Hello readers and welcome to the next chapter of this story. Course I really don't have much to say here (rare occasion) so I'll just get to what you really want to see today.

Chapter 87

=Naruto and Ino=

After leaving the hospital the two young adults walked around Konoha going to random shops as an impromptu date. So, currently Naruto was simply following along for the most part as Ino looked for the best deals and the newest fashion. Still while he wasn't that interested in shipping, he still was happy enough to do it to help destress Ino after the mental stress she was put through. All of a sudden though Ino turned around and stopped their momentum.

"Ok Naru-kun I think that's enough for today unless you want to go somewhere in particular." She told him with a small smile.

"Na, I'm good. Well I guess I'll see you later then." Naruto told her with a small shrug. He then began walking away only for Ino to grab his shoulder.

"Where do you think you are going?" Ino asked with a frown.

"You said we were done so I was gonna head home. I thought you said that was it for the day?" Naruto told her confused making her shake her head.

"You still don't know how a girl thinks do you Naruto?" Ino asked him amused.

"Hey! I am learning. Your 'girl code' is just a hell of a lot harder to learn then the most complicated jutsu I've got." Naruto told her with a small frown making her giggle.

"Yes, and men will likely never fully learn it…anyways I meant that I was done shopping there is no reason for our date to stop." Ino told him with her smile back.

"Well I guess lead the way Hana-chan!" Naruto told her making her smile grow a bit more. As she lead them in a completely new direction.

~Yamanaka compound~

Ino eventually led Naruto back to her clan where they quickly reached her house and reached her room. At this point Naruto quickly unsealed the clothes that he was holding for Ino and set the bags gently onto the floor.

"So, what did you want to do now?" Naruto asked Ino who looked a bit nervous.

"W-well I just figured we could talk about what I saw through out the day…but only if you are comfortable with that!" Ino tells him sitting on her bed.

"Huh, what did you want to know? I mean most of the clips of my memories you saw weren't really that important or anything. Besides you will prob get more information as we continue your training anyways."

"No…I wasn't talking about for me. I-I just wanted to see if you wanted to try to get some thoughts off your chest." Ino tells Naruto only to see a clearly confused blond in front of her.

*sigh* "This is so hard to get across." Ino mutters before refocusing. "The memories I saw made me realize just how bad your past was. Now I know you don't want to make anyone worry or show that it is affecting you but all of that trauma HAS to have caused some nasty mental wounds…something even I helped to create when I was young and didn't know your troubles." Ino starts remembering all the times she would help in bullying the blond simply because that was what everyone did. "Anyways I can't change the past or what stupid things I did but what I CAN do now is be someone you can talk to about your life if you want. I mean I have some training as a phycologist…and as your girlfriend I'm more than happy to lend a shoulder to cry on…I promise I won't tell anyone. Not even the other girls if you don't want me to." Ino tells him honestly. Afterall she saw clips of loads of the horrible things that went on in Naruto's life and could even sense what he was feeling at the times. And while she knew that Naruto somehow was strong enough to remain sane and could pass his mental checks but there had to be some scars from his life. So, she hoped that she could help him release some of scars and stress through talking in private. After all she completely meant it when she said their talk would be in private. For once no 'juicy' information would ever pass through her lips…as least about this. Course Naruto just stood there scratching the back of his head a bit.

"Thanks Ino-chan but I'm fine really. I am happy with all of you girls around me all the time now." Naruto told her.

"I know but I'm not talking about now. I am talking about your past. Just let me try and help you at come to terms with at least some of it rather than bottling it up."

"…thanks Ino-chan." Naruto told her actually stunned as various memories flashed through his mind. Memories that he thought he defeated ages ago. "I-I promise that I am over the past…but I suppose if it will make you feel a bit better about it then I will talk to you for a bit." Naruto told her. For while he truly felt that he has moved past the past it did leave scars on his heart that would never fully heal. But he was strong enough to force those thoughts to not affect his current life. But if Ino truly wanted to hear some of it and wouldn't take no for an answer…well it wouldn't be too bad to talk about it for a while.

AN: (I am sorry I have so many ANs recently but this is some heavier stuff) I am going of the fact that people can go through truly horrible things and still come out as strong and 'normal' civilians after a while. Though this is NOT to say that it is EVER smart to make light of depression and trauma. It just is that people can recover when they are able to get the strength to do so and talking to someone is a method to try and come to terms with stuff

After deciding to talk for a while Naruto walked over to Ino's bed and sat down beside her before starting to tell her about the various memories that came in his head. Now Naruto wasn't sure just how long he was talking for but at some point Ino gently grabbed him and pulled his head onto her lap. She then gently played with his hair as he talked; something that he found rather relaxing after the surprise factor wore off. Still he made sure to not go into any memory that he thought was too bad not because he was scared of the memory but rather to keep Ino from having to know about it…at least until she possibly dug it out of his mind through her training. Course he found his trip through his past stopped when Ino did the best hug se could with Naruto in her lap with tears in her eyes.

"Oh I am sorry Naruto-kun. I had no idea you had this many troubles growing up…and to think that I was one of the people causing some of it." Ino told him truly feeling bad. Though Naruto quickly got up and gave his fellow blond a proper hug.

"Shh its okay Ino-chan. Like I told you these things are all in the past. It doesn't matter anymore" Naruto told her gently.

"B-but all of that pain…and all I did was pick on you." She told him still crying remembering all the times she bullied him.

"And you were a child that had no idea what was going on. Don't worry Ino-chan I have already forgiven you. After all how would you have ever known about what was going on." Naruto told her gently rubbing her back.

"How ironic that this started as Ino trying to comfort me; only for me to end up having to comfort her." Naruto thought a bit amused but truly didn't mind. After all he felt that he got a decent bit closer to his mind walking girlfriend. And if the only price he had to pay is memories he forces himself to not care about then it was well worth it.

"Ok…but I am going to make it up to you." Ino told him determined only getting an amused smirk in return and a quick kiss.

"Just having a beauty like you willing to be with me is more than enough to repay me." Naruto told her making the girl blush.

"Oh? Since when have you been such a smooth talker?" Ino asks after trying to calm herself for a second. "Should we worry about you trying to get more girls to join your harem?" She asked teasingly.

"Nope." Naruto told her making sure he was sitting right next before gently putting a hand on her cheek. "I just had to learn so I could out tease the teaser." He told her before leaning in so his head was just past hers. "So how am I doing Ino-chan?" Naruto asked quietly making sure to have his breath hit her and was happy to notice the shivers it created.

"Oh why does he have to do that. His breath is sending shivers down my spine…wait what did he say?" Ino thought before going through what Naruto actually said. "Oh really? Trying to tease me huh? Well, I guess I will have to up the game if he wants to play dirty." Ino thought feeling competitive. She then glanced at her boyfriend before having her eyes focus on one part. "perfect" Ino thought with a smirk and reached down and gently grabbed at Naruto's crotch.

!Lime warning!

"W-what are you doing?" Naruto asked stunned as he felt Ino fondle his package through his pants.

"Hmm? So you can play the game now but can't hang with the pros huh?" Ino asked with a cocky smirk as she continued what she was doing. Course Naruto quickly realized the challenge and found himself getting competitive just like his fellow blond.

"Oh no I am more than ready. I am just surprised that you started so boldly." Naruto told her with a smirk of his own and quickly wrapped his hands around the girl in an awkward hug as his hand quickly went south and began to massage her butt. "But I am more than happy to show you just who is the pro and the newbie now." He told her happily as she let out a soft moan. Course Ino was far from done herself and pressed herself onto him making sure her breasts were compressed onto him. Now Naruto did blush a bit from this but Ino quickly moved back making him surprised.

"Sorry but this is getting in the way of our fun don't you think?" Ino asks as she quickly reaches under her shirt and takes off her bra without ever taking her shirt off. She then pulls it out from under her shirt slowly making sure Naruto's attention stayed right on the piece of clothing right until she threw it to the side. She then pressed herself back on Naruto. "There now we can get so much closer to each other." Ino tells him with a sultry smile as she took great pleasure seeing Naruto's face go even more red. He could only picture the breasts hidden only under the fabric of her shirt as he swore, he felt them as if the shirt was not even there. But he refused to lose now.

With that in mind he pushed Ino away from himself for just long enough to both remove his shirt and to flip Ino so that she was now facing away from him while sitting in his lap.

"Indeed, it is Ino-chan. Let's put this freedom to proper use shall we." Naruto told her huskily and reached around to grabbed her clothed breast making the girl tense up in surprise for only a minute before she relaxed and enjoyed her boyfriends fondling.

"Hmm Naru-kun you are rather good at this. I guess Hinata has been giving you a lot of training." Ino admitted enjoying her 'massage'.

"Her and some of the other girls" Naruto admitted.

"Other girls huh? That better be your other girlfriends and not some random woman." Ino warned but didn't truly have any malice in her voice.

"Heh, I wouldn't ever think about doing that to you girls." Naruto told her honestly snuggling his head into her neck as he momentarily stopped his hands to give her a hug.

"Oh this boy…he use to blush and sputter if anything perverse happened or if someone flirted with him. Now he has become a man that is capable of dishing it out as much as we give to him." Ino thinks remembering the times when she saw Naruto when he was younger and in the early time of their relationship. After all even if she was mean to him she still practiced her flirting/teasing skill with most boys around her age after she realized what it actually meant. After all what kind of popularity queen didn't know how to control boys as they wanted…course she was well past that part of her life. Course he mindset quickly was brought back to the situation at hand when Naruto decided to restart his ministrations.

"Umm, he truly does know how to use his hands." Feeling the foreplay truly work on her. "I-I think it's time." Ino admitted to herself with a blush on her face. The competition and previous talk long since forgotten as she listened to her body more and more. With that in mind she quickly got off the bed much to the confusion of her boyfriend.

! Lemon Warning (and lime ending)!

Ino made sure to face Naruto and quickly discarded the rest of her clothes leaving herself bare in front of him.

"I think my breasts have had enough attention but another area needs some appreciation" Ino tells Naruto with her blush still clear on her face.

"A-are you sure?" Naruto asked easily knowing what she meant and got a nod from Ino as she sat down next to him. Course hearing this Naruto wasted no time getting his clothes off as Ino laid down looking rather shy for once. Though he noticed that her attention seemed focused on his dick now that it was released from its cloth jail. But rather than him giving it any attention he got back on the bed himself and gently began to tease Ino's vagina getting a few light mewls from the girl.

"…please no more teasing Naru-kun" Ino begged making him pause and look at her face.

"Are you sure Ino-chan?" Naruto asked serious.

"…yes..just be gentle." Ino begs Naruto who nods. He then lines his cock up with her pussy he then gently pushed himself into her a little bit before sheathing himself completely inside of her in one thrust. Something that made Ino jump underneath him

"Ah!" Ino cried out with a pained look on her face something that panicked Naruto but didn't move other than looking at her in confusion and worry. Though his confusion quickly was exchanged with surprise when he noticed a liquid flowing from her pussy which a quick glance showed to be blood.

"Y-you were a virgin! I-I am sorry Ino-chan." Naruto told her in utter shock. Thankfully Ino seemed to be recovering from her pain a fair bit.

"I-I just never found someone special to take it from me until you." Ino told him shyly clearly a bit embarrassed.

"I-I'm sorry Ino…I just assumed." Naruto told her feeling bad that he didn't even consider this a fact.

"It's ok…I know how I acted and I truly wanted to be one of the cool kids until I got serious with my career…but I just couldn't bring myself to go this far just to be one of the cool kids. After all I've always been told its something that you only should give to someone special to you." Ino tells Naruto honestly making Naruto feel his heart practically skip a beat as he saw how cute she was acting shy.

"J-just tell me when you are ok." Naruto told her blushing a bit himself but made sure he didn't move his lower parts at all. Eventually she nodded her head and Naruto gently began to pump into her. Naruto then began to pick up the pace when Ino seemed ok with him doing so.

Soon enough he was happily watching as Ino squirmed around underneath him as he continued to hammer into her.

"Oh, Oh god Naruto!" Ino called out moaning happily as she felt her insides tingle like never before. "I-it's good. It's so good." Ino added making Naruto only pick up his pace even more.

To Naruto Ino's moans and words were music to his ears as he focused on making her feel as good as possible. Soon enough his actions showed results as Ino's squirming became even stronger as he felt her clam down on him tightly as she came.

After he felt this, he stopped and simply watched happily as Ino felt her first orgasm with a load moan. Finally after her high finished Ino panted with a blush on her face.

"Wow." Ino muttered not expecting sex to feel THAT good even with all that she knew and heard of. "Wow this is what I have been missing!" Ino thought truly understanding how some girls got addicted to the feeling but refocused on Naruto. "…mother was right though. It is still very worth it to share this moment with someone I care for…but speaking of which there is a task I refuse to ignore….its the least I can do." Ino thinks with her mind feeling a decent bit clearer through the lust he felt.

With that in mind Ino made her move and watched happily as Naruto was surprised to be pushed down onto the bed.

"I think its only fair if I return the favor." Ino tells Naruto with a sultry smile as she sat on Naruto with his tool still deep inside of her.

"Y-you don't have to" Naruto muttered still surprised at how bold Ino was being. But Ino ignored him in favor of doing her best to keep a rather fast pace even as she felt her limbs going numb in pleasure every now and then. Course being less experienced than Naruto she found her next orgasm quickly arriving.
"Oh god!" Ino called out stopping her ministrations as her back arched as her orgasm made her lose focus in anything else. Feeling this Naruto couldn't help but groan in pleasure as he couldn't help but place his hands on her hips and restart his thrusts making Ino moan lustfully as she felt him even through her orgasm.

"N-no I was supposed to be taking care of you." Ino groaned after her orgasm wore off. She then tried to pull his hands off her waist but failed as he was determined to help her reach her goal…and he would be lying if he didn't have the desperate desire for release after all of this time. Not to mention he was rather enjoying the expressions and motions his girlfriend had as he pumped into her. Still Ino finally decided to work with him instead of continuing to fail to take over. So, she tried her best to meet his thrusts and grind on him when he took a break.

"Ah! Ino-chan!" Naruto groaned after a few minutes making her smile as she continued to grind on his cock.

"Oh getting close are we? Well just let it all out. Your loving girlfriend will take care off all that pent up lust for you." Ino tells him through groans happy that she was so close to her goal. Course what she didn't expect was for Naruto to increase his pace even further as he groaned in pleasure.

"Wa-ah-wait! S-slow -ah- down!" Ino groaned out but was ignored as Naruto tried desperately to reach his release. Soon this pace became too much for Ino who quickly clamped own on Naruto yet again as her orgasm clouded her mind yet again. But this clamp down was enough to push Naruto over the edge as he did one last thrust into Ino before releasing deep within her.

"Ah fuck Ino!" Naruto called out feeling his orgasm feel even better with her spasms around him. After a few seconds of simply being frozen both of them came down from their highs and Ino tiredly fell onto Naruto's chest.

"Haa, Haa, that was amazing." Ino told Naruto still out of breath but happy that she felt him orgasm finally. "I am happy we got to his release but he is still hard in me!... I am almost glad there is more girls. I don't think I'd ever be able to keep up pace with him…even if the girls say that they usually out last their lovers." Ino thinks remembering the various conversations she has heard/been a part of. Course she quickly pushed those thoughts away and instead simply enjoyed the warmth and love she felt from her current situation. Something that she found quickly lulling her to sleep. Something Naruto notices rather quickly.

"Heh, she looks cute even when she is sleeping." Naruto states happily pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. He was a bit out of breath but being much more experienced was a lot better off then Ino. Still he didn't try to push her any farther and simply enjoyed the feeling and sight of his sleeping girlfriend even as he felt his 'lower brain' tempt him to use the location it found itself.

!Lemon end!

Naruto didn't know how long he laid there simply looking at his sleeping girlfriend but he was quickly brought back to reality when he heard a knock at the door causing him to practically jump out of his skin.

"Ino honey are you in?" Naruto heard a call from the other side of the door and froze up truly not knowing what to do in this predicament. He was stuck underneath his sound a sleep girlfriend and even if he moved her Ino's mother surely would hear the commotion being a trained kunoichi herself. So, he simply did nothing and hoped for the best…only to have his hopes dashed as the door knob began to move. Sadly before he could react the door was opened wide showing Ino's mother who quickly gained a surprised expression when she saw the situation her daughter was in.

"Oh, so you guys finally reached that stage." Ino's mother muttered seeming a bit happy after seeing the happy look on her daughter's face. Course she didn't have too long to think about how to react herself seeing as her husband was coming up to her as well.

"Honey was Ino in her room th-" Inoichi began before looking into the room himself. He then slowly went from surprise to embarrassment and finally to rage as he directed his ki at Naruto.

"How dare you! I let you guys comfort each other but THIS is not what I meant!" Inoichi yelled drawing a kunai. Something that Naruto saw as his sign to leave and as gently as he could pushed the now waking Ino onto the bed as he got up and fled as fast as he could with only the blanket, he quickly grabbed to cover himself.

"Get back here!" Inoichi yelled quickly chasing after Naruto leaving the two women back at the clan compound.

"mmmhh, what is going on Naru-kun" Ino asked confused rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she sat up.

"Well hon Naruto is currently trying to not be killed by your dad….and you should cover yourself up…I will talk to you in the living room." Her mother told her making Ino look at her in confusion before looking down.

"AH!" Ino quickly yelled out realizing her mother saw her not only completely nude but could see the mess her and Naruto created both on her and on the bed.

+15 minutes later+

After getting over her embarrassment Ino quickly took a shower to clean herself off and got dressed in a fresh set of clothes before finally meeting her mother in the living room. Said woman was calmy drinking some tea as she sat on the couch. But seeing her daughter she motioned over to the seat next to her.

"I-I am sorry you had to see that." Ino muttered not finding the will to look at her.

"Does he make you happy?" Ino's mother calmly asks forcing Ino to look at her surprised.

"H-he does." Ino eventually muttered.

"Good….then I wish you both the best in your relationship if it is that serious for you. But next time you may want to be mindful of your father's sanity and take your relationship elsewhere." She told Ino only to get a wide-eyed stare.

"W-what?" Ino asked surprised.

"Did you think I was going to be mad at you or something?" she asked getting a nod in return. "Hon I told you that it was something precious to only be given to someone special…if you found that special person then I am happy for you." She explained then takes a sip of her tea. "You are far from a young girl anymore and are a kunoichi anyways. It was only a matter of time before you made adult decisions…but I am happy that you kept it as something special. You will always remember it after all" she tells Ino and gets a hug in return.

"I was serious about being mindful of your father though…. he still thinks of you as his little baby girl so I don't think him and Naruto will get along much. Though I do wonder just how far they went." Ino's mother told her honestly getting a small laugh from Ino.

"Knowing Naruto-kun he is probably hidden away somewhere dad can't find….but I promise I will keep daddy's mental health in mind for the future." Ino tells her feeling a lot better now. "…but I do have one question for you mom?" Ino asks getting a questioning look from her.

"How am I an only child? After one experience I know it's a meal I want to do quite often." Ino tells her only partially joking.

*sigh* "Because actually raising the kids is a lot less fun. Now go clean your room before your dad gets back." Her mother told her letting Ino go leaving her all alone in the room.

"Honestly that girl…makes me almost glad that we never got lucky enough for another child. But I better get ready to calm Inoichi-kun down…even if he did get some anger out I am sure he still is going to be sore about this for a while." Ino's mother mutters to herself. For while she wasn't too happy about seeing her daughter in that predicament either she at least understood that she was an adult now…something that her dad would find very difficult. For she was sure that just like her own father did to her; Ino will always be daddy's little girl.

~Konoha alleyway~

Inoichi was looking through each and every corner of the alley desperate to find any sign of the blond he was hunting. They traveled half way across the village before he lost sight of Naruto for but one second and the young man disappeared from his sight. BUT he knew he saw the tail end of movement going this way and this alley just happened to be a dead end unless you went to the rooftops. So, he had to make sure he took his time and didn't let his prey escape from just before his fingers.

"Inoichi-sama is there an issue" a voice called out from the end of the alley making him quickly turn to the voice to see an ANBU member.

"Just a family issue. I am looking for a rat that escaped the house." Inoichi told him calmly. For while the ANBU protected the village and upheld the law he had some sway seeing as he was a council member. Course if he abused this too much Tsunade would have his head seeing as the ANBU tells her everything. BUT he thinks she would find this hunt more than acceptable to be going on as long as he didn't get anyone else involved or cause too much damage. "If Tsunade-sama wishes I will explain it to her in the morning." He tells the ANBU calmly. "Even though this is one thing I don't want to have to remember by telling someone." He mentally added

"Ok…just keep the village out of your squabbles." The anbu tells him after thinking for a few seconds. Afterall if Inoichi was dumb enough to cause too much trouble after being caught already then, he truly deserved the punishment he received. And overall, he hadn't done anything against their laws just yet.

"I will keep that in mind Anbu-san. Thank you." Inoichi tells him and watches the member disappear. He then continued his search until he was sure that his eyes checked everything in the area and even looked through the various containers that it held.

"Tsk that damn brat got away…but I'll get him eventually." Inoichi mutters after a while finally giving up and began his journey home.

+ten minutes later+

After waiting a decent while the garbage in a dumster began to move showing Naruto who was hidden inside.

"Damn guy was crazy. Thank kami he missed me when he stabbed through the trash." Naruto grumbled getting out of the trash with a look of displeasure. He then spent a minute shaking off as much of the garbage that stuck to him as he could and took the piece of paper off of his neck.

"Gotta thank the pervy sage for helping me with seals. This chakra seal very well could have been one of the major reasons he didn't get caught. After all he fully expected Inoichi to have been looking for any single whisp of chakra in the area. Something that only this seal helped him from happening. He then quickly pulled out a basic set of clothes from one of his seals and walked home. Course he made sure to keep an eye on his surroundings just in case Inoichi was still hunting.

Thankfully he made it home without an event and closed the door with a heavy sigh.

"Rough day Naruto-sama?" Haku asked walking into the living room after doing who knows what.

"Ya you could say that." Naruto mutters then noticed Haku scrunch her nose up in disgust even though she clearly tried to hide her disgust. *sigh* "Don't worry I am taking a shower." Naruto told her walking into the bathroom. He then quickly took off the clothes that he put on and threw them to the shower's floor. And rather than try to wash the smell out of them he used a basic fire jutsu to incinerate them to ash before entering the shower himself. He then felt his nerves calm as the water not only washed away the ash and filth but gave heat that pierced through his muscles.

"I want him to be happy seeing as I am hopefully going to be spending my life with Ino-chan…but man I REALLY don't know what to do to salvage this situation." Naruto thinks with another heavy sigh. For the last thing he wanted to do was make Ino pick between him and her father.

_Inoichi_

After reaching home he quickly met with his wife who saw his unhappy face.

"I take it he got away honey?" she asked as he got close.

"Yea that darn brat is slippery than a snake…but I will get him yet." Inoichi told her determined making her laugh a bit.

"Oh my you are so determined…but hon just remember Ino-chan is an adult and can make her own choices."

*sigh* "Yes honey but she is my baby girl…I just don't want her to grow up."

"I know but that baby girl is happy. I am not telling you to forgive and forget. I just want you to keep yourself open to the idea…for your daughter's sake."

"Fine…I'll try. It's just…she is my only girl." Inoichi mutters clearly upset only to have his wife put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know hun…but you know you we aren't too old to try and change that again." She told him making him look at her in surprised. Course she just smiled at him and walked away from the room.

"And now I see where she got it from." Inoichi mutters but still follows her anyways.

And here is where I am going to stop this. Now I am trying to get this story into a place where I think I can end this thing (and do have a decent idea of where I want it) but I want to keep the chapters decent enough. Don't worry though I don't want to go 'oh I gotta make it to 100' or anything like that (as I've said before) but I don't know just how many chapters there will be before it finishes and I am sorry that I talk about this quite a bit. I just do admit that I kind of want to work on my other stories. I have been miss treating them and whoever wanted to read through them.

Course I do want to do more work but it is just so hard to fit it in with the rest of the stuff I have going on. But I won't pester you with this. Just wanted to talk about the future…again. Anyways Ja Ne.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHT: Hey so I just managed to find what I based a good portion of my 'black blood' on (basically you could say it is what I kind of highjacked and mutated a bit). Course it is supposedly only an archive which to me means that it probably was discontinued…which saddens me. Anyways if you wish to give it a read it is "archived story blight" a RWBY and Naruto crossover. Now it may not be many peoples cup of tea but I found it rather good even if it was maybe discontinued. So, for all of ya I recommend possibly giving it a read. If its discontinued then so what its still decent…if its still going…well I'd be very happy. (Oh and if the actual writer of that story has some annoyance with my black blood being close to their idea (they without a doubt were first) then I'd happily talk to them and even give credit if wished (it's a bit too late for me to delete this so I'd prefer not to and would argue that I mutated it enough to not go that route hopefully)