I am. I’m what’s stopping them. >:)
But in all seriousness, anon, if I’m going to be frank, it took me a while to understand your ask in a way that didn’t make me cringe or side-eye it. I know there was no offense meant and that you’re sincerely curious about why Shikako and Gaara don’t have biological children in my weird DoS next gen spinoff, but something about the word choice or maybe just the subconscious assumption beneath the ask itself just kind of… I’ll do my best to answer you, but please keep in mind that my first reaction to this ask wasn’t exactly positive and I had to step away for a while before I could answer.
Okay so let’s go:
Yes, in the Walking Around ‘verse aka the Sakako Uchiha ‘verse, genetically-canon!Sarada does still exist. Sakura wanted a child, but is romantically involved with Ino (who is also romantically involved with Sai). While Sakura could have asked Sai to be sperm donor for her child, Konoha is already trying to establish an Uchiha repopulation program and Sakura, being part of the Medic Corps (and possibly in charge of the program?) would no doubt know of it. So the efficient thing was for Sakura to be a surrogate so she could both have a child and contribute to the Uchiha repopulation. Or perhaps “surrogate” is the wrong word choice since Sarada is HER child that just happens to be half Sasuke’s genes and a member of the fledgling Uchiha clan 2.0
Sakako might or might not be an artificially inseminated baby. My interpretation of Sasuke is demi-romantic bisexual, and Shikako as demi/bi-romantic demi/asexual. So the demi part for Shikako’s sexuality is a little up in the air. (And anyway, it’s not as if ace people can’t have or enjoy sex, they just don’t actively feel sexual desire). But the point is, Sakako’s existence isn’t as premeditated as Sarada’s is–Sakura PLANNED to have a child, and DECIDED to be part of the Uchiha repopulation program. SAKURA was the active party between her and Sasuke in Sarada’s origin.
In contrast, I’m not entirely sure if Sakako is “officially” part of the Uchiha repopulation program so much as she is someone who just happens to be born Uchiha. If that makes any sense. Whether Sakako is the result of a night of passion, or Shikako acknowledging that Sasuke wants biological children with her and agreeing to bear A child for him, it was mostly SASUKE who wanted Sakako to exist.
Keep in mind, if all five of Shikadai’s cousins exist like in Our Share of the World, then Team Seven (+friends) have already collectively raised Kareru to approximately Academy age. Maybe, parenting Kareru made Sasuke baby-crazed, and seeing as how it was Shikako and Naruto who helped him with this first child, he turned to them (who are his “one and done + exception” anyway) for another child. Hence Sakako’s existence, even if it’s not specifically the Uchiha repopulation program.
In summary, Sarada is Sakura’s child who just happens to be part of the Uchiha repopulation program, Sakako is Sasuke’s child with Shikako.
Now what’s stopping Shikako from being a surrogate for Gaara? Nothing.
Nothing’s stopping them from having biological children through sexual intercourse, either (even if they were both asexual–again, asexual people can have and even enjoy sex–it’s just that they don’t feel the desire for sex)
It’s not that Shikako thinks Gaara would be a bad father or that she thinks any potential kid would inherit his bijuu-related madness; it’s not that she loves Sasuke more than she does Gaara, either. She already has children with Gaara. Three of them, in fact. They don’t need to be biologically related to her for her to be their Mother. (This is what Gaara, in the deepest recesses of his mind, fears. But it’s doubt brought along by his shaky self-esteem and knowledge that Sasuke low-key resents him, and thus not true at all).
This isn’t about Sasuke not being okay with it or about Sasuke being a hypocrite or about Sasuke not giving her permission or whatever. This isn’t about Sasuke at all. Shikako just doesn’t want another child–she already has five children. (FIVE CHILDREN IS A LOT, OKAY. That’s more than a standard shinobi team. (Though I should say that her not wanting more children doesn’t mean that she wouldn’t totally step up and love and parent any additional kids that come along, but she doesn’t actively want to get more children. She’s content with the number she has.))
If I had to put motivations behind it… Gaara just wants family–he doesn’t want more clan, doesn’t want to pass on his blood limit–actually, Gaara just wants love? And, obviously, family helps with that. But biological children aren’t more valid as family, they aren’t somehow intrinsically more lovable than adopted children.
In contrast, Sasuke “wants to revive his clan.” That’s specifically the Uchiha clan with the Sharingan bloodline. If he just wanted (sorry to be crass here) bodies in houses, he’d just go to an orphanage and adopt all the children and make them Uchiha. But the premise of the particular spinoff world that Walking Around ‘verse is in has an Uchiha repopulation program specifically for the Sharingan.
Different motivations, so different goals, so different solutions, so different family structures.
I think Shikako doesn’t want biological children. Or rather, she doesn’t have a preference for biological children over adopted children. A close enough version of her genes are going to be passed down to the next generation anyway via Shikamaru’s child(ren) and a slightly distant but still related version of her genes comprise an entire clan. Her bloodline is fine–there’s no endangered blood limit attached to it, and so there’s no necessity for her to have biological children. To be somewhat crass again, she’s not a baby-making machine (and she’s especially not going to be one for the Suna Council.)
Let’s see… as a more concrete example: you might have noticed in Walking Around (Sharing the World) that bit about the empty room. The one that both Sasuke and Shikako were keeping silent on the matter. The way I see it, that room can be filled in different ways. If Sasuke found an Uchiha baby in a sealing scroll and decided to adopt it Shikako would agree to be this baby’s Mum.
Or, if someone volunteered to be a surrogate for the Uchiha repopulation program but didn’t actually want to raise the baby (maybe they’re a kunoichi who had been injured and would need to take a year off and decided, hey, why not get paid to be pregnant since she’s not going to be able to do missions anyway), Shikako would agree to be this baby’s Mum. Or, hell, if Sasuke decided to adopt any kid and raise that kid as Sakako’s sibling–Uchiha genes or not–Shikako would totally be okay with being that kid’s Mum, too. But if Sasuke asked for another biological kid from Shikako? … I don’t think she’d say yes.
I mean, there’s in vitro… like if Shikako donated some eggs and Sasuke donated sperm and then the zygote was implanted into some other woman. But at that point… it’d be better for the Uchiha repopulation program and Sasuke’s dream to revive the Uchiha clan if that other woman just… became one of the mothers in the program. Especially so that, if a generation or two down the line, the plan is to have the descendants reproduce with each other. Far enough that their relation to Sasuke isn’t too recent and possibly resulting in genetic problems due to inbreeding, but not so diluted that the Sharingan is lost. If there are two Shikasuke kids then their descendants are invalid to reproduce with each other without additional generations separating them.
But that’s getting away from the heart of the matter which is… I hope I answered your questions?
If you’d like to write about biological Shikaara kids, don’t let me stop you. The reason why I didn’t was because I found the NGSS while researching and it just felt right to me that the NGSS are adopted–in canon or DoS future–and in a Shikaara world, Shikako is an active enough parent that they do acknowledge her as Mother (I dunno if anyone noticed, but I figure it’s a regional dialect thing that people in Suna use Mother/Father and people in Konoha use Mum and Dad).
Our interpretations of the characters are different, so our predictions for their future will probably be different. I mean, I can even interpret the characters differently leading to different predictions–I can see a possible future where Shikako and Kiba end up together and have no children but are wildly and hilariously happy together. I can see a possible future where Shikako and Neji end up together and take on the fucked up system of the Hyuuga Main vs Branch families with fuinjutsu and REVOLUTION. I can see a possible future where Shikako doesn’t end up with anyone and is happy with her life and revels in her freedom.
Biological Shikaara children can definitely exist in some possible future; but in the particular future that I’ve somehow developed in the Walking Around/Sakako ‘verse there aren’t any.
That’s true, anon. I think that, if for some reason Gaara and Shikako wanted a another child, they’d probably look into ADOPTING another child (though, seriously, as a person with three siblings, having four children is A LOT). Especially with, as you said, so much pressure on the NGSS already making them insecure about their positions in the family/village.
A part of me just thinks that it feels right that Gaara would adopt (regardless of if he is with Shikako or not). Like, more than his romantic and sexual orientations and mono/poly preferences, Gaara adopting kids is the most solid head canon I have for his future. I don’t know why. It just vibes so well.
JackSGreyson Says 