A/N: Heh. Sorry for the wait.

Trying out a new format - link to last chapter's review replies is in my profile.

This chapter's dedicated to you people (reviewers, tumblr anons, MythologyGirl, demonwolfkid, and my freaking amazing beta Bonnie) for encouraging/guilt tripping me into pumping this out.

Recap of sorts:

During the massacre, Kazuki dropped a drug that Kabuto discovers, modifies, and tests on Itachi (who notifies Hiruzen) and, most recently, Mizuki.

Conversing with Itachi following the massacre, Hiruzen realizes Danzo's interference was larger than expected and asks Shikaku to investigate the extent of the councilman's influence under the pretense of searching for Danzo's potential successor. Discrepancies in the final report of the massacre had led Shikaku to Kazuki, who confides some 'future' knowledge and the suspicion of Danzo's involvement in the massacre. Despite precautions, Danzo becomes aware of Shikaku's investigations.

Irritated by Hiruzen's reprimands and education reforms following the massacre, Danzou attempts to damage the Hokage's reputation through sabotaging the Academy; uncovering Tori's loyalty to Orochimaru, Danzo coerces the man to blackmail Mizuki under Orochimaru's name. Because Mizuki hadn't revealed himself as a crap teacher through the theft of the Forbidden Scroll, Danzou attempts to apply further pressure by killing Tori and Mizuki's girlfriend. Annoyed at the loss of Tori, Orochimaru interferes, and reveals that Mizuki had only ever worked for Danzo. (…and yes, Naruto doesn't know about Kyuubi).

Chapter Sixteen

Liars and Dreamers and Harlequin Giggles

"We've finished the grade reports; everything's done and the others are fine with you taking a few weeks, so just … focus on yourself, okay?"

Hisomeru Mizuki remained silent as he stared at the droplet-speckled window. He pretended to miss Iruka's aborted reach for his shoulder in the window's reflection.

Focus on himself? Was that the best Iruka could come up with?

He'd been found nonresponsive next to Tsubaki's dead body, and though he'd long since judged much of Konoha's personnel to be incompetent, there was no way they could have mistaken his fugue state for natural shock.

No doubt his story had already been brought into question. Why would the kunoichi's boyfriend be poisoned at the scene of a suicide? An investigation into Tsubaki's death and his own background was most likely already underway. No doubt they'd already discovered Tori's death. With that man as his sponsor and the suspicious circumstances surrounding his own incapacitated state, it was unlikely that connections were already being drawn between his case and Tori's.

The only question left was whether or not they knew about Danzo.

He curled the fingers of his left hand into a fist and watched as the puddles dotting the concrete walkway shuddered at the sky's tantrum.

"It's... ok to cry, Mizuki."

He resisted the urge to clench his jaw, to laugh and snarl and roll his eyes. Instead, he released a short breath, "That's not exactly what we teach, is it."

He shifted his gaze back from the landscape to Iruka's reflection. The man was frowning at his flat tone, wearing his thoughts on his face like always.

He swallowed with difficulty. How was it that this... clumsy… fool of a shinobi was standing untouched behind him?

"Maybe we should change that."

Such a quiet voice. As if that could mask the sickeningly preaching attitude. As if that could change the fact that for all of his pride in his own skills in artifice, he'd been the one who had been played for a fool and left to drool on the floor as something to pity.

He watched a small droplet land just the slightest bit too close to a larger droplet on the window. Its edges quivered before being engulfed by the larger droplet. Now, much too heavy to hold its previous position, the water droplet slid down, crashing into other droplets and making its way down the window with ever increasing speed.

Iruka coughed.

Mizuki let out a louder, more forceful sigh. Why couldn't the man take a hint? Closing his eyes, he forced himself to relax his hands.

There was a light shuffle of steps as Iruka, finally, retreated, "If you want to talk, I'm always available. Anytime."

Mizuki exhaled slowly through his nose. At the sound of the door sliding open, he opened his eyes and tilted his head to the side, "Iruka."

The footsteps stopped.

There was no sense in pointlessly alienating allies.

He tilted his head further back and drew the corners of his lips back as he met his former teammate's concerned wide-eyed gaze, "Thank you."

He held his smile in place as he watched one bloom in response on Iruka's face.

"Not at all."

He held still as Iruka openly gave him another once-over. Though Iruka's brows were once again drawn in with a familiar fretful nature, by the lowered slant of the chuunin's shoulders, his attempt at reassurance had been successful.

Now if everything else could be as simple.

He widened his smile, and as he predicted, Iruka mirrored his smile. The instructor gave him a quick nod before sliding the door shut.

Mizuki felt his cheek muscles twitch and tremble. A breathless laugh escaped him as he spun around to lean his weight against the windowpane. Staring at his silhouette he couldn't help but shake with laughter and rage at the irony of his situation.

Because hadn't he rushed forward, bitter and enraged at how often he'd been passed by? Infuriated at how his work was always trivialized?

He slid down, exulting in the sounds of skin shrieking against glass.

He'd rushed forward, secretly delighted that the very sin of overlooking him would soon work in his favor, only to discover that he'd been a puppet all along – set to dance in predicted patterns and already forgotten.

Perhaps what burned the most, possibly even more than Tsubaki's death, was the fact that he would have been a happy puppet, ignorant of the strings, if Orochimaru's capricious nature hadn't struck – if Orochimaru's lackey hadn't elaborated.

Well, if the councilman wanted him to misbehave, he would just have to oblige the esteemed elder, wouldn't he?

-0-

Shikaku waited until the door closed behind him before speaking, "The poison in Hisomeru's blood matched Jiraiya's sample."

Hiruzen exhaled a stream of smoke and set his pipe on his desk, "And his sponsor, Hitsuno Tori, has been confirmed to have worked for Orochimaru?"

"It appears so."

Hiruzen paused, in the middle of lifting his pipe. But instead of commenting on the Jounin Commander's word choice, the elder simply resumed taking another long draw.

The sloppiness in the staging of Yuuko Tsubaki's suicide seemed atypical of Orochimaru. Together with the sponsor being poisoned by Orochimaru's signature poison from the Third Shinobi World War, it was as if Orochimaru wanted them to know of his machinations, that his reach extended to the village's most treasured children.

The situation seemed unnecessarily complicated, but then again every single one of the hokage's students had been known to be impulsive, and Orochimaru was definitely the worst when it came to dealing with his ennui.

"Ibiki thinks Mizuki was being coerced by Orochimaru."

Shikaku tilted his head forward, but maintained eye contact with the hokage and waited.

Clasping his hands together, Hiruzen rested both elbows on his desk and leaned forward, "He also reported that you requested a stay on pulling Hisomeru for interrogation."

Although the hokage's expression remained as neutral as when Shikaku had entered the room, Shikaku couldn't help but feel as if the man was waiting for something. He waited for an actual question to be stated, but when the village leader remained silent, he replied, "Yes."

A man of the Sandaime's age had to know what he was attempting. Perhaps the elderly man was waiting for Shikaku could confide in him, to tell him about the independent investigation into the massacre of an entire clan in addition to the sanctioned inquiry into the esteemed councilman.

But if Kazuki's suspicions were true, then the hokage would also know why Shikaku would never confide the entirety of his investigations, unless ordered – and of course that order would never come.

Plausible deniability was such a hassle from the other side.

Finally, the silence was broken by the hokage standing up, "You plan to accept his story and feed him false intel?"

Turning to face Hiruzen as he walked around his desk, Shikaku bowed his head again and answered, "Yes. This should help our plans for preoccupying Orochimaru."

"Jiraiya said that it was your suggestion to send a genin team to retrieve Tsunade."

Shikaku kept his stance relaxed as he absently wondered if this was the day the hokage would confront him about the interest he'd taken in the younger of the Uchiha twins. He'd kept his association with Kazuki out of the public's eye, but his efforts weren't so extensive that he could be accused of purposefully trying to conceal his activities from other shinobi.

He met Hiruzen's eyes, "Noone could say that she hasn't been missed."

A flicker of a wry smile twisted the old man's lips up, "If they succeed, her analysis of the poison would be appreciated, but I'm more concerned with your choice of teams."

Shikaku raised an eyebrow, "All three would be out of the village."

Letting out a breath, he instead, strode over to look out the window, "What you discovered, the missing bodies of the Uchiha and what Danzo…"

At this unexpected display of uncertainty, Shikaku frowned, "Do you want to withdraw our plans?"

Shikaku felt dread rise as the hokage remained silent. Just as he parted his lips, the old man shook his head.

"No. No, I- this must be done. I'll notify the jounin today; they'll leave tomorrow."

At those words, Shikaku released the breath he hadn't been aware he was holding and felt a moment of sympathy for his hokage. He couldn't imagine the emotional challenges behind plotting the assassination of a former teammate.

Hiruzen turned around, "No villager should be safer outside their own village. Have you chosen the jounin that will accompany the respective teams?"

"Yes, but with the upcoming Chuunin Exams, aberrant jounin assignments may be more noticeable."

Hiruzen nodded, "Do you need anything else?"

Shikaku shook his head and for a moment the room was silent. Finally Hiruzen gave him one last nod, before turning to face the window. As he left, he couldn't help but think that the shadows beneath the hokage's eyes were grew longer and darker with every passing day.

Then again, it wasn't like the shadows under his eyes were getting any fainter.

-0-

"Every object has a shadow."

He opened his eyes and peered against the sun through his fingers. Closing his eyes, he rolled onto his side and buried his face into the side of his mother's leg as she continued, "But only if there's light."

He remained silent, reveling in the feel of the breeze combing haphazardly through his hair and tugging playfully at his clothes.

"…Shikamaru, are you listening?"

Content, under the warmth of the sun, he nodded into soft cotton. This moment of calm was rare, he knew, and wouldn't come again.

She laughed, bemused.

He ducked his head further, feeling blades of grass tickle his cheek as fingers brushed through his hair. She continued, "Weren't you the one who requested these lessons?"

Unashamedly, he gave a soft protesting whine.

She let out a breath of amusement, pulling lightly at his hair in admonishment. He could almost see her smile beneath his eyelids and sighed contentedly.

"You know, Itachi didn't master his sharingan until he was a chuunin. What are you pushing yourself for?"

Itachi?

The weight of the sun's warmth, the scent of damp grass, and the steady strokes through his hair – this was right, wasn't it?

Tossing his unease aside, he burrowed his doubts deeper. Whatever it was, it could wait.

Her hand stopped, "Shikamaru?"

He scrunched his eyes tighter together as something stilled beneath his sternum. Don't say my name.

"Shikamaru...?"

Not that name.

Another quiet laugh. "Fine. Keep your secrets for now. But like I said, every object has a shadow – and every shadow has an object. Now what's the caveat?"

When had the warmth of the sun disappeared? He frowned, "Light."

The stroking continued, "Right, there has to be light. The brighter the light, the sharper the shadows. The sharper the shadows, the clearer the object."

The clearer the object, the sharper your sight. The sharper your sight, the more details you see –

His lips moved almost of their own volition, "…the more you control." It was all about visualization.

"Exactly." The pressure on his head moved down to rest between his shoulder blades.

"Shikamaru?"

"Hmm?"

The weight of her hand shifted to his shoulder, "Watch out for your brothers?"

Opening his eyes, he tried to lean back, but the hand kept him in place.

"Don't be too ambitious; keep an eye out for our family, alright?"

The fingers spread and pressed down around his shoulder, "Because the one thing you can count on, should be family, right?" By now the hold was almost painful, "Shikamaru?"

At his name – not his name – , Shikamaru flung a hand up and out, dislodging the hand from his shoulder and pushed himself back into a low crouch.

Mother?

But instead of Yoshino, it was Mikoto looking at him with a gentle smile on unnaturally red lips. The breeze was gone, but strands of her hair still danced across her face. She lowered her head briefly, as if she were ducking her head in gratitude– for her request?

She looked back up at him and widened her smile.

Breath quickening, he took a step back, stopping, when his vision seemed to warp. Suddenly, he was the one looking down.

He tensed as she parted her lips, "Blood will always tell."

"Kazuki."

Kazuki opened his eyes and took in a sharp breath.

"Kazuki."

Closing his eyes for a moment, he took in another breath before pushing himself up. He rubbed his eyes briefly, before looking up to see his twin standing at the foot of his bed, leaning against the side of the doorway.

His brother's face was mostly in shadow due to the light in the hallway, but the concerned wrinkle between his brows was still clearly evident, "Nightmare?"

Was it a nightmare?

Kazuki considered feigning ignorance, but the effort that would be required seemed beyond him. Pulling his legs up to his chest, he hugged his knees and dropped his head on his arms, "Yeah." He realized that his breathing was a little too controlled for Sasuke to leave, but instead of his usual barrage of inquiries, Sasuke changed the subject, "When do you guys leave?"

Startled, Kazuki lifted his head.

Shikaku had dropped enough hints for him to know that the man was concerned about the safety of sharingan users within Konoha, and that the mission his team had been assigned was likely linked to those concerns. It wouldn't surprise him if Sasuke's mission out of the village was similarly linked.

Maybe it was the dream or maybe it was the hour, but it was only then that he realized that this would be perhaps the first time that he and Sasuke would be so physically apart.

…look out for our family…

He could still feel where the heel of her palm had pressed against his shoulder blade – almost directly over his scar.

Realizing that he hadn't answered, he groaned and dropped his head back into his arms, "Sunrise. You?"

"Same."

"So noon."

Sasuke let out a breath of a laugh, "Probably."

Knowing that he wasn't going to fall back asleep anytime soon, Kazuki flipped back the covers and rolled off the bed. Plodding over to his chair, where he'd thrown his clothes, he was tugging off his shirt when Sasuke spoke again, "You've been staying pretty late at the Nara's."

He supposed it had been too much to hope that Naruto would be a sufficient distraction. Like it or not, Shikaku was his main source of information as well as reassurance that he was doing something right. But with each passing week and every completed mission, came the more and more pressing awareness of the looming Chuunin Exams and everything they represented – more specifically, everything that he had held back from Shikaku.

From what he recalled from his dreams, both Naruto and Sakura had been adamant that Sasuke only defected because of Orochimaru. And while he knew both assessments were biased, it wasn't too difficult to read between the lines of their stories to know that Kakashi had also held out hope for Sasuke.

There was also the fact that, this time around, Sasuke was family. He was a fussy overprotective brother with an inconvenient tendency to fixate, whose buttons Kazuki was much too familiar with for him to ever be that selfishly stoic avenger from what had never been.

There was no point in distracting Shikaku with the potential of Sasuke's defection (or the threat his twin could become against Konoha) – especially not if there was a chance Itachi could return.

And maybe that (desperate) hope was the reason he had that discomfiting dream. Maybe, it was time to shift his priorities.

Tossing the shirt onto the bed, he turned to his desk and shrugged noncommittally, "Still tweaking Yoshino-san's leg." He picked up his roll of bandages and closed his drawer. Collecting himself, he turned around to face his twin.

Sasuke stared back, but there was a hint of uncertainty and frustration in his face by the way he sucked his cheeks. He wasn't buying it.

Stalling, Kazuki switched pants and began binding his ankles. Whatever Shikaku was planning was coming to a head. From the comments the man had made, he half expected, half hoped that the threat posed by Orochimaru and Danzo would be resolved, if not stalled. But perhaps it was past time to admit that he had been avoiding the issue of making contingency plans of his own.

Without sufficient evidence and with the hokage under threat, there would be no way to secure a protective detail for his brother – at least not one that could stand up to the attentions of a sannin. Moreover, such a protective detail couldn't last indefinitely.

If Shikaku's plan failed, if his… mentor was out of the picture, then it looked like entering the Exams would be the best plan for shielding his brother from the attentions of Orochimaru, which meant a thousand more things –

things that would involve Sasuke remaining unsurprised by his skills.

Tying off the end of the bandage, Kazuki dropped his foot from the chair and stood, "Yoshino caught me trying some of their clan techniques last month."

Sasuke straightened.

Looking to his left, Kazuki fished out his headband from under his clothes and continued, "Apparently, they're secret techniques for safety reasons, so she's insisted on formal training."

Occupying himself with tying the headband onto his left arm, Kazuki watched Sasuke from the corner of his eye.

"Safety reasons?"

Kazuki straightened and purposefully gave Sasuke his widest smile, "I could have lost my mind?"

"KAZUKI!"

Buttons. His brother made it too easy.

-0-

Uchiha Itachi.

He wasn't anything like she had expected.

Konan stepped to the side, allowing two boys to dart pass. The day was still early; only vendors and beggars were out. Merchants were still setting up their wares, deftly avoiding the puddles that lined the street with long practice.

Murderous, yet polite, the boy had been eerily efficient for his age. She hadn't missed how Kisame's indulgent amusement had transformed into curious respect in under a month, nor how Itachi had shown no signs of injury – especially between the time Orochimaru had last appeared for a gathering and when the man had deserted.

Everyone knew the sannin had been interested in the Uchiha.

And despite the occasional 'breaks' in composure, when his bloodlust shown through, Konan couldn't help but suspect that even that was just a veneer – but whether it was a veneer over further insanity wasn't a question that had troubled her until recently, when the boy hadn't taken a mission far from Ame in over two years.

A strangled shriek drew a few stares as a girl across the street was shoved to the ground, but for the most part the passerby ignored the scene. Standing less than a meter away, with his back facing the girl, Itachi never so much as twitched. He had been staring motionless at what appeared to be wrapped onigiri.

Konan frowned, as the larger children ran off with the pastries the girl had been carrying. Survival of the fittest. By Kakuzu's calculations, they would have enough money to fend off the attentions of one Great Nation by the end of the month. The question now was whether that would be sufficient to launch their campaign; how many jinchuriki could they capture before the Great Nations stopped targeting each other to focus on them?

Her eyes were drawn back to the girl when the child abruptly straightened from where she was sprawled in the street. As a smaller boy scampered forth, the girl reached into her shirt to retrieve a flattened pastry.

Clever.

If only the Great Nations could also be so easily distracted with their own hubris.

Movement at the corner of her eye caught her attention once more, and she watched as the Uchiha bought a full set of onigiri that would normally be enough to feed a small family of three. Stepping out from under the awning of the makeshift stand, the boy then looked straight at her.

So he knew she'd been following him.

Before she could react, the boy moved off to one of the wooden tables on the side. Seeing that he'd made his awareness of her presence clear, she crossed the street.

He moved once more before she finished crossing the street so that, by the time she reached him, he was tossing away the bamboo leaves used to wrap the onigiri. The rest of his meal lay on the table, unguarded – an alluring sight to starving street kids.

Luckily for the girl and her companion, the most dangerous of the street kids had already moved away with their spoils; the two were already sitting at the adjacent table, eyeing the box with less than surreptitious eyes.

Itachi greeted her with a nod and then turned to leave. As Konan stepped forward to follow him, she murmured, "They'll take your purchase."

Stepping to the side, out of the main walkway, Itachi turned to face her, "Yes, I expect so."

Out of habit, Konan studied his face, which revealed none of his thoughts – as usual.

Sure enough, as soon as Konan had joined Itachi under the awning, the two kids rushed forth and pounced on the half-opened package with ravenous hands.

Perhaps it was this sort of behavior that made Konan uneasy around Itachi. Unlike the other members, who visibly reveled in their work or had readily apparent motivations, Itachi was… blank.

In some ways, however much she believed his membership would be more profitable for Akatsuki than Orochimaru's, his apathy disturbed her more than Orochimaru's nature to insistently needle. Whereas Orochimaru was almost guaranteed to poke a festering wound for the sake of an 'investigation', Itachi was about as likely to douse the wound in alcohol as he was to rub in anesthetic. She could see how Pain would categorize the boy under the same deranged, if brilliant, personality as Orochimaru, but she didn't think Pain saw how Orochimaru's actions were almost always guaranteed to be selfish – and thus, to some extent, predictable.

"Here," Itachi held out a cloth package.

Accepting the package with one hand, Konan asked, "This is medicine?"

Itachi nodded and looked away, back where the children were still scarfing down the food, "Ayumu isn't accepting monetary payments anymore."

Untying the first box, she peered inside and confirmed Itachi's words. By her estimates, she could funnel away an eight of the medicines to Ame's hospital without raising Kakuzu's suspicions. She'd never have thought the man could raise such a fuss about inventory protocols. Noticing a smaller package with a familiar seal, she looked back up, "Supplements? And what form of payment does he want?"

He looked back at her through lowered lashes, "They were complimentary." Pausing, he looked away and scanned their surroundings before looking up at the sky, "And organs."

Konan froze. Ayumu was a supplier referred to them by Orochimaru. She had been more than relieved that Orochimaru had long since defected when the first rumors of vivisection had reached her ears. Gathering chakra to her fingertips, she spun around.

The children were still eating happily.

There had been more than enough time for a sedative's effects to be felt.

"However, I've heard Gatou's business will be restructured soon, so I suspect that request will be reversed."

Heart thudding in her chest, she turned to face him, but he was already striding away.

"Give our leader my regards."

Narrowing her eyes at his retreating back, Konan breathed in a slow breath, before running through the whole encounter back in her head. It felt like she was missing something, and the odd thing was, she couldn't help but wonder if it was connected to the supplement in her hand.

What did the Uchiha know about Pain – about Nagato?

Uneasy, she gathered her chakra and let it spread until she was splintering apart, drifting into thousands upon thousands of paper sheets streaming towards the sky. One sheet drifted down, folding itself into the shape of a butterfly that landed softly on the auburn hair of a delighted girl.

It couldn't hurt to keep an eye out on a pair of orphans for a few more hours.

-0-

"I'll help you hide the body," Sasuke muttered. True to Kazuki's prediction, the sun was already almost directly overhead and there was still no sign of a certain senile instructor.

Sakura let out a startled snort just as Naruto chimed in, "ME TOO!"

Plopping down to the grass, Sakura sighed, "I wonder if Ino's already out of the village."

Dropping down beside her, Naruto shrugged off his pack to stand between his legs. As he dug through his supplies he offered, "Kazuki said something about getting introduced to another team before heading out."

Sasuke scoffed, "Introductions wouldn't take six hours."

With a soft thud, Kakashi dropped down before them, "Yo!"

As Naruto yelped and tripped over his pack, Sasuke frowned, "Unlike some people."

Glaring through her bangs, Sakura grumbled half heartedly, "You're late."

With one eye squinted closed and a movement in his mask, Sasuke suspected that Kakashi was smiling.

"Sorry, my neighbor needed groceries – "

Unamused, Sakura interrupted in the same flat voice, "Stores don't open until eight."

Kakashi cheerfully continued, "And she realized she didn't have her umbrella – "

Undeterred, Sakura grmped, "It wasn't raining."

"To block out the sun –"

"It was cloudy."

"And so I lent her some money."

"For six – no, seven hours?"

Kakashi's eye widened right before a stream of water gushed over where he'd been standing. Spitting out the last of the water, Naruto groaned, "Ah, I thought I had him."

Standing on the branch above, Kakashi whined playfully, "Aah? I thought it was eight hours." Scratching his head in response to the three sets of glares, he switched topics, "So who's ready to meet our client?"

Without waiting for a reply, Kakashi dropped down, "She'll be meeting us at the gates."

Defeat forgotten, Naruto scrambled to grab his pack before racing in front of Kakashi, "Are we escorting a princess? Is she pretty? Who are we fighting? Sakura said she couldn't be a princess."

"Nope – an heiress. Maybe. I dunno. Last chance to check your packs."

Before Naruto could do more than squint suspiciously at Kakashi's reply, Sasuke shoved Naruto forward, "We've check each others'. Do you know the team accompanying Team Nine today?"

Kakashi tilted his head back as he walked, "Asuma's team? They've already headed out. Saw them at the gates this morning." He continued walking, as if he wasn't under the attention of three annoyed teenagers.

Sasuke gritted his teeth together, "So you know the other team?"

Kakashi hummed, "Hmm? Yup."

Naruto whined with impatience, "What do you know about them?"

Instead of answering, Kakashi perked forward, "Oh look, she's already waiting!"

This time Sakura snapped, "Kakashi-sensei!"

He waved a hand, "They graduated the year before you; you wouldn't know them. Now let's go. Best not to keep her waiting."

Sasuke resolved to soak Kakashi's pack at the earliest opportunity. He doubted it would take very much or very long to convince his teammates to conspire with him.

A/N Cont: Hope the plot with Mizuki has been clarified – please let me know if it hasn't.

Conception Notes (aka my excuses to where the hell I've been):
Family drama, this chapter being transitional, and MCU's Winter Soldier. I write fastest when I'm being inspired by 'feels' – which political intrigue has about zero of and which the Winter Soldier is about drowned in and so was a huge distraction to my muse.
Also, Team 8 fans, sorry! The scene I had planned for them just didn't fit into the flow of the chapter, so they won't be appearing until the Chuunin Exams.

Questions.
Speaking of feels, anyone have recs for songs to write to?
Out of curiosity, which Akatsuki member (not including Itachi) are you guys most interested seeing (why – like is s/he just or favorite or are you interested in seeing a certain interaction)?

Please don't hesitate to correct me if I've missed something. I think I underlined everyone who answered my questions last chapter (thanks for that!). If there's (-0-) next to your name, I've posted a reply at my aternoctis tumblr – there's a direct link in my profile. You guys are all so freaking amazing.

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