It takes a while, for the people of Sand to see Shikako as anything more than the personification of Konoha’s overbearing meddling. And an insulting one at that–a single little girl? Not even a full team. Then again, no doubt if Konoha had sent a full team, they’d be accused of being overly hostile.
Ugh, politics.
But after that, they grow to be–not accustomed, and definitely not fond–resigned to her presence… It varies by generation.
The Nara clan jutsu traditionally aren’t seen as much of a threat in the Land of Wind, the scorching sun and mostly flat environment creating a distinct lack of shadows. During the shinobi world wars, members of the Nara clan were utilized more in the north–against Lightning or Stone–the mountainous landscape providing advantageous, rocky outcroppings.
Simply put, the Nara don’t have much of a reputation in the Land of Wind, not historically anyway, and the elderly generation don’t know what to make of her. Minus Ebizo-jii-sama, of course, who mostly views her as a decent opponent in Igo who also provides unintended entertainment.
Those of active mission-taking age, are very aware of who she is and what she can do. Even if she hadn’t made a pretty damn impressive showing against their Kazekage during the Chuunin Exams which essentially gave Gaara the position, she’s in the bingo books. And as Konoha’s allies, Sand gets a more accurate portrayal of her skills than, say, Rock’s version.
On top of that, Shikako has no qualms about training where others can see her. She frequently spars against Kankurou who is practically slated to take over the Puppet Corps in a few years, and he’s almost as bad as Kiba when it comes to loudly retelling what he calls ‘Sparky moments’. Like that time she blew up an attempted kidnapper’s head.
God, she’s never going to live that down.
The kids, though, even the ones who aren’t all that much younger than she is, they think she’s… fascinating. Though she attributes that more towards her status as a novelty than anything else. What’s odd, though, is how it started.
The first time wasn’t an accident, but it certainly wasn’t planned, either. Unlike the Sand siblings’ second trip to Konoha, she wasn’t placed in the academy as an assistant teacher. If it weren’t for the fact that the children actively seek her out, Shikako wouldn’t even have the opportunity to interact with them. And now?
“Heh, looks school’s done for today,” Kankurou laughs, Karasu pulling back, blades retreating into it’s wooden interior. Likewise, she sheathes her practice tanto, cringing at the near inaudible scraping noise that let’s her know that sand has gotten in. She’ll have to clean the both sword and sheathe properly before she goes to bed tonight.
Along the demarcated edges of the training grounds, a huddle of maybe ten or so Academy-aged kids await. She waves at them, a little flattered and a lot embarrassed when they cheer enthusiastically back.
“Don’t keep your adoring audience waiting, Sparky,” Kankurou jokes, replacing a wrapped up Karasu on his back.
“You’re not going to join us?” Shikako asks, slyly, “They’ll be your fellow puppeteers soon, shouldn’t you go impress them now while they’re still young?”
“Ugh, no way, I did my time. I don’t want to hang around a bunch of brats. And plus, it’s your fancy shadow stuff they want to see,” he grumbles before, effectively, fleeing and leaving her to the mercies of the tiny horde of tiny bunraku ninja-to-be.
“Nee-san,” one of them calls out, waving her arms and likewise making her small practice puppet wave it’s arms in sync. Her peers are engaging their own practice puppets in mock fights, very similar to the spar she and Kankurou just ended. It takes hardly anything at all to do the same with a modified Shadow Gathering Technique. And anyway, it’s good practice for her. The kids ooh and ah at the way the shadows seem to spring to life.
“Nee-san,” the ringleader repeats, equally amazed, but trying to stay on track, “You said today you’d do one of your stories.”
“I did say that, didn’t I?” Shikako replies, channeling her inner Kakashi, “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather Akako and the Wolf?” One of the other kids brightens in obvious excitement. He had been the one absolutely enamored by last week’s Little Red Riding Hood adaptation, one that Shikako thinks the Inuzuka would approve of considering it has the little girl and the wolf team up against the big bad hunter. Already, the little boy has modified his practice puppet into one resembling a four-legged creature in contrast to the others’ humanoid shapes.
“You already showed us that one!” The little girl says, “We want to hear about the Ikioi-en!” and around her the other kids nod and chatter in agreement.
Shikako tries not to look too baffled, but clearly something slips because another kid mentions, “Kankurou-sama said you were there when the Dead Wastes became the Ikioi-en.”
At that, she has two immediate reactions: Oh. That mission.
And then: not hanging around a bunch of brats her ass.
“It’s a pretty long story,” she tries to demur, though in her head she’s already trying to figure out the best way to arrange it both for age-appropriateness and maximum entertainment.
“The best ones are,” the ringleader says magnanimously, “You can do Act One today and then the other Acts later.”
“Oh, I can?” Shikako asks, pointedly, tone teasing, which causes the little girl to flush.
“Please, Nee-san,” she amends, which sends the rest of them into a wave of pleading.
Shikako can’t help the chuckle that escapes, and she gives in easily enough. Though she does exaggeratedly examine the sky, as if calculating, “We’ll have to go to the east side of the administrative building,” she says sagely, and the kids follow after her and nod to each other. She grins when she hears their high voices speculating about the decision–obviously since the sun sets in the west, the east side of the building would have bigger shadows. And everyone knows that the administrative building is the tallest in the village.
In truth, though, she almost always does her shadow shows near the administrative building. She knows Gaara enjoys the children being close by, even if, for the most part, they’re still too frightened to approach him directly. Sometimes, she thinks he enjoys the stories, too.
Then, sensing Kankurou’s chakra next to Gaara’s bright and steady presence, she muffles a laugh. She guesses they both do, though why Kankurou bothered with subterfuge escapes her–she already knows he’s a theatre nerd.
~
A/N: Strange ending, I admit. Also, longer than I thought it would be even when I cut a section out (I was considering doing a thing with Shikadai and his Aunt Shikako but… mreh).
I figure that even though the Gelel mission is S-ranked for her/Konoha, it’s pretty common knowledge in the Land of Wind since they were literally being invaded by an outside force and then a major part of their country got revitalized mysteriously. At the very least, they’d have to explain why a place called the Dead Wastes now no longer matches such a description.
JackSGreyson Says 