Hey goise!

I really wish I could reply to anonymous reviews. Seriously. There's a lot of things I want to say to a specific one (most of them good, a few of them a little bit annoyed) and I don't want to just lay it all on here because then it makes it look like a bigger deal than it really is.

The reviewer loves the story. I know that and I am so grateful for it. But they said something that just kinda sharply poked at me, and I'm sure they didn't mean for me to take it like that. I love them for reviewing and I am so happy they like this piece I have invested so much of my time and love in.

But here's what I'm going to say. It is way too much work to move all of the flashbacks to a completely separate story. I would lose all of the amazing reviews people have posted for them if I were to delete them from this one only to repost them. I like having the flashbacks and the present together as one tale. Sometimes the flashbacks will be more interesting than the present, and vise versa. I understand that. But the two stories belong together, side by side. They are one, and they are both equally important. If you can't keep up with both of them at the same time, make a bloody flowchart.

At any rate though, that reviewer inspired me to give the flashbacks a little kick to keep things interesting. Lucky you guys. ;D

Enjoy!

Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept

Flashback Twenty-Six – Silver

"This place is so boring," Sasuke complained as he and Haku walked down a street that had come to be known as the 'market', where all hours of the day saw open-air vendors selling goods of all sorts. Food, clothing, jewelry, even weapons. "What are we still doing here?"

"It's boring because it's safe, Sasuke," Haku explained patiently, having been very aware of Sasuke's growing restlessness. Every day that passed found Sasuke growing more and more irritable, more and more impatient. "We don't have to worry about being hunted here. We will stay until we figure out what to do next."

Though Zabuza found Sasuke's change of heart irritating (the man didn't have much patience for bullshit), Haku understood it. From the very beginning their lives together had been nothing but fear and running and suspense. The time in the woods during winter was a small reprieve, but they got through the lull by training and hunting. Here, there was no place for Sasuke to stretch his bones, so to speak, and he was getting antsy. He was training to be a killer, a warrior, and he could feel those instincts growing dull with lack of use, and it frightened him. Though the idea of security had been comforting at first, Sasuke was beginning to sense the weakness it instilled in human beings.

However strange it was, the boy missed having to sleep with one eye open.

"You must be patient, Sasuke," Haku breathed soothingly to him, sliding his hand into the other boy's and holding his wicker shopping basket with the other. "We have enough money to last us quite a while, so we can take our time and plan ahead."

Sasuke merely pouted as they did their shopping.


Metal taste so good like iron good for the body good for the soul delicious and nutritious it couldn't stop it could never stop it wanted more MOREMORE-

Sasuke awoke with a sharp intake of breath, and he panicked when he realized Haku wasn't next to him but then the panic immediately eased when he looked over to the other bed and saw the older boy was in bed with Zabuza. Silently, Sasuke ran through the conversation – closer to an argument really – that had taken place right before they had went to bed where he had demanded for them to stop treating him like a child and that he just wanted to sleep by himself for once-!

Of course, that hadn't been the real reason he had been upset. He knew it and he knew they knew it too. He had never complained about Haku sleeping in the same bed as him before. The dreams still pressed at the back of his eyes even when he was awake, and when he closed them those nightmares were automatically released from whatever shackles bound them and they were allowed to run rampant through his mind, tearing at the back of his eyelids and nesting in the corners of his brain. He was losing sleep, losing strength. He knew it and he knew it was affecting him. Haku always looked at him worriedly, and Zabuza always seemed to have a half-scowl of annoyance on his face whenever they interacted, and Sasuke knew he was just pushing them away when either one of them seemed to even get close to talking about it.

But he didn't know what do to do. He couldn't just tell them. He had to think of a way to deal with this himself.

Quietly, he eased out of bed and sneaked out of the room they shared, down in the direction of the courtyard. The nights where that monster within his breast plagued him, Tyra always seemed to be awake and fiddling with some little trinket or another. She was an incredibly interesting woman, he had realized. They had only been talking for the past few days, but Sasuke already seemed to think of his interactions with her as some kind of solace. She was a vicious mystery – a double-edged sword that would kill you if you let it but in the meantime would slaughter countless foes. You never knew when the blade would be out for your blood, but every time you awoke with its loyalty still on your side, you sang for yourself and mourned for your enemies. That sword was not the type to bring death painlessly.

But this time, she wasn't there. Sasuke paused, confused, but then he saw movement in the street out of the corner of his eye. Leaning backwards, he spotted a figure that he knew to be Tyra moving along the shadows, creeping through the quiet part of Andora as if on a mission. Fascinated, Sasuke was struck with an urge to follow her.

She took him through a small iron door, down heavy stone steps through a tunnel carved into the very bedrock beneath the village and through a second, circular stone door that seemed to be a safe.

I shouldn't be doing this. He realized, pausing mid-step. I should just go back. This is crazy.

Go back to what? Another sleepless night with no company, no hope? Back to dull and boring regularity? A thirst for excitement pushed him forward, through the massive door after her.

As she passed through, her stride lengthened and the need for stealth seemed to vanish, her back straightening and her shoulders rolling. A smirk on her face that Sasuke couldn't see, she made short work of the few stairs in front of her and continued on.

A roar of a crowd met Sasuke's ears as the door swung shut behind him, and his gaze widened as he absorbed the sight before him.

It was an underground fighting ring. That was the only thing he could think of as he drank in the screaming, cheering crowd that surrounded the circular stage in the middle of the not-so-large room, the ring surrounded on all sides by an iron cage. People walked through the crowd yelling and collecting money and scribbling numbers down and sprinting back to the stone booth along the right-hand wall, where unseen accountants racked up the numbers.

Sasuke suddenly released that he was probably far, far too in over his head for this kind of thing, but he had gone too far to turn back now. The excitement of the crowd was overwhelming, and he could feel the hum of the air seep into his bones as he watched the fighters exchange blow for blow, holding nothing back.

This is it. He realized as he watched them move. This is the place. This is what I needed to find.

Looking around, he no longer saw Tyra (hard to believe, due to her height and shockingly-colored hair) but he could feel the danger in the air. The rules above ground did not apply here. He knew it just by walking in. Until he knew more, he had to stay back.

Even though he itched to get into that ring and pummel the ever-loving SHIT out of someone-

"Wasn't that fantastic, ladies and gentlemen? A lot of blood and a lot of gore – that's what we like to see!"

What the hell? Sasuke asked silently in awe as the loser was rolled out of the ring and the winner went to gather his earnings. The announcer, standing in a little outcropping in the stands near the cage, swung his hand.

"And now! Up next! At seven feet tall and able to eat double the weight of your favorite whore, he has killed over a dozen men; a shocking combatant that rolls over his opponents like a rockslide! He's big, he's angry, and he's out for blood tonight my spectators! Give it up for the BOULDER OF TERROOOOOOOOR!"

A massive bald-headed man that had to weigh at least six hundred pounds stepped into the ring, the very rock beneath his feet seeming to shake as he roared in challenge, nothing but a thick loincloth covering him as he lumbered into the cage. The crowd cheered wildly as he waved his gargantuan arms.

Oh my God! Sasuke thought in shock. How does someone let themselves get THAT BIG?

"And his opponent! A feisty little destroyer who has recently crawled out of the woodwork that has all of the crazy and none of the calm! The master of disaster, destruction on two loooong legs, violence personified, proof that the south has a bite much, much worse than its bark – welcome to the ring ASMODEA THE GODSLAYEEEEEEER!"

Asmo-who? Sasuke thought in confusion as the crowd cheered – not as much as for the Boulder – but still a good amount.

Suddenly he saw Tyra step into the ring, her battleaxes nowhere to be found and the machetes usually at her hips nowhere in sight. Her expression was completely calm – maybe even a little bit amused – as the Boulder towered above her. The differences in stature were astounding. She was tall, sure, but he was huge.

"So you know the rules people! Bare-fist cage match until one of the fighters is not able to continue! Winner take all! The bloodier the better, right everybody?"

The crowd cheered violently, jumping up and down as they pressed against the railing, the ones at the very front almost in touching distance of the cage if they stretched their arms out.

Creaking ominously, the door to the cage swung shut and locked behind Tyra as she gazed at her opponent with easy, nonchalant eyes. Boulder glared at her, baring his teeth and stomping his feet. Fear instilled itself within Sasuke's breast as he watched.

If she manages to pull this off it could be a miracle. He thought. That guy could eat her for breakfast!

"Now, fighters!" The announcer raised his hand, then swung it downwards as a bell rang. "BEGIN!"

End Flashback Twenty-Six – Silver

Woo!

Wow. I think that has been the longest author's note I've ever written since picking this story back up. Wow.

It only gets better from here, ladies and gentlemen. *heart*

Please review? :3

Much love,

DDB