Alright, so as I start writing this chapter 81 has been completed which means we’re still on schedule.

Fantastic.

As long as we can keep this up I’ll be writing that Skyrim story in about a week and I have to admit I’m kind of looking forward to something new.

We’ll just have to see how it goes.

There wasn’t too much I actually wanted to mention in this update- or, that I could remember at least- so this update will mostly be focused around Kurenai and what my plans for her in Sealkeeper had actually been.

Before that, a quick shoutout to the unnamed guest who wanted to know if Naruto had gotten with anybody yet before they started to read the story again. I’d love to tell you, mate, but it may be a bit hard when you’ve given me no way to contact you and aren’t currently reading the story.

Best of luck with that response.

I’ll probably think of something else I wanted to mention later, so let’s just head straight for the interesting bit.

The Lost Kurenai Arc

Kurenai was one of the first characters mentioned within the story- back in chapter one- and was focused on pretty regularly in the first fifteen or so chapters, but as the story progressed she ended up fading into the background for the most part.

That had not been the intention.

The idea I had for Kurenai involves an area I’ve never really seen explored- her backstory. Where did she come from? Who are her parents? Why do most writers make her hate men?

So I set about creating something. Nothing too complicated, of course- she wasn’t supposed to be a major character- but just enough to satisfy my need to have explanations for things.

The plan was to provide most of the information during a story arc that would follow team 8 for a few chapters and resulted in Kurenai meeting some less than savory people from her past. To keep the story from dragging on, however, it had to be cut and I don’t see any good way to bring it back in.

Instead of telling you what my plans for the delivery of this backstory was, I’ll go straight to the backstory.

A quick little disclaimer- I don’t actually know what her cannon backstory is, or if she even has one, so whatever I say next may not fit with cannon at all.

I don’t rightly care.

Onto the backstory.

Kurenai was born to a minor bandit lord and his unconsensual “wife”. Her mother died in childbirth, much to his irritation, but on a whim he decided to keep her child and see what they would become.

Just as I intended to gloss over and hint towards things in the actual arc, I will not be going into detail about her early life here. Suffice to say, she was not treated well by her father or her father’s men.

She eventually managed to run away, making it to Konohagakure no Sato where Uzumaki Kushina helped her create a new life for herself. She entered into the Shinobi Academy and was eventually placed on a team under Kushina, who became something akin to a mother for her.

Due to her experiences as a young girl, she hated all men with a passion but learned to interact with them in Konoha as a necessity. She remained cold to each one of them and reacted viciously to any attempt to get closer to her.

Because she was so used to being on guard around men, it came at great surprise that her Sensei’s boyfriend- one Namikaze Minato- made her feel safe in his presence. Being both distrusting of men and a Genjutsu prodigy she initially assumed it was some sort of illusion or technique designed to cause targets to let down their guard.

She had attacked the Hokage-to-be without hesitation, much to Kushina’s amusement and his own confusion. Being faster than her, however, he was able to avoid her attacks without issue. As time went on she began to trust him more but would still occasionally lash out on instinct due to the strange feelings she got from being around him.

When her Sensei eventually gave birth, she learned that Minato wasn’t the only male she didn’t feel uncomfortable around. Unfortunately, that meant that like his father he would cause her instincts to scream that she was in danger.

She managed to avoid harming him but took to keeping her distance whenever possible to avoid risking it.

During the arc she was supposed to take her team on a C-rank bandit extermination mission where she ended up encountering her father for the first time in over a decade. With the chance to finally confront the source of her childhood trauma and put the past behind her, she was supposed to find it easier to be around men and that she was much more comfortable around Naruto.

Unfortunately this never actually happened, so instead Kurenai is just crazy during the first dozen chapters and magically appears later in the story more akin to a relaxed cannon version.

Looking back, it wasn’t a very good idea- and don’t get me started on the execution of it- but this is what I had in the back of my mind whenever I was writing her.

I believe she appears again in the next chapter- or the one after that, I can’t quite recall- so I do hope this can help the few of you who check it out to understand what was going on with her.

We’ll leave things here for now, until I sit down one day and somehow incorporate this into a different story.

Until I next have your attention,

–Eyazahrid