1: love Dreaming of Selfishness. 2: I think the council was also trying avoid the shit show which would’ve been the debate over which position Shikadai would’ve inherited. He can’t be the Clan Head if he’s living in Suna and he can’t be Kazekage if he’s leading a clan in Konoha. If Gaara doesn’t have a kid then Shikadai has to abdicate /something/. I’d bet they were ok with Temari marrying bc they assumed that Gaara would also marry soon but he didn’t and now they have the succession problem.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

1) Thanks, byebyebriar! I’m glad you enjoyed. I was a little worried about it being too… I dunno… feelings vs politics, but then I was like. Nah, it’s literally titled Dreaming of S(elfishness), people know what they’re getting into. 😛

2) All of this totally makes sense. I just wonder how much of the reasoning changes with the existence of Shikako? Because technically she’d also be in line to become Nara Clan Head (even though she doesn’t want to) and even though Shikamaru didn’t have to abdicate in order to marry Temari (because the Nara elders learned their lesson the last time with Shikaku and Yoshino) Shikako’s children might still be in line for it. I mean if Shikako ended up having a kid that was purely Konoha stock and who didn’t have an alternate clan claim of their own then the elders might prefer that kid to be the next Clan Head over Shikadai. And the Suna council might think the same thing? Like, oh, since you also have a sister, then her children could be your heirs instead…

Then again, all of this is moot point because in the Dreaming of S(omething) series most everyone knows Shikako and Gaara have a relationship so… either couple would result in a half Nara half Sabaku child.

I just super enjoy how in the Gaara Hiden novel, straight up Kankurou passed the buck on getting married and having kids even though he’s older. That’s so in character for him? Nah, don’t feel like it, Gaara’s the Kazekage, make him do it.

My headcanon for the Kazekage line thing was that it wasn’t actually law – the hat had passed through the family because they were actually the most powerful. However precedence combined with Gaara and siblings popularity made the elders worry that the people of Wind, if not the people of Suna, would demand the bloodline continue which could put them in a bind but gave them no legal standing to make demands about Shikadai.

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jacksgreysays:

[regarding the second Author’s Notes of Dreaming of S(elfishness)]

That does sound a lot more practical than what I understood of it. Like, I thought it was a weird monarchy-esque divine right sort of thing. Which is also why Gaara was made the jinchuuriki as opposed to a random baby–it wasn’t a “this is most convenient” + “if I can’t sacrifice my own child what right do I have to ask someone else to do so” like with Minato–because with Gaara it was planned. So they could have put it in a different baby, but I suppose only their bloodline is “strong enough”

And then Temari’s choice to marry Shikamaru and live in Konoha was kinda the equivalent of abdicating? Not that eldest child is first in line or anything but that between her and Kankurou, if anything should happen to Gaara, she’d be the best suited to be Kazekage, since she is more powerful than him. And then kinda in that line, her children–even one born into the Nara clan–would probably be stronger than any of Kankurou’s children?

Or something like that.

Part of me kind likes the idea that Sunagakure is designed more like a monarchy? Because the villages having different laws of succession just seems really interesting to me–the villages probably weren’t created the same way, you know? Like while Konoha was essentially a giant alliance of Fire Nation clans so as not to continuously kill each other, I kinda figure Kiri has always been more cutthroat. Because you have to be pretty damn fearsome to get multiple islands to listen to you rather than each individual island having their own mini-village. Or, in contrast, my headcanon for Uzushio is that it was basically like a university and each island had a specialty and the Uzumaki were basically the only ones who were generalist enough to be objective leaders.

With Suna I kind of imagine that it was originally an oasis that the Sabaku siblings’ ancestors controlled with a (literal) iron fist and that’s why they reign. Obey me and my descendants and you have access to our water. And then the village formed and even though the water disappeared by that point it just became obey me because I am powerful…

Sorry for ranting, anon. ~WORLD-BUILDING IS GREAT~

image

Well it is canon that the Wind Daimyo and Suna haven’t exactly been on good terms–what if there’s a historical reason for that? Like, they’ve just never been on good terms as much as reluctantly cooperative terms. Maybe the Wind Daimyo’s Court was grown around a second oasis–one whose owners used business and trade rather than raw power to cultivate their control and eventually turn into the nobles. They’re not fully rivals–because merchants need protectors and soldiers need supplies–but they don’t particularly like each other. And as soon as the Daimyo could drop Suna and switch to a different, cheaper source of protection they did so–hence the economic struggles leading to the attack during the Konoha Chuunin Exams.

The Gaara thing was, well, Shukaku wasn’t transferred from jinchuuriki to jinchuuriki–he was sealed in some item (a giant kettle?) and then sealed into the not-yet-born Gaara through his mother’s womb (which… what). According to the Naruto wiki the Kazekage just wanted a jinchuuriki to make the village powerful and couldn’t use Temari and Kankurou because they weren’t compatible. I don’t know how he decided Gaara was, or if they just went ahead with it regardless, but :/

Konoha I feel like there’s not really an immediate equivalent that comes to mind because the hat wasn’t really limited to certain families. Like, the Yondaime was basically one step up from being a nameless orphan–as opposed to the many clans of Konoha who never had a member become Hokage. I mean, the Senju aren’t even one of the Noble clans of Konoha (Aburame, Akimichi, Hyuuga, and Uchiha) but they’ve had three Hokage while the others have had none.

But, yeah, for the others I totes agree. I also really like your Kumo idea that it’s a straight forward challenge for leadership, or, at the very least, it’s a very out in the open transition from leader to leader so theoretically other people could step up and make an attempt but probably don’t because there’s already an obvious contender in mind (apparently all of the Raikage are named A? And according to the wiki the Nidaime Raikage was the Shodaime’s guard… although the Yondaime was the Sandaime’s son so…). Iwa probably thinks the Sandaime has made a golem of himself which isn’t exactly a problem, since literally no one else is old enough to know what it’s like to not live under his rule, but it’s also very creepy.

feel free to write anything with this: “the flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long”

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Hi anon, thanks for the prompt. It is a pretty spot on quote for Shikako–and I think even SQ uses it during the Grass Chuunin Exam arc, or at least something near enough to it.

I do think that I myself have already used a similar line in Dreaming of S(hade): “To burn so brightly means to burn out faster.”

So I suppose I’ve already filled your prompt?

Although… actually, you never specified this was a prompt for a DoS fic… so maybe I haven’t?

My headcanon for the Kazekage line thing was that it wasn’t actually law – the hat had passed through the family because they were actually the most powerful. However precedence combined with Gaara and siblings popularity made the elders worry that the people of Wind, if not the people of Suna, would demand the bloodline continue which could put them in a bind but gave them no legal standing to make demands about Shikadai.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

[regarding the second Author’s Notes of Dreaming of S(elfishness)]

That does sound a lot more practical than what I understood of it. Like, I thought it was a weird monarchy-esque divine right sort of thing. Which is also why Gaara was made the jinchuuriki as opposed to a random baby–it wasn’t a “this is most convenient” + “if I can’t sacrifice my own child what right do I have to ask someone else to do so” like with Minato–because with Gaara it was planned. So they could have put it in a different baby, but I suppose only their bloodline is “strong enough”

And then Temari’s choice to marry Shikamaru and live in Konoha was kinda the equivalent of abdicating? Not that eldest child is first in line or anything but that between her and Kankurou, if anything should happen to Gaara, she’d be the best suited to be Kazekage, since she is more powerful than him. And then kinda in that line, her children–even one born into the Nara clan–would probably be stronger than any of Kankurou’s children?

Or something like that.

Part of me kind likes the idea that Sunagakure is designed more like a monarchy? Because the villages having different laws of succession just seems really interesting to me–the villages probably weren’t created the same way, you know? Like while Konoha was essentially a giant alliance of Fire Nation clans so as not to continuously kill each other, I kinda figure Kiri has always been more cutthroat. Because you have to be pretty damn fearsome to get multiple islands to listen to you rather than each individual island having their own mini-village. Or, in contrast, my headcanon for Uzushio is that it was basically like a university and each island had a specialty and the Uzumaki were basically the only ones who were generalist enough to be objective leaders.

With Suna I kind of imagine that it was originally an oasis that the Sabaku siblings’ ancestors controlled with a (literal) iron fist and that’s why they reign. Obey me and my descendants and you have access to our water. And then the village formed and even though the water disappeared by that point it just became obey me because I am powerful…

Sorry for ranting, anon. ~WORLD-BUILDING IS GREAT~

jonin!shikako finds, sometime in the future, a baby uzumaki? helps naruto raise it? naruto sasuke and kakashi all have like no idea what to do but they try? and somehow the baby, as it grows, has like 13 parental figures, all of whom are konoha’s elite?

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I… Hm… I don’t… But how…

Anon, this prompt was so bewildering that I literally had to stare at my computer screen for five minutes trying get my brain to restart. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love this idea–it is somehow both hilarious and adorable–but my brain isn’t really suited to writing crack and at first that’s all I could think of? But now that I’ve given it some time, I think I know where I want to go with this…

I mean, it’ll still be pretty cracky. But, you know, delicately painted with some melodrama, because let’s be real–I do love me some melodrama.

edit: filled in series “You and Me and Baby (Makes Fifteen)”

Shikako being reborn into an older generation and becoming Sakumo’s genin teammate? She and Sakumo remain like best friends and when he has Kakashi, she helps raise him? And, upon Sakumo’s death, Shikako becomes Kakashi’s guardian or something?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Oh, dear sweet angel of an anon. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can fill this prompt. It’s an interesting idea to be sure, but I have a bit of… conflict of interest, I guess you could say.

I already have a series for an SI!OC also in the Sannin/Sakumo generation. It’s called (In)Difference and it’s about Kiyoshi Utsugi–the kunoichi on the same team as Dan Katou (aka, Tsunade’s beau) and Kunugi Mokume (some random ninja who had a full name, is approximately the right age, and was possibly crying when Dan died). And… she’s kind of Kakashi’s mother.

I haven’t written much for it, and not even very recently either, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable in diverting my era-specific attentions away from that series. I mean, arguably, since Sakumo’s kunoichi teammate isn’t my character, she very well could have been a Shikako reborn. But that kind of takes away from my story. And I sort of also have plans for Sakumo’s genin teammates. Unfortunate plans.

So… thanks for the prompt, anon, but I don’t think I’ll be filling this one. I’d be more than happy to help you brainstorm the idea if you want to take a stab at it yourself–similar to the back and forth collaboration I have with @kuipernebula for Team Medic–but I’m afraid I can’t commit to anything more than that.

Dreaming of S(elfishness), a DoS remix drabble (2016-05-05)

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A/N1: So… I only discovered the existence of the Gaara Hiden novel after I’d already written half of this and I waffled for a while about whether or not to ignore it? But I tried to pick and choose enough from the story to make this “canon-based” and I know I have the timeline wrong but… uh. Enjoy anyway? (the second Author’s Notes were also written before I discovered the Gaara Hiden so…)

~

For most hidden villages, the line of succession for Kages is not explicitly a matter of bloodline. Kages are usually the strongest of the village, the one who can bolster the reputation of their village with their own. It is one way in Konoha–passed down between teachers and students and the students of students; another in Kiri–whoever can grab power and keep it long enough to claim the title Mizukage; with Kumo and Iwa being somewhere in between.

But the Kazekage? Has always been from the same bloodline, a family so strong and so ingrained in the very structure of Sunagakure that they don’t use a clan name.  They have no need for one. Instead, they are merely “of the desert,” a description so brazen that only the most powerful can claim it.

Except, with the recent birth of Shikadai Nara, that is no longer is the case.

While the councilors of Sunagakure were not exactly supportive of Temari’s choice in husband, no one would–or even really could–stand between a scion of the desert and what they want. For the most part, they stayed silent as she–the eldest child of the Yondaime Kazekage, the eldest sibling of the Godaime Kazekage, technical head of the bloodline–married into a Konoha clan.

But now?

If something unfortunate should happen to Gaara–a thought not so unbelievable after the absolute chaos of Akatsuki and Kaguya–and that something happened to Kankurou as well, then that would leave Shikadai Nara as the only viable candidate for Rokudaime Kazekage.

A Leaf nin. As Kazekage.

Such a thing cannot be allowed.

—

Shikako has not been the official Suna ambassador for years–it’s a role below her rank and skills and, frankly? As Konoha’s undisputed expert in fuinjutsu, her time can be better spent on other matters.

But that doesn’t mean she can’t visit occasionally. Suna and Konoha are allies, after all, and it is good that their shinobi maintain close ties.

Of course, not as close as Temari and Shikamaru, but unlike her brother she never dreamed about settling down with a family. Never wanted marriage–that single moment’s vow shackling her to a lifelong commitment.

People change, she knows that more than most. It doesn’t matter how or even how much they feel now, that doesn’t mean a relationship will stay strong. And forcing a promise won’t make it better, won’t make it longer.

But still, she goes to Suna, because she wants to enjoy it while it lasts.

—

Kankurou meets her at the gates, something he hasn’t done in years–not since her first official arrival to Suna–and he can feel his makeup cracking around a grimace.

“What’s wrong?” Sparky asks, and god what isn’t? He hates that he’s the bearer of bad news, but Gaara won’t do it and Kankurou owes her this much at least.

“Is it the council again?” she guesses, not knowing how on the nose she is. He’d laugh if it weren’t so horrible.

“It’s Gaara,” he says instead, watches her face turn pale even in the desert heat, eyes widening with panic and worry. Shit, he didn’t mean it like that, “He’s not hurt or anything like that,” he amends, hurriedly.

“Oh,” she exhales, relieved.

“He’s engaged,” Kankurou says, watching her expression turn confused.

“… in combat?” she asks, hesitantly, the truth failing to sink in.

This is the worst, “To be married,” he says. Then, just to make sure she understands he adds, “His betrothed is Hakuto of the Houki family.”

—

For the first time ever, Ebizo-jiisama offers to pay for the night’s drinks. Shikako takes him up on it. Kankurou tries to as well, but the old man smacks him upside the head and makes him pay for his own. Just as well, it’s not like he’s expecting to drink much–definitely not as much as Shikako.

It’s a miserable echo of their previous nights out, no Chiyo-baasama to lift their spirits, and Shikako still shocked and sullen from the news. The bartender doesn’t even have to summon the bouncer, or more help on top of that.

Not that Gaara would even come.

“He’s probably too busy with his fiancee,” Shikako grumbles into her sake. Kankurou and Ebizo-jiisama, lifelong bachelors, glance at each other nervously, unsure how to proceed.

The bartender snorts and rolls his eyes. Unruly shinobi? No thank you. But someone trying to drink their heartbreak away? That he can handle.

—

The problem isn’t that she’s jealous or angry. She understands, really. This thing between them has never been more important than their duties to their respective villages.

Gaara is Kazekage, he has to put Suna first, certainly above a single Leaf kunoichi’s feelings–and a Nara at that. The Nara have already lay claim to one of the Kazekage bloodline, that’s what instigated this whole arrangement.

She’s just a little disappointed he didn’t even try to fight it. She’s definitely upset that he didn’t tell her himself.

But why bother taking five minutes out of your day to break up with your scarred and dusty ex when you can spend hours talking to your beautiful and elegant fiancee?

Okay, maybe she’s a little bit jealous… And a lot angry; but not at Gaara, and not at Hakuto, either. No, she’s angry at herself).

—

And then there’s an attack. And then Hakuto is kidnapped. And then Gaara tries to rescue her himself.

But just because Shikako is upset with him, doesn’t mean she doesn’t have his back. So of course she goes, too.

That’s when things get… weird.

—

Except it turns out all of this was some stupid scheming by Councilor Tojuro, trying to enact a coup and she has an entirely deserving target for her anger. She lived through Danzo’s bullshit, she’s not going to suffer through this rank amateur.

But Kankurou, Baki, and, oddly enough, Councilor Odo of all people have the matter settled quickly enough–just as well, it wouldn’t do to have a mere Leaf kunoichi butting in on Suna matters.

Gaara and Shikako return to the village: the former sans fiancee, and the latter, bewilderingly, with two new adopted clan members.

Outside of battle they are once more uneasy with each other. Even though Hakuto has been removed from the equation, doesn’t mean the problem has been solved. The council will still want Gaara to get married and have children, and Gaara will still have to prioritize Sunagakure above her–above them.

Shikako understands, has always understood. But she doesn’t think she can handle this a second time, can’t rekindle their relationship only for it to be snuffed out as soon as another betrothal is announced.

“So,” she supposes, uncertain in the face of Gaara’s reticence, “This is it then,” she says.

He doesn’t respond except for a steady stare. She wants to scream at him to say something, anything, but that’s not who they are. The silence is damning.

She turns to go, shaking off the hesitant tendril of sand trying to loop around her wrist. He had his chance.

—

Bizarrely, it’s Ebizo-jiisama–who normally couldn’t care less about her and Gaara’s relationship–that gets her to reconsider.

“The engagement really was meant to be a recompense for turning him into a jinchuuriki,” Ebizo-jiisama says, not quite remorseful, but nowhere near as jocular as he usual.

Shikako says nothing.

“Damn short sighted of them,” he continues, “You, too,” he adds, which is pointed enough for her to bite back.

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s more than just two options,” he lectures, as if this were just another game of Igo, “Don’t need a wife for kids, don’t need a marriage to be happy.”

Shikako turns back.

—

“I won’t stay,” she says, because she won’t make promises she can’t keep.

“I will,” he says, which is more than enough.

~

A/N2: For anonymous who wanted some “actual arranged marriage” with Shikako/Gaara. I never said the arranged marriage would be between the two of them. 😀 Well, it all worked out in the end, I guess.

I tried really hard not to end with some cheesy rom-com running through the airport type of ending… Although a lot of the feelings regarding marriage came from our conversation, @book14reader

Some ranting under the cut!

Also, apparently (according to Shikadai’s Naruto wiki page) Kazekage succession is within the bloodline? Because Shikadai (who is Temari and Shikamaru’s son) is in line to be the next Kazekage which the Suna council/elders hate because he’s a Konoha shinobi. This does imply: a) Gaara is not involved with anyone/has never shown any inclination to be with anyone who can bear his children. b) same for Kankurou. c) Kankurou’s theoretical children might not even matter in the line of succession since Temari is older than him and her child would still be in front of Kankurou’s if Gaara doesn’t have a direct descendant. d) artificial insemination is not a thing that exists in this weird future that has laptops. e) even though Shikadai is possibly the only heir to the Kazekage, Suna never demanded he be raised as a Suna shinobi instead of a Konoha shinobi meaning either his role as Nara clan heir is somehow more important than the role Kazekage or the father’s clan has precedence over the mother’s? Which is just… what.

I dunno, there’s just a lot of stuff implied in the idea of Shikadai being the heir to the Kazekage thing that seemed strange to me. Because on the one hand, I love political ramifications to romantic relationships! But on the other hand… this seems like a really arbitrary ramification?

Missed Post (2016-05-04)

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So I had a very stressful/scary day and I know it’s not yet midnight and I usually try to bash something, anything, out in whatever time I have left but I’ve basically been trying to decompress since getting off work so… sorry.

Uh… I also went to JoAnn’s Fabrics and Crafts to calm down and took some pictures. I found this really cute little 3 inch diameter embroidery hoop which kinda spawned an idea for a project I wanna do:

I’m thinking individual Pokemon? With the hoop painted to look like a Pokeball…

Though, uh, that’ll have to be after I finish off a thing for my aunt.

Spectra (2016-05-03)

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On a clear moonlit night, the kind of night in which their personalities click together rather than their usual clash, they are soft and sweet to each other in a way they seldom have been or ever will be. Irina’s bed is the bigger and better option–more accustomed to the finer things in life–the sheets nearly as smooth as kisses on skin.

“You dress like a pirate,” she says, trailing her finger down a spine decorated equally in freckles and bruises. At such a light touch, Frances’ skin turns to goosebumps, the small downy hairs prickling ineffectively.

“And you dress like a queen,” the other girl laughs, tickled by the touch and the thought.

“Is that meant to be an insult?” Irina asks, lightly scraping the backs of her fingernails in a reverse path.

“No,” Frances says, turning over, unashamed of her lack of shirt; even if she were, it would be quite belated. And it’s not like Irina is wearing a shirt, either. "Was yours?“ she continues, the slightest hint of a bite to her words, prepared but not seeking the argument which could so quickly form.

Irina pauses, allows herself to ponder. She’d prefer this moment not to sour, either, "No,” she admits, perfectly honest for once, before leaning forward and pressing their lips together. God forbid any other truths spill out of her mouth.

—

The problem with Frances is that she’s infuriating. Unrefined and loud and heedless of her own safety much less proper etiquette. They shouldn’t work together as well as they do, but despite all their arguing that’s just how it is.

Irina wouldn’t trade it for anything.

—

“Frances and Yasmine are back, Boss,” Tanj says, even though Irina has previously told her not to call her such on multiple occasions.

Yet another correction is on the tip of her tongue–they’re a team, not a mob–before the words register. “Where are they?” she asks, hoping she doesn’t sound as eager and worried as she feels. The mission she sent Frances and Yasmine on was only supposed to take three days, four at most, yet a week had passed without any word from either of them.

From the look on Tanj’s face, Irina has failed to control her tone, “The infirmary,” she says. Obviously, she doesn’t add.

Her worry condenses into dread. “Excuse me,” she barely blurts out, before stepping around Tanj and hurriedly walking towards the infirmary.

She doesn’t reprimand Tanj’s “sure thing, Boss,” that drifts after her.

When she finally gets to the infirmary and lands eyes on Frances–and Yasmine who, except her hair, looks as unruffled and composed as normal–she can feel the weight in her chest grow lighter. It is only a small injury, Yasmine dutifully stitching up a cut on Frances’ upper arm, far from the worst she’s ever seen Frances receive and laugh off.

But it is a short-lived relief because Frances does not do so this time.

She sits, quietly, tense and pale, brow furrowed and staring at nothing. She doesn’t even make a remark on Irina’s presence which is something that she always pokes fun at, sniping about the team’s high and mighty leader beginning to care for her poor, lowly servants.

“What happened?” Irina asks, aiming the question at Frances, but Yasmine is the one to respond:

“We ran into some complications,” Yasmine says mildly, winding a clean bandage round and round Frances’ arm. Who remains unnervingly silent, even now.

“Three days worth of complications?” She spits out like an accusation, scrambling to regain her calm, her objectivity.

“It’s not like we decided to play hooky,” Yasmine bites back, also reproachful, nearly offended at the implication that she might be even the slightest bit unprofessional. And it’s not like Frances would do such a thing, either. For all her jokes and recklessness, she’d never do anything that would endanger the mission.

Irina doesn’t apologize, but she consciously gentles her tone when she prompts, “Complications?”

Finally, Frances speaks but it’s with such a hollow expression on her face, her words bearing such ill news, that Irina almost wishes she hadn’t said anything at all. “We ran into some members of the Flock.”

—

As far as Irina and, really, any outsider knows, the group referred to as the Flock is an elite branch of the Kelley crime family that make strategic strikes against the family’s enemies whether that be through theft, blackmail, arson, kidnapping, or murder. No one actually knows how many members the Flock has because one of them is a confirmed metahuman–shapeshifter–and can look like anyone at any time.

Not in the way Tanj can, who despite her default appearance is a completely baseline human. Tanj is just a fantastic actress with an uncanny control over her body language and voice–though the makeup skills and near endless wardrobe doesn’t hurt either–capable of seeming like a completely different person between one breath and the next. No, the Flock has a shapeshifter who can actually transform themself into a specific other person.

Irina has had nightmares about such a thing, turning around and seeing one of her team’s face melting away into a stranger’s. Thankfully, those are sparing, the kind of fleeting thoughts limited to her overactive subconscious.

But Frances? She seems to be actively afraid of the Flock. And Irina doesn’t know why.

—

All of them have their secrets, Irina perhaps more so than the others–although not actually knowing the others’ secrets makes that a guess more than anything concrete–and she’s been firm on the matter of everyone being entitled to keep them.

She created this team not looking for friends, only wanting up and coming stars in each field that wouldn’t mind taking orders from a young woman–unsurprisingly, that turned out to be other young women, but she’s hardly put out by such a thing–and yet, now? She wouldn’t hesitate to call any of them her friends.

And, maybe, Frances as something more.

She can’t ask for Frances’ secrets without being willing to offer her own, but something in her fails to let go. It’s hypocritical, but she wants to know about Frances’ past so much that she aches with it. And not even just why the other girl is so afraid of the Flock, though that would be welcome, too.

No, Irina also wants to know the story behind every scar, wants to know what her favorite childhood memory is. Why she dresses like a pirate, and what happened to her family. If she’s ever been in love before.

If she’s in love now.

—

Irina never believed in love. It was an impossible idea, steeped with too much romanticism and not enough practicality. Even if such a thing did exist, surely it was for the feeble minded and naive.

Love was a curse that happened to other people.

~

A/N: … whoooaaaaaa my god… I wrote all of this on my way home from work and I’m honestly hella surprised and pleased by this 😀

And because I have no chill, I made a WITCH Guardians doll-maker version of the Spectra team. That’s not really what I imagine them looking like, per se, but what I imagine they would look like if they were in the WITCH world… Basically, the outfits have a very limited color-scheme and I was like, well, if they were magical girls (which they’re not) then this might be what they look like.

image

From left to right:

Violette Jones, Tanj, Irina Aubrey, Frances Verde, Cathy Xanthe, Yasmine Odell

Sorta prompt – I think Shikako would have been team 7 even if Sakura had done better b/c politics, but what if, say, Shikaku was worried about Kyuubi after Naruto discovered it and requested she not be on that team? And arranged for a different, medical orientated sensei for Shikako’s new team. Because when I first skimmer over med au that is what I thought was happening

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jacksgreysays:

Team Medic AU is following the very minor and stray thought Shikako had in like… chapter six or something very early on… that if Team One (aka Sakura, Jiro, and Youbirin from the Academy) had gotten a medic-nin as a jounin sensei they might have passed and become another genin team. @kuipernebula and I went back and forth a while trying to figure how that would work, what Jiro and Youbirin would be like, how Sakura would be different from canon, etc (you can check out most of it via the Team Medic tag).

Shikako being on Team Seven instead of Sakura because of politics does make sense, because that’s how it’s set up in DoS and snubbing the Jounin Commander/Nara Clan head’s only daughter is not something a person would want to do. But I do also understand and am interested in Shikako being on a different team specifically because her father asked for it.

Because, okay, you can’t really be an overprotective father as a shinobi but there’s probably a way to mitigate the danger your children might be in somehow. Because from a father’s point of view? Having your only daughter be on the same team with three unstable orphans with more power than sense? Not a good thing. Regardless of Naruto knowing or not.

(I actually think Shikaku would be more okay with Shikako being on the same team as a Naruto who knew about the Kyuubi than one who did not. As a strategist it just seems weird that he’d be okay with one person on his daughter’s team not knowing their own capabilities as opposed to being afraid when he does know? And I like the idea that Shikaku knew Kushina and sees so much of her in Naruto that him being the jinchuuriki isn’t the problem, but rather him not knowing is the problem. It’s like giving a kid a button that will set off a bomb but not telling him it will set off a bomb, just telling him not to push it. And, come one, you know Naruto would be the kind of kid to push a button someone told him not to if the consequences weren’t explained to him.)

With Shikamaru, he trusts that Ino and Chouji has his back because he was teammates with Inoichi and Chouza and he knows both of them raised their children right. But he doesn’t have that security with Team Seven, so why not assign her to a team that would be safer?

And sure, maybe it’s not as prestigious, but he doesn’t have to worry about her being on the a team with a bunch of boys (Kakashi included) whose collective reputation amounts to death and destruction. And you know what? Maybe Youbirin is the Nohara clan heir? It’s not a snub to put her on the same team as him. And Jiro’s backstory (as kuipernebula and I have developed) wouldn’t quite match the two children of clan heads, but it’s not so much better off than Sakura’s civilian family status and from the Academy sensei’s point of view, Jiro and Youbirin have proven to work together well, even if Shikako isn’t actually one of their friends.

So yes, I can see a Team Medic AU!AU of Shikako being on Team Medic instead of Sakura–and I can see her wanting to follow the path of a combat medic–but I also definitely see why Silver Queen did not go for it because she basically would be writing three OCs trying to become friends instead of one OC trying to figure out her place in the universe. Oh, wait, no, also the jounin-sensei; so four OCs. Which at that point is so far removed from the original canon that it wouldn’t be as compelling as DoS.

I think what I like about Team Medic AU (the one with Sakura, that is) is that, given the frequency with which Shikako’s off-hand comments/observations end up coming true, this would have been the first one and also the most major one of DoS. And, more than that, it would be evidence that her existence does have an effect on the world and not just in a bad way (see: Shikako’s guilt regarding Ino being on the Sasuke Retrieval team and Shikamaru’s during the Land of Moon arc).

I honestly feel like having Team Medic exist would make Shikako feel better and put less pressure on herself. Because here is a team of genin that didn’t exist beforehand, that are all learning how to become medic which can only benefit the universe. And sure there are some negatives (Youbirin falling prey to Kabuto’s machinations at least temporarily) but ultimately here is a thing that her existence alone has changed. Not her decisions.

And I think that’s something that’s been weighing on her for the past dozen or so chapters–that the only changes she’s been making recently have been deliberate and have all ended up in someone hurt or something gone wrong. With Team Medic it would be a constantly visible proof of her presence having some good–I mean, Haku might also have the same effect but given he’s in another country entirely, Shikako doesn’t see him as often. (She’s just been really stressed lately, okay, I’m so worried about her emotional and mental health.)

I suppose if there had been an incident early on–like during the Academy, Naruto gets hurt/angry enough to even access a little bit of the Kyuubi’s chakra, to which Shikako noticeably reacts the worst to because of her hypersensitivity–then this would straight up be a medical matter. Because even though Shikako has proved the diagnosis wrong–she can become a shinobi–she’s still not able to be on the same team as Naruto. I’d liken it to having someone allergic to dogs on the same team as Kiba.

I mean this does also bring up the matter of how exactly are teams assembled and how far in advance? According to Silver Queen’s timeline in DoS team placement doesn’t happen until a week after graduation, so if anything it wouldn’t need to be too early. If Shikako had a “relapse” when Naruto uses the Kyuubi’s chakra (does he use it on the night he beats up Mizuki?) then this would definitely be something that marks her as unable to be on the same team as Naruto.

It would make sense as to why Shikaku would put her on a team with other medics to be. Also, one of her earliest skills was the Mystical Palm Jutsu and she was considering going into the Medic Corps if she didn’t graduate anyway, so it’s not like Shikaku is consigning her to a terrible fate.

I guess she’d have to actually deal with The Problem of Kabuto early on, which would make for some interesting drama…