Konoha Team Designations (2017-05-23)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

I went into this a little before on this post here, but I’d like to go into more detail just so I don’t keep making stuff up and then not writing it down anywhere and then forgetting.

So here’s the basic list for the teams again:

Team One – Medic

Team Two – Vanguard (Stealth/Speed)

Team Three – Defense (Genjutsu/Barriers/Traps)

Team Four – Automatic Fail (code for ANBU/assassination)

Team Five – “Retrieval”

Team Six – General Support

Team Seven – Heavy Hitter

Team Eight – Tracking/Hunting

Team Nine – Escort/Courier

Team Ten – Infiltration/Siege

And as I said before, the Academy does actually try to create genin teams that students would be well suited to, but it depends on the assigned jounin sensei and their standards if they actually pass (except for Team Four who really just are leftovers and pretty much auto fail into the Genin Corps).

Mostly the reason why I’m doing this is because I have three different Naruto fanfiction series–Counterpoise, Externality, and (In)Difference–featuring three very different OCs who end up on very different genin teams, and since I’ve been doing the Character Statistics I’ve had to really hammer down just what each character’s strengths and weaknesses are and resolve that with the other characters as a team.

Teams Seven, Eight, and Ten, obviously, are based on canon: Team Sevens are the traditional “heavy hitters,” the ones who become legends–the Sannin, Naruto-Sasuke-Sakura, even in Boruto that carries over (I think?). Team Eights–based simply on the Aburame-Hyuuga-Inuzuka formation–are most likely meant for tracking/hunting, though no doubt they can form this team without those three clans specifically, with other sensor types. Team Ten are, of course, Ino-Shika-Cho, though for the years there aren’t a set from those clans they can still use that number for teams who might have a similar set up or potential–very people based tactical abilities.

I don’t know where exactly I got this from, but I feel like Team Gai was fanonically made to be Team Nine? Or, at least, given the other teams it kind of make sense to have them fill in the blank and since their team set up is very different from the other three they’d have a different number. And their specialization of escort/courier fits quite nicely in a weird spectrum of tracking/hunting and infiltration/siege–if that makes any sense?

My Team One designation is based off an, admittedly, insignificant throw away line from Dreaming of Sunshine’s early chapters regarding Sakura’s placement given Shikako’s presence–which lead to @kuipernebula​ and I collaboratively brainstorming the simply named Team Medic ‘verse.

Which leaves Teams Two through Six.

Given the superstition about the number four, that team would just be dooming a group of kids for death. And it kind of makes sense in a ruthless kind of way that there would be some students who just… don’t have much potential at all, so Team Four–as an Academy proposal–is just an automatic fail into the Genin Corps. (But maybe that designation is used as a code for temporary teams doing assassinations or auditioning for ANBU).

Itachi was canonically stated to be placed on Team Two with a boy who basically called himself Tenma Lord of Speed and a girl who studied medicine in the Academy but, given the awful awful sexism in this series, got shunted into retiring to become a waitress for some reason?! which is a very distinctive team set up vastly different from the other teams we’ve already seen.

But that Team Two was stated to be “formed out of the best genin at that time and they were given the symbolic position of guarding the Fire Daimyo during his annual visit to Konoha.” Which would make an argument for them being a Team Nine–or, rather, making Team Gai who specialize in mobile guarding type missions a Team Two–but it’s specifically noted to be a symbolic position and more about showing off to the Fire Daimyo their shiny new Uchiha prodigy.

So what do you do with a team of the best genin from the class that aren’t heavy hitters? They aren’t specialized enough for a medic team or a tracking team, and they don’t quite have the same vibe as an infiltration/siege team. They might be a decent escort/courier team, but that wouldn’t really take full advantage of their potential. You have a fast kid, an Uchiha, and a medic–you can’t move faster than your client for escort missions, to fully utilize the Sharingan you want to pit them against other shinobi not just bandits, and escort/courier missions aren’t high enough risk to need a medic.

Thus, vanguard: a stealthier, speedier strike force who can handle themselves in dangerous times but are more subtle than the walking tanks and explosions of Team Seven.

So Three, Five, and Six are free game.

It made sense for there to be a general support team–because while a team of all medics is the easiest way to train combat medics and would make sense for large scale troop movements (when multiple medics would be needed for an entire battalion), it’s not practical for smaller scale battles–and I made them Team Six because I figured they’d be deployed alongside one of the other higher number teams. Teams One and Two wouldn’t need a general support team because it’d be redundant for One and slow down Two, whereas Seven and higher could use support for more variety if the mission calls for multiple teams.

With that mentality in mind, I figured Team Three ought to also be a specialty such that they also wouldn’t need a general support. Or, rather, to break down what general support team even means? I headcanon that Kabuto’s team were a Team Six–a medic with high genjutsu skill, a guy who can absorb chakra, and a guy who can stretch his limbs–which shook out to, besides the medic, genjutsu and close range non-destructive abilities. Hence, defense for Team Three.

And, finally, Team Five which I literally made up because I wanted a team of Leverage-esque thieves. I mean, I’ll justify it in a second, but I figured I ought to be honest about my motivation for all this ranting; I wanted practical problem solving ninja thieves.

Obviously the Academy isn’t going to make a team of assassins to be. While they are training child soldiers, it’s not as if they can tell which preteen is going to be better at assassination than another. And while there is Team Two who would be good at the straightforward get in, get the target, get out, that doesn’t leave much room for the other assassination requests of “make it look natural” or “frame this other person for it,” etc. etc.

So the best way to train toward that mentality would be missions for “retrieving” objects. This team would need to be not quite a support team, but neither an outrightly offensive team either–kind of like a smaller scale, less destructive version of Team Ten. It’s still very people based tactics, but more subtle (Yamanaka personalities may be all about nuance, but their ability is not so much. At the very least, I don’t think the person they possessed loses their memory of the possession? So it’d be very obvious afterwards what happened).

In Counterpoise the Team Five I created is “the genjutsu specialist with a fondness for traps, the medic with a talent in taijutsu, and the fuinjutsu user with chakra reserves four times the size a ninja twice her age”

In Externality, Tetuski accidentally helps Naruto graduate one year early, leading to the both of them and another OC becoming a Team Two under Kakashi. (I actually have what is probably an unpopular/unheard of headcanon that Team Minato was not a Team Seven but rather a Team Two)

In (In)Difference, Team TenChiKoku is a Team Ten that doesn’t directly mimic the Ino-Shika-Cho dynamic but would have a similar function in wartime.

Okay, that’s a weird thing to end on, but thanks for reading this far!

OH MAN! I’m dying trying to imagine backstory in ‘Never looking to go back’. Did Kiba and Shikako have some Land of Moon Battle equivalent? AKA The One Time Kiba Ignored Captains Orders (and why he now trusts every idea, no matter how crazy)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

(〃⌒∇⌒)

I actually have a lot of ideas for this AU–some world building, some backstory, and, like, narrative arcs revolving around each character as if I have even a decent track record at multipart/chapter series and not dozens of WiPs and unfilled prompts staring sadly at me from one of the many windows on my desktop.

But Kiba and Shikako’s time in the war is pretty vague in my head, mostly because–like Mal and Zoe’s relationship–it’s meant to be kind of just something reliable and there. Not boring, but rather foundational? So they might reference their shared past occasionally, but I think unless there’s a particularly pertinent reason for it, neither of them like to talk about the past. And, you know, PTSD.

Then again, having a Land of the Moon equivalent sounds like an excellent idea and would fit very well in this AU (given, you know, Firefly is set on other planets and literal moons). And that was a very nuanced situation that would fit well in the ‘verse–minus Shikamaru, since Team 10 in this ‘verse is still part of Konoha aka the Core–and may very well be a good “flashback” to bring Sai into the narrative.

And I think, more than just blind obedience, Kiba took away from that scenario that sometimes they will have disagreements, but so long as they trust each other, then it will work out okay. 

This is kinda random, but I’ve had this in my head for a couple days now. Something really, REALLY bugs me about the Uchiha Massacre. Was Sasuke REALLY the last remaining Uchiha? Are you telling me that there was no Uchiha that was having an affair that lead to a bastard child? In a family of Trained Military Police, there was not a single person who was able to minimize at least a LITTLE damage, hid, or who played dead? Root didn’t have an Uchiha member (*stares suspiciously at Sai*)? (P1)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

jacksgreysays:

definitelynotaminion:

hiruma-musouka:

(p2) Also, was not a single Uchiha on the mission roster/on a mission, at the time? Or outside of the district for whatever reason? Kids sneaking out to play, teens going to visit a sweet-heart, shinobi out for some late-night training? REALLY? And the Uchiha was NOT A SMALL FAMILY. They were spared the losses of Kurama’s attack due to Danzo. People slip through cracks with those kinds of numbers. Sorry for the rant, but this has been bugging me lately.

(p3 an apologies for further comment) Also, was not a single medic able to do SOMETHING? We have blood replenishers, soldier pills, organ transplants, and so much more. Did not a single medic TRY to save the wounded they found? And someone HAD to have noticed the smell of GALONS OF BLOOD and/or have heard Sasuke SCREAMING, so medics would be called. The premise of the IN-VILLAGE massacre is believable with several individuals. Not with a major clan of 100-200+ members like I think they had.

Welcome to reason 27543782 for why that segment of the manga doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I wonder about these things. Canon tends to handwave things like logic which exasperates me, but on the other hand, this train wreck of weird writing decisions is partly why we linger on it so much as a hobby.

So let’s have fun going over a few of the points you brought up.

Keep reading

I mean I get that Tobi and Itachi were prodigious near Kage-level shinobi but MISS ME with the idea that nobody not one even fought back

An Uchiha attacked in her own district wouldn’t fight for her life. She’d launch a fireball into the sky or set a house on fire, wake the clan, alert the village.

In a family district like that one scream would wake several others– a scream in a real life residential neighborhood has me looking out the window for any obvious crime or injuries going on; in a compound literally only composed of my blood relatives? Fuck you, I’d be out the Goddamn door so fast you’d think I’d teleported. In the political environment after the HYUUGA AFFAIR? At a time when you think most people don’t like the Uchiha?

So miss me with not one mother clutching a child and making it to the administration building. Can you even stop someone mid shunshin? Once they get that teleport jutsu off its like bye Cuz

Someone from Kumo literally snatched Hinata off the street and Hizashi had to be traded away to prevent world war 4. Go fuck yourself the Uchiha didn’t have protocols in place for their children dying in the night. And yeah maybe Itachi the traitor knew about those but ugh. Ugh.

So unrealistic you know?

Anyway Uchiha slipped through the cracks, bastards cropped up, people were on missions, and there’s still at least a dozen active Shinobi on the roster. And the kids who made it? Join the fuck up. It’s like the explosion of Vulcan federation members after the death of the planet. We were decimated but instead of joining the conservation effort we are going to fight and rebel and win against those who would see us gone tbh

Fucking fight me

Um… I don’t mean this in a hostile fighting way, but I wonder if there’s a way to resolve Sasuke as “the last Uchiha” and the impossibility of Itachi (and Obito) literally massacring the entire clan if you go into a matter of semantics?

As previously said, there has to have been some people who slipped through the cracks, but none who would own up to it (or know to do so, if you want to consider the possibility that Danzo did steal all of the non-Sasuke children). For some reason, their prodigy has seemingly just cracked and murdered, if not everyone, then a large majority of people named Uchiha. If I’d survived that, I’d sure as hell no longer go by that name, either. So there’s no more Uchiha clan as an organized entity. There are probably other Uchiha blooded, but none who would want to lay claim to the name (and baggage) that comes with it.

Also, while the Uchiha clan didn’t have the same set up of Main Family vs Branch Family as the Hyuuga did, it’s very likely that they had an internal hierarchy of some sort. Itachi as clan heir and then, arguably, clan head after he killed his own father and the various elders, has an authority over the fate of the clan. Those who did survive probably, understandably, took his actions as officially ending the clan. Sasuke, being a child, wouldn’t have known who the majority of his clan members were (I have an extended family of several dozen, and I only know at most thirty) and even if he did legally become clan head as of becoming a genin/adult, he wouldn’t know what resources (and possible “excommunicated” members”) were available to him.

However, I do think there weren’t that many survivors. Of the approximately 200-300 members I think at most two dozen would have survived (minus, again, the children that Danzo likely could have swooped in and absconded with). Because consider that most (if not all) of the Konoha Military Police Force was Uchiha–it contributes to the isolationism and the hoarding of power Danzo goaded/framed them with–which means that when an in-village disturbance occurs, it’s the KMP that respond (not the ANBU). 

Konoha is a huge village, so if we compare it to a modern city, then it’s not terribly surprising that none of the other clans didn’t respond. Not only is it an Uchiha matter, isolated to the Uchiha sector which is physically secluded from the rest of the village, but it’s assumed that the police will take care of it? And, well, the KMP responding to the noise would help Itachi/Obito/Danzo with the massacre.

Of course there are some Uchiha in the general shinobi forces, but I wouldn’t think more than a few dozen, and if this really was something that was premeditated, then Itachi/Obito/Danzo would have waited until most of them were in the village.

(It’s also very possible that, since the Uchiha elders were actually planning a coup, they were the ones who recalled all of the Uchiha members to have a meeting of sorts–possibly under the cover of some kind of holiday maybe? The Mangekyo forms are named after Japanese deities after all–and so Itachi/Obito/Danzo would know to strike during that time)

The clan was ready for a kidnapping, or even Konoha ANBU attacking them. They weren’t prepared for their own clan heir to go berserk.

Although that now makes me wonder how exactly Itachi went about it. Obviously he exaggerated how effective he was (to hide Obito’s existence) to Sasuke during the first Tsukuyomi, but perhaps it wasn’t as gory as it seemed. Maybe Itachi, polite and quiet and known by everyone in the clan, went to each house and did it silently. As in, he knocked on the door and greeted them, made as if he had a message from the elders regarding the coup. And of course they would let the clan heir come in, would prepare tea and snacks for him, wouldn’t think twice about turning their back to one of their own.

And if Itachi really was as skilled as he’s meant to be, genjutsu-wise or assassination-wise, then he could do this quietly. Yes, all it takes is one person to raise an alarm, but if you break it down into households, then it’s three to six trusting, unprepared people against the clan prodigy who has planned everything out. The next house over won’t hear anything, won’t find it odd when Itachi shows up at their house in a few minutes, they’re expecting a secret message from the clan head/elders regarding the coup, they’d probably even set up privacy seals to further make everything quiet.

… so I guess what I’m saying is, a little of both? It’s unrealistic to think that Sasuke is literally the only survivor, but Itachi and Obito taking out hundreds of people just the two of them is fairly feasible.

Also, given in canon Sasuke went even more insane and defected from Konoha a few months after becoming a genin/official adult/legal clan head, it’s not surprising that any survivors just continued to stay quiet.

The more I think about it, the more probable it is that there are in fact surviving Uchiha (again, in blood, not in name).

Primarily in the form of people with mixed heritage who, unlike Izumi Uchiha, were not invited back into the clan or refused the invitation after the Kyuubi attack. Like, it makes sense for Izumi (who was a child) and her mother (who was the Uchiha in the marriage) to accept the reconciliation after the death of her father–they lost a part of their household and needed that support structure–but there must have been others with Uchiha heritage who had been older than Izumi or who were additional generations removed who wanted nothing to do with the clan.

(Which sort of bodes well for a repopulation program, if Konoha isn’t completely put off by the madness that was Itachi and canon Sasuke’s defection, because it’s not trying to recreate the Sharingan with just Sasuke’s descendants.)

But I definitely agree with OP that Danzo must have taken the Uchiha kids for himself. And not just because Sai looks suspiciously like Sasuke (though I wouldn’t be surprised if he had partial Uchiha heritage), but because that whole “trainees must kill their partner to graduate thing” is, yes, a copy paste from Kiri’s graduation pre-Zabuza to reduce sentimentality in child soldiers, but it makes way more tactical sense when you consider that Danzo knows about the Mangekyo. He’s trying to forcibly activate the Mangekyo in his brainwashed child soldiers.

And it’s very believable that he would have had the opportunity to get the Uchiha kids either before or after Itachi and Obito kill all the adults. There might have been an Uchiha afterschool program for kids younger than Sasuke (or even same age and older, but his propensity for private training was a pre-massacre thing)–which isn’t unbelievable if both parents were still working shinobi. Itachi might have just thrown a mass genjutsu up and then Danzo had ROOT agents go in and scoop them all up during the massacre.

Or however Danzo was able to get his hands on a dozen Sharingan eyes–if there were other child survivors, they had far less political/emotional influence and wouldn’t have been as actively looked for/protected. Danzo knew ahead of time that the massacre was going to happen, so of course he’d put his own people on the clean up crew or on the hospital rotation, and really its only Sasuke that has to be publicly acknowledged as the messenger of “Itachi’s defection” and as the “last Uchiha,” upholder of the clan name.

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY YOUR KIBAKAK FIC MADE ME. I LOVE FIREFLY. I LOVWE KIBAKAKO. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

jacksgreysonLeave a comment
image

Firefly is a lovely show and, sadly, only one season–though that does mean you can binge watch it without taking up too much time?

I love Kiba and Shikako’s dynamic also, and I’m glad that you enjoyed this ficlet, anon! 😀

—

image

Hm… I guess I could name the ship Shuumatsu. Since the ship was named Serenity after The Battle of Serenity Valley and Shuumatsu no Tani is Valley of the End.

Maybe I can find a more poetic ship-name sounding synonym for the End… but I do love the parallel you’ve made there, lionheadbookends, so I think that’s what I’ll narrow in on. Thanks! 🙂

946. ‘You and I will never / be a great love story. / That’s ok! / Let’s see what kind / of story we’ll be. / (Oooh! Oooh! I hope it’s science fiction!)’ KibaxShikako

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

You and I will never be a great love story.
That’s okay!
Let’s see what kind of story we’ll be.
(Oooh! Oooh! I hope it’s science fiction!)

—

(Never Lookin’ To Come Back)

“Again?” Shikako says, stepping out from the shadowed cover of the ship, “You don’t get hazard pay for starting a fight with a bunch of civilians.”

Kiba’s hackles don’t quite rise–never against her, not after what they’ve been through–but he does scowl something fierce, “It’s my shore leave, cap’n, I can spend it how I want.”

Akamaru, the traitor, wags his tail at the sight of her, whining a plaintive request to stop this whole disaster in the making.

“And what are you doing bringing Akamaru?” she asks, crouching down to scrub at his ears, “They don’t serve ninken on this rock, and it’s not fair to make him clean up your mess when he can’t even have fun, too.”

Akamaru barks an agreement.

“Get on back inside,” she says to him, head jerking toward the gangway, “I’ll deal with this idiot.”

He goes, claws clacking against the metal of the ramp as he heads back inside the ship.

Shikako stands up, meeting Kiba’s eyes in a familiar way that almost makes him want to bare his throat, “I’m not here to lecture you.”

“Sure feels like it.”

She rolls her eyes, “Come on,” she says, walking away, the tails of her long brown coat flapping behind her, “let’s get drunk and fight some Rooters.”

—

There’s a difference between being a part of Konoha and being a Rooter: the first is like a pair of shoes, too tight and constantly chafing, blisters forming, and yet unable to take them off.

The second is a knife to the back.

They’re not the same, and of course the latter is far worse, but it’s terribly easy to stab someone if they can’t run away, isn’t it?

—

On the bucket of bolts that is their ship, there are the following:

Two “reformed” brown coats whose ferry and delivery service may or may not include smuggling contraband.

Two mercenaries for hire who have never so much as killed a single person between them and have accidentally inspired, on more than one occasion, cult followings about their heroic deeds.

One mechanic from a far off moon who swears that no matter how talented she is, the ship is going to crash without a replacement grav unit, she means it this time.

One Organization member who rents the starboard shuttle and might be a high class escort or possibly an assassin, the jury’s still out on that one.

One Teacher of the Will of Fire who knows a suspicious amount about the inner workings of Konoha and is far more connected than a man who has given up his last name should be.

And one ninken who is way too skilled at opening locked doors, that food’s not for you, damnit Akamaru, spit it out.

On a somewhat fairly routine smuggle and ferry, their number goes up by two.

—

The four core planets of Konoha were Aburame, Akimichi, Hyuuga, and Uchiha.

During the Uprooting, the planet of Uchiha was destroyed, the blame pinned on the rebellion.

Whether they believed it or not, the tragedy galvanized the other three core planets into putting their full power behind bringing a swift end to the war…

… and Root, the jingoist half of what remains of the Senju Administration, filled the gap of the fourth power in Konoha.

—

“Go get me some passengers,” Shikako commands, waving an imperious hand out towards the town they’ve landed near. It’d be more impressive if she weren’t curled over face down on the table, awkwardly trying to eat porridge without lifting her head.

Regardless, it’s not exactly a new or surprising sight, not after the years of being her XO and the year before that of being her lieutenant. Still funny as hell, but not unexpected.

“Aye, aye, cap’n,” Kiba shoots back, not moving from his seat whatsoever. Akamaru huffs a doggy laugh, nosing upward for some rehydrated meat substance.

“I have to get some parts,” TenTen says, ignoring their captain’s disgraceful posture and petulant groaning, “I think I can make do with the current rotator belt, but the grav unit won’t survive another atmo crossing, captain.”

Shikako grunts.

“And I’m running low on duct tape,” TenTen adds, which, apparently, makes the request of vital importance: the credits are dispensed immediately.

“Lee, go with her. Now everyone leave me alone, I’m trying to eat.”

Four hours later, Naruto returns with a small herd of passengers practically throwing money at him–thankfully, after Kiba already stowed the contraband away, otherwise that’d be a disaster–and Lee and TenTen return with a different grav unit, a crate of duct tape, and a suspiciously posh looking man with suspiciously large luggage looking for a quick and discrete way off the planet who is willing to pay five times the rate. Suspiciously.

“We need the money,” Shikako mutters.

“I’m not saying we don’t,” Kiba argues, “I’m just saying that we definitely don’t need the trouble that comes with it.”

“Oh, now you’re worried about trouble?” she asks, a sardonic eyebrow raised.

“This is a different kind of trouble,” he says, nose wrinkling, “I can smell it.”

“How bad can it be?”

—

The daughter of the chancellor of the planet Hyuuga is missing.

Kidnapped, all official reports say.

It is a very bad kind of trouble.

~

A/N: Presenting the brand new ‘verse, Never Lookin’ To Come Back, a FireflyxDoS fusion featuring a Kiba/Shikako relationship that can be romantic or platonic–it’s up to the readers to decide for themselves.

So… the ratio of Kiba/Shikako to worldbuilding perhaps wasn’t the highest it could have been, but I got carried away with trying to adapt the Firefly ‘verse into a fusion with DoS. Which I think is totally an acceptable excuse?

Anyway, what should I name the spaceship?

Number + Character/Ship + (optional) AU –> my ask box

[If anyone else wants to do a softer world prompt that isn’t on the list, you can just send the page id number for the original comic instead.]

Character Statistics: (In)Difference, Team TenChiKoku

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Genin

image
image

—
Chuunin

image
image

—
Jounin

image
image

—
Legend

image
image

—
Kiyoshi Utsugi

image

Dan Katou

image

Kunugi Mokume

image

~

A/N: Didn’t get home until almost midnight so I hoped to have this out for May 20th post but, alas, my pickiness got in the way…

My partially OC team of contemporaries to the Sannin from my series (In)Difference, aka Team TenChiKoku

Kiyoshi Utsugi is my SI!OC (and probably Kakashi’s mom?) but Dan Katou and Kunugi Mokume are canon. I don’t know if they were canonically on the same genin team and whether or not that genin team also graduated at the same time as the Sannin, but… well. Kishi didn’t specify and I doubt he ever will, so they’re mine now 😛

Spoilers(?), Dan still dies during the war.

42 + Sasuke and Shikako + Time Loop!AU

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

I would love you more
if you were someone who could love me.
…
(buy your love by playing make believe)

—

The first go around, Shikako doesn’t trust him. Not completely.

That’s fine–Sasuke doesn’t trust her completely either. (Not yet)

He wants power more than he wants her trust, and so he succumbs to the temptation. Takes the serpent’s offer. Follows the destined, straying path.

He becomes more powerful than he could ever dream.

The first go around, he hasn’t yet learned that Shikako’s trust will make him even more so.

///

The second go around, he’s in shock.

He must be.

That can be the only explanation for why he lets his family die.

It’s less about revenge and more about self-destruction when he follows that same, straying destiny.

///

The third go around is when he starts trying to change things. Hope, like poison, coursing through his veins.

But for all his suffering he doesn’t know enough (not yet) and so it’s all just empty flailing.

///

Fourth through sixth he starts to suspect that he’s not the only one who knows what’s going on.

Shikako reacts differently from everyone else, reacts the way someone whose expectations have gone unfulfilled.

Which means she has expectations.

Beyond the expectations for Sasuke Uchiha, youngest son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha. Beyond the expectations for Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha’s younger brother. Beyond the expectations for Sasuke Uchiha, best fighter, most popular boy, and second ranked student of his class.

She knows something.

And as he’s learned over and over again, knowledge is what he desperately needs.

///

The seventh, Shikako disappears.

He only speaks to her once: two children on a playground, not even at the Academy yet, no possible threat to anyone.

The official report is that Cloud ninja took her, but Sasuke isn’t that foolish boy he once was.

(It was Danzo, of course it was; he’s the only one Shikako ever truly feared. And for good reason.)

He never forgives himself for that one.

///

Eighth is about atonement.

(Aren’t they all about atonement?)

He focuses on his friends, on their happiness and their safety.

He is kind and he is loved and he is killed very early on.

(But not after Shikako, this he makes certain)

The world is not a peaceful place. (Not yet)

He has to make it so.

///

After a while, it becomes less about succeeding–whatever that might mean–and more about learning.

He learns, in depth, about the Uchiha clan politics (and later decides not to revive the system)

He learns, no matter how heartbreaking, about his brother’s internal struggles (after so many lives, he knows that Itachi was just a child torn in too many directions).

He learns, to his own surprise, about the ghosts of Kakashi’s past (the traumas as much a part of him as the Sharingan in his eye socket).

He learns, pieced together from crumbs and rubble, far more about Naruto’s heritage than he himself ever does (how much grief would they all be spared if Sasuke could actually travel through time instead of just loop).

But most of all, he learns about Shikako.

///

Power is nothing without wisdom.

~

A/N: … this was going to be a very different ficlet, anon, about Sasuke and Shikako’s relationship in different loops. Except then I realized that I have the Down Every Road series and a lot of the things I was coming up with would fit better there rather than in a specific ‘verse in which Sasuke was looping.

And also it’d get kinda skeezy after a while.

Erm. But it does kinda make this anticlimactic, I suppose…

:/

It was a lovely prompt, anon, I’m just sorry I couldn’t do it justice.

Number + Character/Ship + (optional) AU –> my ask box

[If anyone else wants to do a softer world prompt that isn’t on the list, you can just send the page id number for the original comic instead.]

I just wanted to say I love all your AU snippets. I can’t really think of one that I, personally would really want to see. But I love reading the ones you’ve written. Thank you for all the effort you’ve put into this!

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Thanks, anon! AUs are so fun to play around with on the writer’s side, but I always worry that they’re not very fun on the reader’s end, so I’m relieved that you enjoy them 😀