Ghost Wolf: I'm wonder how they're going to want to torture you this time? Leaving them in Limbo for 6 months now? I wonder if any of them still think you're alive.
Quote the Speechless: Oh I'm sure I still have more than a few faithful worshipers… I mean readers…
Ghost Wolf: If you say so, I'm guessing you've got to do something real big to keep them interested this time.
Quote the Speechless: Well, I have the Naruto vs. Neji fight. Do you think that will do for now?
Ghost Wolf: Well considering the way you wrote it… quite possibly.
Quote the Speechless: Well then, let's let them have it.
Legal: Yay! I finally own Naruto! What? I don't? Shit.
CHAPTER Eighteen: Smack Down
A month had passed since the end of the second stage of the Genin exams. Dignitaries, merchants, wealthy businessmen and important political figures had taken their time in arriving to the Hidden Village of Leaf from all over the continent. Now, the city was bustling with the commotion of welcoming the guests. Shops brought out their finest wares and restaurants brought out their finest silver all to attract the important people, and perhaps to earn them some recognition. So, it wasn't too bizarre when nine strangers walked up to the front gates.
The first was a tall, thin monk wearing off-white robes with a sun emblazoned on them over his heart. The robes were of fine silk, the color of fresh cream, and seemed to shimmer lightly as he walked. However, for one so richly dressed it was odd for him to come unaccompanied. Even more odd was the jug of sake that was swinging lazily from his left hand. His head was bald and reflected the light of the bright day, his face long and a bit angular, and his eyes were hidden behind white opalescent glasses. A strange sight, but in this particular village it was hardly the oddest thing that they had seen.
The ninja guarding the gate were busy checking through a merchant's caravan and making sure they had the right paperwork. One of them motioned to the man that they would be with him in a moment. He nodded and carefully sat down on a wide dark stone that had been left undisturbed, hot from gathering light all day a little distance outside the village a dozen yards or so from the gate.
"Take your time. I'm waiting for some people." The ninja acknowledged the monk and went about their work.
It wasn't long after that that the second person appeared. She was a much shorter woman who wore her brown hair in six ornate braids. She cart wheeled down the road, much to the enjoyment of a few small children who chased after her. She was wearing a light blue kimono in a short style, one favored by kunoichi for its light weight and flexibility, a mountain in copper thread displayed on her back. She stopped cart-wheeling not far from the rock where the other stranger sat and turned to the children, pulling out some sweets from a little bag and handing a few to them. She shooed them off to their parents, who were busy carrying goods to the market to sell.
She tuned to the man in monks' robes, and her sharp features broke into a smile. She walked over, sitting down on the rock as well, though neither spoke a word to the other, seemingly enjoying the silence.
After a time, others appeared. The next was an old woman with stately features and silver hair in a single braid down her back. She was wearing a long kimono with large, black sleeves and a silver moon over her right breast. In her hand was a long, black walking stick. A servant girl, with black hair in a pixy-cut, was with her. The girl was wearing the same style of black kimono, though she didn't look nearly as comfortable with it as the older woman. She constantly fidgeted with the pack over her shoulder.
A woman in the finest white silk also appeared, shaded by a white parasol with a snow scene embroidered into the fine cloth. Her pale features and white hair, along with haughty expression, immediately dubbed her as "Ice Queen" by anyone who looked at her. She also brought a servant girl, demure in white robes similar to her master but with doves instead of snow.
A woman in a deep sea-green kimono came along with a sea of admirers following her. The reason for this was quite obvious: her kimono was of a thin material and clung to her body in a very provocative manner. Her flirtatious attitude, musical voice, and dark blue hair that cascaded down her back added to her enticing image. However, she dismissed her admirers when she saw the people by the stone, and sat on the rock, removing her sandals and dipping her feet into a small pool of water which had managed to escape the sun in the shade of the rock.
A massive man with a surprisingly well-fitting kimono walked towards them. He didn't look particularly comfortable in it, much to the amusement of the girl with the braids and the one in sea green. A forest was displayed on his robes. He sat down and grumbled under his breath but was silent after a moment like the others.
The silence was starting to unnerve the two ninja guards who would occasionally glance over at these strangers. But there was nothing other than their silence and rich clothes that they could identify, and the rich were allowed many peculiarities. None had any significant chakra that they could tell and didn't move like ninja. They tried to dismiss the uneasy feeling that these eight made. The ninth character changed things.
"Ah, good, you're all here," the man in the brown kimono walked out through the gate and towards the others who, when they saw him, started to rise. He wore black sunglasses and had a pinched look to his face. He reached into a pocket and took out several things that he started handing around to them. "These will help suppress our natural affinity." To each person he handed a necklace with sets of different colored opals. To the woman in black he handed a string of seven black opals on a black silk cord, which she took and carefully tied around her neck. The others followed suit: three green to the largest man, four blue for the woman in sea green, five white to the white-haired woman, six to the woman with braided hair, and eight white which sparkled with many different colors to the lanky monk. The man in brown had two amber opals hanging from his necklace.
"And I have sets for First and Ninth as well, when they are ready," he looked at the two servant girls, his eyes shimmering for a moment behind his glasses. "Hmmm, as for you two, here, take these." Out of another bag he produced two rings of silver, one set with moonstone and the other with onyx. "They will disguise your other chakra as that of a human's," he said giving them a wink as they each took one to match the color of their kimono. "This is a village of highly trained shinobi, we must be careful not to reveal ourselves."
"That means we can't have any fun?" The servant girl dressed in black whined softly, though not softly enough and got a sharp glare from her mistress. "Sorry, Ma'am."
When the nine strangers approached the gates, the ninja stationed there stepped forward. One held out a hand to them. They looked at his hand and then back at him.
"Yes? What do you want?" The woman in black asked, her servant snickering softly behind her.
"Your name and identification papers, ma'am? We need to know who you are before we can let you into the village," he explained patiently. There was a reason he was good at guard duty: he never lost his temper, no matter how often he had to inform people of the same information again and again. But, even this day was starting to get to him. But this encounter was different. The woman fixed him with a stern, piercing gaze.
"You don't need to see our papers," she spoke in a soft, even tone looking at the other ninja there, even to the two extra ones hidden in the trees to either side. "As for our names? We are clan… Uzumaki."
"I don't need to see your papers," he replied, looking down at his clipboard and writing down the name of the clan then looking up and smiling at her. "Welcome to The Village of Leaf, we hope that you enjoy your stay."
"Oh, we will," she smiled at the man, and her servant snickered again as they walked through the gate.
"Huh…" the guard looked down at his clipboard. "I only know of one Uzumaki… naw, there's no way they're related." He shook his head and returned to his duty.
***
Naruto was awakened with a light kick to his shoulder. He had fallen asleep on the banks of the little river again after the sparring. His clothes were pretty ragged warn from long training. Even his headband was ragged, having been pierced by hair spikes on numerous occasions. His body, on the other hand, was in perfect condition: every cut and bruise he earned from the sparring had healed, his chakra system seemed to be taking the new chakra well, at least with the added buffer that his siblings had placed in him.
"Come on, kid," Jiraiya gave his shoulder another nudge with his sandal as Naruto started to stir. "I let you sleep a bit late so you'd be rested for today. It's going to be a long one, that's for sure," he chuckled at something.
"Pervert," Naruto muttered as he sat up. Kasei was gnawing on a fish that he had caught. The young ninja smiled as he remembered what day it was and jumped up to his feet and started running into town. "Come on old man!" Naruto bound off with Kasei barking at his heals, the fish already forgotten. Jiraiya followed after Naruto wondering where he was going, probably to get food. But, instead of heading for the food market—though he did slow a bit as he passed the ramen stand—Naruto ran for a small clothing store.
Kibou was out front of the store chatting up a customer who wore fine red and purple and telling her how the vest he was showing could hide half a dozen thin knives in the lining. He saw Naruto coming and grinned. Taking a moment from the customer, he gave Naruto a hug and then pushed him towards the door.
"Go see Keito, she has had everything set up for you for the past week." Naruto grinned and hugged him again before rushing inside, Jiraiya following him after a moment. The ninja clothes here were of really high quality, and he thought about getting some for himself. Inside the store was quite busy, it seems that the finale of the Genin exam was being treated somewhat like a carnival. Keito was behind the register ringing up a customer's purchase when she saw Naruto. She finished ringing up the customer before stepping out from behind the counter and giving Naruto a massive hug, which he returned in kind. Then she stepped back and knocked him hard in the head.
"That's for not contacting us for a MONTH!" She scolded him, and a few customers turned to watch, one girl giggling when she saw Naruto's disheveled appearance. "You look like you've been living in the Forrest of Death!" She stuck her finger in one hole on his shirt and then hooked it though another less than an inch away.
"It's good to see you too." Naruto rubbed his head with one hand and tried to swat her hand away. She gave him another swat and sighed. "What are you doing here? You should be getting ready." She pushed him towards the back of the store. "Second dummy on the left, might be a little big: we left some room for growth." She shoved him gently though the back curtain then knelt down to scoop up Kasei before the cub could dart in after him. "How about we get you some jerky to chew on?" The little fox barked in approval and curled against her chest before jumping out of her arm and nuzzling against her shin.
Naruto found the gear right where she said it would be, though it wasn't exactly what he was expecting. The body armor was almost completely gone, replaced by what looked like a red hoodie with a zipper along the front and an under layer of a very light chainmail. He walked around the dummy and saw slits along the hoodie's back, compartments for thin knives and small shuriken and senbon, after careful searching he located a dozen places it hide multiple knives. He figured that all tolled the single garment could hide easily two dozen small blades without looking any different than it did now. The weight of the hoodie was different as the fabric was very light, not the same material that made most sweatshirts. Instead it was some blend of materials that breathed quite easily, while still affording some protection by being at least mildly difficult to cut though. The pants were of a darker red, but the same material with similar hidden pockets. A belt with a series of pouches gave him places to store his other equipment, and Naruto found that they were already packed with standard ninja equipment; he only had to transfer over a few special items of his before it was perfect. This was quite good as his kunai and shuriken were barely above useless after such extensive training.
He had stripped down and was putting on the new pants when he noticed a pair of bracers and shin guards on the worktable. He finished putting the pants on and got up to examine them. They looked completed for the most part only missing the proper size fittings for their eventual owner. The shin guards were each a single piece with light padding inside and straps, they were a lot lighter than previous sets. The bracers were also noticeably lighter than previous pairs. He put them on, shin guards first, under his pants and they were hidden perfectly. Next he put on the bracers, nearly crying out with surprise when he twisted his right wrist to attach the straps on the left bracer and a long single blade popped out along the outer edge of the bracer. He twisted his wrist the other way, and the blade disappeared back into the hidden slot.
"When you get good enough you can try molding elemental chakra into those," Kibou spoke from the entrance to the back room. "Well, should be able to, we didn't have time to really test those out well enough. Keito could only manage it when using the elemental stances." He came over and made sure that both bracers were attached properly, checking the shin guards as well. He nodded and stood back to look at Naruto. "We tried various armor ideas. The Kevlar of the top layer, along with the chain mail, will help a lot without impeding movement like any heavier armor. All together it weighs about eight pounds, almost nothing to a ninja."
Naruto tried some light jumps and found it to be true, he came down a little heavier than before but nothing he couldn't handle. He tried a few of the kata for fire, molding some chakra along his arms, the blades shot out, and he noticed a definite reddening of the blades' edge which, when he pressed it against the edge of the table, left a smoldering impression. The blades coole,, and he retracted them before hugging Kibou tightly. The tailor returned the hug and pushed him towards the door.
"Wait! One last thing!" Naruto pulled out his warn headband and showed it to the man. Kibou took it with a laugh and took it to a work station, stripping off the ragged cloth and pulling out strips of left over red Kevlar. With practiced ease he threaded a needled and, in no time at all, the headband was repaired. Naruto took it and tied it to his forehead securely, proud to be wearing a symbol that he trusted.
"Now get going, make us proud. We'll be watching the finals on TV," he ruffled Naruto's hair with a hand, and the boy ran out. He told Kasei to stay with the two shopkeepers. He waved goodbye to Kieto, who laughed and made shooing motions while she checked out the pile of things Jiraiya was buying, while he tried to haggle her down by offering her a signed copy of his book. He left shortly after with bagful of items, a much lighter wallet, and a well-earned black eye.
Naruto pulled up his hood and ran towards the arena, dodging between people, appearing as little more than a red blur to most. He continued this until it got too crowded, then he took to the rooftops, increasing his speed as his adrenaline pumped, letting out a whoop of joy at the thought of the battles to come. He didn't notice the nine strangers who watched him with interest as he ran, as they too made their way to the stadium.
Once he arrived at the stadium he walked into the contestant area where the other finalists were waiting. Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Shino, Shikamaru, and Neji were already there, overlooking the arena; Sasuke wasn't there yet, and neither were the Sound ninja. Most of the arena was an earthy clearing, though there were a number of trees along the edge and a small stream running though the middle. This stream divided the arena in to two rough halves with a small pool of water about twenty feet across.
Shino was sipping from a bottle of what smelled like honey water. Neji was drinking some tea as he leaned against the railing and watched people entering the seats, occasionally his temple would throb oddly. Shikamaru appeared to be asleep in a seat. The three Sand ninja were grouped together, though the older two still gave Gaara as much space as he wanted.
Neji was the first to notice Naruto. He turned and smirked slightly as he thought about how easy it would be to beat him in the first bout and turned back to watching the spectators: the seats were mostly full at this point. Gaara noticed him next, giving him a calculating glare, his right hand clenching into a fist involuntarily. Naruto merely smiled and bowed slightly in his direction. His siblings glanced worriedly at their brother and Naruto, unable to grasp fully what had happened that day a month ago.
Naruto walked over to a little food table where some fruits and snacks were set out. He selected an orange and walked over to a chair by the railing. He sat down and took out a small kunai from his belt and started skinning the fruit, taking his time and letting the fresh smell of the orange fill the air. He took a bit of the rind and reached over towards Shikamaru and squeezed it, making the oil spray into the air in under his nose. The lazy ninja sneezed violently and woke up rubbing his nose and muttering mild curses at the troublesome blonde while Naruto chuckled and offered him a slice, which he took.
It wasn't long until a jounin entered the waiting area and called for them to assemble down on the arena floor for the start of the exam. They made their way down onto the center of the arena and made a line facing the Kages' seats where the Hokage and Kazekage were sitting with their bodyguards to oversee the final battles.
"Hey, hey," Shikamaru waved a hand at the jounin who was the judge for this round. "We can't start until all participants have arrived, right?" He said, trying to find some way to postpone the battle, because he really wasn't looking forward to all that much.
"If they're late, they automatically forfeit their match, nice try kid," the jounin smiled around the senbon in his mouth. "Also, the battles have changed a little. There was an unfortunate accident and the Sound Ninja will not be coming." He held up a piece of paper that had the new tournament battles: the only one that had changed was the last one. It was still Naruto vs. Neji, Gaara vs. Sasuke, Kankuro vs. Shino, and Shikamaru vs. Temari.
"You snooze you lose," Naruto muttered as the Hokage stood and delivered a short speech welcoming those to the tournament. Naruto mentally checked himself, lightly bouncing from foot to foot trying not to get too anxious about the battle. Neji had gone on about Fate when he battled Hinata, something Naruto objected to on principle. He couldn't believe it was his 'fate' to have a shitty childhood; he had clawed his way out of that by will alone, made it here by that same will, and he wasn't going to let anyone forget it, or undermine his achievements.
"Alright, the first two stay, the rest can go up to the observation level," the jounin instructed them. Naruto walked around a little and started stretching absently, limbering up. He pushed his hood back and felt the sun on his face, humming to himself a little.
"You've already accepted your defeat?" Neji stood opposite him in a relaxed fighting position, ready for the fight to begin at the jounin's word.
"I just got a feeling," Naruto began, getting into a fighting stance of his own and grinned as his hair and eyes shifted slowly into the red. Neji's aura was confidant, and given the fact that he was faced with a ninja a year younger than he, he had reason to not be worried. But his information was outdated. "There is no Fate, not here, not now. This is a battle between us. Let's see who the better ninja really is."
"Begin!" the jounin dropped his hand, and the first match began.
"Been a while since I used this technique. Hinote Inju," Naruto started the hand seals and once he was done fire sprang from his hands. The Fire Ribbons formed and wrapped around his hands concealing their length without burning him. With a flick of his wrist the ribbons started flying though the air at Neji, the ribbons darting at him from Naruto's position and snaking though the air. Naruto had practiced with the whips more but he was still far from an expert.
Neji just smirked and dodged them easily, trying to get closer to Naruto in order to use his Gentle Fist techniques to shut down Naruto's chakra. At the same time Naruto kept backing up, trying to keep the Byakugan-user at distance, because he had already had the experience of having his chakra source blocked and he didn't want to go through that again. However, Neji was picking up speed, and his whips weren't cutting it any longer.
Naruto stopped the whips and did a back flip onto the stream, settling into a Water Style stance. He knew he had made a mistake when his Demon Eyes noted the increase of Neji's confidence. Neji landed on the water just in front of Naruto and began hand-to-hand combat. Of Course Neji would be able to water walk, high-level chakra control of his techniques would require training like that. Naruto could see the chakra formed around Neji's hands due to the Second Level activation of his Demon Eyes and cursed when he saw it passing though his bracers, and his arms started to go numb. Naruto stopped the chakra to his legs and sank immediately under the water.
Naruto formed a seal, and multiple shadow clones appeared under the water with him. He had tried to make ten, but only seven appeared. He cursed mentally. Neji's attacks had already started to take effect.
Two of the clones tried to grab Neji's legs, but he back-flipped away, his Byakugan warning him of the attempt before they even got close.
Naruto and his clones burst up from the water and landed on the riverbank. Neji looked over the clones. Even his eyes couldn't distinguish them from the original.
***
"This is so boring," the girl in the black kimono complained as she watched Naruto's clones attack and get dismissed by quick blows from Neji. "He should be wiping the floor with that long haired kid!" She fidgeted in her kimono, trying to make it more comfortable but not really succeeding.
"Our brother is very capable, and we must trust that he knows what he is doing," Gobi said, rapping the girl on the shoulder with a white fan that she had purchased in the market. "Once he has the approval of the last two, he will be your superior." She glanced over at Hachibi who was lazily watching the bout. His eyes half closed, but she noticed that they were shimmering slightly.
Gobi's servant gently tapped on Nibi's shoulder. The man turned a kind face to her, and she made some hand signs, unnerving some ninja in the area until they realized she was using sign language because instead of seals she was making motions touching her face, chest and arms.
"He's over there," Gobi turned and pointed at an angle across the arena where the other participants were watching the match. "The one with the large sand gourd on his back." A few others in the group turned to look at the one he indicated. Gaara was watching the match intensely, something about the Uzumaki boy intrigued him, some power he had felt…ominous.
"He doesn't seem like much," the girl in black muttered and immediately covered her mouth with a hand, realizing what she had said. Nanabi gave her a stern glare.
"Careful what you say, Kurohyou," her voice was cold and sharp. An overhead light flickered out for a moment, casting them into shadow. "He is our Brother and to be respected." Kurohyou looked down, embarrassed and more than a little frightened. "Now, let us watch the match," Nanabi said in a more amicable tone, and the others relaxed as the light came back on. "We'll meet with our First Brother later."
There was a musical giggle from the row behind Kurohyou, and the girl in white, who used sign language before, covered her mouth to hide her smile.
"Oh shut up, Hato," Kurohyou sat up and watched the battle, immediately forgetting the reprimand. "Looks like he's in trouble…"
***
Naruto was getting hammered. Neji had destroyed all of Naruto's clones, and when it was clear who the real Naruto was, Neji declared him within his area and launched into one of the most devastating attacks that Naruto had ever seen--let alone been subject to. He could feel his chakra getting sealed off point by point all over his body. He felt numb from the lack of chakra, but his body was wracked with pain from the force of the strikes at the same time. The last strike came, and Naruto was flung to the floor of the arena like a rag doll.
"I'm still here Kid, remember, they can't shut me out any more," Kyuubi spoke in Naruto's head, smug at first, but then worried. "But I can't give you any chakra, if I try and blast through the chakra closure I could damage the buffer the others put on my chakra, and you'd be wracked with pain."
"I know, I know…" Naruto muttered to himself as he tried to get back up, straining against the pain and trying not to pass out.
"Judge, call it, he is in no condition to continue the match," Neji smirked and turned, starting to walk towards the stairs out of the arena when he heard the unexpected. Naruto started to laugh. He turned and saw that Naruto had managed to turn over and was on all fours, laughing even as he cringed with pain.
"Oh, that's good," he snickered as he pushed himself back onto his knees, sitting up and looking at Neji. "You, telling me I can't fight. You're the one that isn't fighting."
"You shouldn't be able to move," Neji looked at the boy in wonder. He knew he got all the hits right, so Naruto should have been paralyzed for a day at least.
"Yea, well, that's me. Always fighting, always rebelling against what I'm told," Naruto forced himself into a kneeling position and then with a heave he pushed himself up onto his feet. "Don't learn. Don't fight back. Don't live." He stretched a little, trying to buy time as he thought of a way to fight back without chakra. "One of my earliest memories is a guy in the market kicking me down and telling me to 'Just die, the world would be better.'" He chuckled grimly. "Hell of a way to grow up, but no, I wasn't going to die."
Neji watched him. It had been said in passing that Naruto was tough with incredible endurance, but to withstand the pain he had to be in was beyond anything he had seen inside their age group. He activated his Byakugan. No, Naruto's chakra was still blocked. He could see a glow of energy from Naruto's belly where a great deal of his Chakra was stored, but it couldn't get out. But what was that? There was another glimmer, a bright spot of condensed chakra on Naruto's chest. But it wasn't inside him, what was it?
"But I've got sources," Naruto said as he grinned, reaching into the neck of his hoodie and pulled out a pendant, one that he had forgotten about until all his chakra was sealed off and he could feel the humming against his chest. The small pendant had a brass body and nine tails of red opal wrapping around it. The opals shone with an inner light that was unreal. "I know secrets. I know where one of Leaf's greatest secrets is buried," he raised the pendant to his lips and whispered the activation word. "Kyuubi. Kai."
The pendant had been given to him before he met Kakashi by Kibou and Keito. The one with the jutsu to absorb his excess chakra had…shattered. Finally released from within, the chakra streamed out in long trails of energy, reaching out then turning back in, circling around Naruto then plunging deep into his body, then surfacing as a red glow. All the damage that had been done, the sealing of his chakra points was undone in an instant and his body healed. Naruto let out a feral growl as he felt his demonic form try to surface, but he restrained it. His hair lengthened and started to grow down his neck and across his shoulders, he felt his face try to elongate and his body shift slightly in other ways, but it stopped there.
He pulled his hood up over his head once more to hide his changes from the judge, but he knew that the chakra signature of the Kyuubi's energy was unmistakable in the release. It didn't matter now. All that mattered was that he won.
He charged forward with speed he rarely had reached before, and Neji only barely dodged under the blow. He wasn't going to go down without a fight either.
Naruto didn't let up even once, slashing and clawing, a dagger in each hand, his body still wrapped in red energy. His clothes hid the effect from the regular spectators, but every ninja saw it, and watched, some worried, some hopeful, all curious.
Naruto grabbed a hold of Neji's sleeve and twisted it to try to throw him to the ground when Neji suddenly released chakra all around his body and spun. The effect of Neji's move was as surprising to everyone there as the release of Naruto's chakra had been before. One of the signature moves of the Hyuuga family: Kaiten. Naruto rolled in mid air and landed on all fours, charging forward again and laughing.
"Yes! Fight me with everything you have, so I can beat the FATE out of you!" He laughed and fought, both fighting with a ferocity yet seen. Naruto from the rush of his new strength and Neji put every trick and skill he had into his moves as he was being pushed to the limit by the transformation that had overcome Naruto.
He couldn't believe it, and it wasn't just the technique or the power; the elements themselves seemed to conspire against him. The earth gave way under his feet, denying him footing, while Naruto had firm ground under him to stabilize his powerful kicks and punches, and just like that the style would change, and dust would blow into his eyes as Naruto's bladed bracers cut though his clothes and etched red lines of pain over his chest and arms. Before he could perform Kaiten once more, his arm was caught and without hesitation Naruto threw him into the air. As Neji twisted in mid air he saw Naruto performing hand seals.
"Katon: Ryuuza Hane Hitofuki no Jutsu." Chakra wings seemingly made of fire sprang from Naruto's back. They had a span of twenty feet, and the wind they made when they beat was as dry and hot as anything Neji had ever felt. He saw Naruto's grin as the wings beat several times then swing together, creating a phenomenal gust that blew the Hyuuga through the air and slammed him into the wall of the arena. He collapsed to the ground and lay there in crippling pain, knowing he had a few fractures from the impact alone. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Naruto standing over him, the chakra gone.
"Tell your 'Fate' to fuck off."
Ghost Wolf: Can I just say I love the last line?
Quote the Speechless: You may, and feel free to say it again. I loved writing it.
Ghost Wolf: I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of telling you I enjoyed something you wrote. I'll leave that up to your readers. I'm just here to make sure you keep writing.
Quote the Speechless: And you are doing such a good job of it. Chapter 19 is already well in the works. And I have a new Editor who has done a fabulous job on this chapter, believe me.
Ghost Wolf: Yes, I've seen the notes. Hopefully you'll keep her interested and she won't be busy with other things.
Quote the Speechless: Yes, we all hope that. I'd also like to say that the next chapter is looking like it will have a bizarre style to it. I'm going to be doing a little experimentation with perspective.
Ghost Wolf: Uh-oh.