The Long Journey Ending Summary

I really dreaded this day. As I am getting older, I have less time for things. Things become more of a priority. Things start getting in the way. Stories I once had a burning desire to write fell by the wayside. And things I wanted to accomplish seems childish now.

The Long Journey, previously Red Claw and Shade slayer, always had a special place in my heart. It was the story which I flipped the switch. I wanted to write a very emotional story. Golden eyes was always the fun adventure. It was the guilty pleasure. I never really knew where I was going until I the very middle. For The Long Journey, I planned everything. I thought of the end the motivation, the pain, the suffering, the triumphs and goals. It was something I invested in and built up. Every scene, and every moment was something I cherished.

But, that was then.

I look at my story now and I see wasted potential. I had a good story in mind. Something that really dug at a theme. Life is worth living, even when shit happens. Something I stand by. I always felt Naruto was the embodiment of the Enduring spirit. To keep going. But, I also felt there was a good side and bad side to that. I asked the question "What if Naruto just wanted to kill Sasuke?" I simply built backwards from there. It was an amazing experience in world building and plotting. Putting highlights on emotional scenes. I always wanted to focus on Naruto's struggle to keep 'living'. Not just survive.

That is the underlying theme of The Long Journey. Now, I will talk about the different tools and methods I used to deliver it.

Eragon and Naruto: Eragon is a naïve little brat. The books didn't paint him very well and the last few books of the cycle were absolutely dreadful. I had discarded the idea of following the original storyline. I wanted Eragon to be a bit more. I wanted him to be a war leader, someone who thought about his actions. So I had Naruto teach Eragon. Their 'shared' status of being children of prophecies. I took great care on what Naruto told Eragon and how he framed it. It was mostly because their relationship was symbiotic. Eragon learned from Naruto's wisdom and grew stronger under his tutelage. Naruto, on the other hand, found an attachment to the world. I tried to paint Naruto as on the brink of insanity. One step off to the side and he would be no better than Sasuke. At certain points, Naruto truly believed himself to be cursed, but Eragon was a tether for him.

Changes in the story: Sadly, I wanted to do a fixit story. Naruto's presence as a guiding light for the Eragon world. Maybe it was because I felt the world was flawed, or skewed into making bad decision. Overall, I felt that Naruto 'fixed' too much and left things too clean. He didn't bring his own problems into the story. I think I could have created a bit more chaos to spice things up a bit.

Sasuke: Sasuke was actually an interesting character in my story. I set him up as this huge big bad, that was truly evil. But, in actuality, Sasuke just didn't want to be alone. That was my motivation for Sasuke. "Loneliness." After the Great War, Sasuke was left alone. Naruto moved on with his life. Sasuke, not know what to do, not having purpose decided to provoke Naruto. He killed Hinata in hopes of spurring Naruto to chase him. Not logical, but Sasuke was never the sanest guy around.

Plot: I'm going to now list out the plot points I had written up. This is directly after the Burning plains the very end

Naruto and Hinata lead the group of Shinobi on strike missions. He trusts Eragon to handle his business to save Katarina.

Eragon saves Katarin, displaying his new skills and brings Sloan to judgement. He DOESN'T stay behind. (I felt that was a really dumb move).

I would have a montage here displaying the fight between the Shinobi and the Soldiers.

After one of the battles Hinata drops the question about Sasuke. Naruto says he is going to kill him. It's his responsibly. Hinata says that Naruto shouldn't. Naruto argues with her that he needs to. Hinata tries to sway Naruto into letting it go.

At this point she sees how much Naruto is obsessing over Sasuke. She knows it has led him into bad decisions.

Arya talks with Hinata about Naruto. They discuss about the past. Hinata leads Arya to Eragon. Those two talk about their feelings and say to sort things out after the war.

Huge battle with Oromis. Naruto intervenes and Saves Oromis' life. But, at the cost of Glaedr. Oromis is in grief.

Oromis reveals Eragon's birthright. Oromis secretly calls Naruto to steal the last egg from Galbatorix. Eragon goes back to the tree and forges another sword. Eragon now dual wields and can now channel chakra on his feet to walk on the side of Saphira.

Naruto has a long talk with Eragon about everything. He lays it all out on the table. And gives Eragon one final lesson. Never give up.

Now here is a very important plot point: I had done away with the hidden cove of Dragon eggs and so on. I found most of the prophecy to be too convenient

The final battle approaches and Naruto engages Sasuke. Eragon fights Gallbatorix. Hinata and Co goes to steal the final egg.

Eragon's fight with Gallbatorix would be a fight of will and power. None of the emotion destruction crap. It would be sword play versus Sword play. Magic versus Magic. Dragon vs Dragon. It would be gritty and wouldn't resolve. They would be dead locked.

Naruto's fight with Sasuke, on the other hand, is more destructive. Buildings collapse under them as the Susanoo faces off the Kyuubi form. They fight, with Naruto gaining the upper hand. Naruto continues to beat on Sasuke and it becomes clear that Naruto is outclassing him. Sasuke lies on the ground beaten and his dragon fallen nearby. Naruto is about to give the killing blow but the dragon tries to stop him. Naruto awakens from his rage and gives pause. He realizes why Sasuke does this.

"Sasuke, I always wondered why you tried to kill Hinata. Out of anger? Rage? No." Naruto shrugged. "I just realized. You were lonely weren't you? All alone. No one to talk to. You just wanted to be seen. Just like I once did."

Naruto forgives Sasuke and takes Sasuke's sword. Sasuke is crying as he yells at Naruto, telling him to kill him. Naruto says that Sasuke has to live for that Dragon now. It's his responsibility. Naruto walks away towards the two dragons fighting in the sky.

Eragon fights Gallbatorix to a stand still. Unluckily, Gallbatorix is able to get a pot shot in on Saphira. Saphira starts flying down and they are chased. Eragon fully connects with Saphira and enters a Sage Mode. He starts glowing Saphire blue and defeats Gallbatorix.

Epilogue. Naruto invites everyone to Konoha. He walks next to Eragon up unto a hill overlooking the sea. They see everyone packing up the boats, laughing. Arya is going with them, saying she wants to see HInata's home. Those two really hit it off.

Eragon says thank you to Naruto. Naruto thanks him back. Saying that he lost himself for a while. Lost what it meant to live. But, now, afterall this time it was time to start living again.

And that would be that. A lot of stuff was not covered but these were the major plot points. I hope you enjoyed it.

Now, why am I doing this now? I am currently in the process of planning my own original novel. I did a crappy one for Nanowrimo. It was rushed, didn't have any planning. But, I had a lot of fun. I wanted to TRY for real. But, between having a full time job and a working on My Path the Loops I need to make sacrifices. I will be closing up some other stories in time. But, It was one hell of a ride for The Long Journey.

Thank you for Sharing it with me.

Tenchi