Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Uchiha Curse ❯ The Uchiha Curse ( Chapter 1 )

 

 

 

Title: The Uchiha's Curse

Author: thatreevesgirl

Summary: Oneshot-Complete. Itachi attempts to capture Naruto and is mortally wounded in the process. Sasuke finds out the real reason why his family was murdered.

Rating: PG-13 for violence

Character(s): Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Itachi when they are adults.

Feedback: Love it, especially if you find errors…I don't have a beta currently

Beta: I don't have a beta :*(

Warnings: Violence and death (but no smut or cursing). Also some spoilers since it is a continuation that takes place when Sasuke is twenty-three.

Genre: Drama/Angst…slight AU, but mostly an assumed continuation.

Extra Notes: Pulled from a story of mine to stand on its own. It is actually from a much smuttier fic, but I thought that this was strong enough to be a oneshot and is aimed toward a general audience instead of the hentai loving crowd.

 

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Itachi fingered the kunai in his hands, slowly and carefully running his fingers down the blade in a sickeningly sensual way. Laying on the ground in front of the tall, pale traitor was the prize that Itachi had been trying to capture for so many years, the one that would eventually lead him to unfathomable power or the destruction of his ex-home (secretly he hoped for both). Naruto, injured beyond the point of death for most shinobi, could do little but be frozen by Itachi's Sharingan. It was Uchiha clan's heritage that was preventing Kyuubi from healing Naruto like he normally did, allowing Naruto's innards to leak slowly from his body as he writhed in unbelievably excruciating pain.

 

`At least Sakura was able to escape,' Naruto thought gratefully. Sharpness knifed through his entire being and Naruto, in a momentary lapse of his senses, wished for nothing but death and release from the horror of being in the throes of Itachi. Naruto knew that it would be the end of all those he cared about if he allowed Itachi to capture him alive, but Kyuubi wouldn't lend him the strength to kill himself. To the demon trapped within him Naruto pleaded to lend him ability to mercifully finish this, but Kyuubi only thrashed in his cage and reveled in the thought of freedom that this other ninja might provide. Naruto would receive no help this time from the nine-tailed fox, other than the mere strength to keep his body alive until someone could release him.

 

“I will not help you to end us young one,” Kyuubi snarled at Naruto.

 

“Then help me fight him, help me to be strong enough to destroy him,” Naruto pleaded

 

“Ha, this one that stands before us intrigues me. He will be the one to free me from this cage and the frailness of you, my human counterpart.”

 

“You are right Kyuubi, you are my strength, but you also mentioned the thing that makes what Itachi promises you impossible…you ARE my counterpart. We have become one being, there is no way to extract me from you or you from me…we are as one.” Naruto's words were indignant sounding to the great demon, seemingly mocking him, yet…they were true.

 

Kyuubi roared in his cage, furious at the young man who had dashed his hopes for freedom…and suddenly there was clarity in the eyes of the imprisoned beast as the Sharingan's hold and illusion was broken.

 

It had been nothing but a false promise; an illusion conjured by Itachi's Sharingan. When Kyuubi realized this a surge of power drained from him and into the vessel that could put it to use. Itachi watched in horror as Naruto began healing himself and transforming into something unimaginable. It would be the last thing that he would ever see as the nearly monstrous looking Naruto ripped both of the older shinobi's eyes right from his sockets leaving Itachi writhing in pain.

 

The Kyuubi transformation was sucking in all of Itachi's chakra like a magnet, leaving him more vulnerable than he had ever been. With a hand that now more closely resembled a clawed paw Itachi was batted against a tree like a kitten would do with a plaything. But this was no playful strike as Itachi slammed against the tree with a sickening crunch of bones breaking within his body. The older Uchiha was no longer able to move, no longer able to even feel the rest of his body. He wished for death like Naruto had done only moments earlier.

 

Naruto's control over himself returned when he heard a scream ordering him to stop from high trees overhead. The transformation reversed itself and Naruto looked up to find Sasuke, Kakashi, and Sakura on a nearby branch. Sasuke leaped toward Naruto and landed a powerful punch. “He was mine, the revenge was supposed to be mine!” Sasuke screamed, continuing to fight with his teammate. “How could you take this away from me Naruto? I was to avenge my family's honor and you took that away from me!”

 

Naruto saw the bitter tears that fell from furious eyes and he did not stop Sasuke from pulverizing him. It was finally Kakashi that restrained the younger Uchiha, holding him back from the still critically injured blonde. “Let him be Sasuke, he is hurt and you are blinded by rage,” Kakashi's words were a warning.

 

“I didn't kill him,” Naruto whispered. “He is yours to finish.” Naruto reached to his belt pack and pulled out a kunai, holding it out for Sasuke to take. Sasuke ripped it out of the hand of the Naruto and walked up to where Itachi was crumpled in a broken pile against the trunk of a very elderly tree.

 

“Before I kill you, you will tell me why you murdered our family, brother. You will do this or I will hack away at you piece by piece until you beg for the release of death.” Sasuke's body shook and trembled from the rush of adrenaline in his veins, but also from something else…something the twenty three year old man could not place until he realized that there were tears welling in his eyes. This was the brother that he once admired and loved…the one that was more important to him than any other in the world…the one that had betrayed Sasuke and his entire family.

 

“Is that you, little brother?” Itachi's voice came out in little raspy breaths. It was apparent that though he was not dead he would be very soon. “Hn, you could slice me into ribbons and I wouldn't feel anything.”

 

“Maybe I should try and see if your foolish boast is true,” Sasuke needled him with barbed verbal attacks, but could clearly see that what Itachi said was factual…his neck was broken and most likely he was completely paralyzed from that point down. “I'm sure that if I drove my kunai far enough into your hollow eye socket you would feel pain, enough to make you talk.”

 

“You do not have to resort to such methods,” Itachi huffed out his words as they became more difficult for the dying ninja to produce. “I will tell you why.” After what seemed like a pause too long for Sasuke to endure Itachi began, “I hated them, all of them and everything they stood for.”

 

“Selfish hatred was no reason to murder them!” Sasuke interrupted, suddenly clutching the kunai that Naruto gave him to Itachi's temple, fully prepared to drive it deep into his brain. It would be an unnecessarily brutal death, filled with unrivaled pain.

 

“Let me finish you fool, there is not enough time for me to wait…for your antics to stop.” Sasuke nearly finished Itachi at those cocky words, but held back somehow knowing that he needed to hear this.

 

“It was when your sensei received a gift from one of us that it started…the thing that began the end of our clan…a destiny of death.”

 

“What does Kakashi have to do with any of this?” Sasuke hissed.

 

“He was the reason that they were going to kill someone I truly loved and wanted to protect. He was the reason that death…hn, that death…waited for…you.”

 

“No!” Sasuke screamed as the life drained from his brother, far before he could explain himself fully or for Sasuke to exact his revenge. Itachi's departure from the plane of the living left Sasuke feeling emptier than he ever had in his life. He had not discovered the entire truth and it was not HIS hands that removed Itachi from this world. It was unfair and he sank to his knees and shuddered under phantom tears that he now refused to let fall. He would not shed a single drop near the body of his horrid brother, not an ounce of remorse would be shown. And more importantly, not a hint of forgiveness would be imparted in his brother's passing. Still, part of him wanted to know what Itachi had meant by the cryptic message he had started to reveal.

 

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One minute passed, then two, then five; after nearly an hour of watching Sasuke hover over the body of his older brother the med-nin rose to join him. Sakura had spent nearly all of the time between Itachi's death and now healing Naruto, but her job there was complete and the blonde was sleeping. Though Sasuke bore no physical abrasions she knew that the latest wound he brandished dug deeper than any kunai, it was something that might break him if Sasuke allowed it. Knowing that one of them had to try to get him to come away from his brother, and realizing from what had happened with Naruto and what she had overheard about Kakashi being involved in the Uchiha clan's death Sakura was the only one to do it.

 

She quietly approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder, she was completely prepared as he swung the kunai around blindly at her as if Sasuke were swatting away flies. He did not land a blow and just sat wide eyed watching the carnage below him. “Is it your wish that we bury him?” she asked quietly.

 

“He does not deserve such dignities,” Sasuke snarled at her. “We should search his body for secrets and destroy it like any other enemy.”

 

“We could bury his ashes,” she replied to him, hoping that his fury would find some way to subside.

 

“I will not bury a man who was nothing short of a heartless demon. I will not allow him the honor of it. I will destroy the ability to recognize him or steal secrets and allow the birds to pick at and feast on his remains. He deserves no better.”

 

“He was your brother.”

 

“He was NOT my brother! I loved my brother who was a kind and gentle man. THAT Itachi taught me more than any other. There is no way THIS atrocity is the same person! There is no way that it was him! How could they even be the same?” Sasuke was screaming and huddled in a ball, reduced to less of the man he had been by the horrible situation that had befallen. He shook and shuddered as the sounds of dry heaving came from his throat.

 

Kakashi, nearly ten yards away, answered the question that Sasuke had unconsciously proposed. “He is the same and not the same, it was the curse of the Uchiha…a curse that started when I was given the Sharingan. It was never meant to be shared with another bloodline directly like it was with me. It started something…”

 

Sasuke flew to his feet, flailing toward his team leader. “You knew! You knew something and you never told me? How Kakashi, how are you involved in this?” Sasuke's fingers were now gripped around the older ninja's vest, shaking him furiously as he shouted questions in a demanding and brutal way.

 

“I don't know…” Kakashi answered, prying the upset man off of himself. “I was never told the entirety of what happened. I just know what Itachi told me.”

 

“When? When did you talk to Itachi? When did you see him?” Sasuke was completely out of control and Sakura came to Kakashi's aid.

“Before he murdered your family and ran away. He came to me a week before the massacre drunk and upset. He tried to kill me, but failed and ended up being a bit loose-lipped as I hauled him back to your mansion. I thought they were only the ramblings of an intoxicated boy. I had no idea that they were true.”

 

“When did you find out that they WERE true?”

“When the Third Hokage told me. Se sent me on the mission to retrieve Itachi alive, but I failed and it became clear that there was no way we could recover him alive.” Kakashi sighed. He had known that this day would come. He couldn't help but see the unwavering anger in Sasuke's eyes.

 

“Alive? Why would the Third Hokage order a rogue, murderous ninja to be taken alive?” Sasuke's arms were securely pinned behind him by Sakura and Kakashi held him steady from the front. Somehow the enraged Uchiha managed to land some part of his body into Kakashi's temple in the struggle to keep Sasuke calm. Kakashi groaned and shook the blurriness out of his eye.

 

Kakashi waited for the focus to return to his vision, using the extra silence to formulate the careful words he would use to explain this to Sasuke. “It was because at that time there was still hope for him. He hadn't been completely taken by the curse. He could have been saved, like you were.”

 

“He did not save me, he spared me!” Sasuke yelled and spat on Kakashi's cheek for extra emphasis.

 

Kakashi's hands were occupied subduing his teammate, so he cocked his head down to his shoulder and attempted to wipe the spit off of himself by shrugging it off onto his vest. It wasn't very successful. “Hn, it was Tsunade that saved you. She was able to extract the curse before it was able to take hold of you, probably because you were innocent and not in full use of your Sharingan yet. But Itachi did protect you in the best way he could seeing as he too was falling victim to the curse's power. He killed them before they could kill you. Itachi did what he said, he kept you from death.”

 

Sasuke didn't understand any of this, it was too much for him to take and it was too exhausting to fight Kakashi and Sakura anymore. He relaxed and slumped against the two. “The curse…what was it?”

 

“No one knows, it dissipates at death leaving only minor physical traces. No med-nin, not even Tsunade, knows why it happened. They only knew that it was conceived at the moment I received the eye from Obito, and grew over the years into something terrible. It had something to do with the blood that was shared and the origins of the Sharingan. That is what Itachi told me that night he tried to assassinate me. I am sorry that I am the cause of your misfortune, Sasuke.” Kakashi could not meet his teammate's gaze, it was too hard to face the reality that he had kept hidden for so long, desperately hoping that it was untrue. But today it had been confirmed, and now Kakashi knew that it was the gift that he had received from a dear friend that had caused all of the pain in Sasuke's life.

 

Sakura was weeping as she watched both men carrying such miserable burdens. She released Sasuke's arms and held him in an embrace from behind. She could feel his sobs as he finally released the tears he had held in from the moment that his brother died. Kakashi walked away, and she knew that he too was hiding bitter sadness behind that mask of his.

 

“Forgive them.” Naruto was awake and attempting to stand. He once again instructed Sasuke, “Forgive them, both of them.”

 

“I cannot,” Sasuke whispered. “I cannot and will not.”

 

Naruto made his way to his ebony-eyed rival, wobbling a bit as he came. “You can, and you will. Kakashi had no knowledge that the gift that he received from Obito Uchiha would cause this and your brother was cursed. There is no reason to hold a grudge against the dead or against those you care about. It is stupid.”

 

“It is not stupid.” Sasuke growled.

 

Naruto roughly grabbed Sasuke's face, locking gazes with the other man. “You are right it is not stupid…it is mere idiocy and will be what destroys you if you let it. Release your hatred before you allow it to take one more minute of your life, Sasuke. I believe that it was hatred and jealousy that triggered this so-called curse…the assumption that allowing an impure and unworthy bloodline to intermingle with the great Uchiha's was a desecration of your clan. It was enough to allow whatever destroyed your family to take hold. It was their hatred that made them weak.”

 

“My family didn't hate anyone! They loved me and their devotion was shattered by my brother and cursed by Kakashi!” Naruto watched as the dark pool's of Sasuke's eyes began to melt into red and the Sharingan began to spin, but it was what was next that terrified him.

 

Kakashi also watched as the red of the Sharingan dripped away from Sasuke's eyes, leaving him look like he was crying tears of blood. Left in place of the crimson was a sickening gold color. Sasuke's sockets continued to drip red until it darkened to a near black liquid, leaving a terrifying presence between Naruto and Sakura. Kakashi didn't even have time to yell at them. Both of the other two ninja went flying as Kakashi shouted a too-late “Run!”

 

“I will kill you for your desecration of my family,” came the low growl of Sasuke as he turned his attention to the silver haired man fleeing to a nearby tree.

 

Sakura groaned as she tried to get up. She felt one arm hanging loosely from her body and she knew that it had to be reset before she could aid Kakashi. With a hurried jerk, she popped the shoulder back into its socket with a muffled scream and ran toward Sasuke. She was easily deflected by the enraged man and was sent flying as a projectile aimed at Kakashi. She flew into his body, but Kakashi was prepared to catch her and she was pulled into protective arms. “Are you alright?” he asked.

 

“Yes, I think so.” He put her down on the limb they were balanced on. She watched as Sasuke deliberately took slow steady steps toward them, like a cat playing with a mouse. “What is happening to him?”

 

“This is what happened to the rest of the clan. The eyes were the only remnants of the curse left when the dead were found. They were covered in black tears and blood with cold gold eyes. This is the Uchiha curse that I caused.”

 

“Kakashi…” she whispered his name and could see the regret in his eyes…both of them. His Sharingan now uncovered and spinning as he prepared to battle.

 

“Naruto is about twenty meters away and unconscious. Take him to safety and replenish his chakra, I believe that he is the only one that can stop Sasuke now.” Kakashi was giving her an order, one that she did not like because he wasn't coming with her. He was going to stay and fight…she could see it in his eyes. If Kakashi believed that Naruto was the only one able to stop Sasuke then she knew that her team leader planned to sacrifice himself to give them time to prepare. But she couldn't do it, she couldn't leave him.

 

“No. I will not leave you. I will not leave Sasuke.”

 

Kakashi grumbled. This was NOT the time for her to assert her desired leadership tendencies and individual opinions. “Listen to me Sakura, this could mean the death of more than just me…it could be the death of our village and all those that surround it.”

 

“No, you stupid, stubborn man. I will not leave you to die. We fight as a team.” With her words she could hear Sasuke laughing sinisterly on the ground. He was enjoying their show.

 

“She is right old man, we fight together.” Naruto now stood on a branch of a neighboring tree as he grinned at them. “But we can't kill Sasuke, we are going to save him.”

 

Kakashi shook his head, how he was blessed with such idiotic teammates was beyond him. No arguments about their aversion to leaving Kakashi to fend off Sasuke came from the leader, only agreement that they would fight as a team like they always had. It was time to save the one they loved from a fate that the world had cursed him with. It would be the death of the Uchiha curse once and for all, this they vowed.

 

INTERMISSION AUTHOR'S NOTES

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No! O.o …NOT SASUKE! XD I loved writing this. I hope that my whole weird conspiracy with Itachi and Kakashi and the rest of the Uchiha's didn't piss you off too much. I know it's a weird take on things, but different isn't always a bad thing.

END OF INTERMISSION

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Naruto looked a bit worried, he knew that he had to find a way to defeat Sasuke other than using any of his normal ultimate techniques. It would be far more dangerous, and he didn't know if there really were an alternative to killing Sasuke who was brimming with madness and insanity. The only thing that was clear was that using an ultimate technique was equivalent to death.

 

Sakura mused for a moment. There was one thing that she couldn't understand, how was Itachi able to stay in control all of these years? It wasn't like he always ran around with creepy yellow eyes that wept inky dark tears that looked like something straight out of the horror movies that Ino always drug her to. Then it hit her, Itachi! “Kakashi, you said that the curse dissipates when the body dies, isn't that right?

 

“Yes, that's right.” Kakashi's fury mixed with bewilderment after Sakura posed the question to him.

 

“No, no killing Sasuke,” Naruto leapt to their branch, carefully eyeing the ninja on the forest floor below them, watching for signs that he was preparing to move and strike.

 

“If it's only for a second, and we don't mutilate him, I can bring him back with a little aid from your bountiful supply of chakra, Naruto.” Naruto listened carefully to Sakura as she explained her plan, which she apparently didn't care if Sasuke heard or not.

 

The blonde didn't doubt her at all. He knew that they had the best med-nin in Konoha, even surpassing Tsunade in ability. Tsunade had quit teaching Sakura healing genjutsu years ago because she had mastered all there was for her to learn from the Fifth Hokage. Since then Sakura had even developed some of her own master and ultimate healing methods. “All right Sakura, I'll trust you.”

 

Naruto knew that she was aware of the technique he would employ to bring Sasuke down. Naruto hadn't used it since he destroyed Ochimaru and brought Sasuke home. It was far more than a mere transformation, it was the most secret of his ultimate techniques. Kyuubi would be released temporarily, in a ghost form. The only problem with this was the intermingling of Kyuubi and Naruto's chakra. When Naruto freed the Kyuubi's spirit form he also released a good portion of his own soul. This left him incredibly vulnerable, but Naruto could then use his affinity to wind elements to steal the breath of an enemy. The Ghost Kyuubi could merely knock an opponent unconscious, or he could steal the life breath of the person he was fighting. This time he would steal his rival's life, and Sakura would quickly bring it back.

 

Naruto instructed his team, “Cover me, I need time to prepare.” With those words Naruto leapt back to a further away tree and began calling forth the demon within. Sakura and Kakashi hurriedly moved to occupy Sasuke, hoping that the frightening looking man would not be as difficult to pacify as he appeared. Kakashi went flying as Sakura realized that he wasn't as tough as she had originally thought, he was tougher.

 

Sakura quickly started the hand movements for her own ultimate genjutsu, the one that had reduced Naruto to jelly the week before during training. It was similar to the Sharingan's illusionary techniques, but allowed her to see the person's worst nightmare. She knew what would frighten them the most and she could call it forth in her enemy's mind.

 

She successfully finished the seals, but when she locked eyes with him there was an unfortunate side effect, his golden Sharingan drew her in at the same time her illusion took hold. Sakura felt numb as the world slipped away from her and she awoke to a terrifying scene as she realized that somehow their simultaneous illusions had intermingled and she was trapped in his nightmare that she had created. There was no longer just one Uchiha tormented by the advance stages of the curse. No, Sakura and Sasuke were surrounded by a group of them, all suffering from the same dark weepy Sharingans that he had been. She gasped and glanced over to Sasuke and saw his normal dark depths in place of his weapon displayed. She could see terror in his eyes as he appeared completely petrified and was huddled against a corner. The group moved toward both Sasuke and Sakura and she took hold of him and hugged him furiously. “This is an illusion Sasuke, only an illusion! Please remember who you are, return to your senses!”

 

Sasuke's attention turned toward her, realizing that Sakura was not afflicted by the horrible thing the rest of his family was, “Sakura?” He shook his head, him mind was fuzzy and ached with a terrible dull throb. “What is happening?”

 

“You fell victim to the curse and are attempting to kill us, I used my genjutsu to stop you.” The people that had been coming at them with malicious intent hitched and froze where they stood. She had to hurry because the world they were in was starting to break apart. “Please Sasuke, please remember who you are and that we love you. Don't let the jealousy that eradicated everything you love destroy you too!”

 

She felt him grip her hard in the embrace, it was Sasuke, truly it was. The illusion melted away and she was once again in her body, watching Sasuke as he now struggled against himself. “Sa…ku…ra…” the Uchiha forced from his lips. “I…will…not…forget.”

 

It was at this precise moment that Kakashi tackled her to one side and a misty aura glided to where she had previously been. It was humongous, towering over Sasuke with an unbelievable presence. It seemed to take the shape of a giant fox and Kakashi and Sakura could see the tails swishing around the ghostly body. They both watched in awe of the vision of the demon that Naruto housed in himself. Sasuke stayed very still, using what little self-control he had left to hold his body firmly to the ground and not fight back. The ethereal figure leaned down and engulfed the small body beneath him into its giant jaws, looking as though he devoured him whole. The wraithlike fox started to dissipate, leaving Sasuke's body unmoved, but it was apparent that it had done what it was supposed to. The gold disappeared from Sasuke's eyes, but at the same time his life evaporated from him as he crumpled to the ground.

 

Naruto had done it, he had stolen the breath of life from Sasuke. As Kyuubi reentered his body he felt his Chakra's strength return. Naruto had feared that this technique would not leave him enough chakra to lend Sakura as she healed Sasuke, but because Naruto had no need to expend extra energy chasing his teammate (thanks to Sakura's illusion that left Sasuke frozen in one place) he was able to retain enough. He moved to the side of Sasuke, waiting for the kunoichi to do her part.

 

This was Sakura's cue. She ran up to the fallen shinobi and began a series of seals over his body and over Naruto. One by one she activated them and pulled chakra from Naruto to replace Sasuke's drained reserves. A few more seals and she restarted his heart and lungs. The final seal was to call back his spirit which was hopefully still within some kind of unearthly vicinity. It was a similar technique to that which had revived Gaara, but she didn't have to sacrifice her own life force to bring Sasuke back since she had the endless well of Naruto's power to supply her with the needed energy. She felt a stirring in the body beneath her as she intensified and joined all the seals as one. A jolt of electricity shot through Sasuke and then he was laying there panting as though he was in excruciating pain, but alive. Sakura was relieved when she felt him become steadier beneath the seals and then she felt Sasuke's life-force stabilize. He was alive and free of the curse once again.

 

Sasuke opened his eyes and murmured a quiet, “Thank you.”

 

She smiled at him, but was hit with the overwhelming urge to perform her terrible illusion technique on Sasuke again, but this time an image of the last seal was different. She had no idea where the suggestion had surfaced from, but she started to perform it as if she had little choice in the matter. Her body was going to carry out this new version of her technique, whether she wanted it to or not. Sakura heard a voice in the back of her mind that was not her own, `Playing with the world of the dead is a dangerous game Haruno, Sakura. Mind this in the future, the dead that follows the one you bring back next time might not be so friendly.' The voice was warm and cheerful and she knew it from somewhere. As the kunoichi finished the signs she finally saw the person that had given her the knowledge of this new illusion that was the exact opposite of the other atrocious technique. Itachi smiled sweetly at Sakura as she trapped him and Sasuke in another illusionary world for only a few moments and then he was gone. She had watched Itachi say something to Sasuke, but couldn't hear the words. When she broke from the vision she saw tears brimming at the eyes of her comrade. “I forgive you, Itachi.” Sasuke whispered those words over and over until he fell asleep.

 

THE END

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No Uchihacest, as promised, only brotherly love and admiration. I actually really liked writing this. Albeit the story danced a bit around an alternate universe I do consider it a continuation. I'm sure when more chapters of Naruto are released I will have to consider it an AU, because I'm sure that the whole Itachi thing isn't going to play out like I wrote it. Hope that it was enjoyable.