Itachi and the Kiri boy faced each other in the center of the battlefield. I leaned on the guardrail, arms crossed and head tilted slightly. His opponent was a member of the Houzuki family, who, if my memory palace proved accurate (and it usually did), could turn their bodies into water. This would be interesting to watch.

The crowd was hyped up after Deidara's intense fight; the wild display of water and earth-style Jutsu had provided just the right show to get spectators on the edge of their seats, hungry for more and eagerly awaiting to dig in.

Tuning out the sounds of cheering and stomping so loud I could feel the vibrations clear through the walls and into my chest, I focused my eyes on the Kiri kid, Houzuki Hangetsu.

By the looks of him I doubted the kid was a heavy taijutsu user; probably the type to rely on ninjutsu and stealth attacks. I wondered how Itachi planned to handle this. I mused on it for a bit, letting my mind wander. I leaned my head against my hand, fingers rhythmically tapping my cheek. Would he use genjutsu? Attempt to corner him with taijutsu? Or perhaps display his kunai and shuriken skills? I had no doubt that he would win, the only question was how.

I was sure I would face Itachi in the third round, and so needed to see how much he'd improved in the past month. No matter what my feelings were about him fighting someone he cared about to the death, or my personal feelings for him, I had no intention of losing. I would go all out, no matter who I might be facing, no matter how much the thought might send a squirming twinge of pain through my chest that I smothered and strangled until my mind was clear again.

I wanted to win. I wanted to see how good I was. My match against Itachi was the only one I wasn't sure I would win, and it would serve as an ideal way to gauge how far I'd come. I could only regret the possible loss of innocence he might incur while subjected to my whim. I certainly had no more innocence to lose, if I ever had any to begin with. And besides . . . if, in this harsh shinobi world, he was fated to lose this innocence and that fate could not be avoided, then I would want to be the one to receive it. Perhaps, it might fill the void inside me where mine once ought to have rested.

I was snapped out of my musings by a sharp elbow to the ribs. I glanced to the side. Shisui said, "Head's up, they're starting," eyes fixed on the arena below. I had zoned out for a little bit there, my thoughts running away from me to very strange parts of my mind I wasn't used to frequenting. It would be better not to dwell too hard on them.

I focused my thoughts and snapped my Sharingan on.

"Are you ready?" the proctor said, looking at each of them in turn.

Itachi nodded, completely still with his feet shoulder width apart and his hands held loosely to his sides. He looked relaxed and attentive. Itachi was not the kind of boy to get stage-fright, no matter how big the crowd or how high the stakes.

Hangetsu stood straight, but I couldn't read much of his body language due to the oversized gray jacked he practically swam in. His white scarf hid the lower half of his face so I couldn't make much of his expression either. His chakra was steady, though. Not a flicker. He nodded.

"Begin!"

Hangetsu made the first move. He sprinted towards Itachi, drawing a handful of senbon. I saw Itachi's chakra flare in his eyes; Sharingan activated, he easily dodged the distraction and kicked at a clone that suddenly emerged from a puddle of water left over from the previous battle. It disintegrated into droplets that hovered in the air. After a heartbeat, the drops coalesced and the clone reformed with an arm around Itachi's leg.

Itachi quickly drew a shuriken and whipped it towards the Hangetsu still surging towards him. It was so fast his hand blurred and his target didn't have time to dodge.

The Hangetsu that had thrown the senbon sloshed back into water. He was the clone. The one in the puddle was the real body.

"Clever. The kid switched before the battle even began." I said, with a slight sniff. The plan would have been good if the kid hadn't sprung it so quickly. Or if Itachi's reflexes weren't so sharp.

"I guess he got his teammate to do it." Shisui answered. "It was a nice plan. But he lost the advantage." Itachi had the half-water, half-flesh arm enclosed around his calf and knee, but easily got it off with a kunai slash.

"Yeah." I shook my head. "Close, but not quite clever enough."

With his initial strategy down the gutter, Hangetsu was on the defensive. I was right, he was most certainly not a taijutsu type. Itachi cornered him by a boulder, kunai at this neck, when he turned to water again and slinked away. All the water in the arena had chakra in it, so if he could blend in again, Itachi would lose him.

He made a few handsigns, brought his fingers to his mouth, and spat a Phoenix Flower Jutsu in a ring around him and the crawling puddle. It quickly evaporated the remaining (non-sentient) water and forced Hangetsu to squirm away. The flames were too hot for him to cross. I guess being turned into steam wasn't exactly pleasant for members of the Houzuki clan.

The gelatinous looking puddle zipped around the ring, looking for an escape. There was none.

The moment Hangetsu turned back into flesh, Itachi was on him. He grabbed him by the collar, and looked deep into his eyes. I saw Hangetsu's chakra flare, squirm, thrash, before he slumped in Itachi's grip. The genjutsu took full effect.

Cardinal rule of fighting a Sharingan user: never, ever, look them in the eye. Even I could handle a basic genjutsu if the target was malleable, and I downright sucked at it.

The flames died down and Itachi placed his opponent on the ground while the proctor ran over. He checked the unconscious kid. Once he was sure he was out, he called,

"Winner, Uchiha Itachi!"

Cue roar from the crowd, and a big round of applause. I joined in, clapping slowly, the rhythm slightly off compared to that of the crowd.

That battle was shorter than I thought it would be. Oh well. It had been pretty entertaining, even if Itachi had demonstrated nothing new; just an amelioration of already existing skills, which, while noteworthy, I could already have guessed.

"My turn next!" Shisui exclaimed, grinning boyishly. He looked at once determined and very, very eager. He was so excited, I childishly felt the need to tease him.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. You could still lose." I pointed out. Slightly happy and a little proud that Itachi had won, I let a tight smile run on my face.

"Aw, you don't have faith in me? That hurts, Tomoe-chan." Shisui clutched his chest in mock distress. "How can you be so cruel?"

My smile widened into a grin, and on a whim I followed through. "What can I say, I need proof before I commit my faith to such a dark horse. Why should I invest in such long odds? My fragile heart couldn't take the disappointment."

"Fragile? Your heart is cold as ice and closed to my bravery and prowess. But I won't be discouraged! If you don't believe in me, I'll just have to make you see I am worthy of your heart!"

I raised an eyebrow.

It took him a moment. When he got it, he blushed beet red, from the roots of his hair to the seam of his shirt. It was actually rather cute.

"W-wait, that came out wrong! Let me try again!" he waved his arms like a spaz, like he was trying by shear physical effort to wipe away what he just said.

"Too late, dude, joke's over." I sighed and face-palmed.

"I didn't mean it . . . like that . . ." He slammed his head into the rail. I think he was trying to hide how red he was, but his ears showed so the joke was on him.

I was tempted to ask him what, if anything, he meant by that and get him even more flustered, but I had the feeling destabilizing him anymore than this right before his match wouldn't be the nicest thing to do. Even I was capable of occasional mercy.

Instead I clapped him on the shoulder. Hard. He sputtered and quickly righted himself to keep from falling over the rail.

"If you win the match within . . ." I thought about it a second, "Five minutes, I promise I will never doubt your ability again. And, as a bonus, because I'm such a magnanimous friend, I will forget all about your weird little slip of the tongue. Sound fair?"

Shisui looked up so quickly his face blurred for a moment. He was still red, but his eyes were wide. A weird smile came on his face.

"What?" I asked.

"You called me your friend." He said, still grinning stupidly.

"Yes, duh," I rolled my eyes. I suppose I outright acknowledged that fact rarely enough. "Don't make such a big deal over everything, God. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes," he said hurriedly. "I'll win that battle so fast, it'll set a new record. I'm not the fastest genin in Konoha for nothing!"

And he did. Win it fast I mean. Sadly, his time was a little over five minutes; he was fighting Azuma Kido, the sister of the boy I'd strangled, and she was not going down without a fight. Her Earth-style Jutsu was powerful, leveling the arena in one giant flood of mud, drying quickly, and catching Shisui's clone in a trap of rock hard dirt.

But she couldn't catch Shisui with that thing, not in a million years. He was simply too fast to be caught in just a slow moving jutsu. He evaded, waited out of her line of sight while cloaking his chakra, and just when she thought she'd gotten him and he couldn't move, the clone dissipated and he teleported right in front of her, catching her in the patented Uchiha stare.

Kido was out like a light. He caught her and lowered her to the ground while the proctor came. His victory was announced. He grinned up at me and flashed me a thumbs up.

Leaning my elbows on the rail, I grinned back at him. I held up six fingers, for six minutes. And then I shook my head in mock dismay.

His expression passed from triumphant, to startled, to bashful, to a wide grin that said 'I give up, you win.' I grinned back. He was such a good-hearted loser. It sort of made me want to hug him.

Itachi turned to me while Shisui went back inside the arena.

"That was a good fight," he said with a slight smile.

"Wasn't it?" I agreed.

"I'm glad we all made it through the first round."

"Please, like it wasn't obvious we would." I snorted and waved a hand.

He chuckled and looked at me fondly. "You really are confident, aren't you Tomoe? I wonder what new tricks you have up your sleeve." Itachi's smile was playful.

I grinned and leaned forward a bit, mock-whispering in a confidential tone, "Oh, I have so many tricks. I have all the tricks. All of them."

"Don't lose your next fight. If you win, you'll face either Shisui or myself in the third round. I'm very much looking forward to seeing your tricks, Tomoe."

"Oh, you'll see them," my grin widened. "Up close and personal. I'll tell you a little secret. Between you and Shisui, my money's on you."

"What makes you so certain I'm stronger than him?" Itachi asked curiously. His head tilted slightly, brushing his bangs against his cheek.

"Just a feeling." I straightened and shrugged.

"To tell the truth," Itachi looked quickly to see if Shisui had come back yet, and beckoned me closer. I leaned my head over and he said softly in my ear, "Shisui is the stronger one. But don't tell him I said that. If his head swells any further, I'm afraid it might very well burst and that wouldn't be nice for anyone."

I was too preoccupied by the way his breath ghosted over the shell of my ear, my hair, and the side of my neck to really pay attention to what he said. Suppressing a shiver and a flush that threatened to work its way along my cheekbones, I straightened up. I cleared my throat, afraid my voice might crack.

"We'll see." I said. "I mean, we'll find out soon. I doubt . . ."

"What'cha talking about? My wonderful fight?" Shisui tugged us both in a hug, one arm around each of our shoulders. Damn, didn't sense him coming. "Wasn't it great? It was the fastest by far!"

"Congratulations, Shisui." Itachi said, bearing the hug with good grace.

"Still more than five minutes." I said.

"Aw, come on! I'm the fastest! Admit it!"

A thought came to me. "Are you saying you're fast at everything?" I said slyly.

"Sure am!"

I smothered a giggle. The boys looked at me quizzically. I waved them off. About five years too early for that particular joke.

I paid just enough attention to the next two fights to get a rough idea of the contestant's strengths. The winner of the first was Komoya Kasumi, the last of the Kiri genin. She had an umbrella and knew how to use it; she was quick on her feet, hit hard, but didn't use any jutsu against her Iwa opponent. Her particular brand of taijutsu and bukijutsu wasn't one I'd seen before, but it was impressive enough that I filed her away in my head for later.

The second fight was between two Iwa genin. The winner was Kogeki Karasu, the one with the spiky black hair, and he tended to use a lot of senbon targeted at pressure points and joints. As I found out, they were poisoned. His opponent, who spent the majority of the battle trying to avoid getting hit, swore loudly enough to be heard through the whole stadium when one finally hit his leg. He surrendered immediately and tried to rush to the medical ward, but collapsed half-way across the arena, wracked with shudders and screaming profanities. I think his leg muscles were cramping something awful.

I made a mental note to steal some of those senbon.

Finally, the first round was over. Finally, my second battle could begin. I was jittery with excitement, bouncing my leg and taping my fingers where they rested on my crossed arms. Sadly, a break was scheduled in between rounds, and I nearly groaned in frustration when the announcement came. Deidara was visiting his teammates in the medical ward, or I would have gone over to prod him or something.

"You're fidgeting." Itachi commented, leaning almost bonelessly against the wall.

"Yes, I am." I said, starting to pace back and forth. Why, oh why, couldn't they just start already?

"Are you nervous, or just excited?"

"Excited. No, both. Neither. I don't know!" I rubbed my temple. This wasn't working. I needed to calm down. I'd gotten myself too riled up, thinking of what I was going to do next, and I couldn't come back down. My heart was beating so hard I could feel it pound against my chest and hear the blood rushing through my ears.

And then, I remembered how the assassination of the Daimyo had gone. I remembered the sheer disappointment, and that was enough to bring me down from my high. Of course, this wasn't quite the same thing; I wasn't going to assassinate Deidara – though if he died it would be no chip off my shoulder. I was just going to try out something I'd made in my lab, and heck, I was 89% sure it wasn't even lethal. It wasn't the same. This was just entertainment. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

But what if I wasn't entertained? What if it wasn't fun? What if I had lost another piece of myself?

I wanted to bang my head against the wall. All my excitement was gone. I guess this was my version of stage fright, only I was afraid of things going wrong in my internal stage instead of my external one.

This was ridiculous. Absolutely, completely, absurdly ridiculous. One poisoning didn't go my way and suddenly I was getting anxious over a mere whimsical game? What the hell was wrong with me? This was not right and I would not stand for it.

I picked myself up, dusted myself off, shoved the anxiety aside, and stood rod-straight. I was Spider Thread, god dammit, and I was better than that. With the suffocating feeling gone, my excitement came back. I palmed the capsule in my pocket for reassurance, and a thrill went through me at the thought of what it might do to my opponent.

Finally, the announcement came for the start of the second round. My name and Deidara's were called. I strapped the gas mask around my neck, not yet on my nose and mouth, and put my goggles on my forehead where they could be easily slipped on. My simple preparations ready, I headed out.

"Give it your best shot, Tomoe-chan." Shisui clapped me on the shoulder as I went past.

I simply grinned, and he smiled back. Itachi gave me a solemn nod.

As I left the room and went down the stairs, I saw Kakashi coming back down from his place at Minato's side.

"Yo." I waved two fingers. "I'm heading off."

"Right. Be careful."

"Sure thing."

He went into the waiting room and I proceeded down the stairs. When I emerged into the arena, I saw that Deidara was already there. He must have come directly from the medical ward. He glared as I took my position opposite him with the proctor in the middle.

"You nearly killed Yochi." he said with narrowed eyes. And then he suddenly grinned. "That was pretty well done. For a little squirt."

"Thank you. Your match was very entertaining to watch."

"I've been looking forward to paying you back for swiping my scroll."

"So have I. I have a nice surprise planned for you." My grin turned into more of a leer. "Since we're such good friends."

His retort was interrupted by the proctor. "Second round, first battle: Iwao Deidara vs Himura Tomoe." A roar surged through the crowd. I tuned it out. "Are you ready?"

"Ready, hm." Deidara said, shifting his stance.

"Any time." I said, drawing my sword.

"Begin!"

I moved first.

I dashed forward, Sharingan ablaze and a grin splitting my lips. I rammed my sword into him, forcing him to draw a kunai and breaking his concentration. The chakra he was molding dissipated. He pushed against me, careful not to meet my eyes. We were close enough that I could feel the waves of heat coming off his body and the sharp intake of breath when I leaned even closer and whispered in a confidential tone,

"And since we're friends, I'll tell you a secret." I tilted my head and pressed harder, metal scraping on metal. "I really suck at genjutsu."

And then I sprang back, letting him tip forward, and surged around to his side. He blocked again, but this time he tossed a smoke bomb. It did little to blind me, but I had to spring back to avoid breathing in the smoke.

I saw the volley of shuriken packed with Explosive chakra coming and lunged to the side. Heat and a shockwave blew me forward and I was knocked to the ground, rolled, and jumped to my feet with chakra ready to go in my chest. The handsigns took a second and I breathed out a thick stream of fire so hot it melted the second wave of shuriken and set them off prematurely. Deidara was caught in the tail end of his own explosions as he ducked the fire and came within range of my next move.

I teleported right up to him and swiped his leg out from under him. He rolled out of reach of my downward sword swing, but not fast enough because I wasn't actually aiming for him. In a single, precise movement I cut the strap holding his shuriken holster and kicked it aside before he managed to get up and try to punch me in the face. I grabbed his arm; he twisted it, kicked me in the midsection (I felt the air rush out of my lungs and a searing pain – he'd hit my liver) and ripped himself out of my grasp.

I stood near his cut holster, preventing him from taking a shot at it. He still had another pouch around his waist, from which he withdrew a handful of paper bombs attached to shuriken. I took out a red pepper bomb with a very short wick. We starred at each other across the blasted ground. In short order, it had become riddled with craters, tracks of soot, discarded metal, and the wispy remains of dispersing smoke. Just like our fight on the castle wall.

We were a messy fighting pair.

Deidara was better than he had been back then. I had the feeling that, with just my taijutsu and sword, taking him down would have been a chore. But as things stood, I had a card in my deck he did not know about, and playing it was just a matter of proper timing.

My mask obscured the lower half of my face and with it my mounting grin as I slid it up over my nose. The puzzled look on Deidara's face only grew when I nudged my goggles down.

It only threw him off for a second. Then, the shuriken were coming at me. Before dodging, I quickly lit the bomb, tossed it, and dived behind a large boulder I had noticed earlier. It exploded in a burst of red that swept over the arena.

I heard Deidara's yells of pain as the cloud of stinging hot pepper powder came over him. Sadly, the blast from the paper bombs pushed the red cloud further in his direction, delaying his escape. Working quickly, I took out the small capsule, popped the cap, and hid it in my fist with the needle pointing out from between my knuckles. Ready to go, I ran into the cloud of smoke directly for the chakra signature that was stumbling blindly inside it.

My plans were redirected when that idiot decided that instead of escaping the cloud, he was going to set off a fucking bomb to clear it up. I was forced to duck back behind the boulder when it went off. It was a lot more powerful than what he'd used before. I think he might have been desperate.

I waited for it to clear before coming out, but Deidara was quicker than I thought. He lunged at me and I had a moment to see his tear-streaked cheeks, bloodshot eyes (which were downright furious, by the way), singed clothing and burned arm before he kicked me square in the side, making me drop my sword and sending me flying across the arena. By some miracle I was able to keep my fist tight and not lose the little capsule that was my ticket to victory.

Deidara got a couple more hits in before a heaving cough tore through his burned throat and I was able to roll away and back onto my feet. His breathing was ragged, but coming back to normal, and in that small pause I saw the opening I needed.

He wasn't quite fast enough to dodge my punch. I got him in the arm, a solid hit. I had to slow down to give the capsule time to empty, and in that interval he punched me square on the cheek. I was going to have a nasty bruise when this was over.

I sprang away, my breath coming fast and raspy through the gas mask. It was a bit hard to catch my breath with this thing on, but there were still remnants of the pepper bomb in the air. I endured the burning in my lungs and drew a kunai when Deidara rushed me again.

Now I only had to wait for the substance to work.

I had no experience using this stuff intravenously. I had only a vague frame of reference for when it would start to work, but I believed that the payoff would be worth it . . . if I could avoid getting myself killed in the meantime.

Deidara hadn't noticed the needle puncture, but he was pissed off nonetheless. Over the next ten minutes, I dodged and ducked increasingly large Earth-style jutsu, explosions, and volleys of kunai and shuriken (Deidara had recovered his holster after a bit). The arena was a complete and utter warzone. Eventually, his chakra wore out and he was forced to rely mostly on brute force and shuriken.

I think Deidara was frustrated that I was only running, but heck, once this stuff kicked in I would be able to take him out no problem. Might as well save my strength and my chakra for later and let him run himself ragged. I made a bunch of unsubstantial clones as diversions to hide and catch my breath, removing the no longer necessary protective gear.

After fifteen minutes, I could see it start to work. He was twitchy, eyes darting back and forth over the arena; a muscle spasm threw a kunai off trajectory, and suddenly the chakra he was molding dissipated and going by the expression on his face, he was as surprised as I was. I had no idea what this stuff did to chakra production, but maybe it was just his concentration that was shot. In any case, bye bye chakra.

Deidara stumbled forward, blinking rapidly. His hand shook on his kunai. He looked down at his feet, frowned, suddenly went white, and stumbled back, nearly tripping. Then he looked around at the arena.

Whatever color his face had drained completely. He jerked, slashed at thin air, spun around so fast he nearly tripped again with his uncoordinated limbs.

"What the hell, hm?" he shouted. He twisted, round and round, and whatever he was seeing couldn't be good because his eyes grew progressively wider, his breath progressively shorter, until I could plainly see he was on the verge of a panic attack.

I came out from my hiding place. The audience was completely silent. I slowly went up to Deidara, but he barely noticed me. His jaw was slack, his pupils blown wide.

"Fuck, dammit, go away, fuck fuck fuck, stop spinning! Stop it, stop it, fuck, dammit, shit, hmmmm!" he dropped the kunai and clutched his head. When he closed his eyes, he must have seen something else because his eyelids immediately snapped open. His eyes met mine.

"You! Fuck, you said you couldn't . . . stop it! You said, you said!"

"Yes?" I said carefully.

"You said . . . fuck, shit, you said, hm . . ."

"Use your words, Deidara." I said sweetly.

"YOU SAID YOU COULDN"T DO GENJUTSU!" he roared.

I broke out laughing. He tried to take a swing at me, but completely misjudged the distance and ended pawing at empty space and contorting as the force of the blow spun him around.

"I did say that," I chortled. "And it was not a lie."

Watching Deidara was so, so much fun. Another five minutes and he was a complete mess. He was still trying to fight whatever he saw, which consumed him to the point that he didn't even notice me anymore. Heck, he couldn't continue the fight at all. He couldn't use chakra, and was no longer thinking straight enough to use kunai or do more than alternate between yelling and whimpering, a thin trail of saliva going down his chin and tremors shaking his entire body.

I crouched on my heels and watched the show.

Now this, was fun.

I was so, so glad that I had managed to make this stuff. It had been my only dose, but it was worth using it here for the simple, sweet pleasure it brought me by putting Deidara into this state. The thought that I had done that send little near-electric thrills running through me; my heart felt like it was about to burst and I exert deep control in order not to burst out laughing so hard I would cry.

It had been worth the wait. It had so been worth the wait. Even in my previous life, I'd never done something like this.

Eventually my amusement was cut short by the proctor coming out to see what was wrong. We weren't fighting anymore (or at least, I wasn't). He took a brief look at Deidara, at the wide grin I sported, and called out,

"Due to his opponent being unable to continue, the winner is Himura Tomoe."

A ripple ran through the crowd. They weren't quite sure what was happening, or how it had come to this; from their point of view, Deidara had just spontaneously gone mad. But then someone applauded and it spread until the entire auditorium was roaring.

Medical personnel came out to try and get Deidara, but he flipped out and lunged at them. While they were dodging and trying to talk him down, I said (swallowing a chuckle),

"You might want to strap him down. He'll be like that for a while."

"Undo the genjutsu." The proctor ordered me.

A giggle passed my lips, despite my best efforts, as I answered, "He's not under a genjutsu. Give him a couple of hours, maybe half a day and he'll be fine. Just keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't bite his tongue off or something."

They finally managed to get him on the gurney, and one guy tried injecting his chakra to break the 'genjutsu.' Predictably, it didn't work.

"What did you do to him?" he asked me, bewildered.

"Oh, nothing much. He's just going on . . . let's say . . . a very bad trip." I snickered.

He stared at me like I was mad.

"I'm telling you," I insisted. "He'll be fine. Just strap him up and wheel him off. I'm going back up. Bye bye, Deidara! I hope you have nice dreams." I waved and went off to the exit, a little skip in my step and the music in my veins.

Oh, that was better. That was so. Much. Better.

Once in the staircase, I changed my mind and took a detour to the bathroom. Once there, I collapsed against the wall laughing so hard my sides ached, my stomach cramped and tear tracks made their way down my cheeks. I laughed, and laughed, and laughed, harder than I had in years because the sight of Deidara dumbly stumbling around and screaming at imaginary stuff was just. So. Damn. Funny!

"This is abhorrent to watch."

My laughter died down a bit at the familiar voice, but didn't stop. I squeezed open my eyes and saw Obito standing in the shadows. I couldn't see his face, but I could hear the revulsion mixed with curiosity in his voice. I came down a bit, enough that I could talk, even if I was liable to break out in fits of giggles on the occasion.

"What? Didn't you think it was funny?"

"You left him there, under that genjutsu. I saw them bringing him to the medics. What did you make him see?"

"I can say, my dear, dear Tobi, that I have absolutely no clue what that boy is seeing, and that I do not have, nor have I ever had, control over it. None, whatsoever." I hiccupped and swallowed a giggle. "I'm not using a genjutsu."

"You're not."

"Lord, no. I'm terrible at genjutsu."

"Then how . . .?"

"Lysergic acid diethylamide," I said, clearly enunciating each word. "Known in my world as LSD, or acid. A potent psychedelic drug. Under safe circumstances, quite fun to use. But in a hostile or unsettling environment, especially if not prepared, the perceptions can get . . . quite distressing." I finished with a giggle.

". . . I have no idea what to say." Obito finally said after a long moment. He sounded like he wasn't sure if he should be disgusted or impressed and settled for making no judgement at all.

I shrugged. "Then don't say anything. I did it because I thought it would be fun. And it was. He'll be fine." I looked up thoughtfully. "I think. Could be some long term damage. Psychologically, I mean. Meh, that guy was already going to grow up pretty deranged, so who cares?"

"You know him from . . . before? Is he going to be important to our plans?"

"Oh yes. You know the Akatsuki?" he nodded. "Deidara is on the 'to recruit' list. He'll be pretty powerful in a couple of years." I felt comfortable talking about this because I was sure, since Obito had shown himself, that there was no one else around. Speaking of which . . .

I grinned. "Did you come to see me fight? That's so sweet of you."

I could feel his eyebrow lift, but his stance relaxed as he seemed relieved at the change of subject. "I'm here to keep watch. Rumors about you have been circulating, Spider. About your heritage, and this exam. I've intercepted several people coming after you already." Huh. I was thinking that the month before the tournament had been unusually quiet. "Do you realize how much of a stir your existence has caused? There are people saying that you're the reincarnation of Madara, come to lay waste to this twisted shinobi world."

"That's funny. It's sort of true." I joked.

"Most want to recruit you, but there are groups that very much want you dead."

I wasn't exactly surprised. I'd considered the possibility, even though Kakashi had only mentioned the 'using me' part of the equation. I wasn't stupid, and even in my previous life my skills were regarded in some circles as a serious threat – why, enough so that someone had seen fit to riddle my body with bullets. To this day, I did not know if it had been a paid hit, a police raid, or just an old grudge.

"If only they only wanted me for my skill," I said sarcastically.

"The world isn't quite that simple, Spider."

"I know, Tobi. I know."

. . .

I suppose apologies are in order. I did not expect this hiatus to happen. I'm not quite sure how I let it get this long. I have a feeling getting into Homestuck might have contributed to it.

In any case, I sincerely apologize. I'm very sorry. Truly.

And with that out of the way, on to cheerier things.

I have more fanart! The links can be found on my profile. It makes me so happy when people draw pictures for my story. I still need to figure out a cover image. If anybody is interested in drawing one, you know where to find me.

There were a lot of comments on a continuity error in the last chapter. Some of you have pointed out that Shisui uses the phrase 'break a leg' before, which makes it weird that he would find Tomoe using it out of the ordinary. This is the kind of error that can't really be helped since I'm posting this story serially; there are some long stretches between chapters, and I don't have the time to go back and check every one, especially given how long this has gotten. I can't promise it won't happen again, but I do apologize for the error. One day, when I'm finished, I'll got back and edit everything. As it stands, my priority is on getting new chapters out and this story written.

Last chapter, I also tried to switch the POV from first to a general third person (it wasn't Itachi's POV, which is why I tried to consistently refer to Tomoe as 'her' during that section) but I don't think it went that well. I might try it again, sometime.

Questions, comments, praise, criticism, rants, complaints, requests, random thoughts, reactions to what happened? Leave a review!

Peace out.