ANNOUNCEMENT

This story is not dead. No, not at all. I want to announce that chapter one will get rewritten SLIGHTLY because I want to incorporate a new element into this story involving Naruto's family. Namely, I'm going to give him a blood sister. A twin sister. This involves some plot changes, but nothing too huge. It's just that… I don't want to have to write a separate story too similar to this one.

I'm sorry to all those who thought this was a new chapter. I also want to tell everyone that I have a new part of my author's page dedicated to updates about NotS since so many people are worried, "OMG, you haven't updated, is it abandoned?!?!" Nope, not at all.

I've had a lot of ideas, but not enough time or motivation to write them down properly. Rest assured that I will continue writing and that I plan to finish everything I've published, including Dark God (after extensive rewriting of old ideas). Part of my problem has been personal, part of it is trying to get passed certain barriers in my plots and things I don't entirely like, and part of it is that this manga is going nowhere way too fast. I will probably stop reading the manga. I will still publish stories.

"What the fuck," you ask? Rinnegan? Hermit mode? Get the fuck out. Kishimoto has been progressively making this story dumber and dumber because he just realized how badly overpowered he made Sasuke's Sharingan and so in order to make people actually able to stand up to Sasuke for ten seconds, he has to give everyone else over-hyped, ridiculous abilities to compensate. Even Kage Bunshin. I highly doubt that he ever planned on making Naruto gain the memories of his clones. Then, "Whoops, for Naruto to catch Sasuke, he's going to need to attain 100 years of training in a matter of months." Fucking asshole. Kishimoto, you're destroying this series. Hard work over comes genius? Not according to you. Love over comes hate? Not according to you.

Oh, and if you guys want a plothole? Chapter 19, page 8 or page 9 depending on where you downloaded from, panel 3. That object on the counter is most definitely a shotgun. GET THE FUCK OUT!

Kishimoto's younger twin brother Seishi has the right idea in his work 666 Satan. But if you want manga/anime even better than that, check out Elfen Lied. If you can stand the angst, that is quite possibly the best anime you will ever see. Well, Ghost in the Shell is also truly amazing, but Elfen Lied is completely different (less intellectual, more emotional). The Lucy/Kouta romance is just plain brilliant.

/me inhales deeply and counts to 10

As you can see, I'm not happy with this manga. Yet, the world Naruto is set in has so god damned much potential. And part 1… Part 1 of this story was amazing! Why did Kishimoto have to fall so far?

That said I don't need fans to ride me in reviews in order to "keep me updated." For one thing, I already know everything through the current chapter. Yes, that includes who Naruto's parents are. For another thing, I talk frequently with other authors. I talk almost DAILY over AIM with the authors LD 1449, GrimMalice and Trexek. I could even tell you how "Lost Soul" ends, but I'm not going to because I'm not the asshole type who gets off on spoiling things for others. I will tell you that the ending is very powerful and deep and that it will be well and truly worth it. I can also tell you that Trexek is going bonkers (partly from joy, mostly from confusion) that "Naruto the Barbarian" has been so much better received than his other two stories. I can also tell you that the entire fic was conceived in a span of about 10 seconds during which I was telling him about a plot idea I had that sparked an idea of his own. I only got around to telling him 3 sentences.

That said, if you wish to talk about canon, PM ME. I greatly enjoy discussing it. I can also talk about fic ideas I've had. I'm very hush, hush on my profile because I'm worried about idea theft. If you PM me and I start telling you things and then you steal from me, I'll know you stole and can prove it, so I'm not so afraid to give information to those who PM me. But, I'll still try not to spoil too much. You guys should know that I love getting PM's, though I dislike when I give long reviews that get no reply. I also love getting feedback about future ideas, hint, hint.

By the way… a message to all authors: PLEASE STOP ABANDONING STORIES! What's worse is when you just delete them, never to be seen again. If you seriously are done with fanfiction, try to find someone to take over. However, if you don't think you can commit to writing 100k+ words to begin with, then don't even try writing an epic since it will obviously be doomed to failure.

Sorry again to those who thought this was a chapter. Chapter 2 actually isn't started and will have to get reworked anyway to incorporate this new idea. Chapter 4 of Path isn't yet started because nothing satisfies me. I have whole conversations planned out come chuunin exams and such, but getting up to that point is proving to be an issue. Chapter 7 for NotS is at 14k words (including the AN so far, but it's mostly story… I promise) and not quite finished. I might release a dark work soon. I've been feeling angsty lately and writing dark works is oddly therapeutic. Plus, there just aren't enough good dark works out there, and often when I start one that looks promising, it just has to go and become yaoi. Ugh. Does a dark!Naruto necessarily have to rape other men up the ass? And no, it's even worse if he's the one getting his ass violated. Can we just ban anal sex period?

Feel free to review this or PM me a response. I'm thinking that I will insert a prologue that will give back story that would be the new first chapter while chapter one gets moved to the second chapter position, and will be placed over this author's note, so you wouldn't be able to review the prologue properly anyway.

Also… IMPORTANT ABOUT THE CARS… I'm worried based on the reviews that people might be thinking that "muscle cars" means "sports cars." It does not. Muscle cars are built for power, not performance. If you want an example, google or wiki the 1970's era Pontiac GTO. Also, google or wiki the Dodge Charger, preferably 1971 (you'll see Vin Diesel's black charger from Fast and the Furious). Those are muscle cars. I don't consider them very sleek, but maybe you guys do (I see that word used a lot in reviews).

Regardless, you will see Vette's and Ferrari's. Well, a Ferrari is an always has been a "super car," rather than "just" a sport's car. Vette's were around during the muscle car era and are around today… it's just a matter of Stingray vs Z06. The choice is yours.

Ami still could go either way. For those who reviewed, remember that she's NOT an OC. Just… we know almost nothing about her so she is essentially an OC. That is to say, I can shape her personality to my liking. However, you already know what she looks like.

I think you guys will like the new change. It may lean Ami towards a girlfriend role since he already has a sister, but I'm not set on that. I really want to focus on the Naru/Kurenai relationship, so we'll see.