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While finishing off chapter 134 I found myself needing to sketch out a basic floorplan of Tsukuyomi’s palace so I could better visualize everything. Well, not the whole floorplan- that doesn’t really matter at the moment- but I at least needed the top floor of the palace which serves as Tsukuyomi’s personal floor and has everything he needs for his stay.

I only made one complete sketch (my very first start had the front of the palace facing the other way and I decided I didn’t want the face to be just a flat wall) which is shown above and it’s about as rough as you can expect. It’s a me sort of floorplan- so it doesn’t make much sense- but I did want to at least try to include a Japanese feel which for the most part escaped me.

I am most certainly not an architect in any sense of the word.

There’s a good chance you can’t read what I have on there due to both the size of the text and the fact that my handwriting is horrendous but don’t worry, I’ll clear it up further down.

In the last scene of 134-B I also introduced the idea that the Wolves were going to be trying to come up with a flag for Tsukuyomi. I’ll admit, I’ve had it planned for a while now and the sketch has been pinned to my board for the better part of the last few months just waiting to be used. I’ll include some of the reasoning behind the design in the coming chapter (Should just be in 135 for the most part, though it may make a brief appearance later too) but because I brought it with me to the kitchen table in case I needed it to finish off 124 (I didn’t) I also took the opportunity to snap a quick picture of it.

As you can see, this one was even more basic scratched out on a mini legal pad I picked up at a dollar store at some point. I had a basic idea for colors but I didn’t even know how they would look together. Naturally that meant I had to throw it into photoshop and try my new Drawing Pad in an attempt to justify such a pricey purchase.

My skills in photoshop- and art in general- leave much to be desired but I present to you a colorized version of Tsukuyomi’s flag;

I’ll be completely honest, too – I’m pretty sure this took me longer than touching up the floorplan did and I have no idea why. Like the sketch it’s pretty rough and if I were to do it again I’d probably lower the opacity to retain the traced sketch lines and make it feel less than a third-grade art project on Microsoft Paint but at least I get to see how the colors look together now. It’s not too horrible but I probably could have used better shades (especially the full black background, dark grey would have been better) and making the yellow circle (it was supposed to be gold and that was somehow the closest I managed) being bigger would have served as a good barrier between the elements of the flag and the solid background.

Personally I think it looks better uncoloured but that might just mean I chose bad colors. If you have better suggestions feel free to let me know and I’ll see if I can find the time to open this mini-project up again.

Now, I’ve already shown the first sketch of the palace floorplan but as I mentioned earlier I did go ahead and touch that one up first. Initially I just went over the lines and moved one of the lists (simplified because I only have so much room and it needed to be large enough to be visible) slightly. You can still see the original clearly as I only traced elements in the following picture but even just doing that seemed to improve it tremendously in my opinion, especially when it came to the front-facing picture in the bottom right.

And then because I could (and because I’ve been unusually productive today for some reason I daren’t question lest it escape me) I went ahead and colored it too.

Tried to keep it nice and simple so I didn’t fuck it up too badly and I think I did a semi-decent job at showing what I wanted to. You’ll note the numbers on the rooms now which allows me to list everything here instead of trying to write legibly on the picture itself and overcrowding the image.

  1. Tsukuyomi’s Private Chambers
  2. Tsukuyomi’s Private Sitting Room
  3. Tsukuyomi’s Private Library
  4. Tsukuyomi’s Office
  5. Prince’s Chambers
  6. Formal Dining Room, Private
  7. Servant Supplies and Workroom
  8. Upper Floor Sitting Room/ Library
  9. Kakashi’s Quarters
  10. Anko’s Quarters
  11. Hanabi’s Quarters
  12. Mai’s Quarters
  13. Sai’s Quarters
  14. Hana’s Quarters
  15. Tsunami’s Quarters
  16. Wolves’ Barracks

Actually had quite a bit of fun refining the pictures- or attempting to, anyway- so maybe I’ll start doing more side projects like this when I need to visualize something in the story or need a break from writing. If there’s something specific you’d like to see please let me know, though with how bad I can be at people I probably won’t even try to sketch any of the characters.

Until I next have your attention,

-Eyazahrid

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The following are the recorded responses of Eyazahrid to the feedback he received on the above listed chapter and the story in general for the week following. This document is to serve as a replacement to the traditional Author’s Note at the beginning and ending of chapters and will be kept separate from both the above listed chapter and any future chapters unless deemed sufficiently important.

“congratulations you are the second piece of media ever that brings me to tears every time I see a characters death scene the first being the ending to Gurren Lagan”

-kanra hatake

Thank you. I’ve never seen Gurren Lagan myself but I am filled with pride to know I’ve evoked strong emotion with my work.

“fitting for his character to be calm.”

-BakonoftheUnknown

I thought it was in character, I’m pleased to see I was not mistaken.

“Sweet stuff. The whole thing had a slight air of dread though. Interesting.”

-IndianaJohhney

Dread? In my writing? I think you must be mistaken, I would never do something like that.

“If this dude gets his hands on a Rinnegan he’s going to resurrect the girl straight away.”

 -Guest

I’m not sure the Rinnegan can do that otherwise Yakiho would have been brought back by Pein. I think it has to be a recent death for the Hell Path to resurrect someone.

“I am crying righrtnow. You make Orochimaru Edo Tensei Tatsuki right now. Right Now!”

-ShadowFireZelda

Hmm. I suppose that would work and Naruto would happily sacrifice someone else’s life for Tatsuki. The two question then are “Does Naruto think Tatsuki would be happy if he did that?” and “Is Orochimaru going to bring in more competition for Naruto’s time and affection if Naruto doesn’t specifically ask them to?”.

“Genuinely one of the most touching, saddest pieces of writing I’ve ever read. Absolutely incredible writing. Now I just wish we’d been able to see more of Tatsuki.”

-Winnie the Poon

Thank you. I started work on a spin-off oneshot in which Tatsuki survived but I never got very far with it because what I was doing just didn’t feel right. I’ll have to resume that project soon so we can all see Tatsuki again.

“Glad to see the update and like usual when you describe a scene with Naruto and Tatsuki, I always feel my chest grow tight with sadness. Good job and keep up the great work.”

-Stop.takin.my.name

I tend to feel the same when writing those scenes or when I go back to her death to remind myself of exactly what happened. I’m quite proud of what I managed to do with that.

“The chapter was good, that Naruto already applied the seal on him, was something I didn’t expect at this point. That Mai is seeing it as normal that Naruto is tired is something that should worry Tayuya and Hanabi. I would have expected a scene where we see Hiashi reactions to his second daugther that he thought dead. That Naruto gave the words away to Inoichi that were solely meant for him, is something I found a bit surprising.
Naruto wanted to start learning the names of all his children for some time now, he can already differentiate between some of them, from their habits and mannerisms. So I would think that learning their names should come more easy for him, especially as he now will stay in Hanahime for the unforeseeable time.”

-Seta88

Oh, it worries Mai too- especially now that she’s been gone for a bit and is able to recognize just how tired he normally looks.

Did consider showing a scene with Hanabi and Hiashi but I wasn’t sure how that would go and sort of wanted to wrap up Konoha events so we could move on. I may have to write it in later or create a oneshot that goes over it, especially if more people request it.

With them wearing masks when on duty- which tends to be when they’re around him the most- he really has to find other ways to recognize his children beyond memorizing faces. He also doesn’t tend to go around asking names- or, he didn’t- of his children so even when he knew them he wouldn’t know who you were talking about when you used their name. Really, he doesn’t give himself enough credit and is, without a doubt, his own biggest critic. Lately he’s just had the mindset that he’s a terrible father, something not helped by his failures to properly handle the situation in Mizu no Kuni.

“No offense but is there even a reason for Naruko and Kushina to be in the character slot in the description? They haven’t really been present in the story like at all… I’m just saying because it’s kind of misleading for new readers when they’re in the story no where near as much as they probably think when clicking the story…”

-Lawrence H. Bain

Because their actions- and arguably inaction- have had a massive effect on the story. They might not be seen as often but their influence is still felt by those who are.

“Oh dear god this chapter was not like I envisioned it at all, I mean we all know naruto has already moved on from his life with kushina so no surpises there, but then I have to say I didn’t even think about his final goodbye to tatsuki, and now I feel ashamed and sad at the same time, after all I was not prepared for that second part.  .
But if anything it brought closure to inoichi and ino and if they decide to clear narutos name with their family then they will understand they declared war on an innocent kid that loved tatsuki…and they even lost :v
And then we have naruto finally with the seal, I am sure that is gonna make all his girls have a fit once they learn he went and experimented on himself…yep I am sure they will be reaaaaally amused xD”

-daniel2610994

Oh yes, I couldn’t have him leave Konoha without a final visit to his first friend.

It could be interesting to see how the Yamanaka react to learning the truth of that night but I don’t think Ino or Inoichi would spread something so personal to Naruto throughout the clan that was baying for his blood. It is, however, possible that it might come up accidently if either of them ends up giving some of the clan members a dressing down for their behavior towards him in the future.

…Yeah….probably not something he’d want them to know about. He thinks Mai’s really cute when she’s upset but he also really doesn’t like to be the one to upset her.

“The goodbye to kushina was somewhat anti climactic but in a good way,
Glad that tatsuki wasn’t forgotten since she was such an important character to Naruto,
Man that entire graveyard scene is heavy in a great way, we see Naruto’s true feelings and he acknowledged his own faults,
And that conversation between ino and her father, damn this really is one of the best Naruto stories out there,
I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t see hanabi and her father talk I hope we get a flash back,
I feel like things are going too well, is suffering around the corner?
The cursed seal behavior with the chains sounds epic, but epicness is the norm for this Naruto…
Very awesome chapter!”

-Wicked-A

Yes, it was never going to devolve into some sort of dramatic, emotional argument because Naruto is no longer emotionally invested and Kushina is both emotionally exhausted and too worried about pushing him further away to try escalating the interaction to such a point.

That she was. Arguably Tatsuki was my greatest success.

I may have to due to requests for that scene. Guess I have to figure out what they would have talked about, huh?

Suffering? In my story? I would never.

“Im so confused it says that it was last updated in February 2020 lmao”

-cynicalneedssleep

Are you quite sure? I’m seeing “Updated: February 20” which would be the twentieth of February this year (2021). Fanfiction.net does not display the current year in my experience, though I suppose it could also be an issue with either your browser, your specific session, or perhaps the app as I double checked on my PC to see it displaying properly.

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The following are the recorded responses of Eyazahrid to the feedback he received on the above listed chapter and the story in general for the week following. This document is to serve as a replacement to the traditional Author’s Note at the beginning and ending of chapters and will be kept separate from both the above listed chapter and any future chapters unless deemed sufficiently important.

“Poor Danzo should know to expect the bamboozle.”

–TheGreatBubbaJ

He really should.

“Well done. I wondered if you’d have him speak to his mother. Bravo”

 -Imperial-samaB

As tempting as it is to just have his ghost the fuck out of Konoha, I couldn’t really wrap up his leaving without it.

“I am most appreciative of the fact that you put your patrons into paragraph format instead of giving each their own line. I was most surprised when I got to the 3/4 mark and still was reading your story! I hope you keep it like this. Makes it easier to tell where I am on the page.”

-Meddlingtiger

I do prefer the way it looks now, much more clean and organized.

“The chapter was good, that Hanabi is surprised in any way concerning the sleeping habits of the Wolves is the real surprise in that part. The part with the Nara seeking an alliance with the Wolves came as a surprise, they could be the eyes and ears that Asuma wanted, or the request could be genuine, at this point I don’t know. I didn’t think that the invite to the Uzumaki compound by Kushina would happen, or that Naruto would accept for that matter, when it came.
Looking forward to more.”

-Seta88 

Who’s to say what the Nara are doing, certainly not I.

“In essence, it feels less like ‘Naruto and the Wolves vs the World!’ Which is what made a lotta people huge fans and addicts to this story, and now more like ‘THE WORLD… ft naruto'”

-Santan Suprah

Sorry you feel that way. Naruto’s actions have had quite a lot of impact throughout the world and I like to show them to the audience as they happen rather than trying to force it in as exposition when it becomes relevant again.

“I’m curious to see what the final resulting choice will be for Mai being shared between Naruto and Tsume, or just being with Tsume alone. The main discussion and point of the vacation was to give Mai time to deal with her own thought about being with Naruto still and if she wanted to continue that. So far there has been no payoff but I guess she is still technically “on vacation””

 -kyuzo3567

I’ll be honest, I’ve yet to fully decide on the matter itself. The end result is going to depend on how interactions end up going between the three in the future. Optimally Naruto would be paired with every woman he meets because all the women are fantastic but realistically it’s unlikely. We’ll just have to see.

“you should seriously add the tags angst and edgelord to the story”

-Mr.Destructo

I tried but as it turns out Fanfiction.net doesn’t seem to have an “edgelord” tag.

 “A fan:No matter how many time I read and reread this I will always love how you portray Kakashi and what being anbu from a very young age has effected his thought process on things”

-A fan (Guest)

I’m glad you like his characterization, he’s been quite fun to write.