Disclaimer: I don't own shit.

Note: I retconned the former chapter and instead of Jiraiya going with Kakashi and a team to Suna, he instead stays in the village while Koharu and Homura go to Suna. Didn't fit in my plans originally, so, yeah.

A Nugget Of Advice, Chapter 10

It was the night, where the Sun no longer beat down on his head. Yet, Suna was naturally arid and hot. A lack of water in the air would make someone like him take off their headband just to mop the sweat off their head. Kakashi always hated coming out here for certain missions because of the weather. It was a wonder why people weren't walking around half-naked with this scorching heat, and from what he heard, Suna was going through a drought.

At least the buildings didn't make you feel like a baked potato. The buildings, made of clay, sand, and stucco made going into shelter much more bearable, however. Also, the invention of a fan made life in Suna probably not as bad as did like 30 years ago. Thank god for the little things.

Other than that, Kakashi nursed a cold lime-flavored chūhai drink – a perfect mix of an alcohol and a carbonated drink – and felt himself cool down for a bit. It was something of a local favorite in Suna, and the bartender suggested it when Kakashi didn't know what to drink. He wasn't much of a drinker honestly and only came to the bar because Genma and Iwashi went to go get a drink. Raidō took it upon himself to stay and guard the two elders. Raidō wasn't much of a drinker either, nor a person to relax too much.

But Kakashi definitely welcomed the chance to get some downtime, even if it was in territories who they were just fighting with. That could put anyone on edge.

Still, it felt nice to relax for a bit. Nothing beat being in Konoha however. Besides the heat, he had a reason to want to be at home.

The reason? His two most troublesome students: Sasuke and Naruto. Ah, he could remember the problem growing between those two.

It was the day of the inauguration of Jiraiya, who was now the new Hokage of Konoha. Kakashi had known for a bit Jiraiya was the Hokage, but it was something entirely different seeing the legendary ninja being sworn in as the leader of the village. It was truly something else, that entire ceremony.

Kakashi's favorite part had definitely had to be when those dragons Jiraiya created exploded. As did many of the ninjas and civilians in the crowd.

He had agreed though that today was a good idea to go visit Sasuke. Naruto had admitted he hadn't visited the Uchiha at all ever since Sasuke was admitted to the hospital. Sakura herself stated she tried visiting as much as she could. After the ceremony of the Hokage, Kakashi and his students rushed over to the hospital.

Kakashi decided to be the one to knock on Sasuke's hospital door. He heard a soft "Come in" from inside, prompting him to let himself and his team in the room. Sasuke came to view, who was starting to slowly rise up from his place in the bed.

Sakura almost rudely pushed Kakashi out of the way to say cheerfully, "Good afternoon, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke looked annoyed at that. Well, that was the usual face of Sasuke. "Hello," he said gruffly.

"What's good with you, bastard?" Naruto said casually, picking up on Sasuke's sour mood.

"Nothing at all. I'm relaxing here in the hospital with my arm, leg, and ribs still in binds, still very much in pain. What's up with you? Did you have your ten bowls of ramen today?" Sasuke said sarcastically, not in the mood to banter with Naruto at all.

Naruto waved his hands defensively. "Relax. There's no need to get all pissy now."

"Yes, Sasuke. After all, we're here to visit you and see how you are progressing now." Kakashi stated, attempted to placate his student.

"I'm fine." Sasuke flatly stated. "The doctors this morning stated I will be out in two or three days."

"Ah, I see. That's good. You missed the inauguration, by the way."

"Inauguration?"

"Of the new Hokage," Kakashi explained. "Didn't I tell you that the Sandaime lost his life in the invasion?"

"Oh. Yeah, I remember." Sasuke stated. "Who is the Hokage now?"

"Ever heard of Jiraiya before?"

"Ah," Sasuke said, his eyes lighting up with realization. "A sannin got voted in. I guess that's good then."

Sasuke looked like he had nothing more to say on the subject of Hokage, so Kakashi moved on. "How many days did you say you will be here? Three more days? Unfortunately, I don't believe I will be here to see you leave."

"Huh? Why is that, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, why?" Naruto supplied.

"I have been assigned a mission that will take me out of the village for a few days. Maybe a week. I leave in tomorrow morning."

"Oh," was the collective sound that the three younger shinobi made.

"However, that doesn't mean you guys can get a break in not training. Sakura, you stated you wanted to learn more about genjutsu and medical ninjutsu, right?"

"Y-yes?" The pink-haired girl stuttered, surprised.

"Well, I have a person who can help you with your genjutsu, who is a lot better of a teacher with that ninja art than I am. I also got a few scrolls about the basics of medical ninjutsu."

"Ah, okay. Thank you, Sensei."

"Sasuke, I have a few scrolls of ninjutsu for you when you get out of the hospital in a few days. I'll leave them in the custody of your apartment if you don't mind." Kakashi stated, knowing Sasuke no longer lived on the Uchiha Compound ever since his clan's massacre.

Sasuke shrugged, "Fine. The spare key is under my rug."

"Good. I'll give it back to you when I return back to the hospital around tomorrow. That'll be the same time I give you the scrolls. As for you, Naruto," Kakashi turned to the blond-haired boy. "Well, since you are no longer on my payroll, I'm not obligated to give you training now. However, since when we discussed this before, I will still give you any sort of training you need help with. So, if you want, I'll give you some scrolls and you can learn from them whenever you want. At least until I come back."

Naruto nodded sedately. "Thank you, Sensei."

Sasuke looked up in realization at Kakashi. "Wait, you said Naruto isn't on your payroll. What does that mean?"

Kakashi looked sheepish. "Ah, yes. I didn't tell you what happened but Naruto recently got-"

But Sasuke already figured it out. "-Promoted to chūnin rank." Sasuke interjected, looking irritated. "I see it now."

This started to alarm Kakashi. 'Oh boy… Here it comes.'

"Heh, yep!" Naruto grinned, giving the ebony-haired boy a thumbs-up.

"Shocked? It looks like the dead-last made it to the chūnin rank before you." Naruto teased Sasuke, who was increasingly looking angry.

"Naruto…" Sakura warned, starting to get annoyed herself.

"What? It shouldn't be a big deal. It's just a promotion. Doesn't mean much."

"Shut up, you idiot." Sakura glared heatedly at the blond boy. "You're totally bragging right now." Kakashi privately agreed that Naruto may have been doing just that, but Sasuke wasn't exactly taking it in a mature manner. The ebony-haired teen was shaking.

Naruto scratched his head, a puzzled look on his face appeared. "But I'm not bragging, Sakura-chan!"

"You totally were just now!" Sakura growled. "You really are such a stupid-"

"Congratulations."

"Huh?" Naruto and Sakura both questioned. They looked at Sasuke with surprise. Kakashi merely stared at his students.

"Good job, yay. You got promoted. That's nice. Truly."

"Uh…"

Sasuke growled. "It's good, Naruto. Congrats. Now, are you done? Do you feel happy that you got promoted earlier than me? You're saying you're better than me or something?"

Naruto frowned. "I… didn't mean it like that. I was just kidding. Chill out, man."

"I'm completely calm."

"No, you're not."

"Yes. I. Am."

"You're. Really. Not though."

Kakashi decided it was time to step in. "Settle down, guys. There's no need to fight here. Especially you, Sasuke. You're supposed to be resting, not getting overexcited."

He may have smiled but in his head, he was wary of that attitude Sasuke displayed. He seemed aggressive, angry, and he couldn't stop clenching his hands. Boy, what a mess this was, wasn't it? If Sasuke was mad Naruto had made chūnin-rank before him, it was most definitely Kakashi's fault. He was to blame for Sasuke not getting the chance to fight Gaara. If that was what Sasuke was angry at.

But Kakashi believed that wasn't the case. No, it was a deeper reason, and it was all thanks to the actions of Itachi Uchiha. Thanks to the murder of his clan by his brother, Sasuke had something beyond merely a competitive spirit. In fact, it seemed to be something of a complex. Sasuke perceived everything as a challenge in his life he had to conquer. That meant people too. Itachi is a challenge; the shinobi back in the Chūnin Exams was a challenge; and now, he perceived Naruto as a challenge because of his higher status.

Sasuke looked like a ninja stalking and ready to pounce on his enemy.

After the brief visit session, they had left the hospital. Naruto had separated from them, citing that he had to do something today, and he couldn't hang out with them for long. That left him with Sakura to walk with.

"Sakura." Kakashi began, as his only female student walked with him through the village.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei?"

"You saw what happened today, correct?" Kakashi rhetorically asked, and was about to continued but Sakura already interrupted, looking excited.

"Right?! That Naruto is such a blockhead for provoking-" Sakura started to rant, but was quickly cut off by her teacher.

"-If anything happens between the two, I want you to try to stop them from going too far. If that fails, get help. Do you hear me?" Kakashi gave her a serious eye. "Do you understand me, Sakura?"

"Um… Okay, Sensei. I understand." Sakura agreed to the request but looked bewildered.

"I'm serious, Sakura."

"I gathered that…" The pink-haired kunoichi scratched her head. "What makes you so sure that anything is going to happen between them?"

"Call it a hunch…"

"Scoot over, Hatake-senpai." A voice came from his left, bringing him out of his thoughts, and he gazed up at the person who spoke. Yugao came, lacking the ANBU armor, and instead was in her standard attire outside ANBU: a green standard flak vest, blue gloves, blue pants, and blue sandals.

"Ah, Yūgao. You know you don't have to be so formal now. I haven't been your leader for a while now. We've been friends for a while now." He nevertheless moved over, to see her sit down next to him. She brought with her a large bottle of sake and two saucer-like cups with her.

"No can do, Senpai. You are my elder and my superior." She stated, already pouring a drink. "You mind helping me finishing off this bottle, Senpai?"

Not what he was planning, but who was he to let a friend drink by herself? Especially when he knew Yūgao wasn't a heavy drinker. "Sure. So, I'm guessing your team finally convinced you to get some time off to yourself, eh?"

Yūgao snorted. "Captain Tenzo had to threaten me with showing me his 'scary face' if I didn't go out and enjoy myself tonight."

"Ah. I see. Well- oh, thank you," Kakashi interrupted himself, thanking his former subordinate for the drink she gave him. He watched her down her drink with gusto. Again, very unlike Yūgao. "You're really relaxing a lot..."

"I know what you're thinking, Senpai. Don't worry. I won't drink too much. Just a little bit, and then, I'll be leaving. I can't be too relaxed here, especially with all of these killers here…" Yūgao muttered scornfully, hatefully looking at the unsuspecting bartender who was wearing a turban on his head.

Kakashi knew it had to be rough. She and now many of those in Konoha affected by Suna and Oto's joint attack on Konohagakure weeks ago had to accept that there would be peace between the two villages. Hell, it seems there would be even negotiations for some sort of alliance between Konoha and Suna.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said, feeling it was futile.

The purple-haired shinobi shook her head. The edge of her eyes softening up a bit. "Just drink with me, Senpai."

So Kakashi did such and said nothing else for the rest of the evening to the mourning woman. Instead, he watched her, and see her turn from a hardened assassin with one of the best service histories he ever saw in ANBU, to a blubbering, crying mess. By the third shot, he did the smart thing and stopped drinking, while she was on her sixth. By the eighth shot, she had trouble recalling his name.

She really didn't drink merely "a little." She was completely shit-faced.

Yūgao was no drinker, and he really shouldn't have let her even get past the fifth shot, really. No longer thinking it was good to have her drink her life away in this crappy bar, he had stopped her from drinking anymore, and with some prodding, got her to get out of the bar with him. "Some fresh air would do you better than drinking your problems away," he told her. Might have sounded rich coming from a guy who often spent time at the village's memorial stone, but he had to keep his friend from going down a bad path.

She must have felt the same because she gave no sort of resistance. Either that, or she was too wasted to do anything.

They walked – or rather, he dragged her with one arm around her waist – around the village, with her slurring nonsensically. Kakashi ignored all of that and dragged her off to his room to cool down. She moved in sluggishly and then collapsed into the bed. He, not wanting to have a "misunderstanding" in the morning with his former subordinate chose a seat to rest in.

He turned off the lights, closed his eyes, and slept until the sunrise. What a long day it was.

Meanwhile, back in Konohagakure, a week after Kakashi's departure…

Training day in and day out had its pleasures, Naruto reflected. After all, he loved getting stronger and progressing in his training of Earth Release. Unfortunately, he had hit a blockade in his training about a few days ago. He knew he would have to go to Ebisu for more training. However, Naruto realized that what the late Sandaime had said about receiving training from Ebisu was correct.

Naruto had decided to seek the elite trainer out yesterday but hadn't gotten what he wanted.

It took him a bit to find Ebisu, but after remembering that Ebisu often visited the restaurant that served seafood because of his love for fried crab and kamaboko, Naruto soon met the man. "Yo, Ebisu-sensei."

Ebisu waved. "Ah, Naruto-kun. It has been some time."

"Hehe, yeah. I've been busy with training and all. Ah, sorry for interrupting your lunch."

"It is no problem. It is still very good to see you, but I imagine you are not here because you are to order food."

Naruto shook his head. "I'm here for some training."

"I have figured." Ebisu folded his hands on the table. "Unfortunately, I must refuse. My duties to train Konohamaru-sama have greatly taken up much of my time."

"Despite him being in school?" Naruto scratched his head.

"Yes. It seems he is starting to really take his training seriously." Ebisu smiled. "The young master has asked me himself to increase his training from one day a week to three days. I also have one other client in the village I must tend to. Not to mention my other duties to the village as a tokubetsu jōnin has had me feeling rather swamped."

"Ah. I see…" Naruto stated, showing his disappointment.

Ebisu lowered his head. "I apologize. I know I have promised you that I would be willing to train after the Chūnin Exams, and I have no objections to do so, but I cannot do it for now. Maybe perhaps in two months. I also cannot do it freely. I was doing Kakashi-kun a favor for the month; I cannot do it again without some sort of compensation."

"So even if I had the money to pay you, you wouldn't be available to train me?" Ebisu nodded, leading Naruto to sigh in dismay. "Great. How else am I going to get training in my elemental affinity?"

"Hire someone else," Ebisu suggested. "This village is filled with plenty of trainers willing to help – especially if it means they would be paid to do so. You will find out that in our profession money talks, and it will get you where you want to go fast." The tokubetsu jōnin took a few moments to take a bite out of his fried crab. "Mmm. Of course, trainers – like food – come in assorted flavors, types, and prices. What you get with another with one trainer, you may not get with another of a higher or lower price."

"I get it." Naruto folded his arms, trying not to be too upset. After all, he was warned by the late Hokage about this.

"Here." Ebisu went into his pocket and grabbed a blue-colored book. "This is the village's trainers list. Consider it a gift for making chūnin-rank. Originally, when you become a chūnin, you can buy and use this book to get yourself a trainer. Since you're in dire need of a trainer, I am going to give you it free. Take it upon yourself to read it up."

"Thanks, Sensei!" Naruto smiled, greatly appreciating the book. At least something good came out of all of this.

Ebisu pointed to the book. "Each section of the book is dedicated to which ninja art the trainer specializes in. I specialize in a few things in the book myself, but mostly with ninjutsu."

"Hmm, really?" Curiosity got the better of the blond teen, remembering what Ebisu said earlier about different trainers gave different prices. He scrolled through the pages, seeing that the listing of ninjutsu trainers inside was alphabetical, and found Ebisu.

…And found the almost ridiculous amount of ryō it was to hire him.

…Fucking what?

"Sensei… why are there six zeroes in the price to hire you?"

"Hmph, you did not think my moniker as 'Elite Trainer Ebisu' was mere hyperbole, did you?" Ebisu said, starting to puff his chest out proudly. "I am one of the most efficient trainers in Konoha, and my success rate at making my clients rank up to at least chūnin is at an excellent 96%. I was a former Academy teacher, training plenty of children for their genin exams, have worked with plenty of men and women and helped them become chūnin and/or jōnin, and I even found work training a team to become guards of the Fire Daimyō. You will find that the 'six zeroes' attach to my hiring price is well deserved on my part."

"Okay, okay, I believe you," Naruto waved in defeat, not really wanting that speech. Still, he could not argue with the man, as he did help Naruto become a chūnin. "Damn though. It's gonna take some time until I get to hire you."

Ebisu leaned back in the chair, keeping his gaze on Naruto. "If you want to become an excellent shinobi, you are going to need to be able to know what your weaknesses are, and what you need to improve in. I know because of your 'status,' it makes your chakra levels astoundingly high, but I also know with elevated levels of chakra comes abysmal chakra control. You are going to need to be able to have great control over chakra to use higher levels of ninjutsu, and frankly, you have been substituting that need of chakra control for your already gigantic pools of chakra. Power is great, but control is just as important. Chakra control is something you should never forget in your training.

"Also, low levels of chakra control make you susceptible to genjutsu as well, which is an art often overlooked. Genjutsu is a deadly ninja art that can be just as – if not, more – devastating than ninjutsu. If you lack the control, you will find yourself ensnared in genjutsu often. To combat that, why not find a teacher that can help you with your genjutsu-countering skills? What I find shameful is that many modern shinobi do not employ genjutsu in their arsenal, or at least find more counters for it. You would not know how many times I found simply applying genjutsu-"

Naruto stopped the man from droning off any further. "Ah, Ebisu-sensei, while I do find this all… interesting, I do want to go eat something myself. I kinda skipped lunch to go find you."

"Ah," the blue-clad shinobi coughed into his gloved hand sheepishly. "My mistake. You certainly did not come here to be lectured today. The chūnin teacher in me was talking. I apologize. Nevertheless, what I said holds to be true. If you are going to use the book I gave you, use it to make yourself find balance. Specialization is important, but find the time to balance the other things about yourself as well. I shall leave you with that. Anyway, good luck with your training, Naruto. I suggest though if you do not have the money, get by using that new shiny flak jacket to use."

And Naruto planned to do such because the money he gained from the mission in Nami no Kuni had finally dwindled down. So, he figured he had to put his new chūnin rank to use.

That, and the fact that Naruto wanted to start working on gaining higher-ranked missions, even if it was something like C-ranks. He read that C-rank missions tended to be the type of missions with little to no combat involved (besides maybe the occasional bandit attack or whatever). It would be something like a retrieval mission or perhaps an escort mission (like how the Nami no Kuni was supposed to be like). To be truthful, it didn't sound all that riveting, but if he was to make a name for himself, he had to start somewhere. It would beat doing lowly D-ranks like doing someone else's chores for them.

So, he decided it was time to take up one of those.

After a breakfast at home, he geared up and left to the outside world. He was halfway to the Ninja Academy, where the Mission Assignment Desk would be at when suddenly he had an idea. "Wait… What if I asked Sakura-chan and that bastard Sasuke to accompany me on the mission?"

It could work. After all, Sasuke was now out of the hospital, and back on active duty, and Sakura was already available.

"Hmm…" He put a finger on his bottom lip, thinking about it. 'Well, I am sure Sakura-chan will have no problem with coming if I say Sasuke is coming. Of course, she would.' Naruto thought dourly. Knowing Sakura, anything Sasuke-related she would want to be included.

"Of course, that's hoping Sasuke wants to come. After our… 'episode' at the hospital, I wonder if he's going to be mad at me still." Naruto asked himself, squinting his eyes and sighing in frustration. The Uchiha seemed livid when he heard of Naruto's promotion, and – dare Naruto to say it – envious as hell.

Naruto couldn't lie. He relished the look at first, he would admit, but things quickly became heated in the room. Sasuke looked ready to fight him. Was he that envious of his promotion? Besides, there was another problem with taking his team on a mission with him. From what he knew, chūnin could take genin on missions, so as long as they had permission from their jōnin teacher, and/or the Hokage, or even a dire situation. However, since Kakashi-sensei was not in the village at the time, getting permission to take Sakura and Sasuke out – even if he was their teammate – was probably going to not happen.

'So, I guess that means I should do this solo,' Naruto thought to himself. Well, that would be fine, he supposed. He would ask to get permission from Kakashi next time to take Sakura and Sasuke on missions without Kakashi being there.

That meant it was time to get to the Mission Assignment Desk in the Academy and see what he could get.

Lovely.

He first found Sasuke in Team Kakashi's assigned training ground. Sparks of electricity flew in the air around Naruto's teammate. It seems like he was practicing a technique; perhaps from the scrolls their teacher Kakashi gave them the other day.

He watched for a few moments, silently, before letting his presence known, stepping towards Sasuke less silently.

Sasuke opened his mouth before Naruto did, however. He also had his back to Naruto. "Took you long enough to come and approach me. What the hell are you doing trying to sneak up on me, dead-last?"

Naruto blinked. "Oh, you knew I was here?"

"You move so slowly sometimes. It's like I could hear you from a mile away." Sasuke grunted, attempting to shoot a stream of fire from his mouth again. He succeeded, but he didn't sound satisfied with him sighing like so. "What do you want?"

"Well, since I'm a chūnin now," Naruto noticed Sasuke's fists clenching, "I wanted to see if we can take a mission."

"And that includes me? Why? We're not on a team anymore, dumbass."

"And what does that mean? Doesn't mean we can't do missions together." Naruto frowned. "I would think you would want to go on one."

Sasuke scoffed. "Did you even go to the Mission Assignment Desk? What mission would we be going on together? Because if we're just going to go on a boring C-rank mission, or worse, a D-rank, count me out. I can do more productive things with my time."

Naruto found himself increasingly becoming annoyed with his former teammate, regretting coming here. "Well, I am a chūnin, you bastard. I'm sure I can request for a more higher mission. So, are you gonna go or not?"

Sasuke stopped, and actually considered it, before answering with, "Sakura's coming with us?"

"Of course!"

"We really should just go on our own." Sasuke sighed, as Naruto narrowed his eyes at him. "Of course not. Whatever… Let's just get her then."

Sakura, of course, agreed immediately. Like Naruto thought she would. No doubt that had to do with Sasuke.

They headed to the Mission Assignment Desk quickly after that. Naruto looked and did not recognize the guy at the desk. He expected someone else to be there, actually. Usually, Iruka-sensei would be the one there when he wasn't teaching at the school, assigning missions. Instead, it was some other guy who looked, honestly, forgettable. An average looking man with dark brown hair, matching eyes, and fair skin, who seemed to have an average build as well.

Nevertheless, Naruto decided to be friendly. "Afternoon!"

"Afternoon, ah, Uzumaki-san, was it?" the man asked, smiling at Naruto, "Congrats on your promotion."

"Heh, thanks!" Naruto gave the man a thumbs-up.

The man turned the smile to both Sakura and Sasuke. "And the same to you two as well."

"Good afternoon, sir," Sakura returned, just as jovial as the man said it.

"Afternoon," Sasuke grunted.

"Alright, you are here for a mission, no? I can tell; you look eager to go on one. Alright, let's see here… Hmm, there are a few missions today. A few D-ranks, and a few C-ranks."

"Lemme take a look." The man set the missions on the table. Naruto scanned them quickly, and then looked back up at the mission assignment clerk. "Oh, no B-ranks?"

"None today, I'm afraid." The clerk said, seemingly sympathetically.

Sasuke snorted, muttering something darkly that Naruto didn't quite hear. Though, if Naruto had to guess, the ebony-haired Uchiha wasn't pleased. Sakura didn't seem to mind either way, but she looked at Sasuke, stating, "I-It'll be okay, Sasuke-kun."

"Right. I gotcha…" Naruto rubbed his chin. Well, that was a little disappointing, no doubt. Team 7 were no stranger to C-rank missions. They had done quite a few after their first one in Nami no Kuni – granted that one turned into a dangerous A-rank. Besides, just because they were some C-rank missions today only, didn't mean he couldn't get a B-rank in the future.

The blond-haired boy scanned the files on the desk. One was escorting some politic from Konoha to Hi no Kuni's capital. That sounded boring. Another was delivering a package to Tanzaku Gai, someplace in the country. That sounded like a job better suited to a courier ninja. No thank you. The third mission he saw was a retrieval mission, finding a… Wait…

'Wait, am I reading this right? A frigging ostrich we're supposed to find? Didn't know they had those in Hi no Kuni. And this thing knows… taijutsu?'

Naruto blinked. He processed the information he just learned… and then moved on to his other options. Well, compared to that, everything else seemed tamed. And he had no idea what to pick.

Naruto exhaled, somewhat noisily, and put his hands on his hips. He looked at his options again. They weren't much, and all looked pretty boring.

Well, except one. And hey, at least the mission's pay was pretty decent.

'Eh, what the hell?'

Well, that ostrich mission looked interesting enough.

A/N: Sorry this took so damn long to put out, but thanks to, well, life, I delayed this by a lot of months. But yeah, here it is. I hope you enjoyed.

I originally was going to make this longer and with more going on, but it would have been just more talking and the fighting scene I have planned was not coming out like I wanted, so I scrapped it.

Oh, and IDK if Sasuke still lives in the clan compound in canon, but I put it as he has his own apartment, because, to me, it makes sense. A little detail; shouldn't matter too much anyway.

I'll try to put out the next chapter soon. See ya later in a few months.

…

I'm just fucking with ya. ANOTHER CHAPTER IS COMING RIGHT AFTER THIS ONE!