plotbunny at crunchtime

[Rieverre]

Mm. Konoha's one big fuzzily green place. Gai's just good at getting into the spirit of these things. And regardless whether we take the manga or the anime version (though the manga is far neater, I think - well, more detailed at any rate), that had to be one freakin' impressive Jutsu the First used, no? The amount of chakra used to do that alone would have to be damn near staggering. *nudges the possible plot point into the 'for consideration' bin*
Kirigakure ... I'm basing my impression of it on the image on this page: www.naruto-kun.com/naruto...+mist.html
Big forest, though not like the one that sprouted Konoha - really damn tall trees, comperatively less undebrush, oodles and oodles of mist, with the village structures basically either hanging suspended between the trees or, in case of the bigger ones, built around them like some sort of parasitic fungus. Maybe because the ground's too soggy to support any bigger structures.
The Seven Swordsmen ... I've been letting my mind wander around the topic ever since Nathan mentioned Jade Empire. While I haven't played the game, the idea of a territorial and expansionist entity like that existing off to the East, maybe NE of the Water Country is pretty nifty. Let's give them Chinese influences instead of Japanese ones, use bits and pieces of cheesy hong-kong martial arts movies ... my thinking about the Swordsmen resulted in considering that the bigass swords came from a time a century, maybe a century and a half, in the past when the last 'scouting expedition' of the Empire tried to take the islands that Water Country is made up from. They tried this in numbers - cavalry to ride opponents down, spear wielding infantry to overwhelm through sheer volume, etc.
Originally, there were seventy swordsmen chosen from the Hidden Mist's ranks _and_ hired on nukenins and/or rurouni, who were given an equal number of swords and were meant to act as the spearhead of the counterattack. Most of those swords were little more than hastily forged and sharpened slabs of metal (I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of a Zanbatou), but they did work against enemy horsemen and shattered whatever spears came into their paths easily enough.
The Water rallied their forces, and proceeded to drive the Empire back to their ships over a gruelling, four months long campaign of island hopping, slaughter, and combat of shinobi against the embodied spirits the Empire's chi/chakra sorcerers called up against them.
In the end, out of the seventy, only seven swordsmen were left standing. One of them was a rurouni. Another an escapee from the Empire who'd been warped by their sages and wasn't really human anymore. Their names were Momoichi Sanosuke, and Li-Quing, though the latter took on the surname of Hoshigaki to better fit into his new home. Their seven swords themselves were reforged from the sharpened lumps of steel into more workable, less cumbersome (though still huge) blades, and henceforth called the Tenken.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

[classicdrogn]

---

that had to be one freakin' impressive Jutsu the First used, no?

---

So, this is the Hokage level...
Anyway, no objections from me.
-CD May the effects crew be with you
ETA: (Manga spoilers in white) Looking at one of the speedscans of ch292, it appears there may be some merit to the fan theory that Orochimaru lured the kyuubi no kitsune to Konoha - at least, he seems to be flashing back to standing in front of the fox and staring into its eye. Also.... is it just me, or does he have bad luck with arms? It's a quicker fix this time, though - I suppose it helps to not have that part of his soul ripped off by Shinegami. The fact that in the flahsback panels (if that's really what they are) he's in his Sound-era outfit might be because he's remembering it now, or because he wore it when away from Konoha instead of the jounin suit, to be less recogniseable whereever he went to find the fox, or may need to be ignored after having decided he didn't go nukenin until being passed over for Hokage a second time after Yondaime's death.SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[classicdrogn]

I've upgraded my Snow nukenin to jounin again, and needed an explanation for why they'd immediately flee with the strong suggestion of having pissed their pants when Jiraya reveals his identity to them.
Though it's not widely known outside Hidden Leaf and Hidden Stone, the war between the two ninja villiages was supposed to have begun with a three-pronged assault by Stone, two large groups of ninja intended to attack on opposite sides of the villiage, then a third to come in between them a bit later, when forces were concentrated on the battles. It could have dealt a crippling blow to the Leaf's citizens and infrastructure, if it had worked - Konoha's massive wall is impressive, but too long to keep fully manned with serious assaults at multiple points, and any genin who's done the tree-climbing excercise will find it little obstacle in its own right. Unfortunately for the Stone, their third force ran into a problem while en route - a Leaf squad returning from a mission came across their staging area.
With a half-dozen jounin and almost thirty chuunin, the lead trio - two supporting the third, who'd suffered multiple breaks to a leg - were easily wiped out, but their leader was another matter. Jiraya had been hanging back as rear-guard, watching for pursuit, as the guards of the merchant prince they'd been sent to assasinate had proven remarkably persistant, even after his death, and arrived just in time to see his team fall. The specifics of the battle that followed aren't clear, the only Stone-nin who survived was a chuunin who'd been standing sentry duty on the far side of the area and fled almost immediately, and Jiraya himself asked for the reports to be sealed and refuses to speak of it. It took some slick persuesion from a former student of his (one we all should know well) and strong words form his former sensei, the Third Hokage, before he even wrote out the report that was later sealed.
What is known is that he was delivered to Konoha on the back of a medium-sized toad summon, both so coated in blood that there was a clear trail back to a new clearing in the forest; that his only injuries were self-inflicted muscle tearing characteristic of so-called "hysterical strength" - or those who'd opened at least one of the Celestial Gates; that here was so little left in thoat clearing that no one from the Leaf even knew how many attckers there had been until asset in Hidden Stone reported after the fact; and that after hearing their survivor's report the Stone had bestowed a new title on the Toad Sennin: the Leaf's White Maned Demon.
The loss of such a significant force in the opening moves is quite possibly one of the factors that led to the conflict being decided in Konoha's favor, along with the nultitude of strong clan bloodlines fighting to protect the contry where they are nurtured as assets rather than merely tolerated and used.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Necratoid]

I think I can answer the anomolis rather disparate tech question. Guilds.
We've already seen the leaving a Hidden Village means that your going to end up a nuke-nin and marked for death, minus extreme situations with much politicking and such involved. One of the major reason is that you'll probably spread around the jitsu of the village... meaning that more of the village only knowledge is now public domain, that means that village power and the number of reasons to specifically hire that village is reduced.
Guilds are the answer . Hiding the secrets of the trade is half the reason for their existence. Silversmith, blacksmith, potters, coopers, roofers, whatever are going to protect their secrets... an alchemist that reveals that to make gold ore more pure you heat it so that the gold melts off the rest of the ore (having a low melting point) could get you killed.
If mechanical tech is within a hundred years of us in limited cases, is randomly spread around it probably has one major source. Its also incredibly expensive. Expensive on purpose, like diamonds, a stone produced in limited numbers by the industry by contracts. A diamond is actually rather common as a gemstone. Cubic Zirconia is a diamond that is man made in stead of dug up.
This means that trains, trucks and the like are available, but expensive. The industrial revolution is a secret and rather localized. The idea of mass produced consumer goods isn't really available yet on a large scale.
In the 1800, Parents and families taught their kids (or paid for private tutors) to be literate before they could go to school. Illiterate kids could show up, they'd be left severely behind. Teaching the poor to read screwed up the old world order. Much like translating the bible in England to English of all things (the common tongue) screwed up the power of the Catholic Church. Mass produced books and the twin horrors of Television and the Internet have made knowledge insanely less localized. The speed knowledge is available is insane these days. Which has good and bad points... like news that gets made common knowledge before its check for facts and the religion that is Google.
Anyway, I'm guessing that one of the prime advantages of being a ninja is that your ought to read. The library is so much scribble covered kindling to the majority of the population. Merchants probably have their own written tongue and math is used as a common tongue for most people. Buying stuff without getting ripped off is too hard otherwise.
The fact I haven't seen any pop culture literature beyond the Ichi Ichi series, which is written by a master ninja for ninjas. Which means that common man now has a reason to learn to read. This means that Ichi Ichi Paradise could end up the pinnacle of ancient high art in the future.
As for the instant megalithic tree jitsu, that particular one is insanely high level. However it didn't spring forth from the head of Zeus via and axe. Instead lesser or at least slower versions are probably used in agriculture (a harvest a week means far less land is needed). Considering the random massive damage taken by the trees at genin level fights, I'd have to say that jounin are assigned forest repair duty when not busy. After wars you have a lot of people used to expending vast amounts of chakra daily, they aren't going to suddenly quit cold turkey. This duty would help wean them. Also, the build up of large amounts of useless chakra would probably make them irritable and mean (Hinata's father comes to mind... and Sasuke's kin). It'd be like forced constipation of the soul. This would also explain the whole easily traveled ninja tree ways, that have little in the way of obstacles and there doesn't appear to be any broken branch stumps anywhere. Constant Matienence.

[classicdrogn]

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constipation of the soul

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What a remarkably apt description of te suffy traditionalist clans! We've simply got to use that 'on camera' somewhere.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[classicdrogn]

Greiver said:

---

A bit of a weird idea spawned by too much time and too little sleep. Also, too many Naruto-fics and wondering a bit more about Hotaru.
Katsu's rather generic term as Gennin and similar performance during his Chuunin exam - showing competence, but nothing really extraordinary - was due to the fact that his body had never truly recovered from its encounter with Zabuza's assortment of sharp and pointy things and jutsus during his first 'graduation'.
Mizuno-sempai had stitched him together as best she could, physically and chakra-wise, but she'd only been (counts back ten years, nods to self) eighteen at the time and what she had in talent she was still a bit lacking in experience - still a commendable effort, since she'd been the only one to actually try and save the clanless boy's life.
Still, he lived, so *whammo* instant life debt, and suddenly he's got a Reason to continue living and try to be the best shinobi he can be, because who knows when Mizuno-sempai and her then year and change old daughter fall victim to the ever changing political climate of the Village of Hidden Mist.
So, even with his Chakra system being in such a shape that working a substantial amount of Chakra through it resulted in a lot of pain, he's motivated enough to reach Chuunin. He makes it at fourteen. By then, he _and_ Mizuno sempai note that his problems are slowly but steadily getting worse. Not by a very great amount, but with every injury sustained his Chakra system can handle just a little less throughfare without the pain.
Zabuza's coup happens (was it ever specified _when_ it happens?), and Katsu is suddenly not really welcome, being a blatant reminder of the now nukenin Swordsman. Nothing official, but he feels like there's always someone waiting to stick him with a kunai, no matter where he goes.
Controversely, this is actually a good thing, and he manages to convince one of the members of his Gennin team who, incidentially, is part of one of the major clans in the Village and for some reason _doesn't_ want to see him dead (let's call her, oh, Kaiou Michiru?) to get a solo deep recon assignment - basically an exile posting that has him moving everwhichway, looking for anything to bring to the Mist's attention to get back into their graces.
Katsu leaves the Mizuno household for two years, during which he travels (let's see, Zabuza's graduation is said to have happened ten years prior to series' start - meaning he's somewhere in his early twenties, though he may look older, what with all the stress and all, so assuming Katsu's around no-eyebrows' age, he'd leave the Mist when he's fifteen to sixteen).
He ends up venturing far North, doing the odd bit of caravan guard work or somesuch, since the Mist isn't in the habit of paying what they look upon as an 'voulantary exile'. He makes sure to steal/find/appropriate a few jutsus along the way, so that he has a bargaining chip when he finds something to fix his 'problem'.
Excrept from diary of Katsu, Mist Chuunin:
'... and then, shivering against the cold winds that swept upon the caravan from above and bit at me even through the thick cloak I'd purchased at the last stop, I felt it.
At first, I had no idea what 'it' was. Merely something that seemed 'off' to the senses. A whisper at the edge of awareness, just before falling asleep and just after awakening. A glimmer of light where there should be none.
I'll admit to having been pretty desperate by then. For some reason, my little problem was becoming not so little faster than it had before. Not even switching over to pure taijutsu most of the time, and working with Havoc and Malice instead of jutsus, seems to help slow it down. Luckily, my immune system is still working fine - something Yuki-chan ... I mean, Mizuno-sempai, had been worried about. A year ago, being called more hatchetman than shinobi had been amusing. Now? It seems to be becoming sad reality.
You don't really know what you've got until you lose it. Although being away from the Mist's political climate is doing wonders for my nerves, I'd wager.
The 'feelings' refused to go away, though, actually getting more oppressive as we moved on along the frozen road.
After a week of this, and getting into town, I cut my contract with the caravan master and, after picking up supplies, went out into the cold.
I don't know exactly how long I'd been walking, other than that my food was almost out by the time I'd come across where I thought the whispers were coming from.
I descended into the crack in a rough stone cliffside, made my way through the winding cave system ... and came upon _something_ I did not recognize.
But for the maelstrom of emotions filling the cavernous space the roof of which disappeared in the darkness. A definite presence, as well ...
... and a prodigous will to _live_.
That was the moment I knew I'd found what I'd been looking for.
Whether that was a good or a bad thing, though, I couldn't tell you even now.'
Cut to Katsu returning to the Hidden Village, a small library of exotic information and a few nifty jutsu in tow.
He is reluctantly accepted back.
Mizuno-sempai is more enthusiastic ... err, no, not in _that_ way, although he wouldn't mind, truth be told.
A barrage of tests later, and she actually believes him when he says he'd managed to find a solution to his Chakra system problem.
Cue the scene of Katsu evasively saying he'd made a dealof sorts, then reassuring Mizuno-sempai that the only thing he'd agreed upon in exchange for the cure was 'To live'. Something tells Mizuno-sempai she'd rather not know, so she follows instinct and doesn't ask. Much.
Ever heard the phrase 'To live vicariously through someone else?'
Cut to the Chuunin exam brawl, Serenity's lightshow, and Gai and Kakashi charging to help the Sandaime. Whereupon Katsu takes one look at the rampaging giant snake, glares at it for a moment.
Zabuza just hears him mutter something along the lines of: "Brother would never forgive me if I didn't try to get rid of this travesty to serpentkind."
Katsu then turns to assist the two Leaf-nin with kunai and the occasional suiton that proves that while he dislikes flashy jutsus, he's capable of pulling off the offensive suitons just fine.
That's about the only hint we get, other than the fact that his eyes go all Battousai for a moment when he's angry, and Ami-kun is worries about his Chakra after the brawl. And that he seems to be able to smell Chakra emissions.
Then, in some close future, when the shit really hits the fan and there's no option but for everybody to give their all or die trying, he hands a disarmed Mina a flimsy looking chain he'd gotten from somewhere and tells her it should do well enough for the duration. And tells her the chain's name is Gleipnir.
Hey, it's a wide world out there. Who says that the Elemental Countries have a momopoly on weird kaiju class beasts? Just so happens Katsu ran into one that was more amiable, maybe because it had been locked up for a fair part of its existence. He ran into Fenrir.
This came about because I was imaginging a future where either Anko or Hotaru would be looking for an alternative to Sankeface's dai-kaiju snake summon.
Because a cute goth girl, with or without a giant polearm, riding into battle on the head of Jormungand, is just such a precious mantal image.
And no, Katsu isn't _exactly_ a demon vessel. He does have some of the benifits, like the healing/regen boost - that did away with his Chakra problems and al - and a bit of a sensory boost. He doesn't get the insane Chakra reserves at his disposal, though. Oh, yeah, and apparently a wolf summoning contract.
Hehe ... I've already mentioned about Mako liking to occasionally use a yari or other spear deriviate? Mako+Gungnir vs Kisame+Samehada ?

---

and I replied.... um.... something about it being a dragon contract instead of snakes, and how the idea of Not-A-Lizard from Mulan being Hotaru's Cute Animal Sidekick the way the small frogs have been for Jiraya and Naruto appealed to me.... I've fogotten the details already, and only realized afterward that exBoard doesn't keep a record of outgoing private messages. Anyway, it was enough to prompt this reply:

---

I don't know about Jormungand working out as a dragon. He's pretty much a serpent in the end.
OTOH, Hotaru could _still_ have her cute little dragonling. When I think 'dragon' I'm pulled towards associating it with the East Continent and its Jade Empire or however we're going to call that entity in the end.
A minor embodied spirit that was 'summoned/crafted' in the Empire and which Anko had to pull a lot of strings to get. He helps Hotaru correct the chakra imbalance caused by the Wound and Heal gates, draining the excess whenever a bit gets past her own growing control? Thereby taking care of, y'know, feeding itself. Kills two birds with one stone. It'd also be insanely loyal to her as a result, I'd think.
The Empire's chi/chakra sorcerors are the stereotypical 'evil chinese mage' types, I figure - in addition to being a priviliged class of their own in court, often also taking positions as lords/magistrates/whatever if they've got noble blood (and sometimes even without it) - and they keep a contingent of bodyguards/manservants whose chi/chakra they actually drain to cast their spells/work their rituals. Their way of using chi/chakra is different from the one shinobi can employ (this is partially a genetic thing, partially a tradition thing) - and while some effects can be more impressive, they also leave the chakra of the person permanently warped, leaving the body to contort and accomodate the change - resulting in what seems like premature aging and such. Hence the supply of living 'batteries'.
Lo Pan, anyone?

---

I don't see any problems, and since katsu's relation with Fenrir has appeared over in Seven Substitues I suggested rolling the private messages in here, for public (and espescially co-conspirator) comment and in the name of easing my note keeping scheme.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Rieverre]

The only thing I've tweaked since I sent CD that first bit were the timeline bits. Katsu made Genin at 13. Chunin at 16. At 19 he leaves the Mist, comes back around two years later. Jounin at 22. Takes on the genin team at 24. Two years after that they head off for Konoha and the chunin exam.
Basically, if something from this earlier post conflicts with the brief writeup in the SSS thread, the SSS thread is in the right.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

[drakensis]

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Illiterate kids could show up, they'd be left severely behind. Teaching the poor to read screwed up the old world order. Much like translating the bible in England to English of all things (the common tongue) screwed up the power of the Catholic Church.

---

That's a good point. As David Eddings once put it: Knowledge is Power and only a fool shares Power if he doesn't have to.
The counterpoint to this is that when only a few people know something than it's relatively easy for that something to be lost. Which made public libraries in our world a significant step of the information revolution towards Google-culture.
In 'Training for a Job' it's suggested that a ninja village requires a hospital to survive - but I suspect the core that holds a ninja village together is the mutual access to an large library of jutsu and a well indexed archive.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[classicdrogn]

Considering that settlements in pre-literate societies tend to focus around an elder/wise man/storyteller figure, I suspect you're probably right - you can't have an ninja villiage without a hospital, true, but you can't have a villiage without some repository of learning to pass things on to the next generation, whether it's a library or a tribal lorekeeper.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[darwithe]

This little charactor bunny has been bouncing in my head for months slowly evolving. Maybe she's found an outlet at last and will stop bouncing and twisting around up there.
(Things with a * next to it have changed to accomodate TXY.)
Name: Haruno, Rin
*Age: 15 (3 years older than Naruto)
*Appearance: White Hair, Blue Eyes-pupils with an X shape through it that expands and contracts indepenantly of the circle part of her pupils, very pale skin color. Otherwise looks nearly as much like Sakura as Itachi looks like Sasuke. (Hair color result of Orochimaru's experiments)
*Height: 5' 3"
*Weight: 170 lbs (No that's not a typo...)
Bloodlines: Presumed non-inheritable.
Suishou Kosshi (Crystal Bones)
Chiyu Bokei (Healing Matix) - Incomplete
Yosumi Boushi (Four Corner Eyes)
Relation: *Cousin to Haruno, Sakura (Originally a replacement...)
Rank History: *Chuunin at 14, Gennin at 12. (Makes Chuunin same year Naruto makes Gennin)

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Background: Kidnapped at less than a year old to be experimented on by Orochimaru, he used powerful genjutsu on her parents to obscure her disappearance, but when she survived his initial experiments she was returned, after having had her memories altered, without anyone having relized she was gone in order to minimize the fuss.
When subsequent experiments resulted in the death of the 'subjects' Orochimaru kidnapped her a second time, both to discover how she survived and to test a second, deeper set of experiments. Her second survival had made her one of Orochimaru's favorite playthings, so he decided to hang on to her for a third set.
This mistake resulted in the discovery of the genjutsu on Rin's parents and, eventually, Orochimaru's experiments. This discovery occured while Orochimaru was working on Rin and thus he fled while she was still skinned alive, fully aware, with the Chiyu Bokei not fully integrated into her system.
At age 6 Rin's mother was raped and murdered.
Beyond the abilities already discovered for the Yosumi Boushi when the Uchiha Massacre occured, a 2nd resistance to genjutsu was uncovered, specifically a total immunity to the 'Tsukiyomi' jutsu was found when Rin attempted to prevent Itachi from murdering her father on his way out of the village. She failed when, after resisting his test of the Tsukiyomi against the Yosumi Boushi he simply cut her nearly in two (Failing that solely because of the resistance her Suishou Kosshi enhanced spine offered) in the same swing that bisected her father.

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Suishou Kosshi: (Passive)Massive alterations of the bone structure into a quasi-living diamond like material that
needs a constant influx of chakra to match the body's natural growth. This 'bloodline' signifigantly
increases the body's resistance to damage but cannot be healed by foreign chakra. (Active: Undiscovered)Can
be used to store up a large pool of chakra, but only after Rin reaches full growth.
Yosumi Boushi: (Passive) Immune to the Mange Sharingan's 'Tsukiyomi' technique as well as genjutsu's based
on shadow, or at night. (Active) With a negligible amount of chakra obtains perfect hueless nightvision.
Can also be used to counter bright lights.
Chiyu Bokei: The interrupted nature of Orochimaru's work with this has resulted in two side effects: First,
Rin cannot use it herself, and Two: It will only heal injuries below the skin as Orochimaru hadn't yet
integrated it into her skin level. Even massive internal injuries can be healed with this technique simply
by pumping suffient chakra into one of three points, on either wrist or the stomach.

---

Skills: (All relative to given rank by 1 grade IE: an A physique for a genin is equivilent to a B for chuunin)
Taijutsu: B+
Skill: C-
Physique: A
Speed: A+
Ninjutsu: C+
Chakra Control: A
Chakra Reserves: D
Sealing Speed: C-(A+ for internal sealing of mastered weaves)
Genjutsu: C+
Strength: D
Creativity: C
Resistance: A
Tactics/Strategy: B+
Seal Making: B (Studies this in order to try to learn exactly what Orochimaru did to her)

---

Quirks: Prefers to master a technique to the point where they no longer need handseals before persueing more. (Thou the internal sealing is nearly as easy for the sharingan to detect it would take expermentation with hand seals to copy)
*Current Sealess Techniques: Henge, (Often maintains a simple hair color henge for control practice.) Kawarimi, Bushin, *Kanashibari no Jutsu, *Kishibari no Jutsu, *Nemuri.
While officially the Rin in her name is for 'Companion' she prefers to use the Rin for 'Cold'.

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Personality: Almost frighteningly well adjusted considering her life, like most Harunos she has a bipartate conciousness. Unlike most Harunos the two sides are widely different, with one side being a genuinely cheerful girl and pleasant to be around, (Albeit one that can happily discuss the benefits of one way or another of killing someone) and the other side being an utterly icy killer. (If you've ever seen Noir, the killing side was based on Kirika in mission mode) As a ninja she prefers to simply and quickly kill anyone that is an enemy and feels absolutely no remorse over it. "They're dead, they can no longer feel any pain."
Would get along well with Zabuza and Haku in either personality, and equally as well with Usagi.

---

Plot Hooks: (1)Mizuki was the one who raped and murdered her mother, she strongly suspects this but has been unable to gather even a scrap of evidence. Would either be involved in the forbidden scroll dabacle or simply happy with Naruto after he delivers Mizuki into Ibiki's tender care.
(2) Stongly wishes to kill Orochimaru, or at least personally witness his death. Would not be scared in a confrontation with him, but if Orochimaru ever captured her she would fall to pieces.
(3) Itachi is sometimes teased by Kisame about her being 'The one that got away' due to their encounter during the Uchiha Massacre. She wishes him dead but feels Sasuke has a better claim to vengence.
(4) Due to a growth spurt the Suishou Kosshi has left her chakra reserves temporarily depleted, so she is free to go on the babysitting mission with Rei and Naruto.
*Feelings toward some others:
Anko: Fear/hatred because of her association with Orochimaru, warring with compassion/respect for being both a victim and getting Hotaru out of there.
Hotaru: "Even the darkest nights can create beautiful lights..."
Sasuke: "Every time I look at him I remember the bite of his brothers blade..."
Sakura: "Ano, Auntie... did you drop Sakura on her head as a baby?" / "Finally, you are beginning to show that you really are a Haruno Shinobi. I was begining to worry there for a while cousin."
Sandaime-Hokage: "You might have been a little late," Rin mutters. "Or a little too early if you look at it right," Rin speaks back up. "But you did rescue me from him Hokage-sama."
Tsunade: "I sometimes wonder if I the sight of me helped contribute to her fear of blood..."
Jiraiya: "You're my best lead on taking down Orochimaru, please help me..."
Naruto: "Ya know, I think almost half our missions are cleaning up the messes this Naruto brat makes." / "Hey, Naruto, I wanted to thank you over that Mizuki mess. Come on I'll buy you a couple bowls of Ramen."
Hyuuga: "Stuck up pricks," Rin pauses briefly. "but ya know, I get the feeling there is more to them than, heh, meets the eye."

---

*Slightly modified team introduction scene:
"I'm Haruno Rin, I like a lot of things, I dislike those who lord their power over someone weaker than them," Rin's eyes seem to harden and she speaks in a cold near monotone. "I also dislike people who hesitate a lot." Rin's eyes soften but she continues to speak in the same tone of voice. "Dreams? I dream the deaths of seven men. Five of them are unimportant for now, one perhaps nothing more than a myth of the clan, another I can not move against yet, but the other two you should be warned of. I seek the deaths of Uchiha Itachi and the San-nin Orochimaru."

---

Another thing to mull over about the tech levels in Naruto, they have both power poles and vending machines.
Heh.
I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something importent. Ah well.

[classicdrogn]

Barring possible sdjustment in Itachi's role by Nathan, I don't see problems too major to ignore in a cameo part - the senshi genin ended up growing (far) beyond what I really intended already, so I have little room to shoehorn in any more major characters. Most likely she'll be in a short fight sequence during the invasion to serve as a scene break between the major focus points, part of the ANBU squad that Mizuki is handed over to, or at some later point yet unplotted.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[darwithe]

Heh, that's fine. Now that she hopefully won't be bouncing up and down in my head every time I see/hear the team intro sequence, I don't even need for her to appear 'on screen' anywhere. Throw away lines like Sakura complaining about her cousin insulting her, or Hotaru pouting about not seeing her 'Auntie Rin' in awhile are more than sufficient for me at this point.

[Necratoid]

---

Another thing to mull over about the tech levels in Naruto, they have both power poles and vending machines.

---

: Darwithe.
I think I got this one. The answer military tech. Today's Earth is mechanized heavily in warfare... Naruto's world is heavy of ninja. Ninja-Tech in stead of Mecha-Techs the reason.
Why? Lets do a reverse history of today's 'I can see your face a tenth of a second before you go BOOM' missiles. Black and white is the image, but they could do color if they really wanted to. Camera tipped computer guided missiles were proceeded by heat seeking missiles and laser guided missiles. These missiles were great because it takes far less effort to hit moving objects than those wire guided missiles of WWII. Literally you shot a dart from your plane at theirs with a wire string attached to it that your missile rode like a zip line. Which were great because they hit the intended target better than rockets.
Rockets are dumb fire or Point and Shoot missiles. Rockets existed during the American Revolution (and long before hand), so theyre not exactly new weapons. In WWI, a new incredible super weapon came around. This thing was devastatingly effective and expensive. To stop these annoyingly effective weapons without the incredibly expensive method of bashing them against each other they make easily aimable man sized weapons. The super weapon was the tank. The cheap counter weapon was the bazooka or shoulder-mounted rocket launch or Panzer Faust, etc.
So the question is where did the tank come from? Answer: WWI's battles were mostly fought under the conditions of the ecological nightmare known as trench warfare (TW). The idea behind TW is that someone finally caught on that literally standing out in the open and shooting at each other from a few feat away in some cases. Now snipers had a bad habit of being banned from armies for political correctness issues, even though they kept proving there effectiveness... but then those people though that 'wall of lead' and 'hail of arrow' were honorable so that actually bothering to aim at a target was too mean or something s that made snipers worse during peace time. Ah, political correctness getting your own troops killed so you can feel nicer about killling people.
Anyway, the idea of TW is Like this. Getting shot sucks. Lets not get shot. How? Lets hide in a hole in the ground. Now I'm getting shot less, but this hole is crowded. Lets make it bigger. Well now I've dug into the other guy's hole and he shot me. Okay, lets make the hole really, really long instead. So your sitting around in a long hole and want to kill the other guys, but can't dig to them. So a bunch of your guys climb out of your hole and run across the area between your hole and the other guy's hole. Hey, we made it to the other guys hole, wee! Yeah, but we got shot when we to got out of our hole. But we got in their hole. The other guy's shoot at your guys when they are running across from one hole to the other hole they shoot at your guys not in the hole, going both ways.
Then some jerk adds a machine gun or 12 to his really long hole and then 4-6 of every ten guy that get out of the hole get shot (not necessarily killed, but still shot). Both sides helpfully play loud music to announce when they are getting out of their hole and when they are going to run back to there hole. If your really lucky you get to get out of your hole and drag guy not in your hole back in (dead guys so the stop stinking up the place and live guys so the can get help), and yes your getting shot at. Then some joker put up barbed wire and now if running around not shooting at people til you get to their hole, as they shot at you with machine guns was bad enough, now you get stuck to the field and then get shot. Retrieval takes longer so you spend more time getting shot at). Which made the idea of staying in the hole to not get shot far less effective. To the tune of none of the guys outside the hole getting back. Not that this stopped you from having to leave the hole.
Strangely, when people fired rockets at the other hole you got happier. Rockets that missed their hole made smaller holes that you could not get shot in on the way across the kind of battlefield TW was designed to avoid. Didn't that work well!
So taking that idea of not getting shot further they decided on making portable cover (not personally getting shot was a high priority of the guys involved) that had treads (tires popping makes it not so mobile cover) and put a gun on top of it. So then they could go from one hole to the other (not the target other guys really long hole) faster and safer without getting stuck to the ground and getting shot. Which was nice until the other guys did the same thing and now they are coming into your hole.
So shooting the tank didn't work so well with bullets, so they made a rocket launcher that shot the rockets in straight lines instead of arching over head. That or the leave explody things to let the get blown up without coming out of your hole... lets call them 'mines'.
Trench warfare is in short... Tying to games of Whack-A-Mole and giving the moles in question guns.
The point of that mess is that technology is primarily driven by coming up with a way to kill people without getting killed as often yourself. The other guy does the same thing.
So why do the have such a different tech level and many of the same things? Military evolution. The ultimate weapon is one that kills the other guy in a way they can't do anything about.
For instance say the other guys have muskets. So you come up with the great idea of not getting shot trying to off the other guy. Only instead of hiding behind something you counter by getting fast enough to move out of the way, at least for long enough those guys to miss, then poking him with a pointy metal sticks until they dies of it. I mean its really hard to aim while moving fast enough to not get shot so your not going to use muskets yourself. Loading a musket at that speed is asking to new black powder eye-drops. Now with extra BURNing sensation.
So then the other guy does the same thing and now your poking each other with pointy bits of metal really, really fast is the preferred method of killing each other, as opposed to flinging little metal and lead rocks at each other. Those come later with less gunpowder and more muscle power. Then someone gets the idea of killing him before the other guy knows your there to poke him with pointy metal things until he dies.
Basically, but thats why. Seeing at night is good. So power lines mean lit streets without the fire hazard of oil lamps. Vending machines? You have people that run around all night, looking for other guys trying to poke little pieces of metal into your guys with giving proper notice and doing moves like 'meat tank'. Vending machine mean your not stuck staying up all night selling food to those guys. That and running around and roof jumping its easier to eat a candy bar than say a bowl of hot soup. Take the vending machines as mechanical in nature rather than computer controlled and the work.
Mass goods transfers and caravans make sense. Focused public transpiration make sense, the weekly inter city bus for example. Note if your stupid enough to want to travel around alone you can hire ninja to protect you or die or just stay home. Hidden villages arent exactly near anything and the ninjas can move fast enough so they dont care about your average grunts traveling about. That may lead to frequent travel which means that info moves around more and the grunts and peons may learn to read. No, not a literate populous!
Literate populous lead to things like in Iran the incumbent party banned every member of the opposition from running for public office for transparent reasoning. This lead to a dramatically low turnout in the elections. Note something like 2/3s of the population is under 25 and people over 25 voted the most often. The president and his party claim confusion on how that happened Then went on to claim he was pursuing nuclear power for strictly peaceful purposes followed by a raving ant about how the holocaust is a lie and then slavering rant involving how Israel must BURN! BURN! For the COLONY err I mean for ALLA!
I say that not to be political, but to show what happens when the Internet got to Iran. Islamic extremists arent normal for Victoria Secret opening public stores in the capital cities or even their countries. In Iran they let them in as part of the keep us from getting lynched campaign. The Internet has the 25 and under crowd more in the We dont like the US at all, but would rather just ignore them and leave each other alone so please stop provoking them camp.
A good example of how useful an uninformed populous can be was during the first Gulf War, after they surrendered American troops let the captured Iraqis walk up to a tank and feel its armor. The general response Went like this:
Iraqi: This feels strangely unlike the cardboard and plywood your tanks had in our briefings.
American: Thats, because its made of steel and depleted uranium.
The Iraqi response was between shellshock and things best left unprinted about their superiors.
See earlier parts of the tread for more on this subject. Does that help answer your niggling questions?

[classicdrogn]

So to summarise, without the politics and military history... they have electric poles and wires because raiton energy is the easiest to convert back to neutral chakra to run the seal-based technology derived from centuries of ninpo development and it likes to move through metal, and vending machines because they want them? Works for me.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[darwithe]

*shrug* I was just hoping to help um 'congeal' the nature of what techs are widely available. The point with the power poles is that for them to bother with power lines there needs to be a fairly widespread use for them (In this enviroment you would actualy probably use a more local sorce of power for street lighting to help reduce the effects of potential sabotage), which probably means some form of mass production. Even if guilds still control and horde the secrets of that method.
As for literacy I would personally guess that at least two forms of written language would be developed, one kept carefully secret from any but ninja's, and another more common form that most people know.
Last, one thing you got wrong.

---

Hidden villages arent exactly near anything and the ninjas can move fast enough so they dont care about your average grunts traveling about.

---

Hidden Leaf is probably less than an hour walking from the town Itachi first confronts Naruto in.

[Necratoid]

While I can believe in a merchant tongue (good for business if you can keep records) I'm still dubious about its commonality among the random civilians in that world. Now it may be a matter of getting a good wide shot of the Hidden leaf and labeling each building or cluster there of, but they don't exactly fixate on the life of your random villager much. Those that do get fixated on are well off for the area.
Now can you remember seeing signs with words (not those picture signs) or menus in restaurants or is it an 'ask the staff' method?
Getting a general fix on the local tech level is harder. Mainly, because it fluctuates so frequently by area. Town to town, city to city, tech is a hodge-podge of randomness. The random towns look like they are from the 1800s for most places. No power, lots of really flamable buildings.
Leaf is as was said a large population center... at least two rich families live(d) there. Rich people. Rich people like snazzy new stuff you peons can't afford. Like none burning lights.
While I wouldn't put it past the clans of elitists to run the power lines all over town to keep reminding them that all the cool people have power... I think its more likely that Hinata's family or someone like them runs the power station and sells it to the merchants. The rest of the people bought it as it became cheaper.
Sasuke's family ran the police force... so what did Hinata's family do to make cash?
(This discounts the 'I didn't think that stuff came from somewhere, trains are just SOOO Cooll!!! TOOT TOOT!!!' theory... after all the filler did spend several episodes on a fart joke involving bugs.)

[darwithe]

---

Leaf is as was said a large population center... at least two rich families live(d) there. Rich people. Rich people like snazzy new stuff you peons can't afford. Like none burning lights.

---

Power lines arn't just seen in Leaf, they also show up regurally throughout the Tsunade retrieval arc.

---

While I can believe in a merchant tongue (good for business if you can keep records) I'm still dubious about its commonality among the random civilians in that world. Now it may be a matter of getting a good wide shot of the Hidden leaf and labeling each building or cluster there of, but they don't exactly fixate on the life of your random villager much. Those that do get fixated on are well off for the area.

---

Yes. Again look throughout the Tsunade arc. There's writing all over the place. If it was just in Leaf I'd be more dubious about how widespread literacy is.

[classicdrogn]

Well, as expected, some of this material has to be changed - it's also liekly that Sasuke's appearance in this arc is going to render it even further from canon than the usual filler material is. Her amnesia, being abandoned vs. returning on her own, and of course the age thing - the locations and base events might be useable (and I like bandage-girl, for some reason, even if her plot role is completely obvious) but the details (aside from the look of Kid Anko, barely seen in the manga) are looking like they'll probably be a wash, along with the main plot. Well, that, and Anko is way too calm and serious all the time. Bag that.
- CD
ETA: list of the 108 Stars - take special note of Chiri, Star of Justice, and the summon assosciated with Naruto's jonin sensei...SERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[classicdrogn]

Sigh, totally predictable filler arc 'Naruto meets someone else considered a monster, they bond' stuff, but more of the Anko backstory than I was previously thinking will probably work, here - the difference for TXY (and anywhere else Mitarashi Hotaru may pop up) is that after she survived the curse seal process, even if it didn't quite succeed the way he meant it too, Orochimaru decided she was still valuable as breeding material, and convinced her that the pain had been a relatively legitimate attempt to increase her strength as a ninja, his duty as a teacher.
This probably also included something along the lines of explaining that it was the first and worst stage of an extended process, or that he knew wat hadn't worked and would fix it when the first seal stabilised, or something along those lines - but given the mortality rate he mentions when he put one on Sasuke, just the fact that she DID live through an earlier, more experimental stage was promising, and with the prospect of his immortality jutsu he could afford to think in terms of generations.
Granted, long term planning and not being wasteful are slightly out of chara ter for Snakepants, but anybody can have a good day once in a while.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[classicdrogn]

Well, with the final flashback segment, it looks like this would fit right in almost unchanged - the divergence point for Anko-mama being Orochimaru putting things just a tiny bit less harshly, and genin-Anko going with him for a couple more years.
I think they pulled Hinata's dialogue writer for Isaribi's lines in this episode, though I'll be utterly astounded if she shows up again for so much as a face in a crowd scene.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[classicdrogn]

I ran across a bit in another fic that sonuded much like what Nathan has described, put into a concise form, and grabbed it.
From One Hundred Days ch6:

---

The government of the Hidden Village of the Leaf was more complicated than most people suspected. Officially, the village was ruled, along with the rest of the Fire Country, by the highest daimyo of the nation. As one of his vassals, the Hokage governed the village at his pleasure, at least in theory. In reality, the truth was closer to the other way around. Any daimyo that wished to depose a Hokage had no ability to actually enforce his desires. Meanwhile, if the Hokage ever tired of the daimyo, all knew that the daimyo would soon experience a fatal accident. Still, the Hidden Village of the Leaf did not have the manpower to govern the Fire Country on its own. Without the cooperation of the nobility, the country would fall apart. Thus was the balance of power kept.
It was fortunate for the Fire Country that, unlike in some other countries, there had always been a cooperative relationship between the two people who were effectively co-rulers of the country. While the daimyo might dream of enjoying a stronger position and the Hokage no doubt occasionally envied the unchallenged dominance of the Raikage, for the most part the system functioned well. While the daimyo busied himself with the mundane matters of rulership, the security of the Fire Country and its relations with the other nations were in the Hokage's capable hands.
Inside the Hidden Village of the Leaf, on paper the Hokage was an absolute ruler. In reality, it was impossible to govern a village of ninja without the consent of the governed. Most of the clans had signed treaties granting them many rights when they had joined the Leaf, and it would be a foolish ruler who even hinted at infringing upon them. Custom and tradition were as binding as any formal law could ever be, and in the years since the First Hokage had declared that the coalition of four clans from the Wood and Fire Countries he led was now the Hidden Village of the Leaf there had been time for many customs to be born.
One such custom was that of the village council. As befitted a body that had come into being over time on its own, rather than ever being formally established, its membership was somewhat fluid. The Hokage, of course, always sat on it, along with his or her advisers. They were the only constants. The remaining members varied from meeting to meeting, depending on who was concerned with the matters on the agenda. The heads of the clans each had a right to a seat if they desired one, along with a number of other high-ranking ninja. Though he held no formal position, had he been in the village none would have denied Jiraiya a place on the council in the unusual event he had wished one.

---

Sound accurate?

- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[drakensis]

I suspect that the definition of 'high-ranking ninja' as applied to members of the council is one of two circumstances:
a) by invitation of the Hokage, either permanent or temporary
b) because no one wants to tell them to "No."
For example, would you seriously want to tell Gai he couldn't attend a meeting of the Council? Sure, he'd be annoying. But that's not as bad as having him picket you 24/7 to demand access to the Council's meetings.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[classicdrogn]

Well, I think it's more Maito-ojisan who's the holy terror to the more hidebound factions - Just the distant sound of (eh) a voice holding out on the, (ahemHEM!) glorious sunset of maturity, and the importance of not stifling the (errhmm) fires of youth with unneccesary restrictins is enough to make Hiashi's face twitch, let alone the old geeze that ran ROOT.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
Dr. Akagi will recover. Observe, Rei smiled. Shinji-kun, are these your clothes?
Ritsuko shot up like a spring loaded meerkat. What? Shinji-kun is naked?
See, Anata? Dr. Hentai is alive and well. - Innortal's _I Do_
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[classicdrogn]

...if I get an idea - an idea that makes me howl in horrified delight, makes me give a Grinchly grin and rub my hands together - an idea that comprises the biggest direct change worked by the use of Villain Points of anything I'd yet planned, in that it flips a major character's important descision on camera... is that a good thing or a bad thing?
See, here's the thought... Orochimaru is getting kacked in the invasion - this much is decided - but what about the Sound as such? Neshan and a ba ckup guy or two go after Kabuto, but he's one slippery customer, and if anyone could pull off a fake death and escape it would be him - and from all evidence, he's snakepants' right hand man. Is it not plausible that he would also know the Impure World Resurrection? That he, injured beyond the limit of his own considerable healing abilities to do mor ethan slow the inevitable end, might seek out his former masters' old team mate to try to get her to help him? That in addition to her loved ones return, he might offer her the position of Otokage?
For all his personal power, no one in Sound would know him for anything but a new ex-Leaf recruit while everyone on the continent knows about the Legendary San-Nin, and while he might have his own ideas about being the true power whatever Tsunade thought, the ideal of looking out for your own strength first because the world is unkind is certainly one she could agree with in her jaded mindset. Essentially the same offer from both sides in terms of personal authority, plus the return of Nawaki and Dan, and the salve to her conscience that she's still protecting Konoha by turning Sound and Rice Field Country from enemies into a neutral if not allied power.
Without her, Jiraya would probably be forced to take up the Hokage name. I dunno about things too far beyond - like I said back at the beginning, I want to see how the Akatsuki overplot shakes out in canon before making any definite plans about it - but with a quick resolution to the conflict and active assistance to get the Leaf quickly back into shape, it could be that Mizukage would want to follow through a little more with his "gesture of freindship" to a slightly stronger treaty stance - but that darn nukenin Zabusa's presence is making the Mist Council nervous, you see?
There's also the matter of Tayuya, the lone survivor of the Sound's Five Gatekeepers, whose return is requested as aknowledgment of the formal end of hostilities between Leaf and Sound, and a few discreet words in a former Mist-nin's ear sees him also joining that expedition - technically violating his Leaf parole asagreed when he came in from the Wave mission, but it's not like they'll care about that in Sound, and it's not like the Leaf Council likes him much either.
There's one other matter, the most important in terms of following TXY - Lee's injuries from his fight with Gaara. Fortunately for him, Naruto still impressed Tsunade enoguh that she offers him treatment, the attempt to heal one of the Leaf's up and coming powerhouses being Sound's half of the deal to get their prisoners released.
No, I'm not going with any cop-out three year training journey, in which nothing is learned except a smidgen of fashion sense and a larger but overall weaker form of an already known attack.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
A kung-fu nun in a leather thong was no less extreme than anything else he had seen that day. - Rev. Dark's IST: Holy Sea World
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[classicdrogn]

Naruto had found himself in some kind of flooded basement type place, and eventually in front of a set of massive prison bars. "Damn... What is this place?" he wondered. Suddenly a huge red eye snapped open, and cruel, predator teeth flashed in the gloom as a voice straight out of nightmares growled, "WhazzUUUP!?"
~ CD
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows