A/N: As this is a special update, I won't make you all sit through a long opening note, but check the last note! Enjoy!

The Wolf and the Fox

Chapter 16 - Hyuuga Battle, Vow of an Avenger

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Neji wore a smirk as heard the blonde announce the randomizer's results, his eyes moving to the surprised face of his younger cousin. The younger, timid girl jumped when their eyes met, his smirk only growing at the pitiful resolve of their so called clan heir. His pale eyes hardened slightly however as he watched the Uchiha place a hand on her shoulder, bringing another jump of surprise from the girl. All the calm black haired boy did was smile, nodding his head slightly to hopefully give her some form of confidence, ignoring the glare of the male Hyuuga.

"Oi, if you two are quite done wasting my time, I'd like to get this over with," the blonde below called, sending both of them a stern glare to kick their asses in gear.

Neji only scoffed at the blonde's tone, he refused to allow someone to order him around, the exact reason why he ignored the blonde. Taking his time to calmly stroll down the balcony and to the stairs that led to the field, bumping his cousin's shoulder as he went.

Naruto for his part narrowed his eyes at the haughty Gennin, about half a second from forcing the brat to the damn field. If it wasn't for the boy fighting Hinata, he would've been praying for him to step out of line and try to kill her so he could snap some respect into that boy, snap as in snap a bone. He released a deep sigh as the boy finally took his place, turning his eyes to the scene of Sasuke and Hinata talking quietly. A small smile did finally come to his face as he watched the girl hop the railing, surprising her sensei and several others at her action. But, the resolute determination in her eyes is what brought the smile to his face. The smile was quickly forced away by one sentence from the male Hyuuga however.

"You should just give up now Hinata, you're no match for me and fate has already deemed me the victor of this so-called match," Neji said, glaring at the girl harshly, his arm folded.

"I'm sorry Neji-nii-san, but I won't back down from this," not one stutter came from her as she sunk into the Juken stance, Naruto easily spotting the minute difference from the usual form.

Neji scoffed in response, "Then do not blame me for anything that befalls you, you've had your chance," he growled, also sinking into his stance, the traditional hardliner form of the Juken.

"I'll take the chance to remind all contestants left, that any attempted killing blows will result in my interference," He looked between the two, standing far closer to each other than any of the others had. "I won't hold back on the one who forces my hand," he pointedly looked to Neji as he said that, before raising his hand straight up, "begin!"

With a chop of the blonde's hand, the two were already moving, Hinata forcing herself into her cousin's guard. The younger girl quickly bobbed past one palm strike, moving like water before landing two immediate finger jabs, backing off only to slam a palm strike into the boy's elbow as he struck out once more.

The elder Hyuuga growled, before upping his intensity, quickly getting in four strike on her arms before hitting one pressure point in her over extended leg. Hinata cringed as she felt the pain spike, before going for a high strike. Neji calmly responded, moving his head back out of range before once more pressing in.

Everyone was watching intently, Sasuke even going to the point of activating his sharingan to keep up with not only the flurry of lightning quick strikes, but to see the transfer of chakra between those blows. He didn't like what he was seeing, even if Hinata had been landing blows to near the same extent and level as Neji. She was pulling her punches, and he knew it, but not Neji. No, the male was going harder than any comrade would go against another, even in an examination situation as this. His fist tightened around the railing he was holding onto, not saying anything as his teammates cheered Hinata on.

Kakashi watched his male student, gauging his reaction to the fight, part of him suspecting who the Uchiha had been training with when not with the team. Well, suspecting would imply he had no proof, but he had actually seen them training halfway in between training ground seven and eight. Not to mention the finger print sized bruises that would sometimes liter the boy. He had no clue as to why the boy had such an attraction to a girl from a clan his own was rivaled against, but he could certainly see it affecting him. Moving his eyes back to the field, they landed on the other person watching with an active sharingan, his surrogate Otouto. Part of him wondering how seriously he meant the warning he had given to the two, not even masking the edge pointed towards Neji. But, if he knew the blonde as well as he thought, and he did, it was in Neji's best interest not to test him.

Naruto watched as they continued to trade blows, this exchange going on for nearly four full minutes now, a testament to each of their abilities. Most true taijutsu battles were winding down by this time, a clear victor in sight, but neither seemed willing to back down. It had even been a treat to see Neji's reaction to the very unorthodox strikes coming from his female cousin, but while other's may not have seen it, he had. There was a difference in their abilities, and given enough time Neji would be making it painfully clear. He only silently regretted that he could not step in unless a participant's life was endangered, and while he told them he could, he couldn't actually disqualify the one who attempted to endanger someone seriously. That didn't mean however, that he couldn't make them regret it, severely.

Hinata ducked a palm strike before finally being forced to break off from her cousin, panting heavily as she stared back into his solemn gaze. Catching her breath, she released a deep breath before suddenly the veins around her eyes protruded. Neji responded by simply doing the same, both of their byakuugan now active.

"I do not understand why you fight destiny so," he said, his stance deepening ever-so slightly. "Using our doujutsu will only further prove the weakness of the main branch of our clan."

"I may not be as strong as you, Neji-nii-san," she frowned, ignoring the soreness of her body. "But, even the elephant fears the mouse!"

With that simple metaphor, Hinata charged back in taking a low jump to bridge the gap between them in hopes of bringing down a stronger palm strike. Neji only side stepped the attempt, striking out only for the heiress to redirect the attempt at her ribs with the back of her elbow. It didn't just serve to block his attack, but allowed for a visual block so that she may sneak in her own attack to his midsection. But, Neji proved his prowess, quickly grabbing her wrist before delivering several finger point strikes to her arm. Hinata only grunted at the feeling of her arm numbing slightly, once more pushing Neji. The strategy had been working for her to an extent, but the elder cousin was clearly more proficient with his taijutsu; as much as some hated to admit it.

Even Lee and Gai were watching with frowns, their eyes keenly focused on the taijutsu of their teammate and student, respectfully. Only the elder of the two spandex wearing shinobi knew the true reason why Neji fought so ruthlessly, the younger only knowing the brutality his teammate had shown him. But, Gai knew the exact reason and just how far his student had gone to set himself apart from the others of the branch family. If the match was allowed to progress too far, the young girl may not be allowed to walk away with her life, and his student would only sink further into disillusion. It was why he was thankful his youthful blonde friend was in charge of the proceeding, he just prayed the fearsome wolf would show his troubled student some mercy. A frown marred his face as he noticed the pace of the match slowing, or rather the young girl, as Neji seemed to only be slightly winded at best.

Hinata struck as the opening presented itself to her, the chance to stop this with one well-placed chest strike too much for her to resist. She winced when as her palm was only an inch from his chest, she felt the iron grip of his around her wrist. Looking up her tired eyes met with his stern, disapproving gaze. He silently lifted his other hand, before quickly ripping back her sleeve, only for her eyes to widen at all the bruises as proof of extremely precise point strikes. "This entire time, I could've ended it, but because of your persistence I wanted you to understand the difference between you and I," he glared, hatefully at her. "It's pitiful that you couldn't even notice the chakra barely even flowing from your strikes the last six of the ten minutes we've been down here."

Her eyes widened at that, had he truly only been toying with her this entire time? Was she really what her father called her, a worthless and unfit clan heir? A frown marred her face at the thought, her mind's eye momentarily replacing the Neji before with the one of the past, who only wanted to protect her and teach her. Only to be replaced by the despondent young man, mercilessly striking out with a palm strike to her own chest, sending her rolling across the ground.

"There is no point to continue this farce, call the match proctor," Neji said in a tone that seemed more like an order to the blonde, his mismatched blue and sharingan actually glaring at the boy. There was only one person in this village who ordered him around, and not even he had the audacity to be so disrespectful. Which is why the blonde ignored him, slightly enjoying it as the boy glared at him, completely ignoring his opponent.

Hinata had already forced herself to her knees and hands, blood that had run down her chin now dripping to the floor below. As she forced one of her feet to a solid foundation beneath her, she used her sleeve to wipe the blood away. She could barely even focus on Menma and Sakura cheering loudly for her to get back up, but she turned her head ever so slightly. When she did, a small smile came to her lips at seeing a pair of finally matured sharingan looking to her in worry. She had been so proud when he finally unlocked them thanks to the stress of his own match, and all she had wanted was to impress him with her own fight. It had been thanks to him, before even Naruto-sensei had offered to help her, that she had found the courage to start changing her family's taijutsu to suite her. It was because of a quiet, gruff, yet oddly polite boy that she had finally found the courage to make her own goal; the one she had always dreamed of.

She wanted, no thrived, to change the ways of her clan that subjugated their own blood. The same family that had twisted her Neji-nii-san into this horrible fate obsessed person before her now. Sasuke spotted the smile she shot back at him, his own of acceptance coming to his face as she finally forced herself up and took a unique stance.

"I've said it once and I'll say it again, I will call the match when someone is unable to battle, and unless you'd like that to be you; I suggest you focus on your opponent, gaki," The blonde smirked at the end, Neji's eyes widening as he felt a surge of chakra. Looking back his eyes widened only further to find his younger cousin in an all too familiar stance.

"Y-You are within my field of divination," She stuttered because of her exhaustion, but none of that reflected as she flew forward.

Neji quickly sunk back into his own stance, and then the two began to go, "Two palms," one each of the attacks struck the other. "Four palms," again the same happened. "Eight palms," Hinata landed two and Neji managed four. "Sixteen palms," only six strikes hit Neji, while eight connected with Hinata. "Thirty-two palms," the two managed to land the full amount of sixteen additional strikes, neither blocking any. "Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)!" The two skidded away from each other as the attack ended, Neji having landed quite a few more, but what truly mattered was the precision of those attacks. Both, had been absolutely precise with their movement, seen quite well by the way Neji having not been winded before, was now actually panting with a slight grimace on his face.

Sasuke wore a smile at the sight of it, having been on the receiving end of that specific attack a number of times until his sparring partner had mastered it. But, the smile faltered when he saw Hinata's knee buckle, the girl going down to one knee with her hand on the other. That move of forcing her chakra through her tenketsu had been a huge risk, and clearly put even more wear on her, but if she could continue it may pay off.

Neji smirked at the sight of her leg giving out from beneath her, "That was truly a surprise, but your risk has only proved to delay the inevitable, what has already been written by fate," Naruto couldn't resist rolling his eyes, he was beyond annoyed with this destiny crap. "Just give up now and save yourself the embarrassment of continuing."

"I can't, and I won't," Hinata winced, shakenly forcing herself back to her full height. "It goes against everything I dream of to back d-down now, i-it's against my nindo," Neji growled at her defiance as she once more fell into her stance, however the placement of her hands beside her hips was truly odd.

Then, his doujutsu picked it up, the flow of even more chakra forcing its way through her arms. He'd never seen anything like this, not even from Hiashi, her father, as what appeared to be tiny lion heads of pure blue chakra formed over her fists even if heavily deformed due to her diminished control. "Juho Soshiken," she whispered, Sasuke watching with wide eyes that she had actually used it.

Naruto himself was in awe of the new technique, even for him, as many aside from Hiruzen and the disguised Orochimaru stood in similar manners. A small smile came to the aged kage's face, "It has been sometime since I have seen a Hyuuga so young able to call forth such a well-kept secret of their clan, a style truly meant for those of gentle heart." It had been so long since he had seen the technique, because not many of the hardline users of Juken could train themselves into the much different style of Juho, the sub style of Juken. Not to mention, only the main branch family could learn it, thanks to the elders of the clan and their ways of segregation. Lee and Gai weren't far from him, too stunned by the sight of a taijutsu technique neither had seen to even preach of the young girl's burning youth.

Hinata began to launch herself off once more, and she did, but as she did the shock of the room shifted to worry. Two steps in, she suddenly stopped and coughed up blood, her eyes widening as the chakra suddenly shut off. "Hinata!" Sasuke yelled as she fell face forward, surprising his team at the reaction, even Menma.

Neji only smirked, showing no care as he turned his shoulder to her prone form, "as I said, destiny has already decided the outcome of this match, you should've just given up." He said before walking towards the stairs to take himself back to the viewing area.

Naruto sighed as he finally moved his hand up to call the disrespectful brat the winner, "Winner Hyuuga Ne-"

"N-No," even his mismatched eyes widened at the weak voice, looking over to find the younger Hyuuga forcing herself up once more.

A small sad smile came to his face, "You truly possess the Will of Fire, Hinata, but you can't continue, I'm sorry," he thought to himself as he watched the girl finally stand again. It was tough to call the match now, seeing the determined look in her eyes even despite the profuse amount of her own blood on her face. His eyes widened however as she said something and took a fighting stance, then her cousin, clearly having had enough, charged in. The sharingan predicted the boy's moves, and Naruto nearly growled as he watched the boy's aim. In the next moment, several different things happened of varying shock factor.

First, Sasuke hopped the railing and took his stance before the girl in an attempt to defend her, he knew the match was already over, if not fully yet called. Second, each of the Konoha Jounin hopped the rail in an attempt to stop the male Hyuuga before he could reach the other Gennin. Lastly, the ground at Naruto's feet exploded as he vanished in an extreme burst of speed. He appeared between the boy and his Uchiha student before Sasuke's feet even touched the ground, kicking the boy directly in the chest with an enhanced chakra kick. When everyone finally caught sight of what had happened, eyes widened to find Neji blown through the thick cement walls. They nearly jumped as they moved their eyes to find Naruto glaring ominously at where he had landed, some in slight fear that he would continue.

"This match is over, Hyuuga Hinata is unable to continue and the winner by default is Hyuuga Neji," he growled, hating it as he turned around to see exactly what he expected. The young Hyuuga being cradled by Sasuke after her legs finally gave out for the last time. "I inserted myself in the fight because Hyuuga Neji had clearly won, but as I was calling my verdict even giving Hinata's will to continue he moved in for a killing blow," He pointedly looked towards Gai as he spoke, not even really having to explain it to the eccentric Jounin. Gai had known his student's intention from the moment the match had begun, and as far as he was concerned, the fearsome blonde let him off easy.

"Medics! Take care of the boy, I'll handle Hinata," he barked his orders, the medical team instantly doing as commanded, none wanting to piss him off like the boy had.

Naruto walked over to the group of gathered Jounin and Sasuke, before kneeling next to his student, "Set her down gently Sasuke, I need her flat to do anything about the damage," he gently instructed the boy, earning a small nod.

"R-right, Aniki," Sasuke said, doing as asked of him and placing Hinata on her back; Kurenai helping him by gently cradling her head with her hands to prevent jarring. The raven haired woman gently pushed the boy back and took his place beside her, Naruto taking a position on her other side. Before the blonde could even ask, her hands were moving to open the girls jacket, revealing the simple purple shirt beneath.

His hands flew through several hand seals before his palms were coated in green, healing chakra and he moved his hands to just above her chest. "He nearly stopped her heart, I'm going to have to force open several tenketsu to allow her natural chakra to flow properly enough to heal the others within her system. If we hadn't stepped in, she'd be far worse than just unconscious," he said with focused eyes, never once picking his head up to look at the woman he was speaking to. "Kakashi, do me a favor and call for a short intermission, the medics don't have what they need here to do this themselves and we can't take the risk of transporting her to the hospital," he asked, the silver haired Jounin doing just that, before the blonde finally looked up to Kurenai. "I hope you're not too rusty, I need you to start looking at her arms and see if there's anything you can do there."

Sasuke listened on as the blonde gave out orders to the elder shinobi as he worked, his eyes finally looking down to find himself covered in the blood Hinata had been coughing up. His fists clenched as he continued to look at the crimson liquid, his eyes burning in anger as his sharingan spun dangerously. He looked over to see where the medic team was assisting Neji to his feet, "You had better heal up Hyuuga, because when we meet in the finals," his eyes flashed as they met the emotionless pale, "I'm going to show you how weak that destiny of yours is."

Neji said nothing at the declaration, merely moving his eyes towards the blonde that had quite literally put him through a very thick cement wall. His eyes then moved to the Uchiha before scoffing and allowing the medics to take him away from the scene.

Sasuke looked for a moment as if he was about to pursue, but stopped when he felt a firm grip on his shoulder. He looked back to find the worried violet eyes of Menma, his friend shaking his head to tell him not to.

"You've said what you needed, teme, now stand by those words," he said, not missing the way Sasuke's fist clenched before he nodded curtly. Menma watched as Sasuke turned on his heel and walked back to watch over Naruto's work, the blonde's focus only on the Hyuuga. A sigh escaped his lips, it wasn't a good sign when he was having to corral Sasuke and not the other way around; whatever he felt for Hinata, it was enough for her current state to incite his friend's rage.

"Good job not letting that escalate any further, Menma-kun," the aged voice broke him from his thoughts, turning to find the Sandaime now standing behind him. "Coupled with your battle, you're making quite the case for your promotion, I do look forward to seeing your performance in the finals," he smiled, that same grandfatherly smile he had always offered the Uzumaki-Namikaze brothers.

Menma smiled foxily, a challenging hue coming into his violet orbs, "It's just the next step until I take the hat from you Saru-Jiji," he gave the elder a thumbs up, the man's smile widening.

"It may not be me who you take the hat from, but I do hope I at least have time enough left in this world to see you accomplish that dream," He smiled, before his eyes gently hardened. "However, Menma-kun, sate an old man's curiosity," he paused after earning a confused look from the boy, only to smile and continue. "When your dream does come true, what then, what will you do with your dream turned reality?" The boy's head lowering slightly as a confused, thoughtful look came to his face was all Hiruzen needed to see. Menma knew him well enough, and the life of shinobi, to know that it wasn't a point blank question; it was never that simple in their world. "Should I not have the fortune to see you accomplish your goal, rest easy in knowing that I am proud of you when you find your answer," with that the old man walked forward, choosing to check on his Gennin's status.

Menma was left entirely confused, the Sandaime had asked him many questions like this as a child, but for some reason it just felt different. There was a cold foreboding feeling that ebbed into his heart when the aged Kage spoke of not making it to see those days, like he had accepted the fact. Then, there was the question itself.

He could've easily blurted out the first thing to come to mind, but Naruto, Jiraiya, and many others had beaten better into him. There was more to that question than he could truly understand right now, and while it irked him, it wasn't the first thing to during this entire exam. His eyes moved down to his hands as first he envisioned the bubbling crimson chakra that had covered it, and then the orange, white hot flame that had covered it. He shuddered slightly as he forced back the sacred Nara word from escaping his lips, things truly had been out of hand from the moment they stepped into the forest.

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Charcoal black eyes surveyed the dark tunnels, all of his features completely hidden by the camouflage technique he and his team were currently using. This was the second week they had been on mission, and the third tunnel system established as a base they had investigated. But, just as with the first two, the entirety of the place seemed abandoned for the most part; only operated by a simple skeleton crew if even that. Charcoal spun into crimson with a three-pronged pin-wheel design, allowing far superior sight within the darkness, even through the weasel styled mask he wore.

"Taicho," the man behind him whispered, before making several hand seals and pointing forward. The black haired captain nodded, before leading his team further into the bend of the tunnel. His hand shot up in a clenched fist, the signal to hold position, as a faint light began coming into their sight.

Several more hand signals, and the weasel masked leader moved forward alone, his team moving to cover both ends of the hall with two on each side. One on one side looking in the direction their captain moved, and one on each side focused on where they had come from.

After a few moments of moving, the captain felt his eyes widen as the tunnel opened into a massive cavern like structure. The massive root system in the room allowing him to guess that they were near a very large and old tree, but the odd thing were the faces that seemed to be carved into the tree. Analyzing his surroundings, the man moved closer after not finding anyone or any things, his eyes only seemed to widen further as he moved closer though.

"T-the Shodai," he whispered, his eyes running over the multitude of seemingly carved faces within the bark. Looking further, his eyes spotted something even more shocking, a clearly decaying body just under the center of the roots. But, it was the roots actually growing from the body that shocked him.

He reached for the bodies neck, feeling for a pulse and a small breath escaped him when he felt nothing. Quickly, he pulled a scroll from his waist pouch and unrolled it, revealing pre-made seals of varying sizes. He did a few hand seals and the body broke from the roots and sealed within one of the arrays, he then unsheathed his katana and cut one of likenesses of the Shodai from the root system and also sealed it.

He honestly had no clue what had been done in this place, but his mission was to bring back any and all evidence he thought may reveal something to them. But, he couldn't quite describe the feeling of dread these two discoveries left him with. Silently pushing the thought from his mind, his eyes picked up a tunnel on the other side and released a low whistle, his team appearing behind him a moment later.

The four men looked around for a moment, their own surprise varying before they pushed it aside at the signal to move forward. They weren't done yet, and like with the other two bases, they still had to level this place before finally calling the mission complete. It would be another long day for Itachi and his squad, the Anbu team that took direct orders from their spy master alone.

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Naruto watched as the medical team gently lifted the stretcher with Hinata on it, the girl finally stable thanks to his and Kurenai's efforts. "You're not going to reprimand me for the force I exerted on the Gaki?" the question was calm, as if he expected that outcome to an extent.

"No, at your age I probably would've done worse not only having someone test the rules I had given them, but attempting to harm their ally," the Hokage shook his head as he too watched the girl being carried away, her sensei following behind. "But, I will ask that if it is to happen again in this last match, you maybe restrain yourself enough not to put them through the wall," he said with a small smile before taking his leave and returning to the viewing area.

"Clear the field," Naruto ordered simply, looking over to his two students, the other Jounin already having done so. "As this is the final match, there will be no need for the randomizer, will Sabaku no Gaara of Sunagakure and Rock Lee of Konohagakure please make your way to the field," he announced, retaking his position at the center stage.

"YOSH! It is finally time for me to show the mighty flames of youth, I shall relish in the springtime of my youth and give it my all, Gai-Sensei!"

"YOSH! Lee, do your best and hold nothing back my youthful student!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched in annoyance at the two, watching as the bumbling idiots cried and held each other in a highly exaggerated way. The moment he saw a sunrise form he'd not only disqualify the little mini-Gai but grind them both into paste for forcing that horror on him, and the populace of this room. It was suitable punishment he decided, not knowing how close even the Hokage's own thoughts were to his.

Gaara had appeared on the field in a swirl of sand the moment his name had been spoken, and even despite his usual demeanor, he too was beyond weirded out. "Freak," he murmured, Naruto restraining the urge to nod in agreement as he turned to regard the boy.

Being a Jinchuriki himself, he was slightly worried for the eccentric student Maito Gai had birthed in his image. He knew what a human sacrifice truly was capable of, from firsthand experience as well. Fighting Yagura had been his biggest challenge at that time of his life and if it hadn't been for Ein, he surely wouldn't have been able to rip Isobu from the midget and reseal him into himself.

"I advise you not to stand in the way of this one Aibo, Shukaku is known for driving his containers mad, and I sense it rolling off this one in droves," the voice of said turtle spoke from within his warning.

Naruto mentally sighed in return, "No matter how strong Lee-kun is, this won't be pleasant for him, I know I'll have to step in," Isobu grunted in response, knowing it to be true. But, in his time with the boy he had been shown rare kindness and wanted to at least warn him of his hostile brethren.

The blonde snapped from his mental connection to see the green spandex boy firmly grasping the steel railing before flipping himself over it, performing several corkscrew flips. When he landed even Naruto raised his brow in mild surprise at the grace he landed with, already in the fearsome stance of the Goken. This truly would be an interesting match, even already believing what the outcome would be.

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A/N: I cannot thank all of you enough for helping me make this story all it is even at such an early point in the actual story itself, there are still many chapters, battles, lemons, and twists to come! I want to give a special thanks to everyone that has reviewed this story, but also to a few that have stood out and faithfully read, followed and reviewed every single update I have unveiled.

Beastyd22, Primarx, BigInferno, NinjaFang1331, and Home of the Brave; you guys have reviewed nearly every single week, within minutes to an hour of me posting the chapter. I can't thank you enough for that type of dedication.

JxA fan 2000, I remember you being one of my first reviewers on my first ever story in the Yu-Gi-Oh GX section and I am beyond thankful that you have followed me here and are yet another of my weekly reviewers.

Then there are readers like Kuman and Ferocious Nightfury, that while they have reviewed the chapters have also come to my DMs to bounce ideas of me and tell me what they would like to see or what they liked personally. They, and many others, have also made me realize some mistakes and pointed them out to me so that I can improve upon them and make this story what you all deserve.

There are many, many others that have messaged me, reviewed positively and given me constructive criticisms that have made this story what it is today. I thank not only the ones mentioned here but, all of each and every one of you out there reading this now. I couldn't do this without ya'll and I hope you're ready for even more to come from me! Enjoy your weeks, stay kind and strong during these trying times in the world and most importantly be safe! I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday for our regularly scheduled update!