Character Statistics: (In)Difference, Team White Fang

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Genin

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Chuunin

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Jounin

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Sakumo Hatake

Hozue Kedouin

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Atsumi Kurama

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~

A/N: So I wrote this thing about that mission that Sakumo went on that was doomed to fail and thus start a war and I had to make teammates for him, and I already headcanon-ed that his teammates on that doomed mission were also his genin teammates (which is why he was especially reluctant to let them die for the mission). And then I got very fond of the OCs I made for Sakumo’s teammates and what kind of people they must have been (and why they distanced themselves from him after he saved their lives). And while I haven’t written for (In)Difference recently, I figured it would be a good idea to make the teammates more concrete, hence these stats.

So, introducing Hozue Kedouin of an anime-only clan of face copiers/shape shifters and Atsumi Kurama of another anime-only clan of genjutsu specialists.

I thought it would be interesting if, part of the reason why Sakumo was so famous individually–along with him just being a VERY good shinobi, that is–was if both of his teammates just specialized in essentially being invisible. His role on the team is as the obvious tank-y heavy-hitter while his teammates are more behind the scenes and sneaky. Unsure if this makes them a Team Two or a Team Five, according to my list of Konoha Team Designations, but I quite liked the set up and I think I’m going to keep it as such until otherwise disproven by canon (and even then, I may just ignore canon).

I mean, he IS a consistently “better” shinobi than both of his teammates and (if you’ll compare to the character stat posts for the Sannin and Team TenChiKoku) others in his generation as per canon (he individually had a reputation as strong as the Sannin during the Second War) but mostly because he’s very well rounded. He doesn’t fall into the trap of “specializing” in any given direction and also he’s just very good physically.

Thank you for (by proxy) introducing me to The Many Gardens of Shikabane-hime. But simultaneously as someone who’s anxiety and catastrophic thinking is turned up to 11 because of a cold and who read Dianna Wynne Jones’s Homeward Bounders and remembers how that universe hopping story ended: rUDE

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Unfortunately, I have not read Homeward Bounders so… 

Plausible deniability says: You’re welcome!

Context-clue reading suspicion says: I’m terribly sorry

It’s a good ‘verse, though, so… I’m not that sorry. 😛

I’m also not completely caught up on all the ‘verses on the forums so if you’re like me and get overwhelmed by the forums, this DoS index page is REAL helpful for finding cool AUs in the recursive fic thread without having to wade through OVER 500 pages

Shikako Nara’s Guide To Delinquency and Military Insurrection, 1/? (2018-01-28)

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(Rule One: No Dying)

Sakumo represses a grunt of pain as he drops to the ground, poorly bandaged slashes on his back throbbing to the rhythm of his own heartbeat. This sucks. This mission sucks. They might actually die this time

“Well if you think that then we’re definitely fucked,” Hozue murmurs in her own voice. Which only goes to show how well and truly fucked they are–the Kedouin clan’s identity copying techniques are flawless… within a certain duration of time.

Hozue is the clan’s pride and joy: she can maintain an identity for almost two weeks.

This mission was supposed to be five days.

“You’re both terrible,” Atsumi complains. This is not unusual. Atsumi is always complaining. She enjoys it. Especially when she hasn’t slept for nearly seventy two hours. But that’s what she gets for being one of the best–the only and true best, sorry–genjutsu user in the village, “You’re both terrible,” she repeats, “and I can’t believe I’m going to die with you.”

“You’re not going to die with us,” Sakumo says, never mind his own earlier prediction.

Hozue snorts, “Yeah, Atsumi, you’re not going to die with us,” She looks at Sakumo with the wrong eyes in the wrong face, but her voice is as clear and certain as ever, “You’re going to die with me. One of us can still complete this mission if the other two act as decoys… and only one of us has a kid back home.”

Sakumo bares his teeth–lupine habit, as if he could bite into the thought and squeeze the life out of it. Yes, he has a son at home–a son with no mother, no real pack to watch over him–but ever since their genin years he has been the protector of the team.

He cannot just abandon that. Them.

In another universe–in many other universes–he doesn’t. He will think he has found a way to win this impossible situation, to protect his teammates and return to his son. He will fail the mission, bringing all three of them home, only to find that he has started a war. His teammates will distance themselves from him, his son will be ashamed of him, and he will think there is only one way to redeem his honor.

In these universes, he will never know that their mission was always going to fail. That his team was sent on a mission designed to fail from the start because someone in the village wanted a war.

In a few universes he makes a different choice. In these few universes he still will not abandon his teammates, but he will agree that one of them could complete the impossible mission through the sacrifice of the others:

Hozue might return and take Kakashi under her wing for a brief, blessed, bizarre few months, before being sent out on yet another mission. She will not trust these people on her team, and she is right not to–Hozue dies from a sword through the back. The mission fails, the war starts.

Atsumi might return to the village terribly suspicious of all the issues that cropped up during the mission that killed her friends. For her teammate’s son’s safety, she does not get close to him but she makes sure he is cared for. She gets very close to the truth before dying of natural causes.

In even fewer universes, he makes yet a different choice to complete the mission at the cost of his convictions… only to be ambushed on the way home by shinobi in blank masks who will take advantage of his lone and weakened state. They will return to Konoha and report to their master who will send them on yet another mission to start his war.

For the most part, no versions of this story end happily. But this particular universe is not one of those versions.

“Huh,” says a completely unfamiliar voice from beyond Atsumi’s genjutsu. All three of them turn to look, startled.

It is a girl, barely a teenager, in a practical shinobi outfit and shadows across her face despite the angle of the light. She is, impossibly, staring at all three of them.

“I think this is the earliest I’ve ever been,” she says, which doesn’t explain anything but isn’t exactly threatening. Sakumo lurches into an awkward crouch between the stranger and his team anyway.

The girl tilts her head to the side, considering, before nodding to herself. “I could use a few tour guides,” it’s such a ludicrous non sequitur that for a moment the three of them have no idea how to respond.

“Well come on, let’s go stop a war.”

~

A/N: Inspired by wafflelate’s The Many Gardens of Shikabane-hime in which Shikako travels through a bunch of dimensions in a (futile?) attempt to get back home and wreaks havoc and acts of anti-Danzo destruction on par with natural disasters. She has an undeniable fond spot for Kakashi in both of wafflelate’s threads, so I figure it might extend a little bit to Hatake version 1.0.

I’m pretty sure future installments will be other teams’ near misses because of my commitment issues. Though I am weirdly fond of this team for all that I made up two of them just now: Hozue Kedouin–the Kedouin Clan is an anime-only clan of face copiers/shape shifters who I’ve tweaked to be much cooler than canon, and Atsumi Kurama of the same minor genjutsu clan that Yakumo is part of, yes.

I had considered a Nohara, but then I’d have to deal with the sudden feels that crop up of the idea that in a better world Kakashi and Rin would have been raised like cousins or something if Sakumo had a Nohara teammate.

And I mostly like the idea that Sakumo is by default the most truthful of his team because he’s the only one whose clan abilities have nothing to do with deception. And, also, him being the Kiba to Hozue’s Hinata and Atsumi’s Shino, kind of. I DUNNO?!

Ascendant (2018-01-24)

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Tobirama-sensei chooses Hiruzen and something you didn’t even know existed within you shatters.

Everything after that is just collateral damage.

—

The first is an accident.

Or, at least, that’s what the report will say.

A training accident, two wartime soldiers unable to readjust to peacetime sparring.

A misunderstanding, you say, still covered in your teammate’s blood. You thought it was a genjutsu, luring you into a false sense of security.

It’s not completely improbable, is the thing. Kagami is–was–the most mischievous of the now disassembled Team Tobirama, with a flare for genjutsu and tricks. A smile and bright captivating eyes that had nothing to do with the Sharingan.

An Uchiha that even the most stalwart Senju trusted.

The first is an accident.

Decades down the line, you’re not certain if that’s true anymore.

—

Second and third are easy, the wrong words whispered at the right time.

You are not the only one who got skipped over.

Why Hiruzen? How is he more worthy than us? Were we not all students of the Hokage?

Politics, you’ll hiss at them, a blade sliding between ribs right into their hearts.

An enticing weapon, but ultimately a trap.

Shisui’s eye is a redundancy.

—

Fourth bows out before you can do anything.

Torifu was there during the first, he remembers it as well as you do.

Better maybe.

He steps aside and for that you turn your attention away from him, from his clan, and their vassals.

In your last moments, you will wonder if that was your fatal mistake.

—

For a while, you think that is enough. Prove your worth and sweep away those in front of you, it is only a matter of time before Hiruzen’s weakness provides an opportunity.

But time does not stand still. Soon fifth through seventh arise.

Children, compared to you. Literally. Hiruzen’s students. What do they know of war? Of sacrifice? They do not have the experience.

But youth and talent–and pedigree in young Tsunade’s case–is not something so easily dismissed.

For now you can do nothing–nothing overt, at least–but they are primed to tear themselves apart.

It doesn’t take much to help that along.

—

Eighth, you almost regret.

He is the youngest, certainly, but you were once a child in war–surely if your sensei’s grand nephew were actually worthy, he would have survived.

Perhaps it’s the loss of the Mokuton that you regret.

—

The ninth was never truly a threat, a dreaming boy with no real claim.

But Konoha was built on dreams and you will not let some upstart stand in your way.

—

The White Fang of Konoha, a silly moniker that somehow strikes fear into enemy hearts.

As formidable on his own as Hiruzen’s brats are altogether.

No, this won’t do at all.

It is not enough for him to die, you need to destroy him utterly–his career, his reputation, his spirit.

You are ruthless with the tenth.

—

Every so often, you push them along–fifth and sixth and seventh succumbing to their own flaws–weaknesses that would have been exploited by enemies of Konoha.

Cowardice, fear, so quick to run away from what should be her only priority.

Obsessive and vain, so easy to distract and lead astray.

Foolish and sentimental, desperate for approval.

You are protecting your village by exposing them–what else reason could there be?

—

(You overreached with The Salamander, the man who titled Hiruzen’s students. You thought it would be a simple trade of services, a mutual extermination of brats.

But foreign shinobi are hardly worth the effort; the deal is dropped.

Konoha first.)

—

(Uzushio is a separate matter, but their lives are long and their memories longer.

Mito-sama was always biased against you.

Konoha will never be able to achieve its true potential with them forever poised above.)

—

Time marches on.

You uproot those you can, prune those you can’t, but they sprout like weeds beneath your feet.

That absolute infant that Hiruzen chooses may have made a name for himself during the war, but he is nothing more than dandelion fluff easily blown away in the breeze.

Konoha is better off without him.

—

You remember the first.

Uchiha that even the most stalwart Senju could trust.

There might as well be no more Senju, but the sentiment applies. Shisui follows in Kagami’s footsteps and the clan head’s brat has far too much potential.

You remember the first.

You remember that Konoha was built by two clans.

One is near to extinct. Surely the village can also survive without the other.

—

Hiruzen is old, weighed down by years and loss and having to put on the hat for a second time.

Or so he says.

You wouldn’t know, you’ve never worn it.

He is so completely unaware of all that you do for Konoha, so blind and soft. He walks amongst the villagers, a kindly, foolish grandfather instead of the unyielding pillar of strength that he should be.

He is a disgrace.

(He was your friend, once.

Now he is forever imprisoned within the belly of the Shinigami.)

—

(Kagami was your friend, once, too.)

—

Everything is just collateral damage.

~

A/N: … EURAGHRURH!! I’m disgusted with myself. But, okay, like. This is not meant to be apologetic or sympathizing for Danzo–I literally just wanted to experiment and see if I could get into his headspace and it… I dunno. Did it work? YEURGH, gross gross gross.

Brought about because of the massive hate-on for Danzo that’s going on in the discord, and the ongoing theory that he sabotaged every prospective Hokage candidate in the past fifty years. If it’s not clear who is who: 1 – Kagami Uchiha, 2 – Homura Mitokado, 3 – Koharu Utatane, and 4 – Torifu Akimichi were the other members of Team Tobirama. 5 – Tsunade, 6 – Orochimaru, 7 – Jiraiya. 8 – Nawaki (aka Tsunade’s younger brother). 9 – Dan Katou (aka Tsunade’s boyfriend). 10 – Sakumo Hatake. And then Minato who did succeed at getting the hat because his career trajectory was frankly ludicrous and too quick for Danzo to squash. And then Shisui and Itachi because those dang Uchiha.

I am not too keen on the ending (as per usual for me) given that I didn’t think I should end at the Chuunin Exams but I didn’t want to get into the whole Tsunade is Godaime and the whole constant undermining of her authority, even though I did kind of want to get to the point where Danzo dies? Should I have just stopped at the whole Uchiha it comes full circle thing? … maybe…

Arguably, if you ignore the line in the Torifu section, then this could be Naruto-canon compliant? But obviously I wrote it with DoS in mind. And I am hoping that Shikako is at least tangentially involved in Danzo’s downfall which is another reason why I didn’t go past the Chuunin Exams because… I have no idea what that downfall is going to look like. Fantastic, I assume.

Externality 7b/? (2018-01-21)

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She is none too gently herded into the classroom after the healing session, left to wait along with the rest of her classmates who have finished before her or who had minimal injuries.

In the light of day and the civilizing influence of four walls and a ceiling, the last few hours of the exam seems less like a thrilling midnight battle and more like a bunch of children causing a ruckus. A skirmish at best rather than the high stakes fight it had seemed at the time.

She can feel a different, embarrassed kind of fever flush across her face.

Tetsuki refuses to meet anyone’s gaze and goes to sit over in the corner that most everyone else seems to be avoiding. That it’s nowhere near her usual seat means nothing.

Naruto Uzumaki grins at her.

She gives a quick, sheepish smile in return.

But it’s a tense couple of minutes as more and more classmates are brought in–everyone silent and heavy and waiting for the other shoe to fall–before finally Yanagi-sensei and Hinoura-sensei enter with displeased and unimpressed expressions.

Well, Yanagi-sensei at least, especially as he begins lecturing them all. Hinoura-sensei instead looks somewhat amused.

Tetsuki glowers at him–if the situation was anyone’s fault, it was his!

She holds onto that righteous anger throughout Yanagi-sensei’s lecture, through the assessment of her classmates, lining up one by one and presenting their tokens or lack thereof…

… until he gets to the first student who ought to have had an armband and has nothing instead.

“Report,” Yanagi-sensei says, but instead of standing up at attention and dutifully relaying everything that happened in the past three days, that classmate faces the ground and mutters something unintelligible.

Even in the tense atmosphere, some of the other students laugh.

“Are you not a future shinobi of Konoha?” Yanagi-sensei asks. He is fond of rhetorical questions, giving a student just enough rope to hang themselves with.

There is more laughter, but with a distinctly nervous tinge.

“I said, report.”

“Rock Lee took it from me,” their classmate says finally, grit out through clenched teeth.

Yeah, Tetsuki thinks to herself, she wouldn’t want to admit getting beat up by the class dead last either.

Externality 7a/? (2018-01-19)

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Tetsuki sits sullenly, drained and yet somehow simultaneously full of fury, while a member of Konoha’s Medic Corps attends to the absolute mess she’s made of herself.

In the spirit of synergy that the village loves to espouse, the different departments are intrinsically attuned and linked to each other. In this case, the Medic Corps practical healing lessons are scheduled for just after the Academy’s trimester exams.

The medic in front of her–still a boy himself, only a few years older than her at most–clicks his tongue in disapproval, “You couldn’t figure out a smarter way?”

Tetsuki would bristle at that, but the wash of cool healing chakra on her injuries is far too soothing. She says nothing instead.

“Well, at least you’re not the worst off we’ve had today,” he continues, and she wonders if this is part of Medic Corps training, bedside manner in way of gossip. When she makes a noise of curiosity, he elaborates–no, she wasn’t the worst off they’ve had today. She got away relatively easy in the mayhem of that last battle, a broken nose and a couple of bone bruises being the worst of her injuries.

They had to bring in a Hyuuga medic to undo the Jyuuken blocks on some of the students–but that was to be expected with Neji Hyuuga in their class. What was unusual was that they also had to bring in someone from the Genjutsu Squad.

“For what?” she asks, voice a little nasally sounding despite the healing.

“Rock Lee,” says the medic with a sigh in his tone, a shrug on his shoulders, “He’s as terrible at genjutsu as ever, can’t break them on his own,” he continues familiar and exasperated.

Her first reaction is a wordless wave of guilt.

The second is a realization: the medic is younger than she previously thought

The forehead protector and the Medic Corps uniform make him look older, closer to an adult than the year separating them should provide. He has a purpose, a place in the village beyond just being a mere student.

She wonders if she might also be the same when she graduates…

… if she graduates, that is.

~

A/N: Cameo of another OC for funsies

Externality 6e/? (2018-01-18)

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In the orphanage, family is an impossible dream. Adoption an unheard of miracle, passed down as whispers from the older children to the younger in the dark of the night. The closest thing to bedtime stories they get.

But a team is more attainable and nearly as good–better, if you believe the propaganda. Good teammates will be in your thoughts and in your heart, have your back and your trust.

Together, the ideal team functions seamlessly, different parts of a greater whole. Together, the ideal team can easily defeat an army ten times their size.

They are not an ideal team.

They are not even a team.

Frankly, in all the chaos, it’s hard to tell if they’re on the same side.

Tetsuki jerks backward to avoid a hit, only to duck and get knee to the nose while avoiding a set of shuriken from the treetops. They embed themselves perfectly into her opponent’s calf–he howls in pain and she definitely takes the opportunity kick out at his other leg, bringing him down completely–but they could have easily stuck into her shoulder instead.

TenTen’s aim is perfect, but it doesn’t account for allies getting her way.

Naruto Uzumaki learned this the hard way, kunai sticking out of his shoulder until he pulled it out and used it for himself.

The both of them are absolutely filthy by this point: dirt and blood, a fair share of it their own, staining their clothes. Neji Hyuuga doesn’t have this problem–a neat pile of paralyzed bodies clustered at his feet.

There’s so much going on–so many people and weapons and other metallic knickknacks, zippers and buttons and jewelry–that Tetsuki can’t tell if any of them have tokens on them. She doesn’t have the time to more thoroughly search them, either, not when for every opponent she takes down another two pop up.

It’s no longer just the mob they’re fighting at this point–the ruckus of large scale battle attracting the more active and eager of their classmates. Only the light of the moon and the occasional flash bang illuminates the space, with clashing kunai and the scent of blood in the air, it really is like a true shinobi battle.

At this point, it barely has anything to do with the exam, hidden grudges bubbling up easily without adult supervision. Tetsuki herself is not entirely immune to the fever of battle:

“Hey you,” she says to the sensible son of a bitch Komadori. All the warning she provides before punching him right in his surprised face. But tit for tat is not the way of shinobi, grudges are not resolved by simply balancing the equation, and so what should have been a simple surprise hit becomes a prolonged fight.

This time Tetsuki uses everything she has, doesn’t limit herself or conserve energy for running away. Genjutsu falls over him in layers, shrouding his senses, but his memory and practiced motions pull him through, chakra flaring to throw off her efforts. She responds feral, brutal, and so does he.

They are still fighting when TenTen runs out of weapons, the clearing liberally sprinkled with her efforts, and she has to drop into the fray herself. They are still fighting when Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga stumble into each other–the latter’s Byakugan deactivated for some reason–and are forced to literally fight back to back. They are still fighting when the sun rises, sky blazing orange, and the exam officially ends.

They are fighting up until Yanagi-sensei and Hinoura-sensei bodily pull them apart, well-rested adult selves easily lifting their exhausted child bodies, and it’s as if she suddenly wakes up.

Her entire body throbs furiously, painfully, adrenaline wearing off and leaving her with the consequences of her actions. She squirms in Yanagi-sensei’s hold to search for Naruto Uzumaki, to meet his eyes and apologize because–she forgot about the exam. Forgot about his objective and the token. Forgot about him.

Failed him.

Externality 6d/? (2018-01-17)

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TenTen is somewhat skeptical, approaching with both hands on her kunai–Tetsuki doesn’t take it personally, she knows kunai are more akin to comfort objects than weapons to TenTen–until she reads the crumpled up objective cards:

At Tetsuki’s, she blinks curiously. At Naruto Uzumaki’s, her jaw tightens.

Tetsuki can’t help but to smile at that.

Even if they can’t convince Neji Hyuuga to help, she certainly wouldn’t mind having an expert in ranged weaponry on their side. And it’s nice knowing that TenTen is just as pissed off as she is–their personalities may be different, but their backgrounds may as well be identical.

On the streets, no one gets what they want. But that doesn’t mean they can’t get even.

“Assurance that we’re not here for your tokens,” Tetsuki says, gesturing to the pair of dark purple armbands still on the ground. “Not that we would have been able to get them anyway,” she adds after a slight pause, jerking her shoulder, her chakra-blocked arm swinging almost grotesquely.

“If your fate is to fight half the class then I’m not going to interfere,” Neji Hyuuga states, Byakugan deactivated no doubt due to how nonthreatening she and Naruto Uzumaki are compared to him.

TenTen shoots a glare at him, but stays silent.

Tetsuki can feel her heart crawl into her throat, though she doesn’t know why. This isn’t exactly a surprising outcome.

She doesn’t know what to say.

“You’ve interfered already, asshole,” Naruto Uzumaki says, lifting up Tetsuki’s right arm–so numb she didn’t even feel him grab it. “You could just say you’re too scared to fight. You think you’re great ‘cause you get shit just handed to you in your fancy clan and the teachers kiss your ass? We don’t need help from a stuck up coward like you!”

Tetsuki stares at him in open shock. In her peripheral vision, she can see TenTen do the same.

You can’t just say stuff like that to a clan member’s face!

But maybe having a last name gives him some kind understanding because instead of walking away, figurative bridge burned between them, Neji Hyuuga’s hands dart out in quick succession.

And suddenly Tetsuki can feel the grip of Naruto Uzumaki’s hand around her wrist… before a flood of static sweeps across her nerves, chakra rushing back into her arm without the Jyuuken blocks to hold it back. She hisses in pain.

“There’s not enough time for me to explain how wrong you are,” Neji Hyuuga says, briefly reaching up for the wraps around his forehead before deciding against it.

There is a story there, an open secret of Konoha–the Hyuuga clan is hiding something, but only the upper echelons know what. Even if Neji Hyuuga were the kind of person to share his burden with others, they are barely acquaintances, much less friends.

Maybe in the future.

Naruto Uzumaki twitches, head tilting one way then the other as if in confusion or–more likely, as Tetsuki picks up the sounds herself–in concentration.

Neji Hyuuga is right, there’s not enough time:

The mob is coming.

~

A/N: Whaaaaat? It’s back?

Legends of Sunshine (Character Creation)

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jacksgreysays:

I don’t know how many of you are over on the DoS Discord, but some of us are (hopefully) going to start a game set in the DoS‘verse (but as shinobi of Takigakure) using the Legends of the Wulin system.

I’m new to this system (which is interesting but very complicated) so mostly I spent today creating my character: Hibiki Ibarata!

I’m not entirely sure if I’m doing it right (hence the bright red and question marks in some places) but I think I like the direction I’m going in…

If anyone’s familiar with the system and would be willing to give me some feedback, I’d appreciate it 😀

Okay, so, I’m actually very proud of myself for this now? The LotW rulebook is so bizarre and confusing, so the fact that I was able to figure out and make a proper character (according to the Sage) is just–WOW, look what was born from the bewilderment and frustration.