Chapter Twenty-Six:

From where she stood at the top of the mountain that housed the southern outpost, Sakura watched the ships coming closer.

A flare of chakra from below made her break off her watch, and she turned to greet her replacement with a grin as a familiar head of brown hair appeared at the top of the ladder from the rooms below. "Shimizu, I thought you were going to be delayed. Kumo sent word that the caravan you were escorting to the border had to wait for that mudslide to clear."

"The Raikage sent along a squad of doton users that he was able to free up," her former genin teammate said with a smile. "They took over with the merchants, and we met the Kumo genin at the port and hitched a ride with them."

"Word from the northern outpost suggested you'd get in...yesterday?" Sakura thought back to the news the messenger hawk had carried. It was sparse, just an accounting of ships, but enough. The jounin and Sasori were working on designing a mirror relay, to pass messages instantaneously up and down Uzushio's rocky coast, but it was going to take a fair bit of trial and error to make it actually work.

"Just in time for them to ship me up here. I guess they want you there for the chuunin exams?"

Sakura shrugged, waving to Shimizu's partner for the watch as he climbed up the ladder as well, somehow avoiding her former teammate. She suspected chakra use in the way his hands stuck to the floor of the watchroom. As he took up position at the large open windows that looked out over the sea, Sakura let herself drop through the ladder hole to the room below, ignoring Shimizu's protest as she did so. He release the ladder and landed with a soft thump next to her.

"Since I'm Kabuto's best field medic, they probably wanted me there in case anything happens so he can man the hospital." She hadn't unpacked much, knowing that there was a high chance of her being recalled from the outpost for the chuunin exams, given her status as a diplomat. Still, she found her things, mostly her scrolls from the various mentors she'd accumulated, scattered about the common room and sleeping chamber.

Her partner for the posting, Shin, was rolling up his bedroll when she entered the room, looking half asleep.

"Since your nap got interrupted, I suppose I could let you out of our bet," Sakura teased, rolling up her own bedroll and tying it neatly. Shrugging out of the haori she wore, given the temperature drop as you went up in altitude, she bared the seals tattooed on her arms and began sealing up her belongings.

"Not a chance Shiroyami," the older jounin replied with a grin. "You can't beat a man who ran this route before you were even born."

"You're getting old, oji-san," she snarked back, sealing her haori and the two long senbon she used to pin up her braid, letting it uncoil and fall to hang down her back. "Time to let the young ones get their names in the record books."

"Over my dead body," he laughed, sealing his own belongings into a scroll before slipping it into the pocket on his supply belt, next to his tanto.

Shimizu watched as they lined up at the top of the stairs, the path down to the ground nearly invisible, even though Sakura knew it by heart. "Okay, I'm going to count you down. Until I say go, nobody takes a hand off the wall, or that's a ten second delay. Ready? Three...two...one...go!"

Sakura pushed off with her legs, jumping into thin air. Shin looked startled for a moment, she noticed as she looked over her shoulder, but headed down the path hidden among the rocks. Turning her attention back to her own fall, Sakura let herself savor the free-fall sensation, and then started paying attention to her timing.

Her pack had drilled her in this until she could do it half asleep and blindfolded. At midday, in familiar territory? This was as easy as walking down a road.

Angling herself, she touched lightly on the mountainside, redirecting her motion with a touch of chakra. While Shin was stuck taking the path, with its switchbacks and hidden ways meant to deter outsiders, she could bounce carefully down the mountain, allowing her momentum and chakra to do most of the work. If she did this right, which she fully expected to be able to, she would gain...two minutes maybe? It depended on if Shin had shown her his true top speed.

"That...was cheating," Shin informed her as he caught up to her outside Konan's office. Sakura was lounging in one of the chairs, flipping through a stack of advertisements that someone had left on the side table.

She blinked up at him innocently. "I broke none of the rules you set down," she murmured, fiddling with her braid like a shy civilian. "How can you accuse me of such a thing?"

"I've seen you gut a man with your tessan," her partner said flatly as they entered Konan's office after the secretary nodded her approval. "Your innocent act fails to impress."

"He was going to sell his daughter to a brothel," Sakura rolled her eyes. "That was a much less painful death than he deserved."

"And Ran is doing quite well in the Academy, according to her sensei's report," Konan said. "I see you two made it back in time for the exams."

"Konoha and Suna's ships have been sighted at the outpost, just before we left," Sakura reported. "They should be in the port by tomorrow night."

"Kumo and Kiri's delegations have arrived as well, and the watchers on the mainland side report that Ame and Oto delegations have stopped for the night in the village and will cross in the morning." Konan shuffled the papers on her desk and pulled one out. "Shin, you'll be assigned to the Ame delegation. Jiguro should be in the jounin lounge; he's heading up the delegation. Check in with him."

"Hai, Uzukage-sama." With a short bow to Konan, and a mouthed rematch at Sakura, Shin left, and Konan turned her attention to Sakura.

"You're going to be the onsite medic for each stage of the exams," Konan informed her, passing her a list of names. "These are Kabuto's minions, the ones he approves of anyway. Check in with him if you have any questions about their abilities. They're at your full disposal during the exams, and all foreign delegations have been instructed to see you first while they're here."

"Do I get an office, or are they just supposed to find me?" Sakura scanned the names, recognizing most of them. About half of them were chakra-users, and the other half were civilians with wills of steel. She could work with that.

"You've been granted use of the ground floor conference room in the Crane Inn for your medical bay. Kabuto and Orochimaru supervised and approved the setup. A genin team rotation has also been assigned as runners." Konan passed her another piece of paper, with the names of three level-headed jounin on it. She knew most of them in passing, mostly that they had gotten the latest crop of new graduates from the Academy. All of their students were too green to be considered for the chuunin exams, but being in close proximity like this would give them valuable experience.

"Is there anything else you need me for, Uzukage-sama?" Sakura asked, already planning the rest of her day.

Konan waved her hand. "Go on, get ready. I know your apartment is probably going to be rather full tonight, given our visitors. Just remind Mori that she's overseeing the Konoha delegation so she'd better not be hungover tomorrow morning."

It was sunset by the time Sakura arrived at her apartment, having cheerfully passed supervision of her temporary office off to the most senior of the medics Kabuto had earmarked for her and one of the civilian nurses. Between the two they'd be able to handle anything that came in during the night, and if not that's what the genin runners were for.

Konan hadn't been wrong when she suggested that the apartment was full. Mei's bodyguard, the chronically disapproving Ao, was leaning against the wall outside the door, and only grunted at her as she waved before going by. Inside, Chojiro was looking increasingly red as Mei gossiped with Tenten, Karin, Yugito, and Fu.

"I didn't think Taki was sending a delegation to these exams?" she asked as she slipped her boots off and slid into her slippers, a luxury that she'd only been able to return to recently with the renewed trade revitalizing their economy. Biting her lip for a moment, she left her boots in place, rather than taking them into her bedroom. She'd move them later, in case of a nighttime emergency, but for now they were fine in the entryway.

"They aren't," Fu said cheerfully from where she was braiding Yugito's hair. "I heard there was going to be a party so I showed up. Somebody has to check on Kakuzu oji-san every once in a while."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the girl as she accepted the sake that Karin passed her. "You call him Kakuzu oji-san?"

"It makes him look like he wants to murder something, and you get to watch him struggle to decide whether or not his shiny new hitai-ite is worth it or not," Fu grinned wickedly. "It's the best."

"One of these days he's going to remember that there's still technically a bounty out on your head and he might actually go for it if you push him enough," Karin muttered under her breath as she adjusted her glasses. "But you're just here because practically everyone else is."

"All the jinchuuriki?" Sakura clarified, and Yugito nodded, before wincing as Fu rapped her on the shoulder in punishment for moving.

"Bee's working with Naruto again, and I'm here to keep an eye on him when Raikage-sama has to do politics."

"They're over at Naruto's apartment," Tenten explained as Sakura sat down next to her. "Naruto, Bee, Suigetsu…"

"Juugo and Utakata are there to supervise, so it shouldn't get too out of hand," Karin informed them.

"I gave Utakata a genin team and it seemed to have worked out wonderfully," Mei volunteered from where she was lounging on the couch, sipping her own glass of wine. "Maybe I should try it with Chou-chan?"

The swordsman switched rapidly between bright red and pale for a moment before red won out. Idly, Sakura wondered when the Mizukage was going to let the poor boy off the hook.

A rap on the door gave the poor boy a break, as Ao reminded Mei that she had been invited to dine with Konan and the Raikage that night. She sighed, finished her wine, and glided out the door, Chojiro hovering in her wake. Once they had resettled themselves now that Mei wasn't taking up half the couch with her imposing personality, Sakura turned back to the other girls. "Want to hear how I beat Shin back by five minutes today?"

"Does this have anything to do with why you were seen running the rooftops on all three circles this afternoon?" Karin asked dryly. "If so, then yes."

The Konoha and Suna ships docked at the harbor that afternoon, and as head medic for the exams, Sakura was required to be present. Standing in Konan's retinue, she watched as the dockworkers, and the genin on port duty, secured the ships and their gangplanks. Suna disembarked first, and Sakura was amused to note that most of the shinobi seemed overly relieved to be back on solid land, even if it was just the docks. But the Kazekage had them moving with only a momentary pause, and Sakura was surprised to see how much Gaara had grown since her first chuunin exams. He walked confidently at the head of a group of shinobi, his brother at his right side, a part of the group instead of set aside.

"Welcome to Uzushio," Konan greeted him. "If you'll allow me a moment to introduce a few people, we can have you shown to your lodgings."

"Of course," Gaara said, bowing his head slightly. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"This is Suoh Momeji," An older kunoichi with a backbone of solid steel stepped forward and bowed slightly at Konan's gesture towards her. "She'll be leading the team in charge of making your stay with us as successful as possible. Consider her your liaison; she should be able to handle any problems that may arise. And while we do have a full hospital, the head medic for the exams is Shiroyami Sakura. She and her team will be located on the ground floor of your lodgings and will be available to you at any point during the exams."

Sakura bowed politely as well, then stepped back as Gaara introduced his brother Kankuro as his liaison before following Suoh and her team down the docks towards the citadel. Konoha's delegation was assembling behind them, Tsunade's familiar figure at the head. What Sakura didn't expect to see was the distinctive lichen grey shock of hair slouching at the Hokage's shoulder.

"Senju Tsunade, welcome back to Uzushio."

The Hokage flinched almost imperceptibly at the words, but recovered instantly and smiled at Konan. "Your recovery seems to have created a village more beautiful than the one I remember," she said. "Thank you for offering to host these exams."

"It is our pleasure. I'm sure you remember Koizumi Kyo, who will serve as your liaison while you are visiting us?"

"Of course. And I'm sure you remember Hatake Kakashi, who will be acting as my assistant while I'm here?"

For his part, Kakashi did a reasonably good job of hiding his absolute and utter desire to be anywhere else at the moment, but Sakura had made a study of human tells as part of her studies in genjutsu. Her former sensei looked miserable, and she saw his hand twitch towards the pocket of his jounin vest where she suspected his porn was stashed.

"And in the chance that anyone in your party needs medical attention while you are visiting, please feel free to seek out Shiroyami Sakura, our head field medic for the exams. The head of the hospital felt it better to operate a secondary clinic on the ground floor of your lodgings rather than subject anyone in need of medical attention to a strange hospital. Of course, Shiroyami will also be on site during the exams themselves so she can treat any injuries as quickly as possible."

As Sakura bowed politely, she noted that the ANBU standing just behind Tsunade seemed to be somewhat distracted, and she carefully tried to sense his chakra without causing any alarm. She wasn't an instinctive sensor like Karin, so it took a bit of effort to keep her touch light. But her suspicions were confirmed and she resolved to see if there wasn't a way she could diplomatically offer to show Shiranui around his clan's ancestral homeland.

The day of the first part of the exam dawned warm and sunny. Sakura had been up just before dawn, doing final checks with Kabuto of all their supplies and procedures before marshalling her bevy of medics and nurses, along with making sure their genin runners could be trusted to carry messages for them and report accurately.

Now it was just a matter of waiting. They had set up their roaming medical tent on the plaza outside the Academy, where the written exam was being held. From her place at the table in the front of the tent, she watched the genin shuffle nervously inside as their jounin sensei congregated outside.

She felt the slight flare of chakra as the Academy sealed itself, preventing anyone from entering or exiting as the exam was administered and settled back to watch the jounin. Predictably, as any group of bored jounin tended to do whenever there was any available event.

Take bets.

It was probably good that Tsunade, Gaara, Mei, and A had been invited to watch the live feed in Konan's office with the smaller village's headmen and women, because Karin was taking her lessons from Kakuzu about finances to heart and working the crowd, running the book for the exam. Jounin after jounin drifted over to check the odds, place bets, and in general speculate about how the exam was going to be set up.

Konan had declared the exam structure to be need-to-know, so Sakura herself had only gotten the layout that morning at her pre-exam briefing. They had followed the traditional pattern of written exam, survival test, individual matchups, but what the genin and jounin didn't know was that everybody would pass the written exam. Once they were suitably unsettled, they'd be set loose on the survival course, and whoever came back would be eligible for the finals.

Unlike the Konoha exams, there would not be a month between the second and third exams, so the candidates would have to decide whether or not they felt they had a chance to go forward. Going forward when you were at a clear disadvantage, for no reason other than stupidly trying to push oneself, would get you almost automatically disqualified from consideration for promotion. Konan had no patience for children pushed beyond their capabilities, and Sakura was willing to bet the other kages would agree with her.

A familiar figure broke off from the cluster of Kiri and Kumo jounin, one of the three larger clumps of jounin in the square. As Utakata drifted over to where Sakura sat, his hands in his sleeve where Sakura knew he stored his pipe, she reflected on the fact that Kumo and Kiri were reasonably tolerable of each other, as were Suna and Konoha, but Uzushio shinobi mingled freely with the smaller villages and the Kumo and Kiri jounin. It was unsurprising, given the ties that they had taken pains to forge with the smaller villages, and especially when you remembered that Uzushio had housed Kiri's rebellion, but Sakura sincerely hoped that eventually the entire group would feel comfortable mingling. Sure their jobs may pit them against each other, but there was no need to make it personal. It's just a job.

"I hear you have genin in the exams," she said as Utakata took the seat across from her. "Congratulations."

"They were almost ready when Mei assigned them to me," he demurred politely. "I simply had to polish them a bit."

"How's Saiken?"

"We seem to be working in better concert than ever," the jinchuuriki said with a slight, true smile. "It is...nice...to not feel so much like a jailor."

"Not going to place any bets?" Karin seemed as if she was making a decent haul, so long as if she'd written her odds right. She had been debating with Yugito the night before about the Kumo genin, adding that knowledge to her memory of the Konoha and Kiri teams she'd encountered.

This time, Utakata's smile was wry. "You seem to take me for a sucker."

"We do have a legendary one in residence."

The worst Sakura had to deal with during the first exam was a nosebleed that one of the Kumo jounin gave one of the Kiri jounin when he waved an arm and didn't realize the other man was behind him. And by the time she had made her way over, the bleeding had already stopped. All she had to do was hand out a bit of damp bandage and meander her way back to the tent.

Her position did give her a perfect view of the shell-shocked faces on the genin that came streaming out of the building. Each of them made a beeline to their jounin sensei, and Sakura could only guess what they were reporting. They had been told their scores individually, so there was no way for them to gauge the size of the group moving on until they'd been dropped in the holding room to get instructions for the second test and realized that there had been no reduction in the size of the group.

The bell at the top of the Academy tolled once, and the effect on the genin was instantaneous. They rabbited off towards their lodgings as if their world was ending, and Sakura saw a few split off towards the markets in the first circle. Signalling her assistants, she packed up the few supplies she'd brought to the medical tent and moved out with her group, leaving the tear down for the genin team it was assigned to.

Exactly an hour later, the genin were all assembled at the harbor, facing one of the council members, who stood with the assembled Kage and headmen behind him.

"This part of the test will examine your ability to complete a mission in unknown surroundings with incomplete information. Each team will be given a map of Uzushio's territory. Anyone who sets foot outside that territory is automatically disqualified from the test."

"Your mission is to reach one of the outposts that Uzushio maintains. These will be marked in blue on your maps. Each outpost has a unique scroll; the teams must reach an outpost, obtain their scroll, and return to the docks here with that scroll, unopened. The time limit for this exam is five days."

Sakura knew very well that the task could be accomplished in a single day, but she also know exactly why Karin and Naruto had been busy for the past few days, squabbling good naturedly over seal theory and tactics.

"To add a level of difficulty, there have been any number of traps laid along the way that are designed to trip teams or individuals up. Additionally, any team that arrives at the dock with more than one scroll will be awarded extra consideration. To be counted as finished with your task, all three team members must be present at the end of five days." The council elder eyed the group of fidgeting genin. "As we are a nation of islands, you may have to cross water to reach one or more of the outposts. It is technically possible to reach the outposts on foot, but there are certain places where boats can be taken from one island to the next. You will have to operate on the schedule that the owners of the boats set; any instances of threatening, property damage, or theft will disqualify the team. Monitors have been spread out over the islands to supervise, and will make themselves available as necessary to maintain safe testing conditions."

"As a reminder," Konan said quietly, causing many of the genin to twitch as they were caught off guard, "this, and all parts of the exam, are non-lethal for all participants. Any genin judged to have used or attempted to use lethal force is automatically disqualified."

"Your exam begins when I call it," the councilman said firmly. "Please proceed to one of the six monitors in an orderly fashion to retrieve your maps."

Stretching, Sakura herded her medics back towards their field location at the Crane Inn. She knew Karin would be waiting for her there, monitoring the entire nation for the activation of the seals that the watchers all carry. They've trained for this, mapped it out over weeks without Sakura knowing what it was for, but she could see the use of it. If each shinobi carried a tiny seal that they could activate, and a dedicated sensor could track that activation, you could send backup and medics as soon as a team could be scrambled.

Right now they only had one sensor of that magnitude, but Sakura knows there will be others. Knows of Senju Tobirama and his Uzumaki blood that gave him a reach only surpassed by Karin. Knows that the Academy is screening for it, is teaching it to every student and making a list of each student who shows more than just proficiency. There are dozens of lists, dozens of specialties, each a dedicated attempt not to let Uzushio's arts fall by the wayside as the generations that still remember the citadel before retire and die.

Uzushio will thrive again, and Sakura has staked everything on making it happen.

The first distress call came six hours into the test.

"Mio, you're primary," Sakura called, grabbing her go bag as Karin whistles from her seat at the table containing a map of the island. The kages and jounin senseis seem to be rotating through sitting nearby to see how their genin are doing; right now Gaara was sitting quietly across from Karin, and there was a vaguely familiar Kiri jounin chatting with one of the medics. Out in the lobby, she knew there was a passel of Konoha and Kumo jounin ignoring each other, and she could hear the Uzushio senseis gathered with the ones from the smaller countries in the outdoor seating area that happens to be right under the window.

"North," Karin said, pointing at one of the red marks that littered the map, showing the veritable minefield of traps she and the other sealing proficients had set in tandem with the trap masters. "This one triggered ten minutes ago, the call just came in."

"What is it supposed to do?" she asked, trying to get as much information as she could.

Hold for an hour before releasing Karin hand signed with a glance towards their eavesdropping audience. None of the senseis or kages were supposed to have contact with the genin, but given that this section of the exam was spread out over the entire nation it was impossible to prevent.

"This shouldn't take too long then," Sakura murmured, and reached for the seal with her chakra. It was a modification on the hiraishin, a targeted movement through space and time that took minimal chakra for a jump and was only possible when the target seal was specifically activated. She and her team had practiced this until the chakra users could do it perfectly, and now it was as easy as a genjutsu for her.

When she landed, next to a chuunin she had partnered with for a courier run, she raised her eyebrow at the scene. "I don't see any injuries."

"Her teammates abandoned her," the chuunin reported, gesturing towards the trapped genin, who wore a Suna hitai-ite and looked terrified to be standing motionless on the open water in the channel between one island and the next, delicate sealing lines wrapping around her body. "Decided to do their best to complete the exam without her."

"Did they know what the seal did?" Sakura asked quietly, turning so the genin couldn't see her face.

The chuunin shook his head.

Fuming, Sakura handed over her go bag and moved to stand in front of the genin, whose eyes widened as she saw Sakura. "I'm going to release you from the seal, and then you're coming back with me," Sakura said gently, shedding her kimono shirt and passing it to the chuunin, and then carefully pulling off her sandals and giving them to him as well. "I need you to be ready to stand on the water when the seal releases you, okay?"

"Hai," the genin said, and Sakura let her chakra dissipate until she plunged down into the water, sliding her protective goggles over her face as she went. It was easy to find the seal anchor and press her master key to it, a sequence of seals that Karin had given her that would override any trap set on the course in case of medical emergency. Glancing upwards, she saw that the genin had managed to stay above water, and kicked off the seabed as she returned to the surface.

"We're going to head back," she told the chuunin, gripping the genin's shoulder as she accepted her belongings back. "I would clear out soon; the trap resets itself in five minutes."

A touch more chakra this time since she had a passenger, and Sakura was in the designated landing area, dripping all over the seal matrix carved into the flagstones while a group of jounin stared unabashedly at her. Rolling her eyes, Sakura marched the genin into the medical room and pointed her towards a bed, dropping her own belongings on her chair.

"What happened?" the Kazekage asked quietly, moving to stand by his genin.

"She got caught in a timed binding trap," Sakura explained, stripping off her wet tank top and grabbing one from the bag under her chair, uncaring of the eyes on her. Reaching for a fresh pair of pants, she reconsidered before reaching for a wrap skirt and a pair of spandex undershorts. "Her teammates left her, in the middle of the channel, with no consideration for her wellbeing. As head medic for the exam, I recommend disqualification."

"On what grounds?" the genin burst out, and Sakura wrapped the skirt around her waist before shucking her pants. As they landed with a wet plop, she shimmed into the undershorts.

"Your teammates left you in what could conceivably be a hostile situation, trapped, with no understanding of how you were trapped. Even if they couldn't disarm it, they should have at least examined it. The timing mechanism is easy to recognize from similar seals, like explosive tags, but they didn't even examine it. For all they knew, you could have been trapped for days, unable to feed yourself or keep yourself hydrated. Unable to prevent heat stroke, sunburn, frostbite...they basically consigned you to death. Fortunately, this was only an exam, and it wouldn't have held you for that long because of those very reasons."

Shocked, the genin subsided, and the Kazekage sighed. "I will support their disqualification. Their sensei had hoped that participation would smooth out some of their rough edges, but it seems we have a long way to go."

Karin reached for a sheet of paper and beckoned one of the genin runners closer. "I'm going to need the team number so I can send a message to the outposts to hold them until they can be picked up," she said with a scowl.

The survival test had certainly culled the field. After the first disqualification based on the abandonment of one team member, Sakura and her medics were called rarely, since the proctors had been instructed only to intervene in life-threatening situations, or those where permanent damage might be caused if something was left untreated. Thankfully that wasn't often, but several teams were overambitious and attempted to split their team to simultaneously pursue outposts, and when one of them was invariably caught in a trap, it was difficult to regain lost time.

Thankfully, the Uzushio teams managed an excellent showing, and there was at least a single team from each of the other countries that made it through the survival test. While they rested for a day, the proctors turned in their reports, which were compiled and made available to the Kages, along with the medical reports that Sakura and her team presented after examining each member of the successful teams.

Combined with the test scores from the first exam, the Kages had a wealth of information with which to decide who would be invited to participate in the final round a week later. It was an unorthodox method, and relied very much on knowing the participants and judging whether or not they would even be eligible for a promotion at the time, but Konan and a number of the older Uzushio shinobi had pushed for it, saying that it combined the best of the major countries' Academy systems with the old Uzushio tradition of apprenticeships.

As Sakura watched the first match on the small screen set up in her medic waiting area, she smiled to see one of the Uzushio genin she had mentored in the art of water walking during the reconstruction period facing off against a Suna genin. For a moment, she looked around her and all she saw was rubble and destruction. But they had come so far since then, since all she had was dreams of a long-forgotten country, and she was determined that they would go even further.

Around her, the nurses and medics swapped odds and commentary as the two genin faced off, and Sakura leaned forward in her seat as the match began. Out in the arena, she knew her friends and adopted family were gathered, and most of Uzushio's population had made certain to make themselves available to watch this. If there was ever any proof that they had not only survived, but begun to thrive, it was here, as the kunoichi bearing the trademark spiral planting her fist solidly into the Suna boy's gut, landing the first solid hit of the final exam.

For years she had thought that Uzushio was a place, a destination, but as she watched the two genin fight, she knew that it was that and more. It was a home, a family, a place of friendship and allies, a place where you could make a space for yourself and fit right in. It was hers, and like those who had fallen with it, she would give everything for it if called to, but part of her job now was ensuring that it never came to that again. Someday in the future, she knew her village would be threatened. Such things happened to all villages. But not today, not tomorrow, and not in her lifetime if she could help it.

***Okay, I know it's been a while. I'm sorry. It was really hard to wrap this up, but I've finally reached a point where I'm satisfied. There's no sequel for this one, if anyone was wondering. For the foreseeable future, I'm going to try and get some work done on my other two ongoing fics, and then we can talk about all the other shiny plot bunnies that have distracted me so. If you want to talk about those now, I'm over on tumblr as rhosinthorn, and I'm going to try to be more active there. Thanks for hanging on this long, and I hope you've enjoyed it!***