Those Tools Called Shinobi

By RioTheDragonMan

Foreword

Hello gentle-readers. First things first, before my fanfic is presented I wanted to introduce myself and the nature of this story as it is about to unfold before you. I am RioTheDragonMan, by internet parlance. Throughout middle and high school, I considered myself an aspiring writer, with countless unfinished stories kept in school-grade compositional notebooks filled to the brim with a rogue's gallery of characters nobody but me and my friends ever read or knew about, as I shared these stories with them regularly. I went to an art school for game design, where I fell off of prose, but continued on with poetry, I habit I had started in high school.

This story I am trying to deliver here is a fan-fiction that I have sat on the ideas for for a long time, probably since I first watched the anime for Naruto when I was much younger and impressionable but still similarly disappointed with the contents of the series as it went on. This is my attempt to retell the story and characters in the Naruto series the way I wish it was told the first time, this is also my attempt to get back in the groove of writing fiction with the help of an established groundwork of events and characters, as I intend to springboard from this to writing original novels eventually.

For the fans of Naruto who would be reading, this story will contain quite a few plot lines from the original anime and manga. That said, they will seem familiar at first, but my intention here is to inject a larger sense of realism and believability within the world, at least in terms of character and political motivations and consequences of people's actions being deeper, more nuanced, and heavy. Those who are squeamish towards the potential of a character or two being irrevocably changed should be forewarned that I will not pull a punch on a character if I deem it dramatically appropriate, and I will use established characters and organizations to fill holes where appropriate. There are things that will be changed in a big way from the story you know. If you are averse to this idea, it would probably be best to not read on, but if you elect to do so and leave criticism, I encourage every word as long as it remains calm and constructive.

For those who are willing to undertake this wild ride with me, I hope I don't let you down and keep you coming to this story for regular updates as I find the time. I will try to keep updates at the very least weekly except for holidays, but at times I might have multiple chapters updated at once depending on how my work at this goes.

I thank you in advance for your attention and patience.

- RioTheDragonMan