#jealous hinata is such an integral part of his personality???

[bigclownshoes]

WAIT I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS WHAT THE FUCK

I HATE when people say that kageyama hates kenma or atsumu, like BROTHER IN CHRIST close ao3 and open the MANGA!!! kageyama would never hate another setter, stop thinking that fanfic is canon,, geez bro stop with that shit

[sasuhinasno1fan]

His eyes always on her -SasuHina Month Day 17

A bit late but I wanted to post this still. A very short ATLA au but I kinda like it. I tried mixing them both. Enjoy

Noroke     (Japanese)

“Speaking with fondness about your loved one.”

Nunchi     (Korean)

“The subtle and often unnoticed art of listening and gauging another person’s mood.”

Sasuke watched Hinata speak to the high-class officials around her. Compared to the opulent dress of others around her, she was dressed modestly in a sleeveless wrap dress with an attached cape that moved like water on her. Her simple jewellery stood out amongst the overly detailed of others.

“But bloodbending, you can’t honestly think it’s at all a good thing. that woman used it to keep control of everyone around her.”

“Out of revenge yes. You seem to forget that Koharu was taken from her home just for the simple fact she was a waterbender. While her intentions for making the style were inherently bad, that doesn’t mean we should throw it away and forget it exists. We’d be doing exactly what she wants, creating a villain out of her and justifying her actions. Instead, we should be trying to find a positive in it, such as healing. Internal bleeding has been the cause of death as it’s hard to detect. Just the ability to sense the blood in the wrong place and even move it could be lifesaving. That’s not to say every waterbender should learn how to use it. I only learned in the moment and it’s not a moment I ever hope to relive. We mentally look at each bender to see if they can handle it and if they decide halfway they can’t, that’s fine. It’ll have to be taught that this can’t be used against a person and monitored but with time, I have faith that it could become an integral part of healing. I also believe that other facets of bending can be used in different way in our ever-changing world.”

“I can practically see the hearts above your head.” Sasuke turned to his brother, who sat on the throne, the lights glinting off the flame crown in his hair. The glassy eyes and the fact that he stared straight ahead gave away his blindness. That didn’t mean his brother was an easy target, there was a reason he was the Fire Lord.

“She hated it before. I thought after Koharu forced the knowledge on her to save us, she’d never be the same. I mean, it wasn’t pleasant, feeling your own body betray you and if you focused hard enough, feeling the blood pull you in different directions. But she was determined to not give Koharu the satisfaction, so she worked on what to do. And now she can actually do it. She’ll be remembered as one of the greatest healers ever.”

“And not just the Avatar. Or married to the Prince of the Fire Nation when you get around to proposing. Or the student of Firebending Master Sasuke Uchiha.”

Those were all hats Hinata wore. The next avatar in the line of water benders, lover to Sasuke and his first and so far, only student. Teaching her should have given him his mastery if he didn’t already have it before. she was so scared of a single flame, understandable given her life in the Northern Water Tribe, but he’d been ready to tear his hair out. Finding her to specifically teach her had been near impossible as she’d been so convinced, he was dragging her back to the Fire Nation to give to the usurper who was on the throne at the time. In all honesty, Sasuke was there on behalf of the White Lily, the rebel group his brother had been head of. It took a lot of talking and a rescue mission or two for her to finally believe him and it had been paid back in the toughest part of learning.

The falling in love wasn’t supposed to happen, but it did. She was just, the brightest person, who didn’t give up no matter what. She held so much on her shoulders but she didn’t break, at least not in front of others. He’d found her once and didn’t want to see it again. So, he’d sit with her, even if she didn’t talk. Sometimes she did and their bond grew. When Naruto teased him about being a jealous boyfriend when Kiba had his hands on her during their earthbending lessons, it became very clear. Before the final battle, he wanted to say something, but she beat him to it by kissing him.

“I plan on coming back when I take down Daizo. I just…I couldn’t leave without letting you know.”

He kissed her back, hard and told her if she didn’t come back, he was going to the spirit world and killing her. He’d never seen anyone smile so hard at a death threat.

Months had passed and the Fire Nation was repairing itself from the time under Diazo’s rule. Hinata had been traveling with her group helping other villages and towns, while Sasuke had to stay with his brother. To be honest, this was the first time he was getting the chance to see her in months, but he didn’t mind not whisking her away. Watching her be the confident person when he remembered how shy she was before was amazing to watch.

“I still remember when you sent me letters, questioning if she really was the Avatar. Now look at you.”

Sasuke sent a small glare to his brother’s teasing. “Leave me alone. I don’t tease you nearly as much when it comes to you and Kisame.”

“because it’s not as fun. Besides, you didn’t have to hear remark after remark about how amazing the young Avatar is and how beautiful. Never once have you been attrached to a woman’s looks. Now I wish I could see to know what drew you to her.”

“What didn’t? Her eyes are like the moon and her hair like the river when the moon is gone. But it was more than looks. Her kindness and determination, it’s what made me never give up on her.”

And so, he bragged about her. How could he not? He was just upset he didn’t have her there when he did, she always got so red. Speaking of turning red, he noticed she was playing with her fingers. The bottom of her dress moved as she shifted and he knew he had to go in.

“Stay with him.” He ordered the nearest guard and quickly made his way to Hinata who’s cheeks were starting to flush. “Excuse me gentlemen, my apologies for the interruption but I’m afraid the Fire Lord wanted to speak to the Avatar. If you’ll excuse us.” With a gentle hand on her back, he took the long way back to the throne. “You’re ok?”

“F-fine.” She’d reverted back to stuttering in her nervousness. “their questions s-started coming f-fast and I coul-couldn’t think.”

He let his fingers run up and down her spine, like he used to do when it happened before. he was sure he was getting looks, but he didn’t care.

“I’m sure we can leave if you want.”

Hinata shook her head, leaning against him. “No. I haven’t s-seen you in so long. I-I don’t care if we have to spend time around everyone else.”

“Really? Even if I get to finally show you the turtleduck pond?”

Hinata’s eyes lit up. Ever since he told her about the pond in the palace, she’d been dreaming of seeing it. “I guess we can disappear for 5 minutes.”

They stayed outside for the rest of the party. With how giddy she was and how her smile never left her face, how could he?

[amjustagirl]

Nikki. Hon.

Boy do I have some thoughts about Storm Chaser 😩

Atsumu, Atsumu...I want to first start off by saying that you characterized him <i>beautifully</i> . Atsumu is one of those characters that I actually love reading about the most, because in addition to all of his wonderful traits and his relationship with his brother (honestly I could read banter back and forth between those to for days), his flaws are on full display, usually wrapped up in his virtues. His single minded determination? Sometimes at the expense of his loved ones. His stubbornness? Can turn to bull-headedness and he has a tendency to blindly think he's right. His passion? It's all or nothing with him, and getting the short end of the stick can hurt irreparably.

Okay and this might be a controversial opinion? This is exactly how I'd imagine a relationship with Atsumu might go. He's not always the most tactful and says what's on his mind, and sometimes that can be something you don't want to hear. And he can be spiteful, too - directing his frustrations with himself at those around him is a nasty habit he has that I think not a lot of FF writers touch on. When he left his ring behind on purpose in a place Kaiyo would see it, that actually hurt my heart.

That's why I think Osamu is such an integral part of his life, and even though he'd probably rather eat a spoonful of salt, I think Atsumu subconsciously turns to his brother for his troubles because Osamu's been setting him straight for most of his life. And <i>huge</i> praise to Osamu for being, IMO, the primary reason why their marriage was salvageable in the first place, and also for just being an amazing boss, brother (to Atsumu), brother-in-law (to Kaiyo), and uncle (to little Shino).

And last but not least, Kaiyo. I love her personality and think she's most a good fit for a partner to Tsumu. She has a good head on her shoulders, she's kind but not a pushover, and while initially I was against the idea of taking Atsumu back after he decided to ditch his responsibilities, I'm happy the got back together. And something else I did, this might seem extra but bear with me, but I actually went back to Chapter 6, hit CTRL+F and looked for the word 'sorry' and not once did it come up. Throughout his entire run for working to gain her forgiveness, Atsumu hadn't actually apologized to Kaiyo like Osamu said, but when he finally did in Chapter Seven and she gave him another chance, I liked it a lot. The healing process started once he finally swallowed his pride and apologized, and even then it took time - apologizing to her, her family, his brother for heaping his responsibilities on him. I liked that, and I liked that it wasn't instant either.

And then in the stands, when she miscarried 😢 My heart broke into so many pieces. And despite the circumstances, I'm so happy Atsumu was there for her. And the rest of the MSBY team as well, being there for both of them. Shoyo, my little ball of sunshine, made me smile when he offered her his mother's number if she needed to talk to someone about it, how sweet of him!

This one was absolutely aptly named, and it was a whirlwind of emotions I wasn't quite prepared for on a Saturday 😂 But I loved every moment of it! Thank you so much! 🤗💖🤗💖

<s>PS this all confirms why Osamu is my favorite of the two akdkakdnelqjsn</s>

oh darling lemme give you a hug ahhh <3

i knew atsumu wld be an amazing character to write cos as you pointed out, he's so flawed yet lovable. the dark side of his passion for volleyball is that he's more likely that not, going to resent anything and anyone that gets in the way of his ambition, and that's when his spiteful side really peeks out. it's not pretty, he's not a romantic hero but a flawed human being. i cried when i wrote the scene where he leaves his wedding ring right by the door, so kaiyo's reminded every day that he walked out on her and shino and the fact that she kept the ring clean, kept it exactly where he left it despite clearing all other signs of him from their apartment hurts my heart.

and that's where osamu steps in. he's really the silent support behind both atsumu and kaiyo and really, he deserves all the love cos that poor man just shouldered the burdens that atsumu left behind. but in a sense osamu's goodness just...kind of makes atsumu insecure. i weaved a little bit of that in the fic - when atsumu gets jealous of the relationship btw osamu and kaiyo, when he just assumed that he's the bad twin and doesn't have a conscience. i find their sibling relationship really...complicated yet loving and it was just such a blast to write.

kaiyo, my queen. when i was coming up with her personality i knew for a fact that atsumu could NOT be paired with a pushover, and my sense is that he'd be drawn by someone with strength of personality (look at how he's drawn to shoyo!) and in any case kaiyo had to have this ironclad will to survive atsumu's bullshit.

and yeah i definitely had a lot of readers discuss whether or not she should've ended up back with atsumu. i think...yeah the story at the end of the day is about...marriage that takes time to settle, about family and forgiveness and relationships that crumble, that can be rebuilt. and yknow i love that you combed through chapter 6 for an apology from atsumu because the omission of a simple 'sorry' from him was intention on my part. leading up to chapter 7, atsumu was being utterly selfish in his desire to get back together with kaiyo. he couldn't fathom that he should put her needs and desires ahead of his, and so he couldn't give her a proper apology until after the talk with osamu where his twin sets his head straight and reminds him to not be selfish for once in his life. and so when kaiyo takes him back, it's not because he bought her a motorbike (i mean, that in itself is significant in symbolising his desire to return her independence and autonomy back to her, which she lost after marriage and parenthood) but because he demonstrated that he's truly sorry and has learnt the error of his ways by taking her needs and wants into account.

oops the miscarriage. i wasn't sure if it was too melodramatic but i wanted to show how he'd changed as a husband, and in any case - miscarriages aren't uncommon so i rly wanted to write a...hopefully realistic account of it. and aahhhhh yes hinata is really a ball of sunshiney goodness <3

HAHAHA and yes hence the title storm chaser - for (1) the whirlwind of emotions i put my readers through, (2) the comparison of atsumu to a storm (cos he's volatile and destructive to those around him) and (3) kaiyo for being crazy enough to chase after the storm that is miya atsumu. i probably overthought this HAHA.

[colourful-void]

Hope’s Peak AU Kamakura Project

Alright! So this is my au and I do what I want, and thus I’m trying to adapt as much of the canon story as possible into this AU.

Obviously this is spoilers so if you haven't made it this far yet, come back later. 

So in this au, despair just,,,, isn't a thing? Komaeda isn't obsessed with it, Junko isn’t bored, and most importantly, there is no reserve course.   

You might be wondering, ‘but void, if there’s no reserve course, how did Hinata get chosen for the Kamakura project? If there’s no reserve course, how did they get the funding?’

Well I’ll explain everything, why there's a project, why Hajime was chosen, the effects of the project, timeline, and final results, below the cut.

In Hajime’s first year at high school (Kodaka High School, not hope’s peak) a rumour was circling around about Hope’s Peak. Apparently there was some sort of underground project about manufacturing talent.

Seeing as Hajime’s dream was to attend Hope’s Peak, he and his parents jumped on this rumour, digging up all they could find. Eventually they found an application process, and through random chance, Hajime was selected.

He was taken onto campus by some sketchy people, claiming to be the Hope’s Peak Steering Committee. Hajime was too starstruck to be suspicious of everything that was going on. 

Since Hajime wasn’t technically a Hope’s Peak Student, everything was kept under wraps. Just like in canon, Juzo, Chisa, and Kyousuke learn about the project and begin to investigate. They were not affiliated with the project, just investigate because something seemed suspicious. (Juzo over heard some stuff, Chisa saw a student she didn’t recognize on school grounds, Kyousuke got a hold of some files)

After some intense investigation, the trio was able to break into the area where they were keeping Hajime/Izuru, and shut everything down. It was a whole large scandal thing, and the entire steering committee was sent were sent to jail.

The people running the project were also fanatic fans of Hope’s Peak, trying to use Hajime as an experiment to make artificial talent so they could live up to that ideal. They hoped they’d be able to use the technology they created to eventually give themselves talent too. now they’re in jail for life, so it likely won’t be happening anytime soon.

The project was shut down before entirely completed, and due to the nature of the project, Hajime wasn’t entirely turning into a separate person. Instead, that person split off and became Izuru. (they share a body)

Hajime still has a ton of talents, though technically not all of them. It’s a gamble to see what he’s good at. (At one point, Nagito tries to investigate what those talents might be, similar to the beginning of 2)

A large part of the scandal came from the fact that the people claiming to be the hope’s peak steering committee were in fact, Not the Hope’s Peak Steering Committee, and in fact, Hope’s Peak doesn’t even have a steering committee. 

The integrity and security of the school was called into question, and so, because they felt bad and also to attempt to appear less scandalous, Hope’s Peak offered Hajime a slot at Hope’s Peak. All costs for Everything would be covered for him, he wouldn’t have to take exams, and he’d be exempt from typical talent research. they also just gave him a whole lot of money to prevent him from suing them.

Free school is free school, and despite Hajime’s experience, he decided he didn’t want to give up on his dream just yet, now facing Hope’s Peak with a more grounded approach and beginning on his own terms. 

In terms of what the project actually entailed and what and a bunch of other stuff to make up for it, Hajime ended up getting his memory wiped of most of it, and he’s pretty grateful for it.

Izuru, who mainly just sits in Hajime’s head and makes snide comments, finds Hope’s Peak boring, and is more than happy to let Hajime just go about and live his life. 

Most people at Hope’s Peak know why Hajime’s there, but for the most part no one cares. By his third year, it’s old news.

(oh and if your wondering why I cut the reserve course: reserve course students can’t get jealous if there is no reserve course)

Not a perfect parallel, but this is my version of events for the au. If you’ve got questions, leave em below!!

[astraseason]

@valorwilled​ sent... ship bias forrrrr roy, elma, kaden, and scarlet!

 @sireneia​ sent... ship bias + elma? O:  ( prompt. )

     roy.

sophia! this goes doubly true with ninian!roy, as they both have and can bond over dragon blood running through their veins. i also love that in their ending sophia was actively stated to be integral to rebuilding lycia, given her clairvoyance.

lilina! it’s... all but stated to be canon, so like-- yeah. i love it. not sure what else there is to say about it. king elroy of the united lycia, y’all--

wolt! okay but childhood friends to lovers is my jam and these two have literally been together since they were babies-- it clearly distresses roy when wolt tries to distance himself from him to act as his retainer and marcus reassures wolt that just being there for roy as emotional support, so like... eye emojis.

larum! once roy sits her down and they have a nice talk about personal space and how to respect it, they could be really cute. it honestly reminds me a liiiittle bit of sonamy and therefore i am obligated by law to like it. whoops.

shanna! she’s adorable and i want the best things in life for her and her family u__u their supports are kinda bare-bones, but give roy asks questions about ilia, i can see bonding over cultural exchange! then they get to be family with klein and thea so like... yes??? though i’m nixing the ending where shanna gives up being a pegasus knight entirely for him because... no.

     elma.

katarina!!!!!!! do i really have to explain this one? do i really? give me that sweet sweet training phase romance and then the reconciliation and rebuilding of trust, and elma helping katarina find her place in marth’s court after the war concludes........ tbh, this is semi-canon at least on elma’s part. she will always have fallen in love with katarina during their knight training.

cecille! their support chain is cute, even if cecille being called cute was cut from f!kris’ version of it. just give me ladies getting stronger together....... i like to think cecille was the one who comforted elma the most after katarina’s betrayal, given she’d already confided in her about her fear of ghosts-- if elma saw her moments of weakness, she can be there for hers.

phina! the support chain for both male and female kris is kinda... :/ but despite that, i find the teasing back and forth utterly hilarious and it’s something that can be easily worked with... miss phina, i love you...

linde! bonding over having dead loved ones? linde helping a country girl like elma adjust to life at court? strawberries??? p l e a s e???

marth, but like... platonic. marth’s getting married to caeda and elma’s a lesbian, so romance is 100% off the table, but them??? being super close??? more than just king and the captain of his guard-- like brother and sister??? sign me the fuck up? 

honourable mention: palla. pegasus girlfriends...

     kaden.

aqua! their support chain is so cute, and it’s so nice to see that rare silly, fluffy side come out of the stoic aqua. also, kitsune shigure. blue kitsune shigure.

hinata! helping kaden with his homesickness? promising to let him visit the kitsune hamlet??? aaaaaaaaa they’re cute... also, the thought of poor hisame having to deal with not only hinata but kaden and selkie as family is hilarious.

felicia! their support chain is so cute okay. i wanna cry. taking care of a lost kitten together, only for kaden to get jealous because he wants felicia’s attention too? adorable???

keaton! listen, it’s opposites attract... and they’re already buddies... selkie and velouria being sisters is... cute...

sakura! the support chain is cute... but this is one i’d only be willing to do with close, trusted friends given...... y’know, sakura’s age and the fact that kaden is a youkai who has definitely been around for a long time? but it’s interesting from a worldbuilding perspective too-- the next chief of the kitsune hamlet after kaden being a princess of hoshido? how they’re going to work with that??? it’s neat!

     scarlet.

ryouma. just look at them in birthright and what little time we get scarlet for in revelation and tell me that intsys robbed scarlet of supports with ryouma. story really seems to ship it, and i am so mad we couldn’t have it as a reality. :’) where is my blond shiro, dammit.

female mu. that a-support where scarlet takes her stargazing and talks about the chevois belief that the dead become stars in the sky? good shit!!!! that said, as i loathe default mu with a fiery passion, this would only extend to custom ones; and thus the level of investment i have varies from interpretation to interpretation.

that’s it, actually. scarlet comes across as a character who isn’t interested in romance-- so it’s hard to think of ships for her when she’s so dedicated to her cause. i guess i’d accept them as they come based off chemistry?

[creative-type]

The Problem with the Chunin Exams

Though I didn’t know it at the time, Naruto was my first anime and my first anime love. I was exposed to it through the American dub as a kid without realizing it was Japanese or based on a comic. In my defense, this was before we had internet at my house, and at best I was only able to watch it every other weekend because my dad had cable and my mom didn’t. 

I dropped the anime when it started into filler hell and switched over to the manga in high school. I started at the timeskip and caught up to the weekly release around the Naruto-Kakuzu fight. Over the years I grew dissatisfied with the story, though I don’t really have a single moment where I gave up on it entirely. There was a slow decrease in excitement, going from eagerly waiting for the latest spoilers, to reading each chapter as they released, to dropping the manga entirely, and only picking it up again to see the final arc through and being incredibly frustrated with the finale, wondering week to week just where things went wrong.

All this to say, I’m not writing this as a hater. I loved Naruto like I love precious few stories, and though I don’t feel that way now doesn’t stop the series from holding a special place in my childhood. I reread the first 87 chapters to prepare for this - seeing many of them in the manga for the first time - and what I read reinforced what I’ve thought for a long time:

The Chunin Exam arc occurred too early in the series. My reasoning is under the cut, but be warned that long post is long. I regret nothing.

I don’t want this post to turn into a Naruto bash-fest to make One Piece look better in comparison, but in my analysis of the build up to the Arlong Park arc, one of the points I tried to make was that by letting the series build organically to an emotional peak tho “big moments” don’t feel cheap and are much more powerful to the reader.

Naruto starts much faster than One Piece does. It establishes Naruto as a character, introduces Team 7, and gets through the Wave Mission arc by chapter 33. In comparison, chapter 33 for One Piece was the middle of Usopp’s recruitment arc and had yet to have the series’s first, for lack of a better term, epic moments.

The problem for Naruto is that the Chunin Exam arc starts in chapter 34 with the introduction of the Sand Siblings. There’s no time to wind back down, no time for the audience to catch its breath, and no time to explore some of the milestones that were made in the Land of Waves.

And I’m not just talking power ups here, although that would be nice. There are several emotional significant moments for several different characters that are left hanging. I think the most obvious is Sasuke, so we’ll start with him

Team Seven’s Lost Development

Sasuke has a ton of focus even in these early chapters before the Uchia’s took over the plot, and I think it would be fair to say that Naruto and Sasuke are less main character and rival and more deuteragonists with branching stories that interconnect at key points of their lives.

This is taken from when Sasuke saves Naruto from Haku during the climax of the arc. Note the past tense. At this point in time, Sasuke no longer hates Naruto. Through the whole Wave arc there have been moments showing the evolution from Naruto and Sasuke’s relationship from a bitter one-sided rivalry into them actually acting like teammates. The Naruto-Saskuke dynamic is arguably the most important thing in the entire series, and the audience can’t be expected to believe later on that they have this super strong friendship without scenes like this. 

Then immediately after the Wave arc we get this

The relationship has soured once more. Sakua even says a few pages later that their relationship is worse than it was before the mission.

I don’t call shenanigans on scenes like this because Naruto and Sasuke are both emotionally stunted orphans unused to interpersonal relationships. There’s a good chance that they don’t know how they’re supposed to react after going through such an emotional life or death scenario. 

However, I can and will call shenanigans on events like the Valley of the End or the entirety of Part II because the author never shows Naruto and Sasuke growing beyond this petty antagonism. Instead of being written as two outcasts regressing to avoid dealing with the feels of the Wave arc, the Naruto-Sasuke dynamic stinks of sticking to the status quo. 

Sasuke and Naruto aren’t the only ones hit with this, but I tend to give Sakura more of a pass because her character growth happens during the Exams. There are several little hints of Sakura’s increasing awareness of how far behind she is from the boys sprinkled throughout to early exam chapters before hitting the bulk of her character arc during the Forest of Death. There’s even a nice little moment during the written exam where she actually considers someone other than Sasuke for what feels like the first time in the series

The problem here is that this development isn’t given enough set up. I would trade six panels of Sasuke looking cool to see just one interaction between Sakura and her parents. It is absolutely abysmal character writing that we learn about Sakura’s former friendship with Ino from Shikimaru and their rivalry from a freaking info box

Why did Sakura become a ninja? What do her civilian parents think about her being in life-threatening situations as a 12 year old girl? How does she feel about being the only (besides Naruto, as far as she knows) to graduate without a bloodline or family jutsu? What’s the deal with her “Inner Sakura”, is she just repressed, or is there some sort of split personality going on there? Does she have a crush on Sasuke for any reason other than his alleged cuteness? Why didn’t she ever apologize to Naruto for saying that she was jealous he was an orphan, even though he wasn’t present at the time?

Whether intentional or not, Kishimoto made Sakura a very unlikable character early on. I for one remember despising her when first watching the series. And you know what, that’s okay. Each member of Team 7 has enormous personality flaws, and having them slowly overcome said flaws makes for a strong narrative.

The thing is, it takes more time to develop an unsympathetic character than it does one who is sympathetic, and Sakura gets the least character development out of all Team 7 (Kakashi included). This is exacerbated by the fact that she is physically the weakest and does the least during fights - a huge flaw for a main character in a battle manga to have.

Lastly, Sakura’s greatest assets - her intelligence and superior chakra control - are rarely presented as useful. In fact, during her fight with Ino she falls into a basic trap, and the only thing that saves Sakura is her willpower...split personality...whatever the Inner Sakura is. It’s not really made clear and never shows up again.

And speaking of ignored plot points, remember this?

Do you remember Kakashi’s reaction to the possible weakening of the seal keeping in the Nine-Tailed Fox? You know, the innately evil demon monster that can level mountains with just one of its tails?

Yeah, that never gets addressed before the Chunin Exams.

Sakura and Sasuke have an excuse because they didn’t actually see Naruto, but Kakashi is never shown pulling Naruto aside and asking him what happened or taking steps to keep it from happening again. Naruto - the Leaf Village’s Number 1 loudmouth ninja - never asks what happened or is worried that he might lose control to a monster.

Also recall that Naruto decides on his Ninja Way during the Wave arc, yelling it out for everyone to hear because of how upset he was about having to fight and nearly kill someone he liked. This clashes with the current system, a fact Kakashi points out, but Kakashi doesn’t warn Naruto about the potential dangers of this line of thinking, nor are the ramifications of having kids act as child soldiers ever explored.

It’s things like this that make the time taken between major arcs so, so, so important. Not only does it give the characters (and audience) time to process what happened, but quiet moments can lead to incredible character growth, or at least set up later growth that in turn becomes more powerful and realistic because it was properly set up to begin with. 

Establishing Secondary Characters

When rereading the primaries for the third round of the exams, three fights stick out as carrying the most emotional weight: Rock Lee vs Gaara, Hinata vs Neji, and Sakura vs Ino.

I’ve already touched on the travesty of the Sakura-Ino rivalry, and while Rock Lee was also introduced during the exams, his motivation and character were established pretty well during the early parts of the arc.

That leaves us with Hinata vs Neji (and later on Naruto vs Neji). Now, out of the Leave genin introduced during the exams, only Ino and Hinata have any real connection to Team 7, and considering Hinata’s place as possible love interest to the main character, she’s arguably the most important to the narrative. Not that she’s ever treated that way, but I digress. Her wholehearted, albeit silent, support for Naruto sets her apart from almost every other character thus far, and her timid, gentle nature is a nice contrast to, well, almost every other character thus far. 

(In case it’s not apparent, I really enjoyed Hinata in Part I. I’ll try to keep my bias to a minimum) 

In addition, Hinata brings a nice spin on the “hard work trumps natural talent” theme that at this point was important to the story. Unlike Rock Lee and Naruto who (supposedly) are neither talented nor from powerful families, Hinata is a character from a powerful family who has no talent, and has to work past her weakness and overcome the burden of being the heir of one of Konoha’s most prominent families.

We learn none of this until her fight with Neji.

Time is an integral part of tension, and previously establishing conflict would go a long way in getting rid of some of the more awkward exposition dumps. For the Hinata-Neji fight Kishimoto has to explain 1) the byakugan 2) the gentle fist style 3) chakra points 4) how Neji and Hinata are related 5) Hinata’s struggle to better herself and 6) Neji hatred of the main house/fatalist mindset. 

That is a ton of information to try to get across in a short period of time, and this isn’t an isolated thing. These mega info dumps aren’t quite as pronounced during Rock Lee and Sakura’s fights, but they’re certainly there. To be fair, it can be hard to convey to the reader what’s going on without some kind of commentator character, but nothing kills the flow of a fight by cutting away from it constantly.

Lastly - and this is again pulling back and looking at the series as a whole - Hinata is basically ignored after this fight, so whatever character development she gets is lessened because there’s no followup.

To be fair, I am just talking about Hinata in this instance. Neji goes through significant growth during the rest of Part I before being mostly ignored in Part II. Because of her injuries Hinata a non-factor during the invasion, and obviously she wasn’t picked to recruit Tsunde or retrieve Sasuke.

This lack of focus has the unfortunate side effect of making the Hinata-Neji fight nothing more than a reason to hype the Naruto-Neji fight. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with hype, and in fact it’s necessary when looking at the arc as a whole. At the same time, it’s also clear Kishi had no idea how to handle the ensemble cast he’d created during the exams.

This mishandling of secondary characters becomes an even bigger issue during Part II, when Shikimaru becomes the only one of the former rookies to get any sort of character focus. Hinata is a favorite of mine, but I don’t buy her love confession anymore than I do Sakura’s, because she’s never seen interacting with Naruto. She is in love with the idea of who she thinks he is (much like Sakura and Sasuke, to be honest. Maybe Kishi should just stay away from romantic subplots.)

I mean, it’s well over 100 chapters before Hinata’s confession is even addressed in canon. I don’t think they have a word for how terrible that kind of writing is.

Fixing the Problem of the Chunin Exams

It can be almost impossible to have “slow” chapters while trying stay up in Shonen Jump’s popularity polls, and I don’t envy the mangaka trying to plan their manga under crushing schedule of weekly serialization, but using the power of retrospect, this is how I would have gone about fixing the problem of the chunin exams.

Firstly, I would have had at least a few of the other rookies be present in the first chapters. Ino would have been a good one to slip in the background when introducing Sakura.

Secondly, I would show the entire rescue the Fire Lady’s cat mission. This might seem stupid, but it would give a baseline for Team 7′s teamwork ability, and give Sakura a chance to show off her brain. For example, Naruto and/or Sasuke could attempt a simple henge only for Sakura to tell them that a cat will still be able to smell them. Something simple like that to establish she’s not absolutely useless.

Thirdly, during the Wave arc I would have Kakashi assign Sakura alternate training, planting the first seed of how far behind the boys she is in terms of ability. This could be anything from working on a jutsu to practicing infiltration to being responsible for setting up booby traps around the house for protection (which would not only make her immediately useful in the Wave arc, but be a nice call forward to the traps she sets during the Forest of Death).

I’d have Team 7 run into Asuma, Ino, Choji, and Shikimaru upon returning from Wave, introducing the concept of the Rookie 9 and Sakura’s rivalry. I would also have Naruto ask Sasuke if they want to train together sometime. In this scenario Sasuke reluctantly agrees, but during the training Naruto asks who Sasuke’s brother is and why Sasuke would want to kill him. This goes about as well as can be expected,  thus souring their relationship into the canon state I pointed out earlier.

Forced to train alone, Naruto runs across Hinata working on her taijutsu after Kiba and Shino have gone home for the night. I don’t know if Hinata’s shyness would let her speak in such a situation, but Naruto sees how hard she’s training and tells her to keep up the good work. 

Alternately

Team 7 could run across Team Gai at some point, and the audience is introduced to Kakashi and Gai’s rivalry. The Sasuke vs Lee fight from the exams is moved here, while Neji acts like enough of a douche for Naruto to hate him on principle. I kind of like the idea of Sasuke respecting Lee for working to beat someone stronger than he is, which would give Sasuke an added anchor to the village outside of Naruto (for added tragedy when he defects/humanizing him in the present) and give another reason for Lee to chase after Sasuke later in the series.

I would also put a scene where Kakashi asks Naruto about what happened when the seal weakened and/or telling the Hokage about the fox. This would also be a good time for Naruto to first contemplate telling Sakura and Sasuke that he’s a vessel for the fox.

No matter what happened, I would do a repeat of the team’s first cat mission just to show off how far our band of lovable ninjas has come.

Lastly, when Kakashi hands out the application for the exams I would have Sakura talk to her parents about it, or at the very least get their reaction. It would not only give Sakura greater depth but also be a good chance for some world building.

All of this could be done in a chapter or two and without breaking the flow to the exams. Hell, Kishi could have sent them on another C Ranked mission to another country and get in some sorely-needed world building and set up some of the political side of the chunin exams. The possibilities are endless.

In Conclusion 

The older I get, the more convinced I become that it’s the stuff that goes on between major story beats that’s most important when developing a story’s emotional tone. It’s a little thing, but it gives a story depth. Unfortunately, it’s a thing that Kishimoto failed to do, and it’s a flaw that only worsened as time went on.

Agree of disagree, thanks for taking the time to read the ramblings of a disenchanted fan. Going over these early chapters reminded me of how good early Naruto was, flaws and all. I don’t regret all the time I’ve put into this series over the years regardless of the omnishambles it turned out to be.

But hey, at least there’s fanfiction.