Sigh Yes, folks. I think we all saw this one coming. To be honest, I'm surprised so many of you continued to review this story even after a whole year of me not updating, and it both warms my heart and yet makes me sad that I have to do this.

But, you see, here's the thing. I had never really intended to take this story beyond the one-shot. I simply wanted people to be interested in my challenges, so I took it upon myself to try and give people a nudge in some kind of direction. Add into the fact that I was in a depressed mood and wanted to vent a little, and, well, you all saw the result. The only reason that I tried to continue it was because a lot of you asked me to continue with it.

Is there a complete story here, just waiting to come out? Sure, I can see that. And I might even try to finish it – one day. But right now, my inspiration has gone down the toilet, I'm a hypochondriac who now lives in fear of every passing day, and it's tough just trying to make ends meet. Then there was also about that whole drama where some asshole had the audacity to literally take EVERYTHING I had written for the first two chapters, sloppily edit them and then call them his own. He claimed I had given him permission to do so; I gave him permission to use the story IDEA. No self-respecting writer would EVER take a sizable majority of someone else's work and publish it under their own banner, and I'm both shocked and appalled that he even thought I would allow such a thing. I won't name names (especially since I just want the whole damn incident swept under the rug and forgotten about), but the whole thing just threw me into a funk that I just can't seem to crawl out of.

You see, that's the thing with us depressed people. We have our good days, our bad days, our great days, and our downright awful days. And just because some of us are depressed doesn't mean we don't try to work through it or overcome it or push it to the side so we can focus on life. That doesn't mean the depression has gone away; it just means that we are trying to not let it affect you all as well.

Yes, that was a subtle jab at people who claim that Naruto wasn't acting depressed enough. Comparing the canon Naruto to the one I created, I would say that I did decently well in at least balancing out the happy-go-lucky boy with the one who gave up when it all got too tough. Depression is a mental illness. We all are affected by it differently, so don't somehow think that one case of depression is the exact same as the millions of others around the world. Every human being is different in the end, after all.

Listen, I'm not saying I'm totally abandoning this story. I actually have a fairly sizable portion of chapter five done (which I think might have answered some questions for the detractors) and had even started on six. So maybe I might start taking this thing back up sooner than even I think. I just wanted to get this out there and not have you all wondering and wishing for an update that might not come for some time.

So, thanks for all the support, I hope you all continue to enjoy this story despite the very long periods waiting, and I hope it's even inspired some of you to try the challenge – or any of the other challenges on my profile – and give it your own twists. Keep on reviewing if you'd like to, but don't feel obligated to if you don't.

Peace out,

Triforce Guardian