Hello everybody! I'm sorry for taking so long to write but for some time I didn't get any mail from Fanfiction so I thought the fic was kind of abandoned but after a whole week without any notification I discovered Gmail was sending them to the spam folder and checked all the new chapters from my followed stories and your feedback on this story
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Chapter 8
The next time he was seen his face was broken beyond repair to the point he was lucky to be alive so he had no choice but fuse with Samehada adopting the Shark-shape too early for his own good "Heheheh it seems you will give me a good workout" said Kisame with a cocky grin "Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave" shouted the Kiri ninja scaring Mei
The ex-rebel's leader had seen the shark ninja fighting before and he was terrifying because he used your own power against you so she didn't know what to do when he tried to fill the whole place with an incredible large water technique but when she looked carefully she saw Itachi closer to the fighters than her and he seemed calm and collected
What Kisame didn't expect was Naruto just needed to move his hands to control his water so all the water waves gathered in a water sphere that rose in the sky while the Kiri ninja looked with caution but the Hokage opened his fingers and said sphere turned into thousands of water needles and they drop on Kisame, threatening the Akatsuki ninja who had to hide inside a water prison technique to avoid the lethal attack but in this move he lost sight of Naruto who dashed towards him striking in the exact moment he dropped the technique throwing him away again but this time Kisame wasn't so damaged
Naruto knew he had a major handicap because he couldn't use his elemental proficiency against Kisame but his opponent couldn't use his usual fighting style so they would have a more physical match and while the Hokage had the speed the missing ninja had the strength
Kisame on the other hand felt hard pressed because this kid was quite skilled and forced him to drop his usual style; Naruto appeared from his left side so he swung his arm hitting the blond with the blade on his forearm making him dispel and then he felt a movement from behind so he was able to block with the another forearm-blade the attack from Naruto's tonfa but this time the hit came with a nasty surprise because when he touched the metal he felt an electrical discharge like a painful sting that surprised him and let the blond kick him away
'I was right so even if he can absorb my chakra the electricity still obeys physics laws and if I release some electricity when I hit him the broken circuit will give him a discharge' realized Naruto happy with that little success before dodging a punch from his rival who tried to get on the offensive to avoid those discharges but the blond was faster and could harm him even blocking
Kisame tried to overwhelm Naruto with some kind of tackle but the blond wasn't a novice with years of sparring with Itachi, Sarutobi and Jiraiya you tended to be an excellent fighter so he aimed for the only weak place most people had…the legs; the blond hit one of the Mist's ninja legs making him fall and gave him a hammer hit on the back but in that moment a big shark came out of nowhere probably a summon and tried to bite his arm, tried was the keyword because Naruto was able to replace himself with one of his tonfas leaving it to save himself 'He was willing to take a direct hit to cover that shark's attack' thought Naruto after taking some distance
Kisame got up thanking samehada for the enhanced healing it gave him but it wasn't endless and the sword's chakra supply was near to end so he had to do something soon or he would die besides that surprise shark wouldn't work again and in the end the only positive side of that move was taking one of the weapons of the bratty Hokage "I'm sick of you smart-ass!" shouted an annoyed Kisame surprising Itachi because usually he was very happy to have a tough fight but this one seemed too complex for his taste because he was forced to fight without using his main advantages
"You are right I remembered I must kill you soon" said Naruto before closing his eyes and then the next thing all the other ninjas saw was Kisame's head exploding backwards
'I didn't see anything' thought Mei and the whole Akatsuki response team looking at the fight and realizing this could be out of their reach or not depending on the level of the others Akatsuki compared to Naruto
'I couldn't anticipate that move…he's clearly gotten stronger' assessed Itachi with happiness because he believed the blond would be able to fight Pain or Tobi with his current level
'Thanks for the natural energy Kurama your timing was perfect' thanked Naruto to his bijou who gathered the energy for his sage mode after retrieving his tonfa from Kisame's corpse and then he turned to the four ninjas "Mei take Kisame and Samehada to Yagura and don't tell absolutely nobody besides him about Itachi's presence" ordered Naruto with a serious tone that made everybody get nervous for the previous display
The special team led by Terumi Mei sealed Kisame's body and his sentient sword on different scrolls before leaving for the hidden mist village so after some moments it was just Itachi and Naruto there "You blew my cover" stated Itachi with a neutral look "Well if you don't have another job I have a vacant position as root leader…are you interested?" replied Naruto to his friend before offering a handshake
After that encounter both youngsters went to Konoha because Itachi's position would be extremely hidden and root quarters had some high security so he couldn't just send them a memo with the news about their leader and even at his best he would need at least four days to arrive on the battlefield but that was too much time
On their way they talked about many things letting Naruto forget about his worries for some time and remember those good old times and just from that moment the blond was absolutely sure with his decision
…
..
On another battlefield an army of two thousand Iwa shinobi was trying to invade the grass village but the five hundred ninjas from Grass were led by Hiruzen Sarutobi who let himself enjoy surprising team eight because the way the old Sandaime fought was incredible he casted earth and fire release techniques as if he had an endless chakra supply while any enemy ninja caught in his personal space was victim of the adamantine staff that demolished any ninja that faced the old monkey
Hinata was the only that could see him while Shino and Kiba followed his body with their other senses because his chakra was quite easy to follow but they were astonished with his power, speed and strength because they wouldn't be able of fighting an enemy like that and that made them realize something else…Sandaime-sama believed Naruto was even stronger than himself 'If the third has this power…How powerful is our sensei?' was the common thought from the clan heirs
Sarutobi was having the fight of his life because he didn't have to hold back at all and enjoyed the fight using all his chakra without caring about his own life but that wasn't just some belief of him that was a man with a fulfilled life 'I don't have to hold back to protect my ninjas from my techniques and I can even die leaving Konoha in good hands' was Sarutobi's premise
Grass's ninjas were very motivated fighting with a legend like the third Hokage because the man was an incredible force to the point all his movements were made with great accuracy and power so they had the inspiration and courage to win this fight at his side without care about the numbers because next to that man anything was possible
"We're really just a bunch of kids compared to men like these" said Kiba getting the approval of his teammates "We would just get in the third's way" added Hinata in a sad speech because all of their egos got to the ground because as promising Chunin they had a lot of future but in the great scheme of things they were just a bunch of naïve kids "Don't feel so sad because everybody started at our level even the legends like the third or our sensei" said Shino trying to lift their hopes because they didn't have so much experience and were just starting their careers in the ninja world
"Let's try to help them" concluded Kiba who wanted his own share of enemies to brag at his return before getting his teammates's approval and joining the fight
…..
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When Itachi got to Konoha he had to fight some tears but they entered through a hidden passage on a pond that led them to the ROOT quarters and despite the intention of root's ninjas they would never attack someone escorted by their leader
Naruto gathered all the ROOT recruits in Konoha to tell them about their new leader but he was quite careful because he said to them Itachi was their new leader so they had to obey him but the maximum authority was still him as the Hokage and while they didn't have to inform him about their operations, if the blond ordered something they had to follow his words over Itachi's
The Uchiha was satisfied with the deal because he knew Naruto wouldn't give him the authority to undermine his position and he was happy with the ability to protect Konoha from the shadows but the only direct order Naruto gave him was Danzo wronged all this men but they are highly skilled shinobi so I put them in your care but you cannot put anyone else under this kind of training…ever and after that speech he thanked and congratulated all of them for their outstanding job
When Naruto arrived alone in Konoha some highly placed ninjas were worried because he went to a war zone and came back alone but he explained the situation and in the end they could celebrate the death of an Akatsuki member. In the end there was nothing they could do but waiting for their return
But they didn't know about was going on so when three days later Hinata, Kiba and Shino came back with a somber expression there was nothing else to be said; the young chunins gave Naruto two different scrolls one of them was the battle report from Grass's new leader and the other was a storage scroll with the dead body of the Hokage with the longest period in Konoha's history
The entire village was in mourning and the black color was everywhere; Sarutobi's coffin was on the village's stadium because practically all the village wanted to say good bye to his body so the current Hokage and student of the third said some words "Many people know Hiruzen Sarutobi for the great man, ninja and leader he was but for those that shared more time with him we'll know that as long as there is one person in Konoha believing in the will of fire his soul will not die. All of us know he was one of the greatest ninjas and humans ever so we have to cherish those moments when he was with us and mourn for his death but don't dwell in the past because the king of Konoha also known as the next generation need us; we can be sad and cry for the man we lost but we must compose ourselves to don't lose what he gave his life for" and with that the whole town applauded his speech
After that they left the rest of the village to say good bye but on another place Naruto asked Jiraiya something else "I need three days to prepare for the battle with Iwa" and the sanin assured him he would keep watching the village and organizing Sarutobi's funeral
….
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"Are you sure he asked me to go there?" asked Utakata to one of the Chunin that gave him the message "Yes, Kimimaro-san asked me to deliver you the message he said he needed your help with his training" answered the other ninja "I haven't seen him in a while…he must have been training" said the jinchuuriki to himself before going for the pointed training ground
The problem was that training ground was very far from the center of the village but it was something expected thinking about Kimimaro's great power over his bloodline so he walked to the place but found nobody there "Kimimaro! Are you here?" shouted the six tails jinchuuriki before a man appeared from the ground "I'm afraid kimimaro's not here but I'll take care of you" answered the masked man before putting his hand on Utakata's shoulder and disappearing in the air with his technique
….
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It was the third day after Sarutobi's funeral and Jiraiya was walking through the village when a very important person was in front of the stone memorial between the many flowers and candles the villagers left for the third Hokage "Tsunade you actually came?" asked a surprised Jiraiya who wasn't expecting to see his old teammate inside of Konoha
"I arrived two days ago but I wasn't able to see his face…he would be too ashamed of me" answered the beautiful Senju with a sad expression on his face so Jiraiya didn't even need his experience to know how she was feeling "How are you?" asked she surprising the white haired man again "From the three of us you were the closest to him" added the remaining sanin
Jiraiya was stunned because without Naruto around nobody stopped to ask him how he felt with the death of the Sandaime and while he was used to show a good face for the rest of the people but on the inside he was tired and sad…this was the first time he felt old "Would you like to talk around a bottle?" asked the super pervert getting Tsunade's approval
…
At the end of that day Jiraiya hasn't appeared in the office so when Naruto got there he was alone but that didn't mean he didn't know what to do because now he was more ready than ever 'Take care of our village Itachi' thought the blond before gathering his gear and reading himself for the fight there was to come
The blond Hokage called many ninja to leave at midnight he got one thousand ninja being most of them long range fighters and some medics or support-class ninja he gave them a speech because they would be protecting the Grass village while he fought against the main group. When Naruto's students asked him why there were not selected to go in the mission he told them now he couldn't hold back this time and he didn't want anyone close to him
That night some hours before leaving Jiraiya appeared in Naruto's house "Where were you?" asked the blond Hokage who was looking through some seals "I was recovering some lost time" answered the toad sanin "Are you leaving for Grass?" asked Jiraiya this time
"Yes, but that is not important at this moment…I have many things to tell you" said the blond gathering some chakra and making Jiraiya's eyes go wide because this would be a day of surprises and revelations
At midnight Naruto left Konoha leading a group of one thousand ninja plus his old team that begged him to come because they wanted to be close just in case something bad could happen to him; all of them knew there was a war beginning and they were going to be part of it but the Uzumaki jinchuuriki had the ability to make them all believe in him and put their hopes on his shoulders
And while they were running most of they thought about their important people and why they couldn't let Iwa got the Grass village because that was the first step before attacking Konoha directly and that meant a world war because the Mist would help the Leaf and probably the Cloud would take Rock's side making it a hard battle but if he crushed any force they sent and forced the Tsuchikage out he could finish all of this before it happened
It was three in the morning when Naruto and his ninjas arrived to grass village where the new leader a young Jounin told him the first of the Rock's battalions had two thousand ninja and the third Hokage died fighting next to the five hundred local ninjas but this time the enemy sent five thousand ninjas and the Grass just had eight hundred counting the survivors from the first fight "This are the orders for everyone protect the village and attack only those that get behind me" stated Naruto with a determined face
It was a dark night so Naruto had no problem 'Kurama I need your help' asked the Hokage and some seconds later he could feel the natural energy filling his whole body and after that he flew over the village surprising everybody…but that wasn't the most shocking thing because if anyone could have seen his face that person would have seen a Sharingan eye with a three pointed star on each eye
"Blaze Release: Trap Field" said Naruto in a low voice using the dark night as a cover for his attack surprising the Iwa's ninjas who never saw the flames coming so in a matter of seconds hundred died to the Amaterasu flames that Naruto was now able to control "Wake up you damn Iwa's shinobi this is the fifth Hokage speaking and I demand for you to bring the Tsuchikage here" shouted Naruto flying over them in the middle of the black flames
The enemy ninjas shouted back and tried to attack him but they couldn't see him clearly in the night while Naruto could feel the chakra and now he was able to see it thanks to his new Sharingan eyes and every time they attacked him the Hokage filled the place with more black flames turning the encampment into a slaughterhouse that took at least half of the army out in a couple of hours forcing the invaders ninja to turn back and return to their village
When the sunlight filled the land they were able to see the real impact Naruto did in combat because the field Iwagakure's ninjas used as encampment was completely surrounded by black flames that burned anything even normal fire and said flames didn't need anything to burn for seven days before extinguishing themselves at said time
The Konoha's ninjas were worried for their leader but he was found by his students before one of the first black flames sleeping in a meditation position, and while that amazing display of power was incredible they had many questions about the source of those flames
…
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Far away Onoki was furious because thanks to Konoha he had already lost like four thousand ninja and the worst of it he was being challenged by Minato's brat and the kid seemed to be good better than he thought at first because he believed his title was thanks to his father merits but it seemed the new Hokage was a high-class ninja on his own
"Father I can lead the army to face him" said Kitsuchi offering his help because he was a respected leader between the troops and the likely Tsuchikage in case of Onoki's death so he had the respect of the ninjas and the power to fight an enemy but the question was…Was Kitsuchi a kage level ninja? Because it seemed this Naruto brat was
"I hate this leaf's blondes!" shouted an exasperated Onoki because if Naruto could do that level of destruction on his own he suspected the kid might be too much for anyone else to handle but if he fought there was the possibility of losing and that was the problem with the position Naruto put him into; he could overpower him sending most of his forces and he would die eventually of would be forced to retreat but that would cost him a great amount of ninjas and would be a very negative move for the foreign opinion making it look like a coward
The old kage hated this because with Naruto's incorporation to the battle field he was forced to do the same or exposing his army to another yellow flash incident that ended costing him the last war when that blond took out battalion after battalion until there was just one left and he didn't have other choice but to surrender
"I'll be going but there is something I must do before leaving…please call Kurotsuchi" asked the old third Tsuchikage who was realizing maybe he was dwelling too much in the past and then he remembered something the old Sarutobi said when they signed the peace papers after the last war 'You lost because of your old ways…you must know that the next generations will always surpass the previous ones so you can't kept them low and weak you have to give them the chance to grow and prove themselves' and after that he made a decision 'I hope you were right on that old man' thought with mixed feelings
After a whole week Onoki felt ready to go but he couldn't leave the dread feeling behind and even when he was confident on his own powers he had the feeling he wouldn't survive the encounter with the Hokage but things needed to be done differently because in the last war Minato took most of his army out and maybe this time his life was the only that needed to be taken to spare his men 'I must be getting really old to be this soft' thought the third Tsuchikage while he was leading a small battalion towards grass village
At the moment his troops were standing some distance before Grass village he saw the young Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki son of his mortal enemy Minato Namikaze both of them were very similar but it was known their fighting styles were absolutely different yet both of them were quite skilled on their own fields because while Minato was a speed and seals specialist Naruto was one of the most talented ninjutsu specialists in the whole world "Tsuchikage-dono I offer to you the chance to stop this nonsense and go back to your village…the countries limits had been agreed by all of the continent's feudal lords so there is no need to ignite war spark" stated Naruto in a loud voice making most of ninjas on both sides to hear him
Onoki wouldn't admit it but he pondered the offer because he didn't really wanted to die but go back at this point would mean a heavy blow for Iwagakure's reputation so it was better if he died fighting and the next leader blamed him for all of this "That is not an option for me" was the Tsuchikage's answer before he shouted to his men "All of you stand behind this fight is between that yellow brat and me!" giving his last order as the Tsuchikage
The little man flew towards Naruto who just asked for some energy and flew away from the Grass Village to don't harm it during the fight which started quickly when Onoki charged one of his legendary Dust Release Technique in a sphere shape before shooting the blast pointing at Naruto but the blond revealed a pair or mature Sharingan eyes and then opened his hands splitting the wind, earth and fire from the dust release technique making Onoki and the whole platoon of Rock's ninjas mouths fall because the dust release was the most powerful and devastating element in the world and the Hokage just disabled it with his bare hands
That was the precise moment a realization came to the old man's mind 'There is no way for me to win' thought before composing himself and gathering most of his chakra "You will not beat me without a fight!" shouted Onoki before dashing for Naruto
When the Tsuchikage shot his attack Naruto was in heaven because everything was awesome with his new Sharingan eyes and while before that he was able to feel and control nature's forces now he was able to see it in great detail and that dust release combination looked amazing letting him see the exact proportion of each element
After that moment of wonder about the sharingan's advantages he realized his rival was coming at him flying at high speed and was using an earth release move to harden his fist but he just moved with the wind to get out of harm's way then the old man tried to hold him with an earth golem but Naruto took control of the creature and tried to make it hit his caster so Iwa's leader had to use the Earth Release: Ultra-Added-Weight Rock Technique to make it fall to the ground and keep fighting
When he realized Naruto's elemental ability was unbeatable he thought he should try to fight quick and close but the blond's flying speed was too much even for him so he was getting out of options while the blond did nothing but dodge and gather some chakra. The problem was while Onoki assessed the fight this way his men were watching the Hokage toying him without even trying to fight back and that wasn't a pretty sight so their moral was quite low
The little man tried to touch Naruto and manipulate his weight but Naruto was faster and despite his great experience fighting on the air this cursed Hokage had beaten him in terms of speed so he was getting desperate for some move that changed the flow of the combat and without thinking clearly he tried to distract Naruto targeting Grass village with a quick dust release technique but he didn't count with Naruto's ability because he was able to feel him molding the elemental chakra to form dust and when he aimed for the village a lightning bolt struck him before anyone else could react and left him dead and badly burnt on the ground
The rock shinobi were speechless because they had just witnessed as the Hokage toyed with their leader and at the moment he endangered the people he was protecting he just obliterated him with a freaking lightning bolt! How could a man make a storm from nothing and control a lightning bolt! That was a force of nature and was over men's control or at least that was they believed before this fight
After that exchange Naruto got back to the ground level and faced the Iwagakure shinobi gathered around Onoki's corpse "You can take his body and go in peace…there is no need for more deaths today" stated Naruto before some Jounin took their leader dead body and all of them went back to Iwa
Then the blond went back to the grass and the people had a very big celebration that day because they had withstood the rock village's attack so they were very happy but Naruto called his men back and returned to Konoha before Grass people and ninja thanked him for his help. Naruto went quickly to Konoha because despite his victory he couldn't be happy after Sarutobi's death and all the Grass people seemed to have forgotten that so he just went back as soon as possible
"Sensei…I need to talk to you" said Hinata when Naruto was about to leave his office. After the fight he led Konoha's troops back and they arrived after four hours of travel so it was around ten in the night and he decided to check the office finding Hinata waiting for him at the door "I know you have Itachi Uchiha's Saringan eyes" stated Hinata surprising Naruto who was curious on how she found out "You have two Sharingan eyes that much was visible to me during your fight…then it's chakra signature is similar to Sasuke's but it's much more powerful so there was just one option left and he's known for being your friend so it's not something that out of my mind" explained the young Hyuga to his sensei who was surprised and proud
"I'm surprised and confused…let's go to my house because it's not a safe place to discuss this kind of thing" stated Naruto before closing the office and leading her student to his home in a silent walk; the Hokage's mind was wandering in many topics but the main one what that girl at his side
When they entered the house Naruto did some hand seals and offered her something for eating while they sat on the living room "Hinata I've known you and your teammates but while your goal was becoming powerful and leading your clan I don't know what you really want" said Naruto beginning the talk saying what was on his mind
"It's…I'm not so clear on that topic but in the last fight Sandaime-sama fought in an outstanding level making us realize we're quite weak because we thought he had become closer to our level with his age bit then you and the Tsuchikage faced each other and while his attacks were awesome and he used the legendary dust release you practically toyed with him so I wanted to know your real power" confessed Hinata trying to give some sense to that speech because she wasn't so clear with her goals for life
"Well you know…at first I had the same worries that you have" confessed Naruto surprising Hinata "I was younger than you but everybody seemed so strong and out of my reach…Itachi and me were good for our age but in the world out there age doesn't matter it's just who's more powerful" related Naruto remembering some tough missions "The third trained me from very early age but while I was a genin with Chunin combat level the rest of the world had dangerous enemies and even Shisui-sensei was in a whole different level" added Naruto with a smile "but then we got promoted and Itachi and I took different paths because he trained for ANBU while I traveled around the world with Jiraiya…I was always good with elemental ninjutsu but knowing about the way other people see and understand the elements gave me the ability to feel nature and with time I was able to make it follow my orders and in that moment I realized about my true potential because if I could control any element I would have no weakness…or at least that is what I thought at first" explained Naruto trying to not laugh about his past thoughts "Jiraiya showed me otherwise and in the end he convinced me to train my body and become strong enough to fight without my elemental techniques so I developed a taijutsu style with the toad's help that used my elemental proficiency using wind to make my movements faster and earth to make my hits heavier…in the end I learnt about life and the world so I decided I would be the Hokage to make the things go the way I wanted and trained hard to reach that goal" told Naruto to the younger girl who listened very interested
"I want to know if I have some talent to become a great ninja" said Hinata a little depressed because things weren't going fast enough for her liking "Well you are quite young but that kind of fast strength is only attained by forbidden techniques and doing some serious sacrifices" answered Naruto being very honest with her student "Look Hinata…the reason for me to get the Sharingan was to prepare for war because with the last fight I might have bought between three or five years of peace but there is going to be a war and I'll prepare in all the ways I am able to protect Konoha but there is no need for you to be here between that in fact I should order you to travel around the world to grow and know other people" said Naruto mostly to himself
….
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The next day Kiba, Hinata and Shino were being told by Naruto about his idea of having them travel and train around the world with the only condition to return when the war started; Hinata already knew about that so she accepted immediately, Shino wasn't too attached to anyone so he did the same but Kiba took a little longer to think but he ended agreeing too so in that night team 8 was officially disbanded till the war
Hiashi was very angry with that decision but Hinata was just following the Hokage's orders so he had no room to make something about that
At the end of the day Itachi and Naruto were sparring and just like in the old times this was an only physical combat match because they couldn't attract attention but that didn't meant it was easy or simple thanks to the Sharingan that let both of them to know a counter move for their opponent attack meaning they had to think on their own for a counter to the enemy's counter and all of that in a full speed combat "Are you sure they are going to be fine?" asked Itachi while he dodged a punch
"They're very skilled and I trust them" was Naruto's answer before pushing Itachi's back with his own body in a very A-like maneuver
"I heard about your encounter with the Raikage" commented Itachi after that move that was from his style that used incredible speeds and strength to make any hit lethal
Author comments: I don't know how many chapters ago someone asked about Naruto's sage mode... Let me explain a little about Naruto's powers
He has a natural ablitiy to feel and control any elemental technique or cast them with just his chakra but in the "Normal Mode" he can use just one at time (for example he can use just one chakra sphere) while in sage mode he can cast and control any of the five elements (at the same time)
Naruto has a good partner/friends relationship with the Kyubi so he doesn't like to "take" his power from him meaning he doesn't uses his chakra but they work together in the sage mode bacause when he "tried to merge" with the toads they were exposed to the Kyubi's chakra (Kurama didn't reject them) and it's toxicity hurt them so in the end Naruto made the Kyubi stay still to gather the natural energy and like their chakra was connected he would receive "nature chakra" without interruption during the fights
I know Naruto is very powerful but i'm trying to make Akatsuki a real threat meaning hard fights with Pain or Tobi...I already said Orochimaru's death was to avoid Edo Tensei (i don't like making the same fights twice) so you wont be reading about any zombie ninja in this story
Let me know your thoughts about the story and this information (Would you like some info-cap at the end of every chaper?)