Flip to the Last Page- Jashin

I’m still not sure how much differs between canon!DoS and FttLP–because surely there should be some logistical consequences to telepathic Nara twins. But this ficlet pre-supposes that, except for the telepathy, everything has gone exactly the same… Hope you enjoy, dona, and thanks again for the prompt!

~

It was like nothing they had ever experienced before.

Shikako still remembers the Kyuubi with startling, crystal clarity–that dense, corrosive aura which haunts their nightmares to this day.

In the Land of Waves, she was the first to experience a jounin’s killing intent, freezing Shikamaru with fear while his team was painting a fence of all things.

Even though the ultimate victory had been won through compassion and not military might, it had been proof of concept: reinforcements assembled to dismantle Gatou’s empire. Something that was stress tested a worrying amount, with how frequently Shikako’s missions went awry.

But all of those, even the Kyuubi, were nothing compared to a god.

///

It wasn’t even like Gelel, really.

In the Dead Wastes of Wind Country, the differences between them were never more clear. Being told a song exists is not the same as hearing it for oneself.

And in those moments of heart-stopping panic it had hurt–had burned like staring directly in the sun–but he had gotten her back, if somewhat changed.

But that searing starlight had been incidental, the cost of interacting with beings with more power beyond comprehension: Gelel had been benign.

The same could never be said of Jashin.

///

The worst part, maybe, was that there was no warning.

Even with that damned Tsukuyomi–which had cut them off from each other, Shikamaru alone for the first time in his life knowing that the entire time his twin was being tortured and he could do nothing–there had been even the vaguest idea that it might happen.

One moment, he had been relieved that his sister’s S-ranked mission was simple intel gathering in a sleepy resort town, the next…

Death would have been a kindness.

///

When Shikaku Nara sees his daughter covered in blood and ash, slung over the back of her strongest deer summon, walking out of the razed and ruined remains of Land of Hot Springs, he knows he must go home even before the message comes from Konoha.

He doesn’t know what Shikako went through, but he knows both of his heirs are in dire straights.

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Something that struck me the first time I watched Moana was how similar the spiral on the boat’s sail was to the Uzumaki Spiral; they both look like a crashing wave if you look at them with the right mindset.

Given the importance of the ocean to both island cultures, its not surprising that both utilize spirals as their symbol of mystical badassery. But now that you bring it up, I’m imagining Uzushio also being a voyager society and that is SO DOPE?!

Like. I shouldered my way into a rant about how the Uchiha clan probably isn’t as extinct as it seems on paper and I’ve always had so many overflowing feels about Uzushio, so this is a FANTASTIC possible solution to that, anon, so thanks!

Because. Just. Obviously, a good chunk of Uzushio did die. But maybe not as many as we think. Maybe some of them did flee to the mainland, leading to the smattering of Uzushio descendants that we know from canon (and some that we don’t necessarily know–but I have separate headcanons for that). But what if the rest of them just left?

Maybe at first, they hid. Even if their barrier failed to stop the incursion from Mist (though I follow @blackkatmagic​’s theory on Danzo being involved in some internal sabotage there) there’s no way NO ONE was able to get to some kind of failsafe shelters for noncombatants. Konoha’s “secret” shelters/bunkers inside the Hokage mountain cannot be the only kind of fortified fallback.

So maybe they hid. They hid for as long as they could, for as long as their supplies would last. They waited for Konoha to send reinforcements or aid or anything that their alliance should have guaranteed for them. But nothing. Because Danzo(╬ಠ益ಠ)

And so, because they were mostly noncombatants–scared but all that remained of Uzushio–they decided to leave. They decided to revive their voyaging ways that had been nearly forgotten when Konoha was founded, when Konoha had falsely promised eternal sisterhood. Some of the noncombatants were elders who–while they may not physically kept their voyaging skills–still remembered the lessons that their elders had passed down. And so the remnants of Uzushio fled the Elemental Nations entirely, forsaking the continent that had forsaken them first.

Until, maybe, news of an Uzumaki–powerful, yes, but kind and determined and passionate–spreads even beyond the Elemental Nations. To where the flotilla of Uzushio can hear and begin to consider voyaging back home.

Stars Also Dream- Shikaku. Any differences from DOS!Shikaku?

Hi, dona! You know I love answering your questions ( ˘ ³˘)♥

Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s very much difference between SAD!Shikaku and DoS!Shikaku–given that SAD is as close to a DoS!canon x Star Wars fusion as I could make and so the main difference in the ‘verses is Yoshino’s background… but here’s what I was able to come up with? I hope you enjoy!

~

Yoshino Kinokawa is a civilian born member of the Genin Corps who has made a name for herself based mostly on two facts:

She is best friends with Ibiki Morino, who everyone knows is slated for T&I–if Seki Hijiri’s somewhat concerning and potentially nefarious plans for him come to fruition.

And every mission she is part of goes… weird.

Shikaku hears of her name long before he actually meets her: he’s looking forward to it.

///

It’s traditional, when seeking to court someone, to get approval from their parents.

By the time Shikaku thinks of doing so, war has already ravaged the land: Yoshino is the last Kinokawa.

The fields of their little farm is, in turns, burnt and flooded, pockmarks of explosions and metal shrapnel sticking out of the ground like a cruel parody of the crops that must have once grown here.

Later, after everything, Yoshino goes out to the farm just once.

Shikaku does not ask.

///

He loves Yoshino.

He will live for her and would die for her and has and will continue to kill for her–affection expressed through murder, as most shinobi do.

He loves her, he trusts her…

… but that doesn’t mean he can’t be suspicious, sometimes.

Growing up in a clan is a different experience from growing up in a civilian family, this he knows. But he also knows that Yoshino’s child-rearing methods are far closer to the former than the latter–though, still vastly different from both.

(If Shikaku knew more about the Fire Temple, he would have made the connection easily.)

///

His son and he are very similar, links in the chain of Nara clan heads–smart and practical and devoted–but Shikamaru has Yoshino’s temper, flaring bright and hot in moments before banking down to embers. Not diminished, but held back until needed.

Shikako goes cold, steely and deadly, revenge planned out twelve moves ahead, just like her father.

He is but one man, from a planet who has not even yet discovered space travel, but should this Empire encroach on what is his, he will not hesitate.

~

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Reasons To Keep Living + headcanons, please.

Hm… I guess the headcanons are more just adapting more of DoS into the Princess Mononoke universe? But obviously some differences so…

Hope this is what you’re looking for, anon

~

Father isn’t your actual father–you’re human, not stupid, no matter what the boar clan scoff within earshot–but that doesn’t mean he’s raised you any less. It’s Father’s teeth that have provided your meals and Father’s fur that keeps you warm. His deep growling voice the first thing you hear in the morning and the last you hear at night.

Of course, usually that voice is saying that maybe he’ll eat you tomorrow, we’ll see boy, don’t test me, but you know he doesn’t mean it.

He feels guilty, after all. He was the one that killed your real parents.

///

There was a stranger, before, a generation ago. Vastly different and not at all like the stranger here now, but somehow the same.

She came with nothing but the clothes on her back, looking for a miracle.

Maybe she found it, maybe she didn’t–who is to say? She disappeared into the forest and never came back.

///

The Emperor sends an army to Konoha for weapons strong enough to kill a god.

They are lead by the greatest hunter, a man more wolf than person–or so the rumors go.

The Emperor wants eternal life or, at the least, an undeniable show of force. The hunter wants simultaneously a lot less and a lot more: he wants to avenge his lost teacher.

///

Your family is the oldest in Konoha, but Konoha itself is a very young town–only a few generations old.

Which is what confuses you: why did your ancestors choose to settle here?

Your family has hated–and been hated, if such a thing could be said–the forest for as long as they’ve been here. And yet, the walls of the town edge against the borders of the forest. For a people so obsessed with gaining power, why settle near the forest but never go inside?

There are secrets your family keep–even from you.

///

You are a stranger to these lands, and so it is not your place to say, but perhaps it is because you are a stranger that you can see with eyes unclouded.

This situation is a powder keg ready to blow. You’re not sure which side will light the spark first.

///

The god of the forest looks like a deer during the day and a living shadow at night.

~

A/N: again on my phone, hopefully will have my computer back tomorrow!

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some headcanons about the Remember to Sleep AU? thanks!

Well, I already kind of brainstormed this particular headcanon during the slew of Q&A for Remember to Sleep ‘verse, but I didn’t actually WRITE it in prose form so… enjoy, anon!

~

A private detective doesn’t walk anywhere. They slink and sidle and cruise around, or maybe they wander or stumble into a case, or, maybe, they’re running from something.

This is very much so a fleeing for one’s life situation, Kakashi thinks, ducking behind a parked car just in time to hear a bullet whizz overhead. Ah, scorned spouses, they never want to hear they’re being cheated on and yet they always hire him to get the proof. It’s not like he takes skeezy, voyeuristic photos for his own enjoyment.

That’s what his Icha Icha collection is for.

More whistling sounds, more shots, and Kakashi sighs. Lazily, he tracks the bullet paths with his eye, the trajectories as clear as if every bullet had a bright red ribbon tied to it.

Most of them end up bouncing uselessly against a dumpster, some cars, the concrete walls–gun possession clearly does not equal marksmanship–but one of them flies true and straight, out of the alley and into the street.

For a moment, Kakashi thinks it’ll be fine–the mouth of the alley is empty, it’ll strike the building across the way–except someone walks into the projected path. A young woman, smiling, looking at the person behind her, braid of brown hair a different shade entirely from Rin’s. And yet.

Even if Kakashi wanted to call out a warning, it’d be too slow–his eye can see at super speed, but his body can’t always react the same. His voice chokes up, anyway.

He’s going to watch this young woman struck down and it’s his fault.

(It’s always his fault)

A hand darts out, impossibly fast. Inhumanly fast. In between the path of the bullet and the young woman’s head.

Instead of puncturing through, just another flimsy layer of flesh and blood before ending a life, the bullet crumples–crashing headlong into an unmovable object–before falling harmlessly to the sidewalk in a tinny clink.

The young woman (not Rin not Rin, still alive, not Rin) turns around, tugs the hand and the person attached forward, away from the mouth of the alley–not that there are anymore bullets flying–and Kakashi sees him.

Minato-sensei.

But not.

(Not sensei, not sensei, impossibly alive, not sensei)

There’s a blonde man with a bulletproof hand and inhumanly fast reflexes walking around with a striking likeness to his dead sensei.

If ever Kakashi being a private detective was meant for something, it would be this.

~

A/N: written and posted from my phone, so not formatted, but still good yeah?

Anyway, I think I’m getting better at writing Kakashi? Or, at least, vastly AU versions of him…

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If you don’t mind, I can totally prompt you some more. Gambling Away The Past, more Shikako and Minato interaction? Alternatively, does Sembei ever bring the deer contract?

I have been meaning to continue that series, so thanks for the prompt, to-someplace-else! Please enjoy!  」( ̄▽ ̄」)

~

Gambling Away The Past, 8/? (2017-07-25)

Shikako reluctantly but dutifully wakes up with the sun.

It is excruciating.

Because they are in an outpost and relatively safe, she allows herself to whine noisily into her makeshift pillow.

Obito kicks out a leg, and because the tent they’ve been assigned is so small, it actually connects…

… with Rin’s thigh. She delivers a swift slap in retribution, before going back to sleep.

Kakashi, because he’s clearly inhuman, is already awake and looking down at his team unimpressed.

And fond, but largely unimpressed.

Shikako huffs another whine, before grudgingly going vertical, hating the morning and whichever cruel god invented it.

“You have to meet your clan member,” Kakashi prompts, when it looks like Shikako might just fall asleep sitting up.

“I’m going, I’m going,” she grumbles, splashing some water on her face to wake herself up, before leaving the tent.

An outpost during wartime, especially one so centralized and bustling as this one, is like having a piece of the village out in the field. It’s not home–not even the Konoha of this time would really be home–but it’s definitely a balm after months at war.

Sembei-obaa-san and the deer summons are being used mostly as messengers rather than warriors–rather beneath their abilities, but unsurprising without a combat capable summoner. They’d be housed permanently within the outpost, dorm building instead of a tent outside, closer to the commander where information is more vital.

People around the camp take note of her and wave her along with a nod or a smile–no doubt recognizing the Nara symbol of her uniform–but she doesn’t really need the guidance: Heijomaru’s antlers, tall and decorated, are easily visible from this distance.

She’s a little nervous, eager and worried: if she doesn’t sign the contract, then their trip here was for nothing. If she doesn’t sign the contract then Sembei-obaa-san and Heijomaru have found her unworthy.

The deer contract doesn’t mean home, but it’s another piece of it that’s close enough.

///

A trial run, Heijomaru had said, after Sembei-obaa-san read the letter of introduction from Ikoma.

She doesn’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

When she had first met Heijomaru, he had been somewhat reluctant even then–even though Sembei-obaa-san had been much older and hadn’t been able to summon him in years.

She’s even more of a cocky upstart now, apparently, which matches the summon she’s been assigned: Wakakusa, the only pyromaniac deer of the herd.

He’ll fit right in with Team Kakashi.

~

A/N: My laptop is acting a little wonky–I might have to send it in for repair/battery replacement. Unsure how quick that’ll be, but hopefully I can work something else out for posts in the next couple of days.

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Color Time / Indiana Jones TV verse + an award presentation ceremony (oscars etc)?

(・・。)ゞ Hm… I don’t think the TV/movie industry has gotten that far when Colour Time and The Adventures of Konoha Nara are at their peak.

I mean, the advancement of technology and entertainment in the Naruto world is a little weird to me? Like, certain countries are way more advanced than others and then there’s the sudden rapid advancement between Naruto and Boruto’s generations so…

And then there’s the whole… military vs civilian society clash. If there does exist an Academy of Motions Picture Arts and Sciences, then it’s probably a civilian thing. More specifically, an upper class civilian thing if not an outright nobility thing.

Which is not to say that shinobi-produced media wouldn’t be in the running of whatever awards the civilian/nobility run media academy is doing. Just that.

Well.

I’m not entirely sure what I’m saying anymore.

I guess maybe it’s more of a… instead of Colour Time or The Adventures of Konoha Nara getting awards for being amazing/educational television shows, it makes more sense for the creators of the shows (ie Naruto and Sai, or Shikako, respectively) to be awarded/funded by various nobility?

Sort of in line with what happened in Snow Country? Except… backwards…

For example: Colour Time is, along with showing the benefits of art and creativity in a highly militaristic society, about friendship. So Naruto and Sai help the arguing heirs to the Fire Daimyo resolve their issues through art. And because of that, said heirs create a fund for artists in the Land of Fire in their honor.

Or: Prince Michiru, despite Shikako raining death and destruction upon his castle, is still rather fond of her and especially fond of her accidental television series, decides to fund a feature length movie about her adventures never mind the fact that she doesn’t do any of her stuff on purpose and surely being filmed by professional grade equipment (and that daredevil Director from the Unlucky Princess series) would negate all the interesting stuff from happening?

Hahaha… nope.

To this day Konoha Nara and the Moon Crystal is still the reigning leader of opening weekend box office sales.

All that being said, sorry I couldn’t give you a ficlet out of this prompt, anon, but I hope you enjoyed this rambling brainstorm a little bit.

stars also dream + headcanon

Hell yeah I’ve got a couple of background headcanons I can send your way, anon. °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

~

They come down from the sky on a metal ship; just the two of them and their strange armored ninken.

They want to talk to the leader of the planet.

Father laughs, unsurprising. How do they not know that the world is at war–has always been at war? There are no leaders beyond clan heads and whatever shaky holds the daimyo have on the land.

Still, Father lets them stay for a time; the Senju are not called the clan with a thousand skills for nothing.

When an enemy squadron attacks, they defeat them all easily, just the two of them, with their swords made of lightning.

They leave afterwards, say they will send people in the future–to talk when the world has learned peace.

Tobirama learns that peace isn’t weakness–it’s about being strong enough to not need to fight.

///

When you are eight, you are brought in to speak to the lead teaching Jedi, as all members of your clan are. You are asked about your future plans, about what comes after being an initiate.

Every eight year old at the Temple wants to be a Jedi Knight; to be otherwise is considered a failure.

But you don’t think that’s true.

“An Archivist,” you say, because all of your clan mates have no doubt said they want to become padawans and you’re sure the lead teacher is bored of it. And plus, it’s always better to keep your options open; you’ve always been interested in Jedi traditions, and becoming a curator of them would be a contented existence. “There is still wisdom to be had from our history.”

The lead teacher nods, accepting. There is no change in expression on hir face, which you ought to have expected.

You are dismissed and so you go to the Room of a Thousand Fountains, letting the waters calm you.

You don’t become an Archivist.

///

In the Crystal Cave of Ilum’s Jedi Temple, you undergo The Gathering.

Like many padawan before you it is a test of patience, resourcefulness, and resilience.

It is painfully cold.

You don’t let that stop you.

You are searching for the kyber crystal that will be the heart of your lightsaber, there is no rushing it.

And except for the cold, you don’t think it’s such a terrible experience, the cave practically sings to you–the earth and stone more calming than even the waters of the Coruscant fountains.

When you emerge, kyber crystal in hand, Master Bant looks relieved and proud.

Your lightsaber is a comforting deep green.

~

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Shikaara royalty!AU. When Ino found out

I see you, anon, and I like what you’re thinking. ໒( ͡ᵔ ▾ ͡ᵔ )७

~

Shikako tries to return to her seat without catching anyone’s notice–restless feet is no excuse for further international faux pas–but considering she’s sitting right next to Ino, there’s no escaping it.

Especially not when she stumbles right into her, eyes still dazed from the multitude of camera flashes. Shikako’s just a minor peer–those picture probably won’t end up in the news, right?

Ino lends her a steadying hand, one eyebrow raised in appraisement, “What were you doing?” she murmurs beneath her breath.

Shikako flushes, embarrassed again at the memory, “I just ran into someone,” she says. And looked like a total idiot, she doesn’t add.

Ino holds a stare for a beat, Shikako’s cheeks turning further red, before letting the matter drop.

She’ll find out soon enough, anyway.

///

“The prince!” Ino shouts, bursting through Shikako’s bedroom door without any hesitation. Cruelly, she walks over to the window and flings open the curtains. “You ran into the prince?”

Shikako groans, curling into her pillows and away from the light.

“Shikako!”

There’s an indignant flapping of paper, before Ino heaves a sigh and pounces.

She’s not heavy, but with a high enough trajectory and the element of surprise, Shikako’s breath leaves her in a rush, “No…”

“You didn’t tell me you ran into Wind Country’s prince. Spill now or else,” Ino threatens, yanking a pillow from beneath Shikako’s head and brandishing it like a weapon.

What torments could she possibly inflict that is crueler than waking someone up?

Well… it is Ino.

“Wind Country has two princes,” she says instead, just to be contrary.

Ino smacks her with the pillow. “You know who I’m talking about! The dreamboat with the gorgeous eyes and perfect cheekbones,” another smack, “Just what happened?”

“Nothing happened… I just bumped into him, said sorry, and then returned to my seat?” Confused, Shikako finally cracks open her eyes.

In Ino’s hand is a newspaper, the front page dominated by a color photo of Shikako and the younger Wind Country prince, his arm around her waist, her hand on his shoulder: they had literally bumped into each other and just barely managed not to fall to the ground in a flail of limbs. That’s all.

Ino looks less gleeful, now; she hands over the paper, “Not according to this.”

~

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Never Lookin’ To Come Back + Meeting up with the Ino-Shika-Cho?

Okay, anon, thanks for waiting. This doesn’t quite fill the prompt but it is related so… author’s cut? Anyway, enjoy!

~

When you join the brown coats, your past doesn’t matter. Who you were–who you used to be–where you came from? That doesn’t mean anything.

Everyone has secrets from their past.

The only thing that matters when you wear that brown coat is what you believe.

///

Akimichi has two moons, Nara and Yamanaka, both as important to the Alliance as their planet.

Also like their planet, the moons are ruled by respective clans, though by title they are ministers not chancellors.

The current Nara minister has two sons.

No one mentions anything about a daughter.

///

They’re on the moon of Nohara–closer to the Core than either Kiba or the captain like, tension high in their shoulders, the slightest misstep enough to make Akamaru growl–when Shino comes back with a passenger.

It’s not unusual for Shino to bring back passengers–given how long the Teacher as been on the ship, he’s practically a crew member by this point, never mind that he pays them–but this passenger isn’t the same as the others.

She’s got a wicked smile on her face for one–instead of the typical serene blankness of other practitioners of the Will of Fire–and she even has a last name.

A worryingly recognizable last name.

“We already have the Hyuuga chancellor’s missing daughter and her asshole of a cousin, I don’t see how anyone could be a bigger risk than that,” Kiba grouses, voices contained to the engine room for that extra privacy.

TenTen wasn’t exactly happy at being kicked out of her domain, but she hadn’t argued at the look on the captain’s face.

“We don’t exactly need word of that getting around to the Core, now do we?” Shikako snipes back, but it’s a moot point. Whether or not they take Yamanaka as a passenger, her keen eyes have already spotted the telltale features of one Hyuuga who normally wouldn’t be caught dead on a bucket of rust and bolts like this.

Kiba bares his teeth, “Why are you lying to me?”

///

In the system, the captain’s name is Shikako Heijo; the same name she used to sign up with the brown coats.

Why would it be anything else?

///

Kiba and the captain stomp out of the engine room towards the cargo hold where Shino and their potential passenger are politely chatting as if they were having a tea party and not surrounded by graffitied crates of dubious content, instead.

“We’re not heading any closer to the Core than this,” Shikako says, practically throwing down a gauntlet for the Yamanaka minister’s daughter.

“What a coincidence,” she says, smile gleaming and sharp, “neither am I.”

Kiba doesn’t understand why that makes Shikako bristle something fierce, but he’s still pretty annoyed by all the sidestepping. She was never half as resistant to the Hyuuga bastard on their ship, and as far as he knows, Yamanaka is going to leave after one trip.

Or at least he hopes so, they’re flying a ship, not running a halfway house.

She turns to him, hackles raised, “Your passenger, your problem,” she says before stomping away again.

Kiba huffs in response, off balance and unwilling to show it. “So where are you heading to, then?” he asks, because if he’s going to get some cargo on this boat then he ought to know where they’re headed.

Yamanaka’s smile has dimmed, shrunk into something soft and sad, eyes following after the captain. “The Katou moon,” she answers, “I’m looking for someone.”

Kiba shrugs, “Hey, we don’t need to know why you’re going, we just have to get you there.”

///

As it turns out, knowing who Yamanaka was looking for would have been welcomed information.

After all, it’s hard to stay beneath the ROOT’s radar when you’re on the trail of the last Senju.

~

A/N: No Chouji or Shikamaru, sorry, but I figure Chouji wouldn’t really be able to leave planet Akimichi considering he is the heir and the whole twin meeting would be an entirely separate ordeal. And I more wanted to get into the set up of why the Ino-Shika-Cho aren’t on the ship.

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