I'm asking this because I have decided to take up a story challenge by MercenaryGrax. It's one where just before Naruto leaves on his trip with Jiraiya Sakura not only gives Naruto a chance but ends up being happily pregnant by him. One of the conditions is that Naruto doesn't know about the baby until he returns. I talked to MG and he agreed to let me not follow all the conditions set because I raised some interesting plot changes. 

What I want to know, and this is for my rewrite of Tip Of The Spear, is who is older? Naruto was born in October and Sakura was born in March. My thinking is that Naruto would be the oldest of the Rookie Nine being that a lot of clans had lost their heirs or the entire clan head's household. If that's the case, most of them would be born nine to twelve months after Kurama ran amok as replacements for the heirs that were lost. Sakura was born six months before or after Naruto and I tend to think that Kushina and Mebuki were friends and Mebuki conceived Sakura in response to Kushina's pregnancy. I've seen that reasoning in a couple older stories and it makes sense that most of the R9 would be replacements or in Sasuke's case, as a spare. 

Having Naruto older also makes a betrothal between him and Sakura makes sense as there is time for Kushina and Mebuki to convince Minato and Kizashi that it was a good idea. Other than Tip of The Spear I won't say what story that's going to fit into as I'm also working on another challenge fic that's a Naruto/Harry Potter story that has Sakura related to the Boy Who's Manipulated. Anyway, I would like to hear other opinions and arguments on the six month age difference between the two.

I tried to read the first volume or Boruto and I put it back on the shelf at Barnes and Noble. TO me it was a huge betrayal of both Naruto and Sakura. Even with Ch700 you could see how bad Hinata was for Naruto. Instead of putting her foot down when Naruto began working all hours as Hokage she just let him do what he wanted to do. Had it been Sakura that was married to him what do you think her reaction would've been the first time he sent a shadow clone to a family function, even a small one like a school holiday? If the new trend is to tease readers and viewers of Boruto with saccharin scenes of our favorite characters sharing a moment here and there as well as depicting each of them showing some form of regret in not giving themselves a chance then it's a flawed strategy in regaining the same people they alienated in the first place.

Personally I could care less about the canon francise's because of how badly Naruto and Sakura's marriages turned out. Seriously, Naruto is a kitten of a father that can't even personally attend his own child's birthday but sends a clone in his place. Sasuke is even worse staying out of the village for months and years at a time to the point his only child views his best friend as her father because Naruto was the only male that was constantly in her life. 

The more I hear of the original story being revised and changed to line up with the final movie of Naruto and the canon couples the more I lose interest. I still have my manga from 12 years ago that still have Naruto proclaiming his love for Sakura as in a romantic way and not the same as he loves ramen. A few years ago a young lady named Emma Watson asked the author JK Rowling about her choices for who ended up with who at the end of her series of books. Rowling admitted that the marriage of Hermione and Ron was a big mistake that made absolutely no literary sense at all, a selfish bit of indulgence. The flipside of that is Kishimoto and SP doing all they can to remove Kishimoto's earlier comments about Naruto and Sakura as well as changing the manga volumes to line up with the official ending and continuation series. Is anyone holding their breath waiting for him to admit that he screwed up the story and screwed the fans?

Since that's never going to happen I say bring on the affair and divorce fan fiction stories. At least in our stories Sakura actually loves the real Naruto and not the perfect, can't do any wrong phantasm that Hinata is in love with. In my opinion she's worse than any of Sasuke's fan club. While they all try to give him things to celebrate his birthday and Christmas, not once while they were in the academy or afterwards did she ever do the same for Naruto. If she had really loved him she would've actually given him something without fear. she would've stood up for him when Sakura or Ino insulted or hit him. She never did anything but watch from the shadows because she was shy, more like afraid of what others would think  of her. At one time I was one of those that wanted Naruto to fall for her because of the anime. When I began reading the manga my viewpoint changed and what I saw of her made me realize how shallow she was. Where she was fainting at his touch or stuttering as he looked at her Sakura was beginning to see how much potential Naruto actually had. She was ready to raise her hand in the first exam not because she was scared for her safety but scared that Naruto would fail the test and lose any chance of being Hokage. As it's been pointed out in this topic, Sakura and Naruto grew closer over time but Sakura began believing that he would be Hokage and would do everything she could to help him reach that goal and dream. Hinata never did much to get close to Naruto and there was never enough to win his affection let alone his attention as a possible lover. 

If there is a manipulative reason for SP's new trend continues I say bring out the affair and divorce stories. Better yet, let's have more stories like "Love Can Be Different" where Naruto and Sakura rediscover their feelings for each other after the deaths of their spouses.  

So, it just stared streaming but so far I like it. It's funny to read the uproar about not either using the the original English dubbing track or have the original ADV cast re-record their parts but I like the new dubbing. While most of the original voices were fine, I have to admit that the original voice for Gendo sounded wrong for a man of his stature and facial build. I envisioned it as deeper when I was reading the manga. The new voice is more inline with what I had imagined all those years ago. The voice for Misato as well sounds more mature with just a hint of a fun loving person when she;s in her 'official' mindset.

At some level I can understand why the original actors feel the way they do about not being allowed to reprise their roles but on the other hand, most are 50 years old or older. Even when the series was new the VA of Asuka was over 30 and Asuka's tones always sounded forced, as if she was asking the audience to believe that it was a younger person speaking. I can't  see, of hear, how people near my age can sound like my oldest grandchildren's ages. Then again, Johnny Yong Bosch make a better Tohji than the original, same for Kensuke. I never liked the would drift into a higher register when Kensuke got excited. The new VA sounds like he has a better grasp on how the guy would sound. I wish this sounded better but there is a point when actors need to realise that voiced that made them famous when they were young don't sound that great after a certain age. 

As for the rest of the show, the video quality is better than ever, it's as good as my Platinum DVD collection and the sound and music quality is better. So, as for as I'm concerned, for everyone that saw it the first time around it's worth watching again, especially since it's been nearly twenty years since it was last on TV. For those that have never seen it, this in one of those anime series that is a must see. It's also, along with Akira, one of the most important shows that got many of us interested in both manga and anime. To tell you the truth, this is a very innocent looking show at the start but gets darker and darker as it goes. It will really warp your mind if you let it but it's worth watching.

NetFlix's reboot of Neon Genesis Evangelion. It just started streaming a couple hours ago and I've so far watched the first 2 episodes but I'll give it a 9.5. My one complaint is that the end title song was changed to a a piano instrumental instead of Fly Me To The Moon. Everything else is great so far. 

So, I've been thinking about doing this even before I got that one PM and after a review popped up pointing out an unfinished sentence that I can't remember how it was finished I have begun rewriting the story. 

For those that haven't read it let me give you a run down. It's an AU where Naruto and Sakura are mistreated and beaten by the villagers. Naruto, for being the jinchuriki and Sakura for being his friend and companion. As he nears death Kurama releases himself and starts healing the two children, kills the attackers and once the Third arrives uses a memory transfer jutsu and shows Hiruzen just what has been going on under his nose. After telling Hiruzen and Kakashi a thing or two Kurama then announces that he will raise and train Naruto to be the hero Minato wanted him to be while Naruto will train Sakura to be strong enough to be a worthy mate and wife. 

As he takes the kids away to live in our world so they can grow strong without the influence of the prejudices of the shinobi culture and world in general. Before he goes, however, Kurama informs the two shinobi that Naruto and Sakura will be told everything, his titles, heritage, position as the next Hokage as his father had ordered and, the marriage contract between him and Sakura. They are then shown being discovered as survivors of the Great Western Quake and Tsunami in Japan, Growing up in the US as wards of the Hagaromo clan which are all fox hanyo, human or human-hanyo hybrids. After they finish school both teens join the US Navy (I'm a retired Sailor so that's why  ) with Naruto being a SEAL and Sakura training to be first a Corpsman (medic) and then a rescue swimmer. They're sent back to their world and are de-aged by jutsu (yeah, cheesy I know but it's the only way to have them accepted by their peers and village as a whole not to mention keep just how smart and powerful they actually are. 

As soon as they are deemed ready Kurama takes them back to Konoha where they notice changes in how they are treated and how the village seems to have changed. Once they are situated Hiruzen places them in the academy with limited Hokage duties as a means to train him for the job. 

After that, the main story begins as Sakura and Naruto make changes and friends. The rest will ruin the story but if you've read it you know what happens next. For those that don't the most obvious and significant change is that Naruto and Sakura will introduce firearms and other technology into the shinobi world. They will also be making logical changes in how the graduation exams are handled, the genin teams' makeup and begin their own lives as a married couple. 

Now, if you've read this far you know the story and how it starts. I want to change that part the most, it was pointed out to me that the beatings Naruto suffered from on a daily basis were a product of fandom and not canon. Point taken, in the rewrite, Naruto and Sakura won't be suffering overt mistreatment and neglect on a daily basis but, they will have at least one beating as a catalyst for Kurama's actions. That said, the lead up to that event is what I'm working on at the moment and that's where I need some help. 

Following Minato and Kushina's deaths, Hiruzen is trying to stack the deck in Naruto's favor and to do that he needs trusted people. Using the one picture of Minato's teammates under Jiraiya and speculation that the person on the end is Teuchi Ichiraku so that's one person. The other one in the middle is an unknown and there is some talk that it's Sasuke's father Fugaku but going on the normal team makeup I'm thinking it's a young lady. If so I need a name and a reason she's not active and is being recalled to duty to watch over Naruto. If nothing else I just need a name the rest I can work out. 

I hate to ask things like this but I'm at a blank and all that I could find on the web is that the teammates were just ninja fodder that was killed in the third war. I call BS on that as I doubt Jiraiya would neglect his students like Kakashi would in the future. While most of the story will stay the same I am pulling things that for one reason or another just didn't work out or made no impact one way or another. The biggest that I will reveal is that Sakura's parents won't throw her to the streets as I had originally written but she is on her own with Naruto after he's locked out of the orphanage. 

Other things changed are going to be inconsistencies that I developed as the story progressed. Most of those were because I basically forgot what I had done in earlier chapters such as Neji and Hinata being closer as the beginning and Neji reverting to his canon self near the middle. Things I am keeping are Danzo and Orochimaru as the main villains, I mean, they were both wasted in canon after the Akatsuki came into play. That's another thing, Akatsuki, they won't be a factor as a whole because they don't exist as a group but, individuals will make themselves known in one way or another. 

Anyway, that's what I have to say as to why Tip Of The Spear is going through a rewrite. I hope those that like the story will continue their support and read the new one when I start posting it after the first of the year. Now, I have to steel myself to make that announcement on FFN. I know it's not fair to my readers but it's also not fair to them to continue to deliver a subpar product. At least I'm doing this for the right reasons, I remember one story that was into 39 chapters and the author stopped and stated he was redoing it with Naruto and Hinata as the pairing and Sakura was hooked up with Gaara. His rewrite was not met with joy and only got into the 3rd chapter before it was abandoned. 

Naruto and Sakura will always be my main pairing in any story I write unless I want to do something dark but Sakura will always be in Naruto's life. 

Found this while I was recently in the hospital. It's from FFN's news feed,

"Doc manager per doc life limit has been extended to 365 days (1 year) from 90 days based on doc edit date. We still highly caution that doc manager not to be used a lifetime storage device."

This might help in the short run.

Thanks for the replies, they mean a lot to me. As I said, I'm not looking for hugs and soothing words but I just needed to vent. Everyone's words, both here and in PMs at FFN, are greatly appreciated. Your words have helped me to start working past my block as well as one other, a time travel fic. It's slow going trying to regain the speed I usually work at and my ideas are scattered but I am back at it. 

The trouble with me and my story is that it's AU and as such basic canon is somewhat left in place but that AU has to be built from the ground up. That includes even the way characters behave. That's why it's so easy to get a block and why one reader not paying attention to what you're trying to say can knock you off track or kill a story if you let them. I refuse to let them. This is my story and not the readers. I know how arrogant that sounds but I'm of the mind that asking in an AN or poll as to what the reader's want as to pairings, jutsu's, summoning critters, and other things the story ceases to be yours and becomes the readers; 

Anyway, thanks for the words of support and letting me vent.

Personally, I write my stories with Open Office save them to the proper story folder on my PC as well as to my laptop and several flash drives. My final editing is done online on the FFN site. I can understand if you've changed PS or lost your original; files that one would have to take the above steps to preserve one's work but a chapter's lifetime in the FFN's doc manager is only 90 days. That's the reason I began maintaining story folders on my machines in the first place. 

For some people, like myself, a purge can be a blessing. It would erase anything that I felt was subpar and a reason to rewrite a missing story to a higher standard. I have found that no matter how close I look my stories are still full of simple mistakes. Anyway, back up your work often an keep them in a safe location, It would be a shame to lose favorite stories because of something beyond our control as we've lost too much in the purges a few years ago as well as writers removing their work for whatever reason.  

As some know and others may not, I have a story on FanFiction called "Tip Of The Spear'. It's an AU Naruto and Sakura story where I basically said to my self 'to hell with canon' and told their story in the way I wanted to. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea and that's okay, I have over 400 follows and almost as many favorites so I'm happy. 

What I'm writing about is this, my last update was at the end of July and I have maybe 7000 words in the can for the next chapter but all progress is stopped. At first, it was because of a writer's block, it happens, especially since the further from canon the more effort it takes to keep an AU story going. As I was trying to overcome the block I had a couple of incidents with my health. At 58 year of age with high blood pressure and a wrecked back one's body sometimes decides to do strange things. All of that is something I can deal with and usually I can start writing after a few weeks of thought. 

However, in the middle of all that I get a PM from a fellow author, I won't mention their name as that would serve no purpose but the PM was to inform me that they would not be reading my story anymore because she only reads NaruSaku and I was springing a second girl into the mix. That, right there, the springing the second girl accusation, is what has killed my drive to continue. First off, I'm not springing a second girl, I've been dropping hints and actually had Sakura discuss the girl with Naruto as well as mentioning her exchanging letters with the girl (Temari) as to why Naruto would make a good husband. Long story short, Temari has been offered as a political sacrifice to Konoha to bring the two villages closer through marriage. 

As I said, I've been dropping hints for nearly half a year in my chapters about Naruto taking a second wife as long as it was for the right reasons, mutual respect and love for a couple. My 'friend' also complained that they didn't want to read a story where Sakura is a lesbian as well and I was going to turn Naruto into a baby factory. Well, once again, I had mentioned or dropped hints early on that Sakura and Naruto had a female friend where they grew up and not only did Naruto date the other girl, just as Sakura dated other guys for a short time, Sakura and their friend had experimented with each other and shared the bed with Naruto. 

Now, it's not that this person was planning to stop reading my story because of their reasons, that's their right and as I said, this story isn't for everyone. What irritated and still irritates me is this, I have either mentioned or dropped huge hints as to what I was planning on doing in my story and I  have a target of 10K+/- words per chapter as I have many storylines going on, not just the one centering on Naruto and Sakura and their relationship and marriage. I put a lot of effort, sometimes it may not seem like it, but I try to work out each action or conversation before I'm happy but......it was obvious to me that this person only reads the parts that center on their idea of NaruSaku and had been either ignoring or not paying close attention to what I had written. 

That is what hurts me as a writer, look I'm not that good and I admit and understand that but there seems to be quite a few folks that do read what I post. However, after reading that PM I'm left to wonder just how many people are actually reading the whole chapter and how many are skipping to either the lemons or the fight scenes. This morning I tried to get further into the new chapter but the fire isn't there anymore and I find that I have one or two ideas that look like they'd be more fun to pursue. I've actually considered going back to the start and revamping all 30 chapters from the start and see if I can't do a better job but, we all know that no story ever survives that operation. 

Look, I'm not looking for hugs and sympathy, I just need an outlet to get this off of my chest and hopefully I can get back on track. It would be a disservice to those that do like what I write and I've already taken one story down because it was so awful and have another marked as incomplete. I just wish that people would think about what they message about and actually read all of the story before telling the author I won't read this anymore because blah blah bla. Anyway, thanks for letting me rant for a bit, I'm going to go back and sit in my corner for a while, maybe even do some writing. 

I read this a few days ago and I admit, it was different but enjoyable. I can see these two running towards each other in a situation such as the one in the story. My only complaint is that I wish the chapters were longer. 

I'm looking for stories where Naruto returns to the village after either his trip with Jiraiya or on an extended mission with a child or two in tow or when he returns to find that he and Sakura have a child together. There is one like that on FFN that was posted this year but I'm looking for older stories, preferably before the time we found out who his parents were. 

As a person that raised one daughter as a single father those stories strike a chord with me which is why I enjoy them so if anyone can hook me up with some old gems, I'd appreciate it. 

I'm looking for a story I read on FFN a few years ago and I forgot to mark it as a favorite or It got taken down, which I hope is not the case. Anyway, the story has an older Sakura arrive at Team 7s first Chunin Exam, fight and kill a missing-nin, I forget who (one of the reasons why I want to read this again) and then report to her Hokage, Naruto. Needless to say, Naruto is confused but goes with the flow. I'm sorry I don't have more to go on but that's all my feeble brain can dig up.

Edit: 15NOV18

Found it, the title is My Hokage and the missing-nin was good ol' Orochimaru. It's a one-shot as is its prequel but the story stands on its own merits.