Nice story you have here. Its very well written and has a nice flow to it. I'm glad I found this story, keep up the great work!

Please be Kakashi! Although, Jiraiya would work too, but I don't think he's made it there yet. Oh, and actually... That AdurRAT guy doesn't have gray hair does he? I'm afraid I didn't pay much attention to his description... I could so see it being him... Hm... there's lots of silver-haired men in Konoha actually... *thinks of more*

I like the way Tsunade inserted herself into all this ("I'm better qualified to fight demons, thank you anyway"), and how Shikamaru faced her. Both of them strong and calm... Very cool.

Also relieved at the break in the middle for a less stressful scene, with the Suna Kiddies

[“And when it came to it, he didn't use it.”]

AH! WHAT THE HECK! *bowled over by the twist!*

[Rumiko attacked: three kunai flew straight in the air, aimed for the invader's spine.]

*nervous laugh* And I might get my wish? Eh heh?

[And his heart kinda broke then, remembering all the years of questions his blond friend had wanted to ask. About his father the hero, about things no-one could answer. In the end, Yondaime had wanted to live, after all.]

Oh, god. Yeah, that was exactly what I was thinking through this whole story. After all Naruto's questions to Jiraiya. JEEZUS, man. Oh, you love to twist things, don't you? I consider him dying in order to seal the Kyuubi as permanent fact, but at the same time, I'm not against this. Man what will Naruto think! And WHEN the heck is Shikamaru going to realize where Kenta IS right now?

And wait. Doesn't Kenta have to die to do the seal that will seal the Kyuubi permanetly? So he can't use it on Rinku then Shika like he plans to. And he's not strong enough anyway. No way. So what the heck is that scroll?

Oh thank GOD Itachi is as arrogant as Sasuke. He could probably pull of an escape but his ego didn't force him to. The wiser thing IS to leave her there. Thank god he thinks like that.

Oh yeah. The house is on fire. Great. And Rumiko is just leaning against the front door... Is their whole house going to be ruined? Plus they have to fix the fence... And they are going to have some traumatized deer!

That was some crazy stuff, my god.

...Wow at Tsunade. Because... cool. I like that she was able to show a bit of concern there, instead of being that WRETCHEDLY depressed person that she was in the anime. I'm not easy to depress but that woman was just really really depressing. Yeesh.

This is cool, him going to see Gaara. I wondered what you meant by him getting people into place. *strokes imaginary beard*

Oh yeah. Shikamaru was thinking several chapters ago that he needed to appologize to Ino, after what Hinata had told him. But he never did, did he? Well, it really doesn't seem like her 'piggy-backing' did any damage, so I guess it's okay.

[Why did he always have the dramatic stories to tell?]

LOL, IT'S TRUE! *falls over* The kyuubi does such drastic things to his life! How many times have they sat around and had these conversations? And he always does have something big to tell!

I wish all -dangerous- insane people would die. Is that terrible? That's my honest reaction to people like this, or well, characters at least. I think. Well, let's get even more specific, I wish this Kenta guy would just die. Gah, that STILL sounds awful... D:

On a more positive note... I was really enjoying the interaction between Rumiko and Rinku until he showed up. :(

[“Everything's complicated, though!” Naruto gestured widely, indicating 'everything']

Oh, god he's so CUTE! I ADORE Naruto. And I don't use that word often! ^_^

ABSOLUTE HOR-RAY! For Shikamaru telling Naruto about everything. I love it when he gives into his feelings and talks about them, even though it may not be the smartest thing to do. Actually, it could even be a /part/ of his laziness. (Too lazy to keep all that inside maybe? ^^")

I'm sad that Naruto has to keep a secret from Sasuke. D:

I liked Naruto and Sasuke's reunion though. They really have a... unique relationship. *coughs*

Kenta is one scary freakin' dude. I hate crazy freaks like him! *fearful*

That's cool... the stuff with Gaara. You know, in the manga Gaara we don't get to see much of how he got to be Kazekage and I've never even read about it in another manga. I like your opinion of how it went down. :)

Hehe. I like that Shikamaru started feeling awkward. And I'm glad he got pressed for answers. She really DESERVES answers and he gets the responsibility because he's in the best position to tell!

Gah! *flail* Temari giggling at Gaara's chubby cheeks is killing me! That's so... cute! EE!

Oh! Oh! AWESOME! GAARA! THAT ROCKED! I love to see him manipulating politicians! *wicked, wicked smile!* That was god. I can't get over that scene! He was great, perceiving their insult about the hat and dealing with them and controlling his demon and scaring them by alluding to it, and then sending them off to the records! Wow-wy! And Baki being all proud.

Woow. That scene with Chouji and Ino was so touching! I love sweet guys like Chouji. ^^ He's still SO young though. His thought process was so immature. I love Chouji though.

I love how you challenge people at the end to figure things out. I'm giving up at this point on figuring you out. I did consider that he might've gotten involved with the Akatsuki but that just popped into my head.

OH, yeah. Jiraiya's get away plan was very interesting! xD And I love how he started plotting for his next book. That was great xD

[the girl (who was staring at the summon with an incredulous expression that best translated to 'what the fuck')]

Oh! Oh! My side! That's a hilarious line. And MAN! When they found this girl I was like "hm interesting' and when Jiraiya figured out what she was I was freaking out. SO COOL! And I'm not sure if I was going to review this chapter at first but that line really got to me, so I had to give you props for it!

HAHAHA! I love that Shikamaru FINALLY got to enjoy watching the clouds, and had it so thoroughly ruined. But it's been so long since he got to truly appreciate it, that at least he did get a few moments to enjoy it! I thought that scene was well-written too!

Naruto

Wow. I didn't think I would like Team 7's involvement, but I did, actually. I like the position that you've put Sasuke in. Him feeling all betrayed and shifting his frustration onto the confusing Shika. That's so cool. And it makes me worry about his stability too... and makes me interested for his and Sakura's talk!

Those battles were kinda cool. But I felt bad for Chouji. He's harboring those kinds of fears? O_O

Next chapter sounds like it'll be god. I wish my break hadn't just ended. *pouts*

Oh, woah. No wonder you were like "you rock if you guess what he missed" O_O Poor Imn! :(

You've also got me really worried about Ino. But Ino seems fine! So what kind of damage could it REALLY have done...? But yeah, he needs to appologize now that he's realizing all this...

I like that he's training to use the youki better. And that Hinata got to give her assessment. ^.^

Poor Chouji :(

The necklace does seem like bad luck now. I wonder what will happen to it now.

The teams getting together to train is cool. But what's more interesting is Shikamaru explaining to them about the Kyuubi. And in that straight and to the point way too! xDD I like how they were good enough to recognize the change in his chakra before he said anything (at least I think they noticed it, it could've just been his appearance they noticed...)

M. Some relief in this chapter. But I'm kind of a pessimist. Not always because I want things to end badly, either. Actually, I never want that. Iah neede mah happeh endin's yo! *shot*

Anyways... Yay Chouji! It's cute that he was proud of himself at the end. ^_^

I'm very curious what will happen now. Obviously Akatsuki needs to rethink their tactics. And next time they will be unfortunately more prepared. Yeesh! D: But hopefully not for a while. Although if they did just make a grab for Shikamaru right now, I don't see why it wouldn't work... It just doesn't work for the plot. xD

I'm so worried about Rumiko now. *finally switched from angst-loving to totally sympathetic* It's going to be so hard to get back to normal after all that! That makes me really sad!

God chapter. Um... You may recall me saying at the end of Indifferent that I have an occasional taste for some "dark" things. I hate to say I enjoyed this chapter. But... I like it when things get difficult. And I don't balk at reading this. And... I dunno... I did like it. ^^"

[Chouji felt very useless. I'm just the get-away man.]

Thank you for putting that in there. That piece makes it feel more like it's the characters leaving him out, rather than you.

[the other slapping on to the shark ninja's chest in the attack they'd been counting on.

Ino threw herself out of Shikamaru, into Kisame's body.]

FANTASTIC!

I don't know why... but I have this feeling that that's /not/ Rumiko? *ponders*

[There could be a private army or a team of missing-nin or a whole collection of other factors, other people, that the scheme overlooked.]

Oh, wow. That never occurred to me! I know that Akatsuki just doesn't do things that way. But Shika doesn't know that. *smacks forehead*

This does seem like kind of a backwards way of becoming chuunin. Doesn't feel like he won it. But he DEFINITELY deserves it, even more so than in canon. @_@ So I'm glad Asuma and Kakashi pushed for it. Also, it's cool that Naruto got to be Chunnin out of it as well. :D