Tag: ask box fake fic titles

Just for fun: “Reforged”. Pairings optional. Tetsuki is reborn in the LoK era, years after her execution.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

This is definitely an Iron Will!AU (or, maybe, I’ll steal the title Reforged as the actual run of Iron Will like how Trailblazers used to be named something else, because this title is SO AMAZING) and because of that I kind of want to do a lot of different reborn!AUs.

Like… in one she’s born to Fire Nation parents which is… okay? She’s okay. Definitely. Hell, she worked alongside the Fire Lord (Zuko, that is) she can handle a pair of normal civilians that just happen to be Fire Nation.

Her parents don’t understand why she shivers in their presence, constantly, even in the summer heat. Why she flinches away from too much red fabric and glances longingly, but not too often, at their kitchen knives.

It’s not entirely fear, though. A lot of it is guilt.

She’s about eight when she stops trying and failing to pretend to be normal and tries to get a meeting with retired Fire Lord Zuko.

Needless to say, the royal guards do not find this child’s requests particularly compelling.

Eventually, though, some guard takes pity on her–or gets fed up–and passes on her bizarre message: Tetsuki wants Jet’s hook-swords back.

And it eventually ends up with Tetsuki as Iroh II’s equally (if not MORE) reckless subordinate in the United Forces (she hates the uniform with a passion).

Every so often, she’ll send a letter watering down her adventures to her parents who–while they still don’t quite understand her–are very proud and love her.

Then there would be her being born to Air parents which means… Tenzin?

Hrm… that’s rather too close, isn’t it? Maybe Bumi, but considering he’s also part of the United Forces that’d be running a little close to the previous, wouldn’t it? Then again, that’s just a small similarity. Perhaps she is biologically Bumi’s daughter but raised by a single mother.

Also, I should clarify, Tetsuki isn’t a bender in any of these–even after the Harmonic Convergence.

And so the story is about Tetsuki as a lost link in the chain that is Aang and Katara’s descendants because Bumi had a ~casual encounter~ several years ago. I’m not sure if Bumi knows about her existence, but she definitely knows about his.

Unsure where I’m going with this particular version of Reforged, but that’s the only thing I can think of for Air.

Water would be… well I have two very different ideas for this. One is the more dramatic and difficult to pull off daughter-and-secret-shame-of-Tarrlok. Secret shame because she isn’t a bender, that is. Because that puts a really weird twist on the “his brother was pretending to be a nonbender but his daughter is actually a nonbender and he created/passed a lot of discriminatory laws against nonbenders”

Like all politicians, Tarrlok is a giant hypocrite.

The second is less dramatic but not entirely devoid of it, because in this Tetsuki would be Tahno’s nonbender sister. Who is largely unimpressed by his arrogance and, later, his lack of arrogance due to his lack of bending.

In either, her name would still be Tetsuki but instead of Iron Will it’d be Hand of the Moon.

And lastly Earth… again.

I guess if I went with the dramatic Tarrlok-daughter for Water I could do a similar thing as the Tahno’s sister except instead use his teammate Ming. And, well, he does have black hair and gray eyes. LIKE TETSUKI.

I’ll be honest, I stopped watching LoK before Kuvira appeared, so while I know of some of the other Earth bending characters later in the series, I don’t know them enough to feel like I’d want to put Tetsuki in their vicinity.

I suppose I could do another sort of dramatic Earth equivalent of the Water ones and have her be the daughter of a Metalbending Police officer. But instead of an evil one, maybe just a highly stressed one–like Saikhan?

“There’s Nothing in this World (I wouldn’t do)” — I’m feeling very sympathetic to Shikako’s depressed collapse on the couch after her fight with Shikamaru in front of Sasuke, right now. It’s the Depression. Although I’m not particularly picky in terms of ‘verse, I’m hoping you’d have something that fits that sort of theme? ((the title is a reference to Avicii’s “Hey Brother”))

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

I don’t know if it’s my brain enjoying making connections, me having so many different AUs, or me being lazy, but I’m getting a sort of Dreaming of S(hade) vibe from the post. But, like, specifically the situation, not the ‘verse.

So, to be clear, it’d be about a Shikako who, while in a desperate battle, tries to use the night itself as a shadow (being the opposite side of the planet as the sun) and disperses herself into the void. Like with going into the black but on such a massive scale that, for the most part, very few people expect her to be able to come back.

Shikamaru is one of those people.

Shikamaru will damn well make sure she comes back even if he has to fight a hundred gods to do this.

So instead of letting her recover slowly in Suna, as in Dreaming of S(hade), Shikamaru goes on a quest to find a cure for her. Or, well, I guess they’re not exactly incompatible? He could make sure she’s settled in Suna before going off on his quest.

Which turns the dynamic around. Because we know they’re protective of each other, and we know Shikamaru would throw down with anyone that looked at her the wrong way, but Shikamaru is very… sedentary. He’s very earthbound and dedicated to the clan, the village. Shikako isn’t the crowned heir–she learns some things, yes, but she’s not the one who had to say the oath–so she has the luxury to travel as she does and follow her own pursuits.

So what if it’s Shikamaru who has to travel? What if he’s the one who has to put his intellect to work not in logistics and leadership as he’s been trained, but in sleuthing and translating and cobbling together snippets of a long ago technique that might just be able to help his sister?

Or, consider, it doesn’t even need to be specifically a B-side to Dreaming of S(hade) it could be a canon divergence fic. Post Land of Hot Springs, Shikako in all but a coma, lost to the world. Her family’s greatest fears come to pass–she doesn’t wake up, doesn’t snap out of it. Nothing Kasuga can think of works, the Sharingan (Sasuke’s and Kakashi’s both) can’t get through her defenses, whatever buzz word Sai used to get her out of the hospital doesn’t work (or, rather, Danzo doesn’t try to kidnap her so Sai doesn’t sneak in and smuggle her out of the hospital), and so she’s just lost.

Now–during the war, with their father on the front lines and Shikamaru needed at home as acting head–nothing can be done. But afterwards? Well. When Shikaku gets back, he’d be hard pressed to keep his heir in Konoha. And, in part, would he want to? He knows tradition would say to keep his heir safe–make sure the succession is unbroken–but when has he ever adhered to tradition?

So it is sort of a coming of age story for Shikamaru as he travels to find a cure for his sister and figures out who he is outside of Nara, outside of Konoha.

Which is, frankly bizarre to read now that I’ve typed it. Because… like… who even IS Shikamaru outside of Nara and Konoha?

The reason why I did bring up Dreaming of S(hade) first, instead of doing the post Land of Hot Springs!canon divergence, was because if Shikako is dispersed into the night (as the literal shadow of the world) then there could be some scenes from Shikako’s POV? Or he sort of interacts with her at night? Something that isn’t so turtled into herself that no one can reach.

I suppose it’s not so much about depression as you’d asked for, anon…

‘The Land of Snow Job’ DoS/Leverage cross. Since the Snow arc seems twisty enough to be a Leverage plot anyway, with the movie and the princess and stealing a country. XD

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

That’s true, anon. I mean, I don’t know if just “The Land of Snow Job” as a title matches the others but as an idea, the plot of the Snow arc would translate pretty easily into the Fia(M)C ‘verse.

And while I know it’s a full movie in canon, I don’t know if I’d want it to be a “finale episode” equivalent here because it’s not as relevant? Like… this feels very much more a focus on Kakashi’s change than Snow country itself.

Probably this one would be called something like… “Best Served Cold” or something like that? And it’d focus more on how a younger Kakashi tried to con the Kazahana corporation but failed because it was undergoing a literal hostile takeover and instead he ended up having to call in favors to find a home for the Kazahana would-have-been heiress.

And, like, considering Yukie/Koyuki is an actress that could be leaned into as a stronger bond between Kakashi and her. Sure he never trained her to become a grifter–he tried to find her a normal home, but the closest thing to normal he knew was a non-criminal theater troupe? or a B-movie special effects studio?–but she never fell for his “consultant” job cover.

So when news comes out that Kazahana Corp. is going public in a weeks–meaning Dotou could potentially gain billions by selling a company he stole–she goes to the crew for help.

Dotou can’t make money off the company if the crew steal it first.

And, like, obviously the theater troupe/B-movie special effects studio are highly involved in the unmasking of Dotou’s crimes, etc. etc.

Um… probably the reason why Dotou did a hostile take over of Kazahan Corp was because he wanted to kill a specific solar tech project which would have put his oil investments in danger? And of course he buried the files and blueprints as best as he could, but no one ever knew that Sousetsu had actually built a prototype–which is what the crew eventually find…

Yeah. There’s not much to say for this one since, as you said, it’s close enough to a Leverage plot anyway.

Um… I hope you don’t mind if I go with “Best Served Cold” instead of “The Land of Snow Job,” anon, even though the whole ask box event is about me making summaries off your suggested titles instead of the other way around?

Best Served Cold

Over a decade is a long time to pretend being someone else, but it’s just about right for getting revenge.

Missed Post(s) (2017-11-11 to…?)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

So I’m out of town for the next few days and my queue of prompt fills for the ask box event ended today–I have definitely received several others, and I will resume once I’m back home, but until then… I’ll see if I have time to post but most likely not…

We’ll see?

The event is still definitely on, though… just temporarily postponed.

Fake fic title: ” Point of No Return ” ( inspired by the Starset song ), Team 7 ( including Sai and Sakura too )

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

I don’t want to do another Friendship is a (Mutual) Con ‘verse, because I’ve done a lot for this ask box event and there’s also another post in that ‘verse on the way. Not that I don’t love that ‘verse, but I’d like to explore others.

… or come up with new ones?!

So I know you mentioned Sai and Sakura so that I wouldn’t exclude them, but I thought about it and I like the idea of a ‘verse about the two of them specifically.

Like a post-bad-guys-win/comeback/time travel!AU except instead of Shikako going back in time, it’s Sai and Sakura. Or, alternatively, a dimension travel!AU more in line with this anon’s original ask…

But so as not to just recycle previous posts, let’s go in depth into this Sai and Sakura Save The World.

It’s pretty interesting because Sai has shown up early in DoS and yet he and Sakura haven’t met yet (as far as I know?) and their relationship would be inherently different from their canon relationship because while we consider Sakura as part of Team Seven still, in universe, nobody except Shikako would think that.

I mean, Project Miracle–she did help save Kakashi’s life–but she is firmly Team Anko now so…

Why would Team Seven send Sai, a ROOT trained spy, and Sakura, an elite combat medic taught by Tsunade, back in time instead of the three walking forces of nature that is the “core” Team Seven or even Kakashi (or Tenzo!) who have years more experience/information?

Maybe BECAUSE they’re a ROOT trained spy and elite combat medic taught by Tsunade.

So then we have to consider when and where such a pairing would be more effective than the other possible combinations…

The night of Naruto’s birth would be the most recent, I think (the Uchiha Massacre is already too late, they have to show up before then to be effective and stop the underlying political tensions and machinations). Sakura would be there to heal Kushina and Minato on the night of, and the both of them would be able to advise them in, primarily, getting rid of Danzo much earlier on and preparing for future catastrophes.

Reverse chronologically, the other possibilities are during the Third Shinobi World War, specifically when Team Minato are in danger, and maybe whenever Sakumo’s failed mission but at that point the information would be spread so thin and the repercussions so difficult to track that it’s unlikely.

And, anyway, I quite like the idea of Sai and Sakura hanging out with Kushin and Minato and seeing all of their friends as babies. It gives them a tangible reason to keep going because, frankly, by changing the timeline they no longer have a home to go back to.

And just the idea of irreversible time travel makes the title very ironic and sad and lovely 😀

To make it more sad, I wonder if the baby!Sai and Sakura die when time traveler!Sai and Sakura appear–like, the universe self edits and there can only be one of each, and obviously the babies don’t have as strong existences as these badass teenagers. And, also, there’s an excuse. Now I’m morbidly curious as to how many babies might have died due to Kyuubi chakra in the air.

Additionally, I wonder whether or not, because there are time travelers and the universe doesn’t need an SIOC to correct problems (not in a the-universe-is-sentient kind of way but in a balance-the-scales kind of way), Shikako’s existence is the same. Maybe there is a Shikako Nara but no SQ soul attached. Or maybe, even though they went back in time to help, their actions meant the Kyuubi was out longer and thus the baby that would have been Shikako (and Sai and Sakura) died from bijuu chakra exposure.

… I don’t think I want to go that far, though. Maybe no SQ soul at most, but no dead!Shikako, only because I think that’d be such a major blow to the time traveling team so early on that they wouldn’t want to make any other changes for fear of killing any more of their friends. And the whole “replacing their younger selves in the time stream” thing is already pretty bleak, for Sakura especially, since she actually grew up with her parents.

Anyway, I just quite liked the idea of Sai and Sakura time traveling together to save the world by saving Team Seven before they even know it. And also, Sai dismantling ROOT over a decade early and saving Shin.

And the possibility of Sai and Sakura getting swarmed by baby versions of Konoha Twelve is just too cute to pass up.

Title: Sell It With a Smile. Friendship is a (Mutual) Con.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

I’m getting very strong Naruto-and-Sai vibes from this title. Part of me thinks that this would be an “episode” in which for some ~mysterious reason~ Sai and Naruto are the only ones who can actually interact with the mark without blowing their cover, but another part of me thinks this would be a heartfelt yet hilarious “what shenanigans do these two get up to by themselves while the rest of the team goes home to maintain their daytime identities/throw off family suspicion”

Ugh, phrased like that, though, I just made myself feel sad.

But, still, Naruto and Sai back together again! I haven’t thought much about this pairing since all the Colour Time brainstorms!

I can’t just copy paste their Colour Time from that into Fia(M)C, so what is it that they get up to when left unsupervised? Hm… well a cat burglar and an shadowy government agency hacker. There’s not much that they CAN’T do, crime-wise, which means it should be something ludicrously mundane or, at least, start that way. Like. Grocery shopping and Sai notices that, hey, the person in front of us is buying all the ingredients to a home-made bomb? Let’s go stop them!

Mrgh, no, too extreme.

When lives are potentially at stake, they’d definitely call in the rest of the team even if it “their day off,” so that wouldn’t work.

… I mean, I’m already stealing (heh) the premise of Leverage, so why not borrow a little further? The Broken Wing Job has Parker stuck at home with an injury and she tries to thwart a robbery mostly by herself–so this could be something similar?

… oh! So, Kakashi sends Sai and Naruto off to buy a birthday cake for Yamato (never mind that his birthday was four months ago–why are we tailing them, senpai? Is this some kind of test?)

And while they’re at the bakery/cafe, they notice that, given the angle of a photographer’s camera, he’s not taking pictures of the food or the supposed, well-lit subject, but the building across the street? And that building is a bank/jewelry store/art gallery?

Or, hm, maybe minus the fake birthday cake errand. Maybe they’re just at Ichiraku’s–which is the closest thing to family that Naruto has that he’d spend his week off with (and there I go making myself sad again)–and some random person keeps showing up at the same time and the whole photography thing. And first off, Naruto is very bored, but second of all he DOES NOT APPRECIATE the sanctity of his favorite place being so violated. Ichiraku’s is the only crime-free place, as far as he’s concerned.

Sai is also a little bored and feeling awkward about the lack-of-family thing, so… yeah, sure, why not he’ll help.

(Kakashi and Yamato are probably just lurking nearby–Kakashi for funsies, Yamato reluctantly)

I have a feeling–in a series typical plot twist–that the alleged thief is, in fact, not casing the building but actually stalking an employee who works there. Which is EVEN WORSE and Naruto gets EVEN ANGRIER.

I like the idea that for some reason Sai was the one who had to go on-site and actually speak to the employees there (maybe because assumed thief/stalker guy had already seen Naruto or Sai needed to be there on location in order to hack into the bank’s security system back when they first thought it was a robbery) so Sai’s the one who interacted with the stalker’s victim and he’s the one who has to explain the whole… well, we thought he was going to rob your place of employment but instead he was stalking you, don’t worry, my friend will make sure he’ll never bother you again. Also, your shoes are very nice today?

Sai makes his first civilian friend! (IS IT SHIHO?)

Sorry anon, there’s a lot of gaps in this one, but here’s a short summary!

Sell It With A Smile

More than lock picks, explosives, or computers–a con artist’s best tool is their people skills.

‘Bend and Break’ for Iron Will (or other Avatar stuff if you want)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Ooh, Iron Will prompts, yay! Thanks, anon!

Hm, let’s see…

The title you’ve given me is very much opposite of Iron Will. Or, rather, an AU!Iron Will in which Tetsuki’s strength of character… isn’t all that strong?

Which would harken to the Fire Nation!Tetsuki AU, but just saying Bend and Break is the title of the Fire Nation!Tetsuki AU is a hug cop out.

So a specific story within the FN!Tetsuki AU… like… outside POVs of FN!Tetsuki while she’s on her travels.

I have two in mind, but I think for a full fic three or more would be better.

So the first one would be Jet’s POV. Because, like in Iron Will canon, Tetsuki does stumble upon the Freedom Fighters, if a bit later, and with her own agenda in mind.

She’s not one of the “founding members,” but she did learn manipulation in the Fire Nation court at Azula’s side, so when she joins them she gains the same amount of influence fairly easily. She doesn’t tell them not to attack Fire Nation settlements/soldiers–frankly, if they can’t handle themselves against a bunch of unruly Earth Kingdom children, they don’t deserve to be part of Azula’s future empire–but she does whisper in their ears ambitions of grandeur. After all, the Fire Nation can easily wipe away tales of fallen squadrons and failed colonies–the Freedom Fighters won’t make a mark like that.

But if they went after the Fire Nation prince? Well… there’s only one of those… and he HAS been traveling around the world on a fool’s errand. Strike the Fire Nation where they’re most vulnerable, she says, end the monarchy before it can solidify their hold over the entire world.

Jet isn’t immune to the idea.

Instead of like in Iron Will canon, where the Freedom Fighters grow and become unwieldy, in this AU, they slim down, become more ruthless. They’re on the hunt for a Fire Nation prince–they don’t have time for kindness among their members, can’t afford to be weighed down by kids who can’t contribute, can’t fight–and soon they’ve been whittled down to a small group. The core members, as it were. Leaner and more effective, which means far fewer people to be betrayed when the truth of Tetsuki’s heritage comes around (of course Zuko recognizes one of his sister’s friends, even if she is wearing Earth Kingdom colors and surrounded by Earth Kingdom teens)

She’s ruined the Freedom Fighters by giving them exactly what they want…

… but before that would be the other POV I have in mind–and I’m not sure why I didn’t say that first, but the Jet/Freedom Fighter POV just had a very nice dramatic reveal to it that it came to mind first. Specifically, the bounty hunter June, aka ZhuEn, Tetsuki’s older sister.

And unlike in Iron Will canon, in which Tetsuki doesn’t reunite with her sister until the last few episodes of the series (or post canon, even) the two of them meet pretty early on in AU!Tetsuki’s travels… mostly because Tetsuki actively seeks her out in the beginning.

Mostly because, while she did have some bounty hunting and survival lessons from their father before their grandparents took her for their own, she didn’t have nearly enough to be effective. And there’s some emotional drama, maybe, because June is just like: my lost little sister has found her way to me but all she wants is to learn bounty hunting and she doesn’t care at all that our father died but I haven’t seen her in years, etc. etc.

Whereas Tetsuki is like: our father made it perfectly clear how much he valued me when he gave me to our grandparents, so I don’t see why I should care about what happened to him, but I just wanted to see if you’d be willing to teach me, I have some foundation, I can pay you if that’s the problem just consider it a strictly business relationship, after all it’s not like you argued much if at all for father to keep me.

And then it’s like, “I was just a teenager, Tetsuki, what could I have done then?” and Tetsuki’s like, “And I was a child–your sister!–you should have fought for me!”

And, really, I don’t think there’s much in the way of resolving it. Maybe June, knowing this is the closest she will ever get to her sister after everything that’s happened, does agree to take her on as an apprentice for a year–which is how Tetsuki gets her training in the AU–or maybe she doesn’t because that’d hurt more, and so Tetsuki leaves immediately because if June won’t teach her then what’s the point of staying, which June immediately regrets?

I dunno. Emotional drama.

I’m unsure who the other outside POVs of FN!Tetsuki would be, anon, but those two in particular fit the “Bend and Break” title best.

~

Ask Box Event Still Open!

Fake Fic Title: moral compass (says stand up, shake it off). Never Lookin’ To Come Back. p.s. all these brainstorms are so good

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

Immediately from the title, I’m thinking this is a Sasuke!B-side of the Never Lookin’ To Come Back ‘verse. Like, what kind of shit has he gone through after his planet was destroyed? And then growing up as part of the Organization and going on black op missions up until he winds up on the Shuumatsu…

Sasuke’s moral compass is not exactly one for giving up, clearly. It may not always guide him in the right direction, but it at least makes him keep going. Which… I mean, was a disaster in canon, but can be a good thing so long as someone else points him in the right direction.

This is where Kakashi would show up in this ‘verse. As the one who “rescued” Sasuke by putting him in the Organization (so that Danzo couldn’t get him) he’d feature prominently in Sasuke’s past–whether as himself or as Agent Wolf–and maybe he’s the one who runs interference between ROOT and Shuumatsu the more they get involved with the politics of Senju vs Danzo.

I wonder what Sasuke’s opinion on the Shuumatsu crew is. Even before Neji and Hinata show up, that is–though the Hyuuga chancellor’s missing daughter and her first cousin is pretty interesting. Like, he definitely knows that Shino–the nameless Teacher of the Will of Fire–is the grandson of the Aburame chancellor. He probably knows that Shikako Heijo is in fact Shikako Nara, the Nara moon minister’s daughter. He probably also knows that–while the Inuzuka have been hit hard by the war–Kiba is the alpha’s son.

… I don’t think he knows about Naruto mostly because NOBODY is supposed to know about Naruto. (Except, you know, Kakashi and Jiraiya, probably)… and I don’t know if I want to go with my once-considered idea of TenTen actually being Danzo’s granddaughter via a disowned/runaway child but Sasuke definitely doesn’t know that, either.

The point is, Sasuke knows many secrets about the crew that they don’t necessarily know about each other and he lives in their starboard shuttle enjoying the entertainment. Obviously, he helps out when it’s needed, but he doesn’t volunteer his aid. Given his own adolescence of watching masked people return to The Org’s HQ and make jokes about assassinating people or disclosing their for various crimes, Sasuke finds the shenanigans the Shuumatsu crew get up to absolutely hilarious.

Of course, once the Hyuuga cousins show up and Ino points them in the direction of Tsunade, it starts to get much less fun. He’s not going to bail–the reason for which has less to do with him getting the Shuumatsu as his official mission, and more to do with how he’s actually fond of the crew–but now he’s got to defend the closest thing to home he’s had since ROOT destroyed his planet.

~

Ask Box Event Still Open!

“Snapdragon” for Shisui/Shikako, if you feel comfortable with it? I’m really enjoying the Gardens!Shikako verse going on in the Recursive thread on FFnet, and I think these two would have an interesting dynamic in another reality

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

I had to do some sleuthing to figure out what you were talking about, anon, because while I love the recursive fic forums, they also frighten me a little. My completionist tendencies won’t let me do it unless there’s a specific ‘verse I’m reading, so if nothing else I appreciate the fic rec; wafflelate is a fantastic author!

I am going to specify, though, that this is based mostly on wafflelate’s linked posts… the “canon” thread, if you will, because I’m not sure what else has been accepted as true or not. Although I did like the idea that… wait, hold up, *SPOILERS* y’all. I’d suggest checking out wafflelate’s The Many Gardens of Shikabane-hime before reading this, otherwise it won’t make much sense.

Anyway…

I liked the not-(yet?)-canon idea that Konoha interprets Shisui’s testimony as Shikako being a Senju descendant with the Mokuton and blood access to the vault (in order to steal the lightsaber). And I’m also liking “Kamiko” as her name as derived from “Kako” since “Shikako” is a little too obvious for her parentage, though given her penchant for shadow jutsu, they are aware she is also Nara.

I’m personally going to go with the idea that Shikako’s existence is fairly unique in the multiverse–maybe in the style of Lady Hallen and Fragile Dreams, in that Shikamaru was born a twin but said twin did not live through the Kyuubi’s corrosive chakra eighteen days later–so “Kamiko” is the only (living) Shikako in this universe.

Now, all that being said, anon, Shisui/Shikako as a ship in the Gardens!verse is rather compelling and I love your choice of title. It harkens to both Gardens and DoS, and given the meaning of snapdragons is deception that works pretty damn well for both Shikako and Shisui. Perfection!

Snapdragons can also mean grace under pressure and inner strength which is also pretty apt for both of them as well. However, in Japanese hanakotoba, it can signify a range of meanings, such as foresight, shamelessness, or an intrusive person. Which… also sort of works? And… apparently they look like skulls when they wilt? Dang, I am learning so much.

… er… enough fawning on my part!

So the main problem I’m seeing is that Shikako will always be trying to go back home (after she’s made sure that Kakashi is relatively safe) and unless that can be definitely closed as an option, then that will stay between her and anyone else that is not Kakashi and prevent her from getting close. Then again, Shisui is the kind of person who is best friends with Itachi, so it’s not like a couple (hundred) secrets will frighten him off.

But I do think that is an issue that needs to be resolved before Shikako can start to put down roots (heeeeeey) and get emotionally involved with this particular dimension, much less its people (besides this Kakashi), even much much less some Uchiha who she’s never met before.

A simple way would be to have Gelel tell her that what she wants can’t happen. Sure she can use their power to go into another dimension, but she’ll never get back to her specific dimension. The multiverse is vast with all sort of dimensions forming and dying and brushing past each other. They’re not linear paths she can just jump across, or even tangled strings that–if she just finds the right one–she can just track back home. Each dimension is more like a air molecule, bouncing around and past each other, no bonds holding them in any semblance of order. The dimension she came from has long since blown beyond her reach and there is no wind that can bring her home. At best, she’ll just doom herself to traveling forever, bouncing between dimensions that get further and further away from something she can recognize.

That’s bleak, sorry, but I really do think it needs to be a definitive no, otherwise she will always try to go home. As for how the Gelel know this, well… they did create a massive seal that still worked for centuries after their empire fell and was forgotten so… if Shikako and the Uzumaki could create three dimensional seals (which Konoha are baffled by) then whose to say the Gelel weren’t also super sealing genii.

With that out of the way the story then becomes smaller. It’s no longer about Shikako fighting the cosmic flow of time and space–pausing only to help someone who is very similar to her teacher–but rather a more intimate story about a figurative fish out of water settling into a village which has no idea what to do with her.

That’s the kind of setting we need here, anon.

So as I said earlier, I did quite like the idea of Shikako being assumed to be a SenjuxNara descendant. From there–and I don’t know if someone else thought of this already, but if they have then sorry–I like the idea that in order to resolve Kakashi’s “PR nightmare” (or whatever it was that got him named comrade-killer) with her sudden appearance and bewildering heritage, that they (probably Tsunade) say that he was on a “secret undercover mission from the Sandaime” to protect the last Senju from Danzo.

And, well, he’s dead so who’s to say he didn’t. Also, it worked for Itachi, kind of, so…

Unfortunately, Shikako no longer has her uncle’s earrings–but that could have sort of explained how Kamiko learned shadow jutsu so long Ikoma had a interesting shinobi career with several unaccounted for gaps. Maybe he was ANBU or MAYBE he was training a secret SenjuxNara child?! He’s dead too, no one can say otherwise!

… I’m getting very off track, I think.

Basically what I’m saying is, Shisui would fit perfectly in this political subterfuge campaign and if anyone’s going to bring the Uchiha clan out of their pariah-hood it would be a ridiculously powerful Senju x Nara who has, if not hard evidence, then an easily proven list of Danzo’s crimes and intended crimes.

Also, she killed Orochimaru, so shut up. (FINE, Kakashi helped A LITTLE, but he’s the only one who can say anything)

Speaking of, Kakashi would probably be one of the few people to tease her about the Shisui thing. Like, everyone else is super serious around her and is just “yes, what a politically advantageous match,” or “whatever the crazy powerful badass wants, she gets” whereas he’s just like… “ah, my adorable little kouhai, growing up so fast.”

I think this is all I got, anon, sorry for being slightly incoherent about it and thanks again for pointing me in the direction of Gardens!verse.

~

Ask Box Event Now Open!

“An Unbearable Weight” … ??? I have no idea, I just had this sort of feeling of something pressing down on the shoulders and I can’t place anything else with the title (almost spelled it tightle, lol).

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

A/N: So the first thing I thought of with that title, anon, is the show Leverage. I mean, true, it’s not exactly far from my thoughts, but specifically there’s a spiel about how the crew of criminals is the leverage that normal people need to remove the weight that evil rich people have put on them, etc…

And so my brain followed that train of thought to my Friendship is a (Mutual) Con ‘verse, of course. And then, well, with a title like that… this would be a season finale-esque fic within that ‘verse. But what would it specifically be about? Hm…

~

An Unbearable Weight

Even myths can grow complacent: when that happens, the world shakes.

–

I’ll be honest, my brain went originally to Atlas Shrugged–as an idea, not the novel itself–but that was very western of me and so I decided to research the equivalent. Namazu is a giant catfish that causes earthquakes, Kashima is the god who is meant to restrain him to prevent that. However, sometimes Kashima fails.

Which I quite liked the idea of, but that seemed a little too specific to be used by name in the summary, so I abstracted the concept enough that really it could be either the western or Japanese myth that I’m referring to!

Anyway, from that summary, I suppose this is later in Team Seven’s “career” when they’re at the top of their game–no con is impossible to them–and they’ve unwittingly created their own enemy. Someone who knows them so well, knows their weaknesses and exactly where to hit.

Part of me, because of the word “weight”–the BEST scene in Naruto will always be Lee taking off his leg weights and beating Gaara’s ass (though I do love him, also)–wants to include at the very least Gai and Lee if not also Neji and TenTen… I wonder if they’re law enforcement who are supposed to be tracking down the “ruthless band of criminals” but are actually quite friendly with Team Seven, not knowing that they are the same.

Like FBI Agents McSweeten and Taggert from Leverage but more competent.

And like in canon, Kakashi and Gai are BFFs which would mean that whoever the big bad in this “episode” would somehow reveal to Gai that Kakashi is the leader of the “dastardly crew of renegades” that he’s been trying to catch for years. Which would, of course, strain their relationship but ALSO impede Kakashi’s ability to act on behalf of his team.

All part of big bad’s plan.

It would all resolve itself in the end–of course–most likely with Team Gai acting as Team Seven’s Detective Bonanno equivalent. That is, Team Seven cons the bad guys and gets the evidence that Team Gai needs to convict them.

… yeah… I like this idea.

So probably Team Gai has shown up in “previous episodes” individually–Shikako is TenTen’s go-to for locksmithing and questions on vaults/security systems, Neji and Sasuke probably met as kids during the upper class soirees that Noble clans all attend, Lee probably had an absolute SNAFU of a case and Sakura was the one who found/healed him… and, of course, Kakashi and Gai are BFFs… but while each of them probably knew Team Gai were FBI (in a vague sort of sense for Sasuke, probably) none of them knew that they were on a task force together and especially not that said task force was assigned to track down/capture Team Seven.

Until, you know, one of Team Seven’s normal milk run cons suddenly gets infested with law enforcement. Familiar law enforcement.

Sakura probably has to fake flirt some information out of Lee, Sasuke and Neji probably have a snooty “Hyuuga” “Uchiha” exchange before hella pummeling each other into the dirt, and Shikako definitely ends up promising TenTen that she’ll tell Shikamaru what it is she actually does for work.

Kakashi mopes around guiltily like the saddest string bean he is, until Gai forgives him in a heartbeat and challenges him to a push up contest.

~

Ask Box Event Now Open!