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Best Thing That’s Ever Been Mine. Rockstar or Royalty au

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I had to look through my entire Sabaku no Gaara tag because I foolishly didn’t tag either AUs with a specific tag, mostly because I was probably hoping I’d make a title to attach to them and just never bothered…

Anyway…

Definitely Royalty!AU. I’m getting a vaguely Princess Bride vibe? But, like… also Titanic vibe. In the sense that it’s an older Gaara telling the story of his first love to, probably, the NGSS and the plot twist is that hey, what up, there’s no sad ending. Everyone lives, everything worked out, hooray, Gaara’s first love aka Shikako is in fact their adoptive mom so it’s all good.

Like a less bullshit/skeezy version of How I Met Your Mother, basically. But because Gaara is very solemn and surprisingly poetic it’d sound like an epic in the literal sense and not just a creepy guy complaining about his failed relationships.

I guess this would be a good title for the more action-filled version of Royalty!AU where, along with the sweeping fairy tale romance tabloid drama, there is also a sub-plot of the Akatsuki being an anti-monarchy terrorist group and feeling of betrayal when Shikako is believed to be involved in an assassination attempt against Temari.

But that’d basically be cheating on my part, so let’s see…

I guess this could just straight up be a bad ending!version of the Royalty!AU? Not ~dead~ bad ending, but a “it just couldn’t work out” bad ending… but that’s dissatisfying.

Hm… I don’t know, anon…

This actually feels more like a TemarixShikamaru B-sides of Royalty!AU than the A-sides that is Shikaara. And, like, in this AU Temari can’t abdicate her role so it is a “bad ending” for them…

OH! So it’d be more like the ClarissexJoe subplot from Princess Diaries 2–in that they never allowed themselves to be together because of ~duty and propriety~ until after her heir was established.

Which means it would still be a story to the NGSS (one of whom is taking up the throne) decades after the initial meeting and falling in love, but it’s not entirely cliche “this is how it happened” because their story isn’t done yet! 😀

Like. Everyone’s eyes were on the fairy tale romance of the century that was Shikaara, unbeknownst to nearly everyone else there was this drama of firstborns resisting love because of their duties. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Smile At The Stars — Yoshino, Shikaku and their grandchildren

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A/N1: … like a Yoshino&Shikaku!POV of Our Share of the World?

I mean, I guess I could try to come up with a plotty brainstorm of Yoshino&Shikaku with their grandchildren, but this just seems like a collection of five scenes of Y&S with their grandchildren.

Sorry this took so long, but since this isn’t really a fake fic title prompt, I just tried to fill it like a regular prompt. Enjoy!

~

Shikaku is the last to find out about his first grandchild, heading home after work to find his wife and daughter surrounded by piles of storage scrolls.

“This is archaic, Mum,” Shikako says, unsealing a scroll, glancing over the contents, then resealing them again. “Toddler clothes.”

“Oh, set those aside, dear, he’ll need them soon enough,” Yoshino instructs, going through her own set of scrolls–linens, hideous, but an heirloom of the clan head’s line–and putting them away.

“How are you supposed to find anything like this? I can make you a new set of sealing scrolls–or a custom Hammerspace!”

“These work just fine still, Shikako, it’d be a waste to get rid of them–ah! I think this is it.” From Yoshino’s scroll appears a crib, sturdy and steady and capable of withstanding a D-rank jutsu, the same one that carried all three of their children.

That seems like just yesterday, surely it’s not already time to pass it down?

“What’s going on here?”

He can’t possibly be that old already.

His wife and daughter both turn to him before glancing at each other, Yoshino’s expression clearly urging Shikako to explain.

“Well… Dad… um…”

His sons enter the hallway, Kinokawa making silly faces at the baby in Shikamaru’s arms. The red-haired baby in Shikamaru’s arms who reaches out towards Shikako upon spotting her.

He passes the baby over to his sister almost reluctantly and Kinokawa follows, adoringly.

“This is Kareru Uzumaki, he’s my son.” Shikako says, steeling herself unnecessarily; both of Shikaku’s sons take after him.

///

Shikako’s pregnancy is a frustrating, frightening time for all within her vicinity–nothing inspires crankiness and bizarre seals like consecutive nights of sleeplessness. Yoshino remembers being much the same during her own time with the twins, so she is patient.

Still, there comes a point when a mother is done indulging…

… which just so happens to be the same point as when said mother finds her pregnant daughter on the roof of the house in the middle of the night armed with buckets of paint and a brush.

It takes promises of hot cocoa and secrecy to coax her down, safely bundled in a blanket on the sofa, but Yoshino feels much better now that she’s on the ground.

“I’m so tired,” Shikako says, voice cracking with desperation, and so Yoshino tops up her mug.

“You can rest here, sweetheart, you’re safe.” She remembers the paranoia of her daughter’s earlier teen years, perhaps her hormones have kicked it into overdrive.

But Shikako just shakes her head. “I can’t, I can’t,” she repeats, “She needs me, she needs my chakra, I can’t go to sleep. She needs me.”

Yoshino feels a chill go down her spine.

“How does everyone else do this? I’m so tired.”

Pregnancy is supposed to be difficult, yes, but not like that. Not so consciously, actively, impossibly involved.

No more indulging, no more patience.

It takes more than hot cocoa to get Shikako to go to the hospital, but Yoshino knows best.

///

They do not often see their grandchildren from Sand, almost never altogether–that one trip to Wind Country aside, of course–and so it’s a pleasure to have the house full again.

Shikaku enjoys having extra sets of hand to feed the deer–especially ones that still find novelty in the chore, awed at the shy creatures and their forested homes–and Yoshino enjoys having victims to run through her morning stretches.

It’s unfortunate for them, of course, as they are not as flexible as their Konoha siblings and cousin, but they complain far less. Or perhaps are far quieter about it.

Shinki, at least, seems to take it as an opportunity to improve himself–never mind that his almost literal iron spine makes it more difficult–but Araya and Yodo spend more time trying to push each other over while Yoshino looks away.

Not that she isn’t aware of their little competition, but why not let them have their fun?

Shikaku is the one who rescues them and gives them a tour of the village, no better guide than the retired former Jounin Commander after all, before bringing them back to the Nara Clan compound where both their parents await them.

Which is still an odd thought–if anyone had told them that the Kazekage would one day be father to three of their grandchildren, well, the future is an interesting place, indeed.

~

A/N2: … so, um, it’s been a while everyone. Sorry about how long it took. Holidays then being ill and then three days of overtime which caused me to relapse… I’m not fully satisfied with this–much fonder of the original Shikadai’s POV, but hopefully it’s still nice.

Also, since December is approaching and I’ve got a few more prompts in the ask box, instead of sticking with the Ask Box Fake Fic Titles I might as well segue into the Ask Box Advent Calendar so send in those prompts! 😀

NoShadows!anon, here, and I love your brainstorm, truly. My thoughts are: If the Akimichi are the tree, who’s the light? The Yamanaka? (Light, “tree”, Shadow; Naruto, Sasuke, Shikako?) Also, the quote put me in mind of a story where Harry learned from Lockheart that “The Boy Who Lived” was an illusion he was always casting, and he had to learn to control it, or someone else would.

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Thanks! Sorry I wasn’t able to do more with it, anon. It was a lovely idea but there are just so many different takes on it that no single story would take hold

That being said, for the ANY alliance version, that breakdown does seem right. The Yamanaka are all abrout dragging the truth out of people, and while beautiful it’s dangerous to look at light directly.

For Team Seven, I’m not entirely sure which is which for tree and light between Naruto and Sasuke.

(I think I vaguely remember that HP fic, too, but I’ve read so many I have no idea which one that might be… :P)

“No Shadows (Without something to cast them)” … I swear I had a pithier title when I thought the concept up (it’s spiraling from the musing on eeveelutions, but you don’t need to keep it to that universe). The idea that … you know, shadows don’t exist unless something else does? I swear I had a, like, three-word title for it right up until I started typing it out.

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No worries, anon, I get you. Like, yes, shadows require light, but JUST light alone won’t lead to a shadow. There needs to be an object for the light to be blocked by…

Unfortunately… I’m not sure what else you’re looking for with this prompt? Obviously it’s a Nara focused story, but not necessarily in the Arm in Arm ‘verse?

… this title very much reminds me of “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” – Abraham Lincoln.

Or, rather, the DoS Switch variant of it “Family is like a tree and life is like a shadow.”

So along with your title suggestion, that would mean no family, no shadows?

Which would be a story about… how a lone Nara dies, but the pack survives kind of vibe? Or maybe extended further out–the Nara clan alone would die without the Akimichi and Yamanaka as allies? Or EVEN further out in which the Nara are in every department of Konoha’s administration contributing to the village as a whole because the strength of the village means the strength of the clan?

… I think that’s too far out.

Maybe a nice “behind the scenes” Nara members, supporting the main family as best they can (even when they cause irritation headaches that Kofuku-oba would have sworn she stopped having after Shikaku settled down).

But would anything ever be as sweet and heartening as Silver Queen’s own Sunshine Sidestory Chapter 21?

Eh, the clan is big enough, I can do other members and their tales. Tails? Heeeeeey deer herders. Or how the Nara clan changed over time?

Like, I don’t know if this is fanon or my own headcanon, but I claim that the ANY alliance was originally the Akimichi as landowners/nobles and the Nara and Yamanaka as their servants which then became allies then friends. So that journey of clan politics?

I’m floundering, anon, sorry.

Edge Of The Stars, for Shikako and Shikadai

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So in a world where Shikadai doesn’t have five cousins–specifically via his aunt Shikako, that is –he would be the closest thing to a child she ever has. Literally. Siblings are biologically the closest to each other–especially twins, even if they’re not identical–so genetically Shikadai is the closest thing a childless Shikako would have to a descendant.

Which means he might be the closest thing to an heir for her legacy if she doesn’t take on apprentices like Tsunade does. Or maybe a literal heir for all her earthly possessions if she ever does permanently die. (Which, I mean, given her track record, the probability is less than average)

Or maybe it’s something like Shikadai tries to solve the mystery of his missing aunt and thereby becomes her heir (whether he actually finds her or not)?

It’s a lovely title, anon, I’m just not sure what direction to go with this. The only thing I am sure of, though, is that this is NOT within the Stars Also Dream ‘verse, mostly because Shikako herself isn’t so involved in that ‘verse and of Yoshino’s children I’m pretty sure Kinokawa (… or Bant? Eerin? Would SAD!Yoshino still name her youngest child after the Kinokawas if her “real” family was her Jedi Master?) would be the most involved in ~the ways of the Force~.

And, see, this is where the problem of human desire for continuity/patterns arises because this just feels to me like a “Shikako has disappeared (into her Gelel stone) and Shikadai is trying to find her” very early on in the Foundation of Yesterday mythos.

Like. Where yesterday’s post would be about Shikako (and Gaara’s) story millennia in the future, Edge of the Stars would be the immediate aftermath of the jinchuuriki and Shikako going dormant for Kaguya’s possible future revival.

Eh… while I do like it as a story premise, that seems a little lazy to just ride FoY’s coattails.

Maybe it’s a different sci-fi Star series crossover/fusion?

Shikako discovers a Stargate in the depths/remains of the Gelel shrine (on a research mission from Suna) and is flung to the far-reaches of the galaxy where Goa’uld are still strong. She resigns herself to joining the efforts against them only because she figures, so long as she fights them there, they won’t trace back her path and find her home planet and all her loved ones.

Except it’s been years–decades, almost–since she’s disappeared. Most everyone thinks she’s dead. As far as Shikadai is concerned, she may as well be, he’s never actually met her. But both of his parents (and all of his uncles) are certain that she’s still alive somehow.

Does his generation of Team Ten get assigned a basic joint mission with some Sand ninja in a patrol of the Ikioi-En when a sudden lightning storm/earthquake heralds the arrival of Shikako? Or the arrival of an alien army that overwhelms the genin teams, only for a lone figure to strike it down and send it back through the portal in retreat?

… the problem is that I don’t actually know that much about the Stargate franchise.

I know much more about Star Trek, but that’s less conducive to the same “Shikako goes missing/deliberately leaves,” only because the Federation has a Thing about first contact and they wouldn’t just abscond with a person.

And even if it’s not the Federation that she encounters, the other various organizations (depending on which series you’re going with could be Romulan, Klingon, Borg, etc.) aren’t exactly subtle either? They would be BIG NEWS on a planetary scale even if Shikako’s the only one who understands what’s going on.

I think the Stargate one has a more compelling plot.

I mean, even if we don’t want to go with the Ikioi-En setting, we could do an Uzushio version instead? Eh, that’s just trappings, though. What do you think, anon?

Foundation Of Yesterday Shikako/Gaara

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I’m getting definite “future people!POV looking back at the past” vibes and whether that means canon future people looking back at Gaara and Shikako’s relationship as distorted through time and drama (as with Winter in the Fields) or a historical!AU via epistolary and archaeological narration or some kind of “summoned and reunited in the future by heroes in desperate need of help” is a little uncertain.

Well… although I’m always somewhat reluctant to reuse ideas… this would be a pretty good title for that reverse Stories of Ancient Gods, aka the one where DoS is the ancient past of FFVII (instead of the other way around) and Shikako is a strangely proactive and human Summon while the bijuu/jinchuuriki are the WEAPONs.

And given Gaara and Shukaku are the Ichibi, it makes sense for them to be the first WEAPON that AVALANCHE (+Shikako) encounter.

Sort of this idea where Shikako and the bijuu/jinchuuriki are the failsafe to stop Kaguya/Jenova and were dormant for millennia until AVALANCHE awaken them.

So while Cloud and Company’s quest is to stop Sephiroth and save Midgar, Shikako (and Gaara’s) quest is to defeat Kaguya/Jenova once and for all. They’re in a strange world surrounded by strangers, trying to find and awaken the people they do actually know.

Obviously this fic would start with a member of AVALANCHE happening upon the strange Summon Materia that is Shikako’s Gelel stone. Whether or not it’s one of the team’s family heirloom or just something they stumble upon during their travels, I’m not sure…

I had considered it being Cloud’s family heirloom–in that, Shikako’s Gelel stone was entrusted to Naruto’s descendants–but given that Naruto is already one of the WEAPONs and will make his own, independent cameo that seemed unfair… even though appearance and the village pariah and naming convention parallels so nicely. Meh, that’s what Unto The Climate is for)

And then I felt sad because even though your prompt asks for Shikako/Gaara only, to have Naruto and Shikako appear and not Sasuke gave me feels. Team Seven must be complete!

So then, what, is it Sasuke’s descendants who have Shikako’s Gelel stone? Or does the Sharingan somehow enable Sasuke to manifest millennia into the future also?

If we go with the former, I was thinking maybe Shikako’s Gelel stone is just one of the many materia that Yuffie has without knowing what, exactly, it is. After all, it’s not the normal color for Summon Materia and she probably doesn’t use all of the materia she ends up getting. Alternatively, Sasuke has become Chaos?

He (accidentally) combined the Sharingan and the Curse Seal in such a way as to achieve (unwanted) immortality that Orochimaru could have only dreamed of, but the mortal mind is not meant to experience such a long period of time. The jinchuuriki are fine because they were mostly asleep while their bijuu are themselves walking forces of nature. Shikako was dormant in her Gelel stone. But Chaos/Sasuke didn’t have that cover. So he’s a little… crazy. Poor Vincent.

Although, Vincent being the only one to survive being imbued with Chaos because he was the only genetic descendant of Sasuke is pretty good? For an arguable definition of good.

Actually, yeah, I like that Sasuke-as-Chaos idea with Vincent-as-Sasuke’s-descendant. Perhaps Yuffie is just a descendant of one of Shikako’s brother’s? So as to keep the Gelel stone within the family even if they weren’t entirely sure what it would do.

… yeah, I like that better.

So with that foundation in mind, and through the lens of Shikako/Gaara, it would be Shikako and AVALANCHE (and Gaara and Chaos/Sasuke through Vincent) traveling around the world to stop Sephiroth, find the other WEAPONs/jinchuuriki/bijuu, and defeat Kaguya/Jenova ~forever~

And meanwhile there’s a lot of AVALANCHE!POV of these ancient beings and their bizarre conversations and behaviors.

Did Shikako and Gaara have A Thing before being turned into dormant last defenses for the planet but they hadn’t quite resolved their issues so now they’re tiptoeing around each other and AVALANCHE are just like… wtf. Even Ancients and WEAPONs have romantic drama?

~I don’t knoooooooooow, anon~

Shikaku with Leafeon and Yoshino with Umbreon, tho. ‘Cause Leafeon requires a stone (costs money), but Umbreon only requires friendship and the night. And … well, what if the eeveelutions they ended up with only clicked after they met each other?

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OOOooooOOOOoooOOh!! (☆▽☆)

I like this idea very much, anon.

TWO Eeveelutions in the family watching over the Nara kids and being cuddle partners. And while neither of the twins ended up with an Eeveelution themselves, maybe Kinokawa has one (OR TWO?)

I just found your pokemon au and it’s so cool! can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier! for eeveelutions, (bc everyone’s gotta have one, y’know? lol) I was thinking of a leafeon for kako because gelel = nature? maybe the gelel stone acts sorta like the leaf stone that leafeons need to evolve and so she gets a leafeon after the gelel incident!

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😀 Thanks!

The Eeveelutions also have a place in my heart (there was once I time I was considering doing a series of embroideries for them before… well… embroidery is very time intensive and I’m still not yet done with my second project) and IRL I would probably be a crazy cat lady but with Eeveelutions if it were possible, but alas…

Seeing as how there isn’t a Rock-type Eeveelution (yet…) I agree that Leafeon would be the most suited for Shikako or maybe just the Nara clan in general? What with the colour scheme and the medical expertise and forests and such. Frankly the only person who is better suited to Leafeon would probably be Tenzo/Yamato…

But while I agree that Leafeon is the best suited Eeveelution for Shikako, I don’t think Shikako would have an Eeveelution in my particular PokemonxDoS ‘verse.  I’m fairly satisfied with my choices for her team.

Although, now that I consider it some more, you want to know what would be hella cute? Shikaku having a Leafeon. Like. This battle experienced yet still adorable leaf fox/cat thing just following the twins around while they’re children. It’s there when they first learn to walk (“little cat foot” anyone?), lazes about in the sun beside them while they nap, an ever present guardian until they’re strong and old enough to be on their own (or, at least, until they have Pokemon of their own).

Ino-Shika-Cho Dad Edition all having Eeveelutions would be the CUTEST thing, I think: Leafeon for Shikaku, Espeon for Inoichi, and I’m thinking either classic Eevee or Sylveon for Chouza. I mean, I don’t know who their jounin sensei was, but I feel like whoever they were gave each of them and Eevee after their graduation so their respective Eeveelutions have been with them for a long time.

“Fear to Tread”. the archangel Aoba one?

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ANON, I GET THIS REFERENCE! 😀

So the full quote is “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” and it’s basically what it says on the tin–rash people attempt things that wise/more experienced people avoid. But if we take it literally (in the sense that post Land of Hot Springs!Aoba is now god in the making!Shikako’s first archangel) then this would be an Aoba afterlife shenanigans fic.

Or maybe not shenanigans. Maybe something honestly frightening for Archangel!Aoba to do. And, like, what would scare an archangel who has already died?

I have two very different answers to this.

The first is “the god that killed him,” AKA Jashin who HATES Shikako for denying him entry into the world and drowning it in pain and despair and thus hates Aoba by proximity. And this version of the fic would be some actual feels of Aoba overcoming this fear for the sake of being Shikako’s celestial ambassador/advocate and making sure they don’t smite her while she’s mortal.

The second is Ibiki.

And, well, that is funny. But at the same time could lead him to coming to terms with being dead. Peeking in on the world of the living and being sad at no longer being able to return, but also knowing that he has a purpose now and there is no going back now. Although, if he does make contact with Kisuke and get him to be Shikako’s second archangel that would be a method to get messages across…

But both of those ideas are important to the brainstorm, not really separate spinoffs. Frankly, anon, the archangel Aoba brainstorm doesn’t have a title so “Fear to Tread” would be good for the entire idea as a whole…

Sorry, I don’t really know what else to do with this. I mean, I have more ideas about the archangel!Aoba ‘verse than what was the original post, but most of that I passed along to @captainlibrarynerdstuff so I don’t know what they might or might not want to use…

“This I How I Let It Go” – Shikako anything, maybe her previous life/Gelel experience

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For some reason, anon, I feel like this title should have some parentheses like… “This Is How I Let It Go (I Don’t)” or “This Is How I Let It Go (i learned it from you)” or “This Is How I Let It Go (I’m Always Angry)”…

But I guess what’s inside the parentheses depends on what direction I go with this.

This isn’t a reference is it, anon? Because if you were around for the last fake fic title event, you’ll know that I almost NEVER catch on until after I’ve posted so…

Hm… I don’t know if it’s because Gardens!verse is so fresh in my mind, but I think this would be a canon divergence in which Gelel didn’t disperse and revive the Dead Wastes but instead stayed with Shikako. Or perhaps did both?

But instead of the easy partnership that is Gardens!verse Shikako-and-Gelel, it’s a struggle of a mortal trying to contain a god that is multitudes without giving anything away to any interested parties.

It’s not all bad–Gelel is more than happy to walk her through the book and chatter about fuinjutsu and see the world beyond the Dead Wastes through her eyes–but it’s more of a constant negotiation than a simple clicking together of puzzle pieces. It’s probably most similar to a benign, cooperative relationship between jinchuuriki and bijuu.

I feel like the logical conclusion to this fic would be during the Land of Hot Springs in which Gelel would make a sacrifice play to fend off Jashin. So no exploded country, but no more internal god. It’s a very short-lived partnership and if I were the kind of writer who could pull it off, it would be poignant and heart-wrenching.

I mean, Gelel would also save Aoba–because hello, godly powers of life itself–which is a silver lining. But except for the canon Gelel/Shikako stone and her shadow state there’s nothing left of it.

… this one would probably be the “this is how i let it go (i learned it from you)” variation.

Hm… let’s see, what else would be in this verse?

Gelel stumbles into the jinchuuriki-bijuu space accidentally, dazing all of them with their godly presence. Gelel is basically that cool teenager in comparison to the moody preteens that are the bijuu.

Gelel is delighted to learn more about Shikako’s first life because–as a celestial being several millennia old–there’s not much in this world that they don’t understand/know of. But the real world? That’s absolutely novel.

Shikako glows green slightly whenever she and Gelel get angry.

Um… what else?