Just for clarity; This fic was started a long, long, time ago. I never finished it, it was only this chapter that I now decided to revise. It's slightly AU, and obviously there's been a long time skip where much has happened. But for the sake of the story, everything (or, most things rather) after the Sasuke-rescue mission with the Sound-four didn't happen - or at least happened differently. The main characters are now at around the age of 20. Just wanted to point that out.

And - of course - I'll also clarify that I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.

Tegan & Sara - Want to be Bad.

Don't get in
Over your head
I just want to be bad
Oh oh alright

You're so tragedy
And you were hard on me
You might be dead
But it's hard to know
The night turns in
But you all go

Don't get in
Over your head
I just want to be bad
Oh oh alright

Serendipity
Chapter 1: Want to be Bad.

Ser-en-dip-i-ty
1. An aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.
2. Good fortune; luck; a very good coincidence.

The full-moon shone brightly from its mounted place in the darker reigns, its shining gaze being the sole witness of the forests below. An eerie silence hung upon the lands, the only exception being that of the wind constantly brushing by, causing rustles among the many branches in the trees and the grass on the ground.

A cloaked figure swiftly made its way through the trees, hopping from branch to branch, deftly and silently. As he had a habit of moving in the shadows there was no certain evidence of his presence except a faint outline hidden in the night, detailed by wild and unkept silky blonde hair, which somehow seemed to oppose or even defy the dark aura that embraced him.

He felt sick of running, however. He had been doing it, for what, five years now? Seven? More? Yeah, something like that.

Always running, from the ghosts that haunted his mind and the masked shinobis constantly on his tail, confronting him, chasing him, one step behind him at any and all time. He didn't know whether to feel honoured that they actually still bothered with him, or annoyed by their inferior skill. Playthings were what they were. Nothing more, nothing less, he convinced himself.

Ah, at least it made him feel wanted -- maybe even praised in some sadistic sense -- although in the opposite way he had always dreamt of as he grew up. It's funny how life works that way, he pondered bitterly. At one point he had craved attention like nothing else, but now...?

When he had finally gained the power that he so desperately sought, it had changed everything. Nothing had ever ended up like he'd expected.

No, life sure as hell had a way of screwing him over every now and then. A smirk appeared to his features. Maybe it was the tension, this moment, or just the bitter irony of it all.

Just as fast as it had appeared, however, he persistently shook it off, shaking his head. No, he needed to move on now, stay focused.

But he had to admit that much; it was funny -- amusing, really. One as strong as him not having the will-power to turn around and face all the things haunting him. But with great power came responsibility -- not necessarily great respect. He knew that now.

But now ---. And her ---.

He didn't care anymore, though. Or at least he told himself so. Once he had been deeply and desperately infatuated with her. Even in love? Yeah... Most definitely.

Right now? He didn't know -- couldn't bring himself to even care.

Time had changed a lot of things. Healed a lot of wounds, just as it in turn had afflicted many.

It had been a mere coincidence that she had found him in the first place. He had made the incredibly stupid mistake of staying at an inn for the night, thinking some well-cooked food and social company would be a nice contrast to his usually Spartan lifestyle. Of course, that nagging voice in the back of his head had told him not to. Which is probably why he had entered the inn in the first place. He hated that annoying, nagging, uncontrollable voice.

It laughed back at him now.

As he had entered the inn, there she stood. He had literally stumbled across her, surreal as it sounded. She wore a mask and ANBU clothing, but even now -- after all this time -- there had been no denying... They must've stood there, looking at each other for seconds... a very, very, long time in their business.

Before realization, and thus instinct, took over. He was out the door faster than the blink of an eye... and her, of course, tumbling after him.

Fortunately that meant she hadn't been able to alert any and all colleagues. They always travelled in group, the little pests. He would know. He had, after all, dealt with quite a few during the years... Of course, for some forsaken reason, he could never bring himself to kill any of them, the mere thought had seemed almost deranged, even for his vengeful mind.

No, mere playthings are what they are. Punching bags, if you will. A source of sadistic entertainment. A way for him to deal with stress.

He felt a pang of guilt race throughout his mind as he hopped, scurrying from branch to branch, hurrying to get away, to loose his followers in the safety of dark. But having no idea as to why, he quickly shrugged it of. Instead he focused on the task at hand, running.

The thought as to why he was running struck him for a moment. And just for a second, he allowed himself to explore it. It made him hesitate, if only for a moment. Dozens of answers echoing throughout his mind, but he couldn't really bring himself to listen.

It would complicate things. I have other worries -- besides, it's not the way it's supposed to go down, goddamnit!

She'll try to kill you!

What am I expecting? A hug? Open arms? The goodbye I never had? And that's that? Silly boy. Still nothing short of an idiot.

He smiled bitterly. Years of memories he hoped he'd forgotten entering his mind.

He had never had a reputation of being smart -- a solid thinker, if you will -- so why start bothering now? And so what, she could try to kill him. The line for his scalp was a long one, and he couldn't bring himself to think that she'd be up in front of it, the one to be able to put him out of his misery.

What's wrong with a little bit of complication now and then, anyway? It had worked for him before.

And with that he stopped and turned around, resolve in his mind. He would run no longer -- not from this.

He tensed a bit as he felt the aura of his perpetrator approach, slowly. She wasn't panting, even after that rush. He smiled fondly; she had grown. He could feel it. Maybe this hadn't been such a bad idea after all...? A familiar feeling crept up on him, one of anticipation.

He steadied himself, getting a bit too eager at the prospect of some fun and games. Just then she appeared in his line of sight, stopping a bit ahead of him.

Confronted like this, like they hadn't been for so long... neither knowing what to say nor how to act. He wasn't even sure what her agenda really was. It wasn't exactly ANBU protocol to attack head first. Does that mean she has some kind of trick up her sleeves...?

He couldn't stand the silence anymore than she could.

"It's been a long time, neh? Sakura-chan...?" Careful to emphasize the endearing suffix. Letting it roll of his tongue, scanning for any and all expressions on her body. At least it'd tell him something about her agenda. Besides, he loved mind games, especially in the midst of combat. Satisfying not only a now-a-days sadistic and insatiable ancient lust for cruel, but also giving him the upper hand in combat should it break out - an emotional foe was always that much easier -- not to mention funnier -- to fight.

And sure enough, every muscle in her body tensed for a split second. In turn, a mischievous grin tugged at the end of his lips.

"Idiot..." The pink-haired girl... no, woman, he decided, hissed under her breath. She'd grown so much since he'd last seen her, since ---.

Tall slender legs connected to a firm body. Muscular yet still very feminine. And those pink strands of hair, oh how he could've lost himself in the mere sight of those, back in the days. But that was not the only thing. She hadn't grown, so much as she had matured...

Physique and in mind, but also immensely in strength. Although, still not enough to rival him, he concluded, satisfied. Without a doubt one of the most powerful foes from Konoha he'd fought in a long time, but still not enough.

"Idiot... Look at you..." she began, again, and he casually observed how a range of emotions filled her. Disbelief, confusion, anger, rage.

She couldn't quite fathom how this man, this... scoundrel, thief -- enemy -- in front of her, could be the cheery little boy whom she remembered so well. The boy deeply infatuated with her, cherishing the very earth she moved upon, praising her every second of the day...

He had been a nuisance, a mere annoyance, back then. Oh, how she longed to have that boy by her side, again.

The blonde in front of her was vastly different from the one in her memories, however. The old one was rough, brash and hot-headed while this one seemed almost calculating, laid-back and… mature?

If anything, he has grown up, she realized with a bit of remorse as she took in his new appearance. Taller, bigger and, heck - even handsome. He had a piercing gaze from his blue eyes which coupled with his posture and his clothing made him look like quite the bad boy - the complete opposite of what he had always been.

Gone was the orange jumpsuit. Instead it was replaced by a long buttoned-up black coat that hugged his features. On the sides of which, starting at the bottom and working themselves up, there were distinct patterns that spiralled their way up towards his waist, coloured in a dark wine-red. Had she bothered counting them, she would've noticed that there were nine, all in all. The coat was slit just to below his waste at the front and back for easier movement, revealing black pants underneath. At the top it had a long collar that reached up to his chin, the two top-most buttons unbuttoned.

"What the hell's happened to you? Huh?" But she was greeted by nothing but silence, which in turn only fed her rage. "Well...? Tell me! Why the hell did you abandon us!? Why did you abandon-" me, she was going to add, but luckily got interrupted just in time.

"Listen, pinky." He cut her off, and as he mentioned the 'nickname', he was next-to-certain that she would've spat in his face if it wasn't for that mask of hers. "I do not wish to fight you ---"

"Bullshit!" She spat out, effectively cutting of his sentence.

He laughed, closer to a chuckle. "Okay, fair enough... whatever. Just know that, if you leave me no choice, I'll have to kill you. I'm not the stupid, innocent boy you once knew."

"You're telling me!?" She yelled out. "Looks like I'm just gonna have to bash some sense into that brainless piece-of-shit head of yours!" And with that, she lunged forward. Years of training under the legendary Tsunade imprinted in her mind and in her very fist.

And she was fast, too. Much faster than he would've given her credit for.

But unfortunately, not quite fast enough.

He effectively dodged every earth-shattering blow, blocked every punch and countered every kick; however making cautiously sure that he wasn't struck by her fist, as he knew from experience that its force could have quite the consequences, even for him.

For moments upon moments they were intertwined in combat, their gazes meeting. Neither one of them faltering, giving up, or moving back.

But he never once fought back. Not yet.

Her movements were graceful, swift & deadly. Punches and kicks trained to perfection, an ancient tai-jutsu style mastered years ago that didn't leave much opening.

His style resembled more of street brawling than anything a ninja of his caliber would use. Rugged and ungraceful but almost impossible to predict and with accuracy, speed and raw power out of this world.

She could feel that she got closer and closer to an opening, but it unnerved her somewhat that he hadn't even once thrown an attack back at her yet. Was he just trying to play with her? No matter, I'll show him, she thought, scowling behind the safety of her mask and noticed that a grin had yet again appeared upon his features.

And it kept getting wider. She knew he was definitely up to something.

Dodging a fist that would've surely cracked his ribs, he carefully blocked her other hand as it flew towards his throat. Not wasting any time, he bent his knees and got down closer to the ground, switching his weight to his left leg and attempting a roundhouse kick that he knew she would dodge. What she didn't know, however, was that his hands would connect with her stomach as she was still in the air, sending her back to where she came from.

He quite impressively noted that she still had a lot of strength left after their little exertion. After chasing after him in high speed for a good two hours, as well as keeping up a very fast tai-jutsu pace for several minutes, he had honestly thought she'd at least show some signs of faltering; such as heavy breathing, but there was nothing.

"You've grown, Sakura." He stated coolly, not even bothering with the suffix.

"Pfft." she spat back out. Had he honestly thought she would still be that helpless little girl she had been years ago? No, if anything all the events from years ago, both her teammates abandoning her, had been a wake-up call.

"But I'm still very much disappointed. Where's the malice in your attacks, the intent to kill? You're not even trying, Sakura-chaaan!"

She wanted to claw his eyes out, wipe that smudge know-it-all smile off of his face. She wanted to scream and shout, remind him how he was the dead-last and not her. She couldn't and thus her only response was a frown behind her mask. But he was right and they both knew it.

No, instead of acting like the helpless little child she had used to be, she opted for acting like the strong kunochi that she had matured into and did the one thing she was trained to do - attack.

And instead of using tai-jutsu alone, as that was obviously not enough here, she threw in some of the many jutsus she had mastered over the years.

The following minutes were spent between the two exchanging blows as well as jutsus. He was still very much on the defense, canceling out or even blocking her jutsus with his own.

An immensely large water jutsu stopped her fire one from setting him in flames. She smirked as she watched him soaked in water and called out a mighty lightning jutsu. It was a direct hit, but she noted with a scowl that the torched remains of him turned into earth and then, after mixing with the water, to mud.

"That's the spirit! Definitely an improvement." He called out from behind her, smirking as he appeared out of the trunk of a tree, but was again welcomed by nothing but silence. "Have you outgrown the hag yet?" He continued persistently. He was unwillingly curious, although would never admit that to anyone. Besides, he wouldn't stop now as he was clearly getting to her, the silence spoke volumes.

She knew very well that it was Tsunade he had referred to, but chose not to satisfy him by answering the question. Sakura most probably had, though. Maybe she wasn't quite as strong right now as Tsunade had been in her prime, but taking into account that the fifth Hokage had certainly aged quite a bit since those days, Sakura was now definitely the stronger out of the two. Especially considering that at Sakuras age, she could only grow stronger while Tsunade would only grow weaker.

He merely cocked an eyebrow at her silence, seemingly amused. "Right answer," he stated, and again let that unnerving grin tug at his lips. "I'll just find out on my own!"

He flicked a few projectiles - shurikens - her way and instantly worked on some hand seals. The projectiles soon divided into dozens, and from there on to hundreds.

And from there to several thousands.

Her eyes wide behind her mask, she couldn't even begin to fathom the amount of chakra, the amount of control---.

No! There's no time! He, he's actually trying to ---.

Nowhere to dodge fast enough as her whole field of view was covered in pointy objects, she had no choice but to pick up a needle and start fighting them of, one by one, as many as she could, hoping and praying none would hit a vital spot...

But there's too many...!

She braced herself after throwing a handful of her own projectiles to meet his, heart pumping faster in the heat of battle - and at the realization that this might really be her last. As she got ready to ricochet the first shuriken with her needle, it just flew straight past her -- no, straight through her!

Nothing but mere simple bunshin's!?

Eyes still wide, and relief pumping through her again. That's when she felt something connect with her upper leg -- with a sickening thud ripping through skin, and soon flesh -- just above her protecting steel knee-pad. And then once again, this one in her left arm. A third, square in her shoulder, just inches away from nerves and muscle tissue, vital for the limbs mobility. Then a fourth one, this one a kunai -- not a shuriken -- scratching the Leaf-symbol on her mask, before flying off into the woods.

She fell to her knees. I'm a trained shinobi damnit, she cursed herself for being so weak. Gritting her teeth, she got up to her feet again and pulled the shurikens out of her limbs.

Well, no more. Not today, not tomorrow, not...

"Looking pretty confident for someone licking her own wounds."

Oh, I'll make him shut the fuck up. Wipe that goddamn grin off of his face, alright.

"Sa-ku-ra." He played with the word. "I expected more out of this, but it's getting old." He dully complained.

"Oh shut up, Naruto. Just shut up! I'm bringing you back to Konoha. And rest assured, whether I have to kill you or drag your broken, unconscious body, you'll go there."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"It's my 'promise of a lifetime'." She mocked him, smugly satisfied that he was at a loss of words to retort with.

And he didn't say anything as she darted off towards him, flicking the three shurikens that were still in her hands his way but not bothering to clone them. They were, after all, mere distractions until she could get of the other techniques she was working on. Instead he only raised an eyebrow in mild interest as he noticed the objects didn't duplicate and that she was far from finished with her handseals. He caught the shurikens on his fingers but didn't throw them yet.

His vision went slightly blurry for just a moment. That's odd, he thought but his line of thought was interrupted when two perfect clones of Sakura appeared to her left.

"Kage bunshin no Jutsu!" she exclaimed.

Risky move, he analyzed quickly. She's going to put her everything into this next attack. Her remaining chakra supply couldn't have been that big, and cutting it in third like that…

He wasted no time and threw the three shurikens back at the original Sakura as all three Sakuras bound towards him. They got intercepted mid-air however by a few senbons courtesy of one of the clones and with a clang the metal objects scattered, bounding downwards to the forests below.

The original Sakura engaged the blonde in taijutsu while her clones supported with jutsus when they could. Her confidence was heightened a few notches now and she was an even more formidable opponent than earlier. He silently acknowledged that as a fact as he brought his own speed up a pace, but even so his counter-attacks met with nothing but air.

She's reading my every movement!?

Sakura ducked under yet another lightning-fast punch and as she did so his whole field of view revealed a shining fire rapidly descending towards him. Shit, that clones jutsus are gravely annoying, he said as he threw himself to the side, barely avoiding the katon-styled jutsu that managed to singe the clothing on his arm slightly.

As the smoke cleared little by little it revealed a rain of shuriken heading towards the jutsu-spewing clone. It widened its eyes in surprise but didn't have time to do much more than that as the objects connected, making it disappear in a cloud of smoke.

One down, two to go. Now where's the second clone? Naruto thought as he scanned the area. He had to cut his search short however as, what he presumed was, the original came bounding straight towards him.

He flicked a shuriken her way, hoping to slow her down but was surprised when it soared straight past her. Sakura didn't even need to dodge it.

What the… an illusion!? That expla--- oh shit!

Pain. Physical pain like he hadn't felt in years as her fist connected to his solar plexus a moment before it should be able to; she hadn't even reached him yet! Channeling what, he imagined, was her full strength in that one blow. It was enough to have him lift from ground and bound towards a tree behind him. The tree in fact did little to stop him as it split in half and left him tumbling into one directly behind it, where he stopped with a sickening crunch against the trunk, landing on a branch a few meters below.

He slowly got up on one, then two, shaky legs. Still reeling from the punch, not to mention the flight that it had caused, he shook his head. He reached out a hand to lean against the tree while regaining his strength.

As he heard her land gently on the other side of the branch, 100 or so feet away, he did something she never could've anticipated. Uzumaki Naruto started clapping slowly, still sluggish in his every movement. "Woah. I'd claim that that would leave a mark but, somehow it never does." he offered, a bittersweet smile on his features. She didn't know if he was mocking her or if he was genuinely applauding her.

And how can he still be standing after that? she thought frantically. Between keeping the tai-jutsu up and creating two clones, Sakura was panting heavily herself. How strong is he…?

The blonde stopped clapping and started to dust of his clothes instead, before he leaned against the trunk of the tree with his left hand again.

"At any rate," he continued, "sweet tactic, Sakura-chan." And for once, she noted that he didn't use the affectionate suffix in a mocking manner. "Using one clone for nin-jutsu and the other for gen-jutsu to throw me off track. Besides, they hid the gen-jutsu as well. I assume the first one that engaged me was a clone?" She frowned at this, not expecting him to figure it out - or at least not this fast.

The gen-jutsu she had cast was a rather simple on in theory. The first stages of it was C-Ranked and utterly easy to notice and dispel. It only distorted the victims perception of reality slightly, making everything appear a few feet left of where it actually was. But even if its basic stages were weak, fully mastered it was frightening as she could subtly change the position of the illusion. She had also learned to choreograph it with her tai-jutsu style, making misses appear like dodges.

"You've obviously grown, but you're still the same smart booksmart girl as ever, eh? No matter, I'll acknowledge your growth and won't hold back from now on."

"Pfft." Sakura spat out again. "I'll end this now! You try to keep up!"

All of a sudden vines of what he recognized to be poison ivy shot out from the tree and grabbed a hold of his left hand. He quickly plucked out a kunai and attempted to free his one arm with the other but before he could react more vines shot out from the branch below, enveloping his entire body.

Shit. This is gen-jutsu as well, the clone must still be near-by. But I can't disrupt my chakra flow without my hands free. I'll have to use it

His eyes suddenly shot up, now a colour of red instead of the usual innocent blue as he felt the demonic chakra within him stir. His row of teeth suddenly developing four fangs and he bit down on his cheek hard enough to draw blood in an attempt to dispel the gen-jutsu surrounding him.

Sakura brows furrowed as she saw the events develop in front of her. Somehow the effects of her clones gen-jutsu was receding and as the clone pushed more and more chakra into the technique to sustain it, in the end it reached its limit and disappeared with a 'pop'. Knowing what had to be done, Sakura acted accordingly, not wasting the opportunity at hand.

She dashed towards him, intent on ending this right here and now, no matter what. She did a few handseals mid-leap and in her hands a faint blue glow was formed. Naruto saw this out of the corner of his eye and recognized the technique as chakra scalpels. He brought up his kunai in order to raise his guard and fend her of but his eyes widened as he saw what she was about to do.

She's not trying to dodge…! he pondered briefly if he was still caught up in an illusion but threw that thought aside as he saw the calm, determined eyes behind her mask. Shit!

Frozen in realization, before he could act Sakura wrapped her left arm around his right one and pushed herself further into his guard. With a gasp the kunai penetrated her, just a small distance short of where the white kevlar armour of her ANBU uniform lay. Using the momentum of his surprise – red eyes still wide in horror – she attacked.

It took every ounce of his willpower to move a precious inch to the left as her glowing hand came tumbling towards his torso, allowing the otherwise fatal attack to 'only' nick a major artery close to the heart.

"That was unbelievably stupid!" Naruto growled. His eyes flicked an even darker, bloodier, red for a moment before he shook his head and then blinked, revealing his eyes true blue colour again.

He got down to his knees, his left arm still intervened with her right and with a push he placed her in his lap after he sat down, back against the trunk.

"Stupid, stupid girl..." he muttered again as he removed her mask, finally revealing her face. Normally, the old Naruto would've beamed at her right now, thinking how she was more beautiful than ever, but this situation was anything but normal.

"I got... you." she stated between ragged breaths, noticing the trail of blood running out of his mouth. She didn't know whether to feel happy or sad over the fact, though.

"You got me good. Now shut up and save your strength, Sakura. You'll need it after I kick your cute little ass for going off doing something incredibly stupid like that."

"I'm... dying, aren't I?"

"No." came his stern reply.

"But---"

"I told you to shut up, didn't I? It's not as bad as it looks. I managed to avoid any organs when I caught on to what you were about to do," He glanced down towards the kunai-inflicted injury. "You've lost a lot of blood but you'll live."

She only nodded numbly before looking up at him again. "What about… you, Naruto? I got you, didn't I?"

Naruto sighed. "I'm not like... most people. It hurt like shit, though." He chuckled absentmindedly. "Still does."

He removed his black coat, revealing a long-armed fishnet shirt covered by a brightly-blue coloured tee and black-coloured khaki-styled battle-pants underneath it. His left arm from his shoulder under the tee and down to his wrist, as well as parts of his right leg was covered in bandages.

He removed a couple of lengths of bandages from the arm before focusing his attention on the girl in his arms again.

Now for the tricky bit he thought as he carefully removed bits of the clothing around the wound. Naruto pondered whether he should warn her of the pain that would soon ensue but quickly decided against it. She pretty much deserves it after that stunt, and with that he pulled the offending kunai out of the wound it had dug.

The painful yelp that escaped her did little to satisfy him, however. He quickly fitted the bandage around her torso before she lost more blood than necessary. Satisfied he gazed away from the wound and towards her face again before he tucked her in under his coat.

At a loss for anything else to say, she offered a meek "I'm sorry..." before drifting of to unconsciousness, probably due to blood loss and weak state chakra exhaustion.

"Shh, it's alright." He responded, but he knew it'd fell on deaf ears.

Not really knowing what to do, he just held her for a few minutes, absentmindedly brushing away strays of hairs that had gotten stuck to her face. Whether due to blood, sweat or the many water-based jutsus thrown around earlier he didn't know.

He suddenly felt auras approaching, possibly around jounin level, and expanding his senses he cursed slightly as they were closer than he had expected. So caught up in recent events had he been that he hadn't noticed until just now. They were, almost without a doubt, the remainder of her team.

That's just perfect! he groaned, cursing his luck. He briefly considered fighting them, he still had a bit of strength and perhaps about thirty-five percent chakra left but for some reason decided against it.

Soon enough, four shadows landed on various places surrounding the two of them.

"Taichou!" a female voice cried out.

"What did you do to her?" another one, this one male asked. His voice was exceptionally calm for this situation, but it still came out as almost a growl. The blonde felt as if though he should've recognized the person.

He merely sighed and shook his head before he laughed bitterly. "Actually, she did it all to herself."

"You are..." the ANBU stopped mid-sentence, as if making sure before he revealed his suspicions.

"My reputation precedes me, eh?" The blonde answered playfully, but he had still to even look up and face any of them. His gaze was instead fixed on the woman in his lap.

"Uzumaki Naruto." That same voice asked again. At this revelation, murmurs and gasps escaped the remaining ANBU.

"It doesn't matter! Stand down and give yourself up! Let Sakura-taichou go!" the first one, the female, finally commanded. Naruto detected a hint of anxiety in her voice as he continued. "Or we'll be forced to take action!"

"Now, now, easy ANBU-chan." the missing-nin mocked. "Any other day, I'd love to play with you all but right now, I better get going. As for your taichou, dear pinky over here, well… you'll have her back in one piece sooner or later."

And with that, the tree swallowed Naruto along with Sakura. Just like that, they were gone, leaving four confused ANBU members behind without a leader.

Silly Author's Musings

Hoookay. There. It only took me three (four?) years to finish giving this chapter the once-over. Hell yeah!

Thanks to FenrisLupus for quite open-mindedly pointing out to me how not to suck. For your valiant efforts, your death shall be a quick one once I decide to take over the world.

Anyway, if this chapter is posted, chapter two and (quite possibly) three should be on their way as well. Look forward to them, or else!