My laptop decided it would be fucking hilarious to crash when I put it on standby; therefore, majority Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 were completely lost. I hope my memorization is as good as others believe. First world problems, man.
Chapter 14: Chunin Exam: Beyond Mere Expectations
"So your ambition is to be the strongest shinobi and be feared. Alright, but what happens after that? Why do you want all of that, and what do you think you will gain from all that? Naruto, what do you believe to be your bigger purpose?
Just a day before the finals of the Chunin Exam, a simple conversation concerning Naruto's future had spurred Jiraiya to ask those questions. The word important would not be sufficient in describing just how consenquential those subjects would be for Naruto in the near and distant future.
Admittedly, Naruto had some difficulty answering those questions. They required a decent amount of thought. As Naruto lie in the field that served as the training grounds for his clones, he decided to finally give some thought to the questions that Jiraiya proposed instead of just shrugging him off like he had done previously.
If Naruto were honest with himself, there was probably some psychological reason as to why he wanted to be the strongest shinobi and be feared as such, but he knew for a fact that he wanted to be the strongest because he loved fighting. It was his passion.
This was not to say that Naruto was a sociopath of some kind. He just enjoyed the feelings that a good fight would always bring. The thrill of the fight, the feeling of the whole world fading away leaving only him and his opponent, and the inexplicable joy that only a victory in battle could bring all added to Naruto's love of fighting.
What would he gain from achieving his ambition?
Naruto smirked to himself as his answer came to him almost immediately. Absolute, unadulterated satisfaction.
Naruto's smirk faded as he realized he didn't have an answer for Jiraiya's last question. Jiraiya stated his bigger purpose was to find the answer of how to bring peace to the shinobi.
That wasn't Naruto's purpose in life. Naruto definitely couldn't see himself as a peacemaker.
Naruto sighed. He laid back on the branch of the tree he was currently resting on. It was one of the only trees still standing in the field. In fact, majority of the field had been destroyed due to Naruto's training.
Speaking of Naruto's training, Jiraiya had reminded Naruto to test all of his recently learned abilities from his clones now that his training was done for now. Naruto hopped down from the tree, and started with the Rasengan. He held out his right hand, and concentrated on forming the spherical rotating chakra just as his clones had learned. The chakra gathered and rotated violently, yet maintaining its perfect spherical shape. Naruto then ran toward the tree he was resting on and slammed the Rasengan into the bark. He watched with satisfaction as the jutsu tore through the tree.
Then, he created a Shadow Clone and commanded it to use the Fireball Jutsu on him. As the fireball headed toward Naruto, he quickly unrolled one of his spare scrolls that had a specific formula written on it. "Sealing Jutsu: Fire Seal." Naruto spoke. The fire quickly shrunk as it was pulled into the scroll completely until nothing was left of it. Naruto had demanded Jiraiya to teach him some sealing jutsu after learning that the sage was apparently sealing master.
Naruto then turned his attention to the Scorch Style, which was a very anticipated moment for him. He brought his hands out in front of him and held them apart with very little space between them. He gathered the fire and wind chakra in equal proportions to his hands and compressed it into a similar shape as the Rasengan. The chakra combined and changed form completely. It turned into a fireball with a bright white center with a light red flame surrounding it. Naruto felt his hands start to take some severe burns from the Scorch Styled fireball. In conjunction, he started to lose control over the fireball.
The Scorch ball exploded in Naruto's hands causing him to fly back a considerable distance until he slammed into a tree after skidding across the ground. Burns marred Naruto's arms and some covered his face, but like all injuries he received, they began healing almost instantly.
Naruto lied on his back and stared at the sky. He exhaled heavily and decided to catch up on some much needed sleep. The finals were the next day, after all.
The Chunin Exams were always a interesting time of the year. Nations would gather together in one village, watch their genin perform, and flex their muscles, so to speak. No matter where the shinobi came from, they all felt a sense of nationalism in the finals, and the candidates would give it their all to show the power of their village.
In the center of the arena, the finalists stood, patiently waiting for the start of the anticipated finals. The audience sat in the elevated stands that surrounded the arena. The Kage in attendance were seated at the highest point of the stadium to observe. Of course, ANBU were scattered around the stadium for defense purposes if necessary.
"I trust your journey went well, Kazekage." Hiruzen said with a friendly smile.
The Kazekage nodded in response and turned his attention to Jiraiya whom was standing beside Hiruzen. "Jiraiya of the Sannin, I thought you were a travelling hermit instead of a resident."
"You could say that." Jiraiya spoke, "I'm here to see just how badly my apprentice will defeat the other candidates." Jiraiya finished with a slight laugh. Hiruzen chuckled as well. He was excited to see how much Naruto has improved as he hasn't seen Naruto in quite a while.
"No matter who your apprentice might be, I doubt he will stand a chance against Gaara." The Kazekage stated with certainty.
Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh at the bold statement. His laughter proved to be contagious as Hiruzen soon joined in.
Hiruzen cleared his throat, "Welcome, everyone, to the finals of the Chunin Exams, and thank you all for coming to observe. Congratulations to the candidates that have made it thus far, and continue to impress us. Without further ado, let's begin!"
The roaring cheers of the audience was almost earthshaking.
"Will the first two competitors stay here? Everyone else may go to the stands to wait for you match." Hayate instructed while coughing into his fist. The candidates did as they were told leaving only Naruto and Temari.
Temari was visibly nervous. As she glanced at Naruto, she noticed his completely apathetic expression.
"No matter what you do, it's useless. You cannot defeat me. Just forfeit and spare yourself the humiliation."
Temari shook her head furiously. She could have sworn she heard Naruto's voice in her head, but that couldn't have been real.
'Just my minds playing tricks on me. It's not real.' Temari thought, managing to calm herself somewhat.
"Let the first match of the finals begin!" Hayate declared.
Temari ignored Naruto's unsettling, apathetic expression and opened her fan all the way, attempting to end the match as soon as possible. Naruto appeared before her in the blink of an eye with his sword down on the ground. His stance would suggest he just cut something, but Temari didn't feel like she got cut so she ignored it. She swung her fan inward in a wide arc, and to her horror, nothing happened.
Temari quickly realized that Naruto had sliced her fan, preventing her from performing any of her wind jutsus. Temari closed the fan and decided to use the metal part as a weapon. She swung the fan and met nothing but air.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough." Naruto's voice sounded from behind Temari. She felt as if she was hit by a mobile wall. Temari flew forward and slammed into a wall, leaving a sizeable Temari-shaped dent. She slumped forward and fell to the ground, unconscious.
Hayate checked on Temari before coughing lightly into his fist, "Temari is unable to continue. Naruto Uzumaki is the winner."
Naruto walked to the stands to join his teammates. Sasuke already knew that his match was next so he began walking down to the arena.
"Wow, I didn't think your burst step could get any quicker." Sakura said, thoroughly impressed with Naruto's improvements.
Naruto didn't respond. Instead, he stood next to Sakura and watched the upcoming fight intently.
Shino was already in the center of the arena by the time Sasuke walked down. Sasuke analyzed Shino closely. Avoiding the chakra-sucking insects was generally a good game plan.
"You may begin." Hayate announced before backing away slightly.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan instantly and glanced down at the ground where he saw many insects crawling toward him. He followed the line of insects and saw that they were coming out of Shino's pores in great numbers.
Sasuke made a safe assumption about Shino's combat skills: He mostly relied on his insects to fight for him; therefore, his close-range skills would be lacking in comparison.
Sasuke sped toward Shino, jumping over the insects crawling toward him. He landed behind Shino, and before the Aburame could turn around, Sasuke landed a clean punch to his side. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as "Shino" dissolved into a mass of insects. Sharingan or not, one would always have difficulty in distinguishing an Aburame from a mass of his insects due to the fact that an Aburame is essentially a hive.
"Your attack has given my insects a perfect gateway. Surrender now, or they'll drain your chakra until you collapse from exhaustion." Shino spoke from across the arena. Indeed, he had used a simple substitution jutsu with his insects that had been crawling on the arena.
Sasuke allowed himself a small smirk. Lightning began crackling around every part of his body, electrocuting every insect that was unfortunate enough to crawl on him. "Chidori Current." Sasuke said under his breath. Had Shino been a normal expressive individual, he might have been stuttering in shock, but Shino was a very calm, very controlled person.
Sasuke held his hand up and began gathering the Chidori once more. Shino raised his arm and a mass of insects flew from his sleeve and headed toward Sasuke at a rapid pace. Sasuke did not feel threatened. Sasuke dove out of the way of the insects. He rolled to a crouching position and swung his hand in an outward arc, uttering, "Chidori Senbon."
Tiny needle-shaped spears came from Sasuke's hand and headed toward Shino at a rapid pace. Shino did not have the speed to dodge or the time to perform another quick substitution. The lightning spears stabbed into him, each slightly electrocuting him and paralyzing him temporarily. Shino slumped to the ground, unable to move.
Sasuke dispelled his Chidori, and placed his hands into his pockets. He looked toward Hayate expectantly.
Hayate coughed into his fist before looking over at Shino and deduced that he wasn't getting up anytime soon. "The winner is Sasuke Uchiha."
Que the fangirls' screams.
Sasuke smirked to himself. He and Naruto had an unspoken rivalry going on in this tournament, or at least, that's what Sasuke thought. In reality, Naruto was indifferent, making this a pretty one-sided rivalry. But to Sasuke, he thought his match was much more impressive, though he was sure Naruto hadn't been going all out in his match.
Sakura started walking down as she knew her match was next. She didn't really know what to expect from Hinata, but she figured she find out pretty damn soon.
Hinata and Sakura got to the arena simultaneously. Hinata was visibly nervous, but she wasn't backing down. Sakura easily saw Hinata's nervousness, and concluded that she would be an easy genjutsu target, granted that her Byakugan may or may not see through that trickery.
"You may begin." Hayate declared.
Sakura decided she would test Hinata's close range game. Her speed had increased considerably over the past month, so her speed caught Hinata off guard slightly. With the Byakugan, though, Hinata was able to counter Sakura's punches fairly easily. When Hinata went for a counter attack, Sakura dissolved into many flower petals.
Hinata, for a moment, lost sight of Sakura completely. She caught sight of Sakura again directly behind her. When she turned to face the pink haired kunoichi, she heard something slam into the ground and felt the ground around her shake slightly from the impact.
Sakura had removed weights from her legs. Judging from the impact the weights hitting the ground caused, the weights were a little more than a fourth of the weight of Rock Lee's leg weights.
Before Hinata could react, Sakura had sprinted up to her and punched her with a chakra-empowered fist. Hinata flew back a considerable distance with Sakura quickly following her. When Hinata regained her balance, Sakura appeared behind her and went for a roundhouse kick. Hinata ducked under the kick and struck out with her Gentle Fist. Sakura shuffled slightly in an attempt to dodge the attack, but she was still struck. Though Hinata's Gentle Fist made contact, she missed the chakra points that she was aiming for. Even though Hinata missed the chakra point, the Gentle Fist still dealt some decent internal damage.
Sakura recoiled back in pain, grasping her injured shoulder. Hinata didn't let up. She continued her assault, but Sakura's superior speed kept her safe for the time being.
Sakura jumped back to put distance between herself and Hinata. The match was currently in Hinata's favor, and Sakura realized that. Hand-to-hand combat was not in her best interest, so that left her with few options. With her earth manipulation, Sakura softened the ground beneath her to prepare her next attack.
Hinata believed she had the advantage close range, so she sped forward at Sakura. Sakura stepped back and relaxed into her fighting stance, waiting for Hinata to come to her. Hinata could clearly tell that Sakura manipulated the ground beneath her, but the Hyuga did not know the purpose of the tactic. Hinata reached Sakura and as she reared back for a Gentle Fist strike, Sakura sunk into the ground while blurring through several hand signs.
"Paralysis Jutsu." Sakura whispered before she completely sunk into the ground. Byakugan or not, Hinata had very little experience with breaking genjutsu.
Sakura jumped from the ground with a rock-encased arm behind the immobolized Hinata. Hinata struggled to break the genjutsu, but before she could free herself, Sakura struck, "Earth Style: Stone Fist!" Sakura punched Hinata with her rock-covered arm and chakra-enhanced strength. Hinata flew back from the powerful punch until she came to a stop. She was unconscious, as to be expected after being hit by Sakura's strongest physical technique.
"The winner is Sakura Haruno." Hayate concluded. Sakura smiled brightly and walked back up to the stands to join her team.
Naruto had to acknowledge his teammates' progress. Collectively, they were probably the strongest candidates. Of course, he couldn't forget about Gaara. Naruto still hadn't seen what Gaara could do. Also, there was Rock Lee, strangely enough. Naruto's philosophy was to never underestimate an opponent no matter how freaky they may be.
By the time Gaara and Lee had finished their match, the mood of the arena changed drastically. Whereas people were getting hyped up during and after Sakura and Hinata's match, people were deathly silent after seeing Gaara's brutality.
Naruto was not exactly surprised by Gaara's savagery. Truth be told, he was more surprised by Lee's performance. The bushy eyebrowed individual was a ringer. Naruto looked over at Sakura whom was slightly afraid. She would have to fight Gaara in the next round, and she'd be damned before she let Gaara seriously damage her like he did to Lee.
"I feel for the little weirdo. He gave it his all, and he was pretty impressive." Jiraiya said in praise of Lee, "Gai is still a nut for teaching the kid about the eight gates." Jiraiya finished, shaking his head.
"His shinobi career may very well be over. The damage might be too severe." Hiruzen replied solemnly.
"Maybe. What do you think of Team Seven?" Jiraiya asked, "My apprentice specifically." Jiraiya questioned with a grin.
Hiruzen chuckled lightly, "They are a very talented group. I'm sure they've thoroughly impressed the judges."
The Kazekage listened to the conversation in silence. He was still thinking about Gaara's bloodlust. He was just hoping that Gaara doesn't completely lose control. That'd be some serious shit.
Naruto and Sasuke faced each other in the center of the arena. This was a fight Sasuke had been waiting for an entire month. Sasuke immediately activated his Sharingan. Naruto noticed a difference in Sasuke's Sharingan: The Uchiha had three tomoes in each eye. His Sharingan had evolved sometime during the month.
"You may begin." Hayate announced.
Naruto burst stepped out of the way of Sasuke's Chidori Senbon which he fired at the start of the match. Naruto performed the rapid burst step to try and confuse Sasuke, but by the way that Sasuke's eyes kept following him, Naruto knew it was pointless. Favoring the direct approach, Naruto created a dozen Shadow Clones.
Sasuke knew better than to let Naruto complete his plans. Sasuke blurred through hand signs, breathed in deeply, and spout a large fireball from his mouth. Naruto pulled a spare, pre-written scroll from his sash. He pulled it open, flashed through the necessary hand signs, and watched with amusement as Sasuke's expression reflected shock. Naruto's clones took advantage of Sasuke's shock and entered into a series of punches and kicks that Sasuke had difficulty recovering from.
While Sasuke was preoccupied with Naruto's clones, the real Naruto stood back and began gathering nature chakra. When Naruto opened his eyes again, his eyes had the red shading around them and his eyes resembled a toad's. Naruto opened his eyes in time to see Sasuke eliminate all of his Shadow Clones and jump at him with a fierce look in his eyes. Sasuke was briefly surprised to see that Naruto's eyes changed, but he ignored it for now.
Naruto allowed a taunting smirk to grace his features before he dodged Sasuke's attack at the last second and retaliated with a strong kick to the Uchiha's midsection. With Naruto's sage mode enhanced strength, Sasuke was sent flying until he slammed into the wall.
When Sasuke stood back up, shakily, he got a chance to see Naruto's chakra flow. It was much stronger than before. 'What transformation did he go through?' Sasuke thought angrily.
"It's called Sage Mode." Naruto said as he began advancing slowly toward Sasuke, "Everything about me is enhanced in this state. I could defeat you without Sage Mode, but I knew you'd throw a fit if I held back."
Sasuke's back was against the wall. He was running out of chakra, and he began to see the futility in continuing the match, but his pride kept him standing. He couldn't give up. Sasuke's Sharingan spun angrily, as he charged up one last Chidori.
Naruto sighed as he realized Sasuke was not backing out. Instead, Sasuke was going for one final rush. Naruto burst stepped forward and kneed Sasuke in the stomach. Spit and blood came from Sasuke's mouth as he fell to ground.
'I couldn't see him. My eyes weren't strong enough. I wasn't strong enough. Itachi... will I ever be strong enough?' Sasuke thought as he hit the ground.
"The winner is Naruto Uzumaki."
Hayate's words kept echoing in Sasuke's head, continuously haunting him.
Sakura was a nervous mess.
Ultimately, she decided not to forfeit immediately, but if the match got too deadly for her liking, you'd better believe she was hauling ass out of that arena.
Sakura looked into Gaara's dead eyes, knowing that he had no intention of sparing the rod, so to speak.
"You may begin." Hayate declared.
Sakura had to immediately side step a sand barrage. It was a damn good thing Kakashi gave her those leg weights.
Sakura flowed through hand signs, "Paralysis Jutsu." She whispered. She smiled victoriously as Gaara suddenly froze. Sakura sped at Gaara and reared back for a chakra-enhanced punch, but before her punch could make contact, Gaara's sand came to life and blocked it.
Sakura jumped back to gain distance. 'Well that confirms one of my suspicions. His sand can act freely with or without him controlling.' Sakura thought to herself.
"Is that about all you can do? Pathetic girl." Gaara mocked darkly.
Sakura resisted stomping her foot in anger. That'd make her look her stupid in this situation. Throwing temper tantrums is certainly not grounds for a promotion.
Instead, Sakura took a deep breath to calm herself. Something told Sakura that Gaara wasn't exactly genjutsu savvy. She smirked confidently. 'I'll give him a crash course in genjutsu 101.'
Sakura used her signature flower petal escape genjutsu to avoid another sand barrage from Gaara. While he couldn't see her, Sakura went through the necessary hand signs for the Demonic Illusion: Death Mirage.
From her safe spot, Sakura watched with barely concealed confidence as Gaara froze once again. After a few seconds, he began screaming in absolute terror.
That was Sakura's que.
Sakura softened the ground beneath her and burrowed underground. She planned to get within Gaara's defenses. She jumped up from the ground in proximity to Gaara with her arm encased in rock. Channeling chakra to that same arm, Sakura cocked back and punched Gaara before his sand could do anything.
Gaara was snapped out of the genjutsu as he skid across the ground. Pure anger filled him. Before he wasn't going to kill the girl, but now, she invoked his wrath.
Sakura jumped into the air, prepared to land a final attack to the seemingly cracking Gaara, when his eyes suddenly snapped open. He raised his arm and sand slammed into Sakura. The sand gripped her and slammed her into the ground repeatedly. Sakura, at this point, was bleeding profusely and had stopped screaming in pain. She had lost consciousness.
Hayate announced the end of the match, but that didn't stop Gaara.
"Sand Coffi-"
Kakashi dispersed the sand around Sakura with his Lightning Blade before Gaara could kill her. He glanced over to the crouching Gaara, whom was glaring at him fiercely. Gaara's killing intent was palpable.
The entire arena became silent. The civilians stared in fear, and the shinobi schooled their features. They were even more apprehensive since the next match would be a battle between two jinchuuriki.
"We will have a thirty minute break until the final match begins." Hayate announced, cutting through the tension somewhat.
"So Naruto, what do you plan on doing?" Kakashi asked, "Maybe you should consider forfeiting. Gaara seems very intent on fighting you."
"Your concern is wasted here. I'll defeat him with ease." Naruto assured confidently. He glanced over at Sasuke whom was sitting a decent distance away from him. Sasuke had been in a foul mood since their match.
Naruto sighed. To him, these exams had just been dragging on and on. He really just wished it was over, so he could go back to training or taking some missions, but he did want that promotion so he could take higher level missions.
Kakashi signaled to Naruto that his match was about to start. Naruto made his way to the arena. He had to admit, he was looking forward to this match.
"Let the final match of the Chunin Exams begin!" Hayate announced.
Naruto quickly unsheathed his sword and held it out in front of him. "Wind Style: Wind Cutter Jutsu." Naruto bellowed as he swung his sword in a wide arc, releasing small blades of wind from the sword that cut through the sand that Gaara sent toward Naruto.
Naruto then created ten Fire Style: Shadow Clones. He and the clones ran toward Gaara, burst stepping to avoid waves of sand. Naruto and his fire clones performed the rapid burst step all around Gaara to disorient him, much like how Rock Lee did. The real Naruto, however, jumped up high and flashed through hand signs. He waited until his clones got in close proximity of Gaara and shouted, "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough." The powerful wind destroyed all of Naruto fire clones, causing a massive, fiery explosion with Gaara in the center.
Naruto landed and watched as the smoke cleared. Gaara was still very much alive, but he didn't seem to be fully intact. Similar to when Sakura punched him, Gaara seemed to falling apart as if he was made of hardened sand. The sand fell to reveal a wide-eyed Gaara who was unscathed except for his badly burned and torn clothing. His eyes became bloodshot, and they randomly darted around. He grasped his head in his hands and fell to his knees.
"Please, I beg of you, don't be too angry with me, Mother! I apologize for forcing you to taste such awful blood. I will make amends now by giving you the blood of a strong fighter!" Gaara promised to his "Mother". Suddenly, his eyes focused on Naruto and he stopped shaking.
Naruto froze as Gaara made a single hand seal and his sand began gathering around him, forming a dome.
Naruto burst stepped forward and punched the dome right as it completely closed. He had to burst step back quickly to avoid the sudden spiked defense that formed around the dome. Naruto clutched his bleeding hand as he watched the spikes return to the dome. Once again, the dome was a simple sphere.
'What the hell is he planning to do with that thing?' Naruto thought to himself with a growl of annoyance.
"Are you gonna hide in there all day? That's fine by me. I could use the time to prepare what I have in store for you." Naruto said in a low, dark voice.
Naruto sat on the ground, and gathered nature chakra. He entered Sage Mode and grasped his sword tightly.
As Naruto said before, in Sage Mode, everything was enhanced: his speed, strength, and especially the potence of any chakra-based attack.
Naruto burst stepped high into the sky. He channeled a significant amount of wind chakra to Kubikiribōchō. He slashed downward toward the sand dome, and watched how effective that was. Naruto quickly followed the wind slash with a burst step and a direct wind chakra-enhanced slash from his sword.
The dome shattered under the punishment. Naruto final slash completely went through, and he ended up dealing a shallow slash to Gaara.
Apparently, Naruto hadn't been successful in stopping whatever Gaara was doing. Naruto observed the significant changes in Gaara's appearance. Gaara's right arm was a monsterous one made of sand. Half of his face was one belonging to a beast made of sand as well, and he had a tail made of sand.
Gaara had been in that dome transforming into his tailed beast, Naruto realized.
Even outside of the dome, Gaara was still continuing to transform. Naruto couldn't allow that transformation to continue.
Gaara thrust his hand forward and it stretched extremely quickly, catching Naruto by surprise. Naruto was slammed into the wall by Gaara's stretching arm, which Gaara detached. Naruto's sword fell from his hand. The sand around Naruto hardened and tightened, securing him to the wall.
Naruto was very glad that he was in Sage Mode. With his enhanced strength, Naruto was able to manuveur his arm enough to give his arm some space. He channeled wind chakra to his claws and used the space he earned himself to swing his claws and cut the sand apart.
Naruto created a Rasengan in his right hand and burst stepped toward Gaara.
Mouths grew on Gaara's now transformed body. Each mouth on Gaara inhaled deeply, "Wind Style: Sandstorm Devastation!" Every mouth on Gaara exhaled a chakra-coated sand cloud. Naruto muscled through the powerful wind. Once again, Naruto was very thankful for Sage Mode.
Naruto thrusted his arm forward and slammed the spiralling blue sphere into Gaara's chest. He put more chakra into it to make it larger and stronger. The transformation ceased, and Gaara's sand limbs fell off. He was panting heavily, near exhaustion.
Naruto wasn't doing much better. His Sage Mode wore off, and he was feeling the backlash from forcing himself through the sandstorm.
Gaara's sand didn't seem like it would make an interference, so Naruto grabbed his sword from the ground. Gaara charged forward for one more clash, but Naruto wasn't for that. Naruto, after charging a significant amount of fire chakra and wind chakra to his blade, slammed Kubikiribōchō to the ground, releasing a somewhat weak fiery tornado that slammed into Gaara.
Gaara flew backward a considerable distance. He couldn't stand back up. Naruto rested Kubikiribōchō on his shoulders and looked at Hayate expectantly.
Hayate recovered from his state of shock. Honestly, he forgot he was proctoring an exam. "The winner of this tournament is Naruto Uzumaki."
Damn. This has got to be the longest chapter by a decent margin. I just sat down and knocked this one out like a champ...after one month without an update. Ahhhh.
Next Chapter: Kazumi the Bunny