Chapter 8 - Sakura Haruno, Medic

The three weeks in the desert flew by. Sakura's days were packed with learning healing techniques, familiarizing herself with the Sand culture, and generally having a great time with the team of medics.

Coming up in Konoha, most of Sakura's time as Tsunade's apprentice was spent in relative solitude, separate from other young medics her own age. Training under Tsunade to be a med-nin, she spent most of the time in the Hokage's tower. But here, there were enough young medics to study and learn as a group. Ebizo demonstrated an age-old healing technique, then they were left to master the task as best as they could. Heads bent over their work stations, they ground herbs into compounds and shared their varying results, smiling at each other's successes and cajoling each other through failures.

Sakura was surprised to discover just how much they relied on plants in the desert. And in such different ways than she was used to. She supposed in Konoha, since plant life was so readily available, she never considered making every little bit count when cooking up a healing salve. The leaves contained the strongest concentration of nutrients, so they only used that.

But in the Sand, no part of the plant went to waste. Leaves, stems, blossoms, even roots — everything was ground and included. A Suna salve might not have the glossy, silky consistency she was used to in Konoha's hospitals, but the grittier balm worked much quicker in speeding healing to the injury.

Sakura was happy to add to the Sand's knowledge of Konoha's plants by showing them some hidden secrets, like slicing open stems to squeeze out the milk for a numbing solution in a pinch, or burning leaves to create toxin-removing smoke in case of poisoning. But mostly, she just observed, marveling inwardly at how talented they were. They were going to make great herbalists, if that was their leaning.

Akira was the sharpest of the group by far, and Sakura understood just after the first day why he had excelled. And why Ebizo had taken him under his wing. Ebizo saw a spark in Akira, a natural curiosity that turned into burning desire to learn more. Sakura reflected that it must have been the same for Tsunade when she chose to accept Sakura as an apprentice. Taking on a student was like nurturing one of the tender shoots under the little glass domes that dotted the tables in the greenhouse. Much care was taken with them because much was expected of them. Akira, like Sakura with Tsunade, worked hard not to disappoint his mentor.

With the deliberate movements of a sharply focused mind, Akira was always trying out new techniques, relying on the wealth of skills he already had at his command and striving for better results. His dove-grey eyes took everything in. Sakura saw in him a thirst for knowledge that mirrored her own.

Shoulder to shoulder, the group learned from Ebizo and each other, building on ancient formulas and creating new ones. They laughed and took notes and worked late into the night, none wanting to leave. It was as if they were all sprouting new growth under that glass-topped greenhouse.

The day before they were scheduled to leave for Konoha, the greenhouse was empty except for Sakura and Akira. The rest of the team was up early, taking their last battery of exams to make them fully fledged medics. Sakura had no doubts each would be awarded the deep brown robes of official Sand healers, like the one Akira already wore. Which, at the moment, had gathered quit a bit of leaves and dirt at the hems.

Akira was slowly walking around the tree, running his hand over the tender tops of the plants as if saying a silent farewell. Sakura busied herself by tidying up the work tables, wiping them down and pushing the scissors and bowls into order at far edges. They would lay idle for the next three weeks while Sakura took the medics back to Konoha with her.

Ebizo would tend the plants — he swore if he didn't that Chiyo was sure to haunt him for it — but he promised to take it easy. Sakura offered many times to heal his stooped back. But he waved her off and continued to shuffle around the greenhouse, head bent of the plants. She felt guilty about leaving him the responsibility of the entire greenhouse, even if he loved it.

Akira came up beside her, sheepishly brushing the leaves off his robe with one hand. With the other he held out a broom.

"It's like you read my mind," Sakura said with a smile.

He bent down with the dust pan. "I had hoped we'd have time to see the shinobi side of your medic skills while you were here."

"Oh there'll be plenty of time for that back home," Sakura said, sweeping bits of dirt and leaves into the pan. "You'll be worn out, and still have to heal. But you'll get to meet all of my friends…." Her voice trailed off. She hadn't thought about it. Not really. But who was there to introduce? The rest of her class, but certainly not her own team. Sasuke was gone. And Naruto….

She swept up the last pile in silence.

"I'm looking forward to meeting them," Akira said. He dumped the pan then tugged the broom out of her hand, interrupting her thoughts. "You miss them, I can tell."

Sakura smiled, determined to sweep the emotion out of her voice. "I'll miss it here when I leave." She shoved her hands in her pockets and walked around the greenhouse, leaving him standing with the broom, watching her. She looked up into the trees branches, tracing them down to the roots. "I've had such a good time. Its been wonderful learning in a big group. I'm sorry to say that it won't be like this at home. There's just me."

"You're more than enough—" he said, and when Sakura laughed he quickly added, "Uh…wait, that came out wrong—"

Sakura waved him off. "I meant all my friends are shinobis. You're really fortunate to have a group like this. I'm afraid your three weeks in Konoha won't be near as much fun as these three weeks have been for me. Less greenhouses. More sweaty bodies and nasty injuries."

Akira smiled warmly. "Doesn't matter, I'm really looking forward to it."

Sakura nibbled her lip. She wished she could say the same. But the image of a frowning Naruto kept storming into her mind.

She'd had three weeks off. Three weeks of relief from thinking about him, worrying about him, hoping she wouldn't run into him…or wishing she would. She wondered if he'd even noticed she was gone, but she quickly banished the thought.

It would be different going back. She would be different, and she would have a whole team of people she was responsible for. But it was funny that just the thought of Naruto had her tied in knots again. She took a breath. She needed to let it go….

"I've been working on some new healing techniques," Sakura said suddenly and turned toward the exit. He must have known she was changing topics, but was too well-mannered to ask why. He just walked in attentive silence beside her. "I mean…not here, but at home," she rambled. "It has to be done on an actual wound on a live patient. It's worked so far, and I'm trying it at deeper levels all the time."

Sakura picked at a fingernail, realizing it was the first time she'd mentioned her pet project to anyone outside of Tsunade and Shizune. No one got it. Funny, she blurted it out to Akira. But he just might understand….

"Um…maybe I'll show it to you when we get back."

"I can't wait to see it," Akira said, giving her a sideways glance that showed he was in earnest. "I'm really looking forward to visiting Konoha."

"Yeah," she said, concentrating on the warmth in Akira's eyes with renewed resolve. "Me too." Things would be different going back home. She'd make sure of it.

Before dawn the next morning, the medics showed up at the gates wearing brown robes and brilliant grins. They had all passed. Sakura couldn't have been more pleased. It had only been three weeks, but already she felt like she'd known this team for years.

Out on the windswept dunes the Leaf anbu waited for them. Sakura smiled when she saw him, looking at his eyes and remembering his as the same one from last time. He said nothing. He counted the group, pausing for a moment at Akira, who stood closest to Sakura, and giving him an inscrutable look. Then it was gone. He turned his eyes to the rose-tinted horizon, the direction of the Leaf, set off.

Akira glanced at Sakura and shrugged, but Sakura shook her head, dismissing the anbu's actions. When they put some distance between themselves and the grumpy guard, Sakura tipped her head and whispered, "Don't worry about it. Anbu are touchy on the best of days."

He nodded. "Some of the Sand guards are the same way."

They continued on, walking and talking. Conversation spanned a wide range of topics, but most often it drifted back to the one they knew best, the medical field. In spite of the rising sun and increasing heat, Akira spoke excitedly about new discoveries and what the implications could mean for healers. And would the countries that originated the techinques share their knowledge? Did healing have to stay within a country's borders, only to be traded like weapons or commodities. Or was it free to every human, as necessary and uncontainable as the sun or wind? Sakura confessed she often thought about the very same things.

In a lull in the conversation, Sakura turned her eyes to the horizon. She was unexpectedly grateful. She'd never had anyone to share her thoughts with like this. Someone who just got it, who understood why she chose to be a medic. It wasn't as second choice or out of pity for the wounded; she truly loved it. And she knew now that wanted to share that love with others like her.

Three weeks in the Sand had opened her eyes to a whole new world of medicine and healing. And it reinforced the need to nail down the techniques she'd been working on. Maybe Akira really could help. And if it worked, she could train others, in every nation….

"I will show some of those techniques I was talking about," she declared suddenly. "When we get to Konoha."

Akira beamed. "Great! I can't wait!"

Sakura grinned back and picked up the threads of the their conversation again. International medical intrigues was an endlessly fascinating subject to her…and helped keep the nagging problem that was Naruto, which was weighing on her more and more the closer they got to Konoha, safely at the back of her mind.

They arrived at Konoha two nights later. Staring up at the dark gates Sakura was seized by the realization that there would be no welcoming party for their arrival. Of course, she wouldn't expect there to be, but after the Suna citizens treated her so kindly, she felt guilty as she watched the Sand medics' eyes fill up with Konoha's opening gates, knowing that no one was behind it to greet them.

The thought that she might run into Naruto now that she was back home again was also making her seriously jumpy. Sakura sucked in a deep breath, relishing the feeling of Konoha's soft air in her lungs after weeks of dry desert wind, and began to calm down.

She couldn't find Naruto when she wanted to, she told herself. Chances were high she'd go through the next three weeks and not lay eyes on him. She breathed out, equilibrium returning.

The medics looked at the village with wide eyes, the square buildings hinting at their colors, even in the moonlight. Sakura saw her village with new eyes as well. The boxy structures and overlapping angled rooftops were all so different from the Sand's bulbous, wind-carved buildings and muted earthen colors.

Sakura knew it fell to her, and her alone, to make sure they had a good time. No, a great time. She stepped forward from the group and turned around, determined to act as their one-woman welcoming committee.

"Welcome to Konoha, esteemed guests from Suna!" She threw her arms wide and they all laughed. "You have traveled such a long distance to be here, and we are honored by your visit!"

Sakura lead them proudly through the sleeping village. "First I will show you to your living quarters while you'll be with us. The whole top floor of the academy will be your dormitory. Conveniently located close to the hospital of course." She pointed out streets and buildings, knowing they wouldn't remember but enjoying their laughter at she rattled on like an overblown tour guide. "And then we have a fabulous buffet prepared and waiting for you at…." She racked her brain for a restaurant that might even be open at this hour. "Yakini-Q!"

The group revived at the sound of dinner, and they made quick work of dropping off their bags and heading to the restaurant.

The next morning, Sakura showed them more kindness than Tsunade had shown her during her years of training — she let them sleep in. A self-serving gift, to be sure, but when she arrived at the dorm at noon she was happy to see everyone looking well-rested and ready to go.

Sakura took them on a tour of the medical facilities — starting with the chakra-training pond under the Hokage's tower. The idea of testing chakra on live fish wasn't a completely foreign notion to them, however none of them had ever had a chance to try it in the desert. So they spent an hour netting fish, killing them and bringing them back to life just to say they'd done it.

Then it was on to the hospital. Sakura was glad to see they picked up on the layout and hierarchy of Konoha's hospital as quickly as she had done in Suna.

Her first stop was area of the hospital where she primarily worked: the shinobi wing. In the Sand, shinobi and civilian injuries were treated together. But in Konoha, the two wings were separate, and to her knowledge always had been. Shinobi injuries were often gruesome and required special skills. Sometimes even extreme isolation.

Sakura pushed the double doors open and watched as the Sand medics marveled at the steady stream of doctors, nurses and shinobis coming and going. The waiting room had a genin team, a man with a pretty serious burn radiating up his arm, and an oversized white dog with an unusually oversized nose that was red and painfully swollen.

Sakura nodded at the dog's owner, recognizing him as one of the Inuzuka clan. The whining dog must be a relative of Akamaru.

"One of the Aburame clan's test bees got 'em, in training," the Inuzuka grunted, and Sakura nodded understandingly.

"We also treat the shinobi's animal companion," Sakura explained as they left the lobby for the examination rooms, "because their wounds are the same as a human's. A veterinarian wouldn't have the antidote for the sting of poisonous bees from Iwagakure, because they're a guarded ninja weapon and don't live in the wild. But we do," she said, pride in her voice.

They went up a flight of stairs and turned down a corridor with glass-fronted rooms.

"Working on shinobis," Sakura continued as they passed an empty room, "requires a knowledge of the weapons, the wounds, the poisons and the ways they might be inflicted. And then there are the jutsus. And there are thousands of those," she said and smiled as some of the younger Sand medics' eyes went wide.

In the first occupied room, a man was frozen stiff on the bed, glassy eyes fixed on the ceiling. His teammates' faces were ashen, fearing the worst. A young male nurse was readying a blood pressure cuff, thermometer and syringe for a blood test, a standard course of first aid for newly admitted patients, when a female doctor pushed him out of the way.

Sakura dropped her voice a notch and pointed at the window. "You don't focus on the minor injuries if someone is prostrate from a jutsu. That's just wasting precious time."

The doctor flew through a set of hand seals, then cupped her hand over ninja's forehead, and in a flash of chakra-tinged green light, the man's body released. He gasped for air, and his teammates slumped in relief.

The next room had a young man hunched on the edge of the bed. A spate of senbon stuck out at all angles from the back of his fatigues.

Sakura pointed at his back as they walked past. "But you must treat minor injuries seriously. They can cause major problems if not cared for properly."

The boy gripped the bed while the nurse plucked the senbon out, one by one. Leaning against the wall, his young teammates apologized profusely.

They were just moving on when a door flew open down the hall and man on a stretcher was wheeled past at break-neck speed. He had a nasty looking boil on his cheek, purple and angry and ready to pop. "Outta the way," the medic pushing the gurney yelled. Sakura and the rest of the Sand medics had already flattened themselves against the wall to make room.

The stretcher careened down the hall to a room labeled "Toxin-Safe" with a green flashing light above it. The thick door swung closed behind them with a bang, and a lock could be heard clacking into place. A green light flipped to red, and the words "Occupied" glowed ominously on the surface.

Sakura and the medics stepped away from the wall. "And of course, you never pop a poisonous boil out in the open. You could end up wiping out a whole wing." Just then, the room shook with like a bomb went off. The door rattled and soft tremblors radiated through the floor beneath their feet.

Sakura smiled. "Sounds like they got it just in time."

There was a short swoosh of air and a vacuuming sound, then the door opened in a flood of cool, sweet-smelling mist that signified the toxins had been eradicated. The nin's color was returning in spite of the flap of saggy skin on his cheek. But there was no more poison. The red light flipped neatly back to green, awaiting the next patient.

Sakura lead them down the rest of the hall. Most of the rooms were filled with fire-related injuries or vomiting genin. When one of the Sand medics wondered why, Sakura explained that the frequency of injuries had to do with their country's specialty.

"The Leaf has a great deal of fire users and jutsu specialists. So the wounds we most often see, especially in young shinobi who are too foolish to wait for their academy instructor to teach them how to properly use their skills, are fire burns and jutsu sickness. In the Sand, the wounds are more often physical, from weapons, sand blast injuries or poisoning. Hence the need for more powerful healing salves and antidotes. Am I right?" They all nodded, understanding dawning on their faces. All expect Akira who stood in the back with those smiling grey eyes, clearly admiring her.

Sakura thought about how she must look from the outside, explaining everything with the knowledge of someone twice her age, and her cheeks went a little warm. She did know a lot about the hospital and how things worked. And she was always thirsty for more. She supposed that made her something of an expert, although she never really felt that way. But at times like this, her explanations made it clear there was a lot more going on behind those big green eyes than she often let on.

She brushed away the thoughts. "So, all this is great, but this isn't where I work." The medics fell silent, confused, and Sakura smiled at them. "Well, sometimes I do. But there are actually two other places where I usually work. Downstairs in shinobi intake, or…well, the other place I'll just have to show you."

They tittered in excitement, and Sakura felt that she was really beginning to love this group. They were all so much like her. Excited about the prospect of more injuries and more healing.

They swept through the street-level intake area, a long wing where the worst of the injuries and those needing immediate care were treated. It was very much like the emergency rooms on the civilian side of the hospital, except the shinobi methods were a little more…unorthodox than the civilian wing. The medic's job was to save shinobi lives, no matter what the cost. Extreme chakra blasts, experimental treatments, fire jutsus to cauterize wounds…nothing was off limits to save a life. If the injury could be identified and treated — and the patient could survive the trip upstairs — then the shinobi was sent up to see a doctor or specialist.

But down here in intake, it was the front lines of healing. Whenever Sakura stepped through those double doors, she felt like she was going into battle. And the enemy was death itself.

They didn't stay on the wing too long today as it was mercifully quiet. Besides, they'd already seen most of the interesting action upstairs. So Sakura took them out to the training fields so they could see her other place of "work."

Late afternoon sun was streaking golden across the green pitch, and she inhaled the sweet scent of cut grass that she had always loved, even though at the moment it evoked images that she knew were off limits to her now. Her team. Naruto.

She smiled past the painful memories. "This is my other intake wing, operating room, toxin chamber and healing unit." The Sand medics looked at the empty green field in confusion. There was no one there. At the far end was a line of posts, riddled with kunai gouges. But it looked like no one had been there all day. A bird even rested comfortably atop one of the target posts.

Sakura's laughter echoed across the quiet field. The bird's peace disturbed, it flew off towards the forest.

"Well, there's no one here to treat today. But I'm different from other medics in that I go out into the field." A few looked out at the grassy expanse, still uncertain of her meaning. "Not this field," Sakura laughed. "The field of battle. I go on missions and heal shinobis immediately after the injury occurs. It ensures a much greater survival rate for the shinobi, and a much higher success rate for the mission."

The medics nodded complacently, and Sakura had a sneaking suspicion that they might not fully grasp what her job entailed. "I'm not with some kind of traveling med-camp, miles away from active fighting. I accompany them, wherever they go. I'm the fourth man…er, girl, on the mission."

Some looked impressed. A few looked horrified. Only Akira, standing in the back, arms folded over his chest and nodding seriously, appeared to understand the level of dedication she had for her profession. And how far she was willing to go for it.

A thin Sand nin in the front asked the question the others wanted to know. "And…do they expect you to fight too?"

"No," Sakura matter-of-factly. The medics collectively breathed a sigh of relief. A slow smile curved up Sakura's lips. "But I do anyway."

The medics gasped. Except Akira. He smiled wryly, like he shouldn't be surprised.

"Not everyone is comfortable working with ninjas in the field. I'm one of the few medics in Konoha who is, although I'm working hard to change that. But my background is…." Sakura scuttled the thought. Way too complicated. "Well, that's another story for another time. Anyway I think if you can save a life, it's worth it. So before your time is up here, I want everyone to have real experience with a shinobi team."

A mixture of reactions rippled through the group. Most were excited, but some looked a little pale. Sakura smiled. "Don't be nervous about it. The idea is to find where you're best suited, and do your best work there."

She linked her arm the Sand nin who'd asked the question, and who now looked like he seriously regretted it. "Come'on," she said. "Let's go to the Academy and see what trouble we can stir up, then we'll get some dinner. You'll want to get to bed early tonight. Big day tomorrow!"

Now, some of the medics looked downright nervous at the eager glint in Sakura's green eyes. From the back, Akira grinned broadly.

The next day, they spent the morning assessing patients as a group. After lunch, Sakura split them into pairs and assigned them to shadow a doctor and nurse to treat patients in the upstairs wings. The types of injuries they would see there would not be life-threatening.

She jerked her head once for Akira to accompany her, and she didn't miss the way his smile brightened when he stepped beside her. A dimple peeked out on his cheek that she hadn't notice before. She ignored it.

"I want to show you technique I told you about," she said quietly as they walked down the hall. "Do you remember it?"

Akira answered so quickly it startled her. "Are you kidding me? It's been eating me alive since you told me about it! I've been trying to guess what it could be!"

Sakura picked up the clipboard of her next patient at the nurse's station, never looking at it, and shot Akira a mock frown. "Sorry, I kept you waiting then!"

He smiled back like a gentleman. "Forgive me, Dr. Haruno." He bowed coyly to her while Sakura laughed. "I defer to your greater knowledge on all things." He tipped back the edge of the clipboard to read the room number and pointed to the end of the hall.

They walked slowly, his gaze on her as she explained the healing technique she was perfecting.

"Well, I haven't told too many people about this. Tsunade and Shizune, but not many others." She shrugged, embarrassed. "I don't know how many people would get it and then be able to pull it off. But I'm working on it."

Akira's steady gaze reminded her of just why she liked him. He was not patronizing or demeaning, and he didn't seem overwhelmed by her ideas. He treated her like Tsunade and Shizune did, with respect.

"So," she tucked the hair behind her ears, feeling strangely shy. "The biggest threat to survival of nins in battle is the healing rate. It's not like with civilian wounds, where you can treat one at a time. With shinobis, they can have several of life-threatening wounds, all working against you. And those accumulated losses always end up killing your patient. There's just too much for their body to fight, as well as handle the strain of giving up extra chakra for healing."

Akira slowed to a stop to listen to her. "I've seen this too, in our hospital. The higher the wound rate, the lower the survival rate. Most nins have less than a 50 percent rate. Although," he lowered his voice as a patient in a robe with a bloody bandage around his head shuffled by, "we're not supposed to tell them that."

"It's actually worse than that. I did a study over several months last year, and it was more like 30 percent."

Akira let out a low whistle. "And you've figured out a way to beat it? But standard chakra healing puts a huge strain on the system. Just reaching the survival threshold requires the patient to give up so much—"

Sakura's lips curved up into a quick, brilliant grin. She knew he'd understand. "Exactly. A standard heal requires too much chakra. But if the medic volunteers their own, heals the deepest wound while channeling the patient's chakra to the surface-level injuries, then as a team the rate of healing raises exponentially!"

Green eyes glittering, she watched Akira work through the variables, the hows and whys and what-ifs that it would take to actually pull it off. Finally, he swiveled his astonished gaze back to her.

"But…who could do that? The chakra control would have to be…extraordinary. Better than extraordinary. It'd have to be…super-human!"

Sakura arched an eyebrow. Her lips curled into a saucy smile.

"You?!" He rubbed a hand over his face, and when he pulled it away he was smiling warmly. "I should have known."

"I've been working out the theories testing it," she continued and resumed walking. "And I think I've got the rhythm down, at least enough to teach it. Chakra control can be learned, just like any other shinobi skill. It just takes…determination." She clutched the clipboard to her chest and shrugged lightly, as if it were as easy as that.

Akira chuckled. "That's all?" he said and she laughed too, saying, "Well, maybe there's a little more."

"I haven't tried to teach anyone the technique to anyone," she said. "It's part of my field testing."

He saw the number on the door ahead of them and nodded toward it. The green file folder used for new patients stuck out from the wall rack. "Well," he said, "I've got determination, but not much else. So I'm the perfect student!"

Sakura laughed. That modesty was something she'd come to appreciate about him over the last three weeks. She was fairly sure he was one of the smartest people she'd met in the medic field. But he didn't ever let on. Instead he approached everything as the eternal student. She understood this because she approached everything the same way. Every problem presented opportunities to learn from. That's probably how she stumbled onto her technique

"So," she shifted the clipboard to the crook of her arm, "the trick is to push and pull the chakra at the same time. Yours is pushed to the base of the wound, while the patient's in funneled to the sruface." He gave her a shocked look. She grinned up at him as she reach past and tugged the folder out of the rack. "I know, sounds crazy right. But that's how you start. Push and pull. Give and take."

She flipped open the folder, eyes scanning for the injury. A genin with a kunai gash to the arm and a shuriken wound to the leg. Perfect. She snapped the folder shut. "Come on, I'll show you."

"I can't wait," he said, warmth in his voice, and she knew he meant it.

Smiling, Sakura turned into the doorway to greet her young patient…only to look straight into a pair of fierce blue eyes.

Standing behind the bed on the opposite side of the room, Naruto flicked a dark look past Sakura's shoulder at Akira before folding his arms and settling an icy glare on Sakura herself.

Sakura cleared her throat. "Uh…." She checked the folder again, hoping for one heart-breakingly brief moment she was wrong. But the patient had all the right wounds. She flipped the page. Team 8 team had signed for him.

At the far end of the room, Hinata, Kiba and Shino stood waiting. The 12-year-old boy perched nervously on the edge of the bed. Naruto stood behind him, looking thunderous.

Nope. There was no hope of a mistake. This was her patient. Crap.

Sakura swallowed hard and plastered on a fake smile. "Hi."

Author's Note:

Life's been crazy-busy and just couldn't keep up the Friday posting schedule the last two weeks. Hopefully, this week will be easier! So this chapter is pretty Sakura-centric — good if you like Sakura! And Naruto returns next chapter! Yay! So this chap explores something I've always wondered about: What if Sakura met another top young medic? Sakura's basically an expert in two fields (medic and ninja), but never see too much interaction on the medic side. Just the shinobi side, which is based on who's more powerful. But what if she met someone who was just as smart, determined, friendly and open as she is? Another medic, who's the top in their field in their own country? How would being recognized for her medic career play out and shape her future choices? Naruto and Sasuke seem to always get recognized for their skills/achievements/crazy chakra abilities/good looks...but what if it was Sakura instead? ;) More to come next chapter!

Thanks for all the reviews and pms! I haven't had time to respond to the ones from last chapter, but just know I read and appreciate every one! Hope you enjoy this chapter too!