Grey Area
Chapter 6 Riding the waves.
"Person talking"
'Person thinking'
"Demon talking"
'Demon thinking'
Jutsu, Important names
*A/N Put. The pitchforks. Down. I know that this is late as fuck. And I am sorry, but life got in the way. I won't tell you what happened but let's just say, summer school is in my near future.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, One Piece, Bleach or any part of any anime I may use in this story. If I did, I wouldn't be taking classes in the summer, I would be drinking Piña Coladas in Maui.
Ten Golden Rules of the Shinobi
"Rule One: Deception is strength. Knowledge is Power.
Rule Two: A specialized ninja is a dead ninja.
Rule Three: Kekkai Genkai don't make a shinobi, the skills make a shinobi.
Rule Four: Turning your back on an enemy is bad judgment, turning your back on an ally is suicide.
Rule Five: Emotions are a great tool. Control your own, then learn to control your enemy's.
Rule Six: There is no such thing as a useless shinobi art. Every technique, if mastered, can kill.
Rule Seven: Don't presume someone as dead, check to make sure.
Rule Eight: Learn the strengths of your enemies, and the weaknesses of your allies.
Rule Nine: Be confident in your abilities, but arrogance leads only to death. Either of yourself or your friends.
Rule Ten: A shinobi sticks to the shadows and kills from the darkness. Do not show off your skills or explain them needlessly."
*STORY START!
*Coast of Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)
Two days.
It took 2 solid days for them to reach Nami. It seemed nobody wanted to sail to there so they had needed to spend a day looking for a ship in the nearby port. After a day of sailing while avoiding the patrolling ships, they had finally reached Nami's southwestern coast and were now preparing to go find Team 7.
"Okay guys, the scroll said that the client, Tazuna's, is just 10 minutes from the nearest town from here. Now let's get ready," said Mikoto as she and her team got off the boat.
"Mikoto-sensei, if this Gatou character really has a strangle hold on this place then how bad do you think it will be in town," asked Guren, wondering just how badly one persons greed could damage this country. The raven-haired beauty grimaced, "Guren-chan, you're about see yet another effect of human greed, and let's leave it at that for now," she said as she turned away.
The Genin looked between themselves. Yeah, that wasn't ominous at all. With a sigh they walked after their sensei.
*Town of Wave
Horror.
That was an accurate description for the felling going through Guren and Nanami as they gazed upon the remains of the town. Most shops were either closed down or barely had anything on the shelves. An air of depression and hopelessness hung around like a fog only further augmented by the people lying on the ground seemingly having given up. Down an alleyway, moans and grunts could be heard, the smell of sex being carried by the wind. Probably some woman doing whatever she needed to put food on the table.
At least they hoped that it was.
"How could this have happened?" said Nanami, unable to think of anything else in face of the disaster that had become Nami.
Mikoto answered her solemnly, "Human greed, like I said Sweetie. Since Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) is an island country, a lot of their needs and commerce need to be imported and exported. Gatou has a monopoly on the shipping lanes and in a place like this, whoever controls the sea, controls everything," she responded. The sad thing is this was about the fourth time in her life she had seen this situation.
The girls looked their sensei saw that while she was acting professionally she was saddened at the site before them. Looking to their boyfriend they were shocked to see… nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
His face was utterly calm as he simply kept walking along the path to their client's house, seemingly uncaring at what was going on around them. Guren was the one to say what was on their minds, "Naruto-kun, how can you be so calm, surely this must bother you at least some, right?" she asked the whisker-faced blonde.
Naruto said nothing as he simply continued along the path until he said, "Let's just get to the clients house, the others are waiting." he finally uttered leaving the girls in shock at how nonchalant he was being about the situation they were seeing.
Before they could call him out on it his hand shoot back and grabbed another hand that was reaching for his pockets. Following the limb, it lead to a brown-haired girl that couldn't be more than ten looking up at him with the pitiful, pleading expression any of them had ever seen. The child looked like she hadn't eaten in a while if the gurgles of her stomach were anything to go by and was dressed in clothes that looked like they hadn't been washed in days.
The girls and Mikoto stopped when he moved and were now waiting to see what he would do.
Finally he spoke, "Do you know how to read?" he asked the child. The little one was startled by the suddenness with which he spoken, unsure of what would happen. She had been sure she would be hurt like the other times she got caught so the simple question got her off guard.
Seeing that she wasn't answering he asked again, "I said, do you know how to read?" He got an answer this time as the girl gave a slow nod. Nodding his head once he reached into his bandoleer and pulled out a storage scroll. From it he unsealed a small book and some ninja wire, while also retrieving a kunai from his leg pouch. He handed the girl the items and said, "Take this and leave."
The girl didn't waste any time, took the items and, after giving a small bow of thanks, speed off. He simply turned around and kept walking. The others were confused as to what happened as they followed soon after. Finally, it was Mikoto who asked the question on all their minds, "Why didn't you just give her one of you ration bars? She was obviously hungry, that's why she tried to pick pocket you," said the Ravennete.
He was silent for a moment before he answered, "Because she didn't need food, Sensei."
Now they were even more confused, "Then what did she need?" she prodded, to which he simply said, "A way to get it."
No more words were said as understanding flashed across their faces and small smiles came to them, all three having the same thought:
'Of course. That's just like you, Naruto-kun.'
They continued silently to Tazuna's house, towards their friends in need.
*Tazuna's Inn
Uchiha Sasuke was not a happy camper.
The mission had started out well enough, a simple guard and escort mission for a bridge builder, Tazuna, and elder man wearing a sleeveless grey shirt, black pants wooden sandals with a towel around his shoulders and a straw hat that smelled like he bathed in sake, to a nearby country against bandits and highwaymen.
Okay, no problem, they could handle that.
Then things started to go to shit.
It started just a few days into their journey, having to travel at civilian speed really slowing them down, with the siting of a puddle be the road. Now normally, this wouldn't be noticed but considering it was the middle of the day and it hadn't rained in weeks all that occurred were sweatdrops from him and his teammates. A few seconds later two Nuke-nin (Missing Ninja) from Kirigakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Mist), later found to be the Oni Kyodai (Demon Brothers) spring out and try to attack them.
Keyword: Try.
Now had they been some wet-behind-the-ears, green genin they probably would be shocked when the ninja 'killed' they're Sensei. As it was they simply reacted to the attack and dispatched the enemy ninja in just a few seconds. Immediately after, their sensei reappears and congratulates them on a job well done before proceeding to interrogate their client as to exactly why there were ninja on a C-rank mission.
None of them liked the answer.
Apparently, some greedy ass pig thought it was a good idea to bleed the country dry of its resources for themselves. Now normally this would not warrant them continuing with a mislabeled mission, until they found out that the shipping business was just a front for Gatou's , the pig, less than legal ventures, such as drugs, money laundering and the one that made his blood boil, slavery. The bridge builder had assumed that Gatou would be too cheap to hire anything more expensive than bandits so thought nothing of asking for a C-rank thinking it would be enough.
He was very wrong.
Not one day after the attack, when they had chosen to continue the mission, if only to see if the business was affecting their country, did they cross paths with Momochi freaking Zabuza, an A-rank Ninja and member of the greatest generation of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shu (Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist), one of the most well-known and lethal groups of ninja in the history of the Elemental Nations.
It was especially bad when they got surrounded by Kiri's famed Kirigakure no jutsu (Hiding in Mist Technique), which rendered his Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye) all but inert. Add to that the fact that Zabuza just so happened to be a master of the Muon Satsujin Jutsu (Soundless Murder Technique) and what you have is a mission gone completely FUBAR(*).
It looked bad when their teacher had been captured in Zabuza's Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison technique) but thanks to some well-timed tactics between him and his girlfriend they had managed to free their Sensei.
The battle that followed between their sensei, Hatake Kakashi, and Zabuza both amazed them and showed them what a true battle between high level ninja looked like. The high speed close combat exchanges followed by trading of Ninjutsu had left them temporarily mesmerized until they snapped themselves out of it. By the end of it, Kakashi had Zabuza dead to rights before senbon needles came out of nowhere and hit Zabuza in the neck, making his head drop.
It was then that a Kiri Oi-nin (Hunter Ninja) revealed themselves before thanking them for the distraction and taking Zabuza's body, something that was bothering him but he just couldn't seem to place why.
Now here they were, in their client's home, waiting for the backup they had called for upon deciding to continue the mission, which was now A-rank at the least, and for their sensei to wake up from the chakra exhaustion caused by their Ninjutsu exchange and needing to convert a good amount his chakra into Fuuton (Wind Release) natured chakra to be able to breathe while in the Water Prison, which considering wind is the opposite of Kakashi's own natural Raiton (Lightning Release) affinity, it was a significant amount.
A knock on the door knocked him out of his recollection as Hanabi went to answer it, but not before checking what was on the other side with her Byakugan (White Eye). By the way her shoulders seemed to drop in relief he could guess that their backup had arrived. What he was not expecting was who exactly would be sent by the Hokage.
"Kaa-san? (Mom or Mother)" said the dumbfounded Uchiha.
"Hey Sweetie, heard you needed some help," said the elder ravenette as she proceeded to give her boy a hug, which he of course returned.
Meanwhile, the rest of Team 11 was being greeted by a relieved Hanabi, "You don't know how happy I am to see you guys." She said as she embraced her friends, though she lingered a second longer than necessary with Naruto.
"We were on a mission near the coast already so the Hokage thought it best to send us quickly, what's the situation here, guys?" asked Mikoto as she approached with Sasuke next to her as he came to greet his 'siblings' as all in the Kongou-dasu (Diamond Dozen) saw each other.
Sasuke answered her, "Yesterday afternoon, a little before actually reaching here, we were confronted by Momoichi Zabuza," this got wide eyes from Team 11 along with a slight curse from Mikoto, "Kakashi-sensei proceeded to engage him after he cast the Kirigakure no jutsu (Hiding in Mist Technique) and was somehow captured in the Suiro no Justu (Water Prison Technique) but we managed to free him before, Sensei and him started breaking out the Ninjutsu.
Sensei was about to end it when an Oi-nin (Hunter Ninja) came out and killed Zabuza, though something feels wrong about that. Kakashi is currently resting from chakra exhaustion from needing to use it to breath in the water prison and the Ninjustu battle afterwards, not to mention having his Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye) out the whole time," he finished as Mikoto nodded her head.
"Okay, let's go check if Kakashi has woken up yet and go over the details," said Mikoto as Sasuke lead them to the room his sensei was in. Inside the found an awakened Kakashi, being helped up by Ami, he smiled as they appeared.
"Well I'm glad reinforcements have finally arrived, could certainly use it soon." This got a raised eyebrow form the people in the room.
"Why is that, Sensei?" asked Ami, as Sasuke had a sour look on his face.
The cyclopean jounin answered, "Well by the look on his face; it seems Sasuke has figured it out, so I'll let him tell you." They all looked to the younger Uchiha as he said, "Zabuza is still alive, isn't he Sensei?"
The silver haired man nodded grimly, "I'm afraid so."
Here Nanami spoke up, "How is he still alive, did you guys forget Rule number 7: 'Don't presume an enemy is dead, check to make sure'"?
"But, Nanami-neechan, Kakashi-sensei did check, Zabuza had no pulse after the Senbon hit his neck," said Ami as the sound of a palm hitting someone's flesh sounded throughout the room. They turned to see Hanabi with her face in her right hand as she muttered, "How the hell did I miss that, I'm the team's medic for Kami's sake," looking to the others she spoke, "The weapon the Oi-nin (Hunter Ninja) used to take down Zabuza were Senbon needles, not something usually used for killing, however, it is possible, if extremely difficult, to hit a set of nerves in the neck to simulate a false-death state."
"But how are we sure that the hunter didn't just use a quick-acting poison?" asked Guren, the question having real merit to the conversation. It was here Naruto realized something, "The hunter took the body."
This made Ami curious while Mikoto, Kakashi and Sasuke had understanding at what Naruto was saying, "Why does that matter, Sensei?" asked the purple haired girl.
The blond Jinchuuriki sighed, "The Academy lessons really need a revamp. It matters, Ami, because standard protocol for hunter ninja is to cut the head of for identification and then destroy the body on site to prevent village secrets from being stolen. This hunter didn't take just the head, or even just his sword, which would have been enough, but rather the whole body. The hunter is Zabuza's accomplice."
The adults again nodded grimly, "Got it in one Naruto, which means Zabuza is likely to come back for round two soon," said Kakashi and everyone let the information sink in.
Mikoto spoke up next "I can't imagine that a false death is something the body just bounces back from. Hanabi –chan, you have the most medical knowledge here apparently, how long do you think it will take Zabuza to recover, and will Kakashi be ready to fight by then?" she asked the milky eyed girl.
"Like you said, it would take a while for the body to recover. If I had to make an estimate, I would say we have at least another six days before Zabuza is back in fighting shape. That should be enough time for Kakashi-sensei to recover," answered the Hyuuga.
The silver haired man nodded, "I have to agree with you Hanabi-chan, and it's good to know we have a wonderful up and coming medic with us," he eye-smiled at her and they all chuckled or giggled when she turned away with a blush.
"Anyway, now that we have a probable time table we can started on preparing for Zabuza's eventual return a-"
*RAAAWWR~!*
He was cut off when a fierce growl sounded throughout the room, he looked down before looking at them sheepishly, "But first, is it time for dinner yet, I'm starving."
They all sweatdropped.
*Zabuza's hideout
Hidden deep in the wilderness of Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) we find an average sized shack that while note very appealing is enough to serve its purpose. In one of the rooms, laying on a bed, we see a rather tall man, with pale skin, short spiky black hair and eyebrows so small they almost appear to not be there. He wore bandages made to function as a mask and a slashed Kirigakure Hitai-ate (Hidden Mist Forehead Protector) slanted at an angle. If one could look under the covers they would see he is noticibly muscular and wearing only a black sleeveless vest and grey and black camouflage pants.
This was Momoichi Zabuza, the Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist) and he was NOT happy.
It was supposed to be an easy job, kill an old bridge builder and get the cash. He wasn't supposed to run into freaking Sharingan no Kakashi (Kakashi of the Sharingan) and he sure as hell wasn't supposed to be laid out in bed waiting to recover from being put in a near death state!
'Grrr! Next time Hatake, I am going to fucking kill you and your damn brats too!" Just then a slimy voice entered the room, "Well, well, well, look what we have here." In walk a little shrimp of a man with frizzy blondish hair that stuck straight, wearing a slick business suit, sunglasses and carrying a cane. Next to him were to wannabe-samurai thugs trying and failing miserably to be intimidating.
"Gatou, what the fuck do you want?" he asked the pig in man's skin. "I'm paying you good money to get rid of the bridge builder and what happens? You get your ass handed to you by one man and a bunch of brats!" exclaimed Gatou.
"Oh shut up, you little troll! Next time I see them, the old man is dead, and so is Hatake!" yelled an irate Zabuza. Gatou scoffed, "Yeah, just like the last time. Tch, 'Demon of the Mist' more like a baby demon!" said the piggish man while he and his goons laughed. Zabuza growled and Gatou smirked, "Oh what's this, the baby demon has something to say, well let's take of those bandages and see what he has to say." As he was reaching for his face, a pale hand gripped his wrist…
*CRACK!*
And broke it in one move, "Do not touch Zabuza-sama, you filthy pig," came the cold voice of a person that appeared to be in their teens, judging by the height. They wore a classic pinstriped Kirigakure Anbu outfit reaching their knees under a green haori coat with white trimmings and a brown sash at their waist, and light brown wooden sandals. They had long midnight black hair that fell down in two bangs framing their face and the rest done in a bun at the back of their head. Gatou fell to the ground wailing as the thugs tried to slash with their swords only to find the teen between them holding their partners sword's at their necks. 'Fast!' thought the thugs.
"I suggest you leave before I get angry," said the teen in the same cold tone. Gatou got up to leave while cradling his now broken wrist and yelled angrily, "You have one week Zabuza! Or else you can forget about getting paid!" And with that he left.
Zabuza looked at the masked teen, "You didn't have to do that," he said while moving to covers to show a kunai in his hand. "I know, but we need him alive to get the money," said the teen with some mirth in their voice.
"Grrr, take the damn mask of Haku! It's giving me the creeps!" said Zabuza to the now named Haku. The teen giggled as they removed the mask revealing a beautiful feminine face and chocolate brown eyes. "As you wish Zabuza-sama," said Haku.
"How long before I can move again?" asked the Demon of the Mist.
"A week at least, I will go out tomorrow and look for herbs to help with the process," was the reply he received as Haku left the room leaving Zabuza alone. The man looked at the ceiling 'Next time Hatake, next time.' (**)
*Tazuna's Inn, Dinner
As the shinobi were discussing the mission, Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, was serving them what she could of dinner in their limited food supply.
Tsunami was truly a lovely woman. Long dark blue hair that reached her mid back and had bangs over the sides of her face reaching her collar bone and leaving her forehead clear and a nicely developed figure with good sized breasts that looked kind of out of place on a civilian. She wore a pink shirt with red coloring on the sleeves and collar and a long black skirt that reached her knees.
Even with the limited ingredients she had to work with, she managed to cook up a rather delicious meal, something nobody kept to themselves. "Goddamn, this is some good food!" said Nanami as she enthusiastically dug in to her admittedly small but amazing meal. "I must agree with Nanami on this matter, that was a splendid meal Tsunami-san," said Kakashi as he somehow finished his entire meal without anyone noticing when he took of his mask…except.
A flushed Tsunami stuttered "Y-Y-You're Welcome H-H-Hatake-san."
'Sweet Kami, he's gorgeous! Why on Earth does he wear that mask? If there wasn't anyone else here I'd-WHOA GIRL! Get it together!' she screamed in her mind as she flushed even redder. Kakashi seemed know what she was thinking because he was smirking under his mask, 'Hehe, I still got it.' He chuckled mentally.
As the rest of the guest continued to lavish praise on the woman a, little boy, Tsunami's son, Inari finally couldn't keep his mouth shut. "WHY DO YOU ALL KEEP ACTING LIKE NOTHING IS WRONG! GATOU IS JUST GONNA KILL YOU ALL!" He screamed.
Inari was an 8 year old boy with spiky black hair he kept under a bucket hat and wearing dark green overall over a white shirt and white shoes.
From the moment he saw them in the house the first words out of his mouth were 'you're all gonna die.' At that very second Naruto had the kid pegged as a self-pitying whiner, why to wrapped up in thinking he has the worse life in the world to think about anyone else.
The thing about those people is that because they have given up, they want everyone else to give up as well so that they feel they were in the right. And when someone doesn't follow they get angry and jealous that there is someone doing what they want but are too afraid to. Then they get angrier and angrier before they reach the limit of their tolerance and finally…
They explode.
The ninja seemed annoyed by the outburst, "Did anyone ask for your opinion, kid? Cause if not do us all a favor and keep them to yourself," said Naruto, really not in the mood to deal with this kid.
"Shut up! You don't know anything! You people come here, thinking you can beat Gatou but you don't know how strong he is!" yelled the bucket hat wearing brat.
"Gaki (spoiled brat), Gatou ain't strong. He's just a greedy little pig that hides behind his money and cheap bandits. No match for trained shinobi." said Sasuke getting tired of the boy incessant whining.
"I said shut up! Gatou will kill you, just like everyone else. There's no such thing as heroes! You think you know what we've been through? I bet you all live cushy lives in your fancy village, getting everything you ever wanted. None of you know anything about pain!" he screamed.
"Inari!" yelled Tazuna and Tsunami.
"Wha-" he began but stopped when he felt it.
Death.
In one second Inari, Tazuna and to a, surprisingly, smaller extent Tsunami all felt the life leave them. Like as if the Shinigami (Death God) themself had reached into their chest and had a grip on their hearts. The shinobi felt it to and immediately turned to the source.
Naruto was just sitting there, face blank as he looked at a frozen Inari. He was entirely motionless but if one looked closely, small wisps of black chakra were springing up randomly around him. Only is team and Sasuke knew what this was and immediately tried to move to calm him. Just then, Naruto spoke.
"When was the last time you ate?" he asked the boy.
"W-What?" he managed to choke out when the feeling of impending death went away.
"When. Was. The last time. You ate?" Naruto asked again, slower this time.
"Today at lunch." The boy responded.
"Have you gone hungry at some point?"
"No."
"Did you sleep in your own bed last night?"
"Yes."
Naruto nodded. He got up and walked around the table till he was right in front of Inari. "Well Inari, if you have all these things," he reached out, grabbed Inari by his hair and lifted him out of his seat "THEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU COMPLAINING ABOUT?!" He screamed in his face.
"Hey, you can't-" Tsunami was about to defend her child but a grip on her shoulder stopped her. Turning to look at her father, he shook his head. Tazuna didn't like this, but it was about time his Mago (Grandchild) got a wake-up call.
Inari was scared, his head hurt from the blonde's grip and he had tears in his eyes. Naruto continued to speak, "Listen well, you little shit, cause I'm only gonna say this once. Outside this home, in town and countless other places, there are people, kids even younger than you, that have lost more than you, starving in the streets, sleeping in alleys and dying!"
"They have no one but themselves to count on because unlike you they have truly lost everything. You have a warm bed, food in your belly, a mother that loves you unconditionally, no matter how much you deserve to have few teeth knocked out, and a grandfather that is risking his life to save this country and all you do is bitch and moan about how hopeless it all is. You tell us to leave; well then, I guess that means you don't care if your grandfather gets killed tomorrow, right?!" At this Inari eyes widened.
He hadn't thought of that!
Naruto continued, "And then you say we don't know about suffering, well let me give you a little insight into our lives." He held him towards Kakashi, "That man has had to bury almost every person that he ever had an emotional connection with."
Mikoto, "She was nearly killed by her own son, and only survived because of a medical condition."
Sasuke, "He was forced to watch for three days as the person he admired most in the world, murdered everyone he care for."
He turned Inari toward himself and dropped him. "And then there's me." Here is when he unzipped his jacket and raised his shirt to show the dozens of scars on his torso and back, horrifying the family. "I have been beaten, tortured, burned, poisoned and almost everything else a person can have done to another. All by the very people I am now forced every day to protect. But you know what the difference between you and me is, Gaki?" he asked while the boy shook his head.
"It's that while you chose to just sit back and take it like a bitch, I got up and did something about it?" He turned toward the boy's mother who now had tears running down her face, "Thank you for the meal Tsunami-san, but I'm afraid I've lost my appetite. If anyone need me I will be taking first watch on the roof." At this he turned around but stopped at the door.
"You know Inari, I asked your grandfather why nobody had tried to stand up to Gatou before. He told me the story, the whole story, of the 'Hero of Wave'" at this Inari and Tsunami flinched while the woman glared lightly at her father, "And I have say, although I never had the pleasure of meeting an obviously great man, I can say one thing for certain," he looked over his shoulder and stared Inari straight in the eyes, "Kaiza would be ashamed of you."
And with that he walked out the door.
Inari was left shocked as those final words bounced around in his head, before he burst into tears and ran to his room. Tsunami was about to go after him but again, Tazuna held her back. She glared heatedly at him but he held her stare. "I don't like this anymore than you do. But, you and I both KNOW that he needed a good kick in the ass to set him straight." He told his daughter, she wanted to refute it, she really did, but as much as she hated it… she knew he was right.
She looked at the shinobi in the table who had their heads down in with various looks on their faces. Some angry, (Sasuke and Nanami), some sad, (Guren, Hanabi and Ami), some haunted, (Kakashi and Mikoto). She asked the question that she truly needed an answer to, "Was what he said true, was his life really that bad?" She desperately hoped Naruto was just trying to teach her son a lesson.
It was Kakashi who answered her. "With regards to us yes, though he left out the more sensitive parts. With regards to him no,"
Tsunami looked confused as to why he would lie about his life like that, but apparently Kakashi wasn't finished, "It was a lot worse, what you got was the G-rated version. If you got the unedited edition you would vomit." He finished with a thousand-yard stare on his face.
Tsunami could only cover her mouth in horror.
END
(*) Fucked
Up
Beyond
All
Recognition.
(**) I had honestly thought to end it here, but I kept you waiting for so damn long I just couldn't.
A/N And there it is, fucking finally. The next chapter of Grey Area. I can only profusely apologize to those of you who have been waiting since January for this, I truly try to put it out before now but a combination of College, writer's block, great fics I have found and just outright laziness kept me from doing so. If you have managed to stay loyal to my story I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will try to put out the next chapter within the next week or so. Possibly sooner if my muse permits it.
Until then, I'm out. Stay cool, love your family and please leave a real review. Positive feedback makes me wanna write more.