Q & A Sesssion.

This answering session is for the comments sent in through the ask box.

Q1. I'm so glad somebody asked about the 'Sexy Jutsu' because i kept thinking that if Harry found out he would be furious at Naruto's mentors for letting a little boy henge into an almost naked woman. It could go really badly, and that's if we don't talk how Naruto once used it to convince Jiraiya to train him. Harry would definitely hex Jiraiya HORRIBLY for that particular pervertness, intentional or not.

A. Personally, I've always thought that Jiraiya was just humouring Naruto. He always planned on training Naruto and passing on the Fourth's techniques. Pretending to fall for Naruto's technique was just one way to make Naruto feel better/confident and a way for Jiraiya to start making amends.

With Jiraiya's lifestyle and work, he knows when someone's trying to trick him. He has to be sharp if he wants to collect reliable information. If Itachi's ploy of using a genjutsu'ed woman didn't fool Jiraiya, then Naruto's technique certainly couldn't have fooled him. 

Also, regardless of the situation, it would be Hermione who did any sort of hexing, because she's a pro with that.

Q2. Hi! I don't mean to put you off but if you're focusing on AtO does that mean the update schedule will change? Like i don't mind because i adore your writing but i was just wondering.

A. I guess I'm a bit late answering this. But I stuck with the schedule I had and uploaded Mist Guardian. Next up is DtE's 2 chapters.

The only thing that can put me off from focusing on AtO is AtO itself. I haven't gotten tired of it just yet and I'm hoping that having other stories to edit in between will stop that from happening.

Q3. Drat! Took me several times to get to an interesting ending... and then I came back to see where other answes would have let me :-) That was a very fun game, thank you!!

A. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I probably should have put in some more bad/unhappy endings in there.

Q4. Between Naruto's kyuubi rampage and Harry's rage leading to the breaking of the laws of reality like turning a person into a toad or a couch, what do you think would scare the ninja more?I mean sure village-destroying-monster but picture this: A hush falls over the battle field and all the ninja stare in shock, as the mischievous civilian with kind eyes strides forward toward the crumpled form of their greatest enemy. They had seen Madara shrink into apparently nothing, but as the boy leaned down to pick up the orange mask and then neatly flick it away, they saw the truth. Uchiha Madara, the bane of the ninja world was now .......a potato. (or maybe Harry would do it to Danzo after hearing his list of crimes,against Sai and Itachi especially).

A. The weapon's bit down into Harry's skin and his captor laughed down at the watching crowd.

“Will you surrender now,  Jinchūriki? Or shall I cut your cousin's head?”

“You...” Naruto's blue eyes narrowed. “I can't believe you at the last piece of my cake.”

“Is that what you say in this situation?” Harry replied with a frown, trying his best not to move and get injured with the weapon at his throat.

Naruto pointed. “You have cream on your mouth, nii-san.”

Harry swiped his tongue over his mouth and frowned at the taste of strawberry. “It was going to go bad. No sense in wasting it.”

“I can't believe you ate my cake!”

As Naruto went off on a tirade, Harry sighed and turned to his captor. “I do everything I can can to keep him happy and healthy but he has the nerve to complain about small ridiculous things.”

After a startled silence, his captor said, “It's... he's at that rebellious age.”

Harry blinked in surprise. “I knew it,” he said with triumph. Raising his voice, he turned to the still ranting form of Naruto and yelled, “See, even he thinks you're having a rebellious phase.”

Naruto sputtered. “It's not a rebellious phase to want to protect my cake.”

Harry sighed. “I've spoilt him too much.”

His captor just nodded.

“And what does an old relic like Madara know about rebellious phases, anyway?” Naruto yelled.

“Naruto, don't be rude!” Harry chided his cousin. He turned to Madara and said, “Don't mind him. You know how it is. It's like everything you teach them just evaporates from their head.”

“And then you're blamed for their behaviour and get stuck having to fix things,” Madara said with an understanding frown, the weapon moving away from Harry's throat as he frowned at Naruto.

As you can see, what makes the Uzumaki cousins really scary is their conversation. One minute you're trying to intimidate your enemies, next minute you're helping those sneaky cousins debate something ridiculous and the battle is long forgotten.

Q5.You know, sometimes I think about that "Harry is a baker in Konoha" alternate idea you came up with, and a little part of my soul squees. Or the one where Harry and Naruto get mistaken for long lost princes and get sent on a crazy diplomatic mission. Yeah, those are awesome and fill my head with warm fuzzies. I just like the idea of Harry being mistaken for royalty or making epic cakes and silly stuff like that. Yep, just needed to tell you that. ....cause this is what I do when I'm avoiding writing papers. heh. Anyway, have a good day!

A. I'm glad you enjoyed all the silly ideas of Harry in strange situations. I also hope you got around to finishing and acing those papers because Tutor!Harry would expect that from you.

Harry looked at the people in front of him. “I found him looking at some ants.” He turned to the child and smiled, “They were pretty interesting, huh?”

The child smiled back. “Food for queen.”

“That's right. They were collecting food for their queen.” Harry's smile slid off his face when he caught sight of the gaping parents. 

"You taught him that?" The mother asked, her eyes bright.

Harry shook his head. "Just mentioned it."

"And he remembered? His tutors said that..." the father trailed off with a pained look.

The Hokage just smiled unhelpfully when he turned to her for some sort of explanation. 

"He's a bright kid," Harry said with a dismissive shrug, not seeing what the big deal was.

The parents shared a long look before turning back to Harry.

Well, you can imagine what happened next.

Q6. Okay, I can't hold it in any longer! So, sometimes I read through reviews stories get, and I went through yours today and ARGH! ...(...) ...Sorry if it bothers you. Just, sometimes it feels like people who know nothing about analyzing literature or plot want to "contribute" somehow, usually by telling budding authors how they should be writing so stories make sense to them....and I hate seeing it, because it seems to come from an honest desire to be helpful while being the exact opposite of help. argggggghh. Sorry again, needed to get that out of me!

A. I hope you don't mind me editing your comment to remove names, identifying details,etc.

Anyway, people have different ways of interpreting what they read due to their life experiences, culture, etc. And their reviews often reflect that. Once you understand and accept that, it's easy to deal with reviews.

My personal method of dealing with any review is - Read them, note down anything that sounds valid enough to be looked into and then go back to writing.

If you see any budding authors getting 'unhelpful' reviews, then the best thing to do is to leave your own encouraging review.

I know this wasn't really a question, so I hope my reply makes sense.

Q7. Hey, so I've been rereading AtO, and I've been thinking about the various birthday references Harry keeps making and the ninjas confusion about it. So in a short you mentioned how most people in Naruto's world only celebrate special birthdays, but do nobles and such maybe have personal yearly celebrations? Aristocrats tend to be more extravagant than commoners, so maybe yearly birthdays are normal the higher a person's class? I just thought it would be a funny tie in to people mistaking Harry for a noble of some sort.

A. While the whole mistaken noble-identity is fun to explore on the blog, I don't like it enough to put any aspect of it into AtO itself.

Q8. So do you have summer vacation now? Are you going to do anything fun? Or do you have to work?

A. There are tentative plans to go around to different things over the weekends and whenever people are free so that we can enjoy the nice weather while it's here. Other travel and vacation plans are not too concrete at the moment. Making time for writing is going to be a challenge.

Q9. Help, I started watching a new Korean drama and I can't stop thinking about "mistaken-for-a-prince" Harry or "palace-baker" Harry running into these crazy royal machinations and just huffing at how silly they are, maybe joining the servants/guards betting pool on who's sleeping with who and which seedy old guy's plot will succeed or fall through this week. Anyway, how's life treating you?

A. Are you watching 'Jewel in the Palace' by any chance. I've watched part of that show. Or maybe the newer one that's come out 'Maids'? I've heard of it but haven't watched it.