Author's Notes: Ahh! I'm on double digits already! Can you believe it? Chapter 10! Anyway, as always, thank you for being patient. I don't have anything else particularly interesting to say, so I'll just begin the chapter.
Title Reference for Chapter Ten: "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind" from The Great Mouse Detective
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Title: Laying Claim
Rating: T (or PG-13)
Summary: (SasuSaku) An ancient law in Konoha permits people from prominent clans to buy people who aren't from clans at all. Unfortunately, Sakura just refused to believe it until her mentor confirmed that, yes, she was now owned by Uchiha Sasuke.
Pairings: SasuSaku
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but the plot is mine!
Chapter 10: The World's Greatest Criminal Mind
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Beep! Beep! Beep!
Oh how she hated—
Beep! Beep! Beep!
—that alarm clock.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Grudgingly, Sakura got out of bed and switched off the alarm, rubbing her eyes to get them into focus. She went to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face and take another shower to further get the smell of shark innards off of her. She winced as the water came out a cloudy white, and stayed in the bathroom only as long as was required.
The rooms here were hideous, the bathrooms unclean, and she would have downright left if she hadn't already paid.
Since she knew the guys were here, the medic grudgingly pinned up her hair and secured the strawberry blonde wig on her head with bobby pins. It would do her no good if she were to be caught on the first official day of her mission!
Leaving everything in her room except for the money Tsunade-sama had given her, Sakura wrapped a dark gray cloak around herself and left the inn. She pulled up the hood as an extra precaution as she looked down the streets.
Priorities: Get a feel for the place and buy clothes for the mission.
She sighed, wishing Ino was with her. The blonde was a lot better at hooker shopping.
The streets were eerily calm at this time of morning. The only sounds came from animals in the alleyways—cats, dogs, mice—and even those sounds were mangled. This island was already beginning to creep her out. Even the paranoia was unbearable. She had started out walking in the middle of the street, but the hairs standing up on the back of her neck frequently forced her into shadows. It felt like someone was watching her. Always.
First task was to find out where the boss-man was located. Most likely in the center of the city, where attackers would have to go through several lines of defense. Sakura changed her path abruptly, darting through several alleyways. The nearer she got to the center of the island, the louder the noise got. The nightlife was crowded around the outskirts of the center. It was like one big party here, all the time.
Getting her first view of the nightlife of these people, and deciding she didn't like it one bit, she took to the roofs, keeping herself as low as possible. It was much easier to see this way, and a lot easier to avoid unwanted persons. She managed to spot a rather large mansion surrounded by a thick wall. Lying down on the roof she was on, she peered over the peak to count the number of guards.
Four at the main entrance, and no less than ten patrolling the wall itself.
She smirked. Surely this had to be headquarters for someone very, very important.
Now she just had to get inside.
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So it turned out that buying hooker clothes was relatively simple. All she had to do was pick out clothes that she wouldn't normally touch with a ten-foot pole. Sequins, leather, and lots of shimmering, glittering fabric seemed to be popular. Top that off with shimmering, glittering, bold makeup, outrageous jewelry, and contacts the color of Naruto' s eyes and she had herself a hooker wardrobe.
She returned to the inn at around eight thirty, where a little sleuthing work told her that the four Konoha spies had already left. She dumped all of her newly acquired makeup on the bathroom counter to survey it. She painted her nails dark red and waved her hands around like an idiot so they'd dry quicker. Next, she applied dark mascara and put on a heavy layer of green eye shadow with red lipstick. She put some large hoops in her ears and went to the bedroom. Sakura's attire consisted of a green, spaghetti strap sequined top, black leather shorts and her normal black boots.
The now strawberry blonde woman walked down to the main desk and paid for another nights stay, because she'd need a place to store her ninja equipment until she managed to infiltrate the compound. She had a plan, and it would make life so much simpler if it worked.
Since by this time it was broad daylight, she took to walking in the busy streets. Her eyes surveyed the area as she walked towards the compound. Sakura was tempted to tug her shorts down innumerable times on the way there by all the stares she was getting. She considered it a good thing though, maybe the boss would notice her too. The strangest thing about this outfit was that she fit in with the rest of the women walking about.
When the mansion was in sight, she slipped into an alleyway. In order for her plan to work, she needed to look somewhat hurt. She held her hand up, hesitating for a moment, before slapping herself hard across the cheek. Okay, so maybe she hadn't needed to hit herself that hard…She winced when a breeze rushed past her making her cheek sting and sucked in her breath. Well, there was no going back now. Besides, it put a few tears in her eyes and that would only enhance her plan.
She walked, more like swaggered, up to the palace gates. The four men on patrol looked at her with wary glances.
"Can one of you please help me?" The medic asked as she sniffled.
"Um…" The guards looked at each other, not quite sure what to do.
"Oh please help me! I'm stuck on this island and I don't have any money!"
"Well we could probably put you on a boat back to the mainland…" The brown headed one on the left spoke.
"You don't understand!" Sakura wailed. "I ran away with my boyfriend, my village probably considers me an enemy now. And then he goes away and leaves me for that…that slut!" By this time, she had gotten quite a few tears to spill over her cheeks. And the guards in front of her were now alert and panicked.
"Miss…"
"Do you see what he did to me?" She pointed at her stinging cheek. "And then he runs off with all of my money!" She sobbed again. "I have no where to stay, no where to go." She hugged herself and twisted her facial expression into the most pitiful one she could manage. Picking out who was probably the most gullible of the four, a honey blonde who looked no more than twenty, Sakura stared at him. "Please help me?"
She could see the blonde's Adam's apple bob down as he swallowed heavily. "Guys, don't you think we should do something…?"
One closest to the middle analyzed her with steely eyes. "How do we know she's not lying?"
"Look at her face man! That's one hell of a bruise!"
"You know what it's like for women around here…"
"Fine." The same man turned to her again. "Someone go take her to see Cain. See what he wants to do with her."
In the midst of Sakura's "thank you"s and bows, the boy with the honey blond hair stepped forward. "If you'll come with me?"
Keeping in character, Sakura latched onto the arm he held out for her as he guided her into the large house. She looked around at the surprisingly lavish surroundings, since the rest of the city seemed to be mostly trash, and caught a glimpse of the man's forehead-protector with a slash through it.
"You're from Rock?"
He jumped a little. "Yes."
"Is it nice there? I've never been."
It was now that she had miscalculated him being a naïve boy. He looked at her with suspicious eyes. "Is that so? Because as I recall, the only place that you can get red diamonds is in the Country of Earth."
Slightly shocked by his answer, Sakura held her necklace in her unoccupied hand, trying to keep her expression from conveying emotion. Except for maybe nostalgia. "Oh this? My brother got it for me when he was there for a mission. He was almost going to be promoted before he…died…" She felt tears prick the back of her eyes as she played along.
Although, it sounded strange she called Sasuke her brother. Sasuke and Naruto were brothers. Naruto was Sakura's brother. But the pink haired medic was still unclear of the relationship between her and Sasuke.
"I see. I'm sorry for your loss, then." He had switched back to naïve, thank goodness.
"No big deal, my brother was a good ninja. He died an honorable death." A pause followed her statement.
Okay, awkward silence much…
They had reached two large doors, intricately carved with mythical creatures. Two guards stood on either side of the doors, and Sakura's escort nodded at them. The guards frowned at Sakura a moment before opening the doors.
The arm Sakura was clinging to disappeared, and guided her by the small of her back into a large, throne-line room at her hesitance. Sakura bit her lip as the first few rushes of nerves came to her. Her plan was working so far, too bad she couldn't revel in the victory.
A man seated behind a rosewood desk at the far wall of the room looked up as the door opened. He was a little overweight, and his features weren't exactly par with a certain Uchiha's, but he wasn't terrible looking. He eyed Sakura before turning to the guard. "State your business."
"This woman came to us at the gate. She has nowhere to go and no money. We wanted to ask your judgment on the matter, sir."
"Why not send her back to her village?"
With a soft voice and her head pointed down, Sakura replied, "I ran away, sir."
"I see." He stood up and walked until he was only a foot in front of her. He lifted her chin and surveyed her face. "What is your name?"
"Sakura, sir."
"Well I think we could let you stay here." Sakura's eyes turned hopeful. "But you'll have to earn it. You'll have to work as a maid or something."
"Thank you sir!"
His smile brightened and he took one of her hands in his. "Well then, Sakura, it is a pleasure to have you." He put his lips to the back of her hand before a shock went through both of them. Cain recoiled, but then gave her a sly glance. "Firecracker aren't you? Amaya!"
A woman came into the room dressed in a maid's uniform. "Yes, sir?"
"This woman is now under my employment. Show her the ropes, won't you? And blondie, get back to your post."
Sakura followed the maid down a corridor. That man, Cain, was the guy she was looking for. He still bothered her though, despite the sweet voice and gentle mannerisms. The guy was running a huge scale crime ring and all he could do was talk her up! What a lady-killer…
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Five miles away, Sasuke felt something flash across his mind. He put a hand to his head before sighing heavily. Sakura was getting herself into trouble again. Although the warnings didn't tell him exactly what she was doing, they only told him that it went against any rule of his ownership of her. A flicker, hard to describe, would ignite itself in his mind. It got more intense the more trouble she was in and the closer she was.
But that was just the thing. Sakura was on a mission of her own, probably far, far away. Unless she was dying, his messages shouldn't be this strong.
Sasuke shook his head. She wasn't dying. Haruno Sakura was stronger than that.
Still…
Something wasn't right here, and he had to finish this stupid mission before he got down to the bottom of it.
How he hated this island.
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Sakura was starting to fall into the daily routine around here, which was phenomenally simple and excruciatingly boring. She supposed that this was what it was like to have a normal job. Day in and day out. Periodic excitement came from the kitchens when the stove caught on fire…again, or gossiping to the other maids about which guard/henchmen/overlord's guest was the hottest.
Trying to get information on the crime lord was about as easy as bringing someone back to life. The entire place was sterile—in the figurative and literal sense, there was not one speck of dust that did not attract the maid's attention—and looking for information was especially difficult with the head maid lurking around.
The Head Maid was not a little old decrepit, wrinkly lady as Sakura had been led to believe. In fact, she looked to only be about twenty-eight. Her mood ranged from annoyed to severe PMS, and that was on her better days. Sakura had been reprimanded several times for walking with bad posture and not getting the whites white enough. The pink haired medic had never had a strong desire to kill, but this lady was fast approaching the top of her hit list if she ever did go serial killer.
It was Saturday. A week after she had begun to work here and so far she had gleaned nil. He was an evil overlord who traded drugs and prostitutes. That was it.
The maids were divided into sections, which determined where they would work that day. It all depended on the schedule that the Head Maid—so lovingly dubbed Majo, translating into "witch"—laid out for them. Thankfully though, Saturdays were Sakura's section's day to go into town. It was their day off. The entire day, and Sakura had never felt so grateful.
Sakura talked to a new found friend on the way there. She'd instantly taken a liking to Miki, who was a native of Amegakure. She was taking her genin exam when Orochimaru and Sasori attacked her village, for whatever reason, and she fled. She wound up on a boat and the rest is history.
"Oh my goodness." A blonde, Emi, swooned a little. "If I could have one of those hunks look at me, I'd die a happy woman." The excited murmurs suggested that they agreed with her to the point of calling dibs.
"Sure they're really cute, but they're kind of odd." Miki said to Sakura as the woman examined a few scarves. "I mean, I've never seen someone who has eyes like that before, not to mention the other guy's hair kind of looks like the tail end of a bird."
The click as the descriptions slid home was nearly audible. The medic swiveled her head and stared wide eyed at the women's two points of interest. Unconsciously, she snuck behind the group of women.
Why, oh, why did Sasuke and Naruto have to be here now? Especially those two. Her teammates could pick her out of a crowd without any effort…when her back was turned…while wearing a wig. She gulped.
They were stopped near a booth, she could recognize what it was exactly, and Naruto was grinning at Sasuke who said a few words back.
"Hey Sakura…are you okay?"
Her heart was thudding loudly at the thought of jeopardizing the mission. Not only would Tsunade reprimand her for her lack of stealth that she had spent hours teaching her youngest apprentice, but the dark haired Uchiha who owned her body and mind wouldn't be happy either, especially once he learned what her mission was.
"Earth to Sakura…come in Sakura…"
An unexplained tingling went throughout her body. Kind of soothing, as if it knew she was anxious and was trying to calm her down. Sakura clutched the heart-shaped pendant in her hand, which stopped the tingling, but it brought about something even more unfavorable.
She watched from behind the girls as Sasuke's body froze. His head snapped up and he surveyed the crowd, with his eyes starting to bleed red. Trying to find her. He hissed a few words to Naruto, who also began scanning the crowd.
"That's my boyfriend!" Sakura forced out. "The dark haired one!"
"No way!"
"You mean the one that abandoned you?"
"Did he hit you? Oh my gosh, he did, didn't he!?"
"Looks really are deceiving!"
"Go give him a piece of your mind!"
"I can't!" Sakura said. "If he knows that I'm here…he'll hurt me again…" She faked a few tears for good measure.
Emi growled, "How dare he!" And she did a 180 before marching over to the two boys. They looked startled at first that a headstrong woman was approaching them with her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched. Sakura saw her two teammates cast glances at each other. Unfortunately, that was about the time when Emi approached.
"You jerk!" And then one Uchiha Sasuke, genius extraordinaire, was slapped.
With no further explanation, Emi walked back to the group. They shielded Sakura from his view before walking to a different street.
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Giggling girls.
It was a phrase that neither Sasuke nor Naruto wanted to be subjected to. Ever. Again. The morning had started out badly enough, with the waitress serving them breakfast "accidentally" gave them a good view of her backside. Several times. From there, the four had split into two teams to cover more ground. Sasuke was with Naruto, Hyuuga with Shikamaru.
The brothels seemed like the easiest to get information from, but they began at the bars for comfort reasons. Thankfully they were mostly empty except for the patrons clearing out from the night before and the staff.
A woman was behind the bar when they walked in. "We're clos…" And when she actually looked at them, the rest of her breath came out with a whoosh.
Sometimes, Sasuke loved having that effect.
By noon, they had gathered a few tidbits of information, but nothing too startling. A check in with their other two comrades revealed the same thing. No one knew anything significant about the crime lord. No one.
It was nearing noon when they stopped for a breather. The shade felt nice as the tropical sun was nearing its peak. A group of giggling girls stood at another corner of the street, and both boys mentally shuddered. They'd eaten a small bit of lunch already, so they were about to start again when Sasuke noticed what stall they were standing beside. Jewelry. Oh, great.
"Hey Sasuke." Naruto grinned. "I bet Sakura would really love a little souvenir." He waggled his eyes.
"Dobe, the last thing she probably wants from me is jewelry." He smirked. "But I'm sure Hinata would appreciate it."
Rolling his eyes as the blonde flushed a little, he was reaching to inspect something when every one of his muscles locked up. He was overwhelmed with her presence. Her could hear her thrumming heartbeat and feel her shaky nerves, even as their bond tried to calm her down.
"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, the smile disappearing completely.
Said boy hissed out, "Sakura's here." Or she was dying, but he'd rather not even consider it. She must have grabbed the necklace. The man who he'd bought her from told him that the bond was stronger when the pendant was touching skin. Sasuke now knew what he meant.
Sasuke's Sharingan leaked through a little, enough to thoroughly scan the crowd. He felt Naruto do the same. If anyone could find her, it would be the two boys who knew her like the back of their hands. She couldn't hide for long.
Suddenly, their attention was taken off Sakura as they saw a blonde female walking towards them with murderous intent. She reached them quickly and swung her hand back.
"You jerk!"
And she'd left the Uchiha blinking in the middle of the street. The handprint stung a little, but didn't really hurt. Once it got through his brain that he'd been slapped—he! Uchiha Sasuke!—by a woman, he let out an audible growl. He glared down the street where her posse had disappeared once he realized that his loss of focus had made him lose the grip on Sakura as well.
Later, a Byakugan search would confirm that Haruno Sakura was nowhere to be found on the island, which prompted Shikamaru to remark that maybe Sakura should be here after all, to make sure the Uchiha's head was screwed on right.
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"Sakura." Majo hissed. "You're late."
By less than four seconds! Sakura thought while her inner self had a few choice words to say about the boss-lady.
"Take that to Sir Cain." She pointed at a tray of covered dishes, presumably breakfast.
Remind me to bow before the humble servant of the Queen of England. Inner Sakura gritted.
Sakura pulled her dress down before picking up the tray easily. All that strength training had come in handy. Now just to remember where that room was located in this large estate.
The dresses they got in this place weren't as bad as she first thought. They were plain, collared black dresses with a white apron tied around her waist. No lace, no tulle, no feather duster. The fact that they were long enough to reach mid thigh was slightly admirable from a man who ran a prostitute ring.
After a few minutes of searching, Sakura finally located the two large doors that led to the large room where Cain's desk sat. She looked at the guards, hoping to get the point across to open the doors for her. The maid's hands were quite loaded at the moment. She didn't have to wait long, however, until one of the guards spoke up.
"Cain is on the phone and does not wish to be interrupted."
Sakura shrugged. "I'll wait." After all, the longer she took here the less she had to be around Majo.
She set the tray down on an end table and then took up residence in one of the comfy leather armchairs. She could pick up a few words of Cain's conversation, having her hearing honed to a tee. He didn't sound happy at all.
"I told you…shipment of "the goods"…next week! …Not a patient person!"
Sakura's ears perked. Finally, maybe some information!
"…Unacceptable! Konoha is too close…I need that shipment NOW Nakamura!" And the rest of his words were so loud, she could hear every word. "Don't you dare underestimate me Goumon! I won't hesitate to send my best to Mist and annihilate you!"
Nakamura Goumon. Finally a name.
"Tomorrow afternoon. The normal dock…yes."
The receiver was then pounded down so hard on the phone cradle that it was heard even outside the supposed-to-be-soundproof doors. A small click was heard—Sakura never quite figured out what it was, maybe the door unlocking?—and the guards looked at her again.
"You may go in now."
Which was of course her cue to heft the tray back in her arms as they opened the door for her.
Cain was sitting calmly behind his desk like nothing particularly interesting had occurred. He looked at her when she came in and gave her a cocky smile. "Ah, breakfast."
"Sorry I'm late, sir."
He waved it off and allowed the tray to be set before him. "Not a problem, but I must insist that you join me."
Sakura flushed. "I couldn't possibly…I mean…"
"Nonsense. I'll just tell what's-her-face you were with me."
"But sir—"
"Join me." He said in a manner that suggested he wasn't denied very many things. Sakura was about to refuse again when she was roughly pulled into his lap. She gulped and discreetly checked if her wig was in its proper place. Check.
He pouted in a way that he might have thought was "cute", but Sakura found it repulsive. "Feed me."
Knowing she wasn't going to get out of this without either giving herself away or being thrown out of the mansion, her only hope of getting information, Sakura picked up a strawberry and put it in his mouth.
Pretend it's Sasuke…pretend it's Sasuke! Her Inner Self had conjured up a mental image that it was Sasuke's lap she was sitting on, rather shirtless, and looking quite devilish as he gazed at her through his bangs with those unfathomable ebony eyes—
Her wonderful scenario burst with a pop! when a rather large strawberry was stuffed sloppily in her mouth, whipped cream going everywhere. Licking it off her lips, Sakura tried to look like a cute, innocent girl that this man would want to share his innermost secrets to. From the look in his eyes, it was working.
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They had found nothing so far on the crime lord. It was as if no one knew anything about him, and it was rather frustrating.
The morning had started out bright and early—or rather not so bright, but plenty early—with no interruptions from Sasuke's little possession. They had split into the same groups as before, and Sasuke and Naruto had decided to go to some of the more riskier places. Someone had to know something.
They were just leaving a brothel when the headache hit him so hard, Sasuke stumbled a bit. Naruto, seeing his friend's distress, sat him down on the curb until the dizziness faded. Jokes would probably be made later, but at the moment the blonde was gazing at his friend in concern.
Sasuke took a shaky breath in before growling, "I'm going to kill her."
"Sakura-chan?! Is she okay?! Is she hurt?! What's wrong?"
"I don't know." And that's what scared him.
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Sakura—Records Room.
Sakura stared at her assignment for that day. It was weird for two reasons. One was that there was no one assigned with her, she was all by herself. There was also the fact that it was her only chore for that day, normally there would be an entire list full. It made her happy that she'd get some extra time to look around, but suspicious.
The second reason was that for as long as she had been here, no one had ever been assigned to the Records Room. No one. Cain was far too secretive to allow his maids in there often—if at all.
However odd this may have seemed, Sakura was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If she was given a gift-wrapped way to go snooping around this place, she wasn't going to question the higher-ups on their decisions.
Sakura grabbed the small bucket of cleaning supplies and headed to the Records Room. It was directly in the center of the mansion, or so she guessed, so that anyone would have to go through several armed guards to reach it. Slipping inside quietly, just in case, she set the bucket on top of a rosewood desk and looked around. It looked similar to Tsunade-sama's library, only it was a bit smaller.
She picked up a rag and cleaned the nearest surface of a sickening amount of dust. While cleaning the bookshelves, she read the spines of the books as she passed them. Not that she expected to find Illegal Drug Trafficking 101 or anything. What she did manage to find was trade routes of all the major countries, and even a few she'd never heard of before. Exquisitely small countries were more often than not liable to be left off a map.
The back wall held scrolls, so she picked up the nearest one. Most of them were lists or itinerary, all quite boring if you weren't specifically looking for something. After hours of relentless searching, and more than a few yawns, she found it.
Shipment records.
40 inmates from River Country—Delivered by Midorikawa Shigure—20 January
35 barrels bourbon from Grass Village, Rice Country—Delivered by Kurosawa Ryouji—3 March
12 women of Smoke Village—Delivered by Kobayashi Taiki—13 April
"Information" from Leaf Village, Fire Country—Delivered by…
The name had been scratched out.
Mentally, Sakura tried to forget that there was information coming from Konoha. She tried to memorize all the names as quickly as possible, going through the two-page list twice. She had put the scroll in its proper place and was reaching for another scroll when the door swung open. Thinking quickly, Sakura grabbed her rag and tried to look caught in the middle of her productivity before she turned to face the intruders. Her plan quickly sank, however when she realized who was there.
Majo.
And two guards.
"See! I told you I saw her disappear in here!" Majo proclaimed haughtily.
She recognized one of the two guards, the blonde boy she'd met when she had first arrived, but the other one was a stranger and three times as intimidating. He was a burly man, and she saw a hint of a tattoo as he flexed his muscles.
They lunged at her at once, and Sakura evaded both of them. She didn't have her weapons on her and she doubted the rag would do much good unless they were allergic to dust. She punched the burly guy, sending him across the room into a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. The blonde looked a bit more apprehensive, but came at her nonetheless with a kunai. She threw him over her shoulder and stood tall, thinking she'd beat her enemies. But in doing so, she forgot the most important ninja rule:
Don't celebrate unless all of your enemies are down.
She'd forgotten about Majo.
Sadly she only remembered about the witch Head Maid when said person grabbed her wig. Sakura clutched at her wig to keep in on her head and not blow her cover any more than she already had. Majo, thinking she was inflicting serious pain to the girl, yanked, which made Sakura's job even harder.
"I suppose it's true that if you want something done right, then you've got to do it yourself."
As the two guards rose from the floor, Majo yanked them both around and began to walk down the corridor with Sakura in tow. It wasn't long before she felt a kunai against her throat, already drawing blood.
Without knocking, Majo barged into Cain's office. Cain looked only mildly surprised at the entrance, but his eyes widened when he saw the rather violent display.
"To what may I owe the honor of your presence?"
"I found this girl," the Head Maid rocked Sakura back and forth by her hair, "inside of the Records Room."
"I see." He rested his chin atop both of his hands. "And you did not come directly to me?"
Majo flushed. "I…wanted to catch her in the act, sir."
"You may let her go now."
"But sir—!"
"Let her go. Now." Cain growled.
Majo's expression darkened at the order. She narrowed her eyes and Sakura saw her jaw clench. In one last act of defiance, she threw Sakura to the floor. But she let go of Sakura's hair seconds too late.
The wig fell to the floor.
Sakura landed on her hands and knees, pink hair brushing her neck and shoulders.
Her heartbeat sped up as panic welled inside her. She looked up to see the crime lord's reaction.
Cain's eyes were wide, portraying his dark brown eyes. He was standing up now, leaning over his desk to look at her fully, and she noticed his hands were clenched on the edge, chipping off wood. His cheeks were slightly flushed—anger? Humiliation?—and his mouth was wide enough to catch flies. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he spoke.
"You."
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Author's Notes: And so that ends Chapter 10. Again, sorry for the wait. I've gotten lazier as of late. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long. Hopefully. As always, please review and tell me what you think.