{"id":1058,"date":"2014-04-28T12:40:19","date_gmt":"2014-04-28T16:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/?p=1058"},"modified":"2014-06-02T09:29:59","modified_gmt":"2014-06-02T13:29:59","slug":"chapter-37-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/?p=1058","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 37 – Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter Notes<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 <\/span>Running Away \u2014<\/i>\u00a0This chapter is a sad one, but inevitable. Katsuro\u2019s team is just a bunch of kids, not nins. So in a real test, they can\u2019t survive it. And Katsuro\u2019s not yet strong enough to save them. But their loss helps shape them. I changed the title several times before settling on this one. It ties in to what\u2019s happening here, with them all running, and it\u2019s a bit of foreshadowing for Katsuro\u2019s futures choices in the coming chapters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Itachi\u2019s discussion with Katsuro at the dango stand:<\/i> this is where some of the storyline will diverge from the manga storyline. I\u2019m tweaking the fight over control of the kyuubi to fit within this story. I know the manga has gone into all this other stuff with the bijuu, etc., but I can\u2019t write out all that and make it work here! So there are a few significant differences with the kyuubi and Naruto. Hopefully nothing too jarring. Katsuro has until age 21 until he\u2019s fully bonded with the kyuubi, and has made his own personal bonds as well. Pain and Itachi are at odds over their plan for Katsuro. And Itachi has revealed that he knows a lot more about the kyuubi than he has previously let on.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cPain\u2019s methods are born of the Rain. No matter what the outcome, they will always fall behind Konoha.\u201d <\/i>\u2014 So, this illustrates a little of Itachi\u2019s arrogance. It shows the difference in Pain and Itachi\u2019s motivations, filling out the picture of Itachi and Pain. And more importantly it serves as something for Katsuro to look at as he chooses to piece together who he is and who he wants to be. Is it okay to grab power for the sake of being the most powerful (like Itachi), or is it better to want all the power to keep from being hurt again (like Pain), or is there another way altogether?<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cThere are things that, as a host, you must learn by experience. Like a jutsu. It can\u2019t simply be taught. You must establish a bond, and Akatsuki is the correct step for you at this point in your development\u2014\u201c<\/i> \u2014\u00a0This is where this story veers from the manga\/canon version. Who Katsuro bonds with will feature highly in his future.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Itachi continued, reciting as if reading from a textbook. \u201cAt 21, the host and demon chakras fuse completely and the demon vacates its cell. The kyuubi\u2019s chakra harmonizes with its jinchuriki and can be used at to its full potential without killing its host\u2026if it is done properly, of course. The host must be conditioned, trained and\u2014\u201d<\/i> \u2014\u00a0So Itachi reveals that he knows much more about the kyuubi and his host than he lets on. Specifically, talking about it like you would training a dog to perform. Katsuro picks up on this as well, and it makes him feel uneasy, especially that maybe he\u2019s more of a vessel in the eyes of those around him.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u201cBeauty and the Beast, as you call them.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 Had fun writing for Hidan and Kakuzu, could you tell? Expanded their manga motivations to be more vain (Hidan) and more greedy (Kakuzu). They call each other dead man and old man, respectively, a nod to their name-calling in the manga.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sakura\u2019s necklace swung in front of his eyes. He dropped the bowl on the top of the bag and reached up slowly to claim it.<\/i> \u2014 The necklace is back where it belongs! Yay! A bright spot in an otherwise unhappy chapter.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Something possessive snarled to life inside Katsuro \u2014 something deep and angry and strangely un-kyuubi-like \u2014 and blocked out everything else.<\/i> \u2014\u00a0So his reaction is very much his own, not the demon\u2019s. As Katsuro struggles with his identity, whether he\u2019s just a vessel or not, a weapon or not, the part that his tied to Sakura is very much his own, neither vessel nor weapon.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cEven though I heard there was a big game tonight. They wouldn\u2019t let us in. Same with Koro at the club.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 So, the backstory here is that Konoha had been tracking rogue nins and had staked out this particular town. When Katsuro\u2019s team finally came out of the woods, the Konoha nins had already instructed the storeowners to close their doors for a window of time. The storeowners complied because the Leaf was protecting their town. The rogue nins \u2014 Katsuro\u2019s team \u2014 were forced to go back to the woods, which gave Konoha the opportunity to attack that they had been looking for.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The nin closest to Taichi\u2019s body snapped at the men around him. \u201cDammit! Don\u2019t kill em,\u2019 just disable them! Taichou wants \u2019em left alive for questioning\u2014\u201c<\/i> \u2014 Okay, so even though they are Konoha nins, this team doesn\u2019t have anyone familiar on it. And I\u2019ve written them as using too much force, basically making mistakes. The intent wasn\u2019t to kill. This will come up late as Konoha\u2019s practices are shown to be very different from other nations\/territories. So it\u2019s important to establish that Konoha doesn\u2019t kill. Most of the time. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0In that moment, Katsuro decided he was going to do things differently than Itachi had always instructed him. He wouldn\u2019t accept that the purpose of a team was just to die for the strongest one.<\/i> \u2014 So, an instance where Katsuro is shown pulling away from Itachi\u2019s teachings. Instead of being focused solely on himself and his own power, Katsuro is instinctively turning towards Konoha\u2019s way of thinking, choosing to be team oriented. These are tiny little choices, but they add up over time.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The only thing keeping him warm was the demon\u2019s chakra in his gut with its churning, swirling heat\u2026. Maybe he really was just a vessel after all\u2026.<\/i> \u2014 So there is a back and forth between cold and heat, emptiness and feeling whole. This theme has been building, but it gets resolved next chapter\u2026,<\/p>\n

\n

Spoiler Notes<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cAt 21 your chakra will fuse with the kyuubi\u2019s. You will no longer need to house it in the cell, and you will have complete access to all its chakra. That\u2019s what he meant by \u2018ultimate weapon.\u2019\u201d<\/i> \u2014 This has been brought up by Pain and Itachi, and it\u2019s different from the manga. Katsuro has until he\u2019s 21 to form his bonds. At that age he will be fully bonded with the kyuubi. (Which means that whatever is being planned by Pain\/Itachi, they have until then to do it.)<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Spoiler – One of the ways this story is different from the manga is that to help ease a jinchuriki\u2019s transition into adulthood, its important to establish bonds early on. This has not yet been revealed in the story. But both Itachi and Tsunade will present the different sides of it (negative and positive.) Itachi thinks he has done this, and Katsuro is further encouraged to bond with the Akatsuki members. Itachi is hoping to imprint them on him, to make it easier to control him. But Itachi is sure that he has ultimate control over Katsuro, or will have it at the right time, because he\u2019s the one he\u2019s bonded to. But of course, Itachi is wrong. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\u2022 The ultimate weapon<\/i> \u2014 Itachi lays down a very prophetic idea for Katsuro. And he has to sort out what his destiny is to be. As a weapon or as a shinobi? (Sometimes getting what you want isn\u2019t all it\u2019s cracked up to be.)<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cPain and I want the same for you, but we have\u2026different ideas about your path.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 Pain and Itachi are not in as much harmony as they are in the manga.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Katsuro liked Konoha even less now. He didn\u2019t care how powerful Itachi made it out to be.<\/i> \u2014 Itachi\u2019s arrogance helps cement Katsuro\u2019s dislike, something he will have to overcome in the future.<\/p>\n

\u2022 But catching the growing turmoil in Katsuro\u2019s face, Itachi lightened his tone. \u201cWell\u2026just unnecessary details, really. But that\u2019s when you become the \u2018ultimate weapon.\u2019 Incomprehensible power, all at your command.\u201d Itachi picked up the last dango stick and tipped his head. \u201cIsn\u2019t that what you\u2019ve always wanted? When I found you back in Konoha and all you could spout about was how you wanted to be a shinobi? Well, if you follow the path we\u2019ve laid out for you, you could be the most powerful shinobi in the world.\u201d<\/i> \u2014 Again, Itachi dangles the carrot of being an ultimate weapon. But Katsuro doesn\u2019t think the deal sounds so sweet now.<\/p>\n

\u2022 That was what Kakuzu was after. My heart. And Itachi knew it. Damn Itachi. Damn Akatsuki. \u2014<\/i>\u00a0Establishes Katsuro\u2019s continuing distrust of the Akatsuki.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cAw, you won\u2019t stay?\u201d Hidan taunted Katsuro like a schoolyard bully, waving a spear in the air. \u201cYou don\u2019t want a dango stick too?\u201d<\/i> \u2014\u00a0Establishes the fact that Akatsuki still see him as a kid and Itachi\u2019s underling.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The situations with Hidan and Kakuzu are set up for future chapters, so that when Naruto is revealed, he knows exactly how to handle \u201cBeauty and the Beast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 <\/span>Something possessive snarled to life inside Katsuro \u2014 something deep and angry and strangely un-kyuubi-like \u2014 and blocked out everything else.<\/i> \u2014 A little more about this: Part of this chapter has been about Katsuro\u2019s inner turmoil over being a vessel or a person. He feels like he\u2019s real, but everyone he is associated with sees him as a vessel. But Sakura never did, and the part of him that responds in jealousy is very much a part of him, and nothing to do with the kyuubi. So, it\u2019s a little foreshadowing that in the future. As the storyline of him having to bond in order to access his chakra develops, he will discover that\u00a0the part of him that\u2019s bonded to Sakura is the true part of him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter Notes \u2022 Running Away \u2014\u00a0This chapter is a sad one, but inevitable. Katsuro\u2019s team is just a bunch of kids, not nins. So in a real test, they can\u2019t survive it. And Katsuro\u2019s not yet strong enough to save them. But their loss helps shape them. I changed the title several times before settling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-notes","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5hctF-h4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}