Hey, everyone!
It's doubtful that any of you would even read this, given how long this fic has been functionally dead, but I finally had to pull the trigger.
As you may have guessed years ago, this fic is dead. It has been dead in my mind for years, but I've been too cowardly to officially state it, mostly because I sorta promised not to kill it.
But what I have sown, it is now time to reap. I loved writing this fanfic at the time, but the better canon got, the less I was interested in actually writing it. Along with that, I discovered additional fandoms like Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, and I rediscovered my love of video games, which I now pour into a podcast I host with a friend.
You see, I started writing this fic somewhere at the start of Part II of the manga - roughly at the end of the Rescue Gaara arc. I felt frustrated with the limited degree of advancement Naruto showed relative to his rather explosive growth in Part I. As the months drew on, the manga focused to a distressing extent on Sasuke and his followers, which frustrated me, as he wasn't (and still isn't) a very interesting or compelling character, to my view.
But then things started getting interesting, and the more interesting it got, the less compelled I felt to continue writing. Because writing ADSN came from a pseudo-narcissistic side of me (which all persons of ambition need to have), seeing a far more complete and interesting version of affairs in the original manga made my work on ADSN unnecessary, to an extent.
The last thing to inspire my writing of ADSN, rather than conspire against it was the Yugito mini-arc. After that my desire for writing this lessened more and more.
Kishimoto beat me handily, and I couldn't be more thankful. I was rid of a good bit of hubris, and given an incredible story to read.
However, I do owe you guys a look at what little I did have planned, as I am no longer considering the continuation of this fic.
My plan consisted of several concepts I would build upon gradually (apologies if I'm repeating stuff that's already in the fic - I haven't read it in ages):
* Expanding on my own Bijuu mythos - I had a good deal of mythology built up for the Bijuu, which was informed and inspired by existing mythologies - a rivalry between the Nibi and the Yonbi, an out-and-out enmity between the Kyuubi and the Hachibi, and a lot of political intrigue with the other five bijuu. I intended to mirror that mythology in the events happening to Naruto, hoping to create a "fight against fate" for Naruto to pursue.
* Expanding Naruto's family cell - Polyamory is apparently a thing. I don't know how successful it is in real life when it happens, but I intended to make it happen for a period within this fic, as you have seen me start with Ino. Depending on my feelings as it progressed, I would consider who stayed in this polygynous relationship and who left. It was to consist of Naruto, Sakura, Ino, fem!Haku and Yugito.
* Expanding on the side-characters' romantic lives - I made great effort to see multiple people in relationships by the time I stopped working on the fic - this is because I felt I should stipulate that this wasn't supposed to be a seinen story. It was supposed to make sense to some degree, and so it only made sense for multiple people to find themselves in relationships as time wore on.
* Making peace - Getting Haku as a living character was to be a bit of a stretch. Her body was to be dug up by Kumo-nin at roughly the time Team 7 had returned to Konoha, and they were trying to extract her Hyoton bloodline. When they couldn't do that, or clone her, a particularly insane scientist would attempt to resurrect her. Naruto would find out by some undecided happenstance and attempt a rescue. While there, Akatsuki would assault Kumo for Yugito, and Naruto would have to break cover to assist. They would force Hidan and Zetsu into a temporary retreat, which would allow for a temporary alliance to be forged between Konoha and Kumo. This would later coalesce into a unification much like happened in the manga, though, as I intended Iwa to be an instigating force, they wouldn't have been part of that alliance.
Eventually, the expansion on the Bijuu Mythos would complete, culminating with a fight between Naruto and the leader of Akatsuki. At the time, Madara was merely a name uttered once by Kyuubi, and I had decided that Akatsuki would be the main antagonistic force in ADSN, being led by the Leader, who happened to be the Hachibi's jinchuuriki (as nothing was known about the Hachibi at the time, my mind had it as a Yamata-no-Orochi type of serpent).
So that's it, Not all that exciting of an overview, but it may have been interesting to go with. Sadly, I am uninspired to do so.
I thank you all for your patronage over the years, and urge you to check out my other fics. The Bright Light of Konoha is at such an early state that I may someday go back to it, and I'm somewhat proud of my few short stories.
And, before I go, allow me to recommend a few of my favorite fanfic writers on this site right now: Kenchi618 (who writes amazing crossover and non-crossover Naruto-focused fiction - he also just writes a shit-ton of stuff all the damn time), Daneel Rush (who had written Naruto: Fuujinroku and who is writing Naruto Genkyouien), and S'Tarkan (writer of Team 8, which is an amazing emotional rollercoaster of a fanfic).
So this is goodbye for now. Follow me as an author in case I ever get back into the writing game - a fulltime job, plus college, plus gaming and my podcast, plus an attempt at some semblance of a life leave me very little time for reading and writing. And I get a lot more inspired right now from reading what other people write.
Hopefully I'll be back. Maybe even someday soon.
~D.G.