I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters from the Manga or Anime.

A Price for Peace

Chapter 48: Training Days

Tetsu stood stiffly outside Gouhara's palace, she had only just returned from the capitol a few hours ago, and judging from the sound of things... then he would say her time there didn't go particularly well. She had instantly kicked everyone out of the large mansion, including himself. She had been visibly angry and started by stating that, should she be disturbed by anyone, "They would be punished." Since then her frustrated yells would echo out over the grounds accentuated by glass blowing out from the force of her wind manipulation at various intervals as she stalked though her mansion.

Several servants scurried about desperate to both stay out of the princesses way but also clean any mess that she may have caused in her aggressive outburst, last thing they needed was to have the temperamental Uchiha princess's rage directed at them for any reason.

Tetsu for the most part had spent the last few weeks training new recruits. With the disaster that was the last placement trials, all new recruits, that had survived the trials had been assigned to Gouhara. They had lost a decent portion of their men when they attempted to trap Naruto.

For his part he could honestly say that there were some genuinely talented new recruits this year, even if there were no exceptional standouts. Of course this years Uchiha recruits took his teachings with a grain of salt, they'd had private tutors since they could walk and had already survived their families coming of age ceremony, most thought him to be nothing but a nuisance.

Tetsu was broken from his musings when the doors to the palace burst open, shattered into pieces no larger than kindling, and out walked the albino princess. What unsettled the blood wielder more than anything was the almost serene calm that she exuded considering the amount of damage she had clearly caused inside just a few moments earlier. "Now that's better. Nothing gets the stink of the capital off me better than a little redecoration," she said with a smile.

Tetsu bowed slightly, not wanting to risk her seemingly improved mood. "It's good to see you're feeling better Hime-sama."

For her part Gouhara just allowed her smile to grow, "Yes, I can barely stand the cesspit that most of my family calls home, I prefer a more hands on approach to ruling over my region of the empire," she said somewhat kindly, although Tetsu could see the rage still burning in her eyes.

"You are certainly devoted," the rust haired man declared calmly. He knew that he needed to ask about what her orders from the capital were, but decided to wait until she brought the topic up.

She didn't seem to mind or even notice the dry compliment instead deciding to change topics. "Tell me Tetsu, and give me your honest opinion. How powerful would you say Naruto-kun is?" Gouhara asked.

Tetsu paused, he had been asked that question once before and had been horribly wrong, back then he thought the young blond would be nothing more than a minor nuisance. "Well Hime-sama… I would say he could probably compete with any of the current governors," he answered eventually.

"Yes I already knew that much, he's already thrown me around, like I was a foolish little girl. I'm asking how many of us governors would you say they would need to kill him?" She asked sweetly, the kind of sweet that sent Tetsu's iron blood running cold.

"Surely if you took him seriously from the start then no more than two, Hime-sama." He answered trying to placate whatever had angered the unstable princess.

This however was not the right answer, the ground in front of him was torn up, and he could feel the wind blades digging into his skin. "Do not flatter me, or presume I did not try and defeat Naruto-kun in our previous engagement. A specimen like that cannot be defeated by just a handful of even the most skilled of our number."

"Forgive me Gouhara-hime, I haven't fought him first hand like you have." Tetsu begged hoping for her to relent in her blades of wind that were currently slicing him open. "But I must question, why do you ask, I thought you said that you wouldn't be killing the boy."

"Yes but Ojii-sama in his almighty wisdom has ordered that I solve the problem of the little rebellion in the south. We currently have a little over five thousand men, do you think that will be sufficient numbers to crush them?" The albino Uchiha asked as if she already knew the answer.

Tetsu opened his mouth to say yes, they had only a handful of men to defend a giant city after all. But then he stopped himself. He remembered the giant toads casually turning a battalion into dust in mere moments. Then, he remembered the overwhelmingly oppressive feeling of the giant golden fox he later summoned, and then that final jutsu. "I would say, that it would be very difficult Hime-sama. We would need quality rather than quantity," he admitted now wondering just how they should proceed.

"Quite right Tetsu-chan, you seem to be learning just who it is that the empire is facing. In fact considering he couldn't be more than twenty I doubt he even realizes just how much power he holds, oh to be able to leave nothing but ashes of an opponent, it's... invigorating." Gouhara replied quite happily, she was almost giddy in excitement.

Needless to say Tetsu didn't share the albino's enthusiasm, in fact he was quite worried. "Then how do we precede Hime-sama? We do not have the required manpower to defeat them in a battle and we're short on high ranking officers."

"Yes it is an issue isn't it, it's as if we have been ordered to our deaths," Gouhara mused conversationally.

Tetsu took her light hearted approach as a positive and relaxed slightly. "You have a plan then?"

"Oh my no, but orders are orders are they not? We have until the end of the year so I would suggest training the men as best as you can until then," Gouhara replied almost dismissing the accusation.

"Y-you want me, to train our men for a fight that you don't even believe they can win?" Tetsu stammered, if things played out as she expected then she was effectively throwing away her chance for the throne, all her ambitions crushed in an instant.

Gouhara smiled and simply nodded an affirmative. "Yes, best give them a fighting chance don't you think. Oh I wonder what else we will see from Naruto-kun. He was so tantalizingly destructive last time we met, I can still hear the screams of his victims. Oh I hope he remembers me!" she swooned like a giddy schoolgirl.

'Somehow I don't doubt that he will,' Tetsu thought with a deadpan.

Gouhara's enthusiasm was seemingly not fading as she seemed to be playing out some fantasies in her mind that the blood release shinobi was sure consisted of mass slaughter. "Oh yes this should be perfect. I do hope you tell the peons to train well Tetsu-chan. I wouldn't want things to be too easy for him though, can't let his head get too big."

"Forgive me but, if you were to fail to defeat Naruto, then would you not lose the southern region of the empire? The others from your family would take over the region." Tetsu was genuinely concerned. Even with several months to prepare Gouhara seemed determined to see them fight a battle with little to no chance of victory.

The princess began laughing as if she was completely dismissing her subordinates concerns. "Yes I'm sure they will, but I know my family. They will squabble over who gets the land, then when they can't agree they will turn on each other, meanwhile all I will have to do is wait, I'll let my precious Naruto-kun deal with the ones who don't fall to the infighting." she reveled in the thought of watching some of her closest family members being crushed either by themselves or the young blond.

"That will destroy the empire! If what you think will happen plays out it could end in both a civil war and could even be the end of your own family. Why would you want such a thing?" Tetsu asked feeling like his world was starting to collapse around him.

Gouhara seemed completely unaffected by the question and began walking down the path towards the end of the compound issuing for Tetsu to follow behind. "My family won't end, we will simply get rid of the deadwood, just as we always have. As long as an Uchiha rules the empire then it doesn't matter how they got there. Madara-Oojiisama took the empire from the ruling kingdoms destroying all those who would oppose him. But he also allowed others to do his work for him. Do you think your family would have lived had they not proved useful?"

For his part Tetsu was just as confused as ever. "I don't understand Hime-sama," he admitted honestly.

"But isn't it obvious Tetsu-chan. I will simply take Naruto-kun as my own. If he joins me then he joins the empire. It will no longer be a rebellion, and I can use his silly desire to change things to remove my family one by one until I become empress of this world," she declared biting her lip in anticipation.

Tetsu dared not speak his thoughts on her plan. After all they mostly rested on the shoulders of a boy almost half her age. That wasn't to say the Albino princess wasn't beautiful, she had often been described as a goddess, even if it was by those terrified of her. Still the question had to be asked. "What if he doesn't accept your proposal?"

A cold chill went down the young mans spine, the Uchiha looked as if she was about ready to remove his head from his shoulders at any second. "Do you not consider me to be desirable? Do you think he would turn down even thought of my advances? Even if he is hesitant, he just needs to be… educated" she purred with venomous innuendo.

'How she looks isn't the problem, if she wasn't certifiably insane I would say he's the luckiest man alive, but now I think even I pity you Naruto.'

(Elsewhere)

"You two should really keep this room clean," Tsunade said with a disapproving tone and a slight smirk guessing the reaction she was about to get as she looked around the top floor apartment of the small palace they now called a home.

"Tsunade-sama?!" Karin gasped from where she lay. Quickly sitting up, poking her head out from behind a couch, her face quickly turned as red as her currently completely disheveled hair in embarrassment.

"Yes, me. You both are quite late for training so I came to get you. Didn't sleep well last night I take it," the slug Sannin smirked as she picked up and inspected a rather risqué piece of lingerie that had been discarded carelessly over a chair. In fact all around her were pieces of clothing that had looked like they were torn off rather than removed, the table was on its side and several of the dining chairs were mysteriously missing, she guessed they had been thrown away in a fit of what they would call passion. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were fighting in here," she mused her attention now drawn to a ceiling fan that slowly turned overhead where one of Karin's bra now hung proudly on one of the dull blades.

"Sorry Tsunade-sama, we lost track of time," Karin admitted quickly desperately wishing she could find an article of clothing within arms reach to at least make her decent.

"I'm sure you did," Tsunade scoffed. Naruto was many things, but purposefully late for training had never been one of them. At least not in the time she had known the highly energetic blond Uzumaki. "Seems like you're teaching him some bad habits."

"Well I wouldn't call them bad," Karin admitted with a mumble, her face somehow becoming ever redder at the slightly perverted thought.

It was then the pair was brought out of their little conversation by the door opening from a bathroom and the blond in question strolled out lazily. "Karin-chan why is it so noisy out here?" he asked through half lidded eyes and dressed only in a towel. It was at that moment that he noticed the third party that was in the room. "Oh kami Baachan! We had the silencing seals on, no sound could have gotten in or out of the apartment," he stammered frantically racing around, comically grabbing the discarded articles of clothing as if the former Hokage hadn't already seen them.

"I'm aware, why do think I had to break in?" Tsuande said with a deadpan, slightly torn between the frustration and humour of the situation. "What you two love birds do in your own time is fine with me. But you were both supposed to be training the recruits almost an hour ago… and don't lie to me and say you forgot."

For their part both looked slightly ashamed of themselves. "Sorry Baachan, we were just-"

"No, I don't want to hear it." Tsunade quickly interrupted the blond. "I'm not Jiraiya, so I don't need to know the details, just hurry up and get dressed. At the moment Shougo and his men are teaching the classes, but that just means we have nobody watching the walls and gates, well other than your pet Tanuki."

"Shukaku isn't a pet Baa-chan, he's a friend," Naruto whined, not understanding why she didn't seem to trust the Ichibi.

"Save it and get dressed already!" Tsunade ordered with a harsh glare. The young couple both nodded and quickly made an escape to the bedroom, which Tsunade marveled at the fact that it looked spotless. 'Damn kids, didn't even make it to the bed. Ah, to be young and in love,' she thought with a soft smile and a chuckle, her fake anger being replaced by the joy of seeing her surrogate little brother genuinely happy, rather than the fake smile he had so often worn as a child.

A few minutes later Naruto and Karin had returned fully dressed, Karin was still dressed in a black short-sleeved top she had purchased all those months ago before leaving the Elemental Nations, a pair of tight shorts that cut off only a short ways down her thigh, knee high stockings and black combat boots. Overall her choice in outfit had not changed a great deal.

Naruto on the other hand was looking more along the lines of an well laundered homeless person. He had a loose fitting button up green shirt that he left open over the top of some light chainmail armor he had liberated from one of the old gangs that ran the city. He wore black jeans that whilst designed for civilians were more durable than most, the signs of scuffs and fading colour evident from his training. Finally to round up his ensemble he too had black combat boots that were the only article of clothing left unchanged since before the war.

"Good lord if you ad a Kabuki robe and an over sized hetai-ate I'd almost be staring at a young Jiraiya," Tsunade said in a deadpan, not sure if she should be impressed or horrified, by the blonds choice of clothing.

Naruto for the most part was fine with being compared to his former master, as long as it was as a shinobi. But he could tell that Tsunade had certainly not meant for it to be taken as a complement. "Well I can't help it, we don't have any decent combat gear in the city yet. The blacksmiths are only creating kunai, shuriken and a few tanto. It will be awhile before I can get some armored clothing. So until then this is the best I can do."

"Well I suppose for now it will have to do, until we can change it. But if you start doing pointless and ridiculous introduction dances I'll have to punish you," the elder blond threatened seriously.

'She won't be the only one Naruto,' Kurama added threateningly.

Naruto's face fell, he had almost thought of doing one just to prank his beloved Baa-chan, but he really didn't want to face both an angry Slug Sannin and Bijuu. 'Not you too Kurama,'

'Just shut up and go train your students, there is no need to bring any more of her ridicule, really you and your mate are two of the best sensors in the world and you just keep letting her walk in on your intimate moments.' Kurama scoffed derisively.

'I haven't let her do anything, she just keeps barging in,' Naruto replied in his defence.

'That is not the point Naruto, what if it had been an assassin rather than that loud angry woman,' the fox said in a matter of fact tone.

Naurto sighed in acceptance. He knew Kurama had a point. 'Alright fair enough, I'll try to be more aware in the future.'

A few moments later Naruto and Karin were off heading across the village. Karin was heading to a large hall that they had set up as a beginner's level academy for children to learn about how to use chakra and chakra theory. Once they were proficient there they were given the option to move on to combat training that was taken care of by either Naruto, his clones or on the odd occasion like this morning Shougo and his fellow exiles.

Naruto created several clones to relieve the forced substitutes while he moved on towards where the advanced class had been currently training with Shougo. "Yo!" he called happily signaling his arrival.

"Oh Naruto, good to see you finally join us," Shougo said happily relaxing as he had been running the recruits through several conditioning drills along with the tree walking exercise.

Whilst Shougo may have been happy, others were not. "You're late!" came the annoyed yell from Rea.

Naruto was instantly hit by a wave of nostalgia, despite being older he could almost see Sakura standing with the exact same pose, her hands on her hips as she spat the same accusation at their own sensei. The blond couldn't help himself; it just had to be said. "Ah sorry, I guess I got lost on the road of life."

Suddenly the entire clearing was dead silent, not even the insects seemed to dare make a single noise, as if the whole world was silenced in disbelief. The silence stretched on for a few more seconds until. "That has to be the worst excuse I have ever heard!" Rea yelled loudly followed soon after by a chorus of agreement from the other students.

Naruto chuckled at their indignation but had to admit it was a lot more amusing being on this side of the joke. Also having thought of his old sensei, he was struck with another moment of inspiration. "Alright, now I'm guessing your all warmed up?"

"No thanks to you," Rea scoffed, her glare still directed squarely at the seemingly carefree blond.

Naruto seemed to just ignore her and formed a clone that instantly ran off towards the village. "Today we're going to have a little survival exercise," he said happily talking to the group as a whole.

"What you're not going to help us work on our taijutsu or Ninjutsu?" a young man a few years older than Naruto asked a little disappointed.

"No not today. I was thinking that I should teach you one of the first things I learned from my own sensei. I just hope my clone can find what I need in town. But first, I want you all to split up into groups of three." The blond explained before moving over to a group of trees and slicing them with wind manipulation into several training posts.

With great commotion the group began dividing themselves, Naruto watched as a class hierarchy seemed to appear with many wanting certain members of the class to join them for various reasons, however eventually they had separated into four teams of three in time for his clone to return and hand over a pair of bells and some rope.

His students looks at the rope apprehensively and the bells with mild confusion, but before any could question why Naruto cut them off. "Each team will go one at a time and have one hour to take one of these bells, if you fail to get a bell you will spend the next week with Karin-chan learning the basics of chakra control with the academy students again."

This revelation did not sit well with the group of advanced students. "Wait, if each person needs a bell, why are there only two of them?" Rea asked apprehensively.

"Glad you asked," Naruto said with a smile. "That is because one person from each of your groups will definitely be going back to spend time with Karin-chan," he added still as carefree as ever. The outburst was as expected, nobody seemed happy about the prospect of sitting through lectures and having to practice basic chakra control exercises. 'I let them pick their own teams so it should be easy for them to work together, besides it's not like another week learning the basics would kill them anyway. We didn't even make them learn how to use the most basic jutsu before they could move on to proper combat training like in Konoha. Although if there was no leeway I would probably still be in the academy unable to perform a standard clone.'

Eventually after the initial shock had worn off the groups decided amongst themselves who would go first, not an appealing task from Naruto's point of view, he would rather go last in hopes his opponent would be weaker and he could see how they fought, however that was the current Naruto thinking, not the brash straight out of the academy Genin Naruto.

"Alright, one hour to get one of these bells off me. I would suggest coming at me with the intent to kill, otherwise you will have no chance," Naruto said lazily, not even taking up a stance. In another wave of nostalgia, it appeared as though one member of the first group was more eager than the others; he flew forward at admittedly impressive speed for someone with little more than a few months training. Naruto casually leaned out of the way before grabbing the offending attacker. "I don't believe I said start yet, but I do like your enthusiasm… now let's begin!" he taunted before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

'Do you think any of them will get the true purpose of this test?' Kurama asked while Naruto; now well hidden in a tree watched as the first group of students searched for him.

'Hard to say, it's not an easy test to pass, even today I think Kakashi-sensei let us off a little easy, our teamwork was horrible,' Naruto admitted.

'True, but at least nobody here is as bad as the screaming pink one,' Kurama mused while Naruto began allowing more of his presence to be felt, giving the recruits a chance to find him.

'Sakura-chan wasn't that bad,' Naruto replied in defense of his old friend.

Kurama couldn't help but scoff at the thought. 'Naruto, I know you are fond of that woman, but when you were young kit's she was more likely to hit you than agree to one of your plans. Even that deplorable Uchiha was willing to listen and even try if he thought the idea could actually work.'

Naruto couldn't even deny that, he wouldn't be surprised if he still had a lump on his head from where she used to hit him all the time. 'Okay you have a point but she got better… even if it really was only so she could see Sasuke again,' he added and to his shock he even sounded a little bitter at the thought. To shake the sudden feeling of resentment he decided to stop playing hide and seek with his students, instead going for another favorite past time of his sensei, divide and conquer. "Hi!" he called happily, dropping in front of the same young man who had recklessly attacked him at the start.

"You ready to hand over one of those bells Naruto-sensei?" he asked. The man in question was slightly shorter than Naruto, but was well developed, having lived a hard life out in the outer regions of the empire. Like most of the students currently in the advanced class, he had been at the placement trials so he'd seen just what the blond could do. The problem was, with learning how to control chakra for himself he had gotten a little bit of an ego.

Naruto didn't even take a stance as he effortlessly weaved through the telegraphed taijutsu strikes sent for him. "Not bad," he admitted casually before planting a fist into his stomach. "But you're too slow to attack an opponent with superior technique. To win a fight in taijutsu you can either use superior technique or physical ability," Naruto lectured while taking a seat on a large stone while his student was struggling to slowly pick himself up from the ground. He spoke loud enough for everyone to hear as it was a hint to the true purpose of the test.

"But you're so much faster than we are and have far more experience. How the hell are we supposed to win?" the man asked almost desperately, seems like he really didn't want to go spend time in Karin's class.

"That is the question you need to answer for yourself," Naruto replied casually before he disappeared in a puff of smoke once he was sure the man would not be getting back up in any condition to keep fighting.

One by one the others failed to do anything more than make the blond dodge, the second group was slightly better but they too failed to realize what it was Naruto was looking for. The final group at least had time to form a plan, even if they didn't work together. Rea had set up traps throughout the field. Naruto could recognize them as traps they had used while hunting animals in the small riverside village. While they were not perfect they had clearly taken knowledge and planning to put together.

"Damn it I thought I had him that time!" Rea yelled in frustration as Naruto had purposefully walked into one of the traps only to quickly replace himself out of harms with a log that was then impaled with a hail of Kunai and wire before a tree was brought down atop of it.

'Well, at least she's taking the intent to kill part seriously,' Naruto thought with a sweat drop. Yes the last group was significantly more skilled individually, but even at this level if they didn't stand a chance against the blond. A buzzer rang signaling that they had run out of time. "Well looks like everyone failed," he said loudly casually walking towards where the other teams had been tied up and forced to watch the proceedings. "But at least that last group didn't get beaten up too badly."

"You went easy on them, because Tenji and Rea are from your old village," one aspiring kunoichi accused, her anger was shared by many of those that were also tied up.

Naruto contemplated that he may have gone easier on the last squad but in the end it didn't really matter. "Even if I did, they showed me more than any of you, and they still failed miserably." He lectured as the final members of the class made their way into the clearing. "Not one of them attempted to fight me head on, they learnt from you all that wouldn't work, they also correctly guessed I wouldn't go out of my way to hunt them down for a fight."

"What's the point? You can't get one of the bells if you don't fight for them. Hell nobody even touched them!" the brash man from the first group spoke in defiance.

Naruto nodded with a smile and went to sit under the shade of a tree nearby before continuing his lesson. "That is a good point, but not a single team used everything you could have to achieve a victory, the last group at least had plans to trap me, Rea even forced me to use a substitution. But in the end they failed to see the big picture."

"And what is that?" Rea asked a little bitter at having failed in her task.

"You were all so concerned with having to spend one week learning the basics you allowed everyone else to fail just so you would have a shot yourself. Every single one of you failed. The fact there were two bells means nothing, it's just a symbol. In the face of a superior opponent that has greater skill and physical ability you can't possibly win by yourself, but you will think first of self preservation. How you act in these situations is important." Naruto explained enjoying the stunned look of realization that hit some of their faces.

"It was a lesson in teamwork," Tenji sighed looking a little disappointed in his-self. He had known from the start that he stood no chance against Naruto instead opted to attack the blond from a distance aiming to remove the bells with a projectile and grab them when he was distracted.

"That's right, how are you supposed to trust your squad to fight along side you, even sacrifice themselves if necessary if they aren't even willing to risk sitting in on a few boring lectures for you. In the end you all not only failed the mission, you abandoned your friends as well. My sensei told me that; 'those who abandon a mission are trash. But those who abandon their friends are worse than trash.'" The blond explained passionately.

For their part the students seemed to understand what Naruto was trying to say, many seemed to take what he had to say to heart, having lost family members or friends to bandits and the so called tax collectors in the past. "When can we come back for more training Naruto-sensei?" Rea asked sadly, she was slightly cursing herself for not seeing the true purpose of the test. 'I mean he was able to defeat two members of the royal family, what chance did I ever have.'

Naruto waited a few moments before smiling. "Come back tomorrow afternoon, after you have finished your first missions as squads one to three. I'll give you a new chakra control exercise, so long as I can find a large enough body of water."

"What!" the group chorused in disbelief.

"You guys are ready for more responsibility and to gain some experience, so the team that went first will now become squad one and your new squad leader will be Rea. Team two will be under Tenji and the third team will be under the final member of their team today Ryuske," Naruto explained happily.

"So we're officially ninja now?" A younger boy asked, he was about thirteen and reminded Naruto slightly of Kiba, although he lacked the Inuzuka clan markings on his face along with the ninken they always had at their side.

Naruto grinned happily at the newly constructed teams. "That's right, but things will get a lot harder from here on out. From tomorrow on you will be expected to take on missions that will help the people of our new country. It won't be easy. In fact things will be dangerous for you most of the time. So listen to your new squad leaders and keep up your training. Now go celebrate, you've earned it."

The teams cheered and ran off loudly proclaiming their success to the world. Once they were gone Naruto turned to where he knew Shougo was watching from a nearby tree. "You reward them for failing?" he asked with a smirk.

"More like passed them out of necessity," Naruto admitted with a sigh. "I want to teach them to be shinobi who will work together as comrades and would die for their friends. I want to get that message across, but I think we're running out of time."

"They're not bad though, I was following their movements as they fought. While none would be considered officer material yet, they have only been training for a few months," Shougo said somewhat impressed with the first batch of graduates.

"They lived in harsh conditions, that's as good as training. Rea was a hunter from a young age. They just needed to learn how to use chakra, the skill was already there," Naruto replied.

Shougo could see the logic in the statement, they didn't need lessons in hiding, tracking because they already had that from hunting wildlife and living under the conditions of the empire made them tough, durable, and strong. "Then I almost pity the empire."

END CHAPTER!

So again more of a filler chapter, little bit of fluff but I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things and I don't like rushing developments, maybe that makes things drag on a little long but I find it a lot harder to develop a world without have the guidelines of the cannon to go off of.

With that said I do enjoy writing my own little part of the Universe. I had my issues with the manga and some of the plots, but the universe Kishimoto created was brilliant. Still not enough to make me want to watch/read Boruto, really made our introduction to his character completely unlikable, sort of like if we were just given post time skip Sasuke, all the decent parts of his character and progression were just ignored after the time skip and we just got a dick.

I don't hate Sasuke, not by any means, he had some decent points, but his logic and character arcs once Itachi died were just stupid. I mean he tried to honor Itachi by destroying the very thing he wanted to save, that's like destroying everything your parents worked for just so nobody can ever say anything bad about them after they die.

Anyway, I'll try to move things along a bit more after the next chapter, one more chapter of some world building to move onto the next arc. Anyway let me know what you like, what you hate even things you want to see. Can't say I'll use them but it's always nice to hear what people think… even if they're flames, I find them funny sometimes, but constructive criticism is still much better.