Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Children, I've grown as a person. Yes, it took years of electroshock therapy to allow me to admit this, and even now I still have relapses sometimes. Every now and again, I get a strange urge to challenge Masashi Kishimoto to unarmed combat for pride, glory, and the rights to his most lucrative work.

...Like right now!

Kishimoto, I'm calling you out! Come and get some! I'll take you, and your whole staff of artists! None of you can stop me!

Chapter 25: Go East, Young Man!

Naruto stood up from the floor of his inn room with a sigh. He had spent the last half-hour inspecting his travel pack, making sure he had everything he needed for the start of what could have been a long journey.

Word had come from Kakashi about something in the country of Mizu no Kuni. Something that had piqued Naruto's interest and spurred him into action.

The man in the spiral mask.

Sometimes rumblings about such an individual found their way to Naruto's ears. But no matter how fast he moved to wherever these things came from, he never saw anything. And he could never find anyone to verify any details or follow up on his search. So many times, he had to cut his losses and leave... never any closer to finding the man that made him a monster to the rest of the world.

So he continued to search whenever he could. Most of the time, he was too busy. The rest of the time, it was dead ends. But he always made his way back to searching eventually – even if he had to go alone.

There was a very realistic chance that he would have to do so. He didn't like asking his friends for help to begin with, and even if he didn't, there wasn't as deep a pool of allies to draw from. Shino had returned to his clan in order to cultivate a new and improved hive after what had happened with the Twelve Guardian Ninja, while Hana had gone back to her clan weeks ago to help them, as she had always intended. Hinata and Neji had to stay and remain in charge of the Hyuuga Clan members present to help set up the soon-to-be ninja village.

That left Tenten and Fuu as people he trusted the most. But he found it hard to ask them to follow him to the ass-end of nowhere for what amounted to a personal vendetta. It was dangerous, and it wasn't their problem.

Well, if Naruto had to wander the treacherous isles alone, so be it. He could handle it.

Minato and Kushina were already aware of his plans and had given him the okay, not that he needed it. If he wanted to go to Mizu no Kuni, there was absolutely nothing they could actually do to stop him, short of physically restraining him. Not that they would ever do that. He had the freedom to make his own choices. That was what he was told, of course.

*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*

Naruto looked up from his preparations to find Tenten entering his room, closing the door behind her, leaving the two friends alone, "Yo," Naruto greeted her.

"'Yo' yourself, jerk," Tenten replied with a raise of her eyebrows, "So... what's this I hear about you setting out first thing in the morning? You were going to say something to me, right?" She asked, not getting an immediate response, "Right, buddy?"

Naruto sighed and stood up from the floor, dusting off the back of his pants, "Tenten, you don't have to come with me on this. This is a 'me' thing, not a 'you' thing."

"Duhhr, Naruto," Tenten responded before her tone softened, "I just… I don't like seeing you dwell on this. Most of the time, you're fine. But every so often, when this guy comes up…" She had to take a moment to find out how she wanted to word things, "The guy in the mask hasn't shown his face since he stuck you and Kurama together. You can't keep trying to chase a ghost."

She had never seen him. No one else she'd met had ever seen him. Naruto was the only one that had. She believed her friend, but there wasn't a whole lot for her to grasp onto. The enemy had no face, as far as she was concerned.

Naruto walked up to Tenten and stood face to face to her, looking right into her eyes to speak honestly, "To this day, I don't know why he did what he did. I think that's the worst thing about it," He told her, "It hasn't been long enough to forget about the person that ruined your life."

Tenten reached out and gave Naruto a pat on the chest, "Did he really though? Ruin your life? Do you hate it that much, being away from Uzu no Kuni? Even after everything we've been through together?"

Up close, Naruto could see there was a sad look in Tenten's eyes. And it didn't take long for him to understand where that feeling was coming from. Despite all of the time they had spent together, as comrades, with Tenten more or less being treated like a member of Naruto's family, she was still the same little orphan girl who ran into him years ago. She still had the insecurities that came along with it.

Was she not good enough? Of course she was! She was closer to him than anyone else. More of a sister to him, more like family to him, than anyone with any lame so-called blood relation he'd ever had back in Uzu. Easily so.

He understood. After all, no one had seen any worth in him either until he'd left the place he'd once called home.

Naruto reached out and wrapped his arms around Tenten in a tight hug. She let him, no arguments whatsoever, "No. That place isn't home," Not anymore it wasn't. Not for a long time, "...It's just, I feel like he did what he did to me for a reason. Why? I'm not the only kid who runs out into the woods to play alone. I wasn't even the only kid from my village who did. He could have shoved Kurama into any of them, whenever he wanted. But he picks me."

Realistically, there had been easier prey if he had been after an Uzumaki Clan child. If he wanted to make some kind of impact, there were better children to choose to garner anger than the clan pariah.

"It could have been random," Tenten said, resting her head against Naruto's shoulder, "Unless you think he targeted you. But why? I know your parents have stepped on a lot of toes…" That was putting it lightly. Either Minato or Kushina by themselves probably had a nigh endless number of enemies, "…It would probably take a while to come up with a list."

"I don't even think it was about them," Naruto admitted to his best friend, "But that's something I can find out for myself when I get this guy."

Tenten pulled away and patted Naruto's arms, "Well, I guess we all need our little side projects," She said, offering a small smile, "So, we're leaving at dawn?"

Naruto officially gave up on trying to make this a solo sojourn. There was no way Tenten was going to let that happen, even if he tried sneaking off, "We're leaving at dawn."

It wasn't surprising. Tenten could be a busybody, and hated being left out of the loop when it came to those close to her. Once she'd gotten wind of what Naruto's plans were, there went his chances of gallivanting off alone to attend to them.

...He would have done the exact same thing for her.

XxX

Tsunade smiled as she shared a drink with a close freelance ally of the Senju Clan, Katou Dan. Taking a sip, her brown eyes peered over the top of her saucer at the figure seated before her. He had long, pale-blue hair that reached his back, dark green eyes, and a gray formal kimono, common attire for those who were allowed in as guests at the Senju Clan's main mansion.

Well, he was more than guest. No other guests received the view that this particular man did – of Tsunade in a yukata, hardly able to keep the bountiful assets on her chest in place, barely reaching down to her thighs.

It was supposed to be a formal meeting, but there was nothing professional about the proximity between the two, with Tsunade draped all over the man. More romantic than anything else.

The quality time was ruined before things could heat up due to the timely arrival of a messenger hawk squawking outside of her room. Dan gave her a curious look, as he knew the Senju Clan had a station for their messenger hawks, but Tsunade merely rose to open the door to her suite, allowing the avian inside.

Tsunade took the scroll in its possession and allowed it to fly off before heading back inside. Instead of being annoyed at being interrupted, she seemed intrigued by the message she had received.

"Good news, Tsunade-hime?" The man ventured to ask.

A short nod came from the powerful woman, "That was my brother's hawk," She informed him, "I've received reports from Nawaki about something he's been on the trail of for quite some time."

Time for Senju Nawaki didn't mean the same as time for most other people. Years could fly by for that man as long as he was buried in something he was interested in, "How long is 'some time'?"

"A few years," Tsunade revealed, taking pleasure in the surprised expression on her lover's face, "Dan, you should know that Nawaki is very persistent when he finds a treasure he wants. He didn't earn a nickname like 'The Hunter' for nothing."

Absolutely not. There was no one in the Senju Clan that was better at locating the impossible-to-find than the current clan head's younger brother, "Good old Nawaki," Dan said, "So just what has he been after? Is he following another myth from the past down the rabbit hole?"

Tsunade shrugged and placed her message on a desk before walking across the room to go and procure another bottle of sake, "It depends on how much stock you place in the old legends. Old legends involving the Sage of Six Paths," She could feel the air rush out of Dan's lungs at the news, "My brother is remarkable," She said with a smile tugging at her lips.

"That's..." The man was at a loss for words as Tsunade sat back, smugly sipping from her cup of sake, "Tsunade-hime... w-what has he found?"

Tsunade waved her hand in a flippant gesture, despite how pleased she was with the news from Nawaki in the field, "He hasn't found anything yet. But he is on the trail of five powerful artifacts. Weapons that could help us turn the tide of the entire war."

"The Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths," A smile came to Dan's face and he began to laugh, "Does he have any help? I would love to volunteer to help him. Shizune would probably be a help in the field as well."

"It's appreciated, Dan, but we have a unit specifically trained to assist Nawaki whenever he goes on sensitive hunts like this," "He probably has more help than he wants, but that's too bad for him. He's too valuable a commodity to be left dangling out in the wilderness by his lonesome."

"-That, and you'd probably never see him around here if he didn't have people out there to drag him back," Dan quipped, "He has a serious case of the wanderlust."

Tsunade shot him a look with no real heat behind it as she slid open the door to the bath attached to her suite, "My brother's unique personality traits aside, this is major opportunity for us. I'm going to begin making plans for a new offensive in the summer. If he finds one of the treasured tools, he'll be poised to find the others quickly."

Nawaki was one that could be counted on. Tsunade had no question that if left undisturbed, he would bear fruit. To send word, it meant he was extremely close. There was plenty to feel good about if that were the case.

Tsunade undid the obi to her yukata and let the entire garment fall to the floor, revealing her bare body to the elements and giving Dan a grand view from behind, "I didn't say I was going to start making plans right this minute. Care to join me in the bath, Kato-san?"

Dan quickly found his voice and moved to follow the princess of the Senju, "It would be my pleasure, Tsunade-hime."

He would follow her anywhere she went. However, some of those places were more pleasant than others.

XxX

(With Naruto)

When Naruto and Tenten first started out toward the coast, things were a touch awkward for a while. Hours of travel occurred before the odd atmosphere amongst finally came up. Naruto simply couldn't take it any longer, "So, what are we doing here, exactly?" He said.

Tenten had felt the same as him, only she didn't say it out loud. Still, she decided to play dumb, "Seriously? I know we didn't talk about it directly, but you should still know why I decided I was going with you," She teased.

"No, I get why you're here. That's not what I'm talking about," A squinting Naruto reached up and pointed over at Kabuto who was walking off on the other side of Tenten, placing her in between them, "I meant more like, what is Kabuto doing here?"

Tenten rolled her eyes and followed Naruto's pointing over to the purple-clad young man in glasses, "If you haven't noticed, the world is kind of dangerous, and we all don't get up from crippling injuries in a handful of days like you do," She said, directing her comments toward Naruto, "Kabuto's a medic. A really good one. That's kind of useful."

Naruto gave her an odd look, and then extended it over to Kabuto who seemed to wilt a bit at Naruto's attention, "He knows we're going somewhere really messed up, right?" The powerful jinchuuriki asked, "Like, it's supposed to be worse than here."

Which was saying something. The mainland was in a constant state of warfare and danger. There were very few 'safe places' for people to go where it wasn't dangerous. Even then, there were no guarantees whatsoever.

Kabuto waved off his concerns, "You helped me get away from the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Just mixing an antidote you gave me the ingredients for isn't enough to say thanks," At that point, he gave a nervous chuckle, "I'm not much good in a fight though, I'm afraid."

"That's fine. It's what we're here for," Tenten said, "As long as you keep those handy heals of yours at the ready, we should be okay."

"If it's so dangerous, how did you get a ship willing to take you there?" The bespectacled medic asked, "...Or have you even gotten that far in your planning yet?"

Naruto rubbed his own nose smugly, young man with a plan that he was, "We've got a guy that'll take us there. He kind of owes us for letting us sail into a deathtrap without telling us that one time."

"We paid Kaiza good money for that too," Tenten recalled, "We'd better get a discount this time, even if it is dangerous."

"Going anywhere is dangerous," Naruto pointed out.

Kabuto looked over at the two old friends, "You expect to get into a fight? Just like that?"

Naruto picked at the inside of his ear and lazily flicked it off into the grass on the side of the road, "We always get into fights, so yeah, we do."

"Besides, Naruto is after someone," Tenten interjected, "He definitely wants a specific fight," She almost kept going before realizing she was about to tell her friend's business, "Err... should I tell him, or not?"

Naruto sighed and waved her on, "If he's going with us, he might as well know. Not like it's a secret. It's just that nobody believes me."

He'd gotten sick of the truth as he knew it falling on deaf ears. No one wanted to stop and hear a story about his attack that came from him of all people. No one knew enough about jinchuuriki to explain things properly, or believe the ones closest to it.

Kabuto seemed open enough to listen to the people who'd had a hand in saving his life though, "What is it?"

Tenten took the time to explain, "Naruto didn't get possessed by a demon. He isn't hellspawn, or something stupid like the rumors you hear sometimes in a few places. Someone sealed a biju into Naruto and made him into a jinchuuriki."

At that point, Naruto interjected. He might as well specify the fine details of his own story, "-But I was the only one who saw the guy who did it. Maybe ever."

Kabuto nodded in assumed understanding, "So you want revenge?"

At that, Naruto let out an uncertain groan, scratching his head as he considered the question, "I don't know. Maybe? It's more like I want answers, and it's not like there's anywhere else I can get 'em from."

"-That's why we're heading for the source," Tenten said, picking back up where Naruto had left off, "Or at least where we think the source is."

This was for personal reasons. It had nothing to do with Naruto's father and his aims. It was purely a Naruto-thing, "And if this person isn't there?" Kabuto asked.

Both Naruto and Tenten shrugged as though it weren't a big deal, "Wouldn't be the first time we ran out to the ass end of nowhere and came up empty-handed."

That wasn't exactly the sort of thing a reasonable person wanted to hear when they were told they were headed to Mizu no Kuni, "Well that's just wonderful," Kabuto muttered, keeping it to himself.

XxX

(Yu no Kuni – Unnamed Allied Shinobi Village)

In the spirit of overseeing the early stages of the allied village plan that was his dream, for the first time in a long time, Namikaze Minato had to do something that he hadn't ever had the opportunity to do – stay in one place for an extended period.

...He hated it.

At heart, the man was an adventurer, an explorer. He went places people like him weren't supposed to go, interacted with people that someone like him shouldn't have gotten to speak with. It was dangerous, sure, but he loved it.

Never having had a permanent base of operations, he didn't know what it was like to have to remain somewhere. If he had wanted to go somewhere, he could. Granted, that was still well within his power. He had left many Hiraishin markings all over the Elemental Nations. If he really wanted to step out and go somewhere for a bit, he could. But he was in charge. What would it say if the person at the head of the idea to combine and form a home didn't even want to stay there?

Fortunately, there was plenty to keep him busy. Keeping an eye out for anymore enemies after the attack of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, greeting the groups that came to join up, and discussing land placements for the clans that turned up to take part. Already, there were problems with the separate factions all amassed nearby.

This was going to be the hard part, the true test of his dream and whether or not it had legs. Somehow, he had to find a way to bring all of these different people with different goals and ideals together in order to work for the betterment of them all. It would require a lot of sacrifice from them all. But just what could they be convinced to give up for the would-be greater good.

During a break in-between one of the many appointments he had set up to meet with members of the village, Minato sat on the roof of a building near the marketplace. Instead of taking note of the bustle that came with all of the brand new denizens of a shinobi nature, he held a Hiraishin kunai in his hand, staring at it intently.

'I could leave for like an hour or two,' Minato thought to himself, the desire to knock off for a few hours and do something active growing inside of him, 'We've got some missions backed up. I'm sure I could knock at least one out before the day is over. They wouldn't miss me that much, would they?'

"I swear, if you teleport out of here while there's work to do, I will have your ass whenever you get back."

Minato stashed away his signature weapon, dropping down to come face-to-face with his wife, "Hey there, honey!" He greeted her, getting a skeptical smile and a raised brow in return, "I was just... thinking."

"Uh-huh," Kushina deadpanned, "Thinking about bolting out of here."

The accusations from her eventually drew the truth out of Minato. He had never been great at hiding things from her under any kind of pressure, "You know, Naruto could be here doing this, and I could run a few more missions while the getting is good. You could do this yourself too," He said, "Never too much money for the village to use, right?"

"We've barely put a dent into the money Kakashi and Naruto got us from Kakuzu's money pit years ago," Kushina said, not having any of his reasoning, "I can also go on whatever mission you say you can go do. If you go on a mission, it's just to keep from getting stir crazy."

"Kushina, I'm not even 40 yet. I've still got tons of energy to burn."

"Careful now. Last time you said something like that, we ended up with Kanako," Kushina jibed, getting a lecherous chuckle out of the Yellow Flash. Kushina didn't budge however, and pointed sternly at the love of her life, "And you are not pawning leadership duties off onto Naruto. He did enough covering for you while we searched for his cure. It's time he does some things for himself. He's been fighting for you, doing everything you need done for the alliance. He's a boy, not a machine."

"I know. But aren't you worried? You know where he's going. Not exactly a cakewalk for anyone, even him."

Kushina nodded, but otherwise looked unfazed at the thought of Naruto gallivanting off to the most dangerous country in the Elemental Nations, "Of course I am, but he's my son," She said, as if that were that, "I trained him. You trained him. Jiraiya trained him. There's a lot of unknowns out there, but we've prepared him as well as anyone possibly could have."

Minato grinned and wrapped his arms around his confident wife from behind, setting his chin on her red hair, "It's great now that you're so positive. But you weren't saying that back when he was sick."

Kushina crossed her arms and glared over her shoulder at her husband. It was almost enough to make him let go, "That was different. He can fight anything in Mizu no Kuni and probably win. Last time I checked, you can't punch the plague in the face."

Minato let out a hum and placed kiss on top of Kushina's head, "Whatever you say, dear," He said before sighing in resignation, "I guess I have to go be responsible today. Sometimes I think Kakashi had the right idea trying to stay as a grunt."

That brought up another matter that Kushina hadn't had an opportunity to talk about., "About Kakashi," She began, "Back in Sora-ku, he got kind of weird when the whole medic thing came up."

The frivolity between husband and wife quickly took a bit of a turn at that point.

"You don't want to open that door," Minato said, immediately shutting her down, "It's not my place to tell you what his deal is. But I'm not sure he'll ever tell anyone. It's a dead issue after all. No pun intended."

XxX

Hatake Kakashi was a man that preferred to stay busy. It was one of the things that made him the number one foot soldier for Namikaze Minato and his shinobi alliance. They all had their roles. Minato and Kushina headed things up at the top. Jiraiya did things from the shadows, dealing with the problems that could be resolved before things got out into the open. Naruto and the crews he kept with him dealt with missions for money and positive outreach... as much as possible, of course.

Kakashi on the other hand, did a lot of the bitter work that came with being the outlier on ninja society that their organization was. He was good at it, and he preferred handling as much of that load as he could without leaving it to other people. When Minato dispatched him on missions, he preferred to work alone.

He didn't always get what he wanted though. Sometimes, he did have to work with others, even if he didn't necessarily play well with them. He tried to keep those numbers down as much as possible.

"Alright! What exotic part of the world are we leaving our blood all over this time?"

That was why when Minato told him it was best to refrain from traveling alone for the time being, he decided to go with Anko.

"Jiraiya-sama and I have been following leads ever since the Twelve Guardian Ninja attacked us," Kakashi informed her, "We've been trying to determine who sent them after us."

Anko gave him an odd look as she walked alongside him, hands shoved into the pockets of her trench coat, "Uh... I'm just gonna go ahead and guess the Fire Daimyo."

Correct, and yet not quite. There was more to it than that, "He wouldn't have made that sort of decision on his own. It's common knowledge that shinobi stay out of the Fire Daimyo's way whenever possible," Kakashi divulged, "He is a very good client."

The man had lots of territory under his command. Lots of land. Lots of money. He could afford his own standing army, as well as mercenary shinobi to come in and take care of more delicate problems. Then there was the Twelve Guardian Ninja for his heavy-hitting needs.

Well, there had been the Twelve Guardian Ninja. There were probably only one or two left at this point.

Anko took in what Kakashi had to say before she started to make her own conclusions, "So we're not going after the guy because he has oodles of cash, and tons of guys to throw at us."

That was part of the reason, yes. And it wasn't a bad reason to have, "We're in no position to fight a war. That's what we're trying to put an end to in the first place, remember?" Kakashi reminded her.

Anko rolled her eyes. Yes, yes, she knew about Minato's whole ideal to try and change the world for the better, "What if the guy decides to send a hit squad after our main base again?"

A concern, to be sure, but not the root of the problem as they knew it, "According to Jiraiya-sama's spies, the Fire Daimyo is a fickle man. His attention wavers fairly easily," Kakashi told her, "But there's a newcomer in his court. A mysterious man."

Anko's eyes widened, finding a new interest in her de facto briefing, "Ooh, intriguing. So we're killing that guy?"

She was a scout and an assassin by trade, possessing a cavalier attitude about the actions that came with her job. At least she was efficient, Kakashi figured, "If we can. For now, we need to find out more about him."

"What do we know about him in the first place?" Anko asked, desiring details on their would-be target.

Kakashi gave her what he could. He only wished they had more available at the moment, "All we have is his name – Danzo, and what he looks like. Other than that, nothing."

Anko threw her hands up into the air, "So next to nothing? Fantastic. I don't know why I expected this to be easy."

"I don't do easy," Kakashi deadpanned. In return, he received a middle finger from the purple-haired specialist with him, "You could always head back. This is why I don't like bringing other people along on missions like this. Why do you think I keep Naruto away from working with me?"

Oh, Naruto had been on more than a few missions with Kakashi. These had been encouraged by Jiraiya to make sure his training was paying off, and he had performed admirably. As evidence, these were the days when Naruto had first received the 'Red Scar' nickname. There had been a good reason for that.

…As Kakashi said, he didn't do easy missions.

A predatory grin crossed Anko's face as she got into Kakashi's personal space, staring up into his masked visage, "Oh, so you call shipping him off to Mizu no Kuni to chase phantoms an easy detail?" She said, "You know the kid's hard-up for revenge. Why'd you go and send him off like that, Scarecrow?"

Kakashi reached out and swept her out of the way with his entire arm to clear space, "Naruto is a lot more level-headed than most people give him credit for, his parents included," He'd spent enough time with the boy over the years to know as much.

Anko continued needling her temporary partner, trying to get him to show some life, "Ooh, the loyal dog is speaking up against his master? Sexy."

Kakashi didn't rise to Anko's teasing. He had been around her far too long for something like that to faze him, "Just because I follow Minato-sama's doctrine and work for him doesn't mean I agree with everything that he says or does," He said with a chuckle, "I do have my own thoughts and opinions. I wouldn't be very good at my job if I didn't."

"You'd be a whole lot less interesting too," Before they could go on any further, Anko moved in front of him, preventing him from ignoring her, "You know, I don't get you yet. I've been trying to figure you out for years and I don't think I'm any closer than I was the day we met."

"You should probably stop trying then," Kakashi suggested, trying to avoid the fact that she was inching nearer and nearer to him every second, "There are reasons for everything, including why I don't feel like getting cozy with anyone. I'm a bad choice for that in the first place."

Anko set a hand on his chest and stopped him from proceeding. All of a sudden, the joking and flirting was a thing of the past, "But you totally get me. Better than anyone else ever has, actually."

She was an intense young woman, and she had issues, but it was nothing that put Kakashi off. He had seen real psychopaths and terrible people. Anko was just a product of the environment that nurtured her, much like him. They were good friends and got along extremely well. But that was all. They were friends, and Kakashi had never sought anything more, even knowing that Anko fancied him.

Despite his usual callous, often scathing and sarcastic means of expressing himself, it actually hurt Kakashi to shoot her down, "Anko... this isn't a good idea."

Anko was nothing, if not persistent, waving off Kakashi's attempt at dismissal, "I don't have a lot of those. But I know when I want something, and for some godawful reason, I want you," An attempt to reach up and touch his face was stopped by his iron grip. She waved her hand in his face, "Come on, Scarecrow. It's not like I'm not asking you to put a ring on my finger or anything. I know you like me."

Kakashi raised his single visible eyebrow in return, "I don't dislike you as much as I do other people, no," He specified.

"See?" Anko said with a big grin that quickly mellowed to a more reserved smile, "Come on, big guy. What's the deal? I don't bite. Well, I guess I do, but never anything important."

It was a joke, but Kakashi wasn't in the mood to joke or play around about this, "Everyone I've ever cared about has died in front of me," He bluntly stated, "So my solution? Just don't care about anyone else. Ever."

The complete lack of empathy from Anko was almost startling, "Bullshit. I don't believe that. You care about those kids, Naruto and Tenten. You care about them the way I do about Fuu, despite yourself, I know."

This, Kakashi could quantify for the sake of his own point, "Naruto was my mission. I had to protect him for Minato-sama and Kushina-sama's sakes. Now I don't. It's that simple."

Anko stared a hole through Kakashi with her brown eyes, before letting the matter drop, "Hm. Have it your way. I'm more patient than I look."

Kakashi watched her head off in the direction they had been going. He seriously doubted that this would be the end of their little conversation, because Anko was just as persistent as she looked, fortunately or unfortunately. She would just choose a different moment to bring it up next time, and it would likely be sooner rather than later, seeing as how they were working together for the time being.

The man sighed behind his facemask and shook his head before getting his mind back into the game, "...And this is why I don't like working with other people..."

XxX

(With Naruto – East Elemental Sea)

Naruto and Tenten were at their best when they were landlocked. Tenten's weapon style had been developed the way it had because her home village was in an area of plains with few forests. If she could see a target, she could hit it. Naruto, on the other hand, he grew up and trained in a forest. That wasn't to say that he was terrible on water. His home was an island. He had been on plenty of ships and knew his way around them.

Kabuto, to their knowledge, had never been on a ship. His entire life had been spent on solid land, situated deep within Hi no Kuni. Not exactly the most oceanic place in the world. The closest he'd been to the high seas was the occasional venture to a port town.

So not too long after setting foot on the large fishing vessel that would take them to Mizu no Kuni, he was stricken with an acute case of seasickness. It was almost funny that the medic was the one among them that had grown ill. It wasn't though, because Tenten had been the same at one point in time.

Kabuto pathetically hugged a crate near the center of the ship, quietly moaning pitifully. Every so often, Tenten would stride over to him to sit for a moment and try to make him feel better, "Sorry. The eastern sea is choppier than the south. But, I've got crackers and water."

"I can't eat anything right now," Kabuto complained, stomach churning. He wanted to hang out near the edge of the ship for easy access to vomit, but the others had insisted on staying as close to the center of the ship as possible, "Urp... this is awful."

Tenten rubbed his back in an effort to try and soothe him, "You should try. If you don't have anything, it'll just be that much worse. Trust me."

Kabuto knew this already. He was a medical professional. That being said, the human mind didn't work in that way. He felt that anything going down would just come right back up again, and a deep knowledge of how the human body worked did little to change that.

"I'll be fine," Kabuto said, trying to be tough and put on a brave face, "This is nothing. I'll be fine as soon as I get back on solid ground. How far are we from port?"

His hopes were quickly dashed by Kaiza, "Hah! We're still a day and a half out from shore!" The man in charge of the ship said, much to Kabuto's chagrin, "Uh… I mean, that time will probably fly right by."

"Nice try," Tenten remarked with a grin as Kaiza sheepishly backed away, "Kaiza's a fisherman, but he's a brave man," She conversed with Kabuto to take his mind off of his illness, "His crew is full of good people too."

Kabuto looked around at the crew full of conventional sailors. They were all healthy and in good shape, but warriors they clearly were not, "Won't us being here cause trouble for them?" There weren't even any weapons on the ship, sans the ones Naruto, Tenten, and Kabuto had on their persons.

Kaiza let out another good-natured laugh, "Don't you kids worry. There shouldn't be any real trouble," He said, "I travel these lanes a lot. We see some clan ships out on patrol sometimes, but we're just a podunk fishing vessel. We don't trade with clans, and we don't have anything worth taking."

Another crew member paused in his work on deck to crack a joke, "-Unless you ninja types are really hard-up for fish these days!" He got a round of laughs from his crewmates for his troubles.

It wasn't that funny, but the cheerful atmosphere made Tenten smile. It was a bright day, and had been an extraordinarily peaceful trip so far. Much more peaceful than what they had been dealing with lately. It wasn't likely to last.

Conspicuous by his absence was Naruto, but it didn't take very long to find him. There weren't a lot of people in the world with hair that was quite his shape and color. She found him standing up on a vantage point between the ship's sails, looking out at the ocean.

Tenten shook her head at the sight of him. Of course, he would be up at the highest place he could reach, just because. Instead of calling out to him, she climbed her way up to stand with him, "What are you doing all the way up here, you weirdo?"

She didn't get a response at first. His focus was set on something else that not even her presence could disturb.

Following Naruto's gaze, Tenten noticed what had caught his attention. A ship heading their way. It was still quite some ways off, but there wasn't anyone onboard that had better vision than her. If Naruto could see something that had caught his eye, there was no question that she would as well.

"Naruto? What is it?" She asked, standing next to him to try and get the view he was getting. It only took a matter of seconds for her to pick up on it, "Wait, that sail has a..." The same symbol that used to be on a lot of Naruto's clothes and gear. The Uzumaki Clan symbol, "...Oh, no."

Before she could even turn to reassure him, Naruto hit her with a big wide grin, "It's fine," He said, getting a frown out of her. She knew better than to buy that expression straight off, "Tenten, it'll be okay, alright?"

It wasn't okay. They were in a fishing ship. They couldn't outrun an Uzumaki Clan vessel. Those things were made to intercept any ship put at sea, "But they-."

"They won't do anything," Naruto said, rubbing his best friend's shoulder, "They don't like me, but they won't start a fight unless they know they can take me down."

Tenten's heart sank for Naruto. He was persona non-grata as far as his clan was concerned. He had always been the black sheep for various reasons, and those reasons had only grown more numerous as time passed. He didn't want to fight his clansmen, but if they pushed the issue, he would crack as many skulls as he needed to resolve things. Hopefully things wouldn't progress that far.

From below, they heard Kaiza hitting on the mast to get their attention before he yelled up to them, "Kids, that Uzumaki Clan ship is moving up fast. We've got to slow up and let them board. We can't fight 'em."

Both Tenten and Naruto jumped down to speak with the captain, "We wouldn't expect you to," The kunoichi of the group said, "Do you want us to hide?"

Naruto shook his head before an answer could be given, "I don't think it matters," He said to Tenten before talking to the captain, "Kaiza, didn't you say you take this way all the time? And no one ever bothers you?"

"Yeah, unless there's trouble they're keeping an eye out for, the Uzumaki don't really mess with me. We've offloaded some of our catches with 'em sometimes. They pay well. I've never had any problems."

With as many times as Kaiza apparently traveled there, they would know his ship, and there wasn't exactly a lot of room for the man to smuggle war materials or a dangerous force anywhere near Uzu no Kuni. Even if he could, the Uzumaki Clan wasn't at war with anyone in particular.

Naruto shut his eyes and breathed deeply out of his nose, "They know we're here," He concluded, "Hiding won't matter. Hiding would actually make things worse for Kaiza."

"He's going to catch hell for transporting us in the first place," Tenten rebutted, hands on her hips.

Naruto didn't agree, "No, he won't. He's not a ninja. He lives his life on the water, not dealing with shinobi world bullshit. He doesn't know what's my deal is with them," The way the Uzumaki Clan treated him aside, they wouldn't do anything to an upstanding merchant just because he gave him passage on his ship. At least he hoped not.

He recoiled in pain when Tenten slugged him in the arm, "Our deal, you ass. Your problems are my problems. So what do we do?"

Naruto took a moment to mull it over before shrugging to himself and hopping onto the railing on the side of the ship, "I'm just gonna see what they want."

"They want to kill you," Tenten pointed out with a raised brow.

The weapons lady had a point, but Naruto also had one, "Well... we've got a medic," He said, pointing to the seasick Kabuto before jumping off onto the surface of the water.

Tenten took a look back at Kabuto who was still fighting a losing war with his stomach. She rolled her eyes before following suit, "That doesn't mean we have to use him."

If he was going to march straight into the face of hostile forces, he wouldn't be doing it alone. Not on her watch.

XxX

A ship full of Uzumaki Clan naval shinobi watched in awe and anger as two lone shinobi marched from a stationary ship that they had been trying to catch up to for hours. Anger and awe at Uzumaki Naruto.

He had been one of them at one time. Him and his mother. Instead, he had become a ticking time bomb amongst them, and his mother had betrayed her good friend, their benevolent leader, for the sake of her anarchist of a lover.

"Who does he think he is?" One of them muttered, chomping at the bit to take Naruto down a peg as he and Tenten strode their way across the surface of the water, "Marching over here like some kind of badass. We can take him out right now."

"Do not engage," The officer in charge demanded, "He isn't attacking, so we won't prompt him to."

Younger, more exuberant members of the crew, closer to Naruto's age didn't like this idea whatsoever, "But we can handle him! He's not that tough!"

The ones closer to his age remembered what he was like back when he lived with them. He had been the pariah; the odd man out. None of them played with him or trained with him, so he never seemed very strong. After he had up and fled the island years ago, it was hard to reconcile that child with what he had become in the interim.

The young could be remarkably foolhardy, and young Uzumaki Clan ninja were most of the population that served on their ships. It was their version of border patrol. Fortunately, there were older individuals onboard that could rein them in, namely the captain.

The lead rabblerouser was grabbed by the collar and thrown back across the deck, sliding on his backside until he hit the mast. He looked up at his livid superior who glared down at him, "I'm not letting anyone under my command get killed doing something so stupid! Do you honestly think any of you can stand up to him?"

Another older Uzumaki Clan member shook his head as he gazed sternly at the younger ilk. Many of them were no older than sixteen. Some were as young as thirteen. What did they know? Nothing.

"How many battles have you all seen, really?" He asked rhetorically, "Survive a campaign or two on the mainland and come back to Uzu no Kuni. Maybe then you'll have a better perspective of what things are like, and the kind of person it takes to survive out there."

The Uzumaki Clan was lucky. They were geographically isolated from the problems of the rest of the world, and their leader was easily powerful enough all on his own to deter anyone looking to try and exploit them regardless. However, this led a lot of their younger generations of ninja to be spoiled. The next step for the youngsters doing patrols on ships however was to take missions on the mainland on their own. That would truly separate the wheat from the chaff.

Until then, they were a bunch of raw prospects. Young, dumb, and full of... you know. They thought they were ready for real action. They thought they wanted real action. When they finally got it, if they survived it they would long for the days of boring border patrols on the island and at sea.

"I don't know if he lived this long out there because he's a jinchuuriki, or if he did it on his own strength. Either way, that definitely means he's stronger than all of you," The captain said, "If anyone takes him on, it won't be you lot."

And with that, they let Naruto advance to the ship the rest of the way without trying to subdue him. He and Tenten walked onto the deck with no resistance whatsoever. Both boy and girl stood back to back as a semi-circle of seafaring shinobi surrounded them.

Naruto scanned the crowd for faces he remembered. It had been a long time since he had been so close to any of his former clan members. He tried to avoid them whenever he could because his parents told him so. It normally wasn't a problem, seeing as how they kept to the seas around their home. Seas that he thought he had gotten Kaiza to sail out of range of.

There was a tense silence between the two sides. Naruto could feel behind him how tense Tenten was. She was just waiting for an excuse to start beating people down. She had always taken it hard how he had been treated by what was supposed to have been family, sometimes even worse than he did.

On the side facing the ocean, out of sight of the others, he reached behind himself and gave her hand a quick squeeze, prompting her to relax a bit.

With that done, Naruto tried to break the ice with a smile, "Hey there everybody! Anyone remember me?"

A misstep, as his smiling was more infuriating than comforting. One of the younger clan members stepped forward brazenly, "Are you out of your mind? You're going to walk over here like we won't kill you?"

Naruto looked around at the amassed force of Uzumaki Clan shinobi, keeping his posture strong and straight, "You haven't yet," He said, "So you did know I was here. I didn't think we'd made any trouble on our way to the coast."

Tenten shook her head, "We didn't. You really were on your best behavior. I was proud of you," She said with a cheeky smile. If Naruto was going to try and be professional, she would be the one throwing rocks at the beehive, just to show how secure she felt in being there by herself with 'Red Scar', "Not one fight or anything. Very peaceful. That doesn't happen a lot."

Naruto went along with Tenten's casual tone of conversation, "It really doesn't. It makes it hard to go on vacations and stuff. I haven't had any real time off in forever."

Tenten made a show of pouting, "That's right. You never take me anywhere anymore, Naruto," It took a moment for her words to sink in. A shiver went down her spine, "...Wow, that really made it sound like we were dating, didn't it?"

Even Naruto had to shoot her an uncomfortable look over his shoulder, "It was kinda weird. Don't ever say something like that again, would you?"

"Enough," The banter between the two friends was interrupted by the Uzumaki Clan captain, "You don't need to know how we found you, 'Red Scar'."

Naruto frowned at the older man. In another life, he might have served on the man's ship like so many of the kids there, "You can use my name, you know."

The captain shrugged his shoulders in response, "Whatever you wish, Namikaze."

Tenten felt anger at the intentional slight against Naruto. It was completely a transparent insult. He had never gone by his father's surname, "That's not his name."

No one on the other side budged on the matter, "He isn't one of us anymore, so we won't call him an Uzumaki. And he isn't a friend or an ally, so we won't use his given name either," An older Uzumaki Clan member said, "He's either Red Scar, or he's Namikaze. Those are his options."

Naruto clenched his fists, but let his anger pass moments later. The matter of his family name wasn't a hill worth dying on. Not when they didn't even want him. He knew who he was and where he had come from. That was what mattered the most.

"What do you want? I'm not anywhere near Uzu," They – i.e. Tenten – had made it a point to make sure Kaiza would keep a wide berth from the Uzumaki-held island, and the last time they checked, the clan hadn't made any territorial grabs to expand that would change the sea lanes, "Don't tell me this is a hunter team, because that would be... wow."

There were lots of babyfaced recruits that bristled at what could have been perceived as an insult. Naruto hadn't meant it as one, but that didn't stop them from perceiving it as one... or Tenten from smirking because of it.

Before tensions could rise again, a girl pushed her way through the crew and into Naruto's direct line of sight. When Naruto first saw her, it took him a moment to put her current face with her old one. Not long though, "Oh. I guess I figured out how you found me here across the whole goddamn ocean," He said, sounding dejected, "Hey, Karin."

Karin still had her hair that was unkempt on one side, as well as her glasses. Her outfit consisted of a long-sleeved lavender blouse that exposed her navel despite the belt around her stomach, little black shorts, and long black thigh-high stockings with black sandals. She didn't look that much different than she used to. Just a lot more grown up.

She moved over to the shinobi in charge of the vessel and pulled him aside momentarily, "Captain, I want to talk to him."

The captain's eyes bugged out. He looked back and forth between Naruto and Karin, "Talk to him? We weren't even supposed to approach him," The task they had undertaken to locate Naruto was merely to observe and report. Only a select few had clearance to engage him in any way, "We were to verify that your were sensing him correctly, confirm that he was in these waters, and that was all."

Karin knew this. After all, she was the one that had guided them to him in the first place, "But we're here now. He's here now," She tried to reason, "He's not going to do anything. And even if he did, who's going to stop him? Any of us? Not likely."

Tenten took the opportunity of discussion between Karin and the captain to get some answers from Naruto, "Who is this supposed to be?" She whispered.

That young woman was their age. The same age as most of the rest of the crew that were either scared of Naruto or overeager to engage him in battle. Yet she seemed to be strong-willed; more certain of herself than even the officers onboard.

Naruto kept his eyes on the conversation Karin was having with the captain as he answered, "She's my cousin."

That was almost enough of an answer to satisfy Tenten, until she realized just how little it really explained, "Everyone here is technically your cousin somehow, aren't they?"

Naruto couldn't help but grin at the very factual statement, calling him on his b.s., "This is the cousin that used to pick on me," He replied. Tenten raised an eyebrow and silently gestured to the redhead with glasses that they were referring to, and then back to him. How she could have ever bullied him in any way was beyond her. Naruto's cheeks turned red, "...I used to be the runt, okay? And I wasn't really in a position to fight back at the time."

Excuses, but she would let it slide for now, "Alright, alright," Tenten backed off, a thought in mind that there was a time and a place for everything, "I'm so gonna mess with you about this later. Just be ready for that. For now though, gotta make you look strong."

Speaking of things that made him look strong, it was that moment where the Nine-Tailed Fox took the opportunity to make his presence known to Naruto, "What do you mean 'used to be the runt'? You're still a runt as far as I'm concerned."

Naruto's body quivered with the surprise at hearing Kurama's voice in his head, 'S-Seriously? You've been silent for like a week, and you wake up now? Take your ass back to sleep!'

Kurama considered the request for a moment. The happenings of humans only mattered to him in the slightest when they involved his jinchuuriki, "No, I don't think I will. It looks like you're a hair's breadth away from stepping into some shit. I want to watch this."

'You're not gonna help?'

"Meh."

'You suck,' Naruto thought to himself with finality, ceasing the conversation with the creature sealed inside of him. By then, the conversation between Karin and the ship's captain seemed to be wrapping up.

"Ten minutes. That's all you have, then he's off the ship," The man declared, before giving instructions to the other members of the crew, "Signal to the fishing vessel to remain where it is. Keep an eye on Red Scar and the girl."

And with that, Karin was left alone with Naruto and Tenten. As alone as they could be as two suspicious characters on a military ship.

It had been over four years since Naruto and Karin had stood face-to-face with each other. Unfortunately, they didn't have much to say to each other. They hadn't ever been particularly close.

Noticing the awkward atmosphere between them, Tenten cleared her throat and spoke first, "How'd you get the captain to agree to this?"

Karin turned to look at the girl she didn't know. They must have trusted each other for her to walk with him in the open right up to their ship, "Naruto is my first cousin," She said, "I just had to convince him that he wouldn't do anything here that would actually hurt me. Right?"

Naruto stared her down for several seconds before saying anything, "...Right. I totally wouldn't."

Karin took a nervous step back, "I don't like how long it took you to answer that," The strong, confident figure from before slowly started to realize just who she was standing in front of.

This wasn't the same little boy she used to know. Not even close. He'd seen and done too much. More than she had, that much was certain. She was useful, with her special abilities, so she saw action more than most others her age. Still, it paled in comparison to what Naruto had experienced.

He looked more powerful. And that was before she ever even tried to take a look at his chakra. Up close, it was intimidating to see. He could crush her if he wanted to, easily. He could crush everyone on the ship. Only the veterans would have a chance to survive against him, and that chance was slim-to-none.

She really hoped that he was as nice as he used to be, and that this wasn't a mistake.

Her answer came soon enough, when Naruto finally spoke to her for real, "So; Mind's Eye of the Kagura, huh? I hate that jutsu," Despite the fact that it was more than likely that his own little sister was developing it for herself, "You sensing me out across the seas now?"

There was a measure of joking in his tone. It was enough to set Karin more at ease than before, "You need to give me more credit than that. I felt you coming back when you were on the mainland. What are you doing in these parts?"

Naruto shrugged, "Heading to Mizu no Kuni," Tenten smacked him on the arm, but he didn't care. They had nothing to hide. They weren't doing anything wrong, nor were they doing anything that would threaten the Uzumaki Clan, "I'm looking for something. Not that I'm expecting any of you to help since no one did the first time when I really needed someone to."

There were still hard feelings there. Then again, how could they not be? Things hadn't been forgotten by the Uzumaki Clan itself, so how could it have been forgotten by the person that had been affected the most?

How did one respond to that? There was nothing Karin could have said to smooth things out between them. Leaning on your cousin in public a bit because he was the odd duck of the clan was one thing. Turning your back on him entirely after he was outcast was another, "There was nothing anyone could have done, Naruto. It was Nagato-sama's orders. When I told him what I felt in you, it's because it scared me. I thought I was helping."

She had been ten years old. A child. No older than he had been, really. She hadn't known that telling Nagato what she had told him about Naruto's chakra would have led to him being marked for death... would have led to him having to flee for his life.

"Hm. Smart girl," Kurama rumbled from within Naruto's mind, "She's still scared of me. And she should be."

The thing was, she had done the right thing at first. The original seal that stuck Kurama into Naruto, the one that she had gotten the biggest feeling from, had made him a ticking time bomb. That gave Naruto little to no solace, however. It was hard to reconcile fact with any kind of reason when it affected him so badly and it hadn't been within his power to do anything.

There was just... so much anger inside of Naruto, and he had nowhere to place it. Not unless he wanted to take a run at Nagato and vent on his former village leader. It just burned in him, and there was nothing he could do with it. That was why he wanted to find the masked man. Everything bad that happened in Naruto's life as far as he knew more or less started with him. But it didn't with Karin.

"You know, for a long time I just wanted to go home," He said with a deep sigh, running a hand through his spiky locks, "But it doesn't matter anymore. There's no point. Even if everything got scrubbed away today, I could never go back. I don't think I ever really liked it there I the first place."

Uzu no Kuni was beautiful, and Naruto enjoyed the land itself. Other than that, he couldn't think of any reason he would have wanted to stay there. While life on the mainland had been difficult, he had experienced many things and met many people. He wouldn't have given any of that up for the world.

Karin visibly flinched at being told that he didn't like anything about their home, "Not at all? You didn't like anything? Not even me?"

"You weren't ever really nice to me."

"Right."

Tenten took the momentary pause that followed the exchange between the two cousins to cut in, "Will anyone hunt us while we're in Mizu no Kuni?"

For the first time in minutes of the conversation, Karin remembered that Tenten was also there, "I... don't think so," She said, "We're not equipped for that sort of thing, so it won't be us. And no one wants to set foot in that place. If anything, there might be hunters waiting for you to leave and head back."

Tenten raised an eyebrow at how forthcoming she was with this information, "Why are you telling us all of this? Won't this be a problem for you?" Didn't she want Naruto put down just as much as the rest of his clan?

Karin let out a small laugh, "Does it matter? Will hearing that make you turn back?" Naruto scoffed and shook his head in the negative, "Didn't think so. Whether you know it or not, it may happen and it may not."

After running into them there, chances were that Naruto and Tenten would be on their guard for the trip back to the mainland anyway. There had to be a reason that Naruto had lasted as long as he had with as many people wanting him dead as there were. Part of it might have been Tenten, as she seemed to be extremely protective of Naruto. From the moment they had set foot on the ship, she hadn't moved out of a position to protect Naruto's blindspot and keep an eye on every other member of the crew.

It was a shame that a girl who shared no blood relation with him whatsoever supported him more than an entire island full of people who did.

Karin's shoulders dropped. She walked over to the railing and peered over the side at the clear blue water, waves washing against the side of the ship, "I don't hate you, Naruto. I never did. It was just... I don't know," She waved her hand flippantly, as though she were letting her own thought fly away, "You two should probably go. It's almost been ten minutes."

Naruto looked over to where the captain had gone, still watching them like a hawk. Good for him. He would have loved to see just how the man was going to enforce his time limit on them, "You were going to say something," He said to his bespectacled relative, "Karin... we might not see each other again. You might as well just spit it out."

At first, she didn't respond. After a few seconds though, her fingertips began to drum off of the railing, and her body began to fidget. Naruto just stood back and waited for her to speak up. He wouldn't leave until she did. However, despite wanting her to spill her guts, he didn't expect what eventually came out of her mouth.

Unable to take it anymore, Karin wheeled around, a cursed look on her face, "I didn't know things were going to happen the way they did. I didn't want you to die, and I didn't want you to never come back! You or Auntie Kushina!" She exclaimed, startling Naruto, both at her message and the intensity behind it, "It all just happened so fast. One day you were there, and none of the kids knew what was going to happen to you, and the next you were gone. And Auntie wouldn't tell me anything for months! And then she was gone!"

By now, she had wrapped her arms around Naruto in a hug. It was one that he had not been prepared for in the slightest. Tenten had almost drawn a weapon and stabbed her until she realized there were no ill intentions in Karin's actions.

Uncertain of what to do, Naruto uncomfortably patted Karin on the back. By now, the entire ship's crew was looking at them oddly.

"I tracked you down out here because it was the first and best chance I had to talk to you or her again," Karin said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to do."

Naruto was stunned, "...We should probably go," He said, breaking contact with Karin, "Take care of yourself. We'll see each other again."

The way he and Tenten departed was unceremonious to say the least. They just left.

He didn't know if what he'd left Karin with was true or not. He had to say something. And he had no idea how to gracefully exit after that. The entire thing had been a difficult experience. A part of him felt like fighting them would have been easier than what he'd just dealt with. At least that would have been simple.

The return to Kaiza's fishing vessel was at least double-time quicker than they had left it.

Naruto didn't look back, even when Tenten did, looking between the Uzumaki Clan ship and her best friend, "That whole thing was awkward. From start to finish," She pointed out, "Wanna talk about it?"

"Hell no," Naruto immediately replied, "I want to go to Mizu, find the masked man, prove he exists, and beat his ass until I feel better about life," He finished, punching into his palm.

"Okay..." Tenten said, seemingly letting the issue drop... for all of ten seconds, "...You sure? I mean, the tension was so thick back there, I'm pretty sure a doujutsu kekkei genkai could make it out."

"I miss Shino," Naruto lamented, "He would have totally stopped talking by now," Tenten kicked a splash of water his way as a rebuttal.

On to Mizu no Kuni it was.

That's what I've got for you this time around. No action here, but it's a'coming, I guarantee it. All kinds of feudal-branded violence in a turbulent land, and beyond. What new things will be found? We shall see what comes of this.

Man, with the crap I've had to handle today, posting this was really therapeutic. It's been a hell of a way to start the week to say the least...

Now if you'll excuse me, I must be off to go and do Kenchi things. This was just a reprieve I'm not done with life's rigmarole just yet. Goddamn Mondays. I hope you enjoyed.

Kenchi out.