Chapter Nine – Repercussions and Resolutions

Tazuna's House

"Ok, let me get this straight. You personally took out the Demon Brothers, then helped Hatake fight off Zabby despite his Mist, all without revealing who you were? And then you managed to negotiate a ceasefire with Haku-chan and Zabby-kun, in exchange for finally getting them to join us?" Ronnel sat back, staring at his otouto in shock. Of all the things he had been expecting when he realized he was close to Naruto, finding out that the blonde had managed to fulfill one of their secret goals was not one of them.

The Konoha nin, minus Sasuke and Sakura, were sitting around Tazuna's table. Haku sat beside Naruto, looking sad. It had been two days since the termination of Gatou, and everyone had been resting and recovering. Sasuke was currently outside practicing his chakra control, for Kakashi had told him that when he was ready, he would teach the Avenger how to walk on water. Zabuza was upstairs, asleep from being dosed with several potent herbal remedies. Tazuna and his workers were finishing the Bridge, under the protection of several Kage Bunshin from both Uzumaki-Rei(s) and Kakashi.

Ronnel sighed as he realized a snag in the master piece of a production his little brother had orchestrated. Zabuza had been caughth completely flat-footed by the fire attack from Sasuke, thinking at the time that there was a cease-fire in effect. There was, but much to the dismay of everyone, some how the Uchiha had been left out of the decision. A small flash from his otouto told Ronnel that they were on the same page.

"So… no help for it huh?" Ronnel's voice was heavy as he and Naruto looked at Haku. The girl shook her head. She had been tending to Zabuza since the 'battle' on the bridge, but the man had been unable to use his arm fully after the fireball. Luckily he could hold and use the Kubikiri Houcho with only one hand, but there was no way he would be made into a shinobi with a crippling disability like having a useless limb.

The teen girl buried her face in her hands as her shoulders shook with sobs. Just when peace had finally seemed within their grasp, just when she thought she'd be able to live with both of her most precious people, some little brat had crippled her adoptive father with a lucky cheap shot!

"What about Tsunade-obaa-chan? Isn't she supposed to be like some kind of super medic?" Naruto spoke in a low voice to Ronnel. The duo had met the Slug Sannin in a small town just as they were leaving. She had bragged about her healing prowress to the others, introducing Naruto to the fact that drunk people boast. However, the sensible woman with her had confirmed that the busty blonde really could heal.

Ronnel shook his head. "We'll talk to he rabout it if we see her, but you know how hard it is to find her. And I'd rather not get her hopes up if we can't deliver on a promise." He looked at the teenage girl and shook his head sadly. By the time he and his otouto had parted with the Kiri duo, Ronnel had been able to tell that Haku was attracted to the blonde Jinchuruuki, and had hoped that if she did come to live with them that she would be able to break his brother's shell in that regard. But with Zabuza injured, that would never happen.

A loud clatter from the stairs informed the group that someone was awake. One hand rested on kunai, one on a staff, one on senbon, and one on a sword hilt as four sets of eyes shot to the stairs. When the Kubikiri Houcho appeared, with Zabuza carrying it in front of him carefully, everyone relaxed visibly. The eyebrowless nuke-nin walked over to the table, leaning his blade against the back of an open seat as he sank down into another seat.

The nuke-nin looked around the group for a moment, then shrugged. "Might as well say it straight away. Haku, if their offer is still open, you are going back to Konoha." Every person in the room looked at him in shock as he calmly rested his chin on his hands. "The offer is still open isn't it?" He looked at Ronnel as he spoke. The chuunin nodded. He leaned back in his seat, his mind racing to figure out what his old rival was up to. The Demon of the Bloody Mist chuckled.
"Relax. I was talking with the old drunk. I can't become a shinobi of a true village now, not with this fucked-up arm. But I can train other people. So, I'm going to stay here and train the village militia. And be the heavy guns if anything they can't handle shows up." Haku immediately protested her departure. "Enough! You are going with them. Haku… yes, we wanted to settle down. But you are still young, and I can't bring myself to tie you down here with a cripple of a father and only these fishing village louts as potential boyfriends." Haku began blushing and pleaded with her eyes for her father not to reveal her feelings. He shrugged.

"Stop fretting. I didn't say I was casting you out of my life. I still expect you and the brat there… and Naruto too, to come visit me." Ronnel blinked when Zabuza insulted him. The chuunin just shrugged and listened as the other continued. "Now then. Naruto, you don't use swords too much, do you?" The blonde genin shook his head. "And Haku, I'm sorry, but your body is just wrong to use the Kubikiro Houcho. Great. That leaves the sword to the one man who could match it…" Zabuza heaved a sigh. He held up the Head Decapitating Cleaver and spun it around so the hilt faced Ronnel.
The chuunin stared at the blade for a moment, then shook his head and pushed it away. "I'm sorry Zabby-kun, but that sword still yearns for you as its master. I'll stick with my swords, I'm more comfortable with them anyway. Besides, my sword has a surprise ready for someone who's targeting my otouto, and I don't know how long it would take to set up a similar surprise in the Kubikiri." The talk about the Kubikiri Houcho was interrupted when Haku flung herself from her seat, tackling Zabuza and sending him flying out of the seat. Ronnel caught the Kubikiri before it hit the ground, respectfully leaning it against the wall as he turned to look at Zabuza.

Naruto had both hands over his mouth, trying valiantly to stifle laughter. Haku had Zabuza on his back, a bewildered expression visible over the bandages as the girl clung to his shirt, crying while repeating "Thank You" over and over. The Demon of the Bloody Mist was pinned against the wall by his adopted daughter, his face a study in confusion and shock as he looked to the three Konoha nin for what to do.

Kakashi buried his face into his Icha Icha: Icha Icha Paradise, giving the nuke-nin no aid. Ronnel had somehow managed to get his longsword out and was stropping it, making sure that the edge was deadly sharp. Naruto though, mimed patting the girl on the back and saying "It's ok".

Hesitantly, Zabuza did just that. He instantly swore to kill Naruto…as soon as he could breathe. When he had patted her back, Haku shifted her arms and now had a stranglehold on Zabuza's throat. The nuke-nin began turning various shades of red, which just served to further amuse the other shinobi. It was when his face took on a hue of blue that would make Kisame jealous that Naruto took pity on the swordsman and tapped her shoulder. The girl ignored it at first, then finally pulled her face from Zabuza's shirt.

She looked at Zabuza and quickly muttered an apology as she leapt off of him with a blush on her face. The Kiri rogue stood up and shook the dust off his clothes before sighing. Everyone watched in shock as the man wrapped Haku in a one-armed hug.

"You're not just a tool Haku. Those two broke me of that. You're my daughter, and I want you happy. Now then, Brat, Boy." Ronnel and Naruto leveled glares at the man, who just chuckled. "You two get the task of looking after my daughter while she's in Konoha with you. Don't screw it up, or I will hunt you down." Kakashi looked like he was about to say something, but the gleam in Zabuza's eyes told him that it would not be a good idea. With a nervous little chuckle, he went back to reading his book.

After half an hour, things had calmed down a bit. Tazuna and the Naruto clones had finished the Bridge and the Builder was sitting down as Tsunami laid food on the table. Everyone bowed their heads and said 'Itadakimasu!' before diving in. The tempura and rice meal barely lasted long with the group of male shinobi.

Halfway through the meal, Ronnel noticed something was different. Is it just me, or is it….quieter? He looked around the table, this time instead of just doing a head count, matching names to faces. Ok, short brat by Naruto is the bridge builder's grandson, Inari. Next to him is his mother, Tsunami. On Naruto's other side is the Emo King, Sasuke. Between me and the Foul-Eyed one is Cyclops. On my other side is Tazuna… For a few minutes, he sat there, trying to figure out what was different. Then his eyes widened and he looked at Naruto. His next words quieted all of the shinobi who knew what had happened.

"Otouto…where is Haruno?" The blonde genin, who had been shoveling food into his mouth, froze. He swallowed his current mouthful and sat back for a moment. He shook his head at Kakashi and Sasuke.

"I'll show him." The boy stood up and gestured for his brother to follow him. Confused, Ronnel pushed back from the table and walked up the stairs behind Naruto. His confusion grew as Naruto opened a door that he had thought led to the room where Haku was staying. The teen jerked his head into the room, then stepped in. Ronnel followed him, pausing to let his eyes adjust to the darkness of the chamber.

He looked around, and saw her. His eyes narrowed as he walked over to her and laid one hand on her forehead. The chuunin turned to look at his otouto, an obvious question on his face. The younger boy sighed and sat down in the chair. While he may not want to say what had happened, he knew that his adopted older brother wouldn't leave him alone until he did.

"It happened after the first fight against Zabuza. When the mist cleared, I found Tazuna and Haruno passed out, with the Uchiha standing in his own piss. I created clones to carry the unconscious trio, and had Uchiha follow after waking Tazuna up long enough to get a general direction to his house. After some time, we arrived. Tsunami-san was scared by our sudden arrival, and rushed inside locking the door behind her. It was at about that time that Haruno woke up. She reacted violently to being carried by me, or rather a clone. She kicked and waved her arms in the air, and then plunged a kunai into its kidney. Uchiha and I grew quite angry with her at that. Her idol swore off acknowledging her existence, and I… yeah. Hatake accepts that she is finished as a kunoichi." Ronnel rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Naruto." At hearing his name in that tone, the boy's head snapped up. "Could she see you? From where she was, could Haruno see you, not a clone?" The boy thought back, nodding slowly when he remembered seeing Sakura look at him. "Did she see you before, or after she began struggling?"

"Before…" The blonde Jinchuruuki was confused at this line of questioning.

"Now then. Think about it from her perspective. She wakes up, sees her two teammates together, and her teacher and the client lying against trees. She is being carried around like a sack of potatoes. How would you react?" The boy blinked twice, then blanched. "Now, I'm not saying she's completely free of blame. But….. while being finished is a bit extreme… maybe a remedial year as an Academy student, with D-ranked missions with reduced pay.. that wouldn't be." Naruto sighed when his brother finished talking.

"Aniki…why do you have to be so damn kind? I thought I was the forgiver, not you." He blinked at the feral grin that crossed Ronnel's face.

"Naru-kun…. We can put up some D-ranked missions ourselves. It might just be harsher than ending her kunoichi career, but she will still have that." The boy shook his head and sighed. "Now, you explain to the Uchiha about why he is going to go back to how he treated Haruno before, while I go talk with Hatake." Naruto mimed a swipe at his brother, who just grinned and shooed him out of the room.

Once the demon container was out of the room, his older brother turned to look at the girl lying in a tight ball on the bed. He sat down on a nearby chair and propped his chin on his hand, studying her intently. Now how do we bring you out of this? You're beginning to look emaciated, and that means you've been in this coma since you arrived… Oh how I wish I was a Yamanaka. They have that handy little affinity for mind jutsu. The young man sighed and shook his head. While he wouldn't be as subtle as a Yamanaka, he could get her out of there. I'll have to pay Inoichi to go in and fix the damage from this…

Ronnel stood up and walked over to where she was laying and ran his hands through an intricate chain of hand-seals. When he finished, he laid one hand on Sakura's forehead.

"Mental Hijutsu: Awaken the Cat." The crude jutsu ripped into Sakura's brain, shocking her out of her catatonic state. Her eyes flew open to stare at her knees, which she slowly uncurled from her chest with a whimper as she forced the muscles out from their locked position. His technique had a second effect, one that even he wouldn't notice until later.

Sakura sat up, barely registering that there was someone else in the room with her. Ronnel sent a discreet flare of chakra out, alerting the four downstairs who could detect it. Since Kakashi had seen Naruto pulling Sasuke aside to talk to him, and the Uchiha had appeared unhappy with what was being said, Kakashi figured it had something to do with Sakura. He slipped his book back into his pouch and headed up the stairs, concerned for his final student.

The jounin pushed into the room and blinked when he saw Sakura sitting up, her arms wrapped around her legs as she cried. He let out a small squeak when Ronnel grabbed him and pulled him aside.

"I talked with Naruto about what happened. He and I are going to request a punishment for her. He is going to request that she keep her career, in exchange for another year of the Academy along with D-ranked missions with reduced pay." He kept the part about putting up several disgusting D-ranked missions himself. The jounin across from him looked incredibly relieved. "And Naruto was talking with the Uchiha about treating like he was before."

"The Foul-Eyes heir agreed. In exchange…. He wants you to be his instructor alone when we finish the mission." The blonde had walked in at the end of Ronnel's explanation, and was now looking at Kakashi. The man nodded, having expected having to take over the Uchiha's master when this was finished with. With a slight bow to the Uzumaki-Reis he turned back to his third student.

"Sakura…Sakura…" He shook her lightly, finally getting her attention.

"Oh sensei… I'm done! I…I….." She threw herself against him, crying about it. He stroked her hair.

"Relax Sakura. Naruto isn't going to press for you to be removed as a kunoichi. You'll go through another year of the Academy and have to take D-ranks for a while….but then you'll be a full-fledged genin again." This last he said after a quick look to Naruto, who nodded. Then the blonde stepped forward.

"And I already talked to the Teme. He's going to treat you like before. The two of us also aren't going to make a big deal about what you did. But… don't expect either of us to fully trust you for a long while." The girl pulled away from Kakashi and turned to Naruto. She shocked the three of them by prostrating herself to Naruto.

"A…arig…arigato… Uzumaki-Rei Naruto." The three males looked at each other, stunned at the formality of it. Naruto blinked before growling and hauling her to her feet. She trembled in his hands, afraid.

"Stop that! I'm not a Daimyo! I'm not worthy of that respect!" Ronnel grinned as Naruto shook the girl before letting her go. You might not be now Naruto-kun. But with that attitude… I don't have to worry about you getting too big a head. The chuunin chuckled under his breath at the wide eyes of Sakura. He laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Now now Naruto-kun. You did save her life in a way. If you hadn't agreed, then she would have had to become a civilian." He cast a look at Sakura, quirking the corner of one lip. "Now, she'll have a chance to become a better kunoichi." He started to turn away, pulling Naruto. Thus no one saw the expression on Sakura's face at his next words. "That'll be sure to impress the Uchiha." The girl blinked then almost seemed to spit before catching herself.

Kakashi clapped her shoulder. "Come on Sakura-chan. You need to eat, it's been over a week since you moved." She blinked at that.

"Eto…sensei? Was I in a coma?" At his nod, her brow furrowed. "Then I shouldn't be awake… there aren't any mind healers in our team."

"All I know is that you were unconscious for a while, then Naruto and Ronnel came up and talked, then Naruto came down to talk to Sasuke. Ronnel alerted us you awake shortly after that." He shoved on her shoulder, herding her towards the door.

"Now come on, I'm sure Tsunami has some leftovers you can eat."

"….. Who's Tsunami?"

In Konoha

Anko was about going out of her mind. One of the clones of Naruto had run into her on accident, and fessed up that they had encountered the Demon Brothers. She had run straight up to the Hokage's tower and demanded to be sent as back up.

"Lord Hokage please! They aren't ready to fight whoever is backing up the Demon Brothers!" She quailed only slightly under the steady look from Sarutobi.

"Now Anko-chan, Kakashi-kun wouldn't take his team up against someone they weren't ready to face. Besides, don't you know by now that Naruto has a few tricks up his sleeve?" The elderly man gazed at her impassively from across his steepled fingers, hiding his own worry. In truth, he had been planning on sending Maito Gai and his team, but with Anko acting like this, there was no way he could send them without sending the volatile Snake summoner.

Said woman nearly whined at the Hokage at this point, stopped only by her intense hatred of whining. She settled for giving him an unhappy glare and stormed out of the office. As she exited the room, she caught the woman sitting at the desk giving her an evil look. She heard the barely concealed mutter about 'snake bitches who had gone soft' and her gaze hardened. So people think I've gone soft because of Ron-kun? Hrmph. Never mind that it's true, can't have my reputation in danger. From her sleeve slid out several dango sticks, which she stood there eating.

When she finished eating, she used the dango skewers as senbon, piercing a line right by the woman's ear. She slid over before the stunned chuunin guard could react. "Next time I hear someone implying I've gone soft, those will pierce your ear. Then I'll use the same stick to pierce that person's tongue." She licked the blood that had formed from the small cut on the secretary's away, then vanished in a swirl of leaves.

In Wave

Ronnel was confused. Since he had woken the girl up, she had been even more outspoken than before the incident, which was quite a lot. But somehow she managed, to the disgruntlement of everyone who had hearing. But that wasn't what had confused the man. No, it had been the shy, sidelong glances that he had seen the pinkette shooting his adopted younger brother. He reached up and rubbed his forehead. Need to warn otouto. He'd hate to get caught in the ancient marriage laws, and that girl looks like she would know them. Just bet the Uchiha learned those to avoid her.

The chuunin shook his head before grunting. He'd worry about that tomorrow. For now though, he had to deal with his little brother who had finally recognized the giant scythe that he had buried in the stone on the bridge to catch them after their fall. The blonde boy was bouncing around like, in Ronnel's opinion, Tora after the cat had gotten into catnip. And while that had been hilarious to watch happen in a cat,, on a thirteen year old boy it was not so amusing. Finally, his eye twitched as he hand lashed out and planted itself on Naruto's head, holding him in place.

"Alright, alright. I'll tell you, if only to shut you up." The final part of that had been said under his breath, but the blonde caught it. He growled and swung at his brother, who caught it knowing his otouto would hear him. Ronnel grinned then set the boy down, looking over at the other shinobi.

"You all might as well gather around too. This has some tactical info you might need later in life if you ever go up against a worshipper of the dark god Jashin." That name had Kakashi, Zabuza, and Haku standing by the duo before Naruto registered that his aniki had finished speaking. Looking at their intent expressions, he realized that the others were taking this seriously. He calmed down at that, turning his own eyes back to Ronnel.

"Alright, I have your attention. Naruto, you know that I was sent out a few weeks ago on a mission." The boy nodded. "What you don't know is what that mission was, or why I, a chuunin, was chosen to participate in it." Naruto nodded again, slowly this time.

"Ok, time to fix that. I was called because the Hokage had standing orders for me to be notified whenever we heard anything concerning a rogue shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Hotsprings, Hidan." Zabuza tensed at that name, recognizing it from his one encounter with Kisame after he had been recruited by that organization. "I see you recognize it Zabby. Yes, he's as bad as the rumors say, if not worse. A vile, sewer mouthed shinobi who routinely slaughters everyone he can to his 'God', Jashin." Ronnel paused, noting that he had gained the attention of Sasuke and Sakura.

"Jashin is a semi-deity who requires blood sacrifice from his followers. The more blood, the better. And unfortunately for the rest of the world, Jashin can bestow strange abilities on his followers if the give him enough blood." Sakura and Sasuke looked sick at that. "But the worst of these abilities as far as the world of shinobi at large, is that his prized followers gain immortality. As in, they cannot be killed, not even by having their head chopped off or their heart torn out. Now, an easy way to identify a Jashinist is to identify their weapon. Most of them, in fact about 95% of them, wield a scythe of some kind, like the double blade and reversed central blade like the one on the bridge." Ronnel paused and sighed, letting what he had said so far sink in.

The ninja of the group shuddered, knowing full well what it meant when he said they wouldn't die from losing their head or heart. Then Kakashi blinked and asked the question on everyone's mind.

"How did you kill that one then? And I assume he was a Jashinist?" Ronnel nodded, but it was his little brother who spoke next.

"Aniki figured out a way to kill them! We've used it before, and it works really really well! I should have known it was him from the body in fact…" Naruto grumbled to himself when that realization struck. Haku, Zabuza, and Kakashi turned to look at the blonde boy in shock, looking back and forth between him and Ronnel, who merely nodded.

"Yeah, I figured out a way to kill them. Ya see, their immortality is granted from a small vial that they have to have hidden on their bodies. This vial has the blood of one hundred victims, collected within an hour or two. As long as a Jashinist regularly sacrifices victims to Jashin, the blood god recharges the immortality. Take the vial away, they have to re-perform the ceremony within a week or die. Take the vial away and destroy it…" He grinned ferally. "… then you're fighting a normal human, one who has most likely let his true skill fade after being immortal and thus unbeatable. Now, the reason it's hard to beat a Jashinist is also simple, even if it is in two parts. No Jashinist worth his Dark Rites will keep his vial in an easy to find spot. For most, you have to chop apart the Jashinist to even have a chance to find it. A medic would be ideal, because their Diagnose ability would be able to pinpoint the spot.

The second half of what makes Jashinists hard to beat is a trick they developed with the fact that they can't die in mind. They ingest some of their victim, or opponent's, blood, and then use it to perform a quick and dirty blood rite. It was designed to link marriage partners together, but the perversion created by the Jashinists makes it a killing tool. Whatever is done to the body of the Jashinist is also done to the body of the person whose blood they have ingested. And since they can take however much of a beating they want, they can perform killing moves like stabbing their own hearts, and kill their target in that way. However, they do have one disadvantage over the original marriage rite. They have to remain in a small circle, and if they leave it they must restart the technique."

Everyone stared at him in shock. Someone as hard to kill as that, who had an ability that killed that easily, and he had beaten one of them? The only person unsurprised was Naruto, who had seen him do it before. The boy sent a prompting look to his older brother. The man nodded and continued.

"Now then… I fought one obviously, as those scythes are created through a dark ritual unique to Jashinists. I assume you all want to know what happened?" Ronnel looked around. Even Inari seemed hooked on his words. The chuunin shrugged and continued. "Well, I finally tracked the jackass who had gotten himself found down. He had holed up in the base of some little pig business man… same guy you killed by the way Naruto. He had an apprentice, and wanted to use Wave as her Dark Rite point. I killed the apprentice by surprise, using the Kazekiri you came up with otouto. That of course alerted the big man himself.

Let's Just say, it's a good thing I practiced so much on dodging with all of your clones. That guy had some interesting attacks with his scythe. The fact that one blade was actually reversed made it a lot more dangerous than a normal scythe as he could potentially catch me with a back swing. I wore him out for a while, ducking and dodging, with the occasional Kawarimi to save my skin. I eventually got enough of a breather after he accidently buried his scythe in a wall to use that jutsu. The Kazekiri diced him apart, and I saw where the vial was as he pulled himself back together." The man took a drink of the water he had next to him, then finished the report.

"I punched him away from his scythe, then grabbed it myself. And let me tell you, I suggest you don't let any one near that thing from now on Tazuna-san. I found out when I picked it up that Jashin imbues those damn things with a portion of his being, which lets him constantly whisper to the wielder of the weapon. It would take a lot of will-power to resist the dark temptation. That aside though, I used the scythe to slam into the Jashinist's torso, right at the point of his collar-bone." Ronnel tapped his chest right under his throat to demonstrate. "That's where the vial was. With that shattered, and a scythe blade cutting apart his throat, the teme died. I flayed him and cut off his head to make sure he hadn't survived, then departed to where I felt Naruto's Kazegane go off. The rest you know." He shrugged as he looked at the group, who were all staring at him.

Unfortunately for everyone who would know him later, a certain young man decided that the warnings of Ronnel about the scythe were pointless. He took it upon himself later that night, when it was his watch, to liberate the scythe from the stonework of the bridge. He sealed it away, having learned from a blonde haired boy how useful those could be. As he settled in to perform the rest of his watch quietly, his eyes flashed a purplish red.

The next morning, Tazuna announced that the bridge had been finished. Everyone rejoiced, from the villagers for whom it meant increased trade and a prospering economy, to the weary members of Team Seven and Ronnel, for whom it meant freedom to return home. They waved goodbye on the bridge, with tears in Tsunami's eyes.

"Father, what are we going to call the bridge?" There were shouts of suggestions from all sides, but it was Zabuza, who was staring after the group that had his daughter in everything but blood following them that suggested the name for it.

"Call it the Kaze Kitsune Bridge. That's what he's called, and it was him who killed Gatou."
"Wind Fox? I like it! All right, this is now the Kaze Kitsune Bridge!" A group of artisans set to work, now having a name.

AN

Review Response

Wyrtha:

Maa maa, getting ahead of the story a bit ^^. Yes, this is a NaruTema, and as for having Haku in the mix… well, that's what the poll is for! And yes, as of right now, she does have 'certain affections' for Naruto, and if the poll doesn't let her in, well then she'll end up being a rival with Tem for Naruto.


Tioman:

Eh, Kakashi was a student of the Yondiame, and an ANBU captain. No way he could possibly be as dense as he is once he actually meets Naruto. Remember, this is the guy who got a psychotic demon container (Gaara…) to become his best friend. One ANBU captain is no match for Naruto's friendliness.

Gosu:
I'm sorry you feel that way. And I'm sorry you failed to read that I actually like Sakura. Yes I know that in the series sheisn't as much of a fan-girl, but I made her that way ON PURPOSE, not out of laziness or selfishness. And as for using a canon Naruto… impossible. He was taken away from Konoha at a young age, so has had several years of growing up without the negative influences of Konoha's citizenry. So while yes, he was injured and mentally abused, he has had more than half of his life with someone who treats him well. Canon Naruto is… only something I might use in flashbacks, which I try to avoid. And as for plotholes: I've only just now gotten someone willing to be a beta reader, and one set of eyes, no matter how good, can't catch everything. So hopefully the plotholes will either resolve themselves (I put in at least one on purpose), or be resolved through editing. And as you see in this episode, I am going to rebuild her, but she won't really become anything until after the three-year skip.

I Love Shy Girls:
Thanks! Naruto is going to be rather strong, but only for one reason. In the words of another fanfic author (I'm sorry, I can't remember who for the life of me!):
Naruto learned a jounin technique in a matter of hours when he thought he had someone supporting him.

Nayami-chan:

Congrats! You and Wyrtha now have the most reviews submitted to this story! I did hit a snag at one scene, but you guys obviously liking the story meant I couldn't just end it. I refuse to disappoint my readers ^.^

Hooplah:

All right everyone, a round of thanks to Hooplah! With this chapter, he steps in as beta reader, so he will hopefully catch things I miss out on.

With that out of the way good sir, yes, this is a Naru-Tema pairing, and despite possibilities such as Haku (who is now the second dgirl who will be with Naruto) living with them, and Sakura shifting her fanaticism, it is Sabaku no Temari who will be the main focus of Naruto's loving attention.

And Chuunin Exam Day is rather detailed isn't it? Hehe, though some times that detail is good. I toyed with the idea of trying out my own version of the forest fight between Gaara and Sasuke… then decided that Sasuke would get crushed completely. So gave that up.

All right, I doubt any of them will ever read this far, but all you geniuses who think Ronnel is a self insertion:

[rant]
He isn't. He is based on a character I use for RPs, but changed. For instance, he isn't a part angel, nor is he a medic. If Ronnel was a self insert, I would have used at least one of those. But as I said, I doubt you will ever read past the first chapter, as you narrow minded bigotry prevents you from enjoying what I hope is a good story. You don't want ot read about it? Well then, up in your address bar, type somewhere other than fanfiction, because people all over the place are going a lot further with Ocs than I am, though I do plan on involving Ronnel a bit more now.

[endrant]

Please review my friends, as you saw with Nayami's post, a good review can break a writer's block. And this doesn't just go for me, it goes for all authors. If you see they haven't posted in a while, try leaving a good review on their story. A few kind words can go a long way.

Ja ne!

-G.T.-