Chapter 28 – Desperation

What Itachi returned to was shocking to say the least.

Sakura – in her undisguised form – clinging to Daichi desperately as they both cried. She hadn't…

His eyes narrowed.

No, he had. Daichi had somehow dragged the information out of her, but considering the fact that there was a destroyed tree and pieces of firewood, Itachi was guessing that Sakura had given away her position first. That must have been when he demanded answers and going from the look of devastation on his face, Sakura had given him those answers.

Suddenly, Sakura tensed, her head snapping up and eyes meeting Itachi's, widening as they did so. The look of horror in them, of truly realising what she had just done, was unmissable. She had given away their positions in enemy territory.

Daichi looked up at Itachi with heavy eyes. "You're both from Konoha, right?"

Sakura pulled away, standing slowly and taking her place by Itachi once he was closer. "We are."

"Just…" the brunet sighed. "Just go."

Green eyes flashed up to his. "Arashi?"

A snort reached their ears. "You don't have to pretend around me anymore. It's not like I'll be giving anything to that damned village. They… They killed her. My Aiko."

Itachi released his henge. They'd been found out and there was clearly no use in lying anymore. If it really came to it, he'd simply place Daichi under genjutsu and they could make their escape. Everything was already packed away in storage scrolls, as they'd wanted to be prepared. "You would really turn your back on your village?"

"Have you ever lost someone precious at the hands of–" Daichi cut himself off as his eyes met Itachi's, as his eyes met Itachi's Sharingan. "Uchiha."

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed and she put herself in front of Itachi, making it known to Daichi that he wouldn't be attacking the Uchiha without going through her first. "Your village… They don't understand what's really happening, Daichi-san. Uchiha Sasuke, my teammate, he didn't attack your village. I can promise you that. His brother," Sakura gestured behind her, "can also swear to that."

"All those things my wife said." He shook his head, turning pale. "I'm surprised you didn't kill her, Uchiha Itachi."

He remained silent, his features blank.

"That's because not all Uchiha are like that – if any at all," Sakura argued calmly. "I know they may seem cold and scary, but they're honestly not so bad. Sasuke-kun… He can be an ass, I know that, but he's my teammate, one of my closest friends. I know him better than I know myself and I promise you, Daichi-san, he did not attack your village."

Slowly, on unsteady legs, Daichi pulled himself to his feet. "The both of you have to leave. If anybody discovers the truth, we will all be killed. I can't leave Anzu like that. She depends on me too much. So just… leave and don't return."

Looking at Itachi from over her shoulder, she saw him nod once. Their mission was a failure.

It was the first mission Itachi had ever failed.

"One… One last thing." Sakura paused as Daichi watched her. "You said you're Uchiha Sasuke's teammate, meaning you're the Godaime's apprentice… Haruno Sakura, right?" She nodded. "Haruno Sakura… Thank you, for taking care of my niece. I don't care if you feel like you failed her. The kindness you showed to her in her final days… It clearly meant a lot. Otherwise, she wouldn't have given her life to save yours." A pause. "Don't blame yourself for her death." Something darkened in his eyes. "Blame Iwa."

Her heart stopped. "Daichi-san, don't–"

"Come, Sakura," Itachi murmured. "Others will be arriving shortly."

Knowing that she couldn't argue with him due to Itachi being captain, she nodded. "They'll know that Daichi–"

"Go and collect our scrolls and anything else that is important," he told her and once Sakura left, he turned to Daichi. "Daichi-san, I am going to place you under genjutsu. Do not panic. It is to simply make them believe that you were trying to stop us after figuring out who we really are. It will make your excuse more believable and this way, you will be able to stay with your wife."

The exhausted looking man gave Itachi a small smile. "Thank you."


"What the hell do you mean you 'gave up'?" Tsunade demanded.

"It is stated that scouting missions, or any missions at all, cannot be carried out if they are personal. It became personal to Sakura, Hokage-sama, so I thought it would be best that we left while we still could."

The blonde was trying her best to stay calm, they could both see it, and Sakura was so very grateful that Itachi was defending her on this, instead of simply telling the truth. The reason why they left was all her fault. She broke composure and gave away their position.

She rubbed her aching temples. "Give me one good reason why it became personal."

Sakura took a deep breath, trying to calm the pounding of her heart. "The people who accommodated us, and were trying to become our friends… We found out that they were Aiko-chan's aunt and uncle, Tsunade-sama. It was difficult for me when they confided in us about her, telling us that they didn't know what happened to her or whether or not she was still alive." She sighed, resisting the urge to close her eyes when honey coloured eyes met hers. "I've always been an impulsive person and it's safe to say that I follow my heart rather than my head, at times. Itachi realised this. He gave me a week to try and shut away my emotions, to try and focus on the mission, but seeing them, seeing their pain… It was too difficult to carry out the mission to the best of my ability."

The honesty in her words, the acceptance, made Tsunade sigh. "I'm too tired to be dealing with this right now," she muttered. "Whatever the case, it's good to have you both back in the village. I need my best to be staying close from now on."

Seeing the flicker of pain that flashed through her eyes had Sakura frowning. "What happened while we were away, Tsunade-sama?"

There was a pause. "Jiraiya… He managed to break into Ame. It's basically the damned headquarters of Akatsuki and–"

When she cut herself off, growing frustrated, Sakura felt her heart leap right into her throat. "And he didn't make it."

"No." The blonde shook her head, gritting her teeth. "Jiraiya's dead."

Itachi honestly couldn't believe it. Somebody was strong enough to take on Jiraiya and win? The man had many hidden jutsu and techniques that nobody had ever seen, so how was it that he lost? How had he not been able to take them by surprise?

"Naruto…" Sakura murmured, stepping closer and pressing a hand to her chest. "Have you already told him?"

"He blames me," she whispered, leaning back in her seat and just about keeping her emotions together and locked away. "I can't blame him for it."

"He's just angry right now, Shishou."

"No–"

"No, he is!" Sakura argued, cutting the woman off. "If anything happened to you, I'd be angry as well. You're my shishou, Tsunade-sama. You mean a lot to me, just like Jiraiya-sama will always mean a lot to Naruto. All he needs is a little time to get his head together, to think everything through."

If Sakura knew that he wouldn't be aching viciously already, she would have pummelled Naruto into the ground. Couldn't he see how much this was effecting Tsunade? Couldn't he see that she was just about clinging on? She'd already lost so many precious people to her and now, that list had just gained another name.

Itachi glanced out of the window. "Did Jiraiya-sama find anything out about Akatsuki before he was defeated?"

Swallowing hard for a moment and secretly grateful that Itachi had given her something different to think about, something serious that needed her attention, Tsunade nodded. "Yes. He wrote a message of some sort onto a summon of his. The problem was, was that nobody could work it out. Not until Naruto figured out that they were getting something wrong due to a quirk in Jiraiya's handwriting."

"And the message?"

"The message said 'the real one is not among them'. Damned pervert had Kakashi reading out his Icha Icha books to Shikamaru, Naruto and one of the decryption workers." A reluctant smirk pulled at her lips. "Kakashi looked mortified when I saw him later that day."

That was a smart idea, Itachi silently thought. Making sure the message was coded in a way that Naruto would understand, and then knowing that Kakashi would recognise the pattern and the words. Risky, but smart.

"And where is Naruto now?" Sakura asked softly, wanting to see her best friend. She needed to let him know that she would be there for him when he was ready.

"Away from the village," Tsunade informed them. "But that's all I can tell you both, as it's highly classified. We–"

"Tsunade-sama!"

The desperate scream coming from Shizune as she burst into the room startled Sakura, the colour draining from her at the blood coating the woman.

Tsunade's eyes were wide. "S-Shizune?"

"They're dead, Tsunade-sama. Everyone at the base camps! They're all dead!"

That couldn't be possible! Itachi's face may have been blank, but on the inside, he was just as startled as the two women. He and Sakura had passed through those base camps only hours ago – a day at most. How was it that they could have all been killed? And so quickly, too?

"Uchiha!" Tsunade snapped, standing up. "Get Shisui and use his transportation jutsu to take you to the base camps. Also take two other ANBU operatives with you. Sakura, find your team and wait to hear the signal if you're needed for back up. Since Naruto isn't here, Sai will be joining you and I don't want to hear a single complaint about how he and Sasuke don't get along, do you understand me?" Her honey coloured eyes narrowed. "Go!"

The two were gone in seconds.

Gritting her teeth, the blonde took a moment to compose herself before standing up straight and walking around her desk, making her way to the door. "Shizune! Come with me to alert all shinobi in the village. You'll explain everything on the way there."


"This is…" Shisui glanced around himself, very close to breaking composure at the sight of the camp. "Who could do such a thing?"

Everything was destroyed and completely torn up. Not a single thing nor a single person seemed to have survived whatever had attacked the camp. This was the first camp of many – camp three, to be exact. It had been the closest, the one that Shizune and her team had been travelling through on their way back to the village. There was debris, discarded weapons and blood everywhere.

"I-It… was…"

Not even a second after hearing the weak voice, Shisui darted over to it, utterly stunned to see a chunin laying on the ground. What horrified him further was the large hole in his stomach. "Who was it?"

The young boy swallowed hard before erupting with a coughing fit, shaking violently as he clutched at his stomach. "I… Iwa… It was…"

"Rest," Itachi murmured, his eyes focusing on the area surrounding them. "Are there any other survivors? Shizune-san said–"

"After," the boy muttered and squeezed his eyes shut. "My team… after Shizune-san…"

He wasn't going to survive long with a wound like that, Shisui noticed, feeling a heavy weight settling on his shoulders as he knelt beside the boy. "Itachi…"

They should have brought Sakura. What had been going through Tsunade's mind when she created those teams? Medics should have been sent immediately. However, Itachi hadn't argued, as it would be questioning her authority – to do so in front of others was especially as bad. But that woman… He bit back a sigh. She wasn't acting like herself. Something about Tsunade was just wrong at that moment in time, and not being able to eat or drink (as Sakura had informed him not too long ago) certainly wasn't helping.

Itachi knew very basic medical ninjutsu, but with all the chakra he could currently sense surrounding them… He'd have no time to save the boy, or at least try to. All Itachi would be doing was leaving himself vulnerable for attack and wasting his chakra.

Unless…

"Shisui, can you transport him without yourself actually leaving this area?"

His eyes narrowed, also being able to detect the Iwa-nin surrounding them. "You mean like the Yondaime's technique?"

"Yes."

Glancing down at the boy, Shisui had to hold back a sigh. He could but considering the state the kid was in, it would be risky. "I–"

"J-Just do it," the boy whispered. "Somebody… Somebody has to warn… Hokage-sama… about… invasion."

Exchanging a final look with Itachi, Shisui nodded once and placed his hand on the boy's forehead. "I'll be transporting you to Uchiha Sasuke." The chunin's eyes widened in fear. "Don't worry. He's with Haruno Sakura, the–"

"Godaime's apprentice."

"Yes," he told him with a small smile, seeing how going to Sakura comforted him slightly. "She'll look after you."

"But… W-What about you–"

"Do not underestimate us," Itachi told the chunin behind him, his eyes narrowing a fraction. "Go back to the village and warn Hokage-sama."

The chunin left unsure as to who he should fear more. The hundreds, if not thousands of shinobi approaching, or the Uchiha men who were fearlessly standing their ground against the attackers.


To say that they were startled when a barely alive boy dropped in front of them would be an understatement. Everyone was on edge, prepared for an attack at any moment, so when Sasuke suddenly tensed and his Sharingan eyes snapped upwards, the rest of them had been pulling out a weapon of some sorts, only to be surprised when Sasuke reached out, caught the boy and placed him onto the ground, immediately looking to Sakura.

"Shisui must have transported him. You need to work on him now, Sakura, otherwise he's not going to make it."

"How can you tell?" Sai asked. "Are you a psychic now?"

"Now isn't the time to be picking fights," Sakura snapped, falling to her knees beside the boy and ignoring the crowd of civilians forming around them. "But how do you know, Sasuke-kun?"

Watching as Sakura instantly got to work, Sasuke stood up once more, resting his hand on the hilt of his katana. "If it wasn't serious, Shisui wouldn't have taken the risk of transporting him in that state."

That was true. "What's your name?"

The boy looked up with heavy eyes, only vaguely registering the pink hair. "Futaba."

"Just try to relax, Futaba-san," she said softly. "You're home now."

"N-No…" he croaked, raising his hand, but surprising them when it was raised to Sasuke. "U-Uchiha… Help… Thousands…"

Uchiha help thousands? That made no sense, Sasuke thought as he fought the urge to scowl. "What?"

Sakura's stomach turned to ice. "Futaba, what else?"

"O-Only two… Uchiha…"

Her head snapped up. "Sai, I've stopped the bleeding. Please take Futaba-san to the hospital where they can help him. Healing him out here isn't going to do any good due to risk of infection."

Not to mention she was no longer allowed to take part in operations.

Nodding once, Sai leaned down and pulled one of Futaba's arms over his shoulder, disappearing quickly.

"Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun, we need to go to Tsunade-sama."

Sasuke couldn't hold back his scowl this time. "Explain to us first."

"We don't have time," she snapped, immediately taking to the roofs with the two members of her team right behind her. "Itachi and Shisui… They're the two Uchiha Futaba-san was talking about. They're the ones who need help, because they're going up against thousands!"

Adding more speed to their movements, Team Seven seemed to make it there in no time, landing in front of the gathered shinobi so that Sakura could speak directly to Tsunade. The woman wasn't pleased about being interrupted so rudely, but when she realised just how deadly the situation had gotten, she dismissed the act of rudeness and got to work.

"Sakura, gather as many medics as you can without taking too many away from the hospital. They won't be able to defend themselves that well and will remain in the back, but that's what you're there for. You're the only medic aside from myself who can fight on the front lines." Sakura nodded once and quickly got to work. "The strongest Uchiha and Hyuuga clan members, you will be going too."

What a time for them to attack, Tsunade thought as she bit down on her thumbnail. Naruto was out of the village and quite a few of her best teams had yet to return from their missions. Team Gai should be returning at some time that day, so hopefully if they ran into the Iwa-nin, they wouldn't be too exhausted. Knowing Rock Lee and Maito Gai the way she did, however, Tsunade doubted they would ever be too exhausted to fight.

Looking out at her shinobi, Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Shizune, sound the state of emergency alarm. Everyone else! You are to remain in the village and station yourselves where our security is weakest. Genin, guide the civilians to safety in the evacuation shelters. Chunin, watch all of the walls surrounding the village. Jonin, make damn sure that no Iwa-nin steps foot into our village. And ANBU!" It startled them when the ANBU operatives seemed to appear out of nowhere, surrounding them completely as they stood eerily on top of buildings and anywhere else they could stand. "Half of you back up Uchiha Itachi and Shisui. For now, you follow their orders! The rest of you, wait outside of the village and keep yourselves hidden until you see the threat. Do not hold back!"

Iwa had gone way too far this time.

This was war.


"Despite not enjoying things like this, I have to say," Shisui smirked, opening his eyes and revealing his Mangekyō, "I'm rather looking forward to testing my abilities."

The design in Itachi's eyes also changed and while he disliked the thought of unnecessary violence and bloodshed, Iwa was threatening his village. Konoha needed protecting no matter what the cost. And perhaps a small part of him was agreeing with Shisui's statement. There were a lot of things they hadn't been able to truly test out due to them never being needed and Itachi had to admit, he was looking forward to seeing just what his eyes were capable of.

Looking from one side to another, Shisui asked, "Do you want to do the honours?"

Itachi was moving not even a second later, seeming almost like he was flying through the air as he twisted and turned, kunai after kunai with explosive tags attached to them being launched to different sides of the clearing, aiming straight for his targets. And when he landed, Itachi narrowed his eyes. Explosions sounded and shook the area around them, bringing all of the Iwa-nin who weren't killed out of hiding.

"Never missed a target," he complimented his friend, watching as Itachi stood up.

"Not once," the younger Uchiha replied.

Shisui's eyes narrowed fractionally as he watched the Iwa-nin running straight for them, each of them screaming and yelling out their battle cries. He couldn't recall ever doing that himself. Itachi had never done so either, now that he was really thinking about it. Sasuke did, though. Damn, that kid could be loud, although certainly not as loud as Naruto. What was the purpose of screaming while attacking?

It confused many of the Iwa-nin as their comrades began to fall to the ground seemingly without reason, as many clutched at their heads and changed their battle cries to screams of torture, begging for it to stop. Red and black eyes glanced over at the group that had continued pushing forward and not long after, they too fell to the ground.

First, only tens of the Iwa-nin started dropping, but soon enough, double the amount were collapsing, leaving their comrades to desperately try and avoid Shisui's deadly eyes.

It was a wasted attempt. Despite it being cast with his Sharingan, Shisui did not need to look into his enemy's eyes to ensnare them. The genjutsu they were all caught in, had been placed down the moment he and Itachi arrived at the clearing and the young boy had been transported away.

"Uchiha-san," one of the ANBU that had been brought along called in a toneless voice. "What is the strategy?"

Strategy? Honestly? There was no strategy. This was basically an all-out battle. Kill or be killed. Years of battles such as this one had fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you were viewing it) made the two Uchiha men immune to the horrors it caused. No, not immune. More like… indifferent to an extent. As long as they continued to tell themselves that it was for the best, that it was to protect Konoha, then it got them through it. Anything else was simply… best left to think about afterwards should they survive.

"Attack," Shisui stated simply. "And if worst comes to worst, take as many of them as you can, with you."

"Yes, sir."

The two ANBU dispersed without another word, slashing through the crowds of Iwa-nin with deadly precision and using all of their training to land the most fatal of blows.

"Itachi?"

"Keep moving," he murmured in response. "And don't stop attacking."

It was with those words that they began their assault, both Itachi and Shisui an unstoppable force as they tore through their enemies.


"Sakura-san, what shall we do?"

Sakura looked out at the battlefield, sizing up the situation. She was lucky to have been sent at all, given the fact that Tsunade was still pissed with her. About ten minutes ago, ANBU operatives had joined the battle, assisting the Uchiha men and the two other operatives there. Five minutes later and a decent fraction of both the Uchiha and the Hyuuga clans arrived, being led by Sasuke and one of the main branch members of the Hyuuga clan.

"Remain hidden in the trees and keep your eye out for injuries."

One of the medics frowned. "What about ANBU? Most of us aren't able to–"

"Leave ANBU to me," Sakura muttered as her seal was released and moved along her skin. "I'm the only medic capable of being on the front lines, so I don't want to see any of you out there unless you're saving somebody. Is that understood?"

"But, Sakura-san! What if you're hurt–"

"That's what her seal is for!" one of the other medics hissed before nodding at Sakura, even though her back was to them. "Good luck, Sakura-san!"

She was out of the trees not even a second later.


Reinforcements.

Out of the corner of his eye, Itachi watched as his brother brutally made his way through his enemies, eyes a fraction wider than usual. That had almost always made him wary of Sasuke. Not afraid, but wary. The lust for battle called to his brother more than himself and he knew that Sasuke enjoyed it.

He recognised a fair amount of the Konoha-nin who were fighting alongside of him, but that did little to make Itachi relax. No it made him fight harder, especially as the colour pink flashed in front of him. Not even a second later and the ground was tearing apart, catching many Iwa-nin unaware as they fell through the cracks or into powerful jutsu.

It amazed him how well Sakura and Sasuke fought together. Of course Itachi had seen them fight together before, as well as spar together, but in a situation like this? It was… nice. To see how they had each other's backs, he meant. It was like the moment he realised Sakura had joined the battle, Sasuke had shifted in his stance and took out anyone who was targeting her, due to Sakura being a medic.

She was a medic.

Almost automatically, one of Itachi's hands made a single seal and fire was all but exploding out of his mouth when his fingers raised to it, aiming straight for the enemy.

Sakura was going to be targeted more than the rest of them because she was a medic.

That was not acceptable.


Grabbing an injured Hyuuga, Sakura quickly took him as close to the trees as possible, knowing that her medics would save him. And just like she had known they would, before Sakura had even turned her back, one of the stronger looking medics entered her line of vision and nodded once, dragging the Hyuuga into the trees.

Just as she was facing the battle once more, Sakura saw most of the Uchiha fall into a stance that had their enemies quickly forming seals to counter, but their speed was no match for theirs and within seconds, fire was erupting around them, darting towards the enemy at a frightening speed. That fire only increased when an ANBU member formed seals of his own and blew a gust of wind towards it, fanning it to greater proportions.

It was terrifying how quickly Iwa was being taken out. Surely they were stronger than this?

Running forward once the flames had been put out, Sakura leaped into the air, feeling like she was flying as her fist glowed blue with chakra. It was almost as though it was drawn to the earth, as she began to fall at a much faster speed than she would've naturally, without the enhanced strength. And the moment her fist collided with the ground…

The effect was devastating.

Forget any of her past destruction. Forget all of the practising and the dodged or misdirected blows. Not a single one of her past punches had anything on this one and Sakura felt so very proud of herself when she saw that the area had been utterly ruined.

"Shannaro," she muttered, smirking to herself.

"Amaterasu."

Blacks flames seemed to appear from the ground below her and Sakura was quick to leap away, eyes wide and smirk vanishing. An arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her away from the flames.

"Stay focused, Sakura-san," Shisui warned her, landing on a jagged patch of earth. "It was an impressive blow I will admit, but you mustn't let it get to your head until after we have won."

"T-Those flames…"

"Itachi," he stated, glancing over at said Uchiha. "There are Iwa-nin who hid underground as soon as it was safe to. He just saved your life. If he hadn't used Amaterasu, you would have been impaled."

He transported away before Sakura could reply, before she could tell him about her seal, but all annoyance at such a thing happening vanished when Sakura heard a piercing scream.

No…


"Get the hell away from my medics," Sakura yelled in pure anger as she all of a sudden came in from above, her foot smashing down into the ground and causing it to shake violently, throwing the Iwa-nin off their feet long enough for Sakura to shoot forward and punch a single one of them into the rest, taking them all out. Her eyes then snapped over to her medics, looking deadly and serious. "Keep healing and I'll protect you. Don't stop for even a second, got it?"

That was one of few things Itachi disliked about Sakura's fighting technique. It was hardly discreet and caused too much destruction. It had to be said, though, that his lover definitely looked fierce. Her eyes were practically burning holes into her enemies and if they weren't afraid of her monstrous strength, then they were terrified of the look in her eyes.

This was not emotional Haruno Sakura whose mind was all over the place. This was the woman Itachi had been training, the one he saw the moment he first began getting to know her. This was the woman Sakura could be if she learned how to control her emotions permanently and could keep entirely focused on her task, instead of only in battle. This was the potential he had been talking about.

Itachi quickly jumped into the air, easily dodging the many kunai that had been launched straight at him.

It seemed they were no longer only targeting the medics.

His eyes narrowed.

However, just as Itachi was about to unleash an attack, Sasuke was suddenly there and his head was bowed, arms were held out to his sides, almost as though he was protecting his older brother. It wasn't long until screams of pure torture reached their ears, though, telling everybody that Sasuke hadn't been weakly attempting to save Itachi by acting as a shield.

"Chidori Nagashi!"

No, with his lightning element, Sasuke was electrocuting those who posed a threat.

Itachi didn't focus on the brutality of it for long, as suddenly, blue flames were going up on different parts of the battlefield, telling him without words that many ANBU operatives had been mortally wounded. It was a technique they all knew, one that destroyed their bodies, to stop information from getting into enemy hands.

"I-Itachi… Itachi-sama!"

Without so much as glancing at the other Uchiha, Itachi quickly grabbed him and handed him over to the medics, going straight back into battle.

It shouldn't be possible, but the upper hand was slowly being taken from them.

"Don't let their weapons touch you!"

"Dodge everything!"

The weapons that had been used against Sakura and Aiko. The poison. That was how they were gaining the upper hand!

And it seemed Sakura knew it too, because a dangerous look suddenly flashed in her eyes and she was taking full advantage of her seal by whipping out two kunai, one in each hand, and tearing through her enemies. Sakura's speed surprised many, as did her deadly precision, but it didn't surprise Itachi. They had been working on her speed for a while now and due to being a greatly skilled medic, she knew all vital points.

If they hadn't been already, things had just gotten more serious.

"Fall back!" Shisui ordered.

He and Shisui exchanged a look, nodding once to each before they were, without warning, jumping right to the centre of the enemy. The Iwa-nin stared at them for a moment, trying to figure the two Uchiha out, but from back near the trees, Sasuke smirked.

Fools.

Suddenly, two giant beings were exploding out of what seemed like nowhere, causing all enemies surrounding them to be blown back from the force of their power. Many had difficulty hiding their fear of the giant creatures made of what seemed like chakra, their knees trying desperately to knock together as the creatures towered over them.

This was the power of the Sharingan.


A/N - I'm not the only one who thinks this chapter is a little rushed or all over the place, am I? Reading it back and editing it just now, kind of made me feel like it was. Hm... Ah well! I'll try and make it up to you all next chapter! I promise!