"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks, Letters, and Setting

I don't own Naruto

Chapter 25: Setting the Pieces

At Training Ground 7

Team 7 gathered to train after having a week off for some long-needed rest, since they were away on a mission for over a month. Naruto knew the life of a shinobi meant being child soldiers essentially, but he wanted them to still have at least some semblances of the "child" part of their lives, unlike him, Itachi, Kakashi, and many others who came before him. He saw what being forced into a life as a soldier did to the minds of people who didn't have an identity apart from their lives as shinobi. It wasn't always so pretty.

He had arrived a little earlier than Narumi, as he had some things he needed to pick up and prepare for the training of his Genin. When he arrived, he found Sasuke already there, training his elemental affinity as he waited for the others to arrive. Naruto smiled. He recognized the hard work Sasuke put into his training. He wasn't a genius on the same scale as Itachi, but that was because Itachi was one of those once-in-a-lifetime prodigies. Sasuke was a prodigy as well, but Naruto thought his greatest trait was his willingness to put in the hard work to sharpen his skills.

"I see you're making good use of your time." Naruto told Sasuke as he made his presence known to the boy, startling him and breaking his concentration.

"Naruto-sensei! I didn't know you were there." Sasuke told Naruto.

"Good to see you concentrating so much on improving yourself, but in our line of work, if you're not aware of your surroundings, that might be your death."

Sasuke nodded to let Naruto know he understood.

"That being said, your control of your lightning affinity has improved dramatically. I think you'll be able light that bulb up with absolute control in a couple of weeks. Pretty impressive! Like I said before, most Chunin might learn elemental jutsu, but don't master their affinities until they're close to becoming Jonin. The way you guys are mastering your elemental affinities as Genin, by Chunin you'll be able to pick up jutsu faster than anyone." Naruto told Sasuke who beamed in pride at the praise.

"And I gotta give it to you Sasuke, your control of your fire affinity is impressive too. The way you were able to string the Hosenka no Jutsu (Phoenix Sage Flower Technique) and Ryuuka no Jutsu (Dragon Flame Technique)? Whoo boy, that was pretty sweet, I gotta say. That was pretty damn effective. I gotta try that out sometime."

That was pretty much the highest praise Sasuke had ever gotten. His idol wanted to use his combination attack? He was practically swooning.

"I can tell you're a prodigy, the way you pick up the details of those jutsu, but I'm more impressed with the hard work I can see you putting in. A lot of prodigious shinobi trust in their inherent talents and fail to put in the effort to really sharpen their skills. I'm proud of you, Sasuke. Keep it up."

Sasuke responded with a big smile to Naruto. Finally, someone understood and recognized the effort he put into his craft, rather than just attributing it all to him being a genius.

However, his smile faded when he remembered what he wanted to talk about with Naruto.

"Thanks sensei. But there's something that's kinda been bothering me."

"What is it, Sasuke?" Naruto asked the Uchiha Genin.

"It's just that, I'm 12 now, and I still haven't unlocked my Sharingan. A lot of other Uchiha unlocked their Sharingan at a much younger age. Is there something I'm not doing right? I try so hard. I've tried focusing chakra to my eyes for hours, and I've tried leaving things to my instincts as I fight, hoping that'll force my eyes to activate, and I've tried pretty much everything else, but they just won't seem to activate. Do you think I'm one of those Uchiha who can't awaken their Sharingan?" Sasuke asked his sensei.

Naruto processed what he heard and thought for a second before responding.

"Sure, a lot of Uchiha have unlocked their Sharingan before your age, but most had their Sharingan activated afterwards." Naruto told Sasuke.

However, that didn't seem to make Sasuke feel any better, and Naruto could see it.

"Sasuke, tell me, do you think the Sharingan is what makes an Uchiha strong?"

Sasuke wasn't expecting that question, so he said what came to him naturally. "I mean, without the Sharingan, wouldn't we be the same as any other shinobi? So, I guess I would say the Sharingan is what makes us stronger than the others."

Naruto frowned. "So, you think nobody else can be stronger than an Uchiha? How about the Hokage? Or even any of the Hokage before him? Or the Sannin? Or me? Are you saying any Uchiha with a Sharingan will be able to beat us?"

That made Sasuke think for a minute. The Hokage were supposed to be the strongest shinobi in the village, but none of them had been Uchiha, and none of them had the Sharingan. None of the legendary Sannin were Uchiha either.

"I guess not necessarily. But my clan was able to produce some of the strongest shinobi in the village, like Madara, my father, Shisui, or even… him." Sasuke didn't even want to say the name of his brother, as it left a bad taste in his mouth. "And all of them had their Sharingan."

"You'll get the Sharingan when you get it. It'll awaken when you need it the most. But that's not what's important. All of those people you mentioned? It's true they had their Sharingan, and they used them to great effect, but they didn't depend on it. The Uchiha in general have other gifts too. For example, the Uchiha have greater than average chakra reserves, and a powerful affinity for fire and yin release."

"Yin release?" Sasuke asked.

"You know techniques like the Ryuuka no Jutsu (Dragon Flame Technique) require a high degree of shape manipulation. You were able to pick it up a lot faster than others, mostly because you trained harder, but also because your clan has a high affinity for Yin release. You know how chakra is composed of spiritual and physical parts? Well, the yin chakra, or spiritual chakra, gives form to jutsu. It also gives your clan a proficiency for genjutsu that's higher than most." Naruto answered.

"So, you're telling me I should try to improve my genjutsu and learn other jutsu to make up for my lack of Sharingan?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, what I'm really trying to say is you don't need to rely on your Sharingan to be strong. Look at me for example. I'd say I'm one of the strongest shinobi in this village, but I don't have a Sharingan. The other Uchiha you mentioned were strong because they trained hard, and had their own skills. For example, Shisui was famous for his unparalleled mastery of a basic technique like the Shunshin, and that allowed him to defeat his foes with ease, even without the Sharingan." Naruto responded.

"The point I'm trying to make here, is that I don't want you to be dependent on the Sharingan, Sasuke. Be strong on your own merit. Then, when you unlock your Sharingan on top of that? Well, can you imagine what I could do if I had a Sharingan as well?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

Sasuke imagined how strong Naruto could be with a Sharingan. It was frankly scary, and he knew there was a lot more his sensei was hiding.

"The Sharingan is simply a tool that will really take your existing skills to the next level. The Sharingan alone won't make you an elite ninja. You'll have to be an elite ninja first to really bring out the full potential of the Sharingan." Naruto told Sasuke.

Sasuke began to understand what Naruto was saying. He would stop worrying about unlocking his Sharingan, and instead work on getting stronger, trying to become a shinobi who would be feared even without a Sharingan. When he unlocked his Sharingan, he would be an absolute nightmare to fight against. He just needed to set up the foundation to make the most of it when the pieces fell into place. He nodded as he listened to Naruto.

"Looks like you're understanding what I'm trying to say. I've got just the thing to help you get ready too." Naruto told Sasuke, who was curious to see what his sensei had in mind.

A few minutes later, Hinata and Narumi appeared.

"Great! Now that we're all here, we can start training again!" Naruto told his team.

"So, what will be doing today, nii-chan? Are we gonna work on our elemental affinities again?" Narumi asked. She was having the most trouble out of her team when it came to those exercises, and she was getting sick of it.

"Well, we'll do a little bit of that too, but there's something I want to add to your training." Naruto said as he pulled out a scroll.

He proceeded to unseal the contents, which turned out to be several tags which were covered in seals.

"What I have here, are tags which will apply this seal onto the place it is applied on. Think of it as one of those tattoo stickers you guys get with your chewing gum or something." Naruto explained.

Naruto handed out 5 seals to each of them.

Narumi analyzed the seals when she got hers.

"Hmm… so this is an amplification seal, and it looks like it connects to some source of chakra… is this a wind seal? No… that's not it… looks like some sort of… weight seal?" Narumi talked to herself as she tried to see all the different parts that made up the seal.

To Sasuke and Hinata, this all just looked like gibberish, and they waited for their sensei to explain.

Naruto looked at Narumi proudly. It looked like her fuinjutsu training was coming along nicely.

"Very good, Narumi! You got most of the parts correct. This, my dear Genin, is a resistance seal. Basically, it'll make it slightly more difficult to move, like trying to move when you're submerged underwater. It won't be that tough right away. At first, it'll feel similar to trying to walk forward when a strong wind is pushing back at you. There are several levels, and eventually, it'll get to the point when it feels like you're submerged in thick mud and trying to move." Naruto told his Genin.

"That sounds tough! What's this good for?" Narumi asked.

Naruto smiled. "If you can move normally when there's resistance to your movement, can you imagine how fast you would move if you got rid of that resistance?" Naruto asked as he vanished from sight, and appeared behind Narumi, using pure speed.

That little demonstration drove the point home. The Genin attached the seals to their arms, legs, and torso, and Naruto set them to the lowest level. The resistance wasn't huge, but the Genin struggled with the subtle but definite change to how their bodies moved and responded. Things like trying to catch things from the air became extremely difficult, as their brains were struggling to reconcile the speed and amount of strength they needed to move with what they had been accustomed to.

"So, how is it guys? Notice any difference?" Naruto asked his team.

"Yeah! It's a lot harder to move!" Narumi answered back.

"Good. Now that we got that over with, let me tell you what we'll be doing for training."

He led them to the stream that ran nearby, and had them stand on the water with a leaf stuck to their forehead.

"We'll be doing some chakra control exercises." Naruto told his Genin.

"Again? That's kinda boring, ya know." Narumi said as she rolled her eyes.

"Is that right? I can spice things up then."

A wicked smile appeared on Naruto's face, that made the Genin feel uncomfortable.

"Dodge!" Naruto yelled as he began throwing stones at them with 2 shadow clones.

Sasuke glared at Narumi as he barely dodged a rock that nearly hit him in the face.

Narumi laughed sheepishly as she dodged a few stones that were aimed at her head.

"Hehe, me and my big mouth, am I right?"

"If any of you drop the leaves or fall into the water, everyone will be running a lap around the entire village before we start all over again!" Naruto yelled out as he threw stone after stone.

Team 7 groaned.

ROOT HQ, Danzo's Office

Danzo sat at his desk, playing a game of chess against himself, as he contemplated his moves.

'Hiruzen and the Yondaime's son have been getting closer and closer, and it's clear Hiruzen has been using the boy against me.' Danzo thought to himself as he thought about the couple seals he discovered his base, that he surmised were for surveillance. The seals were too intricate to have been created by anyone else.

'So, he does a few favors for you, and you do a few for him, eh Hiruzen?' Danzo thought as his lone visible eye glanced over at the report his ROOT spies got for him, that revealed that the Hokage allowed Naruto to form his own team.

'Such blatant favoritism. It's actually the right thing to do. Why limit a valuable asset with useless rules, or waste resources on weaker shinobi instead of investing into one that is more valuable?' Danzo moved a white pawn.

'However, that's not how the sheep of this village will see it. They will grumble, thinking it is unfair.' Danzo moved another black pawn, taking the white one off of the board.

'They won't even realize, they'll be moving just as I want them to.' Danzo moved a white bishop to take the black pawn that had just taken the white pawn.

He thought back to the latest council meeting. With the extra revenue that was bound to come in from their new alliance and trade agreement with Wave, the Hokage had decided he would begin taxing the populace in a couple months to gather money to pay back Naruto.

If there was one thing that shinobi and civilian alike hated, it was taxes. A 5% rise in taxes? That would raise the overall taxes to almost 15%. Danzo smiled. Oh, the people were going to hate it.

Danzo would use his civilian connections, town gossips, and rumor spreaders to spread the news about why the taxes would suddenly rise. He would twist the truth, or rather, frame it in such a way that would cause the people to see the Hokage as favoring Naruto, rather than seeing it as paying Naruto back for his involuntary "loan" to the village during its reconstruction.

I lose more of my salary so the Hokage can put it into Naruto's pockets? Now that kind of framing would stir up some discontent amongst the civilians, and many of the shinobi as well.

He had plans for the shinobi half of the village as well. He would secretly release the circumstances behind the formation of Team 7 to some of the gossips in town. A few Yamanaka kunoichi would be enough to get the ball rolling. A shinobi bribing the Hokage into letting him pick and choose his own Genin, and then proceeding to take the rookie of the year, and one of the kunoichi of the year candidates? Throw in the jinchuuriki of the town in that picture too, and that was just overtly unfair to the other Jonin.

The news of Naruto taking his Genin on an A-rank mission and breaking mission protocols, and then proceeding to get away with it scot-free was already spreading amongst the council and the shinobi ranks. With the benefits Naruto brought to the village from the mission, it would probably fizzle away though. However, Danzo had no intention on letting it die down. He would infect that wound, and make sure it festers.

Danzo moved a black knight to take the white bishop, checking the white king and the white queen.

White was trapped in a fork maneuver, forcing it to either save its king or its queen.

Hiruzen would be forced to either address the complaints of Konoha, and distance himself from Naruto, which would drive a wedge in their relationship, or he would cover for Naruto and lose the support of the village, and perhaps even be forced to resign as Hokage.

He knew Hiruzen wasn't so stupid as to give up his position as Hokage for just one shinobi, when he knew there was a chance that Danzo would use the opportunity to take control. The old monkey would probably try to stop granting Naruto favors, which he owed Naruto, and try to do damage control. This would probably stir up some disgruntlement from Naruto, who would see the Hokage as breaking his word. Once a crack in their relationship formed, Danzo intended to pick away at it relentlessly, until it would be impossible to repair.

Danzo gave the smallest of smirks as he took the white queen off of the map.

Naruto knew too much. He would have to go. He was a valuable asset to the village, but Danzo could tell his loyalty to the village came second. What good was the sharpest sword in the world, if its handle cut the user as well?

Whatever decision Hiruzen decided to make, Danzo would take full advantage of. He just needed to secretly lay down the pieces in advance to prepare for both possible consequences. The roots of his scheme were branching out and anchoring itself firmly. It would only be a matter of time before its fruit would be seen.

Training Ground 7

Naruto looked over at his team, who were glaring at him as they laid on the ground, panting, covered in grime, bruises, and having their clothes soaked in both water and sweat.

"What a great day of training! I gotta agree with you guys. It's a lot more fun than simple chakra control exercises. It was actually good training for my aim too!" Naruto said with a cheeky smile, that even his biggest fanboy wanted to slap off of his face.

Shadows covered the Genin's eyes as they grumbled to themselves. They'd make him pay somehow.

Naruto decided he probably should let these kids go for the day, or risk being poisoned or stabbed in his sleep.

"Alright, well done you guys. You can go get some rest or hang out with your friends, or whatever. You are dismissed!"

He didn't need to tell them twice, as they seemed to vanish, scared that Naruto might change his mind and throw in another training exercise to wrap things up.

"Damn. Were they always that fast? I guess I need to work harder on my own training if I don't want to be overtaken." Naruto said to himself, before he started walking towards the town. He had some things he needed to discuss with someone.

In the streets of Konoha

Izumi was walking back towards the Konoha Military Police station, when she saw the familiar blonde mop of one of her best friends.

"Naruto-kun!" Izumi yelled out as she ran towards him.

"Huh? Oh, hey Izumi-chan! How have ya been?" Naruto asked when he recognized who called him.

"I've been good, just busy with police work. You'd be surprised at how many civilians think they can get away with crimes in a village full of shinobi." Izumi replied. "How about you?"

"Oh, you know. Busy with my cute little Genin." Naruto replied. "You should have gotten a team. It's pretty fun training them." Naruto said as he thought about his training session earlier. He had too much fun making those kids cry through their pores as he broke them down physically and mentally.

Izumi saw the sadistic smile of bliss on Naruto's face. She didn't know what he was thinking about, and she didn't want to find out. "Err… Right. So! Anyway, where are you headed?" She said in an attempt to change subjects.

"Oh, I was headed towards the hospital to see if Shizune-san was available." Naruto replied.

Izumi's ears perked up. Shizune huh? How interesting. Izumi had been wondering for years what kind of girl Naruto should be with, and now that she thought about it, Shizune was the perfect girl for him. She was sweet, caring, understanding and kind. Her empathetic and responsible nature was just what Naruto needed to bring some love and stability in his life. She decided she would try to set them up together.

"Shizune-san, huh?" She said with a mischievous grin. "You guys got something going on?"

"Yeah." Naruto responded, which made Izumi almost fall on her face in surprise.

"What?!" Izumi yelled out in shock. "Since when? Why did you not tell me?!"

"Since, I guess, like a few days after I got my Genin team? I don't know. You never asked?" Naruto asked back. He couldn't understand Izumi's reaction.

Naruto was a sharp ninja, and was very good at looking underneath the underneath, easily finding traps and dangers. However, when it came to things like relationships, he was very oblivious, especially when it involved himself. He wasn't even aware of the fangirls he had, and they were pretty obvious.

Due to his childhood experiences, he was more alert to social interactions that involved using people or being used by people, like how he manipulated the Hokage to get the Genin he wanted, or how council members used their influence to get what they wanted. He couldn't really understand love that well, other than his love for his sister, and he definitely didn't understand women's hearts.

"So, you started dating Shizune-san, and you never thought about telling me, one of your best friends?!" Izumi shouted at Naruto.

Naruto's face lost a little color as he took a couple steps back in shock.

"D-dating? Who said anything about dating?!" Naruto stammered out, flustered. Like most men, he could see if a woman was beautiful, and appreciated it, but he never thought about dating, as he was too busy.

It was Izumi's turn to be confused again. "Huh? Didn't you just say you and Shizune-san had something going on?"

"Yeah! Something going on, as in, she helps train one of my Genin! We aren't in a romantic relationship!" Naruto yelled back in response.

"Oh. Geez Naruto, you should know what people mean when they ask you if something is going on between you and someone." Izumi told Naruto.

Her face broke out into another mischievous grin when she saw how flustered he had become at the mention of being in a relationship.

"But what's with that reaction? Getting all flustered and all. Could it be that you have feelings for her?" Izumi teased. "Awww, is my cute, little, emotionally-stunted Naruto-chan all grown up now?"

"S-shut up! Who says I'm flustered!" Naruto shouted back. He needed to get his emotions back under control. He felt more vulnerable than he had in years.

"I was just taken by surprise. I don't have any feelings for her." Naruto responded, his voice a little more under control now.

"Aww, that's too bad. Why not her? What's wrong with Shizune-san?" Izumi asked.

"Well…" Naruto paused to think. She wasn't dripping with sex appeal like some of the other women in Konoha with massive chests, hour-glass figures, luscious hair, and provocative clothing, but she was still beautiful in his opinion. She had a very good personality, and she was very loyal, as he saw when she stuck by Tsunade when she was at her lowest, and loyalty was something Naruto valued a lot.

That being said, there were a lot of women that were beautiful in Konoha. Hell, even the few women he had some sort of relationship with, like Anko or Yugao, were easy on the eyes, though perhaps a little more difficult to deal with. Just because someone was beautiful and had a good personality didn't mean he was in love with them.

"Well, I guess I just never really considered her. It's not just her though. I just never really thought about being in a relationship." Naruto told his Uchiha friend.

"That's too bad. You should give it a try though. It's… pretty great." Izumi replied, briefly closing her eyes and remembering the times she was able to have with Itachi. She missed him.

Naruto saw the smile on Izumi's face as she reminisced, and realized she was thinking about Itachi.

"You miss him, don't you?" Naruto asked.

Izumi nodded. She decided to quickly shift the attention back to Naruto. She wasn't ready to talk about Itachi in public yet. She still loved him, and couldn't hold back the tears whenever she talked about him.

"Anyway, you should throw yourself out there. I'm sure there are plenty of women who would like to date you. I'm sure Shizune-san wouldn't mind if you took her out for dinner. Life is a lot better when you have someone you love you can share it with, you know." Izumi told Naruto.

"I mean I guess, but I'm not really in a rush. It'll happen when it happens." Naruto told Izumi. She was the second Uchiha he told that phrase to today.

"I don't know, Naruto-kun. It just sounds to me like you're procrastinating since you're too scared to talk to girls." Izumi teased.

"Hey! I'm not scared of talking to girls!" Naruto yelled back.

"Uh huh. I'm sure you aren't, Naruto-kun." Izumi said sarcastically, as she began to run away from an annoyed Naruto.

"Anyway! Think about what I said! I gotta get back to the station! See ya Naruto-kun!" Izumi yelled out as she waved goodby.

Naruto waved goodbye as he rolled his eyes. If it had been anyone else, he would have showed them what happens when they messed with him. The cheek on that girl.

He turned around to head to the hospital again, seemingly brushing off what he had heard from Izumi.

However, the seeds had been planted somewhere in the back of his mind.

Training Ground 7

Naruto's team had been training with the tutor system again for another couple weeks. Their skills were developing at a good rate, and Hinata had already been able to master the lightbulb exercise, able to turn on the bulb with her lightning chakra and even adjust the brightness at will.

Sasuke was having a lot more success with his bulb exercise as well, being able to light it, but he still unable to keep a steady flow going, and the brightness would flicker.

Narumi was having the most trouble. Her chakra was too potent, and she had made about 100 bulbs explode during her training. She still had some progress, and now she was able to light up the bulb at maximum brightness without exploding it right away, but it would still flicker, and would even explode occasionally.

They were developing in their other skills as well. Sasuke was able to reduce the number of hand seals that were needed for his fire jutsu, as well as improve his genjutsu skills from training with his mother.

Hinata had been working on acupuncture with Shizune, and her accuracy with senbon had been increasing to the point that she could hit the pressure points she aimed for, 8/10 times, which was impressive, as hitting tiny pressure points with a thin needle required a lot more precision than hitting the bullseye on a target with kunai.

Naruto had been training Narumi with making seals, as well as working on her water jutsu during their time with the team. She had learned how to perform the Mizurappa no Jutsu (Water Trumpet Technique), but she was still having trouble with it, as she hadn't mastered her water affinity yet.

Naruto thought it would be better for her to master one affinity at a time, and had merely taught her the water jutsu as a tool she could have in her belt if she ever needed it. He would teach her his huge arsenal of water jutsu later. What bothered him was the fact that her lightning affinity kept bleeding into her water jutsu. While it made her jutsu a lot more deadly, he didn't want her to leak her secret kekkei genkai yet. He wanted to work on that at home, but they had more pressing training to worry about at home.

"Alright team, we've done a lot of training recently. How about another mission?" Naruto asked his Genin.

"YES! PLEASE! It's been forever since we last went on a mission, nii-chan!" Narumi yelled out.

Sasuke nodded as well. He had been getting antsy for some more action.

Naruto chuckled. "Alright, alright. We'll go get a mission."

At the Mission Board

They were at the mission board a few minutes later, looking at the list of C-rank missions that were available.

An escort mission caught Naruto's eye. It was a mission escorting the Taki delegate back to Takigakure. The man had been brought up several times in council meetings. He decided he would take this one.

While C-rank missions were pretty easy, they still had a small risk of danger, so Genin teams couldn't just take them like they were D-rank missions. They needed to take the mission to the Hokage and get permission.

As a result, Team 7 soon found themselves in front of the Sandaime.

"Team 7 reporting for duty!" Naruto said as he gave the old man a salute.

Hiruzen gave the team in front of him a warm smile.

"So, what can I do for you today?" He asked.

"We would like permission to take this C-rank mission, Hokage-sama." Naruto told him as he placed the mission scroll on Hiruzen's desk.

The Sandaime took the scroll and read over it.

"Hmm… an escort mission to Taki…"

He hoped this mission would go smoothly for once, and that the trouble that seemed to follow Naruto would be absent this time.

"Alright. I approve." Hiruzen said as he stamped the scroll with his stamp of approval.

"Try to avoid trouble this time, will you?" Hiruzen asked Naruto.

Naruto responded with a shrug. "Hey, it's not like I asked for it last time. I just saw good opportunities that I couldn't afford to not take."

Hiruzen sighed. He wished Naruto would be more conventional sometimes. "Alright. Just make sure nothing bad happens. You guys are dismissed."

Team 7 left the Hokage's office with a smile on their faces, albeit for varying reasons. After saving an entire country last time, Narumi and Sasuke wondered what would be in store this time. They were excited for more action. Hinata was hoping to get a normal C-rank, one that suited their Genin status better. Unless the client was lying again, they would have a proper C-rank mission for the first time.

"Alright Team 7! Go home and pack for a 2-week long mission!" Naruto ordered his team, who nodded and ran home to prepare.

Naruto smiled when he saw his Genin's enthusiasm. He was excited to see how his Genin would surprise him with their growth this time.

He had no idea what each of them were about to get into.

*Author's Note*

And that's the latest chapter of the Jinchuuriki's brother! What did you guys think? It wasn't the most action packed, but like the title suggested, it was setting the pieces for things I had been planning for a while! Hope you guys still enjoyed it though!

Anyway, I was reading through the reviews and noticed a couple things that I wanted to address.

The first thing I wanted to address, was that some readers are very unhappy that I removed Sasuke and Haku as pairing candidates, demanding that I pair Narumi with them, demanding that I go along with the results of the votes and some going so far as to insult me. Guys, when I first started the "votes", I made it clear the "votes" were more for me to get an idea for what people wanted to see, and was a way for them to give me suggestions. I made it clear that I wouldn't force myself to go along with the results of the votes, especially if it didn't go with the direction of the story that I was writing. I'm not gonna force myself to change the direction of the story to appease some angry people. There's more to a story than just the pairing. If you want to read a story like that, then go read a story that focuses on the relationship aspect. I do that all the time. I really enjoyed a NaruKarin story recently, that basically skimmed through all of the overarching plot and focused on the developments of their relationships. This story however, is not one of those stories, and I'll make decisions to make things work for the plot I have in mind.

Tldr version: The pairing votes were just an organized form of suggestions. Not binding. I just wanted to see what people were interested in, and see if I could fit it into my story.

The second thing I wanted to address were the accusations of me council bashing. Ok, I've read a lot of stories that had very unreasonable councils. Like, Naruto would be the emperor of a unified west, strong enough, both in power and influence, to literally wipe Konoha off of the face of the earth, and they would demand him to hand himself over to them. I really enjoyed that story to be honest, as I don't really mind if there's bashing, but I bring that up as an example of council bashing. Just because there are people in the council who don't like Naruto or work against him, it doesn't mean I'm bashing the council. If anything, I'm a person who thinks the council is actually very necessary, and the Hokage holds too much power and responsibility. The huge stacks of paperwork that they cry over is funny in the anime, but if you really think about it, it's a huge hindrance to an efficiently run village. They need to delegate more power. Anyway, just because I made one of your favorite characters an antagonist in my story doesn't necessarily mean I'm bashing them. Let's face it. The canon Konoha is somehow full of goody-two-shoes, and somehow only Danzo is evil. I need antagonists in my story, so I may take a few characters and give them their own motives. I try my best to not make people villains just for the sake of being villains. I try to give them their own motives, ambitions, and drives, since in real life, nobody really thinks of themselves as villains. They just do what they do to accomplish their own visions. If anyone accused me of Sakura bashing earlier, I could concede somewhat, though I planned to have her mature later under Kurenai's tutelage, but council bashing? Just because some people don't like the arrogant and disrespectful prick that Naruto is in this story? How is that bashing?

Tldr version: Just because some people don't like Naruto or work against him, it doesn't mean I'm bashing. They just have their own goals, and they sometimes clash against Naruto's.

Anyway, maybe I shouldn't post the votes anymore. It was just a way for me to organize different people's suggestions, and share the results with the readers, but I guess it made some people angry that their votes were seemingly ignored. Maybe I'll just continue to write the story, and if I see a good opening, throw in the pairing. I guess it'll be less predictable that way as well.

Here are the votes for Narumi's pairing, excluding Kiba, Sasuke, and Haku. If you guys have any other better suggestions than the ones I have here, please let me know.

Shikamaru 52

Gaara 46

Shino 15

Anyway, thanks for reading! Hope you guys enjoyed the latest chapter! Please leave a comment or write me a PM if you have any suggestions or questions, or let me know what you thought of the chapter or story so far!

Hope you guys have a great day, and stay safe! Until next time!