Age: 20 (A strange age. No longer a teenager, but not quite a full adult. And yes, I'm still writing fanfiction at twenty.)

Gender: Male (Yes, male. I don't have blue hair and red eyes.)

Hobbies: Writing, practicing martial arts. (Well, this hasn't changed in two years, at least.)

Real Name: Sorry, but I'm not going to break the common trend of not giving my name out all willy-nilly over the internet.

Status: Heading back to college. Yes, I'm an English major.

Currently Working On: Well, I guess you could call it the Recon Raider universe. It's currently composed of two stories: Nindo: Way of the Twelve, and Clan Eyes. I imagine I might write a few one-shots on the side. Anyway, the Recon Raider universe (or whatever it ends up being called) basically differs from the original Naruto universe in two respects. One is that the Fouth Hokage started reforms to the Ninja Academy shortly before his death, reforms that were carried to completion by the Third Hokage. In response to the overly-short time ninja spent at the Academy during the Iwa war, in peacetime Academy graduation was fixed at fourteen for all but the most exceptional cases. The other change is that the ninja forces are somewhat more military in make-up, leading to squads being put together to fit specific mission roles, and the ninjas acting slightly differently. (Capture/Investigation, Light Combat, Heavy Combat, Recon Raider...etc.) Oh, and the Uchiha massacre took place when the Rookie 9 were six.

Nindo: Way of the Twelve can be considered the 'original' timeline for the Recon Raider universe. It's inspired by the absolutely wonderful Team 8 by S'TarKan (read it if you haven't...and if you already have, read it again), and has Naruto placed on a team with Shino and Hinata under the command of Kurenai, who was on a recon raider team as a genin, under Shino's father. The story traces the growth of Team 8's members from fourteen year-old rookies to blooded veterans, with the evolution of their goals and ambitions playing a significant role in the story. The plot follows what is known in Konoha's history as the 'Test of the Twelve'...a rather different playing out of the conflicts from the original series.

Clan Eyes is a 'what if' scenario based on Way of the Twelve. It asks 'What if the Hyuuga adopted Naruto when he was three?'. Unlike most 'clan adoption' stories that I've read, the Hyuuga clan is not doing this out of any kindness to the boy. Itstead the elder council wish to execute him as an internal clan matter...legally. Hiashi, knowing that to execute the boy would be political suicide while the Third Hokage was in power, but also knowing that to deny the council would risk a clan civil war, schemes with the Hokage to keep Naruto alive. Naruto is given Hyuuga eyes and placed as the ward of a Hyuuga clan disgrace...Hyuuga Teijo, one of Kurenai's old genin team mates. Clan Eyes is an exploration into the Hyuuga clan, and how politics can affect one's life, as well as an exploration of why people do things. The plot follows Naruto's life and the events that shape it, starting in the last days of the Kumo war.

Oh, and a note on the Recon Raider universe. It's Naruto/Hinata in both stories. Other pairings are up in the air, but that one stays.

Random Talk Space: Okay. I feel a bit like ranting. So here goes: It is my personal opinion that Kishimoto dropped the ball on writing Naruto. Barring the fact that he has said that he doesn't like smart characters, and the fact that simple heroes have been monsterously sucessful in the past (see Son Goku of Dragonball fame), the simple fact is that a MORON (which Naruto is a textbook example of at the beginning of the series) does not make an effective main character, not in what at heart is a drama story, despite all the humor wrapping it. He also seems to have trouble deciding on defined power levels, with characters being effective and ineffective as the plot demands of them, not as their stacked up attributes would indicate. And it definitely doesn't help that he apparently can't write romance. I mean...the only confirmed couples have happened off-screen, and have dead people involved in them.

So here's an idea that I probably will never get around to, busy with the Recon Raider stories as I am: Shikamaru, and Shikamaru: Kageden (Yes, that's Shadow Chronicles.) It's a reimagine of Naruto with the lazy genius as the main character. Some evil shadow monster was sealed into Shika by the Nara clan, and they covered it up. Cut to genin graduation where you've got all of the other characters, including a Naruto that grew up with a family. Go with whatever team assignments you like, and have Shika keep his normal attitude, but have all the fights approached in a tactical, intelligent manner, with Shika triumphing due to his brains and innate goodness, rather than bull-headed stubborness. Toss in a few apperances of the super-powered evil side too, for good measure. Make the character growth be about Shika's evolution of a guy who just wants to be an average shinobi to someone who's caught up in a huge conspiracy and war.

I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but I'd certainly find that more interesting than the original. Oh, and I almost forgot. Throw in a Naruto/Hinata love story in the background. Can't forget that.

"Guess that Taijutsu!" Winners:

Sessen/Kurabu Maga = Krav Maga

Congrats to Lord Cynic and huntsvilletiger. This is Naruto's style in Nindo: Way of the Twelve, taught to him by Suteru Areku, the Academy Taijutsu instructor. Balanced style, but aims to infight as soon as possible.

Aburame Family Style = Tang Lang Quan

It's Hentaifan for the win on this one. The Aburame family style is indeed based on the distinctive Northern Mantis Fist. A system based on the idea of subtracting something and adding something for defense and attack respectively, it is said to have been inspired by the fighting movements of a Mantis, a bug with plenty of protection to the front, but long and brittle to the side. An infighting style, it can be a real pain to go up against. Shino's been seen using this style, and Shibi presumably is well-versed in it as well. And yes, the choice is partially a homage to Shino's 'mantis-style' fighting with kama in Team 8. The other part of the choice being rather obvious. Aburame. Bug-users. Why not?

Blending Flame/Kousaku no Kaen ???

This one's still up in the air. There's been some mention of it, but it hasn't been seen in action yet. Kurenai uses this style.

Form Intent Palm/Keitai no Nesshin Shou = Ba Gua Zhang and Xing Yi Quan

And someone who prefers to not have their name up gets this one with the dead on guess of two of the three major Chinese 'internal' styles: the Eight Trigrams Palm and the Form Intent Fist. Ba Gua is very much like a more active Tai Chi, and incorporates 'circle walking', a form of tactical maneuvering that is one of Ba Gua's greatests strengths, along with plenty of striking and grappling. Xing Yi is more linear in nature, more obviously brutal, and is said to be the only battlefield-proven 'internal' martial art. People trained in this style were said to be well-nigh unstoppable in close. The story version hasn't been seen in action, yet, but it's Hyuuga Teijo's creation, and a Jyuuken derivative. Naruto is learning this style in Clan Eyes. We'll just have to wait and see if anyone else is taught this style.

Gai's Style/Goken/Strong Fist ???

Unseen as of yet but mentioned in the upcoming Chapter four of Nindo. A powerful style, it condsiders legs to be the primary weapons and arms to be a back up. A balanced style, but aims to keep at long range. For the record, it's not Tae Kwon Do

Burning Embers/Yoen ???

Unseen as of yet but mentioned in Chapter four of Nindo. A style excelling at striking at close range, it's primarily defensive and good for those with slight frames. Very popular among kunoichi specializing in throwing weapons or ninjutsu.

For Those Who Might Want to Talk to Me:

I respond to emails and PMs, and my AIM is yanmandao.