So uhm its been a while right?
This has been a long time coming, for obvious reasons. How to be a ninja! is dead; rather it was never really alive to begin with? See my passion for writing the story didn't come from the idea, rather it came from Naruto as a series. As many of you know, the idea for How to be a Ninja! is just a discount version of Common Sense by Stone Elbow.
So naturally when my love for the series faltered, the entire story just collapsed on itself. I'd like to say my love for Naruto has returned, and trust me it has, but my passion for How to be a Ninja! never left. That's because I never had any in the first place. Well, that's not true!
I loved writing it for the short period I was publishing updates, weekly mind you each longer than the last. It was a ton of fun just planning out future events and slowly but surely reaching them. And I'd like to thank you, the patient viewers!
However this story imploded on itself, so much so that it's just...
However please do not worry. Not only will I describe the plans I had for the entire story in detail, I'l also like to say this, Just because How to be a Ninja! is over doesn't mean I won't return to writing fan fiction.
If you are unaware, since April I have been writing a SI/OC My Hero fic and recently it has hit 140k words with a guaranteed chapter every two weeks. In fact I make sure I'm ahead of the currently released chapter by writing the next two chapters out, therefore It gives me a whole month to write a chapter if I'am struggling.
Sure the quality at first is... questionable, however I have many edits planned not to mention many people have told me me writing style improves, after all 140k is a lot of words.
Will I return to write Naruto fan fiction?
Yes.
When?
Depends. See I had planned to finish How to be a Ninja! with a long chapter every three months, that unfortunately did not go as planned. So if I do write a Naruto story, it will be something along those lines, or just a monthly release instead of waiting for three. It'll be a side project from me however, so there is that. Most likely a SI/OC with a massive twist.
Now I would like to offer apologies, mainly to you the reader.
New or old it doesn't matter.
I apologise for being inconsistent and not writing this as much as I could, even if my love for Naruto as a franchise faltered that shouldn't have impacted this story! My words will never be enough, so here is what I had planned. Every single idea I ever had for this story. Let's begin, shall we?
Land of Waves arc:
Team 7 would have met Roshi, the Jinchuriki of the Four Tails. Sakura would find oyt that Naruto is also a Jinchuriki and tensions would rise, leading to a sort of argument. Because of this when they get the news that Team Gai requires assistance for their mission, the fated Land of Waves mission, Kakashi is hesitant to allow them to head there because it's not for Gennin.
Eventually, Naruto and Sasuke decide to go behind Kakashi's back and travel to the Land of Waves, with Sakura deciding to join as she wants to get stronger as well. This would be a chase between Kakashi and the three cute Gennin as they eventually arrive at the Land of Waves and help about for a bit.
Kakashi would then arrive and berate them, but eventually relents and says "Once we get back to Konoha, it'll be non-stop D ranks for you!"
Establish a rivalry between Neji and Naruto, sort of like in canon but not entirely. See Naruto isn't the same 12 year old he is in the original series, for better or for worse the book his father left him inflates his ego a lot. Like to the point he thinks he can take on Neji, and as a matter of fact he can. But barely.
Still Naruto isn't deterred, and so he isn't humbled.
Blah, blah the fight on the bridge happens and now two things happen.
1. Haku lives.
2. Naruto dies.
Yep all that build up from the beginning was for the fact that Naruto actually dies here. Because he relies too heavily on the book, and the fact that he tried to copy Minato's style he dies on the field. He was never true to himself, and so he died achieving nothing.
That is until he wakes up in a familiar looking place, inside what seems to be a sewer with a cage in front of him and a certain Fox speaking to him.
Yes that's right, Naruto wasn't dead. The situation would be very similar to Itadori's in Jujutsi Kaisen, where he supposedly 'died'. Basically Kuruma put his body in a state of stillness or whatever, just so he could have a conversation with Naruto.
See for all his loathing, he hates arrogance just as much as people. And so he berates Naruto for being the stupidest person he has been jailed inside, cue the "I'LL KILL EVERYONE YOU LOVE!" line from Kuruma.
Eventually Naruto wakes up in the morgue, Kakashi surprised that he's alive as he wipes a tear away from his eye.
It would then cut to Roshi, who gives the Tsuchikage Oonoki some 'news'. Minato had a son, who is now the Nine Tails Jinchuriki, and so Oonoki looks at the invitation from Hiruzen and accepts as his plan is to assassinate Naruto from within his own village (Remember they don't know he has died yet).
Hirzuen sees that Iwa will take part in the Chunnin exams this year and so orders Naruto's 'rebirth' to be not spoken about at all, not even to Sasuke and Sakura. Instead Kakashi will personally train Naruto, this time Hiruzen wants to use the book to make Naruto a mini Minato to scare Iwa off.
Of course Naruto has learnt his lesson, so when he starts to train privately with Kakashi he outright rejects the idea of learning to be like Minato. "I'll carve my own path, after all isn't that how to be a ninja?" Would be the line Naruto says.
At this point Sasuke and Sakura become closer together after Naruto's death. Haku, now joined with Konoha joins them and forms the new Team 7.
Time passes and the Chunin exams begin, a looming plot with Suna and Orochimaru, and a different plot from Iwa all colliding at once. How cool!
Chunnin Exams arc:
Team 7 reunites, although not before beating the shit out of Naruto.
Standard affair, Naruto is confused because Haku took his place and then Naruto is told to join a different team, featuring some random nobodies. They pass the first round no problem, then in the second round Iwa comes knocking on the door.
Two teammates dead.
Naruto manages to escape, taking down a random Iwa nin as he sleeps under their body asking if this is what it means to be a ninja?
Team 7 finds him and helps him out, Sasuke bitten with a curse mark albeit for a different reason. At first, Orochimaru tried to lure him with the power for revenge but after it failed he changed his tune very quickly. "If you seek power to protect what you want from your brother, join me and I'll make that wish a reality."
See Sasuke here would want to protect Team 7, Naruto included, from his brother to a psychotic degree. Revenge doesn't interest him, if killing his brother means those he cares about will be safe then so be it.
Sakura would be jealous of Sasuke's curse mark and Haku will be Haku.
Well onto the prelims, they all pass and in fact it goes rather like canon.
Only Naruto beats Neji in the prelims instead of the actual tournament.
Instead, Naruto is matched up against... Kurostochi! Yep, she was a Chunnin before these exams bit her grandfather demoted her entire team for not addressing him correctly, basically he demoted them in order to assassinate Naruto. That's it.
Naruto trains with Jiraya blah blah the actual final round starts.
Kurostochi tries to goad Naruto into doing a Rasengan, or a Flying Rajin bit he refuses.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, not anyone else!"
He wins by using his own ingenuity by trapping Kurostochi in a castle made of tiny frogs, he realised with Jiraya instead of summoning one massive frog he can summon hundred of tiny ones for the same chakra cost.
Invasion starts, and so begins the madness.
Oonoki personally guns for Naruto, Hiruzen tries to move the battle with Orochimaru towards Oonoki while Gaara goes on a rampage. It's pure chaos, not only that but Kakashi is quickly beaten in front of him by Oonoki. Despite being told to hide, Naruto comes out of hiding to face off against Oonoki himself all alone.
Oonoki prepares the final blow and...
Hinata, using all her strength pushes Naruto out of the way and dies. Her body is exploded from the inside from Oonoki's particle Jutsu.
Naruto cries, pleads, begs for Kuruma to take over. To take control of his entire body, to completely fall into the despair and anger that Hinata's death caused him.
And instead...
Instead Kuruma just laughs at him. Because Kuruma put Naruto's body in a suspended state when he was supposed to have died, Kuruma says now Naruto owes him. And this is the price of it.
Then Oonoki starts to laugh as he calls Naruto pathetic, and without him knowing Kuruma laughs in sync at Naruto. Sort of like Mahito and Sukuna laughing at Itadori, which may or may have not influenced some of this laughing scene. And then Jiraya comes, pissed off as he fights Oonoki one on one, Orochimaru and Hiruzen joining the fray as it quickly turns int situation.
Then last minute, Orochimaru betrays them and stabs Hiruzen in the back before retreating, and Oonoki taking this chance runs away as Jiraya tends to Hiruzen wounds. Hiruzen is now crippled from the waste down, with seemingly only Tsunade the only one to cure him. And so Naruto and Jiraya search out to find Tsunade to not only heal Hiruzen, but potentially become the next Hokage.
Tsunade Search Arc
Sort of like canon.
Only Jiraya starts Naruto off with Sage mode training and as luck has it... Naruto is bad at it!
Anyway, canon events play out blah blah blah. Itachi and Kisame, Sasuke comes and realises he is too weak to protect Naruto from Itachi. "My foolish little bother, even now you can't protect the one thing you hold dear. You couldn't protect your family from me, and now not even your best friend can escape that fate. Anyone who is close to you is destined to suffer at my hands, that is the truth."
Anyway search continues, Sasuke sent back to Konoha.
Blah blah Tsunade gambles away her necklace, this time if Naruto can instead learn a hard medical Jutsu.
Blah blah she goes with Orochimaru.
And then...
Tsunade dies.
Just like Hinata, Tsunade sacrifices herself in order for Naruto to live.
"The will of fire is passed down... right...? Won't you... carry... my will?"
This time Naruto is controlled by Kuruma however as their debt had been paid off. Blah blah Orochimaru gets away, Shizune and Jiraya calm Naruto down.
They go back to Konoha only to find out that Iwa has declared war on them.
And of course, the Sasuke retrieval arc begins!
Sasuke retrieval arc:
Jiraya now becomes the Hokage.
Sasuke is becoming more and more anxious of not being able to protect those he cares about. If they are friendly with him, does that mean Itachi will kill them?
And then comes Danzo Shimura, rememberer Hiruzen expelled him beforehand? Well, Danzo along with Kabuto come towards Sasuke with the option of working for Danzo, in turn Sasuke will then be able to protect those he cares about from the shadows. Orochimaru however has a different plan, trying to forcibly caputure Sasuke.
Sakura tries to stop it...
Until she nearly dies, and Kabuto who steals Sasuke alone injects a new serum inside of her. Every time she uses chakra, her body becomes more fragile thus ensuring she can never be a Ninja, even something as sticking to a surface for a minute puts her at danger of death. Breaking down for now not being able to achieve her goal, she gives Naruto her sword as she says,
"I can't achieve my goal, my dream. But you can. You will. You shuld become the world's greatest ninja, the strongest one of them all. For me. For all of us."
Naruto and others go after blah blah blah
Naruto frees Sasuke, and then it become 1.
Naruto and Sasuke vs Kabuto.
Needless to say Kabuto gets overwhelmed by Naruto using two tails and Sasuke's curse mark form, he is killed in action. However, when Naruto tries to bring Sasuke back he fails.
Both are extremely tired, but the shock of Sasuke not wanting to come back hurts him.
He doesn't fight back as Sasuke quite literally fights him to cross the border to enter Danzo's hideout.
Naruto... lost completely.
He lost Hinata, Tsunade, Sakura and now he lost Sasuke.
He breaks down in tears as he curses ninja's as a whole, the entire system. Kakashi watches from the sidelines as his pupil breaks down and tries to look away, but finds he can't as Naruto gets up and wipes away his tears.
Naruto is ready now.
He's lost.
He now knows 'how to be a ninja!'
PART ! END
I'll be honest only mostly all of Part 1 was planned.
The rest is a bunch of random notes and ideas joint together.
Three year time skip.
Naruto is now a war hero for Konoha, the "Spiral devil" himself. Known for his use of a blade and his skilled knowledge of Jutsu, he is a front liner. But he is also known for being a prolific healer, while not like Tsunade, enough where his presence is immensely helpful.
Naruto v Kurostochi rematch.
As a matter of fact, they are friends as they both complain about the war when fighting. So much so that everyone in the battlefield stops what they are doing because they are transfixed by the fight in-front of them.
Eventually the war comes to a standstill as both Iwa and Konoha sign a peace treaty.
Suna never got involved, especially after Konoha Crush.
Kumo instead of being war hungry actually were silent this time.
And Kiri is just Kiri.
Sakura is now studying to be a normal teacher.
Blah blah canon events start to happen...
Gaara arc blah blah
Asuma dies blah blah
Naruto gets rasenshuriken blah blah
Jiraya does not die cause you know, he's now the Hokage. Instead Kakashi goes to Ame and nearly dies, Tobi saves him however because 'He's interesting' :P
Sasuke hunts down Orochimaru for retaliation of his concoction that rendered Sakura unable to be a ninja and kills him straight up.
Sasuke v Itachi.
Sasuke basically suicide bombs himself, after learning Sakura can't be a ninja because of him he felt immense guilt and so after seeing Naruto in action as a war hero, he trusts his friend to protect Konoha. Yep, both Sasuke and Itachi are dead now.
Pain assault, goes as expected.
Naruto learns sage mode and saves the day.
Naruto speaks with Minato, however Naruto is tired of ninja's as a whole as he offers Kuruma friendship. At first Kuruma declines, but Naruto says that while he blames Kuruma, he forgives him.
He says that despite loosing those that are dear to him, Kuruma still indirectly allowd Naruto to survive. And that's what a friend is.
Suddenly Tobi attacks, tries to steal Naruto.
Iwa joins the fray with an army led by Kurostochi, now they are defending Naruto from Tobi. Suna also joins the fray, with Gaara helping completely.
The Orochimaru reveals he wasn't dead and revives the three Hokage, Tsunade and Sasuke.
Turns out Zetsu stole Kabuto's body and fused him with some of Orochimaru's cells he got when Sasuke 'killed' Orochimaru, who then is forced to make a reanimation of Madara. Blah blah fight over Nagato's Rinnegan, Tobi revealed as Obito, Kakashi v Obito this time Obito is changed by Kakashi's words.
Rinne rebirth on Madara and so this is where it get's interesting.
One by one every ally and enemy Naruto had faced opens the path so he can land the final blow on Madara with the blade Sakura gave him however Naruto is quickly disarmed as the blade as flung in the air...
Right before Sasuke grabs it and slashes Madara's back, all before flinging the weapon to Naruto who cuts Madara's head off cleanly killing him.
Oh no Zetsu... is dispatched by Kakashi and Obito working together.
Obito dies, and because Orochimaru at some point sacrificed himself to save Jiraya when they where both fighting Madara, the reincarnation Jutsu starts to run out.
Naruto asks Sasuke for one last spar before he goes, and Sasuke agrees.
Just two bro's having fun together and eventually... Sasuke is gone for good.
Final chapter!
Ninja system is abolished, at first Kumo and Kiri tried to oppose it but Suna, Konoha and Iwa all joining forces to create one country is pretty effective. Now Ninja are used purely as a secret police force against crime.
Naruto retires peacefully with Sakura and they get married and have a child together.
The end!
From part 2 onwards, it wasn't as planned as part 1. Mostly just some ideas strung together with a few plot points, but nothing specific like how I had planned part 1.
It's a little rough around the edges, but I present you How to be a Ninja! Finally complete!
Thank you for reading and for all your support!