Chapter 48
"People have gut feelings for a reason. Sometimes they're wrong, but it's always better safe than sorry."
Shikamaru frowned as he leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed as he let the various aromas and noises of the restaurant consume his senses. Dinnertime had rolled around and once again his team found themselves seated at a restaurant in tense silence, Sasuke brooding and Masaru too anxious to try to start any conversations. Most of their meals had been like this since he'd approved for Sakura to break away to follow Tsunade.
And that was the problem, wasn't it?
Tap, tap, tap.
He twitched slightly as he listened to the steady rhythm of tapping, and he peeked open a single eye. Masaru drummed his fingers along the wooden tabletop, his expression pinched with mild anxiety as he glanced at the clock. Shikamaru followed his glance silently, idly noting the time as six thirty-two. After a moment he sighed, the noise barely audible over the inane background chatter from the other patrons, and while Sasuke instantly directed a sharp look his way Masaru didn't seem to hear.
Right, he's partially deaf. Shikamaru had only learned that tidbit recently when Kabuto mentioned it before the first phase of the Chuunin Exams. Considering the man's recently revealed traitor status, it should probably be concerning he knew that when no one else in their graduating class knew. That thought could wait for another time though, and he raised his voice slightly to get Masaru's attention.
"Okay, I'll bite," he said, and Masaru's eyes darted his way in mild surprise. "What's got you so worked up?"
The cool aura surrounding Sasuke faltered briefly, his eyes sliding over to his cousin. Masaru hesitated, glancing at the clock one more time, before reaching into his pocket to pull out a folded piece of paper. Shikamaru arched an eyebrow as he spread it on the table, recognizing the bright colors instantly, while Sasuke's face instantly morphed into a scowl.
"That stupid flyer again?" he spat, and Masaru flinched slightly at the venom in his tone. He quickly shook it off though, turning to Shikamaru as his face firmed with resolve.
"According to this flyer, the poker tournament is scheduled to start at six," he informed him, using the matter-of-fact tone used to report to a superior. "It's now past six thirty." Shikamaru huffed softly, crossing his arms as he looked at him.
"Yeah, that's true," he drawled. "What about it?" Masaru frowned, glancing at Sasuke briefly before continuing.
"I ran into Sakura today." Sasuke scoffed loudly in annoyance, but Shikamaru held up a hand to signal for silence. The other boy's scowl deepened but he remained silent, and Shikamaru nodded at Masaru to continue. "She said she'd leave Tsunade and meet us at the inn before the tournament started, no matter what the outcome was. But..."
He trailed off, his brow furrowing. "But she didn't show up," Shikamaru finished for him, and Masaru nodded.
"We left fifteen minutes ago," Sasuke pointed out coolly. "If she did go back, she's probably there now and doesn't know where we went."
"But wouldn't they try to go to the tournament early?" Masaru argued. "I mean, yeah, it starts at six, but there's probably a registration period before then or something..." As the two Uchiha launched into a debate Shikamaru just frowned and closed his eyes, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table with his fingers cupped into a circle.
Theoretically, Sakura could be at the inn. Yesterday he'd sought out Sakura to make sure she would still return in time for their mission's main objective, because while the bandit hunt had been a ruse, the main objective—to identify and retrieve Mito's tessen—had been real. She'd confirmed she would return to the inn if she failed to convince Tsunade before the tournament started, and apparently she'd reaffirmed it to Masaru.
She could have just run a little late and missed them, or maybe she just wanted to avoid Sasuke a little longer. She could have even just stopped at a bakery to drown her woes in sugary desserts. Shikamaru could come up with a myriad of reasons for Sakura's current absence, all of them benign and plausible. But despite that, some voice in the back of his head told him something was wrong.
Maybe Masaru's paranoia was just rubbing off on him—or maybe his instincts had picked up on something he hadn't picked up on consciously.
His mind flickered back to training with Team Ten, cooling off after a vigorous sparring session while listening to one of Asuma's endless lectures.
"Shinobi must always trust their instincts," he'd told them. "There are many small warning signs that humans will unconsciously notice when something is wrong, even if we don't notice it consciously. In battle and hostile territory, listening to that instinct can mean the difference between life and death."
In the present, he could only think of one word to sum up his current gut feeling: troublesome. "We'll check the inn," he decided, opening his eyes. "If she's not there, we'll check the bar where the poker tournament is next." The Uchiha boys cut off their argument and turned to him, Sasuke's eyes narrowing.
"Now?"
"Yes, now," Shikamaru replied dryly, getting up. He slapped some ryo on the table to cover the food they'd ordered, adding, "Dinner can wait. The service here is ridiculously slow anyway." Sasuke still looked annoyed at the sudden change of plans, but he obediently got up along and followed Shikamaru to the door alongside a frowning Masaru.
"Do you think something happened?" he pressed, and Shikamaru shrugged.
"I'm not sure," he replied honestly. "But better safe than sorry." He hoped his gut feeling was wrong and he was just overreacting.
But when they arrived at the inn and found no sign of her, that prickling sense of unease only solidified. Even Sasuke seemed more unsettled now, his sullen aura fading to something more serious as he looked around the empty lobby while Shikamaru spoke to the innkeeper.
"Oh, that sweet pink-haired girl?" the elderly woman asked. "Why, no, I haven't seen her today. I suppose she's been chased off by that filthy, sinful boy." She directed a sour glare towards Sasuke, who returned it with a dark glower of his own. Masaru coughed and grabbed his arm, quickly dragging him out of the inn before he could launch a fireball at the bigoted woman while Shikamaru trailed behind.
"She's not there," Masaru said once they got outside. "What now?"
"She could just be distracted," Sasuke muttered, but even he sounded a bit uncertain now. Shikamaru sighed softly, massaging his forehead. All three of them apparently had that bad feeling now, and he didn't think it'd be wise to ignore that.
"Let's check the poker tournament."
Located in a wealthier district than the Three Sparrows Bar, the Kurushima Cardinal clearly catered to a more upscale clientele than the other bar. Two wooden statues shaped like the eponymous bird with red lacquer finishes flanked the doors, a simple sign proclaiming the bar's name in elegant calligraphy hanging above them. Even from a distance they could tell that the bar was busy, the windows glowing brightly with colorful banners strung up proclaiming the tournament's status.
Raucous laughter greeted them when they stepped through the doors, the room a few degrees warmer than the street from the body heat of all the people gathered in the tight space. Throngs of people crowded around the tables, the clinking of glasses mixing with the loud chatter.
Masaru winced slightly as he eyed the thick crowd, every hair rising on the back of his neck. His discomfort wasn't just from his usual social anxiety. Crowded spaces tended to set off every sense a shinobi had; they'd been trained to pick out any threat, and it would be all too easy for an assassin to hide within a crowd. He could tell Sasuke and Shikamaru felt on edge too, their postures stiff as they slowly walked inside. No one batted an eye at their presence despite being underage, probably because the building also housed an inn on the upper floors.
Shikamaru glanced back at them and gestured to his eyes, and it took a moment before Masaru realized he wanted them to activate their Sharingan. Obeying the silent command, he read Shikamaru's lips as the other boy spoke, his voice drowned out by the loud din surrounding them. "The crowd's too thick. Stick together and use your eyes to look for Sakura, Tsunade or the dark-haired woman."
Masaru and Sasuke nodded in tandem, surveying the room as discreetly as possible as they walked inside. Theoretically Sakura's bright pink hair should make it easy to spot her. Most of the patrons had darker hair, with a scattering of lighter shades of brown and blond. However, most of them also happened to be adults with large builds that could easily conceal a small thirteen-year-old girl's form.
Beyond that, several of them veered away from the usual earthy tones civilians wore in favor of flashy colors. Sunny yellow and sky blue and bright jade green jumped out at him from the crowds, some of the men wearing haori jackets clearly tailored to be flashy and eye-catching. Just looking at some of them hurt his eyes, the patterns containing clashing colors that strained the eye to see without any buffer between them. To a Sharingan user, whose eyes could pick out all sorts of minute details, the visual feedback felt almost overwhelming and painful.
Sasuke nudged his elbow, and when he turned to look his cousin gestured towards a nearby table with his head. A small crowd of spectators had gathered around it, blocking most of the table from view, but on the opposite side Masaru could see a familiar black-haired woman hovering with a dismayed expression, holding a pig with a pearl necklace. Shizune.
Exchanging looks with the others, Shikamaru nodded and they started to approach the table, all business. A loud chorus of cheers arose as something happened at the table, and as the group approached one man shot up while slamming his hands on the table. "No fuckin' way!" he hollered angrily. "You have to be cheating!"
A sharp bark of laughter resonated through the air, Tsunade's lips curled into a wry smirk as she leaned forward. "Oh, don't be such a sore loser," she taunted. "It's not my fault you have a shitty poker face."
"You're the fucking Legendary Loser!" the man roared indignantly. "You can't win a gamble to save your life!" One of the players next to him snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Forget it, Tetsuo," he drawled. "You lost. This is only round two. There's plenty of time for her to get knocked out before the final round." The man's face glowed bright red, but he turned and stomped away, roughly shoving his way past the trio of teens that had arrived behind him. The young shinobi exchanged wry looks as the dealer shuffled the card deck and started dealing a new hand.
Poker, unlike many card games, depended on skill as much as luck. Every turn the players would be dealt five cards, and could exchange some of the cards with the hope of getting a matching set before placing bets. However, one didn't need to have a good hand to win—what really mattered was making the other players think you had a good hand. If a player could bluff well enough, they could theoretically win with a hand of worthless cards.
Reading opponents' faces could be crucial to victory, and as a shinobi who dealt in life and death situations every day, Tsunade had an advantage over her civilian opponents.
Mostly.
Given her bad luck, it likely wouldn't take long for her to get eliminated from the tournament. From his current angle Masaru could see the man next to Tsunade had four consecutive cards in a single suit ranging from nine to the queen, making him grimace. The man was only one card off from a straight flush, and when he leaned to the side he could see Tsunade had a random spattering of cards spanning all four suits, ranging from two to six. It would take one hell of a bluff to win with that hand.
As he mulled over it a flicker of movement caught his eye, and he focused on another player. The man wore one of the more colorful jackets, bright gold with an eye-hurting indigo and teal trim around the sleeves. He winced and looked away, but just as he did he noticed something white peek out.
Oh?
Within seconds he'd moved to the man's side, gripping his wrist in a vice grip. A sudden hush fell over the table at his abrupt appearance, some of the crowd jumping in surprise. The man himself snapped his head to glare at Masaru, his face flaring red with anger as he opened his mouth, but stopped as he locked eyes with the Sharingan. Masaru smiled sweetly, fully aware of the dissonance the expression generated when paired with his eyes, and the man's face drained of color.
Across the table Tsunade remained unmoved by the sudden shift, slamming her hand on the table. "Brat, what the hell are you doing here?" she snarled, but Masaru ignored her and focused on the man.
"Hey, mister, what are you doing with that?" he asked brightly.
"W-w-what a-are you t-talkin' about?" the man stuttered, and Masaru's innocent smile widened as he tilted the man's hand at an angle. Several cards slipped out of his sleeves, falling to the table in a jumbled mess, the last one falling face-up to reveal a King of Spades.
Heavy silence descended on the table, the atmosphere growing much more tense as the man broke into a cold sweat. For his part, Masaru just laughed, bright and innocent like the child he should have been. "Mister, didn't your mom ever tell you cheating's bad?" he scolded cheerfully, releasing his grip and giving his head a light knock. "Shame on you!" He turned to the rest of the table, smile still in place, and added, "Cheating's bad, isn't it?"
Dead. Silence.
And then, chaos.
Angry shouting erupted as the crowd converged on the man, Masaru skipping back lightly to avoid the lunging mob's path. The rest of the bar patrons had turned their attention their way at this point, attracted by the noise and sudden murderous intent leaking from the crowd. As Masaru rejoined his teammates they offered him matching dull looks, silently conveying, 'Really?'
He just smiled and shrugged. So maybe he'd cast a light genjutsu with his Sharingan to ramp up their violent tendency. It wouldn't harm anyone (much).
The woman in charge of dealing looked rather miffed, sorting through the card deck with a noticeable scowl. Apparently she'd found more evidence of cheating because he saw her tell the other players, "Game's postponed for five minutes" before stalking towards the other tables, no doubt to talk about weeding out other cheaters. As she departed Tsunade surveyed the chaos with a droll look, and slowly turned to look at Masaru. He just smiled and waved at her. She didn't look impressed, and rose from the table to storm over.
Masaru took a step back as Tsunade came to a halt before them, the blonde woman crossing her arms with a severe scowl. "Alright, brats, what do you want?" she demanded briskly, her bronze eyes boring into them. Shikamaru sighed and offered Masaru a dull glare, as if silently blaming him for her bad mood, before turning to address the annoyed Sannin.
"We're looking for Sakura," he declared flatly, wasting no time. "Is she here?"
"No, she's not," Tsunade replied shortly. At this point Shizune appeared next to her, having skirted around the edges of the angry mob to join them.
"Sakura-chan?" she repeated, her eyebrows furrowing in concern. "She left around five to rejoin your team. She told me she would go straight to your inn. Did she not show up?" The group frowned, exchanging pointed looks. Obviously, Sakura had not returned to the inn. So either she got distracted, or...
The bad feeling in Masaru's stomach twisted further, and Sasuke's face hardened as he turned back to the women. "No, she didn't," he confirmed tightly.
"Where did you see her last?" Shikamaru questioned. His voice held no room for playing around, his face locked into an expression that was strictly business.
"Right outside," Shizune replied. Her frown deepened, and even Tonton seemed distressed, squirming in Shizune's arms to curl in on herself with a nervous-sounding squeal. "Tsunade-sama, maybe we should help look."
"The tournament's postponed, not canceled," Tsunade argued flatly. "The kid probably got lost." Masaru could see Sasuke flinch, color rising in his face as his eyes flickered red for just a brief second.
"Sasuke," he whispered, tugging his arm with a grimace. Unconscious activation of the Sharingan never meant well, but before he could try to coerce his cousin to leave Sasuke jerked forward and stalked towards Tsunade with a scowl.
"She wouldn't get lost!" he roared. "Sakura's not an idiot! It's a straight line from here to the place we're staying!"
"Hardly enough to stop some people I know," Tsunade snorted, rolling her eyes, and Sasuke ground his teeth.
"What the hell is your problem!?"
"My problem is that there are a bunch of brats trying to throw their lives away for no damn reason!"
"No reason?" Sasuke hissed, and this time his Sharingan did activate, the tomoe swirling violently. "No reason? You want a reason? There's a fucking monster out there who killed my entire family except for one person, and that one person is so stupid and crazy he can't even accept that his own mother was a fucking psycho who might have killed his own sister!"
Tense silence fell as Sasuke screamed the last words, and the air flew out of Masaru's chest. Maybe the other bar patrons had gone quiet, or maybe his hearing had just gone out. All he knew was that he heard nothing but his own breathing, the world seeming to still. Shizune stared at Sasuke in horrified shock, and even Tsunade looked taken aback by the claim. From the corner of his eye he could see Shikamaru eying him closely, as if silently asking, 'What are you going to do now?'
Swallowing, Masaru forced out the words, "That's enough." Sasuke whirled to glare at him, all six tomoe in his Sharingan still spinning wildly, but Masaru didn't flinch and just met his gaze dead on. His own Sharingan had faded, leaving his eyes an inky and dead-looking black. "I'm going to find Sakura. You can come look if you're done with your tantrum." He turned to Shizune and Tsunade, dipping into a bow. "Thank you for your assistance. We won't bother you any longer. And... sorry for your loss."
With that he turned and left, ignoring any looks the other bar goers may or may not be giving him. As soon as he stepped outside he took to the rooftops and just stood there, fingernails digging into his palms as his fists curled and his vision blurred. An overwhelming urge to just run consumed him, to just get away as far as possible, but he remained rooted to the roof, willing himself to calm down.
Running away would just cause problems. They already had one missing teammate, they didn't need another.
White fire seeped into the fringes of his vision, Akari's voice ringing in his ears. 'Sasuke knows nothing, don't listen to him. He's just upset and throwing a tantrum, that's all. You know the truth, and that's all that matters.'
He swallowed and nodded, rubbing at his eyes with his sleeve. "Do you know where Sakura is?" he whispered.
The only answer he got was silence.
Sasuke stood perfectly rigid as he stared at the door his cousin just exited, his pulse gradually slowing to a normal rate as his anger tapered away to something... deader. He expected to still feel angry, or frustrated, or something, but the rage that had been steadily building over the past few days had vanished. Three days' worth of frustration had fueled that outburst, and three weeks of increasing frustration had been what come out instead.
And now, he just felt empty.
Next to him Shikamaru huffed a loud sigh, grabbing his arm. "You and I need to talk, right now," he announced briskly, and Sasuke offered no objections as the other boy dragged him outside. No one said anything as they left, dozens of eyes just following them in silence. Sasuke didn't look at anyone, made no effort to look back at the woman he'd just unloaded three days' worth of mounting frustration on, he just stared at the red spiral on the back of Shikamaru's flak jacket with a clenched jaw.
Once outside Shikamaru dragged him to a nearby alley, probably the most private space they could find without going back to the inn. "What the hell was that?" he asked dryly, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. Sasuke just scowled, pointedly looking away.
"It's none of your business."
"It's my business when it gets in the way of the mission I'm leading," Shikamaru responded flatly, and sighed. "Look, I know some kind of shit when down back in the invasion. I don't know what happened, but I get the feeling you weren't planning to actually say that when you screamed at her back there."
Sasuke's scowl deepened but he said nothing, just crossed his arms. It pained him to admit it, but Shikamaru was right. When Tsunade had yelled about "brats throwing their lives away for no damn reason" he'd seen red and just reacted. He hadn't been thinking about what he said, the words just flew out of his mouth. He didn't even realize what he'd said for about two seconds, and when he did he'd been just as stunned as everyone else. But looking back, maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised.
He didn't understand.
He didn't understand why either of them cared so much.
Sakura about that shitty gambler who told her to quit being a ninja, or Masaru about his potentially murderous mother. They just blindly worshipped them, choosing to ignore the obvious flaws in both women and then getting mad at him whenever he tried to point them out. He still had no idea what was up with Tsunade, or if Ryoko really did kill Akari or not, but Sasuke had spent three weeks watching his cousin just blatantly ignore the possibility and go about his life like absolutely nothing happened during the invasion, and now Sakura was doing the same thing.
And now Sakura was missing and might be hurt or even dead for all they knew, all because she decided to ditch the mission to follow that shitty alcoholic gambler like a lost puppy.
His hands clenched tightly at his sides, his teeth grinding in frustration, but he still remained silent. When it became clear he had no intention of speaking Shikamaru finally sighed. "It's troublesome, but that's going to have to wait. Right now all signs point to Sakura being in trouble, so we need to focus on finding her first. You guys can sort out all this stuff later." Sasuke swallowed thickly, giving a tight nod as his eyes fell to the ground.
Footsteps lightly touched down next to them, and he glanced over to see Masaru walking their way. He didn't look at Sasuke, just stared at Shikamaru. "You're mission lead," he said flatly. "What now?" Shikamaru twitched and closed his eyes to think, clearly displeased with the way events had unfolded.
"We'll retrace Sakura's steps," he decided. "She'd probably head back to one of the inns from here, either ours or the one where Tsunade is staying, to get her stuff. If we're lucky, we can find traces or clues about what happened along the way."
"There's multiple routes though," Masaru pointed out sullenly.
"I know." Shikamaru sighed, and then peeked open one eye to peer at his right arm. "Did you get that?" Both Uchiha gave a start as a small beetle suddenly lifted from his arm, buzzing away into the night.
"Wh-what the hell?" Masaru stammered, while Sasuke eyed the departing insect critically. A kikaichu?
"I'll explain later," Shikamaru said curtly. "Right now, we need to focus on finding Sakura." Sasuke just stared at him evenly, his mind whirling with questions, but then he closed his mouth and nodded. He turned back to the street, ready to start the search, when he noticed Masaru suddenly pause and stare down at the stone path.
His eyes narrowed as he watched Masaru stride forward, the other boy's Sharingan flickering to life once more as he bent down and carefully picked something up. "Shikamaru, look," he called, hefting his hand for the other boy to see. A single strand of hair dangled from his fingers, rosy and pink in the fading sunlight. The other boys' eyes widened, recognizing it instantly. None of them had any doubt: it had to be Sakura's.
"So we know she was near here," Shikamaru said, mind visibly racing. "But that's not enough to start a search." Next to him Sasuke frowned, scanning the street with his own Sharingan active. He quickly jumped onto a nearby roof to get a better vantage point, only for his eyes to zero in on another strand near his feet almost immediately after landing. He picked it up as the others landed behind him, eyes narrowing at it.
"What the hell is going on?" he growled, the strand waving as his hand clenched into a fist and he turned to scan the other rooftops. Sure enough more strands of pink popped out at him, the light color sharply contrasting against the black and dark gray tiles.
"I take it you see more," Shikamaru commented dryly, and Masaru nodded tightly while Sasuke continued to glare at the nearby rooftops, making him sigh. "On a scale of one to ten, how likely do you think it was planted?"
"It was," Sasuke confirmed lowly, glaring at the hairs. Hair fell loose all the time—a fact Sasuke could loudly attest to after spending years dealing with Masaru's unruly mane—but Sakura's hair was short and well-maintained. Shedding multiple, singular strands of hair, in key locations where they'd stand out?
Everything about it screamed suspicious.
The others obviously reached the same the conclusion. "Then this is probably a trap. Figures." Shikamaru crossed his arms with a frown, his eyes pinching shut. "So our options are to follow it and walk into a probable ambush, or try to call for backup and risk Sakura's kidnappers getting impatient."
"Do we really have a choice?" Masaru questioned with a mild grimace.
"Not really," Shikamaru responded dryly, and opened his eyes. "Sasuke, Masaru, you two take lead. We're going slow." The others nodded and took off, following the trail of pink across the city. Questions could wait. Finding Sakura took precedence.
Sakura's eyes slowly fluttered open, her vision blurred by sleep. Her head swam, her vision blurred and hazy, and her cheek and entire left side was pressed against something flat and hard. Ugh... Did I fall sleep on the floor? Her eyes pinched shut in mild annoyance as a tingling sensation ran up her side at the smallest shift. Dang it, her entire left arm felt totally numb.
Groaning softly, she tried to shake off the pins and needles in her arm while rubbing the sleep from her eyes with her other hand. Why did she even fall asleep—Wait. Memories of the last few minutes suddenly rushed back—walking through town, jumping onto roofs to follow a man, and then getting kidnapped—and she jerked into an upright position with a startled gasp, uncaring of the numbness.
This room—she didn't recognize it at all. It seemed to be some kind of storage room or—or something, it was big and full of crates. Lit candles lined the wooden floor along the walls to provide light, casting a faint gold glow onto the generic unpainted grayish-brown walls. Dull light streamed through the windows, it had that weird transitional grayish-blue tint to it associated with early evening. Her heart picked up pace as she tried to quash her growing panic, scrambling to her feet.
Shit, was I kidnapped!? She'd been told about hostage situations back in the academy, but she had never expected to actually be in one. As she desperately struggled to recall the advice she'd been given for this scenario she heard a soft hum behind her and she froze, her blood running cold.
"Not gonna lie, you woke up faster than I expected."
Sakura's breath caught in her throat, the hairs on her arms standing on end. Slowly she turned her head, her eyes widening with growing horror.
Slowly the pink-haired girl shook her head, forcing herself to turn forward. "It couldn't be," she murmured under her breath as she resumed walking. "He wouldn't... Showing up here now, he has no reason."
(She should have listened.)
Sakura was going off a voice alone, a quiet mumbling voice, and that—that wasn't enough to establish any sort of link. "Nerves," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. "It's—it's just nerves, that's all.
(She should have trusted her instincts.)
"Y-you're... h-him..."
Seated behind her atop a random crate was the dark-haired man from Wave, his red mask eerily glowing in the flickering candlelight as he raised a hand in greeting.
"Hiya. Long time no see."
AT LONG LAST HE RETURNS! Did I ever mention how much I love this guy? He is so fun to write and it breaks my heart how little he appears in this story because he's so dang fun. Apparently he's branched out from Kakashi-napping to Sakura-napping, too. Good for him! (Bad for Sakura.)
So much is happening now. The arc is about to hit its climax, Sasuke's got issues, Masaru also has issues, and Shikamaru's probably the only person on this mission who's NOT emotionally screwed up in some way right now. I wonder if anyone can figure out what's going on?
Lately I've been pretty busy with college stuff, wisdom teeth removal recovery and also a bit of Stardew Valley for the Switch, so I haven't been able to respond to all the comments with PMs like I usually (try to) do. But on Bloody Oracle I've been thanking everyone and responding to the comments in the author's notes, with PMs to some of the more detailed ones, so I think I'll just start doing that here. I think the last chapter got the most reviews I've gotten in a while, which is seriously SO encouraging and amazing.
So thanks to Guest (Welcome from Bloody Oracle! And don't worry about Masaru, he's under pressure, but he's actually a LOT stronger than people realize, your post DID give me some stuff to think about though), Reebajee (thanks again for catching that typo last chapter!), Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf (depends on the shade I guess), dreaming of rocketships (thank you so much! Seriously, it's especially awesome to hear from the silent crowd. And all will become clear with time), May525 (kami dang it after reading this comment I realized Masaru x Fu have the perfect ship name: Firefly. Curse you for putting that in my head!), ManawaSasa (this made me laugh so hard for reasons I can't explain just yet), Guest (did you say you like cliffhangers? Enjoy this one), another Guest (who says Masaru isn't already dark?), and TheSupevict (welcome to the joys of being up to date! I aim to update every other Thursday).
Thanks again for all the comments! Also, on the note of the poll: Purple is in the lead across both sites, 7 to 3. So that's one detail settled. So, unrelated question to sate my curiosity: any guesses on our Friendly Kidnapper's intentions THIS time?
