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Kouri...I'm sorry, but I don't agree with ANBU being level 20. >_< Hunter-nins are a division of ANBU. And...it's supposed to be more a demotion. When you get pulled out of ANBU and back to Jounin duties. o_O

Actually, ANBU isn't technically a rank at all, Proto, Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai stands almost literally for Special Assassination and Tactical Squad. So technically, it's a Unit, an elite special forces unit, so merely being taken out of it does not effect ones rank at all. It's like SWAT, only with Ninjas. You don't actually take any demotion when you leave SWAT, nor are you being promoted when your placed on the squad.

However Kouri, if you're looking for a Rank between Chuunin, and Jounin, then you could always use Tokubetsu Jounin. What Anko apparently is. It's apparently a Rank between Chuunin and Jounin, which I only learned recently. These are just a few of the people from the show who hold the rank: Ebisu, Morino Ibiki, Mitarashi Anko, Inuzuka Tsume, Shiranui Genma, Yamashiro Aoba.

While the translation is something like "Special" Jounin, that makes it sound more like a promotion in english. I'd say a more accurate translation for the title itself would be something like Junior Jounin, or Jounin 2nd class.

Yeah, I think Special Jounin sounds like a MUCH better fit. o_O Though really Tokubetsu Jounin only relates to single field specialty (to be Jounin in the canon you have to have good standing in all the Jutsu fields).

The way I saw it was Jounin=babysitting
And ANBU do the more important work. While technically it isn't a separate rank, it's still a promotion when you become involved in top-secret important work. =|

I'm pretty sure all villages have their own Hunter-nin division. How else would they catch nuke-nins? For Konoha, I think the Root division took on the task, though that's debatable, since Danzo was in pretty good standing with the Council (though not the Kage).

confused You know, I have to admit I always kind of liked Danzo. He's strikes me as one of those "Yeah, I'm a 60 year old man, but I'm also willing to kill anyone and anything to make sure that those leaves up their on that tree can have their water in peace...even if I gotta rob a few roots of sunlight." You know the whole, "You WANT me on that wall! You NEED me on that wall! You want the Truth!? YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!" I'm not saying he's a nice guy, but a lot of people tend to paint him in the light of a cowardly politician who schemes and plots for power, where I don't see that in him at all.

I...

(hate Danzo's guts)

Even if he had his own reasons... He exemplifies someone who cannot win the people's faith on his own ability. Lacking in confidence, lacking in honor... For a village like Konoha...the fact that he doesn't understand the people, and doesn't try to understand them from the start meant he won't last long as Kage. When hard times come...in situations like that, regimes under leaders like him would easily fall apart.

I think what Kishi is trying to say... The roots are useless, without the leaves. And so, Danzo failed.

Look at Tsunade. She on the other hand treats her people well, and when the whole village is blown-up, save perhaps the High Council, there wasn't any trickery needed to keep the people in peace. Under any lesser leader, a coupe would've been in full force (Danzo's an exemption since he's been plotting since Sandaime's time). They were so happy too when she woke up.

On the other hand...Danzo had to rely on Genjutsu to get the position of "world alliance leader"... If that isn't cowardly, what is? Not only that, he even lacks the aspect that traditional politicians at least possess. Charisma. The ability to convince people diplomatically.

We seen both selfish and excellent Kages - but I think Kishi showed enough. A Kage isn't exactly just the leader, he or she's the Chief. They are in charge of protecting the people (elsewise Kishi could've named villages not as villages, but cities...they're large enough to be considered cities!)... My all-time favorite of Kage-village relationship had to be when Gaara gave up his own safety to shield Suna, and how later a good chunk of the village came for him (last minute arrival yeees, but better than not at all) even while the Council insisted on no.

HATES DANZO...HATE HATE. >_>

Yeah...though, really. Suna was sooooo bad at tracking. Konoha, like, found Gaara x1000 times faster. By the time Suna came, a nuke-nin was already defeated, another mostly defeated, and Chiyo ready to heal Gaara. Geez.

I liked the Sandaime's death battle a lot, too. ; A ; And Yondaime's was really sad...

*still heartbroken over Kushina's little speech to baby Naru*

I wonder if the apartment he has right now was left to him by his parents.

Pretty good. Still trying to write Zephyr's background. Yeah...Kouri, go to sleep early. =/ It might be fatigue from previous nights building up.

I should have been more clear, I don't LIKE him, like as person. I like his character idea.

A person who, while being mislead and haunted by his insecurity, while doing terrible things and justifying it all, would also, I think, lay down his life to protect his village. I think his real fall was that he wanted that sunlight, he wanted to be Hokage, and envied Sarutobi for having Kohnoha's love, where as his was one sided. So yes, Danzo was a monstrous person who did terrible things, but you can also clearly see the human in him, and his redeeming qualities in his devotion to Kohnoha, even if it was at costs, including his morality. That's what I like in a villain.

Gaara's another Character I really like the premise of, 3nodding he, Itachi, Naruto, and Nagato are some of my favorites, though of course the series in general is good for Character development. It is for this reason that I want to STAB SASUKE IN THE EYES WITH A TOOTHBRUSH! confused Ahem, what I mean is, for all we've seen of him, his character is rather...opaque? His motivations are both very clear, and yet you still know very little about them. He's obviously got other emotions at work in that Crazy Uchiha head of his, but until we know what they are, he's a contrived plot device/angst generator.

Dum-di-di-dum. mrgreen I have such trouble writing my characters timeskip.. I am probably gonna stop at month three and say that he continued in some sort of exercise pattern. sweatdrop

What's up with the other peeps in the crib?