đź“Ł OFFICIAL APOLOGY FROM YOUR CHRONICALLY MIA FANFIC KAGE đź“Ł
Hey my lovely leaf shinobi, Akatsuki stans, and closet Itachi simps (I see you đź‘€),
It is I—your humble fanfic writer-slash-accidental missing-nin—crawling out from under the rubble of my textbooks to say:
I'm sorry. Truly. Deeply. With the weight of a thousand filler episodes.
I know what you're thinking: "But you ended the arc! You could've just written a quick little transition chapter, a fluffy scene, something!"
And you're right. I did end the arc. We got closure. Emotional payoff. Characters crying, hugging, possibly shirtless. The fanfic gods smiled upon us.
And then I vanished. Like Tenten's screentime.
Look, I didn't mean to disappear after the arc wrapped up. But right as I was about to sit down and write that sweet slice-of-life recovery chapter (you know the one—soft moments, ramen dates, someone accidentally falling asleep on someone else's shoulder 👀)...
The Chūnin Exams (aka my IRL exams) began.
Suddenly, I wasn't writing fluff—I was fighting for my life in the Forest of Multiple-Choice Death. There were no kunai, only calculators. No Sharingan, only sleep deprivation. And no Kakashi to give me sage life advice—only professors who won't accept a "Naruto vs. Sasuke metaphor" as a valid essay answer (even though it ABSOLUTELY SHOULD BE).
But now that the battle is nearly won, and my chakra is regenerating (via caffeine), I'm preparing to re-enter the village and continue my sacred ninja duty:
Writing fanfic that emotionally wrecks you and then heals you with cuddles and spicy tension.
So please, accept my apology. I didn't leave you hanging mid-fight. I left you in peace. A calm before the next storm. (And oh, the next arc... you're not ready. It's got betrayal, slow-burn, and one bed. I am not sorry for what's coming.)
TL;DR: Arc complete, exams nearly over, updates returning soon. Thank you for waiting like loyal ninja. Ramen's on me. 🍜
—Your Emotionally Compromised, Slightly Sleep-Deprived Fanfic Hokage
(P.S. Yes, there will be a time skip. Yes, there will be emotional whiplash. Yes, I still ship them.)