Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 23

Yamanaka Ino smiled, closing the door after Naruto agreed to meet her in the shopping district in a few hours for their date at three o'clock. She ran quickly to her bed in the room she shared with her father and started looking for the clothes she had packed away for their trip back home the following day.

Her hands rifled through her bag, tossing different articles of clothing out of it onto the bed behind her as she frantically searched for it. It was an outfit that she bought only recently after saving up from the past three C rank missions that she took. She found it thanks to Sakura who recommended it for her, though initially she was not very interested because she thought she'd never be the type of person to wear any kind of animal skin. It wasn't until she tried it on that she fell deeply and impossibly in love.

"Where is it?! Didn't I pack it here? Jeez, it's not like I bought this thing just to hide it away. I bet if Naruto saw me in it he'd give up going to the volcano altogether." She grinned with a blush painting her cheeks.

Her hands hit something inside of her bag and Ino froze in place. She forgot all about that.

Ino took out the item from her bag and held it before her. She observed the scroll in her hands, turning it about so that she could grab onto the one end and open it.

As soon as the paper scroll rolled out before her on the floor, Ino's eyes flashed and the room she was in vanished around her. In its place appeared a dimly lit tunnel that was lit up by blue amber colored candles on either side of the walls. There was a dank feeling to the area and in the background she could hear a low whistling sound passing through like wind through a cave. With an air of familiarity, Ino strode down the winding tunnel past a mantel with over a hundred of the glass-like candles.

When she finally reached the end, the sound of the wind died away and now clearly she could hear a ringing sound in its place. She wasn't sure what it was still, but it was always around no matter how long she stayed in Inotsuyoi's realm.

The fan, is it safe?

"Yes, it's on my person right now. Did you hear what he said?"

Quite. He seems quite taken by you. Does that make you happy?

"Yes!" Ino exclaimed, sighing as she brought her hands together in front of her chest, her eyes closing shut. "I have waited so long to see him… I guess all that time away, it made me feel closer to him. Strange, isn't it?"

I find it amusing that your overactive imagination painted such a pretty picture of this young boy for you. He seems… adequate for a normal girl, but so far beneath you.

Ino opened her eyes and frowned, hurt that she would say anything bad about the boy that she liked. "Hey, what's wrong with him?"

I am only expressing my opinion. He strikes me as the type of young man who is brash and thinks more with his groin than with his head. Other than those whisker marks on his cheeks, he's not very interesting to me.

Ino gasped, "Yeah, those whiskers are really cute… listen, I appreciate what you're saying, but he's perfect for me… I mean… after everything we've been through…"

People survive natural disasters everyday together and you hardly see any of them falling in love over being alive. I think that you are making him out to be more than what he is… or perhaps, even if he is a catch, you are falling in love with him because you think it's the right thing to do. After all, he gladly casted away his life and livelihood for you without even batting an eye. Loving him seems like your way of compensating his good deed, which is not the reason one should fall in love.

"Inotsuyoi…" Ino sat down on her knees before the web-covered hole before her. She heard the voice as always, muting the ring that sounded in her ear constantly and it was muted only when she heard Inotsuyoi speaking to her. Somehow, it was going directly into her head. Ino didn't even need to move her lips to communicate back, but it made her feel more comfortable that way.

I loved a man once. For similar reasons.

"Really? What was he like?"

Hm… I can't seem to remember any of his redeeming qualities. I suppose he was a generally good person. He took me in when I had nowhere else to go. He was a very powerful man, and I was attracted to that power. I loved him… I can't remember how we met… how peculiar.

"You've been here for so long." Ino offered sympathetically.

Suddenly, Inotsuyoi's voice exploded in Ino's head, making the girl yelp as she brought her hands reflexively to her ears though covering them didn't lower the volume of the woman's voice at all.

Don't you think I already know that?! There was a brief pause and then Inotsuyoi said, Never speak to me in such a manner again, do you understand?

The sound that reverberated in Ino's head had her hunched over. Because it was in her head, there was no echo within the cave. Just silence. "Forgive me, forgive me lady Inotsuyoi, I'm sorry!" Ino said, shaking like a leaf where she stood.

Silence rang louder than any other sound in the cave. It was daunting, and Ino's lower lip quivered as the frightening voice of the Yamanaka deity faded and the ringing returned.

Finally, after a long period of silence, Inotsuyoi sighed and said: I killed him.

"What?" Ino asked, taken aback.

He forced my hand; I couldn't lose him to someone else, so I had to kill him… to be certain that he would be mine, forever.

Ino bit her lip. 'Is she joking?' Ino asked herself. 'Why would she?'

I didn't want to, but he forced my hand.

Inotsuyoi continued to mumble her last few words over and over as if she had been caught in a trance. Ino wasn't sure what was wrong with what she believed to be the spirit of her ancestor, but she did come here for a reason.

"Lady Inotsuyoi. The reason why I came here…"

Mm… you've come a long way, haven't you?

"Yes… whenever you are ready, Lady Inotsuyoi."

Come closer.

Ino looked at the hole in the ground at the end of the tunnel and gulped. It looked like a giant spider-trap that tarantulas made. Ino knew what was coming. She knelt down on the ground and began to crawl over to the nest. When her fingers touched the ends of the spider net that was cast on the ground a sinewy arm shot out of the hole and extended out towards her, making Ino jump in shock though she knew it was going to happen.

The hand that reached out to Ino opened up and in its grasp was thousands of tiny spiderlings barely the size of a pinhead crawling out of a cocoon that was buried literally within Inotsuyoi's palm. The spiderlings began to climb up on top of and in between the deity's fingers. They were translucent, numerous, and violent; their small fangs pierced the hand repeatedly though they themselves were so very young.

Now, now, my darlings… As you now well know, my cocoons contain tens of thousands more children than regular spiders, and they are all quite eager. They're all yours, Ino.

Ino sat up on her knees and looked at the hand as it was held out in front of her. She parted her lips, looking at all of the tiny tarantulas as they flitted about the flesh of Inotsuyoi's hand. Opening wide, Ino took each digit into her mouth, sucking the small, translucent spiders into her mouth and swallowing them down into her stomach; she could feel them crawling around, nibbling on the insides of her esophagus as they went down to the pouch that held her food. Ino gasped when one in particular got a grip of the back of her tongue, and she swallowed hard and shook her head to try and free its grasp. Ino finished licking away every last one off of the woman's hand, even going so far as to peek into the cocoon embedded in her hand to be sure that none were left behind. When she was finished, Ino closed her eyes and sat quietly as she tried to feel the way they were moving about inside of her.

You look satisfied, Ino. It seems you've gotten over your initial hesitation from when we first began. I am so proud of you.

Ino bowed low, tears rolling down her cheeks as she whispered, "Thank you. Thank you, Lady Inotsuyoi."

Her belly became a pit of fiery anger, pain coursed through the beautiful young woman so deeply that when she woke up, she realized that she had passed out on top of her bag. Ino reached into the bag once again, placed the scroll away, and pulled out a purple and black outfit which was packed way in the bottom with hesitation and nervousness absent from her now stoic demeanor.

"Naruto, I can't believe you're going to go through with this." Tayuya said, angry with herself for letting him go on his own with the bothersome blonde woman. She looked at Anko who looked surprisingly upset as well; though she bit her tongue to keep from saying whatever it was that was on her mind.

"What's there not to believe? This boy has been known to call out the misfortune of others through his dreams. I think that there's something important in this that will get me one step closer to annihilating the Sannin."

"How will you do that if you're dead, though? He said that you died at the volcano, right? So, just stay away from it and you can't die!"

Naruto frowned. "I think the opposite is true. If I run from this then something will find me and bring me to the volcano where I will die a groveling coward. I am no coward, Tayuya."

"You're a fool, but not a coward." Anko finally said with a scowl apparent on her face.

"Maybe, but a fool with a plan."

Tayuya laughed. "A fool with a plan. Yeah, you're really convincing us that this is a good idea."

Naruto frowned. "I'm not trying to convince either of you anything. If you don't have any faith in me then that's fine: I don't need your help for this."

Both Anko and Tayuya looked at one another and then stormed out of the room. Just before Anko could leave, however, Naruto ran up to the door and grabbed her hand, saying "Wait, Anko. Let me ask you something… Actually, please just hear me out."

Anko rolled her eyes and turned to look back at him, sighing exasperatedly once she decided to listen. "Ok, you've got my ear. What's up?"

"I do have a plan, ok, but that's beside the point. All I know is that this is all a little too fishy."

Anko frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it: a boy who just happens to be named Minato is claiming to have seen my death. Minato, just like my father! He just happens to be some kind of psychic who knows when people will die before they die, and how they will die. And it just so happens, that out of all of the people in Kumamoto, I am chosen as number thirty-three… the number is insignificant, but I'm just saying, why me? This was the first time I've visited the city! The last part about it is that this is all happening to someone close to the daimyo; which makes me wonder just how real his ability is and whether or not someone is pulling the strings to make these phenomenon happen."

Anko uncrossed her arms and closed the door, stepping back into the room and nodding. "I'm interested."

"So… we are pretty sure from your experience that his is Orochimaru's city. Somehow he has a hand in the going ins and outs of the place, but not to the extent that it would be blatantly obvious, which is why we haven't been able to spot any clues lately."

Anko nodded slowly, wondering where he was getting at.

"I haven't done my research on it yet, and I don't think I'll be able to so I need you and Tayuya to follow up on it for me. I'll ask Ino to try to if she can before she leaves the city back for Konoha."

"What research? And we're not going with you to the mountain?" she asked.

Naruto's body tensed, "Absolutely not. I don't know what will happen… the daimyo is there, I may become imprisoned if I try and get him to leave… I might die… Orochimaru might be there waiting for me for all I know."

Anko shook her head, "There's no way that… that he could figure you would come here to the capitol searching for him."

"Probably not… but I wouldn't put it past him. Not just that, but I have a feeling that the reason why I left Mizu was because he planted Tayuya. Maybe he thought that if he presented me with some sort of leverage I would try to use it and since she was going to be killed… regardless of what I told the Mizukage… well, the only way to save her would be to sneak her out of Mizu and become a missing-nin there."

"Naruto… what you're saying is crazy." Anko muttered, but she didn't dare doubt it. Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin, was definitely capable of something so clever. It was so like him to use a person's desire for revenge against them in order to manipulate them. To think that their comrade was an unwitting accomplice to the snake made Anko feel queasy in her stomach. "But I think you might just have a point: the boy's dreams may be some sort of political scheme he's using to get rid of anybody who opposes him without drawing attention to himself. Heck, if anything, it makes the daimyo look suspicious."

He nodded. "It's hard to believe that he would expect me to be able to pull off that jailbreak like I did on my own… I wonder how much influence he had on you being here."

Anko's eyes began to narrow. "Do you think I'm some kind of traitor?"

"Absolutely not. Anko, I'd never have been able to do any of this without you. I would've died several times by now if it weren't for you and your cunning and capable mind. Not to mention the things you've had to do for me that weren't always the most honorable jobs…" Naruto began to look down to the floor but Anko slapped him, knocking him into a stupor.

"Listen, you little fucker. If I did something for you, to help you, or to bring about one of your goals, it was all a choice that I made with a clear mind! Sure, I may have done a little knob polishing on the bastard with the eye-patch, but don't think for a minute that everything I've done up until now hasn't been done only for my own selfish reasons!"

Naruto was taken aback by her crude words, but he looked into her brown eyes and they burned with fire. She was not messing around.

"You may just want to kill Orochimaru and that's fine; I might just let you do that when the time comes. But me? I am going to chop off his snake and feed the fucking thing to him… then and only then can you kill him. Got it?" Anko said with finality, almost growling when she spoke.

He looked at her, dumbfounded at the strong way she spoke, but he then wrapped his arms around her tightly and held her as close as he could possibly do. "Anko…"

Anko smirked, "Don't you start getting all friendly with me now… I'm not too old that I won't take advantage of an available stud before there's a ring on his finger."

Naruto laughed, and Anko simply rolled her eyes, hugging him back fondly.

They ended the embrace and Anko turned around to leave when Naruto said, "Hold on. I have one other question. Do you know where's a good place to go out to eat?"

Anko arched a brow, "Oh, you've got a date, huh? Well, well… Tayuya will be thrilled."

Naruto frowned, "Do you know a place, or not?"

"Yeah, yeah… don't get your panties in a bunch."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "So what is it?"

Anko then proceeded to explain to him how to get to the restaurant that she and Tayuya had gone to previously. He thanked her, and she left.

Naruto frowned and took a seat on the bed, grumbling as he tried to focus less on what was going to happen and more on the date he had with Ino in an hour.

He closed his eyes and lied back on the bed, trying to relax and empty his mind.

When the time came, Naruto was walking out of the hotel and made his way over to the very large shopping district of Kumamoto City. He had seen a nice shop when walking through the area, in search of some clue as to where Orochimaru's influence could be found.

The shop was called Hidden Blade, and its shopkeeper was a nice old lady who ran the store ever since her husband passed away. Naruto had begun to build a rapport with the woman on his way through the district, and so she agreed to sell him a particular item that had caught his attention for a little less than the price listed.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. How are you today?" said the shopkeeper when she noticed him walking up to the store as she was fixing an outside display of spiders.

"Wow, what's that?"

The woman looked at the containers which were specially made for housing large spiders. She grinned at him and said, "Well, I got a steal purchasing these beautiful tarantulas from a merchant just outside of the city in the small farmer's town at the base of the mountain. He said they weren't worth anything, since their bites cause paralysis, but I've sold exotic animals before and I know that to the right buyer these can fetch me quite a fortune."

Naruto stroked his chin as he leaned over; looking through the glass as the largest tarantula within the containers scurried about, heading back into its hole after being spotted. "Paralysis?" he asked. "They're definitely exotic… and shy."

"Oh no, not often, at least never with me. They must like you!" said the old lady, laughing unguardedly in front of him.

"Or dislike me… Anyways, I am doing well, Kyoto-san, thank you for asking. I am here for the obsidian blade. Do you have it ready for me now?"

"Ah yes, come in, my boy! Come in!" said the older woman, excitedly.

Naruto walked in behind her, surprised still at all of the merchandise hanging from the ceiling, on the walls and on aisles that snaked back and forth to make the most out of the small shop that she owned.

"You really have an amazing place here, Kyoto-san."

"Please, boy! There's nothing but old junk in here. I'm amazing; without me, none of this would ever look pretty enough to sell!" She laughed again, and this time it was infectious and Naruto chuckled as well.

"I see. So is the knife I seek to buy junk as well?"

"It is nothing of the sort. In fact, it was the one item in the store that didn't need much of my loving elbow grease!" She smirked. "So, the retractable knife… you said you already have the forearm guard?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes, it only needs a wrist cuff and a nice cloth for fitting."

Kyoto smiled, "So I take it that this knife isn't for you?"

"No," he said, "I am getting it as a gift."

"I see… man or woman?"

"Woman. Does it matter?"

"Indeed it does, young man! I will gather the right cloth, and I will also clean and oil the mechanism once more. One cannot be too careful when purchasing something for a loved one that may indeed save their lives."

Naruto nodded, "Yes. I ask for nothing but the best for her."

Kyoto smiled and walked up to a door with an employee's only sign on it and entered the back storage room. After about twenty minutes, she came back out with a small black box; a fitting container for the obsidian blade that rested within.

"It's wonderful isn't it?" she asked, smiling knowingly.

Naruto nodded as he reached into the box and handled the blade and the forearm mechanism which retracted and extended the blade back and forth. "It's very nice… very sharp… the obsidian though, isn't it brittle?"

The woman frowned, "Do you think I would sell you something that could break so easily?! Boy, you better not question the authority I have on everything which I buy! There is not a better keeper of fine tools, trinkets and objects in the entire country! I have learned much from my husband, and the first thing I learned, because of this shinobi world, is how to spot a good blade out of the plethora of bad ones out there in this world!"

Naruto, surprised by her outburst, only smiled and nodded. "Alright… I get it, I get it. Well, I'll definitely give this to her. I don't think it's a real romantic gift, but it's my way of protecting her."

There was a grin on her face when she spoke, "Oh, I can bet that anything this specialized isn't just for anyone and any reason. This girl has some reason why she wears one arm guard."

Naruto furrowed his brows. "Why would you think she only has one?"

With a grin, Kyoto said, "Well, because, Naruto-kun! If she had two guards you would be getting her two retractable blades! It's not like you didn't notice all of the others that I have in stock there where you saw this one."

Naruto laughed, nodding at her insightfulness. "You are something extraordinary, Kyoto-san… so how does this thing work?"

She smirked, "Simple, you just tie this bad boy on," she did, "and then you flick your wrist like so, and there you go! One six-inch obsidian blade framed with the same steel alloy used to make those kunai knives you ninja like so much."

Naruto nodded, watching as the mechanism worked and shot the blade outwards so that it extended past the woman's open palm. It was perfect.

"I am still a little scared about the obsidian… do you have a replacement blade?"

Kyoto frowned, "Jeez. You just won't let up, will ya? Fine, fine. Yes, I do, but it's not obsidian. It's the same steel alloy I was talking about. Hold on, let me go get it. I'll even throw it in for free just to prove how pointless it'll be! The obsidian, I promise, will not break until the day it is done doing its job!"

"Until… the day it is done doing its job?" he asked to himself, watching the woman walk away.

When she came back with the blade, Naruto paid the woman and she wrapped the gift in a beautiful cloth wrap with an intricate bow tied expertly onto the top. Kyoto then handed him the gift with a smile and said, "Listen you, don't you dare forget about old Kyoto here! Tell me how it goes with you and the girl so that I know I've somehow helped bring a smile to her face. I hope this girl is very important to you for you to spend so much money!"

Naruto smiled, "Well, the amount of money I spend doesn't have anything to do with how important she is to me. If it did, I'd be insulting her by spending so little. I only hope that this helps protect her while I go away for a while."

"Ha ha! Well, is that so? You have a way with words, Naruto-kun. Listen, come back whenever to buy her more gifts then! I'd be happy to take a little of that money off of your hands, or to listen to that kind voice, whenever!"

They shared a laugh, said their goodbyes, and Naruto left with the gift in hand to meet with Ino at the center of the shopping district.

When he arrived, he found that Ino was already waiting for him. He smiled at her, the slim, rectangular box hidden away in his inside jacket pocket. When their eyes met, he noticed that she had pulled all of her hair back into a braided ponytail with a few loose tufts hanging over the side of her face. She wore only some lip gloss, from what he could tell, and her eyes were as dark and long-lashed as ever. When his eyes wandered, he noticed she was wearing her usual purple today, but was surprised at the shoulder-bearing halter top that draped loosely down her slender frame and skirted over her lovely hips. He bit his lips when he saw the leather pants she was wearing. They were black, not too shiny, but just enough to show off the curves of her hips and not too tight or elastic looking.

"Oh Kami-sama… Ino, you look…"

Ino smiled, "You look good too, Naruto." She reached out and hugged him. He grinned and pinched her butt, eliciting a gasp from the beautiful blonde before she smacked him lightly on the cheek. "Watch it buster!"

"I don't think this date will last very long… Who's up for heading back to the hotel? I'm all for it."

Ino laughed, shaking her head. "Quit being such a weirdo… thanks, I like that you like it."

"More like love it; It would almost be a shame to take it off of you if I didn't already know how much sexier you look without any-"

Ino, blushing, covered his mouth as soon as she realized where that conversation was heading and squealed out an embarrassed, "Shut up!"

They kissed once she let go of his face and he smiled at her, whispering, "So, are you ready to go on our date?"

"So ready," she said. Ino then grabbed his arm and whispered into his ear, nibbling on his lobe before doing so, "I wasn't kidding. You look amazing too. I didn't know you got a new jacket… it looks nice."

"Ah, yeah, a friend of mine in Mizu gave it to me as a gift. It's a Mizu-style swordsman's jacket. You can tell because of the long collar and the straight lines."

Ino smiled, "And this trim."

Naruto blinked, "Huh? What about it?"

Naruto looked at his jacket while Ino played with his collar. "The trim on the jacket is a whitish-blue camouflage while the rest of it is a solid grayish blue; whoever gave it to you was definitely from Mizu."

He smiled and then she did as well. "Alright, let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"Well, I was hoping there would be a festival somewhere around here today, but I checked all around town. It seems like today's going to be a dinner date."

"Ah, so where are we going?"

"Well, first I thought we'd-"

Suddenly, Ino, while looking around the shopping center they were standing in, noticed her father walking up to them. Tailing him was a man with a face shield that covered his forehead and framed his face. He had eyes with rings around them from what seemed to be a lack of sleep, and short dark hair.

"Daddy?" Ino asked, turning to face the two adults as they reached the couple.

"Yes, pumpkin… listen, we have to go. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to cut your date with… with uh… your friend, short."

"What?! But, why?" she asked, nervously looking back and forth at her father and Naruto. Why was he omitting his name?

Naruto looked like he just got jabbed in the chest, but he swallowed down his bitterness towards the man and listened to the small voice of reason that said maybe there was something important going on back home that she was needed for.

"I'll give you a minute to say your goodbyes, but then we must leave, Ino."

"Thirty seconds. We are in a hurry," said the man standing beside Inoichi.

"Fine, fine… just hold on. Come here," she said to Naruto, making sure not to give up his name either just in case there was some sort of problem with the man who came to retrieve them from Konoha.

When they were far enough away, Ino hugged Naruto tightly and kissed him with everything she had. Naruto returned the kiss and chuckled when they pulled away.

"What're you laughing at?" Ino asked inquisitively.

He shrugged, "Well, had I known earlier that you were going to have to go home, I would've grabbed you and taken you into your hotel room instead of leaving for these past few hours… I wish we had more time and I didn't have to just hand this over to you, but I need to know that you are safe, so… here:" he said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out the slim, rectangular box and handing it over to her. "This is a gift from me… I hope that you don't have to use it, but if you do, then I want to make sure that you have it."

"A gift?"

"Your time is up!" called out the dark-haired man while Inoichi just shushed him, telling him they could run if they needed to make up time.

"Yes. Go ahead, open it!" Naruto said, excitement reaching his voice.

She smiled with a faint blush on her cheeks and pulled apart the beautiful bow, gasping as its craftsmanship came undone so easily and the gorgeous bow that was sitting on top of it had become simply another piece of string. "The box is so pretty." She opened it and tilted the box to peer inside.

"Do you like it?"

"What is it?"

Naruto grinned, "It's a concealed blade. Here, hand it over to me." He took the blade when she gave it to him and he then attached the cloth, tied it once around her wrist, folded it over and tied it again, and then attached the cuff and finished by wrapping the small belts around her wrist that held it firmly.

"That's pretty complicated," she said, looking at the strange contraption.

He grinned and then pulled her bracer up a bit so that it was flush with the mechanism and knife, hiding it. "I don't know if the obsidian knife is very strong… I mean, it can cut real good, but it can break pretty easily, I think… the owner said it wouldn't, but I don't know. It just looks too much like rock candy mixed with glass to me."

Ino giggled, "You're so weird… so, it shoots out a knife?"

Naruto nodded extended his arm out so that she could see how to extend the knife. "Ok, all you have to do is flick your wrist this way," he then proceeded to show her, "and the mechanism will bring the knife up so that you can use it whenever!"

Ino flicked her wrist the way he showed her and was surprised when the deadly knife shot out about six inches past the flat of her palm. "This is incredible…" she looked up and flicked her wrist again, grinning. "I love you."

Naruto blushed. "Ino, I…"

"Miss Yamanaka! That's enough, let's move along! Inoichi, I will have no more of this."

Ino glared, but then turned to look at Naruto and kissed him on the lips.

"I'll write you, he said."

Ino's eyes widened. "Oh wait, I have something for you, too!"

She smiled and reached into her kunai pouch for a very thin scroll and handed it over to him. He looked at it curiously and smiled when he began to open it and she nodded.

"Ah, it's empty," he said.

"Yep! Keep it with you and check it every once in a while… I'll talk to you soon! Bye!"

Ino kissed him again and turned around quickly and ran towards her father and the love oppressive shinobi. Naruto took another look at the scroll and shrugged and placed it back in his kunai pouch before turning around and heading back to his hotel room.

He touched his lips and shook his head. His day with Ino was ruined, and he couldn't even bring himself to respond to something as simple as an 'I love you' when he knew that yes, he absolutely did love her, too.

Author's note: I appreciate everyone who has read and reviewed and favorite and everything else! I'm a busy guy right now, but I am always writing. I also had to keep rewriting this because I was having a bit of a mental block on how to set it all up right. This chapter begins the trip to see Mount Krakatoa and the fighting tournament. I won't tell you whether or not Naruto will participate, but I can say that another male character that has been out of the spotlight for a bit definitely will.

I'm open to any ideas and suggestions about the story, but otherwise I'm slowly trying to mold it into my idea of what the grand scheme looks like.

Also, I either just fell in love tonight or this girl I met today left me with one hell of a first impression. I hope things continue to hit off well with her and I hope everyone finds their special someone someday.