Disclaimer, Notes and Acknowledgement

Since there was so much to say about this fic, I decided to separate it instead of inserting it in a chapter of the story. My apologies if this upsets anyone and if anybody wishes to skip this part, they are free to do so.

Firstly, I do not own Naruto – only Masashi Kishimoto can claim to do so. I do however; enjoy messing around with his world because I feel he isn't doing a good enough job with it. But that is, of course, my opinion only.

Secondly, I do not own the myth of Eros and Psyche either, and I'm not entirely sure who does or they would be credited likewise.

This work of fanfiction was written for the Mythology Challenge hosted on the Kakasaku community on LiveJournal by the wonderfully creative Zelha. It is thanks to her that you will find many wonderful pieces of fiction here that reflect the myths of Gods and Heroes. The last line of my story is a quote from Ovid about Venus, in keeping with the rules of the contest.

This has been the hardest fic I've ever written to date not just because of the length but the amount of behind-the-scenes work that went into it. Cranking it out between college, the hospital and God-knows-where-else was no easy task. Not to mention my laptop – the traitor that it is – decided it would be a good time to crash just as I was typing up the final scene of the last chapter. Result: I spent the next day frantically typing up the five thousand or so words it had swallowed.

This story was meant to be longer – a lot longer – but because of severe editing, a lot of things have been left out and will probably be posted as off-shots or companion ficlets sometime in the future. I don't think Shuu will ever forgive me if I leave out his secret ambitious streak and his fight with Matsuri in the finals of the chunin exams, or if I'll be able to forgive myself if I don't write about Tsuki and her relationship with her abusive husband, Koi. Then there are my girls who won't forgive me if I don't post Kakasaku smut.

Needless to say, this project drove me crazy for the duration of it, as my friends can easily testify. And since those friends were so wonderful and supportive, they also need to be mentioned here.

Firstly, my beloved Ze, who also beta-ed this story. She sacrificed her own sleep and days right along with me because she's just awesome that way. I appreciate all her help, advice, encouragement and mini Japanese lessons more than I can put into words. Thank you so much for being just you, Ze ze.

Rachel/Sezjera for being my punctuation savior and also for sacrificing her time and energy to help me when she doesn't even know the Narutoverse.

Monkshadow, Denilmo, Cleaheart, Nimblenymph, Qualapec, Omizu, Scary Rei (Sakura's lip gloss was inspired by her, people), Saphri, J pop, Slinkymilinky, Sayuri-No-Moe and everyone else at the OLP Cougar Den who kept up the cheering, advice, critique and just plain awesomeness. You'll never meet a more amazing bunch of girls than the ones in the Den. And as for Monk, I think all the ladies can testify to his awesomeness.

Also, a shout out to my dear, Maryam, who at least attempted to make me sleep and eat while I was working on this project. I'm not saying she succeeded but she sure as hell tried.

A very special thanks goes out to Flametwirler who was there to bounce ideas off of, to offer suggestions and who was a generally awesome bitching buddy. Sometimes the best encouragement you can get is from a fellow sufferer. I wish her the very best of luck with her own entry.

Finally, if you've managed to read this far, kudos to you. Just for kicks, leave an "I am so not made of macaroni" in your review so I'll know and maybe can repay the favor by reading something of yours or thank you properly for your time and effort.

If you enjoyed this story, please vote for it at the Kakasaku community mentioned above. If you did not enjoy it, please vote for one you did. I appreciate all feedback so please let me know what you think.

Sammy