AN: It's my Birthday! 27 years old! I'm getting old, man!

Bit of a transitional chapter this time. I considered going into the Kabuto part of the arc originally but decided against it with the Sand Team being present. Something tells me Kabuto wouldn't last long if he appeared in their path while in the Forest.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this newest chapter!


Chapter 15: A Demon in Search of its Prey…


In all of the plans I'd made for the Chunin Exams, I could safely say that this had never been a factor.

To be fair, how was I supposed to know that Gaara would develop a fixation on me rather than either of my two teammates. Sasuke fit the ideal of a challenge better and Naruto had the Kyuubi inside of him. In comparison to that, I shouldn't even register with the red headed container, just someone to make up the numbers.

His intense stare said different, a lingering gaze studying me like I was something he couldn't quite get his head around. It was at times like this I really hated the inebriated version of myself. They really were a fucking idiot.

"So… You came to… help us?" I ventured.

"Yes." He replied with no follow up. Thanks Gaara, great social skills buddy.

"Oh, well… thank you, all three of you."

That was the wrong thing to say as Gaara's eyes narrowed, turning slowly to take in his siblings. "E-Especially you Gaara-kun, you really saved our necks." Luckily, that seemed to calm him, his two teammates letting out a silent breath when he turned back towards me.

"It… was nothing." He replied in a stilted monotone, only betrayed by the red pigment that spread across his cheeks. Bashful Gaara, check that off the freaking bingo card.

"Still, we… I appreciate it!" I implored with a smile. If this worked with the near psychopathic Sand shinobi, who was I to judge? As long as he wasn't trying to crush us with sand, it was a win in my book. The almost shy smile that ghosted his lips seemed to show that my words were working.

Then his eyes flickered to the side. "What about her?" Gaara asked pointedly, my own gaze following his to find a familiar presence, at least from my old life.

The red hair and chunky glasses were a dead give away as she pushed herself closer to Naruto, hoping to block herself from view. "Not a threat." I replied, turning back to Gaara.

"Yeah, she gave us her scroll anyway!" Naruto agreed. "What's the harm in letting her tag along?"

There were a myriad that came to mind, but I pushed them down hard. Karen Uzumaki was probably one of the only family members Naruto had left, no matter how distant. "An extra Uzumaki is always gonna be a benefit, especially if she's anything like Naruto."

"She's an Uzumaki!?" Naruto shouted in surprise.

Oh, shit. Better think fast!

"Red hair, chakra I can feel from here. If she isn't an Uzumaki, I'll eat my hat." I responded, hoping that those present would buy it. Luckily, they mostly seemed to, though Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly in response. Looking away from him was by far the best option. "I'll deal with her if she tries anything, alright?" The added reassurance was probably a little much but risking anything with the current Gaara was not a good idea.

He stood silent for a few seconds, eyes flickering between us before meeting my gaze, giving a slow nod. "This is acceptable."

It took a lot not to audibly sigh at that, taking a breath and nodding instead. "We better get going then. The enemy might be gone but this forest has more than shinobi in it."

"Yeah, we noticed." Kankuro snarked, breaking the tension.

Before long, the seven of us were on our way to the tower.


"Where is it?" I grumbled, twisting my head around to get a good look at my neck as we jumped through the thick forest.

"Where's what?" Sasuke asked from beside me.

"The love bite Orochimaru slapped on me, I can't see it." I complained. Seriously, all those flexibility exercises and I still couldn't see the Curse Mark, what a pain.

"It's not on your neck, Isōrō." Sasuke replied flatly.

I sent his smartass a glare. "Then where is it then? I've checked everywhere else!"

That made the Uchiha uncomfortable in a way I wasn't sure I'd ever seen before, seemingly fighting with himself to give me an answer. "Erm… Lower back."

"What?" I questioned, turning to the Sand kunoichi. "Yo, fan-girl, you got a mirror?

"I am not a fangirl!" She snapped back hotly.

"Not what I asked, fan-girl." I snarked in return, being granted a pocket mirror sailing right towards my face for my troubles. "Thank you!"

Opening the mirror, it took a bit of effort while we were running to get the right angle, but I was soon granted with the sight of my own personal Curse Mark.

There it sat, just above the waistline of my pants, etched across my skin in black ink like a tattoo. Unlike the one I was familiar with from the show, the Curse Mark wasn't a simple trio of teardrops in a triangular pattern. No, my own seemed to look like a segmented circle, each fraction reminding me of a flower petal. The pattern broke on either side, spreading outwards along the skin on my back with two opposite, horizontal lines. It was almost beautiful.

That wasn't my biggest thought, however…

"THAT SLIMY CUNT GAVE ME A FUCKING TRAMP STAMP!?"


The benefit of travelling with a Jinchuriki like Gaara is that any enemies you run into end up becoming mild hurdles more than real obstacles. Before any of us were able to react to the presence of the team unlucky enough to challenge us, Gaara had already caught them in his murderous technique. I might have been inclined to let them go, Gaara looking at me questioningly, only for them to make threats towards me in particular. Needless to say the only thing left of that team that would be recognisable was their gas masks, coated in red as they were reduced to goo in seconds.

It had gotten us our second scroll though, so that was a silver lining, I guess!

If Sasuke hadn't insisted on taking regular breaks for my health, we probably could have made it to the tower by the end of the fourth day. As it was, we found ourselves making our final approach on the morning of the last day, only tens of metres away from the end of this whole fiasco.

Gaara made sure his team escorted us towards our designated entrance, neither of his siblings piping up a complaint as we neared the door with our designation on the front.

"Thank you, Gaara-kun, Temari-san, Kankuro-san. You've been a great help." I thanked as formally as I could. It wasn't that I was lying anyway, only that the stress of having the sleep deprived redhead nearby might have been worse than the potential enemy combatants. All it would take was his Tailed Beast making a good enough argument for things to go completely South. Luckily, Gaara's apparent crush towards me seemed to stop that from happening.

"Y-You as well, Rozu-kun." Gaara stammered under the praise, face going completely red this time. "I… I hope to see you in the finals." It was astonishing seeing the usually terrifying shinobi act like a schoolboy with a crush. Especially towards myself. Like an equal mix of fear and laughter where I was not allowed to show either.

"You too, Gaara-kun. Try your best!" I cheered on, giving a wave as they departed.

When I was finally sure they'd left, I let out a long breath. "Well that was horrifying!" The comment burst from my lips in a maddened giggle.

"You really need to stop flirting with the enemy, Isōrō." Sasuke pointed out with a shake of his head, Naruto and Karin nodding along sagely.

"I was high when this one started, it does not count!" I protested.

"Yes it does!"

"It totally counts!"

"I don't even know you and I agree!"

I gave the three dissenting voices a glare. "Fuck you guys!"


"So you just open the scrolls, right?" Karin asked as we looked up at the riddle holding us back from entering the tower proper. "Seems kind of backwards considering they told us never to open them at the start, don't you think?"

"Welcome to the Hidden Leaf, don't worry, we've got t-shirts." I snarked in return. "Let's just get this over with. I have a date with the nearest pillow and she's a needy lover." As if to emphasise my point, a yawn bubbled up right after I spoke. At least the pain from the Curse Mark wasn't throbbing as much anymore, having settled into a dull ache at this point. Not ideal but manageable all things considered.

"Right!" Naruto agreed, pulling out his own scroll as Sasuke mimicked him, breaking the binds on them as they unfurled them in tandem.

Seeing purple smoke billow out of them had us all jumping back, pressing up against the outside door that now refused to budge. Trust my luck to survive everything in the Forest of Death only to die to a simple smoke trap, maybe the universe just hated me that much. That would explain a lot, if I was being honest.

Luckily it turned out not to be a trap, as a small popping sound indicated the arrival of my favourite one eyed ninja going. It took barely a second of him taking us in before he advanced, quicker than he'd ever trained us for, closing the distance between him and… Well, me.

Before I could really register, I found myself being crushed against the Jonin's chest as he hugged me for dear life. I was almost about to make some sort of comment when his words travelled into my ear, sounding much more fragile than I think I'd ever heard from the man. "I thought I'd lost you… lost you too."

My breath caught in my throat at that, years welling up in my eyes at the sheer hurt I could hear coming from Kakahi. He must have heard about Orochimaru's attack, been unable to interfere from orders of the Hokage and proceeded to drive himself mad with terror. God, just what trauma had this brought back to him? I dare not to think about it.

"H-Hey Cyclops, you didn't think you could get rid of us that easily did you?" I finally broke out, rubbing circles in the man's back as I returned the hug. "You'd need all three of the Sannin before you even had a chance, and I'd still bet on us."

"Rozu." He clipped chastising, bringing forth a sigh from me.

"Sorry for making you worry, Kakashi-sensei." I finally whispered, smiling as I felt the arms of my teammates wrap around the both of us from the sides.


"So you can't get rid of it?" Sasuke asked, frown only deepening as he sat upon his assigned bed. With nearly a full day left of the exam to go, we'd been given a small accommodation in the tower. It wouldn't class much beyond a hostel outsider of the ninja world but at least the beds weren't too stiff.

I was immensely thankful of that fact as I lay on my front, allowing Kakashi to have a good look at my newest addition to my skin. The cool air sent small but noticeable jolts up my spine as the Jonin looked over the seal. "Unfortunately not." Kakashi finally responded with a sigh. "We only have one other instance of this seal in the village and… it's noticeably different from this one."

"Anko-sama?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes." Kakashi confirmed with a nod. "I'm surprised you know about that, Rōzu."

"Orochimaru wasn't exactly subtle about knowing her." I replied, grunting as Kakashi gave the seal a small poke, a small jolt running through me as a result. "I can put two and two together."

"Fair enough." Kakashi allowed, going back to his impromptu seal study session.

"Where is Anko-sensei anyway?" Naruto spoke up, asking the real questions.

"Back in the main village hospital, stay still." He snapped as I tried to round on him, letting out a grumble before doing as he said. "She ran into Orochimaru not long after your encounter. She'll be fine, even better if you let me do what I need to do, Rōzu."

"Fine, don't move. I get it." I grumbled, even if I accepted his reasoning. I couldn't worry Anko-sama like that… Well, anymore than we already had, anyway.

"Why didn't he kill her?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh? For a multitude of reasons I expect. Some personal and some not." Kakashi explained mildly. "The reason that matters in this case is his demand that you three make it to the finals."

"So he needed her to send the message."

"Essentially."

"Well that was the pla-Aaagh! Will you stop fucking poking it!" I screamed, another jolt of pain running up my spine. "It's starting to feel like you're doing it on purpose."

"Now why would I do that? It's not like my precious little genin decided to fight one of the most powerful shinobi the Leaf has ever produced rather than fleeing, is it?"

I cringed at his pointed words, burying my head into the pillow beneath me. "How many times do we have to say sorry?" I whined pitifully.

"I'll tell you when you get close." Kakashi replied, his voice taking on that faux cheer that promised only bad things. It wasn't like I could really blame him.


It was another hour before Kakashi finally announced he was done, allowing me to sit up upon the bed. "So, is there anything you can do?" I asked, biting my lip.

"Luckily for you, I believe there might be. But it will take time to prepare, even if it does work." Kakashi said with a nod.

"So I'm stuck like this until then?" I ventured with a sigh.

"Afraid so." He confirmed with a weary sigh. "Just try to not get too angry or anything. If it's anything like Anko's seal, it will respond to your emotions if you let it."

Hence why I'd gone on a rampage to save my teammates, the seal using my protective streak to fuel the violent outburst on the Sound Ninja. I was only happy that my teammates had dragged me out of the state when they had. The idea that I might have turned on them once I'd finished off the Sound Teams didn't bear thinking about.

"I'll try and keep a cool head then." I finally responded.

"We'll keep an eye on him, sensei." Sasuke spoke up, quickly followed by an affirmative from Naruto and Karin.

Kakashi gave them a look before nodding. "Good, in the meantime, I'll make sure you have some extra security." With a quick motion, there was a plume of smoke in the air before a group of dogs jumped out of the haze.

Quickly, I was suddenly in a happy stupor as two of Kakashi's ninja dogs swarmed me with love, a similar thing happening to the other Genin in the room. A sudden weight on my lap had me looking down to see a dour looking pug staring back at me. The staring match went on for a few seconds before the dog turned back towards Kakashi.

"This the pup who needs special treatment?" The dog spoke, completely taking away any negativity I might have had.

"Yep, keep an eye on him especially, Pakkun."

The dog gave a small salute, a strangled cry of joy only just held back from escaping lips at the sight of the display. That seemed to be enough for Kakashi as he disappeared from the room, leaving me to stare at the pug as he called up my chest towards my face.

"If you be good, I'll let you touch my paw." He offered it seriously. "Sound good to you, pup?" I could only nod at his question, lost for words as Pakkun gave my nose a small lick.

If this was Kakashi's strategy to get me to avoid high level threats, it was flawed as all hell!

I definitely did not squeal in joy at the talking dog. You can't prove anything!


"Rozu? Rozu?" The voice of my blonde friend stirred me from my dog induced nap, my eyes slowly opening to see his worried frown.

"Hey Naru. You okay?" I whispered.

"I… Me? What about you?" He grunted with a shake of his head. "You nearly died."

I bit my lip, guilt pooling in my chest. "I'm fine, Naru. Look!" I took a hold of his hand, rubbing my thumb over his knuckles.

"But you weren't before. Teme… he had to keep your heart beating!" He protested, eyes misting in distress. "I'm not stupid, I know what that means. I… We almost lost you."

What could I say to that? There wasn't a way to make what had happened better, was there?

Gripping his and tighter, I lowered my gaze. "I'm sorry Naru. I didn't mean to worry you." I sighed. "I can't even say I won't do it again, because I would. In a heartbeat."

"I don't want you to die…" His voice sounded so small that I had to bite back a sob.

"I don't want to die either, y'know." I gave a hollow laugh before shaking my head, shifting myself towards the edge of the bed. "Come here." I said, pulling him onto the bed and wrapping him up tight as he held onto me, taking comfort in my presence.

"At least let me take the next one." He whined petulantly into my chest, bringing a snort of laughter forth from me.

"Sure thing Naru. You get the next one." I agreed with a smile, holding him there until I heard his slow breathing mould into soft snores.


Pulling myself free from Naru to go to the bathroom took a bit more effort than I'd have liked, the blonde being particularly clingy when knocked out. I eventually managed, just making it to relive myself in the bathroom opposite our shared room. Not wanting Naru to wake up without me being there; I made quick work of my business and washed up.

I was not expecting to see Sasuke waiting outside the door, a heated glare on his face as he stared at me.

"Bathrooms free?" I ventured warily, pointing to the door behind me.

"I don't need the bathroom." He replied with a growl.

"So this is some sort of fetish or…."

"Orochimaru was trying to put that seal on me." Sasuke stated, lips pulling down with a frown. "And you jumped in front of it."

He wasn't wrong, but the way he said it made me feel like I should feel guilty about doing so. Rubbing my arm absently, I looked away from his dark eyes. "I guess I did."

"Why?" The question was like a kunai to the chest, full of accusation and anger.

"What do you mean, why?" I snapped back defensively. "You were in trouble."

"So that means you should take the hit?"

"What do you want from me, Sasuke? It happened. It doesn't matter anymore."

"IT DOES MATTER, RŌZU!" He roared, grabbing hold of my shirt as he pushed me against the wall, his eyes turning red as his Sharingan activated, boaring into my eyes. I couldn't help the small amount of fear I felt looking at the three tomoe spinning inside. They'd evolved in the forest. "YOU DIED!"

"What?" I whispered.

"Your heart stopped beating, multiple times. Not got weak, stopped dead! If I hadn't been there…" His growl trailed off as his eye flickered to the side before centering back on me once more. "All because you jumped into danger recklessly, again."

"What, was I supposed to let you take it?" I challenged with a glare of my own.

"Maybe!" His response sounded more desperate than angry, his tone cracking as he scrunched his eyes shut. "You keep taking hits, for both me and Naruto. Like we're made of glass or something." His eyes opened again as he forced his forehead against mine. "You keep underestimating us."

"What do you want, Sasuke? Because it sure sounds to me like you're angry abo-"

"I don't want you to die, you fucking idiot!" He roared before snapping his mouth shut, body shaking in anger as he pushed his head harder against mind. "I don't… I can't lose you either. I fucking love you, you stupid piece of shit."

Silence reigned between us as his words echoed down the empty hallway, his grip slowly loosening as he took a slow step backwards, refusing to look at me.

I hadn't expected that, not from Sasuke, never from him. We showed affection through mutual mockery and prodding, not with outright declarations. The words robbed me of my breath as I stared at my teammate. My friend. One of the closest things I had to a family in this world.

Just like I'd bonded with Naruto, I'd also bonded with the Broody teen in front of me, so much so that he cared. Cared so deeply that seeing me in that state had been terrifying enough to mature his Sharingan fully. A traitorous part of me wondered if he'd acquire the Mangekyou if I had died in the forest. To cause him that sort of pain felt monstrous, and I'd almost done it.

"I… Sasuke… I don't…" I stammered, trying to find the right words, though none appeared.

"You can't promise you won't, I get it." Sasuke said after a shaky inhale. "We're shinobi, it's in the job description. But it's like the Dobe said, you can't take every hit for us, no matter how much you might want to. We're a team, remember?"

Finding no words, I gave a small nod.

"Team Ohana, that's what you called us. That means we're family. And family means…"

"No one gets left behind." I mumble along with his words, eyes tilting up to meet his now dark eyes.

"Or forgotten." He finished with a nod. "That includes you too, Isōrō. Being part of this team means taking care of yourself as much as it does each other. And don't think I won't kick your ass if you forget that."

His light threat dragged a tired chuckle from my chest, shaking my head in mirth before leaning back against the door. "Message received, Ducky." I replied with a small smirk.

"Just so long as we're clear, Isōrō." He fired back with a smirk of his own.

What he wasn't expecting was the whopping big hug I dragged him into after. For once though, he didn't put up any sort of weak fight, simply wrapping his own arms around me in return.


Wake up call was, predictably for a shinobi facility, rather unpleasant. The alarm sound that was broadcast over the PA system almost shrieked at us for a lot longer than I would call necessary. Even as we slowly made our way towards the meeting hall, I could still hear the echo of the shrill noise in the back of my head.

My teammates at least looked refreshed, no longer showing any of the fatigue they'd exhibited towards the end of their trip through the forest. Naruto was back to his usual jumpy self and Sasuke was amusing himself by acting like the world around him didn't exist. Harmony for the ages.

With this, the second task was technically over. Of course, it was highly likely that it was not the end of our ordeal, especially if a high number of teams passed. There were only so many places in the final tournament to go around if they wanted it done in a single day, after all. It just seemed a bit wasteful to waste half of the potentially money drawing fights behind closed doors instead of spreading the finals over more than one afternoon.

Stupidly shortsighted loss of revenue aside, we were all feeling confident. Granted, it was warranted with the circumstances we were competing under. Our promotion was already guaranteed, we weren't just a team competing in the Exams, we were the showcase draw. I could guarantee that our matches would be against the weakest opponents there were left to face. Orochimaru's threat would only guarantee the rigging to go in our favour.


Sliding into the meeting hall, we were met with several teams standing beside each other in single file lines. Our fellow Rookies had made it through, along with Team Gai and Kabuto's team. Gaara and his team were also there. The one that made my heart soar was the presence of Haku's team, whom I quickly guided us to stand beside.

"Knew you'd make it through, Haku." I said, giving the ice user a small nudge. "Didn't find the Forest too hard, I hope?"

Haku gave his usual demure smile. "Nothing we couldn't handle. A shame we didn't meet in the Forest, I would have liked to see how your team stacked up against mine."

"Talk about threatening me with a good time." I shot back with a grin before glancing at said teammates, raising my eyebrows as I took them in. "I don't think we've had the pleasure though…"

Haku let out a small giggle. "Oh, where are my manors? Naruto, Sasuke, Rōzu, allow me to introduce my teammates; this is Chōjūrō and Suisei." Both of the Mist ninja nodded with their introduction.

Of course, I recognised the first of Haku's teammates from reading the source material, the blue haired boy with glasses who would one day wield one of the legendary swords of the Mist. From the looks of it, however, he had not reached that level yet. Judging from the fairly generic katana strapped to his back, he'd not earned the iconic sword as of yet. He gave a shy but friendly wave after some encouragement from Haku.

The second was an honest mystery to me, also sporting blue hair and an almost unsettling smile, the girl reminded me an awful lot of a shark. Had her skin not been as pale as it was, I could almost suspect her of being related to Kisame.

"She doesn't talk all that much." Haku explained when she didn't offer any sort of greeting, though the spiked teeth I peeked when she grinned had me reevaluating her relationship to the shark like missing nin. Maybe a distant relative?

"No more details to give me?" I pressed with a teasing grin.

"You'll just have to wait to see them fight. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, right Rōzu?"

"Must you always flirt like that?" Sasuke commented with a groan.

"Ah, Sasuke. My favourite Porcupine." Haku replied with a vicious grin, only growing wider when Sasuke let out a huff. "Perhaps you'll get a rematch against me if you play your cards right, hm?"

"Bring it, Popsicle." Sasuke fired back.

I couldn't hold back my cringe, deciding to look anywhere but towards my teammate as his weak insult sank in. "A for effort but D for execution there, Ducky."

"Get bent, Isōrō."

"Are we making fun of the Teme? I want in on this!" Naruto declared with his signature sunny smile, only faltering a little as Sasuke elbowed him in the stomach.

"Always lovely to see you, Naruto-kun." Haku nodded with a smile, earning an adorably bashful laugh from the blonde. "I hope you're keeping your teammates out of trouble."

To Naruto's credit, he only faltered for a second before plastering a mischievous smirk on his lips. "I try." He replied with a nod.

I deliberately ignored the questioning look Haku sent me, thanking whatever gods were out there as the clearly sick Jonin stepped forwards and coughed pointedly.

"Due to an unexpected surplus of passes during the second stage of the Chunin Exams, it has been decided that all competitors will be randomly paired to fight for a place in the finals." Hayate announced in a dull tone, a few dry coughs interrupting him as he went. When several of the Genin present spoke up to complain, the Jonin simply held his hand up. "Anyone unwilling or unable to compete in this challenge is free to withdraw. This will not affect your prospects for promotion."

As was expected, only one hand was raised. Kabuto made his excuses about not being able to continue, no matter how fake they were. Hayate didn't seem to care one way or another, accepting the pale haired spy's resignation easily.

"I knew you were a plant." I couldn't help myself but whisper as he passed, the boy stopping for a second to glance at me. While not the role he personally subscribed to, I was still of the opinion that his record was deliberate on the Konoha side as it was with Orochimaru. Having experienced spies to scout the up and coming ninja of other villages was just too much of a good idea not to use.

A subtle smirk formed on his lips as he met my eyes. "Good luck, Rōzu-kun. I'll be cheering you on." With that, he left. What was most disconcerting was the fact that I wasn't sure if he was lying with that statement.

Another problem for another day. For the moment, I focused back on the instructor as he asked once more for anyone to back out. When no one volunteered, he gave a nod before gesturing to two large screens embedded into the wall high above. "Your name will be randomly drawn. Whoever comes up against you will be your opponent. All fights are under my jurisdiction, so if I call a match, that is the end regardless if you win or lose."

A hand went up from the crowd, Ten-Ten's if I had to guess. At Hayate's nod, said kunoichi's voice rang out. "What are the win conditions?"

"You win when you either incapacitate your opponent, they declare a forfeit or I call the match." The Jonin listed off, almost looking bored at this point. It was clear to me why Anko-sama would usually be the one to run this show. I hoped she was okay, wherever she was. "Any more questions? No? Good."

"Our first match up is…"

I knew this already. It was going to be Sasuke against the NPC from Kabuto's team with the chakra draining power. An easy match up and probably the most obviously rigged of the entire tournament.

Turning towards Sasuke, I gave him a grin. "Give the hell, Sasuke. We might as well give them a show if we're guaranteed anyway."

He blinked at my words before glancing up at the screens. "Isōrō, you better look up."

"Why?" I asked, bewildered but following his suggestion, only to be faced with another change I'd not foreseen.

Ino Yamanaka

Vs

Rōzu Haruno-Hatake-Uchiha-Uzumaki

Oh shit, I was first!


AN: Yep and before you've had the Curse Mark sealed away too. Can I get some Fs in the chat for Ino?

Also Rōzu gets to see a bit of the very real changes that they has caused, maybe not to events but with his friends. Sasuke especially, who while keeping his signature aloof Uchiha-loner persona, has shown just how much Rōzu has done. Damn kid needed a hug and Rōzu fucking gave it!

I have the next chapter mostly written but I'll be holding off on posting it for a week or two. I'd like to have a backlog of being a chapter ahead, so I can try out a more consistent release schedule. Regardless, chapter 16 will be posted by at leastthe Monday after next, hopefully with a chapter releasing every two weeks after that on said day!

For now, I'm gonna go get completely pished!

Any comments/kudos/reviews are greatly appreciated!

MurderousLord!

P.S. If you haven't seen, or if you're on FF, I recently had a piece commissioned of Rōzu that has been posted on A o 3. You can find it in the "Sea Rose" fic on that website, with the same username of MurderousLord! It was done by the artist "CastaWolf" on Etsy, links to their socials are posted along with the fanart, can't recommend them enough!