Chapter 35: A Step Forward

A few days had passed since we returned to Konoha and with the announcement of the alliance between Konoha and Kumo, things had pretty much returned to normal. The village became more relaxed now that it was official that we weren't going to war.

There were some that felt Kumo was trying to pull a repeat of the Hyuga incident. The elders had tried to argue against the alliance, but were quickly dismissed. The Hyuga clan did voice their concerns, but Tsunade reassured them that they would not be at risk.

"Ready to try again?" I asked.

"In a minute," Kakashi said lightly, sitting on the ground in front of me. "I need to think about what I'm doing wrong."

We were currently in team 7's training ground.

During his fight with the Akatsuki, he'd nearly been killed by one of Deidara's stronger explosives and had only survived due to his Mangekyou Sharingan activating. Having seen what the Akatsuki were capable of, Kakashi began to take his training much more seriously and had come to me for some assistance.

However, before I began to help him I made sure that he was aware of the risks of using the Mangekyou. It was pointless for Kakashi to become proficient in using the Kamui only to lose access to it once his eye was completely blind so we found a workaround.

Just activating the Mangekyou drained a significant amount of Chakra from Kakashi and took long enough that it wouldn't be viable in battle, so we decided to cautiously work on shortening that time.

I refilled Kakashi's Chakra each time he exhausted it and after our training session he would go to the hospital and have his eye examined by one of Tsunade's clones to ensure that he hadn't ended up damaging it.

So far, it seemed that activating the Mangekyou, while strenuous, didn't damage the eye at all. It was using the Jutsu that was imbedded in the eye that caused the damage.

In return for my help, Kakashi assisted me with my own training.

My clones had finally finished designing the marker and with Genma's help, I learned how to use the Hiraishin… although I still had to master its use. I couldn't place a marker with a touch yet and using it took too much focus to be viable in battle. It did however still give me a massive advantage in being able to instantly travel between places so long as I left a marker behind.

"I'm ready," Kakashi announced.

Placing my hand on his shoulder, I refilled his Chakra and stood back, holding a stop watch in my hand. "And begin," I said as I started the stop watch. Kakashi closed his eyes in focus and when the timer just passed the ten second mark, his eyes snapped open, Mangekyou blazing. "It's pretty much the same as last time, a little over ten seconds."

"I need to be capable of using it at a moment's notice," Kakashi sighed tiredly while his Mangekyou morphed back into the regular Sharingan pattern. "Especially if I'm going to use it against the likes of the Akatsuki."

In the end, mastering the Mangekyou was something Kakashi was going to have to figure out by himself. Itachi was the only person who was both alive and not actively making the world worse that would be capable of helping Kakashi, but it was all but impossible to get him to help right now.

I suppose there was the option of learning Edo Tensei in order to bring someone back to help Kakashi out, but he would likely be completely against anyone that used that technique.

"I'm going to need to think on this for a while. Instead, why don't we begin your training instead?"

"Sure," I hummed. Taking out several regular looking Kunai, I threw them towards various places around Kakashi, forming a circle. "Same rules as last time?"

Kakashi nodded and pulled several smooth pebbles from his pouch. "Don't get hit." And he flicked a pebble at me.

Placing my hands in my pockets, I stood idly, watching as the pebble neared me. To an outsider it may have looked like I was simply standing still, but internally I was frantically molding Chakra.

Just as the pebble neared, I disappeared in a flash, appearing behind Kakashi. I didn't have time to celebrate however. Kakashi reacted nearly instantly, throwing a pebble behind him, forcing me to begin molding Chakra for a new jump.

The rules were simple. I wasn't allowed to block, dodge or move in any way. I was only allowed to use the Hiraishin to avoid the pebble.

When I first started I hadn't even been able to teleport before Kakashi's first pebble hit me, but as time went on, I'd gotten to the point where I was capable of teleporting out of the way of multiple pebbles. However, a problem arose when Kakashi started predicting where I would jump to next and throwing a preemptive pebble that I wouldn't be able to react in time.

And just like last time, a pebble hit me just as I teleported to a new marker. Learning how to use the Hiraishin was a process that relied on how fast I was able to mold Chakra.

"That's exactly one pebble better," Kakashi began. "However, it's not just enough to teleport out of the way, you need to know exactly where you're going and you need to make sure it's the right path."

"That's easier said than done," I sighed. "It takes my full focus to mold the Chakra for the Hiraishin. I don't exactly have time to focus on my surroundings."

"Then you're just going to have to practice it more," Kakashi replied evenly.

"Practice," I hummed.

I'd initially been unable to use a large amount of clones to master the Hiraishin because there were too many different parts to learn, but as it stood right now, I only had a single Jutsu that I needed to master.

Creating a large number of clones now, would interfere with the clones that I had in the Hokage tower that were learning how to place a marker with a touch. If they hadn't made much progress, then it would be better for me to prioritize learning how to use the Hiraishin first.

I created a clone and it dispelled instantly.

"I wonder what you're up to," Kakashi hummed.

"Just checking in with my clones," I replied. I was hit with an influx of memories and found that little progress had been made with placing a marker with one touch.

Nodding to myself, I threw the rest of my tagged Kunai around the clearing and created several dozen shadow clones. Being able to use the Hiraishin in combat was my main Goal right.

"You're using shadow clones to forcefully increase your familiarity with the Jutsu," Kakashi commented. "I wonder any of my clones could use the Mangekyou as well."

"I'll refill your Chakra and you can have a try," I deadpanned. I was beginning to feel like some kind of communal battery that everyone was using to charge their phones on.

With my help, Kakashi created a clone and it immediately got to work, trying to activate the Mangekyou. The seconds ticked by and the clone suddenly opened its eye, revealing the scythe pattern of his Mangekyou.

"Well damn, your clone can activate it," I said, suddenly feeling a little nervous at the implication. "Do you think it can use the Jutsu as well?"

Obito was already a difficult opponent. If he could use clones that each have access to Kamui as well, beating him was going to be way more difficult than I initially thought.

Kakashi's clone began to focus, the Mangekyou in his eye began to spin slowly, before speeding up and just as it seemed that he would successfully use Kamui, he dispersed into a cloud of smoke.

"So my clones can't use it," Kakashi commented idly.

I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. It seemed that the Mangekyou caused too much damage for shadow clones to use it. That was a relief.

"It causes too much damage for shadow clones. There are sturdier clone types that could probably take the strain, like Mokuton clones."

'Crap, Obito has access to Mokuton Jutsu,' I thought. If he used Mokuton Clones, Obito would be much more of a threat, but not invincible, I could use clones too and once I mastered the Hiraishin each of them would be able to use it.

"He didn't use it when he fought Minato," Kurama replied. "Mokuton Clones use more Chakra to ensure their sturdiness . It's likely that although Obito is capable of using it, he won't because it's either not effective or too Chakra intensive."

'You sure about that?'

"If he was capable of making even five clones and they were capable of using Kamui, it's likely that he would have taken over all five of the major hidden villages by now."

Well I suppose that was true. Kamui truly is an incredibly broken ability, but it was limited by its user. I was glad that he didn't somehow gain an Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan otherwise we would all be well and truly fucked.

"Oi, Naruto. You ready to continue your reflex training?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, sure," I replied. Walking into my ring of Kunai, I shot a glance back to my clones that were all working on teleporting to the rest of my Kunai that I had scattered across the training ground. There was still so much that I wanted to do before I had to go to Kumo and so little time. "Hey, Kakashi, can I ask you something," I began, pausing for a moment before continuing, not waiting for his answer. "How long do you think it will take for Sasuke to be as strong as a Jonin?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "What brought that question on?"

"Just idle curiosity," I replied. That and I wanted Sasuke to help us when we finally decided to kill Danzo. Sasuke deserved to have some revenge and closure for what happened to him. "So how long… Or do you think he's getting close already."

"Ordinarily I would say that he would be on the same level as a regular Jonin in another two years, but Sakura has taken rather well to medical Ninjutsu and has been healing his fatigued muscles after training," Kakashi explained. "He'll probably be able to fight regular Jonin level opponents within the year if he keeps up his current rate."

Damn… I guess it was too much to hope that Sasuke would be ready before I left Konoha. It seemed that Sasuke wasn't going to be there to help take Danzo down after all… although I suppose he could give the killing blow assuming that Danzo was sufficiently tired from our fight… I was getting ahead of myself. My first main concern was safely bringing Fu back to Konoha.

"Alright, let's get this training started. This time I'm going to dodge two more pebbles than last time," I said confidently, before deadpanning. That sounded a lot cooler in my head.

"If you can do that, then I'll have to stop holding back," Kakashi drawled.

I walked down a mostly empty street, finding myself with a something that I'd rarely had in the past few months… free time.

I'd completed my training goals for the day. Pushed my body heavily in my physical conditioning, pushed my reflexes to their limit and trained the Hiraishin to the point that it didn't require my full attention to use and now I found myself walking down a street alone. I thought to try and spend time with others, but everyone was too busy.

Kakashi was on a mission along with Sasuke and Sakura, Jiraiya was out of the village checking in with one of his informants, Karin was taking a few extra classes at the academy in order to become a Konoha Kunoichi and Tsunade… well, I hadn't checked in with her, but she was likely busy with her Hokage duties and I didn't want to interrupt her all because I had nothing to do.

In the past, being alone, even briefly would have been something I would have fought tooth and nail against, but now I found it relaxing. The free time gave me a chance to reflect, something that I rarely got the chance to do.

In fact, the last time I just strolled through the village with my thoughts was back before the third stage of the Chunin exams. Back when the Sandaime was still alive.

I glanced up to see his face staring over the village. Once, Hiruzen was a great Kage who nurtured the village and allowed it to grow stronger, but in his final years he'd grown tired and began to let things slip by him.

As much as I hated admitting it, Orochimaru was right. The old man should have picked another successor. If he had, things wouldn't have turned out the way they did and he might not be stuck inside the Shinigami's stomach.

If I'd chosen to, I probably could have saved him.

"You're overestimating yourself, Naruto."

'Am I?'

"Yes, you are," Kurama grunted. "The person you are now is the one that could have saved the Sandaime. Back then, you had barely managed to master the basic elements, your Taijutsu wouldn't have been able to keep up with a Jonin, let alone Kage level Shinobi and you were still in the process of accepting being an entirely new person."

He was right. There were few ways that would have truly helped the Sandaime back then. Even if Kurama helped me, it likely wouldn't have made much of a difference, especially if Orochimaru managed to summon the weakened Shodaime.

"That's right. You would have been pushed to use my full power and ended up collapsing. Orochimaru was ultimately Hiruzen's responsibility," Kurama replied. "The phrase, 'with great power comes great responsibility,' doesn't mean self sacrifice. Together, we have a lot of power and we owe it to ourselves to not only be responsible for that power, but the life we live too otherwise we'll end up like Nagato or Obito… Taking out our pain on the world around us."

I felt a smile come to my face. 'Thanks, Kurama. What would I do without you?'

"Probably sulk a lot."

I let out a chuckle and turned, heading towards my apartment. 'It was a rhetorical question.'

Hopping onto my floor, I entered my apartment, barely getting two steps in, before I felt a presence behind me. I jumped forward and rapidly spun around while slipping a Kunai into my hand.

"Ho, you've gotten better," Tsunade noted.

"Tsunade," I said, placing the Kunai back into its pouch. "You startled me."

"I could tell," Tsunade smirked. "And instead of panicking, you kept a cool head and prepared yourself. You've come a long way, Naruto."

That was always nice to hear. "How'd you even know I would be here?"

"I was using Hiruzen's old crystal ball and noticed that you were heading to your apartment."

I raised an eyebrow. If I remembered correctly, the crystal ball was just a conduit that was used when someone was using the Telescopic Technique. "And you just randomly came across me while using it?"

"The odds of that happening would be immense," Tsunade waved me off. "I just finished my work for the day and decided to come and find you."

"Does it have anything to do with Takigakure?" I asked eagerly. The longer we waited, the more danger Fu was in.

"There is some news on that front… I have a mission for you, but it'll have to wait for tomorrow," Tsunade replied, placing her hand on my shoulder. "There's nothing further we can do right now, so let's just relax instead."

"But," I began to protest.

"Naruto, you've got less than a month left before you're going to Kumo where you're going to be busy. Do you really want to spend the little amount of time we have right now talking about training and work?"

Well when she put it. I did still want to know though.

"Now what do you say to having some dinner?" Tsunade asked. "Afterwards we could settle down and watch something."

"I would prefer that we get straight to the entertainment, but I suppose I could wait," Kurama sighed.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure. I'll make a clone to handle the cooking in the mean time."

Sometimes I wonder if it was a mistake introducing Tsunade and Kurama to movies… then again, seeing how it gave Kurama something to do while he was stuck in the seal… maybe it was for the best.

I let out a yawn as I sat at one of the unoccupied desks in Tsunade's office. It was still fairly early in the morning and while I would much rather be sleeping or training, I chose to wait instead.

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune breathed a sigh of relief as she entered the office. "I didn't see you this morning. I was looking around until one of your clones told me that I had a time sensitive mission and that I needed to meet you here, did you sleep in your office?"

"Good morning to you too," Tsunade said in an amused tone. "To answer your question, no, I didn't sleep in the office."

"Then where…" Shizune began, stopping when she caught sight of me. "Oh… Never mind. Good morning, Naruto."

"Morning," I replied.

"Are you here for the mission as well or are you just…" Shizune trailed of, glancing at Tsunade.

"I…" I began, but was interrupted by a figure darting through one of the open windows.

"The great Anko-sama has arrived," Anko announced as she came to a stop in front of Shizune. "Huh, you're here first."

"More like you're here last," I replied.

"Last?" Anko hummed, before turning towards me. "Huh, Naruto? What're you doing over there? You handling administration work now too?"

"Actually…"

"He will be joining you and Shizune on your mission today," Tsunade interrupted me.

It seemed that I just couldn't get a word out today.

"Wait… does this mean that team Anko is back together?" Anko asked excitedly

"Team Anko?" Shizune muttered softly.

"For this mission… yes," Tsunade replied.

"But not any future missions," Anko pressed.

"Unfortunately not," Tsunade shook her head. "Due to the nature of the alliance with Kumo, Naruto isn't going to be around much to run missions… not for a while."

Not until the Akatsuki started actively collecting Jinchuriki belonging to one of the five great nations actually. Assuming that things hadn't been thrown too off track, Deidara should attack Gaara in a little over two years.

"Now can we get to the mission I've called you all here for today?" Tsunade asked.

"I still have a few questions," Anko began, pausing briefly at the glare Tsunade sent her way. "But I suppose I could just ask Naruto when we're traveling."

"Good," Tsunade nodded. "Now, I've been communicating with Shibuki, the leader of Taki and have managed to convince him to allow the Nanabi Jinchuriki, Fu to stay in Konoha for safe keeping."

"You want us to escort a Jinchuriki?!" Shizune realized. "Are you sure that we should be handling this? Shouldn't someone like Jiraiya-sama be the one to go instead?"

"Unfortunately, Jiraiya is out of the village," Tsunade explained. "This is the next best team to complete the mission. Besides, escorting Fu back to Konoha shouldn't be an issue."

"Are you sure?" Shizune asked. "Taki's quite far away from Konoha and we'll need to keep this… Fu safe the entire way back."

Tsunade coughed into her hand and shot a glance my way. Catching on, I slipped a Kunai into my hand. "Hey Anko, do you mind catching this for me?" I asked and lightly tossed the Kunai in the air. Once it neared her, I disappeared in a flash and caught it myself. "Never mind, I've got it."

"Was… was that," Shizune stuttered in disbelief.

"If you're thinking it was the Hiraishin, then yes," I said, smirking. "Distance is no longer an issue for me."

"You really did it," Anko began, looking dazed before letting out a snort. "I get it now, it's actually a really simple mission. We don't need to escort Fu back, we just need to get Naruto to her and he'll bring us all back… you can use that on more than one person, right?"

"Yep," I nodded.

"It's just a pity that the last mission for team Anko has to be a boring one," Anko sighed. "I mean, before all this Kumo stuff happened, we raided Orochimaru's labs and you wiped out an entire island.

Anko just had to jinx it, didn't she?

"Unfortunately, you might just get your wish," Tsunade sighed. "There is a good chance that the Akatsuki will attempt something during this mission… However, this mission is too important to cancel."

"Well… maybe we won't have to deal with the Akatsuki and can just… Hiraishin straight back to Konoha before they try anything," Shizune replied nervously.

"We can all only hope so," Tsunade said. Grabbing a scroll, she threw it towards Anko who caught it, before she flicked a second scroll my way.

"What's this?" I asked. Opening the scroll, I was expecting it to either be the mission details or a message for Shibuki, only to find that it was a storage scroll. Unsealing it, I found myself holding a syringed.

"A precautionary measure," Tsunade replied. "If the Akatsuki involve themselves, they may attempt to use Sasori's poison again."

I nodded and resealed the antidote. For added precaution, I pulled out one of my tagged Kunai and handed it to Tsunade. "If something goes wrong, I'll be sure to bring everyone back. Just keep that Kunai somewhere safe."

I'd actually already set up a few Kunai around Konoha, so I could teleport back in the event of an emergency, but I felt it was better to be overly cautious and have at least one Kunai that was definitely not compromised. There was always a small chance that someone would mess with my Kunai.

Tsunade nodded and grabbed it, slipping the Kunai into her sleeve. "It won't leave my side."

"You're taking this mission more seriously than you should. It's going to be a piece of cake," Anko grinned. "All we have to do is pop in, grab the Jinchuriki and pop out, it'll be the easiest mission ever."

"For the love of…" I started. "Stop jinxing the mission."

"What? I'm just saying…"

"No," I interrupted her. "You've already raised enough red flags. Anymore and who knows what we'll be facing."

Anko nodded silently with a huge grin stretched across her face.

I could only sigh. So much had happened since we'd last been on a mission together that I had forgotten how she liked to mess with people and she just found one of the things that got a reaction out of me.

"Naruto," Tsunade began slowly. "If the Akatsuki does make a move and things start to look bad…"

"I'll make sure everyone survives," I replied. Fu was the priority here and I would be doing my best to bring her back, but I wasn't going to sacrifice anyone doing that.

I should probably give Anko and Shizune one of my marked Kunai as well. Sasori had done a good job with separating me from Tsunade... I wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.

Takigakure is a small hidden village that exists in the Land of Waterfalls, which was north of Konoha. It shared a border with the Land of Fire, so we didn't have to pass through a second nation to get to it. It was actually pretty close to the Land of Iron, only separated by the Land of Fangs that sat between them.

However, Taki was also startlingly close to Iwa, sharing a border with them much like they did with us. By itself, that shouldn't be too much of an issue, however, as Tsunade said, the odds of the Akatsuki involving themselves on this mission were high.

Iwa and Konoha weren't on good terms. We hadn't been since the last war where they lost a good chunk of their forces. While the Akatsuki may have burned their bridge to Iwa, there was always the chance that Zetsu would get involved again.

Things had only worked out so well last time because Bee was so relaxed and willing to listen to what I said. Han and Roshi on the other hand…

"Oi, Naruto, you're slowing down," Anko said while kicking off of a branch. "What's the matter, you not used to traveling so fast anymore?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm just trying to figure out what we should expect from the Akatsuki."

Kakuzu was the only one that knew how to enter Taki, so he would likely be there along with Hidan. The question however was if they would be bringing any other Akatsuki members with them.

"Yeah, about that," Anko began. "You think you could fill me in on why you're taking this so seriously?"

"I suppose I could do that," I replied. "But first, how much do you know about the Akatsuki, Anko?"

"Not much," Anko admitted. "Only that they were caught spying on the meeting in the Land of Iron and that they tried to attack the Kage."

Well that was a little unexpected. Tsunade hadn't exactly given a detailed report on what had happened in the Land of Iron, but I would have thought that Anko would know a bit more about them seeing as Orochimaru was a former member and she wanted to kill him… I suppose that explained why she was so laid back. "And you, Shizune?"

"Tsunade-sama told me a little bit more about them," Shizune replied. "They're a group of S-rank missing-nin Shinobi and their main goal is to abduct Jinchuriki."

"Abduct Jinchuriki," Anko barked out a laugh. "Seriously, have they seen what Jinchuriki are capable of? I mean sure, they may be powerful, but when you and Bee fought, the two of you ended up destroying an island. The maps of that area needed to be redrawn!"

"You should take this more seriously, Anko," Shizune said.

"I'm trying, but I can't," Anko smirked. "It's a bit difficult to take things seriously when our third teammate has the freaking Kyuubi on his side. And… in case you forgot, he can share some of the Kyuubi's power with us if things actually get bad."

"Yeah, that might not be a great idea," I said, butting in. "Back in the Land of Iron, the Akatsuki used a poison that caused damage to me whenever I used the Kyuubi's Chakra. If it hurt me, then I'd hate to see what it does to a person that hasn't got a resistance to the corrosive Chakra of a Biju."

"Wait, there's a poison that does that?" Anko asked suddenly before turning towards Shizune. "Did you know about this?"

"Tsunade-sama did mention it to me," Shizune nodded. "I'll admit it did worry me, but an antidote was devised, but it hasn't been tested on those regular Shinobi using a Chakra cloak."

"So that's what the needle was for," Anko realized, beginning to take things more seriously. "I was wondering why Hokage-sama was talking about poison. You think you could tell us a little more about the Akatsuki, Naruto. You have firsthand experience with them, after all."

"I suppose I could tell you about the members that I've encountered," I hummed.

"That would be a good start," Shizune agreed.

"The first time I encountered the Akatsuki was when Jiraiya and I were looking for Tsunade," I began. "The two members who confronted me were Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi."

"Uchiha Itachi!? As in the guy who slaughtered his entire clan in one night?" Anko squawked.

"No, Uchiha Itachi the bread baker," I deadpanned.

Shizune let out a short laugh that she immediately covered up as a cough while Anko shot a halfhearted glare my way.

"Ass."

"Jiraiya wasn't around at the time, but I was training with one of the strongest toads from Mt. Myoboku who assisted me by fighting Kisame," I continued. "Itachi's capable of using a Genjutsu that can only really be countered by a Jinchuriki that has the support of their Biju and he's also capable of creating incredibly hot black flames which stick to their target and continue burning underwater. I had to use the Chakra cloak to block it."

"So if we see Itachi, we're fucked," Anko muttered.

"That's pretty much how it is with the rest of the Akatsuki," I replied. "Kisame is a master of Water Style Jutsu and has a sword that shaves the flesh off of you and it's capable of eating Chakra, even the Kyuubi's cloak."

"They really sound like a group of monsters," Anko hummed.

Funnily enough, that was a pretty good way to describe them. A lot of the Akatsuki members had inhuman features. Sasori's body was a puppet, Kisame looks like a fish man, Zetsu's body was divided into two main colours and Kakuzu was made of stitches.

"The other members that I've seen would be Zetsu, he wasn't exactly the combat type, but he was capable of hiding his presence almost perfectly. The average sensor wouldn't know he was there even if he sat beside them," I explained. "There was Sasori who killed the Sandaime Kazekage and turned his body into a puppet, but he's dead now and finally there was Deidara, a long range Explosion Style user that's capable of blowing up entire cities."

I considered telling Anko that Orochimaru had once been a member of the Akatsuki, but decided against it. Orochimaru was dead… well, as dead as he could be without killing everyone that had a curse mark. He was a part of Anko's past, digging it up now wouldn't do any good at all.

"I'm beginning to think that we're woefully under qualified for this mission," Anko said, looking slightly nervous. "I can understand why you're here, but as for Shizune and myself… Yeah, I can't see why we're here."

"Don't count yourselves short," I replied. "You two may not be able to fight the Akatsuki head on, but that doesn't mean that you can't be helpful. Several members of the Akatsuki have techniques aimed at countering Jinchuriki after all."

"So what you're saying is," Anko began slowly. "You're going to need us to pull your ass out of the fire?"

"Sure," I deadpanned. "Let's go with that."

Last time I'd encountered the Akatsuki, they caught me nearly completely off guard. Things would be different this time.

And that's chapter 35

Naruto helps Kakashi, gets a little advice from Kurama and is on his way to Taki in order to fetch Fu.

Anyways, I'm up to chapter 42 on the spooky P word website.

P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.

Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.

The next chapter will be posted on the 30th of August.
See you all then dudes and dudettes.