Shifting Sands Chapter 8

The world itself was chaos and life is never guaranteed. Hina knew this on a fundamental level. She thought she knew it in her past life, handling patients who were unfortunate enough to lose the genetic lottery and end up with an autoimmune disease or cancer. She didn't fully understand it until she choked on a vegetable and died so suddenly. Chaos wasn't just an inevitability; it was a constant.

She knew she had been a Hindu before, but the idea of karma was something she denied now. People did not stack up good or bad fortune, but rather they influenced those around them to act in accordance with or against them. She'd met many horrible people who never received a single bit of recompense, and so many humble and loving individuals who never got a break. It was the brutal carelessness of chance that pushed the world forward.

She herself was proof of the chaos theory. Small differences in initial conditions, such as her sudden arrival into this world, could only yield widely diverging outcomes for such dynamical systems, rendering long-term prediction of the behaviour of the "characters" in this world impossible. She did not believe that events would play out as it did in the manga she read in another life, not when one flap of her metaphorical wings would change it all. But she knew larger events would take some time before she affected them. Hina intended to do so.

There was no point trying to keep things the way it was in the story. For one, this was very real for her, and if by keeping to the story she would doom her friends to life-long trauma and death, then she thought fuck it. She'd throw canon into the core of the earth and scorch it to sunders.

There was no concrete long-term plan, just multiple pathways she jotted down, intent to go with whichever was more advantageous in the moment. There were still many uncertainties after all. The biggest at the moment had been what Jounin she'd be assigned to. She hoped it would be Minato. Sure she'd have to get over how hot he was eventually, but she could take up that challenge if it meant keeping Rin out of danger, and ensuring Obito didn't get crushed like a bug before he hit his teenage years.

"Suzuki Hina"

Her name was called out. Hina felt a surge of trepidation, but also pride in her accomplishments as she stepped onto the podium. One of her sensei's handed her a hitaite. She took it, tying it to her forehead. She looked down at the crowd to see her father, Shikaku, Hanami, and her friends all standing by giving her smiles and waving. Hina bowed to her sensei before making her way to them with excitement.

She was crashed into by Guy who was lamenting his loss of a challenge buddy. She made sure he called her that because no way in hell did she want him as an eternal rival. She was happy to let Kakashi face the brunt of his challenges, thank you very much.

"Your youth shines as brightly as you blossom into a formidable Kunoichi! Yosh, I too will graduate next year!" Guy declared.

"I'm sure you will," Hina sighed, patting the boy's head as he cried dramatically while hugging her.

"Congratulations Hina-chan, you're amazing! Graduating so young," Rin said a little starry eyed.

"Pft, I could do it too if I tried, but you're okay Broccoli," Obito huffed.

Hina was surprised when she was approached by Asuma next. The boy looked rather plain in his childhood, Hina thought. On first glance she didn't even recognise him as a Sarutobi.

"My well wishes to you Suzuki-san," he said.

"And mine to you Sarutobi-san," she said, taking his hand in a shake.

He nodded and left. She watched him go wondering if he approached her because he thought they might be in a team together. She was then met by Shikaku, Hanami, and her father, all of whom had a gift to give her. Her mother had stayed at home recovering from the late-night delivery, leaving Taichi to stay back with her.

Hina got a few presents from her friends and family. A calligraphy set, a bunch of medical textbooks (which were hard to buy in the Elemental Nations, so it was a valued present), and a few Shinobi essentials like Kunai pouches, and one storage scroll. Frankly it was the most presents she'd ever received in her life. She had important questions though, and so she left the kids to the nearby food platter as she approached Shikaku.

"Do you know who they're going to assign me to?" Hina asked him.

The man simply winked knowingly at her, and she puffed out her cheeks.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" she pouted.

"And ruin the surprise?"

"Kakashi got put with just one sensei. It doesn't make any sense for that to happen to me to," Hina noted.

"And why wouldn't it?" Shikaku asked.

"Because my medic-skills are best used in a team setting. Minato-san and Kakashi run a kamikaze hit and run team, and so they don't need other team members."

"Astute deduction, but you're misunderstanding the Konoha team structure then."

Hina took that as a clue that Shikaku knew exactly who she was going to end up with. She wracked her brain with who exactly she'd end up with. It felt a little unfair that she had no say on a big of a decision like this. Shikaku put a hand on her head, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Don't get caught up on it green bean. Take things as they come," Shikaku said.

"Easier said than done," she snorted.

The man smirked. "You can stress about it, or you can go celebrate with your friends."

She puffed out her chest. "I'm not stressing. No matter what Jounin I end up with, I'm going to be the best."

"Atta girl."

Hina listened to Shikaku for once as she joined up with her friends once more. The kids all looked at her, and she even saw Kakashi in the crowd. Hina had all the motivation she needed right here. Konoha was her home because her friends and family was her home. She smiled widely as they greeted her, filling her with warmth. She knew the hitaite she received today was only a promise of one thing. Her dream was to protect her precious people, and she wouldn't phrase it any other way, even as corny as it was. Because Hina loved them all deeply and fully.

She sat in an unfamiliar class with older kids as she waited for her sensei to come in and route the course of her life. Well, she was being a tad bit dramatic by describing it like that, but it was essentially what was happening. Whatever role her sensei would set for her would be what she was expected to follow later in her life. A few Jounin did break away from their expected speciality, but it was easier said than done. She knew most of the missions she would be going on in her early Genin career would set the foundations of what she expected later on.

The worst part about all of it was she didn't really know what she wanted to be. She didn't just want to be a medic. Having the skill to save lives on field was invaluable, but at the end of the day that wouldn't be enough to stop powerful foes like Madara, or even Orochimaru. She didn't intend to fight or approach the Sannin in any way. There were more imminent threats to her friends and family, a major one being Zetsu, then the Akatsuki, Madara, and finally Danzo. She had a whole list of enemies she had yet to even meet. Frankly that was the worrisome part.

She'd need to be skilled enough to kill a whole list full of people if it came down to it. Then only could she rest easy. Once again it was easier said than done. Hina just wished she had some control over who it was that would train her for the future.

"Everybody quiet down!" a loud irritated voice rung through the classroom. "You're all about to become proper Shinobi now! I expect you to start acting like it brats! Okay, let's get through this list. Aoba Yamashiro—"

Hina watched and listened, expecting her name to be called out at any moment. She heard some familiar names be called out, but they weren't hers. Asuma had been put into a team with Kurenai and another kid she was vaguely familiar with. So his prediction hadn't been right. She kept waiting patiently until the last team was called out, and she counted four students left. Hina frowned because that didn't look right. She recounted everyone who had been entered into a team and was once again left with four. When the remaining other three were called out, she realised she wasn't added into a team. Would she be partnering with a Jounin like Kakashi had, she wondered. It wasn't the worst prospect; however she couldn't understand the logic of having a medic in a singular team.

After waiting a few minutes for her name to be called out and not receiving any attention from the sensei, she made her way to the front of the class to chat.

"Suzuki-chan, I was expecting you," the Chunin-sensei said, handing her a scroll.

Hina took it gingerly. "Was I rejected or something?"

The Chunin cleared his throat. "Not quite. It's not often this happens but you were recommended by Hokage-sama himself to be assigned to a Jounin alone."

She let out a little breath of relief when it was confirmed that she wasn't being kicked out. She opened the scroll and read it a few times through in confusion.

"It's a poem…"

The Chunin sighed. "It is. I can't say anymore other than your sensei isn't going to come find you. You need to find them."

Hina couldn't stop the grin that spread her face at the challenge. She hadn't expected one so soon, but this meant on some level her new sensei valued intelligence. She could work with that.

"May I take my leave then?" she asked.

"Best not to keep them waiting," the Chunin said, nodding her way.

Hina took the scroll and made her way to the library. Either the poem was an inferred clue about her sensei's location, or it was a cipher. The tricky part would be having to go through several avenues before finding one that worked. Thankfully she knew the basics about cryptograms in this world considering she had done the aptitude test in the Academy for Shinobi Departments and had high scores in all the Intelligence Departments from Cryptology to the Forgery and Spying teams. The only one she showed a lack of skill for was in seduction, but Hina thought that her results were bullshit. She could be incredibly seductive if she wanted to, she told herself stubbornly. Then she remembered she had been 6 at the time she did the test and was glad she hadn't been considered 'seductive'.

She hurriedly approached the librarian, unsure if this test had a time limit on it. She couldn't afford to fail out of this. She needed more than anything to be made Chunin in a year.

The librarian lowered her glasses and looked down at her with the same downturned thin lips as ever. Hina had been fairly acquainted with the woman over the years, unwilling to give up trying to pass to the Shinobi sections for a quick peruse. Chisato was a 50-year-old retired Kunoichi, which meant by this world's standards she was practically ancient. The woman looked at her headband and scowled.

"I see you finally got a pass Suzuki," she said.

"I waited to graduate on purpose," Hina said, keeping her smile as sweet as possible. "This means I can go to the Shinobi section."

"Clearance level one only," the woman said sharply.

"Of course. Does clearance level one include all the books on cryptography?"

The librarian sighed, handing her a yellow card and nodding. Hina grinned as she took the shiny new level one clearance card. A whole new world had been opened to her. She was doing a little dance in her head, and trying to keep the smugness off her face.

"Level one only," the librarian warned her as Hina practically fled in.

"I know!"

"Don't yell in the library!"

"I won't!"

Hina chuckled at the woman's grumbling as she went up the stairs, she had been forbidden from entering for years. She recalled trying to sneak her way up before being promptly caught and kicked out several times. She only stopped when they'd threatened to ban her entirely. She felt like she wasn't allowed in still despite the headband and her card, but she shook off that feeling to instead throw herself into all the cryptography books she could find.

The Kanji used to write the poem was a lot more sophisticated than the Hiragana they used to write in normal sentences, so Hina first translated all the strokes and their meanings onto some spare paper, before she began the painstaking process of trying to figure out which cipher was being used here. She took an hour just going through each and every one available to her. It was one the 26th cipher that Hina began seeing a pattern. It didn't use the 10 charts system. This system had 10 charts, each with 26 rows and columns labelled from ai to mu. This gave 626 two-letter code groups. Most words and phrases will not be in the code and must be spelled out in kana. Instead the cipher worked in a 363 four-letter coded group, which pulled away from the standard system. Hina realised she had to work backwards to deconstruct, rather than to just studying existing codes.

She wondered for a moment if her new sensei was a sadist or had overestimated the average eight-year-old. She was certain not even Kakashi in all his miniature genius would have been able to figure this out at this age. She doubted even the smartest Nara child could either. This put her in an awkward place. It could mean one of two things; either her new sensei didn't understand children and thought this was something they could accomplish with some difficulty, or they did their research on her and understood her current level of intellect. Hina hoped it was just a misstep because the alternative meant she hadn't been hiding her potential as well as she could have. She never tried to look stupid of course, but there was a fine line between being a child genius and having the intellect and logical reasonings of an adult. She had been considered a genius in her field in her previous life too for a reason, and it wasn't due to a lack of studying and hard work.

"I'll crack you wide open," she whispered, determined.

She wouldn't fail. She couldn't afford to go back to the Academy, even if it meant having to give up just how smart she was. She could live with her future sensei knowing that at least.

"Come on Hina."

And after hyping herself up, she began her ciphers once again.

She couldn't decipher it in one night, the code was incredibly complex. The kind of complex Hina was beginning to think her sensei intended for her to never solve. It was either that or they were testing her resolve. She went back to the library every day for three days straight, spending morning till night there, until she came home unable to sleep as she rolled the many ciphers through her head. By the third day she was beyond exhausted.

"Hina you need to sleep. You can't think if you're in this state," Nori said.

Hina hummed in response, taking a piece of buttered toast, and putting it in her mouth, as she made coffee with her free hand. Her father sent her coffee odd look and she glared at them, holding the cup closer, daring him to try and take it away from her. He seemed to understand that it was a losing battle and dropped it.

"I'll take a loooooong nap once I'm done. I can't fail," she said.

"Why not? Hina you shouldn't rush through life like this. It's okay to fail," Nori said.

"Not for me," she mumbled, deciding to leave before he could get another word in.

She had too much at stake to just give in at one bump in the road. Grumpily, she made her way out of the house, too exhausted to notice someone was in the way until she bumped into them. She rubbed her forehead and looked up to see Shikaku giving her a concerned look.

"Shikaku-san?" she asked, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

"I didn't think your sensei would be running you this ragged so soon," he smirked.

Hina pouted. "They haven't. I haven't even met the guy or gal yet."

"You haven't?" Shikaku asked, a little surprised.

Hina shook her head, growing more frustrated after admitting it out loud. She rubbed her headache away and blinked groggily up at Shikaku.

"Don't you have a war to run?" she asked.

"Such a snappy little thing," he tutted with a smile. "What have they got you doing, that's making you look like a zombie?"

Hina held out the scroll, yawning as she did. Shikaku took it and whistled. "A cipher. I'm surprised you haven't been able to figure it out yet."

She took offence to that, snatching the scroll back and sticking her tongue out at Shikaku. "It's not easy. It's not an established cipher either. Whoever my sensei is wants me to fail, because not only is it a brand-new type of code, but it's insanely complicated. I've tried everything."

Shikaku pulled at his goatee in thought for a moment. He regarded her before speaking. "You certainly won't be solving anything in your state. I can't help you with decoding it, but I can help you in general."

"How?"

She was flicked on the forehead snapping her awake for a second. She held her head grumbling profanities under her breath as she glared up at the man who was chuckling.

"Green bean, you know better than to ignore the resources at your disposal. You're a Nara, and you know me."

"But you just told me you can't help!"

"I said I can't help you decode it. But what was I the head of recently?"

"Your clan unless you lost it," she snarked back, before she realised what he meant. "You were Head of Intelligence… which managed the Cryptology team. You can get me help from one of them?"

"That's exactly right."

Shikaku picked her up and Hina shuffled in surprise as he lifted her over his shoulders. She flushed and buried her face into his spiky hair.

"Shikaku-san… you can't just keep carrying me everywhere. I'm eight and a Genin. It's embarrassing now," she whined.

"Oh really, now? You look like you're five so I don't think anyone will mind," he snorted.

"I do not! I'm tall for my age. My tousan is huge! I've got his genes," she protested.

"Sure, sure," he said dismissively.

Hina was too sleepy to protest further. She simply decided to untie Shikaku's ponytail so she could rest her chin on his head. When she did, she realised just how comfy he was. As he began walking the gentle bounce of his step made her eyes feel heavy. Hina decided she could shut her eyes for a few minutes… and then she fell asleep.

"Aww she's such a little cutie. You're hogging her all to yourself Shikaku."

Hina blinked her eyes open, realising she was swaddled in a really comfy weighted blanket. She wanted to melt into it forever and forget she even existed. She was so sleepy. 3 days with barely any sleep and she was finally listening to her body.

"Five more minutes," she grumbled.

"Aww"

Shikaku chuckled and his voice carried. "Give her cheeks a little squish, they're very soft I promise you."

Hina swatted away a hand that tried to squish her cheeks. That was crossing a line. She opened her eyes and hissed.

"She's like an angry little kitten."

Hina scowled harder. "Keep talking and I'll claw your eyes out."

She sat up, mourning the loss of the blanket as she looked up to see Shikaku sitting opposite to her, with a young pale blonde man perched in front of her. He cooed at her like she was a cute little animal to be doted on and she slapped away his hands indignantly. She may have looked like an eight-year-old, but she had the dignity of an adult… sometimes. This so happened to be one of those times.

"Okay Inoichi don't bully her."

"I'm not bullying her," he said, pouting.

"You're Yamanaka Inoichi, head of Intelligence?" Hina asked suddenly.

"You know who I am! I'm honoured."

She wanted to wilt away and die. She had considered applying for this department in the future. Here she went, threatening the head honcho, and embarrassing herself by sleeping on Shikaku. She groaned into her hands and glared at Shikaku who was taking great pleasure in her embarrassment.

"I heard you were having some trouble with a cipher?" Inoichi asked.

Hina was glad for the change in topic. She nodded, pulling out her scroll, and all her notes in her backpack. She lay it on the table for him. Inoichi's eyes took a sharper turn as he studied it for a moment and then looked at her notes with a spark of something.

"You wrote all this?"

"Yeah, but… I didn't make much progress," she said honestly.

"No, I'd say you made quite a bit of progress. You've done far better than even most trained cryptologists," he said.

Hina rubbed her nose and nodded. "Yeah, I am pretty great."

"And cute," Inoichi added.

"Not cute!" she grunted, before sighing. "The cipher, please."

"Yes, it's definitely very intelligently made. This was from your sensei, I presume?"

Hina nodded and Inoichi frowned, rubbing his chin in thought. "Well, one would almost think he wanted you to fail. But we can't have that, can we?"

"No way in all the nine hells am I failing," she insisted.

Inoichi smiled at her, but not the condescending kind when someone saw her as a kid, but with the kind of smile that glinted with challenge.

"I can't decipher it for you Hina-chan, but I can provide you with material to help."

That didn't bode well for her, but Hina understood completing the task on her own merits. She nodded eagerly, waiting for the Yamanaka's answer.

"There's some techniques to decoding a cipher you haven't come by before. I can teach you those. Come on, we're in for a long few hours."

"Aren't you busy?" Hina asked.

"Oh yeah, definitely. I need a break from work though, and what better way to spend it than with Shikaku's kid."

Shikaku spat out his drink and Hina grinned evilly at him.

"Oh yeah tousan's the best."

Shikaku groaned, and Hina took great pleasure in embarrassing him back.

Once she got past the whole being considered cute thing, Inoichi was pretty good for conversation. Hina sat with Shikaku as the Yamanaka began schooling both of them on the intricacies of cryptology. Hina was a little surprised to learn Shikaku hadn't had very much knowledge on this field outside of the intermediate field of ciphers. Inoichi on the other hand had been head of Cryptology before his promotion, and Hina was soaking in his lessons like an overeager sponge.

Then Inoichi got called in for work, and Shikaku had to take his leave as well, dropping a bowl of fried chicken for her before leaving. Hina was thankful for the food, realising she had forgotten to eat in her single-minded focus. She devoured the entire bucket before continuing on her work. And just like that she took the corner of Inoichi's office and made it her own for the rest of the day, pouring over his more in-depth books as she broke down the poem piece by piece.

It wasn't until everyone was packing up to go home, that Hina found a breakthrough. She found an outlier in the pattern, a single stroke out of place. She jumped on it like a starved dog to a bone.

"Hina-chan, I think you should call it a day. No point in working an over exhausted mind. You'll make more mistakes that way," Inoichi said.

Hina ignored Inoichi for a moment as she refused to let her train of thought go. As he approached, she held a finger up, stopping him midway, and she continued frantically writing down her findings. She was nearly, there. She had the code.

"I—I did it… I did it!"

Inoichi moved to her side and looked down at the sheet of paper and nodded approvingly, ruffling her hair with a breathy laugh.

"Well, you certainly did it. Do you want to decode the poem now? This is the easy part," he said.

Hina nodded eagerly, beginning to connect each character in kanji to the table she had painstakingly created. She broke it down peace by peace until she was left with four letters. It spelt a singular word.

Nice

How… underwhelming. Even Inoichi was frowning. Hina crumpled up the paper and threw it away.

"Seriously?! I'm going to murder my sensei!" Hina shouted.

Inoichi pat her on the back sympathetically, as Hina buried her head on the table and wept for all the hours lost on that one stupid word. She was second guessing her career and she'd just begun it.

"Cheer up Hina-chan. You managed to accomplish something even seasoned cryptologists would find hard, in a quicker span of time than they could. It's easy to create ciphers, but it's always hard to decode them with no reference. If your sensei fails you, I'll take you into our cryptology division."

"Really?" Hina asked, perking up.

"Really! We need a cute little thing like you to brighten up our drab office," he said pinching her cheeks.

Hina slapped his hands away with chakra infused hits. Inoichi winced as he held his red hands and whispered 'worth it'. She took everything back. She'd never join cryptology as long as this cheek pinching menace was still around.

She just hoped her new sensei wouldn't find her cute. Gross.

The lab was an open space, meant for all to come in. For Orochimaru, it was nothing but a front. He kept up appearances here, indulging in his workspace and privacy. The title of Sannin came with many benefits, including funding from the village leader himself. Orochimaru did those little experiments, increasing the benefits of chakra pills, and other small improvements for the Konoha forces. But he had a far greater plan, one that was hidden away in the tunnels beneath the bright fertile soil, the kind that were purely his.

He didn't expect to be bothered by Nara Shikaku of all people, but he greeted the man with a pleasant smile. He thought the Clan Heads were getting younger and younger by the day. Shikaku was barely in his mid-twenties, still young by Orochimaru's standards. There should have been an opportunity here, to gain an ally as temporary as it was, but Nara Shikaku was sharp if nothing. Orochimaru saw the calculative glint in the young man's eyes, the kind that had enemies whispering he was a once in a lifetime strategist. Orochimaru kept him at arm's length for this reason. Sometimes it was easier to keep enemies and friends close, but little cunning deer's like the Nara were best kept far away where you were out of their thoughts.

"What can I do for you Nara-san?" he asked.

"I have a message to deliver you. In truth, I could have sent a Genin to do this work, but I've always been interested in your lab," Shikaku said.

Orochimaru wasn't fooled by the easy slouch. Those sharp black eyes were searching the room slowly and carefully, not lingering long enough to make it obvious. A less sharp eye would have missed it. Shikaku didn't quite distrust him yet, but Orochimaru knew the look of a vary individual.

"It must be an important message if the Jounin Commander himself has come to visit," Orochimaru said, finally standing up.

Shikaku smiled lazily and shook his head. "Fortunately it is not, but I have a vested interest in this message."

Orochimaru took the scroll from the Nara's hands and opened it. It was the little code he'd made, and on the bottom, it read nice, with an angry face drawn next to it. He stared at it for a moment longer, mind churning the possibilities.

"You didn't help her, did you? That would ruin the entire point of the test."

Shikaku shook his head. "No, I bought her to Inoichi who taught her how to break ciphers down, but he never worked on the poem with her."

That was actually quite impressive. Orochimaru had to reluctantly admit that his expectations were outdone in this case, not that he had much in the first place. Suzuki Hina was a clanless child, smart for her age as she was, he hadn't expected her to be spectacular. More and more children were passing younger these days, and while eight was still quite a young age to pass, children were still children. He had no interest in nurturing what he considered to be a toddler through her tantrums. It had been why he'd rejected every offer Hiruzen threw his way, until he agreed to Suzuki. It was a whim. She was smart, showed initiative and had a field medic licence. There was potential there, more so than the other snot nosed brats, but not enough to want to make him spend time on her. So he set her out with an impossible task, and against all odds she had beat it.

"It seems I have a new student, but it doesn't explain why you came in person," Orochimaru said, hiding his distaste with a pleasant smile.

Shikaku folded his arms, an edge coming to the lazy appearance. "Suzuki Hina is a ward of my Clan. The test you gave her was done in bad faith. As Jounin Commander I could get involved in this gross misconduct of behaviour, but frankly that would be troublesome. You're a Sannin and the title comes with some weight. So instead, I'm going to warn you to not sabotage her training in the future."

"Or?" Orochimaru asked, raising a brow.

"Or I will report this, and it will be a tiresome time for the both of us. So save us both the headache and do the job you signed up for."

"Noted," Orochimaru hummed, not dropping the pleasant smile.

Shikaku smiled back at him, easy going in façade as ever. "But truly, it was a pleasure meeting you properly Orochimaru-san. Excuse me while I take my leave."

"Pleasure," he replied, bitting back a frown.

When the Nara left, he sat back down and pulled out the girl's file one more time. He looked at the professional smile on her little face taken for her Shinobi photo id. Hardworking, intelligent, polite, her sensei's had written down. Orochimaru sighed.

It looked like he was taking on a new long-term project.

A/N

Attention! I've posted new art on my Insta under Jaz_hop of a scene from chapter 6. If you don't use Insta I've uploaded the picture at the end of chapter 6 on AO3.

And so one of the biggest changes to the story has been made. I considered having her learn under Inuzuka Gaku again, but decided against it. I'm trying to streamline this story, and that means cutting out some characters from being a focus. For example, I had Hina invested in Kurenai, Asuma, Rin, Obito, Shisui, Gaku, Hanami, Nami and an two other OC's in Snap Back to Reality. It was frankly too many characters to focus on and having her try and interact with each and every one of them equally was what was eating up on actual plot progression.

So this time around no Gaku-sensei I do love that guy don't get me wrong. He just didn't fit in this version of the story. Anyway, we get more Orochimaru, and he's less of a dick this time because he actually has to train her the way he did with Anko.

Also just want to preface that ROOT will still be a major plot point in this, but Hina isn't joining it. If she does it would be the ROOT Hiruzen and Shikaku are aware of, and not the sad child soldier underground army that Danzo has going on. Expect to cry regardless. Most of my stories are dark.