#but neji and hinata saw the brutality for their family for what it was!!! they had the tools to fight back against it!!!!

[erumai-maadu]

(Slowly going back to my naruto era again…. Yay ) it’s so frustrating that Team Gai didn’t get to mourn completely. Like only Lee did and I get it that’s his rival and tenten that was her friend who also dealt with Lee and Gai ‘s shenanigans and Gai felt out of character when he told Lee like I get it but he never grieve after losing one of his students….

(muhahahaha come back to the pits with us mel. we have cookies!)

So much about Neji’s death was handled so badly, which explains the commonality of Neji Lives AUs. because EVERYONE knew that was bullshit.

So earlier I was watching an OSP Trope Talk (that series is a goldmine for writers btw everyone should go check it out) on fridging, and there were a few things that Red said which stuck out to me a lot.

Side note here: Neji wasn’t fridged, necessarily, but since fridging is a bad character death, Red was discussing a lot of character death tropes and how to write a good character death.

The main takeaway from the video is that a good character death feels like a conclusion to their arc somehow. Like even if it cuts off their life and their arc/future to some degree, things have wrapped up enough in their arc that the death feels correct or acceptable in some way. That clearly doesn’t happen here.

I think the reality is that Kishimoto designed Team Gai to be side characters, and killed Neji for emotional impact to Naruto and Hinata, as well as to set an example for how brutal the war was going to be. Nobody else died. It wasn’t a satisfying conclusion to his arc in any way, especially given that his whole narrative was about breaking free from the idea of the branch protecting the main family with their lives.

I think the arc of the Hyuuga clan was handled badly just in general but that’s a different (and related) conversation.

People can talk about “well it was Neji’s choice not because he had to” all they want. it just doesn’t feel satisfying. it’s a spit in the face to everything that Neji’s arc had worked up for till then.

Another thing is that a good character death has the characters around them grieve and be deeply affected by it.

Lee didn’t really grieve. He got to be sad, got to go “nooooo nejiiiiiii” and then never really mentioned it again. Naruto got a scene with Neji (that was longer than anything he got with HIS OWN TEAM RAHHH GRRR) and then was at the funeral.

The war was raging around them so one can argue they didn’t have the time to grieve. And honestly that could’ve been a very interesting thing. Forcing all of them to delay their grief because there’s a war going on, we’ll have to deal with this later, having them fight to stay focused on the task at hand, and the consequences of putting off that emotion.

Seeing something, anything that Lee and Tenten and Gai do to keep Neji in their minds. Even just them visiting his grave. Gai lost his father in a war and to lose a student, someone he probably saw as like a child to him, in a war would have been incredibly traumatic and hard for him.

Insane that in the manga there is literally no panel of Lee and Tenten at Neji’s funeral. We see team 10. but not Gai or Lee or Tenten. In the anime they’re there, so small condolences I guess.

Neji, like Shikamaru, is what I like to call a “main side character”. They are the side characters with a lot of screen/panel time and have these big and important narrative arcs that take up time and have an impact on the main character.

Lee, and Tenten especially are minor side characters who don’t get much. And Gai to some extent.

Lee gets his match against Gaara and his time during the chunin exams, and then beyond that I don’t believe we see much of him in a major narrative way. Even in the retrieval arc he’s mostly just there to show how strong Kimimaro is, rib Gaara a little about injuring him, and then sit there and ooh and aah while he summons enough sand to change the landscape.

Gai gets a bit of panel time as elite kickass jounin and Kakashi’s good friend, but still gets relegated to the side for Obito once he pops up. Madara vs Gai changed the culture the same way Lee dropping his weights did, and I think having Naruto bullshit no jutsu him back to life was…. A Choice. I got thoughts about that one too. I like that they did permanently disable him as a consequence, so his choice does have some narrative weight that others don’t. Gai gets a level of respect and dignity as a character but doesn’t really get an arc.

Tenten is the side character of all side characters. Doesn’t have a canonical last name, we know nothing about her, gets a fairly forgettable jutsu that you only really think about if you’re obsessed with her (diagnosis), and gets less screentime than Tsunade’s pet pig or Naruto’s sad boy hours swing. Her main traits come from anime filler arcs that only exist because some mfs on SP’s team LOVE team gai with all their hearts, and i adore them for this. But again, as a very minor character, she doesn’t get an arc or a focus or anything. and that’s fine, such is the nature of side characters, and such is my burden for getting obsessed with them so hard.

the point of all of this is that Tenten and Lee, and Gai to some extent, aren’t narratively important enough to bother getting panel time for grief. I think that’s why they didn’t get any sort of scene mourning Neji. I and the rest of the team gai fandom care more about Team Gai than Kishimoto ever did and that’s a little sad.

In the end it’s just bad writing, plain and simple. If Kishi needed Neji to die, there was a lot of narrative setup that he skipped in the process, and a lot of narrative afterward that would’ve helped justify the choice and make it actually satisfying.

Neji Lives AU for the win, as always.

[docexe-mx]

Hola, no sé si alguien ya te ha hecho esta pregunta, pero ¿por qué elegiste NaruHina sobre otros barcos? Como NaruSaku, ¿dónde es más explícito que Naruto está enamorado de Sakura y que ella comienza a devolver sentimientos, o SasuNaru, donde tienen un vínculo más grande y más establecido?

Translated to English:

Hello, I don’t know if somebody has already asked you this, but why did you choose NaruHina over other ships*? Like NaruSaku, where is more explicit that Naruto is in love with Sakura and that she is starting to return his feelings, or SasuNaru, where they have a bigger and more established bond?

Subsequent asks:

Do you believe that Naruto had a bond with Hinata? If so, how would you prove it?

Why is it difficult for people to understand that stating that Naruto cared about Hinata doesn't deny what he had with Team 7? Or why is it difficult for NH fans to accept that Naruto's first ties were to Team 7?

* As an aside, I feel the need to point out that the Spanish version of the first question used Google Translate so the term “ships” (derived from the word “relationships”, and used in fandom parlance to refer to fan preferred romantic relationships) is translated literally to Spanish, that is: “ships” = “boats” = “barcos”. The thing is, we Spanish speakers don’t use the term “ships” when referring to fan-preferred romantic relationships, and a proper equivalent term doesn’t really exist in Spanish (or at least, not as far as I know, you never know what neologisms will come from the Internet after all). So, we simply refer to them as “parejas” (that is “pairings” or “couples”).

That clarification aside, I stated before I was going to reply to these asks, so here we are. Very belated reply, but I spent most of October and November swamped with work and hadn’t had the time or energy to reply before, especially as I ended extending myself and essentially composed an essay.

So, without further ado, the reply is below the cut. I ended composing it in English as the subsequent asks came in English, so I presumed whoever send the questions was more proficient in that language. I put it below the cut for the benefit of whoever doesn’t want to read my shipping rants:

Regarding why I chose to ship NaruHina over other ships, to put it simply, I just found NaruHina’s dynamic and relationship far more endearing.

At the core, NH is a very tender love story: Two kids who suffer from being looked down and rejected (him by most of the village, her by most of her family), ultimately find mutual support and love on each other. Specifically, I found that the scenes both of them have together during the Chunin Exams arc carried a lot of emotional torque, and those scenes made me fall in love with the couple. Those scenes are also the ones that I would use to establish the bond between Naruto and Hinata, because yes, I do think they have a bond, and is a bond we see blossom as the manga progresses even if (admittedly) is not a bond that receives a lot of focus.

He starts as a snotty and troublemaking brat, the worst student in his class and the village pariah (and a pariah for reasons that are not his fault and were absolutely beyond his control). But in spite of all his mistakes, he never surrenders and persists on making reality his impossible dream, no matter what everyone else says. His courage and determination end catching the eye of this quiet, timid girl, who is rejected by her family due to her lack of strength. Her admiration for him inspires her to become braver and stronger, and in the process she adopts his nindo (“I’ll never go back on my word”). Ultimately, said admiration also ends blossoming into love.

At the third Chunin Exam, after seeing Neji trying to demolish Hinata’s confidence with cruel words (cruel words that ring far too close to home for him), Naruto cheers on her, which motivates her to confront her fears and battle Neji in spite of her cousin surpassing her in skills by far. Hinata’s courage and determination during the fight end impressing Naruto in spite of her defeat. Neji’s brutality also motivates him to avenge her honor (and with a blood vow, no less), as he feels kinship with her.

Before the fight with Neji at the quarter finals, Naruto feels down as his opponent is really strong and, in spite of all his training, he is not sure that he can actually defeat him. By chance he ends running into Hinata. She thanks him for cheering on her previously and muses that she is finally starting to change a little and likes herself more now. At her words of gratitude, Naruto drops the bravado and turns sincere with her, revealing that in spite of his boasting, he doesn’t think a “failure” like him who is always making mistakes can defeat a genius like Neji.

In response, Hinata proceeds to encourage him, stating that what she admires of him is not that he is perfect, but rather that in spite of making mistakes and failing he has the ability to rise and try again. She considers said ability true strength, hence why she considers him a very strong person, or a “proud failure” as she calls it (and incidentally, this is another detail that makes the ship endearing to me: Hinata is among the first few people who sees beyond Naruto’s flaws and realizes his true worth). Her words end cutting deep into Naruto (just the way he looks at her completely wide eyed shows how much she affects him) and help him to recover his determination. He leaves to face Neji but not before thanking her, stating that while at first he considered her a weird and plain girl, she is actually “a person [he] truly like[s]”.

Later during the fight, after Neji explains the tragedy of his past and the reason for his fatalist outlook on life and destiny, among his rebuttals of said outlook Naruto calls Neji out for his treatment of Hinata, pointing out that Hinata also suffered like him yet still was desperately trying to change her own fate (thus showing us that Naruto also understood Hinata’s plight). Finally, after the fight and Naruto’s victory, his first thoughts while basking on the audience ovations are (at least in the manga): “Where is Hinata? Did she saw that?” (Of course, Hinata is unconscious at this point due to her prior injuries acting up when she saw Neji injuring Naruto, but that’s a bit beside the point).

As you can see, in that entire sequence of events mentioned above is shown that they end forming a bond in their mutual understanding and support of each other, as well as in their shared nindo. It’s not a bond that receives a lot of focus later in the story, admittedly, but it’s still there and later developments in the manga don’t really negate it. Indeed, we end seeing a couple of actually significant story events that ultimately reinforce it. 

I’m talking of course of Pain’s invasion of Konoha (when, while trying to save him from Pain, Hinata confesses her love to Naruto, explaining how he inspired her to change and become better, then Naruto goes straight to Six Tails in rage after watching her being injured by the villain) and the battle between the Shinobi Alliance versus the “Uchiha Sith Lords” and the Juubi (when, after seeing Neji die in battle while protecting him, Naruto is about to surrender to Obito’s rhetoric due to failing to protect his friends, yet Hinata stops him and encourages him again, helping him recover his fighting spirit while telling him that his feelings for his friends were not a lie and pleading him to not let Neji’s death be in vain). Both scenes also have a lot (and I mean, A LOT) of emotional torque, and reinforce the theme of mutual understanding and support that runs in the ship. On the whole, it’s a really positive bond, as it essentially drives both characters to uplift each other.

Now, while there is some of that NaruHina dynamic (“mutual understanding and support of each other”) in the other two ships that you mention (NaruSaku and SasuNaru), there are also things regarding their respective dynamics in the canon that make them… well, far too troubling for my personal taste.

In the case of Naruto and Sakura, their relationship dynamic (especially in the anime adaptation) resembles a lot the typical “Tsundere” dynamic that you see in a lot of manga and anime: A protagonist who has a crush or is in love with a girl with a bad temper, with said girl always punching him out every time he tries to woo her (or otherwise does something stupid or perverted in front of her), although she gradually warms up to him as time passes. I have to clarify that, strictly speaking, I’m not really against that kind of relationship dynamic in anime and manga (indeed, I like a few ships in other series that have that kind of dynamic). However, in the case of Naruto and Sakura, I find that dynamic pretty troubling, primarily due to Naruto’s backstory, hence why I never shipped them in a romantic sense (although I must add that I do like their relationship at a platonic level, as they do have a couple of pretty tender scenes together).

I might also clarify (pertaining to how you phrased your question) that while Sakura does warm up to Naruto as time passes and starts considering him a good friend, in the manga it’s never explicitly show at all that she starts to return his feelings. At most it’s only briefly implied during the early arcs of part II, but the “fake confession” scene during the Iron Country arc essentially throws the possibility by the wayside.

As to Naruto and Sasuke… well, first it’s important to recognize that the manga’s author never intended their relationship to be seen in a romantic way, but rather as a sibling-like relationship. Of course, that doesn’t negate that their bond is central to the storyline, neither that it receives a lot of focus for most of the manga and it also has scenes with a lot of emotional torque. All of that inevitably leads to shippers pairing them together in a romantic way, regardless of what the author’s intentions were.

That being said, while there is also a theme of mutual understanding in their bond of brotherhood and rivalry that also drives them to uplift each other, the problem is that… well, to put it bluntly, their relationship becomes extraordinarily toxic for a pretty big chunk of the story. I mean, seriously: For most of part II of the manga (and most of Shippuden in the anime), Sasuke becomes a massive cretin and jerkass that treats his loved ones (including Naruto) like garbage, causing them a lot of emotional pain and strife. Sasuke also tries to murder his closest friend in multiple occasions and Naruto literally has to give an arm in exchange before the Uchiha finally has a moral epiphany and decides to change his ways. Given Naruto’s backstory, once again I find that dynamic extremely troubling and distasteful, hence why I’m not fan of pairing them in a romantic way.

(I might probably also add that it’s because of the above paragraph why I’m not really fan of SasuSaku either. I have made my peace with that pairing mostly because Sarada is one of my favorite characters in Boruto).

As to your final question… well, I can’t speak for everyone in the fandom neither want to make any generalizations, but from what I have seen around online, it seems to mostly boil down to classic fandom rivalry.

Naruto ran for almost 15 years with the characters locked in a messy love dodecahedron that the author didn’t intend to resolve until the very last second. During that time the different fandom factions that formed around every ship obviously came to blows, with rivalries and grudges forming. The net result is that a lot of people in the fandom have become extremely hyper-defensive regarding their preferred ships, with some people often overstating the importance of certain bonds while simultaneously minimizing other bonds. You certainly see it happen in all the shipping fandoms: There are some NaruHina fans that minimize the importance of Team 7 bonds with Naruto, as well as some fans of ships involving members of Team 7 who take issue with the notion of Hinata also having a bond with Naruto.

It doesn’t help that some fans (usually very young ones) have a very… well, “immature” understanding of love and relationships: Falling in love with someone shouldn’t mean that suddenly all your other relationships become “lesser”. Thus, the fact that Naruto fell in love with Hinata in the canon of the series doesn’t mean that his bonds with his team mates, friends and teachers no longer matter. On contraire, all of them are important in different ways.

[dianapana]

SH Day 10- Historical Romance

Well would you look at that...i am alive after all. Sorry for the long wait and for lowkey being like...a month late. I got home a few days ago but i wasn’t in the mood to write all that much and tbh this prompt didn’t inspire me all that much but i didn’t want to skip a day so yea...i will be posting everything (hopefully)

Anyway! I hope everyone had an amazing SH 2019 Month!!! And again sorry for the delay...Enjoy, Love Dia~~~

Clans - Part 1

Hinata  

They say that tragedy is for royalty and that comedy is for the common people. They say that the “common folks” can’t grasp the depth of the anguish that all these tragic plays show. If you ask me that’s a pretty bad deal for us royalties, especially when we are young. The kids belonging to the bourgeoisie’s class sit down on dirt, watch and laugh as actors trip and tell jokes, while I was forced from a young age into stiff dresses, I was thought t only sit on half a chair with my spine so straight that it feels like it will snap in two and watch as the actors cry and kill each other, as they lie and their lives fall apart. I know that this is a whiny complaint, one that hardly matters, but as I'm looking out the carriage onto the street and see a kid’s theater, I can’t help but be envious, even now at almost 19 years old I want to sit between the small children and laugh with them as one of the actors falls and rips his pants.  

“Hinata” Neji’s voice was stern and he was looking at me with a pleading face. He wanted me to cut it out, to stop looking longing towards something that is less than proper. I know he means well; God only knows what would have happened had father seen me, or even worse, grandfather. Closing my eyes, I try to conjure up a memory of grandfather which wasn’t unpleasant, but nothing came to mind. The older man inspired only fear and fury in me, and I hated how I could never look him in the eye anymore, scared of what I'll see when his ice-cold gaze was fixed on me.  

We were on the way to a family whose name I couldn’t remember, to do and discuss something I didn’t care about. I wish father had went alone, but he snapped at me when I proposed that, he argued that we must appear as a united and loving family. At least he was honest and didn’t lie saying he wanted out company on this long journey. Hanabi was next to me trying her headrest not to fall asleep since that would be un-lady-like. I closed my eyes and mourned her innocence. If father and grandfather stole my childhood, they murdered Hanabi’s in cold blood. One summer day my little sister was running around the Clan House in her small toddler bare feet and the next her eyes were cold and unwelcoming. I do not know what had happened in those hours, Hanabi never shared but it was such a brutal change.  

I look at my older cousin and try to picture him as a care-free child. When we were finally allowed to spend time together Neji was already calloused I wasn’t given the opportunity to know him before they broke his spirit.  

“We are almost there” my grandfather said in a low voice right before we came to a stop, I saw Neji look towards him and nod but I did not acknowledge him. I look out the window and see that we are no longer in the village, the scenery changed to a forest. There is a paved road that led right to the front gate of a house just as big and stoic as the Hyuuga House. I saw the sign of a clan large and proud above the door but I had never bothered to learn which sign belonged to which clan, nor did father bother to teach me. I can only imagine his utter disappointment when his first born was a girl and then his second born followed and it was also a girl. Mother died when Hanabi was young not giving father any son-heirs. That issue was very discussed for a long time in our clan. I heard talk about how Neji should have been the heir, I've heard talk about how both me and Hana would be married, and Dad wouldn’t step down until one of us had a son and he was old enough to lead.  I don’t know about Hana but I never wanted to be the head clan. I just want freedom.

We stop again, but this time we’ve reached the house. I get out of the carriage the last. I'm in no hurry to be here, once more I wish dad had left alone, when he is away, I like going to the village and just pretend I'm one of them.  

“Welcome” says a man in his late 40s. I assume he is the leader. Next to him is a beautiful woman, probably his wife. My father greeted them back as did my grandfather. “These are my beautiful daughters Hinata and Hanabi, and my nephew Neji, a fine young man” father says and gestures to eac of us. I know this dance, he says our name and we bow, this is easy and safe.  

Sasuke

“The guests seem to have arrived” Itachi says but neither of us makes any move to go and introduce ourselves. This is the 5th family to come visit us in the past 2 weeks. It's exhausting to meet so many new people and to constantly pretend like you care what they have to say. Especially since most families that came had one reason only, to present their daughter or daughters if they had more than one, in hopes that Itachi would take a liking to them.  

We are both laying on our back on the porch, my eyes are closed but I believe that Itachi is looking at the sky. Sooner or later dad will call for Itachi or both of us, sooner or later we’ll be forced to talk pleasantries with some strangers. The parents are the ones that want the marriage for title and prestige, while the girls were ok with it because Itachi was known as the ‘most eligible bachelor’ and they wanted to be the ones to catch his eye. While here the girls flutter their lashes and act as sexy and desirable as they could yet Itachi never finds any of them interesting. The guest have arrived for quite a while and dad hasn’t called for us yet which is weird, usually dad pushes the girls toward Itachi as fast as he can. Maybe this meeting is different. Just as I think that two girls take the corner. Itachi and I look at each other,I give him a ‘here we go again’ eye roll and he simply smiles.  

“Hello ladies” Itachi is the first to speak and he gets up. The older girl flinched when Itachi spoke. She was smiling at her sister but now, looking at me and my brother her smile fell. The younger one bows and when she sees that her sister isn’t doing the same she touches her shoulder. The older sister bows too but I see her jaw is clenched and she seems to be in a foul mood now.  

“My name is Itachi and this is my younger brother Sasuke” Itachi says and we both bow. “What brings you lovely ladies here?” My brother is a very good actor and he excels in small talk.  

“Our father has a meeting with yours. We simply tagged along, we didn’t want to be alone home without father. Whenever he is gone we miss him dearly” The younger girl says with a smile on her face that looked anything but genuine. Her sister scoffed and turned around while her sister was talking. “My name is Hanabi and this is my older sister Hinata.” Hanabi makes a show of looking at our house before turning back to us and saying “You have such a lovely house” I look at Itachi and he smiles at them, he I amused and to be honest I am too.  

“How was the trip here?” Itachi asks.  

“It was marvelous. You have such a beautiful village nearby. I asked dad to stop so we could take a look around. And as soon as the village ended this beautiful forest started! I was so surprised; I haven’t seen so many lush trees in my life.” Hanabi talks with great theatrics, if I didn’t know she was lying I might have believed her.  

“What about you Hinata? Did you like the village, do you like the trees?” Itachi furthered asks. I get the impression he wants to get the older one to talk as well, she hasn’t said a word yet, hasn’t looked at us.  

Her head turns, she looks at Itachi and then at me and for a moment I think she’ll ignore us. But she sighs, closes her eyes and when she opens them ack up it’s like she’s a different person, her smile looks genuine, her posture changes to a more welcoming one. “It was lovely. I enjoyed the kid's theater very much. And this forest seems perfect for an evening stroll. I do hope you’ll accompany me so I wouldn’t get lost” her voice is gentle, and you couldn’t be able to she was annoyed just a moment before.  

Before Itachi could reply a man took the corner as well, he appears to be Itachi’s age, maybe a year or two younger. When his eyes land on me and Itachi he plasters a fake smile on his face and bows but doesn't bother to tell us his name or greet us. He goes to Hinata and whispers something in her ear, I'm closely watching her, and I see her face falling. I see panic overtake her eyes as she turns to the man. His jaw is clenched, and his eyes are sad. The younger girl watches the interaction looking alarmed and confused.  

“I’m sorry Hinata” the man says and he puts his hand on her shoulder, squeezes it and leaves, like whatever he told her didn’t just ruin her life. And it occurs to me that maybe she didn’t know the reason why she’s here. Her eyes look at Itachi and then at me she looks scared and cornered.  

[sutekiyomitsu]

the naruto ending as it should have been

My friends and I had an hour long conversation about the Naruto ending that we deserved and I thought some of our collective ideas about what it should have been like were really interesting so I made this post to share them!

Note that we were talking from the angle of being mostly canon-compliant (except that we wanted Neji to be alive) so the canon ships are still depicted (even though I’m a SNS shipper at heart).

When he becomes Hokage, Naruto reveals the deep, dark secrets of Konoha to the public, such as the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre, the existence of Root as a corrupt system etc

In doing so, he acknowledges the mistakes of Konoha’s past and begins to flush out the corruption that has been plaguing Konoha

He creates a new Council consisting of clan leaders (like Kiba, Choji, Shino etc.) and he splits the work rather than concentrating the power to himself

Kind of like a Parliament, really, and also somewhat more of democratic structure where all the clans in Konoha are represented and have a say in making important decisions

This prevents the marginalisation of any one clan, hence preventing what happened to the Uchiha clan (that pushed them to plan a coup)

He is advised by Shikamaru and Kakashi

As he has revealed the truth about the Uchiha Massacre, Uchiha Itachi gets a proper burial and is honoured as a true Konoha shinobi

As a result of the revelation of the truth, the people are not as resentful towards the Uchiha (i.e. Sasuke) and more sympathetic towards his difficult childhood/teenage years

Just air Konoha’s dirty laundry already oh my god

Sasuke decides not to leave the village on some redemption pilgrimage 

Instead he revives the Konoha Military Police Force

In doing so, he ‘revives/cleanses’ the Uchiha legacy into one associated with order and justice rather than death and destruction

This also helps to rid Konoha of its corrupted, twisted system, preventing any further Danzos from happening

Sakura becomes the head medic of the hospital and trains other young medics to fulfill Tsunade’s wish of having a medic/someone with basic medical training in every team, drastically lowering the chances of fatalities on missions

Specifically, I had in mind a scene where she is either 1. shouting orders at the other medics, in the midst of saving someone’s life or 2. tutoring someone to revive that fish like we saw her do, or both

Naruto increases the budget for the hospital so they can fund such a programme

(In keeping with the canon, maybe we can have a scene where Sasuke, a long day’s work, pops by the hospital and says to Sakura, who is bent over a patient hard at work, “I’m going to pick Sarada up from the Academy.”)

As a result of the whole democratic system/splitting up of duties among the Council members, Naruto is also not overworked and gets to spend time with his family.

The Uzumaki children thus grows up happy and healthy and not neglected

Hinata, instead of being depicted as just ‘Naruto’s wife, waiting for him at home’, is shown to have taken up her duties as the head of the Hyuuga clan

However, in an effort to break the mould that her ancestors have set for her, she gives up her position as the clan head to Neji (who is very much alive, thank you very much), acknowledging that he has more natural leadership capabilities than her

In doing so, she breaks the main/branch family divide and also branch family cursed seals are not a thing

Hanabi is supportive of this decision and admires her sister for having such bravery to rebel against the system

Rock Lee decides to join the Konoha Military Police Force

His relationship dynamics with Sasuke is one that is both odd and very comical because of their starkly different personalities and would probably make for a great spin-off series: Sasuke and Rock Lee: Cop Adventures

Still, they have a sort of mutual respect for each other

Lee and Gaara are pen pals

Again, a very odd and amusing pair but one that somehow makes a lot of sense

Gaara is doing well as the Kazekage – people respect him greatly for leading the shinobi forces in the War

Gaara is aro ace – either he gets married (for political reasons, because Suna’s Council wants him to get married according to Gaara Hiden) to someone who he has a queerplatonic relationship with or he doesn’t get married at all

Either way, he is aro ace, and perfectly fine with it, fight me on this

Kankuro trains the next generation of puppet masters in Suna

Temari is the ambassador of Suna, and she’s married to Shikamaru, the main political advisor to Naruto

(Shikamaru finds it troublesome, but at least Choji’s on the Council too)

Ino is the new head of T&I

(She is just as brutally effective as the last)

Team 10 takes turns helping out with Asuma and Kurenai’s child, even when she is grown up, it’s like she has them as godfathers/godmothers

Gai is an instructor at the Academy, almost like a motivational speaker

He encourages the kids, even those who have no innate talent in ninjutsu/genjutsu to strive for excellence

“If I, who can’t walk, can do handstands, so can you!” [yells about Youth]

Tenten is a jounin instructor, probably