NARUTO

Drifting

Tale of Two Blades

Later that day…

Elsewhere…

Many miles south of Konohagakure, somewhere on a large peninsula connected to the rest of the continent, a series of forest covered mountain ranges could be seen stretching out in all directions. All across this small part of the Land of Fire, on the surface at least, the area was tranquil, peaceful, with nothing but clear blue skies hanging overhead and a handful of villages scattered across the countryside.

However, on the far side of one of the smaller edifices, inside the ruins of what looked to be the remains of an ancient village, dark shadows were hard at work. Moving through the streets of the forgotten community, hundreds of men and women dressed in blue and purple shinobi uniforms, masks and battle armor could be seen excavating the area. While half of them focused on the archaeology and labor intensive part of the job, the other half stood guard in all the other key areas, armed with specially designed gliders and automatic kunai launchers. They were also accompanied by large, hulking men in dark, knight-like battle armor, all of whom were armed with maces, swords, clubs and spears.

Needless to say, despite being in such a secluded area, the operation they had going on here was massive. Hell, they even had tents, watch towers and cranes put in place, making it look like some sort of village restoration project. While something like this would have tricked anybody else into believing it was an innocent little project taking place, it only raised alarm bells for the black and white man poking his head out of a nearby oak.

Murmuring uneasily, the ever stealthy Zetsu, shielded by the jaws of his Venus Fly Trap growth, looked about the area with a frown. "There are so many of them. Wow."

"Keep a lid on it, you idiot," the black half snapped irritably under his voice, their head craning about to scan the mountains further. "Remember what we came for."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear yah," the slow, white half replied lazily, allowing his other half to take control of the situation.

The jaws of the flytrap closed around them, allowing the Akatsuki member to wiggle back into the tree's branch and vanish.

Deciding to get a closer look, the sleuth of a man tunneled his way further into the village and skillfully made his way through without running into any obstacles or potholes. Navigating using his extra sensory capabilities, the spy soon found himself burying into the mountain behind the village's massive shrine, moving through the dark for a couple minutes and eventually sticking his head out in what could only be described as the Temple of Doom from Indiana Jones.

Finding himself perched on a ledge close to the ceiling, Zetsu blinked several times as he looked about the enormous chamber, which was obviously the heart of the sinister organization's operation. With dozens of shinobi and armored guards walking around, either standing watch or helping out with the dig, the Akatsuki member began taking stock of what he was up against.

Not only were there statues all over the place, but there were also walkways, beautifully carved pillars, wall paintings, platforms and altars, all of which seemed to predate any and all architecture or society the spy was familiar with. It definitely came as a surprise to the black and white digger, who chose to remain where he was so as to not attract any unwanted attention.

While scanning the massive room from his balcony's position, his head poking out of the earth like a half-buried victim, the man then spotted a figure dressed differently from the rest of the workers making their way up the stairs at the back end of the cave. Visually following the woman in the cape and blue armor, he saw the female guard approach the huge altar guarded by two ruined statues representing ancient deities.

It was there a group of men in purple shinobi uniforms were working tirelessly on trying to get the door open. Unfortunately, much to their annoyance and desperation, they just couldn't get the thing to budge. The sight of them struggling to crack open the stone shell had the female newcomer scowl impatiently.

"What are you idiots doing? We've been stuck out here for two days digging through rock and limestone. Haven't you gotten that thing open yet?" the blonde knight asked with a growl.

The squad leader watching from the sidelines turned to the woman with a nervous expression in play, "We're trying, Lady Fugai. But the gate is sealed tighter than a steel trap. We think it's being held down by a seal of some kind."

The news had the visiting lieutenant groan, "Oh… that's just perfect! Now what are we going to do? Sing to it? Perform some sort of super-secret, ninja mumbo-jumbo crap to get it open?" Her exasperation drew the attention of all the shinobi working in that area and had their anxious gazes quickly settle upon her. "The boss said he would be dropping in to check on our progress. If he gets here and this… this… thing isn't opened yet, he's going to-"

"I'm going to what, Fugai?"

Tirade cut short by the emergence of the soft and calm voice, the knight froze up and robotically turned around. When she did, her fear-filled eyes instantly fell upon the small, cloaked form of her boss, decked in all white, ambling up the stairs accompanied by his two trusted lieutenants Temujin and Dosu. The bodyguards stopping at the top of the stairs behind the man, they watched on carefully as their leader strolled across the altar floor plan and halted in front of the problem in question.

Almost instantly, every single man and woman in the area, including Fugai, dropped to their knees and bowed.

"Hiruko-sama," the woman greeted, with her head held low.

Acknowledging his subordinate's greeting, as well as the collective of workers on station, the boss marched forward. "So…" the man in bandages exclaimed, looking upon the large, ancient door with interest, "Is this the pesky, little barrier that's preventing you from accessing the contents inside?"

"Yes, my lord. We've been trying to open it for hours, but we can't get the doors to budge. Not even our most powerful explosives and equipment can crack it," the nervous crusader replied. "The men think that it's being held shut by a powerful sealing technique."

"I see," Hiruko chuckled, raising his arm up and allowing his sleeve to fall away, revealing his ghostly pale hand. "No matter. Doorways such as these simply require a key to open them… and I believe I have just the tool necessary for this task." As soon as he said that, his hand suddenly became incased in black metal and a sickly green glow, which wafted off of his arm like smoke from a pyre.

The soldiers and workers surrounding the small shinobi looked on nervously as their boss approach the barrier, unsure of what he was planning to do. But, just before anybody could ask him exactly what his intentions were, the masked man simply cranked his fist back and slammed it into the gate, his knuckles colliding with a pinkish barrier, which took the form of a wall of writing, which then shattered under the force of his blow, enabling his fist to carve through the rock underneath. In a massive blast of debris and dust, the obstacle was swiftly removed.

Watching the commotion from up high, Zetsu raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Ooh. Nice punch."

"That was no ordinary seal," the black half whispered, also narrowing his gaze upon the boss. "What the hell is inside that thing?"

When the explosion eventually settled, the group of startled onlookers found themselves staring at what looked like an empty casket and cupboard with only a single shelf, decorated in carvings of ancient warriors and demons. While the artwork was indeed impressive, they weren't what Hiruko was interested in, nor were they the relics that he was after.

It was the katana in the black scabbard sitting on the frame in front of him that was his ultimate goal.

Smiling at the sight of the beautiful weapon, the boss wasted no time in extending a hand towards it and picking it up. Not even caring if the ancient storage unit was booby-trapped, Hiruko promptly removed the sword and turned around, holding it in both hands like it were the most delicate thing in the world. Heck, the weapon was so unique and flawless in its design that it even had Temujin and Dosu's full and undivided attention.

All caution was thrown spectacularly onto the wind when Hiruko gripped the handle of the weapon and drew it from its sheath, the metallic chime it gave bouncing off every wall inside the cave.

The sword was truly magnetic. Not only bearing a decorated golden pommel, guard, and pegs holding in the black, velvet material of the handle itself, the blade was also one to be admired. However, unlike the specially polished silver you often saw on swords of a similar design, the blade was pure black, sucking in all the light breaking into the chamber as opposed to reflecting it. What's more, the metal gave a very ominous hum as held it was held out by the organization's leader, who spent the next several seconds admiring its craftsmanship.

"Beautiful. Isn't it?" Hiruko asked to no one in particular.

Swallowing nervously, Fugai stood up from her post to get a better look, at the same time her mentor rotated the blade around and ran his finger along the back of its curved spine. "What kind of sword is it, master?"

She asked this because the weapon was giving off a very strange and unnatural vibe.

It made the knight feel very uncomfortable, something she didn't normally get from merely gazing upon a tool meant purely for battle.

Hiruko chuckled and held the weapon out for everyone in the area to see, including the workers, all of whom started to rise to their feet. "This, my dear… is the last blade created by one of the two greatest swordsmiths of the old world; Sengo Muramasa." The man then pointed it downwards so that the tip touched the ground and its steel bent the light as it cut around it. "Forged during the final years of the samurai, this weapon was designed with one purpose and one purpose only: to be the great destroyer."

Blinking as she gazed at it, Fugai was soon joined by Temujin and Dosu; the two warriors having become drawn to the legendary weapon that their master had drawn from its crypt.

"How is this sword different from all of the others we've seen?"

This question from his nervous subordinate had the boss grin excitedly, "This one is different… because it was made by the one person who came closest to wiping out all life in this world." Watching his audience of many blink as they gathered around him, the man in the high-collar coat took a deep breath and turned to the side. "Let me tell you all a story. Thousands of years ago, before the time of the Sage of Six Paths, the founder of the shinobi world, there were two swordsmiths: Masamune and Muramasa. Both undisputed masters of their craft and considered the greatest weapon makers in history, Muramasa one day challenged his friend to see who could make a finer sword. They both worked tirelessly for months over furnaces of hot coals and anvils, and eventually, when both swords were completed, they decided to test the results. The contest was for each to suspend their blade in a small creek, with the cutting edge facing the current."

Dosu, processing his master's words, then looked up in surprise. "Hang on. I think I've heard this story before. 'The Legend of Masamune and Muramasa'… right?"

"Yes. But the version you're about to hear is probably a little bit different from the one you probably know," Hiruko continued, smiling as he continued to admire the weapon in his grip. "While the original duel was said to be a private contest between the two sword smiths, the actual competition was judged and recorded by the immortal High Priestess Miruko and High Priest Moryu… the latter of whom would become responsible for the Ghost Army incident half a year ago." Though this revelation astonished most of the people there, the leader wasn't shaken in the least by the words of his tale, and moved on. "When the contest began, Muramasa dipped his sword into the creek and cut everything that passed its way; fish, leaves flowing down the river, and the very air that blew against it. Highly impressed by his friend's work, Masamune then lowered his sword, the Yawarakai-Te (Tender Hands), into the creek next to his colleague's. Instead of cutting anything, it refused the leaves, the fish, and the air that Muramasa's blade had sliced in two."

"Wow," Fugai murmured. "That's… actually quite impressive."

"Indeed. Though the swords were both designed similarly and were perfect in almost every way possible, they both differed from each other in one particular respect. While Muramasa's blade was indiscriminate in who or what it cut, Masamune's blade refused to cut anything undeserving, repaired everything that was damaged by Muramasa's sword, and was considered the better of the two weapons. It was a result that the Priest and Priestess unanimously agreed upon, and Masamune's blade was dubbed the finest sword of its kind," Hiruko informed, smiling as he then swung the katana through the air before then holding it up as he looked down its middle and into the distance. "Though the former had emerged victorious that day, both Masamune and Muramasa remained the best of friends and, satisfied with the outcome, returned home."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"But then, half a year later, Muramasa's life was suddenly turned upside-down by a sick and unexpected tragedy. You see, a few months prior to their contest by the creek, the smith had been tasked with forging a sword for the daimyo of their nation; a man who believed would be able to gain 'ultimate power' and 'enlightenment' from wielding a blade crafted by the great architect. Consumed by the idea that he'd become invincible after receiving the weapon from Muramasa, the daimyo decided to pay the good smith's family a visit. When Muramasa returned home that afternoon from an extended shopping trip, he found his children dead and the daimyo… 'having fun' with his wife. As soon as he walked into his room, the lord declared his invincibility and killed her right in front of him," Hiruko stated, glancing across at his disciples and seeing most of them shiver at the look in his gaze.

Hearing this for himself, the normally silent Temujin frowned deeply, whereas Dosu cringed.

Ignoring their reactions, Hiruko proceeded onwards, "In a rage, Muramasa butchered the daimyo, and fell into a pit of misery and despair. Masamune and his friends tried to console him over the loss of his family, but he rejected them and closed himself off from the world. Then, after several months of solitude, he left his homeland and wandered aimlessly across the continent." The man in white then faced his lieutenants fully and lowered the sword to his side. "Consumed by grief and loss, Muramasa drowned his sorrows with delusions and madness, the memories of his wife and children sending him into a downward spiral. He soon came to the radical conclusion that humanity and its 'perfect' civilization was a cancer upon the universe, and after judging the world for what it was, he sought to wipe the entire slate clean of every single one of them." Hiruko then held the weapon in front of him and smiled down at its cutting edge. "Muramasa took up his sword and went on a bloody crusade. In just one night, he brutally massacred an entire country and erased it completely from existence, killing everything from humans to demons. This led to him naming this sword, the same one he'd competed with against Masamune's, Juuchi Yosamu (10,000 Cold Nights)."

It was a name that had the closely listening Zetsu's eyes widen where he sat, his upper body protruding from the ground over the dig site.

Fugai tilted her head at the weapon, "He conquered an entire country by himself?"

"Yes. And that's not all," Hiruko said with an eager grin. "In his travels across the world, Muramasa stumbled across the creator of the Box of Ultimate Bliss, the same one that we currently have in our possession, and used the entity inside the box to enslave the entire world's population. Every country and army fell before his might, until only his best friend Masamune and a handful of deities were the only ones left to challenge him. A great battle was fought between Muramasa and Masamune, a fight that distorted the entire earth's surface, crossed space and time, and reshaped whole continents. Their battle lasted an entire week, and when it was finally over, their world was forever changed. Nations had been toppled, thousands had died in the conflict, stars had been realigned, and all the Gods and Demons of the world had been wiped out… save for only a handful. Muramasa died that day, and when he did, Masamune took his friend's sword and sealed it away… here, never to be seen again. Well…" The man eyed the sword once more, "Until today of course."

Processing his words carefully, Temujin then noticed a small gap in his story and glanced towards his master curiously. "What about Masamune's sword? What happened to it?"

Hiruko shrugged, "Some say he destroyed it." The man shook his head. "No… I don't think he would do something like that. Records from the old temple actually say Masamune wrapped his katana Tender Hands in black metal from the far north and gave his sword to a crow demon, and sent him to wander the earth as a vagrant." He then chuckled at that little snippet from the tale. "Unless you can find a man with a crow on his shoulder moving from country to country, then the sword may as well be considered lost to the ages."

While everybody awed the weapon in amazement, Dosu stepped forward with an inquisitive look in play. "With such a legendary weapon in your grasp, will you finally be able to defeat the Akatsuki and the Five Great Nations, master?"

The question drew a head shake from the leader. "Sadly… no. This sword and its missing counterpart don't grant the users any special powers or abilities. It is only an enchanted blade meant to slay spirits, Gods, and demons alike, the full capacity of which is only determined by the skill of the wielder." Hiruko's eyes then twinkled with delight. "However… there is one advantage to this weapon. Because it was made by a legendary sword smith of a now bygone era, the metal used in this blade is of the finest quality imaginable. It is unbreakable."

"Well… I suppose that's one advantage," Dosu exclaimed, smirking across at the sword as it gleamed before their eyes.

"There is no question about it. Master certainly knows what he wants," Fugai also spoke, grinning wolfishly at the same time.

While admiring the blade from top to bottom and rotating it ever so slightly to get a full scope of its design, Hiruko's eyes then narrowed when, in the steel's reflection, he spotted something out of place in the cave system behind him. Extending and focusing his senses, the leader then picked up the signature of the uninvited presence in the area and, smirking underneath the bandages covering his mouth, kept his back turned to it, even as the grip he had of his weapon tightened. It was an action that caught the ever-sharp Temujin's attention.

"After the war that nearly saw the destruction of the entire planet, every single one of Muramasa's works was labeled as evil. Stories soon spread of how his blades drove their wielders to madness should anyone ever attempt to use them and that prolonged exposure to any one of his creations would lead to the user committing suicide. But of course… those are merely myths concocted by the people who actually fought against him during the final war."

A sickly grin then formed on the boss's face as he adjusted his hold with a quick flex of his fingers.

"Oh, and because the strength of the sword is determined by the strength of the user, in my hands…" Hiruko began in a low voice, before a strange, radioactive green chakra started to radiate off of his arm. The sight of the Gelel aura had everyone in the area look up in alarm before, in a single, fluid motion, the man in white spun around and slashed outwards in an upward, diagonal fashion.

In a flash of blinding light, a massive, green, blade-shaped crescent blast was launched from the sword, which shot up towards the cave wall at blinding speed and sliced right into it like butter.

Zetsu didn't even have time to react when his body was unexpectedly cleaved in two where the chakra attack struck the cave wall, and sent him toppling to the ground with the rubble. The entire chamber shook as the section of stone collapsed under the precision force of the blast, sending debris and dust flying everywhere. When the shaking eventually stopped, it left an enormous pile of rock lying at the base of the damaged edifice, and a wounded spy along with it.

While the sudden attack baffled all those in the area, Hiruko merely chuckled at his success.

"It becomes the ultimate weapon," the albino male finished proudly.

When the smoke finally settled, the full result of the attack was revealed.

Lying amidst the pile of boulders, the top half of Zetsu's body, Venus fly trap, cloak and all could be seen lying sprawled out under the debris and trembling from head to toe. The white half gave a pained cry as he clawed at the ground, seconds before the two of them choked up blood. While the white one coughed of white blood, the black one coughed up blood of its respective color, leaving a duel-colored pool lying on the floor in front of them.

"Gah. W-What the hell was that?" the white Zetsu yelled out, unable to stop the shooting pains from reaching him. "How did he know we were here?"

"He saw us," the black half replied, before coughing up more bodily fluids and snarling in agony. "H-He actually wounded me?" As he lay there, digging at the ground with his black fingers, only one thought went through the man's had. "So it is true. That is the blade of the great Sengo Muramasa." And here he'd thought that that man was merely a legend.

However, many legends of their time had been born from truth, and judging from how he was now bleeding out over the floor at the bottom of a chasm, Zetsu was convinced that this legend was as true as they came.

Before the two-man warrior could do anything to try and get out of their situation, a sharp pain struck them in the spine and pinned them to the floor when Hiruko teleported directly beside the crippled spy and buried the blade into their back. Earning another yelp from the Akatsuki spy, the boss then leered down at the odd-looking assassin and tilted his head curiously.

"My, my, my… what do we have here?" the white haired individual spoke, a smile creasing through the bandages wrapped over his mouth while his subordinates, Temujin, Dosu and Fugai included, gathered behind him. "Akatsuki's Zetsu, is it? The group's number one spy and information gatherer? Hidan told me a great deal about you." Still holding the katana tightly, the man in the trench coat knelt down beside the wounded individual and smirked at him. "What could a man as cautious, slick and reclusive as you possibly be doing all the way down here?"

The black one growled, "Th-That's… none of your… business-" Just as he was beginning to croak out his words, Hiruko twisted the blade a little, causing the plant person to yelp out in pain.

"I suppose that doesn't matter. Now that I have you in my grasp, I can carry on with the next stage of my experiments without fear," Hiruko informed, giving his opponent, now captive, a very cruel smile. "Considering how unique a person you are, I'm sure you and your friend have some very interesting secrets hidden in your DNA that I would like to salvage for my own purposes." A chuckle shortly escaped his lips as the two person spy glared hatefully up at the organization's boss. "This is so exciting. I can't wait to get started."

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: Hi all. Sorry I haven't been updating my story or any of my stories for a while, but I've just been so incredibly busy lately and, if I'm to select an appropriate word to describe my current mood, disappointed and lacking inspiration… and have been for a long time.

More busy than upset (don't worry, I'm not suffering depression or anything) and my mood for writing has sunk slightly. Like I said in my last chapter, I've been preoccupied with other stuff, working on commissions, studying, and helping friends out with their stories.

Furthermore, another reason why I've stopped writing this story for a while is because I am completely and utterly appalled at what has become of the Naruto series.

As I'm sure you're all aware, the Naruto manga had finished a few months ago and, if I'm being completely honest, I absolutely hate what the author did with the ending and what he is continuing to do to the series.

I thought it was all over. The 'ending' of Naruto happened and we got to see the various changes that'd occurred to everyone over the time gap. But, as I'm sure a few of you might agree (or not, depending on your take of the 700th chapter), the ending was absolutely shocking.

Let's start with the bad and the obvious in my review of the Naruto canon's 'final' chapter:

The 700th chapter for the Naruto manga was just one massive ship-fest that lacked any and all satisfaction, with characters being paired up left and right (though it sounds hypocritical of me considering I'm writing a Naruto harem, this is just my opinion and, in truth, the harem genre is one of my favorites in the laundry list of anime genres), things have happened in the story without explanation, once respected characters have been butchered and cut down to size, the technology and the culture of the world has been mutated out of whack, and there've been so many changes and things done in that one chapter that I just cannot for the life of me agree with or like.

The major theme that was playing out with the Naruto ending is that characters have been paired up with one another; as you can expect from a series involving so many diverse and interesting characters with different relationships. But I have to ask… was it really all necessary? Did we really need to see all these characters matched up with one another?

For a couple of them I can expect. Shikamaru/Temari (maybe). Ino/Sai (Ha. No way in hell). Choji/Karui? Okay… a couple of them I can buy. But this last one was so out of left field that I just cannot fathom them being together in any way other than as work colleagues. Sure, a lot of shit must've happened over the years, but with the way the chapter was executed, it was just so unexpected and unpleasant, if that's the right word to use. It had absolutely no build up whatsoever.

A few of you might disagree with this point of view, and harshly, but I can respect that, as that's just your opinion as well as this one is my own.

However, the pairing that happened in this story that I'm most outraged at and cannot stand is Sasuke and Sakura being paired together. Ugh. This one makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it, and the fact that it is now canon and legitimate makes me nauseous 24/7. The two of them have literally no chemistry with one another and would be better off in a brother/sister relationship, if anything. Not only was the fact Sasuke's actions in the story completely overlooked by the others for… well… reasons (not to mention Orochimaru's. Don't know what the fuck happened there that has him still walking around with his head attached), but that Sakura is still loyal to the Uchiha, despite the fact she's looking after his and Karin's daughter, which has just been revealed, and isn't seeing him for months at a time. (I have a feeling she's still a virgin, because Sasuke hasn't tapped that shit at all).

That means Sakura has no happy ending or proper resolution with her character. She's now just become some housewife with fainting problems, which is basically staying true to what the author made her out to be at the very beginning; someone who is not only utterly useless, but is also a figure just to fill in the role of the heroine. It's like any and all development that she had in the story, if any, was flushed down the toilet.

I'm not going to fault Naruto and Hinata's relationship. That one had to be the most expected and, in the universe of possible Naruto pairings that could've and should've happened, I can agree with it. But this pairing suffers from the same weakness dozens of other pairings in this ending had, and that was a lack of proper development. It just sort of… happened, without any story coverage at all. That's not even counting the stuff that happens in the movie (which was also unsatisfying), and I'm sure things must have taken place over the years between chapter 699 and chapter 700, but the pairing was just thrown up here without any real development or growth between the two characters. The Hinata confession during Pein's invasion of Konoha was one of the only instances where any interaction that was remotely romantic happened between them, and as sweet as it was... it felt very sudden and relied primarily on filler to back it up. Also Naruto, who clearly had feelings for Sakura, even in every single filler I've seen, over the entire series, also gave up on all those feelings and got together with Hinata, which the author wrote to fit into the story in the most forced kind of way possible.

I can understand why the author did that; since Hinata was more fitting as the heroine of the story, was more popular than her pink-haired counterpart, and, as the author said in an article, or at least what I heard, was that the way he wrote Sakura was a mistake and that she was unfitting for the role.

If we're being realistic and open-minded here... then that's just bad storytelling, period, and only gives credence to the fact that the entire series and the entire Naruto universe in general, was built on shitty foundations. That's not even counting the fact that about halfway into the series it almost seemed like the author started winging the entire story, rather than following a well thought out plot.

Now, I'm not saying I'm a better writer than the author (in hindsight, I'm a pretty shit writer and a rusty story teller using preexisting, over complicated material to tell one), but I still have the right of mind to recognize a good story for the way it is told and can appreciate an adventure for its ideas. The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Cowboy Beebop, Baccano, The Empire Strikes Back, Black Lagoon, Spirited Away, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Justice League Unlimited, Lord of the Rings, Chamber of Secrets… even most of the Disney movies in existence, are all superb examples of great stories with great character development, great dialogue, terrific casts, and stories that are told well and are easy to follow. Even the original Dragonball (not counting Dragonball Z), told a great adventure story about Goku and his friends on a search for the dragon balls.

Naruto had a lot of potential to be a great story, and even had a terrific thing going right up to the end of the Chunin Exams. But then everything started going downhill and spiraled out of control, and lost its way to over-the-top explosions, Gods, demons, and a whole bunch of other weird stuff that just wasn't explained.

These are some of the only things that I hated about the ending. Among a few other things: Anko got fat (fuck that), the kid designs and personalities were just terrible and uninteresting, Sasuke's still alive (I was expecting at least Naruto or Sasuke to die, or both of them… which would've been better), Konoha has a massive, modern urbanization going on similar to Tokyo in the background, it took an uncountable amount of years for Naruto to become Hokage, whereas it took Gaara two to three years to become Kazekage (and the guy didn't have the Godly powers that Naruto has now), the fact that Naruto and Sasuke got such massive power boosts from their fight in the war, and a whole bunch of other stuff I'm just growing tired of writing right now.

The things I liked though sort of stand out: Rock Lee hasn't changed, Naruto and Hinata got together, Naruto became Hokage (which should've been the point of the entire story... which I think was), and... that's it.

Personally, I'm boycotting the Naruto continuation after Chapter 700, because I'm having enough trouble as it is implementing everything the author has done and fitting it into my fanfiction, and making it all work. I already have a plan written up for finishing Drifting and, like I promised, I will finish it as best as I can. I'm at least going to try and finish it. I have everything written out. The entire story. I just need to turn them into chapters.

If there is one adventure epic I'm seeing through to the end, it's this one. So I'm not abandoning it. I've come too far to stop now. Once this is done, I'm retiring from the fanfiction community.

Though I hated the ending the Naruto canon had, I really liked the ending written by LadyGT. The Naruto/Sakura ending she wrote was perfect, and one I would've preferred to have seen done in the canon. Not only does it have the two characters who had the most development and time spent together ending up together, it also left out all of the other characters, letting the audience decide what happened to them (which is perfect for fanfiction writers such as myself). The ending was open-ended and deserves a ten out of ten rating from me.

Anyway, with this chapter, the plot for Drifting has opened up. While Akatsuki is actively seeking peace under Pain through the use of the tailed beasts, what Hiruko is seeking is ultimate power: the cornerstone to any great adventure and action tale. And it looks like he found the sword to rival Naruto's legendary blade: the yin to Naruto's yang, and vice versa.

Now you all know the history behind the weapon and have an idea of where this story is eventually going to go in the final chapters. Sorry this is a short one, but I'll try to post a much longer one later. I'll also try to answer any and all PMs I can, but with my sketchy availability, it's going to be a long haul.

And maybe I'll post the lemons as separate one-shots. So you've got that to look forward to.

Hope to hear from you guys soon (as soon as I get all of my friggin work done). Ciao.