Second, I am so incredibly sorry for not updating sooner. As with the rest of the world, COVID has hit America pretty hard. Given my job, it kind of took over my life. Thank you for all the lovely notes, emails, and messages of concern during my long period of silence and absence. I am just now reading through them all and will slowly start responding to them.
Third, I got my PhD (???) And a job where I get to use that PhD (???) Also, this job is not as stressful as my previous job, so I have a bit more time to write (???).
That leads to the fourth thing: Iâm writing again. I am also editing/putting finishing touches on some chapters. Hazel will work her magic as usual after that. Please stay tuned; I anticipate a lot of chapters dropping back to back.
I swear, I donât actually fall off the edge of the earth...
When I disappear for months on end itâs because I am not very good with technology. Most of you already know this about me, and I appreciate your indulgence of the fact that I truly donât belong in this century (@hazel3017  knows this. Girl had to convince me off outlook email so we could edit chapters together, shit you not.) Also, my dissertation is a delirium-inducing riot of equations. I dream of utility functions, and itâs truly awful. Godspeed to all the other grad students out there; folks, I feel your pain.
But Iâve wandered back into this century and logged back into my email. I hope everyone is getting through these truly crazy times okay. IÂ am going to go through all your notes, well wishes, and inspiring stories and will be responding shortly.Â
I am also back to writing. I figured that I could use this space to keep you updated as I write the next chapter for Ragnarokr. And with that, hereâs a teaser that many of you asked for (minus any real spoilers because yâall know by now that thereâs a war going on):
Sasuke grips Ozoraâs reins loosely in one hand. He looks down the line of warriors on either side of him. Their horses are restless, eager to launch into attack. He spurs Ozora forward a few feet and turns to face the men. He raises his voice to be heard over the roar of battle around them. âWe ride!â
The conversations fall away and the men turn their attention to him.
He tells them that they will ride, they will bring death, they will not yield, and they will show no mercy. He tells them they will spill bloodâand as he speaks the words, they begin to scream their agreement. He tells them they will paint this valley red, and they will appease the gods of war and death. They will crowd the Great Hall with the men and women they cut down with their swords and axes and spears. Sasuke moves Ozora down the line, telling them that there will be songs of this day. The battle cries spread down the line of his men, widening even past the periphery where his voice can be heard, until itâs just one loud rumble of screams, of men lowering their spears in salute to Sasuke as he rides past them with his message. The war cry is picked up around the Valley, as the northerners on the eastern and western lines realize that a rallying cry is going up for another charge.
There will be songs, Sasuke roars, of when Otogakure rose from the ashes, when a fierce battle made the Omine Valley a place of fire and death and ashes.
We ride, he tells them, and we will be victorious.
His ears ring when the men start screaming. Sasuke turns Ozora so he can face the enemy. The Shodaime liked to recite from the book of his God. At the worst of times when the demons were laying waste to the horizon, he told Sasuke, heâd think of the end times. Â
âI looked, and behold,â Sasuke he recites in a low voice, and wills Madara and Pein to hear him. He wants them to look south and see Kakashi at the mouth of the valley, moving in with Itachi at his side. He wants them to look north and see Sasuke, and know with certainty that they are surrounded.
âBehold, an ashen horse,â Sasuke murmurs, holding up a hand aloft, and willing his gods to hear him, to see him riding into battle to serve at their pleasure. Behind him, Yonabaru sounds the battlehorn of the death-riders, deep and unassailable, once, twice, and then a third time, a trinity that signals to Jugoâand everyone else who hears itâthat Sasuke is preparing to ride into battle. It settles over the valley, and the enemies turn to face it.
Madaraâs warriors are turning outwards in a circle of their own, but it is disjointed because Kakashiâs attacks are relentless still. There is line after line of Konohagakure soldiers, spinning towards the flanks of the enemy army and retreating back after making impact. Sasuke cannot see Pein or Madara, but he thinks they must be in the beating heart of the enemy army.
âAnd he who sat on it had the name Death,â Sasuke murmurs to himself. He can almost feel the chill of the Shodaime sitting next to him on the hotel bed while Sasuke read aloud from their holy book; he can hear the Nidaimeâs voice calling out to him from across the training field, Rise, Uchiha.
âAnd hell followed with him,â Sasuke finishes. He lets his hand drop, and Ozora strikes out in a gallop. The Northern warriors circling the enemy army move simultaneously.
hey, are you doing okay with everything going on? i know in the past you've had some struggles and i want to make sure you're okay during these times. i hope you and those you are about are safe and healthy.
Hello! I am doing okay, and I hope you are too!Â
Sorry I pulled yet another internet hiatus; Iâm still new at this Tumblr thing (I can hear you rolling your eyes, @hazel3017. Hand to God, she took the time to give me lessons via text on how to Tumblr, and like, yâall. I still suck at this.) Some quick updates: I am still in school, still working towards completing my degree, and still waiting to hear from the US government about whether theyâll keep me or give me the boot.Â
I am sending all the good vibes to everyone because at this point, that's all I've got. I also may send new chapters out into the world because, honestly, an out-of-control WIP with all the major Naruto characters striving for Valhalla is as good as an escape as any. I will be getting back to writing, and hope to share new chapters with folks soon!
It wonât let me put a link in the ask and I donât know how to use the messenger on this thing so
Behold: a playlist
YOU GUYS look at what @endtimesyo made. I now have an appropriate soundtrack while I write the next chapter. What perfect timing. Thanks for making this playlist.
As a fic writer, i need every reader to know that:
I donât care if your comment is coherent. I know what you mean and i love you
I donât care if you ramble. I read every word and i love you
I donât care if you leave a comment on a fic from four years ago or leave comments/kudos on like ten of my fics in one go. This isnât IG, pls stalk my AO3. I love you
I donât care if you mention the same thing in your comment that four other people have already mentioned. Itâs actually really useful to know what resonated with people and I love everyone who takes the time to tell me they liked a particular turn of phrase
I donât mind if your comment is super long or just a couple of sentences, i love them all
one day Iâll finally write that ridiculously elaborate fanfiction that Iâve been carefully constructing in my daydreams for months and then youâll be sorry. youâll all be sorry.
One of those fandom things that I love is when thereâs new characters around and, with the unwavering confidence of an old farmer appraising cattle, fanfic authors take one good look at them, tilt their imaginary hat, and go âAye. Praise kink, that one. Mighty case of praise kink if I ever saw one.â And everyone else just âaye.â
âI donât think the Highschool AU is going to come in too strong this year. Fandoms a touch jaded for that. But the hurt/comfort is growinâ thick as weeds and twice as fast. Itâll be a good harvest, fer sure.â
(AKA the one with switching POVs with Team 7, witch!Naruto, time loops, Hatake Kakashi holding the damn line against the demons, and Naruto predicting the arrival of Senju Hashirama 600 years before it happens). (AKA I wrote this fic in 2015; you guys, I was in a mood). (AKA the last one left over in my archives; Iâll eventually format it for A03 once I give it a name)
1. SASUKE
The messenger arrives when Sasuke is elbow-deep in the innards of a deer, pulling out the intestines in a steaming, wet pile of red hues.Â
The snow around him is melting from the waning body heat of the dead animal, running pink and murky around Sasuke. Itâs a cold morning, clouds overhead so that even so long past sunrise, it feels like theyâve lingered in the grey twilight hours.
He can hear the bustle and noise of camp a hundred yards away: men and womenâs voices rising in unison, dogs barking, and restless horses. The children are awake too, and he can hear them parroting their lessons in the field, reciting chakra pathways and tenketsu that Tayuya and Kimimaro are listing. Jugo had told him in no uncertain terms that he was expected to spend the afternoon training the older children in their lessons today, and Sasuke had begrudgingly agreed.
The younger ones need to see the leader, need to be reminded of whose orders they are to obey, whose authority they are expected to lay their life down for.
The morning, though, is his to spend however he wants. Suigetsu and Jugo are going through the various concerns of the tribeâthe small quarrels that have arisen in Sasukeâs absence, the issue of who can establish their tents where, patrols, the digging of trenches and stake walls and what to do about the solstice that lies ahead. If thereâs anything worth bringing to Sasukeâs attention, they will do so. So rather than linger in camp and get drawn into the myriad trivialities of leading a tribe, Sasuke woke up early, saddled up Botan, and rode out into the Birchwood forests at the base of his mountain camp with a new bow that Jirobo had fashioned for him. It is a massive weapon, tall enough for Sasukeâs height, and with a weight to counterbalance all of Sasukeâs muscles. Itâs too heavy for battle, but perfect for the hunt. When he let loose an arrow, the air had sung with the tension of the string; the power of the bow was such that it took a single arrow to pierce clean through the neck of the animal.
The messenger is one of the younger boys in camp, Ryota, no more than thirteen. Heâs Kidomaruâs youngest son, and he has inherited Kidomaruâs sharp, brown gaze and brown skin. Heâs bundled in furs to ward against the cold, but the ties holding his cloak secure are haphazardâhe was in a hurry, and that is enough of a detail that Sasuke rises to his feet to watch the boy dismount.
âLord,â he begins, straining for breath, and Sasuke bites down on his immediate reaction: I am no lord. âRiders from the south. Lord Hozuki sent me to get you.â
Sasuke glances over his shoulder at the buck, half-gutted still. If he leaves the carcass here, itâll attract the wolves. âStay with the kill,â he says, and moves towards Botan, who is grazing unsuccessfully through some dried nettle. He huffs and whinnies when Sasuke mounts. âWhat tribe?â
Ryota blinks up at Sasuke. âKonohagakure,â he says, and Sasuke feels his heartbeat take off into a wild, wild thunder.
2. SAKURA
The woman at the front of the room, Sakura surmises, is a witch. She has the same, unnatural crystal eyes that Naruto does.
But unlike Naruto, she hasnât been branded her for who she is. The skin of delicate face is porcelain smooth without a single scar. When she catches Sakuraâs lingering stare, she tilts her head at an angle, considering. âA flower,â she says.
Itâs a neat trick, but Sakura grew up with Naruto. Divining a name is childâs play compared to what Naruto can do. âMy name is Haruno Sakura,â she offers, and the witchâs smile becomes wider still.
âBetsukai Karin,â she says. A little unnecessarily, she adds, âI am the witch for the Taka.â
There was no doubt who Karin was. From the moment they were shown into a large buildingâthe only wooden construction in campâSakura had known who Karin was. All witches have those odd, crystal eyes, and Karin is no different. Her gaze had drawn Sakuraâs attention almost immediately, even though she had been sitting quietly at a table, close to the roaring fire in the center.
The witch Karin is with two other men at the tables: Betsukai Jugo and Hozuki Suigetsu. Betsukai Jugo is a mountain of a man, almost as large as Chouji. He sits too close to the witch, and she, in turn, sits too close to him. Sakura tries not to stare open-mouthed at them because they conduct themselves around each other with the ease of a man and a woman who are intimate with each other. They had both named themselves Betsukai, and they act like man and wife.
But how, she wonders, can Karin call herself a witch if she has ever lain with a man?
She doesnât have much time to consider the logistics of this (she has to tell Naruto, it will be the very first thing she tells him when she returns), because her attention is almost exclusively occupied by Hozuki Suigetsu. He is lean and muscled, unnaturally handsome with silver hair and ruby-amethyst eyes. He has been leaning too casually into her space as they talk, acting with the confidence of a man who has always held the attention of women.
Sakura breathes a weary sigh, and keeps her conversation with Suigetsu as light and detached as possible. She had at first insisted on making this trip with as few men as possible, but now, sheâs grateful for the contingency that Kakashi had sent with her: Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Neji, and Ino. They are seated at the table as well, but they have gathered on the far end from where the northerners are sitting. For the most part, theyâre quiet as they eat, except for the occasional murmured conversation in their own language.
She wants to sit with Naruto and talk about what she has seen so farâthe oddly shaped tents spreading outwards from the center of the camp with no obvious rhyme or reason, the lack of any obvious clues to indicate who ranks where in their hierarchy, the odd clothes and even stranger weapons, the harsh, clipped sound of their language.
But Naruto isnât here; heâs south, keeping watch over the oceans and guarding their people against demons. All she can do is remember as much of this journey as possible; heâll have a hundred thousand questions for her when she returns.
For now, she keeps her peace with the witch and her companions as they wait for the Taka tribal leader to arrive. Akamaru is a warm, steady presence at her side, and sheâs grateful for the heat he affords. Kakashi had warned her of the cold temperature in the north, but she hadnât realized just how cold it would be.
She canât imagine how Kakashi spent so long in these parts of the world. She canât imagine moving their people north.
The Konohagakure have spent centuries along the warm, southern coast of the peninsula, but the waters are dangerous now, and they are besieged on all sides by enemies: monsters in the gulf, desert tribes moving in from the west, and island warriors descending from the east as they all seek to escape the wrath of the demons.
North is the only way they can go, into the vast, open lands still unclaimed by any single tribe.
She is her fatherâs daughter, though, so she can see what it costs her father to retreat. She sees it in the stiff set of Kakashiâs shoulders, the way he spends long nights on the parapets, turned towards the roiling waters of the gulf. If it had been anyone else who inherited Namikaze Minatoâs mantle, the Konohagakure would have been brought to their knees long before. But Sakuraâs father is a man of war. He held together the delicate stitching of their people for decades with the sheer force of his will alone. It had taken him yearsâall of Sakuraâs childhood, in fact; this is the only world Sakura and Naruto grew up withâbut now, he has finally conceded to his advisors:
The Konohagakureâa tribe of legend if there ever was oneâwill yield their seat of power in the south and move north.
When the decision was announced, the tribe breathed a sigh of relief. But then Kakashi had surprised all of them with his next decision.
We will not make this journey alone, he said, but with northern allies.
heyyyy! so been reading your work for years now. based on the time stamp for your story on fanfic, you did the dead hokages coming back to life before kishimoto did in canon (been lurking in the comments and Iâm not the only one whose noticed). huuuge coincidence?? magic ball?? howww?
I feel like I need to put up a disclaimer, because I once got a slightly scary email asking if I was part of Kishimotoâs team and leaking the plot line. I am not. God as my witness, I am not. And Kishimoto-- if in your opening sequence to a story about ninja!children with super powers, you include a Chekovâs gun the size and style of Mount Rushmore with four ninja!Founding Fathers, my history-and-politics-and-supernatural obsessed brain is going to run with it. I also just really like Mount Rushmore.
True fact: I stopped reading canon very early on in the series. I actually never even got introduced to Karin, Suigetsu, Jugo, and the others. Hazel updated me on the canon plot line as the story went along, and I took it from there.
Hey! I was just wondering if I could make a playlist for your story? I'm not overly artsy but I constantly have spotify open and have been sound-tracking your work in my head for a bit. Hope your day is going well!!
DO ITTTTT. I wanna hear this! When I write, I listen to music constantly-- Dust Bowl III by Other Lives, Tetrishead/Legions/all compositions by Zoe Keating are basically the theme songs at this point.Â
Hey uh, @weialala-leia I swear I was going to go deep diving and spend 15+ hours researching (unecessary research and fanfic go hand in hand) but then I realized...I can just ask.
I did a body study for Rin but Iâm dying here. I canât figure out if sheâs a constrictor or an elapid snake species. Sheâs gotta be chunky to constrict but her speed equates to a viper but the thickness and venom and so many factors. At this point Iâm torn between a hybrid of a Gaboon Viper and a Eastern Diamondcross Rattlesnake if only for the viper capabilities but the chubby constrictor aesthetics.
First, who is that precious one in the pic and what is their name? Second, what even is your talent. I mean, honestly. What.Â
But... you also kind of have it perfectly? I imagined her chubby (constrictor like, golden-yellow, no patterns), but with the viper venom and temper? I will leave it up to you. I still havenât gotten over your last work.Â
Heyy, is the sharingan rising story/ series being updated anytime soon?
The amount of asks I get about this is truly awesome, you donât even know. I make sure to tell W about it, because her fans are so hardcore they come to me just for an info on the update/progress of the series and she should get ALL of the love for this work, cause weâve spent years on it, and the amount of work she puts into it is insane.
To answer your question, yes, it will be soon. I just gotta go through ch 11 and I think we should be good to go. If not the end of this month, Iâd say early Feb for sure if W is up for it.
I canât convey in words just how mesmerized I am with this one fanfic, to such a degree Itâs become an inspiration to better my own style of writing whenever I can.Â
I finally made an account. Enough folks (Iâm looking at you, Hazel) have pestered me about this that I thought it should get over my inherent fear of technology (no, really: Hazel had to convince me to get a Gmail account for editing documents). I think people can reach out this way to me now? Letâs see if I can figure out how to reach back to you.Â
In other news: Chapter 11 of Ragnorokr is up.Â
God help me, but the new chapter is 30K words. Hazel and I decided that we have now moved from novel to epic to saga territory for Sharingan Rising.Â
