Hey everyone...

I already feel like crap about this so I won't belabor it. I'm cancelling Seals. I have my reasons but mostly, I just don't have twenty more chapters of this story in me, not when I'm struggling to finish one. For those who have enjoyed this, I appreciate you taking this ride with me and I apologize for not getting to the end.

For those interested, I recently posted a summary of what I intended to do with the rest of the story. It's rough, missing some side development but are the broad strokes of what I planned. Read at your pleasure/own risk

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Ok, so the twist, as it were, was that Itachi was a woman and supposed to be Naruto's Irene Adler/Selena Kyle to his more Holmes/Batman character. Her birth name is Itachi but she doesn't go by it, Fugaku wanted a son and was being a dick. She was the person that helped Orochimaru infiltrate the exams.

so part 1 culminates in Land of Snow. Team 7/Team Jiraiya take care of Doto easy enough but he had a secret deal with the Akatsuki. When they come to collect their airships, they quickly discover he's dead and attack the Konoha ninja. And this was going to be like a blowout. I mean, the entire Akatsuki is there except the leader and Konan. It gets so bad even Obito shows up and really roughs up Naruto. Like, beats him and Kakashi within an inch of their lives. Until someone in Naruto's mindscape alerts him to an existing Hiraishin seal. He manages to teleport Obito to the same cell as Orochimaru, thereby applying all the suppression seals the snake sanin had.

the winter war ends when Tsunade and Jiraiya arrive via genma, raido, and Iwashi but so does the leader of the Akatsuki, Yahiko. Instead of him dying, it was Nagato that sacrified himself and Yahiko believes Nagato was the child of prophecy, can be resurrected (which is why he had Itachi help Oro test Naruto since he needs his jutsu) but above all he would need a strong Uzumaki body. They aren't after jinchuuriki, they need someone that can handle the Rinnegan and Nagato's soul... hence Naruto.

Seeing his godson so close to death, already having his own biases about Naruto's conditions, Jiraiya essentially tricks Hiruzen into naming him Hokage and his first official act, Uzumaki Naruto is remanded to the village. This pisses everyone off but Jiraiya is Hokage so no one can challenge him.

Part II is Naruto having matured a little, navigating various relationships; mostly Hinata, Haku, Temari with a flirtation with Ino and the cat and mouse game with Itachi (hadn't landed on what her chosen name would be). Konoha had, in the past five years (so Naruto would be 18) had undergone an unparalleled growth in technology as he's the head of the sealing division and also still works on the hospital. Even the shinobi forces have been revamped with an increase in intelligence gathering (with a third of shinobi receiving training to be intelligence officers). most clients don't even go to the village anymore to request aid.

so the primary conflicts would be the Akatsuki seeking ways to capture Naruto but they can't invade Konoha because the barriers would implant a seal and that's instant death. You then have Itachi working her own agenda, using the crow with shisui's eye to use a paired down version of Koto. And you have the other villages trying to catch up with Konoha's military supremacy.

it culminates in the Akatsuki kidnapping Konohamaru and betraying/imprisoning Itachi. She manages to free herself and Kono but not before Naruto storms the village, slash across his forehead protector. Upon facing what remained of the Akatsuki he removes it, revealing a seal on his forehead. Not Tsunade's but one that has stored years of natural energy and he slips into sage mode, bow staff at the ready.

Flash forward a month later and Konohamaru is deeply depressed, he blames himself for his brother becoming a missining ninja. and while no one in Konoha is willing to hunt him down, everyone essentially blames Jiraiya, he still feels like he failed his big brother. He is shaken from his thoughts by a knock at his window, he having taken Naruto's apartment. It's a crow with a list of directions to a remote part of Konoha. Kono goes and sees it is a cave under a waterfall. He explores it and at the bottom of the cave finds a blood seal. He opens it and hears an artificial voice welcoming him as a rock wall opens up to reveal a highly advanced training center. Konohamaru looks around in awe as the walls are filled with weapons, including a certain tri-pronged kunai. A screen activates as the same voice asked what Konohamaru would like to train in and he sees everyone Naruto has ever fought, every detail he's ever recorded. Every jutsu in his arsenal, all stored here.

Naruto Uzumaki will never be Hokage but he insured his brother would be