IF YOU JUMPED HERE BECAUSE OF AN AUTHOR ALERT, GO BACK TO THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER. IT'S THE ACTUAL UPDATE!

Preview and Explanations

This section will include a preview of the next chapter, as well as a list of the new characters introduced into the story (to date). Additionally, at the end there are a few author's notes.

A hard drive erasure wiped out my pre-written chapters, so updates will be less frequent from now on.

Preview of Episode Ten: The Foxtrap Unlocks!

"Clearer," the old woman whispered, "it's growing clearer. Shinigami brings me such sharpness of vision..."

"Tell me," Ume said quietly, "tell me what you see."

"The Uchiha ascend to unparalleled greatness," the Crone rasped, "from the seeds in the womb of the captive woman, a tree with three trunks..." She coughed again, less violently this time, but blood still painted her lips a vibrant crimson. "The first seed carries the old line, the pure eye, into the future," she continued, "and the second... carries a bright mind with a eye that pierces all shadows." Coughing interrupted her again, and afterwards she gasped for breath.

"The third?" Ume prompted. "Tell me about the third."

The old woman sighed, then gurgled, "The third... the third..." Her red eyes widened, and then she bolted upright in the bed crying, "Light and fire! The seed that grows without planting!" She stayed rigidly sitting for a moment, then crumpled again, gasping, "Power, power beyond all imagining... the third seed brings forth the strongest branch..." She trailed off into inarticulate whimpering, her eyes shut tightly as if trying to block out the sight of the future. "I am blind," she finally muttered, "the last was too bright," and then plunged into another coughing fit.


Original Characters

Akabara Chikako: A chuunin medic-nin from Konoha. She has a fondness for Sasuke because he reminds her of her dead younger brother, Hideaki. She is now involved in a relationship with Itachi.

Battabu Kenji: A genin from Hidden-in-Grass village in the Plains Country. Kenji is a skilled jumper, and seems to have a thing for Naruto. His motivations, however, still aren't clear.

Chikakawa Hikaru: A friendly traveler from an unknown ninja village—his headband bears the symbol of a quartered circle. He doesn't look like much of a warrior, but seems to possess an awesome power over nature. He recently left Hidden-in-the-Sands village, where he enjoyed a close relationship with Gaara. At present, he's headed home... wherever that is. It seems he can breathe dirt.

Morimura Hiroshi: A friend of Itachi's, and a member of his ANBU team. Much older than Itachi, but still quite resilient. Somewhat prone to salty language. He's still not entirely convinced that Haku is a boy.

Nomuchi Kazuki: An albino ninja from Hidden-in-Clouds village, traveling to Wave Country so he can catch a ship to Water Country. Disowned by his clan because he lacked their bloodline talent, he later learned that he had a new bloodline skill of his own. There has since been some form of reconciliation with his family. He has a friend who knows a great deal about jutsu, and he knows about the Kyuubi.

Uchiha Crone: An old woman of the Uchiha clan who has suffered from a mutation of the Sharingan. Unable to see the real world, she has gained the power of clairvoyance. She sees the multiverse as a giant tapestry composed of individual weaves for each possible world; as a result she tends to describe her visions in terms of strands or threads. Her existence was a secret kept by the Uchiha clan, but Itachi revealed it to the Sandaime.

Uchiha Nori: Father of Itachi and Sasuke. Politically important in Konoha because of his position as Uchiha clan leader, Nori is also a skilled warrior. He does not have a good relationship with either of his sons. Frankly, a bit of a bastard. He's not technically a new character, since he appears in flashbacks in the original, but I gave him the name and most of his characterization.

Uchiha Tomiko: Mother of Itachi and Sasuke, in love with Nori but aware that he doesn't love her. Nori ordered her to treat Sasuke coldly, and she lacked the strength to disobey his commands. She has violated the bonds of marriage at some point. Itachi is her oldest child, and Sasuke is her youngest. She's also technically not a new character, but I gave her the name and most of her characterization.

Uchiha Ume: A girl not much older than Sasuke raised in a branch house of the Uchiha clan. She is not a ninja, but has enough skill in medicine to take care of the crone. Her name is somehow ironic. She is a prolific writer of Haiku, which appear to have some predictive powers. Of the other Uchihas, only Tomiko knows the truth of Ume's power, and collects her poems in a book.


Original Jutsus

Battabu JumpTaijutsu—Members of the Battabu clan are trained in leaping from infancy. Advanced students of the family technique can jump up to a mile using a combination of natural muscle and chakra enhancement. Watch out when they come down—it'll hurt if they land on you.

Goodnight KissTaijutsu—The user touches several of the target's pressure points, then kisses the target on the forehead. Eight hours of peaceful, uninterrupted sleep (for the target) result.


Author's Notes

The major thing I want to clear up here is that I changed Itachi's age. According to the official materials, Itachi is only about five years older than Sasuke. I think this is a little strange, though, since Itachi seems much older than that in the most recent manga chapters (around 220). Sasuke looks 7 or 8 in those, and Itachi looks more like he's 16 (certainly he doesn't look like he's 13 or so). It also didn't work quite as well for the story I wanted to write to have him so young. So for this story (I remind you it's AU, so don't bitch to me about this), Itachi is 10 years older than Sasuke, which puts him in his early 20s at the start of the story.

Additionally, a word on my usage of Japanese in this story. I'm only going to use Japanese for honorifics (because it's useful) and specialized words (like 'jutsu'). I'm also using 'sensei', because at this point that might as well be an English word (we import terms all the time; that's why English is so great). As far as jutsus go, I intend to use English translations for techniques we see in the manga or anime, and plain English for techniques I make up. There's no reason for me to make up poorly-translated jutsu names in Japanese so I can pretend I look cool. Because I'll be using 'jutsu' as if it were an English term, English grammar will apply, and I won't include the 'no' particle.


Disclaimer

I do not own Naruto. Viz, Shounen Jump, and Kishimoto Masashi neither have neither condoned nor endorsed this story. Characters and jutsus particular to this story are my own creation and intellectual property; if you like them, you are free to use them so long as you credit me. This story is my intellectual property, and it may be freely copied, displayed, and distributed so long as no money is charged for the privilege of receiving or reading it. If you like this story so much you feel an urge to send me money, buy official Naruto merchandise instead and make Kishimoto-sama as filthy rich as he deserves to be.