423 replies to this topic

[desaix]

Spoiler! --Click here to view--

Nope, Undead Yondi doesn't show up yet. His first appearance will be some time after the mission that turns Tenten into Lee's sex slave. (And now you have to ask yourself, 'Is he joking, or is he serious' once again... but I promise that I'm not joking about undead Yondi not showing up next chapter)

[Jwolf0]

Spoiler! --Click here to view--

Nope, Undead Yondi doesn't show up yet. His first appearance will be some time after the mission that turns Tenten into Lee's sex slave. (And now you have to ask yourself, 'Is he joking, or is he serious' once again... but I promise that I'm not joking about undead Yondi not showing up next chapter)

Sigh. And I'll have to lean toward 'serious' there too.

Oh well....just a fun guess anyway!

[Kevin]

I take it then that the chef at the Ichiraku Ramen is the elder/leader/senior member of the Anraku clan. Between the conversion between the Hokage and him at the wedding, which Naruto wasn't able to hear but thought that couldn't be very important since it involved a retired ramen chef; the fact that the clan wasn't on the council because they stopped being ninja; and the conversation in Chapter 25;

Spoiler! --Click here to view--

"Naruto took the profferred letters, checking to see who they were from. "Who's the 'Teuchi' person?"
Neji hesitated, a little surprised. "I thought you knew -- he's the chef at the Ichiraku restaurant."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Really? Wow -- he never told me his name, before. What's his clan name?"
"That, I do not know," Neji sighed."

I would say that this is one of the surprises you have set up. Of course most of the other none seated clans could show up. The Uzumaki clan, based upon chapter 34;

Spoiler! --Click here to view--

"Naruto's eyes widened. "The... the Uzumaki were a great clan? But... where are they, today?"
Anko's eyes narrowed. "Except for a very few, they were wiped out in the last inter-clan war the Hyuuga brought to Konoha -- which makes me hope that their new civil war does not spill over here into Blossom. The Uzumaki are now a 'lost clan' on the council... which means you -- or Sakura-chan, once she marries you, if she takes your name -- will have a seat on the council when you retire." "

can be represented by Sakura. It wouldn't be suprising if Sakura's parents return to cast their vote. If they can't, since at least in chapter 4 there were other Haruno families ("Our bloodline limit, of course," her mother huffed. "Inside you, and inside me, and inside your grandfather and you uncle and your cousin, there is a second 'persona,' if you will.), one of the other members could cast their vote, acting as a proxy or taking over the seat since Sakura's parents now intend to continue to live in Blossom.

I suspect that there is no law against relatives of Naruto voting. First off, desaix only said that "Naruto ineligible to vote as he is the designate being voted upon" not that any of his relatives; Sakura, her parents, and now at least part of of the Yamanaka clan (Ino's family, but not necessarily the clan leader/representative); were also barred. Also, since most of the stronger ninja (and thus potential hokage candidates) are probably members of a clan and a close relative of that clan's representative, it probably wasn't expected to be unusual to have a relative voting for a candidate.

[desaix]

Okay, here's the scene I was talking about earlier, now that I'm on a computer that has it. Some definite "yes and no" votes mentioned, though not all of the 'leaning' votes mentioned are correct (most of them are, however)....

Spoiler! --Click here to view--

Ino was sitting in the Ichiraku restaurant, dining on a fresh bowl of ramen. She'd long since tamed her inner Naruto enough that she wouldn't pig out on the soup too much, but she still found she enjoyed a bowl now and then -- especially when it was as wet and rainy as it was that day. It wasn't as good as when Teuchi ran the stand, but it was perfectly acceptable ramen, and she had a feeling that Naruto would be pleased that it still seemed to follow the old recipe, at least, even if it wasn't quite done as well. She had thought Ayame would be running the place after Teuchi retired, but that did not appear to be the case. Ayame initially ran the place, it seemed, but then about a year before sold it again and switched to part-time work, just as her father had.

She sighed wistfully, thinking of Sakura and Naruto on their honeymoon, and wishing she had something like they had, together, with someone. She recalled the message to her on the 'happi-ueddingu-taimo no jutsu' paper she had recieved. "We're a little worried for you," the note had said, "And hope you find someone soon." It struck her that, for years, she had been living almost without any interest in dating at all, but now her libido was roaring back. It occured to her that she might have been subconsciously waiting for... well, not Naruto, but Sakura. It wasn't that she, herself, was interested in girls... but it was entirely possible that her 'inner Naruto' was still hoping for something to happen with Sakura, and that... had been holding her back.

But now that she wasn't being held back, who was left for her to go after? Shikamaru was engaged, Naruto had never been an option, no-one had seen Chouji since he became the food-taster for Fire country's daimyo, and Sasuke was... now an anethema to her, rather than a desirable option. That was everyone she had considered, before, and when it came to those she'd never looked at... well, they were being snapped up pretty quickly, too. Kiba was committed to Hinata, Shino was too creepy for her, and all the others she knew from her generation had gone to Blossom in her place. The older generation was too old, and the younger generation was pairing up and getting together with each other already. That left looking into a threesome with someone, just as Hyuuga Hanabi had found love in a foursome, but Ino wasn't too comfortable about that idea.

A happy giggle behind her told her that there was yet another happy couple walking the streets of Konoha, though she couldn't place them by their voice. She turned around to see, to her surprise, Ayame holding a very red and panicked-looking Iruka as she gave him a big, public, toe-curling kiss. The young woman let him go, a broad smile on her face, and straightened her clothes unnecessarily. "I've got to go to work, now, Iruka-kun, but we'll meet again tonight, okay?"

"Uh huh," he said dazedly.

A fingertip closed Iruka's mouth before she ran into the back of the restaurant. Ino was happy for her former teacher, but seeing the sweet little scene just reminded her, more, about her problem.

Iruka slowly regained his awareness of the world around him, and saw her there. "Ino-chan! We didn't get much of a chance to talk at the wedding, yesterday," he said in greeting. "Would you like to join me for a cup of coffee and a conversation?"

Ino rolled her eyes, smiling in amusement. "Sorry, Iruka-sensei, but I just saw someone quite publically stake a claim over you, and I'm not about to get between the two of you."

Iruka, whose skin had just started getting back to normal, redoubled his blush. "Um, yeah, well, I didn't mean like a date, obviously. You're a bit young for me, after all -- all I was interested in was a chance to catch up. I haven't been able to talk with anyone from Blossom, and I'd like all the news."

Ino glared at him with mock suspicion. "Well... I suppose I can trust you. But I'm telling Ayame-chan if you make a pass at me!"

"Well, I was thinking of buying you that coffee from here," Iruka pointed out. "She's probably going to be watching me the entire time, so I don't think you'll need to."

Ino laughed. "Take a seat. So, what do you want to know?"

Through a prolonged question and answer section, Ino relayed many of the adventures she and everyone in Blossom had gone through over the years. Iruka was, to no surprise, most interested in how Naruto had been doing, but he'd asked questions about all of his former students. He had been stunned at the amount of material that they had needed to cover in the Blossom Academy, and was intrigued at the concept of a medical school that could teach genin who weren't quite equipped to be combat ninja, but were nonetheless adept at using ninja techniques. The story of how Naruto had used pranks as a method of teaching had him laughing.

More serious topics, of course, would occasionally bring the conversation to a more somber mood. Iruka had been there, briefly, while Naruto was still grieving over Genma's death, but later events sometimes proved just as bad. Blossom, as every ninja village had, occasionally lost a member or two. What made it especially tragic, in Blossom's case, was that almost every ninja who died were still very, very young. The tale of Akane's betrayal and eventual death was obviously the most personal experience that Ino could mention, and that lead to a complete recount of how the whole situation that brought Naruto and Sakura back to Konoha went down.

"I'm astonished Naruto proved to be so effective a leader," Iruka finally said when she was all done. "But it really sounds like everyone in Blossom cares for him."

"They do," Ino agreed. "He was always the leader, even when Kakashi was officially in charge. I think he loved living there. It'll be a shame that he'll be stuck in Konoha for most of the rest of his career, when he becomes Hokage, but this has always been his dream and no-one from Blossom will ever begrudge him that."

Iruka sighed, shaking his head. "I hope he is confirmed, but I have my doubts. I tried to talk to my clan head about his vote, but I fear he's going to vote against Naruto's confirmation when it comes up in a couple of weeks. I'd say only the Akimichi, Sarutobi, Aburame, Nara, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, and -- by a two-to-one internal vote -- the Hyuuga are solidly in his corner. A couple are probably leaning towards him, but confirmation will require thirteen votes in his favor, and we already know that at least four -- the Uchiha, Uzumaki, Anraku, and Haruno -- will be abstentions."

"Can't Naruto take the 'empty' seat for the Uzumaki clan?" Ino asked, curious. "And we could always make sure Haruno-san is in town when the vote happens. Or she could always resign the seat and let Sakura take it for her...."

"I suppose we could count in the Haruno clan," Iruka agreed after some thought. "But Naruto couldn't take his family seat -- not if he still wishes to be hokage. A hokage-designate is not allowed to take the seat for his clan."

Ino frowned. "But he is so close to fulfilling all his dreams. Surely there is something we can do for him. What clans are undecided?"

"The Maito clan is leaning towards voting yes," Ayame said, listening in. "Gai apparently had thrown so much support to Naruto over the years that their clan leader is afraid of what he'd do if the clan voted against him. I heard him talking over lunch the other day."

"Well, that's one," Iruka said, thinking. "For the really undecideds, I suppose you might possibly say the Mitarashi, though they traditionally vote against confirmation no matter who the hokage-designate is -- they were the only clan to vote against the Second, the Third, the Fourth, and the Fifth. The Akadou clan hasn't stated a position, although I'm fairly certain they're against him."

"Why?" Ino asked.

Iruka would like to have told her that Tsunade was convinced that the Akadou, as a clan, had turned traitor in support of Orochimaru, but he had been sworn to secrecy on that point. "Let's just say I have some inside information, and leave it at that."

"Oh," Ino replied, knowing what he meant.

"Let's see... there's still the Hatake clan -- whose current leader may vote no just to spite Kakashi, even though I think most of his clan supports Naruto, but hokage-sama may be right and he may support his cousin after all -- the Gekkou, Yamashiro, Tsurugi, Hagane, Yuuhi, Kamizuki, and Tatami clans will definitely vote no. Shiranui is also a definite 'no' vote, after Genma's death, though I suspect Genma could have convinced them otherwise. Oh, and no-one will ever know what the Morino clan thinks." Iruka shook his head. "It's not enough. There's ten definite votes against and at least three, possibly four abstensions. Majority against."

"I wouldn't give up yet, Iruka-chan," Ayame said from the counter, refreshing their coffee. "I think you know why."

Iruka's eyes widened. "Well... yeah, he may still have a chance. But only if everyone undecided votes for him."

"Huh?" Ino said. "I thought you just said--"

"There's a very slim chance," Umino said, not allowing her to ask the question. "I can't say why, yet."

Ino seemed to think on that one for a moment before standing up. "Well, in that case, there's only one thing to do." She put down the money she needed to pay for her mean and the after-lunch coffee.

"Where are you going?" Iruka asked.

"Well, first, to the post office," Ino explained. "Haruno-san will need to know about how close the vote is, so that she can decide if she'll come into town and vote or if she'll resign her vote to her daughter."

"Ah," Iruka replied, nodding. That would be important, he had to agree.

"Then, I'm going to go visit the clan heads of -- which ones were they, again? Ah, yes -- the Maito, the Mitarashi, the Hatake, and the Morino clans." Ino paused. "If it's going to be as close as you say, then those undecided clans need to have the information they need to decide, and I'll be the one to give them that information."

And just a reminder, I'm still hoping for the dirty limericks or the like for that future chapter. Don't worry, you've still got time -- I broke the outline down to chapters for the 'immediate future,' and it's not until chapter 78 (er, V. 4 c. 18) at the earliest. In case you didn't quite catch it, this is chapter 70 (V. 4, C. 10). This chapter will probably be going out Monday, at best guess.

[desaix]

V. 4 C. 10 has been released here in the library, and will be released to ff.net and mediaminer, late tonight.

Still looking for limericks. I see someone sent me one via PM (haven't had a chance to read it, yet, whoever you are who sent it, and probably won't be able to check it out until late tonight), but I'm going to need others.

[Gnosismaster]

Are you planning on making Ino a lesbian?

And you know FF.net alerts are screwed up again, right?

[desaix]

Are you planning on making Ino a lesbian?

And you know FF.net alerts are screwed up again, right?

I've been saying for some time that it'll be Ino\Undead 4th. I don't know why people don't believe me... (and I'm telling people that Tenten's going to be Lee's sex slave, too, now, so I guess I can confirm Lee\Ten).

I figure y'all know there are twists to all of these hints -- I mean, there's the whole Anko\4th thing to resolve, when I make him an undead, and Tenten's definitely still 'interested' in Neji. There aren't any lesbians of significance in this fic... (well, there are a few bi girls, but that's the extent of it).

As far as ff.net goes, yeah, well, I'll still be updating later tonight. People will see the chapter, eventually.

Edit: And now it's on ff.net and mediaminer. Hopefully, people will actually be able to read it, despite ff.net's problems.

[Uzumaki's Fire]

Hmmm... I like the council clan thing you put up. It's really good! It's so like country internal politics I usually see. Glad your making this story very realistic as well as part of the Naruto universe.

[Gnosismaster]

I've been saying for some time that it'll be Ino\Undead 4th. I don't know why people don't believe me... (and I'm telling people that Tenten's going to be Lee's sex slave, too, now, so I guess I can confirm Lee\Ten).

I figure y'all know there are twists to all of these hints -- I mean, there's the whole Anko\4th thing to resolve, when I make him an undead, and Tenten's definitely still 'interested' in Neji. There aren't any lesbians of significance in this fic... (well, there are a few bi girls, but that's the extent of it).

As far as ff.net goes, yeah, well, I'll still be updating later tonight. People will see the chapter, eventually.

Edit: And now it's on ff.net and mediaminer. Hopefully, people will actually be able to read it, despite ff.net's problems.

I never heard anything about Ino/Yondy. How the heck are you going to make that work? (naruto clone????)

[desaix]

Egads... I hadn't realized I passed 400,000 words until someone pointed it out to me in a review.

I should do something to celebrate... (I wonder if I'll pass over half a million)

[Elellon]

Egads... I hadn't realized I passed 400,000 words until someone pointed it out to me in a review.

I should do something to celebrate... (I wonder if I'll pass over half a million)

First of all: Congratulations!

You are truly spoiling us with Training, you could claim its the best NaruSaku story out there and get few to none counterclaims

[SakuNaruLover]

Egads... I hadn't realized I passed 400,000 words until someone pointed it out to me in a review.

I should do something to celebrate... (I wonder if I'll pass over half a million)

Congratz
I loved the new chapter and I am really happy that you are updating so fast again

[Rick (Bonta-kun)]

just out of curiosity, hows the next chapter of training going desaix?

btw i dont mean to pressure if it sounds like that lol

[desaix]

just out of curiosity, hows the next chapter of training going desaix?

btw i dont mean to pressure if it sounds like that lol

I was very near the completion of the next chapter the last time I had worked on it. However, I have been unable to use the computer on which the story's file is located for several days. I suspect, when I have access to that computer again (my laptop, which I stupidly left over at my Brother's house two Sundays ago. I was supposed to go over to his house last Sunday for a family dinner, and planned to retrieve it then, but that was postponed when my nephew got sick) I'll be able to finish it quickly, but who knows when that will be.

[desaix]

Double-posting to note that my laptop has been retrieved, and the chapter was posted here just a few minutes ago. I'll be putting it on ff.net and mediaminer at the usual time, late tonight.

[Radon]

Desiax I have to say you've managed to make me hate Hyuuga-sama even more than I did before. There are few characters I just outright despise but she is one of em.

[Jin]

Ditto what Radon said. I hope she gets a Rasengan into the head.

[Radon]

I want Naruto to pull a Kakashi on her and just ignore her entirely while she natters on.

"You say something Hyuuga-sama?"

[desaix]

I suppose it wouldn't reveal too much to confirm that Hyuuga-sama's days are numbered. Just who does her in, how, and when, I suppose you're free to speculate on.

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised the talk isn't more about the other things that happen in this chapter....

[Jwolf0]

Well, that last scene is definitely the most emotional of the chapter so it's going to be what sticks out the most.

I did feel a bit sorry for Ino after Naruto and Sakura came back - it must've felt like she was getting her face rubbed in a little, even though Ino knows that's not the case.

Oh, and I was kinda hoping that Lee would channel Gai a bit more too.

Spoiler! --Click here to view--

So Hyuuga-sama is sure she has twelve votes, huh? Did Teuchi give his right to vote permanently when he retired, even to the point that he couldn't resume the clan head position if Ayame is jailed, incapacitated, or killed?

I hadn't thought about Konoha's perceived strength coming from their defeat of the Kyuubi - it makes sense though. With the Hyuuga civil war (presumably) coming to an end after Hyuuga-sama bites it, it looks like Lee's mission could lead to Naruto's first big test as Hokage.

Twelve...even going back to the conversation when Iruka, Ino, and Ayame tallied the clans' positions, if you assume the votes fall as Iruka thinks that would be eleven from my count. Normally I'd just say that she's certain that her faction will the war before the vote, but I wonder if she has something on one of the other clans?