Chapter 14 A/N

First of all, cake for everyone- I actually put the chapter up when I said I would (a few hours off from the May 10th date because I got distracted by some LPs on YouTube after uploading DtE)

Anyway on to the notes.

As I mentioned before, I had two versions of this chapter- each with vastly different events and ideas. No, I'm not kidding. The only real common point was the basic premise of going to Suna.

The first version-which will never see the light of day except for want to read it due to boredom- had Danzo conning/pressuring/guilting Harry into taking the Suna job, a visit to the Nara labs, Kakashi going to Suna, Gaara and Harry have some sort of awkward conversation through metaphors (literal metaphors, for some reason. I don't understand what I was thinking when I wrote it).

In the end, I just disliked the feel of what I had. So the alternate chapter 14 came into being a few months back.

Wordcount
AtO14 Ver.1 (unpublished): 10, 969
AtO 14 Ver.2 (Draft): 16,633
  '' (final): 13,370        
I didn't even realize that I'd edited out 3000+ words. That's crazy. I wonder what I edited out over the months.

Danzo
I couldn't imagine him not being in this chapter. At this point in the timeline, he must be thinking of how useful Harry can be and he'll probably want to get a better feel of the poor guy.
So Danzo, with his favourite rice tea, tries to understand Harry's mentality with a surprisingly non-hostile conversation.
Was he ultimately disappointed or happy with what he gleaned off Harry?- that would be telling.


The Wandering Tiger
Some  imagery that inspired the creation of the teahouse.

There was another one- with a vivid blue pond in front of a house, but I can't seem to find it. 

Nara
Who knew that fixing one shogi board could lead to Harry having such an interesting/benefitial connection to a clan like the Nara.
Well okay, I did... but I'm hoping most of you didn't.
I also hope that this chapter brought out just how this connection impacts Harry.

Poison
Tons of mentions in this chapter. Poison is all kinds of scary. And reading up on them and how they were used in history (WW1, etc) is horrid.

Hedwig
She always steals the show. I can't help it. I love it when she does seemingly small/normal things that leaves ninja impressed (and Harry proud). 

The Sand Siblings/Gaara
Not Uzumaki in AtO.
I'm serious.
I have the headcanon of the three of them being descendants of old desert tribes- it would explain them using wind, sand and poisons/puppets to fight.
So even if Kishi pulls a whole Gaara-is-actually-an-Uzumaki thing just because of red hair (while ignoring his death from the bijuu extraction and other stuff), I won't be using that in AtO.

Canon changes
In case it wasn't clear from the previous point, I will have slow but sure changes from the Naruto manga canon and HP books. Just by being existing, Harry changed things (and he's changing too).
And really, who'd want things to be predictable?

My fav part of the Chapter: Clone-Naruto and Naruto scene is tied with Team 7's late night invasion visit.
Least fav part: The desert travel and my dislike seems pretty obvious in the writing.

Deleted Scenes
Along with the pre-chapter deleted scene I posted earlier, there are 3 more deleted scenes coming up. I'll upload them in between my other story updates.
Can you guess the PoVs before I upload? I won't deny or confirm any of your guesses though. Each upload will be a surprise, hopefully.

Random things I researched (and bookmarked) about during the creation of this chapter: Japanese maple tree, Libyan Desert Glass, Oasis, Snakebites, Sandstone, Desert Survival

Rejected Writing (that can't be used anywhere) 
“What is it?”
Harry blinked. “I was just wondering where you get your hair coloured.”
Danzo stared at him, the corner of his eye tightening just the slightest bit.
Harry mentally congratulated himself and adopted a thoughtful pose. “I mean, it looks so natural. I mean usually at your age, people who dye their hair... it just turns out so stark and unnatural.”
“And you're so concerned about my hair colour, why?”
Harry tugged on his own hair. “I've always wondered what I'd look like with brown hair.”
Danzo sipped on his tea, apparently unwilling to talk.
“Or maybe green, if they can manage to make it look natural. It would go nicely with my eyes, don't you think?”
“Feeding your vanity would be a waste of money,” Danzo said.
Harry leaned forward and whispered, “Then, yours is a wig, isn't it? Don't worry, I won't tell a soul.”

That's all for now,
Polar