A/N: So, I've started college. That's pretty much the only reason why I have taken so awfully long to update. I was crazy enough to go for a major that requires me to survive physics (!), math (!) and informatics (!) - AGAIN. As if school wasn't enough of an indication that I should never touch subjects with numbers ever again. So blame me and my naïveté...

I can ensure you however that I feel just awful for making you wait for so long and that's why I want to thank all of those who continue to read, favor and follow - even if I might take a while to update, I definitely won't abandon this story! Promise!

So I will now provide info for the next update on my profile page so that you can check whether I am still alive and typing.

Please enjoy!

Music: "Fly" — Ludovico Einaudi

- Chapter 12 -

Countdown Part 2 / Snake Man

"It appears as though Futaba's lost her fire" the taller of the two man sighed with disappointment. "Normally that girl would walk straight from one disaster right to the next — leaving behind a fascinating splatter of chaos and death… Oh, you must have witnessed the natural catastrophe that calls herself Fu-ta-ba to understand the art of human self-destruction. She's the very concept of it."

Below the village scattered its many lights as if to rival the spangled sky above; radiating the promise of peace with blindingly bright colors. The man understood why Futaba had chosen this place, although at the same time her naïveté never failed to amuse him.

From their spot, both men could feel the vibrations of hundreds of people moving around, oblivious to the fact that two individuals had gotten quite close to their borders. Not to mention that there was an instable soul amongst them who was hiding behind the mask of an innocent child.

"Besides the beauty of it, there's this pattern" the man breathed softly, choosing his words with care before letting them rise as clouds in the crisp air. "She runs, runs, runs… to find shelter, eventually. Once settled, she doesn't show until someone flushes her like an animal; lures her out from her foolish hiding spot of choice. It always works that way and once you corner her, that's when the real fun starts."

With a smile gracing his lips, he shook his head as if the last words had evoked the fondest memories. "My favorite child… or should I call her the perfect child? It's hard to distinguish between those two since I find her both charming and useful. Mostly useful though since she is the last piece to the puzzle. Soon I will reap what I sowed. I've been waiting for so… very … long…"

Despite the wistful touch to both his face and voice, Hiroko could hardly hide the playfulness that was the medium of his very being. It showed in the quirk of his mouth and the dimples that had already charmed countless unsuspecting minds. Yet as he traced the outlines of the buildings, there was a heat burning in his eyes, betraying the air of calm surrounding him.

"So she'll end up dead?" interjected the hitherto silent male after a moment's thought. Rather than hesitating, there was almost something hopeful in the way his eyes clung to Hiroko's profile.

"Of course" the answer came without missing a beat. "Sometimes sacrifices must be made in order to achieve an important goal. Despite being so very entertaining in all her flaws, your sister must die" Hiroko mused with the air of a person who couldn't be bothered to put any regret in his voice. "I am sorry if it upsets you, though it's not like you actually care, do you?"

"To me she's a stranger who's only worth her purpose."

Finally turning to look at his son, Hiroko consented with a gracious nod of his head, "True, my boy. A shame though it is…"

The pre-teen shifted a little to return the pensive expression with one of his own, "Entering Konoha might pose a problem though."

"With the proper incentive, we won't have to take any risks. Considering Futaba's predicament, there are only few options left. One of these days she'll have to either flee, or risk getting caught."

"What if she ends up in the hands of the Hidden Leaf?"

"Now, now" Hiroko responded with a hearty chuckle. "My daughter is hardly someone to underestimate… The reason why I know her so well is because she fascinates me. Her mind is sharp and her greatest weakness is at the same time her strength. Futaba will do everything to protect what is dear to her. A fact even I had to acknowledge at some point… However similar circumstances will soon put her under a lot of pressure. So tell me again, when will they start the interrogation of my cutie-pie Fuu?"

— 4 days to go —

"I would like to try something" Kakashi muttered as Fuu returned from the kitchen with her eyes fixed upon the steaming cup she carried with her.

Carefully placing the hot coffee in front of her guardian, the girl consciously touched the small patch on her forehead before eying Kakashi. For some reason she had not been very amused by the turn of yesterday's events — awakening after the little experiment with a major headache. To smooth her ruffled feelings, Kakashi had decided to go through some of his own ideas before inviting Sato over again.

Accepting the inevitable, Fuu puffed her cheeks a little before assuring, "No needles?"

"Only if you promise to keep Sato's involvement a secret from Kurenai" Kakashi considered after a moment of thought — making his offer sound as generous as he could. The fact that he had not even been planing on using such nasty objects, was besides the point.

Giving Fuu a moment to contemplate his deal, Kakashi quickly took a sip of his coffee since she was distracted. She had never tried to take a look at his face intentionally — but being the nosy four year old that she unmistakably was, it attracted her eyes from time to time.

"I won't tell Kurenai. She wouldn't like to hear it anyway" Fuu wisely observed while Kakashi tried to hide his smirk. Sometimes even he found his ward's good intentions adorable.

"So I want to check if there are any changes in your chakra pathway system. Since we can't just examine the natural flow, I'll will try to set up a normal circulation with my own chakra."

Fuu nodded slowly, her ponytail bouncing energetically before she moved closer.

"You only need to outstretch your hands… yes, just like that." Carefully Kakashi took them in his own — rough fingers engulfing her small ones before his eye scanned the notes on the table behind her for one last time. "My chakra has other properties than Sato's. But the again, it shouldn't make that much of a difference."

Fuu blushed at the touch, trying to hide how much she savored the contact.

"What is your chakra like?"

"My natural affinity is lightening" Kakashi explained and was surprised to find Fuu brightening with excitement. He could literally spot the stars in her sparkling eyes. "What? You actually like it?"

"I love lightening! It's just like a tree growing out from the clouds — only that it's white and it disappears… before it reappears — but it's soo beautiful!"

Unable to push away the tender feeling that spread inside his chest, Kakashi raised a brow at his ward, "So you're telling me that you're not afraid of thunder?"

"Uh-uh" Fuu decidedly shook her head, her voice now showing hints of pride. "I like how it rumbles! It sounds a bit like a hungry tummy — a huuuuge one!"

Realizing not for the first time that the girl possessed quite the vivid imagination, Kakashi wondered just where she had picked up her ideas. Maybe the other servants had been too busy to find the time to explain such phenomenons to her — allowing her curious mind to make things up on its own.

Squeezing Fuu's hands once to calm her down, Kakashi leant towards her. "Well, then let's get started."

Bobbing her head with excitement, Fuu finally turned her attention back to their joined hands.

It wasn't long until she felt the first shock as a buzzing warmth travelled through her body. It felt like fingers that quickly yet at the same time gently traced her arms, leaving a trail of goose bumps. It was not that different from Kurenai teasing her by blowing against her neck, so Fuu wasn't able to stifle her giggle.

Kakashi who had been careful not to stress her small frame, allowed for more chakra to speed up the circulation inside his ward's body. All this while monitoring the stream with his Sharingan.

To be honest, the copy ninja did not expect to find anything unusual. This was also part of the standard hospital procedure, so many medics had already worked with their chakra on the girl. Kakashi wanted to confirm that there were no aftereffects from her passing out yesterday, as well as to explore a bit for himself.

It was a completely new experience for him. Normally even he couldn't roam another system so freely without meeting opposition. So with time and Fuu's calm heartbeat, Kakashi grew bolder. Small shocks, not strong enough to interfere the neural network, allowed him to specifically energize the gates.

With his unanswered questions in mind, the copy ninja returned to the point of yesterday's discovery.

Kaimon - The Gate of Opening.

Careful not to trigger the safeguard mechanism yet again, Kakashi tried to analyze the surrounding chakra points. Somehow it was odd that despite Fuu's inability to address them, they were in good shape and quickly adjusted to his chakra.

With his focus on the flow of energy, Kakashi felt like being awakened from a deep slumber as Fuu's fingers twitched inside his grasp. A physical experience after long minutes of spiritual exploring only heightened his senses and so the small movement resembled a slap on his palm, making him loose his focus for only a second.

Though this was all it took for the gathered chakra to seep inside Fuu's system.

And then it came back. All at once.

The next thing the jonin knew was that he was flung back — first hitting the backrest of the couch before rudely meeting the floorboards behind the piece of furniture.

Strange lights twinkled behind his closed eyelids as the shinobi lay face down on the hard floor, trying to regain his senses. For a confusing moment his mind tried to find the most ridiculous explanations before it settled for the possibility of a collision with a concrete wall at full speed.

'That's not it…' Kakashi thought when finally the more rational side of his brain bounced back.

Carefully he sat up to calm the nauseous feeling, as well as to check that he wasn't hurt. His whole body felt like it had gone to sleep and now there was this near painful feeling of reawakening his limbs.

"Ha-hick-Hatake-sama?"

"I am fine…" the copy ninja wheezed as he quickly stood up to make his way over to his ward. The funny feeling in his stomach settled however when he saw that she was not visibly hurt. "You okay, Fuu?"

"I-hick thi-hick so." The girl looked as if she had just placed her finger inside an electrical plug; her hair a wild crackling mess while the hiccups shook her whole body. "But I don't-hick think we should-hick try that… again, Hata-hick-ke-sama."

It was then that Kakashi realized with a jolt that this had been Fuu's own doing. How else could his own chakra backfire and send him flying?

Four year old girl with no chakra: 1

Trained shinobi with a Sharingan, member of ANBU with years of experience: 0

"Hick."

— 3 days to go —

"I am sorry" was all Kakashi could say as the red eyes of the kunoichi settled upon him with the weight of her unexpressed discontent. Deep down, they both knew that a mere sorry wouldn't change the fact that this was definitely bad timing.

"Why now?" Kurenai finally questioned, her voice the perfect addition to her scrunched up face that showed the lines of a pillow and the impression of something with buttons — the TV remote probably. "The Hokage knows that there's a good reason for you to stay here! Gee, it's kinda rude to imply that you're the only capable shinobi in this village! It's not like that old man could have sent someone else… "

"I agree, though he has been kind enough to bend some rules so far."

Kurenai's sour expression hardened though she knew that he wouldn't go if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

The mission really had popped up at an inconvenient time but it was not like he had any say in this. If the council should become any more suspicious of Kakashi's involvement with Fuu, they surely would adopt other measures; aside from sending a retired shinobi for internal affairs.

"We both know that such an important mission could easily require you to add a few days on top. Days that Fuu doesn't have. I still can't believe that you haven't told me about this deadline earlier!"

Kakashi however only found a sigh in the back of his throat before he shouldered his backpack. There were many things he should have said and done, but it was too late now.

With a frown Kurenai leaned a little forward, "That's it? No goodbye for Fuu?"

"I don't want to wake her."

Grumbling something below her breath, Kurenai felt the need to point out, "Just now you had no problem wakin' me!"

"Well, doesn't that make you feel special" Kakashi returned unimpressed before raising a hand to scratch his neck. "Keep an eye on her for me, Kurenai. She starts to realize things way too quickly and I don't want her to be scared of something that I can still avert. The last couple of days have been a bit stressful for her, so-"

"Not only the last days, if I grasped enough of Asuma's angry mumbles about you degrading him to a housewife and how you left Fuu alone with the dogs" the kunoichi huffed with the unspoken promise that this discussion wasn't finished just yet. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she continued, "Anyway, I guess he was happy to spend some time with you. It's not like I can be your substitute when it's about… guy stuff. So, I'll let you off the hook for now concerning Fuu."

For a moment Kakashi contemplated wether he should tip Kurenai off that Gai had turned a harmless swing into a slingshot but decided to use this for future occasions.

"Thanks, Kurenai. Also… it's not your fault what happened. Somehow the burns and everything else is connected to this guardian spirit of Fuu's. This Futaba seems to be more of a real person than any of us could have imagined."

"Seriously? You're the last one I thought would believe that idea of Fuu's! … But I guess that it would indeed explain a few things."

Instantly Kakashi's eyes focused upon the frowning kunoichi. "What things?"

"It's just… have you looked inside her backpack?" Kurenai probed, unsure whether this would offend Kakashi. He too was a very private person but then again, him becoming a guardian did involve the special task to find out more about the former Uchiha servant. "Fuu told me that some of those things were presents from Futaba and I thought that maybe she had found them. They are nothing dangerous, maybe a little peculiar."

Kakashi turned with a sigh to look down the corridor of the building complex, his throat strangely dry, "I will have to look into that once I return. When Fuu wakes up… -"

"I'll tell her that her superhero guardian went to save the world again" Kurenai provided with a perfectly straight face and sing-song voice — well, except for the bright red square pattern that ran across her cheek that somehow ruined the image of her dry humor.

"Thanks" Kakashi murmured with a dip of his head. Raising his hand, a swirl of leaves appeared around him, "Sorry for waking you. I am sure the TV remote must have been very comfortable."

Blinking at the now empty space in front of her, Kurenai slowly raised her hand to feel the impression on her cheek.

"Jerk."

"Is Hatake-sama gone?"

"Yeah, he just left for his mission and won't be back 'till very, very late today, so how about you go to sleep? It's still quite early in the morning and we should be well rested to welcome him back. Girls need their beauty sleep!"

" …Will Hatake-sama be alright?"

"Sure. It's sometimes hard to believe but he's a grown man. With issues. Loooots and lots of issues. But one of his better points is that he tends to keep his word once you've finally gotten it out of him. Before you came around, I'd be ecstatic to receive a 'mah' or any variation of 'huh' for an answer."

"So he's not angry with me?"

"No! No, definitely not! Kakashi is not angry with you… he's just worried, just like we all are. It's probably his weird way of showing it."

"Is it about me, about those burns? I really don't know how I got those… I …"

"I know, just try not to… to make it happen again tonight?"

"Uhm, I will try my best?"

"Oh, come here you! If I cuddle you, you'll sooner suffocate than start burning."

Something about the coldness of the bathroom tiles was oddly soothing. For two hours now Futaba had been lying in the dark with her skin pressed against the smooth surface. She focused on her breathing; the way the hot air poured from her lips and fogged the floor.

In — and out…

If the fever wouldn't go down soon, she'd loose the fight. The fight against her fears as well as the poison in her system — not to mention the bite on her shoulder. After all this time it wasn't healing properly and somehow she knew that this wasn't even its final form. Surely Orochimaru had prepared something in advance and now it slowly tempting her to simply give in.

In — and out…

'I need a plan' she decided, lifting her head to change the cheek on the floor to cool the other side of her head.

In — and in — out…

"Think" she bit, ignoring the throbbing pain and exhaustion. "Can't think — Have to find a way — Have to protect — Fuu — Fuu... — Have to protect Fuu!"

Shivering Futaba formed a weakly fist as she felt the other heart calling out to hers for the second time this night.

Thump — Hungry — Thump — Dark — Thump-thump — Familiar and dangerous.

So Hiroko had finally joined the hunt that would eventually bring her down.

A silent tear ran over her numb cheek, travelled to the bridge of her nose and finally dripped onto the blue tiles, soon to be joined by a second one.

'I have no idea what to do. Help me' she called into the emptiness of her head.

Maybe the echo of her own words was only something her feverish mind produced; it was however painful. Pressing her hazy eyes shut, she stretched her limbs to dull her senses with the iciness.

'Fuu to safety. Have… to find… a… solution to-… morrow.'

In — and out…

'Something's wrong' Fuu decided while waiting for Kurenai to notice that the water inside the boiler had already cooled down; for the second time now.

Almost hesitantly the kunoichi reached out to press the button once again and this time she hurried to fill the boiling water into the pot that was already set up beside her.

With the first weight of worry settling into her stomach, Fuu lowered her eyes onto the shiny surface of the table. First Hatake-sama and now Kurenai — they were both acting differently. Although her guardian was better at hiding it, Fuu knew that something was bothering them greatly. Something that she was responsible for in one way or another.

They thought that she wouldn't notice the difference; the way something had changed about the looks they gave her. However it became more and more apparent that they didn't want her to find out what was going on, so Fuu smiled. Smiled whenever she caught them staring at her.

Because they liked her smile.

"The friend who is coming over is a little peculiar" Kurenai finally spoke up as she carried the tea pot to the table and started rearranging the tableware with restless fingers. Her red eyes lost their focus for a moment before they returned to meet Fuu's green orbs, "And when I say special, I am talking about her behavior. So, please don't take it too serious, okay?"

Fuu blinked a few times to digest the slight warning. "If she's a friend of yours, I am sure she's nice."

"Well yeah, we're not that close actually. It's more like we're comrades and since there aren't that many females in the higher ranks… we sometimes like to drink together. Tea, for example."

With the smile straining her face, Kurenai sincerely hoped to avert Fuu's suspicions.

"Is she friends with Hatake-sama too?" Fuu continued, just as determined on diverting Kurenai's thoughts from whatever made her nervous.

Putting some rice cakes on a plate, Kurenai hummed thoughtfully, "I guess they might have been on a mission or two. You have to know that she is a great kunoichi!"

As if on cue, someone knocked on the door, loudly so, and Fuu rose from her pillow to welcome their guest. She was still pretty exited to meet another kunoichi. In her mind she pictured the other woman to be like the usual Kurenai — gentle, beautiful and strong.

Before Fuu could however confirm any of these attributes, two hands grabbed her ticklish sides and yanked her off her feet.

"So you're the servant brat with the shady connections everyone's been talking about!" the new arrival greeted with a loud voice before starting to twirl the girl in the air to take a good look at her. "You sure do look pretty ordinary to me though…"

"…Welcome, Mitarashi-sama" Fuu finally found the breath to return as she blinked at the purple haired woman from upside down. With only shinobi around, Fuu was already used to being handled like this.

"No need to be so polite!" Anko laughed unconcerned as Kakashi's ward dangled in the air, while being held up by one foot. "Though it does certainly have a nice ring to it!"

"Come on in, Anko. I've prepared some tea and snacks" Kurenai's voice sounded from behind them. Fuu turned, still held up by her feet, to meet the apologetic smile of her caretaker. "Also, maybe you should let Fuu down, her face is turning quite an unhealthy shade of red."

"Tea sounds great!" Anko beamed and finally placed Fuu down, who took a few wobbly steps back before straightening the skirt of her blue dress. "I've been so busy that I've rarely found the time to enjoy some tea in peace! Also I am curious as to why you've invited me over today, Kurenai."

Guiding their guest over to the set table, all three of them settled down. Kurenai, still a little nervous, lifted the lid of the pot to check if the tea had had the proper amount of time to steep.

"I am glad that you could squeeze in some time" she finally said with earnest gratitude. "I appreciate it very much since I can only imagine how busy you must be."

Anko's pupil-less eyes settled first onto Kurenai's face and then wandered over to Fuu.

"How could I possibly reject your invitation? Especially after you've said that it was very urgent and nobody else would do? Also the part about it not being official made me cu-ri-ous" Anko all but purred the last word — as if to imply that she thought Kurenai to be too obedient to bend the rules.

"How about you make yourself comfortable on the couch, Fuu?" Kurenai quickly interjected and the girl hesitantly got onto her feet. "I've left you some cookies and hot chocolate with one of your picture books."

Watching Anko with wary green eyes, Fuu circled the table and disappeared in the direction of the couch; though not before shooting Kurenai another quick glance.

"I take it that it's got something to do with the kid then" Anko continued with a wide grin cracking her unusual serious demeanor. "I still can put two and two together. Showing her to me, giving me enough time to check on her files before the visit — at least the one's I got access to… Since you wanted me to come, it's something that only I would know off."

Carefully filling Anko's cup with tea, Kurenai frowned before she agreed, "You're … right."

"And you're uncomfortable asking" the purple haired kunoichi observed. Leaning forward, she picked up the fine porcelain with surprising care. "So why don't you explain to me how you've come up with the idea of the child being connected to my former sensei? She seems pretty boring to me, so why should he show an interest?"

While being both thankful and irritated for Anko figuring her out so quickly, Kurenai remained silent for a couple of seconds. For once Anko didn't push her any further.

Both caught up in their respective trail of thoughts, they watched the steam rising from their cups before the red eyed kunoichi swallowed around the lump in her throat.

"At first it was only something the Hokage mentioned but then there were suddenly so many questions… It wasn't until Fuu got very emotional and she mentioned someone. I think she called him by a … nickname."

"Nickname? You don't call him names if you want to continue breathing the same air, Kurenai. Especially when you're such a little pushover." Raising her cup to take the first tentative sip, Anko muttered, "So? What was it that she supposedly called him?"

"Snake man."

Maybe Kurenai should have waited for the other kunoichi to actually gulp down her tea…

… before she now spat it right back in her face.

"Hey kid, I heard that we might have a common… hm… let's call him an acquaintance. You mentioned a name to Kurenai and I wanted to verify it. So, who is… sna-... snake man?"

"SnaSnake man?"

"Don't make me say it again! I said… snake man. So! Who is he?!"

"I don't know any one by such a name. I am sorry, Mitarashi-sama."

"Ohh, so the little brat wants to see me mad! If that's-"

"Fuu-chan, it's alright to tell Anko! Don't you remember what you told me the last time you stayed over? You said something about him, this snake man and Futaba — that he found her useful…"

"Now, who the heck is this Futaba?!"

"It's her guardian spirit."

"Alright… As if assigning weird nicknames wasn't enough! Now it's a guardian spirit! Seriously, Kurenai! Don't you think she's just making all of this up? Not that you can't fix this with some proper-"

"I know. I know that it's… kind of hard to believe, but how about you show her? With a henge?"

"You don't get to ask for things like that as if it's as easy as flicking a finger! If that's what you believe then why don't you try yourself?"

"Because I can't, Anko. I wouldn't ask for this, if it was merely a hunch. Right now I need to know if Fuu knows him. And yes, I should have let you know beforehand but I feared that you wouldn't come…"

"Oh, I would have definitely ditched you! And now… give me one good reason why I shouldn't leave right now!"

"You're the only one who knows what it's like to always be linked to him. I can't even imagine what it must be like, but I know for sure that it's the last thing I want for Fuu."

"…"

"I am serious, Anko."

"This is complete bullshit! How can you even believe such a little … Grr, I can't believe I am doing this! — Henge no Jutsu! — So… Do you know this man, kid?"

" … I don't think so. Are you sure that the snake mister is wearing purple eyeshadow?"

"Ask me again and I'll give you a scaly and potentially poisonous hint why you might have been referring to him as snake man, brat! Now, think — real — hard! Look at me and tell me — do you know him?"

"O…Ooo- It's… ow!"

"What's wrong, Fuu?"

"My head, it hurts — I just … ouch!"

"Shh, it's okay, Fuu! I think we should better stop, Anko. I know it must have been — … Anko?"

"It's only one of the signs… however headaches could be a symptom of someone with altered memory. Especially if confronted with a link to the missing or hidden parts the brain will naturally try to connect the visual information with the respective memory — all while the blockade does its job. Hence the pain."

"…"

"I have no idea what he could have wanted with her. She's weak, she has no chakra though this could be his doing… But then again, why would he create a useless tool? If it were only for her knowledge, he might have as well killed her..."

"… so I was right? She does have a connection to Orochimaru?"

"As much as it shocks me that there's actually someone running around who calls that person by such a ridiculous name… it's possible."

"No way…"

"I know. Snake man… sounds like the name of a really awkward comic figure."

"...Kurenai, is something wrong with me? I am sorry for not remembering, I could try again if you want me too. I-"

"No! It's… nothing. Nothing's wrong with you, Fuu. Everything is going to be alright. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Kurenai... That girl has been blessed enough to forget everything and now they will make her remember. Nothing is going to be alright."

So, this was the first part of the monster I've been working on! I was really exited to introduce Anko since I love her character. Hopefully she doesn't seem too quick-tempered but I figured that she might have been still a little caught up in the whole affair with her former sensei. However I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Guest: So happy that you took the time to leave a review! :) Fuu's been unbelievable much fun to write and I always worry that she's drifting to extremes so I am glad that you find her adorable! At first she wasn't supposed to play such a big part but now I can't imagine things going on without her. So I guess she will stick around ;)

Thanks for your review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

BabySealLover: The first scene got me all emotional as well - maybe one of the reasons why the last chapter was still quite lighthearted. It's fun to show the small steps Kakashi takes in his guardianship for Fuu. Just like I definitely wanted him to realize that he could be a little jealous too - especially with Gai as the other party :)

After rereading the chapter I realized that I've been kind of trolling you - look they find out something... oh and it's more questions! I only hope that Sato's not adding too much of a puzzle... it's all piling up - I really need to start by providing answers!

So thanks for the review and I will try my best to update quickly! :)

NoBirdWithintheCage: Thanks so much for the compliment! I always wonder if I am able to word the images that pop up in my mind, so I am really happy!

Sato's part in all of this will be quiet an interesting one, once he let's others know. But first of all, Kakashi won't have the time to actually investigate with being under the pressure of dealing both with missions and Fuu. At some point he has stopped seeing her as one (though she originally was) and it won't be long until he will once again cling to that very fact, to put up a distance.

At this point I want to say: Wow! You're theories are amazingly detailed and it's pretty much in synchron to actual truth! The seal is indeed an important part of Fuu's system and soon there will be much more input. However the person who thought it up, also made room for some traps... Because, let's be honest! What's a huge seal with some more safeguard mechanisms! :D

Anyway, thanks for this incredible review and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!

/ ... / I will try my best to get the next part out this week! :) Thanks for the support - I can't even say how much I appreciate it!