Hidden in the Night Sky
Chapter 12: Let's All Go To The Hospital Again
"Mistress, we have to go to the hospital, today. You should have had a check up yesterday," Shamal said, washing her hands off the remains of breakfast and drying them with a nearby rag. She gave a nod of thanks to Signum, who had finished with the dishes just a second ago, and removed her apron, tossing it carelessly into the table. It landed on top of the one Naruto had been wearing minutes earlier. Both were clean, as too much experience doing so prevented either Shamal or Naruto from getting anything other than their hands dirty.
"I should have?" Naruto asked. "I didn't know that."
"No, you didn't," Shamal agreed, "but it's important that you do."
"But we have guests, I can't just up and leave," Naruto said, tilting her head. "I already fell asleep on them last night, this'd be a new low as their host-"
"Don't worry," Signum interrupted. "Myself and Zafira will remain here, we will... entertain your guests," she mentioned, picking up both aprons and folding them before moving over to the table.
Naruto shrugged. "I guess that's okay," she said. "Okay, I'll tell Nanoha-chan and Fate-chan... Should I change?" she asked, looking down on herself. She wasn't wearing anything particularly unsuited to a visit to the hospital. Other than her fuzzy slippers, anyway.
"A pair of shoes might be better suited," Shamal agreed, "but if you wish, I could carry you there. Flying there is faster than walking," she said.
"Oh! That's right, I don't need you guys to carry me anymore, I can fly now!"
"... Excuse me, mistress?" Shamal asked. "What... did you just say?"
"I can fly now!" Naruto said, grinning. "I woke up and... I just could. Like this... Sleipnir," she muttered, and six wings sprouted from behind her back. The wings did a very slow beating motion and Naruto lifted off the ground, floating there in front of everyone. "See?"
"... This is strange," Shamal said. "Mistress... By any chance, do you remember a giant tanuki made of sand?"
"What a bizzarre thing you came up with," Naruto said, laughing a little. "Why would I dream about such a thing?" she asked. "That's ridiculous."
"Your brain works in mysterious ways, mistress, but the medical checkup just became a lot more important..."
"You know, now that I got a better look at it, that does look incredibly cool," Nanoha spoke, standing up from her chair. "Anyway, don't worry, we'll be waiting for you here! We still haven't decided who's the best at Street Ninja IV!"
"You better not leave until I can win back my title!" Naruto said, pointing a finger at Nanoha from above.
"It's best if we get to the hospital as early as possible," Shamal said.
"We'll fly there!" Naruto said, grinning. "I'll race you two," she added.
"That isn't a very good idea, mistress," Shamal chastised. "You're new to flying... and until you can show me that you can fly at high speeds without risk, you won't be flying any faster than you can react to!"
Naruto pouted. "But I want to see how fast I can fly..." she muttered.
"We can test that later, Mistress, for now, let's try not to overshoot the hospital," Shamal said. "Anyway, Vita, you will be coming with us."
"Of course I will," Vita said, shaking her head as she tried to wake herself up fully. "Lead the way, mistress..."
Vita was red when they finally got to the hospital. That was the end result of flying behind Naruto. The reason why was simple. Naruto had apparently forgotten she was wearing a skirt. While they were too high up for anyone to get a peek at Naruto's underwear, Vita was not far away enough not to. That, coupled with the mental images that still haunted her from that morning... Well, she was going to be having interesting dreams soon enough.
Naruto, too, was flushed, but that had more to do with her actually testing the limits of her flying agility, making all sorts of pirouettes as she flew. It was clear she was loving every second she was in the air. Both of her knights present could very well understand why she was enjoying the freedom of the air after being unable to even run for more than a couple of seconds.
Shamal wondered if this was actually the result of the surgery she'd undergone. Naruto had always been weak, but that had never been natural. Her chakra coils had been damaged. That in and of itself should've been fatal. Perhaps... The book had been the one to do that to Naruto in the first place. Perhaps it'd attempted to repair it, causing the damage to her actual body? It wouldn't be entirely impossible. The book had no idea how chakra coils worked until it started absorbing Linker Cores from ninja...
It had nearly killed her attempting to repair her body a short while ago...
"Oi. Shamal, we're here," Vita's voice cut through her thoughts, and she looked up to see Naruto diving downwards.
Almost frantically, the two knights shot like bullets after her, only for their mistress to pretty much kill her momentum just before she hit the ground, landing perfectly safely. The Wolkenritter had barely enough time to land normally themselves, perhaps a bit harsher than they'd intended to, and catch their breath as Naruto giggled. The hospital roof wasn't particularly crowded on a particularly busy day, so there was no risk of landing on anyone.
"Mistress! Stop doing those sorts of things, you're gonna kill us from a heart attack!" Shamal protested, grabbing her chest and attempting to calm down her heart.
"But I knew nothing would go wrong..." Naruto muttered, clearly somewhat down. "I'll be okay!"
"It doesn't matter! We don't know, and you're scaring US!" Vita said, stomping her foot. It only caused Naruto to giggle further, though.
"Let's... let's just go in," Shamal said, massaging the bridge of her nose. "I'll see if I can find Tsunade-dono."
"Where the hell were you, you brat!?" Tsunade shouted, tossing a paperweight across her temporary office, which was formerly the hospital director's, only for it to be blocked by Vita.
"If you attack her again old hag I will smear your face on a wall," Vita responded, growling.
Tsunade just waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah, whenever you want, I can take you," she said. "Look, let's just get this over with. We have to see how the brat's body is accepting the newly remade coils and check up on her body. If she's anything like I expect her to be, she should be fully healthy by this point, though I have no idea what her coils should look like."
"Actually, I have some things to talk to you in private about," Shamal said. "Give us a minute, mistress?"
Naruto shrugged. "Sure! I'll go see if there's anything decent on the vending machines. Come on, Vita! Onwards, for candy!"
Shaking her head, Vita followed. Despite her exasperation, Shamal could see the small smile on Vita's face present at the return of the everyday life of the Wolkenritter. It made her smile, herself, as she watched the two leave.
"So you don't want the brat to hear about it, huh?" Tsunade asked. "What's the damage, then?"
"Everything tastes of the sea!" Naruto protested.
"Apparently some joker thought it'd be funny to replace the sugar with salt," Vita said, frowning. Internally, of course, the faces that Naruto made as she ate the super salty candy were hilarious, but Vita couldn't say it and not expect Naruto's already short mood to change to 'pissed off'.
"Heh. That's funny," the old hag said. "Anyway, I'm sure somebody will take care of it shortly. Anyway, brat, let's get you to a table."
They did exactly that, commandeering an empty room to put Naruto in as she went about her checkup. Konoha Hospital was mildly understaffed, for the current situation, but it would soon normalize. Fortunately, the hospital was actually a rather huge complex, with several underground floors. After all, it'd be idiotic to build up in a ninja village, where the enemy targetting the wounded to make more wounded was expected. "It's cold," Naruto said... "when did you undress me?"
"I've... gotten used to doing that," Shamal admitted, shaking her head. "Anyway, mistress, please lay back and try to remain still."
Naruto did exactly that, and Tsunade and Shamal's hands both began glowing different shades of green as they set about working.
"Most of what we got out of her body doesn't really mesh with what I know about ninja bodies," Tsunade said, cracking her neck. "Don't know exactly how we should proceed. She's healthy as she can be, but I don't know if the readings of the mana in her muscles are okay or not."
"These are definitely not normal," Shamal said, "not for humans, at the very least. It's closer to what we experience as magical constructs, but that doesn't make any sense... unless... Does the chakra system irrigate the muscles?"
"Not normally," Tsunade said, shaking her head. "But ninja can train themselves to reinforce their bodies with chakra, and if they train hard enough, it becomes instinctive. I actually studied that the most, it's how I developed my super strength. With tightly controlled bursts of chakra, I can increase my physical strength incredibly. I've been doing it so long that it's pretty much passive at this point and happens automatically," she explained.
"Maybe this is something similar?" Shamal wondered. "But she hasn't trained to be able to do it..."
"Not her. But that thing she's connected to... could it be doing it automatically? If what you told me is right, it automatically tries to fix defects and strengthen its master... maybe now that it actually understands her biology a little, it's doing a better job of doing that?" Tsunade asked.
"I... wouldn't know, to be honest. I'm going in as blindly as you are... The only thing that comes close is how our construct bodies work, and even then-"
"Actually, how about using one of you for comparison?" Tsunade asked. "If I'm right, then she's probably a lot closer in biology to you than she is to pretty much any other human being," she added.
"I suppose that would make sense," Shamal replied, shaking her head. "At the very least, we can check."
"It's a good thing you brought a bodyguard along, then. Let me call up a genin team to make sure nobody disturbs Naruto while we're working."
"Yes, the last thing we want is to leave her unguarded for more than a few minutes," Shamal agreed. "Mistress... isn't the kind to stay still for long, now that she can move freely."
Mere minutes later, a team had been called. "Why those three?" Tsunade asked.
"When they don't have missions or training, they're usually hanging around here, since Sakura works here on her free time, so they're close by," Shamal explained. "That, and they're already friends with Naruto-chan, so to her it'll just look like they're hanging out with her instead of guarding and distracting her."
Vita nodded. "Let's get this over with as quickly as possible. I won't leave her under just the watch of some genin."
"Well, we're basically here to prevent anyone from disturbing her while she rests," Kiba said, "but why are we standing outside her room again?"
Sasuke shrugged. "They're talking about girl things," he guessed. "That, and Naruto was wearing only a flimsy hospital gown."
"So?" Kiba asked.
Feeling somewhat annoyed, Sasuke sighed. "She's a civilian. Unlike Sakura, she does, in fact, mind nudity."
"But Sakura punched me the one time I saw her without a shirt on," Kiba said, frowning. "Maybe we were the only ones that received training to not let it bother us? Kunoichi seem to be pretty self conscious..."
"No, they did. They definitely did," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "Anko-sensei was the one to give them those classes," he added.
"How do you even know that?" Kiba asked.
"She told me. Incidentally, Anko-sensei's are C cups," Sasuke said, grinning smugly.
"You smug bastard," Kiba growled.
"Just ask her, idiot," Sasuke said, looking amused. "We're talking about Anko-sensei here, not some immature kunoichi wannabe who thinks boys are all perverts."
"No, we're talking about an adult with big breasts who knows EVERYONE is a pervert," someone interrupted.
"Anko-sensei!" Kiba said, standing ramrod straight.
"Anyway, what are we talking about?" Anko asked.
"Uh... sensei, is it true that you showed Sasuke your breasts?" Kiba asked. "I mean-"
"Yeah, it is," Anko said. "What, don't tell me... You also haven't seen an actual woman naked? Kids, by the time I was your age, I already wasn't a virgin," Anko said, rolling her eyes. "I guess times change when it's not just after war, though," she admitted, stroking her chin. "Anyway, I'm just checking up on you to make sure you're working hard. And by that, I mean metaphorically, not working with an erection," she added.
"Sensei... do you know anything about Naruto's health?" Sasuke asked, frowning. "I haven't heard anything, and she seems to be acting healthy, but if she's in the hospital now..."
"As far as I know, there's nothing to be worried about, but Tsunade-sama and Shamal-sensei seem to be running all sorts of tests. Maybe they see something wrong the rest of us don't, it's possible. Kid was impaled, so she's probably messed up but good," Anko said, shrugging. "Eh, I'm sure she'll pull through."
The two genin nodded in understanding.
"Anyway, kiddies, I gotta go. Since I'm here, I've got to restock on hallucinogens for your training," she said, waving as she left down the hallway. A few minutes passed in silence, while both genin tried to come up with something to say.
Sasuke looked somewhat conflicted.
"What's wrong, dude?" Kiba asked, absent mindedly sitting down next to the door and petting Akamaru, who was still sitting in what appeared to be an alert and ready position. Now that Anko had come and gone they'd get to relax.
Sasuke, however, clearly didn't relax at all. The Uchiha merely shook his head. "I was there," he said, tone bland.
"There? Where?" Kiba asked, confused. What could the broodmaster be talking about?
"I was there when she got hurt. I could have saved her. I was right there, and all I had to do was grab her. I would've been hurt... but I'm a ninja. I can take it. I... didn't. I just stood there, frozen. I was terrified, and I couldn't even move!" Sasuke said, growling as he clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palm. "Her knights... Signum saved me from Orochimaru, when he came for me in the forest, and I can't even return the favor... I thought I was improving, but I'm still so weak..!" he whispered, mostly to himself, but loud enough to be heard in the silent hospital ward.
"Tell me about it. Naruto-chan's so cute and nice to me... I feel like I should protect her, you know? She's always so nice to us, and when she needed us, we couldn't do anything for her. We could barely even keep the ninja off of Shamal-sensei long enough for Naruto's life to be saved," Kiba looked down, where Akamaru stood. "I feel like I'm a failure, you know. When I saw here there... It's the first time I've seen her when she's not smiling and... it hurts. It hurts to know I can't do anything about it, man."
Sasuke shook his head. "But you weren't there. You couldn't have done anything. I could have. I could have prevented this entirely!" Sasuke said, smashing his hand against his thigh, wincing as he felt the harsh pain wash over him like a sobering cold drink. "What kind of ninja am I, when I can't even protect a single civilian!? How can I expect to have the power to defeat that man and bring my clan back like this!?"
Kiba put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Man, I know I don't usually say this but... you're my friend, okay? We've been through a lot of shit together. I respect you, and I know that even if you deny it, you respect me and even Sakura. We've been through too much not to. It's okay to be scared sometimes. From what I hear, that thing was one of the tailed beasts. Mom told me that you have to be an S rank shinobi to even consider going up against the weakest of them. It's normal to be scared shitless of them," Kiba said.
Sasuke moved his shoulder and knocked Kiba's hand off. "I'll get stronger. I will have enough power..."
Kiba punched his arm. "Stop being such an ass. Anko-sensei put it best, didn't she? You can't do this shit alone. We're your friends, man, we'll help you."
Akamaru barked, walking up to Sasuke.
"You too, huh?" Sasuke asked, bending down to pet Akamaru.
"That's the spirit! You know I'm an Inuzuka, man, if there's one thing we know how to do, it's how to work together! We'll make a proper teammate out of you!"
The Uchiha shook his head. "We'll see if you can keep up, you mutt," Sasuke said, chuckling as he petted Akamaru.
"Hey, I'll have you know that Akamaru is a purebred-"
"I was talking about you," Sasuke said, offering Kiba a smirk.
"Of all the times, to discover your sense of humor," Kiba grumbled.
"Excuse me, is this Uzumaki Naruto's room?" a rather soft, calm voice interrupted, causing Kiba and Sasuke to cut off their banter prematurely, both turning to address the intruder. A tall, slim boy with silver hair, an unassuming demeanor and glasses. All in all, a non threatening looking individual. Which in the ninja world, meant he was probably a badass. Badass enough to get through the Chunin Exams, at least.
"Who are you?" Kiba instantly asked, his eyes narrowed.
"Oh, my name's Yakushi Kabuto. I'm the son of the Hospital Director, Yakushi Kentaro," the boy explained. "I've got a message for Naruto-san. And it is for her ears only," he added when the two began to protest. "Everything about her physical health at this point is top secret, I've heard," he added. "Father didn't even trust me with it, he gave me a letter for her instead."
"We can deliver it instead," Sasuke said, closing his eyes.
"Yeah, we won't peek. I promise. Anko-sensei would electrocute our privates if we did," Kiba said. "And she'd learn..."
"Mitarashi Anko? I know of her. I hear she used to be a torturer," Kabuto said, shivering a little. "Here, have it. I guess it's alright. If you read it, though, it's on your heads."
"We won't," they both said, nodding.
"Okay, here you go," Kabuto said, digging into his chunin vest's pockets and pulling out an envelope that had been folded in half. He handed it to Sasuke and smiled pleasantly. "Now, I've handed it over, my responsibility is over. See you later, guys," he said, turning around and walking away, waving as he did.
They both said their own goodbyes and sighed. "Well, which of us is going to go in? Either way, Sakura's gonna shriek," Kiba said.
"You go," Sasuke said. "You're expendable."
"Yeah, well, my ears are more sensitive. So you should go," Kiba replied.
"We're in the hospital, they can fix whatever damage she does to you," Sasuke said.
"She used to crush on you, I'm sure you can get by on that," Kiba countered.
"Egh, whatever, fine, I'll go," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "Coward."
Kiba grinned. "Pleasure knowing you."
Grumbling, Sasuke banged his knuckles on the door. There was no response for a few seconds. "Come in," Sakura's voice called.
Opening the door, Sasuke took a deep breath and walked in, closing it behind himself. "Some guy came in and dropped a letter for you, Naruto," Sasuke explained, evenly.
"Really?" Naruto asked. "Who could it be?"
"Maybe you have a secret admirer?" Sakura asked. "I know lots of guys who could be responsible..." she muttered.
"Doubt it. It was dropped here by a chunin, so it's probably important. It's for your eyes only, so maybe you shouldn't read it just now," Sasuke said, handing the letter over to Naruto. "Do it when you're alone at home or something."
Naruto shrugged. "I'll give it to Signum later. She handles all the important stuff like this."
"Whatever you do, I delivered it," Sasuke said.
"By the way, Sasuke, I really do need you to answer a few questions... Sakura was trying to explain some stuff to me, but really, having a live example will be so much better. Can you remove your shirt for a moment?" Naruto asked.
"What... what the hell were you talking about?" Sasuke asked, turning to Sakura, who blushed fiercely.
"Sakura was insisting that you're the epitome of handsome despite being a jerk," Naruto explained, waving her hand. "And I still don't know what 'epitome' means, but-"
"Most basic way I can put it, it means the 'most'. So in this case, Sakura's saying I'm the most handsome which is, naturally, true," Sasuke explained, nodding his head.
"But you're so scrawny! And pale! And tiny!" Naruto said. "So I thought, maybe she's seen some part of him that I didn't? So, strip, show me your body," she said.
"The fuck," Sakura nearly yelled.
"That is highly illegal because you're a minor and I'm an adult," Sasuke said, evenly.
"We're the same age," Naruto said, pouting.
"But I have a headband and that makes me an adult," Sasuke said, "and seriously, I could actually be heavily reprimanded for that."
Well, that, and Sasuke was certain there were four people who would be looking to smear him against a wall if they saw him naked in front of Naruto.
"Aww, come on! I want to see what she sees in you," she said.
"No! Just... just no!"
Naruto pouted. "Pretty please?" she asked.
"... dammit."
Tsunade sighed. "Well, I've confirmed a few things, at least," she began, leaning back on her chair as she perused the results of the test they'd just made. "All that remains is performing a blood test, and that, I'm gonna leave on you. Everything else will take a couple of days to finalize, for a full comparation between your bodies and hers."
"If you don't mind me asking, what sort of thing did you confirm?" Shamal asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Your bodies... aren't all that dissimilar from something we ninja know as a Shadow Clone," Tsunade explained, yawning, clearly ignoring how terribly rude it is to yawn in someone else's face.
Nevertheless, Shamal persevered. "And that is..?"
"A Shadow Clone is basically a copy of a person made with chakra. No actual shadows involved. It basically makes a shell and stuffs it with chakra. In your case, you're basically a shell in the shape of your bodies animated by a big lump of mana located on your chests. That'd be your Linker Core, right?" Tsunade asked, looking at Vita's chest, as the redhead discarded the flimsy gown she'd been wearing and began re-dressing in the clothes she'd originally wore coming in.
"That'd make sense. We're magical constructs, after all," Shamal stated.
"But shadow clones are flimsy," Tsunade noted, "so much so that they can be dispelled by the slightest cut. By contrast, your bodies are much, much tougher. Your bodies also seem to be fully functioning. Clones don't so much get physically tired as their chakra runs out... So all in all, you appear to be a much more advanced and complete form of said jutsu."
"You ninja have all sorts of ways to form clones," Vita muttered. "I've seen water, earth and even fire once."
"Fire? That's rare," Tsunade said, shaking her head. "Anyway, what I've also confirmed is that your muscles and hers are somewhat similar. It's more like... Naruto's body is not unlike a normal human body that has a magical construct like your body overlaid on top of it," she explained.
"Huh? How is that even possible?" Vita asked.
"Her Chakra Coils conduct mana now," Shamal stated, rubbing her chin. "Which would irrigate her system with mana."
"That's a theory," Tsunade stated. "Personally, I have no idea. All that's left are more invasive tests," she said, "you don't need me for that. So, I'll be leaving now."
"You're going to be travelling again?" Shamal asked.
"Yeah. You're more than competent enough to look after her and you know just as much about her body as I do, probably more," Tsunade said, "if you do need me, though, you can probably find me. I'm sure the old man will be keeping tabs on me."
Meanwhile, in Naruto's hospital room...
"How did you convince me to do this?" Kiba asked, glaring at Naruto and Sakura, before turning to look at Sasuke.
"I didn't, you convinced yourself, because you are an idiot," Sasuke replied.
In front of the two boys were two girls, namely, Naruto and Sakura. Both were seated on the room's desk, eyeing the two boys like they were slabs of meat at a market, and while Sakura looked pretty satisfied eyeing Sasuke, Naruto seemed to be looking at both and pouting as if she didn't find what she wanted.
Of course, this'd be less weird if Kiba and Sasuke were wearing more than just their underwear. Now, since ninja have not heard of the invention of the jockstrap, instead of wearing boxer shorts, they tend to wear more... form fitting underwear. It's bad to have them bits dangling, you know, so they instead use underwear that actually holds it in place.
Meaning, they were wearing briefs, not boxers.
"I still don't see what you see... they look the same to me," Naruto said.
"Hey, don't lump me in the same category as this scrawny and pasty little girl," Kiba said, looking at Sasuke and frowning at his svelte body. Kiba was, by comparison, shaping up to have a much more noticeable musculature.
"Oh, yes, because being a musclebound behemoth is so conductive to moving quickly and nimbly," Sasuke sniped, raising an eyebrow. "And all those muscles don't mean shit next to chakra reinforcement," he added.
"You can reinforce yourself with chakra all you like, dipshit, because when you've torn out all your muscles from forcing them too much, I can still go," Kiba countered, grinning nastily.
"You're both scrawny," Naruto said, glaring at the two of them. "Maybe you should put on a few pounds of muscle..?"
"That's enough of that," Kiba said.
"Yes, I'm getting dressed," Sasuke said, his tone brooking no argument.
"But I still haven't seen what Sakura sees!" Naruto protested.
"And I don't think you will, I thought you'd already gone through puberty, with that pair of tits on you," Sakura muttered, "but you clearly haven't," she added.
"Tell you what, I'll let you gaze upon my manly and beautiful physique a little more, if you, I dunno," Kiba said, scratching the top of his head. He didn't know what to ask for, it had to be something outrageous so that she'd refuse, but not something so stupid that she would ask him to be serious. "I know, if you get naked, too," he added.
Naruto tilted her head. "That's it? Okay, I guess," Naruto said, shrugging. She reached behind herself and undid the knot holding her gown together, letting it fall in front of her, though it bunched up on top of her lap, as she was sitting. Dropping from the desk allowed the rest of the gown to slip off and for it to fall to the ground. She grabbed at her chest, holding her developing breasts.
"Wow, unlike Sakura, she actually has a reason to wear a bra," Kiba said.
"Why you..!" Sakura's hand clenched into a fist. For a moment, she wished she was in a clichéd scene in a manga or anime; if she was, she'd have gained super strength and the ability to beat up Kiba. Unfortunately, she did not have the ability nor raw strength to beat Kiba in one on one combat. And Kiba wouldn't let her beat him up. After all, he hadn't even insulted her, and in his mind, his comment probably didn't even register as hurtful. He'd be fully within his rights to defend himself, and Sakura would actually be reprimanded instead, as she'd be the aggressor.
Really, why did cold and hard logic have to get in the way of comedy gags?
"Kiba you idiot, this could get you arrested," Sasuke said, bringing his palm to his face.
"I didn't think she'd go and do it," Kiba countered. "Besides, what's so wrong about it? I've seen swimsuits cover less on adult women. Hell, I've seen thongs on men," Kiba said, waving his hands as if throwing Sasuke's concerns away. He then took a step towards Naruto, raising his hand as if to clap her on the back...
... but he stepped on a bit of the discarded gown, which caused him to slip forward. He tried to grab a handhold or something, but all that he found was Naruto's shoulder, his initial target, so he dragged her down with himself.
He blushed bright red as soon as he managed to stop his motion, as he'd landed right on top of Naruto.
"You're heavy," Naruto said, idly.
"... You have two seconds to explain why I shouldn't spread your guts on the sidewalk," a calm, collected and cold voice spoke, sending chills down Kiba's spine.
Fortunately for Sakura, it seemed like Kiba had attracted the attention of a superior officer, who'd seen him sexually harass a civilian, and who had the ability to make him regret it.
"Time's up."
"Oh sweet merciful gods-"
... This chapter should've been completed like, an hour ago. If hadn't eaten my input when it logged me off.
Why the fuck does it log you off in the first place? I don't want to be logged off, that's why I choose the option not to be logged off. It's stoopid, and it caused me to lose half the friggin' chapter. I guess this is what I get for starting from a six-hundred-word-long fragment of the document containing the rest of the story and build on that using the Edit Document feature.
