The month had passed too slowly for Sakura's liking but it had been enough time for things to go back to normal. Tsunade had cut back on her missions for the past few weeks and as a result she had a lot more down time than she was used to.

It was refreshing, really, to be able to finish some of her personal projects so fast. As a genjutsu type, working with that particular type of jutsu was always rewarding and the intricacies of the work kept Sakura on her toes. It had been nice to be able to sit down and read a new book or practice a new jutsu.

The seal on her forehead was coming along nicely too. Not that Sakura could actually predict how long it would take to perfect it, but she felt it was going great so far. It was always exciting, having something of that magnitude to look forward to.

Having more down time for Sakura meant she had more time to train, however, and she had used every second available to further her abilities. There was only so much she could learn by books and training with her clone, so the past month had been especially dedicated to meeting up with her friends at the training grounds.

During the day she would hang out with Tenten and Lee if they were in the village and when the sun began to set, she would meet Genma at the training grounds behind her house.

Their training had taken a weird turn lately. Instead of giving some pointers on her tantou work, he had actually started giving full out lessons and they were always on the most random of things. Some nights, he blindfolded her like Tsunade had taken to doing and proceeded to attack her from all angles in every possible way.

He taught her the best ways to infiltrate a place during the night if she needed to and how to kill someone with only her hands while still making it look like an accident. Genma guided her through the basics of blending in a crowd and even how to properly seduce a man that couldn't be seduced.

Sakura had taken all of these lessons to heart, confused as to why he was teaching her those specific things but also unable to be anything less than excited about learning new things.

Everyday life had definitely fallen back into an easy routine of training, studying, occasionally meeting friends and ignoring and being ignored by the Copy Ninja.

Ever since that night, something had changed between them. Like a barrier had been broken, some kind of line blurred.

Hatake Kakashi had always been in her head this impossible figure, up high in a pedestal of aloofness and fame sectioned off by a jounin sensei yellow tape but that night had changed her perspective of things.

He was a man. A dangerous, broken, genius of a man but still just a man.

He was just a man that didn't seem to have liked at all the fact that she had seen him break down in the privacy of his apartment, if how he was avoiding her was any indication. But then again, not seeing Kakashi had been the norm every since… ever since Naruto left them.

Sakura reasoned with herself that he was always away on a mission, barely touching his feet on Konoha's ground for more than a few days at a time. Still, it was hard not to notice how he always seemed to be just about ready to leave whenever she arrived somewhere.

"Can you forge my signature for these documents?" Tsunade-shishou slid a pile of paperwork towards her end of the table without looking up from her own pile. "Give them to Shizune when you're done."

Sakura grumbled but did as she was told, briefly checking over the papers as she went. Most of them were ANBU reports that were classified, for the Hokage's eyes only.

That was something else that had changed during the past month. Ever since Tsunade asked her to heal Kakashi's team it seemed she had given up on acting like Sakura was only a chuunin and was now treating her like she stood on the same step as Shizune. Someone she trusted completely with basically everything that the village had to hide.

Sakura's chest warmed at the realization but it brought dread with it as well. She had never wanted so much responsibility as she was getting now, it had never been her dream, really. She was a girl motivated by love and the bonds she had with people and her greatest wish so far had been to be a kunoichi that would catch Sasuke's attention.

Things had changed so much, she was so much stronger yet still so weak. The very foundations of who she was had evolved. She was still moved by her love and bonds with the people around her but it had become so much more. Sakura was now the apprentice of the most powerful person in the village. She had responsibilities that she had never dreamed of having and despite not being something she had ever envisioned for herself, she found that she wasn't just good at this.

She thrived at being the Hokage's apprentice, be it doing the hard, physical tasks or even the political part of the job. Sakura was ready for it all, even if sometimes her self-doubt caught up to her.

"Tsunade-sama!" An ANBU woman burst into the room, her breath harsh, before kneeling on the floor.

"What is it?" Tsunade lifted her head from where it was bent over a stack of documents and frowned at her.

The ANBU stepped forward and handed her a letter.

"From the Fire Daimyo," she explained, "it's a matter of utmost urgency and he has a special request."

Sakura focused on the paperwork in front of her but it was hard to ignore Tsunade's murmured "Shit" when the woman finished reading the letter. Her curiosity was peaked but she pretended not to be paying any attention.

"Get me Team Ro!" Tsunade raised from her seat suddenly and moved to the window behind them, one hand moving through her bangs shakily.

"Hai!" The woman bowed lower before shunshining away, her body barely a blur.

Sakura gave up on her work and turned back to watch Tsunade pace. She seemed agitated and that made Sakura nervous. Whatever request the letter held couldn't be anything good if her Shishou was so perturbed by it.

"Shishou?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

Tsunade turned to look at her and Sakura almost startled at the emotion in her amber eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose and lowered her head for a moment before squaring her shoulders and looking at Sakura once more. Her eyes were still softer than Sakura was used to seeing it, but when she spoke her voice was strong as usual.

"You have a mission, Sakura." Tsunade pointed her chin forwards. "Go home and have a hearty lunch then report here in an hour."

Sakura wanted to argue. She wanted to ask what the hell was going on and demand an explanation. She wanted to know just what the hell was going on.

Sakura nodded and shunshined home without another word.

The protein heavy lunch she put together went down her throat like cardboard and her mind blanked in preparation for what was to come. Seeing her shishou like that had really shook her but if she had a mission, now wasn't the time for any freaking out.

Her body went into autopilot—double the hidden weapons, tighten her braid, soldier pills inside her left pouch—as she tried to connect the random dots she had just received.

Tsunade's look was one she had never seen before but Inner supplied her an image that matched well enough. That first mission she was sent on with Genma, the moment Tsunade had sent them off, something had crossed her face. And also when Sakura had come back and they were having a rare quiet night at home. Tsunade had sipped her spiked tea with something in her eyes that Sakura hadn't been able to recognise.

Now she knew what she had found in those looks.

It was fear. Fear and pride and melancholy and—incredibly soft—affection. The only reason Sakura could find as to why her shishou had looked at her like that was if whatever mission she was being sent on far exceeded the expectations of a chuunin.

The urgent feeling of the letter and the sheer fact that it was from the Fire Daimyo was another indicator.

Sakura tightened the hitai-ate on her forehead and rushed back through the secret tunnels to the Hokage Tower. Tsunade was pacing the floor of her office when she opened the door and barely spared her a glance before moving past her.

"Keep up."

Sakura did. Even as they entered an inconspicuous door on the ground floor that lead them down so many flights of stairs she got dizzy. Even as she realised where they were going.

ANBU Headquarters was at the same time everything she was expecting and so much more. She figured there were many entrances to the complex but this one was guarded by two ninja, masked and cloaked, that knelt to the Hokage but said nothing as she activated the same type of seal that lead the to the Senju estate secret passage.

The corridor they entered was dimly lit and endlessly looking but this one didn't hold a genjutsu. Soon enough, they reached the end where another door lead them through to a wide room. There was a desk full of reports and a harried looking ninja sitting behind it, his orange hair standing on end behind his porcelain mask.

"Ho-Hokage-sama!" He squeaked, quickly getting up and knocking his chair back in the process.

"Back to work, Badger," Tsunade barked and the man sat back down once he righted his chair, faster than Sakura thought him capable after seeing him stumble.

She could feel his eyes following her so she smiled and waved cheerfully back at him and was rewarded with a splutter just as they went through another door. This one led them to another set of equally creepy hallways until finally they reached a door marked as ろ. Tsunade walked through it without knocking.

"Hokage-sama!" Three ninja chorused, bowing to show the top of their heads almost in unison.

The room held two black couches and a white writing board against the walls with a four seat table right in the middle of it. Another door on the wall opposite of where Sakura was standing was the only other remarking quality of it all. One ninja, clearly the leader, stepped forward and handled her a bundle. The other two sat back down, one of them a purple haired woman wearing a cat mask and the last... was that—

"The pink hair will draw too much attention." It was the man in front of her who spoke. He had mousy brown hair and a bear mask and his voice was devoid of any emotion.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"Are you complaining about her hair or my choice of teammate for you, Tenzou?" Her voice was sharp and impatient and Sakura was surprised when the man didn't instantly back down.

"Forgive me, Tsunade-sama." At least he had the sense to bow again. "But the letter explicitly asked for Shizu—"

"Shizune is in Suna," Tsunade barked at him and he straightened himself up immediately. "Do you suggest we wait the three days it would take for her to get here before dispatching a team?"

"Don't be a dick, Tenzou," the other man drawled from where he was seating at the couch and Sakura had to fight a smile because yes, that most certainly was Genma. "The kid's got talent, she won't slow us down."

And just like that, Tenzou was nodding at her, like it didn't take much more than his teammate's word for him.

"Put the uniform on," he told her, voice giving nothing away.

Sakura didn't look around for a bathroom or changing room. She knew from the expectant way they held themselves that this was as much a test as any other. It wasn't clear if it was supposed to be an intimidation tactic or a way to see if she'd follow orders without question but she did know a challenge when she saw one.

Forcing herself to keep her eyes on him, Sakura stripped. This wasn't the time for self consciousness, so she let Inner push that to the back of her mind and unfastened her pouches as quick as she could. She was down to her bindings, many of her hidden weapons laid out at the table, when Tenzou spoke again.

"This is your uniform for the mission," he told her. "You're not an initiated member, so when we come back you're expected to return this and the mask."

"We'll show you where to put it, Pinky," Genma said, his voice as carefree as usual but Sakura glanced at him just quick enough to see his posture was that millimetre too taught for him to be completely comfortable with the situation.

"You are strictly forbidden from going anywhere during the mission or the headquarters by yourself, do you understand, Haruno?" Tenzou's voice was hard and emotionless like a rock and Sakura matched hers when she answered.

"Hai, Taichou."

"Haruno Sakura," Tsunade spoke clearly, her voice formal as she handed her a white porcelain mask marked red. It was a wolf. "This is your new identity. Under the mask you are sworn to protect your Hokage and your village with your life. Secrecy is paramount, you cannot speak of this to anyone outside the ranks and during the mission you should maintain discretion. Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai deals in the shadows and in the shadows only."

Sakura nodded, chakra already washing over her hair and coaching a fine layer of genjutsu to darken her unconventional colour. She stopped when her shishou nodded in satisfaction and brought the tail of her braid to take a look at how it turned out.

Her tightly braided hair was a deep auburn colour, close enough to her original pallet that it was barely an effort at all to keep it as such. She knew that unless she suddenly lost all control of her chakra, it would stay like that.

"Do you accept the mask, Wolf?" Tsunade's voice was terribly soft, carrying the weight of the moment and what it mean for Sakura.

"I do, Shishou." She supposed she should have said something along the lines of Hokage-sama or Godaime-sama but by now Tsunade had beaten all types of unnecessary deference Sakura could have had for her.

She placed the mask on Sakura's face and attached it with chakra.

"May the Will of Fire burn bright and guide you through the shadows." Tsunade grinned at her, the same sharp one that kind of reminded Sakura of her nightmares but that always brought her comfort, and then she was gone, her heels clacking back to her office.

"We have a few procedures to go through with you before leaving, special signs and protocols that we may need for this trip but ultimately," Tenzou sighed, "time is of essence."

It took them two days to get to Kumo and Sakura had plenty of time to worry about the mission on the way there. Apparently, one of the daimyō's closest friends had a daughter that was kidnapped by a rival merchant three days ago. They were sure Matsumoto Rei was responsible for it and their mission was strictly to kill him and retrieve the girl but to not make any more of their involvement known. Everything was to be kept under wraps.

They were about ten kilometres away from the compound when Tenzou-taichou raised a fist in the air to stop them. Sakura cocked her head to the side as, one by one, her teammates' chakra signature disappeared. They were completely cloaked. It was instinct for her to match her chakra waves to that of a bee flying around a wildflower next to Genma's feet.

"That takes some serious control." Tenzou's tone wasn't particularly excited but the nod of approval he gave her was satisfying all the same. "From now on there will be no more speaking. You'll follow after Cat and Coyote will take the rear. Once we're there, there will be no time for any explaining so just take your cues where you can and don't break formation."

"Hai, Taichou." Sakura nodded at him, her whole body made of marble as the thrill of the mission settled within her veins and tightened her muscles.

The same feeling she got during that first mission with Genma came back to her. The pure professionalism and unadulterated danger that her teammates projected was like a boost to her skills making her that much stealthier and quicker.

There were about six sentinels, all of them skilled from what she could tell from their chakra signatures but none of them were any match to an assassination squad from the Leaf. They separated at one point, Yuugao and Genma following a path that lead to the basement and Sakura following Tenzou to Matsumoto Rei's room.

Sakura put a genjutsu outside the door as soon as possible and closed it silently behind them. Tenzou was already halfway through a set of signs when she turned back.

She barely contained her gasp when wooden poles—actual wood—sprouted from his hands and enveloped Rei's wrists and ankles after gagging him thoroughly. Wood release? What the actual fuck. She thought that was a Senju only ability.

Sakura stood there, wide eyed, for some time before coming back to herself. They had a mission to finish. Tenzou moved forwards quickly and before Sakura could even register the fact that he held a kunai in his hands, he slit Matsumoto Rei's throat wide open. The man had been awake but any struggling was fruitless against Tenzou-taichou's jutsu. He died with wide eyes and a wicked smile beneath his chin.

There was barely a pause before Tenzou was retracting his wood and turning towards her. Sakura, her horror pushed firmly to the back of her mind, simply turned and dispelled the genjutsu on the door.

On the other side of it, they came face to face with one of the guards, the genjutsu just fading from his milky looking eyes. Sakura was fairly surprised at how quick her hand shot out to grab his throat. It was both a move to keep him from screaming and also to make it easier for her chakra to slow down his heartbeat considerably.

She held his unconscious body like that before turning to Tenzou for further instructions. They had been told to only kill the merchant but the man could had seen them both.

Tenzou nodded slowly and it was the only response Sakura needed before she snapped the guard's neck.

They stood for a few beats just staring at each other after Sakura lowered the body to the floor slowly as to not make any sounds. Tenzou finally nodded at her again and began leading them back to the point they had split. Genma and Yuugao were already there, a slip of a girl beneath the woman's arm.

Sakura stopped in her tracks.

The girl was about her age, it seemed, but looked much younger than her. She was a shaking mess of bloodied blonde hair and pale skin marred by bruises and cuts. The only thing covering her seemed to be Genma's undershirt and there was blood and... something else running down between her legs.

Sakura was so enraged that for a second she only saw red. Inner barely controlled the influx of images that jumped to the forefront of her mind and it was with great effort that she reigned in her killing intent. The others were looking at her and she got the feeling that beneath their masks their faces held surprise and apprehension.

Objectively, she had known that it was a possibility that the girl would suffer many kinds of assault during her capture but, for some reason, Sakura had naively held onto the thought that she was only being held captive. She let out a shaky exhale.

With her hands raised in a sign of defeat, she approached the girl slowly before touching her light on her wrist. It was enough to make the girl flinch back but Sakura held on and soon enough she was slumping against Yuugao, dead asleep.

Yuugao took the girl in her arms and they resumed their previous formation, leaving the same way they came in. They'd been about four kilometres out of the compound when Sakura felt the chakra signatures moving in position to intercept them. They were the same two of the sentinels.

She knew that she should sit back and follow orders, keep to the formation and get the fuck out of there but the sight of the girl slumped on Yuugao's arms with blood still drying on her skin was enough to send her down the rabbit hole into a state of mind in which she could barely recognise herself.

Inner hadn't even attempted to curb the homicidal thoughts running rampant through her head and the killing intent that leaked out of her in waves. There was barely a second before she had donned her cloak and mask so fast and in the next she was already ripping the heart out of one of the nin with her gloved fist. The satisfaction she got out of it was fleeting but intense and then she was already moving to the next one, one hand grabbing his face and crushing it tightly while the other unsheathed her tantō and decapitated the last nin in one single movement.

Sakura's vision was blurry with how heavy she was breathing as the three sentinels fell to the floor in a heap almost simultaneously. There was a beat of silence in the clearing, broken only by her shaky gasps. They hadn't even gotten the chance to scream.

Her team surrounded her then, Tenzou brushing his arm against hers as he took point and Yuugao leaning on her briefly before she felt Genma's hands on her back. It was a touch reserved to set her moving and also to support her. Tenzou upheaved the ground and buried any evidence of the struggle, fresh grass grew with unnatural speed and then they were off.

No one spoke a single word even as they passed the ten kilometres mark and they only stopped when they reached Land of Fire territory.

Sakura felt like throwing up but she held it in, taking one shaky breath after the next and using Genma's hands on her as an anchor. She knew the others went about setting up camp but she just stood there watching the tiny steam they had settled next to rush languorously over smooth rocks and focusing only on the feeling of Genma's chakra mingling with hers through the hand he had sneaked beneath her uniform to reach her back.

"C'mon, Blossom," he murmured, nudging her forward towards the stream and tears welled up in Sakura's eyes.

He crouched next to the water and used a rag to gather some of it before slowly taking her hand in his and meticulously wiping it clean. Sakura didn't bother hiding the tears sliding down her face as she counted his strokes silently to herself.

Genma took her chin in his hand, slid her mask off to the side and brought the rag to get rid of the mix of blood and tears on her cheeks. The kiss he pressed into her forehead after was enough to make her choke on a sob.

"I-I didn't even notice I was—" Sakura stuttered through her sentence another strangled sob leaving a knot on her throat.

"You shouldn't have broken formation, Wolf," Tenzou's words were that of a captain but his tone was so soft and caring that there was no way it could be seen as a reprimand.

"Don't worry," Sakura could hear the soft smile on Yuugao's voice, "we've all been there."

Sakura nodded a few times, squeezed Genma's hand once and brushed past Tenzou like he did before and kneeled next to the girl. She smoothed some of the matted hair on her forehead and moved her chakra into her system to get rid of all the cuts and bruises. It was over in a few seconds but it had been enough to further calm Sakura down.

Yuugao went to the stream to wet another rag and the two of them tidied up a bit of the mess. Sakura used her chakra to clear the girl's uterus from inside, making sure there wasn't a single sperm left alive inside her. It was one of the few things she could do for the girl.

"We can't give her back to her dad like this," Sakura said, her voice firm like the one she used with her subordinates even as she turned to look up towards Tenzou-taichou.

"I'll go look for some clothes in the next village over." Tenzou nodded at them. "Coyote, set up a perimeter, you have first watch."

"Roger, taichou," Genma drawled in his usual sarcastic voice and saluted Tenzou before disappearing into the tree line.

Sakura leaned against Yuugao as the older woman began humming a haunting tune under her breath. She watched as her hands shook when she smoothed the hair out of the girls face.

"We don't even know her name," Sakura whispered, regret for the girl's lost innocence sitting heavy on her chest. "I wish I could have helped her more."

"You did all you could," Yuugao's husky voice reassured her. "That's all that matters in the end," she said, then softer, as if only to herself, "It has to be."

The girl's name was Yuki, Sakura found out later on the next day when they reached the merchant's household and an ageing man ran over to them. Her name was ripped from his throat like a prayer and Sakura had to avert her eyes from the two of them embracing.

She would be okay, Sakura thought. Someone who had a father who loved her that much would get all the help in the world. Sakura had to believe that was enough.

The trip back was with a much heavier mood but somehow Sakura felt much more connected to her teammates. She could predict the way they moved much easier and it felt like she fit with them. It was a weird feeling, if she was being completely honest with herself. She had never really felt that with Team Seven even though she loved them fiercely.

They were a couple of hours away from Konoha when the sound of fighting reached their trained ears. Tenzou-taichou immediately adjusted their course and Sakura prepared herself for combat. Her muscles tightened in anticipation of a fight and she detected a significant chakra signature. It was a chuunin, she was certain, and when they got closer she could see a wagon with six men, all civilians but armed.

It seemed like the chuunin was attacking a farmer's wagon but it was laughingly easy for Tenzou to subdue him and shackle his hands with wood. The sight of it still sent Sakura's heart racing but she chose not to address it right then. The man was wearing a hitai-ate. The leaf symbol scratched through glared at Sakura. She felt like she couldn't breathe for a second, Sasuke immediately coming to the forefront of her mind.

The missing nin spat on the ground.

"Of course Konoha's dogs would be sniffing around me." His voice was nasty as was his smirk. "I'm surprised they didn't send their best hound. Friend Killer Kakashi too busy these days to hunt down fellow ninja?"

Yuugao was a purple blur before her hand connected with the missing nin's throat painfully.

"Shut up."

Sakura had never seen her that riled up.

The shock of hearing Kakashi's name faded while they continued on their way back but the curiosity nagged on her mind like an insistent itch. Something that she had pushed to the back of her mind suddenly resurfaced. During that rescue mission for Anko's team, the look they had exchanged when she mentioned Team Seven's bad luck was so heavy with... something. The same something she felt from her teammates now.

She was definitely missing a piece of information here. Something about Team Seven's legacy and even Kakashi's story. Maybe it wasn't anything that was strictly her business, exactly, but then maybe, just maybe, it might help Sakura explain Kakashi's way to herself. So far, she was positive that he had lost his genin team but Friend Killer Kakashi? That seemed... ominous.

They went through the barrier on training ground 67 and Sakura watched in a daze as Tenzou slapped a hidden seal on a boulder and an entrance revealed itself to them. They wound up in the same corridor as last time and entered the room marked ろ again. Tenzou rummaged around for a scroll while the others filled out on the other side of the room.

"Go with them, Sakura." Tenzou took his mask off and smiled kindly at her. "You did good today, I hope we get to work together again in the future."

"Thank you for taking care of me, Tenzou-taichou." Sakura took her own mask off and gave him what she hoped at least resembled a smile.

He waved at her as she followed Genma outside. The door led to a large rectangle that resembled a dojo, similar doors lining it on all sides and right across from where they stood, a set of double doors led them to the changing rooms. The first part of it was the locker room where Yuugao instructed her to leave her uniform at a basket near the corner.

Sakura barely thought about stripping to her undergarments in front of them.

The three of them headed to the showers together not bothering to talk but also choosing shower heads next to each other. It seemed none of them wanted to be too far away from one another and Sakura wanted to stay with them that night. She wanted to let their proximity wash away the horrific things they'd seen during the past few days and the emotional toll it took.

There was still, however, in the back of her mind the itch that demanded attention. She couldn't ignore her curiosity anymore. She wouldn't.

So when Genma was fastening the bindings around his calf and asking her to meet them up at the bar, Sakura merely smiled slightly, gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek and asked to meet him in the morning for breakfast instead.

She had some research to do.

Yo! This is being uploaded a bit later than I wanted but it's here! I hope you enjoyed this new development, hihi. I've been angling for this for quite some time, you guys should know that Wolf will be here for a while.

Now, remember Sakura isn't an official member of ANBU. This was an emergency because Shizune wouldn't be able to do the mission as requested and Tsunade couldn't just send any medic to a mission the daimyo requested. That being said, this opened another can of worms that being accepted into the Red Section had made a tiny hole last chapter. In this chapter, the can is positively open. Let's see what comes out of it.

Tenzou is a big teddy bear, but he's an even worse stickler for the rules than teenager!Kakashi. The way I see it at least. That being said he may come of as standoffish at first but Sakura definitely noticed he cares a lot for his comrades. Btw, ろ means Ro. So the room they enter in Headquarters is Team Ro's "meeting room". We know next to nothing about how ANBU really works and a lot of things we do know I don't like so I'll take as much of creative license as I see fit on this front, thank you very much.

If you guys recall, Kakashi used to be Team Ro's Captain during his time in ANBU. Back in the good old days before genocide was a thing, it used to be Kakashi, Yuugao, Tenzou and Itachi. I think. When he got taken off ANBU, I imagine the squad leadership would be passed down to Tenzou and now that he's back, I don't think he would be placed back there for one reason. He doesn't *need* to be. See, in the anime we see Kakashi doing a lot of Solo S-Ranked *jounin* missions. He's being carted around in all directions and I think his ANBU missions would mostly be solo ones or big operations with lots of teams. I dunno, it's just the way I see it. ¯\ _(ツ)_/¯

We see Sakura getting a bit darker here and actually shocking herself with how easy and *satisfying* it felt. Also, Tsunade installed in her a real problematic habit of not bowing down to higher ups and a downright disrespect for authority. Oh, well.

Pay close attention to the timeline from now on, guys. Sakura is about fourteen and a half (yes, fourteen and six months give or take because I did a rough estimation of time and agonised over it for months trying to fit everything in my timeline. Appreciate it.) and it's been a month since last chapter. So, a month since she's been going over every single detail of her last interaction with Kakashi and trying to figure out what the hell happened to him.

Next chapter will be chaos.

On another note!

I absolutely love you guys. Truly. It amazes me how much love you give me and it really is a big motivator for me to write faster. If you got to this part of this farce of an author's note (it's more of a dissertation, really) please let me know what you think so far of the story. Do you like where I'm taking the plot? What do you wanna se more of? Please validate me? Thanks.