alyeska-blog

[crownsoflaurels1020]

I just read the epilogue of Making Arrangements- and omg I have no words for how adorable it was! Kakashi's daughter being obsessed with punctuality added a dash of delicious irony and Sasuke's son already being a mini-asshole is karma at its finest. Also the fact that Naruto's kid is named Aiko- was that a reference to Electraposts' Vapors? *squints suspiciously* But anyway, just wanted you to know that I loved it!

So glad you enjoyed it! As far as choosing the name Aiko—no and yes. I had settled on the name Aiko when I started writing this fic. Then I read Vapors and laughed myself silly because ElectraSev5n had Kakashi name her character ‘Aiko,’ for implicitly similar reasons that I chose the name for the child in my fic. However, after the end of all things, I did run this decision by Electra and she gave me her blessing to continue using the name. So, in a way, it is a bit of a nod to Vapors.

However, I went and fleshed out the part of the story about why ‘Aiko’ was chosen in a drabble called the ‘Name Game,’ which I posted on AO3 under ‘Making Arrangements: Scrapbook.’ However, for ease of reading for MA fans, and since it’s not that long, I’m posting that segment here as well.

Strangely enough, the first person to ask was Anko.

It was the middle of the afternoon and Naruto had hidden away in the jōnin lounge with some miso ramen that Ayame-nee-san had been kind enough to box up and smuggle to her. Naruto had a perfectly healthy lunch of course (everything she ate nowadays was perfectly healthy), but she’d felt the stirrings of hunger about three hours later which had very suddenly flared up into ‘must eat now or else.’ She’d slipped away from Tsunade’s meeting with the Waterfall representatives when the older blonde’s back was turned and Shizune could do nothing else but show her the faintest scowl of disapproval.

Naruto crept carefully to the jōnin lounge because it was usually empty this time of day. To her surprise, the purple haired kunoichi had taken over the room, but since the woman was doing her best to consume an entire box of pocky while watching a marathon of ‘Shadows of Our Lives’ (the longest running Shinobi themed soap opera in the history of the Elemental Nations), Naruto thought she was in good company.

Naruto carefully didn’t look at the sign above the television which not-so-kindly reminded the jōnin that the television was to be used for news networks or live security feeds only. Instead, she heated up her contraband meal in the microwave before joining Anko on the scuffed up couch.

“So,” drawled Anko around the piece of pocky in her mouth. “Have you thought of names yet?”

Naruto blinked owlishly at the other woman, noodle dangling carelessly from her mouth.

She didn’t ask how Anko knew. Everyone knew by now, even though she wasn’t even showing yet and probably wouldn’t be for another month or so. That’s what happened when you were social with the Inuzuka clan, who weren’t exactly known for keeping their traps shut about what they viewed to be good news.

“I dunno,” Naruto finally responded, before her hunger drove her to continue consuming her meal. “We haven’t talked about it yet.”

“Really?” Anko peered curiously at her. “Usually parents are all over that shit.”

Naruto snorted. “I’m still working on getting him to realize that two jōnin, eight ninken, a baby and an occasional toad can’t fit in a one bedroom apartment. The name-thing is a bit lower down on the priority list.”

“Ha.” Anko barked a laugh. “Bachelor pad getting a bit cramped then?”

“Something like that.” Naruto voiced her agreement around a mouthful of ramen.

“Naruto where—“ the door flew open and both women froze guiltily, suddenly faced with venomously narrowed green eyes.

“There you are.” Sakura’s words came out in a flat hiss and she stalked forward.

Anko relaxed, sinking back into the couch once she was sure the medic-nin’s ire wasn’t directed to her own person.

Naruto hastily swallowed her current bite of food and stuffed another in her mouth, as if in fear it might be her last.

“Shizune-san said you stepped out for a snack but I noticed you left your salad in the fridge—stop eating that!” Sakura snapped and wrestled the ramen container away from the blonde, exchanging it for the, in the blonde’s opinion, less appetizing vegetable dish.

Anko munched on her pocky and enjoyed the entertainment.“You can’t keep eating—“

“I’m an adult!”

“The salt content—“

“—A grown woman should—“

“Need more vegetables, I even put oranges—“

“—be perfectly cable of choosing her own food!”

“—so it’s perfectly healthy!”

Both women finished shouting at each other and sank into the couch cushions with mutual huffs of annoyance.

Naruto plucked up a slice of orange and sucked on it sulkily.

“You two are hysterical,” said Anko dryly as she turned up the volume of her soap opera. “You should have your own show.”

The three woman watched the last half of the episode—in which Mamoru was forced to confess to his fiancé who’d just woken from her coma that he’d committed to a political marriage in light of her likely death—in a drained, companionable silence.

Anko snuck Naruto a piece of pocky in a commercial break.

“Mitarashi-san,” Sakura eventually asked, “Weren’t you supposed to be substituting for Shiranui-san while he’s out, teaching his genin?”

“I am,” cackled Anko, grin dark as she watched Mamoru’s former fiancé plot her revenge. “We’re playing hide and seek. They really suck at it.”

Sakura rubbed her temple. “What were you talking about when I came in, anyway?”

“Nothing,” said Naruto.

“Baby names!” Crowed Anko, with too much cheer. “If it’s a girl they’re naming it after me.”

“They are not,” sniffed Sakura, crossing her arms. “I’m going to be godmother, if it’s named in honor of a woman it should be me.” Sakura tilted her head and pondered the issue for a moment before adding, “Or maybe Naruto’s mother, that would be ok too.”

Naruto rolled her eyes between them as she forced herself to eat the green things in the salad. “We’re not naming the baby after anyone.” She didn’t remind Sakura that they hadn’t told her she could be godmother, Sakura had just loudly claimed the title with a ferocity that cowed all potential opponents. At this point, they were just rolling with it.

“You said you hadn’t talked about names,” protested Anko. “Do you even know if it’s a girl or a boy yet?”

“No.” Naruto’s eyes slid to her teammate, who’d begun to pout at the mention of gender determination. “Tsunade bet it’s a boy so Sakura bet it’d be a girl and then Shizune-san stepped in and said that since they both have a financial interest in my child that she was now the only one qualified to check on the fetus.”

Sakura’s lips pursed in displeasure.

“But,” continued Naruto, swallowing some lettuce. “We did agree not to name the baby after anyone. At this rate,” she eyed the trashcan mournfully, “I’m going to wind up naming the kid Menma after a ramen withdrawal. I don’t even like menma!”

“Oh my god you will not.” Sakura looked equal parts horrified and completely convinced that name would be a top contender.

Anko nodded sincerely. “I like it. Unusual, but a continuation of a family theme.”

“I forbid you from naming my godchild Menma,” Sakura blanched.

Naruto rolled her eyes. “Like you’d do any better, you’d probably name your kid Salad.”

“I would not!” hissed the medic-nin, before launching into a list of all of the reasons why ramen toppings and other condiments shouldn’t be considered potential names.

Naruto started listing various salad ingredients in counterpoint.

Anko sighed and turned up the volume on the television.________________________________________

“You are forbidden from naming my godchild, Bolt.” Sakura set her drink down on the counter with a bit too much force, fruity liquid spilling onto the countertop.

“Or Rex,” added Sasuke, calmly sipping his sake.

“Yes,” Sakura hiccoughed. “Or Rex. Or Rover, or Spot, or Blondie—“

“I like Blondie,” contributed Sai. “It will be either appropriate or ironic, depending on the child’s appearance—”

Sakura slapped a hand to Sai’s mouth, harder than she probably intended as the boy nearly wobbled off his stool.

“You are not allowed to make sugggesstioonnss,” she said, slurring the last words.

Naruto sipped at her water in amusement, enjoying riling up her companions and leaning back into the warmth of the one closest to her.

“Ahh,” Naruto felt her backrest speak up, the rumble of his words rolling through her.

“I don’t see anything wrong with calling it Puppy until it’s old enough to choose a name for itself.”

“Sensei,” stressed Sakura, arms flailing. “You can’t call your baby Puppy!”“It’s better than Tadpole,” Kakashi murmured.

“Hey!” Naruto puffed out her cheeks in indignation.

“It is better than Tadpole,” agreed Sasuke as he finished his drink.

“Does this mean that you chose your name, Senpai?” Sai asked Kakashi, dark eyes curious.

Kakashi’s eye crinkled in a smile. “We could always call it Nadeshiko, for a girl.”

“No.” Three-fifths of the table chorused.________________________________________

“I’m currently in favor of Apple,” Naruto told the Kazekage over lunch, hand resting over the now visible curve of her belly.

Gaara blinked slowly. “It is a stand-out name,” he commented in a politic fashion, clearly not certain how he was supposed to respond in this discussion.

Sakura whimpered from her stance behind Naruto’s shoulder and threw a despairing look at Gaara’s aide.

Temari hid her smile behind her hand. “Would that be for a girl or a boy, Naruto-chan?”

“That’s why it’s so great,” babbled Naruto enthusiastically. “It could work for either!”________________________________________

“Are you certain you don’t want to know whether the baby is a boy or girl before it’s born?” Iruka fretted as he sorted through the selection of baby clothes at the market with Naruto.

“It would make shopping a bit easier,” sighed Kurenai. “But the shower is over now, so they might as well wait until its born.”

Naruto had gotten quite a few useful things in the baby shower, but Kurenai told her she’d need a whole lot more baby outfits if she was going to keep her sanity in tact and avoid doing laundry every hour of the day

.Naruto was alarmed that a baby could be that messy and was horrified at the dark, shadowed look in Kurenai’s eyes when she spoke on the topic, implying that she’d seen things.

Naruto controlled her shudder. “No. We don’t want to know until the baby is born, but they’re all pastels—I doubt that the baby will care what we put it in anyway, as long as its clean and comfy.”

Iruka shifted his weight uncertainly, still not entirely comfortable about being dragged around for this particular shopping trip. “Hatake-san told me you were thinking about naming the baby Sousuke or Minako, is that true? Those names sound nice.”

“Yeah, we’ve talked about that.” Naruto nodded her head knowingly. “But I’m just not so sure about naming the baby after some the main characters of Icha Icha books.”

Iruka’s eyes widened and he spluttered incoherently before sharing an alarmed look with Kurenai.

“I’ve been leaning toward Retasu, myself. I’ve just really grown to appreciate lettuce during this whole pregnancy thing.” Naruto winced at an exceptionally hard kick from her newest tenant. “On second thought, I don’t think the baby likes that.”

Kurenai beamed and Iruka relaxed his shoulders in relief.

“But Chidori sounds good. Or maybe Rasen.” Naruto hummed as she continued down the aisles, pretending she couldn’t hear the hasty conversation behind her in which Kurenai and Iruka were conspiring to steal her child’s birth certificate.________________________________________

“Senpai told me it was a boy, congratulations!” Yamato’s smile was wide as he escorted a very pregnant and waddling Naruto home from the Hokage Tower one evening when Kakashi was unavailable.

“Oh he did, did he?” Naruto smiled back at the man and took his offered arm, not even pretending she wasn’t going to lean on him for balance. “Yes, we’re very excited.”

“So, now that you know it’s a boy, does that narrow down your list of names?” Yamato turned toward her expectantly.

“We’ve been thinking about Noritaka,” said Naruto, face serene.

Yamato stopped in his tracks. “Respect for the law? You’re going to give your son a name that means ‘respect for the law’?” Yamato sighed and began walking again. “I don’t know why I’m even surprised. Of course you would name your child something like that.”

Naruto laughed and patted his arm consolingly.________________________________________

“You know,” mumbled Naruto sleepily, in the earliest hours of the morning, while the world was dark and calm and quiet and she’d just come back to bed after what felt like her thirteenth bathroom trip in the past three hours. “We really do have to decide on a name for her.”

Kakashi grunted affirmatively next to her, but didn’t open his eyes. Naruto was cocooned with pillows and sleeping dogs, various parts of her aching body supported from all sides when she wasn’t kicking everyone out of the bed and complaining about being too hot.

It made it a bit awkward for Kakashi to wrap his arms around her or give her a comforting hug, but he still managed to wind his arm so that it curled around her side, enabling him to entwine his fingers with hers and rest their joined hands on top of her protruding stomach.

“Have you thought of anything you liked?” His voice was soft and low, bordering on the edge of drifting back to sleep.

“No.” Naruto sounded troubled. “I can’t think of anything. Names are so important and I,” she hesitated, tensing uncomfortably to the degree that a few tired canines raised heads to check on her. “I just don’t want her to hate it. I want it to fit her.”

“Whatever it is, it’ll be perfect.” Kakashi’s promise was gentle and firm.

Naruto sighed, tightening their handhold. “I didn’t like my name for a long time. I thought it was a boys name—that I really had been named after a ramen topping. That it was somebody’s idea of a joke given to an orphan on the spur of the moment because no one cared to think further on it. Just more proof that I was unwanted.” Her voice trailed off toward the end of her sentence, quivering and thick.

Kakashi shifted in the bed, poking a few of the dogs until they moved so he could move closer and wrap his other arm around her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head and murmured into her ear. “You were never, never unwanted. Not for one minute.”

Naruto blinked back the tears that she was prone to giving in response to anything (she’d burst into tears when reading Academy student profiles for Tsunade only earlier that day, much to the Hokage’s dismay). She turned her head into Kakashi’s chest and spent a few minutes collecting herself.

“I know that now,” she finally replied. “But I didn’t for a long time. There was no one to tell me so.”

“Well,” Kakashi said thoughtfully, stroking her arm gently with his fingers. “If something happened to us, and all she had left was her name, what would you want it to tell her?”

Naruto considered the question briefly. It didn’t take her long at all to answer. She lifted her head a bit so it rested more comfortably in the curve between Kakashi’s neck and shoulder. “I’d want her to know she was loved,” she said simply. “I’d want her to know we both loved her very, very much.”

Kakashi tightened his hold on her gently, pressed a chaste kiss against her forehead. “I think that’s perfect.” He separated their joined hands so he could run his fingers over the curve of her belly, pausing as he felt their daughter kicking. “Settle down, Aiko-chan. Your mother needs some sleep.”

Naruto swallowed her giggle and rapidly blinked her eyes to hold back the nonsensical tears.

Kakashi’s silver eye caught hers, playful glint barely detectable in the lack of light. “It’s not too late to name her Naoko,” he said sincerely.

“Obedient child?” Naruto laughed, curling into him and pushing another pillow under her back. “That’s just wishful thinking. Aiko-chan is much better.”

A few of the dogs rumbled their agreement and the matter was settled.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

And we’re done, with MA at least. Three years, but it’s done. There’s enough fluff in the epilogue to drown a decent person, I promise.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

Last Chapter! Yay! (Excluding Epilogue, which will be posted next week).

Big thanks to @electraposts for giving this a look over and helping me get it polished up.

Enjoy.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

Weekly Writing Update 2/21/16

Leaves of Grass

Goal: 0

Accomplished: 0k

Next Chapter Status: 4.05k/10k

Making Arrangements

Goal: 1k

Accomplished: 17.5k

Next Chapter Status:23.5k/20k

By Any Other Name

Goal: 0/15k

Accomplished:

Next Chapter Status: 0/15k

That’s right. That number is not a mistake. I busted writing ass this week and managed to finish the last chapter of MA and the epilogue. I’m currently polishing the chapter and waiting to hear back from the person I sent it to for a preliminary review. After that, it’s going up. And MA will be done.

Done, done, done.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

Making Arrangements Preview/Snippet

For those who want something that will probably be in the next chapter:

“Tsunade-sama, Tsunade—“

“Later, Shizune.” The older blonde protested as she brushed past her harried, flustered assistant and into her own office. “It’s seven in the morning, it can at least wait until I’ve had a cup of coff—“

Tsunade stopped short when she saw who was waiting for her inside, leaning calmly against her desk.

“—feee.” Tsunade blinked three times and then backtracked a few steps to bring her aside her keeper.

“Shizune-chan.” Tsunade looked ponderously down at her coffee cup. “Shizune-chan, I think you should check the coffee.  I could swear I just saw Hatake in my office.”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you, Tsunade-sama,” the brunette whispered in alarm. “He’s been there for forty five minutes now.”

Tsunade scrunched up her face in displeasure and tightened her grip on her drink. “Greeaattt,” she drawled, with an unsurprising lack of enthusiasm. She turned her back to the door and finished her coffee.

“Should I tell him to come back later?” Shizune offered, flicking through the pages of the schedule on her clipboard to see if she could squeeze in the jōnin in later during the day.

Tsunade gave a negative grunt and finished the last of her coffee.  She squared her shoulders and thrust the empty mug into Shizune’s already full hands.

“War waits for no woman,” she muttered gliding imperiously into the office and taking her seat without so much as a glance in the Copy Ninja’s direction. Shizune trailed after her, carefully juggling papers and pens and empty coffee mugs.

“Shizune, my schedule,” demanded Tsunade with a sniff, busying herself with flicking through the nearest stack of documents.

Kakashi inspected his fingernails for dirt. Which might actually have been believable had he not been wearing gloves.

“Ah, well—” Shizune stuttered uncertainly, eyeing the masked intruder as if he were an unwelcome stray cat she might shoo out the door. “You have a meeting with the delegation from Kusa about possibly lifting the embargo on trade of medicinal plants in an hour, but until then you’re supposed to be—“

“Meeting with me,” interrupted Kakashi glibly, crinkling his visible eye shut in a smile.

“Err—,” Shizune’s strained gaze shifted quickly between the Hokage and the elite jōnin.

Tsunade narrowed brown eyes at the man and tapped her recently manicured fingers against the desk.  “I don’t recall summoning you for a meeting.”

“Ahh,” Kakashi rolled back his shoulders. “You did, two days ago I believe. I’ve just now had time to get around to answering you.”

The blonde hissed. “I went and found you in the hospital, I don’t need to talk to you still—“

“Yes, yes.” Kakashi said impatiently, placing an escorting hand on Shizune’s back and somewhat forcefully pushing her from the room. “So much to talk about, and since I’m so late it would be best to get this chat started right away.”

“Wait.” Shizune squeaked, trying to twist around. “You can’t just—“

Kakashi slammed the door in her face. “Come back in an hour,” he yelled with faux cheer, loud enough to be heard through the wood.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

MA Scrapped Excerpt from Ch 20

Konohamaru and crew visit Naruto in he hospital:

“—And then you spent five hours with a power washer, washing the graffiti off the stadium walls.”

“And then we spent five hours with a power washer cleaning up the graffiti,” muttered Konohamaru, with a bitter glare over his shoulder at the Academy teacher grading papers next to Kakashi in the corner.

“But then last week we were assigned to catch that shitty—“

“Language,” corrected Iruka half-heartedly.

Konohamauru puffed out his cheeks, “stupid cat, you know the one that we all think is a demon—“

“Hyperbole, Konohamaru,” scolded the chunin.

“Iruka-sensei!” The genin whirled about with a whine, “You’re ruining all my cool stories!”

“What?” Iruka asked absent-mindedly, raising his head in confusion and scratching his cheek while forgetting he was holding a grading pen, leaving a red mark on his face.

Moegi yawned as she flipped through a fashion magazine. Udon tried, unsuccessfully, to look like he wasn’t reading Kakashi’s notes over his shoulder.

“You’re all so boring,” wailed Konohamaru bitterly, falling against the bed with a huff, “No wonder she won’t wake up, nothing interesting ever happens here.”

[crownsoflaurels1020]

Making Arrangements- Chapter 20

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9720350/21/Making-Arrangements

Good lord, look at that, it’s an update.

Big thanks to electraposts for taking a look at the draft of this monster and helping me shape this into something that made sense.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

Making Arrangements Ch 20 Preview

So, definitely not going to be out with the new chapter at the end of this month, sorry. But, have a preview of a scene which may or may not be in the next chapter. I haven’t finished the arc yet, so who knows if it will still be there at the end. However, here is something for those impatient people who stalk this blog only for MA. For the loyal few, here you go:

“It’s three in the morning and you are in my kitchen,” Sasuke bit out once more, eyes narrowing with impatience. He looked spectacularly unappreciative of her significant contribution to his current assignment.

“Yeah, see,” Naruto began, fingers twitching as if they wanted to return to examining the forbidden contents spread across the table. “Is there a question in there because I don’t—“

“Naruto,” Sasuke growled, deep from his throat, tone implying there were more shuriken where the first had come from.

“Ok, ok,” Naruto slumped dramatically in her chair with a prolonged sigh, “It’s like this, see. There’s this guy, and I like him and I know he likes me, but I’m pretty sure he has some type of complex and he thinks he’s not good enough—“

“Did you,” Sasuke cut her off sharply, sounding as if someone waltzed into his kitchen and told him Tsunade had decided he should now start tending pigs in penance, “Are you trying to talk to me about boy problems?” He said the last two words as if merely speaking them might have summoned unspeakable evil into his home. 

“Yes?” she answered, wondering why the answer appeared to make him choke on a hairball of some kind. Naruto sniffed the air cautiously, because Sasuke looked like he smelt something distinctly unpleasant. It must be the dogs. Uchiha were cat people traditionally, and she had been spending an awful lot of time with dogs lately.

“No,” Sasuke made a strange motion with his hands, and then aborted it at the last minute. Probably some type of jutsu which would forcibly eject Naruto from his house until he remembered that if he tried to do so it would trigger an alarm which would have ANBU swooping in to play soccer with his head. 

Nothing better than a captive audience.

Sasuke set his shoulders back, turned, and began to walk away.

“Wait,” Naruto cried in alarm, darting after him and latching on to his arm, dragging him back into the light of his kitchen, “Where are you going?”

“Back to bed,” muttered Sasuke, trying to pull her off and not succeeding, “Because clearly I’m dreaming. Or hallucinating.” He looked at the empty cups littering the room with deeply ingrained suspicion. “Sakura’s done something to my sake again.”

“No, no,” Naruto huffed, waving her hands—then that statement caught up to her. “Wait, what?”

Sasuke ignored her in favor of inspecting the contents of the empty glasses on the table. 

Naruto put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot, “This is totally serious, believe it. I need your advice and I’m desperate or I wouldn’t be here.”

“That makes it so much better,” Sasuke grumbled, but let himself be bullied into a chair, still blinking around in confusion as if he expected his surroundings to melt away into mist. He tugged the shuriken that he’d recently thrown out of the table and tested the sharpness of his blade.

“Right,”  Naruto said, ignoring the boy’s actions, “Like I was saying, I’m pretty sure he’s convinced himself he’s no good for me—“

“Why aren’t you going to Ino or Sakura for this,” said the Uchiha abruptly, “Don’t they spend most of their time discussing things like this anyway? I’m not—“

“I’ve gone to Sakura and Ino about this,” Naruto rolled her eyes dramatically, “Several times. They’ve had advice, but it’s not working. I’m beginning to think it’s because they’re socially well-adjusted and well, he’s not. So I thought I might go to someone who was similarly situated and try to get things from their perspective. You know, see if one man with a traumatizing childhood, overly-developed fear of loss, and chronic untreated PTSD might understand another.”

Sasuke stared at her blankly for a solid five seconds. “Well that’s flattering.”

“I thought it was a sound strategy,” nodded Naruto, ignoring the deadpanned sarcasm. “But like, Ino and Sakura had advice on how to dress and how to act and what to say and while I think it’s worked in the sense that he no longer sees me as a child, it hasn’t worked to actually make him, you know, do anything.”

“Naruto,” Sasuke sounded as if someone were digging an elbow into his rib cage, and looked as if he hoped an exit sign might suddenly start magically flashing over the kitchen window. He ruffled his hair in aggravation and scrunched his face up, “You can’t make someone like you, you know.”

“Well, that’s debatable,” said Naruto promptly, eyes sliding toward Sasuke as if his existence might be the very example for her ability to break that rule. She pulled a kunai out of a pocket and spun it around her fingers.

Sasuke bristled.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

MA, #3 — electraposts

3) What part of the fic am I most proud of?

That is actually a really hard one. I think in MA, it’s managing to keep approx. 2,000 readers entertained in a romance novel that has 150k words before the main couple share as much as a first kiss--which goes badly, I might add. That has always been wildly amusing to me.

But I think what I’m really most proud of with that fic is how much my writing skill has progressed in the process of writing it. I’ve gone back and read Chapter 1 and then Chapter 20 and it feels so different to me. Obviously, in a perfect world I’d fix that--but I think I should try getting to an ending first.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

hi... how's your life going? hoping you're not having so much to do at the same time now... I was just rereading MA again, and I noticed it's been nearly a year since you last updated. :( was wondering if you could give a heads up on when the next chapter will arrive (next month, two months later, etc) so that I don't get hopeful and check up every few weeks to find it still saying Last Updated: August something 2014. :( anyway best of luck for the rest of your projects and life in general.

I would love to say that I will update in late June or early July, but I don’t know how realistic that is. I have still been swamped at work lately, but I do have about 5K words written on the next chapter. I usually post a MA chapter when I have between 15 K and 20 K words.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

Hi

just wanted to let you know I absolutely adore your story “making arrangements.” I really like your writing style and how the story is moving at a nice pace. I have not read a story I like this much in a long while. I loved that mini cliffy. I also love he personalities of the dogs and the pack mentality. I also like how kuranai is helping her. I just wanted to let you know that I liked it a lot and really truly look forward to the day you may update. But please don’t let any of us pressure you since I’m sure you have a life to live, air to breath, a bed to sleep in, placed to be, and food to eat. This story is awesome so I think we will wait happily for you!!!

[crownsoflaurels1020]

Hi! hope your doing Ok. Just wanted to share a thought with you. Whenever I read MA I imagine Naruto and Kakashi having a daughter that looks like ELSA from Frozen. You know, silver hair and blue eyes. And she would be called Rin. she would have short hair while she was little, but she would let it grown as she grew older to look like her momma. But she would never wear orange. This is why I love fanfics. you can make a whole new world with sth that already exists. Hope you update soon! be well

Well, that’s certainly one thought. It’s not at all how MA is going to end up, lol, but feel free to write whatever alternate ending you want in your head. And if you want that fic, with that specific child, you should go ahead and write what you want to read.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

Pls update MA soon:(

Good news and bad news.

Bad news: I’ve got absolutely nothing written on MA at the moment.

Good news: I think I’ve worked through my writer’s block and am ready to tackle it again.

Bad news: I need to finish the current chapter of LOG I’m working on first, and then I’m pretty sure it’ll take me a month to work up the next chapter based on my current plans.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

Just Some MA Fanart

An unstoppable force sent me some fan art! Thank you very much! AnUnstoppableForce wrote:

http://anunstoppableforce.deviantart.com/art/—501546472

I was doodling while watching TV and this came out, since I’ve noticed people showing you their fanart I figured I might as well throw mine into the pile.

Hope you have a good Christmas.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

An Examination of Whether MA is Sexist

So, I had a reviewer tell me that they thought MA was sexist. I tend to take allegations of prejudice seriously. The author, if truly prejudiced, isn’t the best person to assess whether or not they A) are actually prejudiced or B) are unintentionally communicating a prejudiced message/perspective to the average reader. So, I went to electraposts (the most guaranteed not to be sexist person I know) to discuss the allegation, and am summarizing the gist of our conversation/conclusions of the past few days in the following essay.

First, I’d like to say that I’m not upset with the reviewer for the comment. If that is their interpretation, it’s definitely something I want to address and explain. So please, anon reviewer and other readers, feel free to skim this mini-essay, comment, and clarify your understanding of what I intend to communicate in MA (well, as far as we’ve gotten in MA so far, anyway).

I believe the reviewer’s thought process was that forcing Naruto to adopt traditional (Western—as that is what I’m familiar with and what I write) feminine behavior and saying that makes her a stronger kunoichi is sexist. First, saying a woman has to behave in a traditional female manner in order to be considered strong or worthy of attention would be sexist. However, that is not at all a theme of MA. Second, it is also sexist to imply that there is something wrong or weaker about integrating traditional femininity into a woman’s life and career.

I’m walking a fine line in MA playing on the premise of a “seduction mission.” On one hand, I think that in a world of ninja, where they are taught to utilize all the tools available to them, the ability to “seduce” is a tool that most ninja would strive to develop in their arsenal. On the other hand, I recognize that most readers of fanfiction are fairly young, and I don’t want to reinforce the idea in young women that they need to adapt to “traditional” ideals of femininity to please others and accomplish their goals. That’s an essay for another day, and its not where I wanted to take the mostly lighthearted MA. I don’t fully explore that subject and make it/take it as dark as it could go.

The concept is definitely present in MA, but I’ve tried to approach it from a different angle so that a different message is conveyed. In-story, Ino, Sakura, and other shinobi do think that preconceptions about women can be used as a tool. They are attempting to teach Naruto how to take advantage of that tool. However, they aren’t trying to tell her that she must be different (traditionally feminine) to be socially acceptable. I try to show that through the girls' interaction, in how they include her in activities and treat the behaviors as potential tools rather than behaviors that should be permanently adopted for every day use. Naruto is learning these basic (and admittedly stereotypical) behaviors because she didn’t socialize with her female peers when she was little in a way in which she would learn about these issues.

As I explained in discussions between Naruto and Kurenai, Naruto is learning from Sakura and Ino not because these behaviors will be seen as acceptable or make her more worthy in Kakashi’s eyes, but because they will catch his attention. I don't mean to imply that these behaviors are admirable or are something Kakashi appreciates. Rather, Kakashi is used to expecting Naruto to behave in a certain manner.

Naruto has to break Kakashi from that train of thought and force him to realize that she can be something other than a student or a younger sibling figure.She is accomplishing this not only by acting unexpectedly, but also through discussions between Tsunade, Kurenai, Naruto, and Kakashi. Tsunade and Kurenai have been slowly coaxing Kakashi to reclassify Naruto in his mind, and are attempting to influence him into thinking of Naruto not as a younger sibling, which is a potential alternative to student, but as an equal, someone who could possibly be a romantic partner. Tsunade and Kurenai have also been mentoring Naruto, working to curb her more impulsive behavior and develop a mature mindset where she considers all the consequences, both relational and psychological, of her actions before she actually acts.

Of course, if Tsunade and Kurenai’s plan were being executed flawlessly, there wouldn’t be much of a story. Putting Naruto in a dress doesn’t solve everything—in fact, I believe Kakashi was originally nonplussed by Naruto’s wardrobe changes. He only took notice of the change when others reacted to the change and it affected team dynamics. Over time, Naruto's changed behaviors have had other consequences. Before, Kakashi had an easy camaraderie with Naruto, but the changes have both Naruto and Kakashi confused and clashing. Naruto’s attempt to master traditional (western) femininity did ultimately catch Kakashi’s attention and lead to him reassessing her as an adult woman once he was forced to pay attention.

However, the process of learning these behaviors from Ino and Skaura has served as a form of  female bonding for Naruto. She lacks in bonds with female mentors and has discovered that some of these female rituals like mutual grooming and sleepovers aren’t so bad,. She missed out on th enjoyment these rituals could bring those because she was working so hard to be a shinobi. This has negatively affected her emotional development/eq to a degree (mostly seen in how she is less self confident than her canon counterpart).

I’ve had several reviewers comment that they enjoy my interpretation of FemNaru, even though its not an exact copy of a male Naruto. I have depicted my FemNaru this way on purpose.  No matter what culture, men and women are socialized differently and that would affect even a social outcast such as Naruto. Like CanonNaruto, femNaruto has been interested in proving that she deserves to be a shinobi and in garnering respect for a long time. However, I believe she would probably have a bigger chip on her shoulder than her male counterpart about that issue. CanonNaruto is surprisingly genderfluid, but he also has the advantage of belonging to the socially privileged sex and doesn’t suffer overmuch for dressing up as a woman to flirt with men. FemNaruto was shunned by the village, and experienced further discouragement by trying to be a female ninja in what was probably a 66% male (or higher) male dominated force. She didn’t have the encouragement of her female peers in reaching her goals, and she didn’t have the few moments of acceptance from Shikamaru/Chouji/Kiba that CanonNaruto enjoyed, as seen in a few flashbacks throughout the series. Yet, true to the heart of the character, she is unfailingly optimistic, very resilient, impulsive, energetic and cheerful, and forgiving. I try to stay true to the core characteristics of CanonNaruto while accounting for the realistic differences that would have developed in a gender-switched character. It would really be a boring story if Naruto was exactly the same, we write fanfiction to explore the differences between our ideas and the canon. With that in mind, if Naruto starts to enjoy some aspects of cultivated femininity then it is certainly not sexist, as long as it is clear that this is for her benefit and something she enjoys with other women, now that she is comfortable and mature enough to realize that she doesn’t have to suppress or avoid certain behaviors to be a good shinobi.

In the wise words of Electraposts: “I certainly wouldn’t say that you are a sexist author writing sexist work, because that implies an intention and agenda. You did not sit down to your keyboard, cackling, “and today I will teach the young children of ff that the only way to get a man/be successful is to change the way you dress”. That’s a narrative we’ve seen before –Princess Diaries, every teen movie ever—and it is problematic if faithfully reproduced. You included hints at that narrative, yes, but you did not commit to it and it was intended as one facet of a complicated reinvention of learned behaviors. The reader probably sees points where the influence of your Western education and background gives you certain perspectives about what is and isn’t femininity and doesn’t like those perspectives. So, like, obviously there are ways in which you and me and pretty much everyone have unconsciously adopted ideas about sex and gender because they are shoved down our throats, but that does not make you a bad writer or your story a sexist story. It means we live in a sexist society which is frankly not a surprise.”

In conclusion, I’ve taken the comment seriously, assessed the situation, and intend to continue on my planned course and try to execute the themes as expounded upon in this essay. I may not do it perfectly. Part of the joy in writing fanfiction is finding out what does and doesn’t work. What will help me figure out whether I’ve properly conveyed in my themes is good, detailed reviews from reviewers. Please feel free to question me if you feel uncomfortable about the way I’m presenting something. Please tell me what you think I’m trying to convey in the story. I hope, when all is said and done, I’ve written something that is fascinating, uplifting, and encouraging. I don’t intend for this to be an exploration of the darker acts of human nature. It really is just chick lit—romantic comedy. However, just because I mean it to be lighthearted isn’t an excuse to accidentally endorse harmful prejudices. I’ve had horrible, frustrating experiences with sexist people in real life. The last thing I want to do is tell young girls that they must bow to that discrimination if they want to amount to something in life or encourage young men that sexist behavior is acceptable.

[crownsoflaurels1020]

"Just wondering when the next chapter might be coming out? I absolutely love that story. I check for an update almost everyday lol."

…I haven’t even started writing it yet, I’m so sorry! I needed to take a bit of a break to finish up some life stuff and I’m not quite done with it all yet. I’ve been spending my weekends moving feeble parents and taking care of small needy children, don’t hate me!