Bitch Nights

A/N: *Cautiously peeps around the corner* Um . . . sorry for the wait?

Well, first of all, thanks to everyone who read and a double thanks to everyone who reviewed! I’m already over 14,400 hits on this-I really can’t believe it’s so popular!

Seriously, I feel terrible about the wait. If it weren’t for the constant support of my aff friends, I’d have never managed to finish! So everyone give a round of applause and some cookies to Feion_Phylar, Raithe and AdmiralShadowWolf!

On the plus side, in my effort to break writer’s block, I started drawing, and I’m having a lot of fun making Naruto fanart, with an occasional side of Tales of Symphonia. So check me out! http://blackwidina.deviantart.com

In any case, I know you’ve been waiting for it, so I’ll respond to reviews at the end. Enjoy!

'thoughts'
[Inner Sakura]

Chapter 11-Putting the Bastard to Work

The next day started off tense. Naruto had stayed the night with Sakura, and they'd been woken at the ass-crack of dawn by one of Sai's ink-bird summons. It had been a message from Kakashi, informing them of an 'altercation' between Sai and Sasuke, and that the latter now knew that the former was involved with all three of them. In order to keep the 'game' afloat, he said, he'd offered a deal to Sasuke: if the ex-missing nin could keep his mouth shut, he and Sai wouldn't reveal the nature of the conflict-though Kakashi mentioned that he'd tell them later, anyway.

Positively dying of curiosity, Naruto and Sakura had hurried to the training grounds the next morning, anxious to see the others. While they waited, they stretched and started some light sparring-no chakra. It was a pretty fair fight; what Sakura lacked in height and build, she made up for in speed, even with her training weights. He had trouble landing hits on her, but her blows seemed to almost bounce off him.

The feel of approaching chakra halted them, and Sakura waved cheerfully when she spotted the two slightly battered ravens heading across the field to drop their gear off. Feigning surprise and concern, she jogged over and grabbed Sai's face in her hands, gauging the severity of his split lip and black eyes. Luckily, it was all bruises; nothing was broken. Either they hadn't used much in the way of chakra, or they hadn't been all that serious. Surely, it was the latter. She couldn't imagine those two rolling around in a barroom brawl. They were shinobi, for crying out loud! Naruto, though . . . Still, poor Sai with his natural coloring resembled nothing so much as a raccoon, so she quickly started channeling healing chakra to her hands.

Sasuke, on the other hand, looked untouched in his new clothes-he'd picked the navy long-sleeved V-neck shirt she'd already put a crest on and a pair of black pants. The only thing marring his perfect skin were the circles under his eyes, which she knew were a symptom of too little sleep, since Kakashi had mentioned that he could sense Sasuke performing healing jutsus while he'd been . . . comforting Sai.

[Comforting my ass.] grumbled Inner Sakura.

‘Probably literally.'

She glared at Sasuke, "If you know enough healing to fix yourself, you could have had the courtesy to heal Sai as well."

"Hn." His tone was dismissive.

Just about the time she was about to let him have a piece of her mind (or fist), Sai smiled at her, really smiled, and her heart skipped a beat, effectively ruining her pissy mood. She glanced over at Naruto, who was rummaging around his bag, probably for his water bottle, his back to them. Seizing the moment, she kissed Sai quickly, ignoring the angry spike of energy from their one-nin audience.

When she pulled back, the artist actually winked at her before his expression got serious. When it came to training, Sai was all business. "Naruto, Sakura, get your practice blades. Do a quick run through of the forms, then I want to watch you two spar." He ran his tongue over his healed lower lip, and softened a little. "Thank you, Sakura."

She grinned, "No problem. Should I use the katana or wakizashi?"

"Hn. Since when-"

"Since we decided to go for ANBU, teme," Naruto interrupted. He hefted his katana, which, like hers, was nearly identical to ANBU standard issue. "I'm ready, O great sword-master."

Sai rolled his eyes, tossing imaginary hair out of his way, while his two 'students' nearly hurt themselves trying not to laugh. "Sakura, use the katana for your first run, then use the twin blades. Naruto, shut up and get to work. You need it the most."

Duck-Butt smirked. Naruto snarled and tensed to leap. Sakura held him back, and gave him a push in the right direction-that is, away from the asshole and towards where they were training.

Sai and Sasuke started warming up, and the medic-nin noted with amusement that they stayed a healthy distance apart. Sasuke was downright broody as a setting hen, and she was just itching to know what he'd done that allowed Kakashi to blackmail him into silence.

They started going through their practice forms, the ease of three years of practice showing in their fluid moments, and then Sakura switched to the two wakizashi she preferred and did them all over again while Naruto sparred against a clone. Sai watched them like a hawk, occasionally calling out criticism or 'advice,' which usually was along the lines of 'keep swinging it like that and Dickless won't just be a nickname!'

When she finally finished with her second run, Sai was ready to spar. He took on the original Naruto while the clone beckoned to her, grinning.

With a smile, she rotated her blades once to make sure her wrists were loose, then blinked in surprise as the clone disappeared with a 'poof.'

Sasuke was standing with his hands in his pockets. It reminded her of the way he was before he left, though his posture remained impeccable. She hadn't seen him move, but judging from the nasty look Naruto sent his way (allowing Sai to score a minor hit), he'd been responsible for the clone's demise. Sasuke just looked at her, not saying a word.

Mildly irritated, she glared back. "If you wanted to spar, you could have just said so."

"Hn." His hands left his pockets and gripped the hilt of his sword. He drew it easily and smirked at her. "Come."

Fighting down her anger, she rushed forward at half speed, then kicked it into high gear without warning, moving behind him fast enough that non-shinobi eyes would have been unable to follow. Sasuke wasn't fooled though, and had already moved to block.

He then proceeded to block every subsequent attempt thereafter.

Granted, she knew better than to try to beat a master at his own game, but it grated on her nerves that she couldn't hit him, despite the fact that he obviously wasn't exerting himself in any way. No Sharingan, no chakra, just pure skill.

She still had a looooong way to go, apparently.

Finally, she was annoyed enough that she decided to try something that she and Sai had discussed-as in, not tested-and started trying to channel chakra into her sword. She knew it wouldn't work all that well, since it was a practice quality blade, and weapons like Sasuke's Kusanagi and Asuma's chakra blades required a special type of metal, but if she pushed hard enough . . .

A resounding clang filled the air as the two blades hit, the reverberation sending both ninja stumbling back. Sakura, used to chakra recoil from her strength techniques, reacted instinctively, sending more chakra to her arms to counteract it, and regained her balance almost immediately. When she saw that Sasuke was still reeling back, she quickly pulled more chakra into her foot, slamming it into the ground without thinking.

She heard Sasuke curse as the earth split open beneath him, directly between his feet.

Sai's voice rang out, irritated, "No chakra, Sakura!" He ducked as Naruto took the opening, then did a sort of flip and twist that allowed him to smack the flat of his blade on the blonde's upper thigh. As the other squealed-er, gave a manly scream of pain and surprise, Sai quickly took advantage and scored a 'kill.'

All action stopped as Naruto gave such a convincing shriek that for a second, Sakura thought maybe Sai had over-extended, and automatically started readying herself to begin forming seals for her healing jutsu. However, at the amused look on the pale ninja's face, and the comically theatrical look of distress on Naruto's, she realized quickly that the Kyuubi container was faking it, and relaxed.

Naruto threw himself onto the cracked ground, writhing in simulated 'agony.' "Oh, KAMI! I'm DYING! The bastard killed me!" He rolled over and grasped at her ankles, looking up at her with tear-filled eyes, "Please, Sakura-chan . . . I'm too pretty to die . . ." His voice trailed off into a wheedling whimper, "I'll give you ramen!"

Forcing her face into a mournful expression, she shook her head sadly, "There's nothing I can do for you. The wound is beyond my ability."

He flopped back onto the grass, clutching at his 'wound,' "Sai . . . Sai . . ." He lifted his hand weakly and beckoned to the other, "Come closer . . ."

Rolling his eyes, Sai nevertheless obediently came forward, and knelt by his 'dying' comrade. "Yes, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto grimaced, "Sai . . . I just wanted . . . I leave my clothes to you . . . Yours are so small . . . You've obviously been wearing the same shirt since you were like, five, and I just . . . want you to have something in your size. You can even dye them black . . ."

Sai didn't break character, but as he bowed his head, Sakura could see the slight tremor in his shoulders that told her that he was holding in laughter. She quickly started a mantra that Tsunade had taught her for times when a serious face was vital to the success of a mission.

"Teme . . ."

She looked over at Sasuke, who was watching the proceedings with a raised brow, obviously wondering if this sort of shit happened all the time. "Hn."

"I just wanted to let you know . . . you're an ass."

The onyx gaze narrowed. "Your 'dying breath,' and you can't come up with anything original?"

". . . I hear you hit like a girl."

Sasuke spluttered.

Obviously fighting a grin, Naruto turned to her. "S-Sakura-chan . . ."

Biting the inside of her cheek, she rapidly knelt, taking his reaching hand in hers and cradling it to her cheek, "Yes, Naruto?" she asked, trying to make her voice sound grieving as tears of laughter threatened to roll down her cheeks.

"Sakura . . . We've been friends . . . for so long, and I know you think you know how I feel about you . . ." He trailed off, coughing a little, an evil glint in his 'dying' eyes.

Feeling theatrical, she let out a little half-sob, "Oh, Naruto, I lo-"

He cut her off, "Wait . . . That's not what I want to say. . ." He cupped her cheek in her hand . . . "I know you think I love you . . . but that's a lie. I've been . . . using you to get closer to someone else . . . "

She blinked. 'What the . . .?'

". . . Tell your mom . . . I said hi."

That was it; she couldn't hold back anymore. Sakura positively howled with laughter, falling back from her crouch onto her butt. Tears flowed freely as both she and Naruto doubled over on the ground, and even Sai was laughing a little, though he was better able to keep his composure.

Most of it, anyway.

"Hmm . . . maybe I shouldn't leave you in charge, Sai. Seems to be a lack of discipline."

At Kakashi's voice, Naruto and Sakura automatically popped their heads up like little hitai-ate-ed gophers. "You're LATE!"

He groaned, "Six years, guys. Six years, and you still get mad?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Tradition. So where the hell have you been?"

Kakashi gave his one-eyed glare, "Getting some sleep. There were some ravens fighting all night. Very noisy."

"What?! You tell us to get our asses out here at an ungodly hour, then sleep in? That's pretty lame, sensei."

A long pause, then the dreaded ‘cheerful‘ tone. "Why thank you for volunteering to be my sparring opponent, Naruto."

"Aw, fuck."

"Isn't the phrase supposed to be 'oh, snap?'"

"Shut up, Sai."

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Two weeks later . . .

Inner Sakura was having the time of her life. So far, she'd been kissed, groped and licked in various places by her boys, and she'd managed some blatant rubbing and (slightly) more discreet groping of her own, all carefully done over the space of a fortnight. Every time Sasuke was in visual range of them-which was all the damn time, unfortunately, the game was on. Truthfully, it was as intricate an operation as any mission she'd been on, trying to find the balance between keeping Sasuke broodily silent and still pushing him towards the edge of his temper.

What could she say? She was a sadist at heart, and this game was a wonderful vent for all the frustration that came with knowing there was no chance in hell she'd be seeing a real mission anytime soon.

Even if it exacerbated the frustration in other areas.

It was damn near impossible to focus on training when they were playing the game, and she knew that, as much fun as the foursome was having together, Kakashi was less than pleased at their recent performance in practice. Judging by the look in his eye the last time he'd bitched her out for not concentrating, he was considering calling the bluff off sooner rather than later.

For right now, though, she could tell he was enjoying the sight of Sasuke's pronounced eye tic and increasingly 'aggravated poultry' set of his hair. Seriously, those spikes had to be sentient or something. It made her wonder if Orochimaru had ever picked up any of Jiraiya's hair jutsu and passed them on.

And it made for a good distraction, because when they weren't fucking with Sasuke's head, things were . . . weird. That was the only way she could describe it. In some ways, it felt like he'd never left. He and Naruto constantly butted heads; he'd apparently decided that ignoring Sakura outside of team leader-mandated training sessions was the best solution, and he was outright hostile to Sai.

But in other ways, there was a chasm between 'us' and 'him' that hurt her heart to think about. Aside from banter and discussions on training, Sasuke was as cold and silent as he'd been before. It didn't help that Team Kakashi was hesitant to ask any questions that could lead to angering him or making things even more uncomfortable. There was a white elephant the size of the Uchiha’s ego that needed to be addressed, and no one was sure how to do it.

They were supposed to be mad at him, weren't they?

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It was the end of another training session, and Sakura was equal parts exhausted from being beaten to a pulp and incredibly aroused. She was flushed, sweating and ready to drop her dignity entirely and just beg them to fuck her. She didn't even care which one at this point, though she certainly owed Naruto back for the bite on the back of her neck when they were supposed to be working on taijutsu. She'd nearly come from that alone.

[Only in a ninja village can one consider sparring to be foreplay,] quipped Inner Sakura with a smirk.

Sakura didn't even bother to correct herself. It was all too true. It didn't help that half of the problem was that the guys were taking advantage of the summer heat to shed layers. Sadistic bastards that they were, Kakashi was down to his sleeveless undershirt (since he couldn't remove that without losing his mask), Sai to his half-shirt and Naruto had forgone clothing altogether from the waist up-though she suspected that was more to torment Kakashi than herself.

Still . . . [Drool!!!]

When Kakashi finally called a halt, the group went to sprawl beneath the nearest oversized tree. Sakura tried to get comfortable, but it was nearly impossible to keep from pressing her thighs together in an attempt to quell the ache between them. And from the faint smirks on Kakashi and Naruto's faces, their super-sensitive noses could tell.

Still, nothing was said as they quietly lay together, no one touching, but still oddly peaceful, considering the company. Things often got stilted and uncomfortable with all the things left unsaid. Sakura wished wistfully for things to go back the way they'd been the day after she'd told them she loved them. They'd been so in sync, so comfortable with each other . . .

She needed to be with them.

The most immediate downside to having Sasuke ordered under their watch was that there was no way for all four of them to be intimate. Naturally, they hadn't stopped all activity-in fact, she was being kidnapped and molested every time Sasuke wasn't with her, and likewise, she'd hauled her boys off for private time a time or dozen. And the boys were definitely game (though Sai told her that Naruto and Kakashi hadn’t had him go any further than they already had.)

She grinned at the memories. Naruto was the most enthusiastic lover of the three, and probably the cuddliest; Sai was surprisingly gentle and would bend over backwards to pleasure her, and Kakashi was probably the kinkiest bastard she'd ever come across. Or even heard about (except for maybe Genma.) She'd probably only been literally 'in bed' with him a total of three times. The rest of the time, it was on the couch, the coffee table, the kitchen counter, the shower, or outside of the apartment altogether.

Still, as wonderful, emotional and pleasurable as her one-on-one sessions with the guys were, she missed having them all together.

And what the hell; she was a big girl, she could admit it-she wanted to watch some sweet, sweet yaoi action.

[HELL yeah!]

Casually, she glanced over at Sasuke as she cleaned her blades, making sure to keep the annoyance off her face. It was his fault she couldn't be with them; this baby-sitting shit was getting old. He obviously wasn't planning on running; he'd had plenty of opportunity. And they hadn't exactly been friendly, so why was he staying? What kept him there, putting up with the bullshit, and keeping so quiet? There had to be some other reason . . . but what?

The longer she looked at them, the more curious she got. He was looking away, watching as Sai and Naruto exchanged smiles and the friendly, dick-related banter that doubled as verbal foreplay for them. The inner struggle was visible on his unusually expressionless face. The duck had nearly graduated to swan in size, and she wondered if he'd been running his hands through his hair in agitation.

Inner Sakura stuck her tongue out at him and flashed the victory sign on one hand, her middle finger on the other.

Kakashi rolled his shoulders back, "All right, that was a good session, but there's still room for improvement. Sakura, you're still dropping your left shoulder before your left hook; I want you to focus on that this week. I don't even need the Sharingan to read your movements at this point. Naruto, would you please work a little more on keeping your face protected? You took more hits to the head than the rest of us combined."

Sasuke smirked, "You heal pretty fast, dobe, but those last few brain cells must be bruised pretty badly by now."

"Teme . . . "

"AHEM!" Kakashi interrupted, "Sai, I think-"

Whatever Kakashi thought was abruptly cut off by the sound of a hawk shrilling above them.

Sakura recognized the call for a medical emergency and jumped to her feet, "Fuck!" She started grabbing her stuff, shoving her water bottle into her back and sheathing her blades in her brand new harness (courtesy of Sai, until the custom ones she'd ordered came in.)

"Was that . . . the medic code?" Sasuke asked, tilting his head. "Or have the codes changed since I was here?"

"They cycle the signals once in a while, but yeah, it's still the medic call." Konoha, being situated in a forest, used birdcalls to convey the most vital information. That particular call was sent via a bird-formed genjutsu sent forward from a patrol on its way home-a way of saying 'meet us at the gate, we're wounded.'

Which meant Sakura needed to move. Being the Hokage's protégé, she knew that Tsunade had been receiving reports of rogue ninja in the area. More than likely, one of the scouting parties the Godaime had sent to investigate had run into them and come off the worse for it. Now, if only she could remember who'd been sent . . .

Another call rang out, slightly different in pitch, just as she was gathering chakra to aid her in her flight. This one brought the others to their feet, Sasuke only a split second behind, rushing to grab shirts, vests and jackets.

Translation: 'Enemy in pursuit.'

She didn't wait to see if her teammates caught up; she was flying through the training field, over the river and through the woods to . . . never mind. Needless to say, she was hauling ass towards the front gate. As she left the grounds and cut through the village, she could see others defying physics in a similar fashion as she, all rushing to assist, though she didn't bother to take names.

When she got there, she slid to a stop by Ino, who was trying to stabilize a shinobi so badly wounded she couldn't she didn't even recognize him through the blood. "Ino, tell me what I need to know."

"That outfit clashes with your hair."

"Pig!"

Ino didn't even look up from her work. "Look, I don't know what happened. What I do know is that this guy's teammates dropped him off, told me there's more on the way, then ran back to help the others. The enemy ninja apparently aren't letting our shinobi retreat, but they're staying just out of visual range of the village. Our nin are doing their best to get the wounded out of the battlefield without getting killed themselves."

Sakura was already getting her supplies; true to Ino's words, battle-worn chuunin and jounin appeared sporadically, dragging their injured members to the gate before disappearing from whence they came.

She sensed Kakashi and Co. behind her, and could almost hear the aura of 'fuck, we need to get out there and help!' that Naruto was emanating.

But they couldn't leave the village . . .

Or at least not all of them.

She glanced at Kakashi, who'd apparently made the same realization. "Sai, Sasuke, stay here and help Sakura. Naruto, you're with me." And in a (yellow!) flash, the two were gone.

"Sai, stay here with Ino and do whatever she tells you. Sasuke, help me figure out which ones are stable enough to move when the medic nins get here."

Triage was ugly at times. When the stretchers arrived, Sakura was already soaked with blood from trying to heal the worst of the wounded enough to transport. Sasuke was nearly as bad off, tending some of the lesser wounded. Currently, he was struggling with a Jounin who'd literally been dragged in by his teammate with a broken ankle and several lacerations. "Dammit, hold still!"

"Gotta get back . . . Rai . . . Rai's going back . . ."

Sakura's attention was immediately caught, and she flew to the jounin's side. "Genma?"

Genma peered up at her through matted bangs. "Sakura? Fuck-Sakura! Let me up, I gotta-"

"No way in hell," she retorted, checking him over. "Raidou's a big boy; he'll be fine, but you're going nowhere with that ankle." She waved over someone with a stretcher as she noticed Genma's pupils dilating. "You're going into shock."

"No shit. This isn't the first time, and it's not going to be the last," he chuckled without his usual mirth, "But Sakura-tell the Hokage. They're Sound."

Sasuke froze beside her, the healing jutsu he'd been using to seal one of the cuts fizzling out. "Are they here for me?"

The usually easygoing Jounin glared, "Better not be."

"Gen-." Sakura was cut off as the medics started pulling Genma onto the stretcher.

"Haruno-san," one of them touched her on the arm. "The Hokage wanted us to find you and tell you she wants you at the hospital, immediately."

"Shit!" She looked over at Sasuke, who was still kneeling very, very still. "Sasuke."

He looked up at her, face totally blank.

She opened her mouth to tell him to get his ass moving, but something in his face-or perhaps what wasn't in his face, made her soften a little. Just a little. "Are you planning to run off with them?"

The impassive gaze hardened a touch. "No." He actually sounded slightly offended, which translated to him being damn near mortally wounded.

Sakura let a tiny smile grace her lips. "Then don't worry about it. You're a citizen of Konoha again, and even if you weren't, you're under our protection. We won't let them take you." She leaned down, just enough to where only he could hear her, "And you know damn well that even as pissed as he is at you, Naruto will move heaven and earth to get you back if they do."

She stood, noting the tiny flickers of various emotions. Had she not spent all the last few years learning to read the android that was Sai, she'd have missed it. "Now get your ass moving."

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The hospital was a mad house, but luckily, one she was accustomed to. She led Sasuke through the un-choreographed dance of medics, interns, nurses, injured, stretchers, wheelchairs and equipment as though she were Moses, and the chaos before her was the Red Sea. It helped that anyone who recognized her knew to get out of her way when she was on a mission.

Her first stop, despite several attempts to get her attention, was the locker rooms. She rushed in, grabbed a set of larger scrubs out of the laundry and thrust them at Sasuke. "Quick; put these on. You'll need them." Then she grabbed her own medic 'uniform'-which was different enough from the standard uniform to make it clear that she was Tsunade's apprentice. Apparently, the staff wanted to be able to find her immediately in case the Hokage summoned her, and it was easier if she dressed differently-aka, according to her 'station.'

She'd refrained from pointing out that she was the only person in the damn place with bubblegum colored hair.

In any case, her version of the uniform-which she'd let her aunt design, to the woman's delight-looked like a reversed version of the dress she'd worn as a genin. The irony hadn't been lost on anyone. However, it was white, which pleased her desire to look like she belonged to the staff, yet the red trim and the family crest on her back made the higher-ups happy.

They changed quickly, neither looking at each other, and then emerged into the bedlam of the emergency room.

The ER head immediately appeared at her side, "Haruno-sama, we need you in the OR immediately. We're overflowing; there are at least two medic-nins out there, because they're tearing up ours from the outside. The Hokage-sama and Shizune-sama are already with the surgical teams, but there are too many patients and not enough of us."

"What's the damage?"

"Apparently, the victims of the jutsu have their vital organs twisted around from the outside. There's no visible wound; we're having to make incisions and put everything back in its place.

Damn. She turned and started heading towards the operating rooms, "Is there a team ready? I'll need a nurse who's familiar-"

"There aren't any left, but there are a couple of interns-"

"INTERNS!?! What the hell . . ." Sakura paused in the hallway, nearly letting a gurney run her over. "You want me to do complicated surgery with a bunch of newbies who have only been allowed to practice on corpses? I need someone with experience in handling live-"

"Hn."

Her head snapped up, locking eyes with the Uchiha still trailing her. The gleam in his eyes was plain Uchiha-speak. The arrogant, 'What do you need THEM for, when you have me?' look.

Then she realized: of course he had medical experience. Sharingan aside, this guy had lived for six years with Orochimaru. The Sannin was like a cross between Michael Jackson and Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. And he had Kabuto as his pet. It was almost impossible NOT to pick up a few things in that span of time.

"All right, then. Uchiha, you're with me. I'll take a couple of those interns, though, for the fetch and carry work."

"Hai, Haruno-sama. I'll send them right away."

Sakura nodded, then led Sasuke to Room Five to scrub up. "Thank you," she said sincerely.

"Hn." There was a long pause. "Thank you . . . for trusting me."

She stiffened a little, "I wouldn't say I trust you just yet."

"Hn. I know that. But you're trusting me with the lives of your villagers. That's a start."

[Damn, that was like, sixteen real words. He must have exhausted himself.] Inner Sakura smirked.

Outer Sakura just smiled as she pulled her hair up. "They're your villagers, too. Remember? Now." The smile turned evil. "It's time to put your ass to work.

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A/N: And here I give some love to my fans:

Nadene: Glad to know I’m not the only one thinking along those lines!

Kaytee: ^_^ Your review made me blush like hell with all the effusive praise. I’m so glad you liked my fic enough to step out of your normal zone!

Feion: . . . You know I love you. You know I love when you review. You are the wind beneath my wings, and the creator of my second child. Just you wait, I’ll do you proud.

Lunayawolf: You had me laughing my ass off! The whole time you were reading and reviewing, I was working on this chapter, and giggling in delight everytime MSN Messenger told me I had a new review! Your enthusiasm was awesome!

-xyz-: I feel terrible that you think my previous rant was directed at you-quite the opposite, actually. I don’t mind constructive criticism at all, and yours is definitely that. You challenged me to THINK about some things, and consider different perspectives, and I thank you, because I think it helped a lot. What annoys me is when someone pretty much tells me what my fic is, based on what they think is going on, nevermind that it’s my fic, and I decide what happens, and I’m the only one who knows the whole story. Now, if I’m not clear enough, fine. Tell me, and I’ll work on it. That’s what you did, when you mentioned the pairings. So I worked to correct it. But some people just want to tell me that I’m writing a certain kind of fic, when I’m not and . . . *takes a deep breath.* Whoops. Sorry, my bad. Didn’t mean to rant again. Love you lots -xyz-. Moving on!

blacquekitsune: *giggles madly* I just had my own catchphrase used at me!!! ‘Fuck ‘em!’ indeed!

dobeofthesand: If I can find a place for Gaara to make a cameo, I’ll happily oblige, but I don’t think I can make any promises. And I don’t think I can fit any more people into this relationship-can you imagine how big the bed would have to be? @_@

Robin: Have faith, young emo-padawan.

A nani mouse: Nope. Never been on ff.net. You lucky aff.net people are the only ones to see this.

All right, peoples. It’s 4am, I’m going to catch some sleep before my daughter wakes up at 8. Then I’ll get back to writing. I think I’ve got a good grasp on what happens next, so hopefully, chapter 12 will go much easier. If it goes REALLY well, we may end up with some citrus-y action!

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