Someone could cut the tension with a knife. Even though they all knew it couldn't be the real Naruto, it was at least half of his ridiculous reserves of chakra. It could've been explosive, but they would've been dead already if that were the case. He was the type to needlessly play around. They doubted he cared at all for the member of his escort left behind.

"I'll handle this," Shino said, holding out his arms to unleash a swarm of bugs.

Jirobo raised an eyebrow at the tide of insects before trying to punch them. "What the?!" He stared as they began to crawl over his body.

The Naruto clone, on the other hand, ran away from its pursuing cloud. "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!"

"They're…" Jirobo smirked. "I see!" He began to draw chakra from the creatures as they sucked at his. "That's not going to work on me!" Sinking into the ground, he disappeared from sight.

"On your guard!" Sakura yelled.

Neji activated his Byakugan while Kiba sniffed, Sasuke looked around with his Sharingan, and Ino concentrated on their enemy's chakra. "Behind us!"

Emerging with a giant boulder that cast a shadow over them in his hands, Jirobo grinned at their variety of shocked and scared faces. "Sphere of Graves!" He threw it with a cry.

"Scatter!" Shikamaru ordered.

Choji made two hand signs, expanded into a similar shape, and launched himself into the falling rock, shattering it into more easily avoided rubble. He didn't let up. The last of his momentum ground to a halt against the Sound Four member's hands. Like a soccer ball, he was kicked up before being launched back with a shoulder thrust. His jutsu wore off, so he had to endure the full brunt of the blow.

"Nice try, fatass!" The Naruto clone, running back towards them, shouted. It laughed when he stood back up. "I meant the other one, dumbass!"

"You're still calling me fat!"

"Well… You are!"

Kiba, Sasuke, and Neji rushed Jirobo while Choji seethed but were impeded by an earth wall. "Tricky bastard!"

"He went underground," Sasuke said, eyes following his trail.

Tenten opened a weapon storage scroll and grabbed hold of the dadao blades that came out in each hand, influencing Sakura and Ino into drawing kunai. "Point him out." Their eyes followed Sasuke and Neji's fingers towards their position. From their enemy's point of view, they were the most defenseless, so he was going for them. Both boys, taking a pointer from Naruto, timed Jirobo's movements for them with snaps of their free fingers. A barrage of shuriken sent them diving to the ground before they could counter surprise attack.

Jirobo emerged and scrunched his face. "What the hell?" He sunk back under when Shikamaru's shadow grew towards him.

The insect-evading Naruto clone chuckled. "Saved you, fatass!" It steered out the path of a kunai thrown by Tenten and flipped them off. "All of you fucking suck!"

"We're wasting time!" Shikamaru grit his teeth. "There are three other Sound ninja like this one and probably three other clones of Naruto to go with them!"

"Judging by the concentration of chakra in the clone, there are four in total," Sasuke said.

His eyes narrowed. "Then they're sacrificing allies to stall! If we rush past, they'll be at our back: we'll be open for a flanking! We have to end these fights fast or split up!"

"You are failing super hard on that fast part!" The clone Naruto taunted.

Tenten twitched as she threw more shuriken at it, one in its direction and the other where she thought he would move. "Oh, shut up!"

"Make me, you flat bitch!" It jumped over them all, made a short-lived clone to throw it away from one while it was in the air, and kept running from Shino's swarm.

"Let me stay." She turned to Shikamaru with a determined, furious look on her.

Neji shook his head. "This opponent has abilities you cannot counter. I'll do it."

"No," Shikamaru said. "Your Byakugan is better than Ino's sensor abilities, and we can't let Naruto go." He turned to Sasuke, who was parting his lips. "We need you to deal with Kimimaro."

Sakura raised her free hand. "I'll do it: I know Earth Style, and Ino-pig can't do anything against this guy either."

"Hey!" Ino yelled, glaring at her smirking face.

"It's true," Choji, walking over, said. "I'll stay too."

Kiba stepped forward. "You need someone who ca–" A friendly hand on his shoulder from Shino cut him off.

"We both know you can't smell through the earth. My bugs can't absorb chakra from him or smell him either, so we're both out."

"Where is he now?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke looked. "A few feet below ground."

"Likely thinking of a way to fight all of us at once," Neji said. "Now's our chance to move forward unimpeded."

The clone Naruto growled. "You fat fucking pussy! Get back up here and fight!"

"Shino, you can take your bugs back," Sakura said, locking her eyes on it.

"Are you sure about this?" Sasuke asked as Shino made his insects retreat. "Don't you want to bring back the real one?"

"We'll catch up soon enough. There are a lot of things I want to say to him."

Ino scoffed. "We all have things we want to say."

"Enough talking!" Shikamaru looked in the direction the other five went. "They're getting away!"

Choji took out a tied-shut bag from his pouch. "Before that." He opened it and presented its contents to them. "Take one of these soldier pills." A smile formed on his lips. "We all missed out on breakfast, right?"

They each shared looks with one another before taking a pill. All were on the biggest mission they'd likely ever be given and against some of the strongest ninja they'd ever face. Whatever little help they could get, they would take. More than a few of them doubted it'd be enough though, their objective being who it was and the parameters to which they were ordered to retrieve him.

"You would dope yourselves!" The Naruto clone scoffed. "Haven't you idiots learned anything!?" It crossed its arms. "True power isn't in jutsu, your body, or other things: it's something you become!" Dropping into a stance, it narrowed its eyes. "Let me show you!"

"Go!" Sakura went through a series of one-handed seals the clone wouldn't recognize while the seven other ninja took off.

It raised an eyebrow at a stream of cherry blossoms headed for it. "Uh?" They vanished a second later. "Was that supposed to be a Genjutsu?" It almost laughed at her confused face. "I'm pretty much immune to that now."

"How?!"

"The N–" The sight of Choji expanding made it freeze.

"Human Boulder!"

The Naruto clone made the snake sign, clapped his hands, and shot a gale at the ground to launch him over the rolling human wrecking ball. "If that's all you've got, you won't be able to even scratch me." Seeing Sakura throw her kunai, it created a clone to throw itself out of their way and take the ninja tool in its place. "Hey, whatever the hell your name is, almost everyone left!"

Jirobo emerged from the ground and cracked his hands. "Good." He scoffed at their opponents. "They left behind the flunkies, huh?"

"Takes one to know one!"

"Hey!" Sakura, dropping into a stance, twitched.

"Prove me wrong!" It held its arms out by its sides. "Seems to me you just got handed chunin out of pity!"

She launched herself at it. Before getting in range, she planted her foot down, wary of the same mistake Sasuke made during their spar, to slow herself down. It was a move she was certain Naruto with full concentration wouldn't fall for, which was why she was using it on his clone. She set down her other foot, bent her knees, and sprung up.

It barely managed to put its arm up in time. The halt just before entering its range confused it. Memories of training with Hana came to mind at the little trick and the pain in its arm. Differences between the two moments was the intensity of it. A well-executed flying knee kick like hers would've knocked almost anyone out when received directly.

Knowing better than to let gravity carry her down, she place a hand on the clone's shoulder to flip herself behind it. She stepped back from a blind elbow out of its range before spinning and kicking out its leg, following up with another spinning kick to his other. It caught itself in time to catch her punches, but she mounted it before it could slip away or do anything.

"Fuck off me!" It pulled back its head to slam its forehead against her face for it to meet hers.

"I know you're angry, looking for belonging, and sick of the villagers' bullshit!" Sakura's vision blurred. "But if you go down this road, there will be nothing of you left!" Tears streamed down her cheeks on to its face. "Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Anko-sensei, Ayame, Teuchi, Master Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade, Hinata, and everyone else will be in your way, even if Orochimaru gives you what you want!" She sobbed. "We love you! We're your family! I've never had any brothers or sisters, but when I'm with you, I wonder if that's what it's like having a bratty little brother!" Her watering green eyes gazed warmly yet sadly into his wide blue. "I'm begging you, Naruto!"

The clone looked away, blinked, and smiled. "My actual family is dead." It laughed at her confusion. "Your love is so painful and selfish." It laughed again, bitterness unrestrained. "Everything that should've been mine was given to all of you on the day I was born." Gritting its teeth, it glared into her eyes with red. "There was already nothing of me left!" It pushed her off and stood to its feet. "Right after I've built myself up, you ask me to give it all away!?"

She rolled away from a jumping stomp. "You're going to hurt so many people!" Drawing a shuriken from her pouch, she threw it at the clone before it could move again.

"What about me, dammit!?" It hopped over the shuriken and punched her down as she tried to stand herself up. "When the hell am I going to be the one who comes first!?"

"That's not…" She stared into the grass in realization of the truth in its words.

It chose to stand over her rather than take advantage of her shock. "You were sent here to bring back the village's weapon, not save me."

"But Orochimaru i–"

"No different than the village. At the very least, I'm choosing this for myself. Are you really going to take that from me?"

"...I have to."

"This is why it took me so long to realize what love is." It scoffed. "How can you know when no one ever really sacrificed anything or tried so hard for your sake?" Its heart fluttered as it smiled. "Like Hinata actually did for me."

She furrowed her brow. "And what about Anko-sensei?!"

"I love her too, but her love is more selfish, maybe even more selfish than yours. Only difference is her love made me happy. Even though I played with her tits and tried to have sex with her, I wonder if that's what it felt like to have a mother."

"Eww."

Twitching, it shot her a look. "You try growing up without family, friends, or anyone to depend on and see how fucked up your bonds are!" It pulled back its fist only for her to sink into the earth, making it strike the ground. "Ah fuck." It shifted into a handstand to avoid her snatching its feet.

Choji's own battle was going poorly. His opponent's physical strength and skill with Taijutsu was beyond him. While he always kept a pack of his clan's special soldier pills since his team began training, it was a bad idea to use them so early. They weren't even fighting the real Naruto. Consuming any of the three pills at their current stage would be a waste, but he had little choice if he wanted to win. He fished the container from his pouch, opened the first box, and threw the green Spinach pill into his mouth.

"Getting one last bite in, fatass?" Jirobo smirked.

"Sakura!" He didn't spare her a glance, knowing he'd leave himself open if he did. "We have to focus on one of them at a time!"

She turned to him as the Naruto clone jumped back. "Right!" Focusing on Jirobo, she ran toward him and went through one-handed seals.

"Plea–" Jirobo fell to the ground convulsing.

Choji expanded himself into a ball again. "He's mine!" He mustered all the force he could into slamming himself against the defenseless foe. Earth, bones, and flesh broke beneath him. Returning to normal, he stepped out of the crater with a smile on his face. "We did it, Sakura!"

"You worthless fat fuck!" Jirobo yelled, voice far hoarser.

Sakura's eyes widened at the balding, flattened young man rising with a full head of hair, red skin, yellow on black eyes, face lines, and warts covering his shoulders and forehead. "What the hell?!"

"Did Grandma Tsunade forget to tell you about the curse marks?" The Naruto clone, strolling by and making them back off, asked. "Kind of important." It looked down at Jirobo. "Since your dumbass managed to get stomped by Choji of all people, you follow my lead from now on."

"Get lost, you yellow-haired asshole!"

It narrowed its eyes. "Care to repeat that?"

Jirobo's hands balled into fists. "I've had enough of your bullshit!" He stomped up towards the clone.

"You're forgetting who you're talking to." It held out its hand and concentrated chakra into the center of its palm. "I'm going to give you one more chance to shut the fuck up and do what I say before I kill you myself."

Sakura and Choji shared a look. Both were more than used to Naruto's particular personality traits from years knowing him they forgot how much he grated on people. The ninja sent to acquire him were unprofessional young adults, much like yet not like them. With the right words, they could turn him against the clone and change the flow of battle far in their favor. Neither knew it was actually the influence of the Cursed Seal.

"I'm not scared of you!"

"That's why you kept your mouth shut, like a little bitch!?"

"Wow," Choji said, "I didn't know you had to rely on guys like this, Naruto."

The clone scoffed, not taking its eyes off Jirobo. "I'm not relying on shit! This tub of lard is just more useful to me alive."

"You are relying on me!" He yelled.

"Naruto, you are being pretty cruel to someone just trying helping you," Sakura said, feigning concern.

It shot her a look as it held an arm out at the Sound ninja. "Why the hell do you care about how I treat this fat sack of crap?!" His rage-filled cry and the satisfied looks on their faces made it realize what their intentions were.

"I'll kill you!" Jirobo stomped forward and punched only for his target to lean away. It formed a Rasengan in its hand before ramming it into his face. Cartilage, bone, and brain warped before his entire body was blown back. Trees were broken apart by his flying, headless corpse until the last of the force dissipated, leaving it embedded in one.

Sakura gaped with wide eyes alongside Choji. "Hooooly shit."

"...Can he only do one of those or?" Choji asked, hoping her answer was yes.

"I can do as many as I need to," the clone answered. "Now." Turning to them, it dusted off its hands. "Where were we?" Their shaking bodies made it chuckle. "I'm only a fifth of the main man." That reminder made them even more frightened. "Neither of you would even last thirty seconds, much less a minute, against the real me."

"Sh-Shadow clone…" Sakura turned to Choji as inspiration struck. "I have a plan."

He nodded, still facing their last enemy. "Before that." Swallowing a lump in his throat, he forced a smile. "Do you remember all the times we went to the red-light district?"

It raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"

"Remember when we saw Iruka-sensei talking to that one woman?" He laughed as it did at the memory.

Sakura looked from him to it. "Iruka-sensei with who now?" She almost pouted when they kept laughing.

"'What are you doing out here so late?!'" The clone mocked.

Choji held his sides. "'If you tell anyone, I'll put you in detention again!'"

"We were there every other day!" It shook its head. "Easiest money we ever made."

He looked down. "Those were some of the best days of my life." His smile didn't fade even as sadness crept into his voice.

"...Huh." Its heart sank.

"I never really got to hang out with any of the other kids except for you, sometimes Kiba, and Shikamaru. Even though we hit each other's nerves, I didn't think you were a bad guy. We had some good times, right Naruto?"

"Yeah… It was fun."

They stood silent. While the real Naruto tried to hurt Choji more than a few times, it was often because he touched his biggest nerve. Same went for Choji whenever he brought up his weight. Neither knew it was probably the worst time in each other's lives. Children rarely spoke about their problems, sometimes incapable of even seeing them as such. It was just the way things were, and they had to deal with it on their own or with the guidance of others. Only one of them was ultimately alone with a being that tormented him more than anyone else ever did.

"Make an opening, and I'll take care of the rest," Sakura said.

Choji looked back up to their enemy. "I got it." He stepped forward and froze. "Actually, Sakura, how deep in the ground can you go?"

"Theoretically, I can keep going until my chakra runs out."

"Perfect." He formed the ram seal. "You might want to do that right now."

She raised an eyebrow as he made the special sign of his clan. "Why would I wa–" Her eyes widened as he grew large enough to tower over the clearing. "...Oh." With those words, she immediately sank into the earth.

The Naruto clone's jaw dropped. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me." It felt the ground shake as he jumped. "Oh shit!" Bringing its fingers together, it did the only thing it thought it could do: create as many clones as possible.

To Choji's utter disbelief, he sank for a moment but didn't actually smash into the ground. Countless little poke-like feelings dotted his body. He lay there lost for a few seconds before a familiar chorus reached his ears. The thought never crossed his mind. All read about how ants could carry several thousand times their own body weight and work together to lift heavy things in the Academy, but he wasn't dealing with a swarm of ants. Over a thousand clones were holding him up with trembling arms filled with all the chakra they could concentrate into them.

"We are Naruto! We are Naruto! We are Naruto! We are Naruto! We are Naruto!"

"I can't…" He drifted off as he shrunk back to normal. While he increased his chakra reserves massively since the Chunin Exam, he couldn't maintain the Super Expansion Jutsu even with the first colored pill. Just because Tsunade ordered them to sacrifice themselves if need be didn't mean he was open to it. There was still a chance with the Curry Pill, even if it would be far more painful than the Spinach.

The original clone laughed before the others poofed out of existence. "You fucking madman!" It clapped its hands while walking over. "That almost got me! Just a couple of more seconds and splat!" Had he decided to stomp it from on high than give it so much surface-area to work with, it knew it wouldn't have survived. "You've gotten stronger, Choji." It smiled, warm yet sad. "Just needed to fight a little more smarter."

"Like this!?" Sakura emerged from the ground with an uppercut.

Scoffing, it caught her fist. "Not smart to announce your surprise atta–" Breaking earth emanated behind him before cold steel pierced his spine.

"I know," The real Sakura said. "That's why I didn't."

It blinked as the clone became smoke. "...Forbidden Jutsu everyone and their mother knows."

"Why aren't you disappearing?" She looked down at her bloodied kunai and the crippling wound before swallowing an anxious lump in her throat.

Placing a hand on her shoulder that made her jump, it smiled. "Relax. I really am just a clone." It looked back with warm eyes. "You've come a long way, Sakura. Please, leave the main man alone." Its vision blurred. "I… I really don't want to hurt you."

"But if you go through with this, you will end up hurting me, whether you like it or not! Do you have any idea what will happen if you do go and word reaches the other villages?!"

It laughed and grinned. "Actually, I'm counting on it." Tears left its eyes. "You'll be alright; I know you will." It disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving nothing behind but the words Naruto wanted to.

Sakura sat down, took a deep breath, and sighed. "Hey, Choji?"

"Y-Yeah?" He said, putting away his Three Colored Pills box.

"That was fucking awesome!"

"I know, right!?"

They were both winded, one far more than the other, but still alive. While each felt a deep-seated dread at the idea of facing the real Naruto, there was no choice. A Great Shinobi War would spark if they failed. It would likely kill them if they didn't die there, and Naruto would come back to kill them if even that didn't. Either they succeeded or were extremely lucky not to if they failed. Death was inevitable but most wanted to go naturally. Both hoped the rest of the team was having better luck.

It didn't take long for the seven Leaf ninja to catch up after leaving two in their group behind. On top of an Inuzuka and Hyuga, they had a sensor ninja, an Aburame, and even the Sharingan to track their objective. The only thing they really lacked was heavy hitters on the same level as their enemies'. None of them could say for sure they could match their current Hokage in battle, which was exactly what two of their foes did.

"We need to catch them by surprise and stop them from advancing any further." Shikamaru looked to Ino. "I'll use my Shadow Possession Jutsu, and you'll use your Mind Body Disturbance Jutsu in case I mess up." He went through the hand seals of the Transformation Jutsu, taking the form of Naruto. "Let's make them think we never escaped." He focused on the rest. "Once you hear me call out or hear the sound of fighting, come rushing in."

Ino transformed into Jirobo, to her disgust. "I'm gonna need a shower when this is all over, and I need to slap Naruto for Hinata: she loves him too much to do that." Oblivious to Neji's scowl, She followed Shikanaruto onward.

"Loved him enough to skin him alive," Kiba muttered.

The Narutos, remaining Sound Four members, and Kimimaro turned their heads when they heard the two approaching. When they saw them, doubts immediately rose to mind. It was subtle, but they looked far too amused. Jirobo was normally stoic, though he did enjoy thrashing those he thought inferior to himself, and Naruto knew he would look far more conflicted, if he even bothered showing any emotion at all after everyone he knew died.

"Hey," Ino greeted.

Kimimaro focused back on the path ahead. "Kidomaru."

"Right." Kidomaru stopped, faced them, and spat out a web, sticking them to a tree. "Too easy!" An overhead shadow drew his eye. "Like I'd fa–" His lips thinned into a line at the attacker before he jumped away from two drill-like figures. When a swarm of insects flew after him, he spat another web to contain them as he trapped the Kibas and suspended himself with web made from his six arms' sweat. Several shuriken flew at him, but they were intercepted by other shuriken.

A Naruto clone smirked at Tenten's glare. "Did the other Naruto tell you how much you suck?" It looked out at the six. "You would have to leave three behind." The sight of Neji jumping behind its would-be ally made it see red. "Behind you!"

"I know." Spinning himself around, he avoided Neji's blow and encased him in a giant web shot from his hands. "Nice try!" He focused on the three free ones left before shooting web at two of them, who took cover behind the tree trunks.

"Try me!" Tenten returned fire, drawing his attention to just her, and began moving from trunk to trunk.

The Kibas swiped at the odd bindings around their feet to no avail. "What the hell is this?!"

"This is really bad!" Shikamaru, back in his normal form, struggled against his.

Ino whined, also back to normal. "This is so gross!" She gagged at the thought of being cannibalized by the spider-man.

Sasuke drew a kunai, channeled lightning chakra through it, and jumped to the real Kiba's position. "Let me try." Crouching down, he drove the enhanced ninja tool through the web. "It works."

"Why isn't he attacking you?" Kiba asked, having noticed Kidomaru ignoring Sasuke's presence.

"I don't know." He leapt to the transformed Akamaru and began cutting his bindings. "Hold on."

The Naruto clone was too busy glaring at the trapped Hyuga to realize what was happening. "You!" It concentrated chakra into the palm of its hand before lunging at him with a Rasengan.

Byakugan activated, Neji could see the clone coming and the internal structure of the chakra-maintained web. He could tell the jutsu in its hand would kill him, even if he somehow managed to put up his Rotation. Several precise emissions of chakra from his tenketsu freed him from his dangerous position. Gravity pulled him below the clone's path.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as a swarm of bugs flew over their own webbing. "Shino?"

"Yes," he, clinging to the tree behind them, said. "These webs are maintained by chakra. It's a bit difficult, but my bugs can eat through them." He peeked out at Kidomaru and saw Neji narrowly avoid getting killed by the Naruto clone. "It seems I'll have to stay."

"I don't know if this is better or worse," Ino said, attracting a look from her teammate.

"Shino and I can handle this!" Neji saw they were all free. "The rest of you go onward!"

The five ninja and Akamaru shared looks with each other from their cover. Sasuke was capable of cutting through the odd material, but he was their only bet against Kimimaro. At minimum, there were two more obstacles after Kidomaru. They already did a poor job against the first as a group. It didn't make splitting up any better yet they'd lose their objective if they didn't.

Neji shot a small smile at Tenten. "We'll catch up with you all later!" He got into a stance. "This will be over quickly."

"Let's go!" Shikamaru yelled, making a break for it and motivating the others to do the same.

"You're only going to die." Kidomaru, surrounded by webs with stuck ninja tools, scoffed at the young man below him.

The Naruto clone glared up at the Sound ninja. "Don't you dare!" It shifted its red eyes down to Neji. "I'm going to be the one to fix this mistake!"

Shino's bugs swarmed over all the webs, aiming to take away Kidomaru's terrain advantage. "I can't let you do that, Naruto." He peeked out of cover again.

"This has nothing to do with you!" It yelled, not even acknowledging him with a glance.

"On the contrary, as Hinata's teammate, this has everything to do with me."

"If you really do care about her, then why the hell are you getting in my way?!"

"Hinata chose to forgive him, just as she chose to face him in combat no matter the risk to her life." He murmured. "Need I remind you how that fight ended?"

It twitched at the memory. "Don't you…" Gritting its teeth, it growled. "I can't let it go anymore!" The copy of a heart in its chest thumped. "She means too much for me to let him live."

"I understand, but just as I cannot let you go, I can't let you kill him."

"Stop me then." It bent its knees and raised its fists.

Neji's veiny eyes narrowed at it. "You dishonored her by leaving."

"I'm going to come back for her and raze the village to the ground." It grinned. "Out of everyone I'm going to kill, it's only fitting for you to go first."

Their fight at the arena seemed like the end of their feud at the time, but Naruto bedding Hinata the same day he went traitor was intolerable to Neji. Even worse, he made her an accomplice. He was certain his uncle would not stand for it when he heard the news. On Naruto's end, Neji's horrible treatment of Hinata was unforgivable now that she was his lover. Neither ever thought they'd be fighting the other on her behalf. The irony that both regarded her as pathetic once wasn't lost on them. It was another odd happenstance the ceaseless tides of life threw their way, and they were more than happy to ride it out, especially if it was on the other's blood.

AN: Kept you waiting, huh? My bad. Got back into video games in the form of Far Cry 2 (Apologies in advance if things get more Nietzschean because of that). Not an excuse. Just letting you know why.

Didn't exactly mean to give Naruto Jirobo's one moment or have him kill him. My initial mental outline of the fight had Choji downing all the pills like in canon, but I realized while writing that kind of sucked. Things are supposed to be different, so they ended differently. I will tell you the Sakura stab trick was there from the start though. Fighting smarter over fighting harder and all that.

If a lot of things feel unsaid, it's meant to be that way. Tried thinking of how I can have Sakura air out a lot of things and poke holes in everything Naruto says, but that's very unrealistic in a combat scenario, more so when emotions are high. She only got to say as much as she did because he actually wanted to talk with her.

With this update, this fic will be over 200k, counting Author's Notes at least. Glad to have a lot of you with me for so long. You're likely in for several hundred thousand more words at the rate we're going.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of a review or PM.