> > Pulling her now spiky bangs before her eyes, Sakura sighed at their
> > familiar, verdant hue. A curious glance below revealed that, yes, down
> > there was also a slightly deeper shade of green. *I'm like a
> > poinsettia.* Idly, Sakura wondered if there might not be some sort of
> > long forgotten, plant-based bloodline in her family's distant past.
>
> At one point in the manga, I was speculating that Sakura would at some
> point somehow gain access the First Hokage's wood element techniques.
That would have been useful, and would have made Sakura less like a
'little Tsunade'... and it would have _completely_ obviated the need
to introduce Yamato. I would have been all for that; too much new
character creep in the cast of Naruto. I wonder if anyone has written
the idea before...
That was
> > one small mystery solved; she'd wondered why ANBU armor wasn't
> > standard issue for all ninja.
>
> Based on canonical evidence, the reason is because wearing it increases
> fatality rates up to nearly 100%...
Well... yes -_-;. ANBU do seem to have a harder time surviving than
anyone else; i wonder why...
>
> > Tilting his head back as if lost in thought, Yoshinari was silent for
> > a moment. "She seems very fond of eggs," he suggested.
> >
> > "Eggs?" Sakura repeated; that was one she hadn't heard before.
> >
> > Yoshinari nodded. "She has a raw egg with her lunch every day."
>
> ...
She's a little odd... what, did you expect there to be any _normal_
people in this? Yoshinari is about as close as it gets ^_^;...
> > Since she'd been given the fox mask, however, Anko had become her
> > 'mentor,' Yoshinari had become her friend and confidant, Asano-san
> > probably wanted to eat her and nearly everyone else who worked in the
> > interrogation building seemed to at least know her name. It was...
> > nice, for the most part; comfortable. Despite what she'd told Ino,
> > Sakura didn't want a new mask just yet.
>
> ...when did she talk to Ino about the mask? Don't remember that.
Extended metaphor; on later consideration, i think i might reword...
> > The abstract swirls of the tattoo were bright arterial crimson, like
> > smears of fresh blood, but when Sakura scrubbed her fingertip across
> > them they did not rub off or hurt. "That's a neat trick," Sakura
> > commented numbly, wondering how long it would take for the mark to
> > disappear. *This is _so_ gonna get me in trouble...*
>
> Does anything in this story _not_ get Sakura in trouble? ;)
Uuuuuh... look, a monkey! [runs away]
> > Then, with a helpless sigh, she made the needles disappear. "Whenever
> > I see 'er, though, I can't help but feel like I need ta protect 'er. I
> > can't explain why, but I can't fight it." Lowering her arm, she turned
> > to give Sakura a rueful smile. "I think that's _my_ 'mission.'"
>
> ...interesting.
Now i'm going to be scrambling to reconcile this with every other
instance of this technique in the fic, i just know it...
>
> > "Did you succeed?" the ANBU asked, holding a finger against the back
> > of Temari's neck (presumably to keep the blonde girl under).
> >
> > Sakura pondered this question for several seconds before shaking her
> > head with a worried sigh. "Not exactly. I made contact, but there may
> > be a problem..."
>
> There's an understatement...
Perhaps Sakura just operates on a higher level of 'problem?' When
dealing with her, everyone knows just to treat the situation as though
it was at Defcon 4 instead of 5, just by default...
>
> Temari'll have to be very lucky to ever get released now; I doubt ANBU
> would care to let go of someone who had a copy of a Leaf ninja running
> around in her head.
Well, normally, it wouldn't be _too_ much of a problem, as Sakura is
just a genin- but the fact of the matter is that Sakura is a genin
that created a kinjutsu and used it on an ANBU interrogator to steal
much of said interrogator's memories, so Sakura probably has a lot of
non-genin-level stuff knocking around in her head...
>
> Which could be how Sakura ultimately convinces that part of her to come
> back, I suppose.
>
Perhaps...
> > Kurenai's feet eventually led her to a squat, unimposing building near
> > the center of town. She'd been to the torture and interrogation
> > facility before, but unlike most of her peers, she'd never had the
> > 'pleasure' of working there. She'd had other duties while Asuma and
> > the rest had been sneaking around in the service of ANBU. Still,
> > Kurenai recognized the woman standing guard when she walked in.
>
> Huh. So in your Naruto world, most jounin go through a time in ANBU?
Most of the present ones that Kurenai has made an aquaintance of have;
this would include Kakashi, Gai and Asuma, at least. Having served
time in ANBU is probably taken into consideration when a chuunin
applies to become a jounin.
> > "Dammit!" Scowling, the pink-haired girl pounded her fist on the desk.
> > "Why is she always doing crap like this? I'm in enough trouble as it
> > is!"
>
> Hee. Poor, poor Sakura-chan.
Well, to be fair, she's grown a lot from her troubles, too ^_^;...
> > *How long has it been now?* Kurenai wondered, counting the years. She
> > could now definitely see why Anko adored the excitable pink-haired
> > girl. *Perhaps Hokage-sama had another reason for putting them
> > together,* she speculated, remembering the guilty look that Anko had
> > worn when she'd asked Kurenai to watch over her new apprentice.
>
> Hmm. That's an interesting (and new, if I recall correctly) hint at
> something there...
There was a hint in the previous version, but i replaced it with this
one, which is less obvious in some ways, and more revealing in
others...
>
> > Sakura was _sure_ she'd almost managed to break Ino's resolve, last
> > time. Reversing her 'aura of intimidation' so that it made her seem
> > 'vulnerable and appealing' rather than 'frightening and dangerous' had
> > been a great idea. She just needed to refine it a bit more; Ino was a
> > pretty tough customer.
>
> ...Okay, Sakura. You can't blame Anko for this one any longer...
No, indeed not -_-;...
>
> > Blinking, Ino frowned uneasily. "That's a little weird, isn't it? Why
> > just you?"
> >
> > "That's the _really_ confusing part..."
>
> And that's this chapter.
>
> If I remember correctly, there was a year-plus gap between this and the
> next bit the first time around; try not to do that again. ;)
I'm trying to get the revision of Blood done. Have to split my time
several ways lately -_-;...
Hopefully, the new chapter won't come too long after that's finished.
>
> As ever, looking forward to more!
>
Thanks again for reading!
~Eimii
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