Chapter 17: A Chance Meeting
"Secret Art – Liquid Ice!" Yuki thought making the hand seals: reverse Serpent, Tiger, Ox, one-handed Ram, Rat, Bird, Rabbit, Serpent, Dog, Horse, one-handed Rat, Tiger, and reverse Bird when water started coming up from the ground and the temperature around the area dropped below thirty degrees to the point both Kazuki and Yuki could see their breath.
"What kind of jutsu is this…?" Kazuki thought watching for what would happen next.
"Now to try and get the mixture just right!" Yuki thought holding the reverse Bird hand seal still when the water slowly started to freeze.
"This is turning dangerous, I better stop this before he finishes." Kazuki thought throwing at three shuriken at him.
"It's finished!" Yuki stated when the frost-like water shot up into the air consuming the shuriken.
Once the shuriken came out on the other side, they were only blocks of ice that fell straight down. The water's surface was the only thing frozen while the rest of the water was below freezing temperatures that should've frozen the liquid but for some reason it hadn't frozen solid.
"How is this even possible…?" Kazuki asked surprised by the combination he was seeing.
"I like to call it Liquid Ice since it is basically ice but the water didn't completely freeze over. Also, if anything comes in contact with the water, it will freeze almost instantaneously." Yuki said while a drop of sweat rolled down his face while he kept his hands still with the reverse Bird.
"Master Yuki is straining himself with that jutsu. That must be why he said it's not perfected yet but it's very impressive to have come up with something like that – as expected of Master Yuki." Koori no Senshi mumbled to himself.
"Even after I tried to stop him he still finished. I'm nearly out of energy too – those last attacks nearly finished me off if I hadn't done that substitution jutsu. I won't give up until my whole body is numb though!" Kazuki thought putting his hands together standing before a wave of half frozen water. "Ice Style – Ice Clone!" He thought making the hand seals: Serpent, Bird, and Tiger creating two ice clones.
"Not giving up yet, Kazuki? Fine, come at me with all you've got!" Yuki shouted rising the wall of half frozen water so he would be out of visible range. "Damn, I don't know how much longer I can hold this jutsu – it's taking a lot more out of me than I expected. Once the jutsu is finished, that'll be the end of the time limit I told him about." He thought starting to sweat more.
"We're all tired and our bodies are filled with pain but we cannot give up until we're dead!" Kazuki shouted charging forward with the two clones running just behind him.
The wind from Kazuki's last jutsu he used on his ninjaken was still active so he slashed at the half frozen water opening up a small entrance. Yuki smirked after he realized what he was doing and was waiting for him to come through to close the opening on him. In two seconds Kazuki appeared in the opening and the wall of water closed in on him nearly instantaneously but he turned to snow.
"A clone!? Then above…?" Yuki asked looking up to see Kazuki coming down towards him. "Like I didn't plan for that!" He shouted when a body of the half frozen water shot out and consumed Kazuki but that one turned to snow as well. "The second clone…?" He thought surprised pulling the water back around him when Kazuki came into view to his right.
"Don't let your guard down now!" Kazuki shouted swinging the ninjaken at Yuki sending a blast of sharp wind toward him but the half frozen water shot up taking the hit and shattering back to the ground. "I'll have to use every ounce of my strength, huh? Fine!" He shouted running as fast as he could along the outside of the half frozen water moving forward every few steps.
The half frozen water kept jumping into the air every time he swung the sword. Then after a few tries, some of the half frozen water shot out like arms following Kazuki forcing him to run while dodging them. One limb came from his right so he jumped into the air when one shot straight at him so he swung the ninjaken at it splitting the limb just enough to fit under it.
"Faster, I have to move faster!" Kazuki shouted pushing himself when his speed started to increase forcing the limbs of the half frozen water to strike just behind him.
"He's increased his speed in such a short time…?" Yuki asked surprised since he was slowly starting to speed up his pace at watching Kazuki. "This kid's skills are better than I imagined but it'll be over soon." He said just as three bursts of wind struck his half frozen water's barrier he created.
"I have to end it now or I won't have enough energy to do it – my legs are starting to lose their feeling from the running…" Kazuki thought charging at Yuki in a zigzag pattern avoiding the limbs and slashing relentlessly at the wall when he suddenly found himself surrounded by Yuki's half frozen water barrier. "He was waiting for me to charge forward!?" He shouted stopping in his tracks as the top of the barrier closed sealing him inside.
"Now we end this training!" Yuki shouted with a little blood running down from the right side of his face while the barrier closed in around Kazuki turning him into a frozen statue. "Whew, if that kid had only lasted a few more seconds – he would've won the sparring match." He said releasing the hand seal finally with his face full of sweat and a little blood. "He got me pretty good on the face though."
"He's got some real potential doesn't he? I didn't think he would be able to hang with you like he did but should I tell him that you were actually going easy on him when he defrosts?" Masakatsu asked walking over to Yuki.
"No, we'll let him think I was giving him all I had. It would be an insult if he finds out I wasn't being serious. In the end I ended up just like my grandfather – playing around with him even though we said we would fight seriously." Yuki said shaking his head sending some blood splatter over to Masakatsu's clothes.
"Hey, at least let me heal those wounds before you start shaking your head!" Masakatsu shouted as he started to heal the cuts to Yuki's face. "Man, that kid really put on a nice show though. His speed there towards the end nearly caught up to ours – kind of reminds me of our little child prodigy back in the old days." He said chuckling as he looked back to Yuki.
"I was no prodigy – I still haven't even mastered the Liquid Ice jutsu yet. Besides, I think that kid will be able to master this jutsu if I were to train him how to use it properly if my grandfather truly praised his abilities." Yuki said when he suddenly started to feel some pain on his back.
"What is it?" Masakatsu asked not aware of the scars Yuki had on his back.
"Just an old wound acting up – something might be coming soon." Yuki said looking towards Mangetsu Village.
"Old wound? I don't remember you having anything like that." Masakatsu said confused by what he was saying.
"That's because it happened after we left the Land of Rain. It's nothing to worry about though." Yuki said as Masakatsu finished healing his wounds. "You should check on the kid and make sure he's not badly injured. I'll go lay down for a little while." He said heading towards one of the tents when Koori no Senshi approached him.
"Master Yuki, I will return if you no longer need my services." Koori no Senshi said ready to leave.
"That's fine. If I need you, I will summon you." Yuki said getting into the tent while Koori no Senshi vanished in a puff of smoke. "Past memories, huh?" He asked lying down while looking up towards the top of the tent.
Three months after leaving the Land of Rain and leaving Masakatsu and Taki to float off to escape the village's Civil War. Yuki, still in his Akatsuki cloak, was walking along a river trying to decide what he was going to do until he could find out how to reverse the Deep Freeze jutsu when a shadow stepped out from behind some trees.
"Yuki Takashi? Or should I say Yuki Shimousa?" A man wearing a midnight blue Yukata with medium-short black hair, and a bandage over his left eye asked.
"That voice… Where have we met?" Yuki asked looking ahead at the guy.
"You really don't remember me? After all that you've done to me you don't even remember who I am!? How insulting that you do not even remember your old teammate, Taki Musashi?!" Taki shouted extremely insulted by Yuki not remembering him.
"Taki…? What happened to your eye?" Yuki asked surprised to see him there.
"What happened to my eye? What happened to my eye!? You happened to my eye my dear partner! If it weren't for you, I would still have both of them!" Taki shouted angrily pointing at Yuki.
"What… are you talking about? You're eye was fine after I put Masakatsu and you in those barrels…" Yuki said still surprised by his appearance.
"When I came to I had washed ashore with my eye gouged out by a rock my barrel happened to smash into. If you hadn't put me in that barrel then I would've been able to continue fighting and my eye would be fine but no! Someone had to play the hero and destroyed two lives in the process! Because of you my family, my fiancé, and all of my friends are dead! And you will be joining them soon!" Taki shouted in a crazed tone while Yuki, sensing the tension, took off his cloak.
"Taki, there was nothing that could be done. I saved whoever I could but in the end everyone else had been wiped out by Pein. Even the village leader fell, there was no one left alive… even my little brother lost himself in it – which is why I cannot allow you to kill me yet! I must finish what my little brother started with my own hands and I…!" Yuki started to shout when suddenly there were two sharp pains in his back as if millions of needles formed an "X" and stabbed into his back. "Argh!" He shouted in pain as he realized Taki had already used the Rain Needles jutsu on his back.
"I don't care about what you must do… because you must die no matter what! I will hunt you down no matter where you go and kill you for what you've done to me!" Taki shouted crazily filled with rage as he rushed forward raining more needles down on Yuki but in an instant he had turned to snow.
"Water Style – Title Wave Jutsu!" Yuki thought sitting in the bushes near the river making the hand seals: Tiger, Serpent, Monkey, Serpent, and Ram launching a large body of water out of the river and down at Taki.
"Pathetic, that won't stop me, Yuki!" Taki shouted putting his hands together. "Earth Style – Earth Wall!" He shouted forming a Tiger seal with his left hand and an Ox seal on his right followed by him putting the Ox seal on top of the Tiger seal that launched a huge wall of dirt into the air blocking the title wave.
"He blocked it with an Earth jutsu…?" Yuki thought surprised to see Taki's Earth jutsu had become as powerful as it was.
"That all you've got, Yuki? I would've thought you would be able to fight back a lot better than that." Taki said with a grin on his face turning to where Yuki was hiding. "Secret Art – Quicksand!" He shouted making the hand seals: Ox, Dragon, Tiger, Horse, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Serpent, and a reverse Ram.
"Quicksand…?" Yuki thought when suddenly the ground below him turned soft and he slowly started sinking.
"How do you like my new jutsu? Isn't it quite nice?" Taki asked standing just out of range of the quicksand.
"How foolish, do you really think I would be easily tricked into falling for this? It's best if you stop this now Taki." Yuki said before he turned to a pile of snow.
"Another clone!? You were always tricking everyone with those stupid clones but the fun must come to an end! There are no more games – you must pay for what you've done!" Taki shouted losing it again.
"Fine, I'll humor you with a fight then. Come!" Yuki shouted standing next to a tree behind Taki leaning against it with his arms crossed.
"Don't try to make a fool out of me, Yuki! I will not forgive you!" Taki shouted furious charging at Yuki as fast as he could.
"You should never charge head first into a battle unless you're prepared for the consequences!" Yuki shouted putting his hands together. "Ice Style – Ice Shard Forest!" He thought making the hand seals: Serpent and Bird while clapping his hands together making ice shards shoot out of the ground in front of Taki but he just dodged to the sides through the shards.
"Don't you dare underestimate me!?" Taki shouted putting his hands together. "Earth Style – Earth Dragon Missile!" He thought making the hand seals: Ram, Horse, and Dragon while jumping back doing a back flip on top of what appeared to be the head of a dragon made out of dirt.
"He learned that jutsu as well!?" Yuki thought dodging sharp spikes of earth being fired from the dragon's head. "Just how much has this guy been training since we departed that day!?" He thought dodging more earth spikes.
"Like it? I knew you would. I've been working at getting this jutsu just perfect for the time I met you again!" Taki shouted crazily cheerful over the situation while Yuki was left dodging when suddenly another Yuki emerged behind the dragon's head.
"Taki, have your senses become blind?" Yuki asked stopping in place as he jumped over an earth spike pointing behind Taki.
"What are you…!?" Taki started to shout when the second Yuki grabbed Taki and held him in place.
"I'm sorry Taki but I cannot allow you to kill me right now. There are things that I still must do before I can allow that to happen! Farewell, my old friend…" Yuki said making the hand seal Ox forcing the second Yuki to explode with a tremendous force that nearly threw Yuki off-balance. "Now then, I better get going." He said starting to walk away as the dust cloud slowly started clearing.
"I'm not… I'm not done yet!" Taki shouted stumbling out of the dust with his clothes completely torn up and smoke rising from his body.
"That's enough Taki, this fight is over. I have things that I must take care of and when that is all done – I'll have a proper fight with you but until my mission is complete, I won't allow anyone to kill me." Yuki said walking away as Taki reached out for him and fell face first into the ground.
"Damn it, damn it! Like this I won't be able to get my revenge!" Taki shouted slamming his right fist into the ground angry with himself when Yuki suddenly stopped.
"Taki, you should give it up at least for now. Revenge is not a part of who you are – just start over in a new village and live a peaceful life. This is for your own good for I know the other path far too well already." Yuki said before walking away again.
"You think I'm too weak to take revenge, Yuki? I'll show you, I'll show you just how strong I can be the next time we meet! I will kill you Yuki – just you wait and see! I will kill you!" Taki shouted starting to regain his crazy tone again.
"Taki…" Yuki said sighing and shaking his head as he left Taki's line of sight.
Yuki quickly opened his eyes after remembering all that happened in the past and quickly sat up. He slowly looked around to see the sun had set and he was back in the present inside his tent.
"I was having that dream, huh? I'm surprised Masakatsu turned out to be okay after remembering about Taki…" Yuki said quietly when someone walked over to his tent.
"What was that?" Masakatsu asked leaning down and looking inside Yuki's tent.
"Nothing. What is the status of the others?" Yuki asked when he noticed a fire burning.
"As you can see, everyone's just fine now. Except for a few problems that is but it looks like they'll be fine in a few days if I continue to treat their injures." Masakatsu said pointing over at Ayaka, Kazuki, Kosuke, and Takeo sitting around the fire talking and laughing.
"Amazing, even after taking those injures they're awake already? These kids are a lot tougher than I expected." Yuki thought getting out of his tent seeing all the four kids sitting around the fire bandaged up.
"Yuki-sensei, how are you feeling?" Ayaka asked noticing Yuki walking over to them.
"Not bad considering Kazuki was the one that took all the damage." Yuki said looking over at Kazuki as he sat across from Kosuke and Takeo and next to Ayaka.
"Hey, if you hadn't frozen me I would've been perfectly fine! That was cheap Sensei!" Kazuki shouted pointing at Yuki while he sat there with his shirt still torn up.
"Idiot, you should've figured he would try to freeze you. You really need to think more about who your opponents are." Takeo said shaking his head in disappointment of Kazuki.
"But he used some kind of ice jutsu I never seen before in our match, how am I supposed to be prepared for something like that!?" Kazuki shouted at Takeo.
"Really? Was it cool!?" Kosuke asked suddenly getting into the conversation.
"What kind of jutsu was it if even Kazuki didn't know what it was…?" Takeo thought glancing over at Yuki.
"Sorry, I can't show any of you the new jutsu right now because I don't feel like using it." Yuki said shrugging while looking over at Kosuke.
"Of course it was! He cooled the water below ground to a freezing temperature so bad it should've frozen the water but it didn't! The surface was only slightly frozen while the rest of it was extremely freezing – the water froze anything that it touched too!" Kazuki shouted amazed with the jutsu.
"Kid, quit giving away my secret jutsu's… How would you like it if I told them about your ninjaken jutsu as well?" Yuki asked with a mundane look on his face while slightly glaring over at Kazuki.
"Right, sorry…" Kazuki said dropping his head.
"Cool! I want to see it! What is it called? I want to know!" Kosuke shouted excited about the jutsu.
"Kosuke, you know he won't tell…" Takeo started to say.
"Liquid Ice." Yuki said plainly.
"He said the name anyway…" Takeo thought surprised by Yuki being straightforward with it.
"Wow! That should like an awesome jutsu! I only know lightning jutsu's so I can't do anything even as spectacular as that." Kosuke said completely into the conversation.
"Didn't you have that ability to predict moves before they happened?" Yuki asked looking over at Kosuke.
"Oh yeah, I do have that but that could only help up to a certain point and my body can't always keep up with the speed of things." Kosuke said nervously laughing while scratching her head.
"Since Takeo is well versed with lightning jutsu – why don't you train with each other? I'm sure he'll be able to help you out to improve you're jutsu." Yuki said looking over at Takeo.
"Hey, I was planning to train with you – she seems fine enough to handle her own with her jutsu!" Takeo stated annoyed with what he was saying.
"I agree with Yuki. The two of you could really learn something from one another if you train enough… actually, when everyone is fine – we should all train in groups of two. Takeo and Kosuke, Yuki and I, and finally Ayaka and Kazuki – how does that sound?" Masakatsu asked looking around the group.
"Sounds like something that could work a lot better than the two of us training them. Then their progress might be a lot faster this way and once you're all done we'll move to the next step." Yuki said pounding his right fist into his left hand making the decision final.
"Great, now we're back to how it was before we met Sensei…" Kazuki said dropping his head.
"Are you trying to say I'm not a good sparring partner!? How many times have you actually beaten me, huh?" Ayaka asked angry with what Kazuki said.
"Uh… those were just sparring matches. I wasn't being serious at all." Kazuki said making an excuse.
"Yeah, I thought so. You can't even think about a time you even came close to beating me." Ayaka said boasting while poking Kazuki in the nose.
"Wait, that leaves me with the rookie! How am I supposed to benefit from all this training!? I would rather be placed with the idiot over there or Ayaka!" Takeo stated when he suddenly started coughing up a little blood.
"Calm down Takeo, you wound isn't fully healed. If you're lung gets torn open again you'll be in danger again." Masakatsu said shaking his head looking over at Takeo.
"You really should take it easy for now or you'll never be healed enough to teach me, Sensei." Kosuke said leaning over on Takeo and he put his hand over his mouth coughing to clear his throat.
"I will stop complaining for now then. I will accept to train her as well." Takeo said with a slightly red face.
"Then it's settled, right?" Kosuke said cheerfully clapping her hands together and sitting up straight. "Ow, ow, ow, I forgot my arm is still injured." She said pouting while holding her left arm.
"Takeo may have given in but I'm still against training with Ayaka. I was able to hold my own with Sensei so I want to at least be given the chance to train with him!" Kazuki stated when Ayaka slapped him in the back of the head.
"Do you really think you're in their league Kazuki? Think about who sees them as their enemies and now think about who sees us as their enemies; a large difference in their strengths, right?" Ayaka asked looking over at Kazuki.
"So, what does that prove?" Kazuki asked shrugging it off.
"It means we're just not strong enough to even appear in their eyes. We're only like insects to them and if you want to even get close to their radar you will need a lot of training – Yuki-sensei was most likely not even fighting with his full strength, right, Yuki-sensei?" Ayaka asked leaning behind Kazuki and looking over at Yuki.
"You found me out. I wasn't planning on telling him but I guess you have to know your limits every so often." Yuki said and then started to think to himself. "I wonder where my limit is. I doubt I can handle Madara or even Pein if they took me seriously and as for the others, I'm not sure how many are actually left since that kid and his friends have been slowly destroying the Akatsuki as of late." He thought sitting there.
"I can handle anything you throw at me, why don't we have a second round since I wasn't injured during that last match!" Kazuki stated standing up.
"I bet a hundred Ryo on Yuki!" Takeo shouted putting his hand up.
"I'm not going to even dignify any of this with anymore words than these…" Ayaka said putting her right hand over her face and shaking her head in disbelief of what Kazuki was doing.
"Yuki, usually I would be against this but the kid seems to want to test his limit so why not start off a little slow and then show him the difference in his strength. Then will you accept Ayaka as your training parent?" Masakatsu asked with a smile on his face while looking over at Kazuki.
"You're on!" Kazuki stated confidently.
"I feel like I was dragged into a situation…" Yuki said standing up while sighing. "I'll let you strike first this time." Yuki said stepping away from everyone.
"How strong is this kid, Takeo?" Kosuke whispered over to Takeo.
"Is around a 'C' class or roughly around a Chunin class but sometimes he can hit 'S' class or a 'Kage' level in an instant somehow." Takeo said unsure of Kazuki's level of ability.
"Sounds like an interesting kid." Kosuke said with a grin as Kazuki and Yuki were a good distance away from the fire.
"Whenever you're ready, Kazuki, come at me." Yuki said ready for whatever was thrown at him.
Kazuki nodded and in that instant he charged at Yuki just barely visible to the eye, which was something that seemed to transfer over from his last fight with Yuki. Kazuki appeared to Yuki's left side swinging his right fist while Yuki looked to be standing still when Kazuki's attack was blocked seemingly instantly. Yuki's left hand was extended outward with Kazuki's fist in his hand when he swung his left leg forward at Yuki's face but his right hand came forward and grabbed it before anyone had any time to see what happened.
"Masakatsu, was that enough time?" Yuki asked looking over at Masakatsu.
"Yeah, let him have it since he wants to know how strong he is." Masakatsu said nodding his head.
"Fine, try not to die on me, Kazuki." Yuki said when he suddenly kicked Kazuki in the gut with his left leg letting go of his right fist and sent him flying back through the air. "We're not over yet." He said appearing ahead of Kazuki before he kicked him into the air with his right leg. "Now I will finish this a little more delicate than I would an enemy." He said appearing above Kazuki looking him straight in the eyes making the hand seals: Horse, Boar, and Rat locking Kazuki in his Genjutsu.
"The fight is over whether the kid thinks it is or not." Masakatsu said looking up in the air.
"What do you mean by that?" Ayaka asked looking over at Masakatsu.
"Genjutsu, Yuki just used it on him. Yuki was well-known for having strong Genjutsu nearly to the level of the Uchiha's with their eye jutsu's – it was one of the reasons why he became a Jonin in the village so quickly. Our two clans have their own eye jutsu's as well but they've been lost to us since leaving the Land of Snow. Yuki was able to unlock one but he hasn't mastered it yet." Masakatsu said looking into the sky as Yuki came down with Kazuki in his arms.
"He's finished. You might want to heal his injuries. He's become a lot faster from before though." Yuki said placing Kazuki down on the ground near the fire, where everyone else had been. "I've released the Genjutsu on him so he should wake up soon if nothing else interfered with him." He said looking over at the ninjaken on his back.
"Yuki, you don't think the…!" Masakatsu started to say when he noticed what Yuki was looking at.
"Yeah, that might be the case. We'll find out if his worthy of it or not soon enough – if he wakes up that is. I'm going to head to bed for tonight, I live the kids in your care for now." Yuki said heading over to his tent.
"I knew he wouldn't be able to handle Yuki as weak as he was." Takeo said shrugging it off.
"Takeo, I just thought of something. If he really was as weak as you say he is then why is it that Kazuki is the only person here other than Yuki that doesn't have an injury?" Kosuke whispered to Takeo leaving him with a surprised look on his face.
"That's right. I didn't even notice that before but he's not really injured even after that fight with Koori no Senshi. He even hand two fights with Yuki and the only thing wrong with him is that his clothes are torn up." Takeo thought looking over at Kazuki.
"This kid is a lot stronger than you're giving him credit for, maybe we should…" Kosuke started to whisper when Takeo cut her off.
"No, that would be a bad decision. It's bad enough I'm stuck in this." Takeo whispered back to Kosuke.
"Masakatsu, he's still not waking up. What was Yuki-sensei talking about before?" Ayaka asked looking over at Masakatsu.
"He's still not awake? The idiot should've been awake soon after the Genjutsu was released." Takeo said crawling over next to Masakatsu.
"I've never seen anyone in this condition after a Genjutsu used in a sparring match unless they were trying to take their lives." Kosuke said surprised as she followed Takeo.
"It's 'that' isn't it, Masakatsu?" Ayaka asked looking over at the ninjaken.
"Yeah, he might be in the middle of a kind of inner struggle right now. It's as Yuki said, we will know if he is worthy to hold onto it soon enough." Masakatsu said with a concerned look on his face.
"'That'? What are you guys talking about?" Takeo asked confused looking over at Masakatsu and Ayaka.
"It's…" Ayaka started to say.
"An illness that Kazuki has that only Ayaka knew about before but Yuki and I have become aware of it. We didn't want to make a fuss over it so no one ever said anything about it. Right, Ayaka?" Masakatsu asked looking over at the confused Ayaka.
"Yeah, right…" Ayaka responded slightly confused about what he was saying but figured he had a good reason for it.
"Wow, to think he was actually sick with something even though he fought so well…" Kosuke said surprised by what they were saying.
"Something is strange here." Takeo thought looking at Masakatsu and Ayaka suspiciously. "We'll keep quiet about it then." Takeo said looking over at Kosuke.
"Yeah, we'll make sure not to say anything if he wants to keep quiet about it." Kosuke said agreeing.
Elsewhere, Yuki was shifting through Kosuke's things when he came across what appeared to be a ninja headband. The headband appeared to be somewhat old and had a plate from the Village Hidden in the Clouds.
"So, she's from the Land of Thunder just like Takeo. I figured something seemed odd about how they were able to perform that jutsu together nearly flawlessly. They must've known each other for a long time now which makes what Shikamaru told me even more suspicious. That must be why Takeo went to deliver the mail there to that place specifically." Yuki thought before he suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke – it turned out to only be a clone he had created before heading to his tent. "Just as I suspected, that kid knows a lot more than she's letting on as well. I'll have to tell Masakatsu to watch her as well." He thought lying in his tent with his eyes closed.
Author's Note:
This one took a little longer than expected but it's out now. I will try to get the next one out on next Tuesday, which should be easier since I've already started on it.
-Steve Masters