Chapter 8

Ramen and Midnight Training: Naruto's payment

I own nothing

"And then, before I was even able to get the words out of my mouth she cuts me off. Babbling about how she needed a real man, not some kid." Naruto yells outright, digging into the freshly made bowl of Ramen that was placed before him. For about 2 hours now Naruto has sat in Ichiraku Ramen, yelling at the top of his lungs to no one in particular about his dealings with Anko, from the moment he met her in the interrogation room to now.

"I know, I was there. I heard everything" His own insanity mumbled, tired of hearing the same old thing countless times.

"But did you feel it!? I could see in her eyes she was disgusted, almost like she couldn't stand the sight of me! What did I do wrong?" He questioned, grabbing his drink from his side and took a swig, feeling fireworks go off in his head as the Sake worked its magic. Of course he couldn't get drunk, it was one of the concreted rules of being a Jinchuuriki, Alcohol was burned off so quickly you would die from Alcohol poisoning before you even got a simple buzz. But, with Naruto, the Sake didn't get him drunk but it set of a fizz in his brain, probably his brain cells dying one by one but it was an amazing feeling, something Naruto has become kinda addicted to.

"Look, women are complicated. You probably just need to give her some space" he retorted back to himself.

"BAH! What do you know about girls anyway?" Naruto said bitterly, placing his chopsticks down and began to drink the broth, unaware of the woman that stood behind the counter, replacing her father.

While Naruto was deep in his own little world the restaurant's owner, Teuchi, stepped out for a bit to go and restock on the basics, noodles, broth ingredients, radishes, etc. Leaving his 18 year old daughter, Ayame to watch over the shop. At first she had no problem with it, she has done it many times before and seeing as it was getting close to closing time all she really needed to do was run through some quick prep work and wait for the last customer to finish.

As she continued on with her prep work for tomorrow's lunch rush in the back of the restaurant she couldn't help overhear Naruto's one sided conversation, wondering who he could be talking too. She came up to the front only to see a empty restaurant with Naruto sitting at the bar, arguing with himself as he gulped down sake and wolfed down Ramen.

Before now she really hasn't meet Naruto. Everytime he came to her father's restaurant was when she was off duty or on a break, she was never able to see him in person. The only bases she had on him was the countless rumors spread around the village. His ill temperament with new people, his violent tendencies, some even say we was insane….and seeing as he was talking to himself, that rumor might hold some truth. Soon enough though, she started to get intrigued with the story Naruto was unintentionally wiving for her, everything he said seemed to create this mood of different emotions in her. Happiness, anger, sorrow, his tale was like an intriguing movie and she loved to hear about it….but soon, every movie has it's ending.

Naruto soon stopped his guzzling to found a petite woman standing before him. She was a very slender girl with long, brown hair and eyes, plus fair skin. She wore a white robe with the sleeves folded, a sort of dark blue apron with ribbon ties at the top and a bright white bandanna that kept her hair in place. She seemed to be in a daze, giving off a tranced look at Naruto as he slowly lowered his bowl and wiped his mouth clean of his guilty pleasure.

"Can I help you?" He questioned roughly, highly uncomfortable having a complete stranger stare at him. She soon snapped out of her daze and looked away, her face red with embarrassment.

"Ummm, n-n-no. I was just…...ummmm." She stuttered nervously, pulling on the hem of her apron. Now trust me, Ayame is not a nervous woman by any means, she actually is extremely outgoing and fun when you get to know her, but with Naruto…...his reputation has put her a little on edge.

Was he the bastard that the whole village as portrayed him to be? Or was he different, a nice, kind, and gentle man who just needed someone to believe in him.

"Look, are you going to keep staring at me all day or what?" He asked bitterly, picking up his last bottle of Sake and let the remaining liquid fall down his throat, burning like hell on the way down.

"Oh, I-I'm so sorry. I don't mean to stare" She said timidly, still very nervous on how to interact with this new and rather odd customer.

"What's your name anyway?" He questioned, taking his stacks of bowls and began to walk to the back, doing one of his long standing friends a favor. Him and Teuchi were very close, hell he was almost like a father to Naruto, always helping and sometimes protecting him by trying to squash any rumors that walked through his doors. But, even though Naruto knew Teuchi had a daughter, he has never actually met her or even bothered to know her name, he had enough going through his mind, he didn't need a name of someone who might soon grow to hate him, like everyone in this damned village.

He takes the bowls to the back and set them in the sink, he then switches on the water and begins to scrub out the older bowls first, breaking off the crusted on remaining noodles and wiping away the broth that stained the bowls.

"I-I'm Ayame, Teuchi's daughter." She answered back, her nerves calming down slowly as she walked to Naruto's side, "what are you doing?" she questioned, wondering why a paying customer would actually clean his bowls.

"Well Ayame, as your father's favorite customers I don't feel like making him have to work harder than he already has too." He explained, finishing with his fourth bowl and placed it off to the side. " So, we decided that I help him by washing and putting away my mountain of ramen bowls and he gives me a modest discount. Not enough that he feels ripped off but enough to where it doesn't empty my wallet."

"Oh, that's nice of you." She said thoughtfully, wondering where people thought he was a heartless monster.

"I guess." He said coldly, drying the last bowl up and placing it on top of the already massive stack. "It's just something I owe your father, nothing more." he said, picking up the stack and taken them to the front, placing them on racks under the bar. He finished as quickly as he started, his hands moving in a blur, placing the bowls down in the perfect area, fitting the perfect groove that has been etched into the wood over time.

"Well, better get going" he said, brushing past Ayame and began to leave only to be stopped by Ayame's quivering voice.

"W-W-Wait!" She said hesitantly, regretting her decision to call out seeing as everything she wanted to ask or say had flown from her mind once he turned around. She looked in to his oddly multi-colored eyes and couldn't help but feel something inside, she didn't know what though. It may sound crazy, seeing as she had just met him not five minutes ago, but she felt her heart was melting when she looked into those ever changing pools.

"Yes?" Naruto retorted, turning to look at the dazed waitress with a cocked eyebrow.

Coming up with nothing, she decided to pull from her memory, trying to think of anything to keep him here so she could remember what she needed to say. Soon enough a conversation piece popped into the waitress's head, she looked him in the eyes and said, "I-I-I know a lot about woman!" with oddly placed confidence, almost as if what she said was a stroke of pure genius.

"What?" Naruto questioned, looking to Ayame as if she was crazy.

Her face was brushed with a red tint, feeling embarrassed that she just blurted out a random sentence without thinking of a comeback. "Y-Y-You said, "What do you know about girls anyway". Well, I know alot about them, seeing as I am one."

"Oh yeah" He said matter of factly, snapping his fingers when the memory came to him. He then turned to her and said as politely as he could, "sorry about that, I was talking to myself. You don't have to-" but he was soon cut off by Ayame.

"No! I-I would love to help." She said happily, she always loved being helpful.

Naruto just smiled, "Look, I appreciate the offer but I don't talk about stuff like this with strangers." He then turned on his heels and started to go through the curtains that hung in the doorway.

"A-Are you sure?" She questioned, saddened to see him just nod his head.

He was soon out of sight from the waitress, leaving her to contemplate this…..odd feeling deep down in her chest. She couldn't explain it, no one could. The tightness of her chest, the fast rhythm of her heart beat pounding like a drum, her palms feeling cold and clammy.

"W-What is this?" she questioned, sliding down to the floor as she held her hands to her chest, trying to calm the beating of her heart. She soon regained her composure, taking deep intakes of air like she was an addict and stood up, dusted off her apron, and walked to the back, trying to find something to do to take her mind off of it.

She decided to clean the front, seeing as she would have to do that before she closed the place down anyway. She grabbed a broom, mop, and a old hand rag, filled up a bucket full of soapy water and took it all to the front, ready to scrub this place down from top to bottom. She started with the solid black stone skillet, scraping off the burned pasta and the stained remnants of the broth. She then reached for the bar but found a little ticket resting next to a puddle of broth.

"What's this?" She questioned, picking up the little piece of paper and started to examine it. Soon enough the piece of paper was crumbled in her hand and a fire burned in her eyes. She slammed her hand on the table and yelled at the top of her lungs, "THAT BASTARD! HE DIDN'T EVEN PAY FOR HIS DAMN MEAL!" then she bolted from her father's restaurant in search for the "bastard" that skipped out on his tab.

Random Training Ground:

"Well, I got time to kill" Naruto mumbled, jumping from one tree to another until he found his destination. A secluded area, a completely barren land that allowed him to go hog wild with no one finding him. After his little run in with the waitress he decided, since the sun was still up and he didn't really have a social life outside of the Academy, he was going to find his little slice of heaven and train some more.

His disturbing desire to be perfect in his fighting style has become an unhealthy obsession with him. Everyday after the Academy he would rush to an empty training field, work his body to it's limit, take a slight break to carbo load, then back to training until the moon was set over him, indicating it was time for him to go home. Sometimes, when the new moon sets, he can stay outside training for hours without even knowing. Sometimes the Hokage would send search parties after him only to find him practicing his skills to the point he could puke, and at times he did.

He was addicted to being the best he could be to the point of berating himself if he failed. He knew that perfection was the only thing he could be if he was ever going to kill his creator, the man who made him the way we was today. If that Snake bastard could kill an army of ANBU then Naruto had to kill twice as many. If Orochimaru knew 300 jutsus, Naruto needed to know 600; his whole life was now revolving around the idea he had to be better than Orochimaru in every way, no exceptions! If he wasn't training physically he was training his mind like a muscle, reading book after book, scroll after scroll on anything he could get his hands on. Battle tactics, interrogation mechanics, jutsu scrolls, taijutsu scrolls, everything!

He found the center of his desolated playground and took a seat, crossing his legs in a meditative stance and took in a deep, cleansing breath, clearing his mind of his prior problems and obligations. After about 3 minutes of complete silence he produced a large scroll from a seal in his arm, he then unfolded the massive scroll on the ground to reveal several seals inside the scroll with labels running below the differently decorated seals.

"Hmmm, lets see…...I worked on my swordsmanship last week…...and my staff technique was worked on the week before. So…" He trailed off, dropping to one knee over one of the seals on his scroll and applied chakra, releasing two massive daggers. "I guess my dagger training is the winner." He chuckled, picking up the hefty weapons and gently tossed them in his hands, getting used to the weight.

Every weapon Naruto owned were treated like the perfect instruments of death the were meant to be, but….these knives were something else entirely.

The two beautifully crafted, battle ready, full tang knives were fitted with a strong and durable finger guard etched into the hand guard that hovered over the crimson red wood handle. the massive blade clocked in at 20 ½ inches, proving it meant business. The blade itself had a unique look to it, having two grooves in the blade, allowing the already deadly blade to have more cutting power, if that was even possible. But it wasn't the look or the size of this blade that made it so important to Naruto, it was that he created these massive blade's of destruction. With his two bare hands he crafted these behemoths with little to no problem, thanks to an EXTENSIVE book on blacksmithing.

"Okay, let's get this started." He said cheerily, ready to rip into some unsuspecting clones with his doom bringers. He slide his blades into their hand crafted sheaths that were strapped to his belt and crossed his fingers, creating 60 clones who seemed ready for a fight.

Without a single word spoken, the original charged into the army of his clones, taking the all by surprise. He reached the front one with unseen speed, taking him out by tackling him to the ground and stabbing him through the bottom of his jaw, puffing him from existence. Quickly recovering from seeing one of their own being sliced and diced, the clones converged on Naruto, ready to teach their "Creator" a lesson.

Unseen by the brawling army of Naruto's was a brown haired beauty emerge from the thick brush the surrounded the circular training field. Her apron ripped thinks to the thorns and jagged low hanging branches from the trees and bushes. Her hair was now a mess, being thrown from it's neat little perch on her shoulder by the tight and unforgiving forest area around them. Even her robe wasn't safe from the tangled mess. Rips and tears littered her starched white robe, which by now wasn't so starch white, forcing her to take off her button up robe and tie it around her waist, revealing her other tight, white, short sleeved shirt under it.

It was safe to say she was not happy, her normally nice and calm features were covered by dirt and twisted into a snarl and her eyes wide with rage, all directed at the brawling blond that had just finished his fight. He now towered over his final clone who laid sprawled out on the ground. He delivered the final blow with a swift slash to his throat, bursting the clone like a needle to a balloon.

"Well that was rather quick." He said with a smirk, spinning his left blade with his middle finger sticking from the finger guard, "I guess I am just too good with my beauties." He slides his blades back into there holster and started for his scroll, only to be sidetracked by the image of a heavily breathing woman staring daggers at him.

'Who's that?' He thought, getting a response from his more theatrical side.

"I don't know but she looks hot! She looks like an ANIMAL!" he howls like a wolf, showing off a odd perverse side to Naruto's psyche.

'Something is wrong with you!' Naruto yelled in his mind, silencing his insanity for now. He looked at the woman and he had to admit, his insanity was right, she did look very attractive. You see, Naruto wasn't really for the uppity, clean world he lives in. His whole life he was surrounded by filth and grime so….he soon became used to it, and at times attracted to more…...wild, untamed woman. Why do you think he is attracted to an sexually provocative interrogator and a demon fox that could rip him in half with a snap of her fingers?

"Ummm miss, is everything alright?" he unconsciously questioned, his mouth and tongue moving with a mind of their own.

"Am I alright!?" she hissed, glaring at the spaced out snake charmer, "I am far from it!"

"O-Oh, I'm sorry…...I guess" he said, completely confused at the sudden hostility from this random stranger.

"You guess!" she yelled, stomping towards Naruto, who was slowly backing up, not stupid enough to allow a angry woman get more ground on him, "I have lost my favorite pair of shoes, been bitch slapped by prickly branches, had to rip out several strands of my hair just to get here and all you've got to say for yourself is that you GUESS YOU'RE SORRY!" she screamed, rushing Naruto before he could back up any more; tackling the unprepared snake to the ground.

Thinking quickly Naruto rolled, using her own momentum against her to allow him to land on top of her; pinning her arms down with his and staring down the deranged woman eye to eye.

She tried to pry her arms from his death grip but to no avail, she soon tired out her own resistance and just layed there, limply. Naruto's strong stare stayed on her until her fighting spirit dwindled, letting him loosen his grip on her wrist. His stare soon dwindled as well, giving way to a more sympathetic gaze that seemed to calm this wild women. The more her twisted features softened the easier it was for Naruto to recognize her, her deep brown hair and eyes, her ripped and destroyed apron.

"Ayame?" Naruto questioned curiously, releasing her from his grip and allowing her to sit up. She just brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and brought her knees to her chest, embarrassment gripping her once again.

"I can't believe it! I just made a fool of myself again, in front of the same guy no less. Why can't I just be….be nor-" she was thinking, only to feel something a little coarse but warm rub against her cheek.

She looked up to see Naruto, the cold, steely bastard wiping the dirt and grime from her cheek. At first she was stunned and confused, why would help her? She tackled him five seconds ago and yet he is cleaning her up. His face stayed a neutral mask as he wetted the end of the cloth with his tongue and started to wipe the dirt from her forehead next.

She jerked back a bit, not wanting his saliva on her almost like a child wouldn't want their parent's spit on them. He just grabbed her gently by the back of her head to hold her still and went over her forehead while saying, "Will you just sit still. You look like a mess" with a smile breaking through his neutral mask, letting Ayame see a slight piece of Naruto's humanity.

She just giggled lightly and said, "I wouldn't be such a mess if you remembered to pay your bill" she then reaches into her pocket and pulls out the balled up tan piece of paper.

He grabs the crumbled up ticket and places it to the side, continueing with his cleaning of Ayame, "that can wait," he says, licking another side and bring it to her other cheek. After a few minutes of comfortable silence Naruto stopped grooming Ayame and picked up the balled up piece of paper, unfolding it as he said, "Okay, now that that's out of the way. Let's see what I can d-" but he stopped once he saw the price.

"500 DOLLARS!" he yelled, scanning the bill over and over again only to come to the end, 500 written with big red letters.

(I am going to use Dollars instead of other money systems, sorry if you wanted something more integrated to the mythos of Naruto)

"Yep" She said playfully, untying her button up top and sliding it over her shoulders, keeping her warm as the night air started to creep in as the sun started to set.

"T-There's got to be some mistake here" he said hysterically, jabbing it towards Ayame who just cocked an eyebrow.

"You ate at least 100 bowls of ramen, what did you think it would cost." She questioned sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Naruto's animated antics.

"I eat when I am depressed!" He moaned out, trying to defend his gorge fest.

"Depressed?" she questioned, calming Naruto's rant slightly as his animated features cooled to a simple stare at the bill.

"Yeah, depressed." he said, wrapping the bumpy paper with his thumb, "I…...don't really have a good grip on my emotions."

"Is that why everyone calls you….." she trailed off, trying to find the proper word to substitute crazy.

"Insane?" Naruto finished for her, looking to her with a slight smirk.

"Yeah" she said slowly, lowering her gaze to her clasped together hands.

He just laughed a weak laugh and said, "It's fine, I have been called worse." he looked to the stars that just started to appear in the split sky. On one part of the infinite sky was the last dwindling remains of the sunlight, trying to keep itself from being snuffed out. And on the other was the growing darkness of the night sky, it's tiny lights sparkling through the darkness as it swallowed the last light for the night.

"Hell, I don't blame them for thinking I am insane." he said solemnly, his multi-colored eyes twinkling with the stars, "I don't really put up the best case for myself. Talking to myself, cutting myself off from any normal human contact, snapping on anyone who disrespects my friends….devolving a person's worth by the attributes I see." his voice caught, something was making it really hard for this stone cold killer talk about this...touchy feely bull crap.

"What do you mean?" she questioned, giving Naruto her full, undivided attention as he technically bared his soul to her, well, at least part of it anyway.

"When I meet a new person, whether its for a hour or a second, I break them down like a formula to a question I can't solve."

"...Did you do that to me?" she questioned, nervous at the answer.

Naruto just looked at her from the corner of his eyes before looking back to the heavens, "yes, I did. Would you like to hear it?" he questioned, getting a hesitant "yes" from Ayame.

He looked her in the eyes before beginning his list, "When I first met you, you seemed nervous, unfocused, and very ditsy" he said harshly, seeing his words left a sting in the waitress. she was about to say something only to see him hold his hand up to silence her, "but, I soon realized it wasn't your personality that made you so…..ditsy, it was the rumors that surrounded me. You were scared, scared of what I might do and what I was capable of. Am I right?" he questioned, getting a slow nod from the transfixed brunette.

"Then, when you began to speak to me I realized you were trying to weigh the rumors to what you saw. A trait I have not seen in someone in a long time…..a very welcomed trait. I also saw you were easy to startle or fluster, but that could be chalked up to your attitude towards meeting new people and your helpful nature." He smiled warmly, but hiding it from Ayame, trying to keep a bit of his bastard fasade going for a little bit more.

"When me and you were wrestling over there I noticed your hands are callused, meaning you are a hard worker. I also saw slight burn marks on our wrist, making me think you aren't the most coordinated person." He laughed lightly at the cute pout Ayame gave him.

"Wow" she said with a growing blush, "if I didn't know any better I would think you have been stalking me." she said with a smile.

"Haha, funny." he said with a sarcastic laugh, "but, your father does talks highly of you. Sometimes we would have entire conversations about you."

"R-Really?" she asked nervously, "what did he say?" she questioned, hoping her father didn't divulge anything that was too embarrassing.

"How proud of you he is" Naruto said with a authority, seeing a smile creepy on the waitress's face, "How you try your hardest to be helpful to everyone. How you are the hardest worker he has ever seen….He even told me you haven't had a date in about 5 years." the smile was short lived.

"That old bastard!" Ayame hissed, clutching her fist in rage as her hatred was rekindled, but it was aimed at another, "How dare he talk about my love life!"

Naruto just sat back and watched, laughing lightly at her antics. Soon enough, the moon rested over them, bathing them with the moon's low light as they started to get ready to leave. Naruto was about to say his goodbye but remembered the bill, he sighed and walked up to Ayame who looked at him questionably.

"Look" he said sheepishly, "I can't pay this bill. I would ask Sarutobi to do me a favor but I already owe him about $4,000 for…...certain damages. So, is there anyway I can work this off, I have no problem in working at the restaurant part time." he said respectfully. Naruto Uzumaki may be many things, but he is a man of his word and when he owes something he will pay it off…..just not right away.

Ayame placed her index finger on her chin in thought, wondering what she could do for Naruto. They could use another hand in the kitchen, but it wouldn't be permanent and she wanted a little more time with Naruto than just a few work induced meet and greets. Then it struck her! She looked at Naruto, leaned forward and said in her cutest fashion, "Okay Naruto-kun, I know a job that fits just right with you." she said sweetly.

"Naruto-kun?" he thought before retorting to her very vague sentence with, "okay, what is it?"

She reached out to Naruto and poked him in the chest playfully, "You, my little mystery, will be….." she pulled her finger from his strong chest and then pointed cutely at herself, "will be my sensei."

There was a pause, a long pause, a VERY long pause, the wind even seemed to stop in mid woosh when that bombshell was dropped. Ayame, the quiet but very friendly waitress we all know and love, wants to learn from Naruto! The most insane individual in the borders of the Leaf village!

"I-I-I'm sorry, what did you say?" Naruto questioned, cupping his hand behind his ear so he could definitely hear her correctly, because there was no way in HELL he hear what she said right.

"I said that you are going to be my sensei. Isn't that great!" she said joyfully, clapping her hands together in excitement

"Why would you want me to be your sensei! You can't even use chakra." he barked hysterically, grabbing her by her shoulders and shaking her a bit only to see her happy expression stuck on her face.

"I know that! But that doesn't mean I can't learn how to use weapons. I saw your skills with knifes, I want to learn to be that good." She said with a smile, making the vein on Naruto's head grow. "Besides, being a civilian doesn't mean I have to be weak."

"W-Why don't I work at the restaurant. You must need more workers" he questioned.

"Nope, we have no room for anyone except my father and I. Sorry" She lied, turning from Naruto to keep him from seeing her tell. Her tell was always so easy to spot when she lied, her left eyebrow began to twitch uncontrollably, and the worse the lie the strong the eyebrow twitched, it was like her body couldn't handle lying.

"Why do you even want to learn to fight? Why would a waitress need to learn this?" he asked to the back of Ayame's head who was trying to get her left eyebrow under control.

"Just because!" she yelled, hoping her loud voice would detour Naruto from praying any further.

"...Why would you want to be taught by me? Tenten and her family would probably love to have a new apprentice to pass on their weapon secrets too." he questioned once again, trying from every angle to detour Ayame from wanting to be his student.

"Why not?" she questioned, shrugging her shoulders, enraging Naruto even more.

"Because I am insane!" he yelled, bring up a very valid point.

"Not true. I have spent almost the whole day with you and you seem fine. A bit rough around the edges but a good man. Besides, who better to smooth out those edges than your own, personal student?" she questioned, stomping out Naruto's one and only excuse left.

"But…...but-" he was about to say only to be cut off by Ayame turning around and giving off a cute little pout.

"Now listen here Naruto, it's either you take me on as your apprentice or…" she trailed off, thinking of what she could possibly rope him in for. She couldn't say she could throw him in jail because he might actually take that route, she couldn't threaten him with death because no one other than the Hokage or Sannin could probably subdue him long enough for him to be killed. Then, the most brilliant plan popped into her evil little mind. She inched closer to his face and whispered in his ear every so slowly. "If you don't take me as your student, you will never have ramen at our restaurant ever again."

And those few words were enough to break Naruto's resolve. He couldn't live without Ichiraku's ramen!...I mean, he wasn't addicted to it, HE COULD QUIT ANYTIME HE WANTED TOO! But, he couldn't go on living if he knew he couldn't eat his guilty pleasure, and cupped ramen taste like cardboard to the way Ayame and her father cooked it. So, reluctantly, he agreed.

He and Ayame shook on it and said they would meet up in the same place at about 6:00 in the morning, 5 hours before he had to meet up with Anko to get his first D rank mission as a registered Ninja. He helped Ayame to her home, seeing as she wasn't the most graceful coming into the training ground, and maneuvering it on her own in the dark would not be easy. He dropped her off at her shared house with her father and left, but not before Ayame gave him a harmless yet, oddly tender kiss on his cheek.

He soon arrived at his home where he was greeted by his favorite "Uncle" Asuma Sarutobi, sitting outside with a cigarette in one hand and his trademark lighter in the other. He brought the cigarette to his lips and took a quick drag, releasing it soon after through his nose, like a dragon breathing smoke.

"Well, look who decided to show up" He said jokingly.

"Didn't Hiruzen tell you to stop smoking in the compound?" Naruto questioned, trying to deflect Asuma's attention.

"No" He said sheepishly, "he said don't smoke "inside" the Compound itself. and as you can see" he said, gesturing to the outside bench he sat on, "I am outside."

"Smart ass" Naruto said sarcastically rolling his eyes as he pushed open the door to the compound, ready to finally end this long and tremendously stressful day.

Thank you and please review