*sighs* This is getting a little frustrating.

( Not again...! )

( Warning: if you want to read this one, I suggest Japanese-text compliance. Because I am a language nerd. )

I already said this to Askerian, but I'll repeat it here:

( Shikamaru ROCKS. )

You know, Naruto has been in need of a good emotional-backlash chapter for a while.

( And now we get it. )

( So much material! Whee! )

( Talk about a bittersweet chapter. With distinctly more bitter than sweet. )

( And a messy situation just gets messier... )

Whew - I would disappear in the middle of this riddle! But at least I had plenty of time to chew on it...

( And I still am not sure what I think of it. )

*sighs* I could not, for the life of me, find a raw version of this chapter. And believe me, I looked. I'm sure it's out there - hello, scanlation is out, therefore the chapter must exist - but I don't know where I'd find it.

And new Weekly Jumps don't arrive in Akita until several days after publication. Yay, living in a backwater.

( On the other hand, there's not much to do with this chapter save wait and see... )

Fascinating.

( HISTORY! *descends into spasms of delight* )