Disclaimer: I own nothing


Hurricane Chronicles

Chapter 3: Winds of War


Naruto stood beside his fellow participant Genin, looking to the viewing crowd to see if he could spot any of his old classmates, the unparticipating members of Team 7, or his housemates. He wasn't gonna bother looking for the Toad Pervert, having seen him standing beside the Old Man in the Kage Booth.

Taking a second to observe the other visiting Kage, he was shocked to see how massive the Raikage of the Hidden Cloud was. He was like a wall made of human flesh and bulking muscle, wearing nothing to cover his upper torso save for his cloak. The man's sole escort looked to be related to him, but his muscle mass was nowhere the level of the Raikage.

The other Kage was the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand. He couldn't see anything about him except for his eyes; and even they were shadowed by his ceremonial hat. The man had two guards at his side, but they were a pair of nondescript Hidden Sand Jonin.

A mix of gold and black was seen in the corner of his eye, and he turned his gaze to the source. He was pleased to see that Yasaka and Kuroka were both seated in the stands; having hoped that they would come to see him fight.

They must've caught his gaze, for Yasaka gave him a beautiful smile to show her support while Kuroka gave an excited grin. He chuckled to himself, knowing that her twin tails would be swaying happily if she wasn't hiding them.

He then spotted Kuroko moving down the steps so that she could sit beside the two Yōkai. She gave him a soft smile and mouthed to him, "Good luck, Darling."

This made him fight a blush, but it still warmed his heart to see the three of them supporting him. Mentally, he promised not to let them down.

"Alright then," Genma spoke up, making Naruto focus on him once again. "I need everyone but Yugito Nii to clear out of here and wait in the Fighter's Booth."

With that, everyone but the sole Hidden Cloud Genin started walking off. Naruto took a moment to look back as he walked, catching her attention.

"Good luck, Yugito-san," he said to her, hoping to have sounded respectful. He didn't know what it was, but he felt something that connected the two of them together; so, he acted on it.

She blinked once, slight surprise on her face since she knew her opponent was the blonde Uzumaki's teammate. It wasn't a derogatory statement, either; so, he was being sincere in wishing her luck. But why would he do such a thing?"

"He is like you, Kitten," the Nibi spoke up. "He holds the Kyuubi, but I doubt he realizes that I'm sealed into you. All he can feel is that instinctual link that Jinchūriki share between one another." She chuckled softly. "It's actually rather sweet that he's acting solely on that instinct."

Saying nothing to her tenant, Yugito gave her fellow blonde a nod with a faint smirk. "I'll be sure not to send your teammate to the infirmary, Naruto-san," she returned, earning a smirk back from him before he left the battlefield.


Up in the Kage Booth, the Raikage frowned when the first fight was announced. "The Uchiha hasn't arrived yet. I'd have disqualified him immediately on sheer principle."

"I'm sure he'll arrive in time, Raikage," the Kazekage spoke up. "We've allowed the Genin a couple of minutes to take the field before each match. He has time left."

"Bah! All shinobi should be expected to be well-behaved, disciplined, and punctual. Clearly the Uchiha shows none of those traits."

"Yo, Bro! Don't let your anger flow! I'm sure he'll show up for Yugito!" rapped Killer Bee, earning a groan from the Raikage while everyone else sweatdropped at the Jonin's antics.

Coughing once to regain his composure, Sarutobi then spoke up, "There's still a little over a minute left before he must take the field. If he doesn't make it, he'll be disqualified; I assure you, Raikage. I will not show favoritism to any of my ninja, regardless of their bloodline."

"Hmph! I'll believe it when I see it," Ay grumbled.


"Last call for Sasuke Uchiha to take the field!" Genma announced, having kept tabs of the time via a pocket watch. Ten more seconds passed and the Jonin pocketed the timekeeping device. "Due to not showing up on time, Sasuke Uchiha has been dis-!"

A flurry of leaves interrupted the Leaf Jonin, and he scowled at the sight of Kakashi and Sasuke arriving in an overly dramatic fashion and how most of the Leaf spectators went crazy for his arrival.

What nearly set Genma off was how his fellow Jonin had the gall to casually ask aloud, "We're not too late, are we?"

The proctor closed his eyes and took a breath before turning his gaze questioningly to the Kage Booth. His attention was on the Hokage, and he felt some sympathy for how the man looked rightfully embarrassed while the Raikage looked almost livid. If anyone asked Genma, he'd be just as incensed as the hulking man.

After a few moments, he saw the Hokage shake his head once. Nodding in understanding, Genma announced, "As I was saying, due to not showing up on time, Sasuke Uchiha has been disqualified from the Finals!"

Outrage was heard from a majority of the Hidden Leaf spectators, and the Uchiha himself was seething silently while Kakashi looked genuinely surprised. "Now hang on," he tried to say, but was cut off by the senbon chewing Jonin.

"Get yourself and Uchiha-san off my field, Kakashi," he ordered, paying no mind to an annoyed Yugito walking passed them for the Fighter's Booth. "He's late and the Hokage has made his decision." He then turned to Sasuke and finished with, "Next time, set an alarm."

The Genin almost lunged at the man's taunt but was restrained by Kakashi before he could even move. He settled for glaring furiously at Genma before he left in another flurry of leaves. Kakashi looked to the Hokage, but all he needed to see was the disappointed glare on the older man's face to know that they would be speaking later about this embarrassment.

So, he just gave a sigh and left in his own Body Flicker, choosing to simply wait and see how Naruto would fair in his match. Part of him felt guilty for not taking any part in Naruto's training for the month; but Kakashi wanted to go with the easier student. Sasuke was like himself, so he knew how best to train the Uchiha while Naruto, in Kakashi's eyes, needed more work that time allowed.

He mentally planned to make it up to the boy after the Finals.


Kuroko frowned as she saw Guy's little protégé fail his initial finisher. And now, the poor kid was too exhausted to dodge properly and was forcing himself to endure the onslaught of sand.

"Poor Lee," she heard Kuroka say, having seen her wince a few times as Lee took massive bursts of sand. "Naruto-kun told me about him. He said that Lee has his respect for getting as far as he has, even without the full use of his chakra for ninjutsu or genjutsu."

Nodding, Kuroko didn't take her gaze away from the match below. "Knowing Guy," she spoke up, earning the attention of both Yōkai, "Lee still has more up his sleeves."

She smirked when she saw Lee regain the full use of his speed, blurring out of sight and reappearing safely away from Gaara's sand.

"In fact, I think we'll be in for quite the show."


"Holy shit," Naruto gasped out, seeing Lee open the third of the Celestial Gates: the Gate of Life. "He's…turning red."

"I've heard of this technique," Yugito spoke up, having chosen to stand beside him to watch the match. "Some of the Jonin back home spoke of witnessing Might Guy using this same technique. They mentioned something about Celestial Gates and how he had the strength of a wild beast."

"Damn… And Bushy Brow has the same trick up his sleeves." Naruto smiled for his friend, observing how the taijutsu enthusiast was knocking Gaara around like a pinball. "Way to go, Lee…"

Having seen the smile on his face, Yugito couldn't fight her own small smile. Being a Jinchūriki, she knew that growing up with a Bijuu sealed within you wasn't easy. People either hated you, feared you, or ignored you before only a handful ever come around.

Even with Bee becoming the Guardian of the Hidden Cloud, she knew it would be some time before she earned the amount of respect that her senior had. But seeing that a fellow Jinchūriki had people to call friends made her happy for Naruto.

"Aww… Is little Yugito thinking about her new little brother?" the Nibi teased.

'Oh, shut up Matatabi!' mentally yelled Yugito.

"No need to be embarrassed, Kitten! I think it's adorable that you already are looking out for him!" She then sighed and added, "A shame that Shukaku messed up his Jinchūriki so much."

Yugito winced at that, having seen how morally and emotionally broken Gaara was during the times she saw him throughout the Chunin Exams; most notably during the Preliminaries where he crushed one of the Sound Genin and ground them to dust with his sand, and all without any hesitation.

"REVERSE LOTUS!"

She and everyone else watched in slight awe as Lee used his ultimate technique on Gaara, plowing against the redheaded Genin with both his fist and foot. The blow sent Gaara rocketing to the ground in an almost unseen blur, but those able to keep up with such speed saw that Gaara wasn't down for the count yet.

When the dust settled, everyone else was able to see that Lee was on the ground unable to get back up while Gaara had managed to lessen the impact of the lethal blow by cushioning his fall with sand; sand made by breaking down the gourd that usually would be on his back.

"That's…! No way! How could he have withstood that?!" Naruto exclaimed in total shock.

"Lee threw everything he had at this guy and he still couldn't take him down," Shikamaru groused, but many of the Genin could hear the faintest quiver in his voice.

"Fate decrees it after all," Neji spoke up, as if confirming to himself and others that the match was over, and Lee had lost. "I tried to warn him that you cannot fight Fate. But you can't stop the stubbornness of fools."

Naruto growled at that, looking ready to jump down there to help his friend. He was stopped when Genma called the end of the match and Guy blurred into the view to help Lee onto a stretcher. Gaara was seen using his sand to pull him back onto his feet before it reformed back into his gourd and he made his way off the field.

"Match Three is about to start. Naruto Uzumaki and Temari of the Hidden Sand! Get down here for your match!" Genma announced, earning a few stray jeers for Naruto from the crowd. This only made him frown, unable to get over the mistreatment of the son of the late Fourth; not that many people, Naruto included, knew that fact.

Temari leapt from the booth and rode her fan during her descent, showing off for the crowd and earning some impressed looks from some of the visiting nobles. Naruto scoffed at the display and turned around to head for the stairs.

"Good luck," he heard Yugito call out to him, prompting him to turn around and see her smirking. "Give everyone a good show, yeah?"

The blonde Uzumaki grinned at that. "Just watch me," he promised before resuming his trek down to the field.

When the two blondes stood across from one another, Genma silenced the crowd by raising his arm to the air. "Ready…?"

Both Genin nodded and tensed themselves to move.

Bringing down his arm, the proctor declared, "Begin!"

Using her fan, Temari sent forth a blast of wind that also pushed her back while Naruto did a small hop and braced himself, riding the attack so that he could get some distance as well. As soon as he landed, he whipped out a scroll and unsealed a massive shuriken in a burst of smoke that obscured him from view for a brief moment.

"Demon Wind Shuriken!" he declared, launching the weapon with a strong toss from his arm.

Smirking, Temari opened her fan to the first moon and swung it. Once more, wind erupted from the weapon and hit the shuriken, deflecting the large throwing star and making it flip as if it stopped dead against a wall.

"Nice try! But shuriken are useless against me!" she taunted.

The still flipping shuriken then burst into smoke and revealed Naruto who had a spiraling ball of wind enlarging itself in front of him. Temari's eyes widened at how the ball was already the same size as his body, and she gripped her fan tighter as it was launched.

"Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!"

"Fan Wind Roaring Wall!"

Wind sphere met tornado, both jutsu fighting for dominance while the Naruto that used the jutsu dispelled, showing that it was just a Shadow Clone while the original that threw the fake shuriken went through more handseals.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" he roared, sending forth gale force winds that pressed into his first jutsu and forced it through the tornado.

"Shit!" Temari cursed, leaping into the air and swinging her fan downward, using the force to propel herself even higher so that she flipped over the barreling sphere of wind.

When she landed, she took a glance at the part of the wall Naruto's jutsu hit, and her eyes widened at the sight of multiple cracks and a large indentation seen into the stone structure. That alone showed that, while obviously not as refined as her own Wind Style training, Naruto had raw power at his disposal.

It was Finesse vs. Force in her eyes, and Force won that exchange.

Cracking was heard beneath her feet, and it was all the warning she needed to lean back and jump away. It was just in time, for another clone of Naruto erupted from the ground with a rising uppercut that almost grazed her chin.

However, while she avoided the uppercut, she couldn't avoid the Spiraling Wind Ball that Naruto launched from his free hand. The jutsu struck her in the stomach, knocking the air from her lungs and flinging her back. She landed roughly and rolled across the ground while struggling to regain her breath. Despite it all, she still kept grip on her fan and retaliated with another swing.

"Wind Style: Sickle Weasel Technique!" she choked out, sending forth multiple blades of wind that raced toward the Naruto that hit her. When it proved to be another clone, she cursed in between her coughs and turned to the first Naruto, only to see him too dispel.

"Great Breakthrough!" she heard from behind her, turning and using her fan as a makeshift shield that helped her brace the wind launched at her.

'Dammit! He only has two jutsu, but he has so much chakra that he can overcharge them to near A-Rank power!'

A shadow grew over her form, prompting her to grasp her fan and roll away from Naruto landing with a furious punch to the ground, his hand breaking into the earth below and leaving a perfect indent of his fist. He then launched a kunai that had a sealing tag attached to it, and she sent forth another Wind Fan Roaring Wall to stop it.

She would've used a weaker technique, but she didn't want to take anymore chances. Her reasoning proved to be the right choice, for the tag lit up and erupted in dozens of shuriken that launched in all directions. Unfortunately, she wasted her initial swing and didn't have the momentum needed to swing again. This forced her to waste more chakra with the Replacement Jutsu, her form switched out with a log while she hid herself in one of the few trees in the arena.

From her vantage point, she saw that Naruto had once again faced her with a clone that dispelled as it was pierced by shuriken. "Son of a bitch," she gritted out. "Is he always going to fight with clones?"

"If it ain't broke," a dreadfully familiar voice spoke up behind her, and she turned just in time to catch a heavy punch to the face. The blow knocked her from the trees and she nearly landed next to some stray shuriken on the ground.

However, one of them erupted into smoke and revealed Naruto, who had used Replacement to switch places with it. Then, in a move that surprised all from the Hidden Cloud, Naruto caught the falling Sand kunoichi with a clothesline; though it was clumsy and not aimed properly like the Lariat since his attack hit her in the stomach.

However, Naruto used his raw strength to carry Temari through his incorrect Lariat, flipping her over his body and slamming her onto the ground and kicking up enough dust to hide them for a moment. When it cleared, she was sprawled on the ground giving a small moan of pain while Naruto held a kunai to her throat.

"That's enough! The winner of Match Three is Naruto Uzumaki!" Genma declared.

Despite him being generally disliked amongst the populace of the Leaf, many people cheered for Naruto's victory over Temari. However, none were louder than a certain Black Cat.


"Nya~! Way to go, Whisker-kun! WOOHOO~!" Kuroka cheered, earning an amused chuckle from Yasaka as she applauded for her blonde student.

"Well, he handled that fairly well, I'd say," she commented to Kuroko, who was also clapping for him. "What do you think?"

"I say Darling was in control from the first exchange," Smith answered. "He rode the wind during the starting move and took command of how the battle flowed. Definitely on par with Chunin."

"Damn right, he is!" Kuroka agreed, still excited for her friend. "If they don't give Whisker-kun his promotion, I'ma scratch somebody's face, nya!"

Both older women laughed at that, the two of them wanting to see that happen.


"Damn, Forehead! Where did the idiot get moves like that?" Ino questioned Sakura, who looked just as shocked as the blonde.

"I… I don't know! I thought Kakashi-sensei was only teaching Sasuke-kun this month!" the pinkette exclaimed.

"Isn't that unfair to Naruto?" Kiba, who was seated next to Hinata, asked. "I mean, sure Naruto was the Dead Last of the class. But wouldn't that prove that he needed the training more than Sasuke?"

"Kiba-kun… That's not right to keep saying such things about Naruto-kun," Hinata gently admonished her teammate, defending her crush. "He works hard and earned his place in the Finals, and he showed it just now in this match. I'm happy for him."

While that was true, she was also wondering who was cheering so loudly for him and using such a familiar nickname. Was somebody already closer to Naruto?

"I think Naruto did a great job in the fight," Choji, who was enjoying some chips, spoke up. "I mean, it looked like he had answers for everything that Temari girl threw at him. And that finishing move would need a lot of strength to pull off. Whoever he trained with knew what they were doing."

Next to him, Tenten hummed thoughtfully. "What I'm curious about was that seal he used. I've used similar seals in my arsenal, but I usually have my dad help me make them. The one Naruto used was pretty crude, almost like he made it himself."

"Isn't sealing supposed to be really difficult to learn? What makes you think that Naruto of all people would make his own seal?" Kiba asked, ignoring the admonishing look from Hinata.

"Did nobody tell you rookies about the Uzumaki Clan in the Academy?" the older Genin asked, earning confused looks from the others. "Wait, seriously? Not one of you knows that Naruto's last name is a Clan name?"

A few of them looked away in embarrassment while Kiba and Ino both looked disbelieving.

"You guys really are hopeless," Tenten shot down, looking annoyed at their lack of knowledge. "The Uzumaki Clan are a cousin of the Senju Clan, who helped found the Hidden Leaf with the Uchiha. They had their own island nation that was wiped out during the Second Shinobi War, leaving only a few scattered survivors. Naruto may be the only Uzumaki in the Hidden Leaf, but Lady Tsunade's grandmother was Mito Uzumaki, who was the wife of the First Hokage."

That earned her some surprised looks from the younger Genin, as well as a few eavesdroppers.

"Not to mention that there was another Uzumaki who died the night the Kyuubi attacked. I don't know what her real name was, but she was known as the Red Death. She was the only other known Uzumaki before…"

She slowly trailed off, looking to be lost in thought. The others wondered what she was going to say and Kiba almost asked before Tenten was seen with a look of shocked realization.

"Holy shit…" she gasped out.

Ignoring them, Tenten said nothing and didn't pay attention to Kiba trying to ask her something in favor of looking to Naruto interacting with Yugito in the Fighter's Booth. She didn't even pay attention to Neji being declared the winner of his match by forfeit due to Dosu Kinuta of the Hidden Sound not showing up.

'It all makes sense… The Red Death was the only Uzumaki in the village before Naruto, and Naruto was born on the night the Kyuubi attacked; not brought in as a refugee. The Red Death is Naruto's mother! That also means that Naruto is a cousin of Lady Tsunade!'

This revelation was such a shock that Tenten was finally broken from it when everyone heard a certain puppeteer yelling out, "Proctor, I forfeit!"


As Naruto was declared the winner, Sarutobi and Jiraiya both smiled proudly at his success while Ay looked slightly intrigued. "Uzumaki, eh…?"

The casual tone captured the Hokage's attention, and he regarded the Raikage with an expression that betrayed nothing. "Something on your mind, Raikage?"

"Just interested in the boy, Hokage. While not the correct execution, he still performed an impressive rendition of my Lariat. Plus," he spotted Yugito speaking with the Uzumaki amicably in their booth, "I'm surprised that he was able to best an aspiring Fan Maiden with her own element. What do you think, Kazekage?"

The veiled Kage was silent for a moment, eyes closed in thought. "I believe that Temari will need more training. She was obviously ill-prepared for someone who uses jutsu with brute force. Those techniques Uzumaki used are lower tier; but the raw power he put in them gave them enough strength to match some higher tier ones. If you're asking on my opinion for his promotion, I say he's earned it."

Sarutobi nodded with a thankful smile. "I appreciate your words on behalf of my Genin. And I'm sure your daughter will make a fine Chunin as well, despite her loss today."

"Due to Dosu Kinuta not arriving on time, he is disqualified, and the victor is Neji Hyuuga!" the three leaders heard Genma call out.

"Another no-show," grumbled Ay, sounding both bored and annoyed. "Genin these days are so disrespectful of other people's time."

"I admit that I haven't seen any of the Hidden Sound Genin or their Jonin instructor around since the end of the Preliminaries," Sarutobi spoke up. "While not the best choice from a reputable view, perhaps knowing that at least one of their Genin made it this far was enough in their eyes. A freshly founded village with a Genin in the Finals? I'd be rather pleased if I were in their position."

"Possibly," the Kazekage said shortly before another announcement was called.

"Proctor, I forfeit!" Kankuro was heard declaring aloud, earning a negative response from the spectators.

"I didn't realize your son was such a coward, Kazekage," Ay taunted, earning a groaning sigh from the man.

"Idiot boy, making a fool of our village like this… There will be words spoken later."

"Well, since Shino wins by forfeit, that means he'll be in top form for his match against Shikamaru," the Hokage noted.

"Assuming that Nara laziness doesn't kick in and he forfeits as well," the Raikage shot down in amusement, having dealt with some of the Nara as a younger man. Brilliant in mind, but they could be some truly lazy fuckers.

"Let's hope he doesn't. I didn't come all this way to see so many forfeits and disqualifications," the Kazekage groused.


"Wait, seriously? You're just gonna forfeit like that?" Yugito asked aloud to Kankuro. "Are you afraid or just stupid?"

The puppeteer furrowed his brows angrily at that, but he said nothing in response to her taunts. He didn't have to answer to some Cloud bitch; not when his forfeit would only help things in the long run.

Shino, while annoyed at not being able to fight Kankuro, still turned in preparation to head down. However, he stopped and turned to Shikamaru. "If you are going to forfeit as well, speak now. Why? It will save me the trip down the stairs."

Shikamaru scoffed and honestly considered doing just that. However, he then thought of everyone who would gripe at him for forfeiting; his opponent included. Most of their fellow graduates didn't know this, but Shino could hold one hell of a grudge. (1)

"Troublesome… Fine, I'll head down with you," he grumbled, turning around and walking off with Shino.

"His Clan must be so proud," Yugito deadpanned, earning an awkward chuckle from Naruto.

"I think he was more worried about dealing with other people getting on his case for quitting before the match even starts. At least down there, he could put in some effort and then forfeit."

"…He wouldn't really do that, would he?" she asked after a pause.

Naruto only chuckled in response, saying nothing.


The match had been pretty even at the start. Shikamaru was lazy, but that didn't mean he couldn't be quick on his feet and come up with plans in tight spots. He had made excellent use of flash bangs to stun Shino and his bugs, who weren't fans of the blinding light and the deafening sound.

Shino responded to this by having some of his beetles cover his ears like muffs while his shades provided some decent protection from the blinding flash. Still, he couldn't take advantage of that due to Shikamaru using the sudden burst of light to dramatically extend the reach of his shadow.

In short, both were in a sort of deadlock that would soon become a battle of attrition in some sense. Either Shikamaru would run out of flash bangs, or Shino's beetles would become too hampered by them or he'd be caught by Shikamaru's shadow.

Hiding behind one of the trees, Shikamaru used his recently thrown flash bang to buy him some time to think of a better strategy. He wasn't like Naruto who could come up with impressive plans on the fly; he needed time to think. That was a troublesome downside of how his brain worked, in his opinion.

Knowing he didn't have much time, he decided to go for broke and grabbed the last three of his flash bangs. Lighting the fuses, he tossed them in the air followed by two handfuls of shuriken before he flowed through handseals he had learned this month.

The triple flashes of light and bursts of sound almost disoriented the lazy genius, but he knew that Shino's beetles would take them much worse. Squinting his eyes, he saw that Shino was able to evade his shuriken and move to the side; to a position he could work with.

"Shadow Formation Jutsu!" the Nara declared, splitting his shadow into multiple branches that reached out and latched onto the shadows of his surroundings before pulling them all toward himself. He then formed more familiar handseals and called out, "Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

With the assimilated shadows strengthening his own, Shikamaru was able to have his controlled shadow race across the lit-up ground and ensnare Shino. When the light of his final flash bangs died down, that same shadow thinned to almost nothing and regained some width as both Genin walked towards one another; with one of them forcibly being made to.

Now standing arm's reach apart, Shikamaru raised his arm and forced Shino to do the same. The crowd waited with bated breath at what would happen, but a few people already knew what the result would be.

"That's it," the Nara called out. "I give up."

Silence was the master of the spectators. Nobody saying a thing before the sound of Kuroka laughing broke the silence.

"He… He went through all… All that… And he… And he gave up in the end! BWAHAHAHAHA!" the Nekomata called out in her seat, struggling to talk through her laughter.

Naruto chuckled from his position, having figured this would happen and happy to see that Kuroka was enjoying herself. Even Yasaka, despite showing some annoyance, looked amused that the outcome. And Kuroko was sitting casually in her own seat, enjoying some coffee in a small paper cup.

He would need to have her cut back one of these days.

"The uh… The winner by forfeit is Shino Aburame," Genma declared to the crowd, who was a mix of jeering for Shikamaru and cheering for Shino. "We will take a half-hour break before moving on to the second round of the tournament."

Heard over the cheering and jeering was a certain mother promising some punishment on her "lazy, do-nothing" of a son.

"Troublesome…"


1~ Shino was shown holding a grudge two times, as I recall. One was not being taken on the Sasuke Retrieval Mission, and the other was how Naruto recognized Kiba and Hinata, but not him.

That's the end of the first round of the Chunin Exams! Next chapter will have the second round and the Operation: Destroy the Leaf. Expect to see more action in that chapter, and not just from our favorite knucklehead!

After all, not many people know that another Kyuubi is among them…

Before I go, I had a poll up that I ended after July Fourth, but the result was pretty one-sided. So, in response to that, I've made a sort of "Part 2" poll that includes the winner of "Part 1" as one of the choices! Please vote and know that this poll will end at the end of the month!

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay supportive of one another!

Dreaming of the Future

pain17ification