Nettie's Nest

I'm back! (We all knew I would be!)

2011-03-14T12:33:00.000Z

I decided to do an update, because I've returned to the Naruto fandom. :)

I hadn't read the manga in months, so I did some catching up in the last week and I'm feeling a lot more optimistic now. For the first time in two years, I really enjoyed reading Naruto.

From now on, I think I should wait a few weeks between reading the manga, so I have a substantial amount to catch up on. It feels more fulfilling that way, because it isn't just a tiny fix.

On a more sombre note; I was upset to hear about the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan and neighbouring countries. I do hope the relief effort is effective and that no further loss of life occurs. Wishing for a speedy recovery and a safer future for Japan. xx

About Sakura...

2009-06-28T13:54:00.009+01:00

Unlike many Naruto fans, I've never hated Sakura. In fact, I've always been rather neutral towards her. From the beginning, I was looking forward to seeing her begin to acknowledge Naruto as more than just an annoying idiot. I liked the hints of NaruSaku in the manga. I even collected NaruSaku fanart back in the early days of Part 2.
In Part 1, she was an unlikeable, rather annoying girl with shallow interests. I didn't hate her, but I didn't like her either. She was demonstrated to have better chakra control than her team-mates and first displayed her intelligence during the written test in the Chuunin exam. During the test, she showed some concern for Naruto's aspirations, which was quite touching.

Her first moment in the spotlight came when she cut her hair during the Chuunin exams; essentially cutting away her vanity. However, she was too weak to really defend herself. This was understandable, given that she didn't have any special abilities like many of her peers. I assumed that she was being set up as a late bloomer, which is pretty much what Ino confirmed when she too perceived that Sakura had potential.

After the Chuunin exams, Sakura became a constant pain in arse. She did nothing but visit people in hospital and whine and worry about 'Sasuke-kun'. It was during this period, until the end of the Part 1, that I disliked her appearances in the manga.

Of course, Sasuke was blatantly the center of her universe. It's true that Sasuke is pivotal to the overall plot and is also important to Naruto, but everything Sakura did in Part 1 (and even in her childhood flashbacks) was for Sasuke.

Here's a list:

She grew her hair because she'd heard a rumour that Sasuke liked girls with long hair
She broke off her friendship with Ino so she could compete for Sasuke
She became a ninja so she could be close to Sasuke
She climbed the tree during chakra training to impress Sasuke
She cut her hair to protect Sasuke (and Naruto, to a lesser degree)
She whined and cried for almost the whole of Part 1 about Sasuke
She begged Sasuke to stay with her and even offered to leave Konoha with him

I couldn't respect her while she was dedicating her entire existance to a person who didn't feel the same way. I've always regarded her obsession with Sasuke to be the ugliest aspect of her character. Unfortunately, for the span of Part 1, it was almost the ONLY aspect of her character.

I was excited about her potential for growth at the end of Part 1, because she was finally taking action and trying to better herself as a ninja and a person by becoming Tsunade's apprentice.
The first arc of Part 2 was a breath of fresh air. Sakura was finally treating Naruto like a real and valued friend. She also displayed the skills she had gained during the time-skip: super-strength and medical ninjutsu, as well as knowledge of medicinal plants. She had become a capable ninja, and even took part in a fight for the first time.

Sakura and Naruto resolved to work together to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, whereas before she had always relied on Naruto to fight for her. I was proud of her and admired her development.

She disappointed me during the battle with Orochimaru, as she needed to be rescued by Yamato twice. Proving, once again, to be a burden. She admitted as much while she was healing Naruto after the fight, as she cried over the fact that she could only help in small ways. I could forgive her poor performance, because it was understandable when facing off against powerful foes (and an indiscriminate Kyuubi Naruto).

After seeing Sasuke again, Naruto was overcome with disappointment in his own abilities (an insecurity he's always had and continues to display). Sakura told him that crying wouldn't bring Sasuke back home, displaying a surprising amount of emotional strength. However, in the privacy of her home, she was shown to cry over her photograph of Team 7. Clearly, she was not as changed as she had led us to believe, because her behaviour was reminiscent of her Part 1 personality.

From then on, she again took a back seat in the story. She made only minor appearances and performed no impressive feats (unless you count the summon she punched during the Pain invasion). She was made to look helpless after Pain destroyed the village, in order to make Naruto's return more grand.

This helplessness in Sakura has continued ever since.

Naruto needed to save her during a brief altercation with the Karui and Omoi. The very next chapter, she broke down in a fit of sobbing over a question about Sasuke. Clearly, she is feeling conflicted and upset ... but to display such weakness in the presence of others is, frankly, embarrassing.

She has set herself the goal of returning Sasuke to Konoha. She promised herself that she'd never again be a burden to Naruto. She promised herself that she'd help Naruto in bringing Sasuke home. Yet, she's been unable to back up her words and now appears to be a hypocrite as well (by openly crying when she'd previously told Naruto that crying over the Sasuke situation was pointless).

Her bout of tears was curiously reminiscent of her five-year-old self. The fact that Naruto has been forced, once again, to promise to handle the situation by himself seems to be huge regression for Sakura.Needless to say, readers have expressed their disappointment and embarrassment at Sakura's behaviour. But is it REALLY a regression?

It looks like Sasuke remains at the center of her universe. And now, after she's learned the depth of his betrayal, she feels as if her hopes and dreams have been cruelly dashed. She's unable to express how she feels about Sasuke, because she is fundamentally conflicted. How can she continue to love and defend him when he has pitted himself against Konoha and Naruto as a member of Akatsuki, under Madara's thumb?

It was a moment of weakness, but I believe it's part of her development. Sasuke is a huge, unresolved issue in Sakura's life. If you ask me, she needs to set aside her unrequited devotion and become her own person. Only when she has her own aspirations will she become strong enough to face her feelings.

I do hope Kishimoto will allow Sakura to redeem herself.

A timely update

2009-05-15T15:16:00.006+01:00

Hello, random person!

It's been a long time, but I suddenly felt the urge to update this old blog. A little news about myself: I'm in my last term at college and ready to head out into the great British recession to find a job. Wish me luck.

As for Naruto ... I'm still reading the manga every week! It's been pretty angsty lately. So much has happened since I last discussed the manga, so I'll run through some highlights.

**Manga Spoilers**

Let's see... There was Jiraiya's death, Sasuke vs Itachi, the truth about Itachi, Madara's manipulation of Sasuke, Naruto's mystery gift from Itachi, Pain's invasion of Konoha...
OMG 437! The confession and stabbing of Hinata. An amazing twist. I must admit though, I think it would have been more hard-hitting if she'd actually died.The end of 439 was such a shock. Yondaime randomly appearing like that made me fangirl squeal for the first time in ages (well, at least the first time since 431 when Naruto threw the gigantic rhino).The last few chapters with the Nagato flashbacks have been pretty dull. Mostly because they've been so predictable. Now the flashbacks are (hopefully) over with 447, things should start to get interesting again. I've a feeling we'll be seeing Danzou again soon.

Naruto wishes to refrain from killing Pain in revenge... Many of the villagers would vehemently disagree with this act of mercy. Of course, I'll be surprised if Nagato doesn't attempt to attack Naruto again. Surely he'll try to capture Naruto again - it's his ultimate goal, right? I doubt he'll be swayed by Naruto's words and ideas about peace.

Events can only get more interesting from here. We'll see what happens in the aftermath of Pain's invasion. The issue with the Cloud ninjas and Killer Bee is due to resurface. Sasuke, of course, will be a welcome sight again. I can't wait for his next reunion with Naruto! I predict major angst. Naruto doesn't even know that Sasuke has joined Akatsuki yet!

11 kinds of Naruto fanfics that suck

2008-04-03T15:34:00.010+01:00

I need to get something off my chest, so I present to you:

11 kinds of Naruto fanfics I'm tired of
and their cruddy summaries
Why 11? Because I thought of 1 more than 10.

1.
Typical high school fic
Sasuke is the most popular guy in school... Overdone much?
So many AU fics are set in high school. 90% of them follow the same damn plot and are never completed.

2.
Gravitation-like band fic *pukes*
Naruto, Kiba and Gaara are in a band! ... SNORE.
I despise these fics. The very idea of Naruto characters beating on drums and playing guitars puts me off straight away.

3.
Masked Naruto fic
Naruto is tired of hiding behind his mask... *insert tear drop*
Hello! Naruto's not a genius. That's why he rocks! He's determined to prove himself worthy, so why would he hide his genius? The whole idea is a ridiculous excuse to change Naruto's personality and appearance.

4.
WTF OCs fic
Janie, Star and Raven are thrown into the Naruto world! ... ¬_¬''
Too many of these for my liking. They're always crappily written and the inserted characters are snore-worthy. Mary Sues. Bah!

5.
Suck-at-summary fic
I suck at summaries LOL ... *cue to ignore fic*
Why do so many people say that in their summaries? It basically translates to "I suck at writing". I never read fics with that bullshit in the summary.

6.
Pukesome Naru-chan fic
Naru-chan is a beautiful princess ... *insert inane, cutesy crap*
Jesus, I think I'd prefer even SasuSaku over this! Naru, Naruko, etc are shite names. FemNaru sucks. So does girly-uke!Naruto. Naruto does NOT look like a girl.

7.
Dumbass fic
naruot,is raypedby ,villajers,whatwill saskeu do!!!! ... Retard.
Barely literate people and the under 12's write shit fanfiction. A few spelling mistakes I can handle, but sometimes it goes far beyond that.

8.
Too-much-fox fic
Naruto is the golden nine-tailed demon fox of legend! ... Bet this fic sucks.
These fics where Naruto is or becomes the 'King Fox' (or whatever) look just plain corny to me. I don't mind Kyuubi, but Naruto as a genius/beautiful hanyou? C'mon! Urgh, and when the author decides to make Naruto's hair long and flowing? *gags*

9.
Emo Naruto fic
Naruto is sick of life and being hated, so he cuts himself... ROFL As if!
Naruto would never cut himself. Period. A few of my friends have cut themselves in the past, so I know that it's a fairly common teen issue, but it's completely OOC for Naruto to do something so weak and desperate.

10.
No-real-summary fic
Naruto decides to do something, but why and for who? ... Who cares?
I hate fics with no summary information. Sorry, but I need pairing info if I'm going to read a long-ass fanfic. I don't want to waste my time on a SasuSaku or someshit.

11.
Ebil villagers fic
The villagers try to kill Naruto, so he runs away... Join the masses!
Tons of these about. Some, mind you, actually have a decent plot, but most are unrealistic and badly written. Naruto would not put up with shit from the villagers and he certainly wouldn't let them cheat/rape/beat him. He'd kick ass first.

< /end rant list >

The fic summaries in this list are written by me and are meant as examples only. They mostly concern the common types of stories found on Fanfiction.Net, when searching for SasuNaru fics.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of stellar fanfics out there, I'm just tired of seeing so many crappy/samey ones popping up in the search results.

Howdy!

2007-09-22T14:29:00.000+01:00

I just signed into Blogger to find that some links on this blog have expired. In particular, the doujinshi download link I put up some time ago on THIS post. I've put up 2 new download links on that page. If anyone encounters any problems with them, just leave a comment and I'll try my best to fix it. ^_^

Well, now that I'm here I may as well update the Fanfic Recs and AMV Archive.

RIP Nettie's Nest

2007-03-15T20:04:00.000Z

Wow, this place died rather suddenly, didn't it? It's been a long time without an update or even a sign of life from me!

It seems that adult life has finally caught up with me and I now have less time for leisure and a broader range of interests to indulge in that limited 'me' time. Yes, it happens to everyone one day.

While I continue to be an avid fan of Naruto (I'm lovin' Shippuuden, by the way!) I no longer have the same amount of time or even the inclination to write so extensively about it.

Therefore, this is my goodbye. There will be no more updates. I figured it's time to let this place rest in peace.

Here is a final gift to any fangirls (or really gay fanboys! ^^;;) who visit this place:

A minimalistic, pink Naruto wallpaper I made! Hope you like!

I will keep this blog up, rather than deleting it, because it contains some lovely links for you peoples.

As for me, I've almost finished my IT course and I'm thinking of training as a librarian. I've always loved libraries. With my admirable intelligence and extensive knowledge of all things literate, I think it will suit me.

I hope you all live long and happy lives and continue to enjoy Naruto, as I do! So long and thanks for all the fish.

The Masked Things

2006-12-08T20:29:00.000Z

G'day, night, whatever! I'm back with a post about Naruto manga chapter 334.

*~*Chapter 334 Spoilers*~*

This week's chapter was brilliantly freaky! Finally, we have some idea about Kakuzu's abilities. Suddenly, his powers seem far more abominable than Hidan's.

When those scary, black ghost things appeared, the first thoughts in my mind were; "WTF?!", "Are they puppets?" and "WTF?!"

I must admit, I was intrigued, but hardly impressed. That was until I got a good look at those creepy-as-hell masked creatures. They're so cool and terrifying! Shikamaru and Chouji's reaction of disgust and trepidation to them was really quite understandable.

I still have no idea how that whole thing works, with the masked thingies flying out Kakuzu's back and attacking everyone.

And why the HELL did Hidan look so sad and contemplative when one of them died away? Unless I read his expression very wrong, that's a total mystery to me... Maybe it's because he was seeing a small part of Kakuzu dying... Awww!!

So it appears that the tables have turned once again, Kakuzu and Hidan are getting serious and are responding with typical Akatsuki ferocity.

Suddenly I'm no longer worried for Hidan and Kakuzu, but for Team Shikamaru.

Only Ino seems to be safe at the moment, hiding behind her tree. I guess her attack style, to hide and strike at the opportune moment, demands that she remain out of sight. Wouldn't it be great if she did something really unexpectedly awesome though?

Of course, odds are she'll do absolutely nothing. If she does do something, it'll probably be healing someone's cut knee or something boring like that...

Shikamaru's not through yet, however. He's a tactical genius, after all. He'll be analysing every movement Hidan and Kakuzu make and searching for points of attack that may be effective. Nothing will escape his notice!

As for Kakashi, he seems to be stripping down, doesn't he? First the jacket, then the gloves. Let's not forget the beginnings of that tear in his mask. Will we get to see his face, maybe? Wow, I'd have such mixed feelings about that.

I noticed that Kakashi looks younger without his jacket. I like it! Heh heh!

Predictions for future chapters? Well, it looks like the stage has been set for a huge elemental battle. It's going to be good, that's all I know for sure.

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

I'm going Christmas shopping this weekend. You should too! Get it all over with and wrapped up.

I'm hoping for some Naruto manga from my uncle. He bought me manga last year and this year I've asked for some more. Heh heh!

Countdown

2006-12-01T01:48:00.000Z

Welcome to the Nest, random person!

Writing and posting these updates takes me a long time, especially now that I need to upload everything separately to avoid my browser crashing. So please excuse me if I ever post a day late.

*~*Chapter 333 Spoilers*~*

After I sat and thought about it for a minute, I realized that this chapter, despite being a lead-up chapter (leading up to a big event, i.e. Naruto’s fight) has certainly done it’s job and added yet more depth to the story.

I found the Akatsuki vs Team Shikamaru fight interesting and rather enlightening. Though I am pretty glad that Kishimoto isn’t dragging it out to unnecessary lengths. After all, I really want to see Team 7 in action, already! When Team 7 are on the move, we’ll finally be getting somewhere. Granted that these recent chapters have been leading up to something significant and have bought Naruto time to create his new jutsu.

Once again, I adored the KakuHida interaction. I loved the face Hidan made on the 6th page. Dear Hidan seems more like Naruto with every chapter, ne?

Speaking of Naruto, I can’t tell you how happy I am that his training period is just about over. Not a moment too soon, in my opinion. I’m hoping that Kishimoto gives Naruto a real battle this time and not just a tossed kunai and a Kyuubi transformation. Naruto hasn’t had a real fight in the whole of Part II! There was the Oodama Rasengan at the Itachi clone, the spat with Deidara, the mini-clash with Sai, Kyuubi pounding the shit out of Orochimaru, and then the little confrontation with Sasuke.

None of these encounters have given us a real taste of Naruto’s might, only Kyuubi’s. He must be so much stronger than he was in Part I and we’ve seen no concrete evidence of it. We’ve only really seen that Kyuubi is playing a bigger part in Naruto’s fights.
Therefore, I’m hoping for an impressive battle this time. Like the Sakura vs Sasori fight, which is, I think, the only proper ninja battle we’ve seen in Part II, so far. Yup, Kishimoto better come up with something spectacular, as I’m sure he will. But of course I’m getting ahead of things here…

So from Yamato we learned that there are weaknesses and strengths to each element, as should be obvious to anyone whose seen elements in a game or story before. We learned the weaknesses and strengths of the elements in the Narutoverse.

And contrary to the elemental structure in Pokemon, Earth is apparently vulnerable to Lighting in the Narutoverse, rather than totally immune to it. We saw this in action in the final pages of the chapter, in which Kakashi thrust his Chidori arm through Kakuzu’s chest, after the Akatsuki member had used an Earth jutsu to harden his skin.

Will Kakuzu die? I’m really not sure. I’m about 50/50 at the moment. This is because while it’s true that Kakuzu has pulled many tricks and is a very smart and skilled warrior, I don’t see how he could survive such a wound, without being Hidan. Unless, of course, that’s oil and not blood pouring from his chest and we find out his whole body is robotic and repairable.

The Kakuzu Kakashi attacked can’t be a bunshin, simply because with his Sharingan, Kakashi can identify a bunshin from a real body without having to kill it first.

Aww, if Kakuzu does die, where does that leave poor Hidan? He’s a helpless, immortal newb without his trusty pal Kakuzu! I sure hope everything turns out okay for them…

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

Don’t forget to check the Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles countdown every once in awhile. It seems so far off, but the days will fly by!

I’ll be back with another update packed with 334 spoilers next week. Have a great week, everyone! Don’t forget to start your advent calendars tomorrow, after all, it’s the 1st of December! The countdown to Christmas has begun too! Heh heh!

End of Filler

2006-11-26T01:07:00.000Z

Hey there! Sorry for the extreme lateness of this update. I was occupied with other matters but now I've finally finished composing this.

*~*Chapter 332 Spoilers*~*

A fine chapter for all Akatsuki fans.

I was right about the Nibi being sealed, though I must admit, I was a little surprised to see it happen so soon.

Akatsuki have only to aquire three more Biju. Naruto's leisure time appears to be drawing to a close. When all the Biju but Kyuubi have been sealed, Naruto will be the target of every Akatsuki member.

I was a little surprised that Deidara warned Hidan and Kakuzu of Naruto. He was obviously impressed by the show Kyuubi Naruto put on after beating Deidara's clay bunshin to a pulp.

The fact that Deidara considers Naruto a threat makes me kind of proud of my dear Naruto. Yup, despite my love of all Akatsuki, I love Naruto more. Naruto has always been and will always be my favourite character.

The best thing about this chapter has got to be the Hidan-Kakuzu interaction. And of course the fact that Hidan calls Deidara "Deidara-chan". God, that is so cute!

Best page? Undoubtedly the funniest in a long time:

It is official, my favourite pairing is KakuHida. Really though, it's so funny how they bicker like a married couple, but when the fight starts they genuinely seem to worry for each other, for whatever reason.

Kakuzu is like the big, strong and wise one, and Hidan the talkative, hot-tempered, inexperienced newbie. Sorry, but I just find their relationship utterly delicious.

Did you see Itachi's shadowed face? What the significance of that, I wonder? I think he'll be silently pissed off if Hidan and Kakuzu manage to succeed where he failed. Heh heh! I still believe that if anyone in Akatsuki is going to capture Naruto (which I think they will for a time) it will be Itachi.

Shikamaru is obvious serious about this. I wonder what his plan is. Incapacitate the foes, then beat them to bloody death?

Good Lord, I don't want my dear Hidan and Kakuzu to die yet. There's still so much I wanted to see them do... And I didn't mean that in the "we haven't even seen them dive in the sack together yet!" kind of way. I meant it in the "we haven't seen nearly enough of these brilliant new characters!" way.

Hopefully Hidan and Kakuzu will walk away from this largely unscathed.

I really have no predictions for the next chapter, though I must say I hope something big happens and it's not just a whole chapter about how amazing Shikamaru is.

We know Shikamaru's a genius, we know his plan is great! I love Shikamaru, but I love Akatsuki more, so please excuse me when I say: AKATSUKI FTW!

Yes, I am very much on Akatsuki's side this time. If Hidan dies it will be a terrible thing for me. Him and Kakuzu have been the only highlight of the last dozen or so chapters and I have grown to love them dearly.

That was a great trap Shikamaru set up ... Damn him! Oh my poor, sexy Hidan, please don't die! Okay, I apologize for my fangirlish cries of woe, but I am genuinely scared for Kakuzu and Hidan.

Team Shikamaru mean serious business and though my boys are powerful and skilled, they have been put at an immediate and great disadvantage.

I am almost reluctant for the next chapter, so worried am I.

Overall, I thought the chapter was entertaining enough. The theory that Kakashi is actually Naruto is almost has been weakened considerably after this chapter. Which, I must admit, is a bit of a disappointment.

Oh well, at least Naruto will be setting off from Konoha with Sai and Sakura soon. I wonder what part they will play in the upcoming battle.

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

Of course, I've heard about the announcement for the end of fillers in February 2007. All I can say is thank God I've only had to wait a year for this. Some unfortunate souls have been waiting much longer than I.

I'll be happier when I'll be getting two installments of Naruto a week, rather than just the manga chapters.

I will continue to read the manga when Part Two begins. I'm way too hooked on the manga to give up simply because the anime will be starting again.

Besides, I now prefer the manga to the anime. The anime, with the colour, fight scenes and smexy voices is just a bonus to me. The real story is contained within the pages of the manga and the characters look so much better when they're drawn by Kishimoto.

That's it for this week. I'll try my best to get my butt in gear next week and write an update for Thursday.

Ibiki's Back

2006-11-17T17:38:00.000Z

Hi! Those of you who have been here before will notice I've changed the Nest's layout and colour since last Thursday. I hope you like the new look.

I apologize for the lateness of this post. Blogger had some down time last night and I was too tired to wait it out.

*~*Chapter 331 Spoilers*~*

This was a good chapter. Last chapter seemed just a little unsatisfactory to me, perhaps because not much happened. This time, however, it's clear that the big thing we've been waiting for is about to begin. Just like at the beginning of the Gaara Rescue arc, the teams are getting ready to move.

Team 10 assembled at the gate but were stopped by Tsunade, who acting like a mother tried to call them back. Shikamaru wasn't having any of it and Chouji and Ino were in silent agreement with him. Clearly, they want to complete their mission.

Just as it seemed that Team 10 would be forced to stay in Konoha, Kakashi arrived on the scene claiming that he'd be happy to act as Team 10's captain for the mission, in Asuma's stead.

Now here's where things start looking a little suspicious to me. The bandage on Kakashi's hand could mean one of two things:

Kakashi was injured during Naruto's training
Naruto was injured during his training and transformed into Kakashi

Either seem perfectly believable to me. Considering the fact that Naruto has almost perfected the Kaze Rasengan and no longer needs Kakashi's help, and the fact that Naruto has loads of Kage Bunshin and could easily sneak off.

It's logical that Naruto would sneak off, being his usual reckless self it would seem a little odd for him to stay behind and continue training after the death of someone close to him. Let's face it, Naruto doesn't have many people who have accepted him; Asuma was one of the first, before even Tsunade.

I don't mind either way. I just think it's a little bland if Team 10 and Kakashi do set off and 24 hours later Team 7 set off as well. If Naruto was posing as Kakashi, it'd add a new level of depth to the plot, don't you think? Heh heh!

We saw the final stage of the Sanbi sealing, the pupil appearing in one of the statue's nine eyes. Five of the eyes now have pupils, which means Akatsuki have more than half of the Biju in their possession. Only four more to go, the middle eye reserved for Kyuubi, no doubt. If Nibi is sealed, then Akatsuki will need only three more Biju, including Kyuubi. The extraction of Nibi is about to commence...

I wonder if the Yugito, the Nibi Jinchuuriki, can be saved. At the moment, this whole scenario certainly reminds me of the Gaara Rescue arc. Everyone rushing off to find Akatsuki. Problem is, this time they're nowhere near the location where the extraction is taking place. So the best they can do for Yugito is to hinder Hidan and Kakuzu. Now if Cloud Village were to contact Konoha... Well, I guess we'll wait and see. At this point, suffice it to say that I believe Nibi will be sealed and Yugito will die. Though I may change my opinion on that later.

Biggest laugh of the chapter? Ibiki, of course! Striding into the Bounty Station like he owns the place and demanding of fugly-filler-looking guy the whereabouts of Kakuzu. "I'll MAKE you tell me!" God, that is so funny. I'm glad that bounty bastard is finally going to get what's coming to him. The only guy to show at his funeral will be Kakuzu in thanks for all the money he's given him over the years.

Team 10 and Kakashi have left Konoha and are forming their strategy. Sakura has been asked to inform Yamato that if Naruto's training isn't complete in 24 hours Team 7 cannot participate in the mission. Shizune has been asked to arrange for another team who can contact Team 10 to be made ready in case Team 7 cannot act as back up; Team 8 or Team Gai, perhaps?

It's difficult to predict what will happen from here. I just anticipate something amazing.

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

Now, I happen to like every conceivable pairing in the Naruto series. I mean that quite literally. ItaChou? Love it! Therefore, I have no biased opinions about pairings, whether I think they have canon potential or not.

However, I do have my preferences. And from the day dot I've loved NaruSaku. In fact, once I had caught up with the story and started exploring the fandom, I was surprised how few fans NaruSaku had. I've never felt I've been able to describe the deep feelings I sense between the two of them sufficiently.

Luckily, I no longer need to bother. As Mizura (or heronite) has composed a beautiful NaruSaku Manifesto for all to read! Now, I'm not going to lie to you, it's a long read. Ever heard the NaruHina phrase "a patient love"? Well, after reading this manifesto you'll see how much more of a patient love NaruSaku is. Seriously, it needs to be that long to fully describe the relationship and the development between them.

I read the whole manifesto over two days and I wasn't disappointed. It's a wonderful read, with just the right amount of pictures to bring relief from the text. So when you have some time, I urge you to read this manifesto, even if you hate Sakura and dislike NaruSaku. Trust me, read it and it will dispel any prejudices you have.

I also discovered an interesting site that I can't believe I haven't seen before; RawManga. It has every raw chapter of Naruto cleaned and up for download. Now I can't speak, let alone read Japanese, but having the Japanese there is good for things in the English fandom. Such as coloured pages, icons, etc. Having the Japanese there makes it look a little more interesting, ne?

As always, I'll be back again with a new update next Thursday/Friday, when the next manga chapter is released. Have a nice week, all!

Funeral

2006-11-09T20:57:00.000Z

Hello and welcome to the Nest!

A new manga chapter has finally been released. I was starting to get a little pissed off at Kishimoto, I must say. I love his story so much that I can't stand to go more than a week without a new installment.

*~*Chapter 330 Spoilers*~*

The villagers learned of Asuma's fate. Kurenai was understandably heart-broken. It turns out that Asuma told Shikamaru to tell her something. What that is, only Kishi knows...

It has been confirmed that Asuma is Konohamaru's uncle. Geez, all this time and we never saw a second's worth of interaction between the two of them. Once again Konohamaru cried at the funeral. Poor little guy, his family has really been falling apart of late, ne? First his grandpa and now his uncle, one killed by Orochimaru and the other by Akatsuki.

How old does Naruto look in this? He's like an adult!

Shikamaru, who appears to be making a habit of smoking, took up Asuma's blades and learned how to use them with an element of chakra. He, Ino and Chouji now appear to be ready to set off on a new mission. Probably one of revenge against Hidan and Kakuzu.

Things have taken an interesting twist. Just as we expect Team Ten's importance to be over, Kishimoto appears to be stating that this is only the beginning. As usual, I'm really looking forward to the next chapter.

This chapter also provided our first peek at Naruto's Kaze Rasengan. It looks pretty much how I imagined it to be: the Rasengan with tongues of wind slashing out of it erratically. The end product will undoubtedly be a whole lot more impressive.

Ah, the sweet KakaNaru scene. Quite possibly Kakashi's most outward display of love toward Naruto yet. "Next week: Kakashi's Proposal!!!"

The Page of the Week

Predictions for next week? I have no bloody clue. Hopefully something totally awesome and unexpected will happen. I'm hoping we learn what Asuma told Shikamaru.

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

Just yesterday I remembered about a brilliant website I'd visited before but lost the link to. Thankfully, I remembered some keywords and Googled them to find the site again. The site is called Dan-Da-Man Anime and it has a massive downloads section, including every episode of Naruto. There are a ton of other anime series available for download, so it's definitely worth checking out.

I'll be back next Thursday, as per usual, with an update about the next week's chapter.

London EXPO

2006-11-04T01:17:00.000Z

Hi there! This post is very late because, quite frankly, without a new manga chapter to spark my enthusiasm I couldn't be bothered to write a new update.

Yes, for all of you who are ignorant, there was no manga chapter released this week. This is a fact I am peeved about but willing to allow without complaint once in awhile. Kishimoto is apparently taking a week off to gather his thoughts, hopefully he'll deliver some more brilliant chapters soon.

So... What shall I talk about this week? Well, I guess I should focus on the fandom, which to me is half the fun of being a Naruto reader.

Yes, note that I now refer to myself as a 'Naruto reader' rather than 'Naruto viewer'. This is simply because I have come to prefer the manga to the anime, which I now see as rather bright and annoying for the most part.

Of course I'll still be watching Part Two when it begins but I've fallen in love and will remain loyal to the manga rather than the anime.

Last Sunday, my best friend Sasha and I went to the London EXPO - which is basically an media exhibition for fans of comics, film, video games, animation, science fiction and fantasy.

Despite almost getting lost in London's scary tube system, we made it in time to see loads of Naruto cosplayers and a few celebrities.

I bought myself a measly little Naruto keyring; it's cute but tiny and it cost £3! I'm not kidding, the stuff there was expensive. Sasha got herself plenty of stuff, including an awesome Naruto wallscroll. Heh heh!

There were also some of the robots from Robot Wars and the actor Christopher Lee (who plays Saruman in LOTR).

There was even a stand for the upcoming English movie Hot Fuzz, which is made by the guys from Shaun of the Dead - Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Unfortunately, those two were only present for the Saturday EXPO so I missed them by a day. Damn, I would've loved to see them.

All in all, it was a great but tiring day. All that travelling and walking does get to you if you've worked through the day on nothing but a few sticks of strawberry Pocky.

Since everyone seems to be recommending animes to watch while waiting for the Naruto filler period to end, I recommend Last Exile. It's the story of two friends who fight through poverty and wartime in the Victorian-like society of the floating world of Prester. There are some amazing airship battle scenes.

The series is 26 episodes long and has brilliant characters that you really fall in love with as the series progresses. The story is great, the characters are brilliant, the animation is top-notch and the OST is too good for words. In short, Last Exile is a fab anime and you should definitely watch it when you have the time.

You can usually find the fansubbed Japanese episodes on YouTube. If not, then you can download the episodes from Anime Downloads. Personally, I've been watching the English dub on rental DVDs with my closet-anime-fandad (phrase copyright of Sasha). Heh heh!

Wow, this post has really gone off the topic of Naruto. See what a week without a canon episode or manga chapter does to me? I shirk all interest in a story until it's moving again.

Well, if you're desperate for some Naruto videos, then check out my YouTube page and visit my favourites list. I have a ton of Naruto videos in there and loads of other stuff too, some of which you're bound to find interesting.

I'll be back next week with my views on the latest manga chapter. Here's hoping it's a good'un!

My Heroes

2006-10-26T21:47:00.000+01:00

Hello, whoever you are! Welcome to another update.

*~*Chapter 329 Spoilers*~*

Quite frankly, it was fantastic. Seriously, if I loved last week's chapter, then this week's is something I'm willing to marry and have lots of babies with.

We Found Out The Objective Of The Akatsuki Organization.
And it's only fucking world domination! How awesome is that? I mean, gosh ... the world being ruled by nine psychotic bishies? Akatsuki FTW! We finally have confirmation that the Leader's earlier words "our objective ... to aquire the Kyuubi and everything else" were actually literal.

Their plan is so huge, so awesome, so genius. It's actually freakin' complicated! Which is a hell of a lot better than the "grab the beasts and let's break some heads" plan I had expected.

Akatsuki have got to be my favourite villains ever. Forget Orochimaru's shitty little objective to learn all jutsu and see things move; Akatsuki have got it all figured out and take the threat of world domination to a whole new level.

They joined the organization with the promise of their heart's desires:

Kakuzu --- Lots o' money
Hidan ---- A captive audience for his sermons
Kisame -- A ban on shark-hunting
Itachi ---- Little brothers to traumatize
Sasori ---- To become a real boy
Deidara -- To open an exploding art school
Zetsu ----- Save the rainforests
BlueHair - A new range of hair products
Leader --- Sit on an imperious throne in the shadows

I guess Orochimaru quit when he found out that the other members weren't going to let him set up a whore house of little boys.

Hidan is officially the most badass member. He showed the Akatsuki Leader extreme disrespect. The best part is that the cocky little bastard can't be killed, so he has nothing to fear from bad-mouthing the Leader. It should be clear to all of us by now that Hidan is loyal only to his religion of Jashin and despises the worship people shower over money.

Hidan is acting as the same kind of n00b Naruto is for Team Kakashi. He needs things spelled out for him, for the benefit of us readers at home.

Oh yeah, Naruto's got a plan for how to develop his new jutsu. Seriously though, until Naruto's facing off against an Akatsuki member, I'm not going to be interested in him. Gomen, my dear Naruto. My love for Naruto is as strong as ever but because I love Akatsuki as well I can't wait to see them meet again.

It seems like it will happen soon too. Six days until the Nibi is sealed... It's possible that Naruto could have completed his jutsu by then. Maybe there is a possibility that he could save Yugito, or at least arrive in time to see her die and then get very pissed off. Still, we have no idea how and where Naruto's next encounter with Akatsuki will be. I wonder if they'll come to him, or he to them.

We got to see the silhouette of the unknown blue-haired member. I'm now certain that it's a girl.

It's all so brilliant. The story is getting so damn good, all of a sudden. Next chapter will probably be where Konoha finds out about Asuma's death. It should be a good one.

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

I've been reminiscing with Team 7 for the past week. Ah, for those good old days when Team 7 was orange, pink and navy blue. Yes, I miss those days when Naruto and Sasuke were actually friends.

Of course, I love how everything is going and I realise that having Sasuke leave Konoha behind certainly added a huge new dimension to the story ... still, it would be nice if one day Team 7 could be together again. The below manga page portrays what I really love about Team 7 - the love, the pain and the rivalry.

I set aside a few minutes to write a fanfic based around Team 7. Actually, it's more of an insight into the characters, from Sakura's POV.
Title: My Heroes
Warnings: Part Two Spoilers
Summary: A One-Shot from Sakura's POV describing her feelings for Naruto and Sasuke.
Alt. Archive: FanFiction.Net
Hope you enjoy! It's my best One-Shot so far, methinks.

Anyways, I'll be seeing you again next Thursday, with another update here at the Nest.
Peace out!

Team Ten

2006-10-20T12:02:00.000+01:00

Late update due to the lateness of the release of chapter 328. But now it's here, I can fill this post with sweet spoilers!

*~*Naruto Manga Chapter 328 Spoilers*~*

Yup, it was sad. I can only imagine how sad the episode of that chapter will be, with 'Sadness and Sorrow' or 'Grief and Sorrow' playing in the background. Didn't make me cry, it takes certain things to make me cry, but god it was sad. In fact, I can't believe he's gone! o_O

The Fallen Cigarette

Team Ten have lost their Jounin instructor! There's no more smoking Asuma! Damn... Only thing left to do now is save his body from being taken into the bounty station by Kakuzu.

I know I said I didn't want a chapter of hospital angst as Asuma recovered. But this angst was more than acceptable. Kishimoto did a fine job with the unseen flashbacks to fill in the gaps we hadn't seen of Team Ten. We've finally seen some actual development on the supporting characters, who up to now have been neglected in Part Two.

I have to say, I was 50/50 on the whole Asuma-will-die thing. Even after last week's chapter where it was found that Asuma was still alive, I was still unsure as to how long he'd live for. On the one hand, he could've been killed immediately, end of story. But in retrospect, it seems only right that he had time to say some last words to his team.

Still no idea who "King" is, though maybe that's because I'm being a little dense. It could be that Asuma and Kurenai are having a baby ... or it could be any number of other things. I guess we shall wait and see.

I wonder how everyone else will take the news. Kakashi and Kurenai will understandably be really upset. What about Naruto? He will know he is (maybe) the reason Hidan and Kakuzu are coming to Konoha, and know that Asuma died in an attempt to keep the Akatsuki away from him.

Everyone in Konoha is going to want some major revenge on Akatsuki. Next chapter looks interesting too:

I wonder if there'll be a funeral. I don't expect they hold those big, whole village funerals for just any Shinobi, but maybe there'll be an exception for Asuma.

And when the hell are all of Naruto's friends going to find out that he is the reason Akatsuki are coming to Konoha? It has to happen sooner or later. Of course, Hidan and Kakuzu may be after a different Jinchuuriki, who's to say Naruto isn't still Itachi and Kisame's assignment?

Next chapter will probably be another sad one, or perhaps an Akatsuki chapter. As usual, we have to wait another week for the next piece of the story. What a sad and reflective week it will be, I will never look at Asuma in the same way. Rest In Peace, Asuma-sensei.

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

As usual, I have some stuff to share this week. And I am determined not to rant about fillers never ending, because it's troublesome and you can get more than enough of filler rants over on Naruto Forums.

If you're dying for some yaoi-flavoured Naruto crack, check out Chapter 97 Mistranslation (aka Gaara's Porn Star Past) by 7dragon_zodiac. It is definitely the funniest mistranslated chapter I've seen, though I haven't seen many. There should be more!

My friend Sasha is obsessed with DeiTobi. She linked me to this adorable little flash movie last week - Tobi got slapped by rubydawg.

Well, it's my half-term holiday week now, so I'll have all week to explore the fandom. Heh heh! I'm thinking of starting work on a Naruto Links List, which will be an extra post. Anyway, I'll be back with another post next week, right now I'm off to NF to read theories. Later!

Sasuke's Confession

2006-10-12T19:22:00.000+01:00

Welcome to my blog, and another Thursday update!

*~*Ch327 Spoilers*~*

Chapter 327 was brilliant, thus it certainly seemed too short. I loved every page of this chapter, and I just wished to God it wouldn't end. I am certainly dying for next week's chapter; obviously I'm becoming impatient.

Eww...

The back-up team's rescue of the supporting Chuunins and Shikamaru was pretty cool. Actually, when I first saw those crows flying out of nowhere, I thought they were all in an Itachi genjutsu!

I'm equal parts pleased and irked that Asuma is still alive. There's still more we need to know about him and Kurenai, so it's good that he has a greater chance of survival now. But it is also a bit disappointing that there wasn't a dramatic character death. A death is just the thing we need to start taking Akatsuki and the other villains more seriously. It would add the right tone to the story.

It was brilliant that we got to see the Akatsuki Leader again.
EDIT: I can't believe I forgot to talk about AL's face! Seeing the bottom half of his face sure has caused a lot of shock. After all, from the picture it appears that he has some kind of beard and nose piercings ... or maybe they're holes. Whatever. Either way, he looks pretty darn funky. So now we know he has ginger hair, black dots on either side of his nose, and maybe a beard. He's truly a freak worthy of Akatsuki!

I'm hoping for another chapter with a full Biju extraction. I so do love to see all my favourites villains together. Heh heh!

Next week we'll probably just get another boring 'in-the-hospital' chapter, with loads of worried faces taking up every damn page. I could be wrong though, something really cool or amazing could happen. Who knows?

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

Want to hear something funny and totally cute? Sasuke's Revamped Confession by naturalgrace uses the music from Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, and the love confession by Sugiyama Noriaki, Sasuke's voice actor.
You can download the original confession here - :::OH! NARUTO NIPPON::: - scroll down to #13. It also has the translation there. By the way, before any newbs get the wrong idea, Sasuke never says this in the anime, his VA was asked to do it on a Japanese radio show.

To be honest, I've been neglecting SasuNaru recently. I'm in full ItaNaru-fangirl mode. However, I have found a very awesome SasuNaru fanfic - Sticks and Stones by lunabasketcase. Yes, it's an AU, highschool fic, but give it a chance! Trust me, you won't regret it. This story really draws you into the world the writer has created for the characters, and it has some truly touching moments. It's also totally badass! After all, you don't see cage-fighting in many fanfics.

My current desktop by Crystal-EXE

I'll be back again next week. Here's hoping for some serious Akatsuki awesomeness in the next chapter. See ya!

By the way, there are major spoilers in the comments on this post.

Index of Manga

2006-10-05T16:21:00.000+01:00

I am aware that chapter 326 was released yesterday, instead of the usual Thursday. However, I couldn't be bothered composing an update last night, I was really tired for some reason.

*~*Spoilers for Chapter 326*~*

This chapter shocked me. Things actually happened! Like, some real action for the first time since the Naruto - Sasuke reunion.

To be honest, I was expecting the entire chapter to be comprised of Kakuzu carrying Hidan's head, Hidan reattaching his head, and Team Asuma staring on in horror, perhaps planning a hasty escape. Instead, those things happened in the first six pages, and then the whole chapter erupted into violent action!

And just look at this:-

That is the face of a doomed man.

Personally, I believe that Asuma's death is more likely than his survival, this time. Not only have all the clues been pointing to this, but it would be rather lame if Kishimoto were to save him twice in the space of a few chapters.

Then again, I do have a feeling that we're about to have something wholly unexpected sprung on us pretty soon. Surely Kishimoto can't go back to the boring training chapters, if events like this have taken place.

Yea gods, a week is too long to wait for the next chapter...

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

I have plenty to share this week.

First, here's something for those of us who've been keeping up-to-date on the Naruto manga - Friend in Tobi - an adorable and hilarious flash movie by Puffsagain. It's about Deidara and his clingy new partner (Tobi) to the Toy Story song "You've Got a Friend in Me". It also features the other Akatsuki members briefly.

A page from the manga

I found another uselful website, like last week's Worg Den! This time it's an Index of Naruto Manga. You can read all of the chapters so far on this site, and it's easy to find a page for reference. It's kept updated, and is definitely useful for reading the older chapters. After all, who would want to download all of them? I've a whole new appreciation of the manga after reading several of the earliest chapters here.

I found a great Japanese fansite, with loads of Naruto and Akatsuki fanart:-

Click on on the image to view the site

This site has actually helped me to discover the joys of SasoNaru, KisaNaru and DeiNaru.

Thus, I found myself a DeiNaru fanfic - The Thing About Art by Letta. It's well-written, funny, and definitely worth a read. It's a one-shot so you can read it in one sitting.

By the way, I've updated the AMV Archive, and it now has a banner, which will appear in the side-bar. -->

I'm hoping fillers will be over before Christmas, it would be an even greater season for me if the Part Two anime finally began... Though I'm not optimistic. But here's a bit of optimism for you - it's a good thing that the fillers are lasting so long. It means that we'll have less need of stupid filler arcs during Part Two.

Come back again next week. In the mean time, be sure to check out the AMV Archive and my Fic Rec List; they've both been recently updated.

Better Late than Never

2006-09-29T18:24:00.000+01:00

Hello!

Yes, I know this post is a day late, but it wasn't intended that way. I had almost finished this post when I left the room for the toilet. My younger brother, being the annoying little turd he is, wandered into my room, shut down my Firefox window, and left without saying a word. I'm sure he did it unintentionally; he hates to see me furious, but even so... Why is he such an idiot?

*~*Spoilers for Chapter 325*~*

I'm a little disappointed. Rather than the interesting step-by-step strategy we have come to expect from Shikamaru, he merely forced Hidan out of his circle, thus breaking the curse, and leaving Hidan open to have his head lobbed off by Asuma.

I mean, whoop-dee-fuckin'-doo! Sure, the gore was cool, but the plan was so ... mundane. A bit of a let down, considering I was awaiting some amazing display of pure genius.

Nevertheless, Kakuzu, Asuma and the supporting Chuunins were deeply impressed by Shikamaru's insight.

High praise, indeed, from this stingy bastard.

Even Hidan was surprised by Shikamaru's quick thinking, and appeared anxious.

I must admit, I whispered "No!" when I saw the dramatic beheading of Hidan. I was worried that it was the end of him. Needless to say, when I saw his head was still talking I was relieved, if a little grossed-out ... and also laughing my ass off.

This is priceless.

I don't want any of the Akatsuki to die yet, and I have a feeling they won't, seeing as how nine members are needed for the Organization's plan to work. We still haven't seen what they're up to, and Naruto hasn't genuinely fought against them yet. Remember, Sasori only died to make way for Tobi, who I believe is to be pivotal to the story. None of the others are likely to die before more is revealed, or Naruto has been captured.

In any case, I no longer have any fear of Hidan or Kakuzu dying any time soon. Team Asuma, on the other hand... Well, I guess we'll just to have and see if any of them die. Shikamaru won't, that's for damn sure.

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

Though I've been giving the Naruto fandom a rest for the last two weeks, I've been watching the odd episode at The Worg Den. It's a site with every fansubbed episode of Naruto available by YouTube embed, in a drop-down menu. Meaning that searching for a fansubbed episode on YouTube is something you don't have to worry about, it's easier to watch the episodes from this site. So check it out, un.

I hate to bring up the subject of fillers again (I really do) but I was thinking earlier that when the fillers end it will be my first time watching an animation based on a manga I've already read. I'll be able to compare each episode, the script, to the manga chapters, which I think will be very interesting. The closest I've ever come to that is the Harry Potter movies, but those are so compressed and cut-down due to the fact that they can only fit about 20% of the story into each movie, without it ending up 20 hours long.

Now for some fansites. Today I present to you three Japanese sites, one with doujinshi, one with some colourful Naruto fanart, and the other with really awesome Naruto gifs.

The first is omotemanga, a site with some brilliant Sakura-based doujinshi. The art is so similar to Kishimoto's style, and the stories, though all in Japanese, are very cute.

Example of omotemanga.

Next is yonabeya. Some very vibrant Naruto fanart can be found here, some of them shounen-ai.

Example of yonabeya.

Finally, VIENTO is the site with the Naruto gifs. You may have seen some of these gifs around the Internet before, but here's where they came from.

Example of VIENTO gifs.

Must be finishing this off now; I'll update again next Thursday.

Have a good weekend!

Uzumaki-Fangirl

2006-09-21T16:54:00.000+01:00

Hello, random blog readers! I bring another spoiler-packed, Naruto-based update.

*~*Spoilers for Manga Chapter 324*~*

Wow, what a long manga series...

Not much action this time.

The supporting Chuunins stared in astonishment/horror. Shikamaru stared in shock/horror. Hidan, whose good looks have mysteriously diminished, laughed maniacally. Asuma looked suitably worried. Kakuzu got a hard-on thinking about all the money he'd soon have.

Asuma charged Hidan with his chakra blade. Hidan stabbed his own leg, which caused Asuma to fall to the ground in pain.

The team finally figured out that Asuma and Hidan were connected somehow. Well done, boys! Now count to 10.

Hidan moved to stab himself once again, a wound that would be fatal to Asuma, but Shikamaru used his Kage Shibari no Jutsu to freeze Hidan's movements.

The supporting Chuunins mentioned that reinforcements would be arriving in about 10 minutes.

Shikamaru, knowing that his jutsu could not last long against Hidan, started analysing the situation, thinking a plan through step by step.

Kakuzu offered to kill the team, unable to put up with the idea of all that sexy money getting away. Hidan, however, told him to stay out of it again, confident in his ability to destroy the Konoha team.

Shikamaru, having mapped out a strategy or 200, opened his eyes dramatically. Asuma and the supporting Chuunins knew immediately that the genius had a plan.

What that plan is, we'll have to wait another week to find out.

It seems a little sudden for any of the characters to die yet. Asuma has more to reveal yet, I'm sure.

And Hidan and Kakuzu are important to Akatsuki's plans, so surely neither of them will be killed off yet? I always thought that Akatsuki would only start falling apart after Naruto was captured and the Kyuubi almost-but-not-quite extracted.

Then again, the manga could be going in many directions, which makes most predictions pretty unreliable. I guess we'll just have to wait and see... Though I really hope no-one dies yet!

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

I've been going through another Uzumaki-fangirl stage recently. Obviously, he's always been my favourite character, but sometimes I obsess over him exclusively for a couple of days. It's probably because I've been missing him in the manga, so to make up for it, I've been looking for him elsewhere.

So, desperate for some Naruto fanart, I visited the Naruto FC's PhotoBlog, which contains over 1,000 images of my favourite blond boy. You should definitely have a look through it, but if you have a slow connection (specifically dial-up) then don't bother, because the page does take a while to load, having so many image thumbnails.

The website of Soraya Recio is most awesome. Her gallery by itself is impressive, but she also has AMVs, a ton of links, the Naruto font download, and many other cute things. The site isn't all in English, but it's very easy to navigate.

Example of Soraya Recio's Art

Well, that's it for now. I'll be back again next Thursday.
Have a nice week! ^_^

Neutrality

2006-09-14T19:42:00.000+01:00

Yosh! Another update is here. Today I will be discussing various, convoluted issues concerning the story and themes of Naruto... Just kidding!

*~*Spoilers for Chapter 323*~*

What was it I said last week? "...the next chapter, when we get to see the team's horrified reaction to Hidan's invincibility!" And sure enough:-

*snerk*

Kakuzu snuck up on Shikamaru, and almost smashed him to a pulp, but the lucky bastard dodged. Whew!

Hidan and Kakuzu both recognised Asuma as another of the 12 Guard Ninjas of Fire. Kakuzu probably can't believe his luck, he's outside a bounty station, facing a man with five million more on his head than the guy he's just handed in. Hidan agrees that Kakuzu can have all of the money, if he gets to kill them in his 'ceremony'.

Asuma swiftly devised another attack plan, focusing first on Hidan. The plan involved Asuma lobbing Hidan's head off, while Shikamaru held him still with his technique, and the supporting chuunins acted as backup (naturally).

Hidan then began talking about how Team Asuma would soon be tasting the wrath of God.

Justice Shall Be Done!

Before the team had the chance to get their plan into action, Hidan managed to start his ceremony. So when Asuma Katoned his ass with a fire jutsu, the pain and damage inflicted upon Hidan was felt equally by Asuma.

Hidan then revealed what some in the fandom are calling his 'reaper' form to the horrified team. Announcing that Asuma's fate was now sealed.

I've got to say, things look bleak for the team. Can Shikamaru hold Hidan back from stabbing himself? Perhaps. Can Kotetsu and Izumo behead Hidan? No. Sorry, but it's just not happening. Will Kakuzu just stand there and watch all this unfold? Maybe. Either way the Konoha team are screwed.

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

Remember I said that fillers may end in October, with the 90-minute episode coming up? Apparently I was right to be thoroughly sceptical. Turns out that there's good evidence to suggest that it's merely a 90-minute filler. Three episodes in one or something. I'm still not watching fillers, so I won't be seeing it. I'd really love to see Part 2 animated, but alas, it seems that we're in for a long wait.

I no longer ship Naruto in the canon storyline. In other words; I don't care who Naruto ends up with, if he ever does. Seeing as how I ship him with practically everyone in the series, I figured what's the point of worrying over which pairing gets the most canon support? And since I don't care who Naruto gets with, I couldn't care less who the rest of them pair off with either.

Seriously, Sasuke and Sakura can get married and have twelve children, if that's what they want. Naruto can stay a hot virgin forever, which is fine with me. I am neutral. Just give me my daily smutfiction and I'll be content with anything. Heh heh!

Psst! Wanna see an amusing ItaNaru flash movie?
ItaNaru Flash by ShadowBee.

See you again next week!

Invincibility!

2006-09-07T17:46:00.000+01:00

Hurray for another Thursday! Am I the only one who vaguely fears that the end of the world will occur before the manga comes to an end? Probably.

*-*Spoilers for Chapter 322*-*

Things seem to be moving again.

Asuma has implied that his giving up smoking may have nothing to do with Chiriku. Perhaps it's about Sandaime, or maybe Kurenai's pregnant. Whatever it is, it's going to have some significance to the story.

Kakuzu admitted to the ugly, filler-looking guy in the bounty station that of all of his partners, Hidan is the only one he hasn't killed in a fit of rage. He leaves the reason for this unclear. Though it is clarified soon after, in Hidan's scene.

Admitting faults of character is always a difficult thing.
I respect you, Kakuzu.

Meanwhile, Naruto tried desperately to incorporate Wind chakra into his Rasengan. Exhausted, (but very determined) he pushed himself too far, and ended up sprouting Kyuubi tails at an alarming rate. He was an inch from four when Yamato used his power to suppress the Kyuubi, knocking Naruto unconscious. Yamato is having as much trouble as Naruto in this training, as the strain of holding back the Kyuubi's instincts is becoming more difficult.

Hidan sat on the steps outside the bounty station, bemoaning his now smelly clothes. Quite suddenly he was attacked by Asuma. Swinging his scythe, he deflected the kunai, and prepared to destroy Asuma. Shikamaru, however, prevented him from moving with his Kagemane no jutsu.

Leaving Hidan open to attack from both Kotetsu Hagane (guy with bandaged nose) and Izumo Kamizuki (guy with emo hair-cut), who stabbed him from either side.

Yay for the supporting Chuunins! Who will no doubt be the first to be pwned!

Asuma, displaying the obligatory "Yay-The-Bad-Guy's-Dead!" attitude, immediately told the others to locate Kakuzu. Talking with such an obscene amount of confidence that one would assume he takes down two members of Akatsuki in twenty seconds every day before breakfast. He will no doubt appear suitably astonished in the next chapter, when we get to see the team's horrified reaction to Hidan's invincibility! Muahahahahaaa!

It is official. I love this man!

Okay, I have absolutely nothing against Asuma. But to tell you the truth, I'd much rather see Hidan and Kakuzu come out victorious, and am fairly certain they will. I love Akatsuki so much, I don't want any of them to die. Goddamn you, Kishi, for making your villains so darn alluring!

*-*End of Spoilers*-*

I heard that fillers will be ending in October, when a particularly long episode is set to air. Though I refuse to get my hopes up about this, and would not at all be surprised if fillers carried on into the 2300s. In fact, I was considering getting my body cryonically frozen, only to be awoken when the Kakashi Gaiden begins.

Yes, I am heinously pessimistic.

Short on SasuNaru smuttage? Look no further! Here's a link to mynullnostalgia's SasuNaruSasu Fan Recs. It's a very large list of many, many SasuNaru fanfics. It's a lot more extensive than my own rec list, which I really ought to update again soon...

This week I was linked to a cute Japanese fansite - peewee - which has some very good Deidara and ItaNaru fanart. Enjoy!

Must be going now, I've got a new DVD to watch - The Cat Returns. It's a cute and somewhat random movie.

What Did I Miss?

2006-08-31T22:45:00.000+01:00

I'm back from my holiday, and I'm afraid that I was sorely disappointed in the lack of manga action. I was expecting to miss something hugely awesome. Instead, I came home, downloaded the chapters eagerly, only to find that nothing had friggin' happened!

Expect a super-long synopsis in this update. Sorry, but it's been awhile.

**Chapter 319, 320 & 321 Spoilers!**

So what did happen? Sakura and Naruto angsted over their lost pal (Sasuke) again. Naruto cut the waterfall with wind chakra, motivated to keep trying by his memories of Sasuke. It was all very sweet, if a little rushed.

Kurenai had a whole page to herself for some unknown reason. She's probably going to pull a Temari and 'sense' that Asuma's in danger. Although she may actually have a significant role in upcoming events... I rather doubt it though.

Naruto ate ramen at Ichiraku's with Yamato and Kakashi. They were clumsily served by two bumbling idiots from the 3rd Naruto Movie. It's obvious that Kishimoto was paid to add them in. I guess not too many people are keen on watching the 3rd filler movie, after a year of filler episodes.

Hidan and Kakuzu arrived at a bounty station. They entered through a secret door in a smelly old toilet. Reminded me of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets... An ugly, and suspiciously filler-looking character took the body of Chiriku off their hands. Hidan couldn't give a shit, and just wanted to leave the bounty station to get away from the stink of rotting flesh and piss.

All in all, the toilet scene was the only real highlight of chapter 320. I mean, c'mon! Who can take Hidan and Kakuzu seriously after seeing that?

Chapter 321, started off rather boring. Kakashi giving Naruto another of those 'complicated explanations'. I was almost yawning, and then it suddenly got interesting. So Kakashi knows the Rasengan. I'd always wondered if he did, actually. It seemed rather strange that the 'copy-ninja' wouldn't even know the famous technique of his sensei.

Naruto was suddenly confident that having mastered both 'nature manipulation' and 'form manipulation', he would be able to create a new technique incorporating the two very soon. Alas, this is not so... (Although we all wish to god it was so the training could end and Naruto could kick some butt already!) But Naruto will have to face many more grueling chapters of hard training, as he attempts to fuse wind chakra with form manipulated chakra. A feat, by the way, that even the Yondaime Hokage could never achieve; granted he died young.

Oh yeah, and Kakashi's expectations of Naruto have risen once again. Now it's not just "You may even surpass me", it's the more impressive; "I believe the one to surpass the Yondaime Hokage will be you."

Geez, what's Kishimoto up to anyway? We haven't even seen Naruto's 'that jutsu' yet ... if it even exists. And as far as I know, after three years with Jiraiya, Naruto still has to create a Kage Bunshin, or use both hands, to form a Rasengan. If this is so, how long is it going to take for him to merge freaking wind chakra into a Rasengan? Assuming a windy Rasengan is what Naruto is striving for. Either way, it's clear that we're in for long wait.

Personally, I kind of wish that this kind of training could be done behind the scenes. Like the time-skip training (in which it seems Naruto learned practically nothing, ironically). But I suppose this is all necessary. Hey, as long as it doesn't go on for too long, I'll be okay with it. I'm just anxious for some real action already!

As it is, things seem to be moving slowly. Too damn slowly!

**End of Spoilers**

While I was away my good friend Sasha did this adorable picture of chibi Kyuubi Naruto for me. He's just so cute ... and at the same time strangely scary... It's those eyes!

http://sasha2999.deviantart.com/

Sasha was also kind enough to save me the link to this very hilarious Putfile of the sound of Naruto and Sasuke having sex - Naruto and Sasuke Should Lock Their Doors. I've gotta tell you, if you haven't heard it yet then you are really missing out! Listen to the whole thing. Oh, and be sure that your either very much alone, or you're wearing headphones, because... Well, you get it. Heh heh!

I frequent the Rahly_Furverted LJ Community, there is some truly spectacular art there ... And a whole lot of it is slashy! ^^ Last time I went, I was amazed (and I mean really it) to see a beautiful picture of Yondaime and baby Naruto by Red_Rahl. There is just so much power in this picture. But you have to see it to believe it - Precious to Me

Whew! That's it for this week. I'll be back again next week with another update with my opinion of chapter 322 and more... Perhaps a good healthy rant on something. Heh heh!

Later!

Ja Ne!

2006-08-11T02:07:00.000+01:00

It's A Summer-Themed Slideshow!

Disclaimer: None of this art is mine. It's just for sharing/viewing.

There's no manga chapter this week, so we're all a little peeved. On top of that, I'm going away for two weeks starting tomorrow. This means, of course, that I won't be updating here until after the 26th of August.

Avs by me, art not, use freely.

In case you're interested, my family and I are travelling to the North of England, the Lake District, where we'll be staying in a luxury caravan on a farm. I've been there many times before, so I know I'll have fun. ^^

Avs by me, art not, use freely.

When I return, I'll compose an update on the latest manga chapters as soon as I can. I'm going to miss my fandom, but some time away from it will probably do me some good. Hopefully, there'll be plenty of shiny new fanart and fanfiction awaiting my return. But for now...

ItaNaru Fansite

2006-08-05T00:23:00.001+01:00

Update: 03/05/08
Some decent ItaNaru links for any visitors to this page:
My ItaNaru photobucket album
A Japanese ItaNaru fansite
Fanfiction.Net ItaNaru Community
Fanfiction.Net Akai Kitsune Community
LiveJournal ItaNaru Rantplace

I apologise for the extreme lateness of this 'Thursday' update. My Internet connection was non-existant for most of Thursday, and I had my hair dyed a shocking red. o_0;; On top of that I had to move all of my stuff out of my bedroom yesterday. And today I've been decorating. So I've been busy.
Anyway, moving on...

**Spoilers for Ch318 of the Naruto Manga**

I really loved this chapter.

The training method that Kakashi devised for Naruto seems to be working brilliantly. It's practical, doesn't require much thought-power. Perfect for our fox-boy. By slashing the leaf in two with his wind chakra, he's taken the first step to mastering chakra nature manipulation. Next he'll be slashing a waterfall, after that he'll be ready to use wind chakra in combat, according to Kakashi.

This'll make for a good KakaNaru icon! Heh heh!

Of course, what really made chapter 318 so great was the hilarious Deidara/Tobi interaction. Poor Tobi keeps jokingly provoking Deidara into an explosive rage - literally.

It also turns out the the Sanbi wasn't a Jinchuuriki. It was merely a Biju, and a dumb one at that, unlike the Kyuubi. Thus it lacked the capacity to use it's power to its full potential, and was easily brought down.

I noticed how Kishi kept switching from Naruto's training to the Akatsuki rather abruptly. This is probably to emphasize the feeling of impending trouble. Akatsuki are getting close, they're progressing with their mission to collect the Biju swiftly. Naruto will once again be a target very soon.

It may just be my scanlation, but this just cracked me up.

Hidan and Kakuzu seem as argumentative as ever. Seriously, those guys just need to admit their deep feelings for each other and jump in the sack together! If nothing else, perhaps it'd calm that air of potent sexual frustration around those two.

Finally, the chapter ended on a more serious note. It turns out that Asuma and Shikamaru are a part of the "Twenty Small Brigades", and are going Akatsuki hunting. More specifically; Hidan and Kakuzu hunting. So the hunters are about to become the hunted. Oh, the sweet irony!

Overall, this chapter is the funniest in a long time. While I didn't get my angst, the Akatsuki hilarity more than made up for it. I hope the next chapter will be as good.

Incidentally, I've heard that there will be no manga chapter released next week.

**End of Spoilers**

This week I was going to do a rant on pairings and the typical type of bad fanfiction that is written about them. But I'm in too good a mood to rant effectively, so you'll just have to settle for a happy post. ^^

I've been going through a big SasuNaru stage recently. But I've finally grown a little bored with it, and have retreated back into ItaNaru, and my other favourite pairings, for my entertainment.

After searching unsuccessfully for any new ItaNaru fanart, I told my good friend Sasha about the lack of ItaNaru fansites. She did a search, and found a Japanese ItaNaru fansite .

An important thing to remember is that most Japanese fansites have affiliates. In other words; if you check the "links" section of each fansite, you are liable to find links to many other similar websites. So be sure to do so! I've found so many fansites through doing this.

Just so you know, I'm going away on holiday on Friday the 11th of August. I'll be away for two weeks, so I'll be skipping a couple of updates here. I'll try to cook up something special for when I return. Since there will be no manga chapter next week, I'll do a special update with a Summer Slideshow on Thursday.

Later!

Akatsuki Organization

2006-07-27T15:42:00.000+01:00

Hi there!

Back again, after another long summer week. There have been loads of thunderstorms here in the South-East of England, it's really pretty awesome.

**Naruto Chapter 317 Spoilers**

Things are getting interesting again. Naruto's training is progressing swiftly, and after seeking Asuma's help, he is now well on his way to controlling Wind natured chakra.

We finally saw Deidara and Tobi again! Tobi is as Obito-ish as ever, and Deidara appears to have re-attached at least one of his arms. Tobi is now a full-fledged member of Akatsuki, and was made to fight the Three Tails - Sanbi, which looks like a huge, turtle monster. Tobi, convinced (probably rightly so) that he was in way over his head, ran from the beast, allowing Deidara to step in and blast the creature with a fish molded of Explosive Clay.

This chapter provided a full colour picture of the entire Akatsuki Organization (excluding the deceased Sasori).

Click to Full-View

As you can see, the unknown member is the one with the blue head. The Akatsuki Leader is the man in the background, facing away. He has brownish hair! I absolutely adore the Akatsuki Leader, he's just so mysterious and hot, in a totally anonymous way. I may even be disappointed when his face is finally revealed. I personally love his formless, shadowed face.

By the way, if you haven't seen pokefreak's Akatsuki Organization picture, then you definitely should! It depicts the whole organization, standing in a line, with the Leader in the middle.

The Akatsuki members I like looking at most are probably Sasori, Zetsu, AL and Hidan. They each have something about them that draws me in. Though I am a big fan of the other members, I could stare at those four all day. Each for their different reasons:
Sasori - I love his (real) face. I love watching his expressions.
Zetsu - He looks so lonely. I like plantlife.
AL - He's just mysterious, and I love his ringed eyes and hair cut.
Hidan - There's something aristocratic and arrogant about his face. I'd like to see him furious.

The sole surviving Monk from the Fire Temple reached Konoha, and informed Tsunade of Akatsuki's movements. Tsunade is ready to take action, and wants to be sure that Hidan and Kakuzu do not leave the Fire Country alive. She decides to call on the newly formed Nijyuu Shoutai.

Click to Full-View

So this is the "Dawn of a Nightmare"... Let there be angst! Please, let there be angst!

**End of Spoilers**

This week I spent most of my computer time reading fanfiction, and updating my Fic Rec List. I still have some modifications to make, and will be adding another new story soon. New stories are marked like this - NEW!

I cleared the post up somewhat, as it was a mass of HTML, and was a real pain to update before. Now it's nice and simple again. I was really surprised with how useful people have found it. I've had comments and emails from five different people so far, thanking me for putting up the Rec List. So I guess my efforts weren't in vain! ^_^

I made this banner for it. It will appear in the sidebar. (-->)

Naruto is finally airing on UK television. The problem is, Jetix, the channel that airs it, has made further cuts to the English dubbed version. Honestly, what's good to show American kids should be fine to show here, yet Jetix seems to feel the need to shield viewers from Sandaime's pipe, shuriken and kunai. All references to killing have been cut, and overall it apparently doesn't make much sense as a story as a result of this editing. I say 'apparently' because I didn't bother to watch it after all, and neither did my brother. Just as well really, because I've seen nothing but critiscism of it.

No shruiken allowed on Naruto.
But Jetix air another show called Shuriken School!

Luckily, Jetix have only purchased the first 26 episodes. Honestly though, God knows how they'll get through the Wave Country Arc with the kind of cuts they're making. They obviously haven't even watched the episodes. Oh well, if Naruto's going to fail in the UK, then so be it. I'd really hate it to become something like Pokémon anyway... ^^;;

In other news, Paper Demon, a website for art and writing, is becoming more abundant in Naruto fanart. PaperDemon.com is a wonderful community for any artist or writer, the members there are very friendly, and the forums are fun. So check it out! The webmistress, BogusRed, is a really cool person, who actually listens to the suggestions of the members and uses them to improve the site.

The site is aimed at people over the age of 13, so the community there are mature and comment nicely. I'm a Forum Moderator for the site, and as such I visit every day, and I've recently noted that Naruto has grown more popular on the site, so if you have some Naruto fanart or fanfiction, sign up and post it there! I may even comment, especially if it's SasuNaru. ^_^

Speaking of fanart, the site of wamuu is a Japanese fansite with the cutest GaaNaru art I've ever seen! Just enter the site, then click on the little coloured mushrooms to view the different pictures.

Example of wamuu fanart!

That's it for this week. Join me again next week for another Naruto-packed update, with my opinion of Chapter 318... Which better have angst! Or at least the beginnings of it.

Pros and Cons of Manga

2006-07-20T22:09:00.000+01:00

Whew, it's been baking hot lately, and I've hardly had any time for my fandom, but I bring an update anyway.

**Chapter 316 Spoilers**

Not much to say on this chapter, because not much happened. The answer of Yamato's unique chakra nature was explained, Naruto began his Wind nature training with some quick results, and Asuma and Shikamaru had a freaky coversation over a game of Shogi.

I wonder who/what the "King" he was referring to is. Asuma is really starting to bug me with all this enigmatic crap. Why doesn't he just come right out and say it? "Konoha is King", or something clichéd like that.

I find it odd that for the first stage of his training, Naruto is ripping up leaves. He's tearing up the symbol of Konoha! Geez, I'm starting to sound like a crazy religious person... And am I the only one who has a weird feeling about Yamato helping Naruto suppress Kyuubi? It's like they're expecting something to happen with Kyuubi.

What caught my attention in this chapter wasn't actually a part of the chapter! It's the next chapter (or perhaps what's to come soon) "The Start of a Nightmare"-

This was taken from the final page of 316

It's not only in this Scanlation. In another Translation it says pretty much the same thing, but in greater detail:

Next time's Naruto is a violent commemorational presentation!!
The colored front page opens to "The Start of a Nightmare"!!
(Source)

God, I hope the next chapter is more entertaining than this one. Knowing Kishimoto, something huge will happen all of a sudden. At least I hope so. "The Start of a Nightmare" could mean we'd get a whole arc dedicated to Sumaru and Star Village. I seriously can't imagine the manga going to a worse hell than that.

**End of Spoilers**

I've been saving up the icons I've been making, but now I feel it's time to share them. Heh heh!

These icons are 150x150:

Avs by me, art not, use freely.

The chibi Naruto was drawn by my good friend Sasha (who I've been neglecting lately due to my hot and busy days). Be sure to check out Sasha's deviantART gallery, she specialises in the utterly adorable! ^^

The next three icons are 100x100:

Avs by me, art not, use freely.

So I've been hearing a lot about the end of fillers lately. Yes, I mean apart from the usual "EVIEDNCE fillerz r gong 2 end soon!!!!1!!11!!one" threads. I know it's tedious. Heck, I hate talking about the fillers, seeing as I don't even watch them anymore. I feel that I have better things to do with my time than watch my favourite show get its head flushed down the toilet once a week.

-_-;;

However, with the coming of the 3rd Naruto Movie on August 5th, fillers stand a good chance of finally ending. People were already predicting that they may end by the 200th episode, and now it seems that with the release of the movie at around that time, it may be the end of these terrible fillers. Though I don't dare to hope. I'm quite sure that fillers could go on for a few more years yet. After all, the makers of the anime seem to be having some kind of twisted, sadistic fun.

Well, at least we have the manga. I just feel sorry for those stubborn bastards who refuse to read it. There are certainly benefits to reading the manga.
But to be fair I've listed the pros and cons of the manga.

Pros:

Don't have to wait until 2069 for fillers to end
No boring filler arcs
No drawn-out death-glaring scenes
Characters look much better
The story is more direct and to-the-point
The story is totally canon (unlike the anime)

Cons:

No colour
No smexy Japanese voices
Fight scenes can sometimes be hard to follow
Lack of dramatic music
AMVs can't be made from just manga

So you see, it's good to read the manga first, then watch your favourite chapters come to life in colour and sound later on, when the anime catches up.

On another note; Naruto is coming to the UK tomorrow. The English dubbed episodes will be on Jetix (formerly Fox Kids), not Toonami. Personally, I don't think I'll be watching it, though I'm making sure that my younger brother gets to see it. The good thing about Naruto airing in the UK is that it will bring Naruto merchandise here too. I'd really like to buy a few things.

I don't want much!

Sorry this update is so late. I've been in town all day, and last night I was too tired to write much. Hopefully next week's update will be quicker. Have a nice week! ^^

World's Weekend

2006-07-14T04:08:00.000+01:00

Hello, Nest visitors!

I come bearing yet another Naruto-packed, long-ass update.

**Manga Chapter 315 Spoilers**

I liked this chapter. I didn't mind the lack of Naruto in the last chapter, because it had Akatsuki in it. But nevertheless, I'm glad he's back in 315. It's very interesting to know that with Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Naruto can learn much faster, due to the increased amount of brain power and experience.

It's about time, usuratonkachi. -_-;;

Though I'm rather surprised that Kishimoto so suddenly revealed Kakashi's estimate of Naruto's amount of chakra. So, with the Nine-Tails' murderous influence kept out of the way, Naruto could have 100 times the amount of chakra that Kakashi has.

Click to Full-View

It's been strongly hinted at throughout the story that Naruto has a vast amount of chakra, even without the Kyuubi. It seems that some loose ends are finally starting to be tied up. I've known from the start that Naruto was powerful, which is why I get rather annoyed when people immediately assume that he's weak and useless without Kyuubi. Unlike Gaara, who relies totally on his special sand during a fight, Naruto is a powerful Shinobi without the help of his Biju. And as Jiraiya said to Orochimaru: "Guts are what make a person strong. The courage to put your life on the line. He has that ... in spades."

It will be interesting to see what the rest of the fandom make of these recent developments. I wonder what excuses the Uchiha fanboys will come up with. Heh heh! To me, even though I love Sasuke dearly, he was strongest way back in the Forest of Death, when he finally took Naruto's advice, and fought all out against Orochimaru. But since the Curse Seal, and then Itachi, he's lost that fighting spirit that made him such an admirable Shinobi. And now, after three years away from his friends, he seems empty, devoid of any desire other than that of killing his brother.

It's good to see Yamato again too. I imagine that if this training goes on for several chapters, there will be quite a few KakaYama fans. Heh heh! Nah, to me Kakashi will always be single. He suits it anyway.

**End of Spoilers**

This week I've been addicted to the Yondaime Hokage. Yup, I know he's a dead guy, but he's just so damn handsome. He seems like a heroic figure of the past, but it really wasn't all that long ago that he was around. He's still a pivotal character in the series, his past actions having affected the lives of everyone in Konoha - especially Naruto. I'm a collector of fanart featuring Naruto and the Yondaime, though seeing them together makes me sad, thinking about what could have been.

I found a Japanese fanart site called World's Weekend which has many brilliant pictures of the Yondaime. Here's a small sample:-

The site has quite a few JiraYon pictures. I can overlook this easily, but I know that some people become violently enraged when they see a ship that isn't their own. So if the idea of some very light JiraYon fanart sends you into a killing rage - don't enter the site. ^_^

I wish I could tell the artist how much I love her work, but alas, I cannot write in Japanese. Heck, my computer doesn't even show Japanese text, I just see a load of '?????s' when I visit a Japanese website. Apparently there's a way to install the language, but since I can't read it anyway I don't see the point.

I just love Naruto's dumb face.

My God, I'm tired. It's like, 4 in the morning here in England right now, so I'm going to end this update here.

I'm still writing the SasuNaru One-Shot that I mentioned last week. I have the rest of it planned out, I just need to sit down and finish it. If all goes to plans, not only will it be my first shounen-ai, but it will be my first story with light lime (a bit of making out). It may be complete by next week, or perhaps I'll never complete it... ^^;;

Hope this post kept you entertained for a little while. There'll be another next week. Later!

Seme/Uke Wars

2006-07-07T17:10:00.000+01:00

This post contains both manga spoilers and SasuNaru fandom rantage. Don't feel like reading? Well, you can always just close the page. ^_^

**314 Spoilers**

An interesting chapter; some things finally seem to be coming together. And apparently Asuma actually is related to the Sandaime Hokage, he's only his freaking son! My God, Kishimoto is unpredictable. And here I really thought they just shared a common name...

Well, last week I didn't like Hidan, but this chapter has once again changed my opinion of him. I think I'm starting to like Kakuzu and Hidan. They're rather complex characters. And yay! We saw Zetsu! Didn't I tell you a few weeks ago that I had a weird Zetsu-craving going on? Now I'm happy. Zetsu is so very creepy and cute.

Aww, poor Zetsu gets sad when there's just one body... o_O

I can't really guess at the Jutsu Kakashi plans to teach Naruto anymore than I could last week. Unless I've read a flawed Scanlation, or I missed something, I can't see any further clues to what the technique could be. Kishi sure does love to drag things out.

But the highlight of the entire chapter was, for me, the evidence that further supports the very awesome Tengu Theory. If you haven't read it yet, then I'm rather disappointed in you, child. Get your ass over to NF and read it, or you won't understand the rest of these 314 spoilers.

Click to Full-View, Please

I'm really pleased that this wonderfully dark and brilliantly planned theory is coming into play. Kishimoto is truly a genius of storytelling.

**End of Spoilers**

I come bearing a rant this time. It's about seme/uke wars in the SasuNaru fandom. At first I wasn't bothered by them. I know what I prefer and that's all that matters to me.

Lately, however, it seems that I'm continually being assailed by post after post in support of "seme!Naruto" or "seme!Sasuke". And I can tell you now, I'm fucking sick of it. I don't care how detailed your rants are, or how overwhelming your evidence is. I like what I like, and I don't give a shit about how wrong you think I am. Really, I'm trying to enjoy my fandom, and these losers keep trolling and causing flame wars on every LJ Community and Forum I visit. I know I can't stop them, and I have no inclination to. Let them bitch about how everyone should love "seme!Naruto" or "seme!Sasuke" if they feel they need to. From now on though, I'm avoiding forums (with the exception of theory threads) and I'm ignoring all pairing rants posted on SasuxNaru Comm and elsewhere.

100x100, avs by me, art not, use freely.

It's not a difficult thing to grasp, is it? If "seme!Sasuke" or "seme!Naruto" does absolutely nothing for you, it doesn't make it wrong. It doesn't make it "non-canonical". It makes it fucking boring to you. So leave it to the fans of it, while you enjoy what you enjoy in peace.

Personally, I find this whole seme/uke wars business to be utterly ridiculous and rather frustrating. It creates a rift between SasuNaru and NaruSasu fans. We all ship the same two boys, don't we? Why can't we all be unified ~~against SasuSaku~~?

I know that there are many people who don't have seme/uke preferences at all, and enjoy all aspects of the SasuNaru fandom. I'm afraid to say that I am not one of them. Having Naruto on top does nothing for me, it's not my fault, my body just refuses to react to it. But I by no means dislike NaruSasu. On the contrary, I find NaruSasu fanart amusing. But I'm not ... ehem, 'engaged' by it as I am with SasuNaru.

So please, shall we all try to cut down on these pointless arguments? No-one is ever going to back down from "seme!Sasuke" or "seme!Naruto" if that's what turns them on, so stop crapping on other people's fun. If you don't like or agree with something, don't view it. It's as simple as that.

Coloured by black-straycat, sillyness added by me.

I don't give a flying pig's ass if some 12-year-old out there is writing a terrible fanfic about Sasuke wearing a frilly pink dress and Naruto giving birth to triplets, because I know for a fact that I'm never going to read it. But does the thought of someone writing it make you angry? Angry enough to rant about it? Does the thought of someone reading it make you even angrier? If so, seek professional help, because this is only a fucking fandom, and if you need to attend anger management sessions over it then you really are Narutarded.

Whew! End of rant. That's a lot off my chest. It's just all of this negative stuff I've been seeing lately, that's what makes me angry rather than the crap they're ranting about.

Oh, I almost forgot, I've been working on a SasuNaru One-Shot. It's my first ever shounen-ai story, and it seems to be going well so far. I'm afraid it's an AU, but I keep them very much in character and since it's only a One-Shot there's not much development to the environment anyway. I hope to finish it soon, but please don't be surprised if I drop the project, because it happens so often with me. I lose the flow of a story and give up. I just find it very difficult to finish a story if I find it unsatisfactory at any point. I tend to be very critical of my own work.

This week I have Sasuke wallpaper! *le gasp*

I'd like to add an apology for my earlier bad language, in the rantage. I know that it's rather unattractive, but I simply felt the need to emphasize some points without using annoying italics.

Hope you've enjoyed this post, be sure to check back next Thursday or Friday, depending on when the hell they decide to release the next manga chapter. Peace out!

SasuNaru Slideshow

2006-06-30T15:59:00.000+01:00

I live! Really sorry for failing to update yesterday, I had a horrendous 24-hour bug. Seriously, I woke up at 7am in the morning dry heaving and unable to move. But I'm all better now! In fact, I feel great!

Enjoy! ^_^

Ah, there's nothing like SasuNaru to start a blog update.
Disclaimer: I take no credit for the art.
Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto.

**Chapter 313 Spoilers**

When I read it first time yesterday I was so ill that I just didn't understand what the fuck had happened to the Jinchuuriki girl. I mean, one second she's gone into her full Nibi stage and is ready to kick some Hidan butt, and the next she's bleeding profusely and hanging from a wall by by a stake through her hands. I was too sick to take much of this in, and thus I can't bring myself to enjoy this chapter very much, even when I re-read it now.

I soon realised that the people on NF were just as confused as me. But why are so many people assuming she's dead? o_O Yugito has to be alive for the Biju to be extracted from her body. Also, there are some little lines around her body which indicate trembling. She's badly injured, but most certainly alive.

I'm really not sure if she will play a sigificant role in upcoming events. Kishi is just too unpredictable.

So it seems like their next target is Naruto. Strange, I thought Kisame and Itachi were assigned to Naruto. Maybe they've already captured two other Jinchuuriki. And are Kakuzu and Hidan taking Yugito with them to Fire Country? Or will they organise another Biju extraction before leaving for Konoha?

Pissed Off Jinchuuriki Déjà Vu.
Coloured by Batanga

Hidan is some kind of religious freak. I think I like Kakuzu better, he's far more straightforward. Hidan is kind of annoying. Those two don't seem to like each other at all, they're rude to each other, unlike Deidara and Sasori or Itachi and Kisame.

And then there's that weird thing going on with Shikamaru and Asuma. God, I was pissed when Kurenai interrupted Kakashi and Asuma's conversation. My opinion of her has irrationally dropped as a result of this. And no, I feel no shame in admitting it.

**End of Spoilers**

I hope some of you found my Fic Rec List useful. I spent quite a long time on it. I'll keep it up-to-date, but if you notice any broken or incorrect links, please inform me so I can fix them.
You can check back on the Rec List using the link in the sidebar -->

100x100, avs by me, art not. Use freely.

Not much to add to that, really. I've shared all of my favourite fanfics, my opinion of the latest chapter, the icons I made, and the slideshow. So I guess I'll leave you with a picture of my current desktop.

It's KakaIru! *le gasp* I usually avoid this couple because it weirds me out, but this picture is just magnificent. So brilliant that I made it my wallpaper. Notice the Yondaime's robe is wrapped around baby Naruto. So tragic and beautiful. *sniffle* Sorry, thinking about Yondaime always makes me sad. I sure hope Naruto finds out about his father one of these days. I can't wait to see his reaction. Heh heh!

Naruto Rec List

2006-06-26T13:54:00.004+01:00

Naruto Fanfiction
Recommendations List

Please note that everything I say within this list are my own, personal opinions. You may not agree with my views, but no two people are ever going to be in total harmony. So please don't bother to take offence.

A Prior Warning:
Most of the fanfics on this list are yaoi/shounen-ai stories. In other words they contain boy/boy love and/or sex.
Each adult fanfic has an appropriate rating warning.
Don't like, don't read, don't flame.
Because we all know flamers are closet gays.
Thank you! ^_^

One-Shots

Parallels by thrones
Pairing: GaaNaru
Warnings: Implied Sex
Spoilers: Up to Chapter 281
Summary: After Gaara's resurrection Naruto can't sleep the night before they return to Konoha and pays Gaara visit.
Nettie's Note: A powerful and well written story. This is one of the better GaaNaru fics I've read.

Callow Lamb by firefly
Pairings: Hidan/Female OC
Warnings: Darkfic
Spoilers: Up to Chapter 312
Summary: Fair hair had shone through the darkness, slicked back and framing a slender, pale face. His lips were quirked almost mischievously, a contrast to his bright eyes, and she found herself wondering how a grown man could look so…angelic.
Nettie's Note: A dark look into the life of Hidan, in all his religious glory and angelic good looks. Marvellously written, this story is bound to haunt your thoughts, and change your perspective of Hidan. Yes, the female character is an original, but it makes the story all the better. Hidan fans (like me) will adore this story.

How to Recognise an Uchiha by WolfPilot06
Pairings: Implied Perverted Uchiha-ness
Warnings: Crack & OOC-ness
Summary: Naruto's guide to recognizing an Uchiha: from clothing to behavior to freaky bloodline limits, Naruto begs you to remember all these tips to help protect his virtue!
Nettie's Note: A crackfic that's actually funny. It's a short and amusing read.

How to get into Someone's Pants by Gonrie
Pairing: SasuNaru
Summary: Some dating advice from the Ice Prince himself.
Nettie's Note: From Sasuke's POV, this fic is funny indeed. Poor oblivious Naruto...

Surrender by Triste
Pairing: ItaNaru
Warnings: Major Nose-Bleed-Inducing Smuttage (Sex)
Summary: Itachi has hot sex with Naruto when Jiraiya is away.
Nettie's Note: Awesome sex scenes and brilliant writing. What more could you ask from a One-Shot? If you like ItaNaru, then this is definitely the fic for you.

Darkest Desires by Triste (Sequel to Surrender)
Pairing: ItaNaru
Warnings: Heavily-Implied Sex
Summary: Funny how one night can suddenly change everything and turn your whole world upside down. Sasuke learns the truth about Naruto and how Itachi managed to make his way into his life.
Nettie's Note: Sasuke watches in disbelief as his older brother screws his best friend. Okay, that was crude, but the fic isn't, so read it. Unlike Surrender, Darkest Desires does not have a full sex scene, it's far more implied, but just as good.

If it Makes You Happy by Triste
Pairings: NaruSasu & NaruNaru
Warnings: Make-Out Session
Summary: Sasuke has a rather unusual request...
Nettie's Note: Certainly an entertaining read. It's also a very well-written fic. I do like some seme Naruto every now and then. Heh heh!

Public Bathing by rosesareblue
Pairings: SasuNaru
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke go to a public bathhouse. But is it normal for a certain blonde ninja to ask his certain raven haired teammate if he can ... touch?
Nettie's Note: This fic may make Naruto seem very odd and OOC at the beginning, but as the fic progresses you start to get the idea of what's going on. This is a very amusing read.

Pet Him Backwards by FlamesEmbrace
Pairing: SasuNaru
Warnings: Sex
Summary: You only hurt the ones you love especially if you only love the one you hate. Tales of sparring matches and other things in the rain.
Nettie's Note: Ah, the sweet smell of SasuNaru rivalry. I just love those fics where they are in character and actually fight. Pet Him Backwards is one of the best. Any SasuNaru fan will thoroughly enjoy this.

Crushed Violets by orchard_chan
Pairings: NaruSaku & Lightly Implied SasuNaru
Warnings: Slight Huggy/Kissy/Gropey
Summary: He limped back to Konoha, trying not to think about Obito, and how deaths on his team came so easily; he tried not to think about how he’d failed them again. But that was hard to do with Sasuke running in the wrong direction, Naruto’s blood decorating the underbrush, and Sakura screaming to God in his arms.
Nettie's Note: I know, I don't ever get around to reading much hetfiction these days. But I did find time in my busy shounen-ai schedule to read this very romantic NaruSaku One-Shot. Ehem... It's actually pretty much the only het Naruto fic I've read, but I enjoyed it very much, so it's going on this list.

~*~

Multi-Parts
Please note that I do like High-School fics. I happen to be a firm believer that any idea, no matter how ridiculous, can make for a brilliant story if it is written well enough.

In-Progress
(Meaning if you read then REVIEW!)

Winter Release by StarsOfYaoi
Pairings: ItaNaru, some ShinoKiba & NejiShika
Warnings: Sex Scenes
Spoilers: Some post time-skip spoilers regarding Akatsuki.
Summary: Naruto’s identity is discovered and fearing rejection, he runs away, only to be captured by Akatsuki; he’s tortured because Kyuubi can’t be removed from him, but slowly, things start to change, mostly because of a certain someone that can’t help but respect the blond teen’s willpower. And when Naruto gets rescued, it’s only a matter of time before he is forced to decide.
Nettie's Note: I really love this story because it has a proper plot, and is built-up over many chapters. The eventual ItaNaru smut is well worth the wait.

White, Surge Red by Sugahlei
Pairing: SasuNaru
Warnings: Sex Scenes, Some Gore
Summary: Sasuke does a bad thing. Everything changes, Naruto doesn’t care …but then, he’s got a different reason to live now.
Nettie's Note: One of my favourite SasuNaru fics. Insane Sasuke is written very powerfully. And the complicated relationship that develops between Naruto and Sasuke is bound to draw you in.

London Calling by Red Right Ankle
Pairing: SasuNaru
Warnings: AU, Football-centric
Summary: When Japan's top football player begins receiving anonymous death threats, London born investigative journalist Uzumaki Naruto finds he must return to his birth city and get to the bottom of the mystery... before it is too late.
Nettie's Note: Shows promise, much promise. This fic is based around the world of football. The characterization is very interesting also. A refreshing read, for sure. Not sure if there's going to be any smuttage yet, because it's only a few chapters in. A brilliant story, even if you don't like or understand football (like me). May be down for revision for some time.

The Ultimate Uke Syndrome by rosesareblue
High-School Fic
Pairings: NejiNaru, SasuNaru, GaaNaru & ShikaTem
Warnings: AU, Basketball-centric
Summary: Naruto suffers a pheromone disorder that triggers nosebleeds, X-rated fantasies, and bodily excitations from even the most stoic semes around. So the big question is: if Naru's going to be uke, who will be crowned the Ultimate Seme?
Nettie's Note: I know the title is a little strange, but give it a chance; this is a very good fanfic for several reasons. The writing is compelling. Naruto is kept in character despite this fic being an AU. There are some very powerful dramatic moments and heart-rending scenes, as well as many hilarious parts. Personally, I'm rooting for Neji in this fanfic, because of how close he is to Naruto in comparison to Gaara and Sasuke.
Extra!: Ultimate Uke Doujinshi

One of the Cool Kids by firefly
Spoilers: Up to Chapter 317
Summary: Before Tobi can be recruited into the Akatsuki, he must face the monumental task of passing an initiation test administered by each of the other members. Here's hoping he does.
Nettie's Note: Cracktastic. Not only is it written superbly, it's a totally hilarious story, with a new task for Tobi in each chapter. If you love Akatsuki and crack, then this story is a must-read.

Kiss Me Deadly by Aweshum
High-School Fic
Pairings: SasuNaru
Warnings: AU
Summary: "One kiss. Everyday. For the rest of the school year. Those are my terms, Uzumaki."
Nettie's Note: Very, very good. The writing is brilliant; Sasuke and Naruto's complicated relationship is wonderfully written.

NEW!
They Are Just the Cleaners by Aikage
Pairings: SasuNaru (I assume, it's not specified)
Warnings: AU
Summary: Rookie FBI Agent Uzumaki, along with fellow new agents, must bring down a notorious gang including a raven haired hitman. But not everything goes according to plan...
Nettie's Note: An interesting story and nicely written. The plot certainly strays from the boring norm that most fanfics comply to. I'm keeping my eye on this one; be sure to review it if you read it!

Complete

This Place is a Prison by tsubaki-hana
Pairing: ItaNaru
Spoilers: Up to 260 (about)
Summary: Strongly then kindly forcing a decision. Itachi will do anything to complete his mission.
Nettie's Note: A beautifully-written story about Naruto's depression as he waits to die at the hands of Akatsuki, and the strange relationship he develops with the silent Uchiha Itachi. The writing style is just perfect for this story, though those who are prone to confusion may not enjoy this. It's a complicated fanfic, but well worth the read. Just be sure not to skip even a single paragraph.

Skinless by Shivvlan
Pairings: SasuNaru
Summary: It’s said that beauty is only skin deep and that to truly know a person you have to look beneath the flesh to the soul within the casing.
Nettie's Note: Read this fanfic and you're liable to fall in love with Sasuke. He is pretty much the main character of this story, and is kept in such perfect character that I almost wept. Okay, I didn't almost weep, but I was damn pleased. The fight scenes are simply amazing; you can really visualize Sasuke in action. An absolute must-read, even if you despise shounen-ai. There are only very light hints of SasuNaru affection. It has a sequel that is also very good - Underneath the Underneath. The sequel has far more SasuNaru.

Spiral Falling by BeccaAmon
High-School Fic
Pairings: SasuNaru & Others
Warnings: AU, Sex Scenes
Summary: Finding companionship and maybe more from your most hated rival. Falling willingly with arms wide open.
Nettie's Note: Very awesome. It has a well-written plotline and brilliant sex scenes. This is a fic that grabs you from the beginning, I wish there were more stories that kept you interested all the way through as this one does.
Extra!: Spiral Falling Fanart

Surface Flaws by ineXpressible
Pairing: SasuNaru, Implied SaiNaru
Spoilers: Up to Chapter 309
Summary: Naruto had always thought that when Sasuke returned to Konoha things would continue from where they’d left off. When they don’t, he ends up wishing he were as invisible as he felt. It seems for once his wish may just come true.
Nettie's Note: A wonderfully written story, with some very creepy moments. The complications between Sasuke and Naruto are not only believable, but expressed almost perfectly.

~*~

That's it for now. I hope this list proves useful to you. Be sure to check back on this list for updates once in a while. New stories are marked like this, above the title - NEW! Have fun reading, and remember to review! It's really the least a reader can do, and it means the world to the writer.

Details concerning Disclaimers:
Series Disclaimer: NARUTO belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Fanwork Disclaimer: None of the fics recommended here are by me. I just made the list.
Info for the Authors: If you are the author of one of the fics on this Rec List, and you wish for me to remove your story from it, please e-mail* me and I will respectfully oblige.

Notice any broken or incorrect links? If so, please tell me by either commenting on this post, or e-mailing* me. Thanks!

* uzumaki_nettie@yahoo.co.uk

List Last Edited: February 15th, 2008

The Tengu Theory

2006-06-22T17:00:00.000+01:00

It's a beautiful Thursday evening here in England, and I figure it's time for a long-ass update to this blog.

**Spoilers for Chapter 312**

Today I got impatient so I downloaded the LQ Scanlation from MangaHelpers.

It's not a bad chapter. I'm quite happy to see Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji and Asuma again. And their introduction to Sai was amusing. That poor boy really is socially inept! And it seems like those SaiIno fans finally got some proper canon evidence. Heh heh! Good for them.

I was disappointed about the lack of information about Naruto's training. Though from the clues it does seem like he'll be learning something big, like the Yondaime's Hiraishin no Jutsu, with the help of Kakashi's Mangekyou Sharingan to slow time. That's just a personal theory though, I'm not sure that it will happen. Though I feel there is plenty of evidence to support this. There's even some obscure evidence on earlier manga chapter covers, where Naruto is holding many kunai, which are used in the Hiraishin technique:-

And the ending was interesting. Two new Akatsuki members, two new freaks to add to the show, Kakuzu and Hidan. They are after a female Jinchuuriki, the Two-Tails (or Nibi). The Two-Tails is reputed to be the Nekomata (cat). And it seems that Tsunade has been informed of the whereabouts of them, and will be taking action.

Can't wait for the crack on these two.
EDIT: LOL I should've known - Hidan Lookalike

Makes me wonder though, if Naruto is supposed to be training with Kakashi, who's going to go after these new Akatsuki guys? It seems odd that Naruto may not be going on this mission.

**End of 312 Spoilers**

I'm going to be adding some new videos to the AMV Archive, so be sure to check them out. I highly recommend every video I put in there.

I completely forgot about to add this in my last update; my friend, Sasha, has made a Photobucket gallery for LeeGaa. If you're a LeeGaa fan, check it out, there is much cute and brilliant art there - LeeGaara Album.

I also found another Japanese fanart site with adorable Naruto fanart - Haruka. This artist is a girl after my own heart; totally Uzumaki-centric shipping. Heh heh!

An example of the art at this site. You may be familiar with it.

Now for the obligatory rant: While I was browsing NF, I came across some crazy NaruHina fans talking about the 'filler evidence' of their favourite ship, I was infuriated. Seriously, it takes a lot to really piss me off, but these people were just too much. I mean 'filler evidence'? The very phrase is enough to make my blood boil. Have they lost their minds? Kishimoto has little to nothing to do with the anime, and certainly not the fillers. Anything within the fillers is no more canon than fanfiction. Very bad fanfiction. I've vowed to add anyone else who even mentions 'filler evidence' to my NF Ignore List - permanently. That's how angry I am at those baka NaruHinatards.

Don't get me wrong, I actually find canon NaruHina interaction to be extremely cute, though I don't believe they will end up together. I just don't respect people who try to lord their ship over everyone else's using fillers, for God's sake. That's just wrong. Luckily, anyone who's anyone isn't having any of this 'filler evidence' crap. I don't take anything that happens in the fillers seriously, and nobody should, because it's not part of the story.

This adorable riceball was made by Hinata in a filler ep.
It's cute, but not canon.

Speaking of NF, last week I was linked to the best damn theory I've ever read. It's called The Dark History of Uchiha: The Bloodline of Tengu, and it is definitely a must-read. Perfectly consructed with clear paragraphs and manga & outside evidence. Read it and be amazed if you're up-to-date on the manga. Personally, I believe that this theory is on the right track, but there will obviously be some things that Kishimoto will do differently. After all, we never can quite predict what will happen next.

That's all for this update. I have finally started on that fic rec list I promised. Hopefully it'll be up sometime around this weekend. I've also made a special SasuNaru slideshow to go with it. So expect an extra post before Thursday. And I apologize in advance if it is not up before next Thursday, but if so you can expect it very soon afterwards. Remember, a good rec list takes time! ^^

Now I'm off to Japflap to download the high quality Scanlation of 311. Later!

10-RANKAI & Ships

2006-06-15T19:07:00.000+01:00

Hello, all! This week I've been so incredibly busy, but I bring you a big-ass update anyway. I have lots to share that I've been saving up.

Chapter 311 is out on NarutoFan. It's a very awesome chapter, indeed. Oh yeah, I'll be using the below spoiler warning from now on. It clarifies things a bit.

**Spoilers for 311**

The first part of the chapter with Sai in all his robot-boy cuteness was very refreshing. And it was especially interesting to see teen Sakura and Naruto in civvies! Heh heh! And the part where Naruto reflects on his recent meeting with Sasuke is just so heart-rending. Poor Naruto... That flashback scene and Naruto's expression will make for a good AMV one day. But the coolest part was the last page:-

Click to View Full-Size

It got my blood going, I was so excited. Sorry, but that's what that blond kid does to me. Heh heh! I can't wait to see what training he'll be doing. And no, I don't think he'll be working out in a Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

**End of Spoilers**

100x100, avs by me, art not. Use them freely.

I'm still working on that Fanfiction Rec List... Okay, so maybe I'm not. But I'll be starting on it very soon ... promise!

In the mean time, enjoy this Japanese gallery site, mostly devoted to Sasuke - 10-RANKAI. There are so many brilliant pictures on this site. If you browse you're liable to become an even bigger Sasuke-fangirl; I know I did. After visiting this site Sasuke officially became my second favourite character. My fave is Naruto himself, if you couldn't tell! ^^;;

If you read this blog often, you'll know that I'm a big fan of Team Seven, and of SasuNaru and NaruSaku. I dislike SasuSaku, mostly because I see it as not only incredibly boring but very unrealistic. Let's face it, people; Sasuke only barely saw Sakura as a friend, she'll never be more to him than that.

As for Sai, the new addition to Team Seven, well I think I'm starting to like SaiSaku. They're so adorable together, though I'm still quite certain that Sakura is eventually going to get with Naruto. Still, if I was a hard-core SasuNaru fan, then I'd be tempted to ship Sakura out of the way with Sai. It never quite pleases me when she's shoved off with Lee, just because he has a slight crush on her. But SaiSaku is genuinely sweet, in my opinion.

I'm also a NejiNaru, NaruGaa/GaaNaru, ItaNaru, and yes, KakaNaru fan. But with KakaNaru it isn't romance that I like, I just love how adorable their interaction is. I don't think I could bring myself to read KakaNaru smut. It's like GaiLee, entertaining in the father-son, teacher-student kind of way.
My favourite pairings that do not include Naruto are probably LeeGaa, SaiSaku, KibaHina, ShikaTem and ChouIno.
My favourite crack pairings are ItaDei, ItaKisa, KisaGai and GaiKaka.

Well, that's it for now. If you want reading material, then here's a link to my FanFiction.Net profile - nettieneko on FF.Net. I only have two little One-Shots published there, but you will find some very good yaoi fics in my favourites.

Later!

Sai

2006-06-09T23:26:00.000+01:00

First off, this update was delayed due to the lateness of manga chapter 310. ¬_¬ It was way into Friday before it was released, for us here in England anyway. And I only have free time on my hands to compose updates in the evening.

**Spoilers for Chapter 310**

I thought 310 was a sweet chapter. I'm happy for Sai, finally having found happiness in his new friends. I'm also glad for the whole NaruSaku 'we'll get strong together' thing. That's what I love about NaruSaku, Sakura has found someone she can depend on and stay together with in Naruto. I just find that very cute.

I know for a fact that some people are going to be pissed off at the 'sappiness' of the latest chapter. Personally though, I think Kishi handled it perfectly. Naruto's angst and self-loathing only lasted for a single chapter, and Sai has become a full-fledged good guy. It wasn't dragged-out and boring, it was expressed powerfully in a few simple pages.

**End of Spoilers**

Which brings me to the main topic of today's update; Sai. He pissed off the more serious Naruto fans by denouncing said character's penis. He pissed off the Sasuke-lovers by 'taking his place' on Team Kakashi. And he annoyed people in general by his rude and witty comments, and depthless personality.

Personally, I had no particular opinion of Sai at the beginning of this manga arc. The reactions his clever remarks evoked from Naruto kept me amused, and I found his mysterious drawings rather cute. It was only after he approached Orochimaru, with no regard to his own life, that I began to pity him. As his past was unveiled it became obvious that he'd led a difficult life. An orphan raised as a warrior, purged of all emotion, and unable to understand the complexities of the people around him. But as he was developed it became clear that poor Sai was really just like a friendly robot boy, trying desperately to decipher human emotion.

That's why I'm glad that he's befriended Naruto and Sakura, and hasn't been callously killed-off. He really deserves some happiness.

My predictions for the next chapter; I really have no clue. It looks like Yamato, Naruto, Sakura and Sai are off on another mission. I have a feeling that we'll be straight into something significant again. Well, whatever happens we can rest assured it's going to be good.

Poor Mr. Zetsu, he looks so lonely. He needs a hug! ... Volunteers?

... I don't know why but I really want to see Zetsu in the manga again. o_O He's not even my favourite Akatsuki guy, but I just have a Zetsu-craving going on.

For the past week I haven't really been at my computer much, due to the hot weather and some new duties. The summer's really here now. So I haven't found anything in the way of fanfiction and fanart. However, all is not lost, as I do have some things to reccommend.

For fanfiction; white, surge red by Sugahlei. Basically, this is a story about the complex character's of Naruto and Sasuke. Sugahlei keeps them in perfect character, all the way down to Sasuke's (smexy) near-insanity. This is the best damn SasuNaru fanfic I've come across, and I want it updated, dattebayo! So read it and review supportively, and maybe the update will be released sooner. The last update was late last January, but in my desperation I've visited the author's blog and she's apparently still working on it. So let's all show our support!

If you're not unnessarily completely opposed to browsing Japanese websites, then check out Keroyon-Jima's Website. There is a lot of brilliant Naruto fanart there. Just keep clicking. Heh heh!

So, to make up for the lateness of this update (it's been more than a week! Ack! >_<) I've decided to work on a fanfiction rec list. And I might add in some good Naruto galleries too. I have no idea when it'll be up, but it won't be a regular post on Thursday; it'll be an extra. Now I wish you a prosperous week, and please enjoy this SasuNaruSai video by shuqra that I've just been linked to - Wedding Day in Otogakure.

Avatars & Doujinshi

2006-06-01T18:53:00.000+01:00

22 September 2007 - Doujinshi download link fixed for you!

**The Following Post Contains Spoilers For Chapter 309 Of The Naruto Manga!**

Woohoo! What an awesome chapter! Sasuke's conversation with Kyuubi was very interesting. And my God! Kyuubi gives a damn about SasuNaru?! I wasn't expecting that at all! Geez, all of those corny SasuNaru fanfics where Kyuubi offers love advice to Naruto, and they call each other 'Kit' and 'Kyuu-san'... They now have canon evidence! o_O

Listen to the Kyuubi, Sasuke! He's so damn right!

Makes me wonder though... Perhaps, rather than Kyuubi meaning Sasuke would miss Naruto if he killed him. Kyuubi was referring to the horror that would befall Sasuke if he achieved Mangekyou Sharingan? It's a long shot, but worth considering.

And what did I tell you about Sasuke, Orochimaru and Kabuto running off, and leaving the dispirited team behind? Ha ha haa! It just had to happen. Oh well, I wonder what will happen next. Naruto isn't going to give up on ~~his love~~ Sasuke. Ah, poor Sakura. She must be feeling pretty useless right now. She didn't get a chance to do shit. Let's hope she takes out her frustrations on an Akatsuki member or two. Heh heh! I think that they'll be heading back to Konoha now. They have no further leads, and they have to report Danzou's treachery to Tsunade. I wonder how all of that will go... Well, at least I can relax in my wait for the next chapter, now that nothing immediately pressing is going on. Gosh, I've been pulling my hair out in anticipation of the past few chapters.

I made these while I was very bored. They're nothing to brag about, but I'm fairly pleased with them, nonetheless. Anyone can use them freely, I really don't care about comments or credit. Speaking of credit; I take none for the art used in these avatars. All three are 100x100 and were made in IrfanView and MS Paint. Very basic.

I downloaded a file of 30 or so SasuNaru doujinshi last week. I read the cutest little story ever! It's actually more of a NaruSasu than SasuNaru, but that hardly matters, as it doesn't have any smut. Basically, Naruto has been shrunk to a tiny size by some jutsu, and Sasuke agrees to look after him until it wears off. Needless to say, cuteness ensues! The drawing style is wonderful, and it has some hilarious moments too. As well as a little romance at the end.

Tiny Naruto attempts to defeat Sasuke with the only jutsu he can now use; Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!

But there are also brief serious moments. Like after Naruto hides from Sasuke, behind a picture frame:-

You can download this doujinshi, along with many others here - http://www.sendspace.com/file/d6133e
Or here -
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VE5EYB4V
(Links have been fixed!)

I hope you enjoy! Please remember that I did not make or translate these pages. I just found them in various places which no longer seem to exist on the web. In an effort to keep them in circulation within the fandom, I am offering downloads here.

So I was on this French Naruto website the other day, NCT, and I found this coloured manga page:-

I Babelfished the "ce mec", it means "this guy", predictably.

I like this page very much, because in the anime we didn't get to see Sasuke's reaction to Kyuubified Naruto. Sasuke just saw Naruto rise from the water, the red chakra swirling up around him, and then he was punched in the face and spent the rest of Naruto's transformation cradling his nose in pain. And after Naruto had achieved the One-Tailed form, there wasn't any time for Sasuke to get a good look at Naruto, in his demonic glory, as the fight started again right away.

On a totally unrelated note, I hope there will be some more NaruSaku in the manga soon. Now that Sasuke's buggered off, I want to rub some NaruSaku in the faces of those SasuSaku fans! Muahahaha! Of course, I have nothing against SasuSaku fans in particular, but those who actively hate on NaruSaku deserve a thrashing.

Harassed Sasuke

2006-05-25T19:07:00.000+01:00

I'm in a good mood so I made this random Naruto slideshow in celebration. Enjoy! It has a few shounen-ai kind of pictures in it. I couldn't resist adding two of my favourite ItaNaru pics.

The Following Paragraph Contains Manga Spoilers For Chapter 308!

Awesome! So Sai saved Naruto. Well, at least it wasn't Yamato. That would've been a bit of a boring rescue in my opinion. And another of those rare conversations with the Kyuubi was the last thing I'd expected from this chapter! And my God! Sasuke is inside Naruto's mind?! o_O So he knows about the Kyuubi, but what's he going to do about it? And why the hell did he poke it in the nose?! At first I figured that it looked like he was trying to keep Kyuubi away from Naruto... It's certainly a turn-around from when the Kyuubi was using Sasuke as bait for Naruto to unleash the demon. Aww, I feel sorry for Sakura. She didn't get to do jack shit, even though she tried. It would be so awesome if she surprised everyone and could fight Sasuke one on one, even for a little while. And so much for Yamato, huh? Heh heh! So no snake action from Sasuke yet. Maybe in the next chapter? Gosh, I can't wait now!

This week I've been very lucky indeed when it comes to finding good fanfiction. I found a SasuNaru fanfic recommendations site - C.O.L.L.I.D.E.! It has links to some very good stories. Currently I'm reading Underneath the Underneath by Shivvlan. It is sequel to Skinless, which has some of the best fight scenes I've ever read. Seriously, this story strongly reminded me of Sasuke's fight against Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, it's that good. And Naruto and Sasuke's relationship in these two fanfics is a very believable one. Both are kept in perfect character.

My desktop at the moment.

And now for a rant. It's about those (very insensitive) Sasuke fans, who say that Naruto and Sakura are being "stupid and selfish" in their pursuit of their lost comrade. Some unbelievably moronic people say that since Sasuke has stated several times that he doesn't want to be followed, his team-mates should respect his wishes and leave him be. Hellooo! You people do know what the hell Sasuke has gotten himself into, don't you? Not only has he betrayed Konoha, and his friends, he's willing to give up his body to Orochimaru! That guy is going to take over your beloved Sasuke-kun's body, and turn him into a pasty-faced child-molester! Of course Naruto and Sakura want to save him from this fate! They're his friends and team-mates, for crying out loud! Seriously, anyone who would let a friend throw away his/her life, and not even attempt to stop them is the worst kind of person imaginable! Like Naruto said; "Someone who doesn't even save a friend can hardly become Hokage."
Having said that, harassed Sasuke does make for good crack.

Poor Sasuke! He just wants to be left alone! XD

Conflict!

2006-05-19T13:00:00.000+01:00

I wanted to post this last night, but I got carried away with something else, I'm afraid. There are a lot of manga spoilers in this post. I've decided that I have theories I need to get off my chest, and where better to do so than here? So if you haven't caught up with the manga, I'll kindly ask you to do so before reading this post. Thanks!

I'm feeling colourful.

Today I want to discuss the Team 7 love triangle. Yes, that's right, love triangle. It's been there since the beginning; Sakura obsesses on Sasuke, Naruto loves Sakura, Sasuke's interested in Naruto. Even Masashi Kishimoto has admitted to it. When asked why he added the accidental SasuNaru kiss scene, he replied; "By having this encounter, it was easier to set up the love triangle: Sakura, who had intended to be the first one to kiss Sasuke, has it stolen by her rival Naruto, Sasuke and Naruto are rivals, so there’s added tension there. And so on and so forth."

So there are SasuSaku shippers, and SasuNaru shippers. However, those of us who looked just a little deeper into the canon storyline could see from the very beginning that Naruto was eventually going to get together with Sakura. And post time-skip, predictably, had clear hints of this. Now we come to the conflict of fangroups:

The SasuSaku fans want nothing more than for Sakura to throw herself into Sasuke's welcoming arms *snerk* and profess her undying love for him.

Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of SasuNaru fans are quite content (heck, they're delighted) with just hints of SasuNaru love. Like the awkward hug in 307, and the fact that Sasuke is fixated on Naruto. They know it's not canon, but they can still enjoy it in fanon.

Finally, there are the NaruSaku fans, and while many (myself included) are very happy to see Sasuke again, they are firm in the belief that Naruto and Sakura were destined from the beginning, and that Sakura's feelings have taken a turn. NaruSaku fans don't want Sasuke to do anything in particular...

So it's come to this, Sakura is probably going to be the pivotal character in the next few chapters. Will she protect Naruto, even if it means killing Sasuke? Or will she ditch Naruto and run off with Sasuke, even if it means she'll have to deal with him giving up his body to Orochimaru? You figure it out!

In my opinion, there's very little chance of Sasuke returning to Konoha this time. Let's face it, there's going to be big, dramatic scenes with Orochimaru trying to take his body, Sasuke fighting Itachi, and Sasuke and Naruto fighting again. This time, Naruto can't fight. His body is weakened due his earlier Kyuubi transformation. And we all know that Orochimaru is going to show up soon, Kabuto is going to escape, and they're probaby going to run off together, leaving the broken, dispirited Team Kakashi behind.

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke are obviously similar to their sensei's, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru. And the cover of chapter 4:-

To quote Kishimoto: "The triad of snake, slug and frog is from Japanese mythology. The snake is more powerful than the frog, the slug is more powerful than the snake, and the frog is more powerful than the slug, Making a 'rock, paper, scissors' kind of situation. These three are collectively called the 'Sansukumi'."
Could this actually reflect in the story? Sasuke defeated Naruto last time. Maybe this time, Sakura can defeat Sasuke? It's a long shot, I know. But you've got to admit, it would be interesting.

Whew, well that's it for my crazed theories. It's time to move on to other matters. Like how I've added two more AMVs to the AMV Archive. Check them out, if you want.

Oh yeah, I've made a new blog, Nettie's Nook. Basically, I realised that this blog has become entirely Naruto-based. So I made Nettie's Nook for me to share what happens in the rest of my life. Yes, I do have a life. I'm going to keep Naruto out of it, for the most part.

Yesterday I did some research on Kyuubi (Nine-Tailed Demon Foxes) in old Japanese legends. And it turns out the the Shodai's necklace which was given to Naruto by Tsunade is also based an old legend. Apparently, a Fox Youkai's main weakness is the crystal they wear around their necks in human form, it carries a small portion of their powers. If it is taken from them, they will beg for it back, and often grant a favour in return. I think that it is pretty cool that how Kishimoto has incorporated these old myths into his story.

I'm making some minor modifications to this blog. I've gotten into the habit of removing images from older posts, as it just takes longer for the page to load, and the old posts are ignored for the most part. So if you're interested in any images I post, save them quickly, as they may be be gone in a few weeks. I might take down some of the very oldest links too. Now that I have another blog, I should keep this one purely Naruto-related.

For fanart; be sure to check out Weasel Suit by wredwrat. Very random and amusing. Heh heh!

Then there's Behind the Shadows by pokefreak. A very awesome picture of post time-skip Sasuke.

And the fic of this week is an ItaNaru; Winter Release by StarsOfYaoi. I'm really enjoying this story, it actually has a plot! If you read this, for God's sake, leave a review! If you want quick updates to any fanfic, then review nicely. It isn't hard.
Just a simple; "I'm loving this story. I think it's brilliant how you described the emotions in the last scene. Please update as soon as you can, because I am hooked!"
Or even a; "omg i luv ur fanfic! plz update soon!"

Well, now I'm off to watch random videos on YouTube. My next update should be on Tuesday, or Thursday. Geez, I really should work out a schedule for this, I guess.

Le Slideshow

2006-05-14T22:16:00.000+01:00

Yeah, it even feels too early for an update... But I'm really bored right now. I just felt like composing a big-ass update.

I made this small slideshow on ImageShack. Enjoy!

I did figure out what was wrong with Windows Movie Maker, but I can't be bothered to sort it out. I'd have to change settings for when I wanted to make a movie, and then switch them back afterwards, it's just far too troublesome! So I said; "Fuck it! I'll do it the easy way." And I did. ^_^ I've credited where I could. If you know the artist of a picture that I haven't credited, then please tell me so I can edit their name in! XD

Since the last blog entry, I've just been reading Doujinshi. Oh, I found some good stuff, alright. Seriously, if you like SasuNaru, then you should check out SasuxNaru.is.Love Scanlations. I sifted through everything, and my Doujinshi folder is twice as big now. Heh heh!

Today I requested, and was granted, a Naruto library on Paper Demon. So far, my One-Shot, The New Sakura, is the only fanfic in there! ^^;; I guess this gives me an obligation to beef it up a bit more. So I'm going to try my best to write some more One-Shots. The new one I'm working on, Kyuubi Rage (temporary title?), is going well, and I hope to complete it soon.

I've been hanging around RADIO.BLOG.CLUB a lot recently. It's good because my computer sometimes buggers up when I'm listening to music on Media Player at the same time as doing other things. But by listening to my fave tunes in an extra Firefox window, I don't need to worry about that. Here's a link to my favourite songs at the mo - My Playlist. I have all of these tracks in my music folder, but like I said, it's less troublesome to listen to them on RADIO.BLOG.CLUB. It's also a pretty cool place, because you can search for any track you want and listen to it right there.

Well, I can't resist sharing this short Doujinshi. It's a SasuNaru, but it mostly features Itachi and Kisame in their Naruto-stalking. It is very funny! XD Remember, it's a Doujinshi translated from Japanese, so read from right to left. Click each thumbnail to view full-size.

This was downloaded from SasuxNaru.is.Love Scanlations! ^_^

Actually, over the last few days, I feel that I've had my fill of shounen-ai! o.O Well, for now at least. The boys love craving will probably return with a vengence to this fangirl in no time! XD But in the mean time, I find myself browsing the NaruSaku fandom, the only het couple that I actively ship. For an absolute ton of NaruSaku fanart check out the NarutoXSakura ImageShack PhotoBlog. And of course, visit the site that made the image gallery - Heaven & Earth, a fansite dedicated to NaruSaku. Now, I've got to admit, it's not a grand website. It could do with a lot of work. But for now at least, it's all NaruSaku shippers have got really... Which is kind of depressing. Hopefully, as the NaruSaku relationship develops in the manga and anime, there'll be more supporters of it. I know that it's canon! It is going to happen, you SasuSaku shippers just watch! >=D

Doujinshi!

2006-05-11T19:37:00.000+01:00

Oh ... My ... God! Chapter 306 of the Naruto manga! SQUEE!! Wow, that's the first time I've squeed! ^^;; If you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for? Get your ass over to Naruto Fan and give it a download, already! XD I'm not going to post any spoilers, because that's not fair to those who haven't got this far in the series. But yes, you know that guy we've all been waiting to see? We see him! I knew we would in this chapter. Kishi has been keeping us (or rather him) in the dark for too long, dattebayo!

I have another idea for another Naruto One-Shot. I have the fic all planned out, I just need to write it. This one will be all about Naruto, from Naruto's POV. So hopefully, I'll find the energy to write this soon.

I found a shit-load of SasuNaru doujinshi at SasuxNaru.is.Love Scanlations. I haven't had the time to read any yet. T_T After I complete all of my duties, I'll settle down with a cup of coffee and enjoy the rest of my night with sweet SasuNaru lovin'! ^_~ Nah, just kidding. I'm not really all that into visual smut, I prefer fanfiction, that way it's all up to my imagination and I can keep it as vague and clean as I want. XD But there are some absolutely adorable scenes in certain doujinshi. Just a note: some of the doujinshi on the site that I've linked to isn't intended for minors, by that, I mean people under the age of 16, who don't have anywhere very private to read it!

And now for the list of doom! Muahahahaha! Please note that the contents of the following list aren't necesarily the things that I want to happen. Heck, I want Sasuke to return to Konoha and have hot man-sex with Naruto, but I'm realistic enough to admit that it isn't going to happen, un. That's why doujinshi was invented. XD
My Predictions For Who The Naruto Characters Will Court:
NaruSaku - people who deny it are just plain stupid.
SasuDeath - c'mon, he'll probably die dramatically. It's his style!
KakaNobody - how things look so far, he's gonna stay a bachelor.
ShikaTem - yup, so obvious.
AsumKuren - this is also so obvious.
KibaHina - ditto the above.
ChouIno - a more recent development. It also makes sense.

~*~

So that's it for now. They're the only couples that I'm fairly sure of. I was going to add JiraTsu, but I'm not all that convinced about this couple yet. So far, they just seem like old comrades to me. Besides, I think have a feeling that Tsunade is going to die heroically. There have been some hints of it. As for Team Gai, I honestly don't know about them. I think it's equally possible that TenTen could go for Neji or Lee. And I don't mind either way!

*eats rhubarb crumble* Mmm! Slimy, but nice! ^_^

Haruka Kanata

2006-05-03T14:41:00.000+01:00

Yay! Chapter 305 of the Naruto manga has been released. It is an awesome chapter, un. Now I am happy! XD I'm not going to reveal any spoilers though... But I sure hope everything goes okay. It would be terrible if anyone died! o.O And I wonder if, since this is last week's chapter, there will be another chapter released tomorrow? I sure hope so! ^^

Episode 5 of Fun With Akatsuki is out on YouTube. This is a very funny episode, featuring Vegeta, Sephiroth, Lord Voldemort, and Darth Vader along with their very own theme tunes!

This week I downloaded Windows Movie Maker and made what is quite possibly the crappiest AMV ever. I was doing really well ... honest! Then Movie Maker started acting up, and this dumb error message kept appearing every time I dragged a clip onto the timeline, or tried to add title screens. I can't even import new videos or pictures now! So it ended up being a one-minute AMV, with totally random clips playing out to the DragonBall Z theme. ¬_¬ Seriously, the DBZ theme was the only track in my entire music folder that was exactly a minute long! Anyway, it sucks ass, so I'm not sharing it. XP

I'm afraid I don't have much to share this time. I've spent most of the past few days on YouTube, exploring for awesome videos. So here's a link to my YouTube profile - link - check out my faves, and you're sure to find some entertainment.

You know a couple of posts back I was thinking of making a Photobucket gallery? Well, I've decided to make a slideshow instead. I might try out Picasa, and make the slideshow in that. It's just an idea though, I still don't know if I'll go through with it yet.

And as for the title of this post ... I dunno, I just felt like calling it Haruka Kanata. For those of you who don't know, it's an opening theme for Naruto, performed by Asian Kung-Fu Generation. You can download it from NarutoFan or watch it here. Later!

I Bring Ficcage!

2006-04-28T13:07:00.000+01:00

So I'm feeling a bit better now. I still have headaches and feel a little sickly, but it's less frequent than it was a couple of days ago.

Ah, I was so gutted yesterday when I found out that there wasn't going to be a Naruto manga chapter released this week, because of some Japanese festival called 'Golden Week' or something... Kusooo! I was really looking forward to Thursday all week, and then I find out that I have to wait for another full week! The suspense is killing me, 'tebayo! T_T

To make matters worse, I watched the latest filler episode. ¬_¬ Geez, they're dragging out this shitty Star Village adventure... Well, I actually consider myself extremely lucky. After all, I've only been watching Naruto for about 2 months, in that time I have watched every single episode and caught up with the manga. But some, unfortunate souls have had to suffer terribly through about a year's worth of filler episodes, with no end in sight!Even so, I look forward to the release of every new episode. Simply because with every shit filler they release, we're one episode closer to the real stuff again.

Whoa, I just remembered! *searches for link* I found hilarious fanart, un! Revival Uchiha by duneboo. Be sure to go through all three pages, because they're all awesomely funny! XD

Anyway, the other day I wrote a One-Shot from Sakura's POV. I honestly don't know what inspired me to write it, but I think I got pissed off while I was reading a SasuNaru with major Sakura-bashing. I thought; "whoa, Sakura is so OOC in this fic!" And then I wrote this in about 20 minutes.

Title: The New Sakura
Summary: One-Shot about Sakura's feelings as she thinks on the past, present, and the future. Hinted NaruSaku.
Warnings: Spoilers for those not past episode 135 of the anime. Set just after the Gaara Rescue mission, after the three-year time-skip.

Archived: Paper Demon (recommended), FF.Net, MediaMiner

I couldn't resist shoving some obvious NaruSaku hints in there. Her developing relationship with Naruto is a big part of Sakura's growth as a person, after all.

I don't know why, but I find it difficult to write slash fiction. I've attempted NejiNaru, SasuNaru and GaaNaru, but they've all ended up being NaruSaku! Maybe it's a sign, or something...

I spent the whole of yesterday reading ItaNaru fanfiction. If you like ItaNaru, or are just curious about it, I can start you off with links to awesome archives! XD
Firstly, ItaNaru Rantplace is an LJ community. I'm not a member, but I do check back almost every day for updates. You can mostly find ficcage here, but there is some fanart available too. ^^
Then there is Akai Kitsune, a community on FF.Net. Obviously, only ItaNaru fanfiction can be found here, but there's enough to keep you occupied for a couple of days at least.

I leave you with the face of Itachi --> T/_\T

Sick Days

2006-04-25T19:57:00.000+01:00

Yup, I've not been feeling very well since yesterday. I have headaches and feel pretty sick. But I'm also incredibly bored, so I just feel like constructing this blog update.

I've spent the past few days reading fanfiction. And I'm actually writing a new fanfic. It's just a One-Shot, and I'm pretty much making it up as I go along. I think it's supposed to be a NejiNaru, but for whatever reason, I ended up shoving a NaruSaku dating reference in there too. If I bother to continue with it, who knows where my imagination will take this story? I may share it, if I'm happy with it when it's done. So to any NejiNaru fans out there, you may soon have another fanfic to read! Or it might turn out to be NaruSaku... Seriously, I don't know. ^^;;

Yondaime Is The Akatsuki Leader?! XD Click To View Full-Size.

I don't actually believe the rumour that the Yondaime is the Akatsuki Leader. Though I do believe he is the father of Naruto. I think that the Akatsuki Leader is probably a character we've already seen or heard about, but certainly not the Yondaime... But I've got to admit; if the he was the Leader, it would be an awesome twist! XD

I just can't wait for Thursday, because the next manga chapter, 305, is coming out. Must ... See ... What ... Happens! I wonder if Kabuto is dead... o_O

Well, I'm not feeling so hot, so I'm off to bed now. Later!

Naruto Forums

2006-04-21T14:49:00.000+01:00

I took a picture of one of my rats! This is Petra, or as we usually call her, Half-Stripe. ^^;; In this picture, she's on my shoulder.

Click To Full-View

This week I've spent most of my Internet time on Naruto Forums. I'm a lurker, I honestly don't want to post anything, but there's a goldmine of awesome links! Just browse the Fanclubs section, and you're sure to find cool stuff. Seriously, the day before yesterday, my Firefox window froze up, because I had so many tabs open! ^^;; Be sure to bookmark everything first, like I (luckily) did.

Sasha (who has a great deviantART gallery! ^_~) linked me to this adorable flash movie - Narultra Relax - which made me laugh! All of the Naruto characters dance to a cute little tune, even Akatsuki, Orochimaru, and the Hokages! XD This flash movie is made by Hinano.

I'm working on a Photobucket gallery of all of my favourite Naruto images/fanart. It may be ready by my next entry. However, I have a feeling that it might take me awhile, as I am determined to credit each, individual artist. In some cases this is simple, because they've signed the picture and added the URL of their website, but many people don't do this, so I have to find out for myself! Which means a lot of Googling.

So I leave you with the Yondaime, who is actually one of my favourite characters, despite the fact that he's always been dead, his name hasn't yet been revealed, and he's rumoured to be the evil Akatsuki leader (a rumour I don't believe). XD

Yes. Yes it is. ^^

Blind Itachi!

2006-04-15T22:57:00.000+01:00

I read a very beautifully-written GaaNaru One-Shot yesterday. This story is called Parallels and is by the very talented writer Hajime Tsuki. Seriously, if you don't feel physically sick at the very thought of shounen-ai, you should read this fanfiction, or you'll have missed out on a moving experience. I'm not even kidding.

And this is for Akatsuki fans (like me) - Fun With Akatsuki - on Naruto Forums. There are several amusing GIF animations to watch here, which are now being made into actual episodes which you can view on YouTube. But be careful, unless you are up-to-date on the Naruto manga series, then there are major spoilers. The Fun With Akatsuki series mostly makes fun of the various popular rumours surrounding the Akatsuki organisation and its members. I personally find the episodes hilarious to the extreme, but some of the more serious Naruto fans (or simply people who can't take a joke) may have a different opinion of the series. ^^

And now I'm going to share my latest craze - Blind Itachi. I've been obsessed ever since I visited the Blind Itachi FC on Naruto Forums. This also contains spoilers, so beware! Both Fun With Akatsuki and the Blind Itachi FC were created by the very cool OmniStrife.

Finally, here is a link to a good quiz I did today; Which Naruto Main Bishie Villain Is Your Match? I got Itachi! XD

And Now, I Wish You All A Very Happy Easter!
Remember to pig out on as much chocolate as you can get your hands on! ^^ After all, if you can't at Easter, when can you, eh?

Ramen!!

2006-04-11T20:12:00.000+01:00

For lunch today, I went to a Japanese restaurant called Wagamama, and I had Ramen! Yay! The first time I've ever eaten Ramen! And I've got to say, it was delicious. The soup was so tasty, and the noodles were the best I've ever had! And it had loads of seafood with it, and even half a boiled egg, just like the Ramen Naruto eats! Getting the hang of using chopsticks was a little hard at first. So I did a Naruto, and ate it super-fast before anything could fall out of the chopsticks. ^^ But it was really filling, I couldn't even finish it. I don't know how Naruto gets through several bowls of that stuff just in one sitting! o_O

In other news, I've been reading a SasuNaru fanfic called This Way To The Stars by cookie. It is a very well-written story, set in a high-school environment. I especially love it because it has some cute NejiNaru and GaaNaru moments too. ^^ And Naruto's best friends, Kiba and Shikamaru, are just hilarious! There is some Sakura-bashing, mind you. Something I don't normally care for, but in this story it's well-deserved! XD So if you're a yaoi fan, then check it out. It's certainly one of the best fanfics that I have found so far, and the author seems dedicated too.

As for fanart - Fear My Sharingan by Abbisy. This is a very awesome picture of Kakashi! ^^ So far, this is the only piece of Naruto fanart that she has submitted to Paper Demon, but I think there will be more soon.

Well, until next time! ... Sorry, but Sasha persuaded me to do this, she told me that I'd never ended a blog entry like this ... So ...

*combusts*

Hermit-Mode

2006-04-07T20:27:00.000+01:00

I watched Naruto re-runs in my room all day. I didn't go out because the weather's been nasty. All cold, cloudy and pissing it down for most of the day. And honestly, this kind of weather sets me into immediate 'Hermit-Mode'. I'm not leaving the house, dattebayo!

This is a page out of a doujinshi I read. Click to full-view. Remember; read from right to left! It's from Japan, after all!

I just read the latest chapter of the Naruto manga, chapter 302. It's not a bad chapter, but ... It's just too short! I wait for a whole week just for a couple of pages that take me less than 2 minutes to read! Oh well, I guess it's all part of the fun really, the anticipation.

ItaNaru Cuteness!! *fangirl scream*

While browsing dA, I came across the really brilliant gallery of rurounigochan, who made three hilarious and totally adorable comic strips called Roomies: Akatsuki.
Here are the links:-
Roomies: Akatsuki 01 (out of milk)
Roomies: Akatsuki 02 (changing a lightbulb)
Roomies: Akatsuki 03 (Animal Planet)

I've also just finished watching filler episode 179, and Jesus Christ, they're even running out of shitty ideas. I mean, having people burst randomly into song? o_O I nearly fell out of my chair!

Easter Break Begins

2006-04-03T18:23:00.000+01:00

It is now the Easter holidays! Yay!

Art by Kabu

I went to town with my brother yesterday, and we went into the book store. There are so many mangas there, but absolutely no Naruto! I really want at least one Naruto manga for my bookshelf, that I can treasure for life.

I've gotten into the habit of eagerly awaiting each Thursday, because it is the day the latest chapter of the Naruto manga series is released to the WWW. I just really wish Sasha would catch up on the chapters already! ¬_¬ I need someone to discuss the new developments with, dattebayo! It's really difficult to hold back spoilers, and I'm itching to post a picture here, but I can't because it would be a major spoiler for Sasha!

This week, I read a hilarious fanfic called A Simple Night Out with the Guys by Maldoror. It is a One-Shot that is definitely worth reading, just be sure not to take it too seriously, huh? XD It's just a humour fic, after all.

And I found an awesome piece of Itachi fanart, no seriously, I'm crazy over this picture! It's called Return of the Morning Mist, and it's by konako, who is obviously a very brilliant artist.

Yup, once I've had some more time to explore the fandom, I'll construct a new list of my favourite Naruto fanfics. So far, I haven't found too many that are noteworthy, largely because every fanfic I've read that hasn't been a One-Shot is incomplete! So I'm still on the hunt for the perfect fanfic. It's funny, I had a much easier time finding awesome DBZ fanfiction. o_O

Piccage!

2006-03-29T21:21:00.000+01:00

Hello, random blog-goers!

I've spent the past few days reading Naruto fanfiction on FF.Net, browsing Naruto fanart on dA, and exploring YouTube for good AMVs. My searches have produced results - behold!

This totally awesome fanart of Naruto is by an extremely talented artist called pinali, who has a most awesome deviantART gallery. Check it out!

Feelin' Good!

2006-03-21T23:32:00.000Z

All is well, and I am feeling pretty darn good. Despite the explosive fight I had with my brother earlier, and the fact that my throat hurts from shouting my vocal chords to bloody ribbons, I have been feeling very content lately.

Well, I've caught up with both the anime and the manga of Naruto. But I'm not going to go into my thoughts and theories on Naruto here, I'll save all of those for my AIM chats with you, Sasha! ^_~ So from now on, I'm going to be eagerly awaiting each new episode and chapter.

I've also started to watch episodes of Avatar on YouTube. It is a very amusing American animated series. Here's a link to the first episode - link

Oh yes, and I've been messing around with this blog's template for the past few days, and now I'm finally content with its appearance, so I'm leaving it at that. I've added a new link to my list - AMV Archive - this is where I'm going to be posting all of my favourite AMVs. It's basically just an archive for posts from December 2005 (before I even got this blog), but I adjust the date on the AMV posts so that they go straight into this new archive. I only have two AMVs there at the moment, but I'll post more later. So if you're interested, check it out.

Later! XD

Obsessed, Much?

2006-03-14T22:55:00.000Z

I'm so, totally obsessed with Naruto! I've spent the last couple of days exploring the fandom, and I must say, I'm impressed. The Naruto fandom seems to have much more depth than the DBZ fandom, and there's so much awesome stuff!

I want ramen!

I've read several fanfics on AFF.net and FF.net ... All of them were yaoi. What? Don't look at me like that! Yaoi should be perfectly acceptable, especially for young girls like me! ^^ *perverted thoughts* I won't go into my favourite pairings, because, honestly, I haven't decided yet. Suffice it to say that all of them include Naruto. XD

I did a few Naruto quizzes too, here are two of my awesome results.

Here's a link to the quiz - LINK
Yayness! The first time I did this I got Sasuke. Then I thought, "No way, I'm not Sasuke!" So I did it again and I got Naruto! Yatta!

Here's a link to the quiz - LINK
Doesn't Yondy look so cool in this? I just adore that Naruto-ish grin!

Fandom Switch!

2006-03-06T21:39:00.000Z

I haven't updated this blog for awhile. This is because I've been watching Naruto in pretty much every second of my spare time. I'm up to episode 142, and into the filler episodes now. Nothing too significant is going to happen until after a three-year time gap, apparently. And those episodes haven't been released yet.

Naruto's Nine-Tails Demon Fox shadow ... Cool!

Okay, I think I'm past my SasuNaru stage. I love their relationship, but I don't see it as anything more than a close friendship, with a sad ending. I actually want Sakura to realise her feelings for Naruto, and stop thinking about Sasuke all of the time! Hinata is so cute with Naruto too, I love those two together because they're so different. Naru is very loud and confident, and Hinata is very shy and quiet, but hopelessly in love with the oblivious guy! Heh heh! Well, maybe once I start reading Naruto fanfiction, I'll start loving SasuNaru again.

My favourite character is still Naruto. He provides equal parts drama and humour, and the Demon Fox's (Kyuubi's) power is awesome when he unleashes it. Sakura, Sasuke, Gai-sensei, Rock Lee, Konohamaru, Gaara, Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru, Temari, Chouji, Shino, Kakashi-sensei, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Yondaime, Iruka-sensei, and Itachi are all interesting characters also. Yeah, so I'm fond of pretty much everyone. ^^ I like most of the cast of Naruto, which is unusual for me. And the major bad guys are actually frightening too, unlike the villains of DBZ.

Yes, you might have guessed, I have had a change of fandom. My first fandom switch!

Jiraiya's got to be an even bigger pervert than Master Roshi! o.o Just look at this! Click to enlarge.

Naruto

2006-02-26T18:57:00.000Z

I've been watching Naruto on YouTube! This is so great, because Naruto hasn't come to England yet. I'm not even certain that it will. And if it does, it will be that annoying English dub, with the voices that make you want to plug your ears! I've been watching the original Japanese version, with subtitles. I'm totally hooked! A huge thanks to Sasha for linking me to the the first episode! Thank you, my friend! Hell yeah! YouTube is a most awesome site. I'm thinking of joining, if only to thank the kind people who have uploaded all of these episodes. Many people from the USA take the massive selection of anime available to them for granted. We're anime-deprived, here in England!

Needless to say, I have changed my wallpaper once again.

.... And I've become Sasuke/Naruto shipper, sorry! ^^;;

DBZ Rec List

2006-02-20T18:59:00.001Z

There are some truly marvellous fanfics out there. So I've made a list of my own favourites from DragonBall Z fandom.
Be warned, the best of DBZ fanfiction are also some of the darkest. I like my stories to be emotionally complex, and full of angst. For me, character development is everything.

Here is a list of my favourite fanfics to date:

World Enough and Time - by Lisalu
Bulma/Vegeta, Complete
My favourite B/V fanfic ever. Such a gripping story. And the whole mechanisation thing was simply ingenius ... and seriously creepy.

Quote 1: The long rows of cages, dark and seemingly endless, stretched out from the icy, sterile laboratory's exit like an annex corridor to hell.

Quote 2: "What, I can't be relieved?" She frowned. "Screw you all."
"Toma," Bardock cocked an eye at the big, lanky Saiyan. "You still have the right to put your pup down, don't you?"
Toma shook his head mournfully. "She just turned fifteen---she's a legal adult now. I waited too damn long…"

Quote 3: Zarbon sat watching the big warrior Toma's daughter try to goad the boy Gokou into fighting her for the better part of an hour. The girl, Anyan, he thought someone had said her name was, had progressed from off-hand offers to spar, to insults, to open threats against specific parts of the boy's anatomy. Each mild, good-natured reply the other youngster gave her seemed to only enrage her further.

***

A Glad Day - by Lisalu
Bulma/Vegeta, Complete
The emotions in this are put across so strongly. This story is very dark, NOT for the faint-hearted, I found some of it unbearable. I actually cried at least three times while reading it.

Quote 1: "It is cho-gugol," Vegita whispered. "Debt of blood and honor. A warrior can only pay such a debt with his life's blood."

Quote 2: "If," he told the dogs with soft menace, "either of you relieves yourself inside my house, we will dine upon roast dog this night."
They stared at him blankly for the space of a half-second, then ‘woofed’ happily and resumed their merry race around the hearth.
"Worthless beasts," he said disgustedly.

Quote 3: "What you have endured will give you strength, boy. It will cool your youthful rages to cold cleverness in the heat of the moment. You have in you the makings of a king out of legend, though you still have much to learn. Bring Mousrom to heel here on Vegita-sei, and I will look to winning the war until you are ready for the field. Resilience is the greatest strength of our race, my son. And the old saying holds true. What does not kill a Saiyan…" Ottousama grinned wolfishly. "…will soon have great cause to regret not having done so!"

***

Chains of Affection - by Syldana
Vegeta/Goku, Complete
A wonderful fanfic which keeps Vegeta and Goku perfectly in character throughout and somehow manages to get them together anyway. Before I read this I thought that yaoi was distasteful (mostly because I'd only ever glanced at badly written PWPs). But this fic got me into yaoi. It's just so sweet! ^^

Quote 1: "You don't what?!" he roared, rage exploding like an erupting volcano within him, blazing, blasting, churning, and totally out of control. "You don't understand?! You stupid, brainless bakayaro!!"

Quote 2: "You're sleeping with my father?" Trunks burst out suddenly, his voice uncommonly shrill.

Quote 3: "Well, what did you say?" the boy pressed. "What happened?"
Goku tilted his chin. "Well… everything seemed to be going great. He came to the party to get me, like he really missed me or something. I could see it in his eyes as we made love… it looked like he was really beginning to trust me. Even afterward things seemed fine. I asked him if he wanted to go back to the barbecue and eat with me, but he refused again. And then, well, he asked if I wanted things to change between us. Kami, that really scared me and I said no right away." He paused, frowning slightly. "Do you think that might be it? He got really, really mad after that." He paused again, eyebrows lifting as he waited for a reply. One never came. "Uh… guys?"
They still said nothing; they all merely stared at him as if he'd grown an extra head or something. It was an expression he was rather familiar with, which meant he had just said something wrong again.
"What?" he asked, blinking rapidly in wide-eyed bewilderment.

***

Unspoken - by LavenderGoddessV
Bulma/Vegeta, In Progress
Of course, at least one LavenderGoddessV fic has to be on my list. I love the way she writes, the way she alternates between Vegeta's POV and Bulma's POV. Everything about this fic grips me - if only she'd update more often! lol

Quote 1: Shit, Saiya-jin philosophy always wins out in the end. If intellect cannot help you succeed in your endeavor, just start pounding it with your fist.

Quote 2: "Come on," he waves a dismissive hand at my refusal. "We ugly people need to stick together." This time I do laugh and I realize I am not the only one experiencing a first here. I hear his deep laughter begin to echo with mine and I suddenly realize why I felt jealous at the thought of him with another woman. In some twisted way the two of us have become friends. Perhaps not by any traditional sense of the word, but that has to be what this is, it reminds me too much of what it was like on Chikyuu for me to be wrong.

Quote 3: "Close your eyes," I ask and he does after a few moments of hesitation. Once I feel certain he will not open them, I pull the bottom of my veil back, exposing only my lips. I touch them to his. He moans and parts them immediately. Our tongues clash, our arms wind around one another. I experience a sensation I have only read about back on earth: passion.

***

Shadows of the Past - by Alithiel
Goku/Vegeta, Unfinished
A moving and beautifully story. However, this fanfiction is not finished, and it never will be. Alithiel died in a car accident in 2002, leaving her wonderful story incomplete. She had only one more chapter to complete before an epilogue. I strongly recommend this fanfic to any yaoi fan, it is a touching experience, that broadened my horizons.

Quote 1: His whole life he had felt a need to prove himself to others, and with Kakarrot it had been no different. From the beginning, he had wanted to force the Saiya-jin and all of his friends to respect and fear him for his strength and power. He wanted, he needed to dominate. But he couldn't. Kakarrot always found some way to better him, to defeat him, and, worst of all, even as he crushed him, he showed him compassion and mercy.

Quote 2: How had it happened that he, who was meant to be the king of an entire world, was left homeless, friendless, a refugee on an alien planet and allowed to remain only at the sufferance of one of his own subjects? Allowed to remain only as long as Kakarrot saw fit. Bitter tears built in his eyes, and he cursed himself for his weakness. Cursed himself for allowing Kakarrot to make him weep. He had tried so hard to match the other Saiya-jin, to better him, but he could not, because... He gritted his teeth, the admission crushing him. Because Kakarrot was better. He was stronger. He always would be.

Quote 3: When the final round began, they were both standing, teeth clenched, nearly growling in anticipation. The fight began and they lunged at each other, each voicing their hits or misses loudly. Neither noticed as their eyes turned aqua and their hair blazed gold, focused too intently on the television screen. Finally Vejiita landed a killing blow and Goku's character slumped to the ground, defeated. Vejiita shouted in triumph, dropping the controller and grinning widely.
"Oh, come on!" Goku moaned, dropping his controller in a much more defeated fashion. "No way, I had you!"
"You lose, Kakarrot!" Vejiita smirked, sticking his finger in Goku's face.

***

You should be of age to read any of these stories. However, I'm not one of those moody people who believe that no-one under the age of 18 should read a descriptive sex scene. I'm a firm believer that if you are mature enough to understand it, then you are probably mature enough to read it. If you are under-age, but would like to know more about sex, then visit Scarleteen for sex education, it's a wonderful site that can provide help and body advice for anyone, not only for teenagers.

Happy reading, with whatever fanfic you choose, be it a DBZ, a Buffy, a Teen Titans, or any fandom you enjoy! And remember to leave a review, not much can make a writer happier than knowing that her work is appreciated. ^^

Naruto's Blame

2006-01-11T15:47:00.000Z

Naruto's Blame by Rubix89

Very good AMV which I feel portrays the rage and sadness of the story very well. Can be downloaded HERE.

NaruSaku 5

2006-01-10T13:52:00.001Z

NaruSaku 5 by ChappiRukia

A NaruSaku AMV. The track is: Daft Punk - Something About Us.

Wedding Day in Otogakure

2006-01-09T14:44:00.000Z

Spoilers up to 309 of the Manga
Wedding Day in Otogakure by shuqra

A silent SaiNaruSasu movie. Made from parts of the manga during the Grass Country Arc (Sasuke-Naruto reunion). Very entertaining crack.

Listen 1.5

2006-01-08T14:25:00.001Z

Spoilers up to Episode 135!
Listen by sailorred

This is the newer version of the SasuNaru Listen (Listen to Your Heart) AMV by sailorred. It's by far my favourite SasuNaru vid.

Narutowned

2006-01-07T14:04:00.000Z

Spoilers up to Episode 135!

Narutowned by KentaroPJJ

A hilarious Naruto piss-take, using many different songs. You can download it high-quality - HERE

Final Conflict

2006-01-06T17:27:00.002Z

Spoilers up to Episode 135!
Final Conflict by 007 Vegita

This is a fan-made trailer for the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. It's awesome. You can download Final Conflict - HERE

Naruto's Technique Beat

2006-01-05T17:14:00.000Z

Naruto's Technique Beat by .:Decoy:.

An AMV that's starts off in the Chuunin Tower, and goes on to demonstrate the abilities of Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Sabaku no Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto. Very cool. It also plays remarkably well on YouTube.
Even so, you can download it - HERE

Suddenly Not Insecure

2006-01-04T16:51:00.000Z

Spoilers up to Episode 120
Suddenly Not Insecure
by ANi. mEnTaL

One of the Great Naruto AMVs. Also known as Naruto Hell (because the name of the song is Hell Song). Everything about it is spot on. Too bad it doesn't play well on YouTube, it's so pixelated because there is so much movement! You can download and view it high-quality - HERE. It appears way better on Media Player.

Black Hole Sun

2006-01-03T12:03:00.000Z

Spoilers up to Episode 134
Black Hole Sun by Itachi13

An awesome Itachi AMV. This is Itachi's song.

Real Ninjas

2006-01-02T15:00:00.000Z

Real Ninjas by Editinghermit

Songs:
Avenue Q - I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today
Backstreet Boys - All I Have to Give
Barney - I Love You
Flow - Go (Fighting Dreamers)
Paula Abdul - Cold Hearted Snake
Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy
The Chordettes - Mr. Sandman

Very funny. One of the most popular Naruto AMVs. Just watch.
The AMV can be downloaded from - HERE