. His skills were nothing impressive bar his stealth and covert abilities…..you will not get another chance at this. If he catches wind of what is going on he will most likely high tail it and vanish again," warned Danzo.
"So our only objective is to kill him? Asked Sasuke.
"No, outside of eliminating him, I want you to also recover one of the artifacts he stole. If you can get the other one that would be splendid, but just one will suffice," revealed Danzo.
"What exactly did he take?" Asked Naruto.
"He took an ancient staff known as the Ruyi Jingu Bang and a treasured blade known as the Rajin no Ken. The blade itself is not quite as important, but the staff is key to a scroll that is locked away in this academy that contains sensitive information regarding forbidden techniques developed in our nation. While I don't think Aoi knows of this, I'd rather NOT have such an important item floating around in the wild," explained Danzo.
"You mentioned that this time around you have everything arranged for us?" Inquired Sasuke as he crossed his arms?
"Yes…..you will all be attending a charity event in Water Country that is utilizing Mist to act as additional security so be mindful of how you act. When you have finalized the squad to me Sasuke, I will have proper fake identification and passports ready for you before you head out," revealed Danzo.
"So, the way we approach this mission will be entirely up to us?" Asked Shikamaru.
"Technically yes, but I do advise remaining discreet…..and if something goes wrong and your identities are outed….there is little lee-way for me to bail you out. I suggest somehow getting Aoi's attention and then eliminating him somewhere isolated," advised Danzo.
"Any ideas?" Asked Sasuke as he raised his eyebrow at Danzo.
"Aoi has always been a bit of a greedy and had a small lecherous streak going on for a bit….perhaps you could use the Hyuuga to seduce before eliminating him?" Suggested Danzo.
"S-s-seduce? I d-don't think I a-am c-c-capable of performing s-s-such a-acts," squeaked Hinata with a rather mortified expression.
"Just a suggestion," shrugged Danzo. "You guys are clever, you can probably think of other ways."
"S-s-so….I w-won't REALLY h-h-have to….y-you know," trailed off Hinata as a light blush appeared over her face.
"Well, if you think it's outside of your skillset there's really no point in giving it a shot when we only get one chance at this," shrugged Shikamaru.
"You're on board with us then?" Asked Sasuke.
"I-I-I guess s-so…..it s-sounds p-p-pretty important," stuttered Hinata as she walked alongside the other four through the quad.
"Well, we still need to figure out a clean and discreet way to eliminate the target," reminded Shino as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat.
Shikamaru stood still for a moment as he stared at the ground while scratching his chin trying to come up with a viable idea to get this to work. The identities given to them would most likely just be some fabricated important or rich character which would gain them entry and most likely nothing else. If Hinata didn't feel confident enough to be able to sway Aoi's attention, then it would be a lost cause. If Aoi is as trained as Danzo implied, it would be fairly likely that Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't be quite up to the task of a quick assassination…..Shino was a viable possibility but there wasn't really a viable way to gauge whether or not Aoi would recognize Shino's insect army. Aoi would most likely be a bit paranoid and on guard if he was actually freshly coming out of hiding. This would mean that creating a situation in which he was comfortable would be key to this mission's success.
"There's still the matter of securing the Ruyi Jingu Bang and possibly the Raijin no Ken," reminded Shikamaru as he continued to try and formulate the plan.
"You don't think he would just have it on him?" Questioned Naruto.
"It's a public charity event with a third party running security…..it's somewhat likely that weapons will be confiscated prior to entry," explained Shikamaru.
"You think he's going to let something as valuable as the Ruyi Jingu Bang out of his sight?" Asked Shino with a bit of surprise in his tone.
"…..What exactly makes it so valuable? Isn't it just an old staff?" Asked Naruto with a rather puzzled look.
"If you had ever paid attention in history," mused Shino as Naruto merely crossed his arms and pouted. "The legend goes that a monkey was born from within a magical stone that rested upon a great mountain many centuries ago. It is said that he learned the human way of life and martial arts through scrolls of the ancient religion of Taoism. From his self-teachings, he names himself Sun Wukong and quickly established himself as the greatest fighter in his province and sought out a weapon that was worthy of skill and he defeated the Dragon ruler of the Eastern seas to acquire the Ruyi Jingu Bang. The staff was known as the dividing rod of the oceans and with it as his weapon, he offered the challenge and declared he had no equal in this world. His conflict caught the attention of the Heavens who tried to fool him into be inducted so that he would cause no trouble as a lowly worker. When he discovered this disrespect, he rebelled against the kingdom of the gods and declared himself the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven."
"Oh right right….I'm starting to remember now, his battle ended with his imprisonment before he went on a journey of redemption, right?" Asked Naruto.
"Yes….and that tale of his travels is what we call the Journey of the West," finished Shino.
"Dang….so that artifact….is the one in the same as the one in the legend?" Asked Naruto in awe.
"Obviously as a legend it is probably a bit exaggerated, but supposedly yes, that is the same staff," nodded Shikamaru.
"Man…that story is so cool…what a strange name for a character though," murmured Naruto as he scratched his chin.
"It roughly translates to awaken to emptiness and that story is actually the starting point of where a lot of ancient fighting styles stemmed from," explained Shikamaru.
"Story time aside….we still need to think of some sort of plan with this upcoming mission we are tasked with," reminded Sasuke. "You heard Danzo talk about the risks; if this backfires, it's on us to make the best of it as he will only be able to provide limited help."
"T-this does s-s-seem to b-be r-rather difficult w-w-with just t-the f-five of us," murmured Hinata.
"It's a shame you don't quite feel qualified to do it alone, Hinata," muttered Sasuke. "Your talents make you almost ideal for this."
"S-sorry….i-i-interacting w-with s-someone like t-that a-alone s-s-sounds n-nerve w-w-wrecking," spoke Hinata rather softly as she looked at the ground.
The five of them stood around in silence as they each pondered over the problem that sat before them at hand. After a few moments, Shikamaru's face lit up which caught the attention of everyone else.
"You have an idea?" Inquired Sasuke.
"Yeah…..how do you feel about expediting the addition of our sixth member," smirked Shikamaru.
"Let me get this straight…you want me to be part of a secret black ops division…..infiltrate a party with you guys in a far off country…..work with Hinata to con some individual who stole from us….and then kill him after stealing his stuff?" Recounted Ino.
"That's the plan," smirked Shikamaru.
Ino's gaze seemed to tip upward as she thought over the proposition before she merely just shrugged, "Yeah, I can do that."
"…Just like that?" Asked Shino who was a bit taken back at the rather quick response.
"A job's a job," shrugged Ino. "Plus, sounds like I would be pretty good for this one."
"That's a good enough reason for us," chuckled Naruto as Hinata merely offered a meek smile.
"I'm going to guess I have to take the lead when it's just Hinata and I?" Surmised Ino as she looked over Hinata.
"Y-yeah, o-o-once w-we g-g-get him i-isolated, i-i-it should b-b-be simple," whispered Hinata.
"If the objectives aren't with him, the four of us will work on securing them and then we will try and secure a safe way out or bail you out if the deed gets too noisy and draws unwanted attention," explained Sasuke.
"You can let Danzo know we're ready to go at this point, I think we still have two days before we begin our trek this time. I'm going to go take a nap," yawned Shikamaru as he walked off.
"Ueda Nataro…..a travelling merchant….bah, how boring," frowned Naruto as he looked over his false identification.
"Better than being your bodyguard," muttered Shikamaru as he looked at the top of his identification which was labeled as Nii Satoru.
"I am quite okay with this description of Asagi Sheen, the painter," murmured Shino.
"Heiress, Harada Hiroka….s-s-she s-sounds like a n-n-nice p-person," stammered Hinata.
"Yamazaki Ikumi the photographer….I can work with this," smiled Ino.
"Who cares who you're posing as? Just memorize the key information and make up the rest and be prepared to introduce yourself," scolded Sasuke as he put his papers away and began walking down the road.
"Pfft, you only get to say that because you're heir to a large electric power company, Mister Ueno Satoshi," pouted Naruto.
"Just shut up….we have a long travel ahead of us," growled Sasuke as he gestured for everyone to follow him.
Ino strolled forward in silence alongside everyone else as they followed Sasuke down the path towards their destination. After a few moments, Ino grew bored of the silence and started whistling a small jingle out of desire to just fill the void of quietness. She gazed around at her teammates and noticed that Shikamaru was looking through his Leafpoint and reading something. Hinata zipped her jack up all the way and seemed to be trying to shrink into while Shino merely continued to walk forward with his hands in his pockets. Naruto seemed to be listening to some music as headphones were over his ears and he was humming some sort of tune to himself while snapping occasionally and Sasuke was taking the lead while slowly rotating a bead necklace he had in his hand.
"So…..," started Ino as she stopped whistling. "Is Sasuke the de-facto leader?"
"Yes, Danzo hands us the assignments but Sasuke is the one that assembled the team and calls the shots out in the field," confirmed Shino. "Though he has stated that in his absence or anything that causes inhibition of his ability to lead properly, the responsibility then falls to Shikamaru."
"I see….how long have you guys been operating?" Asked Ino.
"We had one mission before this one….the ones present were me, Shino, Naruto, and Sasuke," responded Shikamaru without taking his eyes off his Leafpoint.
"Ah…..how did that go?" Pried Ino.
"We had…..qualifying levels of success," responded Shikamaru.
Silence fell again as the group continued to travel and the sun reached directly over their heads to signify the passing of noon. The group continued to walk in silence outside of the occasional whistle of Ino and the random singing of Naruto as he continued to listen to music. Night was rapidly approaching as the group finally arrived at a nearby town and Sasuke signaled for everyone to stop.
"Alright, we're gonna rest up here at the hotel just in front of us. We'll get….," Sasuke trailed off as he noticed that Naruto was still slowly walking forward with his headphones and generally just not paying attention to his surroundings.
"In time, your heart will open minds; a story will be told and victory is in – OW!" Yelled out Naruto as he flinched from Sasuke striking him across the head and knocking his headphones down to around his neck.
"What was that for?!" Growled Naruto as he rubbed the spot on his forehead that Sasuke had struck.
"You can rock out later dumbass, for now, listen!" Snapped Sasuke causing a rather sheepish grin to appear on Naruto's face.
"Hehe….gotcha," grinned Naruto.
"Now, as I was saying. We're gonna stop at this hotel for the night before heading out tomorrow morning. This is a local town so don't worry too much about incognito. Gather what supplies you think you might need tonight on your own time as well as dinner. We're going to get three rooms, Uzumaki and I will be one, Aburame and Nara will be the other, and the last room will be for Hyuuga and Yamanaka. The hotel serves complimentary breakfast starting at 7:00AM. We'll meat downstairs for the meal before heading off again, got it?" Instructed Sasuke.
Everyone nodded and saluted before they all entered the lobby of the hotel. They all stood around for a few moments before Sasuke returned and handed each of them a key to their rooms.
"You guys are now free to do what you want for the evening," instructed Sasuke as everyone nodded and proceeded to exit the building in pairs based on their respective rooms
"So….you think it's going to be a lot cleaner this time?" Asked Shino as he took a sip from his water while waiting for the meal to be delivered.
"Yeah….should be okay this time….there's no way something like this catches the attention of higher-ups," stated Shikamaru.
"You don't think the Ruyi Jingu Bang just floating around will catch the attention of some people?" Inquired Shino.
"Eh…it's been missing for a while so I don't think so. That aside, most people will probably just pass it off as a legend with little to no uses," shrugged Shikamaru.
"I suppose that's true. This Aoi individual was in possession of it for a while and Danzo speaks as if Aoi has no understanding of its true nature," agreed Shino.
"The stakes are higher this time though," noted Shikamaru as their food arrived before them.
"What do you mean?" Questioned Shino as he speared some meat onto his fork.
"The way Danzo speaks….I don't think the whole ordeal with Aoi was documented very well….think about how everything will look if we get caught; several individuals on foreign grounds with fake identification attempting an assassination at a somewhat prestigious charity event," chuckled Shikamaru as he took a bite of his food.
"Hmm….I suppose that's true," agreed Shino as he took a sip from his water.
"Yeah…there's a lot of hurdles for us to cross…..we should probably obtain floor plans somehow or do some initial recon…..we need to locate the target as well as the artifacts before we jump the gun and try anything," murmured Shikamaru as he continued to eat.
"Man…how do you think this mission will go?" Asked Naruto as he browsed the wares with Sasuke.
"With me in charge? Probably flawlessly," chuckled Sasuke as he reached over for a set of weights.
"Hah, very funny. What're you need those for?" Asked Naruto as he watched Sasuke load in his ankle weights.
"Obviously I'm going to drop them on Aoi's head to assassinate him," responded Sasuke sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.
Naruto stood in silence as he walked up and down the aisle with Sasuke while Sassuke continued to gaze across the shelves to look for something he might need.
"So….it's almost time again," started Naruto as he looked at Sasuke with a rather apprehensive look.
"Yeah….we'll see if we're close when it comes around," answered Sasuke absent-mindedly.
"I've always wondered something, Hinata," began Ino as she sat atop her bed in her pajamas.
"What is it?" Murmured Hinata who was feeling more comfortable being around less people.
"How come….some Hyuga spell their surname with only one u while you and Neji have two?" Asked Ino.
"…..It was their act….to separate from us," whispered Hinata as she lay down in her bed.
"….Separate?" Questioned Ino with a rather quizzed look.
"You….you know how we have a main family….and a branch family?"
Ino slowly nodded at this as it was relatively common knowledge that the Hyuuga family was a bit archaic in their traditions.
"Our traditions….we created a division in the family so that the branch family would exist for the purpose of protecting the main family."
"That…that sounds a bit…..a bit messed up," murmured Ino as she struggled to find more appropriate words.
"Yeah….the branch family….they weren't thrilled either….so we….we, the main family….colluded with some others and came up with a method to imprint a seal on the branch family….so we could…..make it easier to coerce them to protecting us against their will. We could activate the seal…..and it would cause an internal deconstruction of their body," uttered Hinata who seemed to become more downtrodden with each word.
"That's…..that's terrible," gasped Ino.
"Yeah….the way the seal looks….the branch family added an extra u to their surname…as their final act of defiance to our disgusting traditions," muttered Hinata who now had a disgusted look on her face.
"I see….but….you spell your surname with two u's too don't you? Aren't you the heiress to the main family?"
"I….I took up the name to show the entire clan…that I stand with the branch family on this matter."
Ino was silent for a moment as she slowly laid down on her bed and took in all the information that Hinata had revealed to her. After a few moments of silence, a rather quiet sob came from Hinata whose eyes began to water.
"I want to change everything….I want to reunite my people once more…but the main family now show their disgust of my familial standing…..and the branch family don't trust me because I am the heiress to the main family."
Ino opened her mouth hoping to comfort Hinata a bit but found that she had no idea what to say at all….she sat still for a moment before she watched Hinata reach over and turn the light off on their shared nightstand.
Chronicles of Thirteen
I can't tell you to trust me simply because I'm nice. I can't save everyone I meet….but if I don't reach out my hand while I can, the regret would make me wish I were dead. I reach out to others because I don't want to always be thinking about what more I could have done.
Yamanaka Ino
TBC
Woooo! My abridged version of Journey to the West! Haha, it was and still is one of my favorite tales ever since I was a child.
Man….that was a long time in between and honestly not a very long chapter. I can only offer my apologies for my laziness but I will partially deflect blame towards the fact that school has kept me busy (I'm a double major!) and just real life stuff in general has kept me unable to write. But I can't blame it all on it as I somehow still find time to play video games or read books every now and then. The chapter for TJ, TB, ATDOW is so long overdue…I swear I'll update that one next. Shoot me a review to let me know how I'm doing!
