Tag: brainstorm

Carlos and the Inuzuka?

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O_O

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Oh, anon, you have no idea what kind of brainstorming bunny you have unleashed!

Okay, so, let’s say–as in my Once Then Always brainstorm–the Lost kids are transported to a different world via magical artifacts during the museum heist. After they have some life-changing adventures, they are transported back to Auradon with little to no time passing. (Unfortunately, this is before Carlos meets Dude, but this does not prevent Carlos from adopting Dude later.)

Like with Once Then Always, I would like to have each of the Lost kids have a unique self-discovery journey of their own. Carlos overcoming his fear of dogs (and shitty parenting) with the Inuzuka is pretty straightforward–but what about the others?

But, before that, how does Konoha react to four random teenagers appearing in their village?

Since we do want Carlos to be fostered (or at least not threatened) by the Inuzuka, that means that the Lost kids can’t be seen as infiltrators/enemies/threats. Which means that their appearance has to be either planned by Konoha or, at least, the result of something Konoha did.

Maybe some kind of summoning seal? Or maybe an Uzumaki artifact?

I’m also unsure when in the Naruto timeline I would want this to be–before the Chuunin Exams? After it, but before the Sasuke retrieval arc? Or full on in Shippuden?

I’ll admit I’ve been spoiled by Dreaming of Sunshine and no longer have the patience to put up with Sasuke’s defection melodrama, but I suppose in that case this could be a DoS crossover instead of a canon Naruto crossover… In which case, it’s perfectly plausible that the Lost kids are summoned by Shikako.

Uh, but this crossover would want to focus on the Lost kids… So *insert plot reason for Konoha to trust them* and now the Lost kids are being fostered/trained by Konoha. I like to imagine that–given the terrible living circumstances of the Isle–that the Lost kids are at the very least genin level.

Jay was quick to pick up tourney (which is based off lacrosse which is, in and of itself, based off a ceremonial ritual of symbolic warfare) and, after a few days, so was Carlos. Mal I headcanon to be physically stronger than Carlos, Evie I’m not so sure? I know in the book she was dangerously underweight–then again, all of them are probably suffering from some sort of malnutrition…

Anyway, I wonder if, at first, the Lost kids are split up for training. Probably they’d be treated as one family so they’d get to live together, but while Konoha may tentatively trust the Lost kids ~for reasons~ they wouldn’t be so stupid as to leave a group of unknowns together and unsupervised.

In a different brainstorm for DoS (Team Medic which I made with @kuipernebula) I proposed that an additional genin team would be dispersed amongst the Rookie Nine after the Sound/Sand Invasion that way each team has a medic-nin specifically suited for the team and the genin can begin to get used to the four chuunin team set up instead of the three genin one jounin set up.

The fact that there are four Lost kids as opposed to three genin medic nins is easily fixed by adding Team Gai to the mix. So that means each Lost kid is assigned to a different genin team.

For reasons described above, we would want Carlos to end up with Team Eight–so that he can overcome his fear of dogs via Kiba and Akamaru (and the Inuzuka clan in general). Given that Jay’s subplot in Descendants was about teamwork I would think that Team Ten would be the best analog given that their clans are practically bred for teamwork (the Hyuuga/Aburame/Inuzuka team set up isn’t one that the clans reflect).

Which leaves Team Gai and the pile of drama that is Team Seven–either canon or DoS versions. Given that Mal is the main character of Descendants it makes the most sense for her to be put on Team Drama–also given that her character arc is about her defying “nature” and nurture and choosing good over evil, that would probably resonate very well with Team Seven, especially with Naruto–the optimistic protagonist with a demon sealed inside him versus the conflicted daughter of an evil fairy.

And so Evie is left with Team Gai. Which is actually pretty interesting because Team Gai is the only one without a clan heir, aka a “prince” or “princess”. Can that help Evie overcome her obsession with marrying her very own prince? Maaaaybe…

However, as kuipernebula and I discussed with Team Medic, there has to be some kind of in-story reason as to why the Hokage (either Sandaime or Tsunade) would assign it in this way. But we also figured that it’s pretty easy to argue any given set up. Obviously Konoha will prioritize function over feelings, but we have to figure out what about each Lost kid makes them a good match for each genin team.

Team Ten I actually find easiest to explain because Jay is the physically strongest and most capable of the four Lost kids. Given Team Ten’s set up–that is, the Ino-Shika-Cho and Asuma–if you take Asuma out of the equation (as he would be if all of the genin became chuunin) then the Ino-Shika part of the equation is very low on offensive abilities meaning they’d need another “heavy hitter” to even out the new team of four. Whether that means he acts as protector to the stationary Ino and Shikamaru, or as another bulldozer alongside Chouji depends on plot.

Team Seven, also, is pretty easy–Team Seven have “historically” been the legendary, potential S-class teams. All members have been, in some way or another, ninjutsu buffs minus, maybe, Nohara Rin but for all we know she could very well have been, too. So of Carlos, Evie, and Mal, the one who would most likely be able to keep up with Team Seven would be Mal who has access to her mother’s magic spell book (aka family ninjutsu).

That being said, I’m not too sure what Carlos and Evie’s skills translate best to in the Naruto world. Because Carlos in the books is all about technology which… there isn’t much of in the Naruto world, whereas Evie has her magic mirror and her potion knowledge (love potion and the one that knocked out Chad) which is… ?

But, okay, let’s stretch the definition of technology for Carlos–that could mean either weaponry or seals. Which is a heavy overlap with TenTen–too much overlap, I’d say, but that’s not enough of a reason alone. If Team Eight’s specialty is tracking, then why would Carlos–a weapons/sealing specialist be added? Well, if this is about jumping from genin level to chuunin level, Team Eight wouldn’t just be tracking cats or missing items. They’d be tracking people–possibly enemies. So, for example, if they’re tracking missing nin, they’d have to be prepared for traps of all kind. Hence, weapons/sealing.

And, again, Evie is the most difficult… the potion knowledge could easily be linked to poisons and medicine, while the magic mirror is… I mean, there was that crystal ball that the Sandaime had in the very first episode and which was never brought up again, but I don’t know what I would call that. Not genjutsu… Actually, it’s a bit like the Yamanaka–information gathering and the thinly veiled flower shop poison/medical knowledge–without the whole body-swapping.

How does that benefit Team Gai? Well, as they are before the time skip they taijutsu experts with one weapons/sealing expert. They are a team well designed for either body guarding or taking out non-enhanced human enemies like bandits. With one set of Byakugan and their sensei’s implied talent in genjutsu (which might be passed on to TenTen) they have the makings of a possible espionage team. Add Evie into the mix and they can easily handle infiltration missions, especially if it’s in non-shinobi places.

Now, what is the actual plot going to be? I have no idea… but I actually think this crossover would be more about the Lost kids going back to Auradon after all is said in done, and how their changed attitudes influence the Descendants story. The Lost kids have already had their character arcs happen in Konoha so what is left?

Well, while Konoha may be known as the tree-hugger/soft village–they are still a shinobi village. Despite Naruto’s well-meaning nindo, shinobi are mercenary at heart–they kill and steal and all sorts of nefarious deeds for money or “village security.” So while the Lost kids may not be “evil” anymore, they’re more at “neutral” than “good.” And if the Lost kids have been in the Naruto world through to Shippuden then they’ve been at war and very well might be experiencing PTSD. So now they have to get used to peace–just like what the epilogue of Naruto skipped over.

Tbh, I don’t think I’ll write it–only because it does have a lot of overlap with my Once Then Always and if I had to choose I would prefer to write OTA–but it was fun to think about. So thanks, anon! I know this wasn’t a prompt, but this was great 🙂

(continued here)