To all my readers, 

Hope you have a wonderful Holiday Season!

Polar

AC_D12: Behind the Scenes (Part 4)

Remember this AU? If you don't here are the previous parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

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The large white owl screeched as it flapped it's wings above him.

Kisame had never seen a bird like it before but judging from it's complete lack of fear, it had experience with ninja. It certainly looked unique enough to be a summon animal. But it didn't speak, just glared at him with amber eyes.

Kisame held out his hand like Itachi usually did for birds.

The owl swooped down on his arm, a solid weight that took him by surprise, and held up a leg. With clumsy fingers, Kisame untied the scroll it's leg. He opened the scroll, squinted at the terrible writing and then read the letter multiple times with growing annoyance.

“That Itachi,” Kisame shook his head, walked through the rain and into the empty building they used, the owl still latched onto his arm.

With his eyes closed and body folded into a meditative pose, Itachi didn't acknowledge his presence.

“We've got mail,” Kisame said, much louder than he usually would.

Itachi opened his eyes in annoyance and frowned when he caught sight of the owl.

“You didn't tell me he sent you tickets for the new movie,” Kisame said. “Since you couldn't make it to the premiere because you were busy, he sent tickets which can be used anywhere and any time.”

Itachi closed his eyes.

AC_D11: Prompt Fill: Time Well Spent

This is a fill for DreamofStories prompt: "Could you work Harry into the lost Tower? I’m not sure how. But I’m picturing Harry leaving some subtle magic thing behind to help Minato and then Minato wiping his own memory because Time Travel and the confusion and changes that result. :)"

I have not watched this movie but did I read the wiki-synopsis.

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“Nii-san?”

Harry shook himself out of his jumbled thoughts and turned to his cousin.

“Do you think he...” Naruto hesitated and looked away.

Harry waited for another long moment but when the silence only lengthened, Harry sighed. “He must be. The time line works, doesn't it? And you two look very similar. Way too similar.”

Naruto swallowed as though he didn't want to say anything that could make those words not be true.

“He probably suspects your connection,” Harry said. “But he's probably even more confused about me being your cousin.”

Naruto huffed out a laugh. “If he wants to know, he'll have to ask.”

“He won't. He seems like a sensible and responsible person. They say that knowing the future is kind of a bad idea.”

“But he met us and I told him he looked like the Fourth Hokage,” Naruto said.

Harry shrugged. “Maybe he'll wipe the memory from his mind. If he knows how to.”

“If he is the Fourth Hokage, I'm sure he knows how to do that. Everyone called him a genius. ” Naruto wilted. “I wish I could...” Naruto bit his lip.

“Tell me,” Harry said.

Naruto shrugged and swiped at his eyes. “Would it be so bad to change the past?”

AC_D10: Prompt Fill: Let it Snow

A prompt fill for Notloggedin. A mix of these two prompts "Harry wanting to give Naruto 'a good christmas' so he goes all out with a tree and transfigures all the decorations he's come to expect from hogwarts- shiny and glittering, 'fairy lights' wrapped around the balcony and special Xmas food etc - and completely baffling to everyone who sees it but also everyone kind of loves the image it makes (does it snow in Konoha?) and it catches on."

&

"Harry the farmer, where his crops mysteriously never get fungus or insects or dry out for lack of rain. Oh! Harry the rainmaker!"

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“You've never had snow here in Konoha?”

Naruto shook his head. “But we saw a lot of snow when we went to the Land of Snow. We didn't get to enjoy it all that much because it all disappeared when we activated the spring machine thing.”

“The what?” Harry asked in surprise.

“It's a machine that ended the long winter and brought spring to the Land of Snow.” Naruto scratched his chin and looked a bit sheepish, “It's a long story. But why are you asking about snow.”

“Because it's December and there needs to be snow. Deep snow that allows people to have a day off to build snowmen or sit inside and drink hot chocolate.”

“Hot chocolate?” Naruto asked with deep interest.

“Hot chocolate tastes much better when it's snowing outside and you're sitting inside by the warm fireplace,” Harry said, a mischievous determination overcoming him. “I'm going to make sure Konoha has a snow day!”

AC_D9: Prompt Fill: Nara Gossip

This is prompt fill for an Anonymous question that came in through my Tumblr. “Can you tell us what happens when the Naras find out that Harry helped find shikaku’s little brother ??”

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“Who found him?” Daen asked, as he rubbed his infant daughter's back, making sure she stayed asleep on his shoulder.

Maen sipped on his tea, “You know the green-eyed teen who keeps visiting Shikaku?”

“Suzaku said that boy's a civilian,” Daen pointed out. “And he's related to Naruto.”

Maen hummed and said, “He might be a civilian but he found the body in Suna.”

“Suna? Why would he be in that hellhole? We never searched anywhere near Suna.”

“Even if we searched Suna, we wouldn't have found him.” When Daen motioned for him to keep talking, Maen lowered his voice to a whisper and said, “Think about it. That boy fixes things. He must have fixed something to find the body. And what does Suna have that needs to be fixed due to recent events?”

AC_D8: Prompt Fill: Connections in the Dark

A fill for Silent Reader's prompt “a slightly dramatic movie-esque plot (i.e. things make less then canon but sshh go with it) : enemy nin try to use a seal on Naruto to release Kyuubi but hit Harry instead. His magic goes loose and the area suddenly just makes...less sense. After all magic can inflate a woman into a balloon and back, turn a boy into a ferret and a dead body into an old bone so it can be secretly buried! (did anybody find Crouch Sr.'s body?) Basically Harry loses control and Naruto has to help him (since the reverse is possible in AtO) magic shenanigans.”

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“What happened?” Naruto asked, sitting up with a groan. “Where is everyone else? That attack...” He stopped as his voice echoed in the large empty hall. “Where are we?”

Looking a lot better than he felt at the moment, Sakura helped him to his feet, but her face was turned up. 

Instead of a stone ceiling like the walls around them, a stormy sky loomed above them, complete with roiling clouds. Without a glass ceiling, the stormy sky looked close enough to touch if Naruto created enough clones to stack up and touch the top. 

“Where are we?” He repeated, eyes still fixed on the sky.

“More importantly,” Sakura said. “How did we get here?”

Naruto opened his mouth to reply only to pause and frown in confusion. “I don't remember.”

Sakura nodded. “Neither do I.”

Around the large empty hall, four long empty tables and benches stretched from one end of the hall to the other. Above the tables, four distinct and colourful banners fluttered in the air. A green banner held a silver snake, a blue banner held some sort of bird, a yellow one had something Naruto couldn't really see and finally a familiar red banner with a lion.

“I know that lion,” Naruto said. He tugged out his omamori and turned it to the badge he had pinned on it's back. “This.”

“What is that?” Sakura said as she came in for a closer look.

“It was nii-san's, from his school.” Naruto explained in a rush as he moved the red and gold lion badge so that it caught the light just right to gleam prettily. “The house of the brave.”

Sakura furrowed her brows as she stared at the badge. “It's on that banner.”

Naruto nodded. “So this place must be connected to nii-san.” He frowned. “Where is nii-san? Is he in danger?”

“We'll find him,” Sakura reassured him.

“But we don't even know...” Naruto eye's widened as he caught a glimpse of something bright out of one of the large windows. “We have to follow the deer,” Naruto ran to the window and pointed at the distant flash of white. “That's nii-san's protector. If he's out, then nii-san must be there.”

“Wait!” Sakura yelled.

Naruto crashed through the glass at full speed and reached for his chakra to land safely.

His chakra didn't respond.

AC_D7: Prompt Fill: Something With Kakashi

This came in through the ask box. "Something with Kakashi. I'll settle for anything with him interacting with Harry."

I was honestly tempted to just repeat Kakashi's name 500 times. I'm so used to not being able to write anything about Kakashi, that I don't even want to try to write something with him in it. 

But I tried.

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“Why am I coming if this is a team dinner?” Harry asked in confusion.

Naruto looked around with narrowed eyes and then leaned in to whisper. “We're down by one man because Sai is on a mission. So, I need your help during dinner.”

“Help?” Harry asked with concern.

Naruto nodded, the most serious look on his face, a look that Harry rarely ever saw. “You know how Kakashi-sensei wears a mask?”

“It's hard to miss,” Harry said.

“I need you to use your,” Naruto twiddled his fingers with a pointed look at Harry, “skills to help our plan to see what's under his mask.”

“What?” Harry asked in confusion.

“We've been trying to see what he's hiding under that mask for years. But he always manages to hide his secret even during meals. Somehow, something always happens just at the moment he is about to eat and we miss seeing it.”

“You miss seeing his face?” Harry asked, still quite confused.

“He cheats. Other people around us get to see his face but we don't. So he's only hiding his face from us, knowing that we want to know what's under the mask,” Naruto said, with a manic energy. “I'm sure he has large weird lips.”

“How are you sure about that if you haven't seen his face?”

“Why else would he hide his lips?”

“He hides a majority of his face,” Harry pointed out.

Naruto ignored that bout of logic and said, “With your help, we can finally defeat him.”

Before Harry could ask for clarification, they entered the ramen stand. Already seated on one of the stools, Sakura turned to them. “Ready?”

Naruto nodded and too a seat beside her. “We're going to see it today.”

“I heard something about free food?” Kakashi said, appearing out of nowhere. While the three of them recovered from his abrupt entrance, Kakashi took the empty seat beside Harry.

AC_D6: Deleted Scene 10- Sakura

Not number 9- because I'm still having issues with that one (Shikaku tends to be a problematic person to write sometimes).

This happens between chapter 15 and 16.
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A tap on her window pulled Sakura's focus away from her notes. Outside her dark window a large white owl hovered.

Sakura stumbled up from her desk and opened the window to allow the white owl inside her room.

“Did Harii-san send you?” Sakura asked the pristine white owl when it landed on her chair. “He didn't have to bother you about that. The more I think about it, the more I shouldn't have asked him. I was just so annoyed with work at the hospital and how I couldn't get access to the research samples that when I heard you helped them get venom, I just asked him and, Harii-san must think I'm very selfish.”

The owl looked at her with amber eyes, as though confused.

“You delivered venomous snakes to the Suna hospital, so I...” Sakura hesitated, unsure about her selfish request. After all, she wanted venom for her own research rather than making useful anti-venom. “Harii-san said that I should ask if you'd be willing to bring me any venomous snakes in Konoha. We don't have any saw-scaled vipers like Suna, but...”

The owl interrupted her with a loud hoot, and she swooped out of the window without a backward glance.

Feeling like a failure, Sakura swallowed down her disappointment because the owl wasn't obliged to help her, especially because Sakura was being selfish with her request. She was only glad that no one had been around to witness Sakura get rejected by an owl.

Rejection would always be a part of her life.

Sakura snorted at the dramatic thought and moved to close her window. If she had time to give in to dramatic thoughts, then she definitely had time to do some more reading.

As she placed her hand on the window, the owl swooped back in with a triumphant hoot. Sakura gaped. “Is that a saw-scaled viper?”

AC_D5: Alternate Job:Gardener (Part 2)

A continuation of this.

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Harry scribbled in the last of the information and closed the log with a sigh of relief. As he stretched out the kinks in his back, Harry marvelled at the darkening evening sky that shone through the greenhouse roof.

Though he was finished with his own work, Harry waited with bated breath. If the routine of the past few days held firm, the blonde girl, Ino would show up with a smug look of challenge as she gave him a bunch of time-consuming tasks to complete by the end of the day.

Her smug look always taunted him to just say no.

And because Harry didn't want to lose to her, he stayed in the greenhouse until the late hours of the night completing those inane tasks. He only made it back to his apartment to sleep for a few hours and sometimes have a quick mirror conversation, before returning back to work at the greenhouse. He hadn't had any time to search Konoha for any Uzumaki.

But today seemed different.

Maybe she had finally tired of her game and Harry was free to go home early.

With the cautious look around to make sure that she wasn't going to pop out and surprise him with more work, Harry made tentative plans for his free time as he cleaned his tools and work surface. After a final check of the greenhouse, making sure that all the windows and panels were secured, Harry locked the main door with genuine delight.

He had an entire free evening to himself.

Rushing past the other closed greenhouses with a new sense of joy, Harry caught a glimpse of long blonde hair in the corner of his vision. A glance showed a purple outfit, confirming Harry's suspicion. Ino was still around and by the looks of it, she was working in the only lit greenhouse.

Not wanting to lose his free evening, Harry slowed his footsteps and even used a spell to ensure that he wouldn't make a sound as he passed by her greenhouse.

Badly muffled sniffles from her greenhouse made Harry pause. He was tempted to walk away because this didn't concern him, but he could just imagine Hermione's disapproval.

AC_D4: Sound's Strange (Part 7)

Had some internet issues, so I'm going to do some major uploading catch up over the weekend (thank heavens it's the weekend!).

Anyway it's time to revisit my current fav AU of AtO. According to the rough outline I made for this, this AU could end up with at least 15 chapters (if I stick to that outline).

How did this happen? I just wanted to write some dumb dialogue.

Previous Chapters are here:  Part 1,  Part 2, Part 3,  Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
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Under the room's dim and buzzing light, the redhead, Karin, woke with a startled gasp. Glazed red eyes, that were as red as her hair, looked around as though searching for something before they sharpened as she looked right at him.

"Your glasses are..."

"How?" she demanded, a desperate undercurrent in her low voice. "How did they find you? There's no physical way that they'd know who you are. Did you tell them? You look clueless about what's going on here."

Stunned at the onslaught of words, it took Harry a moment to collect his thoughts and admit, "I am confused. What do you mean by who I am?"

"You don't know?" Karin frowned as she took her glasses from him. "You're an Uzumaki! You might not have the red hair or loads of chakra but your chakra has a strong Uzumaki feel to it."

"You can tell that I'm a Uzumaki?" Harry asked, lowering his voice even though there were spells around him for privacy.

"I can," Karin said. "And they probably suspected that I can tell with my sensing abilities. Why else would they isolate us in here?"

"Isolate?" Harry repeated in confusion.

"This room is blocking everything outside. I can't sense anything but the two of us in here. They want me to know exactly who you are and why we're locked in here together."

AC_D3: There's Something About Neji (First Date)

I got an ask for this in the blog's askbox (For the Advent Calendar, I would love to see more of Harry's interactions with Neji.)  

This isn't really a prompt fill because I was already going to put something up for this AU. So anon if you want to send in another prompt, feel free to do so. 

Anyway, this bit occurs after this part

The other parts of this AU are:Part 1, Part 2, Birthday Drabble

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“Take a seat,” Harry said, ushering his guest inside and shutting out the cool evening air. “I'll bring the food out.”

“You didn't have to cook,” Neji replied.

“Of course I did,” Harry said, glancing around to make sure everything was neat and tidy. “Have a seat.”

“We could have gone to a restaurant,” Neji said, even though he sat at the table.

Though thrilled at Neji's easy admission that they could go out together in public, Harry was glad that their first proper dinner was at home and away from prying eyes. When inevitably Harry embarrassed himself tonight, he didn't want any witnesses.

Bypassing the stacks of dirty utensils, Harry grabbed the soba that he'd made with a judicious amount of magical aid.

“How did you manage to get the herring for this?” Neji asked, his eyes fixed on Harry.

Harry shrugged, trying to stay calm under the stare and cursing himself for not downing a Calming Draught before. “I know people.”

“It smells good,” Neji said as he raised his chopsticks.

Though Harry had his own chopsticks in had, he didn't move. He couldn't even breath as Neji took his first taste of the soba.

After swallowing the first mouthful of noodles, Neji glanced at Harry with half-lidded eyes and he licked his lips.

AC_D2: Harry Nara (Part 2)

This is a continuation of this old prompt.

I did make a part 2 for it on this blog, but I omitted some bits because AtO hadn't reached the point where Naruto's secret is revealed.

So even though there's just a few new bits to this, I'm listing this as the actual Part 2 to the 'Harry Nara' AU.

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“Why do I have to know all this?” Harry asked for what felt like the millionth time that day.

“Because...”

“If you say that I am the clan head one more time, I will kick you,” Harry said with an annoyed hiss.

Shikaku blinked at him. “Not saying it out loud doesn't change that fact that you are indeed...”

“Don't,” Harry said and rubbed his forehead. “The paperwork hasn't come through. And hopefully won't. So I'm not really supposed to be knowing the clan's deepest and darkest secrets.”

“It's only a matter of time,” Shikaku said. “Our people in the tower will ensure that the paperwork reaches the correct desks.”

Harry groaned.

Shikaku seemed to feel some sympathy for him and said, “We could leave all the official items for another time.”

“Yes,” Harry perked up. “Instead let's play another game of shogi and fix this giant mistake.”

Shikaku shook his head, just as he had done the previous times that Harry had suggested it. “Once lost, the position cannot be won back.”

Harry sighed in annoyance. “Why are we in the forest?”

“There is a matter of some urgency to deal with,” Shikaku said as they stopped in front of a mound. “It seems that the Akatsuki fiend that Shikamaru trapped in here has been moving up slowly.”

After a long detailed explanation, Harry contemplated the issue for a long moment. “What were you planning to do? When you were the clan head?”

“Keep reburying him,” Shikaku said. “If he cannot be killed now, then imprisonment until we can really deal with him was our only option. Do you have any other ideas?”

Harry tilted his head with a sudden realization. If he messed this up, then surely he would lose his ridiculous position as the clan head. “Dig him up.”

AC_D1: That one BleachXHP Crossover...

... that I've been slowly adding to. From this small bit of writing, it's grown into a possibly complex plot that I hope to upload as an entire story eventually.

But for now, have a teaser coversation scene.

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“It's worth a few mountains,” Muramasa said.

“That's ridiculous,” Harry said.

“What would they waste so much money on a scarf?” Ron asked as the same time.

Muramasa just shrugged with a soft smile. “That's just the ways of nobility.”

“And I'm...” Harry couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.

Muramasa nodded with more pride than usual. “Your spiritual energy, your reiatsu, it has that familiar feel of Koga mixed in it. And there's a hint of the Kuchiki in you as well. You are his descendant.”

“You do have a thing for scarves,” Ron said as though finally understanding something important.

“I do not have a thing for scarves!”

“Only the head of the clan gets to wear the scarf.” Muramasa said.

Harry sighed in relief.

“But as a male member of the Kuchiki clan, you'd have to wear the Kenseikan.”

“The what?” Harry asked warily.

“The traditional hair ornaments.” Muramasa said.

Ron snorted, choked a little and then laughed uproariously. “Oh, that I would like to see. Harry's nest of a hair being tamed by little hair clips.”

“They're not... little hair clips, are they?” Harry asked Muramasa unsurely.

Muramasa shook his head. “They're quite manly.”

Harry sighed in relief.

“To some people.” Muramasa said with a wry smile.

Hermione, who had been pretending to read in silence the entire time, laughed.

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Starting out this year's Advent with something other than an AtO piece of writing?

What can I say?  I have a soft spot for Bleach, it somehow always pulls me back in to write something nonsensical for it.

Polar

2017 Advent Calender Announcement! (Accepting Prompts)

It's almost December. Well, not really, but I heard Christmas music in the mall... so, I decided to start collecting prompts for Advent 2017 a little early. 

For any new readers here, my advent posts are a countdown to Christmas.The posts might be omakes/deleted scenes for AtO or just other stories. And more importantly, I try and fill prompts that you send in.

To send a prompt you can either: leave a comment down below/ use this blog's "Ask Me" page/ use my Tumblr Ask

If you're sending in a prompt
= You can send a prompt for any fanfic/fandom/AtO AU I've written.(I've updated my AtO extras page in case you want to see more of a certain AU)

= Don't ask about these 2 AU's
* Sound's Strange: I've actually plotted/written out a lot of crack for this so uploads will happen.
* A Change in Age: Tried to work with my old fragmented outline. Didn't work. So I made a new outline. I'll be re-writing this sometime next year. 


Polar
P.S. You can find previous years' advents here- AC2014, AC2015, AC2016 (I can't believe I'm doing a fourth year for this!)

Belated Birthday Post for Jiraiya.

"Nii-san went through a lot of trouble to get you alcohol made in the year you were born," Naruto said, a hint of laughter in his voice as he held out a bottle.

Jiraiya looked at them with suspicious eyes, but took the bottle. He read the label and groaned. "This is a hundred years old."

"Sentoki told me it was a hundred and two actually," Harry corrected with a grin.

"You know that I'm Tsunade's team-mate," Jiraiya said. "We're about the same age."

Harry gasped. "Really? She looks so much younger than you. I think all your drinking has made you look so much older."

Naruto nodded. "Alcohol ages you. That's why it's a bad habit."

Jiraiya gaped at the two of them. "This isn't how you treat someone on their birthday."

"Would you feel better if we brought in the bucket of chicken karaage?" Harry asked, even as Naruto's clone entered the apartment with their ordered food.

Even though he sighed, Jiraiya looked more pleased than disappointed. "I suppose I'll be able to deal with you two better with a full stomach."

A few hours later, Jiraiya growled at the both of them with real annoyance. "How are you both sober after all that?" Jiraiya glared at Harry. "Did you teach him your alcohol cheating ways?"

Harry shrugged as the sobriety spell sharpened his senses.

"It's a family skill," Naruto grinned as he downed another cup of alcohol. As another clone came in through the door, he said, "The cake is here!"

Jiraiya stifled his smile into an exasperated frown when Harry shot him a knowing look. "Cake? Do you think I'm a kid or something?"

"Ero-sennin, you just have to cut it. We'll eat the cake," Naruto huffed at the older man.

"It's my cake, I should be able to eat my own cake."

"I thought you didn't want to eat it. Make up your mind."

As the two of them devolved into their familiar bickering, Harry leaned back and sipped on his newest cup of alcohol.

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Even though Jiraiya's birthday was on November 11, I just wanted to to write something small  with these three together.

See you around,

Polar

Sound's Strange (Part 6)

Here's Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5 of this AU in case you missed it.

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Harry jolted awake to the scent of sterile citrus in a grey room, the still silence around him bringing up a strange amount of worry.

Surely, silence was a bad thing in this place.

He cleaned up and walked out of the room he'd been given, taking off all the spells he'd put up, only to find Hideo about to knock on the door.

Hideo lowered his hand with a relief. “I'm glad you're already awake, Nidaime-sama.”

“What's happened?” Harry asked with a groan of resignation.

A Few Thoughts on 'Writer's Block'

Recently, I got this ask through the blog- “I need help, I have major writers block and I cant write but I have to update bc I have to fanfics that I'm writing and on one of them i haven't updated in forever.”

And I thought I'd make a separate post for this so that Anon can find it easily.

First of all, Anon, what exactly do you mean by writer's block. What is stopping you from writing?

Do you:

• Not have the time to write?
• Not have the inspiration to write anything?
• Not know how to continue your story because you're stuck plot wise?
• Doubt your writing skills and feel like no one will read or like your work?

It could be one or a mix of all those things that block you from writing.

Once you know what's really blocking you, it's time to solve the problem.

You set aside some time for yourself everyday (maybe even just fifteen minutes). You sit down, turn off your internet/any other distraction, and start writing.

Not what you were expecting, right? When I first read something like that a few years ago, I wasn't impressed. And it took a long, long while of procrastinating and grumbling about my writer's block before I actually decided to try it out.

I sat down and wrote. A bullet list of what I thought should happen in my story. For a few days all I wrote was lists and even more lists. And wow, those lists. I'd never realized that there was so much I could do for my story.

I felt energized at the new ideas so I moved on to writing small scenes for the story. Almost everyday, I wrote what I could. And eventually, I had a first draft for a lot of writing projects including AtO.

Yes, it took forever by some standards and my editing will probably go the same route, but writing is not a race. It shouldn't be. Especially for something as fun and informal as fanfiction.

So, write.

Trust me, when you start, even if you have to pull the first few words from the depths of your mind- the ideas, the inspiration, the fun- it will all come after you start. You just need to start.

And Anon, when you do update your story eventually (no matter how long it takes), send me a link!

Polar

There's Something about Neji: Birthday Drabble

A little drabble to celebrate Neji's birthday.

Here's Part 1. and Part 2 and Part 3(but not really) of this verse.

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“I think this will be the most peaceful birthday I've ever had.” Neji looked at the rebuilt Temple with I've always been intrigued by the meditation techniques used by the monks here.”

“What?” Harry said in surprise.

Neji stared at him. “I like meditating.”

“It's your birthday so we can meditate with the monks later, if you want. But that's not why I brought you up here.” Harry said, “I want to show you something. So, close your eyes.”

Q & A Session 7

Q1. Are you following with the boruto series? What are your thoughts?

A. Nope. I sometimes see some pics and gifs from it on Tumblr, but I just don't care for next gen stuff. 

I just like the nice art of Mitsuki and even Sakura that pops up every once in a while.

Q2. Do u have tumblr account?

A. Yeah, I created one to keep track of some awesome artists and fandom blogs on there. I won't be posting any AtO writings on there- I like this blog for that. 

It's also much easier to keep track of reference pics- which I'm hoping will help me improve my  description writing.

Q3. Are you making any progress with chapter 16 atall?Will there be an update this year.

A. I am revising it at the moment so hopefully there will be an update in this decade. =D

Actually at the moment, I'm writing some stuff for an old Bleach crossover of mine- it's very stress reliving. Sometimes, I just need to word vomit before I can concentrate on other things. 

To read previous Q&As, click here.

An Alternate Path to Konoha (Part 2)

A sequel to this.

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“Harii,” Danzo greeted from his spot beside the metal gate. “Shikaku.”

Walking beside the tall and white specked Rikumaru, Harii waved back a greeting. “Hope you don't mind Nara-san tagging along. He was worried about Rikumaru.”

“It would be good to have the Nara clan head along,” Danzo said. “I'm sure it will be educational to see the deer be more than just a grazing animal.”

Though Shikaku didn't say anything and didn't even look at the older man, the already uncomfortable air between them turned ever more sour.

With an enthusiasm that he didn't actually feel, Harry ignored their silent exchange and looked into the sinister forest beyond the chain-linked fence . “Shall we go in, then?”

Past the gates, the sticky humidity under the trees coupled with the tense silence between the older men made Harry regret ever agreeing to the trip.

There's Something about Neji: Random Scene

Here's Part 1. and Part 2 of this verse. 

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 Neji opened his eyes to sterile white and bit back a groan at the pungent smell of chemicals as he sat up. He turned to the side, hoping for something to break the monotony of the room.

Unlike all of his previous stays at the hospital, his bedside table was empty.

“Looking for something?” Tenten asked. Seated on the visitor's chair, with bandages peeking out from her collar, she stared at him with knowing eyes.

Neji didn't reply. There was no point in trying to deny anything.

Tenten was always too sharp when it came to him. “It's not like you even thanked him for all the bouquets over the years,” Tenten said with a pointed look. “I certainly wouldn't bother sending you anything more no matter how injured you got.”

Neji turned his head back to the ceiling, so that he wouldn't have to see the empty bedside table or his unhelpful team-mate.

“You should be more honest, Neji,” Tenten said with a chiding tone. “Especially since he's more of a catch than you.”

Neji narrowed his eyes at her.

The door opened, breaking their staring contest.

Harii stood at the entrance, wide and concerned eyes darting around and calming only when they landed on Neji.

Shooting Neji a pointed look, Tenten stood, “It's about time I got back.”

Sound's Strange (Part 5)

You can find Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3 and Part 4 over here 

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It had taken a fair bit of convincing before Hideo allowed Harry to come along to the source of the disturbance. Towards what Hideo had been certain was a very angry Sasuke.

A rather normal occurrence in Sound, apparently.

But instead of a violent and annoyed Sasuke at their destination, a giant purple snake loomed above them, hissing incoherently as blood dripped down his jaw.

“That's not Sasuke, right?” Harry asked with a cautious tone.

“That is Manda, Orochimaru's main summon,” Hideo explained, a tone of worry clear in his voice.

“That's my father,” Trouble hissed at the same time.

“Your father?” Harry repeated with a frown, wondering if he would have preferred snake-Sasuke instead. “This can't be good.”

Trouble tried to sink down under the collar Harry's shirt and would have if Harry hadn't grabbed a hold of him.

“Did he eat Sasuke?” Suigetsu asked, trying to sound amused instead of unnerved.

Manda turned to them. “Where is Orochimaru?”

Harry wondered if he was cursed. He glanced at Hideo, saw that he wouldn't get any help from there and took a deep breath. “He's dead.”

Sound's Strange (Part 4)

You can find Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 over here.

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Hideo frowned at the ink on the large metal door. “Just like Kabuto.”

Harry finally spoke up. “What is it?”

“A seal of some sort,” Hideo said. “I don't have any experience with seals. I don't know if there's anyone who can deal with Kabuto's seal work.”

Harry frowned. “But you're sure that there's actually people in there?”

“Kabuto frequented this area,” Hideo said, his voice a soft whisper as he glared at the ink markings. “There were always screams.”

Trouble coiled tighter around Harry's neck at the words.

Harry moved closer to the large metal doors. “Let me give it a try then. If we can't open it, then we'll go to the next place you think has people held inside.”

Hideo frowned but moved aside, giving Harry clear access to the door. The thick ink characters on the door pulsed on the smooth metal door.

Having already considered all his options, Harry touched the cold metal door with his fingers. “Alohomora,” Harry tried with a soft whisper that sounded more like a hiss that made Trouble raise his head and rubbed against Harry's cheek.

With a click, the ink characters vanished and the door slid open with an agonizing groan of metal.

Q & A Session 6

Q1. Have you been reading anything interesting lately? Do you have any recommendations because I've run out of things to read.

A. I've been reading a mix of things over the past few months, so I guess I'll recommend the things that were memorable and really stood out to me. 

Fanfiction

The King's Shadow by AntaredTheEighthPleiade. It's Merlin story, and it's a sequel to The Warlock's Quickening. And it's basically a more proactive Merlin which is always a good but rare thing to come across. 

Yesterday Upon The Stair by PitViperOfDoom. A Boku no Hero Academia story. It's a bit of an AU where Izuku has a quirk. He see dead people. It's an interesting idea and I'm intrigued to see how things develop in the future.

Books

The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series by Alexander McCall Smith. I've watched the TV series before but I've finally managed to read a majority of the series recently. The story is set in Botswana with the lead character Mma Precious Ramotswe setting up a detective agency and solving all sorts of problems- both big and small. I love the easy-going voice and the sedate pace of these stories. They're the sort of thing you can read to relax. Currently has 17 novels in the series.

Articles

Angels & Demons by Thomas French. This is not for the faint of heart. It's an article about a real life tragic murder case and the long road to it getting solved. The writing is phenomenal, it really pulls you in and tugs at your emotions as everything comes together. Also a very long read- so set aside some time if you want to read it all in one go.

Q2. If you could change anything about the earlier chapters for Against The Odds, what would you change and why?

A. The question is what wouldn't I change?

No, but seriously, I think the biggest thing I'd change would be my writing style. I feel like my writing style has changed a lot and improved since chapter 1 and I would like to make everything more consistent. 

But I also know that by the time I upload a few more AtO chapters, my writing style will be even more different, so there's no real benefit to changing the earlier chapters. 

Plotwise- I'm sort of okay with what's up. Yes, I could tighten a few things up, but I don't want to get sucked into redoing the earlier chapters

Q3. Did you see the Fantastic Beasts movie? What did you think?

A. I have not. I've heard some good things about it. And I've seen all sorts of gifs and screencaps from the movie on Tumblr- and it does look rather nice. It's on my To-watch list. I'll get to it eventually.

 To read previous Q&As, click here.

Sound's Strange (Part 3)

You can find Part 1 and Part 2 over here.

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“Look I keep telling you, I'm not your next leader,” Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, as his fatigue threatened to turn into a full blown headache. “Sasuke dealt the finishing blow to Orochimaru. I'm sure he'll clear everything up when he wakes up. It's been a while since the battle.”

Hideo, the sour faced ninja beside him who had started all the Nidaime nonsense, tensed with wariness.

Harry ignored him and entered the small room that Sasuke had been taken into.

Hedwig turned amber eyes to him from her spot on Sasuke's bed frame and hooted at him.

Sound's Strange (Part 2)

You can find Part 1 over here.

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“This Sasuke, will he actually help me?” Harry hissed at the purple snake around his neck.

The snake shifted, it's scales rubbing against his skin. “He didn't understand you calling him Itachi, so maybe. I haven't really heard anything much about him.”

The large grey snake that was coiled loosely around Harry, hissed in laughter. “That's because there's nothing to say about him. He doesn't summon us often and when he does it's all business. Isn't that right, Acid-eyes?”

“Acid-eyes?” Harry repeated as he looked at the yellow snake that Orochimaru had summoned. “That's your name?”

Acid-eyes leaned her large head close to Harry. “That's a name that humans don't know because they can't can't say like we do. Not even Orochimaru, though he has been our summoner long before I hatched.”

“I see,” Harry said, feeling slightly awkward at having all snakes' attention focused on him.

“And that's why Orochimaru is going to steal your speaking ability,” the grey snake said. “Even Manda-sama will have to acknowledge this ability to speak like one of us. No human has been able to do so before.”

Happy New Year!

However 2016 might have been for you personally, I hope that 2017 is a better year all around.

Even though I did rather well with my fanfiction goals last year, I actually don't feel like writing down any resolutions this year. I wants to see just how much I can surprise myself and all of you in terms of updates.

So, if you are also a slowpoke writer/editor like me, let's hope that the dangerous distractions of youtube and tumblr don't stop us from being somewhat productive.

Polar