Tag: anonymous

Well, we all know that Shikako is uninterested in romance but I think it’s worth considering Surprisingly!Smooth!Shikamaru? After all, Shikaku stealth romanced Yoshino pretty fiercely, according to the sidestories, and Shikamaru was the only one of the rookies to actually be shown *dating* in canon. (As far as I remember, anyway.) Uh, so prompting for contrast!twins in which Shikako is totally oblivious and Shikamaru is the master of the (lazy) date.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

jacksgreysays:

Hahahaha, I actually think Shikako comes off as a lot more charming/smooth to those who didn’t grow up with her (ie Team Ten and Sakura) but she doesn’t actually do it on purpose/know what to do with it. So Shikako accidentally-flirting-with-people-and-not-knowing/intending-to-follow-up is how I headcanon her properly in DoS, while Shikamaru is way suave in all aspects of dating in comparison.

It’s definitely a cool idea, but I’m not sure how I’d implement it. Like, does Shikako finally get asked out and she has no idea what to do so she turns to her brother for help and she’s over here planning it out like some kind of battle while he’s just like… no, Kako, that’s not how it works. Or is it Shikamaru’s POV of the trail of admirers his sister leaves behind–and possibly having to carefully screen through his own dates to make sure not to go out with someone who once had a crush on his sister because that would be weird?

But I’ll put it on the list, anon, and hopefully something will come to me. 🙂

my five year plan
is to maybe go out for ice cream
this afternoon?
(Live every day like the ice cream store is closing.)

—

He says this with the utmost respect and the deepest of loves:

When it comes to people’s opinions of her, his sister is unbelievably oblivious.

He is sitting guard by her bedside–chakra exhaustion, a gouged hand and forearm, and the usual scrapes and bruises that comes from their line of work–a lamp on behind him casting his shadow long across the room. Anyone who wants to come near her would have to enter his range.

A knock at the door, a curt if polite scuff of feet.

This must be the fifth visit his sister has gotten since he began his watch–he’s only been sitting here for a few hours.

“Come in,” he says, exhausted, the tone of someone who has fought beyond his limits, nearly lost his sister, and may very well still lose both of his teammates.

The Sand shinobi that enters is familiar and a recent field ally, but he also remembers that the first time they met Temari was on the opposite side of an invasion. And it was his sister that had decided the Sand Siblings’ fates when they were vulnerable.

His shadow roils, cautious.

Temari raises her hands in front of her, both of them open at first, before clasping them together–a practiced, almost casual motion meant to convey one is not concealing any weapons.

It doesn’t really mean anything–not with her talent in wind ninjutsu and the giant metal fan strapped to her back–but the intent behind the gesture is appreciated.

She’s still in range of his shadow anyway, and they both remember how their tournament fight ended.

“May I sit?” she asks, tilting her head towards the other visitor’s chair.

Shikamaru shrugs, which is permission enough.

The silence between them is far from comfortable, but at least it’s not charged with hostility.

“Your sister…”

Shikamaru, if he ever did relax, snaps back to attention.

“… she’s interesting,” Temari finishes, simply.

And maybe it’s the stress of the day, or just how much of an understatement that is, but Shikamaru knows it’s both compliment and question and so he just starts to laugh.

After a moment of surprise, Temari smiles at him.

~

A/N: Uh… not completely in line with either your prompt or my own a softer world self-prompt, but it’s been many moons of languishing on my giant list of prompts and I figured something is better than nothing?

And I know Shikamaru starts dating TenTen after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc–but this is more pre-Shikamaru/Temari than actual…

469 for never lookin’ to come back?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

It was a sweet day when I realized
legal and illegal had nothing to do with
right and wrong.
(Smash the state? Nah. I’ll just ignore it and hope it ignores me.)

—

(Never Lookin’ To Come Back)

If asked, each of them would say that it was the other who started it.

The smuggling, that is.

Sure, Kiba was the one who “found” that first crate of rations–marked as heading towards ROOT training facilities (and if they needed it so badly, they should have kept better track of it.) He was just being a dutiful XO when he brought it to the captain.

What happened after that was entirely her decision.

“I couldn’t just let that town starve,” she argues, magnanimous for a fleeting moment before continuing with, “… and we needed to offload it somehow.”

Kiba laughs, no matter how many times he’s heard it and the fact that he was there for it. It’s the telling of the story that makes it great, not the event itself.

///

According to the system, Lee has violated his parole.

The fact that someone as good and kind as Lee could ever even be arrested shows how flawed the system really is. The citizens of the small moon Lee calls home would say, too strict.

They would not say corrupt.

(Lee was arrested for defending a young girl from the mayor’s unwanted attentions.)

Not out loud, anyway.

The people of his hometown loved him, loved him enough to pool together their meager money and send him far away in a ship that could use another hand and didn’t look too closely at one’s legal background.

One day, Lee will go back home and free them from tyranny–until then, he sends the townspeople money and always wears the ugly orange leg warmers they send back.

///

No one outside of the Organization is actually sure what they are.

(“I’m putting my money on fancy hookers,” Kiba says, grin sharp and toothy and itching for a fight.

Not even the blankness of his face can mask the sheer irritation in Sasuke’s eyes.

“You better hope so,” TenTen responds, shifting over on the bench where Shino has kindly enough made space, “because if you’re wrong, you’re really gonna get it.”)

They’re beautiful and well trained, always on the arm of influential people and frequently at the scene of major incidents. Twice, they’ve had to make a quick get away at Sasuke’s behest, hours before news broke of some scandal and a sudden death.

Shikako learns it’s better not to ask.

Still, he does have very good connections to various port authorities, and so long as he pays his rent on time, she doesn’t mind what he might get up to.

///

According to the system, Naruto doesn’t exist.

If they knew he did, they’d kill him immediately.

None of them know it yet, but the most illegal thing on their ship isn’t the Hyuuga chancellor’s missing daughter, or the crates and crates of contraband.

No, it’s the key to the Core’s greatest and worst secret: the conspiracy to end all conspiracies.

The truth behind the destruction of Uzushio–the would have been fifth member of the core planets.

~

A/N: Just little sprinkles of backstory–I didn’t think TenTen would be an outright criminal, and Shino works more outside the law than against it so…

Thanks for the prompt, anon! 😀

1, with platonic Shikako/Sasuke/Naruto

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Our love is a forest fire
and we are the little things
that live in the trees.
(Today is the most exciting last day of our lives)

—

(Reasons To Keep Living)

The forests around the growing town of Konoha are haunted. At night, there are sounds and shapes and lights and movements that make their way out of the thick curtain of trees; it is eerie and fearsome and beautiful.

If a man goes into the forest, he is never heard from again–or so it is said.

Good thing you are no man.

///

The stranger has travelled from far away lands, dressed in strange clothes and riding a long horned deer.

She comes in search of a cure for her brother and she knows she is in the right place:

Either it will be found in the town at the forefront of progress, or it will be in the forest of magic and miracles.

///

All your life you have been told to stay away from the forest. There are dangerous things in there, beasts and monsters and horrors–a good son would not make his parents worry so, just look at your brother, what an upstanding young man.

But they are too enamored by him to notice you, and you are ever so curious about what secrets are within.

When you are told to act as the stranger’s guide, you see an opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream.

///

You’ve been to the town before–it’s your best kept secret, because if your father knew, he’d eat you, just as he’s always said.

You love the forest, of course you do, it’s your home: the cave where you and your father curl up together for warmth, the rivers where the otter clan chatter and play their tricks, up in the treetops the monkey clan howl and down below the boar clan stampede.

You love your home, but you want to see the world outside of it.

///

The kodama come out at sunset, when the Shishigami walks the forest and begins to transform; they watch and click their curious little heads, observing a phenomena that has happened daily for centuries and yet is still so breathtaking.

Sometimes, the fox boy joins them, head tilting in unison, mesmerized.

Sometimes, from the very top of the town walls, the second son can see the top of the Night Walker’s head breaching the canopy.

They both wait, though they don’t know it, for the stranger to arrive.

~

A/N: Out of order sections–they were written as I thought of them, sorry, and it seemed weird every time I tried to put them in chronological order.

I don’t know about you, anon, but I got very strong Princess Mononoke vibes from the prompt? Or was that just me? Regardless, new AU! 😀

… I might have turned Naruto and Sasuke into Disney princesses what with the whole “wanting to see the world outside my forest/town/castle.”

4, Shikako/Sai ( if you have time )

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

i don’t know what the fuck true love even is
but i do want to hang out with you
for basically the rest of my life.
(let’s hang out – TO THE DEATH)

—

(Friendship Is A (Mutual) Con)

Shikako stares at Sai, the breath for her response caught in her throat, more confused than concerned, but a healthy amount of both.

Sai stares back, guileless.

“… we can work on that,” Shikako finally says, hesitantly. She is angry and horrified–but not at him, it’s not his fault–and it takes effort to keep it out of her voice.

“I’ve read many books on this subject, so I’m quite confident I’ve mastered the theory,” Sai responds, holding up his tablet which proudly displays the title: Love and Other Mysteries.

“… that’s…” this time there is no hiding her skepticism, “Well… think of it as needing field experience. Cooperation leads to teamwork, teamwork leads to friendship, and friendship is a great step towards love.”

Sai nods as if what she’s saying actually makes sense and isn’t something she’s just making up on the spot.

And it’s not like anyone else on the team–besides Sakura, that is–is emotionally competent enough to dispute that.

///

Shikako realizes she still has her comm on ten minutes after the screaming fight with her brother has already ended.

Mostly because Sai, showing his developing social acuity, quietly clears his throat before asking, “Did he not like your gift?”

She sighs, exasperated and embarrassed with herself and, maybe, a little unapologetically petty at Sai for eavesdropping–let him deal with the audio feedback–but if he had to wade through that awful argument then she does sort of owe him an explanation.

“No, he was grateful for it. It’ll speed up his recovery by months, if not years, and it’ll definitely make his PT easier…”

“That didn’t sound like gratitude.”

Shikako’s chuckle is more bitter than amused, “He’s worried about how I got it, instead of focusing on his own health which is what really matters…”

She sighs again, exhausted. It’s been months of this, she just wants that easiness that they used to have.

“… sometimes love is hard.”

///

This is their final heist as a team–or as this team, at least: Sakura returning to her previous team, Yamato clearing his name and getting reinstated, and Kakashi finally obtaining the peace that had eluded him for so long.

“Will you be staying?” Sai asks her as he packs up his rig–there is a strange lack of urgency and so he takes his time to stow everything away neatly instead of just shoving things in his bag as someone else drags him away.

“Yes,” she answers, swiftly, simply, no consideration needed. She tilts her head over at Naruto and Sasuke, who are both saying their goodbyes and trying (and failing) to be professional about it. “They need me, still.”

There is a pause as Sai continues to pack and Shikako watches, not wanting to interfere.

“And you?” She finally asks, as the last zipper is zipped.

He shoulders his bag, two hard shell cases in either hand as well, and answers–swiftly, simply–

“I haven’t finished my lessons, yet.”

~

A/N: I don’t know why this was so difficult for me, anon… it’s not the pairing that’s the problem. I think maybe because this prompt was already asked with a blank check platonic pair and I had to NOT do the same thing here…

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Well, I see KHR’s timeline as three arcs where Tsuna gets his respective powerups. Based on the anime, there’s Tsuna before Reborn came as a starting-point, Tsuna after his battle with Xanxus, and then the Millefiore arc where Tsuna trains to battle Byakuran? I haven’t read the manga haha, but I do know that it has like, two more arcs? I think lol. It’d be pretty cool to see statistics for KHR! Or for whatever AU/fusions you have with that series. :D

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

I used to read the manga but I had to quit midway through the Ten Years Later/Millefiore arc? The serial style made it difficult for me to keep track of what the heck was going on–I probably ought to make another go at it since I can just read through the arcs all at once instead of waiting a month between very short chapters. (I have no idea what the other arcs after that are, either :P)

Those do seem like pretty good points of growth for them, anon, so that’s one less issue with adapting the Character Stat set up. I guess now I have to figure out what actual data points I’ll be using for the KHR characters since its not as if there is Nin/Tai/Genjutsu. Or, I mean, there are equivalents, but mostly it depends on what everyone’s Flame Type and chosen weaponry is. Except for Mists, no one would have genjutsu…

Thanks, anon! I’m glad to know you’re interested in this ongoing addiction project of mine 🙂

34 or 35(?) for waking up starstruck verse, tbh i’m not really experienced in understanding softer world prompts and the last one with narukako hurts so badly so i was hoping that either of those two would be fluff-ish

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

When you’re around I don’t know how to hide my feelings.
I count in binary in my head. zero one one zero one one
and you count clouds
(while you count clouds)

—

He learns a lot on his travels with Ero-sennin–cool ninjutsu and how to fight better, yeah, but lots of other things, too: like how to gamble and how to drink and how to figure out which brothels have valuable intel and which ones don’t.

Not that he went inside any of them! But the ladies who work there always appreciate it when he brings coffee and snacks, and he never minds acting as security and kicking out asshole perverts.

He learns about different people, about their ways of life and their personal stories. He learns about different cultures and their values. He learns about the things he didn’t pay attention to at the Academy and things they never mentioned at all.

He learns about himself. About being a jincuuriki, about his parents, about all the things that were denied him in Konoha–about legacies and secrets. But he also learns about himself.

As in, what he likes and what he doesn’t, his limits and his strengths and how to go beyond both, and what distances he’ll go to protect the people he loves.

When he returns, it’s not a surprise the rush of fondness he feels–Konoha, despite its sins, is still his home–and it’s not unexpected, the excitement he gets gets from seeing all his friends again.

But most of all, when he sees her, its like realizing something he already knew, like going to a place that he’s never been to before  but was made just for him.

Naruto learns a lot on his travels, but the most important is waiting for him at home.

///

I hate trying to put my desire into words
when my body knows exactly what to say.
Come home.
(You can’t start a fire without a spark.)

—

She’s not just waiting.

That’s part of it, yes, but not the whole of her, not the entirety of who she is, not even the majority. She has to get stronger, has to keep things running, has to try not to get tangled in all the different threads, stuck and futilely struggling like a fly in the web.

Things don’t stop just because these three years are a giant blank. Time keeps moving on, people growing and changing (and dying), like a river flowing even without someone there to witness it.

But it’s a definitive event. A start line. A point in time that creeps ever nearer and signifies the beginning of… something. Everything. The end of the world.

Sometimes it’s something to dread–when he comes back, that’s when it all goes to shit, that’s the make or break moment. She’ll have to find out if she did enough, if she trained enough and changed enough and made everyone strong enough to survive the oncoming storm.

Other times it’s something to anticipate, eager, when things stop being a vast unknown and her knowledge becomes relevant. An almost hunger to have it over with, the suspension looming over her heavier than her guilt. Make it now, she thinks, before I ruin everyone beyond the point of saving.

But that’s not really fair, is it? Reducing him to the harbinger of some story’s plot from a long ago life–he’s a person. Her friend. Its hard to remember that when he’s so far away, out of sight out of mind. It’s as if all she can think of is the name of a character and not the sound of his laughter or the gleam of his grin, strong arms wrapping around her.

It’s hard to remember his warmth when she feels so cold.

She lives and she fights and she survives, regrets and near misses and encroaching war and the fear that maybe she’s made mistakes so beyond herself that not even he can fix it, but somewhere in all of that she waits, too.

Shikako needs him to come home.

~

A/N: … this ship is like pulling teeth, I swear.

Anyway! I hope you enjoy this, anon, even though it’s not entirely fluffy. At least its not as painful as the last one?

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.]

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. 

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.]