Hi everyone!

So this is a special update for a special occasion! I have finally published my first little short story on Lulu! It's called "Graduation Present" by Katherine Alexander. It goes for $1.99. Trust me, I would have made it cheaper, but if I priced it the way I wanted to, I'd make a return of exactly $0. :( Not happy about that, but what can you do?

If you're interested, please check it out! It's pure erotica, PWP, but I think it's entertaining all the same for those of you who like dark smut. It's in the same vein as Modus Operandi when it comes to genre. The link is:

lulu . com (forward slash) katherinealexandernovels (Remove the spaces.)

Note that you'll have to enter through the erotica section of Lulu to verify that you are 18 years or older to buy the book. :)

As many of you know, I'm trying to make a living off my writing. If I can do that, then I can do many other things, including focusing on writing my fanfiction instead of working and exhausting myself. I can focus everything on my writing, which is the end goal. I'm not great at advertising, which is a serious drawback for self-publishing authors. But anyways, you don't care about that, haha.

Enjoy this newest update! The next update will come in at the scheduled two weeks. This is a special update, so it doesn't count as the regular two-week update. You'll see another chapter next week!

Cheers!

2.

It was a major headache, Uchiha Madara concluded, to even have considered going to his great-nephew's college for this ridiculous display of lack in court experience. However, Hashirama, who he begrudgingly respected, had told him it would be good for publicity and Tobirama had urged him to do so. Two always outvoted one, which usually benefited him, but when he found himself on the losing team, he made sure he didn't agree without compensation. Hashirama was too soft to deny him, as usual. He had told Hashirama that he would receive the next high-profile case that came to them, which turned out to be Sabaku Gaara's murder case. His firm partner had frowned at the time, as it was technically supposed to be up to the client, but Madara was renowned enough that it would likely not make much of a difference.

It hadn't.

Madara felt that his little victory hadn't exactly been hard won, so he had pushed for two weeks off from work and delegated a lesser case to Tobirama. This had caused an uproar, as Tobirama and he had always been at odds, but Hashirama had quickly quelled his younger brother's protests. Madara had felt liberated to walk away from that fight, knowing that Hashirama would take his side, as he usually did. The man called Madara his best friend, and while Madara wouldn't deny that he was fond of the Senju, he would deem that title too sentimental for his tastes. He still wasn't exactly sure why they were so keen on the class visit—then again, student interns were good for the firm and this proved a way to weed out the incompetent ones.

He had gracefully pointed out to Hashirama, when all this was started and their flimsy reasoning brought up, that all of the students might be incompetent and they would just be picking the smartest of the idiots.

Hashirama had scolded him for his insensitivity, but Madara had been unrepentant. Finally, Hashirama had given in, as long as Madara followed through with his part.

He'd scoffed. Once he decided upon something, he never failed to make it happen.

Frowning, Madara finished tying his tie and then headed for the black Lamborghini, which was parked and running in the driveway, thanks to Izuna prompting their help to start it. Izuna's eyesight deterioration had taken another turn for the worse and now he could mostly only make out blurry, large shapes such as buildings and vehicles, and then only their size and color. He could see a person's outline, but Izuna had to recognize them with his other senses, such as hearing and smell. Doctors were still working diligently to find a way to permanently halt the deterioration, but progress was slow.

Due to his life-long disability, Izuna lived next door to him in a house specifically built for the sight-impaired. It allowed him to live on his own safely and securely, but Izuna couldn't help but try to make himself useful anyway, which was why he always did what he could to help his brother with the little things—such as getting Madara's car started for him.

"Good-bye, aniki," Izuna called, hearing Madara exit the house. He was sitting outside on his front porch, reading a brail form of the Tokyo Times and sipping from a bottle of Ramune. Madara saw the bottle and rolled his eyes fondly. Trust Izuna to drink a commoner's soda.

"Good-bye, Izuna."

Madara frowned once in the car, his mood sour. He pulled out of the driveway to head to the college, taking his time as he drove. He was in no hurry. Konoha College was a smaller college for upper high school. Most of the students there would be at least eighteen, so at least he wouldn't have to worry about any incredible amounts of annoying immaturity.

Frown deepening, his thoughts darkened as he remembered that he'd forgotten to call Suzuki Miya for a date after this 'business endeavor,' as Hashirama had put it. Stress tended to put Madara in a highly sexual mood. From his traditional upbringing in the Uchiha compound, he had learned a sort of misogyny from an early age. Women were utensils—delicate, beautiful utensils to perform specific tasks.

In most developed countries these days, it wasn't so—women went to work and raised a family at the same time. But Madara preferred the docile woman, who would cook and clean, wait on him hand and foot and please him whenever he was in the mood. Suzuki Miya was one of these women, but she was sadly too old for his tastes and at the relatively young age of thirty-nine, he felt he should still have time in choosing a wife and preferably one that was young. Miya was forty-four and while it wasn't outright obvious, her age would show soon enough and then he'd be stuck with an ugly old gold-digger for a life partner, and that was not what he was searching for.

No, his playtime was not over yet. But Miya did give good massages and had plenty of experience in bed, so she was suited for a quick fuck well enough.

Nonetheless, Miya usually required a day's advance because she had a niece who she often took care of and the older woman was very devoted to children. Another thing he didn't like, want, or need: children. He was almost positive Miya would be hell-bent on having one with him come the opportunity.

She was too old, though, he comforted himself. Menopause would start soon, and then she wouldn't be able to get pregnant and they could lose the stupid condom.

Then again, would he even want to sleep with a woman that old?

Glancing at his GPS, Madara found he was just about at the college. Inhaling deeply, he mentally prepared himself to choose the best dunce of them all—at least, if Sasuke didn't prove himself to be proficient enough—and be on his merry way.

Sakura couldn't help but feel nervous. They were in a larger classroom designated for things such as this trial. She frowned, glancing at Sasuke, who looked at her expectantly. She handed him his portion of the project. While she had easily worked harder on it than he had, she was happy to let him bask in the glory of her work. She was busy enough—this would keep Sasuke happy, hopefully get her brownie points, and she'd definitely get a good grade. Sakura had kicked ass at this project, she knew, and she was happy to show it off in a presentation.

The class waited patiently for Uchiha Madara to arrive, the relative Sasuke spoke so highly of. Upon realizing just who would be presenting to the class, Sakura had at first been intimidated. Then she realized that being intimidated in front of an Uchiha would be like bleeding in shark-infested waters; any Uchiha worth their salt could sense that kind of thing intuitively, it seemed. So she had let go of that fear and called on her resolve—it was just a presentation, after all. The only person she truly needed to impress was her teacher.

Sakura rested her head in her hands impatiently. She had other homework, damnit, which she'd skimped on to help Sasuke with this project! She could feel the headache coming on. She still had a chemistry worksheet, a pre-calculus test review, a research paper for Economics…

"Sakura," Sasuke said, nudging her. It was almost directly after the door to the classroom opened. "He's here. Look a little more excited."

Sakura shot Sasuke a you're-telling-me-to-look-excited glare before glancing at the front of the classroom.

She almost immediately rolled her eyes.

He was handsome, certainly—flawlessly so. Signature Uchiha, right there—he could have been the clan's trademark, with his long dark hair and inky black eyes. He was tall, older, well-built in that he obviously cared about his looks, and from the muscular biceps shown off through his tailored suit, she could tell that he probably worked out, too. He was certainly aesthetically attractive, but Sakura herself did not actually feel attracted to him.

It might have had to do with the fact that Sasuke sat right next to her and she was still too infatuated with him to really care about anyone else, or perhaps it concerned her that the man was very nearly in his forties, if he wasn't there already, and she had no interest in lusting after someone over twice her age. Sakura had never been one to be ruled by lust or attraction—at least, not for anybody other than Sasuke.

Gross, was her immediate thought. She watched Madara's eyes travel across the room, calculating, assessing, determining something. With her observant nature she noted how his eyes lingered on some of the more attractive females in the room—Midori Saya and Kuzuki Izori, to name the most sought-after.

Sakura noticed with slight disgust that the older girls were eyeing him right back.

Her eyes shifted from Izori's face and she immediately found him looking directly at her. She froze like a deer in the headlights and somehow she knew that he knew she'd been watching him.

Madara smirked fractionally before his eyes shifted from her and he continued his assessment of the classroom.

For some reason the way he'd looked at her made her very uncomfortable. It wasn't the smirk, although that certainly hadn't helped, so much as how deep his eyes were. There were fathoms of knowledge behind them, and for a second, Sakura just wanted to pry open his brain and drain all the wisdom out of him. She could see the intellect deep within his eyes.

It was aweing and frightening at the same time. This was a man who had seen things, done things, and knew how the world worked. He wasn't someone to be taken lightly. At that thought, a light shiver crawled up her spine, and she quickly looked down at her desk.

"Aburame-san and Hyuuga-san, please come forth to present your case."

Sakura distracted herself by looking on at the spectacle before her as her classmates Shino and Hinata took the stage.

Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are love!