Man ... I can't believe that you haven't gotten more reviews for this. It was so beautifully done. Very crafty. I return to it every so often for a re-read. I really enjoyed it.

Wow..this was very interesting and strange and cool:)

Where... how... did you think of something so brilliant? I had to read this twice and I'm STILL in shock; didn't see this coming at all. That last line. Just. Wow.

HI! merry christmas...in 2 hours! haha ok but yeah, thanks for writing me this :)

so first off, this piece is very dialogue-y. which is not a bad thing but i think it's really interesting since you told me a long time ago you suck at dialogue. which is a lie. because you clearly don't.

but analyzing it straightforward - pretty much shikamaru screwing up and breaking the tripwires without even noticing. not much about the OC - her name isn't even given but that's not even necessary because it doesn't really matter who she is.

and yeah, everything is pretty much foreshadowed from the beginning - and the madara ending was just ohmy so perfect.

"She is setting up her wires with clammy fingers, and he is calmly applying differential equations to the rough contours of the silhouettes of people he does not even know."

This line is so succinct but so beautiful in so many ways. Love love love. But you would mention differential equations. Sigh.

"The air is painted wet blue with yesterday."

and this is also a reoccurring line in your oneshot. i /kind of/ see the dichotomy between shikamaru and this girl - but more so the girl and Naruto, since Naruto is pretty much the personification of living for tomorrow, something snazzy like that you mentioned before...

okay i'm really, REALLY sorry this review is not eloquent or well-thought out and i promise i'll leave a better review on your next story! :D (and i'm always committed to promises - and i ALWAYS get things done...usually early, ahem cough cough ahem) but yeah merry christmas and stay safe :D thanks for the prez! uh yeahhhh! faved!

This story is insanely genius. I can't even say. I started out reading, loving your word choices and obscurity and wondering absently whether or not the 'she' was Sakura or Ino - because they seemed the logical women to be speaking with - but now I really have no idea.

Then, the plot thickened without me realising it and soon it was the end, where you tied together all the interesting, seemingly (at first)random questions in one sudden, brilliant passage with an incredible plot-twist that I didn't see coming because I didn't even realise there was going to be a tangible plot, since this was so eloquent I assumed it was pointless but lovely writing, almost poetic at some points.

I was just blown over - actually gaping - at the last sentence. Why did you find the most incredibly perfect way of ending it? I don't even know how to properly articulate how amazing I found this. It blew my mind, seriously. Yeah, I'm not really usually a long-winded reviewer but I think this seriously deserved it, and consider it a Christmas present from a fellow writer who has enormous appreciation for this story. :)